After Punching Her Way Through The Entertainment Industry [Ancient-to-Modern] - Chapter 7

Yang Man sat in the shade, eagerly anticipating Meng Shi’s performance.

“Why do you care about her so much?” Jia Jia asked from beside her.

She had managed many artists over the years, but she had never seen anyone like Yang Man, who would actively help someone else obtain a role.

After all, in a certain sense, the two of them could be considered competitors.

“She… saved me once. Isn’t it only right that I help her? Sister Jia Jia, are you angry?”

“Why would I be angry? I’d be delighted if she got an opportunity. But are you helping her only because she saved you?”

“Uh… y-yes. What other reason could there be…?”

…

“Action!”

At the director’s command, Meng Shi immediately focused all her attention.

She could clearly sense a machine filming her from behind, and an inexplicable trace of nervousness appeared in her heart.

Following the director’s instructions, she exchanged a glance with the man.

Meng Shi raised her hand slightly, signaling that she was about to throw a punch.

The man glanced at her. His stern face carried a hint of disdain, as though he had already entered character.

Meng Shi knew that she was exceptionally strong and could easily injure someone, so she carefully controlled her strength.

She threw a punch that was neither too light nor too heavy directly toward the man’s face.

She believed the punch was already slow and easy to avoid.

Unexpectedly, the man neither dodged nor moved aside.

There was a solid smack as her fist struck flesh.

“Ow!”

The man immediately cried out in pain.

The surrounding crew members were all startled. Even the director forgot to yell, “Cut.”

“Why didn’t you dodge?” Meng Shi asked.

The man tasted blood in his mouth. He pointed at Meng Shi angrily.

“Why did you actually hit me?!”

“What happened?”

The director hurried over.

“Director, where did you find this idiot? Why did she hit me for real?”

As he spoke, the man’s manager also rushed over and inspected his injuries.

“Director, where did this person come from? Does she even know how to act?”

He pointed at Meng Shi while questioning the director.

Meng Shi lowered her gaze and looked at the finger pointed toward her, strongly resisting the urge to snap it.

“Well… this…”

The director appeared somewhat afraid of the manager and began stammering.

At the same time, Jia Jia and Yang Man hurried over.

Naturally, a certain older woman who had come to enjoy the spectacle also quietly moved closer.

“What happened?”

Jia Jia stood in front of Meng Shi and faced the manager.

“Heh. So she’s from Huayu. No wonder she’s so arrogant.”

Jia Jia glanced at Meng Shi.

“What happened?”

She had been too far away to see clearly. She had only noticed the two of them suddenly arguing.

“The director told me to punch him and said he would dodge. But when I punched him, he didn’t move.”

Meng Shi patiently explained.

After hearing this, everyone wore a different expression.

【Jia Jia: What kind of absurdly straightforward girl is this?!】

【Director: This baby feels wronged, but this baby can’t say anything.】

【Yang Man: Aaaaah! She even knows martial arts! Maximum boyfriend power! More points, more points, more points!】

As for Yan Qing, her expression remained calm, but inside, she was already laughing herself into the heavens…

Ye Wei silently watched her.

Yan Qing’s face remained completely expressionless, but her entire body was trembling from trying to suppress her laughter.

“You’re a newcomer, aren’t you? The director only meant for you to make it look convincing. Who told you to hit him for real?”

“You even injured his face. How is my artist supposed to continue filming in the near future?”

“Have the people from Huayu already become this arrogant?”

Wang Zhe scolded Meng Shi while pointing at her, though his eyes were directed toward Jia Jia.

“Hasn’t Huayu always been arrogant?”

A voice suddenly sounded.

Everyone’s expressions changed as they turned toward the speaker.

Jia Jia had already raised an eyebrow and was about to retaliate, but when she saw who had spoken, the words became lodged in her throat.

Yan Qing?!

【Ye Wei: Boss! It would’ve been enough to think it. Why did you have to say it aloud?!】

“However, are the people from Boyi really this delicate?”

Yan Qing suddenly changed direction and began attacking Wang Zhe’s artist instead.

Wang Zhe had originally intended to enjoy the show, only to be unexpectedly targeted himself.

Boyi had once been a famous entertainment company in the industry and had produced countless stars.

However, in recent years, Qinghan had risen first. With Yan Qing’s connections and Chu Yihan’s financial resources, it had occupied nearly half the entertainment industry.

Then Huayu emerged abruptly, recruiting and heavily cultivating newcomers everywhere. It even openly poached talent.

Many of Boyi’s veteran artists had been taken by Qinghan and Huayu.

In recent years, Boyi had nearly reached the critical point where its older talent was fading and no younger generation had risen to replace them.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a grown man lose to a young girl and still have the nerve to run to someone else and complain.”

Yan Qing accepted a slice of cantaloupe from Ye Wei and took a bite.

She had truly become a spectator eating melon.

“For such a simple action, you still need to fake the shot? Should we find a stunt double for you too?”

“You can’t be criticized, you can’t be scolded, and you can’t endure even the slightest hardship. Why are you an actor?”

Yan Qing continued eating melon while mercilessly criticizing him.

【Ye Wei: Boss, can’t the melon keep your mouth occupied?!】

The artist’s face turned bright red from Yan Qing’s scolding. He looked resentfully at Wang Zhe.

For once, Wang Zhe did not retaliate.

He stretched his lips into a false smile.

“Sister Qing is right to lecture us.”

People constantly rose and fell in the entertainment industry.

Some became famous overnight, while others disappeared just as quickly.

There were countless people and events involving dramatic rises and sudden collapses.

Yet there was one exception.

Yan Qing.

She had excellent relationships within the industry and enjoyed helping newcomers.

Even among the celebrities who were currently extremely popular, at least half had once received Yan Qing’s assistance and maintained good personal relationships with her.

Although she had changed careers in recent years, kept a lower profile, and quietly focused on her work, she remained the center of attention wherever she went.

She had not yet stepped down from her pedestal.

Wang Zhe took his artist away to rest.

His expression was extremely ugly as he left.

He did not dare confront Yan Qing directly, so he could only mutter quietly.

“She’s only acting like that because she has someone powerful supporting her…”

Since that was mentioned, it was necessary to speak briefly about Chu Yihan.

After all, in the eyes of certain people, Yan Qing owed all her present success to Xiyuan’s wealthiest woman.

Young Miss Chu could be considered someone especially skilled at choosing the right family to be born into.

She entered the world as a wealthy second-generation heiress with a golden spoon in her mouth.

However, even rich heiresses chased celebrities.

When Yan Qing had first begun attracting attention on screen, Chu Yihan noticed her.

She even found a way to bribe Yan Qing’s manager at the time and arranged a rather unpleasant encounter with her.

It happened inside Yan Qing’s car.

Back then, Chu Yihan had short hair and dressed like a tomboy. She behaved recklessly and spoke with a slightly roguish tone.

She repeatedly teased Yan Qing until she finally provoked the tigress.

Yan Qing assumed she was some blind young master from a wealthy family attempting to do something indecent.

Without showing mercy, she beat Chu Yihan up directly inside the car.

Yes…

She beat her up.

Chu Yihan had naturally been furious at the time.

However, perhaps some wealthy heirs possessed particularly unusual thought processes.

She thought:

Huh? This woman actually dared to hit me? Everyone in the world spoils this princess. How dare she strike me?! This is absolutely wonderful!

Thus, she continued persistently following Yan Qing.

Later, Yan Qing finally discovered that Chu Yihan was a woman…

She apologized for beating her.

After spending more time together, the two became close friends who could discuss anything.

Yan Qing often said that her friendship with Old Chu had been formed through fighting.

Naturally, outsiders could not possibly know these things.

At the time, Yan Qing’s career happened to be steadily rising, and this wealthy heiress was always beside her.

From an outsider’s perspective, it was only natural to assume that Chu Yihan had contributed significantly to her success.

Chu Yihan had indeed helped Yan Qing before, but only once.

She found Ye Wei, such a reliable assistant, for her.

Even before Yan Qing became extremely famous, she had possessed this blunt, straightforward personality.

She had unintentionally offended many people.

Fortunately, Ye Wei helped her manage her connections and relationships.

Unexpectedly, after Yan Qing became famous, the same personality was instead praised as frank and forthright.

People enthusiastically admired her for it.

She practically became a role model for the entertainment industry!

All right, enough about this older woman for now.

As for Meng Shi, she stood nearby with her arms folded, watching Yan Qing’s retreating figure.

She could tell that Yan Qing had helped her out of the situation just now.

However…

Why was this person everywhere?!

Had she purchased the entire film city or something?

“Ah Meng, are you close to Director Yan?” Yang Man asked quietly.

She still appeared somewhat traumatized by Yan Qing.

“I don’t know her at all,” Meng Shi answered without hesitation.

“But why do I feel that Director Yan admires you quite a lot…?”

“She’s probably blind.”

【Yan Qing: I seem to hear someone behind me saying that I’m handsome?】

“Sister Qing, you shouldn’t have helped her just now,” Ye Wei said after they had walked some distance away.

“Why?”

“Qinghan and Huayu are bitter rivals.”

“You defended her in front of Jia Jia. What will Huayu’s people think?”

“You know that Fang Yu is always opposing you. Meng Shi belongs to Huayu now. How is she supposed to survive there after you openly defended her?”

The older woman thought for a moment.

“If she can’t survive there, that’s even better. The moment she leaves Huayu, I’ll immediately recruit her into Qinghan.”

Yan Qing smiled wickedly.

【Ye Wei: You may want to recruit her, but she probably has no intention of coming…】

After resting for a while, filming resumed.

This time, Meng Shi reached an agreement with the man beforehand.

“I’ll punch toward the left side of your face. Dodge at the same time I strike.”

The man did not make a fuss and readily agreed.

However, Meng Shi caught a fleeting sinister smile on his face and immediately became more cautious.

Meng Shi exchanged a brief glance with him.

She raised her hand and threw an unhurried punch toward the left side of his face.

The man suddenly leaned toward his left.

At the same time, he abruptly lifted his leg and kicked viciously toward Meng Shi’s lower abdomen.

Heh.

So this was what he had been waiting for.

Meng Shi had already prepared herself.

At the instant the kick appeared to strike her, she suddenly leaned her upper body backward, staggered two steps, clutched her stomach, and fell to the ground.

She rolled around as though she were in terrible pain.

“Good! Pass!”

The director waved his hand.

Yang Man was the first to rush over.

“Ah Meng, are you all right?”

Meng Shi stood and dusted off her clothes.

“I’m fine. He didn’t hit me.”

“Huh? But that kick looked extremely hard just now…”

Meng Shi smiled but did not explain.

In the past, she had frequently sparred with people in the military camp and had taken many blows.

Naturally, she knew how to properly avoid injuries.

However, pretending to be injured was something she had specifically practiced for Yan Qing.

When she sparred with Yan Qing, Yan Qing’s strength was too weak to injure anyone.

Thus, Meng Shi worked hard to master the skill of pretending to be hurt.

First, it was to help Yan Qing build confidence.

Second…

It was also because she wanted to see Yan Qing become flustered, worried, and helpless from concern for her…

Author’s Note:

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