Reborn in the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1980s

Hu Xiaoxiao took a mirror, examined her face, then took out a face mask, tore off a piece, and applied it to her face.

Mingxu sat on the sofa next to Hu Xiaoxiao. "I was afraid you would be upset if you knew this news, and I didn't want to rub salt into your wounds, so I didn't tell you."

"You don't need to be so understanding next time. My heart isn't as fragile as you think."

“I didn’t know before,” Mingxu said, scratching his head in frustration. “So what do we do now? You’re not thinking of abandoning me and finding another male lead, are you?”

Mingxu stared longingly at Hu Xiaoxiao, looking like a resentful woman who had been abandoned.

"Who said I was going to change the male lead?"

"Didn't you see I've gained weight and gotten darker?"

Hu Xiaoxiao glanced at Mingxu's figure; he had indeed gained quite a bit of weight, but—

"It's nothing serious, just a few pounds to lose."

"What do you mean, lose a few pounds? I've gained over ten pounds! How am I supposed to lose over ten pounds? We're about to start filming!" Mingxu was extremely anxious.

Hu Xiaoxiao, on the other hand, remained calm and reassured him, "Filming won't start so soon, and I'm not in a rush. Besides, I'm not Wang Shasha, who needs you to be skin and bones to match me. Gaining a few pounds won't make a big difference, as long as I, the female lead, look good."

Hu Xiaoxiao decided to put a lot of effort into polishing the drama "Mu Guiying". This is no longer a simple drama, but the foundation of her career at Baogang TV. She needs to be fully committed to making this drama.

Preparations will take some time, and casting for other roles hasn't started yet. If Mingxu wants to lose weight, his scenes can be scheduled for later, so there's plenty of time.

Mingxu was not comforted at all. "Don't just think about how good you look and ignore my life or death."

After confirming the approximate start-up time, Mingxu finally felt at ease.

He sprawled out on the sofa, picked up Hu Xiaoxiao's mirror, looked at his face from left to right, then took out a whitening mask from Hu Xiaoxiao's face mask collection, tore it open, and applied it to his face.

I wonder if face masks are effective?

If not, then I'll just have to apply powder to my face.

Mingxu was pondering how to get back to his best condition when Hu Xiaoxiao suddenly said, "Mingxu, you can't keep relying on dieting and starving yourself to fit the role. It's not good for your health in the long run."

She had worked with Mingxu for so long, and she felt sorry for him.

With such a large build, she starved herself to look thinner in order to appear good on camera. She'd finally finish filming one project and be able to relax a little, only to have another project come along and she'd have to starve herself again.

Putting everything else aside, in the long run, the stomach won't be able to withstand this kind of torment.

Hu Xiaoxiao gave him a suggestion: "Judging from your appearance, you are very suitable for the tough guy route. Why don't you consider going down that route? That way you won't always be starving."

Hearing Hu Xiaoxiao's words, Mingxu was silent for a moment, then suddenly rushed over, hugged Hu Xiaoxiao, and burst into tears, "Xiaoxiao! You are my soulmate! I am so pitiful! Since my debut, I have never had a full meal, and I go hungry several times a day! I am so miserable!"

Hu Xiaoxiao rubbed her ears, smeared the face mask that had fallen off Mingxu's face back onto his face, and pushed him away with disgust. "Stop whining in front of me. In this past month, every single day have you not been full and stuffed?"

Mingxu silently put the face mask back on, saying, "I've been eating well for one month and starving for three months."

"If you don't want to go hungry all the time, start planning for a career change as soon as possible."

"It's easier said than done."

The competition in the TV station is too intense. If it doesn't maintain its position, it will be replaced in a few days. There is no time for it to transform.

Moreover, transformation is not something that can be achieved by just talking about it; you need resources, and those resources must be suitable for you to successfully transform.

Don't other actors know this principle? How many actors have tried to change their image but ended up failing? Some even lost their original market and faded into obscurity.

Mingxu sighed and collapsed onto the sofa.

Hu Xiaoxiao pondered for a moment, then glanced at Mingxu a few more times, "How about we try our luck with 'Mu Guiying'?"

"How do we try it?" Mingxu immediately sat up straight again.

"Isn't Yang Zongbao a military general? Show off your muscles and strength in front of the camera, and maybe a film director will take notice of you."

Television viewers prefer the image of a pretty boy, but the film market prefers the image of a tough guy.

Mingxu slapped his thigh, and the face mask on his face fell off again. He quickly picked it up and put it on his face, then sat closer to Hu Xiaoxiao and said excitedly, "My Xiaoxiao! My dear Xiaoxiao! You understand me so well! My idol is Bruce Lee, and I really want to film someone like him, the really manly kind. And you know Sylvester Stallone, right?"

"do not know."

"Have you seen his movie 'First Blood'? He's a real tough guy! Compared to him, I think I could gain a lot more weight." Mingxu rolled up his sleeves. "Look at my arms, they're not thick enough, and my pecs aren't big enough! I need to gain weight!"

Hu Xiaoxiao had some recollection of that movie and said, "It didn't need to be this big."

Overwhelmed with excitement, Mingxu continued to chatter with Hu Xiaoxiao about the new drama, his inspiration bursting forth. "The costumes prepared for me don't need to be too thick. It's fine if I don't wear a shirt on top, so I can show off my physique. Ancient warriors often went into battle shirtless. If we film it like that, the audience will praise us for our meticulousness. How about we arrange a few scenes like that for me?"

Hu Xiaoxiao reminded him, "Mr. Mingxu, have you forgotten that we're filming an idol drama?"

“But we are all very capable people, so we can show off our strength appropriately, which might become a big selling point.” Mingxu also suggested: “Also, filming action scenes is very tiring, so prepare more food on set. Since I want to lean towards a tough guy image, I don’t need to diet anymore.”

Hu Xiaoxiao didn't want to talk to him. Once this guy started talking, he couldn't stop. "In the end, all you want is to find a film crew to feed you and drink to your heart's content, and preferably finish the movie while lying down. I advise you to stop dreaming. There's no such thing as a film crew that's so comfortable in this world."

"Someday I'll assemble my own film crew like that, and film however I want," Mingxu said longingly.

Hu Xiaoxiao shattered his beautiful dream, "That would definitely lead to a huge loss."

Mingxu snapped out of his dream. The poor dared not even indulge in sweet dreams for too long. "Couldn't you have made me happy a little longer?"

"I'm just letting you test the waters in the play 'Mu Guiying,' not asking you to jump in and swim. Put away your wild ideas and be more realistic."

"So, I still have to lose weight and whiten my skin?" Mingxu resignedly applied a face mask.

He waited until the face mask was almost dry before taking it off. Seeing that it was getting late, he quickly washed his face and was about to leave.

Before leaving, I packed up a large bag of Hu Xiaoxiao's face masks, especially the whitening masks, and took them all with me.