Chapter 17: Zhang Dongjian's younger brother?

  Through his first formal advertisement shoot, Zhang Chengyuan realized that mixing in the entertainment circle was far more difficult than he had originally thought. Just acting skills alone could take him many years to hone, and even with his exceptional talent, it would be impossible for him to become an outstanding actor overnight. At present, he still needs to make more preparations, especially under the guidance of a professional instructor. So, at his request, Park Byung-ryul applied for a night course at a performing arts academy on his behalf.

  Thus Zhang Chengyuan became even busier, fortunately he persisted in practicing qigong every night, maintaining his spirit and vitality every day to meet new challenges.

  Time flies, and May has arrived. On May 10th is Lee Hyori's birthday, and on May 13th is the day Fin.K.L released their second album, so Jang Sung-yeon can't help but take time out to congratulate his four sisters.

  By early June, Nong Shim Shin Ramyun's commercial was finally broadcast on major TV stations under Park Hyung-sik's eager anticipation. The commercial is divided into two versions: a 30-second version starring Jang Dong-gun and a full one-minute version. In the full version, Jang Sung-won appears in almost as many scenes as Jang Dong-gun, making him the second lead. Among them, the warm scene where Jang Sung-won feeds Jang Dong-gun is particularly memorable, even sparking heated debate among professionals who believe this commercial could become one of the best of the year.

  Seeing Zhang Chengyuan's image on the TV screen, Park Hyung-ryeol was more excited than Zhang Chengyuan because he understood better than anyone else that his company was about to enter a period of high returns.

  As the Shin Ramyun commercial continued to air, Jang Sung-won's image in the ad became increasingly familiar to viewers. Although people didn't know his real name, they affectionately referred to him as "Jang Dong-gun's younger brother". Coincidentally, many people knew that Jang Dong-gun had a real-life younger brother, so some people who didn't know the truth thought Jang Sung-won was indeed Jang Dong-gun's younger brother. Who would have thought that both men were so handsome and looked somewhat alike at first glance? Park Byung-ryul even apologized to Jang Dong-gun through someone else, saying that they had not fabricated or spread this rumor. Meanwhile, Jang Dong-gun took it lightly and congratulated Jang Sung-won a few times.

  Riding on the popularity of Jang Dong-gun, Jang Sung-won's name became even more well-known. Almost all viewers who saw the commercial remembered this handsome, polite and warm-hearted young man. Many teenage girls were instantly captivated by his good looks and began to regard him as a new idol. Unable to buy his autographed photos, they collected the advertisements of Nong Shim Shin Ramyun featuring Jang Sung-won's portrait instead.

  As Zhang Chengyuan's popularity continued to rise, Park Hyung-ryeol found it easier to secure endorsement deals. Many advertisers would exclaim upon seeing Zhang's photo, "Oh, he's Jang Dong-gun's brother? No problem then, come for a screen test tomorrow!" Some smaller advertisers even directly chose Zhang without hesitation, as a model with popularity comparable to that of a second-tier celebrity but at a lower price was hard to come by.

  To solidify Zhang Chengyuan's down-to-earth image in the eyes of the audience, Park Byung-ryul adhered to the principle of "developing first and benefiting later" and took on some healthy-image advertisements for Zhang Chengyuan, such as outdoor sports shoes, mountaineering clothing, green tea, etc., which were all brands from unknown but somewhat powerful small and medium-sized enterprises. Occasionally, he also arranged for Zhang Chengyuan to take cover photos for youth magazines, hoping to increase Zhang Chengyuan's popularity through multiple channels.

  Park Byung-ryul had originally wanted Jang Sung-won to take this opportunity to advance into the television circle, but Jang Sung-won thought that his acting skills were not yet honed, and rather than hastily playing some forgettable roles or even ruining the play and earning a bad reputation, it would be better to first sharpen his sword and wait for the right moment to strike. Park Byung-ryul found Jang Sung-won's way of thinking very reasonable, so he did not force him to film, although this would reduce the company's income somewhat; however, for the sake of long-term benefits, Park Byung-ryul did not think it was a pity.

  Fin.K.L was delighted by Zhang Cheng Yuan's rise to fame, feeling a sense of pride as if saying "he's indeed our little brother". However, they did not reveal their relationship with Zhang and even asked their agents and assistants to keep it under wraps. The purpose of this was to avoid some media outlets from sensationalizing the news and also to prevent malicious attacks from anti-fans who like to spread rumors, in order to protect themselves and Zhang's fledgling career.

  At that time, Fin.k.l was promoting their second album and often went back and forth between various TV stations' music programs and variety interviews, with a very busy schedule, leaving no time to celebrate Zhang Chengyuan's success. Coincidentally, Zhang Chengyuan was also extremely busy and couldn't spare the time, so he made an appointment with Fin.k.l to meet again after things calmed down. It's worth mentioning that Fin.k.l's second album achieved extremely outstanding results, ranking first several times on various music charts, and their popularity was many times higher than Zhang Chengyuan's.

  At Jukjeon High School, there were many students who had seen the Nong Shim Shin Ramyun commercial, but most of them did not recognize that "Jang Dong-geun's brother" in the commercial was actually their schoolmate "Ice Face" Jang Sung-won. A few sharp-eyed ones suspected something, but they didn't dare ask Jang Sung-won for confirmation and just kept their doubts to themselves. As for the homeroom teacher and class advisor, they had heard from Jang Sung-won that he was going to film a Shin Ramyun commercial, but since they had promised to keep it a secret for him, they didn't say anything about it.

  In school, Zhang Chengyuan was still living a dull life as usual, only occasionally losing his trace because the head teacher had already given notice, and all the subject teachers thought that Zhang Chengyuan had family matters, so they didn't pursue it, but felt sorry for Zhang Chengyuan's learning situation, thinking that if this continued, Zhang Chengyuan's grades would plummet, and the first place in the whole grade might be lost. It wasn't until the end of the 6th semester when the results came out, and everyone saw that Zhang Chengyuan's grades were still far ahead of second place, that they all exclaimed in surprise: "A genius is really not something ordinary people can imagine!"

  Zhang Chengyuan shook his head and sighed in his heart: "Victory is not military!"

  Zhang Donghu, who seemed busier than his son Zhang Chengyuan, finally learned about Zhang Chengyuan's current situation in his spare time. However, he was not only unhappy but also more worried about Zhang Chengyuan's future prospects. In his opinion, the entertainment industry is the most unstable job, although Zhang Chengyuan is popular now, after a while, if there are no good works, it is feared that he will be forgotten immediately, and it is still safer to attend a famous university and work in a large enterprise.

  He originally thought that after Zhang Chengyuan shot an advertisement, his studies would definitely take a step back. According to the agreement between father and son, Zhang Chengyuan would have to obediently withdraw from the entertainment industry and focus on studying. Unexpectedly, this time his son's grades were still first in the entire grade level. This made him wonder whether he should blame Zhang Chengyuan for being too intelligent or blame the other students at Jiu Lao High School for not doing well enough? He thought to himself: "Can't these students work a bit harder and push my son's ranking down?"

  At a bus stop in Seoul, a sweet-looking girl with big eyes looked at the poster of Jang Sung-yeon on the station's billboard and whispered: "Sung-yeon oppa, you seem to be getting farther and farther away from me. Although you don't know me yet, one day I'll stand proudly in front of you and tell you how I feel now."