Xi Yang’s team was practically going insane. They had anticipated that Ye Zhou might refute them, but they never expected this little director to be so well-prepared, wielding such a formidable hammer.
The trending searches could not be removed, and they spent a fortune trying to reduce the heat. Every time they managed to get them removed, they were quickly revived and topped again. The money spent on removing the trending searches was like water slipping through their fingers, thrown in without a sound.
Faced with the netizens’ biting sarcasm and mockery, Xi Yang, who was initially just pretending to be ill, was now truly on the verge of a mental breakdown.
“What the f*ck are you all doing?” Xi Yang furiously swept everything off the table. He was in a very irritable mood, completely devoid of his usual gentle and cultured demeanor.
When he was raging, no one on the team dared to speak. They just wished they could shrink their presence even further. After all, no one wanted to become the target of Xi Yang’s wrath at this moment.
After he had finished his unsightly tantrum, the public relations manager cautiously spoke up, “We’ve discussed with the company, and they definitely want to protect you. The current plan is for the company to have Tao Wen publicly announce a relationship to divert public attention. Once the heat dies down, we can then issue a clarification.”
As soon as the manager finished speaking, they heard Xi Yang coldly scoff and rudely ask, “So you’re suggesting that I allow Ye Zhou to slander me and tarnish the reputation I’ve painstakingly built over the years?”
“We don’t recommend you make any further responses until the heat subsides.”
Although the manager sensed the animosity in Xi Yang’s tone, given the current circumstances, this was the best solution.
Now that Xi Yang was at the center of the storm, his every move would be magnified tenfold. Any response at this point could further intensify the heat. Unless they had evidence to prove his innocence, the more he said, the more likely he would misstep and escalate the conflict to an irreversible situation.
Moreover, from what the manager understood of the situation, everything Ye Zhou had released was factual, without any exaggeration or fabrication, making it extremely difficult for them to refute.
In contrast, their previous attempts to discredit Ye Zhou were largely malicious distortions of the truth, without any substantial evidence. No matter how convincing the lies seemed, they could not withstand scrutiny.
Furthermore, just looking at the director’s clean and decisive handling of the matter, as well as his ability to collect evidence of Xi Yang’s wrongdoings far in advance, made it clear that this director was no pushover to be easily manipulated.
They had underestimated Ye Zhou, leading to their current predicament.
The manager, with years of experience in the public relations industry, recognized from Ye Zhou’s attitude alone that the situation could not be resolved favorably. Fearing that Ye Zhou might still have more damaging information on Xi Yang, the manager dared not make any rash moves.
Fully aware of these factors, the manager found the situation even more uncertain. At this point, the manager could only hope that Xi Yang would remain calm and not further complicate matters.
However, upon hearing the manager’s words, Xi Yang’s barely subsided anger immediately flared up again. “You can’t even handle a small matter like this. What use are you bunch of deadweights to the company? Get out!”
Insulted so rudely, the manager’s expression turned sour, and the other staff members present also looked displeased. One of the more impulsive individuals immediately wanted to argue with Xi Yang but was quickly restrained by a colleague.
The manager gave Xi Yang a long look, closed the laptop on the table, and left the meeting room with the team.
As he passed by Xi Yang’s manager, the manager said in a voice only audible to the two of them, “Lao Liao, make sure your artist doesn’t act rashly, or else this might not end well.”
He and the manager were old friends. Xi Yang’s manager fully understood the implied meaning behind his words. However, observing Xi Yang’s evident agitation, he let out an imperceptible sigh.
If Xi Yang were the type to listen to advice, the situation would not have escalated to this point.
After Xi Yang was kicked out of the crew, he tried to make amends with Ye Zhou several times to no avail. He had advised him then that losing the lead role in the low-budget film “Chasing the Light” was not a big deal, and he should focus on the detective and romance films he had lined up, which were far more important.
But Xi Yang could not swallow his pride and was determined to make Ye Zhou pay a price. After repeated failed attempts to dissuade him, he could only go along with his decision.
Normally, artists should follow their manager’s arrangements, but Xi Yang’s defiance of his manager’s advice was not due to his status but rather another underlying relationship.
Xi Yang had been struggling in his career until the previous year when his fortunes truly took off.
Early last year, Xi Yang somehow became involved with the company CEO’s daughter, charming her to the point of infatuation, as if heading towards marriage.
The CEO had only one beloved daughter, and although he was initially opposed to their relationship, he eventually relented out of concern for her feelings. He even reassigned the company’s top manager to handle Xi Yang.
After that, Xi Yang’s resources saw a significant qualitative leap, and with someone willing to promote him, his career soared to the sky like a rocket.
With this connection, the manager naturally did not dare neglect Xi Yang. He had no decision-making power, only the ability to make suggestions. In front of Xi Yang, his authority was far less than that of other managers over their artists.
After the public relations team left, the meeting room fell into a deathly silence once more.
The manager organized his words, striving to sound gentle as he reasoned, “What Manager Li said earlier did make some sense. Currently, with the heat so high, the room for maneuver is…”
“Shut up,” Xi Yang interrupted, not wanting to hear anymore. After scolding him, he closed his eyes in thought. A few minutes later, he took out his phone and dialed his fiancée’s number.
“Hey, it’s me, Xi Yang. I’m in some trouble…”
After ending the call with his fiancée, Xi Yang’s tense nerves finally relaxed. He told his manager, “Xiao Chan said she’ll handle this. You don’t need to worry about it anymore.”
With that, Xi Yang turned and headed for the door, leaving the manager alone in the spacious meeting room.
The manager watched Xi Yang’s retreating figure, wanting to advise him against rash actions once more. But recalling Xi Yang’s disdainful gaze before leaving, he hesitated and ultimately remained silent.
—
After sending the private message to Boss Jiang, Ye Zhou could not help but take nap. When he woke up, he noticed the night had fallen outside.
At that moment, he heard rustling sounds coming from outside. Glancing at the time, Ye Zhou realized it was almost 8 PM, and Boss Jiang must have returned from work.
Recalling the private message he had sent to Boss Jiang that afternoon, Ye Zhou’s spirits immediately lifted. He sprang from the bed, not even bothering to put on his shoes, and tiptoed quietly into the living room, intending to surprise Boss Jiang.
The living room lights were off. As Ye Zhou approached the door, it opened from the outside.
He quickened his pace, about to rush over, but as the distance between them narrowed, Ye Zhou noticed in the dim moonlight that the person at the door seemed a bit short!
Ye Zhou slammed on the brakes and, upon closer inspection, was surprised to find that the person was none other than Chef Wang.
Chef Wang was obviously also startled by Ye Zhou’s sudden appearance, flinching and nearly spilling the lunch box he was holding. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and firmly clutched the food container, averting a potential tragedy.
The atmosphere became somewhat awkward. To prevent Chef Wang from inquiring about his earlier actions, Ye Zhou took the initiative to ask a question.
“Chef Wang, why are you here?”
Boss Jiang valued his privacy and disliked having too many people in his home. Therefore, whether it was the cleaning lady, butler, or chef, none of them lived there. They would only come when summoned by Boss Jiang.
Chef Wang smiled sheepishly, “Mr. Jiang has a social engagement tonight. He was concerned you might not want to cook for yourself, so he specifically instructed me to prepare this meal for you.”
Ye Zhou paused for a moment before taking the lunch box from Chef Wang’s hands. He politely expressed his gratitude, “Thank you for making this trip.”
As Ye Zhou saw Chef Wang off, he couldn’t help but think that Boss Jiang really knew him too well…
Apart from filming, Ye Zhou was quite lazy in his daily life. In his previous life, he cooked for himself when he was young to save money. But once his financial situation improved, he rarely cooked, preferring to eat out or order takeout instead.
After transmigrating, he only became slightly more diligent in order to curry favor, but he would only cook when Boss Jiang was at home. If Boss Jiang was not around, forget about cooking – Ye Zhou could easily skip dinner altogether.
As Ye Zhou ate the boxed meal, he dialed Boss Jiang’s number. However, it rang for quite a while without being answered. Ye Zhou tried again but still couldn’t get through, so he decided to finish his dinner first before calling Boss Jiang again.
Unexpectedly, halfway through the meal, Ye Zhou’s phone rang. To his surprise, it was Boss Jiang calling back.
“Jiang-ge, are you busy right now?” Ye Zhou put down his chopsticks and asked.
“No, I just finished a meeting.” Jiang Tingyuan handed the signed documents to his assistant and capped his pen.
Although he knew Boss Jiang couldn’t see him on the phone, Ye Zhou still subconsciously nodded, “Do you have any other arrangements later? If not, be careful on your way back.”
Jiang Tingyuan nodded in acknowledgment. He shook the mouse, waking up his computer from standby mode. His gaze fell on the Weibo private message interface, and Ye Zhou’s message immediately caught his eye.
His thick eyebrows raised slightly, and a dark glint flashed through his usually indifferent eyes. Before Ye Zhou could hang up, he spoke, “I didn’t quite understand the private message you sent this afternoon.”
“Could you explain it to me?” Jiang Tingyuan’s voice was already deep and sensual, but when uttering these words, his tone carried an unusually playful lilt; the upturned intonation at the end, combined with the faint electrical current brushing against Ye Zhou’s ear, was practically flirtatious to the point of being unfair.
Ye Zhou’s ears immediately turned red, and his face burned fiercely.
Earlier that afternoon, Ye Zhou had mischievously sent that message with the intention of teasing Boss Jiang. However, the tables had turned, and now that Boss Jiang was inquiring about it, Ye Zhou couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable sense of being the one being teased instead.
The usually quick-witted and eloquent Director Ye could only cough dryly, stammering for a long while without being able to provide a reason.
How could he explain it? He couldn’t possibly admit that his original intention was to tease Boss Jiang, only to have the tables turned on him instead!
Jiang Tingyuan didn’t rush him, amusedly allowing Ye Zhou to rack his brains on the other end, showing no intention of interrupting.
But at that very moment, there was a hurried knock on the office door, sounding rather urgent.
Ye Zhou, on the other end of the phone, had clearly also heard the knock and immediately exclaimed as if he had found a lifeline, “Ah, Jiang-ge, it seems there’s something going on your end. You should attend to that first. I won’t disturb you anymore. Be careful on your way home. Bye!”
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please consider supporting the author directly.
You can also follow me on Ko-fi to get the latest updates on my translation progress and new projects. I appreciate your love and feedback.
