Chapter 47

That night, Zhang Chengyuan sent the playful and elated Xiao Shuijing back home. Although the two of them didn't do anything particularly fun, Xiao Shuijing was extremely happy just to have Zhang Chengyuan's company, as her parents and sister were usually very busy, leaving her with almost no one to play with. Moreover, Zhang Chengyuan was handsome, tall, and doted on her, treating her even better than her parents, like a knight in a Western fairy tale who guards a princess.

When it was time to part, Xiao Shuijing clung to Zhang Chengyuan, refusing to let go. Only after Zhang Chengyuan promised to take her out to play often in the future did she reluctantly allow her mother to drag her away. Back in her bedroom, her buttocks were slapped a few times by her sister, Jung Sooyeon's "Dragon Claw Hand," because Xiao Shuijing's crying had woken up Jung Sooyeon, who had just fallen asleep.

The next morning, Zhang Chengyuan rushed to the film set and immersed himself in the busy and intense TV drama shooting, quickly making up for the scenes he had missed due to his leave the previous day. In the following period, the production team moved to a town in Gangwon Province's Wonju City, making it inconvenient to travel back and forth to Seoul. The shooting schedule also became increasingly tight, so Zhang Chengyuan had no time to visit Xiao Shuijing. He felt very apologetic and almost every day he would take some time to apologize to Xiao Shuijing and chat with her. Xiao Shuijing was quite understanding and never blamed him; she often told him to take care of his health, which made him feel warm inside. During their phone calls, Ha Ji-won would often join in, chatting with Zhang Chengyuan and Xiao Shuijing. Gradually, Ha Ji-won and Xiao Shuijing became more familiar and closer to each other!

Before they knew it, it was already May. On this day, after staying in the countryside for over a month, Zhang Chengyuan finally returned to Seoul, along with the main creative team and other major actors. This was because the TV drama was set to air on the station in a few days, and they needed to return to hold a press conference for the new drama.

The purpose of the press conference was to promote the new drama through media reporters, attract the audience's attention, and spark their interest to boost the ratings of the first episode. The actors could also use this opportunity to increase their exposure and slightly boost their fame.

At 2:30 PM on May 9th, in a hall of KBS in Yoido, the press conference for the new drama "A Beautiful Life" officially began. Unlike other TV drama production teams, which often held press conferences in high-end hotels, this team was really poor. The original investment was not much, and the producer and director tried to save money wherever possible, even skipping the rental fees for the press conference venue.

This was Zhang Chengyuan's first time attending a press conference for a new drama. Although he had participated in dozens of various TV dramas, he had always played minor roles and never had the chance to appear at press conferences. At first, he found the experience quite novel, watching the reporters and their cameras and cameras taking pictures, finding it quite interesting.

However, after less than half an hour, he felt extremely bored because, apart from posing for photos when he first went on stage, no one paid any attention to him. The director, screenwriter, and other actors, however, received many questions from the reporters. Although the questions were not very enthusiastic and seemed like routine formalities, at least they were not completely ignored like Zhang Chengyuan.

Seeing this, Park Byung-ryeol was worried that Zhang Chengyuan might become upset due to the cold treatment and show an inappropriate expression, so he kept a close eye on him. Seeing that Zhang Chengyuan maintained a smile throughout, he felt relieved.

Then, Park Byung-ryeol silently cursed in his heart: "These damn reporters are blind. Can't they see how high-quality my artist is? His handsome face, physique, and education are worth your attention for ten years..."

However, it was understandable why the reporters acted this way. After all, Zhang Chengyuan was almost unknown in the entertainment industry, and the reporters present, who were mostly newcomers, simply didn't recognize him. Indeed, most of the reporters in the audience were newbies, as the more experienced reporters generally felt that this drama, which lacked big-name stars or popular actors, had little news value. Although the drama might become popular in the future, the current audience had no interest in paying attention to it.

Without any attention, there was no news value; without news value, the seasoned and perceptive reporters would not deign to attend. It was reasonable for Zhang Chengyuan to be ignored.

Just as Zhang Chengyuan thought the press conference would pass by in such a boring manner, a young reporter suddenly asked him, "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Zhang, oh, Mr. Zhang Chengyuan, I heard this is your first time playing the lead role?" After glancing at the drama's information, he finally called out Zhang Chengyuan's name.

Zhang Chengyuan nodded and said, "Yes."

"May I ask how you were selected for the role?"

Zhang Chengyuan replied calmly, "I attended the actor selection interview and was fortunate to be chosen by the director and screenwriter."

"However, as far as I know, this drama had already selected the new idol Kim Rae-won, who won the Best New Actor award at the Blue Dragon Film Festival a few months ago. How did you, an unknown and inexperienced newcomer, replace him? Was there any special reason behind this?" The young reporter seemed to think he had uncovered some scandalous insider information, appearing very excited, and his voice grew louder. However, it must be admitted that he was quite articulate, speaking these sentences in one breath without pausing.

Zhang Chengyuan gave him a deep look and said calmly, "Is there such a thing? I haven't heard about it. I think you should ask the director about this." He then turned and respectfully looked at the director.

The director immediately took over, saying skillfully, "Your information is quite accurate. Indeed, we did invite Mr. Kim Rae-won, and he participated in the audition for the lead role, along with several other newcomers. After the auditions, we found that Mr. Zhang Chengyuan and Mr. Kim Rae-won performed the best. Let me add that Mr. Zhang Chengyuan's acting is very skilled and mature, not at all like someone his age. If you really knew him, you wouldn't say his acting is inexperienced."

The director subtly mocked the rash and eager reporter and continued, "There are reasons for choosing Mr. Zhang Chengyuan as our lead, but they are not special reasons. We simply felt he was more suitable for this idol drama. It's undeniable that his appearance is outstanding; I have never seen such a handsome and charismatic young man in real life. I can assure you that his appearance is purely natural, not enhanced in any way.

I believe that once this drama airs, regardless of its success, the appearance of our lead actor will definitely become a topic of discussion among young girls. Additionally, due to the limited budget of this drama, and Mr. Zhang Chengyuan being a newcomer with a low salary requirement, he fits our financial budget, which is why we chose him."

To deal with the reporter's nonsense, the director kept praising Zhang Chengyuan, making Zhang Chengyuan himself feel quite embarrassed, even though he believed his appearance and charisma were indeed good, he didn't think they were unique enough to surpass all other young male actors in Korea.

The reporter immediately seemed disappointed and said, "So, Director, you chose him just because he is cheap and good?" This reporter truly couldn't say anything decent, comparing Zhang Chengyuan to a commodity, but he couldn't deny that he was right.

In the selection of actors, the price is indeed a very important factor. Many newcomers can rise to prominence because their fees are relatively low. For example, in this drama, if the investment hadn't been so low, if Zhang Chengyuan's agent Park Byung-ryeol hadn't proposed a salary lower than that of the second and third male leads, and if Kim Rae-won's audience appeal hadn't been much higher than Zhang Chengyuan's, Zhang Chengyuan would have had no chance of beating the more famous Kim Rae-won.