Chapter 23 When disaster strikes, we all fly together. I think there's no need to avoid suspicion. ...
The event officially began at 9:00 AM.
When Xiao Tang and Lu Yizhao arrived, almost everyone had already arrived and were chatting in small groups. They immediately spotted Shen Yaozhi, who was alone.
He wasn't dressed up at all today, wearing a simple black crew neck sweater and jeans, and was sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting.
Xiao Tang had no intention of going to Shen Yaozhi and causing trouble.
They had worked together before; she played the second female lead, a character who couldn't have the love she desired. They had quite a few scenes together, but they didn't have much of a relationship off-screen.
Shen Yaozhi appears gentle and has never argued with anyone; he's known in the industry as a kind-hearted person. However, he was excessively polite and distant towards her. She had considered taking the initiative to break the ice, but he didn't appreciate it at all. Later, she learned that Shen Yaozhi and Zhu Qingzhi were getting close.
From the beginning of her career, she was Zhu Qingzhi's rival, so she gave up on the idea of getting along with her, and their relationship was just superficially acceptable.
Lu Yizhao leaned close to Xiao Tang's ear and whispered, "Judging from how haggard he looks, he probably hasn't had enough rest. With such a huge uproar online, I wonder how he's going to handle the press conference later?"
Seeing her gloating and petty expression, Xiao Tang patted the back of her hand, signaling her to tone it down. Lu Yizhao shrugged dismissively and added, "Zhu Qingzhi can't come; the public outcry will only get bigger."
Because the gala ended late last night, most of the performers did not give interviews, and the reporters who were waiting here last night were also forced to stay at the hotel due to the typhoon. Therefore, the organizers specially arranged a press conference.
However, the format was different from the past. It was broadcast live from inside the venue, with questions randomly selected from reporters outside the venue, and then the host asked the relevant actors questions.
There's a lot of room for maneuver here; if someone doesn't want to answer a question, they can simply change the subject, so nobody seems to be too resistant. But the real show will be how Zhu Qingzhi's team handles this.
Just as Xiao Tang was about to get rid of Lu Yizhao, this burden, she saw Lu Yizhao's agent, Liu Meiyu, run over: "Come with me."
As soon as she arrived, she grabbed Lu Yizhao's arm and pulled her outside, only managing to nod to Xiao Tang. But Lu Yizhao was unwilling to leave without watching the excitement, and the two pushed and shoved each other all the way to the door before she finally broke free from Liu Meiyu's grasp.
She straightened her slightly shifted strapless top, and seeing that Xiao Tang had already disappeared, she stomped her foot and cursed, "Bad luck!" Then she glared at Liu Meiyu with annoyance: "What do you want from me? Couldn't you have waited until after the event?"
Liu Meiyu was the agent assigned to her by Chaoxing. She also managed several actors with even lower status. She was someone whose connections and power were unreliable, so Lu Yizhao never really paid her any attention.
She grew angrier the more she thought about it, and was almost ready to point her finger at Liu Meiyu and yell, "Damn it, you're just going to starve! If you hadn't stopped me, I could at least have gotten some resources out of this situation. What are you really up to?"
Liu Meiyu also had a bad impression of Lu Yizhao, but she didn't show much personal emotion when she was working: "Danni just called to talk to me and said that Zhu Qingzhi has gone home. If any reporters ask, don't add fuel to the fire."
Zhu Qingzhi and Lu Yizhao are in the same company, but there is no rule that artists in the same company need to report their whereabouts to each other. However, since someone reminded her, she has to take it to heart. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, it will be her fault for not handling things properly.
"Go home?" Lu Yizhao crossed his arms, admiring his manicured nails, and sneered.
Was she going back to her home? How shameless.
The company wants to put pressure on her? To make her cover for Zhu Qingzhi's lies? Tsk tsk tsk, no way.
Lu Yizhao raised an eyebrow. "What news did the company receive? Is Zhu Qingzhi about to have her career ruined?"
Liu Meiyu finally understood why Dani had wanted to communicate with her. It turned out that Lu Yizhao and Zhu Qingzhi didn't get along, and Dani was afraid that she would cause trouble. Once she figured this out, Liu Meiyu's face instantly darkened. No longer caring about the occasion, she grabbed Dani and dragged her outside.
Unable to break free, Lu Yizhao was dragged to the dimly lit stairwell, where she finally caught her breath. Shaking her aching wrist, she cursed, "Are you crazy?"
"I'm warning you, if anything happens to you, Chaoxing won't protect you." Liu Meiyu's expression turned sour. "Don't get involved in any conversations about Zhu Qingzhi. You seem pretty smart usually, how come you're acting like a pig at this crucial moment?"
Lu Yizhao was about to retort when he was intimidated by Liu Meiyu's imposing presence, which had grown to 2.2 meters tall.
"It's one thing for you to be close to Xiao Tang normally, but now, during this sensitive period, you're still hanging out with her. Want resources? Don't you even know which company you're signed with?"
"Most of the online trolls on the trending topics right now were bought by Mingyuan. Are you planning to pay a penalty for breach of contract and go to Mingyuan?"
“Okay, if you really have this idea, I’ll tell Mr. Ma right now, and we’ll start the process immediately.” Liu Meiyu took out her phone, intending to call Mr. Ma.
Lu Yizhao suddenly became anxious. This Boss Ma was unyielding and only wanted money. She had spent almost two months trying to persuade him and used every trick in the book before she finally managed to get a price of 100,000 and signed Chaoxing for 400,000.
With her level of fame, if she were to start her own business, she wouldn't even be able to get close to the entertainment industry. Otherwise, she wouldn't want to waste this money. Now, she hasn't even tasted the slightest bit of success, and she wants to terminate the contract? That won't do!
Lu Yizhao quickly grabbed Liu Meiyu's hand and pleaded in a gentle voice, "Sister Meiyu, I'll listen to you! I absolutely won't get involved in Zhu Qingzhi's affairs!"
Since Xiao Tang has already intervened, she has no reason to ruin her future. However, Xiao Tang is really dishonest. Not only does he keep things to himself without revealing anything, but he also wants to use her as a pawn.
Seeing that Lu Yizhao had given in, Liu Meiyu took the opportunity to back down: "Zhu Qingzhi is now the face of Chaoxing. She has resources, so you can get a share of the pie. It's normal for her to get roles in the future and have the company package them up for you."
Lu Yizhao was a natural at changing his expression. He clung to Liu Meiyu's arm and walked out, saying, "Sister Meiyu is right. I was short-sighted. I'll have to rely on you to help me out in the future. I promise I won't say anything out of line later."
Although Liu Meiyu was disdainful of Lu Yizhao's behavior, the corridor was full of people, so she had to maintain appearances. She asked in a low voice, "By the way, did you just ask the company? Is there something wrong?"
"What could be wrong? I was just asking casually." Lu Yizhao tossed his hair, putting on an innocent expression.
She told Xiao Tang about Zhu Qingzhi's attempt to climb the social ladder, so Mingyuan would definitely take action. However, Chaoxing was unaware of this yet, and she didn't intend to warn them. She was waiting to see what would happen.
*
Zhu Qingzhi's live stream started at 9:30. Because it was a last-minute event, the fans were not prepared. Two or three minutes after the live stream started, a large number of people flooded into the live stream room.
After a while of network delay, Zhu Qingzhi greeted everyone and watched as the barrage of comments flooded the bottom left corner.
Congratulations to Best Actress Zhu Qingzhi!
My wife is so beautiful even without makeup!
[Baby, the press conference over there is constantly mentioning you!]
Wow, my wife's room is so cute! So many dolls! Especially the one in the bottom left corner!
Because her live streaming equipment was inadequate, consisting only of her mobile phone, Zhu Qingzhi had to practically shove her face in front of the screen to see the comments clearly.
She held the white dolphin doll in the lower left corner of her hand and shook it, then read out a fan ID: "Popeye with a coconut shell on his head, if you like it, I'll give it to you."
Wow, what a beauty overload!
[Start CPR right now!]
What are you talking about?! I just need CPR!
Zhu Qingzhi was amused by the fans' quirky yet adorable comments. Currently, the live stream is mostly filled with fans, so the atmosphere is great, and almost no one is asking her about the various random things trending on social media.
Wife, please remember to close the doors and windows when you're home alone, and be sure to pay attention to your safety!
I'm home alone...
Zhu Qingzhi hurriedly waved her hand, then heard a door open. Looking in the direction of the sound, she saw Wen Qi wearing headphones, his handsome profile coming into view. She felt like a million grass mud horses were running through her mind.
What's wrong?
My daughter looks like a quail (^ω^)
[Broken into my house? I'll record the screen as evidence!]
Wen Qi remained unmoved, took the tablet and walked up to her, ignoring her dazed yet murderous gaze, pushed the tablet in front of her, and turned to leave.
Zhu Qingzhi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "It's nothing, my brother just gave me a tablet."
The live stream chat instantly became noisy, with her voice echoing back and forth. Zhu Qingzhi looked down and realized that the tablet was displaying her live stream.
She immediately turned off the live stream sound, and after a series of actions, she set up the tablet to start the live stream. Then, holding her phone, she sat back up much straighter and relaxed.
The live stream reconnected, and the number of viewers in the live stream room increased by tens of thousands compared to before.
Oh, so my wife isn't home alone.
[What are you pretending for? You just won an award and you're already acting like a big shot. And now you're trying to act all approachable.]
Are you crazy? If you don't want to watch, get out. You're not welcome here.
[Seriously, everyone's staying in a hotel, but you're the only one getting special treatment! Why can't people sleep in hotel beds?]
The haters successfully arrived at the scene, but Zhu Qingzhi was not angry and did not respond to these things at all. She just chatted with the fans.
A short while later, a connection request came through from the organizer's account. At the same time, a message from Dani popped up on WeChat. Zhu Qingzhi understood immediately, told her fans, and then clicked "accept".
On the screen at the Fanyin Hotel, the large screen was split into two smaller screens, and Zhu Qingzhi greeted everyone with a smile.
She wore a well-fitting silk nightgown, her hair casually tied into a bun, looking as fresh and natural as a lotus flower, a departure from her usual glamorous style.
Pure and lovely has always been synonymous with Xiao Tang, which explains why Zhu Qingzhi never responds to the controversial topic of "two beauties vying for attention." Looking at it today, the two are indeed not comparable.
The comments were scrolling wildly, and Zhu Qingzhi couldn't keep up with them all, so she simply waited for the host to cue the flow of the event.
The host smiled and said, "Congratulations again to Qingzhi for winning the Best Actress award. I was just talking about you with Shen Yaozhi, and everyone is looking forward to your collaboration again."
Zhu Qingzhi remained composed and answered fluently: "Thank you, host. We are definitely willing to work with suitable scripts."
Just then, Shen Yaozhi sent me a WeChat message: "[I don't think we need to avoid suspicion.]"
She didn't have a chance to reply to the WeChat message, but simply nodded slightly at the tablet.
"Next is a quick Q&A session. I have collected a few questions from reporters, and I hope Kiyoe will cooperate in answering them."
-----------------------
Author's note: Kiyoshi [question mark]: That scared me to death.
Wen Qi [dog head holding a rose]: [fireworks]
Author [Clown]: Hehe, waiting for your next chapter to reveal your secrets!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
