29 Hacked

She didn't look at the flooded private messages; they were always full of nothing but trolls who loved to follow the crowd and hurl insults.

Clicking directly into the trending topics, you'll see the hashtag #ZhanYanBlackCurve# trending.

In a blurry video that looks like it was taken secretly, a girl wearing a hat and a middle-aged woman are sitting at a table eating. There are other people around, but they are all blurred out.

The girl wearing a hat had her head down, and her profile resembled Zhan Yan; the middle-aged woman had no covering up, and was clearly director Feng Wei.

"No wonder Zhan Yan always scores so high, it turns out it's related to her mentor! That's so unfair to the other contestants!"

"Resist the shady dealings, Zhan Yan withdraws from 'The Actor'!!"

"I really couldn't tell. You always marketed yourself as a hard-working persona. You've been exposed now, haven't you?"

"This is just a normal meal, with other people around. How did it become a conspiracy? Are you just making things up based on pictures?!"

"Get lost, you haters! You're spreading rumors with a blurry video, spreading rumors about sexual assault!"

"I used to really like Zhan Yan's performances, and I thought I'd struck gold. Turns out it was all a conspiracy. It's all true, all of them are fake!"

"Like boss, like artist. They may lack acting skills, but they've got plenty of marketing tricks!"

"Is the person upstairs a dog? They want to bite everything they see. Your master has been too busy taking care of himself lately to keep the leash on, right?! Why are you barking like a dog when you come out?"

...

Fans, haters, and bystanders were all embroiled in a chaotic battle, each trying to stir up trouble. Ye Zhenzhen watched for a while and breathed a sigh of relief. Aside from over-interpreting this blurry video, there was no other evidence.

Those who are family know their own situation. Before, Zhan Yan was just a nobody and had absolutely no connection with Director Feng. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been ruined by her former agent. Before coming to Tao Yao, she was practically unknown in the entertainment industry.

Regardless of whether the video is real or not, it's clear that someone is trying to smear her because they don't like her. Luckily, Director Feng is a female director; if it were a male director, she would probably already be accused of things like unspoken rules.

She logged out of Weibo and saw that Song Chengcheng had sent her a message on WeChat explaining the situation.

After reading the message, she understood what was going on, put on her shoes, and went outside to the yard to call Song Chengcheng.

Phoenix Headquarters Building.

Zhan Yan sat in Song Chengcheng's office with swollen eyes and disheveled hair, accompanied by Liu He and Zhou Jin. The group waited expectantly for Song Chengcheng to finish her phone call.

"Assistant, what did President Ye say?" Liu He asked with a forced smile as she saw that she had finally hung up the phone.

"President Ye said it's alright. We've done nothing wrong, so Zhan Yan can rest assured. The company has your back." Song Chengcheng's usually cold face softened slightly as she gently advised, "Your boss has seen all your hard work. Don't worry, we'll contact Director Feng later and issue a statement to clarify. Just focus on your classes and competitions; the company is here for you!"

Upon hearing this, Zhan Yan felt a pang of sadness, and a tear slid down her cheek. She had been under immense pressure lately, attending classes and participating in actor recordings, live performances, and competitions. Just when she was starting to see some success and her fan base was growing, she encountered this large-scale cyberbullying, and her mental state collapsed instantly.

It felt like I was transported back three years to the helplessness I felt when my agent betrayed me.

However, things are different nonetheless. Tao Yao and President Ye did not abandon her and stood firmly by her side.

What else could she be sad about? She only allowed herself to be vulnerable for a short while before wiping away her tears, thanking Assistant Song, and returning to the practice room.

"You've been working hard lately, why don't you rest this afternoon?" Liu He was a little worried about her condition.

"I'm bursting with energy right now." Zhan Yan turned around, her eyes still red, but the light in them was brighter than ever. "The more they try to suppress me, the harder I'll strive to climb higher! I'll make them furious!"

"Well said! Xiao Yan, I'm relieved to see you have such ambition!"

The group turned around and saw Liu Siqi, the acting teacher. The old man was thin and always had a serious face. He was extremely strict with their studies and mostly criticized them. This time, however, he was praising her, which was quite unusual.

"The entertainment industry these days is a complete mess! Hardworking kids get framed, while idiots who can't even speak properly get away with it! What a bunch of idiots!!" The old man got angrier and angrier as he spoke. "I've contacted Feng Wei. Don't pay attention to the online opinions; they're just a bunch of rabble! You focus on your studies, act well, and produce your best work to slap them in the face!"

"Don't worry! I'll use my strength to leave them speechless!" Zhan Yan's eyes shone even brighter as she followed the old professor into the classroom, her energy boosted.

Seeing how energetic she was, Zhou Jin felt relieved and went inside to attend class with everyone.

Liu He stood outside, showing the utmost respect to these seemingly ordinary old professors. Only after they had all left did she turn and depart.

She needs to keep an eye on the publicity department and quickly edit the videos of Zhan Yan and Zhou Jin's classes and upload them online.

Riding this wave of popularity might just help Zhan Yan and Zhou Jin reach new heights!

Zhan Yan's fans call themselves "Yan fans," and their fan group is called "Zhan Yan Yi Xiao" (meaning "Zhan Yan smiles").

From the moment the negative trending topic appeared, the atmosphere in the group was extremely tense.

Apart from recent new fans, most of her fans have followed her for many years and know how difficult her journey has been. They feel both sorry for her and indignant about her situation. They tried their best to clarify things under the trending topics and flood the public square with comments, but ultimately, they had too few fans to compete with the online trolls.

While everyone was anxiously discussing what to do in the group chat, they suddenly discovered that the situation had changed.

"Breaking news! Breaking news! The wind has reversed!!"

"Director Feng Wei posted on Weibo, sharing a high-definition group photo from the dinner. The entire team participated in the meal! She also said she greatly admires Zhan Yan's attitude towards acting!"

"The other directors also posted videos of their group dinners. Everyone was at the same hotel, just at different tables. Are we really just making things up from the pictures?!"

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"Tao Yao spoke up too! She posted a video that made me cry. Xiao Yan has really improved a lot recently!!"

"Quick, go watch the video Tao Yao posted, sisters! Yan Yan is rehearsing the last episode's show with Zhou Jin in the practice room. It gave me goosebumps. She's wearing modern clothes but it looks so natural on her. She's amazing!"

"There was a crying scene before, oh my god, I couldn't hold back my tears... It was so moving!"

........

"Tao Yao is very tough this time. She directly contacted the top legal team to sue the paparazzi who leaked the information and the trolls who spread rumors online! That's fantastic. With the company willing to take action, Xiao Yan has nothing to worry about!"

While fans cheered in the group, the online sentiment took a dramatic turn.

Most netizens are just spectators, accepting all kinds of gossip.

After seeing the photos posted by director Feng Wei, and with the release of the video clips of Tao Yao, anyone with eyes can see that Zhan Yan and Zhou Jin's acting skills are far superior to those of the popular actors on "The Actors". The haters can only say a few sour things.

However, netizens quickly discovered a key point in the video posted by Taoyao.

"Wow, Taoyao's faculty is amazing... Isn't that Professor Liu from the Film Academy?? Huh??"

First, film school students recognized the retired Professor Liu Siqi. Then, as more retired professors and veteran industry leaders were recognized, netizens turned into sour grapes.

"This teaching staff is amazing! Why is Tao Yao even bothering with film and television? She should just go into arts training; she'd be making a fortune!!! I want to be a trainee too!!"

"No wonder Zhan Yan and Zhou Jin have improved so much recently. They're completely different from the other actors. With these veterans sharing their experience, they're going to fly forward like a rocket!"

"Even I, a film school student, haven't attended all of these professors' classes. Many of them have retired, or even left the industry altogether. How did Ye Zhenzhen manage to persuade these big names?!"

"Why am I starting to feel a little tempted? I'm graduating next year, and Tao Yao seems like a pretty good choice..."

This series of actions unexpectedly gained Zhan Yan and Zhou Jin a wave of fans, with their fan base skyrocketing to nearly one million, an increase of over two hundred thousand.

That's why everyone in the entertainment industry loves to create hype and attract attention; that's why they gain followers so quickly!

#PeachBlossomImmortalTeacher# quickly replaced #ZhanYanBlackCover# as the top trending topic. Someone also posted videos from PeachBlossom's official account and ZhanYan and ZhouJin's personal accounts on C-site to Weibo, unintentionally attracting a wave of traffic to C-site as well.

People flocked to Station C and dug out more details from the training videos they usually posted.

These are all hidden big shots. In their youth, they participated in the recording of countless classic film and television works. Later, they taught at film academies for many years and have countless students. Now, these middle-aged and young directors have to be respectful in front of them. They are simply the hidden masters of the entertainment industry.

For a time, countless actors secretly envied Tao Yao's emphasis on actors and her willingness to invest heavily in improving the basic skills of her artists.

Ye Zhenzhen hadn't expected that so many actors with expiring contracts or uncertain futures would turn their attention to Taoyao Film and Television.

After all, everyone's looking to make quick money these days, so what company in the industry would be willing to invest heavily in training programs that are slow to yield results? Some are even afraid that the trained actors will jump ship, leaving them with nothing and all their hard work for nothing.

In just one morning, the online sentiment completely changed! Bai Xue was so angry that her face contorted; she had wasted the money she spent hiring online trolls.

"Get out!" The sound of shattering glass suddenly rang out in the room. Bai Xue's assistant, Xiao Tang, crouched down, carrying a stack of documents and walking out of the room with a timid expression, not daring to provoke her artist.

She had a slight sense of Liu Ge's recent actions; this was their usual tactic: collecting dirt on competitors, hiring online trolls to create hype, and praising one while belittling another. It was through this method that Bai Xue had been able to reach her current position over the years.

But this time, things didn't go as they hoped; in fact, they took a completely different turn. Zhan Yan and Tao Yao gained a huge amount of attention after their counterattack.

She shook her head, feeling deeply that karma was unkind; this time, she had tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead, and ended up benefiting someone else!

At the same time, she was secretly pleased. Because she liked following celebrities, she applied for a job as an assistant at Qunxing right after graduation. When she was first assigned to work under Bai Xue, she was quite happy because Bai Xue seemed easy to get along with.

As time went on, it turned out that it was all an illusion; three assistants had already resigned before her.

Bai Xue maintains a gentle and aloof persona in public, but when no one else is around, she unleashes her tyrannical temper on her little assistant.

She was once ordered by Bai Xue to stand outside a sun umbrella and fan herself in the sweltering heat on set during the hottest days of summer. She suffered heatstroke and was eventually taken to the hospital by the crew's production assistants.

Another year, the film crew was shooting in the suburbs, in a rather remote location. Bai Xue insisted on drinking Starbucks and wouldn't allow the driver to take the van there. When she rode her electric scooter back to buy it, even though it was in insulated packaging, the drink was no longer hot.

Bai Xue's expression changed as soon as she received the drink, and she immediately threw it at her.

In the chilly autumn wind, the sticky hot cocoa soaked through her white sweatshirt and jeans. Her eyes welled up with tears. Her manager, Liu Wei, simply told her to go outside and tidy herself up, then turned to comfort Bai Xue.

For the sake of her salary, she swallowed her anger. In addition, many assistants in the group had similar experiences. The assistants not only ran errands and did odd jobs, but many of them also served as the artists' punching bags.

However, during the recording of "I Am an Actor", I overheard Zhan Yan's assistant mention that the atmosphere at Tao Yao was very good. The assistants and artists had a superior-subordinate relationship at most, and none of them were treated as badly as they were.

She had been hesitant, feeling that she wasn't suited for the entertainment industry, and her family had always wanted her to pursue a master's degree. Now, she finally made up her mind.

The next day, Liu Wei received Xiao Tang's resignation letter.

Liu Wei readily agreed; Bai Xue always changed assistants so quickly. He only reminded Xiao Tang not to disclose the artist's privacy after leaving the company before leaving in a hurry.

He's been quite stressed lately. He was pretty sure he'd land a supporting role in a TV series, but because Bai Xue's reputation has recently soured, the production team has become somewhat ambiguous about her. He's been busy trying to build relationships with them.

At the same time, she found a famous teacher to guide Bai Xue in improving her acting skills. When she returned to the company, she still had to deal with this tyrant's bad temper. She was so busy that she had no time to spare and was exhausted. How could she have the mind to deal with the resignation of a junior assistant? At worst, she could just hire another one later.

Ye Zhenzhen's requirements for the public relations department were simple: clear Zhan Yan's name and make those who spread rumors and slander pay the price! After hanging up the phone, knowing that Song Chengcheng was fully capable of handling the matter, she put it aside and wasn't so angry anymore.

On the way back to the room, he frowned and thought about Tao Yao and Feng Ming's current problems. He realized that he would really need to build his own legal team in the future. In the entertainment industry, he couldn't always rely on the legal teams of the Gu and Ye families. He needed to have his own legal team.

When Gu Tingshen saw her return, he looked displeased and sat there lost in thought.

He paused in typing on his laptop and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you so unhappy?"

"Is it that obvious?" Ye Zhenzhen touched her face. Knowing there were security cameras in the house, she had even adjusted her expression before entering, but she didn't expect to be noticed so easily. "Tao Yao had something to take care of, but it's already been taken care of."

Gu Tingshen had just received Li Qingyun's email and learned about the online turmoil. Tao Yao's PR team acted quite quickly this time. Seeing that she looked calm and confident, he didn't say much. He replied to Li Qingyun's email and asked him to keep an eye on the online activity and lend a hand if needed.

In particular, any unfavorable comments about Ye Zhenzhen should be dealt with immediately without contacting him.

When the production team called everyone together to stroll through the ancient street and eat delicious food, Ye Zhenzhen had already put these unpleasant things behind her and regained her spirits.

The phone showed it was already nine o'clock, and the sun was still high in the sky. The three-hour time difference made them feel disoriented, and the day seemed exceptionally long.

Stepping into the night market, you are greeted by a bustling crowd, the noise of people mingling with the aromas of various foods, a far cry from the quietness of midday.

The aroma of roasted meat, the spiciness of cumin and chili, the sweetness of fruit, and the rich milky fragrance of dairy products fill the air, whetting your appetite even before you step inside!