Chapter 591: The Unpopular Movie Emperor

Gu Tianle is a model artist in Harbor City and also a philanthropist.

He is extremely low-profile with his charity work, silently building over a hundred schools. If it weren’t for media reports, no one would have known how much he had done for the children of impoverished families.

Xu Yang truly admired Gu Tianle’s charitable deeds from the bottom of his heart.

Giving Gu Tianle more money was something Xu Yang was willing to do.

Of course, this was also agreed upon with Wang Xiaocong.

Wang Xiaocong had no objections to this.

Gu Tianle was surprised by the price Xu Yang offered, not expecting him to propose such a high figure.

This price was indeed very sincere.

Ten million for endorsement fees, five million for an apology compensation.

It should be noted that even if one were to sue and eventually win, it was highly unlikely to receive compensation of five million; two or three million would be the ceiling.

As for Xu Yang’s acknowledgment of his charitable work, Gu Tianle was also very happy in his heart.

Li Xinghe and Xie Jinghang were also surprised by the fifteen million Xu Yang had offered.

They too felt Xu Yang’s full sincerity, both looking towards Gu Tianle.

Gu Tianle took a deep breath and said, “President Xu, your offer is indeed very sincere. I accept your apology and am willing to endorse ‘Greedy Play Today’.”

Xu Yang knew it would come to this result.@@novelbin@@

If such sincerity was extended, and Gu Tianle still refused, he would be a fool.

Clearly, Gu Tianle was not a fool.

Xu Yang smiled slightly and extended his hand, “Mr. Gu, a pleasure to cooperate!”

Gu Tianle shook hands with Xu Yang: “A pleasure to cooperate.”

Right after, Gu Tianle also shook hands with Wang Xiaocong.

Then, Gu Tianle added, “President Xu, Young Master Wang, before signing the contract, I hope you can agree to one of my requests.”

Xu Yang asked curiously, “What request?”

As long as it wasn’t an excessive request, he was willing to agree.

He believed that someone as smart as Gu Tianle, having already decided to endorse, would not propose any excessive demands.

Wang Xiaocong was also curious about what Gu Tianle would request.

Gu Tianle said, “Could you take down that ad of mine first? If you let the ad continue to spread, I’d be too embarrassed to show my face in public. You know, the word ‘green’ can lead people to think of unpleasant things. No man wants to be said to have been ‘greened,’ I believe you two can understand my feelings, so you can agree to my request, right?”

Xu Yang nodded repeatedly: “I understand, I fully understand. It was due to the urgency of the situation that we resorted to that measure. Now that you have agreed to endorse our game, the ad is naturally redundant. Rest assured, within twenty-four hours, the ad will be taken down!”

Gu Tianle nodded in satisfaction: “Good.”

Xu Yang said, “Then let’s sign the contract.”

He gestured for Wang Xiaocong to take out the prepared contract and hand it to Gu Tianle’s lawyer, Li Xinghe.

Li Xinghe carefully read the contract, placed it in front of Gu Tianle, and then said to Gu Tianle, “Le Ge, the contract is fine. President Xu and Young Master Wang are indeed very sincere. You may sign.”

Gu Tianle nodded, took the pen handed over by the other party, and signed his name on the contract in a flourish.

Subsequently, Wang Xiaocong transferred five million as a down payment and five million as apology compensation to Gu Tianle.

The two parties agreed on the shooting schedule.

Afterward, Gu Tianle took his leave with his agent and lawyer.

Not long after Gu Tianle’s departure, another Best Actor came to visit.

This Best Actor was named Zhang Jiahui.

Zhang Jiahui was not as famous as Gu Tianle, but he was a genuine Best Actor.

Zhang Jiahui may have won Best Actor, but he still wasn’t popular.

The general impression about Zhang Jiahui was that everyone knew he was a Best Actor, knew he was talented in acting, but there wasn’t much passion for him.

He didn’t draw pursuits and cheers from the public when he appeared, unlike other highly popular stars.

Actually, it wasn’t that Zhang Jiahui had no chances to become popular.

There are many reasons why someone doesn’t become popular; in the end, it can only be attributed to fate.

When Zhang Jiahui first started his career, he gained strong support from Harbor City’s top director Wang Sanri.

Wang Sanri even tailored a movie for him, “The King of Gamblers,” and spent a lot of money to have Zhou Xingchi play a supporting role for Zhang Jiahui.

However, Zhang Jiahui’s acting skills were simply not good enough at the time, and Zhou Xingchi’s personal style was too dominant.

Even in movies where Zhou Xingchi and one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Liu Dehua, played the lead roles together, Zhou Xingchi was the dominant presence, making Zhang Jiahui’s existence even less noticeable.

This resulted in the movie being released, and although everyone knew Zhou Xingchi was the supporting actor and Zhang Jiahui the lead, the movie was still seen as Zhou Xingchi’s, rendering Zhang Jiahui invisible.

This made Zhang Jiahui’s situation quite awkward.

Later on, Zhang Jiahui acted in numerous movies, with both leading and supporting roles; his acting skills were honed, and he even won Best Actor.

But even so, he was not popular; at most, people recognized his acting ability.

For everyone, he was just a familiar face.

Moreover, except for a few movies, the box office performances of the films Zhang Jiahui starred in were not really good.

In recent years, Zhang Jiahui collaborated with Gu Tianle on multiple movies, such as “Drug Sweep,” “Chronicles of War Today,” and so on.

Xu Yang and Wang Xiaocong both agreed that since they hired Gu Tianle as the spokesperson, they should invite Zhang Jiahui as well.

And Zhang Jiahui’s endorsement fee was even lower than Gu Tianle’s.

The amount of the endorsement fee doesn’t depend on whether you have a Best Actor title, but on your popularity.

A Best Actor title may have its prestige, but it’s pointless without popularity.

Moreover, things are different now compared to the past. Back then, winning Best Actor meant soaring to great heights.

Nowadays, earning a Best Actor title really isn’t that big a deal.

Haven’t you seen those so-called “young fresh meat” and “fresh flowers,” with hardly any acting skills, winning Best Actor due to capital’s maneuvering?

This has led to an inflation of Best Actor awards, causing even the truly talented Best Actors to suffer negative repercussions.

People are increasingly taking the Best Actor title lightly, and its value has diminished.

Now, people basically only remember the Best Actors from the past, such as Liang Chaowei, Zhang Jiahui, Zhou Runfa, and so on.

Just like Gu Tianle, who came solely with his agent and lawyer, Zhang Jiahui also arrived with just his agent and lawyer.

Zhang Jiahui, in his nature, was not the flamboyant type and naturally wouldn’t travel with a large entourage.

Of course, with his status, he couldn’t really be flamboyant even if he wanted to.

He could go grocery shopping alone without attracting a crowd, so what was there to show off?

If he moved around with a group of attendants, he would likely face a barrage of media criticism.

In today’s Harbor City, if there’s anyone whose appearances warrant an entourage, it’s probably only Chen Long.

Chen Long enjoys that kind of attention; he did when he was young and still does now that he’s older.

Of course, it’s only brother Chen Long who can pull this off without the media making a fuss.

Therefore, people often see news about celebrities going out alone.

This not only reflects the tradition of Harbor City stars being down to earth but also indicates that the locals aren’t very interested in celebrities. More importantly, it shows that the status of the stars themselves simply isn’t substantial enough to warrant bringing an entourage out onto the streets.

Without the status of Chen Long, it would be embarrassing to bring an entourage out.