Chapter 208 Shen Wenjie’s Ordeal

Chapter 208: Shen Wenjie's Predicament

When Zheng Xiao sent the message, Lu Xu was drinking a beverage. Upon seeing the message in the group chat, he spat out his drink.

"What?"

Shao Yao also sent a few emojis.

"The trending topic is blowing up; you two should check it out quickly."

In a hurry, Lu Xu opened Weibo. In his haste, he accidentally pressed the lock button, locking his phone. It took him several attempts to unlock it.

Once he saw the trending topic, it was indeed blowing up.

The images on the trending list were blurry, but one could clearly see the figures of Liu Renong and Shen Wenjie. Shen Wenjie appeared to be holding a knife, its tip pointed at Liu Renong, making the scene look particularly terrifying.

These photos had sparked multiple trending topics, the first being "Liu Renong Suspected of Being Attacked," followed by "Shen Wenjie Goes Crazy."

The entertainment industry always has trending topics, with countless feuds and scandals throughout the year, including infidelity and tax evasion... The topics never run dry. However, a situation where a disciple points a knife at their master like Liu Renong's is extremely rare in the entire industry.

Lu Xu noticed that marketing accounts were already tallying the online presence of celebrities—no star would ignore such a significant event at this moment.

It was truly explosive news!

According to the news, Liu Renong was not seriously injured, just a large cut on his neck, but he was visibly shaken, his face deathly pale, likely not expecting Shen Wenjie to act so impulsively.

"What exactly happened?"

Lu Xu was very curious.

He had always believed that given Liu Renong’s knack for stirring up trouble, he would eventually face the consequences. Yet, Liu Renong was remarkably resilient; to clear his name, he could endure eight hundred rounds of torment.

It seemed... for quite some time to come, he would still see Liu Renong causing chaos.

But suddenly, Liu Renong was confronted by Shen Wenjie.

"Let me go ask."

Zheng Xiao went to inquire, and Shao Yao likely did the same. Lu Xu had heard about Shen Wenjie's disappearance earlier and assumed Liu Renong had something to do with it.

Later, Shen Wenjie opened a new account, and Lu Xu guessed that he hadn't disappeared on his own but rather lost the right to speak online.

Lu Xu planned to ask his agent, but Xu Wen called him first.

"The situation is roughly this: you know 'Return Date Unset' didn't make money, and the investors' losses couldn't be covered. Shen Wenjie even failed to meet the cinema's requirements. The contract was signed by Shen Wenjie, and he has to cover part of the loss."

"For Shen Wenjie, it's an astronomical amount."

"Liu Renong is also involved. The incident he exposed had no impact on Liu Renong, who continues to serve as the chairman of the Golden Flame Awards jury and directs films as usual. But what about him? He owes a huge sum of money and can't possibly direct another film."

"Even if he wanted to drag Liu Renong down with him, he doesn't even have the chance to speak out. Liu Renong controls the public opinion tightly and is still slandering him."

"When 'Return Date Unset' flopped at the box office, Shen Wenjie immediately threw Liu Renong under the bus. This shows that Shen Wenjie has a strong sense of jealousy. If he's suffering, he naturally wants Liu Renong to suffer too. But Liu Renong keeps shifting the blame onto him, leading to Shen Wenjie's emotional breakdown."

"Liu Renong is still creating public opinion, calling Shen Wenjie a madman. Before going to find him, Shen Wenjie sent a timed message, revealing everything."

"He now has debts, and the agreements and cinema deals were all guided by Liu Renong. He didn't know any of these people before; without Liu Renong's introduction, he wouldn't have had the means to meet them!"

In the letter, Shen Wenjie also exposed that Liu Renong took a cut, stating that while he was nominally Liu Renong's student, in reality, from the day Liu Renong introduced him as a director, he had to pay Liu Renong a certain percentage of his earnings.

In addition to "How Much Do You Know," many of Liu Renong's representative works were completed by students like him, including "Family and Country." Although "Family and Country" did not involve his participation, others directed it, leading to a strong sense of patchwork in the footage due to different directors.

During the period when they "assisted" Liu Renong in directing, they received no compensation at all.

Not only them, but also the artists signed to Liu Renong's studio were similarly affected. Despite appearing to have access to abundant resources, their actual income was far less than that of third-tier celebrities, almost entirely absorbed by Liu Renong.

"I now deeply regret it. The root of all this was just my desire to realize my dream of becoming a director, to become one sooner, to have my own work sooner."

"Now I am heavily in debt. If there is still a chance for me to continue making films, I would be willing to work diligently to pay off my debts, rather than squandering the savings of my parents accumulated over years. To raise money for me, my father was involved in a car accident on his way to a relative's house, and my mother fell ill suddenly. My life has lost all meaning."

"If I had another chance, even if it meant starting from the bottom, I would take steady steps to strive, instead of choosing this shortcut that seemed full of flowers. Every step I took felt as if I was walking on a sponge, light and insubstantial, with a sense of falling into an abyss beneath my feet, yet I was completely unaware of it."

This time, Shen Wenjie did not speak sarcastically or post ambiguous photos; he simply explained his plight and the series of events that unfolded after meeting Liu Renong.

Although Shen Wenjie was not entirely innocent, his subsequent experiences could be described as bleak.

Moreover, Liu Renong faced no repercussions and even brazenly engaged in favoritism at the Jin Yan Awards.

Liu Renong had already deceived others more than once and continued to do so.

Shen Wenjie found himself with no way out. After seeing those who spoke up for Liu Renong, even though he knew that many were paid supporters, Shen Wenjie felt a buzzing in his head. Unconsciously, he gripped a knife.

Then he went to Liu Renong's house, found an excuse to lure him down, and pulled out the knife.

Shen Wenjie's mental state had been in shambles for some time, and his physical health was visibly poor. Both physically and mentally, he was no match for Liu Renong.

His knife did touch Liu Renong, but it failed to hit any vital areas and was dodged, leading to an immediate police report.

Shen Wenjie was taken away, but the incident sent shockwaves through the entire entertainment industry.

Online discussions were particularly heated, with all sorts of opinions. Later, when Shen Wenjie's letter was released, netizens gradually began to believe his words.

Before "Unfixed Return Date" flopped, Shen Wenjie was at least a well-known director in the industry, having won some awards and earning considerable respect, not to mention a substantial income.

If he hadn't been driven to a dead end, there would have been no need for him to confront Liu Renong head-on.

As is well known, the entertainment industry is full of people who maintain a facade of propriety. Even though various transactions occur behind the scenes, and illegal and criminal activities are not uncommon, they still present a polished image to the public. In the eyes of many fans, some of these people haven't even dated, let alone engaged in any particularly unseemly behavior.

Due to the heat generated by this incident, the police issued a statement confirming that a suspect surnamed Shen had stabbed Liu due to personal matters in a certain neighborhood, solidifying the trending topic.

Since Liu Renong wasn't seriously injured, it suggested that Shen Wenjie might be released soon. As long as he knew Liu Renong's address and Liu Renong continued to participate in public events, there was a high chance he would make a comeback.

"Let me say it first: Shen Wenjie is crazy. But if what he said is true, I personally think Liu Renong shouldn't stay in the entertainment industry anymore."

"+1. From my perspective, if I were in that situation and Liu Renong was fine, I would really break down."

"You reap what you sow. Shen Wenjie was greedy, and he paid the price for his greed. Liu Renong set Shen Wenjie up, and he is also paying the price for his choices."

"To be honest... After the 'Unfixed Return Date' incident, Liu Renong should have stopped. He shouldn't have kept provoking Shen Wenjie. Everyone knows he was definitely involved in the high box office numbers for 'Unfixed Return Date.' He blamed Shen Wenjie, who endured it at the time. But it's been over two years, and Liu Renong is still provoking Shen Wenjie. Does he really think someone at their wits' end is easy to deal with?"

Lu Xu wasn't very clear about how things developed afterward, only knowing that Shen Wenjie was probably arrested, and Liu Renong likely went home to rest.

There weren't many more trending topics related to this, probably because the industry didn't want to escalate the incident's impact, fearing imitation. After all, it was a serious event, and no one could guarantee that another person like Shen Wenjie wouldn't appear in the future.

But after this incident, the cinema chains, including those with similar conduct to Liu Renong, likely became more cautious.

Especially the few high-profile executives who were vocal during the box office allocation controversy; they used to frequently give interviews, but after this incident, they gradually disappeared from the public eye.

The box office for "Nation and Family" completely collapsed, while "On the Edge" firmly held the top spot in the Spring Festival box office.

Qi Dili, now an ordinary person, appeared in an interview, emphasizing her bleak experience at Liu Renong's studio. She said that her poor attitude towards Lu Xu back then was due to her poverty and the verbal abuse from Liu Renong. She knew some of her behaviors were wrong but couldn't control herself.

Bei Hong, still under Liu Renong's studio, perhaps guessed that the studio was on the verge of collapse and hurriedly spoke well of himself. For instance, during the filming of "Family and Country," he hardly ever saw Liu Renong, so the claim that he infuriated Liu Renong was baseless.

Of course, the profit-sharing from acting fees did exist. He barely made any money from filming "San Tu Chuan," and for "Family and Country," he practically worked for free.

Bei Hong even revealed that Liu Renong's photos of despair were taken by a professional, with him giving guidance that day: "I'm an actor, after all, and I know how to find the camera."

Of course, he didn't say anything too harsh, but he clearly indicated his determination to cut ties with Liu Renong.

Sure enough, not long after this interview, Liu Renong's studio disbanded, and Bei Hong smoothly found a new agency.

Of course, his treatment at the new agency was far worse than at Liu Renong's studio. Although the profit-sharing was less, the exposure at Liu Renong's studio was incomparable to others.

But Bei Hong didn't show any dissatisfaction. After all, he still wanted to continue in the entertainment industry, and staying at Liu Renong's studio would have deprived him of the chance to act.

The once glorious and famous director Liu Renong seemed to vanish overnight.

He wasn't banned, nor was it because "Family and Country" flopped; he simply disappeared without a trace.

Perhaps he wasn't afraid of public opinion but of Shen Wenjie's existence.

After Liu Renong dissolved his studio and quietly left the industry, netizens couldn't help but speculate where his money had gone.

From the details revealed by Shen Wenjie, Liu Renong was arguably one of the best at making money in the industry, possessing unimaginable wealth. Besides his collaboration with the Jin Yan Award committee, what was the purpose of his pursuit of such vast wealth?

This answer remains unknown for now.

At this point, the Jin Yan Award committee also declared its independence from Liu Renong, expressing "shock" at Shen Wenjie's ordeal, but unfortunately, no audience was willing to believe it anymore.