Chapter 154: Rebellious Phase (Bonus Chapter: Requesting Monthly Tickets and Rewards)

Liu Tianxian saw her phone suddenly cut off; Fang Hong's abrupt attitude hurt her deeply.

She didn't even know what she'd done wrong—she'd just made a friend, yet the public treated her this way, and so did this man.

It made her heart sink to the bottom of a valley; she tilted her head, sniffed back tears, and felt heartbroken.

Actually, Fang Hong wasn't angry at her—he was furious because she had completely disrupted his planned timeline; in his mind, this incident should have erupted next year, and it would have lasted a long time.

He hadn't expected that by accelerating the process, he'd turned it into a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.

"Ding ding ding."

Liu Tianxian's phone rang again; seeing it was her mother calling, she answered immediately.

"Hello, Xixi, stay away from Zeng." Liu Xiaoli said as soon as she connected.

"Mom, you know her!" Liu Tianxian replied.

"I know her, but she's too sensitive, and you're a celebrity—you still need to keep some distance from her," Liu Xiaoli advised.

"If that man doesn't understand me, fine, but why don't you understand me either?" Liu Tianxian was deeply saddened.

Hearing this, Liu Xiaoli was taken aback: "Little Fang also said something to you."

"Yes, just like you said—I told him we're just friends, Mom. I'm grown up now; I can tell right from wrong, who's good to me and who isn't," Liu Tianxian said.

"This isn't about right or wrong."

Liu Xiaoli sighed: "I shouldn't have taken you to that concert—I've ruined you."

Her daughter had become this way because she'd been too strict before, forbidding her from associating with this person or that, leaving her with few friends, compounded by years of artistic isolation and lack of recognition.

This left her emotionally hollow; now, having finally found a close friend who validated her, she saw her as a soulmate.

"How can you blame yourself? I have my own judgment—I don't want others interfering. If I betray a friend just because something goes wrong, I can't do that," Liu Tianxian was stubborn.

"Who said we want you to betray your friend? We just want you to keep some distance from her," Liu Xiaoli said.

"I know. I have my own boundaries," Liu Tianxian knew her mother wouldn't harm her.

She also knew Fang Hong wouldn't harm her.

But Zeng Yike hadn't harmed her either—she couldn't ignore her friend's feelings just because of others' opinions.

The two mothers talked for a while; the tension had eased. Liu Xiaoli only urged caution—this matter didn't seem serious, and there was still room to mend things.

After the mother-daughter call ended, Liu Tianxian received another call—from Chen Zhixi.

Chen Zhixi had only one sentence: "No need for you to do Propaganda."

That meant she should disappear, stop appearing in public—Zhao Xiaodao and Li Lianjie would handle the promotion; she should go home and rest.

Though those two weren't as popular as her and couldn't generate buzz, Liu Tianxian wasn't strong enough to carry the box office alone.

It would avoid her running around and further skewing public opinion.

This left Liu Tianxian's heart icy cold—the man was ruthless, even forbidding the female lead from appearing; she felt abandoned.

Thinking of this, the suppressed emotions brought tears to her eyes.

Unbeknownst to her, this was the best protection for her—if she weren't hidden, reporters would chase her, fans would hunt for her, rivals would manipulate narratives, and the buzz would inevitably flare again.

It was just a temporary cooling-off period—wait until after the movie's release.

"Xixi, what's wrong?"

Zeng Yike appeared, seeing her as if she were crying, and felt a pang of pity; she reached out to wipe the tears from her face.

Liu Tianxian dodged, then shook her head slightly, signaling she was fine.

"Don't cry—I bought you a gift," Zeng Yike pulled out a small gift box.

"What's this?" Liu Tianxian took it and opened it.

"A cross necklace—wishing you peace and smooth sailing," Zeng Yike had skills; she was far better at winning hearts than Fang Hong.

Fang Hong never bought gifts.

"Thank you!" Liu Tianxian nodded.

"Let me put it on you."

Fang Hong was busy and didn't want to waste time with Liu Tianxian—he thought this distance made him independent, self-sufficient.

Like he'd entered a rebellious phase.

He summoned Huang Bing, head of the Propaganda Department, who had once been Liu Tianxian's agent.

But he'd left Liu Tianxian two or three years ago, when she took a two-year break—he found it boring staying with her then.

After that, he became agent for Zhao Xiaodao, Huang Jiaozhu, and others—he turned Zhao Xiaodao from a country girl into a top-tier fashion star.

Later, he ran Huang Jiaozhu's studio, orchestrating all her ups and downs.

Later films like "Si Teng" and "Ming Dynasty Romance" were all launched by him.

His current role was to share Chen Zhixi's workload—Chen Zhixi oversaw film production and investment, and also managed artist agencies.

After all, Chen Zhixi was Yutu's number two.

In "Tandang"'s office, Fang Hong walked over and dropped a file onto Huang Bing's desk, tapping it: "Handle this for me."

Huang Bing picked up the file, flipped through it, and his eyes widened: "This—"

"Shh!" Fang Hong raised a finger to his lips, signaling silence: "Just tell me if you can do it."

"I can," Huang Bing nodded.

"Good," Fang Hong slapped his shoulder: "Do this well, and I'll give you the artist agency."

Huang Bing gripped the file tightly: "General Manager, when do we start?"

"Start now."

This year's National Day lineup, besides "The Genius Girl," saw the fiercest competition between "Painted Wall" and "The Sorcerer and the White Snake."

"Painted Wall" starred Deng Chao and his wife, directed by Chen Jiashang; "The Sorcerer and the White Snake" featured a powerhouse cast including Li Lianjie, Huang Shengyi, Lin Feng, Cai Zhuoyan, Wenzhang, and Jiang Wu.

This film's lineup seemed the strongest, especially with Li Lianjie leading it.

The shoehorn spared no effort in promoting his own wife—of course, another ambitious one wanting to break into the film circle.

And behind this drama, Bona was also investing.

As for the other films, none were worth worrying about, but in Fang Hong's eyes, they were all damn terrible movies.

No doubt about it, all the way until '14, the Chinese film market was at its most chaotic—you simply couldn't find a few good films.

"Tiny Times," "Switch," "From Vegas to Macau"—all were made during this period.

If not for our protection, Hollywood films would have wiped out a huge swath of them.

Films of this period were nothing but endless stacking of stars, stacking of Best Special Effects, with content as disgusting as possible.

After '15, when the new generation rose, things got slightly better.

Recently, "Painted Wall" and "The Sorcerer and the White Snake"—these two films are competing fiercely, both belonging to the same fantasy genre.

This caused "The Sorcerer and the White Snake" to move up its release to the 28th, that is, one day earlier.

But still there were Heizi saying: "'White Snake Legend' falls in love with a human-beast hybrid."

Being attacked by Heizi, the shoehorn was furious: "For those who slander my film, I'll take down every single one I see, no mercy."

Of course "Painted Wall" also got criticized—people said this film was a man entering Heaven on Earth.

In any case, both sides were stepping on each other, cursing at each other.

Wang Zhangtian is a rather low-key person, rarely appearing in public to say anything.

Quite normal—at his status, getting into the mud would be too beneath him.

But the shoehorn is comparatively high-profile, telling everyone: "Controversy is fine, but you can't maliciously smear with special malice."

This was plainly aimed at Wang Zhangtian, taking shots both openly and covertly.

The fuse that blew this matter up was a post—this post seemed to have been put out by an internet Water Army ringleader, who posted a chat screenshot online.

The meaning was that he'd helped "Painted Wall" suppress "The Sorcerer and the White Snake," and tagged Wang Zhangtian, telling him to pay up.

Essentially, he'd helped smear the competitor, but the money hadn't come through.

This was essentially a name-by-name cursing of Wang Zhangtian.

This matter was already in competition anyway—actually, even if Fang Hong hadn't sought him out, he would have given the shoehorn a lesson.

That is, on the 27th, the day Fang Hong and Wang Zhangtian had agreed on.

The direction of public opinion began to completely change.

"Huang Shengyi rose to power as a mistress; the shoehorn abandoned his ex-wife."

"The shoehorn is very low-key, speculating on sky-high-priced Dzi Beads, driving a gold Hummer."

"Huang Shengyi secretly married and had a child, currently in the United States awaiting delivery."

"."

One after another, news and information appeared on all the major internet media and newspapers.

Especially Huang Shengyi's secret marriage and childbirth—this was an explosively shocking piece of news now, because the two had always publicly claimed they weren't married.

The shoehorn was in a "married" state, still maintaining the image of a family man at home, but once the mistress-rising-to-power talk came up, public opinion began to explode.

And this news also dragged in Xing Ye, incidentally clearing Xing Ye's name—after all, when one side is bad, the other side looks good by comparison.

In other words, this woman was deeply scheming—not only did she rise as a mistress; the shoehorn also abandoned his ex-wife, birds of a feather.

Such news swept across everything in an instant, its heat eclipsing any current piece of gossip—clearly the work of someone deliberate.

For this, the shoehorn had to come out and clarify: "We are indeed married, but the secret marriage was to protect my ex-wife, to protect my child with my ex-wife."

At the same time he furiously denounced: "The person behind the scenes is even more despicable and shameless than I imagined."

Huang Shengyi was giving birth in the United States and couldn't make a statement for the time being.

No matter how angry the shoehorn was, it was useless—these news stories would only intensify. After all, the combined force of Yutu and Enlight was not something a newcomer trying to break into the film circle could withstand.

The Wangyi's public opinion was also smoothly led astray.

"Neither of them is any good—seeing the shoehorn makes me sick, he'll do anything for money."

"Keep protecting her, no need to come out and embarrass yourself this early—no acting skills at all, just the image of a redeemed concubine."

"The rise of the third woman—an inspirational story."

"Secret marriage, my ass—the kid's about to be born, what's the point of saying it now."

"A third is a third, but the two really do look like a married couple—call it fate. I remember she used to be quite pretty, sure enough, the face reflects the heart."

"Don't use the child as a shield—poor child still has to be used by his own dad and stepmom!"

"."

In an instant, the news of Liu Tianxian being involved was quickly suppressed—online was nothing but all sorts of personal attacks and abuse.

It forced the shoehorn to temporarily go into hiding, trying everywhere to find out who was out to get him. Of course he knew Wang Zhangtian had a hand in it, but Wang Zhangtian wasn't the type to be this despicable! He was pulling strings trying to arrange a meeting with Wang Zhangtian.

But Wang Zhangtian wouldn't see him for the time being—wait until the film was released.

(End of this chapter)