The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

Zhou Yanruo watched as the "large group of people" walked noisily into the banquet hall.

The press conference for "Wandering the World with a Sword" was about to begin, and the remaining time would be for the organizers and the production company's publicity team to handle. Zhou Yanruo didn't need to attend, thinking that she still had some matters to attend to at the group, so she walked in the opposite direction of the crowd.

Zhou Yanruo returned to the hotel lobby, preparing to take the elevator to the upper floors of the building's office space. As she passed through the lobby's reception area, she saw several people holding cameras, clearly media personnel who had come for the press conference. However, they did not follow the media team into the press conference venue; instead, they were gesturing and discussing something.

"The real person is better looking than on TV. With that arrogant and unyielding attitude, how did he manage to thrive in the entertainment industry? It's true that money can solve 99% of the world's problems. With the financial resources of Rushang Group, it's not difficult to make an actor famous."

"I can't stand people like that. Why should he get all the good luck?"

"Exactly. They're rich and good-looking, they have everything they need, why are they trying to steal other people's resources? Wouldn't it be better to go back and be a rich kid?"

"That's right, I really don't understand."

"This kind of person won't last long. A lot of people don't like him, but he's still so arrogant."

"Don't say that. They do have some talent. It's rare for a movie to become this popular."

"It's all thanks to someone promoting him. Try it if you don't have a background."

"Your prejudice is a bit too big, hahaha..."

"Last time, I had already arranged with his agency to write a column, but a junior assistant called and canceled it without warning."

"Was it canceled because there were no scheduled events?"

"Didn't you have some free time in your recent public schedule? How come you say you don't have time?"

"He's just fucking arrogant, acting like a big shot as soon as he becomes famous."

"Are all your interview transcripts just cheesy jokes that people don't like?"

"Let's go, I've taken some pictures and posted them online, hehe, now I'm looking for someone to write something about them."

"We can't spoil these young heartthrobs. Let's wait and see what happens."

The group chatted amongst themselves, discussing the sordid affairs of the entertainment industry, as they walked out of the hotel together.

Hearing them gossip about male celebrities who use money to solve problems, Zhou Yanruo subconsciously felt that it was probably related to Shang Yibo, so she followed these people to find out what was going on.

A short man, holding a professional camera, was walking and talking to his companion when he suddenly bumped into Zhou Yanruo, who was walking with them.

"Damn it! Watch where you're going," the short man snapped.

"Stop right there." Zhou Yanruo had never been taken advantage of before. She waved her hand, and two security guards came over: "What are you doing here, taking pictures like this? Do you have press passes?"

"Bring his camera over," Zhou Yanruo ordered the two security guards before the short man could answer.

Without saying a word, the security guard snatched the camera from the short man's hand and handed it to Zhou Yanruo.

Zhou Yanruo opened the camera preview and saw several photos of Shang Yibo. The shooting angles were deliberately designed to make him look ugly and have a lewd expression. There were also a few photos that used forced perspective to make Shang Yibo and Xu Nuolai look intimate, which looked very ambiguous and indescribable.

This newly released TV series, which features two male leads, has already generated considerable buzz online. While it has brought popularity to the two actors and caused a stir even before its release, it has also been accompanied by numerous negative reports, malicious rumors, and fan fiction, creating bizarre pairings and outlandish gossip.

Zhou Yanruo quickly deleted the photos, then shoved the camera directly into the short man's chest. The short man hurriedly caught the camera to prevent it from falling to the ground. "Hey, damn it!" Before the short man could speak again, two burly male assistants rushed over and shoved the group out of the hotel.

Two burly male assistants quickly ran back to Shang Yibo's assistant. They bent down and spoke in low, hurried voices, occasionally pointing in Zhou Yanruo's direction.

Ding Jiajia smiled and nodded slightly to Zhou Yanruo, then took two quick steps to follow Shang Yibo into the banquet hall.

The press conference was indeed simple yet sophisticated in its design. The main creative team gathered together, and the two male leads, director, producer, and screenwriter each gave brief speeches. This was followed by a series of group photos, and the Q&A session was carefully curated to ensure that interviewees accurately conveyed the pre-set information.

Behind the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry lies nothing more than stale, formulaic routines. In recent years, increasingly fierce competition within the industry has led professionals to favor stability over risky innovation. Fear of failure and negative public opinion has plunged the entire industry into a state of near stagnation.

With the deep involvement of capital, the pursuit of high-quality artistic creation is no longer the sole objective of the performing arts industry. In the pursuit of higher viewership and commercial profits, many practitioners have overemphasized marketing strategies, neglecting the essence of artistic creation. Negative behaviors such as mutual attacks, ridicule, and online exposure among peers have gradually become the norm in the industry.

Therefore, the main event today is actually the thank-you dinner following the press conference. This occasion provides an excellent opportunity for all parties involved to gather resources, expand their networks, and exchange benefits.

At the banquet, people toasted each other, exchanged business cards, and engaged in snobbish small talk and insincere flattery. This is a microcosm of the entertainment industry.

It's truly puzzling why Shang Yibo, a business elite at the billionaire level, would like such an environment and choose to work in such a circle.

Zhou Yanruo was also puzzled by this, perhaps because this rich young man deliberately chose to experience the bitterness and sorrow of life in order to pursue an extraordinary experience.

Zhou Yanruo returned to the company and spent the afternoon busy. She figured the press conference should be over by now, and the main event should begin.

She returned to the press conference venue and found that the banquet hall had been transformed from a press conference setting into a banquet format.

Everyone was busy socializing and in high spirits. She walked around and found Ding Jiajia, asking, "Did the press conference go well?"

"It went very smoothly. Everything was planned out and there were no problems."

"Okay, contact me again if anything comes up. I've arranged for hostesses at the entrance of the banquet hall, and the prepared gifts are there too. Guests can pick them up when the banquet ends." She thought for a moment and then said, "I've already spoken to the organizers, and the process is all set. I'm just letting you know so you won't be unable to answer Mr. Shang's questions."

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Zhou. I'll go in now." Ding Jiajia turned back to Shang Yibo's side, amused. This Mr. Zhou really didn't understand Shang Yibo. Why would he care about this gift-giving? It was good enough that he wasn't annoyed.

After giving her instructions, Zhou Yanruo felt there was nothing left to do. Just as she was about to find an excuse to leave, the phone rang. Zhou Yanruo answered the phone, leisurely strolled out of the side door of the banquet hall, and walked along the corridor towards the cloakroom.

The banquet hall was filled with a cacophony of noise, punctuated by occasional bursts of loud laughter, indicating that the people inside were still in a state of excitement and wouldn't be back anytime soon. Zhou Yanruo felt that leaving at this point seemed inappropriate, but returning to the venue was too noisy.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yanruo leaned lazily against the wall, casually browsing various news on her phone.

"Yibo, just hang in there a little longer. Even if you're impatient, just cooperate. Otherwise, who knows what those people will write tomorrow?"

"Let them be."

"Yibo, Yibo, listen to me."

I said whatever.

Shang Yibo emerged from the side door of the banquet hall and strode towards Zhou Yanruo, followed closely by Ding Jiajia, who kept walking with quick, hurried steps, talking and glancing around as she went.

Zhou Yanruo straightened up, leaning against the wall, and was about to go up and greet him when she saw Shang Yibo hurrying past her with his eyes fixed on her, completely unaware of her presence.

Ding Jiajia, who was following behind him, nodded slightly to Zhou Yanruo as a greeting. She continued to follow closely beside Shang Yibo, muttering something under her breath in frustration.

Zhou Yanruo shook her head, watching Ding Jiajia and Shang Yibo's retreating figures, and muttered to herself in frustration, "Sigh, big stars are hard to deal with."

Shang Yibo has never liked these kinds of occasions. He originally thought that it would be enough to just hold a meet-and-greet as required by the contract, which he could barely accept.

But Chu Fanqing insisted on going the extra mile and arranging a "thank you banquet" on her own initiative. Shang Yibo felt helpless; when would she ever get rid of this self-righteous idea that this was for his own good?

Shang Yibo strode out of the hotel and immediately saw the Mercedes-Benz G63 that Ding Jiajia had driven in advance, parked in the parking space closest to the hotel entrance. He quickly got into the car.

"Send me tomorrow's itinerary later." Shang Yibo started the car and, seeing that Ding Jiajia had already caught up, rolled down the window and said.

He then stepped on the gas and sped away.