Chapter 260 The Truth is Exposed

The show cannot be stopped halfway through recording.

However, some artists may leave the show midway through recording for various reasons.

If he could stop recording halfway through, Lu Yanhe wanted to go with Chen Ziyan to find He Zhong as soon as possible and get to the bottom of things.

But no.

The same applies to filming.

Although, according to common sense, one cannot leave the film crew without a reason before filming is finished, since if one leaves, the filming cannot be completed.

But even with contracts signed, some people still knowingly break the rules—leaving the crew halfway through filming and never returning.

This behavior is obviously unethical and unprofessional, which goes without saying.

However, Chen Ziyan never expected that her actors would encounter this situation.

Lu Yanhe never expected to see Wen Minglan's name in such a news report.

-

At 3 PM, White Bird Entertainment published a news article about Wen Minglan leaving the "Crossroads" crew without permission.

This news became a trending topic within half an hour—because Zhou Lina, the female lead of the film "Crossroads," liked the post.

At this moment, the cast of "The Days of Youth" were sitting in the living room. Some were preparing ingredients for dinner, some were playing games, and some were chatting, scattered in twos and threes.

Lu Yanhe was talking to Peng Zhixing about what to write for "Jump Up" when Xiao Yun suddenly picked up her phone and exclaimed in surprise.

Song Linxin was the first to ask her what was wrong.

Xiao Yun read the news about Wen Minglan aloud.

Upon hearing this, Song Linxin gave Xiao Yun a look, indicating that she was currently recording a program.

This is a sensitive topic and it's definitely not appropriate to discuss it on camera.

Xiao Yun received Song Linxin's look and silently shut his mouth.

But everyone had already heard it, and they all instinctively took out their phones.

Everyone has gained experience from recording the show. If there's anything that's inappropriate to say in front of the camera, just type it out in the group chat.

Inside the workshop, everyone who witnessed this scene wore helpless expressions.

They had obviously discovered the celebrities' actions through the cameras long ago, but there was nothing they could do about it.

They've clearly made it obvious they don't want to say things in front of the camera; do they think they can force the celebrities to say them on camera?

Song Linxin was the first to ask in the group: Wen Minglan, is she also a contracted actress with your Xingyu Entertainment? @Lu Yanhe @Li Zhibai @Yan Liang

Lu Yanhe hadn't heard the name Wen Minglan for a long time.

Both were artists managed by Chen Ziyan, but Lu Yanhe and Wen Minglan had very little interaction, barely even nodding acquaintances.

Lu Yanhe had almost no impression of Wen Minglan. In terms of appearance, she was a girl with a generous and quiet temperament, with a pair of big and lively eyes like a deer. According to the media, she had a forest-like appearance.

Lu Yanhe did not reply to the messages in the group, but instead looked up what was going on online.

However, there wasn't much information circulating online. The reason this matter escalated so quickly was purely because Zhou Lina, the female lead of "Crossroads," liked the report, which attracted the attention of many marketing accounts.

Zhou Lina is a popular actress, and her every move attracts attention, let alone liking negative news that exposed a fellow actress leaving the crew without cause.

Zhou Lina's fans are extremely combative; they've gained considerable experience in such battles, having followed her rise to fame. Therefore, when they saw Zhou Lina give a "like," they didn't say a word but immediately followed their idol's lead—launching a furious attack on Wen Minglan's unjustified departure from the production.

Why did Wen Minglan do this?

While Lu Yanhe was puzzled, Yan Liang replied in the group: "We're from the same company, but we're not very close, so I don't know what's going on."

The implication was that the three of them had nothing to say about the matter, and that we shouldn't ask them anymore.

-

After learning about this, Lu Yanhe took it to heart and kept asking if there were any new developments.

But at this time, Chen Ziyan must be very busy. She has a lot of things to deal with, and even just dealing with the questions from the media will take a lot of effort.

Lu Yanhe didn't want to cause Chen Ziyan any more trouble at this time.

He could only keep up with the matter by constantly searching online for the latest updates.

Clearly, everyone is very curious about this.

Although everyone was sitting together recording the show, after this incident, everyone spent significantly more time on their phones.

It wasn't all just chatting in the group; they were probably exchanging information with other friends to see what was going on.

That's how gossip works; once it starts circulating, it's like riding the wind, accelerating step by step until it sweeps across the world like a tornado, destroying everything in its path.

This matter has nothing to do with Lu Yanhe, but it is somehow related. After all, they are two artists under the same agent. Even if they have no further interaction, in other people's eyes, they are still one entity.

Lu Yanhe didn't say anything, nor did Li Zhibai and Yan Liang, but the attitudes of everyone recording the show together changed one after another. This change could be noticed from their eyes, micro-expressions, actions, and so on.

Without asking, Lu Yanhe knew that everyone already knew that Wen Minglan and he shared the same agent and had a close relationship—in reality, the last four words were not true, but Lu Yanhe couldn't explain it, because no one would come to him to confirm the truth of the matter.

-

Chen Ziyan definitely doesn't have the time or energy to deal with He Zhong's affairs.

Lu Yanhe now regrets not adding He Zhong's contact information earlier.

Otherwise, he could contact He Zhong himself now.

That evening, Liu Zhiyin suddenly suggested that everyone go to the yard to look at the stars.

"There are so many stars tonight, they're so bright," Liu Zhiyin said.

Song Linxin immediately chimed in, "Great! Great! I've always wanted to see the stars, but I've never seen them before. Our place is conveniently not in the city center, so the stars must be very bright."

So, on a whim, the group went outside to look at the stars.

We originally planned to just look around in the courtyard, but some of the girls said that we could go to the open field outside, which would give us a better experience, so we all went out to the open field together.

Because it was a last-minute decision, it put some pressure on the cameramen of the production team, who hurriedly carried their cameras and went out with the crew.

"They really are a bunch of young people, doing such romantic things," Zheng and Song said to Li Zhenzhen.

Li Zhenzhen said with a smile, "That's why everyone loves young people."

Li Zhenzhen: "I'm going to the restroom. You keep an eye on things."

Zheng He and Song nodded.

As Li Zhenzhen walked out of the workshop and headed towards the restroom, she saw Chen Mo's back turn as he passed by.

Why didn't she go out with Lu Yanhe again?

When Li Zhenzhen saw Chen Mo's back appear here, a surge of anger welled up inside her.

She quickly followed.

She wanted to see what Chen Mo was up to!

When Li Zhenzhen saw Chen Mo walk into Lu Yanhe's bedroom, she was filled with surprise and astonishment.

What is Chen Mo doing entering Lu Yanhe's room at this time?

Should we adjust the camera?

After Chen Mo entered Lu Yanhe's room, he closed the door from the inside.

She turned her head and glanced around.

The room wasn't cluttered with many items, unlike other celebrities' rooms which are filled with various miscellaneous things and personal belongings.

The cameras had already stopped working—Chen Mo pressed pause.

Since there is no one in the room, the image remains still and will not be noticed.

Now, all we need to do is hurry up and install this program on Lu Yanhe's computer.

Chen Mo took a deep breath.

-

"Nobody's here?" Li Zhenzhen asked Zheng Hesong incredulously. "I saw Chen Mo go into Lu Yanhe's room, and you're telling me there's nobody in Lu Yanhe's room right now?"

Zheng and Song sounded innocent as well, saying, "But I really can't see anyone here, in all the shots... Hey! Wait, I know, the cameras in Lu Yanhe's room have stopped working, the footage is a frozen frame."

"Pause?" Li Zhenzhen frowned, confirming a certain suspicion in her mind.

Sure enough, what was Chen Mo planning to do behind everyone's back?

What is she trying to do?!

Enraged, Li Zhenzhen rushed to Lu Yanhe's room, grabbed the doorknob, and opened the door.

"What are you doing?" The moment Li Zhenzhen opened the door, before she could even see Chen Mo, she blurted out the question.

Chen Mo was sitting in front of Lu Yanhe's laptop, working on something, when Li Zhenzhen suddenly barged in. She was startled and looked up at Li Zhenzhen, at a loss for what to do.

"I—" At this moment, Chen Mo's mind went blank. Facing Li Zhenzhen's angry face, Chen Mo's mind raced, hoping to find a plausible excuse or reason. But perhaps it was because Li Zhenzhen's anger was too oppressive, Chen Mo couldn't come up with a suitable excuse.

-

When a staff member suddenly asked Lu Yanhe to go back, Lu Yanhe was somewhat surprised.

Why would someone suddenly ask him to go back alone when everyone was stargazing and chatting?

"Is something the matter?" Lu Yanhe asked in a low voice.

The other person nodded and said, "The director wants you to come back; he has something to tell you."

Lu Yanhe went back with the other party.

He was taken to a room that had been designated as the production crew's work area.

This is a place that celebrities generally don't go into, and it's also a no-go zone for cameras.

While Lu Yanhe was filled with doubt, he entered the room and saw Li Zhenzhen and Chen Mo sitting there. The former looked furious, while the latter looked flustered and at a loss. This difference made Lu Yanhe even more puzzled.

"Director, Sister Mo, what do you need me for?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Li Zhenzhen glanced at Chen Mo and said, "You tell me yourself."

Chen Mo glanced nervously at Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe found it even stranger.

"I'm sorry, Yan He, I secretly looked at your computer when you weren't here," Chen Mo said, head down.

Chen Mo didn't dare to look up while speaking.

Lu Yanhe suddenly realized something incredulously.

It was her?!

Chen Mo suddenly stood up and bowed to Lu Yanhe, "I'm very sorry, Yanhe. Because I knew that the recording plan was all your idea, I became obsessed and wanted to find your other ideas on your computer."

"What?" Lu Yanhe was taken aback.

“Plagiarism.” Li Zhenzhen suddenly uttered these two words, glaring angrily at Chen Mo. “I’m sorry, Yan He, I didn’t expect to have someone like this in my team. She had her eye on you and wanted to claim your variety show ideas as her own. That’s plagiarism, and I caught her red-handed.”

Lu Yanhe looked at Chen Mo in surprise.

Plagiarism?

Is this her excuse for installing a Trojan horse on his laptop?

Lu Yanhe simply did not believe the plagiarism claim.

After further communication, Lu Yanhe learned that Chen Mo had secretly entered his room and used his computer, only to be caught red-handed by Li Zhenzhen.

Li Zhenzhen clearly believed this explanation. She knew nothing about the Trojan horse; besides plagiarism, Li Zhenzhen couldn't imagine any other motive.

In a flash, Lu Yanhe had already made up his mind. He decided to go along with Chen Mo's lie and not expose the Trojan horse at this moment.

"Why do you do this?" Lu Yanhe asked, looking puzzled.

Chen Mo kept his head down the whole time, his voice filled with remorse, saying, "I'm so sorry, I...I..."

Chen Mo hesitated for a long time, but couldn't say anything for a long time.

Li Zhenzhen took a deep breath. "If you can't say it, then I'll say it. She wants to get your ideas and concepts to submit as her proposals. Once they are adopted, she will receive a generous bonus. Of course, most importantly, it will benefit her future career development. As long as her ideas are validated by the market, they will become her capital."

Chen Mo's eyes reddened.

Lu Yanhe looked at Chen Mo with hesitation, feeling helpless and somewhat wavering—could it be that Chen Mo was really just trying to steal his ideas from his computer?

Just then, Chen Ziyan called.

Lu Yanhe took out his phone and said to them, "I'm going out to take this call."

Li Zhenzhen nodded. "Yan He, I'm very sorry about this."

Lu Yanhe glanced at her, shook his head, and went outside to answer the phone.

-

“I’ve met with He Zhong, but he won’t say anything.” Chen Ziyan’s tone revealed a hint of helplessness. “He’s too stubborn; I can’t get any useful information out of him.”

Lu Yanhe was astonished. "Sister Ziyan, you went to see He Zhong again?"

"Yes, didn't I tell you? I'll go find him."

“I saw the news about Wen Minglan, and I thought you were handling this matter.”

"What needed to be dealt with has been dealt with. Minglan's matter was much easier to handle than yours." Chen Ziyan seemed frustrated because she hadn't gotten any useful information from He Zhong.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yanhe told Chen Ziyan about Chen Mo's situation.

"Your PD? Chen Mo?"

“Hmm,” Lu Yanhe said, “Although she said it was to steal some of my ideas about variety shows from my computer, to be honest, I think that reason is ridiculous. I only offered some suggestions for filming ‘The Days of Youth.’ How could she think I have more ideas for variety shows?”

Chen Ziyan said, "Perhaps you wrote something related in your notebook, which she saw on camera."

“Doesn’t this further prove that she’s lying?” Lu Yanhe immediately said. “Since she can see what I wrote on camera, why would she risk logging into my computer? Isn’t that redundant?”

You have a point.

"So what should we do next, Sister Ziyan?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Chen Ziyan said, "If it is confirmed that Chen Mo is the one who planted the Trojan on your laptop, I will go to He Zhong again to see if I can get him to confess. In addition, I will also have someone investigate Chen Mo."

"Investigate Chen Mo?"

“You don’t need to know more about these things,” Chen Ziyan said. “After all, it’s not exactly a legitimate method.”

When talking about these things, Chen Ziyan always spoke in a nonchalant tone.

"Um."

“Okay, then I’ll get ready to come back too,” Chen Ziyan said.

"You're back? Sister Ziyan, where have you been?"

“I met He Zhong at the airport,” Chen Ziyan said. “His flight was that night, leaving Yuming.”

"What happened at his home? He said there was an emergency at home that caused him to leave. Could it really be an emergency at home?"

“I didn’t ask, it’s not important,” Chen Ziyan said. “Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s just an excuse.”

Lu Yanhe hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Sister Ziyan, do you have his contact information? If so, please send it to me. If something really urgent happens to his family, I'll ask if there's anything I can do to help."

Chen Ziyan originally wanted to say, "How old are you? Even if something really happens to their family, you might not be able to help."

But then he thought that Lu Yanhe's idea was worth encouraging, so he simply said "okay".

-

After finishing his phone call with Chen Ziyan, Lu Yanhe returned to his room.

Li Zhenzhen apologized to Lu Yanhe again.

“Sister Zhenzhen, this has nothing to do with you, you don’t need to apologize to me.”

“No matter what, this happened in our production team. As the director, I have a responsibility.” Li Zhenzhen looked at Chen Mo. “You can go out now.”

Chen Mo nervously twisted his hand, nodded, and left the room.

After watching her leave, Li Zhenzhen looked at Lu Yanhe again.

Lu Yanhe asked, "Sister Zhenzhen, how do we resolve this?"

In any case, now that Chen Mo is so highly suspected, Lu Yanhe will no longer be willing to let her stay by his side as a PD.

She has already exposed herself.

Li Zhenzhen sighed and said, "The show is about to finish recording, and He Zhonggeng is leaving. If we rashly replace your PD at this time, I'm afraid something might go wrong. Do you think we can put this matter aside for now and wait until the show is finished recording?"

Lu Yanhe shook his head directly, his attitude firm, and said, "Sister Zhenzhen, I cannot accept this way of handling things. Her behavior has seriously damaged me. If I pretend nothing happened and continue to work with her, when this gets out, it will seem as if I had no complaints at first and then settled scores later."

“Well…” Li Zhenzhen hesitated for a moment, “Then we can only assign you a new PD, but if you take over temporarily now, communication may not be so smooth.”

“It’s okay,” Lu Yanhe said. “Or it’s okay if you don’t assign me a PD. Anyway, there are only three days left for recording. I can contact you directly myself.”

Li Zhenzhen would certainly not agree to do so.

It's unacceptable to expect celebrities to handle so many miscellaneous matters themselves.

Seeing that Lu Yanhe's attitude was very firm, Li Zhenzhen stopped trying to persuade him to force himself for a few more days.

From the production team's perspective, it would be best if the show could be filmed smoothly.

But from Lu Yanhe's perspective, it's normal for him not to accept a PD with ill intentions continuing to stay by his side.

-

In a single day, Lu Yanhe changed both a photographer and a producer, much to everyone's surprise.

When Li Zhibai and his team returned, they happened to run into Lu Yanhe meeting with the new PD for a discussion.

At first, I didn't realize that this person was Lu Yanhe's new PD; I thought he was just an ordinary staff member.

When Li Zhibai and the others found out about this, they were all stunned.

"There are only three days left before the recording ends, why did you change the PD?" Li Zhibai asked Lu Yanhe directly.

Lu Yanhe explained by saying that Chen Mo had tried to steal data from his computer.

Everyone wore expressions of disbelief.

This could easily be considered a scandal. If this were exposed by the media, the "Young Days" program would definitely become a huge scandal. Lu Yanhe didn't plan to publicly criticize this matter anymore, but he still wanted to tell the other artists the truth, letting everyone know that Chen Mo's departure was due to her own reasons—so they wouldn't be the ones spreading rumors behind her back.

"This is outrageous!" Li Zhibai's face was full of disbelief. "What valuable things are on your computer that would make someone steal them?"

Lu Yanhe shook his head, too embarrassed to say that the other party was after his ideas and concepts for variety shows.

He himself thought it was outrageous.

After chatting for a while, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

-

After brushing his teeth, Lu Yanhe checked his phone. Chen Ziyan had sent him He Zhong's contact information not long ago.

After obtaining He Zhong's contact information, Lu Yanhe sent him a message, mainly expressing concern and inquiries, and concluding by saying that he could contact him anytime if he needed help.

Why would you want to help He Zhong?

If it weren't for today, Lu Yanhe probably wouldn't have said that. Because He Zhong rushed in front of him today, blocking the blond-haired guy, and also because He Zhong reminded him to check his laptop before entering the coffee shop.

Because of these two incidents, He Zhong's impression on Lu Yanhe changed. Lu Yanhe is like that; if someone is good to him, he will definitely be good to them in return.

He Zhong did not reply to him.

At this moment, there was a sudden movement in his small group of three, including Li Zhibai and Yan Liang.

Li Zhibai tagged him in the group chat and said: You've been acting a bit strange all day. What's wrong? You've been acting strange ever since you came back from that hugging task this morning.

Since it was in a small group, Lu Yanhe didn't hide anything anymore and said directly: Something happened, and Sister Ziyan is helping me solve it now.

Li Zhibai: You? Shouldn't Sister Ziyan be helping Wen Minglan resolve her issues right now?

Lu Yanhe: I don't know the specifics, but according to Sister Ziyan, Wen Minglan's matter doesn't seem to be a big problem and shouldn't be difficult to resolve.

Li Zhibai: Okay, what happened to you this time?

Lu Yanhe told them that his previous laptop had been infected with a Trojan horse, and that Chen Mo was likely the culprit.

Li Zhibai and Yan Liang both sent an incredulous emoji, completely shocked.

The purpose of monitoring Lu Yanhe was to implant a Trojan horse.

This sounds like something out of a real-life movie, as if it were a scene from a spy thriller that actually happened to Lu Yanhe.

Li Zhi's 100 Questions: So Chen Mo didn't actually want to steal any ideas from your computer, but rather to implant a Trojan horse into your new laptop?

Lu Yanhe: That should be the case. Luckily, Sister Zhenzhen found out.

Of course, even without Li Zhenzhen, the moment Chen Mo implanted the Trojan into the computer, he would have been filmed and exposed.

Moreover, this would provide direct evidence that she planted a Trojan horse on Lu Yanhe's laptop, violating his personal privacy, which is a crime.

It could be said that although Lu Yanhe said "fortunately," in reality, it would have been "fortunate" if Li Zhenzhen hadn't discovered this by mistake.

It can only be said that no matter what the expectations are, the outcome may not necessarily be as expected.

Yan Liang: But why would Chen Mo implant a Trojan horse in your computer to monitor you? I don't understand why she would do that.

Li Zhibai: You're right not to understand. Who can understand this kind of behavior? Maybe he's just a pervert who likes Lao Lu and is a brainless fan of Lao Lu.

Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and then stopped talking.

There's no need to reveal his background or the people hiding in the shadows who want to harm him. It would only cause Li Zhibai and Yan Liang worry, and even if they knew, they wouldn't be able to offer any help.

Lu Yanhe wanted to change the subject, so he asked Li Zhibai: Is there any follow-up to the Mengli incident?

Li Zhibai: What kind of follow-up is this? I just hope we never see each other again.

Lu Yanhe smiled.

He left the chat interface, ready to go to sleep, when suddenly a news notification popped up: Wen Minglan responded to the controversy of leaving the film crew without permission.

Lu Yanhe immediately clicked on it.

Wen Minglan's response was brief but powerful: "I did leave the 'Crossroads' production team, but not because I breached the contract. Rather, the production team breached the contract first. The actual script used in filming did not match the script provided in the contract. After I joined the team, almost every scene I had was improvised (meaning content not in the original script, written on-the-spot by the scriptwriter). All my original scenes were given to another actress. During filming, except for the name of my character, all other scenes were given to this actress. The scriptwriter wrote improvised scenes every day for me to perform, the content was rough, and it had changed drastically from the script discussed with me when the contract was signed. I was unwilling to pay for an irresponsible production team, nor was I willing to perform a rough and perfunctory improvised scene every day."

Wen Minglan's response directly targeted the production team and the script.

Immediately, Star Entertainment Agency also reposted this response, stating: "The production team of 'Sanchakou' has seriously breached the contract, and our contracted actors have terminated their contracts with 'Sanchakou'."

It was late at night, and everyone was about to go to sleep, when this response suddenly appeared, and it completely blew up social media.

After reading this response, Lu Yanhe was even more curious about who the other actress mentioned in Wen Minglan's response was.

The response ostensibly addressed the issue of script revisions, but in reality, it was about stealing screen time.

It couldn't possibly be Zhou Lina, could it?

Zhou Lina is already the female lead, so she shouldn't be trying to steal Wen Minglan's scenes.

The next second, Song Linxin sent the link to Wen Minglan's response to the "Young Days" group chat.

(End of this chapter)