During this time, any news related to this name on the internet was extremely popular. While recuperating in the hospital, he occasionally browsed the internet to keep up with current affairs or entertainment news. After seeing a lot, he left some impressions.
He truly began to be curious about the other party when he learned that Luo Ding replaced an actor from the "Crouching Dragon" crew after an accident. As one of the leading film directors in China, Huo Xie and Xu Zhen took completely different paths. Xu Zhen pursued depth and meaning in his films. Regardless of the genre, each film must analyze human nature profoundly and deeply, with the aim of winning as many awards as possible. Huo Xie, on the other hand, excelled at hype, capturing commercial hotspots, and understanding audience psychology. His goal in making films was for profit and success. However, even with a successful and profitable film, Huo Xie still received numerous awards, never delaying his steps toward the pinnacle of the directorial world.
Huo Xie could achieve this balance because of his serious and responsible attitude towards his films. His standards were relatively lower than Xu Zhen's, but even if someone invested a fortune, he wouldn't necessarily cast a popular actor if they lacked talent. Luo Ding caught his eye and secured a role with a significant proportion of the scenes, indicating his strengths.
Facing obstacles in filming his own movie and encountering high-quality yet unfamiliar actors, when he had time, he checked the information about the other party. Besides "Crouching Dragon," Luo Ding surprisingly participated in a large-scale TV series prepared by the famous and temperamental director Zheng Kezhen, which had been in the industry for several years. This further confirmed his speculation.
He had seen almost all the photos of Luo Ding available online, even those related to his collaboration with Pan Yiming on an album. However, seeing him in person, especially under the late night sky, his temperament didn't quite match the photos, and for a moment, he couldn't recognize him.
Luo Ding stood about three steps away from Xu Zhen's wheelchair, allowing him to be scrutinized. His expression remained unchanged, maintaining a gentle smile throughout.
Xu Zhen inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity and closeness to Luo Ding. Perhaps it was their compatible temperament or the smile on Luo Ding's face that appealed to him. In any case, his impression of Luo Ding was very favorable.
"I've heard of you. You're filming for 'Crouching Dragon' now, right? It's not easy for newcomers to get such opportunities. You're doing well," Xu Zhen said.
Luo Ding calmly lowered his eyes, seemingly unaffected by the praise. "Director Xu is too kind."
Steady enough. Xu Zhen nodded inwardly and asked, "Which company are you signed with?"
"Yaxing Studio."
It was a small entertainment company he hadn't heard of.
"Alright, I have an interview to record tonight, so I won't keep you. I hope we can collaborate if there's a suitable role for you in the future."
"Of course." Luo Ding stepped aside, giving him room, his gaze as calm as a deep pool of water, stirring no ripples. Xu Zhen was slowly pushed towards the TV station building by his driver, with Su Shengbai following a few steps behind. Before leaving, he showed Luo Ding a clear smile and waved goodbye.
Luo Ding quietly asked him, "Did he give you a hard time just now?"
Thinking Luo Ding was concerned about him, Su Shengbai felt a moment of pride, but with a bitter smile on his face, he replied, "His mood isn't good. I'm used to it anyway."
He left with hesitation, his face filled with subtle helplessness and reluctance. Seeing Luo Ding still standing there expressionlessly watching him leave, he continued until he was out of sight before relaxing. Then he slightly lowered his head, revealing a satisfied smile in the hidden corner where no one could see. Everything was under control.
He hurried back to Xu Zhen's side.
Xu Zhen didn't look at him, engrossed in his phone, occasionally tapping on the keyboard. The screensaver displayed Cao Dingkun laughing at the camera.
Su Shengbai glanced at the phone, rolling his eyes internally, but didn't dare to speak. This morning, the hospital had given Xu Zhen the final diagnosis: his virility was now completely non-functional. Xu Zhen went crazy in the hospital, smashing everything like a lunatic, only calming down in the afternoon. Seeing him looking at Luo Ding with such favor earlier made Su Shengbai somewhat nervous; he felt like the calmness now was just the tranquility before the storm, giving him a sense of impending crisis.
The engine stopped behind them, and Luo Ding turned to see Wu Fangyuan lowering the car window.
"What's wrong?" Wu Fangyuan craned his neck to look in the direction where the group was leaving, unable to figure out what was going on, and looked at Luo Ding with confusion, seeking an explanation.
Luo Ding shook his head at him, offering no explanation. He absentmindedly spun his phone in his hand, quietly waiting for the bait to fall. Sure enough, shortly after getting into the car, the phone rang. He answered within three rings, hearing Su Shengbai's soft and gentle voice, "Sorry, I just left like that."
Leaving with an indifferent attitude, then using another method to show that he still cared, letting the prey think it was free to swim in the pond, not realizing the sharp hook hidden beneath the sweet bait until it was too late to escape. Su Shengbai was extremely skilled at this tactic, but unfortunately, Luo Ding had never taken the bait from the beginning. "It's okay, your work is important. Did Director Xu treat you badly?" His second sentence carried both inquiry and concern, as if he could go beat up Xu Zhen right now if Su Shengbai complained.
The anxious Su Shengbai hurriedly replied, "Don't worry, Director Xu is good to me. He's just not in a good mood lately, so... so..." He stopped abruptly, unsure what to say after 'so.'
Luo Ding sneered, then decisively hung up the phone, feeling a sense of relief. Once the anger subsided, he casually sent a text message to Su Shengbai, then tossed the phone onto the back seat of the car, focusing on directing Wu Fangyuan to the restaurant they were going to for dinner.
Su Shengbai was still somewhat stunned when the call ended. In his expectations, Luo Ding should have been worried about him and reminded him to take care of himself at this moment, but now the response he received was completely different.
He became nervous. An unexpected event occurred when he thought he had everything under control. This deviation from his calculated manipulation made Su Shengbai feel uneasy. However, not long after, he received a text message from Luo Ding: "I'll wait until you figure things out."
With just seven words, he felt relieved, but then became serious again. Luo Ding's reaction to this matter exceeded his expectations, indicating that during the years when he was not around, Luo Ding had indeed undergone some changes he was unaware of. The current Luo Ding seemed more resolute than before. In the past, Luo Ding wouldn't have had the courage to corner him in the restroom corner at the <<Trend>> banquet and make him promise something. His old methods of dealing with the previous Luo Ding might not be sufficient now. Being too presumptuous with those methods used to deal with the old Luo Ding seemed inadequate. Making someone sink deeper into a quagmire requires convincing them that the mud won't take their lives. Su Shengbai suddenly realized that he had given Luo Ding too little sense of security. If that was the case, at the right moment, should he also show some sincerity to make Luo Ding believe that he cared about him?
Lost in his thoughts, he walked into the rest area, only to be brought back to reality by a bone china teacup flying towards him.
He swiftly dodged, the teacup brushing past his ear and hitting the wall with a crisp sound before shattering on the ground.
"... What's wrong with you, Xu-ge?" This scene snapped him back to reality. There was still a difficult obstacle to overcome here, which seemed insignificant compared to Luo Ding's minor issues.
"Where did you go?" Xu Zhen's expression was gloomy, his relaxed facial skin and alarming pair of eye bags adding a few more degrees of ferocity to his appearance. There were no outsiders in the lounge, and he didn't bother concealing his madness, staring at his prey like a hungry hyena.
As soon as Su Shengbai saw the look in his eyes, he understood that Xu Zhen had misunderstood. His heart sank for a moment. When the doctor told Xu Zhen the final diagnosis this morning, Xu Zhen was relatively calm, which even made Su Shengbai think he could accept this reality rationally, so he casually left the hospital room and made a call. But when he returned, Xu Zhen went crazy, probably thinking he'd betrayed him and leaked the news of his impotence to someone else, smashing everything in a fit of madness.
"Otherwise?" Xu Zhen's desolation is all for Cao Dingkun? Don't joke around. When news of Cao Dingkun's death was confirmed, he didn't deteriorate that quickly. His real decline came after the doctor gave him the pessimistic diagnosis. For men of any age group, the inability is enough to be considered the most unbearable blow.
Xu Zhen stared at him and suddenly whispered, "Come here."
Su Shengbai cautiously approached, like an obedient pet, slowly crouching down, his round almond eyes showing concern as he stared at Xu Zhen. "Xu-ge, I really didn't do anything. I just called Luo Ding to make sure if he had gotten on the car..."
Xu Zhen suddenly swung his hand and gave him a heavy punch on the head, the weak man's strength not diminished at all. Su Shengbai felt a heavy "thud" in his head as if echoing in his brain. His whole body was sent flying sideways by the force. He struggled to get up, enduring the buzzing in his head, holding onto his head in disbelief as he stared at Xu Zhen.
After venting, Xu Zhen seemed to return to normal, and his gaze also calmed down. "In the future, make your calls in front of me."
Su Shengbai widened his eyes in astonishment, but before he could speak, the driver who had been waiting by the door quickly came over and pushed Xu Zhen towards the dressing room door.
Su Shengbai sat on the ground, waiting for the dizziness in his head to pass before slowly standing up, leaning against the wall for support.
The dressing room was eerily quiet, with only him left. Su Shengbai stared at the young man in the mirror, pale-faced and absent-minded. Then he clenched his fists tightly, revealing a smile uglier than crying.
Endure it. Endure through this period, and what awaits him will be an unprecedented broad sky.
It was almost dawn after dinner, and Wu Fangyuan, yawning, accompanied Luo Ding to the dormitory arranged by Yaxing Entertainment for its artists. The not-so-tall dormitory building looked eerily quiet in the night.
Wu Fangyuan whispered to Luo Ding about the upcoming work schedule, starting from ten o'clock tomorrow morning, the next five days would be packed with activities, including promoting an album with Pan Yiming, interviews on several major TV stations, and Yaxing Entertainment's decision to produce an album for Luo Ding, as promised earlier. Although he wasn't truly famous yet, he was already too busy to handle everything. Listening to Wu Fangyuan's voice, Luo Ding felt a bit dazed, recalling when he had been this busy in his past life. The conclusion was, he had never really had a good rest.
Luo Ding's room was on the third floor, and although there was no elevator in the corridor, they didn't walk too slowly side by side. After entering the room and turning on the light, the small room remained as they left it, just smelling a bit musty, probably because they hadn't been back for a few days, and there was a layer of dust on the table.
As soon as they entered, there was a knock on the door.
Both of them were startled, and Luo Ding gestured for Wu Fangyuan to check who it was. Wu Fangyuan looked through the peephole and unexpectedly turned his head, making a gesture with his mouth: "Hu Xiao..."
Hu Xiao? Luo Ding waved his hand to signal Wu Fangyuan to let him handle it and opened the door himself.
Sure enough, Hu Xiao was standing outside, dressed in a formal black suit, his dark green bow tie askew, his face flushed, leaning against the wall, reeking of alcohol.
Luo Ding frowned and looked at him, peering outside for a moment but not seeing Hu Xiao's agent. "Hu Xiao, you've got the wrong door." Luo Ding could only advise him kindly, hoping he would go back to his own room to rest.
Hu Xiao burped, squinting at Luo Ding, suddenly burping again. "No, no mistake! You're Luo Ding, I recognized you."
Luo Ding stood still, stiffly watching the man as he finished speaking and then staggered into the room. He could only step aside and let the other person enter. But unexpectedly, like he was attached with a magnet, wherever Luo Ding turned, Hu Xiao followed, twisting his body accordingly. Unable to do anything about it, Luo Ding said to Wu Fangyuan, "Call Yang Kangding."
"Yang Kangding!" Hu Xiao burst into laughter as if he had heard a funny joke, his eyes, clouded by alcohol, staring at Luo Ding with a sarcastic smile. "Wasn't it 'Brother Yang' before? It's only been a short while, and now, calling him by his full name? Hehehe... feeling confident now that you're famous? Can't even spare time to attend my album release party? Huh..."
Luo Ding naturally couldn't argue with a drunkard. Wu Fangyuan quickly made a call to Yang Kangding, then hung up shortly after speaking a few words to Luo Ding with a helpless smile. "He suddenly disappeared after the press conference, and Brother Yang has been looking for him everywhere. No idea how he managed to get back to the dormitory."
Luo Ding sighed and could only manage a few words after Yang Kangding arrived. He waved his hand, asking him to quickly get rid of this troublemaker.
Yang Kangding was almost angry. He knew Hu Xiao had a bad temper when drunk, but he never expected him to be this childish! If it weren't for this phone call from Wu Fangyuan, he would have called the police by now.
Looking somewhat helplessly at the man who kept muttering, Yang Kangding sighed. Those journalists were really something, they had to bring Luo Ding into everything at the press conference. Look at what they asked, "As an artist from the same company as you, Luo Ding has gained popularity in Japan due to his participation in Pan Yiming's MV album. His popularity is no less than that of domestic A-list stars. Do you have any intention to compete with him in the overseas popularity market?" It was simply instigating trouble!
Luo Ding's rise took everyone by surprise, and Yang Kangding knew Hu Xiao wasn't someone who could handle it gracefully. The fact that Luo Ding's popularity was gradually surpassing his own must have been eating at him. But today, Hu Xiao's behavior disappointed him. After being with him in the industry for so long, he still couldn't control his emotions. He even showed some black face in front of the camera, and later at the party, he kept picking on that female reporter who asked the question. It only took Luo Ding a few words of apology in the corner to make him disappear without a trace.
This temperament, how can it work in the entertainment industry...
He now deeply regretted his previous shortsightedness. If he hadn't done those things to belittle Luo Ding, he wouldn't be in such a sorry state today.
Luo Ding watched as Yang Kangding carried Hu Xiao away, closing the door behind them. Then he caught a whiff of the nauseating alcohol smell.
"Let's go." He picked up the keys from the table, nodding to Wu Fangyuan. "Get everything ready to bring, we're staying in a hotel tonight. You should start looking for a house as soon as possible. We can't stay here anymore."
These days, they kept receiving letters from other small artists living in the same building. Those who had never even seen him before were calling him 'Brother Luo' in their letters, feeling incredibly close. Some even sent their phone numbers along with their photos through the mail slot in the door.
The dormitory building was definitely not safe anymore. The situation like today would only become more and more common in the future. If they were caught by the reporters, it would be an unavoidable storm.
Gu Yaxing had no objections to Luo Ding moving out of the dormitory building. The dormitory building was a property he had bought before, belonging to his own real estate. The housing prices in the city were not low, and many artists moved in to save on rent, which was convenient for him to manage. With Luo Ding's current popularity, he should have already arranged for a place to stay outside, just like Hu Xiao. It was just that he hadn't thought about the details recently due to being busy.
The payment to Luo Ding from Tianmei Entertainment for the "Secret" promotional activities also had a deduction from the company. This money would be more than enough to rent a good place for Luo Ding. He was happy to express goodwill towards Luo Ding when he could, so he generously approved a large sum of money for Wu Fangyuan, saying, "Work is hard, so rent a nice place to treat yourselves." In his opinion, this was one of the benefits of being in a small company. Even a slightly famous artist like Luo Ding needed to be pampered by the boss. Life would be much more comfortable in this kind of company.
Gu Yaxing's ambitious dreams, dormant for many years, had been awakened by Luo Ding. If he could create a superstar known worldwide with his own hands, Yaxing Entertainment, this company, would undoubtedly rise with Luo Ding's success. This inseparable relationship of interests made him subconsciously consider Luo Ding's interests more important than his own.
Quietly stealing a glance at the young man in the rearview mirror, who was hastily catching up on sleep, his handsome features seemed like a beautiful painting when settled in tranquility. Why did he ignore this gem for so long? He couldn't even remember what the old Luo Ding was like. Wasn't he very quiet? Always keeping a low profile. In that case, there didn't seem to be much difference between the calm person now and before.
In a while, he would be meeting several heavyweight figures. The weight was such that even Gu Yaxing was somewhat surprised when he received the news that they were willing to join Luo Ding's album production. He didn't dare to imagine how many jaws would drop at the lineup of this album's production team. Everything was going so smoothly as if it had divine assistance.
The Japanese market had already opened up. Koreans have always admired Japanese artists, so establishing a presence in Korea through influence in Japan might not be as difficult as imagined. Not to mention other Southeast Asian countries, along with China, if the three most influential countries in Asia could be conquered, Luo Ding's path in the entertainment industry would undoubtedly be smooth sailing.
However, the immediate priority was to finalize the current album.
Half an hour of sleep quickly restored Luo Ding's spirits. His smiling expression was so natural that one couldn't tell he had slept less than six hours over the past two days.
Shanhai Tower, a landmark building in the city, standing at 120 floors tall. Looking up from the ground, it was almost impossible to see the top.
Keywin Media, Tian Media Entertainment, and Global Media, the headquarters of these companies, which were at the top of the industry pyramid, were all located here. It housed the most professional recording studios, the best dance studios... everything best was encompassed here, making this building, in his view, detached from its original office meaning.
More importantly, Cao Dingkun from his past belonged here. As the undisputed leader of Global Media, this building was almost where he set foot the most during his time in China.
And now, he had returned with a different identity.
Luo Ding smiled, his eyes calm and serene, as he confidently ascended the steps.
