Superstar Aspirations
Chapter 21

Translator: Vian

Editor: Aconyte

Although people often said that soap operas were too dog blood, and have no sustenance, but it was precisely those wanton ups and downs conflicts and intense contradictory soap operas that had very high ratings.

In recent years, TV drama programs were getting longer and longer, some with even eighty or ninety episodes. For example, in some reproductions in the old versions from the last era, it would only use one episode to narrate and resolve these few plot points; but in the remake version, it would use three episodes! So the once only about a dozen or twenty episodes would turn into a few dozens and even hundreds of episodes.

There was an advantage to weekly dramas, which was that they were usually short. In general, it would not exceed fifteen episodes.

Therefore, if you wanted to tell an understandable story within fifteen episodes, every episode would be packed full of fierce conflicts to make the audience continued to watch while feeling annoyed, but still excitedly chased after it. This was also the reason why weekly dramas could air once a week: because there were still so many viewers willing to wait to watch.

When Zhao Mei turned on her TV and tuned in to her favorite channel, there was only five minutes left before that ancient-style weekly drama she had been following every week started. She excitedly waited for the drama to begin. In last week's episode, the male lead actually died and today was the finale, if the male lead really died… En, send blade, must send blade!

Just as Zhao Mei got some melon seeds and fruits and was waiting patiently, the promotional trailer for weekly dramas on the channel suddenly played.

The first one pulled away Zhao Mei's attention from eating! Eat! Eat! What attracted her was the intense and hurried background music. This music was oppressive and lingered. It was as if there was someone rapidly hurrying through the dark night, the beat of the drums causing people could not help but feel nervous. Then Zhao Mei looked up and saw one huge word——

"AMBUSH!"

In the next moment, the scene changed in an instant and showed a heated battlefield, the gunfire roaring.

The first one to appear on screen was a young man wearing a light blue military uniform. He wore a pair of silver spectacles and looked rather refined and scholarly, but the screen shifted, and he suddenly changed into all black and whispered in a low voice in an alleyway: "804, 197."

Subtitles appeared on screen: Han Yanghao as Bai Mingde.

Next came a feminine and elegant woman. She was dressed in a simple floral cheongsam, and stood on a podium, gently teaching the students about the Chinese classicals. But when the image shifted, she firmly looked straight at Bai Mingde, and solemnly said: "I am willing to join you!"

Zhang Tongtong as Liang Linghui.

Zhao Mei was instantly interested after seeing these two handsome man and beautiful lady. She attentively watched the TV screen, muttering to herself as munched on her melon seeds: "Han Yanghao ah, I haven't seen him in a long time. This Zhang Tongtong is also very pretty ah. Where have I seen this drama again ah? Ambush, Am… bush…"

Her voice suddenly stopped, and Zhao Mei stared wide-eyed at the TV screen.

On the screen, a man wearing a dark military uniform was riding a coal-black wild horse, pulling the reins in the middle of a heavy snowstorm. The dark overcoat contrasted against the white snow, causing a lurid offset to the eyes. He wore a leather military visor and calmly looked ahead. Suddenly, the corner of his mouth casted a touch of an indifferent and mocking smile. Then, he drew his gun! And fired!

Bang——

Rong Xu as Huo Xi.

Time seemed to have stood still. After the screen finally switched to the second female lead Yi Lan, Zhao Mei suddenly screamed: "Wasn't that the little beauty from "Vie for Supremacy"! Right right right! He also appears in "Ambush", I even heard people talk about it a few days ago ah, I actually forgot! F*ckf*ckf*ckf*ckf*ck, he also looks extremely handsome in a military uniform!!!"

At the moment, the trailer was still showing on screen. All four male and female protagonists were introduced and the image quickly switched. This trailer was only one and a half minutes long. Right now, there was only thirty seconds left.

In the remaining thirty seconds, Bai Mingde and Liang Linghui had their first encounter, and Liang Linghui married Huo Xi. Bai Mingde almost had his identity discovered, so Huo Xi set up a scheme to test Bai Mingde but it was inadvertently leaked by Liang Linghui. In the end, Bai Mingde was prepared… and so, Ba Mingde successfully passed and was promoted by Huo Xi.

Many points of the story quickly displayed itself in front of Zhao Mei's eyes like a lantern with constant carousel of paper horses. In the last ten seconds, the scene turned to Bai Mingde and Liang Linghui, each holding onto a book and chatting beside a window; then in the final five seconds, the scene changed again. A pair of slender and beautiful hands suddenly appeared from behind Liang Linghui and fiercely pulled her into their arms with great strength!

The top three buttons of the white shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a fragile collarbone. The head of messy black hair let him lose some of his coldness, and appeared more dangerous and sexy. He tightly embraced this woman from behind, the red cheeks suggested that this man was drunk, and then he lowered his head, his eyes downcast. The long eyelashes drooped down, his lips slightly opened, and two words softly came out——

"Hui girl…"

The hoarse, sexy voice reverberated in the room for a long time, as if it could tantalize the desires deep in the heart, it was full of temptation.

In the next moment, the screen darkened and it was over!

The huge letters "AMBUSH" was printed on the TV screen. Ten seconds later, the grand finale of Zhao Mei's long-awaited weekly drama started, but at this moment, how was Zhao Mei in the mood to care about that drama ah! Her eyes widened and her face flushed. She urgently open her WeChat to tell her best friend.

【Ah ah ah ah!!! Lulu did you see the promo trailer that played before "Qingcheng Sword" today ah!!! The one from "Ambush", "Ambush"!!! There was that actor Rong Xu from "Vie for Supremacy" that you especially liked ah! He's so handsome ah, I thought he would have gone the 'juvenile' route like in "Vie for Supremacy", how can he be so sexy but also so charming at the same time ah ah ah!!!】

It was not just Zhao Mei, there were numerous viewers like Zhao Mei throughout China.

A cast with high attractiveness and an intense contradictory storyline, coupled with excellent filming and post-production, "Ambush" short one-and-a-half minute promotion trailer quickly swept the internet.

At the same time as the TV station aired the promo trailer, it was simultaneously released on the drama's official website and Weibo. There are people like Zhao Mei who saw it on TV, and there were also people who saw it online when they were strolling through Weibo and the videos.

But no matter where they saw the trailer, their biggest response was——

【Just base off these faces, I can already eat ten bowls of rice!!! 】

Prior to accepting this drama, Luo Zhentao had told Rong Xu before: "This drama has a very high standard for appearances."

Which was why in this drama, while Zhang Tongtong and Yi Lan are extremely popular, but the main reason they succeeded in becoming the female lead and second female lead was because they had pretty face. Although saying it out loud, it sounded a bit superficial, but good-looking people could always make people look at them and feel their mood rise; this point was beyond doubt.

【I feel this drama can become popular, I bet five cents that it can definitely get 0.8!】

【What does 0.8 count as, I think it can definitely get 1!】

【Just five cents, who'll bet with you. If it gets 1, then I'll eat my keyboard! Ling Zhen's adaptation idol drama will also start airing next week. Both are weekly dramas, and are even playing at the same time. That idol drama have a lot of fans from the original, with it here, this "Ambush" definitely won't be able to make it!】

Thanks to the trailer, "Ambush" once again set off another fiery debate.

For weekly dramas, there would be a time gap between episodes aired each week, with at most only two episodes per week, so the ratings were often not as good as the daily dramas. But it wasn't like there was a lack of excellent weekly dramas. There was once a weekly drama that reached a rating of 5 each episode, beating all the other daily dramas that aired beside it.

Countless people were feeling very excited about "Ambush" trailer. They absolutely must watch, mark down the release! But there are also some people who expressed: 【The trailer is pretty, there are too many of these rubbish dramas.】

There was also a small number of people who were very concerned about the ratings. For example, "Ambush" which would be aired at the same time together next week with "The Summer's Truth". This was an adaptation. The female lead was called Xia Zhenshi. The original novel was extremely popular when it was adapted into an animation and now that it was adapted into a drama, many had high hopes for it.

So like this, "Ambush" had all kinds of topics to help with the promotion. The TV station and crew put in extra effort in pushing out this trailer and let "Ambush" popularity landed it on the top ten hottest searches. At the same time, it was also shown on loop in the homepages of major video websites.

It could be said that as long you were a who used the internet, you definitely would have heard the name "Ambush" in the past few days. Even if you weren't a netizen, that's okay too. You could not go online, but you at least watch TV right? On TV, the trailer was shown ten times a day!

And Qin Cheng saw this trailer was not because of the constant promotion on the internet, nor was it because of the netizens' crazy discussions and starry-eyed infatuation, and it definitely was not because he turned on the TV and saw the trailer, but because… he secretly set up a special notification for Rong Xu.

【Rong Xu: There was a constant worry on Marshal Huo's mind. Everyone all likes call him less handsome, but he is obviously very handsome, why is he called less handsome? He should be called "very handsome"~ [laughs][laughs][laughs] //"Ambush" crew: The trailer is now out. Lying, waiting beside you, was it my reasoning, or was it my feelings? [Video Link]】

Qin Cheng lowered his eyes, not yet opening the video, but instead seriously read every single word Rong Xu wrote, and then silently curled his lips.

——En. Very cute. The pun was also very cute.

Xu Jin who was beside him suddenly laughed out loud: "Hahahaha, did you see Rong Xu's post on Weibo? I followed him a few days ago. He just forwarded a post and even especially added a little dialogue. Isn't the dialogue a bit too cold, I thought I would die from laugh…ter…" The laughter froze within Qin Cheng's dangerously freezing stare.

Throwing away this affair, Qin Cheng put on a calm and composed face before opening and watching the video.

When he saw Han Yanghao introduced, he was expressionless; When he saw Zhang Tongtong introduced, he still had facial paralysis. He then suddenly saw Rong Xu's appearance! Qin Cheng nodded in satisfaction. Who knew that the shot was only for five seconds, Qin Cheng had just clearly saw the youth's face when the screen suddenly switched again to Yi Lan!

Qin Cheng: "……"

Next was a dazzling successive appearance of the story's important points.

Qin Cheng had acted in many films. With just these, he more or less guessed what kind of film "Ambush" was. He indifferently watched the video, only when Rong Xu appeared would he nod his head. When Rong Xu was gone, he continued: indifferent.

Up until the very last ten seconds, Qin Cheng still continued to silently watch. When a slender, white hand suddenly appeared on the screen, he blanked out. But! He saw the youth, not fully dressed, pulled Zhang Tongtong into his embrace! His face drunken red!

He even hugged her so tightly! And even leaned in so close to her when speaking!

"Hui girl…"

A hoarse and sexy voice was heard through the phone, Qin Cheng was instantly stunned. At this point, the screen had already dimmed. The trailer was over, and Xu Jin also happened to just finished watching it as well. He turned to talk to Qin Cheng, but when he saw the other's strange expression, he tactfully said: "It's been a while since I've last come to the company, I think I'll go and stroll around a bit."

Xu Jin hurriedly fled, no way did he want to stay together with this man who seemed like he was suddenly in a bad mood for no good reason. It would cost him his life.

And so he naturally didn't notice that when Qin Cheng heard the low murmur, the tip of his ear was slowly turning red. He coughed and got up to walk around a bit to the window. He felt like he had nothing else to do and silently walked back to the sofa… to open the video and watch it again!

Jumping straight to the end!

Ignore that woman!

…En, very handsome.

***

Xiangshan Movie and Television City, “Ambush” crew.

The filming for all the night scenes today were finished. Rong Xu took off his makeup and returned to the hotel with Luo Zhentao. When they were halfway back, Rong Xu suddenly remembered: "By the way, Luo ge, about the apartment I asked you to help me replace. Did you ask if I can immediately move in when I return to B-City?"

Luo Zhentao nodded: "Of course, the owner and I have already discussed it. You can go sign the contract after you return to B-City."

Rong Xu nodded his head slightly.

Luo Zhentao smiled and asked: "Do you want me to request for a moving company? Or I can go help?

Rong Xu shook his head: "No need, I don't have a lot of stuffs."

Luo Zhentao nodded in understanding.

Four days quickly passed, and it was finally the day "Ambush" was going to be aired! On that day, Director Zheng ended the crew's filming early. Everyone returned to the hotel to watch the live broadcast on TV.

When everyone was leaving, someone jokingly said, "The Summer's Truth" also seems to be airing on Mango Station, I wonder how they're doing."

Director Zheng raised an eyebrow, "You guys think that we'll lose?"

Upon hearing these words, everyone laughed.

They didn't know whether they would lose or not, but they had confidence in their work. The ratings definitely would not be bad!

The author has something to say:

Rongrong: Is my little skit not funny _(:3」∠)_

Fuwa: You ask my sisters, they seem like they're gonna die from laughter~

Qin Orangeorange[Cold indifferent staring]: Do you think that. It. Is. Funny?

Lantern with constant carousel of paper horses – [走马灯 – zǒu mǎ dēng]

A lantern with carousel of paper horses, rotating under convection, used at Lantern Festival but figuratively means a constant busy circulation of people

WeChat – A Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app

Five cents – Refers to the Five Cents Party, a nickname for Web commentators who are rumored to be a group of people who are paid to praise or defend the Chinese Communist Party on the Internet. Well, the majority of ordinary Internet users in China express contempt for it although.

The betting five cents came from that each time someone from the Party comments or make a post to confuses or “guides” public opinion, they get paid five cents. Either way, it’s just a jab at the Party.

Rubbish – The raw was spicy chicken [辣雞 – Là jī] but it sounds similar to rubbish [垃圾 – lā jī]

Spicy chicken can be used with different meaning though like, when you are happy, you shout spicy chicken! And ehen you are angry, you can also shout spicy chicken! It can also can express ridicule, or admiration, and so on. Yeah, lots of different meanings.

Xia Zhenshi – Summer Truth[夏真實 – Xià zhēnshí] while the drama is called ‘The Summer’s Truth’ [夏天的真實 – Xiàtiān de zhēnshí] =_=

I’m sorry, I’m just really not impressed by these kind of names

Video websites – A network medium that allows Internet users to publish, browse, and share video works online with the support of a complete technology platform. China’s leading video sharing website is Youku Inc. The one you guys most probably familiar with would be YouTube

Everyone all likes call him ‘less handsome’, but he is obviously very handsome, why is he called ‘less handsome’? He should be called "very handsome" – I’m not even going to attempt trying to make the pun make sense in English…

Marshal [少帥 – Shǎo shuài] literally trans. to ‘less handsome’ and Rong Rong is saying he should be call ‘more handsome’ [多帥 – duō shuài] instead, hence the pun part.

Mango Station – Hunan Radio and Television Satellite Channel or Hunan Satellite TV

The channel is broadcasted by Mandarin and TV stations in Hunan(a southern province in mainland China) and is dominated by entertainment variety. Currently China’s second-most-watched channel and also one of the most important local satellite TV channels in mainland China.

The current logo looks like a golden mango so the audiences gave nicknamed it Mango Station, which was appearantly accepted by Hunan TV as an official nickname.

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