Chapter 59
In the plot of the original novel, Qin Cheng abruptly returned from abroad soon after Mu Zhouyi and Lu Zhi sighed with Huanyu. He returned to his old employer Huanyu to become an agent and picked a newcomer who just debuted for a year.
This newcomer was similar in age to Mu Zhouyi and took the same route. The two of them were in the same company and it was inevitable that there would be a competition for resources.
Qin Cheng was tough and Lu Zhi wasn’t bad. It was the so-called two tigers weren’t allowed on one mountain. Naturally, Qin Cheng failed to fight against Mu Zhouyi who had her golden finger and Lu Zhi who had Mu Zhouyi’s support. The newcomer was eventually covered with black materials and had to reluctantly retire from the circle. Qin Cheng was also rejected by Huanyu and completely left the circle of agents.
It seemed that the butterfly wings were working again.
Xie Yang took out Qin Cheng’s materials and read it carefully. He remembered that in the original book, Qin Cheng was even favoured by Mu Zhouyi but he still firmly took the newcomer to grab resources from Mu Zhouyi. Xie Yang smiled and placed the information in front of Liu Sha. “I choose him.”
His agent was confirmed so Xie Yang went to Hu Biao with the information of the remaining four. He asked Hu Biao to choose agents for Tong Jian and Ke Lan among these people. Hu Biao was surprised. “You’re letting me pick it?”
“Yes, you have to pick so you can rest assured.”
Hu Biao pursed his lips and patted Xie Yang’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
In the afternoon, Xie Yang went with Hu Biao to see Director Bi’s apprentice. During the time when Xie Yang was in the crew, Hu Biao had negotiated the details of the cooperation with Director Bi’s apprentice. The two parties met at this time mainly to look at the script.
Director Bi’s apprentice was called Dong Zhong and he was in his early 30s. He was average in height and looked like a normal otaku. It was just that his ideas were trendy and he was very energetic.
He planned to shoot a short crime series. The script was adapted from a case-solving novel written by his wife and had its own popularity, which was a small surprise.
Xie Yang flipped through the script and found it was good. He quickly finalized the details of his cooperation with Dong Zhong and agreed on a time to formally sign the contract.
After talking about the TV drama, Xie Yang and Dong Zheng discussed the idea of making a micro-movie for Ke Lan first. Dong Zhong happened to want to see the male lead of his first drama and quickly decided to shoot the micro-movie.
By the time everything was over, it was past 5:30 in the afternoon. Xie Yang was too lazy to return to Yang Xing. He sat in the car and took out his phone to call Qiu Xing. He wanted to ask Qiu Xing if they could go home together.
He Jun answered the phone and said, “The boss still has some business to deal with. You can go back first.”
Okay.
Xie Yang hung up and went home first. At dinner, Xie Yang called Qiu Xing again. The call was still answered by He Jun and he saw Qiu Xing was in a meeting. “A meeting at this time?”
“It is the end of the year and he is busy.”
Well, it was a good reason. Xie Yang hung up the phone, glanced at the table full of dishes and picked up his chopsticks to eat.
At more than 10 o’clock, Xie Yang heard the sound of the car driving into the yard. He turned around, placed his phone under his pillow and lifted his quilt. He went out of his room and stopped on the stair landing for the second floor.
Around two minutes later, Qiu Xing’s figure appeared on the stairs. Qiu Xing stopped when he saw Xie Yang before he continued upward again. He asked coldly, “You haven’t slept yet?”
“I was waiting for you to come back.” Xie Yang watched Qiu Xing go up and grabbed Qiu Xing’s hand as this person was about to pass him.
Qiu Xing stopped and his Adam’s apple moved. He refused to look at Xie Yang as he retracted his hand. “Don’t wait for me. You—”
“I’m going to bed. You should also sleep early. Good night.” Xie Yang let go and turned around neatly to walk to the third floor.
“……”
Qiu Xing glanced at his released hand and then the empty stairs to the third floor. He stood there for a few seconds before his mouth flattened and he walked into his room with heavy steps.
Xie Yang once again didn’t see Qiu Xing at the breakfast table the next day. He didn’t bother asking the housekeeper this time and sat down to eat breakfast.
On the way to the company, Xie Yang routinely looked through Weibo and found with satisfaction that the topic #Mu Zhouyi touching people addiction# was already on the hot search. He clicked on the topic and found all types of gifs and photos of Mu Zhouyi touching people. The collection of Mu Zhouyi touching people made by one of the marketing accounts was also popular.
Xie Yang searched through the collection and found that on the set, someone had taken a photo of the time when Mu Zhouyi pretended to fall and grabbed Long Shuyou’s knee. This sneak shot was posted on Weibo and added to the collection. It had received tens of thousands of likes.
The style of the comments area was surprisingly consistent. The passersby said they couldn’t understand this and felt uncomfortable. Some people summed up the names of people that Mu Zhouyi had touched and found that most of them were people with higher status and reputation, making public opinion grow more subtly.
Some fans of Mu Zhouyi tried to whitewash it by saying that these gifs and photos were maliciously interpreted by the marketing accounts. They said that everyone had accidentally touched someone one time or another.
The fans of artists who had been touched by Mu Zhouyi saw that Mu Zhouyi’s fans actually tried to wash her clean and were furious. Mu Zhouyi’s fans found it hard to beat the many fan groups and were soon torn apart. They didn’t dare to show their heads.
It was estimated that someone was using this opportunity to step on Mu Zhouyi because public opinion on Weibo soon changed.
-The popular flower has an addiction to touching people!
-Mu Zhouyi’s image has collapsed. She is suspected of having skin hunger and thirst!
-Mu Zhouyi seducing Long Shuyou!
-Mu Zhouyi is prone to sexual harassment!
-Mu Zhouyi was originally a scheming woman and is spreading her net to seek resources!
-Mu Zhouyi accepts men and women!
Mu Zhouyi’s name filled Weibo and all types of real and false materials were flying around. The previous statement about how Mu Zhouyi and Lu Zhi were no longer working together was re-read. Someone secretly broke the news that Lu Zhi had some trouble with Mu Zhouyi after going to Crazy Musician to find Mu Zhouyi. Some people wondered if Mu Zhouyi had done something in the crew to force her agent to stop caring about her. What happened…?
His phone suddenly vibrated and a new WeChat message was received.
He had forgotten everything else due to eating melons. Xie Yang looked back and quit Weibo to open the message.
Ji Zehui: After seeing today’s hot search, Xu Heng has directly suspended the shooting of Crazy Musician and contacted Huangtian. He said he wants to sue Mu Zhouyi for breach of contract.
Ji Zehui: During filming, artists have an obligation to ensure that their external image is positive. Xu Heng is very concerned about word of mouth. Mu Zhouyi is now known for having an addiction to touching humans and Xu Heng might not want her again. However, most of Crazy Musician has been shot and changing the actress now is too much of a loss. Xu Heng and Mu Zhouyi aren’t finished.
Ji Zehui: Several brands endorsed by Mu Zhouyi also contacted Huangtian and asked Huangtian to stabilize Mu Zhouyi’s image as soon as possible or they will likely terminate their cooperation with Mu Zhouyi.
Ji Zehui: I would like to ask, these things… did you do it?
Xie Yang: Guess?
Ji Zehui didn’t dare to guess and obediently fell silent.
***
This afternoon, Xie Yang met Qin Cheng in his office.
Qin Cheng was of medium height, looked rather gentle and wore glasses. He looked more like a teacher than an agent. Immediately after entering the office, he looked Xie Yang up and down. “It seems that you’re not very photogenic.”
This method of boasting was really good.
Xie Yang stood up and stretched out a hand toward Qin Cheng. “It isn’t that I’m not photogenic. It is that I recently opened up and grew taller by two centimeters. Welcome to Yang Xing. I wish for us to have a pleasant cooperation.”
Qin Cheng shook Xie Yang’s hand and smiled. “I like your long-term way of opening up. Happy cooperation.”
The simple greeting ended and Qin Cheng got straight to the point. “Before officially starting the cooperation, I must first declare a few requirements. First, as your agent, I must understand your family background, your emotional experience, special preferences that might affect your artist image and if you got plastic surgery or not. I swear by my professional ethics that I won’t break your privacy but I also don’t accept concealment. Second, I don’t accept unreasonable work stoppages and sudden disappearances. I can give you a holiday but you can’t take one without my consent. Third, if you want to get married then say it earlier. Don’t make it a sudden attack and shock me. If you accept these three conditions then our cooperation is established.”
Xie Yang didn’t directly respond to Qin Cheng’s request but asked, “Why did you choose Yang Xing?”
“I fancy your strength and your identity as the boss. It means that taking you will be easy and labor-saving.”
It was a very realistic and powerful reason. Xie Yang nodded and replied, “I understand. I will agree to your requirements. I also have something you need to know in advance. You have entered Yang Xing and you are now one of Yang Xing’s people. I don’t accept betrayal, understood?”
“If you don’t betray me then I naturally won’t betray you. My rule of cooperation is to rise together.”
Very good.
Xie Yang raised a finger and pointed it at Rongding across the road. “There is nothing to explain particularly about my family background and preferences. There is only one thing you might care about a lot. I am married and my marriage partner is male. His name is Qiu Xing and he is the current chairman of Rongding Group.”
“……”
Qin Cheng’s calm expression broke for the first time since he entered the office. He raised his hand and pushed up his glasses. He looked sideways through the windows at Rongding Building that seemed to be shining with money and reconfirmed it. “You said… you are married?”
Xie Yang nodded.
“Your marriage partner is…”
“Qiu Xing, the chairman of Rongding.”
Qin Cheng took off his glasses and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he opened them and put on his glasses with a smile. “I understand. Xie Yang, I need to talk to your… husband. The method of looking after a married artist is different from an unmarried artist. I have to find out if your husband has disclosed your marital status and if he plans to intervene in your career plan. In addition, do we need to avoid him when releasing articles? I also need to establish contact with your husband’s PR team so that if you and your husband are photographed together in the future, I can contact the other side for PR as soon as possible.:
Xie Yang groaned and told Qin Cheng to wait for a moment. He picked up his phone and walked to the side to call Qiu Xing.
It was He Jun who answered the phone again,
“Little boss, sorry, the boss is in—”
“In a meeting, I know.” Xie Yang interrupted He Jun and told him directly, “I signed a new agent and he wants to talk to my husband. After Qiu Xing finishes the meeting, can you ask if he is free to meet my agent? If not, you can ask Qiu Xing something else for me. Can I tell my agent directly that my married status is actually false and Qiu Xing and I have a pure buying and selling relationship.”