My capital is quite large.

Chapter 157 The Self-Cultivation of Brother 1

Lunar New Year's Eve, 2012.

Yanjing, CCTV's Studio One.

As another year draws to a close and a new one begins, Li Feng, as usual, brings his parents to Beijing. The family of three sits at the VIP round table closest to the main stage of the Spring Festival Gala.

However, this year's Spring Festival Gala seemed to be missing something for audiences across the country.

Uncle Benshan, who has dominated the Spring Festival Gala stage for twenty years, was absent this year due to unforeseen circumstances.

Just as the audience was feeling a little disappointed, a young man who looked somewhat "cheeky" pushed open a fake security door on stage.

"Hao Jian! My name is Hao Jian!"

"It is not innocence, but naivete, which has beaten you!"

As these humorous lines were uttered, bursts of laughter erupted in the studio.

Li Feng sat in the audience, watching Shen Teng on stage, who was energetically delivering punchlines, with a complex look in his eyes.

As a reborn person, he understood better than anyone what this skit called "Today's Happiness" meant.

"The era of the king of comedy sketches has finally come to an end."

Li Feng sighed inwardly.

Shen Teng became an overnight sensation tonight with his role as Hao Jian, beginning his reign as a comedic icon.

But he is also aware that starting this year, the comedic core of the Spring Festival Gala has begun to slowly shift away.

Comedies that are purely meant to make people laugh are becoming increasingly rare. Instead, we will see comedies with a sad ending and a dumpling-making era that will be the subject of much criticism from young people in the future.

With his thoughts drawn from the stage, Li Feng's gaze fell on the large round table where he was sitting.

If any sharp-eyed media outlets or directors were to switch the camera around, they would be absolutely astonished.

Because at Li Feng's table, besides his family of three, there were actually several currently popular celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry!

Three men and three women, plus the boss's family of three.

On the surface, this appears to be a perfectly fair and impartial Spring Festival greeting to outstanding employees of Haofeng Group.

On the male side are Han Geng, Yang Yang, and Zhang Ruoyun, while on the female side are Yang Mi, Liu Yifei, and Liu Shishi.

The lineup is impressive, and the male-to-female ratio is well-balanced.

But this was just Li Feng trying to cover up the truth!

The real centerpiece of this table is the woman sitting right next to Li Feng's mother, Zhang Xiulan.

"Auntie, please try this pastry. It's soft and chewy and doesn't stick to your teeth," Liu Yifei said softly, using serving chopsticks to put some pastry on Zhang Xiulan's plate.

"Okay, okay, you eat too. You need to eat more now, you can't keep dieting like before just to look good on camera!"

Zhang Xiulan smiled so hard her face was full of wrinkles, holding Liu Yifei's fair little hand tightly, looking at him with such affection.

Ever since they learned at the temple that this star, who was as beautiful as a fairy, was carrying the only grandson in the Li family for three generations, the old couple looked at Liu Yifei with starry eyes.

Zhang Xiulan was visibly happier tonight than when she watched the Spring Festival Gala last year. She chatted enthusiastically with Liu Yifei, asking him what was wrong.

Yang Mi, sitting next to Li Feng, was holding a glass of juice. Although she maintained a sweet and polite smile, a closer look would reveal that the muscles around her mouth were almost stiff.

How sour! How jealous!

Seeing Liu Yifei being treated like a treasure by Li Feng's mother, Yang Mi felt a surge of bitterness that felt like it was burning her stomach!

She worked incredibly hard to earn the title of Weibo Queen.

But the result?

Liu Yifei quietly became pregnant with a dragon's child, transcending the so-called "flower actress" class and stepping one foot into the Li family's door!

Looking at the way Li's mother looked at her daughter-in-law, Yang Mi felt that the juice in her hand was more bitter than bitter melon, and she couldn't bring herself to look natural.

Of all the people at the table, the one under the most pressure was Yang Yang, who sat on the other side of Li Feng and was nominally Hao Feng's number one brother.

As a representative of high emotional intelligence who is well-versed in the survival skills of the Chinese entertainment industry, Yang Yang is currently feeling extremely uneasy.

He wasn't stupid. He glanced at the boss's elaborate efforts to gather this group together, then at Li's mother's careful and protective treatment of Liu Yifei, and finally at Yang Mi's barely contained resentful look...

Yang Yang quickly pieced together the truth that sent chills down his spine!

The fairy-like beauty is probably pregnant!! Today, she's using watching the Spring Festival Gala as an excuse to meet her in-laws!

And all of them were just tools that the boss brought in to cover for him!

"Stay calm! We have to stay calm! If this charade falls apart and others notice something amiss, the boss will skin me alive!"

Yang Yang cried out in his heart.

To avoid an awkward silence and to cover up Yang Mi's unease, Yang Yang essentially forced himself to become the host for the table.

He is observant and attentive to his surroundings.

One moment he was serving tea to Li's parents, the next he was pulling Zhang Ruoyun and Han Geng aside to discuss the magic tricks on stage, thus changing the subject.

Especially when the waiter brought the champagne, Yang Yang quickly and discreetly moved Liu Yifei's glass away, replacing it with a glass of warm milk, all the while cheerfully trying to smooth things over:

"Sister Yifei has caught a cold recently and is taking medicine. Drinking some warm milk will help warm her stomach."

Li Feng, holding his teacup, took in Yang Yang's smooth and effortless handling of the situation out of the corner of his eye.

"That kid's got a clever trick up his sleeve."

Li Feng secretly admired him. In this situation where things could easily go wrong if one wasn't careful, Yang Yang, a subordinate with high emotional intelligence, was indeed very easy to use.

No wonder he was able to remain at the top for so many years in his previous life.

"When we get back, it's time to give this kid more responsibilities."

……

At 1 a.m., the Spring Festival Gala came to a successful close.

The stars dispersed and returned to their respective hotels.

Inside a five-star hotel in Yanjing.

Yang Yang ripped off his tie and collapsed onto the sofa in the room, utterly exhausted.

"Yang-ge, what happened to you? How come you're so tired after watching the Spring Festival Gala?"

Zhang Ruoyun, who had come in to visit with them, picked up a bottle of mineral water and threw it over, asking with some puzzlement.

"You don't know anything!"

Yang Yang unscrewed the bottle cap and took a big gulp, then complained with lingering fear, "Didn't you see how weird the atmosphere was at that table? Caught between Sister Mi and Sister Yifei, I didn't even dare to breathe loudly, afraid that if I breathed too heavily, I would upset the boss!"

"Being a male artist in this company is harder than being a eunuch!"

Zhang Ruoyun was completely confused and was about to ask more questions when Yang Yang's phone suddenly rang.

It was Lao Han, the director of the film and television department, calling.

Yang Yang quickly sat up straight and answered the phone: "Hello, Mr. Han."

"Yang Yang, are you still awake? I have some good news for you."

Old Han chuckled on the other end of the phone, "President Li just personally instructed that a new big-screen movie has been scheduled for you."

"The title is 'You Are the Apple of My Eye,' a youth campus drama. Your co-star as the female lead is Liu Shishi. Get ready to start filming after the New Year."

After hanging up the phone, Yang Yang stood there, stunned, still reeling from the unexpected windfall.

"Holy crap! That's awesome! That's awesome, bro!" Zhang Ruoyun, who was standing nearby, overheard a few words.

"The male lead in a movie! And he's co-starring with Liu Shishi! She's one of Haofeng's top three! Your first big-screen role is this top-tier; the boss is really pushing you!"

Although Zhang Ruoyun was happy for Yang Yang, she quickly calmed down and earnestly reminded him:

"But Yang-ge, you have to be careful. Sister Shi is the boss's darling. You know what kind of actresses we have in our company. If you're filming this kind of youth romance movie with her, don't get cocky. You know how to handle kissing and intimate scenes! If you make the boss jealous and angry, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Upon hearing Zhang Ruoyun's worried instructions, Yang Yang, who had just been sprawled on the sofa, suddenly sat up.

He smoothed his slightly disheveled bangs, which were messy from sweating, and gave Zhang Ruoyun a knowing, worldly-wise look.

"Do you even need to tell me?"

"What does it mean to have keen observation skills? What does it mean for an actor to have professional ethics?"

"As long as I'm on set, I promise I'll treat Sister Shi Shi like a goddess. I'll always have all the necessary equipment on hand—positioning tricks, fake angles, transparent tape!"

Yang Yang patted his chest and said firmly:

"In our company, business acumen comes second; the will to survive is number one!"

"Otherwise, why do you think I'm number one?"