In a private clubhouse in Dragon City, Song Qincheng was calmly sipping a cup of fragrant tea. Every now and then, she would gaze out the window. Her white porcelain side profile, exuded a lolling serenity.
The other occupants of the house, however, were not as composed as she was.
Feng Yaolun and two other assistant directors were like cats on a hot tin roof. They shuffled around the house, periodically depositing cigarette buds onto the already piling ashtray.
On the other side, Tang Mengwan, the number one female lead of Lin Yue the Heroine kept an outward appearance of a calm composure; deep inside she was secretly distressed.
Next to her was a middle-aged woman with a bob, scrolling through the contents on her tablet.
Suddenly, she slammed the tablet on the coffee table and cried, “Boss Song! This nonsense must stop! The internet has exploded! I am not against you wanting to publicize new actors, but please don’t drag our Mengwan down with you! Look at this – Chen Xiaobei’s haters are already raising havoc on Mengwan’s Weibo. They said that if Chen Xiaobei doesn’t step down, they will also boycott her! I only have one card to play – Mengwan’s popularity is my lifeline!”
This bob-haired woman, also nicknamed Sister Fei, was Tang Mengwan’s manager. She was also her person in charge when it came to work-related stuff.
Tang Mengwan was her biggest cash cow. To mess with Tang Mengwan’s reputation was to make a joke of her own future. There was no way that she was going to say yes to it.
“Sister Fei. Don’t worry.” Song Qincheng flashed a confident smile and said, “I’ve already told you that I will give you a satisfactory answer before the day ends.”
“There is no waiting when it comes to this sort of matter!” Sister Fei was clearly under a lot of stress. “Netizens are brutal! Don’t you know that? They will start to spread tons of untrue rumors if this continues, things will only worsen!”
Feng Yaolun added, “Things are also not looking good for us! I’ve received so many comments on my Weibo, talking about signing a petition to protest Chen Xiaobei’s involvement in the show!”
Tang Mengwan and Feng Yaolun were big shots in the entertainment industry, with tens of millions of fans. If their Weibo accounts were overtaken by the comments of their loyal fans, surely it was all over the main media platforms, the tv, radio, and internet.
Even so, Song Qincheng sat at ease, sipping her tea without a care in the world.
Her composure gave off a sense of control and power.
“Boss Song! How could you just sit there?!” Sister Fei picked up the tablet again and griped. “Let me read some of the most popular comments!”
[According to investigations, Chen Xiaobei is Qin Cheng CEO’s sugar baby — that is how he got the position! He is the epitome of society’s trash! If he remains in the show, we’ll boycott movies that product by Director Feng…”
[China’s goddess Tang Mengwan will be acting in a kissing scene with Chen Xiaobei, a nobody! From now on, she is dead to me! I’ll never subscribe to her anymore! Kthxbye!]
[Chen Xiaobei replaced Zhuang Bufan only by cutting corners! Despicable, shameless prick! Kick Chen Xiaobei out! If you don’t forward this message, you are not a real China citizen!]
Sister Fei deliberately spoke very loudly, making sure to read the worst comments of the lot, to wind Song Qincheng up, putting pressure on her.
But Song Qincheng was not shaken at all.
Feng Yaolun was on his toes, and added, “That is not the scariest part! When a lie is said too many times, it becomes the truth! Chen Xiaobei’s hardcore fans are already swayed by his haters’ attacks!”
“That’s true! Listen to this!” Sister Fei took a cue from that and read for all to hear.
[I never thought that Chen Xiaobei is like that! This is so sad! I’m withdrawing myself from his fan club!]
[Chen Xiaobei must be a bad person. I mean why else would he be getting all these negative comments? C’mon guys, let’s quit his fan club! We shall not acknowledge losers like him as our god!”]
[Leave! Leave! Boycott Chen Xiaobei! Boycott Tang Mengwan! Boycott Feng Yaolun!]
When she had finished reading, everyone present was silently horrified.
It is without a doubt that the fact that Chen Xiaobei had a lot of haters had affected the others.
If this issue was not dealt with properly, they would lose all their reputation and became the enemy of the public!
All eyes were on Song Qincheng, awaiting an explanation.
But Song Qincheng’s gaze was fixed endearingly on a shadow, approaching from behind the windows.
In a flash, the person appeared at the door.
Song Qincheng walked over, beaming, and said, “Let me introduce you to the talent our company is beating the drum for – Chen Xiaobei!”
Immediately all the attention was diverted to Chen Xiaobei.
“This young man looks really familiar…” Feng Yaolun squinted his eyes, and scratched his head.
He had been very busy these few weeks and had already forgotten Chen Xiaobei, whom he had met only once.
Feng Yaolun took a closer look and said excitedly, “The truth is, this young man has a very good build! And he is very easy on the eyes! Most important of all is his presence! As long as he is standing here, no one will be able to overlook him! He’s like a magnet, attracting everyone’s attention! This is a quality all superstars must have! In fact, it’s even more important than good looks and body!”
“There are some movie stars out there who are plain and, some might even say ugly, but are the crowd’s favorite simply because they have this special quality – the quality that makes superstars! This young man can definitely be considered as a raw jade that is waiting to be made perfect!”
As he was speaking, the crowd, consisting of people who are experienced in the field, could not help but nod in agreement. On the other hand, Chen Xiaobei put on a smile on his face without saying a word. Clearly, he knew that the reason behind people grew fonder of him was because of his charm!
“Director Feng! You got it all wrong! This young man right here is full of potential and I believe that he can become famous in the future. But, we need to deal with the haters before we can do anything about him! Going against the netizens is no different from suiciding!”
“This… Boss Song, what I’m trying to say is we should change someone to become the lead actor for the moment. We can always make this young man become a superstar when everything returns to their usual state. What do you think about that?”
Song Qincheng did not respond to that, instead, she turned around and looked at Tang Mengwan.
“Mengwan! Say something about it! Don’t just stand there!”
Taken aback, Tang Mengwan quickly took out a flash drive from her bag and passed it to Song Qincheng.
“Boss Song, this is the thing that you asked me to prepare!”
Everyone was baffled.
