Rebirth: I Am the Wealthy Family (GL) - Chapter 34

“Yes, why else would you take on eleven dramas a year? You are really strange. Don’t you know how people in the industry view you? Although I don’t think highly of you, I have to admire you. In some aspects, you are indeed more desperate than I am. Alright, since you’re tired, let’s wake up early tomorrow and go over the script together. Of course, we can’t go to the set to go over the script again; there won’t be enough time.” An Xi rambled a little more, then turned off the light and went to sleep.

The next morning, before Chen Qianyu and An Xi had even woken up, Chen Qianyu received a call from Ah He, “Qianyu, you shouldn’t go anywhere today except the set, understood? I’ll tell you where not to go. I’ll pick you up in an hour.” Chen Qianyu was still half-asleep and didn’t take Ah He’s words seriously, even though Ah He sounded very anxious.

“Mhm, I know. Ah He, you’re so loud. I’m tired!” she said, and hung up the phone.

An hour later, An Xi and Chen Qianyu had finished washing up and were going over the script when Ah He knocked and entered.

“Qianyu, are you alright?”

“Huh? What could be wrong with me? Ah He, you’re talking strangely. What’s going on? Should something be wrong with me?” Chen Qianyu looked at Ah He, puzzled, as Ah He stood in front of her.

“Haven’t you checked your computer or Weibo?”

Chen Qianyu looked confused and immediately shook her head: “No. You know I’m not a Weibo addict. Did something happen?”

At this moment, An Xi had already started scrolling through Weibo. The top trending topic on Weibo shockingly read “Chen Qianyu Get Out of the Entertainment Industry.” She clicked on it and saw posts about Feng Tingting being blacklisted by a certain company because of Chen Qianyu, resulting in her inability to get work and her difficult living situation. Furthermore, it was revealed that Feng Tingting came from a poor family and chose to enter the entertainment industry because she had a younger brother with uremia, and she was working hard to earn money for his medical treatment.

The long Weibo post then recounted her classic roles and her recent struggles, even including a photo of Feng Tingting’s younger brother in the hospital ward.

“I didn’t expect Feng Tingting to be so shrewd. It seems her company hasn’t completely given up on her. By the way, which agency is Feng Tingting’s?” An Xi seemed to have overlooked this question all along.

“The Su family’s, Suhang International Media Co., Ltd. I knew it. Their company has been patiently holding back all along, and now they choose to release news like this during Qianyu’s new drama promotion. Their intentions are obvious at a glance. It’s just a pity for the fans who don’t know the full story.”

Chen Qianyu also realized the seriousness of the situation. She immediately opened Weibo and saw that her comment section was filled with abuse. The entire comments page was a barrage of insults, including various verbal attacks that were simply unbearable to look at.

“Is Feng Tingting that popular?”

After reading for a while, Chen Qianyu was very calm, not showing any anger at all. She stared at the Weibo comments, the words insulting her.

“The main thing is that you’ve been in the news too much lately, meaning you’re very popular, you know? Feng Tingting’s team is very clever. Firstly, they’re using your popularity to boost Feng Tingting, and secondly, they’re suppressing you. It’s a win-win situation, so why not? It seems your team, Qianyu, needs to prepare for crisis management. Otherwise, this matter will be very difficult to handle. After all, audiences are currently blind, and online public opinion is also blind. Moreover, this time, Feng Tingting even brought out her brother who suffers from leukemia. If you don’t have an even more shocking reason, this matter will be tough.”

An Xi packed up, seeing that Chen Qianyu probably wasn’t in the mood to go over the script anymore: “You think carefully. I’ll go talk to the director and see if we can push your scene to the afternoon. I advise you not to go to the set right now.”

After An Xi left, Chen Qianyu looked at Ah He. Ah He was constantly taking calls—from reporters, collaborators, and all sorts of people. Finally, he finished taking all the calls.

“Damn it, those idiots!”

Even the usually composed Ah He couldn’t help but curse. Then he turned to Chen Qianyu and said: “Qianyu, don’t worry. Our company’s PR team has already intervened. I think Feng Tingting definitely hired online trolls this time. They’re really going all out,” Ah He said sarcastically.

Just as Ah He was brainstorming solutions, someone knocked on the door again. Ah He looked at Chen Qianyu nervously, afraid it might be one of Feng Tingting’s fanatical fans who had managed to sneak in. “Qianyu, you go into the bathroom first. I’ll go see.”

“Su Mo?”

“It’s me. I’m Director Gu’s assistant. We met before. Director Gu sent me to find you and Miss Chen Qianyu, asking you to meet her in the meeting room on the fourth floor of Huaqianshu in ten minutes. Director Gu is already aware of this, so you don’t need to worry about the situation.”

Ten minutes later, Chen Qianyu and Ah He arrived at the meeting room. Gu Mingzhu and other people Chen Qianyu didn’t recognize were already there. Everyone looked very serious.

“You are the top PR company in the country. How do you view this matter? For me, money is not an issue!” Gu Mingzhu had copied some of the online comments and Feng Tingting’s background information for these people.

This time, Chen Qianyu had engaged the American PR firm Burson-Marsteller, arguably the most famous PR company globally. Unexpectedly, less than four hours after the news broke, Gu Mingzhu had already flown these people to Hengdian. Both Gu Mingzhu and the PR company’s reaction speed were remarkably fast.

“This matter is not difficult to handle. Before coming here, we had already investigated some information about Miss Chen Qianyu and Feng Tingting. Miss Chen Qianyu’s sister just passed away, and she and her sister were orphans. Most importantly, she has been silently engaging in charity work, and the most ironic part is that Feng Tingting’s brother has received sponsorship from Miss Chen Qianyu. This indicates that the Weibo post and some media reports are inaccurate. We just need to expose these facts.”

Shen Nian meticulously analyzed the facts they had already prepared, his points very clear.

“So, there won’t be any problems, right?”

Gu Mingzhu was evidently very satisfied with Shen Nian’s words.

“Theoretically, there won’t be any problems, but in terms of online public opinion, it’s never just one perspective. No matter how we handle it, there will still be negative effects on Chen Qianyu. Right now, we can only minimize these negative impacts.”

“Good. Then you handle it. As for online public opinion, I will take care of that myself. I’m leaving this matter to you.”

The entire meeting lasted thirty minutes. Chen Qianyu and Ah He didn’t have a chance to speak; they were merely observers. It wasn’t until all the staff members had left that Gu Mingzhu walked up to Chen Qianyu: “I’m sorry. This matter started because of me, so let me end it. This situation has nothing to do with you.”

Chen Qianyu looked up at Gu Mingzhu. Her eyes were red, and her face looked quite fatigued, clearly having been up all night. It was evident that Gu Mingzhu took this matter much more seriously than she did.

“Didn’t you sleep well? You, why are you so good to me…” Finally, Chen Qianyu asked the question. Yes, why was she so good to her? So good that she thought she had truly fallen in love with her, so good that her heart had been captured.

Gu Mingzhu tilted her head. She had applied makeup, but even such heavy makeup couldn’t hide the fatigue in the corners of her eyes: “Qianyu, I’m not doing all of this just for you; I’m doing it for myself. You should know that Legends of the Investiture of the Gods is a drama funded by Mingzhu Group with two hundred million yuan. Two hundred million is not a small amount, even for the current Mingzhu Group, especially since I’m only an executive director. I need my father’s permission to spend money. If my drama is ruined because of you, which is more important?”

“But you could have just replaced me, you didn’t have to be like this to me?”

“Replace you? Do you think it’s that simple? Everything is finalized now, even the promotional photos are out. You think replacing someone is that easy? Do you think our contracts were signed for nothing? Most importantly, if that b1tch, the CEO of Suhang, found out that I replaced someone because of an artist under her agency, wouldn’t that mean I’m afraid of her?” Gu Mingzhu smiled sarcastically: “It’s alright, Chen Qianyu. I’ll use this incident to show the CEO of Suhang what real marketing is. Borrowing my fame, does she think she’s Zhuge Liang?”

Seeing Gu Mingzhu consistently denying her feelings, Chen Qianyu finally lost a bit of her confidence, looking helpless as she gazed at Gu Mingzhu.

“Is it so hard for you to admit that you’re good to me?”

She spoke very softly, so softly that perhaps only she herself could hear it. Gu Mingzhu deliberately ignored the question and turned to Ah He, saying: “Ah He, let Chen Qianyu stay in the room this morning. Don’t let her go anywhere. I’ll handle this. Also, recently, don’t let Chen Qianyu accept any interviews. The more mysterious, the better.”

“Okay, Qianyu, let’s go. You really should stay in the room now. There are many other actors here in Hengdian, and Huaqianshu has many actors from other crews staying here. Don’t interact with them either. I’ll stay with you in the room. Let’s go.”

Ah He escorted Chen Qianyu out, while Gu Mingzhu stood with her back to Chen Qianyu: “Ruanruan, it’s so hard. I really can’t help it!” Another violent cough erupted, getting more and more frequent.

Back in the room, Chen Qianyu was in a very bad mood.

“Ah He, why is Feng Tingting so despicable? She actually used her brother. Her brother has leukemia, and my sister even sponsored him before. That means Feng Tingting didn’t enter the entertainment industry for her brother at all. Even after she became famous, she didn’t think of spending money to treat her brother, but my sister gave the money. And now she’s still targeting me like this?” Chen Qianyu was furious.

“A person who is shamelessly evil is invincible! You can’t understand how far some people will go to become famous. How touching is a brother with leukemia?”

“But that’s her brother, her biological brother. What kind of sister does that? My sister never treated me like that. She always protected me very well, always. Even after she died, she left me so much money that I can live comfortably for the rest of my life. I will never forgive a b1tch like Feng Tingting, never! I absolutely won’t!”