Translator: Fringe Capybara

Chapter 65 - Second Female Lead (2)

Shu Bai’s mind went blank and her teeth chattered.

Chi Ying was much calmer. She didn’t feel nervous as it was easy for her to get into characters. That was probably an innate advantage of hers.

Someone pointed it out, “Shu Yan’s emotion was off. There was too much fear and worry.”

“She just wasn’t performing at her best today was all.” One of the instructors in Qi HongCheng’s team explained quickly. He worried that if they were to place blame, he might get dragged into it. “It’s only natural to be nervous auditioning in front of so many from the upper management. Her acting was 100 times better on Saturday.”

He was rebutted quickly, “It’s a must-have quality for an actress to control her mental state. How can we just ignore that?”

Qi HongCheng let out a long sigh. There was no point to push any further at this point.

He stepped up to take ownership of this. “I apologize. It was a mistake on our part.”

“Oh, really?” questioned the chairman of Peiyu coldly. “Qi HongCheng, I am very disappointed in you.”

He had always turned a blind eye to the unspoken rules within the entertainment circle. Except when it came to “Sting Yourself”. This was by far the most important project of Peiyu Media and would further determine the success or failure of the hundreds of millions of yuan that Lu JingYan had invested.

Qi HongCheng, as the best director of Peiyu Media, had nevertheless behaved in a very capricious manner. Even going as far as abusing his position as a director for his own personal enjoyment. That was unforgivable.

Immediately after that, the president tossed out a few pictures of Qi HongCheng and Shu Bai walking in and out of the hotel and evidence of them being in a room together.

Qi HongCheng was frantic. He reflexively defended himself. “It’s not what you think!”

But it didn’t matter what he said now.

Qi HongCheng smiled bitterly. He could only comfort himself this way – as Shu Bai acting skills still need a lot of work, then her tears the other day must be real. And if that was the case, then his taking the chance and making the sacrifice was worthy. He had made a mistake and there was a price to be paid.

Shu Bai lost and everybody in the conference became respectful of Chi Ying.

Chi Ying was alarmed.

Finally, a contract was placed in front of her.

Chi Ying read each line carefully and her eyes widened all of a sudden. “The penalty for a breach of contract is so high…”

“Yes, we will be announcing our cast in advance this time. It will taint our reputation if our actors decided to drop out later on,” said someone from the upper management of Peiyu Multimedia. “But don’t worry, Miss Chi. Nobody will give you a hard time.”

By now, Lu JingYan had already swapped out the entire production team of “Sting Yourself” with the blessing of the CEO of Peiyu.

The director had been swapped for a director from Oushi and the production team a production team from Oushi as well.

Peiyu was just the shell.

Jiang Chong knew that Boss Lu kicked himself for days when Oushi didn’t get “Sting Yourself” the first time around but that he had never given up on eyeing this feast.

Peiyu, who had purchased “Sting Yourself” without regards to its own financial and production ability was a poor decision of their management in the first place.

Not only did they not receive the intended rise in popularity, they further risked falling into a pit that they could not free themselves from.

By the time Peiyu realized this, they were already stuck in the situation that they couldn’t get out of.

One way or another, they had to put up the front for it. They hid everything from the public and created the impression that they had plenty of budget. Even Liu Pei, who knew Qi HongCheng very well, failed to notice their internal issues.

Lu JingYan’s investment solved their immediate problem.

Peiyu only own a small portion of the project but the profit associated with a production of this size would be enough for them to recover their investment and then some.

Most importantly, Lu JingYan promised to keep Peiyu’s name on it, which was what they wanted the most.

Jiang Chong knew that nothing was that simple but he wasn’t worried.

What he worried about was something else…

“They are all our people in the crew, what happens when Miss Chi realize that you are the investor?”

“And then there’s Qi HongCheng…” Jiang Chong paused for a second, then carried on. “He might spill.”

Lu JingYan gave him a smile that wasn’t a smile and his cold and harsh face seemed to have some human feel to it. “So what if she find out?”

Jiang Chong thought he had heard wrong.

When Chi Ying signed her name on the contract, Lu JingYan’s tightly shut lips finally relaxed.

She wouldn’t be able to run away any more.