291: Chapter 291: Kicked Out of the Crew 291: Chapter 291: Kicked Out of the Crew Jiang You returned to the film crew the day after attending the event.
However, that very afternoon, right after she got off the plane, she received news that the filming of “Phoenix Dust” had been temporarily suspended.
No one knew the reason for the suspension.
Jiang You even went and asked several actors from the crew with whom she had a good relationship, but they could not provide any clarity, only that they had received a notice to stop filming.
Jiang You looked at Lu Ling, raised an eyebrow curiously, and asked, “Our little Miss Know-It-All, do you know why we’re pausing?”
Lu Ling: “…”
She had just received the news as well, how could she know right away?
“Wait a moment, I’ll try to find out covertly.”
With that, she picked up her phone.
After returning to the hotel, Jiang You lay bored on the couch.
The sudden stop, without any mental preparation.
Had she known this would happen, she would have stayed in Yue City a bit longer to spend time with her Beiyan.
…
At this time, Xinyi Xu, still in Yue City, was originally planning to return to Hengdian in the afternoon.
However, before she could board the plane, her agent called her back to the agency.
“What did you say?”
“Impossible!”
In the office, there came Xinyi Xu’s incredulous questioning.
The agent understood her current mood, but it was the reality.
She was kicked out of the “Phoenix Dust” crew.
“Why would they replace me?” Xinyi Xu was unwilling to believe what she had heard.
“We’ve already been shooting for a month.”
“Why can they just replace someone like that?”
The agent looked at her with furrowed brows and asked, “Did you offend someone?”
Xinyi Xu was slightly startled, offend someone?
She hadn’t!
Ever since she entered the industry, she had never offended anyone; it was always others who offended her.
Suddenly, she thought of what happened yesterday.
Could it be that that bitch Jiang You spoke ill of her to Mr.
Gu?
Seeing the change in her expression, the agent’s brows furrowed even more.
“Xinyi, you must tell me the truth, otherwise I can’t help you.”
She asked the company, and all the company said was, “Xinyi Xu is no longer qualified to stay in this crew.”
Then they told her to make haste in resolving it.
“I remember that the investor of this drama is the Gu Family.
Could it be that the Gu Family side requested to change the female lead?” Xinyi Xu asked.
The agent shook her head: “I’m not sure about that yet, I only know that the crew contacted the company directly to terminate the contract.”
“Sister Ai, aren’t you familiar with the producer?
Can you help me find out clearly, even if they want to terminate the contract suddenly, there still needs to be a reasonable reason.”
Li Ai thought for a moment, then took out her phone and dialed the number of the producer of “Phoenix Dust”.
The other party did not refuse her call.
But the other party took the initiative to say, “Li Ai, I know what you’re going to do, but I can’t help you with this, you should find another way.”
After saying that, he was about to hang up the phone.
Li Ai quickly spoke, “Li, wait a moment, I’m not asking you for help.”
The person on the other side was silent for a while, “Then what do you want to ask?”
Li Ai turned on the speakerphone and placed the phone on the desk.
“Li, I just want to ask why the crew decided to replace our Xinyi at this time?
Was it requested by the investor?”
Li Wei sighed, “Li Ai, considering our many years of friendship, I advise you not to get involved in this matter, nor to dig deeper, it will not do you any good.
You should take what you can, lest you lose more than you bargained for.”
Li Ai’s expression turned serious due to his words; Li Wei’s implications were very clear.
She always felt like a storm was coming, and kicking Xinyi out of the crew was just their first step?
Who exactly did Xinyi offend?
Or whose cake did she touch?
She had no idea about any of this, as the incident was so sudden.
“Li, since you said we are friends, please be more straightforward with me.
I had no choice but to make this call.”
Since Li Wei could say so much, it indicated he knew some inside information.
After hearing Li Ai’s words, Li Wei paused for a long time.
“This drama, aside from the Gu Family as an investor, there’s actually another bigger investor behind it.
It’s just that everyone thinks that Gu Family is the biggest investor, but that’s not the case.
The biggest investor in the drama is DK Group.”
“That’s all I can say, the rest I shouldn’t disclose,” Li Wei said before hanging up the phone.
“…”
Li Ai looked up at Xinyi Xu sitting across from her.
At the moment, Xinyi Xu had the same puzzled face.
DK Group?
Gu Group, CEO’s Office.
“Mr.
Gu, Master has made a move before us,” Chen Zhe said.
Originally, Mr.
Gu from their family had him handle the matter regarding Xinyi Xu last night, but when he was about to take action this morning, he discovered that someone else had already made a move before them.
“Mr.
Gu, Master’s move was quite ruthless,” Chen Zhe found out it was Jiang Yan who made the move, and then he contacted Jiang Feng to inquire about the situation.
He didn’t know until he asked, and he could only silently light a candle in his heart for that person with the surname Xu.
“Jiang Feng said that Master had all of Xinyi Xu’s endorsements canceled, and he also spread the word in the director’s circle.
From now on, it’s estimated that no one would dare to invite her for movies anymore; her dream of being a star and her path in the entertainment industry could be said to have come to an end.”
Gu Beiyan didn’t even frown but just lightly ‘hmm’ed.
It seems that what happened yesterday, that girl Jiang You didn’t completely tell him the truth.
Xinyi Xu must have done something to her; otherwise, given Jiang Yan’s character, he would not be so thorough.
Then, he picked up the phone lying on the table and dialed Jiang Yan’s number.
Jiang Yan was currently in DK Group, just having finished a meeting, returning to the office.
He had just sat down, preparing to call Su He, when Gu Beiyan’s call came through.
He thought for a few seconds but still answered.
“What’s up?
Speak!”
Gu Beiyan, hearing his impatient voice, clicked his tongue, “What’s the matter?
Did I disturb the lovey-dovey time with your sister-in-law?”
Jiang Yan: “If it’s nothing, I’m hanging up!”
Rarely having a moment of leisure, he didn’t want to listen to this guy’s nonsense.
“Don’t rush, I haven’t even talked about the main issue yet.”
“You have one minute!”
Gu Beiyan: “…”
Prioritizing love over friendship!
But he was more or less the same.
“I want to ask you about Xinyi Xu.
The girl only told me half yesterday, and there’s still another half she didn’t say, and you made such a ruthless move, surely you know something I don’t.”
Jiang Yan briefly told him, then hung up the phone.
Gu Beiyan: “…”
This wasn’t even a minute, was it?
His long fingers pinched the phone, his deep eyes hiding a hint of cold light.
Just now, he thought it was Jiang You who was keeping something from him, but it turned out she didn’t know what Xinyi Xu said after that.
But his big nephew really, couldn’t he leave him a little chance to perform?
That night, Weibo exploded.
All the brands that Xinyi Xu had partnerships with, released public announcements terminating their cooperation with her.
Suddenly, the internet was abuzz with heated discussions.
Fans of Xinyi Xu flocked to various brand merchants’ Weibo accounts to post all sorts of comments.
Condemning, crusading, demanding to know why they unilaterally terminated contracts…
But not a single one of Xinyi Xu’s fans received a response.
Apart from the fans defending their idol, most netizens simply enjoyed the drama with a spectator’s attitude.
Some, however, did fight back against Xinyi Xu’s fans, primarily because they couldn’t stand what they saw.
[To Xinyi Xu’s fans, stop howling at the bottom of other people’s Weibo posts.
For six or seven brand partners to terminate contracts with your idol simultaneously, definitely something shady must have been done by your beloved Xinyi Xu.]
[Exactly, the brand partners didn’t make explicit statements, probably out of respect for Xinyi Xu!]
[What do you mean by saying that if brands lose your bunch of fans, they can’t survive?
That’s hilarious; do you think the rest of us netizens are dead?]
[Xinyi Xu’s Weibo account has only a few million followers, and some of them might even be inactive.
Where does this arrogance come from?]
[To be honest, I’ve never liked Xu that much, just mediocre in looks, and I don’t know why some fans call her a once-in-a-millennium beauty… Seeing her just inexplicably reminds me of West Lake Longjing Tea.]
…
“Youzi, Youzi, big trouble!”
Jiang You was studying the upcoming scenes, and had just taken a break to think it through.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang You was startled by Lu Ling’s loud voice: “Don’t always make such a fuss.”
Lu Ling pointed her phone at her, “Look at your phone.”
“What’s wrong with my phone?” Jiang You was engrossed in thinking about the scenes and hadn’t really checked her phone.
“Big news.” Lu Ling swallowed, “Turns out the crew paused filming to replace Xinyi Xu as the female lead!
Also, all the products she endorsed have been unilaterally terminated by the brands, it’s blowing up online!”
“What did you say?” Jiang You thought she was hearing things.
Five minutes later.
After Jiang You checked all the information on Weibo, she still found it hard to believe.
How could Xinyi Xu be ousted overnight and by midday?
Could it be Mr.
Beiyan’s doing?
He had just said yesterday that he would handle this.
“Youzi, could this be Mr.
Gu doing this to avenge you by targeting Xinyi Xu?” Lu Ling shared her thoughts.
The reason Lu Ling guessed it was Gu Beiyan was because, in Yue City, very few had the clout to make seven major brand companies terminate their contracts with Xinyi Xu simultaneously.
“Holy shit!
That’s just too cool!” Lu Ling exclaimed, “Mr.
Gu is really awesome!”
“This is straight out of a novel where the powerful CEO gets revenge for his beloved girlfriend and just tosses the green tea girl right into the mire.”
“One word: Awesome!”
Jiang You’s eyes brightened; even she hadn’t anticipated Gu Beiyan’s swift action.
Suddenly, a flicker of worry crossed her mind; but then, was this too harsh on Xinyi Xu?
But then she remembered the words Xinyi Xu had said in the restroom yesterday, any last shred of sympathy Jiang You had for her evaporated completely!
Forget it, such a person wasn’t worth her sympathy.
“Youzi, you should give Mr.
Gu a call and properly compliment him,” Lu Ling nudged the stunned Jiang You, grinning, “This is the time Mr.
Gu must be waiting for your call.”
Jiang You checked the time, “He should be busy now, I’ll just send him a message instead.”
“Send send send, as you wish, anyway, this is between you lovebirds.” Lu Ling had no intention of meddling in their affairs, she’d let her handle it.
She was just there to enjoy the spectacle, and perhaps a bit of the sweet sideshow.
Though not savory, the dogfood (romance moments shared by couples) was sweet, uplifting one’s mood.
Life is tough enough, watching some sweet romance is beneficial for mental and emotional well-being.
Jiang You sent a WeChat message to Gu Beiyan: [Did you handle Xinyi Xu’s situation?]
She still felt the need to clarify a bit.
Barely two seconds after sending it, Gu Beiyan called her back.
“Hey, Mr.
Beiyan, you’re not busy?”
“I was about to go to a meeting when I saw your WeChat.”
Gu Beiyan had just stepped into the conference room and sat down in the main seat, while the heads of various departments were still seated below.
“That matter was done by your brother.
I haven’t had a chance to start and he already took the initiative.”
“Ah?”
“That day, Jiang Feng was in the men’s restroom across and he overheard what Xu Xinyi said.” Gu Beiyan said.
Jiang You was stunned upon hearing this, so that was the case.
“Alright then, go ahead with your meeting.”
Lu Ling had been watching her expression all this while.
Seeing her hang up the phone, she asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Jiang You looked up at her and said, “The thing about Xu Xinyi was done by my brother.”
Lu Ling: “…”
Then, Lu Ling came around, and said excitedly and enviously, “Youzi, you are so lucky to have such a brother who dotes on you, and such an outstanding boyfriend.
You truly are God’s favorite.”
“…”
At this moment, Xu Xinyi’s mood was absolutely terrible.
Li Ai was at a complete loss as she watched her.
She didn’t even know what to say anymore.
This was definitely the biggest fiasco she had ever experienced as an agent.
She originally thought Xu Xinyi was a promising talent, and indeed, she had achieved some success over the years.
Although some of it was achieved through connections, those were still her resources.
But who would have thought, now it was all like going back to square one.
Even worse than before; she might not even have a chance to start over.
“Xinyi, aren’t you going to tell me the truth?” Li Ai almost vomited from asking this question repeatedly.
But Xu Xinyi still insisted she hadn’t offended anyone.
And the company had made it clear that although they would not terminate her contract, freezing her career was almost no different from a termination.
Even if the contract was terminated, no other entertainment company would dare to sign her.
The name “Xu Xinyi” had now become something everyone in the entertainment industry shied away from.
It was one thing to have her endorsements terminated, but her friends told her that directors wouldn’t dare to use Xu Xinyi in films anymore either.
Xu Xinyi’s face was pale at the moment, and her gaze somewhat vacant.
She bit her lower lip and told Li Ai about the things she said to Jiang You.
“…”
After listening, Li Ai frowned even more.
“Have you lost your mind?
Why would you go after someone else’s boyfriend?”
Li Ai looked at her as if hating that she couldn’t meet her expectations.
“No matter by what means Jiang You got together with Mr.
Gu, they are currently legitimate boyfriend and girlfriend.
Why would you interfere?”
“You even went to threaten them to break up.
I think you’ve gone dumb from acting in too many dramas recently!”
Li Ai, furious, stood up, hands on her hips, almost ready to blow steam from her head.
She looked up and sighed deeply to calm herself, otherwise, she might lose control and say even more foul words.
“Xu Xinyi, I always thought you were clear-headed and knew what you wanted.” Still unable to hold back, Li Ai pointed at her, her eyes nearly shooting fire.
She lowered her voice and roared, “But now, look at yourself!
For a man who is not yours, you have destroyed your career, your bright future.
What in the world is going on in your head, huh?”
“I’m so pissed off!”
Xu Xinyi didn’t dare to even breathe heavily.
At this moment, her phone rang.
Li Ai glanced at her phone; it was from Xu Xinyi’s dad.
Another reason why Li Ai was so good to her was because she had the support of the Xu Family behind her.
Although the Xu Family wasn’t considered a very prominent affluent family, they were wealthy with connections, and importantly, they were willing to spend money to support Xu Xinyi.
Li Ai lifted her chin, gesturing for her to take the call: “Good, ask your dad if he has a way.
Didn’t you say your dad knows Mr.
Gu?”