The man's voice sounded muffled through the mask.
Xia Zhi turned his back to the door, holding the cup with his right hand, his heart trembling slightly. Hearing this voice again, it was familiar yet strange.
Fang Yuan was very excited and took the initiative to stand up and go to the door to greet him. Because there were outsiders present, he did not call out his name, but smiled and stretched out his hand: "Come on."
"Brother Yuan." The man also extended his hand and shook it back, his tone somewhat cold.
Fang Yuan smiled indifferently and told the waiter at the door that the food was ready.
The waiter bowed slightly and left through the door.
The door of the box was closed again, and the man finally took off the mask. Under the mask, he had handsome features and clear lines, just like the male star Xia Zhi had seen on the advertising screen of the shopping mall on the way here.
Anyone who pays attention to the entertainment industry will be familiar with this face, because at the film festival a month ago, this man just won the first Best Actor trophy in his life. Now he is in the limelight and is being reported by major entertainment news outlets.
Jiang Zhixia has been in the industry for eight years. He entered the film and television industry at the age of 21. His first film became a hit, and he became famous overnight, jumping from the eighteenth line to the quasi-first line. Everyone said that he was lucky and reached the peak as soon as he debuted, but no one knew that before entering the film and television industry, he had actually been struggling in the entertainment industry for two years as a member of Victoria ZaaHir.
Netizens are right to say that Victoria is an obscure and mysterious group. Probably no one would have thought that such an unknown boy band could be full of hidden talents...
Sang Luo, Cheng Yunan and Xiao Han were also excited to see their former teammates and stood up. However, Xia Zhi did not move, his body was a little stiff.
Sang Luo touched his arm calmly before leaving his seat. Xia Zhi raised his head and saw the other person's meaningful look.
He sighed silently, put down the cup, stood up resignedly, and walked over with Sang Luo.
Sang Luo hugged Jiang Zhixia and said with a smile: "Why didn't you tell us in advance that you would be coming back today."
"It's a temporary decision." Jiang Zhixia explained in a calm voice with a faint smile on his lips.
Sang Luo nodded in understanding, and reached out to pull Xia Zhi, who was hiding behind him, to his front. As he moved, Jiang Zhixia's sight also smoothly fell on Xia Zhi, his expression was still indifferent, but his Adam's apple trembled slightly.
Xia Zhi knew that he couldn't avoid it, so he walked to Jiang Zhixia's front, pretended to be calm, stretched out his right hand, and tried to force a smile: "Long time no see."
Jiang Zhixia looked him straight in the eyes, and stretched out her hand to shake his after a little delay, and whispered back, "Long time no see."
Only then did the four people who had been standing by and watching silently breathe a sigh of relief and smiled with relief at the same time.
Fang Yuan also came over and asked everyone to take a seat with a smile.
Everyone returned to their respective seats and sat down. Jiang Zhixia looked around and saw that only the seat to Xia Zhi's left was empty, so he calmly sat down.
Fang Yuan was eager to get down to business, so as soon as everyone sat down, he quickly got to the point: "What do you think about the group show?"
"Brother Fang," Sang Luo was the first to speak up, "Before we make a decision, shouldn't you tell us why Chuanxing insists on doing a group show for Victoria?"
"You were once part of Chuanxing, so I won't hide it from you." Fang Yuan seemed to have expected him to ask this. He sighed softly, crossed his hands on the table, and said in a deep tone, "In fact, Chuanxing has encountered some crises recently."
Chuanxing has not been developing smoothly in recent years. It has not been able to promote new artists and has been losing money on investments in movies and TV. Its financial losses have become more serious year by year, and it is now on the verge of bankruptcy. However, not long ago, a signed artist of Chuanxing became popular on the Internet by accident.
It is said that the star regarded him as a lifeline and almost bet all his wealth on him. However, things never go as planned. Just a week ago, the artist had a car accident on the way to an event and was seriously injured. He is expected to stay in the hospital for one or two months.
The entertainment industry is changing rapidly, with new artists debuting every day. A one-month window period is a fatal blow to an artist who has just become popular, and it also adds another heavy blow to the already precarious Chuanxing. Chuanxing’s boss was completely desperate and even decided to go bankrupt, but Victoria unexpectedly became a hot topic.
At first, Chuanxing did not attract much attention. After all, it was not an honor to be on the hot search list for the most obscure boy band in the domestic entertainment industry. People thought that netizens would just make fun of it and it would be over. However, what no one expected was that Victoria's popularity rose instead of falling for three consecutive days, and even topped the topic list on the third day.
Chuan Xing then began to realize that things were not simple, and held an emergency meeting. As everyone watched Victoria's popularity rise day by day, they all came up with an absurd and bold idea.
Everyone was at a loss whether to laugh or cry after hearing Fang Yuan's explanation - to do a variety show for a group that had long been disbanded was an absurd and bold idea.
Fang Yuan rubbed his hands again and looked at the five people with pleading eyes: "Chuanxing is in a difficult situation now. After all, you were once part of the company. Please help the company for the sake of our past friendship!"
However, the five people present fell silent, and no one made a decision immediately.
Although they are no longer artists of Chuanxing, they really can't bear to watch it go bankrupt. At this time, everyone's expressions have obviously relaxed compared to before.
It's just that... there are no fools here. No one would be so foolish as to believe that a company can be saved from danger by relying on a trending search and a boy band that has long been disbanded. The so-called group variety show is obviously just a cover. The real purpose of the star transmission is probably...
Thinking of this, Xia Zhi glanced at Jiang Zhixia on his left calmly.
Jiang Zhixia was leaning back in the chair with her hands folded, her head slightly lowered, as if she was lost in thought because of Fang Yuan's words, or as if she was distracted.
Although Jiang Zhixia is now a first-line artist in the circle, he has always been very low-key and rarely appears in any entertainment variety shows. One reason is to maintain the mystery of the actor, and the other is that his personality is rather dull and he is not good at variety shows.
But even so, he has always been a hot topic, and he just won the Best Actor award recently, so his popularity has not subsided yet. If news broke out at this time that Jiang Zhixia was once a member of Victoria and would participate in a group variety show, it would unsurprisingly cause an uproar on the Internet.
Therefore, Xia Zhi knew very well that Jiang Zhixia was the most critical part of this plan to save the crisis. However, convincing Jiang Zhixia to agree was also the most difficult part.
Seeing that no one responded, Fang Yuan began to get anxious, but he didn't dare to pursue the matter. Just then the waiter came in to deliver the food, so he considerately said that they should eat first and talk after that.
During the meal, Fang Yuan was trying to find topics to adjust the slightly dull atmosphere at the table. He also tried his best to avoid talking about the group show and kept chatting with everyone. However, since it was related to the survival of the company, the group show was like a huge rock pressing on his chest. Fang Yuan was in a bad mood and drank a few glasses of wine. As a result, he accidentally drank too much and talked about the group show again.
Fang Yuan drank the wine in his hand, sighed deeply, and said with a sad face: "In fact, the company originally wanted to make a group variety show for you, but the group never developed, so the matter was eventually shelved."
Upon hearing this, everyone put down their chopsticks and looked at him.
Fang Yuan didn't seem to notice everyone's gazes. He stroked the wine glass with his fingers, lowered his head and murmured, "If this can be done successfully this time, it can be regarded as making up for Victoria's regret."
Everyone was silent, and some past events suddenly emerged in their minds.
Eight years ago, before Victoria's first performance, the five of them huddled together in a dark, narrow corner of the backstage to cheer each other on. After the performance, Fang Yuan took them to a roadside stall for a midnight snack. Everyone drank, and when they walked back to the dormitory, they mistook the plane's navigation lights for shooting stars and made wishes to take Victoria to the most dazzling stage.
Everyone had a bit of a tasteless meal. And by the end of the meal, no conclusion had been reached on the group show because Fang Yuan got himself drunk halfway through the meal.
Everyone had no choice but to contact Fang Yuan’s wife to take him home first.
Fang Yuan's early departure did not have much impact on Xia Zhi and the others, and the atmosphere at the table became more harmonious. In the second half, everyone talked about their recent situation while eating, and the atmosphere gradually became warmer. Xiao Han took the opportunity to suggest finding a place to have a few drinks after dinner.
However, this proposal was not realized in the end, because as soon as the dinner was over, Jiang Zhixia was picked up by her agent to catch a plane.
Xiao Han looked at Jiang Zhixia's hurriedly leaving back and said with emotion: "Old Jiang has really become a frequent flyer, flying to three cities a day."
Cheng Yunan asked: "So he came back specially just to have a meal with us?"
"I guess that's the case." Xiao Han wiped his tears and said, "Lao Jiang, you are my good brother! You are so loyal and righteous. I want to write a song to praise him!"
Sang Luo leaned back in his chair and smiled lazily: "Forget it, you said before that you would write a song to praise me, how long has it been, where is your song?"
"I've finished writing it. I was planning to send it to you in a few days."
"Have you finished writing it?" Sang Luo asked with interest, "How about you sing a few lines for me first?"
"Okay." Xiao Han agreed readily, "Listen carefully."
Xiao Han cleared his throat and sat up straight, then picked up a spoon as a microphone, closed his eyes, and sang with emotion.
"Little goblin~oh~you are a annoying little goblin~~oh oh~you are naturally charming~you seduce everyone~even the overbearing president loses his mind for you~oh yes~"
"puff-"
(End of this chapter)