Chapter 72 Jinjiang Debut
After hearing Lan Zheng's words, everyone was confused. Only the manager seemed to remember something. She turned away guiltily, not daring to look Lan Zheng in the face. Lame Brother looked as if he had smelled something big. Hu Leying stood on the manager's side and spoke for him:
"No matter what happened, it's not a reason for you to kill. If you do something against the law, your career path is over. Did you consider this when you killed someone?"
Lan Zheng shook her head in fear: "No, I didn't kill her, I just locked her up. I just want to get back the money I deserve!"
Hu Leying looked back at her agent in confusion and asked Lan Zheng, "Are you saying that they didn't give you the money you deserved as a stuntman?"
Lan Zheng shook her head: "They did pay the stuntman, but I broke my right arm and had to stay in bed for a month. I paid for the medical expenses myself, they didn't give me any!"
As she spoke, she waved her right arm up and down: "Look, my arm has become like this. I can't do big movements anymore. It's all because of He Xianxian!"
Everyone could see that Lan Zheng's right arm was not very flexible, and no one had the heart to blame her anymore. They all listened to her continue speaking in silence.
Lan Zheng looked at her agent with red eyes. She pointed at the scars on her body and counted them one by one: "Not only my right arm, but all the scars on my body are for her. This scar was caused by me taking the beating for her when we were filming the palace fighting drama that year. This scar was caused by me taking the dog bite for her when we were filming the comedy that year. This scar was caused by me taking the burn for her when we were filming the cooking scene that year. And this one..."
Lan Zheng's story seemed endless, and her agent interrupted her angrily: "Enough! This is how a stuntman's job is. We're not not paying you. If you feel wronged, you can just quit! There are plenty of people who will do it if you don't want to. Don't think you're the only one in the world who looks like He Xianxian!"
Lame brother also didn't understand: "Yeah, sister, you are so beautiful, why do you have to endure their abuse? You have suffered so much injustice, you might as well leave them as soon as possible and join another crew. Maybe you would have made a name for yourself long ago, and you wouldn't have to endure it until today to explode."
Lan Zheng said with tears in her eyes, "Do you think I don't want to leave? It's not that I haven't thought about resigning. It was He Xianxian who took the initiative to keep me. She promised me that as long as I work by her side for ten years, she will give me a chance to be the leading actress. By then, I can also play the leading actress and appear on TV so that everyone can see me. I have been her stand-in for seven years. In the past seven years, I have stayed with her for this promise!"
"What happened next?" asked Lame Brother.
Lan Zheng sneered, "Later? Then it became like this. You all saw it. When we were filming A Little Red in the Rivers and Lakes, there was a cliff jumping scene. She refused to do it herself, so I jumped for her and broke my right arm. I stayed in the hospital for a month. Although I recovered later, the doctor said that my right arm is not very flexible and I'm afraid it will never recover."
"I have been in the hospital for a month. During this month, He Xianxian and her agent ignored me and didn't even look at me. I sent them many messages and called them many times, but they all ignored me. I just want to get my medical expenses back. I spent a total of 50,000 yuan during my hospitalization. I didn't ask for any additional compensation. I just want 50,000 yuan!"
Everyone looked at the agent with contempt. Lame Brother said angrily: "You are too shameless, aren't you? Celebrities can earn millions a day, and 50,000 yuan is just a drop in the bucket for you. But you are reluctant to pay even this little money, and you even want others to advance the medical expenses? People are injured because of you!"
The agent said unnaturally: "Well, she is talking nonsense. We intend to compensate her, but the financial department's process is slow."
Lan Zheng collapsed and yelled, "That's not the case. You just think I'm useless and want to abandon me! I wanted to go to the studio to see He Xianxian, but the security guard stopped me and wouldn't let me in. I had to disguise myself as the building's cleaning lady to get in. I walked to the door of He Xianxian's office and was about to push it open when I heard a conversation inside."
The agent was a little nervous: "What did you hear?"
Lan Zheng glared at her agent with hatred and said word by word: "I heard how you talked about me behind my back!"
Lan Zheng recounted what happened at that time. She walked to the office door and heard He Xianxian's laughter. He Xianxian smiled and said to her agent:
"You picked a really good promotion. My new drama has become a hot topic before it even airs, and all the comments are praising me!"
The agent said tactfully, "Of course. I've been in the industry for so many years, and I can tell at a glance that 'A Little Red in the Rivers and Lakes' is a good show, with good characters and a good plot. Don't worry, you will have a large number of fans after the show is over. I advised you to take this show, but you refused. Now you know!"
Xianxian He said to her agent coquettishly, "Oh, I saw that there were too many action scenes in this movie. You know, when shooting a martial arts movie like this, you get injured all the time, and I don't want to get injured!"
The agent looked at He Xianxian lovingly and said, "You, why are you saying such foolish things? You know very well that a big star like you won't be allowed to act in truly dangerous scenes. There will definitely be a double to shoot for you. The many doubles I picked for you are not just for show."
Speaking of stand-ins, He Xianxian seemed to remember something: "Oh, by the way, that Lan Zheng has been sending me messages lately, which is really annoying me. Do you think she will cause any trouble if I ignore her?"
The manager patted He Xianxian on the head and said, "Don't worry. How could that happen? She's just a small extra. Even if she posts it on Weibo, no one will watch it. Besides, her fans will help us attack her. If she dares to sue you, I will send the best lawyer to specifically delay her. If she doesn't go to court for three to five years, she will give up sooner or later."
He Xianxian breathed a sigh of relief, and then said coquettishly, "Actually, fifty thousand yuan is nothing, but I just don't want to give it to her. Who told her to be so arrogant? She always told me that she wanted to be an actress and wanted a chance to show her face. Did she really think I would let her act in a TV series? Stupid, I was just coaxing her. She and I look so much alike, if I let her act in a TV series, wouldn't that mean she would steal my job? No way!"
The agent also laughed at her, "She is just dreaming. She is destined to be a maid, but she dreams of being a master every day. A small extra like her, with no background and no capital, can never be your double for ten years, let alone a hundred years. She won't get the chance to play the leading role! And now her arm is broken. Who would choose a disabled person as the leading actress? What a joke!"
Two people were laughing in the room. Lan Zheng, who was outside the door, dug her nails deeply into her palms. She swore that she must avenge this!
"It was then that I realized that she never intended for me to be the leading actor. You all just used me as a human shield. Seven years of my life were wasted by you. Seven years, I was a fool for seven years!" Lan Zheng roared and complained to her agent.
After listening to Lan Zheng's story, everyone was shocked. Lame Brother whispered, "Although I have always heard that the entertainment industry is cruel, I didn't expect it to be so... Sister, I sympathize with your experience, and I believe that this agent can say such things, but are you sure that the other person in the room is He Xianxian? Could it be a mistake?"
Wu Leying also asked: "Did you have a recording at the time? Or do you have other evidence? I really can't believe that He Xianxian is such a person. She is really a gentle little angel. I became her fan in the first place because of her personality."
Both of them were long-time fans of He Xianxian. They were unable to face the collapse of their idol's image for a moment. Lan Zheng looked at them and laughed sarcastically:
"Gentle little angel? What a joke. It would be better if you just removed the first four words! What she usually shows in front of the camera is just a character setting, which was designed for her a long time ago. As for her private face, if you have seen it, I'm afraid you would just want to scold her."
The agent didn't say anything, tacitly acknowledging that what Lan Zheng said was true. Things had come to this point, and she was only concerned about He Xianxian's safety and had no time to care about maintaining her business image.
Lame Brother asked tentatively: "Then...what is He Xianxian's true personality like?"
Lan Zheng looked at the two fans with pity. "Oh, personality? Let me put it this way. She has a nickname in the industry called 'evil old witch'. All the staff know that she is moody and unpredictable. She doesn't treat the staff as human beings. She throws things when she is not happy. There have been several times when she threw things at the staff. Don't you want evidence? Let me put it this way. I don't have a recording. You can go and watch the video of He Xianxian's fan meeting two years ago. It was obviously summer, but her personal assistant was wearing long sleeves. Do you know why? Because He Xianxian just lost her temper the day before and threw a cigarette butt at the assistant, burning her arm!"
Lame Brother and Hu Le Ying immediately went to look for the video and found that the situation at the scene was exactly the same as Lan Zheng said. Moreover, this assistant often wore long sleeves and long pants in summer, and it seemed that he was injured many times.
Hu Leying still didn't want to believe it, she found an excuse for her idol: "What if the assistant just wanted to wear long sleeves? This doesn't mean anything. If it's true as you said, the staff around He Xianxian are so miserable, then why don't they resign?"
Lan Zheng looked at Hu Leying as if she were an alien. "Because they need money, they need that salary, so they can only endure it. It's not easy to survive in Beijing. Will it be better if you change your boss? Bosses are generally bad. How can you not understand this? Have you never worked before?"
Hu Leying nodded weakly: "...I'm sorry, I really don't have it."
Lame Brother still couldn't help but lament: "If you are dissatisfied with her, you can vent it in other ways. You can post a Weibo to expose her evil deeds. Why do you have to use such an extreme method? It will completely ruin your own future!"
Lan Zheng sneered again: "I posted it, but what's the point? Less than two minutes after it was posted, He Xianxian reported it and deleted it with her ID card. It also attracted a lot of her crazy fans to scold me. I am an ordinary person like an ant on the Internet. Who would care about me? Apart from doing it myself, how else can I get revenge?"
Everyone was silent and no one could speak. Lame Brother secretly looked at the phone in his pocket. The screen was still on and the live broadcast was still going on. Lan Zheng's words triggered heated discussions in the barrage.
[How pitiful! After all, she is just a worker who is driven crazy.]
[Why is the environment in the entertainment industry so distorted? It’s just like slaves and slave owners! 】
[It turns out that behind the high salaries of celebrities is huge inequality. I really hope someone can take care of these celebrities...]
[Everyone, please don't listen to her nonsense. So far, it's just her one-sided words. She didn't produce any recordings at all. Please don't follow the trend to smear our Xianxian. Xianxian is not that kind of person! 】
[As mentioned above, it is brainless fans like you who force others to be unable to speak out on the Internet platform. How can her one mouth be compared with thousands of mouths of you? 】
[I thought of Qin Yujun who came before. We were both hardworking action actors. She made it big, but today this girl has embarked on the road of crime. Alas, same person with different fates! 】
[In a place like the entertainment industry, people climb to the top by stepping on the bones of their peers. How can it be so easy to make a name for yourself? Behind every successful actor, there are countless invisible sacrifices of young actors.
Lan Zheng's voice became hoarse after talking so much. While she was calming down, her manager stepped forward and said, "Okay, you've vented enough. It's time to talk about something serious. How did you kidnap He Xianxian? Did you have any help?"
Lan Zheng shook her head: "I did everything by myself from beginning to end, without any help."
The manager looked at Lan Zheng suspiciously: "You? You're a woman with a broken arm. How can you kidnap He Xianxian?"
Lan Zheng smiled and shook her head: "It seems that you really haven't taken me seriously these years. If you had taken me seriously, you would have known that I am actually very strong. I have been a stuntman for so many years, and I have worked hard and done everything. I have already built up a body of muscles."
The agent asked: "Did you enter the public toilet and kidnap He Xianxian? Why didn't she run away?"
Lan Zheng: "You are a well-informed agent, but you asked such an idiotic question. Of course I went into the public restroom and took her away. You should know that she sent her bodyguards away to buy sanitary napkins, which means she was on her period. Her pants were half taken off and her lower body was bleeding. How could she run?"
The agent frowned and asked again: "Then how did you take her away? Wouldn't she struggle and scream?"
Lan Zheng: "I used drugs. I sprayed them on a piece of cloth in advance. After entering the bathroom, I covered her mouth and nose with the cloth. She fainted quickly without making any sound."
The agent asked the most puzzling question: "How did you take her away? Although the place is remote, there are still many residents in the town. You carried a woman away in broad daylight. Didn't anyone see it?"
Lan Zheng sneered, "Do you think I'm as stupid as you? I've already said that I once pretended to be a cleaning lady to enter a building. I can use this trick once, and of course I can use it a second time. I dressed up as a cleaning staff member who cleans the public toilets, pushed a large cleaning cart, and after bewitching He Xianxian, I stuffed her into the cleaning cart and pushed it out openly. No one doubted me along the way. Doesn't this mean that my acting skills are pretty good?"
Lan Zheng smiled sadly, and everyone felt sorry for her again. This girl with great acting skills completed her revenge by destroying herself along with the enemy.
The agent asked one last question: "Have you been lurking near that public toilet? How could you have known that He Xianxian would go to that toilet, and how did you know that she would send her bodyguards away?"
Lan Zheng: "I've been with her for several years, how could I not know her living habits? She cares most about her image. Even when filming outdoors, she must go to the nearest toilet. After all, if a popular female star is photographed urinating and defecating outdoors, it would be terrible."
"The filming schedule for 'A Little Red in the Rivers and Lakes' was already set. I knew she would go to the mountain in the next few days, so I followed her there secretly. I recognized her backpack, which contained her daily necessities. While everyone else was filming, I secretly opened the backpack and stole the sanitary napkins inside. This way, when she went down the mountain to use the toilet, she would find that her sanitary napkins were missing, and she would have to send her bodyguard to buy them. In this way, she would be left alone, and I could take action."
Hu Leying couldn't help but sighed, "Oh my god, you know her so well. It's ok to know her schedule, but you even remember her menstrual period?"
Lan Zheng yelled like crazy: "Of course I remember! Do you know why I remember it? Because two years ago when we were filming a water-falling scene, she said she was on her period and couldn't go into the water, so she asked me to do it for her. We reshot that scene dozens of times, and I soaked in the water for several hours. It was winter! The whole pool of ice water had frozen me unconscious. Did anyone consider me? I was also on my period!"
"That was a pond the crew found in the wild. The water was unclean, and it happened to be my period. Not only was I frozen, but I was also infected. I was sick for a long time afterwards. This filming affected my health. I can no longer have children, do you know that?!"
Lan Zheng stared at her agent, her eyes turning blood red with anger: "You don't know, and even if you knew, you wouldn't care. No matter what happens to me, it won't affect you sitting in the house counting money. Anyway, people like me are worthless to you!"
The agent, contrary to his usual behavior, did not argue with Lan Zheng. Instead, he said in a pleading tone, "Okay, okay, it's all our fault. If you want compensation, we're willing to give it to you. You asked for five million, and I've already put the money at the place you specified. All you have to do is take the money and release the person. That way, we'll all be happy. Why don't you take the money, but kill someone instead?"
Now that He Xianxian is in Lan Zheng's hands, the only thing the agent cares about is He Xianxian. After all, He Xianxian is her cash cow. If this cash tree falls, she will also suffer heavy losses. So she decided to change her strategy. She first calmed Lan Zheng's emotions and then inquire about He Xianxian's news from the side. Now the question the agent wants to know most is - is He Xianxian dead?
Hearing what her agent said, Lan Zheng excitedly retorted: "No, I just kidnapped her, I didn't kill anyone!"
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