After bidding the two men farewell with a smile, Sparkle vanished from the private room. Only then did Invincible Bro and Lü Heng quietly exhale in relief. Lü Heng remarked, "Alright, I take back my initial assessment. 'Just pampered, not arrogant; quiet and cute'? No, no, no! She's clearly a little devil!"
"How can someone so adorable on the outside be so wicked on the inside? I hate that kind of contrast! If only everyone were like Robin—beautiful on the outside and gentle and kind on the inside..."
Invincible Bro chuckled wryly. "Well, at least for now, it seems her personality is the only thing we need to worry about."
It's worth noting that Sparkle hadn't truly vanished. Her clone was still preparing to depart and hadn't yet left, so naturally, it overheard their conversation. Sparkle raised an eyebrow. People often resort to tearing one thing down to elevate another when making comparisons, as if that's the only way to highlight merit. But in this case, Lü Heng was tearing down and praising the same person.
So, Sparkle thought wryly, is this guy complimenting me or insulting me?
After a moment's contemplation, Sparkle made her decision. Hadn't she been planning to have Robin compensate Lü Heng with a small gift?
Now, that gift was out of the question!
In general, the Dragon Nation's policies toward Outsiders were relatively lenient. As long as Sparkle didn't overstep any major boundaries, the nation certainly wouldn't want to antagonize a powerful foreign entity.
Even if Sparkle's negotiations failed, she had backup plans. If necessary, she could have Robin vouch for her, or even whisk Jiang Li away overseas. Either option was viable.
Time passed steadily, and another week flew by. Filming for the first movie officially drew to a close. The remaining tasks—editing, post-production, Film Bureau review, and negotiating distribution with cinemas—were entirely Jiang Li's responsibility.
At that moment, Sparkle was at Robin's house, lounging on the bed in a thin nightgown, her pale thighs bare as she idly scrolled through her phone.
The top three trending news items were:
Another Prodigy Singer Bursts onto the Scene, Sounding Seven-Tenths Like Robin—Truth or Hype?
New Developments in the Stolen Human Skin Book Case from the European Union: Great Britain Cleared, the Eldritch Concord Identified as the Culprit!
White Eagle Suffers 1,378 Gun Deaths Yesterday—An Unprecedented Figure in the Nation's History.
Sparkle glanced at the first headline before turning to her side. There, her other self sat in a computer chair, headphones on, gently swaying her legs, eyes closed in blissful listening.
The first headline was pure clickbait, shamelessly capitalizing on Robin's fame to promote a new singer.
What's the easiest way to hype up a newcomer these days? Just claim their voice is some fraction as good as Robin's—it's barely an exaggeration.
Perhaps because Robin had been quiet recently, with no new songs or public appearances, some companies were seizing the opportunity to grab attention.
Frankly, she couldn't be bothered to care. Even if she stepped in to stop this one, copycats would keep appearing. As long as her popularity endured, these stunts would never cease. If she intervened in every case, she'd exhaust herself.
This might give people the impression that Robin was being petty, even though she was simply asserting her rights.
The second news item reminded her of a recent report about the theft of the European Union's "Human Skin Book." She didn't know what it was, but she could easily find information about the Eldritch Concord in the Bureau of Anomalous Investigations' internal database.
Similar to the Fuguang Society, the Eldritch Concord was a globally wanted criminal organization. However, unlike the Fuguang Society, which primarily operated within the Dragon Nation and maintained a low global profile, the Eldritch Concord was active in every other region of the world and had a significant international presence.
In essence, it was a cult that worshipped an Evil God and sought to recruit more followers to join their dark faith.
"So, since this cult has little influence in the Dragon Nation, could the Fuguang Society be behind this?" Sparkle wondered. After all, a territory could only accommodate one dominant villainous force. As the saying went, "One mountain cannot harbor two tigers." If two or more such groups coexisted, they would either collaborate or fight until only one remained.
Given the Fuguang Society's modus operandi, the latter seemed far more likely.
Sparkle glanced at the third news article. "Hmm, those numbers are pretty exaggerated," she thought, but that was all she could muster. Due to her preconceived notions, she didn't find it particularly shocking.
The subsequent news stories were uninteresting. After skimming through them, Sparkle opened a video streaming site and started watching videos for fun.
It's worth noting that her "Elation" percentage had reached 98.9%, leaving only a sliver remaining. She figured it would likely max out shortly after the official release of her first film.
Although the first movie contained few truly heart-wrenching scenes, Sparkle understood the necessity of building a foundation for a film series. You couldn't start with all the emotional devastation right away. Instead, you needed to establish a charismatic protagonist, a grand world-building, and an engaging narrative. Only in the second and third installments would the audience truly savor the "delicious" emotional depth.
Originally, Sparkle had predicted her "Elation" meter wouldn't reach full capacity until the second or third film. She blamed Lü Heng, whose constant antics had provided far more amusement than anticipated, accelerating her progress.
Even after achieving her "Elation" goal, Sparkle still intended to continue producing the film series. After all, Robin still sang, even though she no longer had the Songstress mission, right?
The scene shifts to Jiang Li. Thanks to the film's exceptional quality, the post-production refinements were completed swiftly. However, the real challenge lay in the subsequent review process. Normally, submitting the original film to the Film Bureau would take at least seven days just for the initial review. Following this, there would be technical and content reviews, which together could take anywhere from one to two months, or even longer.
The review period was long enough to film several more installments in the series.
Sparkle, however, had no patience for such delays. The day after Jiang Li submitted the original film, Robin set off for the Film Bureau.
She was ready to pull some strings!