Chapter 9

Su Ning naturally wouldn't say hello to anyone at this time; it wasn't the right time.

He looked around, taking in everyone in the office, and did not forget to push back at Shen Huai: "That's not right. I'm 22 years old, not a child anymore. If an adult does something wrong, he can't just pretend he's ignorant. He must bear the consequences, otherwise he's aiding and abetting the evil."

"Teacher Shen, are you right?"

The words were human, but they sounded strange when they came out of Su Ning's mouth.

Most importantly, he actually called Shen Huai "Teacher Shen". He was so polite and distant that he called him so reluctantly in the show, and even his reply was meant to be a retort.

The people here looked at him with even more strange eyes, even someone as cold as Shen Mingzheng looked up at him.

It was the first time that Shen Huai heard Su Ning speak to him like this. He was silent for a moment, and then he heard Su Ning speak again: "This matter was caused by me, and it has affected the company and the program team. I am really sorry. But I thought about it yesterday, and now I feel that apologizing is useless. I still have to think about how to solve it."

The assistant director of the Idol Star Map program sat across from Su Hongda. He had been stern all the time, and after hearing this, he showed no sign of softening. He snorted coldly and said, "You know that, too."

Just a few soft words could not appease the now resentful program crew, so Su Ning continued: "So, for today's press conference, I think..."

But just as he was about to get to the point, he was interrupted by Shen Huai.

The moment of shock was only for a moment, Shen Huai took over the conversation again and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Xiao Ning, we have already arranged the press conference on how to solve this problem. Your attitude now is very good. If you apologize sincerely at that time, everyone will definitely forgive you, President Su, don't you agree?"

Su Hongda seemed to trust Shen Huai very much. He nodded and glared at Su Ning again: "Children are not allowed to interrupt when adults are talking. Go and read your manuscript again. If you have any questions, ask Xiao Yao. If the reporter says one wrong word later, I will punish you when I get home!"

Su Ning: "...Who is the child?"

He wanted to speak further, but in this situation, he had no chance to speak.

Even if he apologized right away, this group of people had formed a stereotype about Su Ning's waste labeling, and Shen Huai was still fanning the flames, so no one was on his side.

Su Hongda was already talking to the program team like a serious chairman. His attitude changed quickly, and he turned around and said seriously, "If Xiao Ning really withdraws from the competition now, it will not be good for the program, so I have to trouble you to think of a way to minimize the impact of this matter."

He is right.

The schedule of this season of Idol Star Chart has reached the stage where the top 20 are competing for the debut position. If someone is suddenly missing at this time, it will have a significant impact on the arrangement of the program.

This is a superficial matter, but in reality the biggest impact is that Guangying Entertainment is one of the largest investors in the show, and even if they really want to kick Su Ning out, the higher-ups won't make the decision to do so.

Because of the thorny nature of the matter, the chief director of the program team was supposed to come over to discuss it today. However, they were really dissatisfied and sent an assistant director to perform. This was enough to show that they were very impatient with the cooperation with Guangying Entertainment and Su Ning. If Mr. Shen from the investor's side had not agreed to come over to help out, the assistant director, who was caught between a rock and a hard place, would have wanted to resign immediately.

"Boss Su, I know what you mean. I will of course try my best to cooperate with today's press conference," the assistant director frowned, "but to be honest, after this incident, if Su Ning doesn't withdraw from the competition, I may not be able to ensure that he will enter the debut group."

There are no outsiders here. The program manager who came with the assistant director also explained: "It's true. It was possible a few years ago, but this year the higher-ups are keeping a close eye on it. They have strictly investigated things like audience voting. The current system has dedicated people watching it. This is something that no one can change. Voting manipulation is now a red line for supervision. If it goes wrong, the entire program will fail."

Idol Star Map is a program that relies solely on audience and fan votes as the selection criteria. Although there are still a few fans who are trying hard to whitewash Su Ning on the trending searches, it cannot change the fact that most fans have run away.

The data from the backstage show that Su Ning's support rate has dropped significantly and he has fallen out of the top seven.

Because of his poor ability, he has been hovering around the debut position for a long time. When the incident happened last night, his fan club quickly packed up and left, and even the money that fans had raised for voting in the finals was returned. It was a decisive decision, and the refund issue was even on the hot searches. Even though he still has the support of votes that have been cast and cannot be withdrawn, under the current circumstances, there is really no hope for him to debut.

After hearing this, Su Hongda's face froze, and he was speechless for a long while. Then he said decisively: "No, Su Ning must debut."

He said this with a particularly insistent tone, and it sounded like his partiality was so strong that he could not distinguish right from wrong.

The program crew hesitated again: "But Su Ning's current reputation..."

"Reputation is not the point." Su Hongda waved his hand and glanced at Su Ning, "We can talk about these after we become famous."

The program crew looked at each other and the situation froze. Suddenly, a small shareholder sitting on the side whispered, "Actually, we are not without a solution."

Su Hongda caught his voice and immediately turned to look at him and asked, "What do you think?"

The man looked very hesitant and still spoke hesitantly, "There is room for maneuver regarding the number of votes, but this is the method... I don't know whether I should say it or not."

Here he got stuck again, as if he was in a particularly difficult situation.

"It's okay, you say," Su Hongda urged, "At this moment, no matter what method, as long as it can help, it's fine."

After receiving his affirmation, the person looked at the expressions of the program staff and continued, "Although the backstage staff cannot interfere, if the company is willing to cast real votes, no one will say anything wrong even if the investigation is strict. However, to do so, the number of votes required from me may be a bit too many."

"But as long as Xiao Ning debuts, even if she's the last one in the debut group, this can't be considered a loss, right? The negative information can be cleared up in the future."

Su Hongda was stunned, as if he began to really think about it.

Fan tickets can be obtained by ordering sponsors' products to obtain exclusive points of the video platform for voting. Exclusive points can also be purchased directly. Show selection has always been paid with real money. As long as you have enough money, you can indeed continue to vote.

But looking at Su Ning's current reputation, this sum of money would have to be at least eight figures to make up for the loss, and it is hard to say how much it would cost. Even a nouveau riche like the Su family would have to weigh this expenditure.

The assistant director of the program team and the selection manager next to them looked at each other strangely, then glanced at Shen Mingzheng and stopped talking.

I have just reminded them, but they just won't listen. What can I do? They should just shut up.

Su Ning listened to this conversation, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he said, "The company must not buy tickets on a large scale. This is a mistake over and over again. Once it is discovered..."

He intuitively felt that the ticket purchase was probably the fuse for the acquisition of Guangying Entertainment in the original plot. Otherwise, a rich second-generation with a poor reputation would not be able to ruin such a huge family business.

Moreover, Su Ning discovered many problems in the company along the way. Su Hongda had a bad temper and was stubborn and self-willed. The employees in the company were not united and even a little lax. The company that his parents had worked so hard to leave behind was already showing signs of a crisis.

But Su Hongda became impatient when he heard what he said. He didn't listen to what he said seriously at all. He waved his hand and said, "Shut up. If you hadn't caused trouble, would this have happened?"

He was very aggressive, but Su Ning was not afraid of it. He frowned and wanted to speak again, but still failed.

At this time, Shen Huai came over, patted Su Ning on the shoulder like a brother, and said, "Xiao Ning, you don't understand the company's affairs, so you don't need to interfere too much now. Come on, I'll take you out to sit for a while, and we should prepare for the press conference first."

Every word he spoke was gentle, but it was obvious that he had the final say in this office, while Su Ning, the legitimate heir, did not. Therefore, no one thought it was wrong for him to steal the conversation every time.

After a few rounds of this, Su Ning also understood that he couldn't make up for the situation with just a few words, so he just asked, "When does the press conference start?"

"About an hour later, there are still a few media who haven't arrived yet," Shen Huai glanced at his watch, his face becoming more gentle, "Xiao Ning, if you have any other questions, let's talk about it outside."

The press conference was indeed almost over, and the assistant director of the program team didn't want to talk to Su Hongda, the reckless man, anymore, so he turned around and started talking to Shen Mingzheng, his tone and expression clearly showing respect.

"Mr. Shen, today's press conference is more important. We'll have to trouble you with the media we've approached..."

Su Ning only heard these few sentences.

It was obvious that Shen Mingzheng's appearance at this event was not for the sake of getting soy sauce.

Apart from Guangying Entertainment, the largest investor in Idol Star Map is actually Shen's Pictures. Previously, we thought it was Shen Huai who was the director since he was the mentor on the stage. But seeing how he is struggling and not caring about the show at all, it shouldn't be him.

It is this Shen Mingzheng who seems to be the truly authoritative investor representing Shen’s Pictures.

Although he didn't speak, the director looked at him frequently when he spoke, which was enough to show that Shen Mingzheng had a lot of say in the show. If you think about it this way, it's understandable why Shen Mingzheng was so cold to me after I helped him last night. Given the original owner's trouble-making situation, it's understandable that he was disliked.

When closing the door, Su Ning glanced at Su Hongda, who was sitting there discussing his ticket purchase with several shareholders.

Su Ning did not think that Su Hongda had devoted all his energy and effort to the dream of his rebellious nephew, even at the cost of losing everything he had. The relationship between them was not that deep.

Su Ning carefully digested the original owner's memory last night. At most, he matched some people in the company, and many details are still to be confirmed.

Others would not take Su Ning's questions seriously, but Shen Huai would.

At least, on the surface.

After he went out, he said to Shen Huai: "Brother Shen Huai, I'm a little nervous. Can you help me check the manuscript? I also have a few questions to ask you."

Shen Huai said: "Of course you can."

He looked at Su Ning with his eyes downcast, who looked a little pitiful and helpless. He felt that this man had returned to his previous easy-to-control self. Maybe the retort when he first came in was just because he was in a bad mood.

Su Ning said: "Then let's find a quieter place."

When the two of them walked to the small compartment next to them, they just entered and before Shen Huai could speak, he heard the sound of the door being locked. Then he saw Su Ning standing at the door and said, "Tell me the truth, what are you planning?"

Shen Huai was stunned: "What?"

As soon as he turned around, he saw Su Ning staring at him. Through his gold-rimmed glasses, there was a clear sense of oppression in his eyes.

Only then did he realize that Su Ning had grown to be as tall as himself without him noticing when.

"Let's not talk about the hot searches last night. Just now they were talking about buying tickets. Why didn't you stop talking about it? This is a taboo in the industry. Su Hongda doesn't understand. Shen Huai, don't you understand it either?"

Su Ning pointed all this out immediately.

But Shen Huai was not so easily bluffed. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, still maintaining a gentle look on the surface.

"So that's how it is. Xiao Ning has misunderstood me and Uncle Su. You only know one side of the story."

He sighed, "Uncle Su has been in business for so many years, and the shareholders have so many years of experience. They are not fools. Xiaoning, you are still young and don't understand the difficulties the company has faced this year. These are just helpless actions."

"How would I know if you don't tell me?" Su Ning asked, "Is there anything about the company that I can't listen to?"

He still had a cold face, but Shen Huai just thought he was in a bad mood again, and he still coaxed him: "If Xiao Ning wants to know, I will explain it to you."

Some things inside the Guangying Entertainment Company were not secrets and many people knew about them, but Shen Huai did understand them more thoroughly. Looking at his expression, he explained them to him in a few words.

After Su Ning's father passed away due to illness last year, the passing of this CEO who had been in charge of Guangying Entertainment for nearly 20 years has had a more than satisfactory impact on the company.

The Su family was a typical nouveau riche, or more specifically, a coal boss. Su Ning's father, Su Honghui, was highly educated and capable. After graduation, he did not work hard in the family business, but instead entered the entertainment industry, where he made great achievements. Unfortunately, he died too early due to poor health.

The coal mining business of the Su family was not doing well, so Su Hongda retired a few years ago. Although he had a bad temper, he was experienced in business management. After weighing the pros and cons, the old president Su handed over a small portion of shares and management rights of the company to his younger brother while on his sickbed.

But people are much more complicated than coal.

Guangying Entertainment is an old company. It was not founded by Mr. Su at first, but he acquired and expanded it bit by bit. There are more than a dozen shareholders of different sizes in this company. Mr. Su does not hold half of the shares, only about 40%. According to the will, Su Ning holds 30%, and Su Hongda holds the remaining 10%.

When Mr. Su was still around, the difference in shares had little impact, and the other major shareholders all obeyed his lead.

But things changed after he died.

Although Su Hongda had some management experience and was able to temporarily win people's hearts and ensure operations, he knew nothing about the entertainment industry. Not long after taking office, he lost several projects.

Then the shareholders below started to become active. They have openly argued at the shareholders' meeting this year, kept making a fuss about the loss of money, and even united to try to seize power and usurp the throne. If there were not a few old men who were still nostalgic and still stood on their side, the position of chairman of Guangying Entertainment would have been replaced.

Su Hongda couldn't stand this.

The entertainment industry is a place where fame and fortune gather. He has long coveted his brother's fame, status and wealth. Moreover, Guangying Entertainment has abundant copyrights and has independently filmed and produced many popular dramas and movies. The annual income from copyrights alone is very considerable. It has always been a cash cow that is guaranteed to yield returns no matter how dry the season.

In his eyes, the previous losses were just accidents, and there would always be a way to make it back on track.

Amid the chaotic investments by outsiders and internal strife within the company, the only hope is the unfinished project left by the old president - artist management.

The original Guangying Entertainment was a pure film and television production and investment company that did not sign many artists. However, the old president Su was far-sighted. He established a department before his death and had begun to train new people. He also negotiated the poaching of several stars and even the company's trainee system. After Su Hongda took over, he only had to pay the money.

This was the only project on which he did not lose money.

He even made a small profit because of the sudden rise of a few third-tier stars that had just been signed, and this department became Su Hongda's lifeline.

He also signed several trainees and young actors, preparing to promote the currently popular singing and dancing idol drama boy and girl groups, and earnestly cultivate stars from the beginning who were promoted by light and shadow.

Li Chu signed in at this time.

You know what, maybe he gained some experience from losing money, or maybe it was just luck, because Su Ning, the young master, was clamoring to make his debut, and he voted for the fourth season of the talent show "Idol Star Map", which had average popularity in the first three seasons, but he didn't expect it to be a hit.

The show became a hit, and Su'ning also became famous.

Even though the original owner is being scolded like this now, he was firmly in first place in the first few episodes when the show was first aired and he was not exposed yet, all thanks to this face.

In this circle, good looks are capital. At that time, Su Hongda was reluctant to buy a real hot search for his useless nephew, but Su Ning was able to dominate social media with the label of "divine face" just from an audition photo. Later, Su Hongda seemed justified to ask the program team for resource allocation as an investor.

However, his high spirits did not last long. Everything was going well, the talent show had already selected the top 20, and the finals were about to begin. Su Ning was on the verge of debuting, but at this moment, he fell apart.

"...The company has even arranged all the follow-up resources for your debut group, all tailor-made for you," Shen Huai sighed, "Xiao Ning, if this doesn't work out, all these things will go down the drain."

"Why did Uncle Su insist on sending you to debut even though he was willing to pay for your tickets? It was all for the sake of the company and this family. You must not get angry over his angry words."

"Listen to him, okay? A lot of people out there are scolding you, but they're just taking advantage of the situation and are jealous of you. Don't take it to heart."

Su Ning: ...

This doesn't sound like human language.