"This year's most obnoxious newcomer in the entertainment industry poll—I wonder who everyone hates the most? Come and vote now!" -> Vote Now!
Jiang Liulan never expected to make it onto the trending search list in this manner.
With three parts curiosity and seven parts disdain, Jiang Liulan opened the ranking. Sure enough, his name was right there, sitting awkwardly in the middle, neither too high nor too low. In the words of anti-fans: he was still a nobody, but the fact that he had terrible character had already spread across the entire entertainment industry.
"Laughing to death, a nobody is a nobody. You can curse him for a full week and he still won't get famous."
"Does anyone actually stan a hoodlum nowadays?"
"Trash Jiang Liulan, get out of the entertainment industry!"
"Please support our hoodlum brother and help him get kicked out of the entertainment industry! Come vote together! [Smirk]"
Jiang Liulan ignored all the sarcasm and abuse in the comment section, tapped directly on the poll creator's profile, and confirmed that this was just a completely unremarkable gossip account.
Normally, everyone would simply ignore such blatant attempts to start fan wars instead of coming over with the celebrity's profile picture to lobby votes for other artists like this. But Jiang Liulan was an exception; nowadays in fandom circles, anyone with a pulse wanted to come stomp on him twice.
To demonstrate just how detestable he was to clueless passersby, someone had thoughtfully attached a video of his "evil deeds" beneath the poll, with the caption: Come and see how a hoodlum talks back.
Manager Liu Ang had just hung up a phone call. Seeing that Jiang Liulan was still looking down at his optical computer, he finally couldn't help advising him, "Stop looking. Do you feel like you haven't been cursed at enough? Chen Yan's fans are not someone you can mess with, and once you've offended him, his fans won't let you go either. Just don't look at Weibo for a while. Wait until the storm blows over."
The optical computer on his wrist was still glowing faintly. Liulan glanced at the beating text on it and, facing his manager's advice, showed not a shred of guilt, emphasizing in a steady tone, "I was merely stating facts to refute someone else's verbal insults. I didn't do anything wrong."
"Merely refuting?" Liu Ang's voice spiked two octaves uncontrollably. "You practically mocked someone to tears! Who was that? Ah! That's Chen Yan, the top ten traffic star in the Federation! How dare you?"
"He started it, so he's despicable. He provoked me, and I just talked back a couple of times."
"Couldn't you just endure it?"
Seeing that Jiang Liulan's fingers had started scrolling through his optical computer again—clearly having lost interest in listening to him—Liu Ang let out a long sigh, reached out, and tapped his optical computer dark, saying in utter despair, "Anyway, do me a favor and watch your words and actions in the coming days. Stop blurting out whatever pops into your head."
Liulan looked at the darkened screen of his optical computer, said nothing else, and merely asked, "As long as I become a top star, can I say whatever I want?"
Seeing him speak so brazenly without the slightest trace of a guilty conscience, Liu Ang felt his brow twitch violently, and his head ached endlessly. "Where on earth do you get your confidence? A top star? It's a miracle the company hasn't frozen your career!"
Liulan curled his lip and refrained from further provoking his manager.
Liu Ang let out a long sigh and earnestly advised, "Although the gig came suddenly... taking part in Land of the Strong this time is your final chance. You must cherish it and stop offending people, or no one will be able to help you."
"I know," Liulan replied offhandedly, turning his head to look out the window.
Not far behind them, the staff members of Land of the Strong were rushing to move expensive shooting equipment onto the boarding ramp.
Actually, even Liulan himself couldn't figure out why his company would let him participate in Land of the Strong.
As the Federation's only national defense education and military camp experience variety show in cooperation with the military, the status of Land of the Strong in the entertainment industry went without saying. Countless artists in the industry must have wanted to participate in such a show. How did such a massive pie fall onto the head of a nobody who had been cursed onto the trending searches just one week after his debut? Liulan harbored deep suspicions about this.
While he was distracted, Liu Ang suddenly jumped up, pointed somewhere, and let out a loud exclamation. Startled, Liulan immediately looked in the direction he was pointing—
A staff member carrying filming equipment had been bumped by a strange man who appeared out of nowhere. The precious equipment was about to crash to the ground, but the culprit not only showed no reaction, his pace of leaving became even faster, looking entirely like someone trying to escape the scene.
"What the hell...!" someone among the crowd cursed.
Liu Ang stepped back in fright, but a figure beside him sprinted in the opposite direction.
"Liulan!"
Liulan didn't hesitate for half a second; he rushed straight forward and reached out to steady the toppling equipment. The equipment, which normally required two people exerting force simultaneously to move, somehow didn't fall any further. With Liulan's help, the staff member quickly regained balance, averting a heart-wrenching "tragedy."
Just when everyone thought everything had settled, Jiang Liulan, who had just steadied the equipment, suddenly spun around and leaped forward before anyone could react, dodging a passerby and kicking the source of the commotion flying.
Liulan's movement was crisp and decisive. The strange man who had knocked over the equipment took a heavy blow, flew over three meters away, and passed out cold on the ground.
This rapid sequence of events shocked everyone around into a daze, unsure how to react. It wasn't until a few more people rushed out from the crowd to check on the strange man's condition that the scene erupted into a uproar.
"Oh mother, what happened here?"
"Is someone beating people up?"
The producer and director emerged from the crowd at this moment, surrounding the equipment and staff to conduct a thorough inspection.
Confirming that both the people and the equipment were fine, the producer and director both let out sighs of relief.
The director looked at Liulan, then at the culprit surrounded by several men, initially showing a trace of surprise that quickly vanished.
Although there was a reason for it, Liulan knocking someone unconscious in public was no small matter. With anti-fans helping fuel the fire, it might even launch this program straight onto the black trending searches. Seeing the director's strange expression, Jiang Liulan could already foresee his own outcome, yet he didn't show the slightest trace of a guilty conscience or a faltering spirit.
To his surprise, the director had no intention of sweeping the matter under the rug. Instead, without a second word, he blocked in front of Liulan and questioned the men on the ground: "What is wrong with you guys?! Are you blind? Can't you see we're carrying things here?"
Seeing that the director was entirely intent on picking a fight with them, Liulan was surprised.
Confirming that the strange man had lost consciousness, the leader among the group stood up and pulled a small leather wallet from his jacket pocket. The exterior of the wallet prominently displayed the exclusive badge belonging to the Federal Police, and everyone around immediately understood the identities of these people.
The lead police officer quickly flashed his badge at Liulan, the director, and the others, then said, "Hello, we are Federal Police."
His motion of displaying the badge was extremely fast—just enough for people to realize he was a policeman, while everything else remained a blur. While the director and producer were easily brushed off, Liulan caught a glimpse of more crucial information on the badge at a single glance—
Security Bureau?
Liulan frowned slightly.
Still shaken by the fact that their equipment had almost been smashed, the producer and director were in rather foul moods. Upon hearing that these were Federal Police officers, the director's expression immediately softened, and his tone followed suit: "May I ask what is going on here?"
The police officer explained, "This man is suspected of drug smuggling, and we have been tracking him for a long time. He only realized just now that we were tailing him, which is why he deliberately bumped into your staff members—probably trying to create some chaos and seize the opportunity to escape."
Hearing this, the producer and director broke out in cold sweat simultaneously.
With equipment worth several millions, if it had smashed, chaos would have been the least of their worries!
Liu Ang forcefully broke through the crowd, wedged himself in, inspected Liulan's condition up and down, grabbed his arm in lingering fear, and asked in a low voice, "What was with that kick just now? Have you practiced martial arts?"
Liulan's calm expression formed a sharp contrast with Liu Ang's. He pulled back his arm and offhandedly brushed it off, "I've learned a bit."
Fortunately, thanks to Liulan's timely kick, neither the production crew nor the police suffered any losses, and no disputes delayed the filming. Everyone let out a breath of relief. The Federal Police had no intention of interacting much with them; after giving a brief explanation, they left with their suspect.
Seeing that the matter was resolved, the producer hurriedly turned around and grabbed Jiang Liulan's hand, acting entirely like someone looking at their savior: "Thank you! Thank you so much, benefactor! If it weren't for you, our show would have been ruined!"
A smashed piece of equipment meant not only a massive financial loss, but also that the show would be forced to postpone filming.
Liulan shook hands back politely for a moment, then calmly brushed his hand away, merely raising his chin in the face of their gushing praise.
As the producer went on and on with his "benefactor" remarks, Liu Ang instantly realized that the other party had forgotten Liulan's name, so he quickly took over the conversation: "We should be the ones thanking Brother Dong and Director Zhang for being willing to give Liulan this opportunity!"
Director Zhang Chong's smile grew even warmer as he waved his hand and said, "Hey! There's no need to talk about giving opportunities or not; Liulan is outstanding enough on his own for us to reach a cooperation."
Following Director Zhang's appreciative gaze, Liu Ang also glanced at Liulan, and the resentment he felt just moments ago instantly dissipated by more than half.
One had to admit that among all the artists Liu Ang had managed in his many years in the entertainment industry, Liulan truly had the best temperament and posture. Whether standing or sitting, every move he made was full of poise. Coupled with a face that was second to none, Liu Ang had once believed that it was only a matter of time before Liulan became famous.
It was just a pity that he was too competitive and prone to offending people. In the entertainment industry, lacking good interpersonal skills meant everything else was wasted.
Producer Dong also smiled and said, "Liulan is handsome and can fight—he's a perfect match for our show!"
Hearing the producer's words, Liu Ang not only failed to look happy, but his smile even faded slightly. "Liulan just happened to luck out."
"You can't say it like that!" Zhang Chong disagreed. "Just—just the kick Liulan pulled off a moment ago was clearly practiced. When I looked at the resume your company submitted earlier, didn't it say he had martial arts experience?"
As soon as Zhang Chong said this, both Liulan and Liu Ang froze slightly.
The producer chimed in with a couple more remarks, essentially implying that a major reason they chose Liulan was because of his past martial arts experience, making his physical fitness superior to others.
The more Liu Ang listened, the worse his expression became. Unwilling to linger on this topic for long, he patted Liulan on the back and offered a smiling remark to Zhang Chong: "Those were just amateur scuffles... Liulan just debuted and doesn't understand much. Please take good care of him during the recording period, Director Zhang."
"Easy, easy!"
The Starship bound for the military-designated shooting camp was about to set sail, and the producer and director were right in the middle of their busy schedules. After exchanging just a few words, the two of them went off to tend to their respective tasks.
The moment Zhang Chong and Brother Dong walked away, Liu Ang's expression flipped instantly. He pulled Liulan aside and asked in a low voice, "What's this about martial arts?"
"I was going to ask you," Liulan said. "I thought you told the director."
"That's bizarre," Liu Ang frowned. "When did you ever learn martial arts? How come I didn't know?"
"The resume you had me fill out when I first joined the company—I wrote martial arts down under personal skills."
"What?!" Liu Ang's eyes widened. He hurriedly woke up his optical computer, flipped through it rapidly, and his face turned ashen: "It's over. The boss must not have used the resume I gave him, and instead handed the very first resume you submitted to the company over to the production team."
Liu Ang's reaction was so extraordinarily huge that Liulan couldn't help but wonder, "Is martial arts something Director Zhang shouldn't know about?"
"Oh my god," Liu Ang's eyebrows were practically tied into a knot. "Those half-baked skills you learned at some martial arts studio outside—how could they possibly compare to proper military combat techniques? Well, now the director has the wrong expectations for you. Won't they torture you to death in the base this month?"
So that was it...
Liulan's expression remained unchanged as he replied in a calm tone, "It's fine. My martial arts are very good."
Liu Ang gave him a sideways glance and sighed helplessly, "Do you think the stuff you practiced are actually divine arts from television shows and novels? Who doesn't know that martial arts schools are scams nowadays to cheat people out of money? You're the only one who would believe it!"
Liulan originally wanted to explain, but Liu Ang completely ignored him and went on on his own, "Fine, since we've already been scammed, there's no use complaining more. Right now, we should figure out how to deal with the director and the instructors."
"Too late." Liulan turned to face the boarding information screen, pointed at a line of text, and said expressionlessly, "We're boarding."
Liu Ang felt a splitting headache coming on.