Chapter 73
When the news of Chen Zhi's layoff reached Hu Zhenzhen, it was already the next day.
"You got laid off so quickly?"
When Chen Kai heard her ask that, he smiled and answered.
"Yes, boss. After Xu Jie left, I heard that all the directors of the Yinli board of directors went to the company and held a meeting to criticize Chen Zhi for all the mistakes and oversights over the years."
"I heard that Chen Zhi got into an argument with someone on the spot, and the noise from the meeting room was so loud that the other employees guarding outside were terrified."
Hu Zhenzhen raised her eyebrows. "That's amazing."
"It caused quite a commotion; I heard even the flowerpots inside were smashed, and the scene was a complete mess."
Hu Zhenzhen wasn't surprised that Chen Zhi would do such a thing.
The fact that she was able to commit adultery in the shadows of the world of fame and fortune shows that she didn't care much about social norms.
Chen Kai not only gave a verbal account, but also showed Hu Zhenzhen photos.
I don't know where he got these photos from, but they captured Yinli's miserable situation so clearly.
"I heard that Mr. Chen was carried out by security guards in the end, and he couldn't even take his things from the office."
“The paparazzi who were staking out the sound grain got the photos, and Mr. Chen spent a lot of money to buy them back.”
Only after he said that did Hu Zhenzhen realize where the photos came from.
"Who is the new president of Yinli?"
"I heard that he was directly selected by the board of directors. I think his surname is Zhang, but I don't know anything else."
This matter has not been officially announced yet, and there is not much information available about the new president.
Hu Zhenzhen only hoped that this person could be honest and not like Chen Zhi, who only knew how to use underhanded tricks behind people's backs.
Yinli wanted to keep Xu Jie's departure a secret.
After all, the new album has just been released, and this is a time when Xu Jie is really making money for the company. If this news gets out now, it will definitely affect the fans' enthusiasm for buying the album.
Many people buy several copies of the album.
I'll give the digital album to a friend and keep the physical album for my own collection.
In short, we must always strive to achieve our idol's goals.
Xu Jie's album this time isn't exactly high quality, but it's definitely above average.
Logically speaking, with Xu Jie's fan base, he should have been able to make the album's title track dominate the charts.
He himself was not satisfied with the title track of the album, but the company's head was. After Xu Jie finished recording, he found out that they had already decided to use it as the theme song.
He has never been involved in management and has very little say, but in music matters, the company does listen to his advice.
Xu Jie always thought that the company wouldn't ruin the music, at least he could make his own decisions about the album, but this incident proved that he was overthinking it.
In order to make money and release a new album as soon as possible, they decided on this plan regardless of whether the singers were satisfied with the title track.
After this incident, Xu Jie began to consider leaving home.
Ultimately, it wasn't just President Chen Zhi who drove him away, but the entire management team that didn't respect him.
After leaving the private room where he met Hu Zhenzhen, Xu Jie took a rare stroll around the city streets.
There was no official announcement of his arrival in S City, and Xu Jie didn't make any special disguises, only wearing a simple mask as he strolled casually through the streets.
Strolling around is a daily routine for ordinary people, but it's a rare luxury for celebrities. No one recognized Xu Jie, and he relaxed as he walked through the crowd.
At times like these, the passion for creation is exceptionally high.
With the added relief of finally leaving that awful place called Yinli, Xu Jie felt indescribably happy.
Standing in the city center, his inspiration suddenly struck. He took out a pen and paper from his pocket, found a wall at random, and wrote down what he had just thought of.
About two minutes later, Xu Jie finished writing everything and felt even more relieved.
He hadn't felt this exhilarating composing feeling in a long time. Now that he had grasped the inspiration, he felt as if his meridians had been opened, and he felt indescribably light and carefree.
Looking up, I saw a giant robot that was a landmark of Wanfu Shopping Mall.
Xu Jie smiled, "Such a big robot."
He rarely took a selfie, so he turned the camera around and took a picture of himself and the robot together.
A few minutes later, fans who were still promoting their idol suddenly discovered that their idol, who rarely spoke more than two words a year, had posted a Weibo post.
This is like the sun rising in the west.
A group of people quickly switched to Weibo.
Am I seeing things? Brother Xu actually posted on Weibo!
Does anyone know? I always thought Jay Chou had retired from the internet!!
Oh my god, I can't believe I'm seeing my husband post a selfie! What a surprise!
【Ahhhhhh it's a selfie!】
Xu Jie's Weibo account is often updated only once every few months, and sometimes it's even promotional content that his manager forces him to post.
Apart from that, he rarely posts anything about his personal life.
Posting a selfie out of the blue is a huge surprise for fans, isn't it?
[My husband is in such a good mood today! He actually went shopping! And even posted a selfie!]
When Guo Yan left this message, she didn't expect Xu Jie to reply.
She went through the super topic as usual, checked in and completed the tasks, before preparing to come back and take another look at the photo from earlier.
When Guo Yan switched to the background, she found that there were so many messages that her Weibo account was stuck. She had to restart it to access it normally.
Why are there so many messages all of a sudden?
Guo Yan was still wondering when she opened Weibo and found out that it was because Xu Jie had replied to her comment.
I'm in a great mood; I've finalized a deal with a new company.
The amount of information revealed in that short sentence was so great that Guo Yan was stunned for a few seconds before she realized what he meant.
At the new company, Brother Jie has finally been poached!
The moment she realized what was happening, the corners of her mouth automatically turned up.
Quite a few people shared his reaction. Guo Yan quickly browsed through the comments and found a few people wondering why Xu Jie was terminating his contract now, while the rest were fans celebrating with firecrackers.
He suddenly dropped such a bombshell, and marketing accounts sprang into action, rushing to the scene.
Not only on Weibo, but also on major platforms, the news of Xu Jie's contract termination spread rapidly, once again pushing Yinli into the spotlight.
The management of Yinli originally wanted to keep Xu Jie's contract termination a secret, thinking that the longer they kept it a secret, the more money they could make.
They even considered how to respond if word got out from the front lines of the martial arts world, since Xu Jie's contract hadn't officially ended yet, and having it in their hands was at least proof that the contract hadn't been terminated.
But no one expected that the person who broke the news would be Xu Jie, who was considered taciturn by everyone.
"What exactly is he trying to do? Does he really want to pay double the penalty for breach of contract?"
"I've heard about it. He just met with Mr. Hu, who's a big shot in the underworld. They've probably finished their negotiations. They're trying to catch us off guard."
In the conference room of Yinli, several directors were in a state of great distress.
The stock price of Yinli has been falling for a long time. If this continues, the company may really be on the decline.
"We need to think of a way to avoid this storm."
As soon as Chairman Bai spoke, everyone's attention was drawn to him: "Let's create some sensational news to suppress the news of Xu Jie's contract termination."
This is a common tactic used in the entertainment industry.
When disaster strikes, it's crucial to shift the blame and divert the public's attention with bigger news stories to protect yourself.
When faced with major events, many companies use this tactic: releasing sensational news they've gathered to divert the attention of the media and the public.
"But Mr. Bai, what exciting things have happened lately?"
When it comes to things within a circle, people within that circle definitely know more.
Secretly married and had a child, cheated on her husband and committed domestic violence, had an affair and slept with a fan.
Any one of these keywords, taken out individually, would be enough to trigger a breaking news story.
The key is who the protagonist of the news is, whether the public recognizes them, and whether they are famous.
If it were just some obscure celebrity, no matter how much you talked about it, very few people would care, and it wouldn't be enough to suppress Xu Jie's news.
Xu Jie has been popular for many years, his popularity among the people is undeniable, and he always receives a lot of attention.
Therefore, the other directors felt they couldn't find a suitable story to reveal.
"Could we suppress the fact that Li Tianwang is secretly married and has children by having someone leak it?"
"And Li Tianwang? He's been out of the spotlight for decades. His fans already know he's married. How many people would read a headline like 'Secret Marriage and Childbirth'?"
Chairman Bai bluntly rejected the man's suggestion.
"Think about it again."
After brainstorming together, the group actually came up with a promising news story.
"I heard that actress Su Xi was photographed kissing a man in a car. Later, her team bought the photos back. I wonder if the paparazzi had any copies."
When making a transaction, they always say they will never disclose such information.
In reality, human nature is unpredictable, and it's hard to say whether there's another photo like this in the world.
These guys were all seasoned veterans, and upon hearing this news, they immediately felt there was hope.
"Contact them and see if there are any photos that were missed, even just scraps would be enough."
With the matter settled, the newly crowned Best Actress Su Xi's romantic scandals became their main target.
The decision has been made, but there are still some details to consider in the specific implementation.
This is a secret to be kept, and we can't let Actress Su Xi find out, otherwise we'll incur hatred and create an enemy for Yinli.
According to Bai Dong's idea, it would be best to shift the blame to the front lines of the martial arts world and let Su Xi hate them.
"Old Liu, go contact the paparazzi and see what's going on."
Not long after Chairman Bai finished speaking, Chairman Liu returned from outside and gave him some good news.
"I made the call and had someone contact those paparazzi. You know what, this guy is shrewd. He deliberately took a side view photo that wasn't very clear, but it still showed the car model, and you could tell it was Su Xi's."
"Good," Bai Dong slapped the table, his brows relaxed.
"There's finally a solution to this problem."
"Give him some money, and remember to give him the money before the trending topic, and tell him to quickly buy the trending topic and make this matter more and more popular."
Mr. Liu nodded. "Don't worry, I've already given the instructions. We'll have news soon."
The group waited patiently in the conference room for a while.
Half an hour later, a trending topic suddenly appeared, successfully overshadowing Xu Jie's incident.
[Newly crowned Best Actress Su Xi was caught having a passionate rendezvous and kissing with a director in a car late at night.]
Su Xi just won an Oscar last month, becoming the Best Actress at the Jade Lotus Film Festival.
She was at the peak of her career, incredibly popular, and this news broke at that time, just as Bai Dong had predicted, immediately making her the top trending topic.
Several board members watched with beaming smiles in the conference room of Yinli.
"That's good, at least we've gotten the public's attention away. Now we need to think about how to get rid of this mess."
Chairman Bai breathed a sigh of relief and planned to continue discussing follow-up strategies with them.
The others, however, were somewhat relaxed and asked in bewilderment.
"Even if Su Xi knows that we did this, she can't do anything to us, so why bother?"
Bai Dong felt a headache coming on and couldn't help but rub his forehead.
"In the entertainment industry, who doesn't have connections? Haven't you asked around about who Su Xi relied on when she first entered the industry?"
Upon hearing this, the director knew that there was more to the story than met the eye.
He chuckled and said, "Alright, let's talk about how to shift the blame to someone else. This paparazzi isn't very shrewd. If Su Xike offers more money, he might just sell us out."
“That’s exactly what we’re guarding against,” Bai Dong said, giving him a meaningful look.
"Chairman Liu, when your people contacted the paparazzi, did they manage to identify which faction they belonged to?"
Chairman Liu, having seen his share of grand occasions, smiled and replied.
"Don't you trust me to handle things? The people I hire have absolutely no connection to our company. No matter who investigates, they won't be able to trace it back to Yinli."
A clean-cut outsider suddenly spending a huge sum of money to bribe paparazzi to leak information—anyone could see something fishy going on.
But when you actually investigate, you can't find anything.
This is exactly the effect that Chairman Bai wanted.
In this way, even if the attempt to shift the blame to Hu Zhenzhen fails, Yinli can remain uninvolved and quietly pretend to be a bystander.
"Well done," he said briefly, tapping his fingers twice on the table as he began to ponder how to drag Hu Zhenzhen into this farce.
This may sound difficult, but there are actually simple ways to do it.
Chairman Bai turned his head and whispered a few words to Chairman Liu.
Hu Zhenzhen promised to treat her subordinates to a team-building activity, so she simply gave everyone the afternoon off and chartered a paid bus to a nearby hot spring hotel.
"Boss, I heard that screenwriter Lei's new script has been written. Does that mean our company is going to start filming again?"
Hu Zhenzhen was lying down getting a shoulder and neck massage when her subordinate, who was cleaning her ears, asked her a question, and she slowly started thinking about work.
"Yes, let's wait another month. The script needs to be reviewed again."
She answered casually.
Although Jianghu Film and Television and Jianghu First Line are two companies, they work in the same building and have the same boss. In the minds of the employees, they are no different from the same company.
Everyone gets along very well, and employees can ask each other about work-related issues as long as they don't involve confidentiality.
Hu Zhenzhen had just finished answering her question and was relaxing when she heard a suppressed gasp.
"What's wrong?"
She lifted her head from the depression in the massage bed and turned to her subordinate on the next bed.
"Boss, there are rumors circulating on Weibo that the news of Su Xi passionately kissing a director was deliberately leaked by you to suppress the news that Xu Jie is about to move to the forefront of the entertainment industry."
" ha?"
Hu Zhenzhen's straightforward expression of doubt directly provided her subordinate with the answer.
She handed over her phone so that Hu Zhenzhen could see the comments under the Weibo post.
[Brothers, I just heard a rumor that this happened back in March. Do you know why it suddenly came out? It's to suppress news about Xu Jie. I heard Hu Zhenzhen is going to sign him, to prevent Yinli from increasing their offer price if they see Xu Jie trending on social media.]
At first glance, this statement seems to make a lot of sense.
Many people in the comments section were misled by his message and started discussing Hu Zhenzhen.
[Seriously? To save money by leaking other people's secrets and dragging female celebrities down with him? That's going too far!]
Is anyone in the industry here? Is this a real or fake story?
[I'm not in the industry, I haven't heard of this. Where did you hear about it from?]
Su Xi's fans were very decisive, unanimously launching a barrage of insults.
Many of Jie's fans also arrived and began asking if the matter was true or false.
The scene was chaotic, which annoyed Hu Zhenzhen.
Unfortunately, this rumor incorporates reality, blending in seven parts truth, making the remaining three parts falsehood difficult to explain.
It's true that Xu Jie is going to sign with Jianghu Yixian.
But now that things are just starting out and nothing is fully settled, where did this false news come from?
Hu Zhenzhen went back to the main trending topics page, scrolled down, and saw the Weibo post by Xu Jie, and then she understood.
After much back and forth, her conflict with Yinli Company seems irreconcilable.
She handed the phone back to her young subordinate, saying, "I roughly understand what's going on. You guys keep playing, I'll be leaving now."
The incident happened so suddenly that Hu Zhenzhen lost all interest in playing.
She quickly changed her clothes, called Chen Kai, and asked someone to pick her up and take her back to the company.
On the bus, Hu Zhenzhen began preparing her counterattack.
She obtained Su Xi's contact information from someone, intending to explain the matter to her directly before dealing with the trap set by Yinli.
But as soon as she added him on WeChat, Su Xi replied on Weibo.
Hu Zhenzhen quickly accessed Weibo, glanced at her reply, and felt a heavy weight in her heart.
What Su Xi said was very simple.
"This isn't my boyfriend, this is assault, this is sexual harassment."
The opening sentence alone left many people on Weibo who were watching the drama speechless with astonishment.
It is already incredibly unbelievable in the public eye for a female celebrity with tens of millions of fans to open up about her wounds and talk about this matter.
Moreover, this incident also involves the sensitive issue of workplace sexual harassment.
Weibo exploded.
The server couldn't handle the large number of visitors, resulting in a blank screen and leaving countless netizens who rushed to see what was happening scratching their heads in frustration.
Hu Zhenzhen suddenly didn't know how to start the conversation.
She paused on the phone screen, unable to find the words to express herself.
Su Xi, on the other end, took the initiative to send a message.
Is this Mr. Hu?
【Yes】
Hu Zhenzhen replied with a brief explanation of the cause and effect of the matter.
I believe this is not your usual style. After all, we have never had any enmity, and given your usual behavior, you shouldn't be targeting someone you've never met.
Clearly, Su Xi had done some research on Hu Zhenzhen before speaking to her.
It was precisely because I had learned about it that I believed Hu Zhenzhen's explanation.
Given that Hu Zhenzhen was so wealthy, and was a female boss she had never met, Su Xi really couldn't understand why she would do such a thing.
However, if we apply this to the company, SoundParticles, the situation becomes much more reasonable.
Su Xi recalled the information she had just gotten from the paparazzi.
Whenever she asks for photos, the paparazzi steer the conversation toward Hu Zhenzhen.
She initially thought the paparazzi wanted to make money from both sides, and that she would have to pay them another fee to find out who bought her information to get her trending on social media.
After exchanging a few words, Su Xi sensed something was wrong.
If you want to get money from her, it shouldn't be this simple; you should let her guess who the real culprit is.
If you reverse your thinking, it's not hard to conclude that there's another culprit behind this.
Su Xi hadn't offended any entertainment companies or anyone recently, so she didn't immediately connect it to Yinli.
After Hu Zhenzhen told her about the incident where Yinli tried to steal her away, she realized that she was just an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.
【I understand, Mr. Hu. There's no need to apologize; this wasn't your fault.】
After turning off her phone, Susie stared at the messages on her computer, her mind a jumble of emotions.
It's been a long time since this happened.
She thought she would keep this matter buried in her heart forever, but the paparazzi suddenly broke the news, forcing her to tell the truth.
Su Xi sighed, but her heart was unusually calm.
Things kept inside are always painful; once you truly express them, your heart finds release and relief.
There were many people supporting her in the comments section, and quite a few people condemning the director, but what touched Su Xi the most were those who were encouraged by her actions and also chose to expose the truth.
Justice buried deep inside can never be proclaimed.
Speaking the truth gives a 50% chance that those madmen will be punished.
On the other end of the phone screen, Hu Zhenzhen also saw these brave people.
The company's clarification statement has already been released, but Hu Zhenzhen herself still wants to do something to help them.
"Chen Kai, how much money do you think it would cost to open a law firm?"
Chen Kai didn't have much experience with lawyers and couldn't give an answer right away. He tactfully advised, "Boss, a law firm needs professional lawyers to be established, and you don't seem to meet the requirements."
“That’s true,” Hu Zhenzhen quickly abandoned this unreliable idea and changed her approach.
After searching online for the keywords 'lawyer' and 'help', she found a reliable lawyer among a group of Weibo posts.
This lawyer is from Province A and runs a small law firm. He often goes live to answer people's legal questions and occasionally helps impoverished people with their cases for free.
Hu Zhenzhen clicked on it and saw that the lawyer had seen the news half an hour earlier and posted on Weibo to remind everyone how to preserve evidence of sexual harassment.
After seeing this Weibo post, she felt relieved and sent a private message to the back office.
Hello Attorney Zhang, this is Hu Zhenzhen. Are you interested in handling a sexual harassment case?
I'd like to help the victims seeking help on Weibo. If you'd like to help them as well, please contact me.
I will cover all the costs of this assistance.
After sending the message, Hu Zhenzhen patiently waited for Attorney Zhang's reply.
Things need to be done step by step; she's not in a hurry and is prepared to provide long-term assistance.
Hu Zhenzhen wasn't in a hurry, but Chairman Liu from Yinli Company was.
He originally went out to make a phone call to confirm information.
Unexpectedly, his subordinate gave him bad news as soon as he answered the phone.
He had only been out for a minute when he rushed back to the meeting.
Although there wasn't much discussion about Hu Zhenzhen on Weibo, fortunately, things went as they hoped, and the focus was successfully diverted.
After confirming that Xu Jie's album sales had rebounded and that he had made a lot of money, Bai Dong felt much better and lit a cigarette.
He had only taken a puff when Old Liu rudely shoved open the conference room door.
Startled, Director Bai's heart skipped a beat. He said impatiently, "Why are you in such a hurry?"
Chairman Liu had no time to explain to him and said directly, "Oh no, Lao Bai, you're trending on social media!"
Mr. Bai, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, glanced at his phone.
[Real-name report accusing Bai Cong of sexual assault]
The whistleblower is a retired singer.
The general public may not be familiar with her, but Bai Dong is very familiar with her, and subconsciously clenched her teeth.
The cigarette in his mouth was bitten off.
The burning tobacco fell and burned a blister on Bai Cong's hand.
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