Xiao He and Xiao Chen had a very enjoyable time in Milan.
However, they still didn't linger for long. After celebrating with everyone, they immediately flew back overnight to Carlo Berland Island where filming was ongoing.
By the time they landed, it was already early morning.
Xiao He felt sore all over his body, as if his bones were creaking with every movement.
Fortunately, the resort had everything available. Even though it was already two or three in the morning, there were still staff serving them. Xiao He didn't stand on ceremony either, asking them to send two massage therapists over to "loosen up their muscles and bones" for him and Xiao Chen.
The old masters truly had strong hands. Xiao He lay face down on the bed, experiencing that mix of pain and pleasure, while also unwillingly opening his system panel to check his point situation—
Since "Law of the Jungle" was released, his point growth had experienced another small peak. After deducting the several lottery draws and maximum guarantees he had used before, he now had nearly three hundred thousand points again.
It's just a pity that many things had happened previously, otherwise he might have been very close to a million points by now!
Xiao He felt both excited and somewhat melancholy.
His physical fitness still needed improvement. He didn't know when he would be able to save up to a million points to draw from the high-level prize pool...
If he could improve his physical fitness, he wouldn't get as tired as he did now when traveling back and forth to these places.
But then, Xiao He discovered a key point—
"Damn, wait a minute, why should I spend points to improve my own physical fitness just so I can continue working like a beast of burden?"
Xiao He, who had been about to fall asleep, suddenly sat up.
What difference was there between this and a beast of burden buying coffee for itself to stay alert and work better?!
But then, his exhausted body made him collapse heavily back down.
Forget it, he wouldn't think about this anymore. He was already living comfortably enough, and points were ultimately external possessions.
So indeed, sleep was more important...
...
In the following days, Xiao He continued filming with the production team, while Liu Rulan remained in Shanghai handling studio matters.
In the blink of an eye, late May arrived.
On this day, the Shanghai Television Festival official website and its official Weibo account simultaneously released the White Magnolia Awards nomination list.
And on that list, there was clearly the name "Xiao He" from "Starry Radiance"!
Simultaneously, the internet also sprang into action upon hearing the news, beginning a new round of hype and competition for attention.
When Xiao He learned this news, he had just finished filming the car repair scenes. He slid out from under the car and looked at Xiao Chen with some surprise.
"Yes, Brother Xiao, it's for Best Supporting Actor!"
Xiao Chen excitedly waved his phone.
"Xiao He, congratulations!"
The actor playing Zhu Penglin congratulated Xiao He with a smile.
Xiao He quickly waved his hand: "This is still uncertain for now, but I appreciate your auspicious words, Teacher Zhu."
Coincidentally, this actor playing Zhu Penglin was also surnamed Zhu, called Zhu Huiwen.
Zhu Huiwen had just turned 30 this year, considered relatively young among the production team's actors. However, his traffic and recognition were now far behind Xiao He's.
"Just being nominated is already very impressive. You should have confidence in yourself."
Zhu Huiwen gave Xiao He a thumbs-up.
Given Xiao He's current capabilities, if he could get nominated once, he could get nominated twice, three times... Winning awards might just be a matter of time.
But for those like them who lacked ability and kept circling in supporting roles, their dreams remained distant and uncertain...
Zhu Huiwen grew sentimental.
Unaware of Zhu Huiwen's melancholy, Xiao He smiled friendly at him, then took Xiao Chen aside to discuss the White Magnolia Awards matter.
"Who are the competitors? Do I still have hope?"
"Brother Xiao, you can't be so lacking in ambition! You definitely can do it!"
Xiao Chen raised his voice.
Xiao He shrugged his shoulders, lifted the towel tied to his overalls to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and said: "Mainly because my Meng Zetian role is somewhat risky. If it were for a newcomer award, I might have a chance, but White Magnolia doesn't have a newcomer award. Asking me to directly win the supporting actor award isn't very realistic."
Besides, if he wanted to win awards, one Meng Zetian role wouldn't be enough—he would definitely have other opportunities in the future.
"No, no, no!"
But Xiao Chen had already transformed into Xiao He's die-hard fan, stubbornly insisting: "Brother Xiao, you definitely can do it!"
Xiao He massaged his forehead with a headache.
He now understood why some celebrities became arrogant after suddenly becoming popular—when surrounded by flatterers and hearing such words every day, how could they not become arrogant?
"Alright, alright, we'll discuss this later. When does Sister Liu want us to return?"
"Return on June 5th."
As he spoke, Xiao Chen somewhat troubledly rested his chin on his hand: "But I feel like Sister Liu seems very busy recently. She just told me the time and then hung up the phone—"
Then Xiao Chen's expression changed: "Oh no, Brother Xiao, could Sister Liu have found a new artist!"
Xiao He expressionlessly "thumped" him on the head: "Speak properly."
Sister Liu was definitely busy with studio matters—this brat was always letting his imagination run wild.
"Ouch, I was wrong, Brother. Watch your image—what if someone films this and spreads rumors about you assaulting your assistant?"
As he spoke, Xiao Chen even looked around very cautiously, though his movements always carried a strong sense of sneakiness.
Xiao He: ...That's very entertainment industry indeed.
Xiao He cleared his throat lightly: "Then I'll call and ask her later. I really haven't been paying much attention to her situation recently."
Logically speaking, as a workaholic who handled everything for her artists personally without delegating to others, it was indeed strange that she hadn't appeared recently.
Could there be problems at the studio?
During the subsequent filming, Xiao He was somewhat distracted, but after being scolded by Ning Jiaqi a few times, he readjusted his mindset.
In the evening, after returning to the hotel, Xiao He immediately called Liu Rulan.
...
At this moment, it was around 9 AM in China, and Linghui Studio was already bustling with activity.
Liu Rulan had just hung up the phone when operations team member Xiao Zhou came in: "Sister Liu, it's handled."
"Good."
Liu Rulan breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed her temples, and gestured for Xiao Zhou to leave.
Another call came through.
"Hello? How did it go?"
"Well, I found out."
He Wenming's voice came from the other end: "Apparently, Beijing's Xingchen Film Industry is applying internal pressure, prohibiting any of their production teams from sending scripts to Xiao He."
"So it's them—"
Liu Rulan's expression turned more serious, "Did you find out why?"
"No. Maybe you should ask Xiao He about this first."
"I've already had an assistant indirectly ask around. Xiao He has been filming abroad recently and hasn't had any interaction with their company whatsoever." Liu Rulan sighed, "He'll finish filming soon, I'll ask him then. This matter is somewhat troublesome."
Actually, Liu Rulan hadn't noticed anything wrong at first.
It wasn't until a few days ago, when operations team member Xiao Zhou cautiously approached Liu Rulan and told her that Xiao He's online reputation seemed somewhat off recently, that she became alert to someone stirring trouble behind the scenes.
At first, it was just ambiguous messages circulating in various small groups.
They claimed that Xiao He had once bullied a female student at school, leading to her suicide by jumping off a building. However, due to Xiao He's parents' influence and power, the incident was suppressed.
These messages even included screenshots from school forum posts and heavily blurred scene photos. Since they generally only circulated within various small groups without spreading publicly, the studio hadn't noticed the problem initially.
Then, as these messages accumulated and began spreading across various platforms, operations team member Xiao Zhou finally noticed this public opinion risk.