Chapter 232: A Familiar Face
“Sister Sheng, Miss Fu hasn’t called.” Sheng Yin’s a.s.sistant was concerned as they sat in Sheng Yin’s home. “Director Cheng also hasn’t called.”
Fu Xuejun had told Sheng Yin earlier that things would come to fruition within a day, and then a large amount of resources in the entertainment circle would be in her grasp. After finally getting a once in a lifetime opportunity, she was so ecstatic that she even dared to give lip to Cheng Zhou. She was betting everything on Fu Enterprise, after all.
Sheng Yin poured herself a gla.s.s of wine as she smiled contentedly. “Don’t worry, Miss Fu will require some time to settle things on her end. When the time comes, Cheng Zhou will naturally be begging for us to come back.”
Thinking about Fu Xuejun, the a.s.sistant tried to conceal her worries. Yes, with Fu Enterprise, what did they have to be afraid of?
The two waited in silent confidence, but when the a.s.sistant swiped through her Weibo, her face was shocked. “Sister Sheng, Director Cheng has changed the actress, it’s Ning Qing!”
“This sh*tty dog Cheng Zhou!” Sheng Yin’s chest exploded with anger. She looked at the Weibo post that Ning Qing had posted, and her eyes seemed to breathe fire.
‘Divergent Paths’ was a film that was adapted from an online game, and it had a wide audience although it hadn’t been broadcasted yet. It has made it to the popular and hot topic list again and again. Although she just held a supporting role, it was still something to brag about.
It was a lie to say that she didn’t feel any heartache at all, and Sheng Yin didn’t expect Cheng Zhou to stick to his words. To change after saying it?
Sheng Yin comforted herself, there was no hurry. She still had Miss Fu, and the female lead role that was waiting for her. What was a supporting role compared to that?
The female lead role of ‘Divergent Paths’ was their end goal, and with Gu Xiqiao being slandered on the internet, ‘Divergent Paths’ would have no choice but to change the actress under that pressure.
Then, the official ‘Divergent Paths’ Weibo released another promotional picture.
(Verified) Divergent Paths Official Crew: The trailer has been edited and completed. In response to the situation in the past few days, let’s just say we have changed the female supporting role. Want us to change our female lead? Change our entire crew first! [Video link]
After that, Cheng Zhou, Ning Qing, Song Guanjing and all the other members of the crew reposted this Weibo.
There was a crusade going on below this post, and some people didn’t even tap on the link to watch the video. Indeed, with Gu Xiqiao’s recent reputation on Weibo, most of the netizen’s comments were ‘If you don’t change the female lead, then we won’t watch ‘Divergent Paths’, ‘Slander Gu xx forever’ among others.
“Do you see?” Sheng Yin pointed at those comments, her eyes mocking. “It won’t even be afternoon before they come begging at my door for me.”
Whether a movie will sell well all depended on the fans, if they weren’t willing to buy the tickets, then who was the movie made for? From the reactions of the netizens, they were not willing to buy tickets if Gu Xiqiao was in it.
Seeing Gu Xiqiao fall harder as the minutes pa.s.sed, Sheng Yin smiled happily. Even her heart felt lighter.
The a.s.sistant had been swept away by the shock of the replacement of the role, but now she smiled at Sheng Yin widely. “Then I’ll congratulate you in advance, Sister Sheng.”
The two swept their doubts away, as they antic.i.p.ated the scene where Cheng Zhou would come to them begging.
Only, the next thing that happened was beyond Sheng Yin’s expectations.
Firstly, it was the trailer of ‘Divergent Paths’ that had been announced by Cheng Zhou. How could that video compare to those that were made by normal people? Although it was just a promotional video, it had been carefully and meticulously edited by Yu Ning and his team. Not to mention, their Boss Gu was inside the video, so the entire team had used all the knowledge and skills that they had acquired over the years to churn out this video.
The exquisite pictures, magnificent special effects serve to further enhance the already amazing acting skills of the actors and actresses in the video. It gradually calmed the trolls and keyboard warriors on the net.
The comments on the internet gradually turned towards comments like:
“Although she has a bad personality, her acting is really good. Her appearance is also out of this world… wait I’m here to slander her, not be her fan!”
“Slander Gu xx forever…F*ck, I really can’t continue to insult such a gorgeous face”
And it continued to climb.
And those advertis.e.m.e.nt jobs that Sheng Yin had received slowly canceled one by one, and Sheng Yin finally couldn’t sit still. But when she thought about Fu Xuejun, she calmed herself as she turned to her a.s.sistant. “Bring my phone.”
She wanted to ask Fu Xuejun how things were going, but after several times of calling, the other didn’t pick up the phone.
Sheng Yin hung up, calling one last time. This time, her hand was trembling slightly.
After several consecutive calls, still no one answered Fu Xuejun’s phone, and she finally placed her phone down. All her jobs had been canceled in one afternoon, and Sheng Yin finally felt that something was wrong.
“Sister Sheng, look at this Weibo.” The a.s.sistant said suddenly, her voice trembling.
Sheng Yin hurriedly took it, the wine gla.s.s in her hand thrown to the side and spilling on the sofa, staining it red.
The a.s.sistant’s face was paling rapidly, at a loss and devoid of the composure she held just a while ago. Her fear turned into anxiety. “Sister Sheng, Miss Gu, she… She’s the founder of Nine Heavens!”
The name Nine Heavens was well known, whether inside or outside the circle. Even Sheng Yin and her a.s.sistant were well aware of the weight that the company carried.
But she didn’t expect that this small person in her eyes, Gu Xiqiao, who she had been ribbing, would transform to be the founder of Nine Heavens?
How was that possible?
Sheng Yin read the news over and over, and another window that read ‘Fu Enterprise In Crisis’ popped up. She fell back on the sofa, frightened to the point that she felt her soul leaving her body.
No wonder, it was no wonder Fu Xuejun wasn’t answering her phone!
Sheng Yin’s face was completely ashen, she had been waiting with confidence the entire day, but the news that came up made her feel like all the air was taken out of her.
Thinking of the things that she had done recently, she immediately picked up her phone, opening Weibo in a panic.
Seeing the topic on the frontpage, she felt faint and almost fell down.
(Verified) Tang Enterprise Official: While I was having my lunch just now, I received a text from someone. Well, I’ll explain the recent rumor that’s circulating on Weibo. [JPEG] [JPEG] [JPEG] The first picture of the black Maybach, the owner of the car is a good friend of mine. He’s been absent these few days, and he’s been the one picking up and dropping her off.
The second picture, the Ferrari, the owner of this car shouldn’t be unfamiliar, it’s the medical genius Zhu Yuan. He has a sibling relations.h.i.+p with Miss Gu, that’s the way I would explain it. He was probably picking her up to treat an important patient that day, and you ask, why would Miss Gu need to treat a patient? If you don’t know, how about going to Baidu and searching up ‘cell fusion’.
The third picture, a military Hummer. It’s already said to be military use, and you still dare to dig up anything on it? But I will still explain it to you, this belongs to the subordinate of that important patient that she had treated, and he was looking for Miss Gu to inquire about his condition that day. Back to the first picture again, I think those of you who are smart enough can guess who it belongs to, right?
Before that, I once asked Miss Gu what her intentions were, and she said that she was fortunate enough to have a group of loving friends and fans. This should be the last movie that she will be taking part in. But I will say this, no matter how talented she is, how great the things she can endure, how many achievements she has, she is only still just a freshman at university.
Long before this Weibo had been posted, many of the trolls and keyboard warriors who had been slandering Gu Xiqiao had already been shaken by her beauty and fantastic acting.
Seeing this Weibo post, and it being posted by Tang Enterprise, who had a solid foundation and place in the Imperial Capital, n.o.body would dare to question the authenticity of this Weibo.
All the doubts and accusations disappeared completely, and within a few minutes, those malicious trolls and slanderers had retreated entirely.
Those slandered were quiet, and those pa.s.sersby who were not slandering Gu Xiqiao had also gone silent. They were feeling super depressed, because as Tang Enterprise had mentioned, she was just a freshman attending university. After the silence, there were movements starting up, those who slandered became pa.s.serbys, and those pa.s.serby became fans, and fans became die-hard fans.
“Beauty Gu, we were wrong!”
“Beauty Gu, we’re sorry!”
“You’re my idol, I will always, always support you!”
And there were also Gu Xiqiao’s original fans who had stuck to her from the beginning, trying to defend her name on Weibo from start to end. They watched as all the new fans came in.
“Another bunch of coquettish b*tches here to grab attention from our Beauty Gu ?”
“My heart aches for our Beauty Gu ?”
“This should be @ A Flowing River’s place”
“+1, but don’t you think that ‘someone’ that Tang Enterprise mentioned was referring to @ A Flowing River? Come on and tell us!”
***
At the same time, a Weibo that Sheng Yin had posted previously in order to slander malicious speculations about Gu Xiqiao was also being overturned by countless comments.
Sheng Yin had already received a call from her manager, and before she could speak, a sharp voice spoke from the other end. “Sheng Yin, what have you done? Rejecting Director Cheng’s movie, and now you’ve brought so much trouble to the company. If you want to die, please don’t drag me down with you, alright? You’re always rus.h.i.+ng in to provoke people, and now that you’ve been used as an initiator, it’s over. You’ve been cold storage by the company, I’m also done for. Are you happy now?”
She had thought that she would have a smooth and great road ahead of her because of Fu Xuejun, but she didn’t expect to have a road of no return instead!
After so many years, she had become close to being a first-tier star, so you can imagine how strong Sheng Yin’s resilience was. Her outside image had always been good, and if she had held out for a few more years, getting into the first-tier circle wouldn’t be a problem at all! With one moment of weakness, all her hard work and image that she built up was gone in an instant!
The phone in her hands fell to the ground, and the words of slander and scolding had turned from Gu Xiqiao towards her on Weibo. Sheng Yin looked at the rumors circulating the net, fear and regret drowning her entire person.
“Sister Sheng.” The a.s.sistant was crying. “What do we do now?”
What to do? What could they do?
Sheng Yin covered her face with both hands, not saying a word. She knew, her entire life was over.
Even if the people at Nine Heavens didn’t say a word, many other people would pressure her.
***
After Tang Qingqiu had posted on Weibo, he started a video call to Jiang Shuxuan, which was quickly received.
“Shuxuan, you have to be grateful to me this time.” Tang Qingqiu was in a good mood. “How bout loaning me Miss Gu for a few days?”
Jiang Shuxuan was sitting in the room, his slender fingers playing with a black stone. When he heard those words, an eyebrow raised. “Can you afford her?”
What do you mean, can you afford her? It wasn’t a big deal to pay her more! Tang Qingqiu was about to say that, but Jiang Shuxuan turned off the video instantly.
Tang Qingqiu: “…” F*ck, Jiang Shuxuan did a good job of pa.s.sing the labour of dealing with these matters so beautifully!
Qin Heng burst in suddenly, not even knocking the door as the expression on his face was a cross between shock and surprised.
“What’s the matter? Being in such a panicked state, that you don’t even knock the door?” Tang Qingqiu raised his eyes, looking at Qin Heng.
Qin Heng spoke in a dazed voice, “Young Master Tang, the president of Nine Heavens accepted an interview.”
***
After hanging up the call, Jiang Shuxuan picked up another call.
“Mom.” He walked to the window, looking out at it with lowered eyes, his voice faint.
Mama Jiang was driving on the other side of the call, and she was on a Bluetooth headset. “I told you the last time that Jiang Tong had broken through the 62nd floor, and asked the housekeeper to prepare a gift for her. Have you taken it?”
“Hm.” Jiang Shuxuan responded, his delicate brow arching up. “She’s just an outsider, it’s not worth giving her such an expensive gift.”
“If she’s not worth it, then who is?” Mama Jiang gave a big sigh, worried lurking in her beautiful eyes. “62nd floor, that is only second to you. That treasure is suitable for a woman’s use. Although I’m not overly fond of Jiang Tong, the elders are right. Shuxuan, the ancient martial arts world is not the same as it was, it’s better for it to be in Jiang Tong’s hands, rather than collecting dust in the storage.”
“I’ve already got the housekeep to send it to my place. Mom, it’s useless for you to say anymore.” Deep, onyx eyes narrowed, and Jiang Shuxuan thought about the item. How could they give something good to an outsider? Of course he had to give it to his own people to use.
Even Baili Bin was of the same thought, how could his mother not have the same mindset?
Mama Jiang heard her son’s tone, and knew that she was fighting a losing battle, but she wasn’t bothered by it. “Alright then, where are you staying? I’ve been rounding the community for half a day, and I’ve not found the place.”
Suddenly, she caught sight of a clear and beautiful figure appearing in front of her. Mama Jiang’s eyes brightened, hanging up the call immediately. “It’s fine, I’m hanging up, I see a familiar face!”
Jiang Shuxuan, who had been hung up on: “…”