66: The Way to Death

In the meeting room, everyone had the same goal: to first wrestle the role away from Wang Jinsong.

"Fine, fine, fine. My student Li Xiuwu won't be participating. If you're so capable, go grab it yourselves."

Wang Jinsong turned and left the meeting room. Taking a deep breath, he headed toward the principal's office.

Joy appeared on everyone's faces. As soon as Wang Jinsong left, they began discussing who the role should be given to.

Zhang Jun was writing and didn't look up at Wang Jinsong.

Wang Jinsong sat down on his own, seething with frustration.

"Gave the role up?" Zhang Jun finished writing the four large characters for 'Women's Treasure' and admired them with satisfaction. He looked up, glanced at the angry Wang Jinsong, and asked.

"Principal, they're snatching the role and even went to threaten Li Xiuwu."

"I heard from Liu Yifei that Gong Yi from the Central Conservatory of Music wants to invite Li Xiuwu to be a teacher there, directly as a doctoral supervisor."

"Oh? Is that so?" Zhang Jun's gaze instantly snapped away from the 'Women's Treasure'.

He hadn't expected those old fogies to be trying to poach his student behind his back.

"According to Liu Yifei, Li Xiuwu plays the guqin exceptionally well. During the summer, every time he played, the West Sea would be packed with people."

"I've never heard of that. You're quite incompetent as a teacher, not even knowing your student has such great talent."

"Principal, we're not talking about what Li Xiuwu can do right now. Our current problem is that Li Xiuwu is being threatened by certain teachers and graduates in the school."

"Li Xiuwu is very scared and doesn't dare to perform anymore. I've given the role away. You deal with it; if he gets scared and transfers schools, don't come blaming me."

"Haha, what's there to fear?" Zhang Jun said with a face full of confidence.

"That kid probably came to the Beijing Film Academy for that Liu Yifei in your class. As long as she's here, Li Xiuwu won't run away," Zhang Jun remarked.

After all, even heroes have a weakness for beauties.

He had been analyzing why Li Xiuwu applied to the Beijing Film Academy.

It was inherently illogical for a top scholar of the college entrance examination to apply to the Beijing Film Academy. After much analysis, he reached this conclusion.

"Principal, what do you think would happen if Li Xiuwu said he'd transfer to the Central Academy of Drama on the condition that he brings along a female classmate with a great image and decent acting skills? Would the Central Academy of Drama agree?"

"Uh..." The smile on Zhang Jun's face froze.

"Let's make a plan."

Zhang Jun immediately began discussing how to soothe Li Xiuwu's wounded soul... On this day, at the premiere press conference for Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Li Xiuwu and Liu Yifei arrived together.

"Teacher Zhou, Zhao Jian." Li Xiuwu saw the two of them and went over to greet them.

"You're here." The two of them looked him over, checking his expression; they had also heard about the "The Promise" matter.

Nothing could be seen on Li Xiuwu's face. He seemed unaffected by the incident and even appeared quite happy.

Not just them, many people were looking over. The incident at the Beijing Film Academy was circulating in the industry; it had become quite a big deal. Everyone wanted the role. Once Wang Jinsong relented, the competition became even more intense.

In the end, it was all for nothing for them; no one got it, and Liu Ye from the Central Academy of Drama ended up benefiting.

Throwing away the role in "The Promise" made Li Xiuwu feel light and unburdened. After greeting a few familiar actors, he sat down next to Zhou Xiaowen.

Zhou Xiaowen had already moved on from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. He was currently working on the post-production for Chinese Paladin. If it weren't for the mandatory promotion clause in his contract, he wouldn't have bothered coming.

The cast members arrived one after another. Li Xiuwu also saw Big Beard Zhang and carefully observed his lips.

The name Big Beard Zhang wasn't for nothing. His beard was so long that it was impossible to see if there were any wounds.

Big Beard Zhang glanced at Li Xiuwu twice, a look of mockery in his eyes.

Did he really think being the top scholar of the college entrance examination meant he could run wild in the industry? Even with a good role, wasn't it still snatched away?

"What did you say? Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is going to premiere on local stations?" Li Xiuwu heard this information about Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils from Zhao Jian.

"To be precise, the Zhejiang Education and Technology Channel purchased the premiere rights at a high price of seventy thousand per episode. Other local stations will start broadcasting a day later," Zhao Jian said.

"Shouldn't it be satellite TV first, then local stations?"

This news was unexpected for Li Xiuwu.

"The reasons are quite complex." Zhao Jian and Zhou Xiaowen explained the operational logic of television programs to Li Xiuwu.

To summarize, production costs for film and television are rising, but TV station revenues haven't increased. Producers need to recoup costs as quickly as possible, so they adopt a strategy of selling to multiple local platforms first. After recouping the costs, they then go on satellite TV to expand the drama's influence.

This was a sales method for film and television during a special period.

Li Xiuwu roughly understood the operational logic.

Local first, multi-platform. Local stations offer much higher prices because they have regional restrictions and won't affect each other's ratings.

If it goes on satellite first, the price isn't much higher than local stations, but the ratings cover the whole country. Once the satellite broadcast ends and it's sold to local stations, they won't pay a high price.

In the end, it was all down to economics.

Therefore, after the premiere press conference, Li Xiuwu and the other lead actors had to go to places like Zhejiang and Sichuan to record programs for the local stations that had purchased the broadcasting rights.

"Why isn't she coming?" Big Beard Zhang's angry voice drifted over. He was questioning his assistant.

"The Elder played by Shu Chang is only a supporting role. There's no requirement in the contract for her to cooperate with the promotion," the assistant explained.

"She's an actress, so she has the responsibility to cooperate with the production's promotion." Big Beard Zhang didn't care about any of that. She was a supporting character then and indeed wasn't important, but now Shu Chang was this year's top scholar of the college entrance examination.

If both Li Xiuwu and Shu Chang were invited, it would be a major promotional point for the TV drama.

Li Xiuwu frowned and looked over. This Big Beard Zhang...

...is already on the path to death!

The assistant went to make contact, but he could only reach Shu Chang's manager, Huang Bin. If his boss weren't also in the cast, Huang Bin wouldn't have even bothered with them.

Huang Bin asked Li Xiuwu for instructions.

"Just handle it normally. If he threatens you, remember that Shu Chang is now a student at Peking University."

Big Beard Zhang grumbled and cursed, but there was nothing he could do. Did he dare go to Peking University to demand someone?

The premiere press conference for Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils began, and everyone sat on stage according to their roles.

He sat to the left of Zhou Xiaowen, with Mu Wanqing beside him.

Jiang Xin looked at Li Xiuwu's profile. Li Xiuwu felt a notification from the system and turned his head.

Jiang Xin immediately withdrew her gaze, lowering her head with a bit of a guilty conscience.

[Detected top-tier cauldron Jiang Xin, Favorability: 73]

Li Xiuwu looked at Jiang Xin's pretty face. This cauldron's favorability was still over seventy; after nearly a year, it hadn't dropped much.

Had he become her "white moonlight"?

He rubbed his chin. If it were anyone else, he really would want to try how "getting close" could increase his cultivation.

It was just that this Jiang Xin even dared to slap the director during filming. Li Xiuwu was truly afraid that after "getting close," he'd be stabbed by her.

Jiang Xin kept her head down. She could feel Li Xiuwu observing her, and her heart pounded. At eighteen, only a year younger than Li Xiuwu, she was at that age of budding romance—the time when one is most easily moved and feelings are at their purest.

For a year, she had tried to forget. Even in Chinese Paladin, she had deliberately avoided contact with Li Xiuwu. Yet, instead of fading away, Li Xiuwu's image in her heart had only become clearer.

Every time she woke up at midnight, it was from the scene of the bedroom encounter between Duan Yu and Sister Wan—the part that had been interrupted after the kissing and caressing continued in her dreams.