Chapter 262: Sister Shang: Listen To Me, Let Me Explain
【Tianyan Check: Legal representatives of eight companies under Xu Yingying have been changed, showing abnormal status.】
【Sina Entertainment: The tax bureau has intervened in the investigation, and Xu Yingying’s studio has yet to respond to tax issues.】
【Recounting the cause of this incident—how many more tricks does the Rise boy group have up its sleeve?】
【……】
Three days after the Golden Eagle Festival ended.
The entire sky of news was dominated by Xu Yingying and Jiang Mou, Chi Ye, Jin Xia, as well as Rise sweeping the charts.
Weibo Hot Search topping the list every few days, Douyin videos promoting National White Moonlight and “promotion”—behind all this, of course, Chi Ye spent a fortune to boost popularity.
Yes, this time he was aiming to “kill off” Xu Yingying.
Unfortunately, Big Sister Xu might have been hit so many times in her life that she’s somewhat desensitized, and unlike little flowers or young actors, she still hasn’t responded to any of the bizarre news targeting her sensitivities, just continuously canceling companies privately and severing ties with other investors.
Of course, this doesn’t mean she’s really not upset.
She’s almost dying of frustration.
……
Xu Yingying felt that from the end of the Golden Eagle Festival… no, even before it ended, from the moment Chi Ye gave his award speech, she started having bad luck.
At first, upon hearing Chi Ye dare to say that in public, she was extremely shocked and angry, and at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a bit “delighted” inside, thinking that this move by Chi Ye had offended everyone in the industry.
After all, tax issues are routine in the industry; whoever lifts the lid first will offend everyone to death.
She and Director Feng, Director Lu, and others could completely use this opportunity to truly “soft ban” Chi Ye in the industry.
But…
Before she could wait for her side’s “revenge” against Chi Ye, she first received Chi Ye’s “retaliation.”
Hmm… very fierce retaliation, so fierce that it caught her off guard, leaving her no time to react, as if the towering buildings around her collapsed overnight.
—Jiang Mou had actually brought recording equipment in!
How is that possible?!
Before the Golden Eagle Festival gala started, Jiang Mou successfully ambushed Lao Peng coming out of the toilet to gank the jungler, then under various pretexts, got Lao Peng to take him to meet one of his big sisters, also Xu Yingying, his “cooperation partner” who had always avoided seeing him.
Then… then Xu Yingying’s side very cautiously searched him, confirming no electronic devices before letting him in.
Otherwise, how could Xu Yingying say those words from the recording in front of Jiang Mou?
Jiang Mou’s previous actions were “full of misdeeds”!
But… even in this situation, Jiang Mou still successfully recorded, and immediately exposed Xu Yingying.
At this point, even a fool could figure it out: Jiang Mou came to see her this time on purpose, fully prepared; his goal wasn’t to ask Xu Yingying for money, because he knew she wouldn’t give it… he came to record!
In other words, Chi Ye’s mother somehow got involved with Jiang Mou.
“No, I still can’t figure it out—where exactly did he hide the recording device?!”
At home.
The usually “elegant and poised,” rosy-cheeked internal entertainment big sister, one of the four great flowers in the film circle, Xu Yingying, visibly lost her luster in these short two or three days.
Her cheeks were a bit sallow, no makeup, hair unwashed for two days, emitting a strange odor, now shaking her head in the living room of her large flat, emotions faintly on the verge of a minor breakdown as she shouted into the phone: “I really searched him; he absolutely didn’t have any recording equipment on him at the time!”
“It’s not that I left him something to hold over me; I always contacted him through middlemen before, he had no evidence, so he deliberately approached me through Peng Chen, then recorded me on the spot and sold it to Chi Ye… that idiot, no professional ethics at all, I’m not done with him!”
“…”
Wang Youli on the other end listened for a long time before silently saying: “You might have to retreat behind the scenes this time.”
Xu Yingying instantly fell silent.
Retreating behind the scenes seemed not bad, but in reality, it completely buried her future “prospects.”
Because unlike other investors, she herself didn’t have much capital; mainly she relied on sleeping with people… cough, associating with people like her current husband, connected capital.
And their cooperation model wasn’t like ordinary normal couples being “heart-to-heart”; in fact, normal couples are mutual—if one side keeps giving while the other keeps taking without giving back, the relationship is doomed not to last.
Wang Youli might have real feelings for Xu Yingying, but other capital big shots didn’t; what they fancied about Xu Yingying, besides sleeping with this big flower actress, more importantly was her research ability and influence dancing long sleeves in the industry.
This helped them earn more interests.
But if Xu Yingying lost her big flower status, then… over time, would she still have that influence?
Look at Bingbing from another world: before cooling off, she also had strong capital; everyone thought even if she cooled, she’d live well, but in fact, it was far from that.
So, this result was undoubtedly fatal for Xu Yingying; Chi Ye essentially uprooted her proud capital and foundation in one go, making her completely “disappear from the human world.”
—She couldn’t accept it.
“Help me out more, Old Wang, after so many years as a couple, help me one more time!”
Xu Yingying played her best “crying” act.
Wang Youli on the other end sighed deeply: “It’s not that I won’t help you; this matter has blown up too big, you know… the higher-ups are already investigating; what we can do is try our best to patch it up, and all companies related to you must quickly sever ties with you…”
“Don’t worry, transfer the shares to me first; once the storm passes, what’s yours, I’ll return it all; we’re a couple… I won’t harm you, you get it?”
Xu Yingying fell silent, her eyes a bit desolate and full of mockery—
Give it to you first, then after the storm passes, you return it to me?
Do you even believe your own words?
Wang Youli didn’t expect Xu Yingying to think of him that way; he was still persuading on his end: “Those shares in your hands are useless now… anything connected to you, no one will dare cooperate with later… oh right, you need to make up the taxes, the amount is quite large, but it must be done quickly…”
“Still have to make up taxes?!”
Xu Yingying’s voice sharpened: “You’ve all taken so much; aren’t you going to make it up for me?”
“…Too much, nearly a billion, many people unwilling to shell out that money.”
“They unwilling means I’m willing? How much of that is from taxes we evaded for us?!”
“Yingying…”
“Enough, don’t say more, hanging up.”
Xu Yingying tiredly interrupted her husband’s words, then hung up the phone, staring blankly at the ceiling.
—Nearly a billion in taxes, all on her alone; this is to “force her to death.”
“Chi Ye… I won’t let you go… Jiang Mou neither…”
In the bedroom, Xu Yingying’s eyes turned vicious, then she broke down from the heart: “Where exactly did he hide his recording device?!”
……
“Hid it in his asshole.”
《Mars Rescue》, after months of effort, in the film crew about to finish set construction.
Chi Ye faced Sister Shang’s curiosity exploding for the Nth time, finally blurting out: “Probably hid it in his asshole.”
“Ah?!”
Sister Shang opposite him was struck like by lightning, instantly feeling the originally “bloody” industry feud tainted with a different flavor.
“How could you… how could you say such vulgar words to a girl like me?”
Sister Shang felt a little disappointed inside first, then couldn’t hold back and asked: “How do you know?”
“I guessed; he didn’t tell me, but didn’t Ji Zhua Zhang have that skill? Jiang Mou always wanted to compete with Ji Zhua Zhang in everything; it’d be normal for him.”
Sister Shang sincerely said: “…Rise is truly full of talents.”
“So, so… was this thing really orchestrated by you? It was you, right? Xiao Chi, just admit it; who are we to each other? Still pretending to me?”
Chi Ye heard Sister Shang on the other end starting to talk nonsense again, glanced at his watch, and asked: “My new movie, wanna come…”
“Bye bye, hanging up, bad signal, hey, there’s a UFO! Gonna check it out first! Bye bye, Xiao Chi!”
Before he finished speaking, Sister Shang decisively hung up with a flurry of sounds, followed by a dial tone.
Chi Ye wasn’t surprised at all by Sister Shang’s reaction, but what he said earlier wasn’t really to stop her from digging deeper… mainly, Sister Shang now rode on the 《Girl》 popularity boost.
National White Moonlight; letting her cameo… Mars Rescue would surely make more money.
Hmm… Chi Ye’s black-hearted capitalist thoughts started stirring again.
But seeing this, Sister Shang really didn’t want to work overtime, and he couldn’t let the Empress Dowager play a small supporting role… so…
“Hello? Qianzi, it’s me; leave a schedule slot before year-end.”
Shi Jinwei: “?”
She was shocked and stunned: “Why?!”
Chi Ye: “Leave it if I say so; so many questions.”
“…I have no time.”
Beep beep beep.
Sister Qianzi had just finished speaking when Chi Ye hung up.
Sister Qianzi: “???”
“F**k… Chi Ye! You’re too much! Treating us differently like this?!”
She was so angry her sapphire blue eyes were turning red—because right beside her, Sister Shang was holding melon in one hand, chin in the other, excitedly staring at her, asking recklessly: “Hey Weiwei, don’t hang up; I haven’t seen enough…”
“Sis!”
Shi Jinwei darkened her face: “You’re thrilled, aren’t you?”
Sister Shang was stunned, quickly shaking her head guiltily: “No no, I’m not…”
“You’re clearly smiling! Chi Ye’s so nice to you; say no role and it’s no; I can’t… he, he ordered me! This is him ordering me!”
Shi Jinwei full of grievance: “I’m not even his company’s artist; why does he talk to me like that… I’m not leaving a slot for him…”
“Weiwei.”
Sister Shang observed Sister Qianzi’s expression before “hitting the nail on the head”: “You’re misunderstanding this.”
“Think about it: people are only uninhibited with those closest to them because you’re too familiar to him, like family; plainly put… in Chi Ye’s eyes, you’ve lost the stranger and mystery; he treats you as the closest person, that’s why.”
“It’s like many people are polite outside but lose temper at home; you’re his family, while I’m still a bystander to him! Why so angry? Shouldn’t you be happy?”
“…?”
Shi Jinwei was stunned, looking at Sister Shang with strange and suspicious eyes.
“Really?”
Sister Shang nodded like a chick pecking rice: “Realer than real!”
Shi Jinwei: “…”
Of course she knew Sister Shang was confusing the issue, but for some reason, hearing she was Chi Ye’s “insider” made her inexplicably happy inside; she reflected and suddenly wanted to slap herself—
Am I freaking masochistic? When did I, Shi Jinwei, become this cheap?
Absolutely can’t let Chi Ye find out… otherwise no face to see him again.
“Weiwei, trust sis.”
Here, Sister Shang saw her “explanation” worked, smug inside, immediately scheming like a dog-headed strategist: “Just go act; you act without a peep… ah no, the role Xiao Chi left for you must be the female lead.”
“Xiao Chi’s female lead! Movie female lead at that; he wants to push you as a movie big flower… Sheng Ning and Jin Xia didn’t get this treatment; how can you refuse?”
“He’s just like you, stubborn, embarrassed to say it outright… you know his personality, so he expresses it this way.”
“…”
Sister Qianzi’s expression softened a lot, but still looking at Sister Shang, she emphasized: “I’m really just helping out.”
“Got it, got it; I’ll tell Xiao Chi later, I’ll teach him a lesson, make him know his place!”
Sister Shang guaranteed, with a face full of “I get you, I understand.”
Shi Jinwei saw her so “empathetic” and sincerely said: “Sis, you’re a good person, but good in a bit bad way.”
Sister Shang: “?”
“Alright, that’s it then; he probably doesn’t even know you came to visit the set today… later I’ll have the team connect with him, check the schedule; if female lead, I must prioritize it first… second maybe, female lead is worth considering.”
Shi Jinwei said somewhat aloofly.
……
“This hostess candidate, first rule out Shi Jinwei.”
At the same time.
Chi Ye in the film crew meeting room first eliminated the worst decision, then said: “Xia Xia is the female protagonist of my next movie; this movie’s character doesn’t fit her either; the rest… find according to the conditions above.”
“Anyway, settle the actor quickly; I want this play out next year.”
“Got it, President Chi.”
Everyone nodded; Guo Feng, the “big steward” who led the team back to the country and handled all of Chi Ye’s setups, looked at him: “The final script is locked; big support from above; the final version is truly hard science fiction; when do we start shooting?”
Chi Ye sensed his urgency, thought, and said: “Solve the actor issue; I have two months of filming left here; start this project two months later.”
“Good, no problem.”
Guo Feng nodded.
He’d waited so many years; two months more was nothing.
Just now, he incredibly anticipated and looked forward to seeing this first hard science fiction blockbuster in Chinese movie history soon.
Having seen the final script + special effects team, with ample funds and official backing, his confidence and passion were overflowing; he couldn’t wait to dive into work.
