Chapter 44 You Were Too Harmful to Your Teammates
The Clark brothers were glued to two live streams. Elizabeth was showing off her musical talents, while Brenda and her crew had just hit the town for a performance.
Brenda strummed her guitar confidently, and Kevin danced in front of the crowd. There were quite a few spectators, mostly thrill-seekers, but not many locals recognized them. Eugene, however, was a familiar face; some folks had seen him in plays and movies.
In the live stream, Brenda had just wrapped up her guitar piece.
Arnold, who knew a thing or two about music, compared Elizabeth's and Brenda's performances. He glanced at Richard with a smirk. Unable to hold back, he said, "Richard, you're not just hurting Elizabeth; you're really screwing over Brenda. How did you come up with the idea of having Elizabeth play the same guitar piece as Brenda?"
Richard stayed quiet.
Finally, Richard spoke up, "I only knew Elizabeth could play the piano; I had no idea she could play the guitar. I thought if she messed up, it would make Brenda look better." He shrugged, clearly out of his depth with music. "I thought Brenda did great. Kevin even danced to her rhythm, and the vibe was awesome."
Arnold couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Brenda did well, but she's nowhere near Elizabeth's level. Brenda just played the notes, but Elizabeth played with real emotion. Anyone who knows music can tell."
Richard remained silent.
Feeling frustrated, he finally said, "Who knew Elizabeth had so many talents? I was just trying to help Brenda."
After years of managing, this was his first major screw-up.
Enrique chimed in, "So, how do we fix this?"
Richard shook his head. "I have no idea."
He was genuinely stumped.
Enrique, with a hint of blame, added, "Elizabeth really kept her talents under wraps."
Elizabeth had been back for over a year and never mentioned she could play so many instruments. He sighed. "Brenda will be crushed if she finds out."
Brenda was already sensitive and delicate. If she knew her performance was overshadowed by Elizabeth, she'd be heartbroken. Enrique suggested, "Maybe we should hire some trolls to criticize Elizabeth again?"
Elizabeth didn't seem to care about online criticism; it probably wouldn't bother her much.
Richard thought for a moment. "Not now. It'll be too obvious. The audience isn't stupid. Plus, Arthur's got a lot of clout in the industry. Pissing him off wouldn't be smart."
Arthur's variety shows were always hits, and he managed several artists. If they angered Arthur, it could hurt their chances of getting his artists on good shows in the future.
Enrique's face turned stern. "So, we just let Brenda get overshadowed by Elizabeth? First, Elizabeth took her identity, and now she's stealing her spotlight. Richard, you're too harmful."
If Richard hadn't meddled, Elizabeth wouldn't have had such a prime opportunity to show off her talents.
Richard shot him a look. "So, you're pointing fingers at me now? I criticized Elizabeth for Brenda's sake, and now that there's a problem, it's my fault?"
If it weren't for Brenda, he wouldn't have hired trolls to bash Elizabeth.
Enrique paused. "I didn't say it was your fault. I just mean we need to find a way to fix this."
Richard replied coldly, "Of course, I know we need to fix this. You don't need to remind me. This episode of the variety show is almost over. It's not easy to turn things around now. For the next episode, have Brenda prepare well. I believe she can outshine Elizabeth."
Enrique could only nod. "Alright."
Richard continued, "After the variety show ends, let's get Brenda into the cast of the drama I'm about to shoot. I think it'll boost her popularity." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It'd be perfect if we could convince Elizabeth to play the second female lead. The second female lead in my drama is a negative character—ruthless and vicious—which will highlight the innocence and kindness of the first female lead. If Elizabeth takes that role and Brenda plays the first female lead, the audience will definitely start to favor Brenda and dislike Elizabeth."
After all, many viewers tend to project their feelings for the characters onto the actors in real life.
Richard understood Enrique's intention and nodded in agreement. "Once this episode of the variety show wraps up, you should approach Elizabeth and try to convince her to take the second female lead in the drama."
This way, they could flip the current audience perception of Elizabeth and Brenda.
Richard added, "But the key is to make Brenda shine in the next episode, creating a stark contrast with Elizabeth. That way, the fans Elizabeth has gained might switch over to Brenda."
Fans gained from variety shows weren't very loyal; they could easily switch to someone else. They needed to seize and utilize this point.
Enrique said, "Alright, after this episode ends and they return, I'll go talk to Elizabeth."
Elizabeth still respected and cared about him. Previously, when his drama needed a small supporting role, she helped out and acted in it. He had a tough time every summer. Last summer, while filming a drama outdoors, he suffered a lot. After Elizabeth found out, she made cooling foods almost every day and sent them to him. When he had no appetite, she made healthy and delicious food and brought it to him. It worked well.
So he was confident he could persuade Elizabeth to play the second female lead. After Brenda became popular, he would find a way to compensate Elizabeth. For example, he could cast her as the lead in his next drama.
Enrique said, "As for how to make Brenda shine in the next episode, I'll leave that to you."
He wasn't very good at that.
Richard pondered for a moment and then said to Arnold, "Arnold, you could write a song for Brenda. I heard that in the second and third episodes of the variety show, they'll be heading to big cities and might even go abroad. When the time comes, let Brenda sing the song you wrote and claim she wrote it herself. Create an impressive persona."
The sibling bond and caring persona didn't work well in this episode. It would be best to change her persona in the next episode.
Enrique agreed. "Elizabeth portrayed herself as knowledgeable and skilled in many areas in this episode. The audience seems to like that. It would be good for Brenda to have a knowledgeable persona."
He added, "A strong learning ability would also work. She did graduate from a prestigious university abroad. It would be best to find an opportunity for her to play the piano. She studied it, so she would definitely impress the audience."
Arnold interjected, "Brenda is indeed good at playing the piano. I think that's a good idea. Brenda's professional strength is in this area. I don't believe she could be overshadowed by Elizabeth again."
Richard nodded. "Alright, I know what to do."
He looked excited, just waiting for Brenda to return so he could guide her on how to outshine Elizabeth. He was confident he wouldn't fail this time.
Loren, who had been silent, suddenly said, "If the next episode of the variety show goes abroad, it would be advantageous for Brenda."
Brenda had attended university abroad, so she had an advantage in language skills and cultural habits.
Loren added, "After this episode ends, I'll have my secretary talk to Arthur." He squinted. "If they haven't planned to go abroad, I'll invest to make it happen."
Their eyes lit up. "That's a great idea."
Who would refuse more investment? Given Arthur's way of doing things, he would likely agree.
Next, Arnold was sent off by his brothers to write a song tailored for Brenda. Richard also redirected the hired netizens, instructing them to stop criticizing Elizabeth and start praising Brenda instead.
On the other side, Elizabeth had no idea that her scheming brothers were plotting against her. After showcasing her skills with various musical instruments, she gained even more recognition from her team members and earned Terry's approval, who began guiding her on how to score music for puppet shows.
Elizabeth was very smart and quick to react. Terry only had to explain once, and she could do it all perfectly. Terry looked at her with regret. "You have such great talent."
It was a pity that Elizabeth was now a super star and couldn't enter the puppet show industry. Otherwise, he would have loved to introduce her to his old friends in Clifftonshireburg. Then he thought, ‘Even if Elizabeth doesn't pursue this career, it won't hurt to introduce her.’
So he planned to call his old friend that evening to chat.
Elizabeth quickly finished the music scoring, and Terry went on to teach Raymond and the others how to perform and voice act in the puppet show. Raymond had some acting experience and wasn't bad, while Ronald was a skilled actor, and both quickly got the hang of it. Nancy, being a singer, was a bit slower in this area. However, she wasn't stupid, and after a few more lessons, she gradually got it.
The results of the afternoon were quite good. The four of them could already perform a puppet show, though they weren't very proficient yet. Terry had a good impression of the four young people. He noticed they were all seriously learning from him, without any disdain or perfunctory attitude.
He said, "Come back tomorrow afternoon to practice, and you should be good to go."
The four nodded in unison. "Alright!"
The audience also thought the four performed well, especially Elizabeth, who was particularly admirable. They couldn't help but look forward to their performance the day after tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in town, Brenda and her group's plan to make money by performing wasn't going smoothly.
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