Su Yanxi secretly pursed his lips, feeling displeased, but for the sake of his colleagues, he still said tactfully, "I was a little tired from packing my luggage last night and accidentally fell asleep."
"Oh, I see. Okay, I understand. But next time, please turn on the sound or vibrate. It's a bit impolite that you don't reply to all the messages I've sent you."
Su Yanxi patiently replied, "Okay, I'll be careful."
Not only is Cheng Zhuo from Puxin there, but Xiang Mingyue, who just arrived at the film set this morning, is also there.
Xiang Mingyue was extremely smug. Even though everyone in the crew knew he was a minor supporting character who got the role through connections, he didn't hold back at all, swaggering up to Su Yanxi and saying, "Hi, my old classmate~"
"Hmm, long time no see, old classmate." Su Yanxi, still putting on makeup, glanced sideways behind her. "First of all, congratulations on joining the crew?"
"Oh, then thank you for your congratulations too?" Xiang Mingyue smiled and said, "I've been on set several times, but you're twenty-five and this is your first time. I should be congratulating you!"
"No, no, no," Su Yanxi finally managed to stretch her neck after finishing her makeup and turned to look at Ming Yue. "I should still congratulate you. Compared to you, I got into the crew too easily; while you—you must have put in a lot of effort, right?"
"What effort did I put in?" Xiang Mingyue was a bit dim-witted and often lost when it came to subtlety. He would get anxious if his weaknesses were exposed. "Su Yanxi, don't speak vaguely and let people misunderstand."
"How am I being ambiguous? Those who understand will understand what I'm saying." Su Yanxi stood up and patted Xiang Mingyue's shoulder meaningfully. "I was just expressing my appreciation for your hard work getting into the crew, why are you in such a hurry?"
"I--"
Xiang Mingyue gritted his teeth.
"I advise you not to be too smug. You and I are essentially the same kind of people. If you really piss me off, I will really reveal your true colors."
Su Yanxi didn't quite understand what he meant, but adhering to the principle of not losing in an argument, he still retorted: "That's quite a coincidence, I also have your trump card."
"Is that so?" Xiang Mingyue's lips twitched, the smile he forced was more frightening than a ghost's face. "Then we'll see. Let's see if your 'trump card' is more powerful, or mine is more substantial?"
After saying that, Xiang Mingyue turned and left.
Two days later, the production team of "Red Flower" officially announced the cast at noon.
The stellar cast and powerful production team have caught the eye of many drama fans eager to follow the series.
The most discussed character is undoubtedly Su Yanxi, the protagonist. Many find it unbelievable that such a high-profile drama would cast a "newcomer" with no prior acting experience as the lead.
Amidst two waves of heated discussions—"The protagonist, Su Yanxi, has such an exquisite appearance; as a looks-obsessed person, I'm already a fan" and "Without prior experience, will she be able to shoulder the responsibility of being the protagonist?"—a shocking revelation suddenly broke out.
Chapter 20
[Isn't Su Yanxi the son of the former deputy mayor of Nanxiang City? Casting the son of such a corrupt official as the lead actor—does the production team not care about its reputation? Ha!]
Author's Note:
===A Little Mob Scene! ===
"Three Sentences to Make My Colleagues Open Up to Me" by Su Su
First sentence: My name is Su Yanxi. Please take care of me in the future.
Second sentence: It's okay, you can address me however you like.
Third sentence: Is your throat sore? Are you alright?
I'd call it the social maneuvering of a young mistress from another family! (No)
————————
Thank you so much, Xuan Dong Xiao Shiba, for the thick milk latte! Thank you so much!
I'm late today because of work and writer's block qwq. I wasted some time on minor revisions, but I'll be back on time for the 6 PM slot tomorrow!
I can handle even scandal #11
The cast was officially announced at midnight, and then leaks surfaced around 5 p.m.
By the time the comments had fermented and the related topic made it to the top of the trending search list through unsubstantiated discussions, and Zhou Tong saw it, it was already almost 7:30.
Zhou Tong was extremely anxious. Wearing pajamas and slippers, she didn't even wait for the elevator and went straight down the emergency exit to catch the person.
"Su Yanxi, Su Yanxi!" Zhou Tong banged on the door repeatedly until her hands hurt, then switched to the doorbell and pressed the buttons randomly. "Su Yanxi! Are you there?"
The door was finally opened by the doorbell. Lin Xiaohai, looking bewildered, nodded respectfully and greeted, "Hello, manager."
"not good!"
Zhou Tong squeezed through the gap and searched for people.
"Where's Su Yanxi? Isn't this his room? How come you booked it—"
"What's wrong, Sister Tong?" Su Yanxi came out of the bathroom upon hearing the voice, her face mask on. "Sister, why are you so angry? Your face is all red."
Seeing Su Yanxi wearing a face mask—and with an opened bottle of red wine and an empty plate on the shelf—Zhou Tong became even angrier and launched into a tirade.
"You have the nerve to ask me what happened?" Zhou Tong tossed her phone into Su Yanxi's arms. "Look for yourself! The news broke at 5 PM, and it's trending on Weibo in just two hours, and you haven't even noticed!?"
"Trending topics...?"
Su Yanxi held her phone with the hand that wasn't covered in the serum and quickly browsed the text on the trending topics page.
"What's this about embezzlement? Was your father really sentenced for this?" Zhou Tong stomped her feet in frustration, almost tearing the words off the screen and stuffing them into Su Yanxi's head. "If something like this happened, why didn't you report it to me beforehand so I could prepare for public relations?"
Zhou Tong thought Su Yanxi would panic like her after reading it, but to her surprise, Su Yanxi calmly put down her phone and continued pressing the face mask to make it fit properly.
"Sister, don't worry, there's a way. Sit down and have some tea to catch your breath."
"Xiao Hai, pour some tea."
"Have some tea?" Zhou Tong couldn't sit still for a moment. "Don't you understand how serious this is?"
From Zhou Tong's perspective, Su Yanxi is a complete newcomer: besides lacking experience on set, she also lacks much social experience in the entertainment industry. Such a person is not only prone to making mistakes, but also easily drawn into others' marketing schemes, becoming a stepping stone for others to rise to the top.
As her agent, she has a responsibility to make the artist aware of just how significant the impact of a scandal can be!
"Let me tell you, it's just that it's lunchtime right now, and the crew and directors have all gone out for dinner. Otherwise? Knowing Director He's temper, he wouldn't announce the cast today and then find someone to replace you tomorrow!"
"I know, I know everything." Su Yanxi remained calm and pressed Zhou Tong down to sit on the sofa. "Sister, please don't panic. Trust me, I will find a way to handle this."
Having come this far, Zhou Tong had no choice but to trust Su Yanxi: "What solutions do you have?"
Su Yanxi handed Lin Xiaohai the tea he had poured: "Sister, have some tea first, I'll make a phone call."
Under Zhou Tong's puzzled gaze, Su Yanxi actually took out her phone and made a call: "...Hello, is this sister-in-law?"
Zhou Tong, holding a cup of tea, frowned as she listened uneasily to Su Yanxi's phone call.
She wondered if Su Yanxi was alright, why would she call her sister-in-law at a time like this? Was she afraid that too much PR time would lead to too few people knowing about the scandal?
Su Yanxi spoke casually, starting a conversation about everyday things: "Have you eaten yet? Was the baby good tonight?"
Zhou Tong's forehead veins bulged as she listened, so angry she almost dropped her teacup; she wondered if Su Yanxi would ever stop, daring to chat about family matters at a time like this.
“Okay, then take a look at the trending topics on Weibo.” Su Yanxi finally got down to business. “Didn’t we prepare a document last time? Can you choose a suitable time to send it out?”
On the other end of the phone, my little nephew, who is not yet a year old, was pestering my brother and sister-in-law for a hug, babbling and making a fuss.
Unable to withstand the little one's "rapid onslaught," the older brother and sister-in-law, amidst the chaos, agreed and hung up the phone.
Su Yanxi put down her phone and smiled at Zhou Tong: "I'm done talking. Sister, don't worry about this anymore. Someone will take care of it for me."
My brother and sister-in-law were once hosts at CCTV. Although they retired from the entertainment industry five years ago to get married, they still control a lot of media resources.
With the media's absolute dominance and authority providing clarification, the scandals and slanders on the internet are nothing more than insignificant appetizers—only providing Su Yanxi with a bit of amusement.
Seeing Su Yanxi's ease and confidence, Zhou Tong couldn't help but ask, "Did you just call your sister-in-law?"
Su Yanxi nodded honestly: "Yes, I called my sister-in-law."
"Why call her?" Zhou Tong tried to guess. "Is she in the industry?"
"Hmm...did it count as before?"
Su Yanxi was torn between revealing who his brother and sister-in-law were. After all, if his brother and sister-in-law were exposed, Zhou Tong might easily discover his identity.
“He has a lot of media resources and a wide network of contacts.”
"Can you definitely help me get through this scandal crisis?" Zhou Tong asked curiously. "Which former person in the industry? Do I know them?"
After hesitating for a while, Su Yanxi decided to tell the truth: "Perhaps you know Cai Yuyan?"
Chapter 21
“Cai Yuyan?” Zhou Tong had been picturing a female character, so he couldn’t make a connection. “The name sounds familiar, but I don’t think I know her.”
Su Yanxi breathed a sigh of relief: "So you don't recognize me..."
"Alright, enough of this nonsense." Not quite sure who it was, Zhou Tong waved her hand and got back to the point, "Since she's your sister-in-law, she wouldn't do anything to you, right? If you leave this to her, is she sure she can handle it?"
"Definitely." Su Yanxi said with absolute certainty, "My sister-in-law has always treated me well, there will definitely be no problem if I entrust him with this."
Su Yanxi told Zhou Tong to calm down and wait for her brother and sister-in-law's public relations efforts. Any public opinion takes time to develop and cannot produce immediate results.
Zhou Tong was skeptical, so she simply moved her computer downstairs and worked in Su Yanxi's room. That way, if anything happened to her again, she could easily catch the culprit.
While scrolling through the trending topics, she arranged Su Yanxi's schedule and kept an eye on Su Yanxi's movements.
Zhou Tong didn't know anything about Su Yanxi's private life—nor did she need to. Her usual practice as an agent was to avoid interfering in her artists' private lives. "I've already arranged your schedule, I've already booked your roles, you just need to attend work and film as usual; as long as you don't cause trouble, I'll make sure you reach the top of the entertainment industry pyramid."
To put it bluntly, Zhou Tong is a person with a strong sense of boundaries.
Su Yanxi, on the other hand, has a stronger sense of boundaries than Zhou Tong. These boundaries are somewhat mysterious, which arouses great curiosity.
Su Yanxi was busy all night. First, she applied a face mask and face cream, then she went to the computer and typed away. She whispered to Lin Xiaohai, who was following her around like a shadow, "Tell the housekeeper to pay Wang Ma's wages for two months first, so she can go home and take care of her daughter-in-law during her postpartum period."
Lin Xiaohai nodded repeatedly, holding his phone as he relayed Su Yanxi's words one by one.
Zhou Tong was too far away to hear the conversation between the two people clearly, but he could vaguely make out words like "housekeeper," "wages," and "peace of mind."
The clues were scattered, but Zhou Tong wasn't stupid; he could tell that Su Yanxi's way of doing things was unusual.
How should I put it? There's a sense of approachable distance. At first glance, she seems very considerate and easy to get along with, but once you get closer, you'll find that Su Yanxi is actually quite aloof.
That kind of aloofness that says, "I don't care to know more about you."
Suppressing her curiosity, Zhou Tong continued with her work. It was then that she came across a long Weibo post with 5,000 reposts, titled "How to Ruin an Honest Official with 50,000 Yuan?"
Zhou Tong keenly sensed that this was related to Su Yanxi's matter. He clicked in and, sure enough, it was!
"Holy crap—this is the PR your sister-in-law did for you?"
"Hmm, has it spread out yet?" Su Yanxi put down what she was holding, glanced at the computer next to Zhou Tong, and chuckled softly, "Sister Tong, have you finished reading it? You can read it carefully, it's a manuscript written by an author with very good writing skills."
"This...this is more than just good writing!" Zhou Tong selected the blogger's name with the cursor. "This is a very, very famous CCTV reporter! With such a good article, why didn't you release it sooner?"