As for the reward...
We'll just have to keep saying "haha".
The script of "Don't Talk to Strangers" is indeed very good and made Feng Yuanzheng famous.
But he probably has regretted becoming famous in this way.
Then there's the ten thousand yuan.
Saying "I wouldn't bother picking up ten thousand yuan if I dropped it, because I could make more with the time spent bending down" is definitely bragging.
But Qi Hao makes around five million just for a single endorsement.
Ten thousand yuan is certainly not worthy of being called his "starting capital" as an award-winning actor.
However, this reward made him realize something.
That task rewards are not limited to just two things like attributes + scripts; there might be other things given as well.
For example, money.
As to how the money is given, Qi Hao consulted with the system, and the system indicated that it would turn the money into Qi Hao's personal property through legitimate and reasonable means.
In short, it will end up in the bank account.
Feel free to spend it!
Next is the training NPC given for this task, and these three options are a bit of a pity.
Qi Hao was entangled by Xiang Zuo and couldn't get close to the veteran actors.
During the premiere, the veteran actors were seated quite far, and after the movie ended, they didn't attend the celebration banquet.
So, he didn't get to mingle with the veteran actors and ended up with Xiang Zuo instead.
Since the NPC in the training space has nothing to do with real people, Qi Hao saw no need to beat him up all night long.
As for Fu Jing, although she's quite good-looking, Qi Hao is not familiar with her work.
He can't possibly drag someone's elder sister into training for a short film.
Fortunately, there's still Li Lianjie.
Qi Hao will be going to shoot "Chinese Paladin 3" sometime soon, and the character bio he received seems to be a swordsman, so it's likely there will be lots of action scenes.
Perhaps he can learn and catch up in one night.
He's going to co-star with Hu Ge as the lead actor, and of course, he doesn't want to be outdone by Hu Ge.
Whether in dramatic or action scenes, he must crush it.
After taking a shower and changing clothes, Qi Hao went out, poured himself a glass of warm water, and said while drinking:
"I attended a party today and heard something. You judge if we need PR."
Although saying it might make him a laughing stock, pretending such things hadn't happened would be impossible.
"What's the matter?" Old Tian became serious.
They both had just left Ziwen, so they needed to stay alert about many things.
No matter how bad Ziwen was, it's still a legitimate entertainment company.
Various departments were complete, with someone always tracking any movement concerning their artists.
"I met a woman today..." Qi Hao found it a bit hard to speak.
"You got rumored again with someone? Damn, are you a stud or what?"
Old Tian felt very tired.
If he didn't stay with Qi Hao all day, he might have suspected that Qi Hao was keeping several wives outside.
However, if it's just a rumor, it shouldn't be too bad.
After all, they've gotten used to it.
"No, I met someone named Fu Jing at the party today and from her mouth..."
"From her mouth? You guys even kissed?"
"Shut up," Qi Hao rolled his eyes, continued, "She said there's a rumor in the circle that as long as there's a romance scandal with me, it's easy to get famous, hmm, equivalent to saying I have 'Fortunate Wife's Destiny', something like that. Have you heard this before?"
"Pfft..." Old Tian directly spat out.
Fortunate Wife's Destiny?
Hahaha, oh my, that's hilarious.
"Ao Bai, bite him for me!" Qi Hao commanded the cat angrily to fight.
Ao Bai glanced at them, still lying on his mat.
Even Qi Hao couldn't help but laugh along.
"This doesn't really mean anything; indeed, some who had rumors with you became famous, but there are also many who have long faded into obscurity. This rumor has no scientific basis."
Old Tian shook his head after laughing.
If Qi Hao really had such abilities, he wouldn't need to work hard acting; he could just spend all his time having love affairs with actresses.
That would certainly make him the most amazing 'Prince Charming'.
"What matters is not the truth but whether people believe it. This is inherently a very superstitious thing."
Qi Hao worriedly thought that his miserable fate made his life feel a bit too colorful.
Whether old or young, beautiful or ugly, they all want to have some scandalous news with him.
It severely affects his chances of finding a girlfriend.
Which girlfriend can tolerate her boyfriend having affairs all the time?
Even just going out to buy a cup of milk tea, you could run into several rumored girlfriends.
No way to date, just break up quickly.
"I think there are pros and cons, at least it's not considered a PR crisis."
Old Tian had been handling the rumors for Qi Hao all these years, he had long been used to it.
With these kinds of rumors, at most, there'd just be more gossip.
On the bright side, at least the rumor doesn't say that regardless of whether it's a male or female star, as long as there's gossip with Qi Hao, they'll quickly rise to fame.
"Old Tian, I have something I want to tell you..." Qi Hao decided to focus on the task first, setting aside the Fortunate Wife's Destiny talk.
"Go ahead, say it quickly, I need to go to sleep." Old Tian didn't seem as relaxed as he appeared.
Their studio was about to be established, requiring a full complement of staff in all areas.
If the Fortunate Wife's Destiny rumor about Qi Hao gets out of hand, the studio would have to put more effort into PR and marketing; otherwise, it wouldn't be able to clear Qi Hao's name.
The advantage of an agency is the ability to allocate resources effectively.
Conversely, an individual studio suffers immense wasted human resources unless they cooperate with an agency for some level of "attachment."
"I want to find a new manager..." Qi Hao decided to be straightforward.
"What?" Old Tian didn't get it at first.
You already have a manager, so why find a new one.
You have a manager, you can't have two, so how do you find a "new" manager.
But he quickly realized and jumped up from the sofa, shaking his finger at Qi Hao, accusing him:
"Well, Qi Hao, you really are something, hiding deeper than anyone!"
He's literally quaking with anger and chill, that's his current state.
If it weren't for not wanting to give up on Ao Bai and still unclear about Ao Bai's custody, he'd have stormed out by now.
"Stop stop stop, what's all this nonsense." Qi Hao held his forehead.
He thought Old Tian was a bit troubled, never giving anyone a chance to finish before jumping around.
"You're going to fire me, right, after all I've done to raise you..."
"Get lost!"
"Anyway, now that your wings have grown strong, you want us to part ways, don't you feel there's a big issue with your character?"
Old Tian began to think hard.
Tomorrow he'll find the media to expose Qi Hao's dirt.
Like how he's not actually the cool and aloof god fans imagine; privately, he's a complete goofball and loves to roast people.
That doesn't seem damaging enough.
What other explosive dirt is there.
Damn it, why can't I remember, maybe there actually isn't any.
It's my own fault for protecting him too well.
"After the studio is set up, where will you find the time to manage me every day? Of course, I need to hire a new one."
Qi Hao felt this was the only way to complete the task.
Parting ways with Old Tian was impossible, so many years of friendship, and he was already used to it.
"Seems... it makes some sense," Old Tian's voice lowered but quickly gained his confidence back, angrily saying: "Couldn't you have just said it in one breath?"
"Did you give me a chance?" Qi Hao wasn't fazed at all.
"Meow!"
"If we really are to part ways someday," Old Tian emphasized, "I'm saying if, at that time, I'm taking Ao Bai with me."
"Why, Ao Bai is my cat!" Qi Hao laughed in anger.
Never seen such a ridiculous demand; instead of considering severance pay, he wants to run off with the boss's cat.
"I've always been the one feeding Ao Bai, taking him for vaccinations, deworming, even the cat food and cans, I bought them..." Old Tian had ample reason to fight for Ao Bai's custody.
"Ha, and neutering too, right?"
Qi Hao was schadenfreude about it; just for that, Ao Bai often bared his teeth at Old Tian, unlikely to side with him.
Unlike me, I only care for the kitty.
"Shit!"
Old Tian picked up Ao Bai and went back to his room to sleep.
Qi Hao also went back to tonight's training with Li Lianjie.
Choosing Li Lianjie out of three options, mainly for action scene training, and selecting works mostly with exciting fight scenes.
Literary scenes were not a priority.
For example, the duel with world lightweight boxing champion Zhou Bili in "Martial Arts Hero" is one of the most classic scenes in action movie history.
The system would aid Qi Hao's moves, otherwise, he'd have no chance of going up against Li Lianjie.
Looking at the wise "Li Lianjie" in front of him, Qi Hao couldn't help but ask a couple of questions:
"Is Li Zhi really that good, to make you abandon your family?"
"That foundation you set up, is it really for charity?"
Unfortunately, the training NPC couldn't answer such questions; he just smiled and said: "You could ask him in person, I bet he could come up with some reasons, and as your training NPC, I think you should maintain some respect for me."
"Please, Li, guide me well, but the focus is on training me, can you not beat me up!"
"There's no shortcut in action training, it's all about hard work and risks, what you put in correlates to what you get out."
The NPC spread his fingers, then clenched them into a fist, heading towards Qi Hao.
Qi Hao that night...
Got beaten quite badly.
Because in Li Lianjie's movies, even if he gets beaten early on, he always turns the tide and makes the villain cry out in pain.
And Qi Hao played those villains.
Fortunately, over the years dealing with Li Lianpie, most were masters from various schools; even while getting beaten, Qi Hao gained a lot.
He felt he could now take on action movie roles.