Chapter 71 Clarification Statement: A Desperate Counterattack
"They were the ones who orchestrated what happened with Ye Jingyu last night. How dare they ask others to clarify things for them now?"
Even the notoriously stingy system couldn't help but complain, and the people at Zhou Qixue Studio still have that arrogant attitude that's really disgusting.
Shi Yao raised an eyebrow: "Yeah, who knows?"
This week, the people at Qi Xue Studio either didn't understand the situation or simply didn't care what Ye Jingyu thought. Shi Yao could also see that the best solution for Zhou Qi Xue's side right now was to bring in Ye Jingyu as a savior, but this approach would be detrimental to Ye Jingyu in every way, unless they were crazy to agree to it.
She had been wondering when Zhou Qixue's people would finally swallow their pride and ask for help, since the paparazzi's path was blocked and they had no other choice. And how should they approach Ye Jingyu for help, especially since they had just tricked her last night?
Who would have thought that they didn't bother with any methods or tricks at all, but went straight to the point, openly using threats and inducements. Shi Yao couldn't help but admire the shamelessness of the other party.
Yesterday they betrayed you, and today they can come to you for help as if nothing happened. Shi Yao even suspected that the people at Zhou Qixue's studio probably thought Ye Jingyu didn't know that they were behind last night's trending topic. Otherwise, how could they be so natural and nonchalant?
If someone knows this and still chooses to do it, then they've truly reached a certain level of shamelessness.
At a time like this, it's already quite kind of them not to get involved in pouring the oil, yet they still have the nerve to ask others for help.
Shi Yao almost rolled her eyes, but she suppressed the urge to complain and sent a message back to Ye Jingyu.
[Shi Yao: Ignore him, let them post whatever they want, just pretend you don't see it. If you find it annoying, you can just undo the notifications.]
Ye Jingyu: Okay... but is this really okay? They have my phone number and address. What if they come looking for me directly?
[Shi Yao: In this era of the rule of law, what are you afraid of? Besides, they have a lot more trouble ahead of them. This is just the beginning. Don't worry, it won't be long before they're no longer in the mood to bother you.]
Ye Jingyu: Huh? Is there more?
Shi Yao put away her phone, casually refreshed the trending topics list on her computer, and enjoyed watching the current situation for a while. Then she took out her phone and took a picture.
It occupies all ten of the top ten spots, it's incredibly popular. If this were a positive case study from a marketing company, it would already be featured in their annual review.
The Zhou Qixue incident, due to its explosive content, numerous involved figures, and stark contrasts, coupled with the fact that he is the male lead in a currently popular TV series, instantly attracted countless onlookers. Netizens love gossip, especially such exciting stories that offer a wealth of solid evidence. At this point, even if Zhou Qixue's studio wanted to remove the trending topic, they couldn't, as the natural popularity was enough to push the topic back up.
From the initial announcement to the official revelation, and now to the initial fermentation of the situation, only three hours have passed, and Zhou Qixue's official account has not yet made any public statement. All accounts are deathly silent, leaving only fans devastated in the comments.
Shi Yao guessed that the people from Zhou Qixue's studio had just contacted the paparazzi, but they definitely wouldn't get the answer they wanted, otherwise they wouldn't have gone to Ye Jingyu again.
Ye Jingyu is also refusing to cooperate with the clarification, and she is very curious about what measures Zhou Qixue's studio will take next.
After all, from anyone's perspective now, Zhou Qixue's situation is undoubtedly hopeless.
...
After sending the WeChat message, Xu Yong waited for a reply, but after five minutes, then ten minutes, and finally half an hour, he still hadn't received a response.
He was somewhat puzzled. Had everyone at Ye Jingyu's studio taken a vacation? Why were they replying to messages so slowly?
But that shouldn't be the case either. As a professional agent, you have to ensure that your phone is always reachable, whether it's during work or on vacation. When an artist has an emergency, it doesn't matter if it's the weekend or at the studio. If you miss the best opportunity to resolve the issue, that would be a serious dereliction of duty.
An artist's future is of paramount importance. After a negative news incident like a building collapse, the artist might be sidelined for a period of time, but the negligent staff around them will be fired directly. After all, artists have a certain irreplaceable value, which ordinary workers do not.
Xu Yong glanced at the screen again. Thirty-five minutes had passed, and there was still no response from the other side. He was starting to get restless.
Previously, when he dealt with people from Ye Jingyu's studio, he always had his assistant handle it. The other party was always very respectful and always available whenever he was called upon, responding instantly at any time. But today, at such a crucial moment, the person was nowhere to be found. Xu Yong couldn't help but suspect that the other party was treating him differently based on his status.
Do they think they've lost power and can be dealt with casually now?
Xu Yong sneered inwardly, his goodwill towards Ye Jingyu's studio decreasing even further. If it weren't for the special nature of this matter and the paparazzi's stubborn refusal to cooperate, he wouldn't have bothered to come and discuss cooperation. He had spoken so politely and courteously, yet the paparazzi dared to act arrogantly and deliberately ignore him. It seemed he couldn't afford to be too accommodating.
Xu Yong had never considered the possibility of being rejected. Ye Jingyu's studio had been keeping quiet for so long, and he assumed that they were just putting on airs to make it easier to negotiate more benefits later.
After all, he offered such generous terms. The barriers between the TV drama industry and the film industry are exceptionally deep. Many people thrive in the TV drama industry but frequently run into obstacles in the film industry because the connections between the two are not interconnected. Only a minority of people can have connections in both industries at the same time, and he is one of them.
In the film and television industry, film comes first and television comes second. When someone makes a lot of TV series and achieves success, they are said to have ascended to a higher level when they go on to make movies. However, when someone with a high status in the film industry returns to make TV series, they are said to have descended to the mortal realm. The difference between these terms is enough to show the order of importance between the two.
Becoming famous in the TV drama industry isn't difficult. As long as you have a good script and plenty of marketing, you can at least become a minor celebrity. If you act in a few more dramas and cooperate with a few more marketing packages, that's how a new star is created.
But the film industry is different. You have to buy a ticket to watch a movie, which requires real money. It's very different from the TV drama industry where ordinary people watch movies. A movie can be heavily marketed in terms of word-of-mouth and reviews, but if that doesn't translate into box office success and awards, then it's a failure.
Many rising stars in the TV drama industry are desperate to break into the film industry. Why? It's all about the "prestige" of the word. Saying "film star" seems to carry an aura of prestige. Next is TV dramas broadcast on satellite channels, and lastly, web dramas. However, in recent years, as TV broadcasts have become increasingly less popular, the distinction between web dramas and TV dramas has become increasingly blurred.
Xu Yong's reason for knowing that Ye Jingyu wanted to audition for a movie was by chance. Coincidentally, he knew the director of that movie and they happened to be on good terms. When he sent the message, he promised to arrange an audition for Ye Jingyu, but that was actually a conservative estimate. In reality, as long as Ye Jingyu's requested role wasn't too high-ranking, he could directly put her into the cast.
However, such benefits cannot be given away right away, otherwise they will not be appreciated. Xu Yong originally planned that since he had mentioned such great benefits, Ye Jingyu would definitely come up to him eagerly for cooperation. He would then pressure the other party to negotiate properly and negotiate the terms to be completely favorable to Zhou Qixue's side before offering them this pie.
After all, although he was Zhou Qixue's agent, he had to admit that Zhou Qixue was in the wrong. Ye Jingyu would definitely be implicated if she came to help, so he had to give her some benefits to make her feel at ease helping him.
This opportunity to join the team is the perfect perk. If we make our own demands, the other side will definitely be dissatisfied. Then, we can offer to let Ye Jingyu join the team directly, and we'll definitely be able to win them over in one fell swoop.
Xu Yong had high hopes, but the other party simply wouldn't respond. After waiting forty minutes without a reply, he angrily dialed the number directly, only to be surprised to hear a mechanical voice on the other end: "Sorry, the user you dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later."
The inability to answer calls after the update actually means being blocked. Xu Yong knew this. His face was full of disbelief, as if he couldn't believe that the other party had blocked him directly. He then switched to WeChat voice, but the call failed to connect.
With trembling hands, he tried to type a question mark and send it. A large red exclamation mark on the screen stung his eyes, telling him, "You have been blocked."
Xu Yong stood there stunned for a long time, almost laughing out loud in anger at the person opposite him.
It turns out that people can feel like laughing when they're extremely speechless.
Blocked?? How dare Ye Jingyu!
After a brief moment of absurd laughter, Xu Yong felt mostly angry. In his opinion, Ye Jingyu was inferior to them in every aspect. Cooperating with them to create a CP was a win for Ye Jingyu. He had been dissatisfied with Ye Jingyu's long-standing reluctance to actively engage with them, but he had not directly pointed it out because Ye Jingyu's approach was beneficial for them to purify and attract solo fans.
Last night, everything was going very well, and it seemed that the purification battle was about to be won. He watched as Ye Jingyu Studio's account went online and offline several times, but in the end, it didn't post anything. He wondered when the other party would come back and beg for mercy.
Who would have thought that instead of the other side begging for mercy, he begged for mercy first, and the other side refused to accept it.
This Ye Jingyu Studio really thinks they're something special. If they weren't the only suitable partners right now, he wouldn't be patiently waiting for a reply. But the other side is shameless enough to take advantage of him. They really think they'll never amount to anything.
Xu Yong has been a prominent figure in the entertainment industry for many years. Apart from the difficult early days, he has always been supported by others in recent years. It is rare for him to experience this feeling of having to be subservient to others, and he feels very uncomfortable.
If he could, he really wanted to send the team from last night out again right now, to let Ye Jingyu experience the feeling of being overwhelmed and let them know that not everyone can be controlled.
But Zhou Qixue's matter is urgent, and he can't spare the time. Moreover, they are already suspected of being the masterminds behind Ye Jingyu's trending topic incident. Pushing Ye Jingyu up at this juncture would be tantamount to directly confirming other people's suspicions.
Xu Yong couldn't swallow this insult, but he couldn't think of a better solution. At this moment, he was being looked down upon by the small artist's studio that he had always despised, and he had no way to retaliate.
He thought about it for a while, feeling frustrated, but finally he obediently picked up another phone, entered Ye Jingyu's agent's number, and pressed the call button.
That's right, he still had to contact the other side and get Ye Jingyu to help them issue a statement to clarify things, because there was no one more suitable than her.
The number wasn't blocked, and it was answered quickly after dialing. A crisp and concise middle-aged woman's voice came through the receiver: "Hello, what's up?"
Xu Yong suddenly tensed up for no apparent reason. He cleared his throat silently and then said, "Hey, Xiao Liao, this is your brother Xu Yong. Is it convenient for you to take this call?"
After a long silence, the person on the other end said, "Mr. Xu, hello, what can I do for you?"
Xu Yong was stung by the feignedly cold and distant tone on the other end of the line, and he started cursing inwardly again, but he couldn't show it on his face. He still smiled and said, "I just sent you a message from another account, but you didn't reply. I called you, but it showed that you couldn't answer. Then I checked WeChat and I found that I had blocked you. Did something happen? Did you see the message I sent you before? Xiao Ye wants to join Director Chen's team, right? I can help you..."
"Xu Yong." Liao Xin abruptly interrupted Xu Yong, who was about to launch into a long, paternalistic tirade, and said bluntly, "I don't think we have anything to talk about. You know perfectly well what you did to us, and I've already been very lenient by not holding you accountable. As for blocking you, you know you've blocked me, so why did you call back from a different number? What reason could there be for blocking you? It's simply that I don't want to deal with you anymore. You've been out in the world for so many years, and you can't even understand this basic social etiquette?"
"You don't need to worry about Xiaoye's career. She can get into which group through her own efforts. She doesn't need anyone's charity. Besides, who can get anything good from you? They all have to put in more effort to get even a little bit of compensation."
"You say you're going to help Xiao Ye, but why should you? Are you suddenly feeling kind? So you just want Xiao Ye to help you clear things up, huh? Xu Yong, why don't you look in the mirror and see what kind of face you have? How dare you say such things? Who did what Xiao Ye did last night? Do you dare to admit it? You're scheming behind her back and you don't even change the marketing account matrix you usually work with. Did you not notice or do you not care?"
"You just messed with Xiao Ye last night, and now you have the nerve to ask her for help? What makes you think you can? Because of your disgusting face?"
"This matter concerning Zhou Qixue has nothing to do with us. We only found out about it from the trending topics. We haven't made any comments on this matter, and we won't in the future. I think as your agent, you must understand the logic behind this, right? Asking Xiao Ye, a single female artist in the prime of her career, to clarify things for a male artist whose scandal has been confirmed, are you trying to save Zhou Qixue or ruin Xiao Ye?"
“We have kept records of all the tricks you played during the cooperation. We have already been more than generous by not kicking you when you are down. If you continue to harass us, I don’t mind adding more evidence for you.”
Liao Xin fired off a barrage of words like a machine gun, leaving Xu Yong with lines on his brow and his face alternating between pale and flushed, but he was unable to refute her.
Every word the other party said was true; he knew he was in the wrong and naturally couldn't argue.
He just didn't understand. The other party's studio had been so timid and submissive when they were dealing with them before, but today they were acting like they were on fire. Liao Xin seemed to have been possessed, and her sharp tongue was so grating that it was unpleasant to hear.
Xu Yong had always thought that everyone in Ye Jingyu's company was a pushover. Whether it was during the audition before joining the crew, during the makeup test and filming after joining the crew, or when they discussed cooperation after the broadcast, they all looked weak and submissive. They never showed such a powerful fighting spirit as they do today.
Was everything before just an act? That shouldn't be the case. If the entire company could cooperate in acting for so long, that would be terrifying. Does this company want its entire staff to be Oscar-winning actors?
In a flash, Xu Yong suddenly realized the reason for the sudden change in the other party's attitude. Someone must have said something to them beforehand, such as badmouthing Zhou Qixue's team, which caused their attitude to make a 180-degree turn.
After all, even if we weren't exactly respectful before, we were at least cooperative. How could it be like today, with barbs everywhere, as if someone had possessed me?
Xu Yong suspected that the person who was speaking ill of him was very likely that damned paparazzi. He still remembered the smug attitude the paparazzi had when they were talking to him, and he was holding a grudge.
No wonder such a small paparazzo dared to speak so arrogantly, rejecting his conditions without even listening to them; it turns out he had already brought in reinforcements.
Xu Yong sneered. He would never give in so easily. Although he hadn't figured out the paparazzi's true identity yet, the other party had clearly angered him. Once this matter was over, he would not hesitate to take action against that person.
As for now, it's more important to protect an ally first, rather than becoming completely isolated and helpless.
"Xiao Liao, don't be so anxious. Tell me slowly. Did someone say something to you? Why are you suddenly so upset with us? Don't you know what kind of person Brother Xu is? What did he fail to do in keeping his promise to you? Xiao Ye is on the rise, and every step from here on out is crucial. If you want to move forward steadily, you'll need some connections to help you. You're a smart person, don't be so easily swayed by the instigation of some lowlifes. Why don't we work together to get through this hurdle first?"
There was a long silence on the other end, seemingly speechless at Xu Yong's astonishing shamelessness, or perhaps Xu Yong was just too untrustworthy. How could he still put on airs even when things were so dire, completely oblivious to who was in a vulnerable position at this moment?
Moreover, his explicit rejections and even blatant sarcasm were so thoroughly ignored that it's hard to tell whether to call him thick-skinned or naive.
Liao Xin sighed into the receiver, then said in a cold, inorganic voice, "Xu Yong, I think you should get your head checked. How come you can't even understand human speech anymore?"
"I'll say it again, and this is the last time: Xiao Ye doesn't need anyone's charity, especially those who claim to be good to her but actually just want to take advantage of her. Get as far away from trouble as possible. Instead of worrying about Xiao Ye's future, you should worry about your own artist. After all, Xiao Ye's future is uncertain, but your artist seems to be completely finished. Also, don't make any more phone calls."
Xu Yong stared blankly at the now-black phone screen for a long time before finally letting out a strange smile.
This Liao Xin is really bold, daring to treat him like this. He's already been so humble, yet she still doesn't appreciate his kindness.
In a fit of rage, Xu Yong threw his phone, accidentally shattering a vase in the corner of the room. The porcelain shattered with a deafening crash, and shards scattered everywhere.
The assistant knocked on the door and came in, looking flustered. Seeing Xu Yong standing in the room with his chest heaving, he asked tremblingly, "...Mr. Xu, what's wrong?"
Xu Yong was still angry, but he was too embarrassed to tell his subordinates that his negotiation had failed, so he could only wave his hand and say that he was fine.
The assistant naturally didn't believe that he was alright, but he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He simply went out and brought in a trash can and a broom to clean up the debris.
Xu Yong watched his assistant bustling around cleaning, using both a broom and a vacuum cleaner. The room was indeed very clean, but the clanging and banging only annoyed him more. So, as soon as the vacuum cleaner was turned off, he immediately kicked the assistant out.
The assistant readily agreed, but was stopped just as he was about to leave. Xu Yong sat in his boss's chair, his slightly overweight beer belly protruding, and tapped the table lightly with his right hand. His voice was cold and hard as he said, "Go and use the studio's account to issue a clarification statement saying that everything that happened this afternoon is fake, that it was malicious slander, that we are collecting evidence, and that we will sue that paparazzi. We hope that people who are just going through the motions will stop spreading false information, or we will pursue legal action."
The assistant was shocked. As a long-time employee of the studio, he knew very well that Zhou Qixue was really in a relationship. Xu Yong's anxiety just now seemed genuine. The entire studio was currently shut down, and everyone was in a state of anxiety with nothing to do. They were just waiting for Xu Yong to finish negotiating and make a decision. Who would have thought that this would be the way things were handled after the negotiation?
A clarification is necessary, but not now. The paparazzi on the other side has released a bunch of solid evidence, clearly showing faces. If they just issue a clarification statement so casually, netizens will definitely not believe it.
He was about to retort when Xu Yong glared at him fiercely, so he could only swallow his words, nod silently, and leave.
Back at his workstation, he told his colleagues about Xu Yong's request, which, as expected, drew a lot of opposition. But they had no choice but to comply. They spent half an hour drafting a carefully prepared clarification statement, and then reluctantly clicked send.
Hopefully, this isn't Xu Yong messing things up.
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