Chapter 67

Chapter 67

The statement released by Director Zhao was a very long article.

The content of the article was precisely about the thought process behind the casting.

"I have always believed that the selection of actors depends solely on their own strength and their compatibility with the role. As long as they match, even if they are newcomers, we need to know how to use them and have the guts to use them."

"This actor, Song Nian, I could feel his raw talent during the audition; he fit the role perfectly. However, due to the influence of some investors, the decision was delayed and never finalized for quite some time."

In this passage, he detailed the reasons for ultimately choosing Song Nian, with sincere and earnest words that were highly convincing.

And the lightly mentioned phrase "investor influence" at the end subtly hinted at something.

Subsequently, some "sharp-eyed" netizens immediately revealed that the film's investor was none other than the big star Qu himself, and he only invested after taking the leading man role.

Immediately after, Director Zhao released a video clip of Song Nian's audition.

In the video, after bowing to greet, Song Nian jumped right into character, and his expression breathed life into the role.

Even the trolls, after watching the video, had to admit the acting was incredible, no wonder it moved Director Zhao.

Those who had previously criticized Song Nian for buying his way into the cast, being undeserving of the role, and having terrible acting instantly fell silent, scared to show their faces again.

More dramatically, whether intentionally or truly an accident, after posting Song Nian's audition video, Director Zhao's page also featured Quan Mingjun's.

One minute later, he apologized, saying it was a mistaken tap, and the video was deleted.

This move immediately made the situation blow up.

It seemed like a slip, but was actually deliberate; even though it was only posted for a minute, it was enough to go viral across the web.

Anyone with eyes could see that Song Nian's acting was far superior to Quan Mingjun's.

Although not a word was said about Quan Mingjun, everything hinted at it. Director Zhao's actions were clearly a response to the previous day's casting controversy.

Just as public opinion was heating up quickly and some questioned how Quan Mingjun's performance could have secured the role, soon leaked gossip accounts jumped on it to publish gossip, saying that two male movie stars with the surname Q who were currently prominent in the industry were actually real brothers.

Coincidentally, two people at the center of the controversy had the surname Q.

In an instant, public opinion flipped entirely, and netizens pieced together the whole controversy.

——The one who bought his way into the cast was not Song Nian at all, but the one who blamed others first, Quan Mingjun!

He used his own brother's connections and money to get into the cast, yet framed a genuinely talented newcomer. Downright shameless!

"What?"

Hearing this, Quan Mingjun's face changed, and his voice suddenly shot up.

After shouting this, he realized he was still livestreaming and quickly muted his microphone.

Seeing this, fans thought something big had happened and sent concerned inquiries in the comments.

At the same time, quick-scrolling fans had already spotted the trending topics that had jumped to the top of the homepage.

"Fan A: Director Zhao released a statement! He must be having our brother's back!"

This comment was like a stone thrown into water, instantly stirring up huge waves. Many fans, believing it to be true, hurriedly checked the trending topics.

After reading the relevant content, those who had firmly believed in their brother fell silent. Their earlier charges had become a joke, like a burning slap in the face.

Doubts and accusations then arose from within.

"What should we do? It seems like this matter can't be suppressed."

Having witnessed all the comments, the agent lowered his voice and sought the opinion of the celebrity in question.

At this moment, Quan Mingjun's face was dark, looking particularly frightening. He wasn't in the mood to keep up a decent smile, and with a stern face, he abruptly ended the stream.

"Didn't my brother say he would negotiate with Director Zhao? The investment is in our hands, why would he still dare to do this?"

He slammed his fist on the table, the loud sound making people's hearts almost stop.

This completely out-of-character behavior would surely make fans scream that they'd been duped if they saw it.

"Well, the company hasn't received any news either. Maybe you should ask Mr. Qu first?"

The agent nervously wiped his sweat.

Just then, Qu Liang's call came in. Quan Mingjun quickly answered:

"Brother! Didn't you say you were negotiating with Director Zhao? How dare Director Zhao issue a statement without your investment?"

The Qu family's investment accounted for most of the crew's budget; if they withdrew, the production couldn't even continue. How dare Director Zhao do this?

Was it a desperate move to abandon filming altogether, or... had someone else invested?

And Qu Liang on the other end was clearly in a bad mood as well; not only did he not comfort his brother, but he ripped into him:

"How do you manage your fans! Didn't I tell you not to go too far? Of all people to provoke, why did they have to provoke Li Yanchuan!"

Dumbfounded by the scolding, Quan Mingjun paused, and his cockiness quickly faded.

"I only asked you to use public opinion to spread the rumor that Song Nian bought his way into the cast to threaten Director Zhao. Who told your fans to go crazy attacking Song Nian!"

Qu Liang was extremely angry; even though the person on the other end was his usually cherished younger brother, he couldn't help but lash out.

He had originally only wanted to use public opinion to slander Song Nian, damage his public image, and then threaten to withdraw from the crew and pull funding to force Director Zhao to compromise.

Gossip and rumors are like flies and rats in the sewer: annoying and hard to eradicate. Even if Song Nian's side took action, it would only result in a defamation lawsuit.

But who could have imagined that the group of young fans under Quan Mingjun would go crazy and direct all their attacks at Song Nian.

The content of the public opinion evolved from "buying into the cast" to overwhelming defamation and personal attacks, online harassment far exceeding the original plan, spinning out of control.

"Now Li Yanchuan has stepped in, clearly to protect his man."

Thinking about what might happen next, Qu Liang's head started pounding.

The Li family not only shut down the online trolls but also reached out to Director Zhao, offering to fund the crew if he would set the record straight.

The funding problem was solved, and the casting issue was even less of a problem. Now they had no leverage left.

From the statement to the mistakenly released video to the so-called inside information from gossip accounts, it was all Li Yanchuan's doing.

Now not only was the funding gap of the crew filled, but several of the Qu family's projects got derailed too as a result—a blatant warning.

And given Li Yanchuan's grudge-holding nature, Quan Mingjun himself was probably next on the chopping block.

“Then what should we do, bro? Think of something!”

Realizing the severity of the situation and knowing he was in the wrong, Quan Mingjun had no choice but to throw a tantrum and beg his brother to clean up the mess.

“It’s useless to beg me. Father is angry too; I can’t protect you.”

Qu Liang sighed.

As he said, the deeper people dug into Quan Mingjun and Qu Liang’s relationship, the more they found. Many netizens discovered how willing the older brother was to pave the way for his younger brother, having done such resource-grabbing acts more than once.

All kinds of dirt on Quan Mingjun were exposed, including but not limited to acting like a diva, faking his persona, and even having a messy private life.

More negative revelations were revealed by the puppeteers, involving not only Quan Mingjun and Qu Liang but also the Qu family itself.

The wind that had aimed to bring down Song Nian turned direction and suddenly blew toward Quan Mingjun.

“Netizen 1: So disgusting! Who built him that clean and noble gentleman image before? Makes me want to puke.”

“Netizen 2: This is the real nepotism star who should get out of the entertainment circle!”

“Netizen 3: Who else gets the satisfaction of finally seeing someone they hate fall from grace?”

For a time, Quan Mingjun was savagely attacked online. The tables had turned, turning him into a rat everyone wanted to beat, his reputation plummeting overnight.

He sheepishly shut down his live stream and dared not respond while getting flamed on social media. His fans, who'd been used as pawns, never got an explanation.

An enraged Qu family immediately banned him from ever setting foot in the entertainment industry and kept him grounded at home.

From then on, Quan Mingjun was completely blacklisted and never showed his face in the industry again. Qu Liang's career also took a hit, so he kept a low profile.

————

“I apologize for throwing a bottle at Mr. Song Nian. I’m truly sorry, and I hope you can forgive me…”

The girl in the video looked only fifteen or sixteen, with red-rimmed eyes and dark circles under them. She bowed guiltily to the camera in apology.

“Hey, kids like that need to be taught a lesson. Doing something so awful at such a young age—Imagine what they'd do later! I heard her parents gave her a good thrashing at the police station that day.”

Inside the conference room, Qi Ze sat with his legs crossed, looking nonchalant, blasting the video on speaker.

Hearing this, Song Nian leaned in to look and recognized the girl as the one who had thrown a water bottle at him in the mall that day.

“Come on, take a good look. This video is a public apology to you anyway.”

Seeing this, Qi Ze simply handed his phone to Song Nian and then turned to look at Li Yanchuan behind him.

“You acted fast. Got it all arranged so quickly.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Li Yanchuan only replied faintly, not mentioning that he had already set everything up on the very day it happened, while Song Nian was asleep.

“The mess blew up so big—you weren’t scared, were you?”

Qi Ze asked with concern.

Song Nian smiled and shook his head.

How could he be scared? This time, he had so many people who cared about him by his side.

Apart from Li Yanchuan, who never left his side, not only his best friend Lin Yunzhou but also everyone in the Zhuang family were concerned about his situation.

That morning, after seeing his friend off, Old Master Zhuang and Xiao Chen pretended to just be passing by and dropped in to keep him company. In the afternoon, his aunt Zhuang Chengyi said she was out shopping and stopped by.

Even his uncle Zhuang Linyan, who wasn't good with words, made a long detour after work to stop by. Not knowing what to say, he went into the kitchen and made four dishes and a soup, almost stealing Aunt Wang's job.

Surrounded by such deep affection, even if the online backlash kept raging, he didn’t have to bear it alone.

“What’s this…?”

Seeing Qi Ze push a stack of papers toward him, Song Nian picked them up and was surprised to find they were a termination contract and an artist management contract.

“Your termination with your original company is all set. If you’re willing, how about signing with my company?”

Qi Ze rested his chin on his hands and formally invited him as the CEO of Canyu Entertainment.

Li Yanchuan had indeed mentioned this before, but Song Nian hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly. Instinctively, he looked over at the man, wondering if he was riding on his coattails.

Noticing the questioning look in his eyes, Li Yanchuan said calmly:

“I only handled the termination; I didn’t interfere in this. Canyu signing you isn't about personal favors—they just recognize your talent.”

“Yeah, actually, I’ve wanted to sign you for a long time. But you were under contract back then, so I couldn't openly steal you away.”

Qi Ze chimed in.

The terms in the contract were perfect, far beyond what an ordinary newcomer could get. The surprise came so suddenly that Song Nian gave Li Yanchuan a heartfelt grateful smile.

Then, he picked up his pen and solemnly signed his name.

“Great. Our company will continue to handle the follow-up matters with the production team. You just focus on preparing.”

Qi Ze snapped his fingers, looking satisfied as he looked at the contract.

“But if Qu Liang pulled out, can they still film without the male lead?”

Song Nian asked uncertainly.

“Who said there's no male lead?”

Just then, the conference room door opened, and two tall men walked in one after another.

As soon as he recognized them, Song Nian's eyes went wide in shock.

Wasn't that Qin Xiao, the currently hot triple-crown Best Actor winner?