The person trending alongside Ye Zhou on Weibo was a familiar face.
#Ye Zhou Wang Hong#
Recalling the words he just heard on the phone, Ye Zhou could guess the content of the posts without even clicking on them.
Wang Hong was surely exposing the original owner’s identity as the nominal director of The Pursuit, trying to create hype for himself and the mostly ruined show to regain some audience approval.
Ye Zhou tapped on the trending topic, and an auto-playing video popped up. Since the video played automatically, he gladly skipped the extra steps.
At the start of the video, Wang Hong’s plain face appeared on screen. Unlike their last meeting, Wang Hong no longer looked calm. Instead, his expression was one of helpless grief.
Although he wasn’t crying, his eyes were slightly red, which was odd for such a rugged-looking man. At that moment, though, he looked like a hapless victim, even pitiful.
“The original director for The Pursuit was supposed to be me, but for some reason, it was changed to him later on. I really liked the script at the time and thought that as long as we could make a good show, it didn’t matter if I was the main or assistant director. I didn’t consider much else,” Wang Hong said, bowing his head slightly, his voice growing softer. “I thought he would be a great partner and that we could certainly produce a fantastic work together. But no one expected it to turn out like this…”
“Between the two of you, who was more involved with things like directing the actors on set?” a female reporter’s voice cut in.
“I handled most of that. Director Ye was quite busy…” Wang Hong didn’t explicitly criticize Ye Zhou but implied it.
Unsurprisingly, the reporter immediately followed up, “Could you share what Director Ye was busy with on set?”
The sharp question was barely shy of asking outright what Ye Zhou was doing on set instead of directing properly.
To Wang Hong, the incisive question was perfect, but he hemmed and hawed for a long time before seeming to steel himself and delicately replying, “Director Ye probably had a lot going on these days, so he didn’t come to set very often…”
Hearing this, Ye Zhou had to resist laughing.
If Ye Zhou had not inherited the original body’s memories and known clearly that despite mediocre professional skills, the original was genuinely passionate about films, diligently coming to set every day from the start of filming up until the transmigration, he would not have believed it.
The original owner knew his skills were lacking, so he placed great trust in Wang Hong as assistant director, never skimping on the authority granted to him. Without the original owner’s consent, how could an assistant director like Wang Hong be on the crew? Even if the original owner had agreed to it, the producer sent by Jiang Tingyuan would not have allowed it either!
It was precisely because the original owner willingly relinquished control that even if the producer had wanted to back him up, there was nothing to be done.
The original owner truly wanted to produce the best film possible with each project. Worried his limitations might hold things back, he left most matters in Wang Hong’s hands.
Despite his flaws, his passion for cinema was genuine. He was no model employee, but he never skipped work.
Yet Wang Hong painted him like this. Ye Zhou truly felt it was undeserved.
The video interview continued.
The reporter followed up, “Director Ye doesn’t manage on-set affairs, so as an assistant director, you must work very hard. Why did you stay on the The Pursuit crew, especially after the scandals involving Yunlan and the investor pulling out? Did you consider switching crews?”
Hearing the question, Wang Hong froze and gave a bitter smile.
Wang Hong was stunned for a moment before somewhat awkwardly responding, “I won’t hide it from you, I was invited elsewhere before…”
He paused here, and it was a long while before he continued.
“Right during the most difficult times for our crew, a friend approached me saying he had an excellent script and hoped I would direct it.”
“To be honest, I was truly tempted. I read the script, and it was fantastic. My instinct told me it would be a hit if handled well.”
Wang Hong’s expression was complicated, and from it, his inner conflict was evident.
“But I still rejected the offer. I can tell you, if Director Ye hadn’t left, I would have left The Pursuit without hesitation to take that opportunity.”
The reporter appropriately cut in, “Then why did you ultimately stay?”
Wang Hong gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Those of us in this industry probably all have a sense of responsibility. From the time it is launched to the time it is released, a movie is like our child, growing up little by little.”
“Even if your own child has flaws, as a father, how could you abandon them? From the first day of shooting, whether the final product is good or bad, it’s my responsibility to bear.”
His heartfelt words, combined with the crew’s recent troubles, cast Wang Hong’s decision to give up a promising film for The Pursuit in an admirable light.
As expected, the reporter now looked at Wang Hong with greater respect.
“You’re a good director,” the reporter said. After a pause, seeming to choose her words, she continued, “I have one last question.”
“As you said, directors should take responsibility for their works, for better or worse. So, what do you make of Director Ye suddenly leaving the crew a while ago?”
Wang Hong was silent for a long time before finally raising his head. His expression was conflicted, and he seemed to want to speak but stopped himself several times. Finally, he appeared to sigh helplessly and shake his head, “…Maybe Director Ye had other arrangements.”
The video interview ended there. Ye Zhou scrolled down to the comments section, where the top comment was a screenshot – the casting call notice for A Farce, and there was a line below the picture: It is reported that Ye Zhou suddenly left the cast of The Pursuit to prepare for a new project.
Below the top comment, the entire Weibo section was filled with netizens cursing Ye Zhou. There were so many different kinds of insults, it was almost overwhelming.
Scrolling further, Ye Zhou found a familiar name participating in his character assassination.
Liu Yuanyuan will work hard filming: Last month, I received a casting invite for A Farce and got the role after auditioning. I was very much looking forward to it and prepared extensively, but now I must apologize, as I cannot work with a director so irresponsible and incapable.
The blogger had only 150,000 followers, and most of his posts normally got comments in the double digits. But this post had over 6,000 comments and tens of thousands of likes.
Sure enough, it was the arrogant actor who had berated him on the phone.
Trampling others to get ahead was common in showbiz, so Ye Zhou understood they were using him as a stepping stone. And Liu Yuanyuan was clearly not alone. Scrolling further, Ye Zhou found most actors who had terminated contracts today had released statements of varying lengths.
Aside from the statements, a popular blogger had made an edit of the original owner’s past films to highlight differing shooting styles across three movies.
Comments from industry insiders analyzed this in-depth and concluded that while the films seemed fine at first glance, close examination revealed completely distinct styles.
A director might use hundreds of techniques, but their works absolutely wouldn’t show three distinct styles in a short period. Combined with Wang Hong’s implications of Ye Zhou’s absenteeism in The Pursuit set, the netizens deduced these three films couldn’t have been directed by Ye Zhou either.
Some even specifically identified the assistant directors on each film and analyzed their previous shooting styles. For those without independent works, netizens even dug up their student films for analysis.
In the end, the overwhelming verdict was that Ye Zhou had been a figurehead director.
After a lot of well-founded analysis, they finally came to a conclusion: Ye Zhou’s name as director = Ye Zhou is a fool.
After a lot of well-grounded and evidence-based analysis, a conclusion was reached: Ye Zhou being a nominal director = Ye Zhou is incompetent1“草包” (cǎobāo) is a slang term for “incompetent” or “incapable person.” It literally means “straw bag.”.
Fortunately, Ye Zhou had been in the entertainment industry for a long time in his previous life, and his mental quality was very strong. If it were an ordinary young director who was so criticized, he would probably not dare to make another movie for the rest of his life.
Ye Zhou clicked his tongue and was about to close Weibo when an incoming video call request suddenly popped up.
Seeing the number, he hesitated briefly before accepting.
“Where are you?” Jiang Tingyuan’s clear, calm voice sounded in Ye Zhou’s ear.
“I’m on the set,” Ye Zhou replied, waving the assistant director away to continue his work.
Jiang Tingyuan signed a document and handed it to his secretary. “Don’t look at Weibo today,” he instructed over the phone. Then after a pause, he added, “Or the news.”
Ye Zhou immediately grasped his meaning and laughed aloud. “Jiang-ge, you’re too late. I’ve seen it already.”
A brief, unusual silence followed on the other end of the call.
Just as Ye Zhou began wondering if Jiang Tingyuan had already hung up, a short, low chuckle sounded over the line.
“You have good mental resilience,” Jiang Tingyuan’s voice still held traces of laughter.
“Of course I do,” Ye Zhou replied proudly instead of humbly at the praise. But he understood Jiang Tingyuan’s concern and confidently assured him, “Jiang-ge, don’t worry about it. As long as it’s ignored, it will be over in three or four days at least, or a week at most.”
Ye Zhou wasn’t exaggerating. In his past life, he had taken a cheap commercial film for money that was terribly made. Although profitable, he was also heavily criticized. At its worst, he received threatening packages and doctored obituary photos weekly for a month. Compared to that, this was child’s play.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine…” Ye Zhou started to say, but Jiang Tingyuan cut him off.
“But I have something to do.”
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