Wang Fengyun, however, wore an utterly fearless and disdainful expression. “What? These are the people you called? They certainly look like they’re putting on quite a show. No wonder you’re a company full of actors. You’re pretty good at putting on appearances.”
He Yanzhou did not bother explaining. From what Wang Fengyun was saying, he had assumed that these people were his.
One after another, five people entered the room. From their presence alone, it was obvious that they were no ordinary people. A hint of wariness flashed through He Yanzhou’s eyes.
The last person to enter was a young man in a suit. He first swept his gaze over everyone in the room before his eyes settled on Wen Yusui.
A moment later, his gaze shifted to the director.
He slowly walked toward the director and the others and said in a voice devoid of warmth, “You’re the director?”
The director nodded in confusion.
“From now on, we’ll provide all the investment for your production. Our only requirement is that she plays the female lead.”
The man in the black suit pointed toward Wen Yusui, who was standing to the side.
At this point, Wen Yusui was genuinely baffled. What kind of people were these?
The moment Su Qingyan heard this, her expression immediately changed.
What was going on? Another person had come to snatch her role!
“Brother Wang! Look at these people! Who do they think they are? They just barged in here and started bossing everyone around!”
The leading man in the suit glanced at Su Qingyan and said disdainfully, “A woman like this can be an actress too? Which nightclub did she crawl out of?”
“What did you say!” Su Qingyan’s face instantly became extremely ugly, the pallor of her complexion flushed with rage.
“Brother Wang! Look at how he’s bullying me! Isn’t he basically slapping you in the face too?” Su Qingyan immediately grabbed Wang Fengyun’s arm and shook it, looking aggrieved.
Wang Fengyun was also annoyed by these newcomers. He had been the one to invest in this production first, so what right did they have to make him pull out with a single sentence?
What irritated him even more was that he had noticed that woman first. Were these people trying to snatch her from him?
There were only five of them, while he had at least eight people on his side. Besides, those five looked quite young. In terms of numbers, his side still had the advantage, so he remained the most powerful person here.
“Who the hell do you think you are, trying to steal my woman? I saw her first. Stop trying to curry favor with her!” Wang Fengyun continued disdainfully.
“You saw her first?” The man in the suit chuckled, repeating the words.
“Of course! I’ve already decided to promote her. If you know what’s good for you, get out of the way.”
The man in the suit laughed even louder when he heard this. “You? With that fat, bloated face of yours? She needs you to promote her?”
Wang Fengyun’s expression darkened. “You dare insult me?! Let me tell you, whether she needs it or not, I was the one who spotted her first. I’m warning you one more time: if you want to compete with me for her, you can try!”
The man in the suit stopped smiling and gave the four people beside him a look.
In the blink of an eye, every single bodyguard around Wang Fengyun was sprawled on the floor, curled up and groaning in pain.
He stared in astonishment before fear quickly took hold of him.
“We tried. And now what?” The man in the suit looked at him with disdain and contempt.
“T-This…” Wang Fengyun’s face visibly panicked, and he began stammering. “Well, little brother, my wife is about to give birth. I’ll head home first.”
Su Qingyan panicked as well. “Brother Wang, what about the female lead you promised me?”
“What female lead? All this happened because of you! You went and provoked some big shot! Get lost!”
With an ingratiating smile, Wang Fengyun hurriedly ran out. His bulky body seemed to have suddenly become much lighter.
In the end, Su Qingyan could only stomp her foot in frustration before turning around and leaving angrily.
“Wait!”
He Yanzhou stepped forward and stared coldly at her. “Who started spreading these rumors?”
Without Wang Fengyun backing her up, Su Qingyan’s arrogance completely disappeared.
“I don’t know. I only heard people outside talking about it, saying that the director had found a second female lead who was prettier than me, and that she’d gotten the role by using her looks. I was just afraid she’d steal my screen time, so I came over. It really has nothing to do with me.”
“Bring her in,” the man in the suit suddenly said.
A woman drenched from head to toe was brought inside.
The moment Lin Yinyin saw her, she immediately stepped forward and supported her. “Ding Yan, how did you end up like this?”
“She was the one who spread the rumors,” the man in the suit explained.
Lin Yinyin stared at the woman before her in disbelief. She slowly released her and asked with difficulty, “Was it really you? Why did you do this? Weren’t we friends? Why did you hurt Sister Wen?”
Ding Yan glared viciously at Wen Yusui. Gritting her teeth, she was so furious that her entire body trembled uncontrollably.
“Can we still be considered friends? In your eyes and in your heart, there’s only Wen Yusui. When have you ever had room for me? Even when we were extras, you only stayed by her side. I was clearly the one who appeared first, so why did you and she end up becoming best friends?”
Her eyes reddened as she continued through clenched teeth, “During the training camp, you were the one who said you’d protect me! Where were you in the end? I’ve always worked hard too, and even the teachers praised me. Who was happy for me? Your eyes were always on Wen Yusui. When did you ever notice me?”
Ding Yan’s chest heaved violently, her voice filled with endless resentment and unwillingness to accept reality.
“I don’t think I’m inferior to her in any way. Acting skills, figure, looks! I’m even younger than her!”
“Ding Yan, let’s not compare your looks with Sister Wen’s. You’re a little too blindly confident,” Lin Yinyin reminded her.
Ding Yan became even more enraged upon hearing that. She lost control and shouted at Wen Yusui, “Wen Yusui, you’re a jinx! Lin Yinyin, you don’t know this, do you? Ever since I spread those rumors about her, I’ve had nothing but bad luck!”
A trace of panic flashed through her eyes as she continued aggrievedly, “When I was filming as an extra, props suddenly fell on me. Even when I was resting nearby, other props kept falling on me. I’d even trip over things for no reason while walking. When I went to get my meal, the food was gone. There wasn’t even any water left. When I went out to buy some, I lost my wallet, my actor’s ID, and my access pass—all of them.”
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became, and her words came faster and faster.
“When I came back, I couldn’t get through the entrance, so I sneaked in through another place. But then I accidentally fell into the lake and nearly drowned! Someone else had sneaked in with me, yet I was the only one who fell into the lake, and I was the only one who got caught! They even banned me from participating in any more filming.”
She clenched her fists and glared at Wen Yusui with venom in her eyes.
“Wen Yusui, everything started because of you! I’ve never had this much bad luck happen to me one thing after another!”
The entire scene fell silent.
Everyone felt that her situation was indeed rather miserable.
Wen Yusui, however, merely said calmly, “Didn’t everything start because you were the one who spread rumors and slandered me? If you hadn’t done those things, you wouldn’t have had all this bad luck. And now you actually have the nerve to shift the blame onto me. Don’t you find yourself ridiculous?”
Ding Yan was immediately rendered speechless.
That’s right. Everything had started because of her. Her own jealousy had created this entire situation.
Lin Yinyin looked at Ding Yan, the disappointment in her eyes gradually spreading. She spoke softly, “Ding Yan, I did say that I considered you a good friend, and I really did want to protect you. But did you ever truly consider me a friend from the bottom of your heart? You only took other people’s efforts for granted. You never once thought about putting yourself in someone else’s shoes or sharing their burdens.”
Her gaze sharpened as she looked directly at Ding Yan.
“Ultimately, from beginning to end, this was all because of your selfishness. Did you really think I didn’t know about all those little tricks and schemes you pulled at the training camp?”