After hearing what was said on the other end, Shen Huai responded calmly and then hung up the phone as if nothing had happened.
Ye Cang asked curiously, "Was that a call from the company?"
Shen Huai hummed in response.
Ye Cang felt that Shen Huai's attitude was a bit strange, but he couldn't figure out why.
Shen Huai felt somewhat apologetic towards Ye Cang, but the girl was really strange. The look of terror on her face when she saw Ye Cang left a deep impression on Shen Huai. Before finding out the truth, he didn't want Ye Cang to get involved.
Shen Huai calmly changed the subject, and Ye Cang, having had his attention diverted, temporarily put the matter out of his mind.
The two didn't participate in the production team's dinner; they just ate something casually outside. After returning to the hotel, Shen Huai took advantage of Ye Cang taking a shower to call him again.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?"
The person on the other end quickly relayed all the information they had recently gathered to Shen Huai. The girl's name was Yin Jingyi, a third-year student in the Fine Arts Department of Dongjiang Art University. Her parents were both doctors, very busy and rarely paying attention to their daughter. Yin Jingyi was bullied at school because of her obesity, and had a withdrawn and gloomy personality, but other than that, there was nothing suspicious about her.
Shen Huai frowned deeply.
If Yin Jingyi really has no problems, then why did she show that expression when she saw Ye Cang?
Shen Huai pondered for a while but couldn't come up with any ideas. He could only ask the other party to continue paying attention to Yin Jingyi. He was currently busy with the press conference for "Red Actress" and the upcoming trip abroad with Ye Cang, so he really didn't have time to go to Dongjiang City.
But he still made a decision: after returning from the United States with Ye Cang, he would go and meet this classmate, Yin Jingyi.
☆, Chapter 104
Upon receiving the news, Hua Rong rushed to Dongjiang City, but to her surprise, the Chu couple were unwilling to see her.
Hua Rong could hardly believe it, but when she called again, the other party no longer answered.
Hua Rong looked at the person who provided her with the information: "Didn't you say they didn't get along? Chu Chu even took their company, forcing them to go abroad. Now that they have a chance to get these things back, how could they possibly refuse?!"
“Yeah!” The other person also seemed puzzled, muttering to themselves, “It’s impossible for them to suddenly have such a father-daughter relationship…”
Hua Rong, however, did not believe it. She felt that the Chu couple must have some kind of leverage over Chu Chu, otherwise how could their company have been suddenly taken away, and they didn't even dare to retaliate?
But it's no use saying all this now. The Chu couple's refusal to come forward means that her original plan to ruin Chu Meibo's reputation by accusing Chu Chu of being unfilial lacks strong evidence.
But Hua Rong was unwilling to give up; she had experienced too many setbacks with Chu Meibo.
She tried to poach Chu Meibo, promising to make her a national star within a year, but Chu Meibo refused and arrogantly retorted that she didn't need to use such low-class methods.
"With my abilities, one year is enough."
Hua Rong initially thought Chu Meibo was delusional and deliberately mocking her. But now that Chu Meibo has landed the lead role in "The Red Performer," Hua Rong realizes that Chu Meibo may never have intended to joke with her at all; she may have always thought so.
Thinking about this made Hua Rong even more depressed.
The more outstanding Chu Meibo is, the more it proves how bad Hua Rong's judgment was back then, and this is precisely what Hua Rong finds most intolerable.
When Hua Rong returned to Zhongjing City full of resentment, she learned that the press conference for the casting of "The Red Performer" was about to be held. Hua Rong's eyes darkened immediately. She knew that if Chu Meibo could successfully play the role of "The Red Performer", nothing could stop her from becoming famous.
-
Shen Huai was making final preparations for the press conference for "Red Actress" when the person who had been monitoring the Chu couple called him, saying that the Chu couple had already boarded the plane.
Shen Huai responded and then hung up the phone.
Shen Huai already knew about Hua Rong's trip to Dongjiang to find the Chu couple a few days ago. Fortunately, he was prepared and sent someone to warn the Chu couple again.
Hua Rong always thought that the Chu couple had something on Chu Meibo, but she didn't know that Shen Huai had that information, and that Shen Huai already knew that she had gone to Dongjiang.
Now that the Chu couple has gone abroad, the last factor affecting Chu Meibo has disappeared.
Shen Huai's patience with Hua Rong had reached its limit.
To Shen Huai, Hua Rong was nothing more than a buzzing insect. He didn't care about her at all, but if this insect kept bothering him, he wouldn't mind taking action and pinning her down.
In fact, Shen Huai had wanted to do this after the Song Yimian incident, but Du Yuping had just become Guo Wenyuan at the time. He was worried that Hua Rong had incriminating evidence against Guo Wenyuan, and that if this matter were exposed, it would inevitably cause secondary harm to Song Yimian, so he held back.
Now that so much time has passed, Guo Wenyuan has resolved all the aftermath, and Song Yimian has gradually emerged from the shadows and started a new life.
Shen Huai had no more scruples. If Hua Rong had behaved herself, there might have been a glimmer of hope, but she just had to act recklessly.
Then don't blame him for being impolite.
As a result, Hua Rong had a very difficult time for a period of time. The business partners she had been in contact with all refused to cooperate with her, and even those she had agreed to continue working with preferred to breach the contract rather than continue cooperating with her.
Hua Rong initially thought that one of her artists had offended someone, but the artist's own contract was flawless. In the end, she discovered that all the problems pointed to her.
At this time, she received another message: none of the media outlets dared to take the blame for the negative information she had previously released about Chu Meibo.
Just kidding. Everyone can see that Chu Meibo is on a roll right now. If we were to release news like this, wouldn't we be offending her? And at such a crucial moment, wouldn't we be offending Director Xie and the Guanrui Group behind him as well?
More importantly, these people all vaguely knew that Hua Rong seemed to have offended some important figure, and that someone was now targeting her, so no one wanted to get involved.
Hua Rong was furious, but after making seven or eight calls and being hung up on each time with an excuse, she couldn't help but panic.
Just then, Xu Anqi pushed open the door and walked directly into her office.
Hua Rong said irritably, "What are you doing here!"
Xu Anqi took off her sunglasses and waved a contract in front of Hua Rong: "I just signed a contract with Director Lü. I came to tell you so you can schedule my schedule so you don't have to arrange any random variety shows and events for me. But you probably won't be getting any work lately, right?"
Hua Rong's face flushed red with anger: "You're deliberately here to make a fool of me!"
“Yes.” Xu Anqi said coldly, “I just found out that they originally wanted me to be the female lead in ‘Stories in the Hutongs.’ You blocked the script, making me waste so much time.”
"The Story of Hutong" is a huge hit TV series that aired this year. No one expected that a low-budget TV series about everyday life would have such high ratings and such high praise. The actress who played the female lead immediately became a hot star.
When Hua Rong found out, she regretted it. After all, Xu Anqi was the first person they approached for "Stories in the Hutong," but she felt that the production team was not well-known and that it was about such trivial matters, so she directly refused.
However, very few people knew about this, and Hua Rong never expected that Xu Anqi would find out.
Her expression softened immediately: "Anqi, let me explain first..."
Xu Anqi's lips curled slightly: "You don't need to explain to me."
Hua Rong was stunned.
Xu Anqi stepped aside, and behind her came someone from the company's human resources department. The person handed her a termination letter: "Hua Rong, you have been dismissed."
Hua Rong was stunned, and it took her a long time to come to her senses before she exclaimed excitedly, "What nonsense are you talking about! I want to see President He!"
The other person gave a forced smile: "This is Mr. He's signature." She took two steps forward and lowered her voice, "Hua Rong, Mr. He already knows about your private acceptance of kickbacks and falsification of accounts. Considering how many years you've worked for the company, we're only dismissing you. If you continue to be ungrateful, we'll have no choice but to send you to jail."
Hua Rong froze, her face turning deathly pale.
She no longer cared about her image and collapsed to the ground. She knew that this time she was truly finished.
Xu Anqi looked at her without any pity, and only left her office after a while. Her assistant, Pingping, who was on vacation for the past two days, had just heard the news and rushed to the company, completely distraught: "How could this happen? Anqi, what are you going to do now..."
Xu Anqi is not the same as she was three years ago when she first joined Menghe. She has passed her peak popularity. After realizing that Xu Anqi had ulterior motives, Hua Rong suppressed her several times, which put her in a very awkward position. To make matters worse, her contract is about to expire.
Menghe is a capable agent with outstanding artists under her management, so she naturally doesn't want to put in a lot of effort for no reward. If she were to fall into the hands of an incompetent agent, given the fierce competition in this industry, Xu Anqi might be forgotten in no time.
Just as Pingping was extremely anxious, a woman with chestnut hair and a gentle smile walked over: "Don't worry, I'll take care of Anqi from now on."
Pingping's eyes widened: "Mr. Ke... Mr. Ke!!"
This is the vice president of Menghe Entertainment. She was originally a very capable agent, but after becoming the vice president, she hadn't taken on any new talent for a long time. Unexpectedly, the other party was willing to take Xu Anqi under their wing.
Xu Anqi looked at President Ke with a complicated expression, but he just smiled and said gently, "Come to my office later after you've calmed down."
After she finished speaking, she turned and left.
Some people originally wanted to see Xu Anqi make a fool of herself, but they didn't expect her to have such good luck. So they congratulated her with a few sour words and then dispersed.
Pingping was still dazed with excitement: "Anqi! That's great! With President Ke being so capable, you don't need to worry!"
Xu Anqi responded absentmindedly.
She certainly didn't think that President Ke thought highly of her, nor did she think it was out of pity. If President Ke really wanted to bring her under his wing, he would have done it long ago, and Hua Rong wouldn't dare to say anything.
The fact that President Ke is doing this reminds Xu Anqi of someone.
Shen Huai.
She recalled Shen Huai's low-key yet incredibly resourceful actions, and also thought about how she had reminded him before that Hua Rong was going to deal with Chu Meibo. Now that Chu Meibo was completely unharmed, while Hua Rong had been fired, it was hard not to think of Shen Huai.
She understood that this was Shen Huai returning the favor.
She let out a long breath, and her original resentment and sullenness seemed to dissipate in that instant.
A fighting spirit ignited in Xu Anqi's eyes, and she gestured to Pingping: "Let's go."
Although she no longer harbored resentment towards Shen Huai, she still had to keep her word and become the most outstanding female star!
-
After hearing the results of the phone call about Hua Rong, Shen Huai hung up the phone indifferently before giving further instructions.
Because Ye Cang Studio was established, the company assigned Shen Huai a separate work area, and now everyone here is one of his subordinates.
But before Shen Huai could finish speaking, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.
Shen Huai frowned slightly and saw Guo Wenyuan walking towards him, waving vigorously when he saw him.
Guo's face is quite well-known in the industry. In terms of status, even the CEO of Morningstar would have to fawn over him. Who would have thought that he would actually walk into Shen Huai's office on his own initiative, which surprised everyone.
Shen Huai pressed his temples, had his assistant bring over two cups of coffee, and then closed the door, keeping the curious eyes out.
"What brings you here today?" Shen Huai asked directly.
Guo Wenyuan glanced around Shen Huai's office before saying, "Didn't you promise to let me see the script? My assistant is really unreliable; your judgment is much better."
As Guo Wenyuan spoke, he placed the two scripts he was holding on Shen Huai's table.
Shen Huai's gaze swept over the script: "You can contact me by phone or WeChat. There's no need for you to come in person."
Guo Wenyuan scratched his head: "Old people... don't quite understand these high-tech things..."
"You were still inviting Ye Cang and Sister Mei to play King of Glory with you last night," Shen Huai bluntly exposed him.
Guo Wenyuan: "..."
Guo Wenyuan laughed it off and then said, "I really do have something to discuss with you this time."
His expression turned serious. "I just learned that Guanrui has been secretly suppressing Yixing Films. Although I am a shareholder of Guanrui, I have no real power. At most, I can only put a person or two into the production team. But I know that you and Lao Yi are friends. If possible, I would like to ask you to help him."
Shen Huai remained silent.