Chapter 223: Chapter 166: Short Play Layout! Demon Dance

Chen Jincheng was truly surprised to see that the friend Li Muchen wanted to recommend was actually Zhang Ao’ai.

In his previous life, she was already a huge star by ’18.

But in this life, she was still working as an extra alongside Li Muchen.

Still, he wasn’t too surprised. The cultural development and Trajectory of the two modern worlds were completely different.

Right after he’d transmigrated, he had looked into the status of many celebrities, including her. It seemed she hadn’t become a certain movie queen’s lighting double like in his past life, because that movie queen didn’t even exist in this world. She also didn’t seem to have filmed *The Princess Consort’s Promotion Record*. As a result, there wasn’t a single piece of news about her online.

It was just like Jay Chou, who, in this life, wasn’t cut out for the entertainment industry. After releasing one massively popular song, he didn’t continue writing or singing. Instead, he opened a chain of savory pancake shops, becoming the famous “Zhou Binglun.”

This girl was another celebrity whose Trajectory had completely changed.

It just goes to show that opportunity is crucial in life. A single chance can often lead to two completely different lives.

If a person is lucky enough to meet a benefactor who gives them a chance, it’s an incredibly fortunate thing.

“Mr. Chen, hello. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” When Zhang Ao’ai saw Chen Jincheng appear on the video call, she quickly greeted him. You could tell she was a little nervous.

After hearing about the scripted videos from Li Muchen, she had been paying close attention to the matter. She had even watched with her own eyes as Li Muchen’s cousin gained over five million followers in a short period of time. It was simply incredible.

Moreover, she realized that filming these kinds of videos could train her acting skills and attract fans. She really wanted to give it a try. After all, once you have an online following, you can try to land some acting roles, right?

So, knowing that this video call was basically an interview, she was as nervous as she would be for an audition for an extra’s role.

Chen Jincheng looked at the actress from his past life and asked with a smile, “Hello. I am indeed looking to recruit talent. Miss Zhang, may I ask if you can dance?”

“Huh??? Yes, I can! I’ve studied dance!” Zhang Ao’ai was stunned for a moment.

’Weren’t we talking about playing a supporting female role in a video? The interview should be about acting, right?’

’Why is he asking about dancing?’

“Then can you sing?” Chen Jincheng asked another question.

He wasn’t just asking pointless questions, of course. In his previous life, this woman wasn’t just good at acting. Her dancing was amazing—Zhang Ao’ai’s splits had once made many otaku drool. Plus, she could sing, making her an all-around entertainer.

The key was that she was very beautiful and had a great figure.

In his previous world, many people liked Yang Mi, or the “beauty seen once in 4,000 years.”

But he felt this woman was better-looking than Yang Mi and had a more “wow” figure than the “4,000-year beauty.”

The main reason she hadn’t done as well as those two was that her agency was terrible.

Originally, after *The Princess Consort’s Promotion Record*, she had the chance to ascend to a top-tier starlet status like the “4,000-year beauty.” But who knew her agency would be so clueless, stubbornly insisting on sticking with novel-to-drama adaptations.

One show, *My Friend Miss Chen Bailu*, was absolutely terrible. And later, despite the clear lesson from the disastrous *Qi Fighting Horse*, they still got her a role in the super-trashy drama *Martial Universe*.

After *Martial Universe*, it seemed she was in another terrible romance drama that scored a 3.1 on Douban.

Later, she took on another novel adaptation, *Snow Like Blade*. With Zhang Ruoyun—the man practically born to play male leads from novels—participating, she thought it was a sure thing, a chance for a comeback. But in the end, her screen time in the show was minimal, and she was stuck with abysmal fight choreography.

The drama itself was quite good; it was just that the fight scenes could be equated with the *Qi Fighting Horse* incident. In fact, they might have been even worse.

Her character relied on fight scenes, yet right from the start, there was a slow-motion, face-touching fight sequence that became a major point of ridicule.

And just like that, her career went from holding a royal flush to a pair of threes. In the end, it fizzled out, and she couldn’t even hold on to her A-list status.

Otherwise, if she had followed *The Princess Consort’s Promotion Record* with another hit drama to build momentum, she would have skyrocketed to fame for sure.

But in this world, her Trajectory was different. She was still just an extra.

However, recruiting her to be an influencer now was practically overkill. Besides, in her previous life, she had also promoted cosmetics with great success. If it weren’t for her lingering obsession with the acting world, she could have easily become another Jia Nailiang of product endorsement.

“In my spare time between extra roles, I’ve also taken voice lessons,” Zhang Ao’ai immediately replied.

Hearing this, Chen Jincheng said directly, “Miss Zhang, we’re filming the video tomorrow. Will you be able to make it here in time?”

“Yes, of course! I’ll buy a ticket right now.” A look of joy washed over Zhang Ao’ai’s face. Even though his questions had been strange, this meant she had passed the interview.

After hanging up, a smile touched the corners of Chen Jincheng’s mouth.

’She was one of my favorite actresses in my past life. Now that I have the chance to be her boss in this life, shouldn’t I take advantage of the perks?’

With that thought, he handed the phone back to Li Muchen, not forgetting to instruct her, “Go study the script carefully. Don’t drop the ball tomorrow.”

“I will, boss,” Li Muchen nodded.

After Li Muchen left, Chen Jincheng’s mind began racing.

In another world, Li Muchen was known as the “Zhao Liying of short-form dramas,” a dominant force in the genre.

If this Zhang Ao’ai also filmed short-form dramas, the results would definitely be no worse than Li Muchen’s.

You could say that the foundation for Second-Life Star’s short-form dramas was now in place. All that was left was to film story-based content for them to accumulate fans while waiting for the era of short-form dramas—and its piece of the pie—to arrive.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to jump straight into making short-form dramas and get it done in one step. It was just that in ’18, the right ecosystem for them didn’t exist yet, so it was impossible.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep