TLSOTMTKOGAYWHTDI Chapter 86
by VolareChapter 84: Crisis
Chapter 84: Crisis
At six o’clock in the morning, Qi Yanwang’s phone suddenly started vibrating like crazy.
The caller ID showed the Public Relations Director, accompanied by a string of unread message notifications.
“President Qi! Something’s happened!”
The voice on the other end was urgent, “Su Wen was photographed at a private club… The situation is very bad!”
Qi Yanwang woke up instantly, gently pulled his arm from under Zhuo Huaimo’s head, and walked to the balcony.
“Tell me the specifics.”
“Entertainment Weekly just released an exposé; in the photos, Su Wen is with several investors…”
The director’s voice trembled, “The poses are very ambiguous, and they’ve even revealed her appearance fees…”
Qi Yanwang’s knuckles turned white.
“Contact the legal department, prepare a statement. Notify Su Wen to come to the company immediately.”
Hanging up, he turned around to find Zhuo Huaimo already awake, rubbing his eyes and looking at him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Su Wen is in trouble.”
Qi Yanwang quickly put on his shirt, “I have to go to the company.”
Zhuo Huaimo immediately threw back the covers: “I’ll go with you.”
Half an hour later, the atmosphere in Xingyue Media’s conference room was heavy.
Su Wen huddled in a corner, her face pale, her manager frantically wiping sweat beside her.
A black Maybach sped through the morning mist, Qi Yanwang’s fingers drumming an irregular rhythm on the steering wheel.
Zhuo Huaimo sat in the passenger seat, staring at the rapidly receding street scene outside the window.
“This kind of tactic is too dirty.”
Zhuo Huaimo suddenly spoke, his voice suppressing anger, “Releasing a female artist’s private photos and marking prices? They’re trying to ruin her.”
Qi Yanwang’s jawline tightened: “Entertainment Weekly has always been unscrupulous, but this time…”
He paused, “There’s a problem with the photo source.”
Zhuo Huaimo turned to look at him, “Who do you think it is?”
“Hard to say.”
Qi Yanwang’s knuckles turned white, “But the timing is too convenient.”
Su Wen had just landed an endorsement deal for the Asian region with an international brand, and her commercial value was soaring.
This wave of scandals was clearly intended to ruin her future.
On the 27th floor of the Xingyue Building, the atmosphere in the conference room was so heavy you could wring water out of it.
Su Wen huddled in her chair, her face pale, her fingers twisting a tissue. Her manager, Wang Li, was frantically wiping sweat beside her.
“The photos are fake!”
Su Wen’s voice trembled, “I didn’t even…”
Qi Yanwang pushed the tablet in front of her: “If Entertainment Weekly dared to publish them, it means they have confidence in their sources. Are there any traces of Photoshop in these photos?”
Su Wen stared at the screen, her lips trembling, but she couldn’t say a word.
Zhuo Huaimo suddenly stood up: “Everyone else, please leave.”
The PR director and the legal counsel exchanged glances and silently withdrew.
Wang Li hesitated, looking at Qi Yanwang, and only left after receiving a nod of acknowledgement.
After the door closed, Zhuo Huaimo sat down opposite Su Wen, his voice softening:
“It’s just the three of us now. Tell us the truth.”
Su Wen’s tears suddenly burst forth: “That night… There was a gathering that night, but it wasn’t arranged by the company…”
Qi Yanwang’s eyes sharpened: “Who organized it?”
“I…”
Su Wen’s nails dug into her palm, “I can’t say.”
Zhuo Huaimo and Qi Yanwang exchanged a look.
He gently pressed Su Wen’s trembling hand: “Do you know how the photos got out?”
Su Wen shook her head, tears falling on the conference table:
“When I woke up, the photos were already… He said he would take care of it…”
“He?” Zhuo Huaimo keenly grasped the key word.
Su Wen bit her lip abruptly, as if she had let something slip.
Zhuo Huaimo didn’t press the issue but changed his approach:
“Su Wen, you know about President Qi and me, right?”
Su Wen was taken aback, then nodded, her eyes red.
She was a rising star that Zhuo Huaimo had personally brought up in “Early Spring”, and she knew all too well about their relationship.
“Do you think…”
Zhuo Huaimo chuckled, “Does President Qi love me?”
Qi Yanwang raised an eyebrow, not expecting the topic to suddenly turn to this.
Su Wen was dumbfounded, but she still answered honestly:
“Of… Of course…”
She counted on her fingers, “President Qi never takes his eyes off of you whenever he comes to the set; when you said you wanted to eat the cake from the east of the city, he drove out in the middle of the night to buy it; and there was the premiere last time…”
The more she spoke, the quieter her voice became, and she suddenly understood something.
Zhuo Huaimo quietly looked at her: “What does it look like when someone truly loves you?”
Su Wen’s tears welled up again: “He wouldn’t… He wouldn’t let me fall into this kind of situation…”
Qi Yanwang finally spoke, his voice calm,
“The person who organized the gathering is your boyfriend?”
Su Wen’s shoulders slumped, and she nodded almost imperceptibly.
“From outside the industry?” Zhuo Huaimo asked.
“Mm…”
Su Wen’s voice was as thin as a mosquito’s whine, “He said he was an investor…”
Qi Yanwang immediately dialed the internal line: “Investigate all the investors who have had contact with Su Wen in the past three months, focusing on those from unofficial channels.”
Hanging up, he looked at Su Wen: “Under what circumstances were the photos taken?”
Su Wen’s face flushed red: “I drank too much that night… He said he was just taking them for fun…”
Zhuo Huaimo closed his eyes.
Such a clichéd trap, yet there are always girls who fall for it.
“Do you know what these photos mean?”
Qi Yanwang’s voice was uncharacteristically angry, “Once you’re labeled with a ‘price tag,’ you’ll never be able to shake it off for the rest of your life!”
Su Wen finally broke down: “He said he’d marry me! He said…”
“What he said doesn’t matter.”
Zhuo Huaimo interrupted her, “What matters is what he did.”
He opened his phone and pulled up the comment section of Entertainment Weekly.
The unbearable humiliation came like knives:
[Why pretend to be pure? The price is even marked.]
[Is this the level of female artists at Xingyue?]
[Suggest investigating whether it’s a group crime]
Su Wen’s breathing became increasingly rapid, and she suddenly started gagging.
Zhuo Huaimo quickly handed her a tissue, gently patting her back.
“Now,”
Qi Yanwang’s voice was frighteningly calm, “Tell me his name.”
Su Wen shook her head, tears flying: “No… He said that if I told anyone, he would also release the videos…”
The conference room was deathly silent.
Zhuo Huaimo’s hand clenched tightly.
There are videos too? Things are worse than we thought.
Qi Yanwang stood up and walked to the window to make a call.
Five minutes later, when he returned, his eyes carried a cold glint: “I found him. Zhang Mingyuan, 35 years old, registered three shell companies and specializes in mixing in various investment gatherings.”
He pulled up a profile: “In the past two years, he has used the same methods to control two young models, one of whom jumped off a building last year.”
Su Wen was struck by lightning, her whole body collapsing in the chair.
Zhuo Huaimo grasped her icy hand: “Now, are you willing to cooperate with us?”
Three hours later, Xingyue Media issued a stern statement, denying the authenticity of the photos and reporting the case to the police.
At the same time, a recording quietly circulated on the internet—
“Baby, as long as you take a few photos, all those big directors will come looking for you later…”
“No, don’t…”
“What are you pretending for? What makes you think you’re so clean? How did Xingyue’s resources come about? Everyone in the industry knows…”
The man’s voice in the recording completely matched Zhang Mingyuan’s voiceprint in a public interview.
The public opinion reversed in an instant.
[WTF! This is extortion!]
[Was Su Wen coerced?]
[This man’s voice is so disgusting!]
The police quickly intervened in the investigation.
That night, Zhang Mingyuan was stopped at the airport, and a large number of indecent photos and extortion records were found on his computer.
Things should have ended there, but Qi Yanwang knew that the real battle had just begun.
In the late-night office, he flipped through Zhang Mingyuan’s financial records, his gaze lingering on a familiar company name—”Chenguang Entertainment.” It’s them again.
“What a coincidence.”
Zhuo Huaimo leaned on his shoulder, his voice tired, “Su Wen just landed the endorsement they wanted, and something like this happens.”
Qi Yanwang closed the file and gently kissed the top of his head: “Get some sleep. We have a tough battle to fight tomorrow.”
Outside the window, the city’s neon lights still twinkled.
In this glamorous circle, darkness is always looking for new prey.
The next day, Qi Yanwang arrived at the company early.
The legal and publicity departments had worked all night, and many departments had adopted a two-shift system.
It had been a long time since “Xingyue” had entered this kind of combat mode!
Qi Yanwang stared at the computer screen, Zhang Mingyuan’s bank statements flipping page by page.
Suddenly, his fingertip stopped at a certain spot—
”Chenguang Entertainment Public Relations Department, 500,000, project cooperation fee.”
The date was three days before Su Wen’s photos were exposed.
Zhuo Huaimo walked over with coffee, glanced at the screen, and sneered:
“‘Project cooperation’? The cost of buying scandals is written so blatantly?”
Qi Yanwang closed the computer and rubbed his brow: “Zhang Mingyuan is just a pawn. Chenguang is the mastermind.”
He dialed the internal line: “Li Yang, check what projects Chenguang has been in contact with recently.”
Five minutes later, the phone rang back.
Li Yang’s voice was tired: “I found it. Chenguang is trying to snatch the rights to ‘Neon’. The original author has always favored Su Wen as the lead actress, but Chenguang wants to push their own artist.”
Zhuo Huaimo raised an eyebrow: “So, if they ruin Su Wen, the rights will naturally fall into their hands?”
Qi Yanwang sneered: “It’s not just that.”
He pulled up a report, “Su Wen has three high-end endorsements on her hands. If her image collapses, who will these resources flow to?”
——Chenguang, Lin Qian.
Qi Yanwang sneered, “They want to kill two birds with one stone? It seems that recently the media has said that I’m gentle, so they really think I’m easy to bully!”
The next day, “Xingyue’s” counterattack officially began.
First, a well-known entertainment reporter suddenly broke the news:
#Chenguang Artist Lin Qian Suspected of Intercepting Resources? Insiders Reveal Her Team’s Long-Term Suppression of Competitors!#
The accompanying image was a chat record between Lin Qian’s manager and a brand representative, subtly devaluing Su Wen’s commercial value.
Immediately afterward, financial media unearthed solid evidence of Chenguang Entertainment suppressing rival artists through “black PR” in the past two years, even involving tax issues.
Chenguang’s stock price plummeted in response.
——In the war of public opinion, “Xingyue” won back a city.
But Qi Yanwang knew that this was not enough.
[Late night, private club]
Liu Jinchen pulled the strings, he is the best at this kind of thing!
When Qi Yanwang pushed open the door, Chenguang CEO Zhang Chong was sitting on the sofa, swirling a glass of whiskey in his hand.
“President Qi, long time no see.”
Zhang Chong smiled insincerely, “Is it worth starting a war for a small artist?”
Qi Yanwang didn’t take his wine, and went straight to the point: “I want the rights to ‘Neon’.”
Zhang Chong’s smile stiffened: “Why should I?”
“Because of this.” Qi Yanwang threw out a document.
Zhang Chong opened it, his face changing drastically – inside were photos of him meeting secretly with a high-level executive, and… transfer records from an offshore account.
“You…”
“Two paths.”
Qi Yanwang’s voice was icy cold, “One, hand over ‘Neon’ and this matter is closed; two, I’ll have the tax bureau and the economic investigation team investigate where Chenguang’s ‘project cooperation fees’ are all spent.”
Sweat broke out on Zhang Chong’s forehead, and he finally gritted his teeth: “The rights can be discussed, but Lin Qian must participate.”
“Female supporting role.”
Qi Yanwang stood up, “Take it or leave it.”
When he walked out of the club, the night breeze was slightly cool.
Zhuo Huaimo was leaning against the car waiting for him, twirling his phone in his hand: “Is it settled?”
“Mm.”
Qi Yanwang put his arm around his waist, “But Zhang Chong won’t let it go easily.”
Zhuo Huaimo chuckled: “Afraid of him?”
“Afraid that he’s not crazy enough.”
Qi Yanwang lowered his head and kissed him, “Crazy enough… to expose himself.”
Three days later, “Neon” officially announced Su Wen as the female lead.
At the press conference, Su Wen was in excellent condition, and it was impossible to tell that she had been mired in scandal.
When reporters asked about the turmoil, she smiled calmly: “I thank the company for protecting me, and also for teaching me to discern people’s hearts.”
Everything seemed to be back on track.
——Until that night, a phone recording suddenly exploded online.
In the recording, Qi Yanwang’s voice was clearly distinguishable:
“The rights can be discussed, but Lin Qian must participate… Take it or leave it.”
The accompanying text was shocking:
#Xingyue Threatens Chenguang# Qi Yanwang uses scandalous materials to coerce and forcibly seize “Neon” resources!
The public opinion was instantly in an uproar.
What was even more terrifying was that the recording… also mentioned “offshore accounts.”
——This is a trap.
Qi Yanwang stared at the trending searches that had exploded, his eyes icy cold.
Zhang Chong not only secretly recorded the conversation, but also deliberately edited it to portray Xingyue as a villain who “uses black tactics to suppress its peers.”
And now, the words “offshore accounts” had already alarmed those who shouldn’t be alarmed…
Zhuo Huaimo grasped his tense hand: “Someone is investigating?”
Qi Yanwang nodded, his voice so low it was almost inaudible:
“The economic investigation team… called.”