The Entertainment Industry in Turmoil: Young Actresses All Want to Rise to the Top

"Didn't I tell you, if you're not confident, don't provoke them!"

With a loud crash, Wang Zhongjun angrily smashed the ashtray in front of Wang Zhonglei, sending shards flying that grazed Wang Zhonglei's trouser leg.

But he didn't dare move, and stood in the office with his head down.

Wang Zhongjun stood in front of his desk, his chest heaving violently, his eyes burning with rage.

He was still negotiating a real estate project with Hengda yesterday. They had been negotiating for three months, had eight drinking sessions, and played four rounds of golf together. They were about to sign the contract.

Suddenly I received a call: There's a problem.

He desperately tried to explain to his partners that it was just a minor issue and that everything was under control.

Ultimately, the collaboration fell through, and three months of hard work went down the drain.

"Didn't you say before that there wouldn't be any problems?!"

Wang Zhongjun stared at Wang Zhonglei, his voice as cold as ice, "What's going on now?"

Wang Zhonglei shrank his neck. "There was definitely no problem before."

"But..." he paused.

"Shen Mo has taken a different approach this time."

Wang Zhongjun took a deep breath. "Can this be resolved?"

"This," Wang Zhonglei's voice trailed off, "Brother, I really want to solve this, but this time the problem is a bit big!"

Even Wang Zhongjun, who is usually calm and collected, lost his temper for the second time, throwing the lit cigar he was holding onto the table. The cigar bounced up and almost hit Wang Zhonglei's face.

Wang Zhonglei instinctively backed away, while Wang Zhongjun stared intently at him.

"How did they get our information? Haven't they found it yet?"

His voice was low, "Are you not investigating internally because you want to keep him around to support you in your old age?"

Meanwhile, in Inkmark's office.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating Li Yitong's face, which was filled with confusion.

"This problem can be big or small," Shen Mo explained to her.

Li Yitong blinked. "What do you mean??"

"At the very least, his project failed."

Shen Mo leaned back in his chair, his tone relaxed.

"If it's a bit heavy, you can also use a sewing machine."

Li Yitong gasped, "Is it that serious?"

"After all, they broke the rules," Shen Mo said.

Li Yitong looked at him with a complicated expression. Shen Mo stood up and walked to the window. "This is nothing."

"After all, if we let them keep causing trouble, we won't have a peaceful life."

Li Yitong followed, "So, do you have any other tricks up your sleeve?"

Shen Mo turned to look at her, a slight smile playing on his lips. "They reported me, but it's been proven false."

"Can we file a countersuit?"

Li Yitong's eyes lit up. "A countersuit?"

Shen Mo nodded. "Have you been following the financial markets this year? Do you roughly remember the market trends?"

Li Yitong thought for a moment, then her face instantly fell. "Of course I remember! Otherwise, why would I feel bad about putting my little money into the fund?"

She pouted, looking aggrieved; that was her savings that she had kept for several years.

Although she knew Shen Mo was very skilled in this area, Zhao Feng and the others didn't know the specifics of the stock market crash, and given the circumstances of the crash, how could she not be worried?

She didn't even want to think about the possibility of losing money...

Shen Mo couldn't help but smile when he saw her distressed expression.

Indeed, 2015 was a special year. In the first half of the year, the entire A-share market reached a historical high, and a thriving bull market ensued.

But a stock market crash followed immediately.

"Yes." Shen Mo nodded. "So I went over to cooperate with the investigation."

"At this moment, any violation is a major focus of attention."

"You should know that there have been nearly a hundred related cases in the news since April."

Li Yitong seemed thoughtful. "If you countersue, what kind of punishment will they receive?"

"Go easy on me, or I'll pay you back," Shen Mo said. "Go harder, or I'll go in."

Li Yitong's eyes lit up even more. "Then how can I make it heavier?"

Shen Mo turned his head and met her eyes. Li Yitong felt a little embarrassed by his gaze, and her face turned slightly red.

"What? Didn't you say we wouldn't have any peace until we beat them to death!"

Shen Mo smiled. "So, that's why I told you before that I was cooperating with the investigation."

Li Yitong was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean??"

"If we want more than just compensation from them, but also to hold them accountable, the primary prerequisite is that their whistleblower materials are indeed problematic."

"Secondly, it caused significant economic losses."

Li Yitong understood immediately, "Because you definitely don't have any problems, then his materials must have problems, right!"

"Yes!" Shen Mo nodded, "But!"

A slight smile played on his lips. "Not just that!"

Li Yitong blinked. "More than that?!"

"Because of the report materials," Shen Mo paused, "I wrote them."

"Hmm. Hmm? Hmm!"

Li Yitong's eyes widened suddenly, and her brows furrowed into a deep frown.

What do you mean, "you wrote it"?

Does that mean you're harming yourself?

Shen Mo's words were very simple, but why didn't she understand them?

Her mind was like an overloaded computer, frozen.

Shen Mo was very satisfied with her shocked expression.

He reached out and gently pinched her chubby cheek. "Snap out of it!"

Li Yitong was pulled back to reality by the pinch. She slapped his hand away, "What do you mean? Explain yourself!"

Shen Mo smiled, turned around, and strolled slowly.

Li Yitong hurriedly followed, raising her tiny fist, the size of a clay pot, to show off in front of him.

"If you keep me in suspense, I'll beat you up!"

Shen Mo couldn't help but burst into laughter. He was extremely satisfied with Li Yitong's expression.

"It means exactly what it says."

Li Yitong opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Shen Mo continued, "They want to target us, so I had considered before that it was better to keep this unstable bomb around, not knowing when it would explode."

"Then I might as well detonate it myself."

Li Yitong was stunned, while Shen Mo spoke calmly.

"When they launched a series of attacks on Ziyi, Haocun, and Xiaotian in the media, I knew it was time."

"So you knew all along you were going to be reported?" Li Yitong's voice trembled slightly. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Shen Mo chuckled awkwardly, "Isn't this to increase the realism? If you weren't in a hurry, wouldn't that be too fake?"

Li Yitong took a deep breath, then crossed her arms in front of her chest, snorted coldly, and glared at him fiercely.

"You—question—my—acting—skills?!"

Each word was spoken slowly and deliberately, filled with murderous intent.

Shen Mo quickly waved his hands, "No, no! Absolutely not!!"

"Then why didn't you tell me?!"

"If you don't tell me next time!" Li Yitong interrupted him, "I'll take you down with me!"

Shen Mo felt a warmth in his heart when he saw her serious expression. He chuckled and gently bumped her a few times with his shoulder, almost causing Li Yitong to lose her fierce expression.

"Don't bump into me!" she tried to keep a straight face. "Keep talking!"

Shen Mo suppressed his smile. "I'm going in. Our Mohen suffered huge losses, right?"

He held up his fingers and counted them one by one.

"Firstly, the redemptions from the two funds exceeded 12 billion, which damaged our normal operations and operating returns."

"Secondly, the negative public opinion across the internet has affected my personal reputation, as well as that of my company and the artists under my management."

"It also affected our project collaborations, causing several of our film projects and endorsement deals to be canceled, didn't it?"

"These are all real losses."

Li Yitong nodded, and Shen Mo continued, "This meets the criteria for causing significant economic losses."

Following his words, Li Yitong concluded, "Therefore, our conditions for countersuing them are valid."

Shen Mo's lips curled up slightly. "Besides, the timing of this explosion is also because the opportunity is really right."

"The current state of the capital market will definitely be taken seriously by the higher authorities."

Li Yitong nodded, then frowned.

"But according to you, you gave them these materials a long time ago?"

Li Yitong asked curiously, "So how did you give them them? And how did you control the time they could report them?"

Shen Mo looked at her, a sly glint in his eyes. "Do you still remember Old Zhou?"

Li Yitong was taken aback. "Old Zhou??"

She pouted and pondered for a long time; the name sounded familiar.

Suddenly, her eyes widened. "You mean... Andy Zhou Mingyi?"

In her memory, Zhou Mingyi was one of Shen Mo's capable assistants in her previous life, but she didn't like him much. He had too many tricks up his sleeve, or rather, he was too insidious. In this life, she was wondering why Shen Mo hadn't recruited him into the team.

"Didn't you say he was working in America and hadn't returned home yet?"

"yes."

Shen Mo said, "When we were recruiting in 2011, he was indeed still working at America, but he came back later."

"I took the opportunity to get to know him again. Based on my understanding of him, we hit it off immediately and felt like we had known each other for a long time."

Li Yitong's lips twitched. Instant rapport? Using a friendship of over ten years from a past life to fool people, how could they not feel like they'd known each other for ages?

"When Huayi collapsed and the Wang brothers made a comeback by investing and developing real estate, he joined them."

Shen Mo continued, "He provided a lot of help for their development and managed to get a director position."

Li Yitong fell silent, then shook her head and sighed, "He really likes this kind of thing."

Based on her understanding of Zhou Mingyi, Shen Mo's familiarity with him, and Shen Mo's well-known generosity towards his own people, she knew him well.

If he really manages to infiltrate, Wang Zhonglei will indeed be finished.

Zhou Mingyi has been with Huayi for almost two years, rising from an ordinary director to become Wang Zhonglei's most trusted strategist.

I do my best every time.

Therefore, Wang Zhonglei relied on him more and more, consulting him on everything, big or small.

"Old Zhou, what should we do about this?"

"Old Zhou, how's this project going?"

"Old Zhou, will Shen Mo make any moves?"

"Old Zhou, what's the best way to fight back against that crazy woman?"

He would always give advice that was cunning, ruthless, and sometimes even insane.

Just like the suggestion he made to Wang Zhonglei last time, which was rejected by Wang Zhonglei, he dared to bring it up because he understood Wang Zhonglei's personality.

He knew Wang Zhonglei wouldn't dare. Even if Wang Zhonglei did dare, he'd probably make him do it, and he certainly wouldn't do it himself.

Moreover, there is one advantage to making this suggestion: the person who makes it will certainly not be suspected.

The materials were given to Zhou Mingyi by Shen Mo, after all, who could know the details better than Shen Mo?

The materials were given to Zhou Mingyi by Shen Mo, after all, who could know the details better than Shen Mo?

Wang Zhonglei had also doubted where the materials came from, but the level of detail in these materials still refreshed his understanding of Zhou Mingyi's abilities.

He even paid a corporate spy to verify the authenticity of the materials and data, but Shen Mo, who was already prepared, would never let him notice the problem.

Therefore, when Wang Zhonglei submitted this document, he decisively signed his name.

What he didn't know was that the material, seemingly irrefutable evidence, was actually just the right thing to do to launch an investigation, just the right thing to get Shen Mo taken away, and just the right thing to let public opinion ferment.

But that also happens to mean it doesn't prove any illegal activity.

"so!"

Li Yitong slowly processed this information. "You started planning this two years ago!"

Shen Mo nodded. Li Yitong pouted and looked at him with a complicated expression. "Aren't you afraid something might happen?"

"What unexpected thing could happen?"

"What if... what if they actually found something?"

Shen Mo laughed, "Xuezi, if I've been reborn and still can't make money honestly, then what's the point of my rebirth?"

"Investigate all you want; the more detailed the investigation, the more it proves my innocence."

Li Yitong was silent for a moment, then said, "If this happens again..."

She stared into Shen Mo's eyes. "You should have told me beforehand."

Shen Mo opened his mouth, "Mmm. Okay!"

In fact, besides these two items, Shen Mo also prepared a third gift for the Wang brothers.

At the same time, an inconspicuous black sedan slowly drove out of the underground parking garage.

Zhou Mingyi sat in the back seat, glanced down at the file bag in his arms, and weighed it in his hand; it must have weighed two or three pounds.

This contains materials that he, as a core executive and strategist, has collected over the past few years.

"Sir, we've arrived."

The driver turned around to remind him, and Zhou Mingyi snapped out of his daze and opened the car door.

He looked up at the building; it wasn't tall, it was gray and looked quite ordinary.

But Zhou Mingyi knew that once someone went through that door, it would be very difficult for them to come out.

He had only seen similar scenes in some business war movies before, and had fantasized about how great it would be if he were in it. He never thought that one day he would actually be standing here.

However, this kind of thing can't be done too often. Fortunately, Shen Mo agreed to sponsor his business ventures overseas. After things are settled here in two months, he can go over there and make a name for himself.

He took a deep breath and stepped through the door.

After Huayi was acquired, the Wang brothers rented two floors of office space to use as the office space for their new company.

The Wang brothers have barely slept since yesterday, spending the entire night pondering their current situation.

The next morning at nine o'clock, the two brothers arrived at the company even earlier.

All the heads of each section were present in the conference room.

Wang Zhonglei's face was so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water.

Everyone present was a trusted core member of the leadership, but they were overwhelmed by a barrage of targeted problems that came their way in a short period of time.

They are in a similar situation to the two brothers, and some of them have even started looking for new jobs.

"Tell me about it..."

His voice was a little hoarse, carrying the fatigue of not having slept all night.

What are your thoughts?

The news of their problems spread throughout the industry last night.

This morning, three partners called to inquire about the situation, their tone full of probing and distancing.

Wang Zhongjun sat to the side, not saying a word, just staring at the ashtray in front of him.

"Speak!!" Wang Zhonglei slammed his hand on the table.

The head of the investment department forced himself to speak, "Mr. Wang, our biggest problem right now is that our funding chain is about to break."

"Hengda's project has fallen through, and two other projects that were under negotiation have also been halted. The three previous real estate development projects will also have to stop if no new funds come in within a month."

"A month?"

Wang Zhonglei sneered, "If no funds come in within a week, you can stop working."

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.

Wang Zhonglei frowned and suddenly stood up.

"What's all the noise about?!"

He flung open the conference room door aggressively, ready to unleash his anger.

Several people had already walked up to him. The one in the lead was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a dark suit.

When they explain their purpose and request cooperation with the investigation.

Wang Zhonglei was stunned. He subconsciously turned his head to look at Wang Zhongjun in the conference room.

Wang Zhongjun remained seated, his face expressionless.

Wang Zhonglei took a deep breath, nodded, and the people who had come scattered.

The meeting room erupted into chaos. Some people were bewildered, some were panicked, and some were secretly taking out their phones to send messages.

Wang Zhongjun stood up and strode towards his office.

Wang Zhonglei followed closely behind and went inside.

The door closed, and Wang Zhongjun stood by the window with his back to Wang Zhonglei.

Wang Zhonglei paced anxiously back and forth, "Brother! What should we do?"

Wang Zhongjun remained silent.

Wang Zhonglei continued, "We..."

The first one, no one answered.

The second one rang three times before being disconnected.

The third one is open.

After hearing what was said on the other end of the phone, Wang Zhongjun's expression visibly grew increasingly grim.

After hanging up, he remained silent for a few seconds, then dialed the fourth, fifth, and sixth number.

Wang Zhonglei paced back and forth beside him until Wang Zhongjun finally put down his phone.

"How is it??" Wang Zhonglei asked anxiously.

Wang Zhongjun turned his head and looked at him meaningfully, "Difficult!!"

"What do you mean??"

Wang Zhongjun's voice was calm. "The literal meaning."

"Then...what should we do?"

Wang Zhonglei was stunned, and his voice began to tremble.

Wang Zhongjun didn't speak; he just stared at Wang Zhonglei quietly, his gaze growing increasingly intense.

Wang Zhonglei looked up and met his gaze, and almost instantly, he understood what his older brother was thinking.

His heart sank. "No, brother! Me?!"

Before he could finish speaking, there was another urgent knocking at the door.

Wang Zhonglei suddenly turned around and opened the door. His secretary was standing at the door, looking flustered.

"Mr. Wang, another group of people has arrived!"

Behind her, several people walked in. These people were the same as the group in front, but they were investigating in a different direction.

Wang Zhonglei stood there, speechless, while the people opposite him scattered before he could answer.

Wang Zhonglei slowly closed the door and turned around, followed by a loud crash.

Wang Zhongjun stood up from his office chair, the teacup on the table already smashed on the floor.

He stood there staring at the door, his face pale.

His voice sounded like it was being squeezed out between clenched teeth, "Look the mess you've made!"

Wang Zhonglei was stunned for a long time before slowly raising his head, which had been bowed to Wang Zhongjun all day. He looked at Wang Zhongjun for a long time without saying a word, but the playfulness in his eyes grew stronger.

Wang Zhongjun suddenly noticed that Wang Zhonglei's eyes were very calm at this moment, just as calm as when he had looked at him earlier. He seemed to understand his younger brother's thoughts a little.

Wang Zhongjun gradually calmed down, and the two looked at each other for a few seconds.

Wang Zhonglei suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with suppressed madness.

"It seems like none of us can escape now, bro."

"Shen Mo is really ruthless!!"

Wang Zhongjun opened his mouth, as if to say something, but nothing came out.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!"

There was another knock on the door.

Wang Zhonglei's shoulders slumped instantly. He slowly wiped away his smile, turned around dejectedly, and opened the door.

A group of people were standing at the door, led by a young man in his thirties. Wang Zhonglei glanced at their attire and pursed his lips.

The visitor explained his purpose, and sure enough, since he hadn't sent Shen Mo in, the other party started to file a countersuit.

Wang Zhonglei paused for a second, then nodded.

Just as he was about to walk out the door, he turned and glanced at Wang Zhongjun, who was still standing there, motionless.

He turned around and followed them outside.

Almost everyone stood up from their workstations at that moment, and his fierce gaze swept across their faces one by one.

Zhou Mingyi is not here!

It was him? Why him? When did this happen?

He took out his phone, glanced at the person next to him, and said, "Can I make a call?"

He didn't refuse, so he dialed the number that had been saved for a long time but had never been called.

His first words were expected to be a string of curses, but...

"You're really ruthless!!"

"Mr. Wang is joking."

Shen Mo on the other end of the phone was very calm, "I'm just learning from you."

"Do we really have to fight to the death?!"

"I just want to develop the business properly, but Mr. Wang, you started this war."

"Zhou Mingyi is one of your men, isn't he?"

"I don't understand what Mr. Wang is talking about..."

Shen Mo's words instantly silenced him. He had been happy to have found such a talented overseas returnee, but now, looking back, he realized that it was a trap the other party had dug for him.

He hung up the phone and then walked into the elevator.

The elevator descended, and Wang Zhonglei stood in the center, surrounded by people.

He looked at his reflection in the elevator door: unshaven, with prominent dark circles under his eyes, and his tie slightly askew.

Just a few days ago, he was sitting in the top office of this building, smoking a cigar and drinking red wine, thinking about how to bring Shen Mo down.

A few days later, their situations reversed.

With a "ding," the elevator doors opened, and we arrived at the lobby on the first floor.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, the surroundings instantly became noisy.

He looked up at the door and saw dozens of people standing there, all carrying long guns and short cannons.

The moment he appeared, flashbulbs went off and countless excited eyes lit up at the same time.

Wang Zhonglei stood at the door, squinting as he was blinded by the glaring white light. He suddenly remembered three days ago.

This moment is just like that moment back then.

The day Shen Mo was taken away, the door was also full of reporters. At that time, he was sitting in his office, smiling smugly.

Now, Shen Mo is probably just like I was that day.