Chapter 46: Becoming famous
May 1st happened to be a Saturday.

Liu Zhou once again held a book signing event at the Wangfujing branch of Xinhua Bookstore in Beijing.

His autograph session this time was even more lively than the last one.

Not only did Xinhua Bookstore attach more importance to Liu Zhou, but reporters from all walks of life also paid special attention to this.

In the past, only the "Mengya" magazine took the initiative to promote it, but now some other media have also spontaneously promoted the signing event for Liu Zhou.

Why is Liu Zhou suddenly so popular?

Because at the end of April, "Mengya" magazine publicly announced that the sales of Liu Zhou's second novel "Want to See You" exceeded one million copies.

Liu Zhou also became the first young writer to have two books sell over a million copies each. Even compared with the entire mainland writer community, this achievement is very impressive.

Not only that, in addition to the sales of "Want to See You" exceeding one million copies, Liu Zhou's first book "Twinkle Twinkle Star" also sold over 1.5 million copies, and the sales speed has not slowed down at all.

With the media's extensive coverage of Liu Zhou, he officially became famous throughout the country.

So during the May Day book signing, the small square was already filled with book lovers. There was even less room in the square, and many fans stood on the side of the road.

When Liu Zhou arrived at the scene, he saw traffic police there maintaining traffic order.

Looking at the many book fans in the square, Liu Zhou had a certain understanding of his own popularity.

From morning to noon, and then from afternoon to evening, Liu Zhou signed books for another seven hours in excitement, and his right hand experienced the same soreness as last year again.

But despite signing for so long, there are still many book fans who are unable to get signed books, but Liu Zhou has no choice. Even if he has the intention, he is powerless.

The day after the book signing event in Beijing, China Youth Daily published the first and exclusive interview with Liu Zhou, a famous young writer from the mainland.

During the interview, Liu Zhou also briefly talked about his creative process and the changes in his mentality after his novel became a big hit. Finally, he also revealed that he is a sophomore at the Central Academy of Drama.

In fact, this news can no longer be concealed. Many media outlets are aware of the situation, but the information spreads too slowly now, so it is not widely known.

In later times, within three days, one could find out where Liu Zhou went to university, or even where he went to kindergarten.

So Liu Zhou simply took the initiative to announce it himself.

The result after the announcement was that there were often young men and women waiting for him at the gate of the Central Academy of Drama with Liu Zhou's novels in their hands.

Liu Zhou was recognized several times and had to sign several names before he could get away.

Liu Zhou also had a preliminary experience of what it feels like to be famous.

Starting from May 1st, Liu Zhou also embarked on a signing tour in seven cities across the country on weekends throughout May and mid-to-early June.

From the capital to Fengtian, then to Chang'an, then Chengdu, then down the river to Nanjing and Shanghai, and finally head south to the last stop, Guangzhou.

When he came to Guangzhou, Liu Zhou also accepted interviews from Southern Weekend and Southern Metropolis Daily.

During this interview, Liu Zhou also talked about his childhood growing environment and the influence of his family on his writing.

Through these two interviews, the outside world has a basic understanding of Liu Zhou.

Liu Zhou is particularly famous in the south, especially in Guangzhou. After all, he is a native of Guangzhou.

The media in the south also treated Liu Zhou more favorably, not only promoting him more vigorously, but also rarely reporting negatively on him.

Some northern media outlets published reports that slandered Liu Zhou, but Liu Zhou knew that the more famous you are, the more gossip you will have, so he never paid any attention to them.

However, ignoring it does not mean that Liu Zhou has no reaction. Coming from later generations, he understands the importance of the media more deeply.

It is not without reason that newspapers today are called the uncrowned kings. They control the channels for information dissemination, and many people who do not know the truth will firmly believe in their false reports.

An obvious example in later generations is Zhou Jie, who was a typical example of someone who was blackmailed by the media. If he had not proven his innocence on some programs more than ten years later, he might have carried those stains forever.

There was a conspiracy theory about him being attacked at the time, which was that he was too popular, but the capital from Hong Kong and Taiwan in the entertainment industry did not allow such a popular male actor to exist in the mainland.

So he was beaten down.

Liu Zhou thinks this statement makes sense. If it weren't for the photo incident in 08, mainland male actors would have to wait a few more years before they could make a name for themselves.

So when Liu Zhou was ready to step into the spotlight, he paid great attention to building good relations with the media.

Now because Liu Zhou is very popular, many media are praising him. But if there is any unexpected incident in the future that causes some public opinion storm, he will at least have a channel to speak out if he has good connections with the media.

Liu Zhou even considered waiting until mainland policies became more relaxed to see if he could set up his own media platform. He had to keep the initiative in his own hands.

When Liu Zhou finished this autograph session, the second semester of his sophomore year had already come to an end, with final exams in less than a week.

For the rest of the time, Liu Zhou didn't go anywhere and concentrated on reviewing at school.

On June 96, the drama that the th Acting Class of the Central Academy of Drama had been rehearsing for more than three months was performed in the Central Academy of Drama's Experimental Small Theater.

Not only did the leaders of the Performance Department come, but even the old dean Xu Xiaozhong came, and the small theater was filled with audiences.

The experimental theater of the Central Academy of Drama has students or teachers perform plays every year, and it is quite famous. However, the theater does not sell tickets to the public, so some people who want to watch it have to use connections.

This is also the heritage of the Central Academy of Drama. Generations of people from the Central Academy of Drama have carried forward this small theater, which allows today's students of the Central Academy of Drama to enjoy such a stage to showcase themselves to the outside world.

The efforts of the 96 Performance Class were not in vain. Their performance of "Soul Refusing Burial" not only won applause from the audience, but also won recognition from some leaders such as President Xu.

For the next three days, they performed in the small theater, and every show was sold out, which also made the students of the 96 Acting Class somewhat famous in the Beijing entertainment circle.

Fame also brings tangible benefits.

Hu Jing received an invitation to play the leading female role in the movie "Love in the Internet Age", and the leading male role was her senior brother Chen Jianbin.

Hu Jing also became the first person in the 96 Acting Class to receive a film contract, making everyone extremely envious.

After Hu Jing set a good example for everyone, Niu Qingfeng also received an invitation to the movie "Happy Hometown". Although he was not the male lead, he was also an important supporting role, which made him so happy that he almost lost his eyesight.

In fact, many students have received invitations from some film crews, but they are quite picky and have rejected many invitations.

Unlike later generations, it was not difficult for students of the Central Academy of Drama during this period to play a supporting role. There were so many TV dramas, and when many dramas came to the school to select actors, the students often looked down on them.

Nowadays, everyone wants to act in movies, but there are only so many movies being filmed. Finding a good script and a good director is like a million troops trying to cross a single-plank bridge.

This is only possible if the role requires the right age and image, like Zhang Ziyi at this moment.

The famous director Zhang Yimou came to the Central Academy of Drama specifically to recruit people for his new film, and this event caused quite a stir on campus.

At that time, even students from the Beijing Film Academy flocked to the Central Academy of Drama to see if there was a chance of being selected by Director Zhang.

But in the end, it was the little-known Zhang Ziyi who won the female lead in director Zhang's new film.

The name of this movie is "My Father and Mother", a movie that definitely focuses on a female lead.

Liu Zhou knew that Zhang Ziyi, the most accomplished student in the 96 Acting Class of the Central Academy of Drama in her previous life, was about to start her soaring road to fame.

She won the favor of the director in this movie, and then he recommended her to Li An, and she played Yu Jiaolong in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Later, she collaborated with Big Brother Long in "Rush Hour 2" and successfully entered Hollywood.

There was a rumor in later generations that when Director Zhang was choosing the female lead for "My Father and Mother", he had two favorite candidates, Zhang Ziyi and Zeng Li.

But Zeng Li was a good girl and followed her teacher's teachings and didn't want to act in plays during her four years at university, so she refused. Finally, Director Zhang chose Zhang Ziyi.

This rumor is simply nonsense.

Although teachers at the Central Academy of Drama hope that students avoid taking acting jobs outside during their university years, this definitely does not include films directed by big directors.

Acting in a play directed by a great director is more useful than studying for a year in school.

Because Liu Zhou is Zeng Li's boyfriend, he is also a witness to this incident.

In fact, when Director Zhang came to select the female lead, the school recommended the school beauty Zeng Li, but she was not chosen.

Director Zhang has his eyes on Zhang Ziyi, and he met Zhang Ziyi last year. He may have come this time to see if Zhang Ziyi's acting skills can meet his requirements.

Liu Zhou also felt sorry for Zeng Li. Being able to become a "Mou Girl" is a rare opportunity to become famous.

When Liu Zhou and Zeng Li were walking on the playground in the evening, he wanted to comfort her, but he didn't expect Zeng Li to be so calm.

"Lizi, don't you feel disappointed that you didn't get to be the heroine of Director Zhang's new film?"

"I'm not disappointed, but I feel a little regretful. After all, he is directed by Zhang Yimou."

"I thought you would be crying because of your loss, and I wanted to comfort you. Alas, it seems that I was just being too sentimental."

"I'm not that fragile, but I'm happy that you're so considerate of me, haha!"

"You can still laugh. I feel a little sorry for missing this opportunity."

"We can't do anything about this. Director Zhang has his own criteria for selecting people. Since he chose Ziyi, he must have felt that Ziyi was more suitable."

Zeng Li paused and continued:

"Actually, compared to acting in Director Zhang's movie, I would rather act in another person's movie."

"Oh, whose?"

"The one who said he would make me the most famous actress in the mainland."

Hearing Zeng Li's words, Liu Zhou couldn't help but hug her in his arms.

"Lizi, wait for me for another year or two. When I'm ready, you will be the heroine of my first movie, and I will keep my promise to you."

Zeng Li also hugged Liu Zhou's waist, put her head on his chest, and said with a chuckle:

"Liu Zhou, I'll wait for you!"

(End of this chapter)