Five thousand year old monk in the entertainment industry (3): A prophecy comes true

Si Qi put down his phone and returned to the table, where everyone was toasting each other.

This group of directors was still unaware of the changes in online public opinion, because the reporter standing at the entrance of the auditorium just now took a photo of Si Qi and said to Director Huang with a smile: “Director Huang, I’m afraid there will be no chance for you to help?”

After the photo was circulated, it was easy to imagine how netizens would react. There was no way Mr. Huang would ask his nephew to help Si Qi save face. I’m afraid his nephew would rush over to give Si Qi compensation and apologize as soon as possible.

Mr. Huang laughed twice with a hint of reluctance and let out an inaudible sigh. It seemed that he felt it was a pity to miss the opportunity to help Si Qi.

The banquet lasted for three hours before everyone returned home in high spirits and made an appointment to see each other next time.

After so long, Mr. Huang almost forgot the regret of not being able to help. When he returned home, before the nanny could bring him any hangover soup, he first received a panicked call for help from his nephew.

“What should I do, uncle! I sold my shares in Xingteng a while ago, Xingteng is not my company now! The largest shareholder is crazy about giving resources to the chairman to do things, regardless of the cost. I can’t stop him no matter what I do!!! You must explain to the chairman for me!! This is really not my idea!! “

Mr. Huang sat on the chair holding the phone in a daze, thinking that there are still such fools in this day and age. Knowing Si Qi’s identity, he still dared to use such means. Did he think his life was too long?

So, not long after Si Qi returned to the exquisitely decorated but empty “model house”, Mr. Huang called him.

The other party’s ashamed tone could be clearly conveyed through the screen, “I’m sorry, Mr. Si, for disturbing you so late at night.

It was my good-for-nothing nephew who messed up the matter by accident…”

Mr. Huang slowly told Si Qi about the matter, and Si Qi was not surprised at all.

A few months ago, the Son of the World found out the identity of the original owner through some channel, and the information he found was very detailed.

Judging from the fact that the other party knew that the contract was used to threaten the original owner, he probably knew that the original owner was different from other cultivators, that the words he spoke involved the oath to heaven, and that he had to remain in the world in order to cultivate and achieve immortality.

This method of cultivation had both advantages and disadvantages. The reason why it had been so low-key in the past few hundred years was because the original owner had been in the world for too long, and had developed inner demons, and his mental state was particularly bad.

No one knew how he found out about the past between the original owner and “that person”. He used this as an opportunity to trick the original owner, whose mind was affected by his inner demons, into signing a contract with a piece of cookie, and thus completely controlled the original owner’s life.

The purpose was to make the original owner repeatedly break his promises and be hit by thunder, causing him to be seriously injured and possessed by inner demons, and then take advantage of the original owner’s weakest moment to inherit his inheritance.

This was indeed a smart and despicable method, which was consistent with the usual behavior of the Children of the World.

Recently, after the original owner turned evil, he suffered a series of heavy losses due to broken contracts. He finally lost his job and had a break, but someone immediately targeted him maliciously. From other people’s perspective, it was probably because someone was supporting the original owner and allowing him to rise again. They were desperately giving him resources and connections as if they were free.

The crowd who watched the story may envy the original owner because of these things, and there were so many wealthy sponsors who were behind the scenes trying to get close to the original owner.

Only the original owner knew how exhausted he was due to the sudden and increasing workload, which became the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

[Xiu Xiu]

Xiu Xiu put down the controller and raised his head from the game console, and said seriously: [What is it, Master~~]

[Please help me do something]

Xiu Xiu clenched his little paws and patted his chest, saying that he would take care of it: [Just give me your orders! ]

Si Qi: [Check to see who is in charge of Xingteng Entertainment and what other forces he has]

[Also, see if we can find out what the Son of the World is doing now, and if we can find any evidence against him.]

[Finally, let’s see what “that person” is like now and see how long he will continue to hide from me.]

Xiu Xiu saluted playfully: [Got it! ]

The master and servant were busy together all night. Early the next morning, Si Qi drove to the crew to start today’s filming.

The crew was particularly lively today, and everyone was enjoying the show to their heart’s content. The reason for this was of course the “exposure” of Si Qi’s vest that everyone had been talking about since yesterday afternoon.

A group of people saw Si Qi appear, and they gloated in a low voice: “Look at how shameless he is. He has been exposed for scamming the richest man and being kept by a sponsor, yet he can still appear here as if nothing happened.”

“Haha, it’s quite a feat to be able to become so famous within a few months of becoming famous. It’s a pity that you only have that good appearance.”

“What’s the pity? I just use this skin to make money in bed and out of bed, right?”

“Hehehe…”

Xiu Xiu’s scales stood up when he heard this: [Wow! So angry! ]

Si Qi remained calm. If he got angry, he would play into the hands of the Son of the World.

And don’t be fooled by the way people around him were now making up stories about the original owner. In fact, when the original owner first debuted, his popularity was completely the opposite of what it was now, and it was extremely good.

After all, the original owner had stunning looks and excellent temperament, and was born with a good foundation. He could be remembered at a glance, and was born to be a star. Moreover, the company was so generous in spending a lot of money to support him, and he would become famous in an instant with a little exposure.

Everyone was happy to deal with him, and he had made some good friends here who he could talk to.

It was just that the inner demon situation was too troublesome. If he encountered anything that would stimulate the original owner’s mental state, he would become black and irrational. He was arrogant, filthy, and had no education. He behaved like a monster, which immediately ruined the public’s goodwill and made people around him full of disgust.

This was actually an accidental coincidence. If it weren’t for the deliberate difficulties caused by those children of the world later, the original owner would probably have slowly faded out of the public eye and quit the entertainment industry in a short time. After a few decades, when his inner demons had subsided and he had reappeared with a different identity, no one would had been able to connect him with the star who emerged out of nowhere and quickly fell decades ago.

Unfortunately, in this world there were troublemakers like the Son of the World, who would not let the original owner quit the entertainment industry. In order not to breach the contract, the original owner had no choice but to stay here and endure more negative emotions.

Si Qi went to the costume and makeup department to change his clothes. Since the contract did not state that the original owner had to cooperate with the makeup, he was too lazy to even put on makeup. He just changed into an ancient costume that did not look natural on him and put on a wig.

The whole treatment of a supporting role.

However, he was actually the second male lead.

The male lead was named Li Chengchen, which is the same as in “a prophecy that comes true.”¹. He and Si Qi had a very good relationship in the early stages of filming, and it was not an exaggeration to say that they were good friends in the circle.

It just so happened that the script they were currently filming was adapted from the historical story of Si Qi and a founding emperor thousands of years ago.

Si Qi played Si Qi and Li Chengchen played the emperor.

When Si Qi and Li Chengchen had a good relationship, Si Qi in the play also had a very good relationship with the emperor. They were close friends who could talk about anything, and their friendship was forged through bloody events together.

Because Si Qi was an ancient person, he could interpret all the details of the ancient people’s behavior, speech, food, clothing, housing, transportation, and even a small movement of lifting the sleeves with utmost authenticity, as if he really came out of that era. One could always be amazed by some small movements at some inadvertent moment.

At that time, the crew really felt that they had found a treasure. They loved this handsome and spiritual young man so much that they kept praising the original owner for his acting talent and intelligence. They wanted to promote him as a front-row seat to attract the audience, and flew him to three cities a day to promote the film.

Later, Si Qi’s inner demons erupted and he began to turn evil. His personality suddenly became extremely bad. The relationship between Li Chengchen and Si Qi also gradually became strained at that time. After meeting each other, they simply had nothing to say to each other.

It was also at that time that the original owner of the play had a quarrel with the emperor due to differences in ideas. He resolutely decided to leave the emperor and parted ways after resigning.

The conflict of ideologies between the two sides and even the anger of being betrayed that came from the heart was portrayed vividly by the two actors. It was as if it were real. Iteasily evoked the original owner’s unbearable memories and he easily got into the role.

But for others, this was just immersion in the role, but for the original owner, it was just the inner demon that was immersed in the unbearable past and became increasingly difficult to control.

The situation became worse and worse. The original owner started to act like a big shot and did all kinds of inexplicable things, which made many people in the crew who were very friendly to him and even regarded him as a friend feel very confused.

Their attempts to persuade and inquire failed and they were scolded instead. They gradually began to feel angry and even didn’t want to have any contact with Si Qi anymore.

It was precisely because they had given their true heart in the past that they felt particularly disappointed when they were betrayed.

The original owner was obviously the one who understood that feeling best, but he became the kind of person he hated the most.

He actually felt very regretful in his heart.

Otherwise, his last sober thought before death would not have been that he failed to save that fan first.

Si Qi was sitting in the lounge. Not long after, someone knocked on the door.

It was Li Chengchen, the director, and the screenwriter in the crew.

They were the three people in the crew who had the best relationship with the original owner.

They looked at Si Qi with complicated eyes, and said tiredly and helplessly: “Today is your last scene. We can talk about it later, but there will be no chance, so let’s just say it directly.”

“Si Qi, you really have a talent for acting, and you have good conditions in all aspects. The company is willing to support you. As long as you move forward step by step with peace of mind, sooner or later you will become a top star in the country.”

“Stop messing around.”

After they finished speaking, they waited for Si Qi to scold them and kick them out as usual, but Si Qi just looked at them quietly and said slowly: “Sorry, I was actually sick a while ago.”

Everyone’s expressions changed slightly, not understanding what Si Qi meant. Si Qi said honestly, “I entered the circle to find someone, but then I accidentally got sick and couldn’t control my emotions. It wasn’t until yesterday afternoon that I regained some of my sanity.”

Li Chengchen frowned and asked, “What kind of disease would cause this?”

The screenwriter said euphemistically: “Could it be that you have a mental problem…”

Si Qi nodded: “You can understand it as mania.”

The three of them suddenly changed their expressions.

Li Chengchen was even a little impatient to make up for Si Qi’s past flaws, and said earnestly: “I was wondering why your personality suddenly became so strange, and it turned out to be like this!!”

The director groaned for a moment and said, “So that’s how it is. No wonder… No wonder.”

Si Qi: “After I realized something was wrong with my mental state, I tried to quit the industry and rest, but the company arranged for me to do more work. You know… this will make my condition worse.”

Li Chengchen yelled “Fuck!” and cursed, “These bastards! I’m going to expose them!!”

Si Qi: “That’s not necessary. Now that I’m sober, I can naturally find a way to solve this problem.”

If Li Chengchen where to enter the vision of the Son of the World again, wouldn’t that be one more person to threaten him?

Li Chengchen frowned and said, “You are in this situation now. If you want to get back on your feet, you have to rely on the help of that rubbish company. What can you do?”

Si Qi said helplessly: “I thought you heard it? I am actually the richest man in Asia.”

Several people immediately looked at Si Qi with a look that was hard to describe. The screenwriter asked cautiously, “Are you sick again?”

Si Qi and a few others stared at each other. Si Qi had no choice but to take out his cell phone and call Director Qi, whom he had just met yesterday afternoon.

After a while, the call was connected, and the young man on the other end said with a smile on his face, “Hey, Mr. Si, what do you want?”

The three people standing behind Si Qi watched Si Qi casually call a new Internet tycoon and were called Mr. Si by the tycoon. When asked what he wanted to do, they said: “………………”

Si Qi: “I had a great time chatting with you last time. I wonder when you are free. We can get together again in the future.”

Director Qi laughed and said, “As long as you invite me, I am free anytime.”

After chatting for a while, Si Qi put down his phone, looked back at the three people who were dumbfounded, and said, “Do you believe it now?”

Li Chengchen said immediately: “Richest man, please take me with you!”

The screenwriter was excited and ecstatic: “So those damn sponsors are all fake! I knew it!!!”

The director screamed, “Big thigh, give me some money! The crew is so poor lately that I have to sell my underwear!!”

Si Qi: “…………”

Si Qi knew that because of him, the online impression of the crew was very bad, and negative reviews kept coming in before the show even aired.

The investors made the investment because of Si Qi. Now that Si Qi had collapsed, it was normal for them to choose to withdraw their investment.

The crew was now truly broke, so he asked the director for his account number and transferred some money to him.

The director looked at the bank message and said happily, “Don’t worry, this money will be considered as your investment, and you will get all the dividends you deserve! We won’t ask you to do promotions anymore, just take a good rest at home.”

The screenwriter said regretfully, “Hey, if you weren’t sick, it would have been the best to have you do the promotion.”

Before the filming started, the crew simply posted the makeup photos of a few main characters online, and the popularity of the entire TV series instantly soared that afternoon.

The main reason was that Si Qi’s costume photo was so good-looking. It attracted attention in one second without any exaggeration. It went viral a few hours after it was posted and attracted a lot of passing fans.

At that time, there was a popular saying on the Internet, which said this about Si Qi:

——I wouldn’t even dare to edit it like this, he just looks like this!

In addition, the entire crew, from the director to the screenwriter, without exception, praised the original lead actor for his acting talent, saying that he could play any role well, and it was like bringing the ancient people of that time in front of the camera.

Occasionally, a few dynamic short videos of the original actor acting were released, and the vivid, elegant and handsome ancient man appeared in front of everyone. Even passers-by couldn’t help but praise him by saying “This is so similar”. No wonder the original owner was so popular at the time.

Unfortunately, the original owner later became “ill”, and after turning evil, he deliberately did all kinds of evil things.

It was clearly a performance, but he acted like a zombie. When asked to recite the lines, he recited them one, two, three, four. After netizens discovered the “truth”, they thought they were fooled and angrily scolded the crew for lying to Si Qi for the sake of traffic and screwing up his acting image, making people who once trusted the original owner unable to raise their heads.

Apart from a few fans who were attracted by the photos and videos and thought that even a vase would be pleasing to the eye, they still insisted on following the TV series. However, many passers-by who simply wanted to watch the TV series had completely lost their expectations for the series, and even investors began to withdraw their investments.

Fortunately, the script was almost finished, and the withdrawal of investment would not cause the entire crew to go bankrupt. The director took out his own private money and gritted his teeth to continue filming, otherwise the TV series that had been prepared for so long would really be stillborn.

Until now, Si Qi gave a sum of money, which finally solved the director’s urgent problem.

When the director heard what the screenwriter said, his eyes lit up and he said to Si Qi, “No problem, Si Qi, when the TV series is finished, can you ask the companies under your control to promote it for us?”

It would be best to use the official accounts of multinational corporations to promote him, and then write on them: Asia’s richest man enthusiastically participates in the performance, and the chairman of xx Group passionately interprets it.

The screenwriter and Li Chengchen looked at the director with contempt. The director puffed out his chest and said righteously, “What’s the matter? The TV series is popular, so he also benefits from it. This is a win-win for us!”

Li Chengchen: “I think you are the main winner.”

Si Qi smiled: “Sure, no problem.”

After hearing this, several people laughed at the same time.

Si Qi really turned back into the easy-going Si Qi they knew at the beginning.

Li Chengchen suddenly remembered something and asked curiously, “You said you entered the circle to find someone, did you find him?”

Si Qi shook his head: “Not yet.”

Li Chengchen looked at Si Qi and said honestly, “Your method is indeed effective. You have been known all over the country for just a few months since your debut. It would be a shame if you retired to recuperate instead of being a star.”

With his looks, temperament, appearance, speech and interpersonal relationships, Si Qi was born to be a star.

Si Qi also said honestly: “I also think that for someone as outstanding as me, it would be a huge loss for the entertainment industry to lose me.”

Li Chengchen: “…………”

Pooh!

The director struck while the iron was hot: “Then don’t be lazy, hurry up and go to the dressing room to put on some makeup.”

Si Qi refused: “Si Qi didn’t wear makeup back then, and I don’t need to wear makeup now either.”

The screenwriter joked, “The richest man is really humorous.”

Li Chengchen was speechless: “It’s just laziness.”

He really thought he was that Si Qi.

As he spoke, Li Chengchen pondered carefully and thought that there were so many famous people named Si Qi in history, including chess masters, poets, painters, and prime ministers of founding dynasties… It seemed that there were always one or two great men named Si Qi in every dynasty.

When he was studying and taking exams in the past, Li Chengchen always got the test questions wrong and mixed up the years because of Si Qi.

He couldn’t help but say, “Is it easier to get some kind of buff by naming it Si Qi?”

Si Qi glanced at him and smiled, “Maybe it’s a debuff (negative status)?”

All the things he cultivated for five thousand years were targeted by the Son of the World and were suddenly used to benefit others. No one could tell whether it was luck or misfortune.

It was getting late, and the group arrived at the filming location, chatting and laughing. Si Qi and Li Chengchen began to rehearse their lines, find their feelings, and review the movements and camera angles with the script supervisor.

Everyone in the crew was surprised to find that the troublemaker Si Qi was unexpectedly easy to talk to today, even a little too calm.

However, no one was happy to see Si Qi deliberately causing trouble there, so they took advantage of Si Qi’s illness to quickly set up the stage. The costume and makeup staff came out to confirm the makeup of the main actors. Everyone stood in position, and the director sat in front of the screen and shouted, “action!”

Li Chengchen and Si Qi quickly got into the state.

To be precise, it was Li Chengchen who entered the state, and Si Qi only needed to be himself according to the original owner’s memory.

He simply stood there, a powerful and wise official appeared before everyone. His expression was cold, his eyebrows were arrogant, and he could not be offended.

All the staff present subconsciously slowed down their breathing, feeling an inexplicable pressure. It was as if they had accidentally witnessed the confrontation between His Majesty and the powerful minister, and if they were not careful, they would be implicated. They dared not make a sound.

The emperor, wearing a dragon robe, stared at his former best friend in front of him with an extremely depressed look, his hands on the table, half of his body leaning forward slightly, like a tiger about to hunt its prey, his aura was terrifying.

“I won’t let you resign!”

Si Qi’s expression was cold, and his words were filled with alienation and indifference. “Your Majesty, do you think you can keep me?”

“This whole world belongs to the king!” The emperor slammed the table heavily. The guards outside the door, wearing iron frames and holding sharp blades, rushed in and quickly surrounded Si Qi.

The emperor pointed at Si Qi angrily and said, “Put him in jail and let him reflect on his mistakes!”

Si Qi stood quietly where he was, looking at the greedy emperor above him, as if time had gone back to the scene when the two of them were confronting each other.

The guards rushed over to arrest Si Qi, but Si Qi flicked his sleeves and easily pushed them a foot away, saying in a cold voice: “Who dares to stop me!”

These words were spoken with such force that not only did they scare the surrounding guards and extras, but even Li Chengchen on the opposite side almost lost his ability to continue his role.

He kept his angry expression, his shoulders trembling slightly. He looked at Si Qi with red eyes, and it was more like a sad plea between close friends than a breakup due to a disagreement. He said hoarsely, “You are so heartless…”

A sarcastic sneer flashed across Si Qi’s beautiful face, which made the emperor feel unspeakable pain in his eyes.

He waved his sleeves and turned around under the emperor’s gaze, his back full of determination.

“After today’s separation, we will never see each other again!”

“……”

“Cut–!”

Li Chengchen withdrew his order to the guards not to grab Si Qi’s hand, took two deep breaths, and managed to calm his emotions.

The people around looked as if they had just woken up from a dream. They blinked their eyes and finally woke up from the shock of being there. It took them a while to dare to speak.

Si Qi felt that the seal of his inner demon had loosened a little, and he quickly added another one for himself. Li Chengchen spoke incoherently to help him get out of the mood in the play, and said to Si Qi: “Why do you always like to change the lines?”

Si Qi: “I didn’t change it, you just didn’t pronounce it correctly.”

When the people around heard this, they immediately showed an expression of “as expected”. Si Qi was used to making excuses. The script clearly stated something else, but Si Qi always changed it at will, and after changing it, he even said that others had pronounced it wrong.

Li Chengchen readily said, “Okay, okay, yes, yes, you are right.”

Anyway, the filming had been completed, and this was the last scene between the two of them.

Si Qi pointed out: “This line is wrong. The split between the emperor and his subjects was not as amiable as it was portrayed in the play. In the end, it even sounded like the emperor was wronged.”

At that time, the original owner killed half of the guards in the imperial city before he scared away the furious emperor.

It was not as nice as recorded in history books. It was just that the emperor and his ministers had a disagreement and broke up from then on. Then the emperor, thinking of their old friendship, reluctantly let Si Qi go.

Moreover, before the original owner passed away, he was haunted by inner demons and stirred up trouble in the court for more than half a year, which almost destroyed their dynasty. The whole country was worried about internal and external troubles at that time. The emperor hated Si Qi for not telling him the way to immortality and almost killed him.

The screenwriter laughed and said, “Don’t talk nonsense. Our script is very well researched. This is what is written in history books.”

Li Chengchen on the side joked: “Hey, hey, he is Si Qi himself, whatever he says is what it is! Give him some face!”

The director laughed unceremoniously upon hearing this, and Si Qi pursed his lips in silence.

This scene was clearly recorded by the camera and posted online shortly afterwards.

And without anyone expecting it, it became a classic scene that netizens who later learned the truth talked about and watched over and over again.

They all said that the name Li Chengchen was very spiritual.

Notes

1. Chengchen means prophecy in chinese and this Chengchen is used in a chinese idiom: 一语成谶 (yī yǔ chéng chèn), which means that some unlucky predictions, said in jest, turn out to be true. ↩︎