"Did you find anything about Zhao Lianyu's attendance at Lezi Video's annual meeting?"

"We did find some information, but nothing unusual," Liang Qiu said. "We discovered that he was able to attend Lezi's annual meeting because one of his admirers recommended him."

That makes sense.

Could it be that she's overthinking things?

"You can't be too careful, and you should always trust your intuition sometimes," Liang Qiu said with a smile. "At least one thing is certain: he didn't just find out your identity recently."

"What do you mean?" Shi Jing had been trending on social media a few times that year, but she wasn't so narcissistic as to think everyone had to know her.

“His browsing history shows that he searched for your information more than once.” Liang Qiu crossed his legs and took a leisurely sip of juice. “So although we don’t know if he has ulterior motives, at least he knows your identity.”

Shi Jing recalled the party at Lezi's place that day, when the other person innocently asked her if she was a student at Beijing Film Academy. Having already learned about her, how could he not know she was a student at Beijing University?

“It seems he really does have a problem.” Shi Jing sneered. “At the Lezi party before, he even asked me if I was a student of Beijing Film Academy.”

Liang Qiu was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected that after investigating so thoroughly without finding anything wrong, the other party would reveal a flaw in such a trivial place.

“Then I’ll have someone keep a close eye on him,” Liang Qiu said. “I want to see if this person is doing this on his own initiative, or if someone is directing him from behind.”

"Um."

If he had his own ulterior motives, that would be one thing, but if he was truly acting under someone else's orders, well, Shi Jing wouldn't be as polite as he had been the previous times.

Last year, Shi Jing was harassed several times. Although he couldn't find out who was behind it, Shi Jing was still annoyed.

Especially in that human trafficking incident, the police followed the clues and arrested many people, but obviously they did not catch the real mastermind.

At least, the person who designed the mirror didn't catch it.

"Old Lin has hired a few more skilled people; maybe they can find some things I can't."

"I guess so." Shi Jing didn't have high hopes, since all he could catch were small fry, and it was normal that he couldn't get in touch with the deeper levels.

"I still think there's something wrong with Lin Youmei from Leyu. If we have enough manpower, we should have someone keep an eye on her too."

"OK, no problem."

Ever since Fang Xue from Tianyu mentioned Lin Youmei to Shi Jing, Shi Jing had become somewhat wary of her. The time she trended on social media during summer vacation also hinted at the influence of marketing accounts under Leyu.

Since the other party might take action, Shi Jing naturally needs to have someone keep an eye on them.

"Alright, it's getting late, I have to go back now. Contact me again if you need anything."

Attending annual meetings two nights in a row these past two nights has left Shi Jing exhausted. With the year-end approaching, there's a ton of work to do; even without Shi Jing handling everything personally, the total workload is still considerable.

*

When I arrived at the company early the next morning, I heard Jin Ye'an hurriedly arranging Xiang Wan's makeup.

Shi Jing was quite surprised to see her rarely at the company.

"Sister Jin, what brings you to the company today?"

It's not that Shi Jing is unhappy about Jin Ye'an appearing at the company; it's just that with the increase in artists, there's clearly not enough space, and Jin Ye'an and the artists rarely appear at the company unless absolutely necessary.

"Young boss," Jin Ye'an greeted, saying while arranging things, "Xiang Wan has an audition to attend today, and it's not far from the company, so we decided to come here to prepare."

"An audition?" Shi Jing was somewhat surprised. "Didn't he already get a role in Lezi's film?"

"It was another film. The original actor had a scandal, so the role became vacant. I had some connections with the director, so I got an audition spot for him."

"Won't this conflict with Lok-chi's film schedule?"

"No, the show is already in production. It was only due to an unexpected accident that the crew had to replace us. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been our turn."

Shi Jing was relieved to hear that it wouldn't affect her schedule.

There was a genuine shortage of actors, as Xiang Wan's audition went very smoothly. By noon, news had come back that the director was very satisfied with Xiang Wan's appearance and acting skills, and made the decision on the spot.

After doing some research, Shi Jing realized that this role was a complete fluke. The originally slated male lead was suddenly exposed for gaining a large following and was banned across the entire internet overnight.

This film is lucky; it has only just begun filming. Otherwise, if it had to be finished and they wanted to reshoot and replace the actors, they would have suffered a huge loss.

Speaking of this, Shi Jing suddenly thought of the drama "Moon Shadow". Xiao Caishen once said that the second male lead in "Moon Shadow" was so popular that the entire drama was buried and the investment went down the drain.

Some investments in the entertainment industry really require a lot of caution.

"Well done," Shi Jing praised.

The other people were also happy; the artists had work, which meant they could receive bonuses.

However, just a few hours later, before Shi Jingren had even left work, he suddenly heard that the duck that was about to be eaten had flown away.

Looking at Jin Ye'an and the others, who were clearly losing their temper, Shi Jing was somewhat puzzled.

"Weren't we about to sign the contract? What happened?" Shi Jing asked. They were about to sign the contract, how could something like this have changed?

"Xiang Wan meets all the requirements, and we were about to sign the contract, but the investors insisted on adding someone else to the cast, and even specifically asked for the male lead role." Xiang Wan's executive agent said indignantly.

If they hadn't been chosen in the first place, everyone would have accepted it. But after the contract was finalized and signed, suddenly losing the role is something no one can tolerate.

"Why did the investors have to wait until our people were finalized?!" The timing was so perfect that Shi Jing couldn't help but suspect that the other party was deliberately targeting them.

"Who is the actor playing Sai? Who is the investor?"

"The actor is Jiang Qi from Leyu, and the investor is General Manager Chen from Lvying," Jin Ye'an said.

After the role was snatched away, Jin Ye'an comforted the artist and also investigated the investors' situation.

"Someone from Leyu?" Upon hearing Leyu, Shi Jing couldn't help but frown. It was actually from Lin Youmei's company. So it seemed that the other party stealing the role wasn't a coincidence.

"Did they sign it over there?"

"Not yet, the director isn't very satisfied. But you can't fight city hall, so it's probably over." Jin Ye'an sighed.

She had a good relationship with the director and indeed performed well. If there were other options, the director would have really wanted to cast Xiang Wan.

There's just no way around it; these days, investors wield immense power in the entertainment industry. Aside from a few top directors, very few can directly challenge them.

Knowing this, Jin Ye'an didn't continue to try, and instead brought people back directly.

"Sister Jin, be careful during this period, Le Yu may be going to challenge us."

"Young boss, you mean..."

“Lin Youmei from Leyu and I have some grudges, and she might use this to settle personal scores,” Shi Jing explained, then asked, “You said this morning that you have some connections with the director?”

"Yes, Director Lin's skills are quite good, but unfortunately, he can't fight city hall," Jin Ye'an sighed.

"In that case, go ask Director Lin if he'll accept investment if the contract hasn't been signed yet."

"Young boss, what do you mean..." Jin Ye'an was somewhat surprised, she understood the implication in Shi Jing's words.

"Since they're using investment to pressure us, let's just pressure them back!"