Chapter 1130: I Want to Make You Stay (8)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“What is it?”
“Last year, when you celebrated your birthday, didn’t I give you a necklace as a gift?”
“Yes. I lost it a few months ago.”
Yu Caiwei said in a soft and gentle voice, “Last month, I saw the exact same necklace when I was at a jewelry shop. I asked where the necklace came from, and the shop attendant said someone had p.a.w.ned it. I then spent some money to check the surveillance cameras of the store and found that it was indeed Gong Xiaomei who took it there to be p.a.w.ned. As I was afraid the news of this incident would leak out, I deleted the surveillance footage completely. I didn’t want to tell you then, but I feel that I should let you know now.”
“What?!” Song Chuntian flew into a rage instantly. “Are you speaking the truth?”
“Yes. I don’t dare to deceive you, of course, Auntie.”
Song Chuntian shouted at the top of her voice, “Somebody come here now!”
The butler rushed in hurriedly. “Madam, what’s wrong?”
“Bring Gong Xiaomei to the ancestral hall now and carry out the household punishment on her! She actually dared to steal my necklace and sell it?!”
“Yes.”
“Okay!” Sister Gao remarked as she clapped her hands to gesture that the scene was done. “Get ready for the second scene. Hurry up.”
The second scene was obviously Fang Erlan being brought downstairs to the ancestral hall.
Ignoring Fang Erlan’s defense and cries claiming that she was being maligned, she was directly hung from a height.
As filming such scenes required protective measures, Fang Erlan could never have expected that the whip would actually land on her thin body. When the whip landed on her, Fang Erlan’s hysterical screams gave the surrounding crew members of the production set gooseb.u.mps. Sister Gao even said as a compliment, “Good acting, it’s very realistic.”
Yu Caiwei laughed lightly. “Exactly, I almost thought it was real.”
The immense pain caused Fang Erlan to be unable to speak after she had just cried out, and then came the second and third las.h.i.+ng of the whip.
“Put me down! Put me down quickly! Ah!!!” Her face went as pale as a sheet, and she was breaking out in a cold sweat. Looking at the people around her, she screamed in agony, “Why am I being hit for real? Aren’t we just filming?!”
Her cries made Sister Gao immediately call out, “What’s going on?! Quick, put her down!”
Tears were flowing down Fang Erlan’s cheeks due to the immense pain and she cried out, “I’m here to film, not to suffer such torture!”
Sister Gao lifted her s.h.i.+rt to check the situation and confirmed that what she had said was true. She walked toward the person who had whipped her and berated furiously, “Are you even human?!”
“Sister Gao, how could anyone have guessed that she’s not wearing any protective layer underneath? I didn’t know that.”
“Get out this instant!”
“Wait!” Fang Erlan called out with Xiao Yue supporting her. “He can’t leave.”
Sister Gao replied gently, “That, erm… Erlan, shall we forget this? I’ll fire him immediately. Of course, you won’t suffer this in vain. We’ll compensate you an amount in your salary. What do you think? If you report this to the police, it’ll have quite an impact on our production.”
Fang Erlan looked at her seriously and responded, “Sister Gao, since you have already put it that way, then how about this? You hand him over to me, and I won’t call the police.”
Sister Gao immediately agreed. From how she saw it, what could Fang Erlan, a mere woman, possibly do…?
“The two of you bring him back to A City.” Fang Erlan’s bodyguards understood what she meant clearly and forcefully brought the crew member away.
Yu Caiwei couldn’t help but ask, “Fang Erlan, the production unit has agreed to compensate you. What else do you want? Since it was the crew member’s mistake, can’t you just forgive him? Aren’t you being too petty?”
“What has this got to do with you?” Fang Erlan retorted. “Don’t tell me you were behind it?”
“Don’t make such unfounded accusations!”
“Since it’s not like that, then shut up.” Fang Erlan’s words had just landed when Jing Shui rushed over to her and asked her in a panic, “Erlan, are you okay?”
“How can I possibly be fine? I’ll make a trip to the hospital first.”
“Let me accompany you.”
“No need, I only need Xiao Yue with me.” Seeing how Jing Shui had still followed her persistently, Fang Erlan reiterated, “There’s really no need. I’ll be fine.”
It was only after she got into her nanny van that Fang Erlan covered her face and started weeping uncontrollably.
Xiao Yue sat beside her and did not dare to utter a word, only telling the driver to send them to the hospital.
Once Fang Erlan was gone, Sister Gao immediately warned all the crew members and actors on set, “If this incident gets out, the impact on the reputation of our production team will be irreversible and I won’t let any one of you off. Everyone is to sign an agreement to keep this incident a secret!”
Jing Shui looked up at her. “But, Director Gao, can you ensure that Erlan’s work studio will let this incident go? From what I know, Fang Erlan’s boss is An Xiaoning. Are you sure that just a mere compensation will be able to settle this? Also, that crew member has been brought back to A City by Fang Erlan’s bodyguards. I think it would be fine if it was just a mistake on his part, but if it was intentional, I’m afraid this incident will be difficult to settle for you as well.”
Every word of his went straight to Sister Gao’s heart, causing her to boil with rage.
She furiously called Yu Caiwei to her car.
Without standing on ceremony, she remarked candidly, “In your eyes, do sisters and friends exist to help clean your mess?”
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. If it was an accident on the part of the production team, An Xiaoning can’t possibly do anything about it, right?”
“You’re not to create any trouble for me anymore. Fang Erlan is the female lead. If anything happens to her, the filming process of the whole production team will be delayed. Do you know how much losses are incurred if there’s a delay of one day?”
“Isn’t it just a few whips? Don’t worry. Alright, I owe you one now. Just thinking of how her bodyguard dared to pour noodles on me a few days ago makes me fume with anger.”
“Alright, you can go. I’ll discuss with Fang Erlan’s work studio about this matter.”
“Alright, it’s been hard on you, Honey.” With that, Yu Caiwei planted a kiss on her face before getting off the car.
When Sister Gao made a call to them, Mei Yangyang had already found out about this incident.
Though Sister Gao at first apologized for the incident, she then started to offer compensation toward Fang Erlan.
Mei Yangyang was determined to seek justice for Fang Erlan and remarked without standing on ceremony, “Alright. If you want to compensate her, then you’ll have to show your sincerity. Increase Erlan’s salary for each episode by 100 thousand dollars.”
“What?” Sister Gao immediately responded. “The contract has already been signed, it can’t be changed.”
“A contract can even be breached, but it can’t be changed? Then, there’s no point in discussing things any further, Sister Gao. Is your production team bullying a newbie like our Erlan? Do you really think that our agency doesn’t have the capability to stop your show from being broadcasted forever?”
Disgruntled, Sister Gao naturally knew An Xiaoning’s status and could only concede. “Alright, we’ll pay her 300 thousand dollars per episode, then. I’ll convey this to the producer and investors.”
“Alright.”
After she hung up the call, Sister Gao’s face turned extremely sullen.
She alighted from her car and went to find Yu Caiwei again. “Fang Erlan’s work studio asked to increase her salary as compensation and I’ve agreed. You’ll fork out the extra 100 thousand dollars per episode. Clean the mess you created yourself.”