The film and television city starts from the courtyard

The next day.

As soon as Zhao Shucheng arrived at the company, he saw Xiao Mu rushing into his office in a panic and asking, "Director Gu, have you seen the news online?"

Zhao Shucheng looked at Xiao Mu with some surprise and asked, "What news?"

"This is news about my sister. What should I do now? Should I come forward and clarify that the person in the video is not her, but me?"

Zhao Shucheng found it strange and told Xiao Mu not to rush, and to discuss what to do next after he understood the situation.

When Zhao Shucheng turned on his computer and saw the news online, he learned that a video of Xiao Mu arguing with Li Daixuan when she was impersonating Yao Menggui had been uploaded online, and some netizens even speculated that Li Daixuan's suicide was related to Yao Menggui.

To make matters worse, Yao Menggui posted an advertisement on her Weibo account, and some netizens also revealed her relationship with Song Ci.

As a result, the partner that Yao Menggui was endorsing unilaterally announced the termination of the cooperation and demanded that Yao Menggui compensate for all losses.

Xiao Mu couldn't bear to see her sister being slandered like this, nor should she bear the defamation she shouldn't have to bear. So she wanted Zhao Shucheng to help clarify and explain that the person in the video was her, not Yao Menggui.

Upon hearing Xiao Mu's words, Zhao Shucheng looked at Xiao Mu and said, "Do you know the consequences of what you're doing?"

"I know that my acting career may come to an end, but I can't watch my sister be wronged like this."

"Things aren't as simple as you think. You think you're helping her by doing this, but in reality, it will only hurt her a lot and hurt yourself a lot. Netizens won't care about the truth; they'll just think you're taking the blame for your sister. After all, you two have similar faces, so it's hard for people to believe it's true."

"What can we do? We can't just stand by and watch, can we?"

Zhao Shucheng said, "We still need to see what public relations strategy your sister has. If they choose to go public, you should cooperate. If they have other public relations strategies, we'll just watch and not disrupt your sister's plans."

Although Xiao Mu was also worried about his sister, he knew that if he acted on his own and disrupted her plans, his sister would be even more unhappy, so he could only choose to wait.

To her surprise, her sister never appeared in public again, and the PR team's PR strategies were not very effective.

She had considered taking the initiative to talk to Yao Menggui and explain things, but she couldn't get in touch with her no matter what she did, and her text messages went unanswered.

However, there was some good news: Peng Fei turned himself in.

After learning the news, Xiao Mu went to visit Peng Fei in prison to ask him why he did this and whether he filmed and disseminated the video online.

When Peng Fei saw Xiao Mu, he directly confessed that he liked Xiao Mu. He even said that he was somewhat depressed after Xiao Mu resigned, until he saw Yao Menggui on TV and felt that Xiao Mu had a better future.

But having harbored a secret crush on Xiao Mu for so long, he quickly realized that the Yao Menggui appearing on TV was not Xiao Mu, and immediately felt indignant on Xiao Mu's behalf. They clearly had the same face, so why was one forced to work as a deliveryman in the wind and rain, while the other could stand under the spotlight and enjoy endless glamour?

So he started stalking Yao Menggui and even orchestrated the car accident, all to ruin Yao Menggui so that Xiao Mu could take her place.

As he predicted, Yao Menggui was injured and hospitalized, and Xiao Mu impersonated her to appear in the public eye. He had been secretly protecting Xiao Mu and had naturally seen Chen Mo secretly filming her talking to Li Daixuan, which is why he seized the camera to prevent anyone from ruining Xiao Mu's plans.

After that, he followed Xiao Mu around. Once, he rode in the same elevator as Xiao Mu, but Xiao Mu seemed to be avoiding him. He was even rescued by Zhao Shucheng.

After filming the first snow, Xiao Mu went to Zhao Shucheng's studio. He applied for the job again to be Xiao Mu's driver, just to get closer to Xiao Mu.

Peng Fei admitted to many things, but denied that he was the one who released the video of Li Daixuan that was previously circulating online.

Xiao Mu was somewhat skeptical and felt that Peng Fei's way of loving was too extreme and even a little frightening. Although she understood that everything Peng Fei did was for her sake, she could not forgive him for hurting her sister.

Having finally learned the truth, she sent it to Yao Menggui, but still did not receive a response from Yao Menggui.

When Mo Xiangwan returned to the company, she found that her original office had become Judy Chen's office, and even the work of the artist department had been taken over by Judy Chen. For a while, she felt a little lost.

This state of mind was very uncomfortable for Mo Xiangwan, who had always devoted herself to her work. She could only stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, staring blankly outside with a melancholy look.

Fan Mei walked over at this moment, looked at Mo Xiangwan, and said, "Sister Xiangwan, I thought you would take a break for a while before coming to the company."

"Wasn't this a good show?"

"It seems your misunderstanding of me hasn't been cleared up yet. Actually, sometimes I feel that we are the same kind of people, both wanting to live differently from others. We seem to care more about the result than the process. But sometimes, life is like a prank, you never know what will happen the next day, and even if you did know, you probably wouldn't care."

Mo Xiangwan was surprised that Fan Mei would say such a thing, and that she seemed to really understand her.

"But I want to say, Xiang Wan, I think no one can understand how you feel right now better than me."

Mo Xiangwan said calmly, "Are you trying to comfort me? You don't need to do that at all."

"What I'm about to say might sound a bit sentimental to you, but I really want to say that if there's anything I can do for you, I will do it without hesitation."

Mo Xiangwan never expected that the person who would stand by her side and support her in the end would be the one who had betrayed her and hurt her the most.

After some hesitation, although she resigned from her position as artist director, she did not intend to leave Qili, so she still needed to have her own job.

So she approached Yu Jiang, wanting to set up her own studio and focus on artist management, a field she excelled at. Therefore, she hoped Yu Jiang could transfer two assistants from his company, along with Fan Mei.

Yu Jiang refused Mo Xiangwan's offer, arguing that Mo Xiangwan's reputation was no longer suitable for managing Fan Mei. After all, since Fan Mei signed the contract, she and Mo Xiangwan had been constantly at odds, and the online criticism of Mo Xiangwan hadn't subsided.

He still felt that Judy Chen, as the current artist director of Qili, was more suitable to mentor Fan Mei. Of course, he didn't really want Mo Xiangwan to be idle; he wanted her to try the job of reviving a veteran actor's career, and even handed her a ticket to a play for one of the company's washed-up artists.

"But he hasn't taken on any roles in the last two years."

"So you need to bring him back. You can't let him rehearse for half a year and only get two tickets for the company. Think about it, veteran actors are very popular in the industry now. After they become popular again, they are even more popular than traffic stars. To be honest, you need to recommend a few movies to him. You didn't have experience before, but now you have the time. I believe you will succeed."

Mo Xiangwan never expected that she would be treated this way after voluntarily taking the blame for the company, and she was immediately disappointed.

When Mo Xiangwan left Qili, she had mixed feelings. Looking back at the place where she had worked so hard for so many years, she suddenly felt that she had wasted all those years.

Looking at the photos of the artists I had managed on the wall, and the honors I had brought them, I felt a mix of emotions.

Mo Xiangwan unknowingly arrived at Zhao Shucheng's studio and saw Zhao Shucheng talking to Shanli. She asked curiously, "What are you two talking about?"

"We're discussing Xiao Mu's situation. She's gained some fame now, but the production teams she's contacting are either using her as a stand-in for Yao Menggui or offering her roles in low-budget web dramas. So we need to make some plans for her," Shanli said, scratching her head.

Zhao Shucheng suddenly thought of something and said, "Xiang Wan, speaking of which, you shouldn't be too busy right now. Why don't you sign Xiao Mu? She's very talented in acting and should go further. She might not be any worse than Lin Xiang."

Mo Xiangwan was surprised that her own company was unwilling to entrust her with managing someone who had a lot of popularity, but Zhao Shucheng's side was willing to entrust her with their only artist. She was immediately moved.

However, she shook her head, feeling that she was still Qili's agent, not the studio owner. If she signed with Xiao Mu, Xiao Mu would be considered Qili's artist, and she wouldn't have much autonomy.

"I know Xiao Mu is good, but I'm currently preparing to open my own studio. As for signing a contract, let's wait until my studio is established before we talk about it."

"You've finally decided to go it alone?"

Seeing Shanli's excited expression, Mo Xiangwan shook her head and said, "It's not exactly going solo; I'm affiliated with Qili. After all, I'm just an agent now. While I can get some roles through my old connections—some lead roles, but they won't consider my artists—I can't really leverage much resources. Qili has been around for so many years, producing its own films and TV series, which is a good choice for artists."

"Oh, that's good. At least being your own boss gives you more autonomy."

Zhao Shucheng said, "Yes, I still have some regrets. I was thinking that if you really leave Qili, we could partner up, with you as the agent and become shareholders, and then we could work together."

"Then forget it. I don't want Yu Jiang to think that I've already found someone else."

It's impossible for Mo Xiangwan not to be tempted. After all, Zhao Shucheng has directing skills and many well-known IPs. As long as he manages things well, even a small studio can have great potential.

But after all, she had worked at Qili for so many years, growing it from a small company to its current scale step by step. Only she knew how much effort she had put into it, so naturally she was reluctant to leave.

Seeing Mo Xiangwan's attitude, Zhao Shucheng felt it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In any case, Mo Xiangwan and Yu Jiang had different ideas and would eventually separate. He just didn't know if she would choose to cooperate with him then.

After this ordeal, Mo Xiangwan was indeed in a much better mood. She decided to go to the theater to see Song Qian's performance and also to think about how to cooperate with him in the future.

After Mo Xiangwan left, Zhao Shucheng and Shanli exchanged a glance and continued discussing the studio's work.

Shanli felt that now that Zhao Shucheng had finished filming and editing "The Search" and was preparing to start filming his next project, he should create a good script.

However, she didn't think the script Zhao Shucheng had given her before was a good choice. If Zhao Shucheng's previous scripts were all art films, this one was a completely commercial film, which didn't fit Zhao Shucheng's style at all, and the risk was too great.

Zhao Shucheng said with a smile, "I don't think so. The reason you think it's risky is simply because I haven't done this kind of project before, but that doesn't mean I can't do it."

"But I heard you're going to invest it yourself again this time, which means you're betting all your previous profits. I'm worried..."

Zhao Shucheng said, "Don't worry. The reason I invested this time is because I was worried that investors wouldn't have confidence in it. But if we succeed this time, other film and television companies will have the confidence to cooperate in the future."

Zhao Shucheng couldn't tell Shanli that the reason he did this was because he knew that the film he chose had been tested in the real world, and as long as he put his heart into filming, the profits would definitely be substantial, and he wouldn't have to share the pie with anyone else.

Seeing Zhao Shucheng's resolute attitude, and considering the awards he had won for his previous films, not to mention that all the company's current profits were earned by Zhao Shucheng himself, Shanli figured that even if they failed once, it would at most be a lesson learned and wouldn't damage the company's foundation. So she agreed.

After discussing work, Zhao Shucheng checked the time and said, "It's getting late. You haven't stayed at my place since I moved, so how about today..."

Sanli hesitated for a moment and said, "Then your Xiaoxue didn't continue living there?"

"Xiaoxue left a long time ago, probably because she felt the villa was too ostentatious, or perhaps it was too far from her workplace."

Shanli didn't say anything about it, but just smiled and took Zhao Shucheng's arm, and they left the office together.

Zhao Shucheng drove Shanli to the residential area. As soon as he parked the car, he saw Zhu He, whom he had met a few days ago, standing at Zhao Shucheng's door.

Congratulations! I didn't expect Zhao Shucheng to come back so coincidentally, and he even brought Shanli back with him. I greeted him awkwardly.

"Director Gu, you're back. Shanli, it's been a long time."

Shanli didn't expect to run into Zhu He here. Although they weren't friends, they had known each other for a long time. However, she didn't expect that Zhao Shucheng would also know Zhu He, and it seemed that Zhu He was here to see Zhao Shucheng.

"Yes, Xiaobai, how did you and President Zhu meet? I remember you two didn't have much interaction before."

Zhao Shucheng said, "Coincidence, it's all a coincidence. I never expected that President Zhu would live in the same neighborhood as me. By the way, don't just stand at the door talking, come in and sit down."

Zhu He glanced at Shan Li and said, "No need, I just came to thank you for your help the other day. Since you have a date, I won't bother you any longer." (End of Chapter)