Chapter 551: The User of the Face Fruit

"What did you say?"

In the Imperial Capital, at Li Bingbin's home.

Li Bingbin, who had just finished her bath and was applying a face mask, looked up at her sister who had come to find her—

Because of the mask, she couldn't make big expressions at the moment, but that didn't stop her from saying this sentence with a tone of unprecedented doubt: "On what grounds does a mere maid deserve this? If this happens, won't I be left inferior to her out of nowhere?"

She, who had just snatched the role of a "thief woman" in "A World Without Thieves" on her sister's suggestion not long ago, was originally feeling smug; after all, this movie was Huayi's most highly regarded major project next year, and among the two candidates for the male lead, Zhang Xueyou and Andy Lau, the latter had been chosen;

Ge You, who was getting older, had even stepped back to a supporting role in this movie.

Others, such as Feng Yuanzheng from the People's Art Troupe and Fan Wei, who had become a household name thanks to the Spring Festival Gala, were all brought in as guest supporting roles.

Although she was currently the top star promoted by Huayi, considering the cast of this movie, she could accept landing a supporting female role—

But if it were the female lead, that would be even better.

She knew the position of the female lead had always been undecided, so even though she knew her supporting role was secure, Li Bingbin still couldn't help but imagine the female lead position, because it would significantly elevate her status.

Originally, it was always rumored that Liu Ruoying, a veteran from Taiwan, was the female lead.

Under the unspoken rule that Hong Kong and Taiwan stars were automatically considered superior, even though Liu Ruoying hadn't been doing well recently, she didn't dare to complain.

But now, what had she heard?

That Fan Bingbin, who used to pick up her leftovers, was actually going to compete for the female lead, and the company even said they would consider it, without flatly rejecting it???

She recalled that back in the day, it was she who had refused "Young Bao Qingtian 2" due to scheduling conflicts, which allowed Fan Bingbin to snatch the opportunity to star in this sequel.

Now you tell me that this maid has ascended in just a few short years to the female lead position that would surpass her?

Then what was the point of all her hard work these past years?

She was already 30 years old this year, at the tail end of a female actress's golden age; how many more years could she act?

You, Fan Bingbin, are only 22 years old this year; on what grounds?

You've already played the female lead in three consecutive movies: "Young Bao Qingtian 2," "The Lion Roars," and "The Magnificent Concubine"; it's said there's another project in Hong Kong offering the female lead to you, and now you're competing for the female lead in "A World Without Thieves"; why is your fate so good?

"It's because of Zhou Yi."

Although she wasn't her sister's agent yet, Li Xue, who was already learning to take over, had found out the reason through her own channels.

Li Bingbin was even more confused.

Yes, Zhou Yi was very awesome, but no matter how long his reach or how great his influence, that was all in the music industry, right? How could he possibly interfere with Huayi's movie casting?

Was Huayi planning to co-found a music company with him?

Or was Zhou Yi going to kick Andy Lau out to take the male lead role?

"Sister, you might not know, but TV dramas in Taiwan are almost being blocked to madness; it's said there are signs of this happening to movies as well..."

Li Xue briefly described the relevant events, and then mentioned a company name—Taihe Media.

On November 17, 2002, Warner (China) Records issued an official public announcement: Song Ke, the company's deputy general manager and music director, had violated relevant company agreements; all his positions have been removed, and his equity has been reclaimed.

At the same time, Warner (China) Records will formally sue Song Ke and the Taihe Media behind him for the crime of infringing on trade secrets.

Until today, this lawsuit is still ongoing; although Taihe Media has always been the passive party, they have also lost several lawsuits.

Why ordinary people can't afford to sue big companies lies in this fact above all else—they can't afford the delay, they can't afford the exhaustion; the time and energy spent are simply too much.

"Originally, Taihe Media could have continued to drag things out, but the problem now is that after the Golden Melody Awards incident this year and the strict blocking of all Qiong Yao dramas and idol dramas, the people behind Taihe Media have sensed the change in Zhou Yi's status and plan to seek a settlement behind the scenes..."

Preparing for a rainy day is very necessary for Taihe Media.

Their investments are spread throughout the domestic entertainment industry; if they were to suffer the same treatment, the consequences would be unimaginable—knowing that Taihe Media had aggressively laid out plans for quite a few companies.

For instance, one of the investors in "A World Without Thieves" is Taihe Film & Television Investment Co., Ltd.

"... So, Taihe Film & Television plans to use this female lead role to express their sincerity of reconciliation to Zhou Yi?" Li Bingbin was stunned.

Li Xue nodded: "Originally, they couldn't find any demand from Zhou Yi, because this man had absolutely no weaknesses himself; his music could be entirely self-produced and self-sold, eliminating any possibility of being choked by anyone, and there were no musical interests to exchange.

"After all, right now, no one in the entire country—no, it should be said, no one in the entire world writes songs better than him.

"He himself has no need for acting or endorsements; don't look at the fact that he has few endorsements now, but each one is more astronomical than the last; his album earning power is even the best in the country, with the bulk being in US dollars, so Taihe Media has always been unable to find a point for reconciliation.

"Until Chen Shufen stepped in to start Fan Bingbin's competition for the female lead of 'A World Without Thieves'..."

Basically, everyone in the industry knows the story of how Zhou Yi and Fan Bingbin, these two people of the same age, met and got to know each other back then; Fan Bingbin was only able to leave Qiong Yao's company at a low price after latching onto Zhou Yi's thigh, and from then on began her path to soaring success.

"They are preparing to emulate Yinghuang; Yinghuang, back in the day, in order to thank Zhou Yi, allocated some resources to Fan Bingbin, thereby winning reconciliation with Zhou Yi;

"If Yinghuang could do it, then they can too."

The importance of the male lead determined that they dared not give it to Zhou Yi, but the female lead was irrelevant.

To put it bluntly, the female lead's role in the vast majority of current TV dramas and movies is not the anchor that stabilizes everything.

Anyway, Zhou Yi himself doesn't act; emulating Yinghuang by directly giving the female lead role not only demonstrates the sincerity of reconciliation but also shows their generosity; perfect.

Li Bingbin: "..."

Damn it, how could Zhou Yi's face be so huge!

She admitted, she was jealous.

It's only been a few years; how did Zhou Yi grow into a big shot of a region? Is this the charm of the music industry...

"As long as you stand in the wind, even a pig can fly; let alone Zhou Yi isn't a pig."

Taihe Media Building, internal conference room.

The board members who had summoned Song Ke all urged this man, who had previously been swept out by Zhou Jianhui and Zhou Yi's joint efforts due to the ringtone incident: "Reconciling with Zhou Yi is the general trend, it is the big picture. Song Ke, you must take the big picture into account."

"..."

Damn it!

The big picture is sacrificing me?!

Song Ke was very aggrieved.

He was unwilling in his heart, but there was nothing he could do.

When he received the news, he felt something was wrong; he never thought that this day would finally arrive.

Even ghosts couldn't imagine that Zhou Yi's overseas output results would be so fierce, yet he hadn't secretly changed nationality or switched to Hong Kong citizenship; he was a rock-solid, true-born red, and he had absolutely no ability to resist.

No matter what schemes and plots he played, or how many people he allied with, it was useless; Zhou Yi always stood there—

He didn't even need to act himself; the magnificent great trend behind him would automatically crush everything.

This situation was the most despairing, because the great trend was unavoidable.

Yet, in the entire mainland entertainment circle, only Zhou Yi had the ability, through various coincidences, to reach this step, to stand at this wind vane, and they couldn't even find someone to act as a check.

Damn it, why the hell did Xie Tingfeng have to drive your damn Ferrari for no reason!

Why don't you just crash into a pig!

What bad luck!

Song Ke lowered his head: "Fine, I admit defeat. Let's seek reconciliation with Zhou Yi."

"Rest assured, your shares in Taihe Music will still be retained, and we will also hire lawyers to secure the best possible sentence reduction for you. By then, combined with your own good behavior, when you get out in a few years, you will still be the chairman of Taihe Music, and Taihe's resources will still be open to you.

"The music market in a few years should be large enough for you to make money; ringtone downloads are very popular now; Fan Bingbin earned several million from this in less than half a year."

The directors were very gratified, eagerly projecting his future financial prospects for him.

Shortly after, Zhou Yi, who had just finished Sun Yanzi's press conference, received a congratulatory call from Qian Jiang—

"A-Yi, people from Taihe Media want to invite you to dinner."

"Why invite me again? Are you harassing me as soon as I return to the country?"

"No, no, no, this time it is a dinner truly given out of respect." Qian Jiang calmly recounted the other party's submission and willingness to reconcile...

Sun Yanzi, who had also just finished her press conference, bounced over to the man's side. Seeing his expression of surprise, she couldn't help but raise her hand and slap his butt: "What are you thinking about, so absorbed?"

"I'm thinking about how to use my influence to ban you." Zhou Yi glanced at her and rubbed his butt: "Don't you know you can't touch a tiger's butt?"

"Oh ho."

Sun Yanzi feigned surprise, then raised her hand and slapped him again.

"Hmm?"

"Hehe."

The woman turned and ran—

Unfortunately, she didn't get away; Zhou Yi simply hoisted her up and carried her off.

"Ah?! Hey! Wait! I'm a big star after all! Give me some face!"

Sun Yanzi flailed her four limbs, claws and teeth bared: "The staff are watching! Don't I have any face to lose?!"

The Warner employees, who had long seen this as nothing unusual, turned a deaf ear, and even pretended to be blind.

"Judy! Hey! Help me!"

Sun Yanzi spotted her familiar makeup artist at the company and hurriedly waved to her—

The blonde woman, who had just been staring over here watching the spectacle, blinked her eyes, then immediately put her hands in her pockets, frowned tightly, as if pondering some difficult math problem, occasionally muttering profound remarks like "Goldbach's Conjecture," "Under what circumstances exactly does 1+1 equal 3," and so on.