"Sister Yan, I want to come here again next time!"
"You seem to have gained weight recently."
Lingyan reached out her wicked hand and pinched the girl's slightly chubby cheeks.
"No!"
The cat instantly bristled as if its tail had been stepped on, shouting, "No way!"
His voice was all bark and no bite, but his hand secretly touched his waist, as if to check if there was a small "spare tire" protruding from his slender waist.
"Alright... Gu Xiaozhong, you know Director Chen is very strict. What if you don't look good on camera?"
Although she really wanted to be soft-hearted and let Gu Zhong eat and drink whatever he wanted, her profession as an actress required her to have extremely strong self-control.
Therefore, Lingyan could only make a promise of delayed gratification.
"Once this drama is finished filming, you can eat whatever you want."
"Ugh... okay..."
Gu Zhong suddenly realized that if he wanted to join the film crew, he would have to diet and get in shape. He let out a couple of listless cries and agreed.
The contract signing date for "The Astrologer" was fast approaching, and a few days ago Director Chen had Gu Zhong take costume photos to officially begin the promotional campaign.
The announcement caused an uproar online.
"The one that was said to be pre-selected by Gu Zhong, could it be this drama?"
"What?! I heard my Xiaoxiao is on the audition list? She's not the female lead?! That's impossible!"
"Even a Best Actress can't compete with someone's powerful backing? Director Chen has also succumbed to capital?"
"I refuse to believe that a newcomer can act better than a Best Actress winner."
"Look at the investors, Starlight Media is prominently listed. Don't you understand?"
Rumors about Gu Zhong being kept by a sugar daddy have resurfaced, this time even dragging Qu Xiaoran's fans into the fray.
In their eyes, their goddess is perfect in every way, having won numerous awards, yet she could be overshadowed by Gu Zhong, a newcomer who has only starred in one film?
She must have powerful connections; insult her!
She thought she had suppressed the rumors, but the person behind the scenes took a different approach and concocted a fictitious sugar daddy for Gu Chong, refusing to let go and determined to smear Gu Chong to the very end.
It even dragged Qu Xiaoran's long-time die-hard fans into the fray, instantly making headlines again.
Ling Yan felt a deep headache coming on. What kind of deep-seated hatred could this be?
Intuitively, Lingyan feared that today's signing would not go smoothly. After considering various options along the way, she led Gu Zhong to the agreed-upon signing location.
In the large business conference room, Director Chen paced anxiously back and forth, while Director Zhang stood by the window making a phone call, speaking urgently. Several producers stood leisurely with their arms crossed beside them.
"Director Chen..."
Lingyan pushed open the door and entered. Seeing the scene before her, she had a clear understanding of the current situation.
Director Chen strode over and politely shook her hand briefly.
"Miss Ling, Miss Gu, please have a seat. Please wait a moment."
After inviting the two to sit down, Director Chen sat down with them, remaining silent and rubbing his clasped hands together in frustration.
A moment later, Director Zhang hung up the phone, walked over to them, and leaned down to whisper a few words to Director Chen.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Ling. It seems that Gu Zhong is not destined for our production."
Director Chen's tone carried a hint of apology.
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Author's Note:
Unconsciously describing food... I'm hungry
Happy May Fourth Youth Day! Young people! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2021-04-29 23:28:45 and 2021-05-03 23:29:54!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: One Thought Blossoms 50 bottles;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 37 Agent and Movie Queen (Part 9)
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"Director Chen, has something happened?"
Ling Yan's tone was inevitably stiff; anyone would be in a bad mood if they were blocked at the last minute.
"Miss Ling and Miss Gu must be aware of the turmoil of the past two days."
Director Chen picked up the teacup on the table, took a big gulp of water, caught his breath, and looked at Gu Zhongdao.
"Rumors of a pre-arranged decision? I thought Director Chen wouldn't care about such nonsense."
With a sneer, Ling Yan leaned back in the black leather seat, her legs crossed over her white suit pants. The contrasting black and white colors made her appear even more sharp and capable.
“Miss Ling, I truly don’t care. But these days, sometimes I have no choice but to bow my head.”
Director Chen gave a bitter smile, his face full of bitterness and helplessness, looking very frustrated.
"Oh? Which one is it?"
There are only a handful of companies that have the power to make a renowned director bow down, Ling Yan thought to herself after careful consideration. Starlight would never cut off the career path of its own artists, so it must be Chenxi and Guangmei who are sabotaging them behind the scenes.
"...Dawn. Their team keeps arguing that the actors' negative news will affect filming and viewership profits. If Gu Zhong isn't replaced, they'll withdraw their investment."
Director Chen paused for a moment, then truthfully revealed the person behind the scenes who demanded Gu Zhong's replacement.
"If I remember correctly, Starlight is also an investor in this drama. Is Director Chen planning to choose one of the two?"
Since the other party is using capital to intimidate, Lingyan doesn't mind using some of her privileges.
"They made additional investments..."
Director Chen looked a little embarrassed when he said this.
"···"
For a moment, Lingyan was speechless. This was probably the allure of money. In the end, there were no collaborations that couldn't be completed, only prices that weren't paid enough.
Frowning, Lingyan couldn't understand why Chenxi would attack Gu Zhong. No artist had played a main role in this drama, so even if they squeezed out Gu Zhong, what benefit would they get?
"Director Chen..."
It was a rare opportunity to have a script that Gu Zhong had his eye on, and Ling Yan didn't want to miss it. She had barely opened her mouth when Gu Zhong stopped her.
"Things have come to this point; it's just that my fate with Director Chen wasn't right. I've troubled you all today."
Gu Zhong, who was sitting quietly to the side, listened attentively to their conversation. As the two became increasingly confrontational, she interrupted Ling Yan and frankly admitted that she accepted the outcome.
Ling Yan glared at Gu Zhong with a hint of disappointment, and then gave up trying to reason with Director Chen.
However, since Gu Zhong has given up, Xingguang and her investment will inevitably be withdrawn.
It can't be said that Director Chen did anything wrong; it's just that he prioritized profit, which is understandable.
"That's enough for today... I hope there will be opportunities to work with Director Chen again in the future."
"Gu Xiaozhong, why are you giving up? It was a script I finally picked out."
On the way back, Lingyan began to interrogate him.
"Sister Yan~" Gu Zhong looked at her somewhat angry manager and snuggled up to her side in a coquettish manner. This trick never failed her, and Ling Yan really couldn't do anything about it.
"There were so many problems before this movie was even filmed. If it were to actually start filming, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause? It's better to just let it go."
These words were quite insightful.
Indeed, Chenxi was willing to invest more to fill the hole left by Xingguang's withdrawal of investment in order to withdraw Guzhong. Before the reason is clear, even if Lingyan thinks she can handle it, it is still best not to step into this mess.
"Alright, alright. You're really getting better and better at reasoning."
"I know Sister Yan's abilities, but I don't want her to work so hard."
Seeing that he had appeased his manager, Gu Zhong added another sweet remark.
"...Your work is never hard."
Looking at Gu Zhong, Ling Yan's eyes shone with a gentle light.
The script, which had been finalized over several months, was scrapped. Meanwhile, Qu Xiaoran took advantage of this opportunity to take over the role of the female lead, and the production team released new official promotional photos.
Fortunately, the statement wasn't completely closed off, and they could still explain that the previously announced photos were audition photos, and that they had used a bunch of auditioning actors to make up the numbers.
After all, such a large production team makes netizens feel that it's beneath them to replace the cast due to public opinion. Whether netizens believe it or not is another matter.
Perhaps because the fans were making too much noise, Qu Xiaoran's studio contacted Ling Yan to explain that they were not behind the incident. They expressed deep regret that Gu Zhong missed out on the role, but their words revealed an undisguised arrogance and elation.
Ling Yan immediately hung up the phone and blacklisted Qu Xiaoran for this kind of behavior of reaping benefits while pretending to be virtuous.
She wasn't the one who started the controversy; she simply remained calm and allowed her fans to misunderstand and cause trouble.
In this industry today, there are very few people who truly deserve the title of being both virtuous and talented.
"Gu Xiaozhong, I have a notebook here, would you like to take a look?"
Seeing that Gu Zhong had become a shut-in since losing his role, indulging in food and drink and gaining even more weight, Ling Yan finally couldn't resist throwing out the script that she had been holding onto for so long.
"Chasing the Light?"
Two words were simply printed on the white A4 paper. Gu Zhong put down his ice cream cup, picked up the spoon, and took the thin notebook.
"homosexual?"
After quickly glancing through it, Gu Zhong blushed and asked a question in a low voice.
"Hmm? You can't accept that?"
Their hands clasped together unconsciously tightened. Ling Yan looked up at Gu Zhong, her face composed and professional, but her heart was filled with trepidation.
"No...no, it's just that I've never seen this type before."
His heart skipped a beat, and seemingly not wanting his agent to misunderstand anything, Gu Zhong quickly denied it.