Unspoken Rules?

Watching Wen Chengze's retreating back as he turned and left, Zhong Mohan fell into thought. He hadn't said anything that crossed a line just now, had he? Why was Wen Chengze angry again?

He had originally wanted to catch up and coax him, but at that very moment, his assistants and a whole group of filming cameras happened to arrive.

Even if he wanted to go after him, he could only put it aside for now. He could use some influence to suppress unfavorable comments about Wen Chengze, but after watching Xiao Ze's debut short drama, he had realized that Xiao Ze was talented in this area. He couldn't let him get caught up in negative news before he had even begun to shine.

"Brother Zhong, we bought the things you asked for." Several assistants carried multiple bags in their hands.

Zhong Mohan had not been lying when he said he had come to take a look, but Wen Chengze's snacks had all been personally selected by him. Naturally, no one else received that kind of treatment.

"Mm, let's go. We only need to film a few segments later. The stars of this show are still the trainees." The latter half was directed at the camera crew.

Although Zhong Mohan did not participate in variety shows, he was still the show's producer. He had to contribute some buzz to his own program.

The cameras had not followed Zhong Mohan when he went to see Wen Chengze earlier; there had only been cameras in the room. So everyone had behaved relatively naturally around Zhong Mohan, but the other trainees were dumbfounded the moment they saw Zhong Mohan and the camera crew.

Without Wen Chengze around, Zhong Mohan immediately turned back into that lofty, aloof Best Actor. The time he spent meeting all the other trainees combined was not even as long as the time he had spent with Wen Chengze.

Zhong Mohan's arrival had a huge impact on the trainees. Even though it only lasted a few minutes, it caused an uproar in the trainee group chat.

The trainees participating in this show had previously created a large group chat. Nearly a hundred people were in it, and it was lively every day.

However, Wen Chengze generally did not participate. He would only occasionally open the chat to take a look, while the other four youngsters were quite active.

Wen Chengze felt that this was probably what young people were like. They had endless energy and could start chatting about anything.

He Zeyu: [Image]

He Zeyu: [Best Actor Zhong is so ridiculously handsome in person! And why did no one tell us in advance that he was coming today? I didn't even put on makeup!]

Fang Yuyu: [Who didn't get caught off guard? I was even wearing pajamas, ahhhhh! My image in front of my idol!]

Guan Zhengyang: [Image]

Guan Zhengyang: [Even the snacks bought by the Best Actor smell better than the ones I buy myself!]

Jiang Xingwen: [It's just that Best Actor Zhong stayed for such a short time. Only a few minutes! I want to look at him for another hundred million years!]

The trainee group chat immediately turned into a massive fan-girling scene.

Yet the four people who were usually the most active in the chat stared at the messages and did not dare say a single word.

They compared the snacks Zhong Mohan had brought them with everyone else's. Wasn't this blatantly playing favorites on an enormous scale?

And those few minutes—Brother Zhong had clearly stayed with them for at least half an hour just now. In the end, Brother Wen had even driven him away!!!

The four exchanged glances and silently agreed not to say anything in the group chat. Otherwise, they would easily draw resentment.

Then the four remembered that Brother Wen had seemed a little angry when he came back. Had Brother Wen and Brother Zhong argued?

As the saying went, one's mouth grew soft after eating someone else's food, and one's hand grew weak after taking someone else's things. The four decided to help Best Actor Zhong salvage a few points of goodwill.

"Brother Wen, have you seen the messages in the group chat?"

"No. What happened?" As he spoke, he took out his phone.

Then Wen Chengze saw the unusually lively trainee group chat.

Looking at the messages in the group, then raising his head to meet the four boys' gazes, Wen Chengze's ears inexplicably grew warm, though his face showed nothing.

Seeing that his expression had not changed much, the four became faintly anxious.

"Brother Wen, Brother Zhong seems to treat you very differently."

Wen Chengze lied with his eyes open. "Does he? I didn't notice."

The four: ...

The little cake was still in the refrigerator. Did he want to think that over before saying it?!

Seeing their looks, Wen Chengze gave a light cough. "You're so nosy. Why don't you go ask Zhong Mohan yourselves?"

Ask Zhong Mohan? The four immediately shook their heads. Although Best Actor Zhong had been very gentle with them earlier, it had definitely been only for Brother Wen's sake.

The subject ended there, but the heat in Wen Chengze's ears refused to fade.

He could not quite figure out what Zhong Mohan was suddenly doing.

Because of Zhong Mohan's unexpected visit, all the trainees were still excited even by evening. When filming began that night, no one felt tired at all.

Since the second episode involved choosing mentors and deciding the content of their next performance, the production team had not specifically set aside a large block of time. Instead, they planned to finish filming at night and leave as much daytime as possible for the trainees to prepare.

After all, for a show to succeed, its gimmick was only one part of it. The quality of the show accounted for an even larger part.

When Wen Chengze and the others arrived that night, the trainees were still talking about Zhong Mohan.

Wen Chengze could not help himself this time and asked the person beside him, "Do you all like Zhong Mohan that much?"

The four looked at Wen Chengze as though he were an alien. "Brother Wen, you seriously don't know? From his looks to his professional ability, Brother Zhong crushes a whole crowd of people in the entertainment industry. He's the industry's uncrowned king. Some people would even spend tens of millions just to catch a glimpse of Best Actor Zhong."

Wen Chengze: ...

Wasn't that a little exaggerated? Zhong Mohan did not have three heads and six arms.

The four finally understood. Brother Wen really had no feelings whatsoever for Zhong Mohan.

They silently lit a candle for Brother Zhong. It was quite pitiful for him to run into someone like Brother Wen.

No matter how much the trainees' thoughts churned, filming time had arrived. One by one, they reined themselves in.

There were eight mentors in total, but there would not be only eight groups. Many groups would inevitably choose the same mentor. Although there was no fixed number of groups each mentor had to take, they still worried that they would not be chosen by their mentor.

So this was where a little strategy came in.

The host stood onstage and announced the rules. "In three minutes, please have the leader of each group stand behind the mentor your group has chosen."

After a brief discussion, the eight mentors lined up across the stage.

Wen Chengze did not know whether it was his imagination, but he felt that Teacher Kong had deliberately glanced at him just now.

Soon, everyone took their places.

More people had chosen the popular celebrity mentors than the serious senior artists.

After all, everyone participating in this show was a newcomer. Many people still wanted traffic and exposure right now, and following a mentor with huge popularity would naturally bring them attention as well.

But the mentors' reverse selections were rather interesting.

For the groups that had chosen the senior artists, all the mentors accepted them under the principle of teaching without discrimination.

But things were different for the popular celebrity mentors. They had to know their limits, or they would be mocked mercilessly later. More importantly, that was how they could generate discussion.

After some selection, three groups were ultimately rejected.

Qiao Siyu had initially been chosen by the most people, but her group alone sent back two groups.

At first, everyone had thought that a female mentor might be thin-skinned and gentle. They had not expected her to be the harshest one.

The mentor selection segment quickly passed.

Then the mentors each brought their trainees to their respective lounge areas.

When Kong Feimiao saw Wen Chengze's group choose him, he secretly nodded. He was as happy as if he had tricked a tender young cabbage into his hands.

Each mentor's lounge had been decorated according to their own style. Teacher Kong's was more like a tea room, and the faint fragrance of tea drifted through the air after they entered.

Although Wen Chengze liked coffee, he also loved the scent of tea deeply.

In such an environment, he could not help but relax.

As a proper artist, Teacher Kong exchanged a few simple pleasantries with everyone before getting straight to the point.

"I have five scripts here, and we have three groups. Take a look first and choose one. Take your time. There's no rush."

Wen Chengze left the decision of which characters their group would play entirely to the four boys. He could play anything anyway.

Seeing that Wen Chengze did not seem very interested, Teacher Kong raised his brows.

He sat down beside Wen Chengze. "Why aren't you looking at the scripts?"

"Anything is fine with me. I'm older than them, so I should give way to them a little."

Teacher Kong discovered a tricky problem: Wen Chengze did not seem very interested in acting.

But when he thought of what Zhong Mohan had said to him that afternoon, Teacher Kong became confused again.

Zhong Mohan was such an outstanding actor. How could someone he had strongly recommended be uninterested in acting?

Yet the truth was right before his eyes.

Teacher Kong thought for a moment, then called Wen Chengze outside alone.

Outside the door, Teacher Kong did not allow the cameras to follow them.

"Now that there's no one else around, tell me honestly. Are you interested in acting?"

Wen Chengze froze. In Teacher Kong's eyes, he saw the same emotion he had seen in those two acting teachers.

Wen Chengze knew that he might be considered a genius by many people, but he had never imagined that he was talented enough in one area to make so many teachers regret seeing his talent go to waste.

Wen Chengze fell silent for a moment and did not answer immediately.

Just then, Teacher Kong and Wen Chengze suddenly heard a woman's coy voice. "Brother Zhong, why didn't you come see me when you visited this afternoon? Brother Gao said the two of us should be together. Don't leave tonight, okay?"

Wen Chengze instinctively looked over. Sure enough, he saw Zhong Mohan and Qiao Siyu. The scene felt inexplicably familiar, and his expression immediately turned cold.

This was what Zhong Mohan meant by the entertainment industry being hard to navigate???

Unspoken rules?!

Teacher Kong noticed them as well and frowned slightly. "Zhong Mohan is one of the most outstanding among the younger generation, but his taste in people is truly not very good. This Qiao Siyu has a bad heart." Teacher Kong should not have said such things as a senior, but when he thought of how Qiao Siyu had spoken to Wen Chengze before, his protective instincts flared up.

An inexplicable anger rose within him. Wen Chengze stopped looking in that direction and instead said to Teacher Kong, word by word, "I like acting. And I'll stay in this industry and keep acting." The industry was full of deep waters? Then he would make something of himself no matter what!

Though he did not know why Wen Chengze had suddenly changed so much, Teacher Kong was delighted by the change. "That's good. You're a promising talent. You shouldn't be buried."