FLBCP: Chapter 28

Chen Xi fell into deep thought after receiving Zhao Yao’s call. He didn’t know where Zhao Yao heard about Zhang Qi and even had the idea to let him try out for the protagonist of Dream of Separation. Originally, he thought that finding an actor with good looks and acting skills would just require spending more money. Now that President Zhao said so, he felt that this project might be accompanied by a bloody storm.

“Where did he hear about this Zhang Qi…” Chen Xi looked at the information sent by the secretary and sighed.

He had heard of Zhang Qi because someone in the industry had named him to block him.

In the early years, Zhang Qi could be called a popular actor. He started in a TV drama and due to his good acting skills and unique style, he had many fans. His popularity was close to the top four young, male celebrities of that year. It was only a matter of time for an actor like Zhang Qi, who had both appearance and strength, to become popular as long as his resources kept up.

The thing that wasn’t known was that Zhang Qi was married from an early age. Before entering the circle, he was married and his wife was an amateur. This incident was always concealed until the management took a fancy to Zhang Qi. The boss wanted to do the unspoken rules but Zhang Qi resisted and made it known to the rest of the crew.

Later, under pressure from the management, the crew terminated their contract with him. His original company was just a small company and couldn’t resist the pressure of a boss in the circle. They could only hide in. After being hidden, the news of his marriage was released by a marketing account. He lost fans and his popularity gradually decreased.

Chen Xi asked people to check Zhang Qi and found that the outside rumors were fairly ordinary. After Zhang Qi’s career suffered a blow, his wife died two years ago due to a difficult childbirth. A big man had to take his daughter to survive and life became more difficult.

In fact, it wasn’t difficult for a talented person like Zhang Qi to leave the entertainment industry. However, his contract was with his original company and he was blocked by the industry. He hadn’t been doing well in the past two years. He could only occasionally take some supporting roles or group roles where he didn’t show his face. He even became a martial arts stand-in.

From the perspective of acting and appearance, it definitely wasn’t a loss for him to play the protagonist. In fact, it could be said that Chen Xi would save a lot with his current value.

However, this was the problem. Inviting Zhang Qi meant negotiating a contract with him and perhaps offending some people in the industry. In the long run, it was a loss-making deal.

Chen Xi was worried. Huihua had just returned to warmth and now it was about to touch other capital.

President Zhao really caused him a big problem but… it wasn’t impossible to solve it.

“It isn’t finding a new handsome star but an old one.”

Chen Xi gave a command to his secretary and prepared to talk to Zhang Qi about terminating his contract.

---

Zhao Yao handed the matter over to Chen Xi and didn’t care about it anymore. The business of the actor wasn’t his concern. Inviting Zhang Qi to audition was just based on Pei Mingzhan’s vision. There were other actors like Zhang Qi in the circle but since Pei Mingzhan mentioned these few words to him, it was easy for him to help.

“I heard that Xiao Ji is going to a new show. Brother, do you know about it?” Yao Bai played a game while talking to Zhao Yao, who was watching a TV drama. “I heard it is a new music show in China. The agent took him to audition and the results went smoothly. Now he is waiting to record the show.”

“A music show?” Zhao Yao’s eyes lit up. “That is quite suitable for him. Tell Xiao Ji to do a good job.”

“Xiao Ji told me that there were many people better than him. He said he was lucky to pass the audition.” Yao Bai looked at Zhao Yao. “Brother, why don’t you have any emotional fluctuations at all? Xiao Ji was found by you.”

“Hmm.” Zhao Yao answered lightly. “Luck is a type of strength.”

“Chen Xi’s side told me that he has contacted Zhang Qi.” Yao Bai scrolled through the chat history on VX. “It will take some time to finish it.”

“You can follow the Dream of Separation project.” Zhao Yao knew that Yao Bai had been bored during this time in the hospital. There was no problem with his legs and it was meaningless to follow Zhao Yao all day. “If the script was sent to Zhang Qi’s company, they will probably stop it. Don’t worry too much.”

Yao Bai asked, “What if Zhang Qi doesn’t agree?”

“Then Pei Mingzhan wouldn’t have mentioned this matter to me. Zhang Qi didn’t want to owe Pei Mingzhan a favor but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to leave his predicament.” Zhao Yao said. “Talking about interests is sometimes simpler than talking about kindness. If he didn’t have this idea, he wouldn’t be running around as an extra for all these years.”

Yao Bai agreed as well. If someone came to the door to help solve the trouble then who would refuse?

---

Zhao Yao was discharged from the hospital the day before October started. Once Mrs Yao heard he was discharged from hospital, she invited him to eat at home. As a result, there was a traffic jam on the road. By the time he arrived at Yao Bai’s house, it was past 8 o’clock in the evening.”

Yao Bai pushed the wheelchair into the house while chatting. “Film Emperor Pei seems to have finished his activities. Jianghu will premiere on October 8th. Brother, are you going to watch it? His agent gave me a few tickets.”

“Since when did you get along so well with his agent?” Zhao Yao stood up with his crutches and had Yao Bai put away the wheelchair first.

Yao Bai hurriedly placed his phone in his pocket. “After what happened in the crew last time, I established a revolutionary friendship with his agent. Then he pulled me into a small group to suppress the hot search on the Internet. He just asked me in the group about sending tickets.” It wasn’t just that. The agent said there might be places for cooperation in the future so the group wasn’t disbanded.

“Brother, do you want to be bored at home all day long? The theme of Jianghu is quite interesting. It is an ancient costume love movie. Don’t you like watching romance movies lately?” Yao Bai put away the wheelchair. “Pei Mingzhan is also acting in it. It is the icing on the cake. If you don’t watch it, you will regret it for a lifetime.”

Halfway through the conversation, he ran into the kitchen, completely unlike an adult.

“Mom! I’ll help.”

Zhao Yao watched as Yao Bai got further away. He didn’t know what got into Yao Bai tonight.

During the meal, Mother Yao was busy adding more food for Zhao Yao while Father Yao talked to Uncle Wang about diet and health. Zhao Yao occasionally responded with a few words but he had a different feeling in his heart. In his previous life, he was very busy. Even if he had a bit of free time, he spent it contacting people. The Yao parents had invited him to be a guest at their house many times but he refused.

The few times was when Yao Bai was in the country. He was afraid Zhao Yao would die alone in the office so he pulled Zhao Yao home to eat.

At that time, Zhao Yao was very impetuous. He always calculated the rest of his work at mealtimes. To him, eating was just something he had to do and he just coped with other people’s greetings. He never noticed how noisy the table could be.

Speaking of going to the movies in October—

“I was thinking about talking to the girls for Xiao Bai’s blind date. I saw two good girls last time.” Mrs Yao said. “Our neighbor Wang’s son went to the movies with his girlfriend. Meanwhile, our Yao Bai has to drag his family with him.”

Father Yao agreed. “Indeed.”

Uncle Wang said, “This is dragging several people.”

Yao Bai was speechless. “Don’t mention Xiao Wang, okay? He is three years older than me. Mom, are you worrying every day that your son can’t get a wife?”

Mrs Yao answered, “I don’t think there are any girls who can look at you.”

Yao Bai quarreled with Mrs Yao. Zhao Yao ate and listened. Once the meal was over, he drank tea and prepared to go back.

It was past 10 o’clock when he headed back. Yao Bai helped Zhao Yao into the car.

At this time, the phone in Yao Bai’s pocket vibrated suddenly. Zhao Yao reminded him, “Your phone is ringing.”

Yao Bai answered the phone and found that it was Chen Xi calling.

The moment he picked up, Yao Bai heard Chen Xi’s voice. “Do you have time now? There is a problem online.”

“What? Something went wrong?” Yao Bai was shocked.

Zhao Yao reached out, grabbed Yao Bai’s wrist and pressed the speaker button. “Calm down. What happened?”

Chen Xi’s anxious voice was heard. “The video of the accident scene was released.”

At 10 o’clock in the evening, it was the peak period for netizens to surf the Internet. In addition, the next day was the golden holiday and the discussion on Weibo was rising.

Not long ago, a certain marketing account suddenly released a video. It was a video of the Bewildering Traces crew that Huihua invested in.

The video was the special effects scene of Bewildering Shadows. The male protagonist dangled from a wire and fought with the extras. There were many staff members filling the shooting area. After a while, there was a scream in the video. The cameraman adjusted the angle to the side of the collapsed props wall and happened to capture the moment when the hook of the crane fell.

The content of the video was exactly the situation in the studio on the day of the accident in the Bewildering Traces crew, including the crane wire and all other equipment. It also captured the key scenes of the accident. The marketing account that released it didn’t have many fans. It didn’t burst until the fans recognized the man standing under the crane as Pei Mingzhan.

[My god… what if that thing had hit someone?]

[Why didn’t the officials reveal this incident?]

[I know that Old Pei is fine but this video is too scary!]

[I seem to see a dark shadow on my brother.]

[There were so many staff members there. Was there really no one injured as the staff members said?]

[Is this a simple accident? @Bewildering Traces Drama.]

The moment Huihua received the news, they contacted Weibo to delete the video. However, many gifs had already spread on the Internet. Chen Xi first informed the PR department and then called Yao Bai.

Yao Bai immediately clicked on the video Chen Xi sent him. The video wasn’t long but the key accident scene was filmed.

He angrily said, “Which staff member did this? Sending this type of video to the marketing account?”

The murky water behind this matter wasn’t clear. There were many behind the scenes troubles and it pushed the Bewildering Traces crew to the forefront.

“It wasn’t necessarily sent by the staff members. At that time, the staff members explained themselves during the on-site investigation.” Zhao Yao looked at the video. “Based on the shooting angle, this should be near the entrance. There were many people in the film and television studio and the initial angle was filming the protagonist. The later scene was accidentally shot.”

Yao Bai asked, “What is the difference?”

“In other words, the purpose wasn’t to watch the internal situation of the Bewildering Traces crew but to shoot a video of the protagonist’s acting.” Zhao Yao explained. “In the beginning, the person filming secretly wasn’t directed at the crew but the actor. Therefore, all the focus at the beginning of the video is on the protagonist.”

“You mean that a fan shot it?”

“It isn’t difficult to catch the person filming. Check the surveillance to see which artist’s fans were at the scene at the time.”

Zhao Yao slightly frowned. “The question is, who is the person behind this matter?”