Chapter 84: Investment and Replacement

There are countless celebrities who stir up gossip and fake relationships, but none have been slapped in the face as miserably as You Si. Those unaware of the situation believed the paparazzi were making things up and thought she was being unfairly blamed, even feeling sorry for her. Those who knew the truth could only say she brought it upon herself.

You Si’s former sponsor saw Zhou Jingchen’s post on Yunbo and felt fortunate to have already abandoned this fool; otherwise, he’d be included among those embarrassed now. Zhou Jingchen’s clarification was pinned to the top of Yunbo’s trending topics by the platform’s management. Anyone who opened Yunbo would see it. They even banned Big Eye Entertainment’s account, citing the spread of false information.

The staff at Big Eye Studio deeply regretted their actions. They knew Yunbo belonged to Zhou Jingchen, so why did they act so recklessly and bring trouble upon themselves? Now, their carefully cultivated account was banned, and starting anew would take who knows how long to reach the same level.

The internet was in an uproar over this incident, and those who disliked You Si joined in, making the matter even livelier.

After posting on Yunbo, Zhou Jingchen no longer cared about the aftermath. He was contemplating whether Director Xu could replace her. After all this drama, he truly couldn’t act alongside You Si anymore. Previously, he’d thought that although she had offended his little darling and suffered the consequences, he himself was still a newcomer to the entertainment industry, and it wouldn’t do to act too arrogantly, so he simply ignored her off-camera.

Now, however, this woman’s stupidity had directly offended him, and he could no longer tolerate it. He made up his mind: if Director Xu wouldn’t replace her, he’d rather pay the penalty and leave.

The breach of contract fee wasn’t expensive; for Zhou Jingchen now, it was barely a drop in the bucket.

When he arrived at the set the next day, he found the atmosphere tense. Director Xu sat in his chair, face dark as thunder.

Zhou Jingchen’s assistant, perceptive as ever, went to gather information.

A few minutes later, the assistant returned and told Zhou Jingchen what had happened.

It turned out Director Xu had learned about the online scandal and immediately scolded You Si. Yet You Si refused to admit fault, even insisting she’d done nothing wrong, and ran off crying.

Director Xu, furious, wanted to replace her. The casting director called You Si about terminating her contract, but she threatened them instead: if they dared to replace her, she would expose Director Xu for breach of contract and withdraw her investment.

You Si had entered Director Xu’s crew partly through connections, and partly because she’d invested most of her own assets into the production, making herself one of the show's investors.

Her investment wasn’t much—barely ten percent of the total. But every penny mattered to the production, especially since it relied heavily on special effects. If You Si withdrew her funding, the post-production would surely suffer.

Zhou Jingchen happened to arrive just after Director Xu was threatened, which explained the stiff atmosphere on set.

Now that he understood the situation, Zhou Jingchen’s mind began to turn. He didn’t lack money, and Wen Xiu lacked it even less; what they needed was a foothold in the entertainment industry.

If he could help Director Xu out of this predicament through investment, that connection would surely smooth the studio’s development in the future.

Crossing his arms and stroking his chin thoughtfully, Zhou Jingchen made up his mind and pulled out his phone to call Wen Xiu.

Unfortunately, Wen Xiu’s phone was turned off. He tried Yu Qian’s number as well, but it was off too.

He paused, feeling a chill run down his spine—a sense of foreboding as both were unreachable.

At that moment, the two with their phones off were sitting on a plane bound for Hangzhou.

Unable to reach them, Zhou Jingchen decided to handle things himself. After all, he was one of the studio’s owners and certainly had decision-making power.

He approached Director Xu.

“Director Xu, do you need investment?”

Director Xu looked at the young man standing before him, his eyes lighting up. The golden investor was right in front of him—what was he hesitating for?

“I do!”

“I’ll invest. Replace that woman,” Zhou Jingchen said with a cold edge.

“Deal!”

Even if Zhou Jingchen hadn’t insisted on replacing her, Director Xu would have done so. Someone so troublesome would only bring chaos to the production if kept around.