CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 0051: I’VE RECENTLY FALLEN IN LOVE WITH STUDYING (REQUEST FOR MONTHLY TICKETS)

Additional evidence for the media thinking Hao is pretending is that Hao’s speed in flipping through books is a bit too fast.

You can barely recognize the characters, yet you’re flipping so quickly. Are you trying to see if there’s money hidden in the pages?

Zhang Nan also couldn’t figure out what was up with Hao these days.

He asked Zhang Nan to buy quite a few books, but then didn’t really read them, just flipped through them casually and tossed them aside, asking him to send them to the company.

He even asked Old Tian at the company to set up a bookshelf for him.

He seemed determined to fill the bookshelf completely.

Nonetheless, the sight of Hao reading with glasses on looked both refined and masculine, really quite striking.

From Hao, you could conclude that a man wearing glasses is as charming as a woman in black stockings.

On the other hand, Hu Ge was somewhat choked up as he spoke about his misfortunes.

This has been his most depressed year, returning to the entertainment industry with expectation and responsibility, only to find it hard to find his place.

In this entertainment industry, many people enter every day, and many gradually fade away.

And he is not irreplaceable.

He is very grateful to Sugarman for giving him opportunities.

Not only did "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" stop production to wait for him, now "Chinese Paladin 3" has given him a chance too.

"The feeling of being ignored is indeed unpleasant. Clearly, someone as popular as Hao attracts more attention. During the production of this drama, have you felt pressure from Hao? Does he make you feel pressured?"

"Of course, there’s pressure... But this pressure doesn’t come from Hao; it’s from within myself. The gap in acting skills between me and Hao engenders a sense of defeat."

"It seems he doesn’t pay much attention to you. Do you feel ignored by Hao?"

The media truly are a bunch of rotten seeds with sores on their heads and pus-dripping feet.

They’re not interested in Cai Yinong’s kindness towards Hu Ge; only Cai Yinong knows how much is out of friendship and how much is business.

At most, they sigh and say this young man is likely to be tied to Cai Yinong for life.

The media are more eager to see gossip about discord in the crew.

For example, Hao suppressing Hu Ge.

That’s definitely news as big as those rumors with Yang Mi and Tang Yan.

After all, Hu Ge had a car accident and recuperated for so long; now he’s back, and you’re suppressing him as a senior.

"No, no," Hu Ge wouldn’t fall for it, shaking his head repeatedly, saying: "Hao has a very good temper. We often surround him to ask about acting skills, and no matter how inexperienced we are, he’s never impatient."

Never mind that the company hadn’t arranged such a task for him.

Just based on how Hao treats them on set, he can’t say bad things about Hao.

He has many scenes with Hao.

Every time there’s an NG, it’s him.

Whether it’s him or Tang Yan, no matter how many times they NG, Hao never complained, not even showing a sour face.

He’s always amicably waiting on the side.

If you ask him to rehearse scenes with you, he would cooperatively play along without a word.

If you ask for his advice on how he would handle a scene, he will patiently share his thoughts and experiences.

For such a big shot, to smear his reputation and say he’s suppressing you would be outrageous.

The media keeps trying to dig traps and see if Hu Ge would fall for them, but Hu Ge didn’t even give an ambiguous statement, letting them have no room to play.

Besides, Yang Mi loves to stir up rumors with Hao, and she didn’t show up today.

The media couldn’t even explore whether Hu Ge and Yang Mi got along and if sparks could fly.

They could only focus on Hu Ge’s car accident and the upcoming July release of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes."

Next up was Liu Shishi and Tang Yan.

Liu Shishi’s interview was dull, but Tang Yan surprised everyone quite a bit.

"What’s it like working with Hao?"

"I’m actually a fan of Mr. Hao; I’ve seen most of his works. Being able to work with him this time, wow, I could wake up from my dreams laughing."

Tang Yan said, half-jokingly.

She sort of understood that Sugarman had passed the burden of spreading romance rumors with Hao onto her shoulders.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have arranged for her to film a warm scene today.

Clearly, Cai Yinong was displeased with Yang Mi endlessly stirring up rumors with Hao.

Even if it benefits Tang Yan, she didn’t want to see Yang Mi continue profiting from it.

Should she take up this floodgate of riches?

Once in this fame-driven entertainment circle, who doesn’t want to become famous? Who is willing to be a supporting character all their life?

The role of a supporting character doesn’t exempt you from the whirlpool of controversy.

On the contrary, the lower you are, the less status and dignity you have.

Only by climbing higher will you stop anyone from trying to victimize you.

If Yang Mi can cozy up to Brother Hao, why can’t Tang Yan?

What’s meant to be will be; what isn’t, fight for it.

"Do you like Hao?" the media asked directly, seeing Tang Yan’s cooperation.

"No one in our crew doesn’t like him!"

Tang Yan, at least, has not lost her mind, knowing you can stir up romance but not excessively.

"If you were looking for a boyfriend, would you choose someone like Hao?"

"Ah... I do tend to like handsome guys..."

Tang Yan’s shyness didn’t seem feigned.

When it was Tang Yan’s turn in the interview area, the noise visibly increased, and Hao could hear it even from the resting area.

He sighed and put down his book.

On one hand, he marveled at the impending change of rumored girlfriends.

Life felt like Louis XVI’s, lacking direction and an end in sight.

How long has it been? Yet another switch, it’d certainly be strange if people didn’t think he was a scumbag.

On the other hand, he sighed at his photographic memory.

This skill is indeed very handy, aside from not increasing IQ, it’s fully exploiting the photographic memory trait.

But learning without reflection is pointless, reflection without learning is enjoyable.

A person’s energy is always limited.

After reading so many books these past few days, he was already feeling an undeniable fatigue.

His temples throbbed faintly.

"It’s just about time, we should head over for the interview." Zhang Nan reminded Hao, inspecting Hao, not thinking he needed any makeup.

Hao never wore makeup while filming.

Only recently, with the weather getting warmer, has he done some minor touch-ups to look fresh on camera.

Hao nodded, handed the book to Zhang Nan, and stood up to go to the interview area.

Over there, Tang Yan had already finished her interview.

As they passed by each other, Tang Yan’s face was flushed red, and seeing Hao, she even showed a hint of shyness.

If only you could act that well during filming...

Central Academy of Drama would probably feel more relieved.

"Hello everyone, if there’s anything you’d like to ask, now’s the time." Hao came to the interview without glasses, leaving the media slightly disappointed.

"What’s your take on the recent rumors with Yang Mi?"

"I think media friends are overreacting a bit. Yang Mi and I are just friends from previous collaborations. You can’t just assume we have a story because you see us together."

Hao essentially denied the rumors about him and Yang Mi.

Not that he wanted to put Yang Mi in the hot seat either.

Hao’s approach to rumors was that if they weren’t directed at him, he’d pretend not to know.

If directly confronted, he’d usually deny it.

"How do you feel about working with Tang Yan this time?"

The media got smarter, not directly asking if he’s with Tang Yan, which would surely get a denial, missing an important news highlight.

"As a partner, Tang Yan is an actor with a very good image and works hard at acting. I’m very pleased to work with her."

How else could he praise?

That’s already the limit. Saying more would mean going against his conscience.

"Does she have a lot of outtakes?"

"Outtakes are a normal part of filming, caused by various factors. Both Tang Yan and I have outtakes..."

"If you were looking for a girlfriend, would you consider a girl like Tang Yan?"

"In terms of aesthetics, there are too many girls I could consider."

Hao didn’t directly answer.

While filming, even if Tang Yan was so bad, he wouldn’t leave her embarrassed, so naturally, he wouldn’t speak ill of her now.

In fact, among Tang Yan, Yang Mi, and Liu Shishi, he didn’t really dislike any of them.

However, if forced to rank, he might think Tang Yan is slightly better.

Schemes, not too deep; ambition, not too reckless.

Hmm, most importantly, she’s somewhat self-aware.

But he also wouldn’t let people think there’s any possibility with Tang Yan.

After a few more questions about Tang Yan, the media realized they couldn’t dig up much more.

"I noticed earlier you were reading. Do you often read on set?"

"Not too often, it’s mostly still filming."

Hao had no intention of flaunting his recently acquired photographic memory skill.

His ten years in the industry taught him when to lay low and when to be high-profile.

Clearly, these set visits didn’t warrant being high-profile.

These so-called entertainment media wouldn’t genuinely grasp the awesomeness of what he’s doing now either.

"Why did you decide to start reading?"

The media actually wanted to tease him, suspecting he was trying to build a cultured persona, but since they were paid today, it wasn’t suitable to confront directly.

"Recently... I’ve just fallen in love with learning."

Hao stated earnestly.

That wasn’t untrue, he used to be unable to get into books, the more he read, the more irritable he became.

Now with photographic memory, it’s like he got a new toy, eager to cram all the world’s books into his mind.

Of course, that’s essentially seeking death, and wouldn’t be useful.

"Heh," the media asked again, "We’ve heard you’ve hired an acting coach. You’ve already won an acting award; do you still need a coach?"

"I won the award by playing ’Heavenly Dog’ and received a lot of help from Qi Jian, and then the character matched me well, not that my acting had reached any great height. I still need to learn a lot..."

Damn, these jerks are digging holes again.

You guys are really dirty!

But Hao wasn’t one to be messed with either, immediately switching to humble mode.