Chapter 160: A Broken Relationship

Cheng Tian Entertainment, CEO's office.

This was the first time An Zihao experienced such an atmosphere. Lan Xi was using her CEO identity to interrogate her 'irresponsible' manager, "If they wanted to replace Ling Feng, what did it have to do with you? Why were you the one to recommend a replacement? Zihao, you better give me an explanation."

"Tangning was put in a difficult position in Moscow. This time she was humiliated by Ling Feng. I also have a question for you President Lan: as the CEO of Tangning's management agency, don't you think you haven't put in enough effort to protect your artist?"

"An Zihao, watch your attitude!" Lan Xi slammed her hands on the table and growled angrily. "I am Cheng Tian's CEO, in this building, you do not have the right to point fingers."

"It must be because Tangning isn't obedient!" An Zihao continued to speak the truth,"For our President Lan, signing a disobedient model must be difficult for you to stomach."

An Zihao seemed to have seen through Lan Xi; her expression suddenly became a bit uneasy.

"You guys created this mess, why should the agency clean up after you? Does Tangning have any brains? She is dealing with a famous actor who has a strong family background. Doesn't she know what the consequences are for offending him?"

After hearing Lan Xi's words, An Zihao laughed helplessly, "You were the one that signed her…and used her to deal with Yang Jing. Are you just going to cast her aside now that she's served her purpose?"

"An Zihao, don't think there's no limit to my tolerance for you!" Lan Xi suddenly warned with a dangerous and dark expression.

However, all An Zihao did was stand up from the sofa and shove one hand in his pocket, "What? Are you getting ready to destroy me or Tangning?"

Lan Xi looked at An Zihao furiously.

"In regards to Tangning's incident, I will provide the agency with a satisfactory explanation. But, Lan Xi, the way you've acted has forced me to make a decision you should be afraid of." After speaking, An Zihao turned around to leave Lan Xi's office. However, Lan Xi tried to hold him back.

"What do you mean by this?"

An Zihao did not turn around as he said calmly, "From now on, I am no longer on your side."

Lan Xi's expression changed. She tried to hold An Zihao back again, but he had already wandered far off into the distance.

Because of one Tangning, he had actually discarded their 10 years of friendship just like that. However, Lan Xi had never considered, An Zihao didn't make this decision because of Tangning, but because of how much she had changed.

It was hard to understand why, when a person gained more power, they would become extra heartless.

No wonder in the past few years, Cheng Tian had not made any advancements. If one was to compare Lan Xi with Mo Ting…they would be able to see, the difference was dramatic…

…

The replacement incident continued to escalate. Meanwhile, Ling Feng did not target the financially stable LM, nor did he pick on the famed director; he focused all his energy on Tangning. He assumed she had no backing and wanted to get back at her for both the old and new grudges he had against her. Coupled with Cheng Tian's negative handling, rumors started spreading about Tangning; people claimed that even though her contract signing was grand, Lan Xi did not actually care about her.

At this time, Tangning handled the matter the way she always did: remaining quiet. The truth always prevailed.

However, she did do something wrong this time…

In fact, it wasn't just a simple mistake…

At least, she shouldn't have interfered with the director's decision to replace Ling Feng. Even if the decision was already set! So, Tangning had another reason why she couldn't speak up about the issue: she was representing LM. If she was to admit her fault, it would be a huge slap to LM's face.

In reality, Ling Feng was wrong to begin with.

But, online, Ling Feng's fans were going crazy bringing up old news about Tangning, attacking her from all sides and flooding her feed with insults. Even after all this, they didn't feel it was enough. They even wrote up a fake article about Tangning getting into an accident and cursing that her whole family was being sent to the crematorium.

Previously, she had always gone up against women. Fans of female celebrities had always been relatively reasonable. Fans of male celebrities, however, were a lot different…

Seeing these extreme discussions, Tangning was too afraid to show them to Mo Ting; she didn't want him to worry. So, she acted like nothing was wrong in front of him. She even secretly contacted Lu Che and told him not to tell everything to Mo Ting. But, Mo Ting already knew everything.

Meanwhile, Mo Ting also did not mention anything in front of Tangning. He even contacted Long Jie to tell her not to let Tangning see the comments online because he was afraid she would see them.

The husband and wife both knew what was going on, but neither of them exposed themselves to the other.

The attacks against Tangning online did not cease, making Ling Feng extremely satisfied.

He wanted to see, with his public fight against Tangning, whether anyone would have the guts to invite her to events and give her jobs.

"Ling Feng is my bottom line. I don't care what Tangning does, as long as she doesn't touch my bottom line, I have no comment."

"Tangning are you being a coward again? Why aren't you stepping out to give Xiao Feng [1]an apology…are you trying to hide for the rest of your life?"

"B*tch, you're too scared to make an appearance, aren't you? You finally know that you shouldn't mess with us 'Ling fans'."

Netizens were completely stirred up and Ling Feng gained a large number of sympathizers. However, at this time, LM decided to do a live broadcast to explain the entire situation.

"The whole incident started on the day of the shoot when Ling Feng did not make an appearance even though we waited for a long time. We also did not receive any prior notifications of him taking leave."

"Hence, LM's representative called Ling Feng's manager to confirm they were aware of the schedule. However, Ling Feng's manager expressed that Ling Feng wanted to take revenge on Tangning for rejecting his invite to have dinner and made ridiculous requests. He even wanted Tangning to bow down to him before he'd agree to come for the shoot."

"Ling Feng's actions have severely impacted LM, the director and Tangning. He has no professionalism whatsoever."

"So, after the unanimous consent of the entire photography crew, the director decided to replace Ling Feng and selected a suitable replacement. The person Tangning's manager recommended wasn't the only person being considered, we also had many other alternatives. But, because he suited our criteria, the director ended up picking him. It had nothing to do with Tangning."

"The actor Ling Feng should stop manipulating the public and stop using business to seek his personal revenge. He also shouldn't palm his faults onto someone else. I hope he can reflect on himself first."

"The replacement incident caused a huge disturbance resulting in a misunderstanding amongst netizens. We are deeply apologetic. At the same time, Ling Feng's fans have made us understand one thing: retreating a step may not necessarily provide a broader picture. In the entertainment industry, we must grab our weapons and protect our own rights and interests."

"Here, I would like to wish Mr. Ling Feng, all the best!"

LM temporarily decided not to reveal any evidence because Tangning had suggested for them not to reveal their winning card just yet; she had a feeling, Ling Feng was going to retaliate. As for LM's courage to speak out and act, this courage came from a phone call they received earlier in the day from the office of Hai Rui's CEO…

[1] Adding Xiao (little) at the beginning of a name makes it sound more endearing.