"Boss, why aren't you using the photos and articles I worked so hard to get?" a young man with dyed yellow hair angrily questioned his editor-in-chief. He was currently a reporter for a well-known entertainment magazine in China, not yet officially employed.
Therefore, he was exceptionally diligent, striving to capture major celebrity news. Yet, after finally obtaining an epic scoop, his editor-in-chief had outright rejected it, refusing to publish the story.
"A'wei, I've seen your efforts, and I truly appreciate them. But you don't know that your photo and article have touched upon a major taboo. If I hadn't suppressed it immediately, you would have already been arrested, do you understand?" Facing the young man's anger, the editor-in-chief maintained an expression of helping and looking out for him.
"Boss, how could it be a taboo? I admit Leng Zhiwen is an international superstar, but precisely because of that, her scandals are even more valuable! If we release this photo and report of her meeting a man in secret, our magazine will become the most famous and prominent in all of China, and we'll receive a large amount of advertising revenue. This is a great thing!" the young man exclaimed excitedly. "You don't know, but I spent 200 nights lurking and filming for this one photo over the past year. I spent over 50,000 on various train tickets and gas. After all my hard work to get this photo, how can you treat me like this!"
Indeed, the photo he held was of Leng Zhiwen, the most famous female celebrity in China, Hollywood, and even the world, at the moment.
Throughout her career, Leng Zhiwen had always presented herself as dedicated to her craft, an actress at the peak of her skills, with a persona of being emotionally detached, a cold goddess, and had never been involved in any romance-related scandals. Consequently, she was considered the dream lover by countless men and women.
That's right, Leng Zhiwen was a rare superstar who appealed to both genders. It all started when Leng Zhiwen debuted with a male persona, her elegant and refined sword immortal image mesmerizing countless young women.
Then came a complete reversal, with Leng Zhiwen transforming into a peerless beauty, captivating countless men. While some of her earlier female fans were heartbroken and left, more remained loyal, thus establishing Leng Zhiwen's broad appeal across genders.
Furthermore, Leng Zhiwen never appeared on variety shows, nor did she participate in any film or television works beyond acting. In fact, aside from endorsement deals with Jiangnan Group, Leng Zhiwen did not accept any promotional activities for other companies, appearing almost unnaturally perfect.
Moreover, after more than a decade, no entertainment magazine had managed to capture Leng Zhiwen in a scandalous situation, making her the most radiant star in the entire entertainment industry.
For a paparazzi, not yet officially employed, to pluck this star from the heavens would be the greatest honor in the profession.
Thus, the young man, a newcomer to the industry, spent an entire year tracking and filming Leng Zhiwen. Although Leng Zhiwen's security measures were extremely tight, making it impossible for him to get within 100 meters of her.
However, with the advancement of cameras, these obstacles were not an issue. After a full year of surveillance, the young man, A'wei, finally managed to capture a precious photograph.
It was a photo of Leng Zhiwen alighting from a car at a hotel, accompanied by a man, with both of them even holding hands as they exited the vehicle.
Although the photo, due to the angle, only showed Leng Zhiwen's profile, the identity of the man pictured remained unclear. However, this person absolutely could not be Leng Zhiwen's father, as her father had been dead for nearly 20 years.
Leng Zhiwen was also famously known for her strict avoidance of close physical contact with men outside of filming, and all her kissing scenes were achieved through clever camera angles. Therefore, the man who could hold Leng Zhiwen's hand while exiting a car was undoubtedly her boyfriend. This was a monumental piece of news – the goddess in the hearts of her fans had already been claimed by someone else. What a sensation it would be!
To his dismay, A'wei was informed that the photo could not be published, and his meticulously written article was rejected. Naturally, A'wei was furious. What had he been doing all year?
"I told you long ago not to target Leng Zhiwen and to focus on other celebrities, but you wouldn't listen to me, insisting on becoming the 'King of Paparazzi' and chasing a major scoop. You even went behind my back to film. I'm not responsible!" the editor-in-chief said with a cold snort. "You don't know that she is Huang He's sister-in-law."
"If we publish this photo, we will be opposing Jiangnan today and confronting Huang He. With just one phone call from Huang He, our entire magazine will be arrested on charges of invasion of privacy and imprisoned for several years!"
"This isn't the first time something like this has happened. Five years ago, Next Magazine, the top entertainment magazine in the industry, was infinitely more powerful than us, and they were a Hong Kong media outlet. Yet, with a single phone call from Huang He, the 'Double Flower Red Stick' of Hong Kong directly raided Next Magazine's headquarters. Apple Group, which backed Next Magazine, was so heavily suppressed that they lost all their orders. Their boss, while traveling in Thailand, was actually captured by elderly ladyboys and forced to take estrogen for three years before being discovered. By the time he was found, he was completely disoriented. He died in a hospital in Thailand the following month!"
"A'wei, do you want to go to Thailand and become a ladyboy too?" The editor-in-chief's words made A'wei tremble all over. The incident with Next Magazine was indeed very famous, causing a huge stir online.
At the time, A'wei was still studying in school. Although he was very curious about the matter, he couldn't ascertain the real reason behind it.
Now, he finally understood. It turned out Next Magazine had met such a tragic end because they had offended the richest man in the world.
"Huang He did this?" A'wei finally began to feel scared. "Doesn't the internet say he's a top nationalist but a very kind person, amiable to everyone, and a great philanthropist who donates over a billion yuan to charity every year?"
"Heh, do you believe that such a benevolent person can become the richest man in the world?" the editor-in-chief scoffed. "If you don't offend him, he's the world's number one philanthropist. But if you do offend him, then you'd better pray he has the mercy to let you die quickly, sparing you suffering!"
"..." A'wei was speechless. His original aspiration to become famous overnight and be China's top paparazzi vanished completely.
"How about this, I'll give you a good assignment. Go and cover this event, attend their press conference!" The editor-in-chief then handed A'wei an invitation card that was on the table.
A'wei glanced at it, his expression turning somewhat troubled. "Boss, we're an entertainment magazine, why would we bother attending a new product launch for a toy company?"
"Isn't a toy an entertainment product?" The editor-in-chief glared at A'wei and continued, "I'm doing this for your own good. For press conferences held by small companies like this, they usually give reporters attending a travel expense fee, a few hundred yuan at least, enough for you to live on for ten days to half a month. I'm letting you go because you haven't gotten any results after following them for a year, to help you recoup some losses. Otherwise, there are plenty of people in the editorial department who would want to go. If you don't want to, I'll give it to someone else!"
"I'll go, I'll go!" What else could A'wei say? He immediately snatched the invitation card. He thought the few hundred yuan was already in his pocket, but then he heard the editor-in-chief continue, "Our magazine is short on advertisements lately. You can try to persuade their company representative to place an advertisement in our magazine while you're there."
"Yes!" A'wei replied listlessly.
"Take this seriously. Listen, if you don't bring back any advertisements, the travel expenses will be returned to the company!" The editor-in-chief's words turned A'wei's face as pale as a ghost.
Despite his extreme reluctance, A'wei eventually appeared at the entrance of the press conference. Seeing that the entire Bird's Nest stadium had been booked by the company, A'wei thought it was not impossible to earn over a thousand yuan in travel expenses this time.
Especially when he quickly noticed that there weren't many reporters present, and they were mostly from smaller media outlets in the capital. Major media outlets were almost nowhere to be seen.
However, this was understandable. Why would any media be willing to report on a new product launch held by a company they had never even heard of, especially for toys?
The media outlets that did come were basically there for the same reason as him – to collect their travel expenses and leave.
Normally, according to past practice, when reporters registered their personal information at the entrance, they would be politely presented with a small red envelope by the organizers' staff, containing the day's travel expenses.
Stingy hosts might offer around 200 yuan, while generous ones might even go up to 5,000 yuan. To A'wei's extreme disappointment, after he completed his registration, the organizers showed no intention of giving out any red envelopes.
It was only after A'wei shamelessly asked, "Don't you have any freebies here? I drove over a hundred kilometers just for the gas!"
Then he heard a staff member reply with a smile, "There will be freebies. After the new product launch event concludes, we will present all our reporter friends with our company's latest assembled mecha model products. They are limited editions!"
"What the..." A'wei almost couldn't hold back, but remembering the task assigned by his editor-in-chief, he managed to suppress it. However, many other reporters did not have such good temperaments. Upon hearing that there were no travel expenses, the vast majority of reporters turned around and left. In the end, fewer than ten reporters remained seated in the press area.