Just as Yu Qian was still shocked by Jiang Chenxing’s identity, a phone call came in.
“Hello…”
“Director Yu, long time no see. Your skill at treating people differently based on their status has really improved.”
Yu Qian: “?”
“Still, is my kid really that easy to bully?”
“!”
Yu Qian hurriedly took the phone away from his ear and glanced at the screen, Han Heng!
His whole body stiffened abruptly, pupils tightening. Right, Jiang Chenxing also had an actor uncle!
“Brother Heng, please listen to my explanation, I…”
“We all watched the second episode. From start to finish, not a single close-up shot. What’s there to explain?”
“I, I didn’t know Jiang Chenxing was your nephew. If I’d known, even if you gave me ten times the courage, I wouldn’t have dared do this!”
“Heh, so by your logic, contestants with no identity or background deserve to be unlucky when they run into something like this?”
Yu Qian choked.
“Within half an hour, I want to see Blueberry TV’s apology statement. Otherwise, don’t blame me for not playing by the rules!”
Han Heng said “Blueberry TV,” not the program team, and not Yu Qian personally.
This was stepping on the entire station’s face and grinding it into the ground!
Once they gave in, the leadership, superiors, and other colleagues would all lose face too.
Those people wouldn’t blame Han Heng; they’d put the bill squarely on Yu Qian.
What’s more, Yu Qian was just a small program director, how could he possibly make decisions for the station? Say apologize and they apologize?
“Brother Heng, you’re… aren’t you making things difficult for me?” He was on the verge of tears.
A cold laugh came from the other end: “When you made things difficult for my kid, did I see you show any mercy?”
Yu Qian had no words.
“Alright, I’ve said what needed to be said. Handle it yourself.”
“Oh,” he suddenly thought of something and added, “and don’t bother asking people to come plead with me, because, whoever comes, it won’t work!”
With that, without giving him any chance to argue or beg, Han Heng directly hung up.
Yu Qian held the phone, still frozen in that posture. The smile he forced onto his face looked worse than crying.
“…Director Yu?” the assistant spoke cautiously.
“Get out! All of you, get out!”
A group of staff members were driven out and stood at the entrance of the studio, looking at one another.
“When Director Yu said he wanted to cut Jiang Chenxing’s shots, I already felt it wasn’t right. Well, now he’s kicked an iron plate, hasn’t he?”
“Hindsight! If you’re so capable, why didn’t you object back then? What’s the point of playing Zhuge Liang after the fact?”
“Can you even talk properly? At least I realized it, do you guys have that awareness?”
“Enough! If you want to argue, go argue outside! No one expected Jiang Chenxing to have such a big background…”
“And he really did it to himself, keeping such a low profile, deliberately screwing everyone over.”
“Saying this now is useless. The urgent issue is how to solve the problem. Actor Han has already issued a final ultimatum.”
“I don’t think Director Yu has any way out.”
“Could it be we really have to issue a public apology in the station’s name? That would be a huge loss of face.”
“Losing face doesn’t matter, the key is dragging other people down with it. Life at the station will be hard for us from now on!”
“I really don’t get it, why target Jiang Chenxing for no reason? I watched the live performance; he’s clearly a capable and well-behaved kid. Why cut his shots?”
“Ahem… that’s a long story. It’s not that simple.”
“Heh, more like hard to say out loud, right? Although ‘royals’ show up every year, this year’s one is especially arrogant, can’t stand anyone being even a bit better than him.”
“Xia Qingfan? He’s the one who made Director Yu do this?!”
“Say less. These little ancestors, little crown princes, we can’t afford to offend any of them.”
“You’ve already done it, and you’re still afraid people will talk? The key is you did it full of holes, dragging us down with you. It’s not like there haven’t been similar situations in previous years, when the station and investors spend money to push someone, that’s normal. But have you ever seen them cause such a huge mess?”
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
Though no one said it out loud, resentment toward Xia Qingfan inevitably sprouted in their hearts.
Yeah, there were ‘royals’ in past years too. How come they didn’t stir up so much trouble? Why is it only you, Xia Qingfan, who’s special?
And look at the other ones they’re trying to push this time, Zhou Chenlin, Chu Li. Look how self-aware they are.
In short, the culprit is Xia Qingfan!
…
“Achoo, ” Xia Qingfan sneezed three times in a row, rubbed his nose, stretched out his long leg, and kicked toward the roommate opposite him. “The AC’s too cold. Turn it up.”
“…Okay.” The roommate dutifully went to get the remote and raised the temperature.
A few minutes later, Xia Qingfan felt hot again. His expression grew irritated, his tone violent: “Do you f*cking know how to set it? Twenty-eight degrees, are you trying to roast me alive?”
“Sorry, Brother Fan, I’ll fix it right away.”
In the end, it was adjusted back to the previous 25 degrees. Fortunately, Xia Qingfan didn’t sneeze again.
He curled his lips, looked the roommate up and down, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration. “Your name is something Nan, right?”
“…Mo Yunan.”
“The name’s okay, but the first two episodes seemed to have no shots of you, right?”
The roommate stood there awkwardly, at a loss for what to do.
“You should know exposure equals traffic, and traffic is the prerequisite for blowing up. Without exposure, you’ll be eliminated very soon. Looking at your face and build, they’re not bad, are you willing to just get brushed off like this?”
Of course not.
Which boy who came here didn’t want to blow up?
Xia Qingfan hooked his lips. “Actually, you can stick with me. I have lots of shots. As long as I carry you a bit, taking off won’t be a problem at all.”
Mo Yunan’s eyes lit up, joy showing clearly. “Brother Fan, really? You’re willing to take me with you?!”
“Of course. It’s just that…” His tone shifted. “You have to agree to one condition.”
“What condition?”
“How strong Jiang Chenxing is, after recording these few episodes, everyone’s seen it clearly. With someone like that blocking the way, you’re another step farther from a debut spot. So how about… we join hands and kick him out?”
“Ah?” Mo Yunan was startled. “That doesn’t seem very good, does it?”
“What’s not good about it? You need to know, competition is cruel. No success comes without bloodshed.”
Mo Yunan’s brows and eyes moved slightly, but he still didn’t relent.
Xia Qingfan shifted into a more relaxed posture. “Actually, whether he’s here or not doesn’t make much difference to me. Anyway, one of the six debut spots is definitely mine. As for you… that’s hard to say.”
Mo Yunan fell silent.
After a long while, he seemed to make up his mind. “What do I need to do?”
“That’s more like it. Come, I’ll tell you…”
Before he could finish, the phone on Xia Qingfan rang.
“Wait a moment. I’ll take a call first.”
With that, he swiped to answer.
“Hello?”
The voice on the other end was cold and hard: “Come to my office.”
“What’s wrong? I, hello? Hello?!” Xia Qingfan stared at the hung-up phone, unable to stop himself from frowning.
…
A quarter of an hour later, administrative building, station director’s office.
Xia Qingfan didn’t knock. He pushed the door open directly and swaggered in. “Uncle, you were looking for me to what…?”
Bang!
Before he could finish speaking, a dull bang sounded. The middle-aged man in a suit behind the desk slammed the table and stood up, glaring at him.
Xia Qingfan froze.
The man grabbed a thick stack of documents in front of him and hurled them straight at Xia Qingfan. “Take a look at the fine mess you’ve made!”
Xia Qingfan felt utterly baffled. “Uncle, what are you doing?”
After saying that, he casually picked up a sheet of A4 paper. The next second, his eyes suddenly widened: “…A lawyer’s letter?!”
However, that wasn’t what surprised him most.
What shocked him was that the name “Jiang Chenxing” appeared on it, and the official seals in the lower right corner read “Integrity Law Firm” and “Xingyue Management Company.”
“See clearly now? You had Yu Qian cut the shots of this person called Jiang Chenxing, and now his management company has directly sent a lawyer’s letter to the station, demanding to take the legal route!”
“Impossible!” Xia Qingfan reacted quickly. “Jiang Chenxing himself has no power or influence, and the management company he’s with is just a small workshop. Where would they get the guts to go head-to-head with Blueberry TV? Sending a lawyer’s letter is just to scare people, does it really warrant getting this angry?”
The man sneered.
Xia Qingfan thought he didn’t believe him. “Really, Uncle, these days this kind of lawyer’s-letter intimidation routine is everywhere, celebrities all use it. You’re an old hand in the industry, don’t get fooled.”
Zheng Qiushi was furious to the extreme; instead, he now calmed down. “Who told you Jiang Chenxing has no power or influence?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say no power or influence, at least he’s an internet celebrity with a bit of a fan base. But other than that, he has zero connections in the industry. Don’t worry, I’ve got him completely under control. I definitely won’t embarrass you!”
As he spoke, he even smugly lifted his chin.
“Idiot! Idiot!” Zheng Qiushi couldn’t take it anymore and cursed twice in a row. “Do you know who Jiang Chenxing’s uncle is?”
“What about his uncle?” Xia Qingfan still hadn’t realized how serious it was and grinned as he flattered him. “I don’t care who his uncle is, anyway, none of them are more impressive than my uncle, heh heh…”
Zheng Qiushi: “……” Please, I beg you, if I’ve committed a crime, let the law punish me, instead of having this donkey-brained nephew come here to block my way!
“Jiang Chenxing’s uncle is the Grand Slam Best Actor Han Heng!”
Xia Qingfan froze. After a long moment, he barely managed to keep smiling. “U-Uncle, don’t joke like that. It’s not funny at all…”
But before he could finish: “Jiang Chenxing’s sister is the genius scientist Jiang Fuyue!”
Xia Qingfan’s whole body went stiff, as if struck by lightning. He shook his head mechanically. “Impossible… He’s just a country-bumpkin internet celebrity. How could he have an actor uncle and a scientist sister…”
“Heh, they keep a low profile and you think they’re easy to bully. Look at the mess online now, how am I supposed to clean this up?!”
Xia Qingfan immediately pulled out his phone and opened Weibo.
He might not even have noticed it himself, but his hands were trembling uncontrollably.
After several hours of public-opinion fermentation, those openly condemning Blueberry TV and the Star-Making Camp production team now included not only the “Guardian Stars” and the “Moon Family Army,” but also Han Heng’s fans, the gourmets of Jiang’s Private Kitchen, die-hard supporters of contestants who suffered unfair treatment last season, and passersby who had learned the whole story and spoken up out of a sense of justice.
【Protect the best little brother, Guardian Stars, pick up your weapons and charge!】
【What did our goose do to deserve this? He works so hard and seriously in every performance, yet still gets screwed over】
【@Director Yu Qian come out and get beaten!】
【From the shots given in Episode 2, the most likely “royal” is among these people: Xia Qingfan, Qu Xiaohan, Zhou Chenlin, Chu Li】
【Judging from their respective persona scripts, Xia Qingfan clearly got the better “genius dance lead” script, 90% chance of being the royal】
【Xia Qingfan gained 600,000 followers in four hours, spent big money on marketing, clearly has backing】
【Surname Xia? The current Blueberry TV station director Zheng Qiushi’s sister married a rich businessman surnamed Xia. I don’t believe it’s just a coincidence】
【Xia Qingfan royal, stone-hammer confirmed!】
【Reject shady dealings! Return purity to talent shows】
【Does the production team think little brother has no fans so he’s easy to bully? ptui, blind as a dog’s eyes!】
【Sister Yue went into seclusion to do research; we have to help her protect her brother. Where is the Moon Family Army?】
【Here! Sister Yue protects humanity; we protect her family】
【Moon Family Army reporting in! Even if we’re flayed alive, we’ll drag down whoever harmed little brother!】
【Battle horn sounds, armor donned, charge the battlefield, guns pointed at Blueberry!】
……
【Last season Liu Can was screwed by the production team until he spat blood, now your retribution has come】
【The wheel of karma turns; has heaven ever spared anyone?】
【If big brother’s fans back then had been as strong as the Guardian Stars, would the outcome have been different?】
……
【Pure passerby, has Blueberry TV really become this rotten over the years?】
【Not a fan of anyone, just want to say to Blueberry: do too many unjust things and you’ll destroy yourself, wake up @BlueberryTVOfficial】
【Haven’t watched Blueberry’s shows in a long time. Variety talent shows are all scripts now, long since reduced to star-making assembly lines driven by capital. Boring】
【Who knows how many good seedlings like Jiang Chenxing have been buried in Blueberry’s hands? Well now, someone’s finally coming to deal with you. Monster, where do you think you’re running!】
……
【YuanYue CP fans reporting in! Since the Moon Family Army is already helping Sister Yue protect her best little brother, then we’ll help Professor Xie protect his best little brother-in-law~】
【Little brother, go for it, win this round and you’ll be the most handsome, best-dancing little brother-in-law】
【The CP fans in the front row are so silly, calling him little brother-in-law nonstop. These days even shipping candy means being ready for battle at any time. Not easy】
……
【At this point, Blueberry TV and the production team are still playing dead, who are you trying to shield?】
……
Xia Qingfan watched as public opinion completely tilted to Jiang Chenxing’s side. Angry netizens had already started suspecting him; all kinds of @mentions, threats, private messages, and insults poured in, calling him a “royal,” a maggot, a red-eyed jealous freak.
The insults were vicious beyond words.
No matter how arrogant or wild Xia Qingfan was, he was still just a young man in his early twenties. Facing the overwhelming malice surging toward him online, he felt his hands and feet go cold, his breathing difficult.
He panicked. Fear instantly clenched his heart.
“Uncle, what do we do now? I, I don’t want to be cyberbullied. You have to save me, ” Xia Qingfan rushed over, threw himself against the desk, and grabbed Zheng Qiushi’s hand like it was his only lifeline.
“Only now you know fear, what were you doing earlier?!”
“I, I didn’t know things would turn out like this… I still need to debut in the center position. I can’t just be ruined like this…”
“Uncle, I’m your own nephew. Even if you don’t do it for my sake, you have to do it for my mom’s! She always tells me how you’re the best uncle in the world, the one who loves and respects her the most.”
“My mom also said that the most correct thing she ever did in her life was support you, send you to college, back you staying in the capital, and witness you step by step reaching where you are today…”
Zheng Qiushi pressed his lips together. These words easily pierced his soft spot.
Their parents died early. It was his older sister who raised him from childhood, paid for his schooling, supported him working in the capital, and even sold the dowry she’d saved for years so he could successfully marry his superior’s daughter.
It could be said that without his sister, there would be no Zheng Qiushi today.
And Xia Qingfan was his sister’s only child, how could he just stand by and do nothing?
“Uncle…” Seeing him waver, Xia Qingfan immediately called out pitifully.
Zheng Qiushi sighed. In the end, he couldn’t harden his heart. “Let go first. Things aren’t so bad that they can’t be salvaged yet. Don’t panic. Let me think of a way…”
Jiang Chenxing’s backing was strong, true, but Xia Qingfan had him propping him up too, which was no small thing.
Even though Jiang Fuyue was Jiang Chenxing’s biological sister, different fields were like different mountains. She was thriving in academia, but had no foundation in the entertainment industry.
Han Heng did have some accumulation. The Best Actor halo looked intimidating at first glance, but when all was said and done, he was just an actor; his reach didn’t extend to the top of the food chain, nothing to fear.
As for the Han family behind him, money was certainly not lacking, but their investments were mostly in the financial market; they had never set foot in the entertainment industry.
No matter how rich and powerful, to this circle they were merely newcomers, insignificant.
Zheng Qiushi, however, was different. Over the years, he had painstakingly cultivated his position in the entertainment industry. He might not command the winds and rain, but his foundations ran deep.
The network of connections behind him was intricate and intertwined.
As long as it didn’t escalate to the broadcasting authority, he had a way to suppress this matter, or even wipe it away completely.
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