IPCFS: Chapter 75 Part 1

10 days after Ji Li rejected the drama, news suddenly circulated on Weibo that ‘Ji Li acted arrogantly and unilaterally terminated the contract with the crew.’

The moment Baozi learned about it, he immediately traced it back to the source.

Yesterday, i.e., Friday night, a netizen named ‘Momoi Little Cutie’ posted a complaint on her private Weibo.

“Speechless! Disgusting! Near the start-up of the crew, you suddenly acted arrogantly and breached your contract, saying that if you don’t want to film, then you won’t film. Are you treating the entire crew as if they are monkeys? The costumes were all modified to your size, and now they all need to be redone. The mentality of the styling team has already collapsed.”

“I was still feeling good when chasing a certain drama during the first half of the year. Now my filter is broken! The so-called dedication in the mouths of fans is just hypocrisy. I really hope that the award won’t be given to such a person.”

The blogger called Momoi was a makeup artist who not only shared beauty tutorials but also occasionally uploaded photos with different actors while working as a part of the crew.

As a result, her Weibo account gained a lot of attention.

Momoi’s complaint didn’t mention the name of any celebrity, but it was immediately decoded by the fan circle because it involved keywords like ‘crew’, ‘drama in the first half of the year’ and ‘award.’

The only one who met these three conditions was Ji Li.

Ji Li had no works released recently, but the selection of the China Television Awards’ Popular Actor was in full swing.

It had to be known that this award that simply compared popularity and votes was the easiest way to make the fans of the nominated actors compete and cause friction.

Therefore, fans of other artists saw this complaint post and immediately took screenshots, spreading them to other entertainment forums and secretly smearing Ji Li.

“A male star like Ji Li who acts arrogantly and has no professionalism shouldn’t be shortlisted for an authoritative TV drama award like the China Television Awards. Even if he is shortlisted, he must be withdrawn from the selection list!”

Ji Li’s fans saw these words and were naturally angry.

“Does this blogger personally admit that the actor is Ji Li? You fans are so eager to jump out and shift the blame! How funny!”

“Let Ji Li not participate in the awards? If nothing else, our Ji Li has always been ranked first when it comes to the vote for Popular Actor? Come! Who started using bots to commit voting fraud but still couldn’t match our Ji family’s manual votes?

Ji Li had always asked his official team to guide fans not to quarrel on the Internet, and Ji Li’s fans naturally obeyed their idol’s instructions.

Therefore, after encountering this incident, the fans didn’t wildly fight back apart from making normal comments and refuting black fans.

The strange thing was that this blogger called Momoi Little Cutie jumped out again early in the morning.

“Ever since I posted that complaint Weibo yesterday, there have been fans of Ji Li who have been making personal attacks toward me. Okay, since you want real proof, I will give you real proof!”

“Yes, the majority of netizens guessed correctly. The one who acted arrogantly is Ji Li. The post complaining about him is true, and I won’t delete it!”

Under this new accusation Weibo post, a screenshot of a chat record was attached.

The time was 20 days ago. The crew asked the staff of Chaoying Culture for Ji Li’s body shape measurements, saying it would be used for the costume improvement.

The other one was a screenshot of the chat from yesterday morning. The person in charge of the crew said that Ji Li temporarily resigned and wouldn’t act in the drama any longer. Maybe the costumes and other content would have to be done again.

The new Weibo post involved Ji Li’s name, and the number of views was rising.

Some marketing accounts directly took screenshots and expanded the post’s range of attention.

In three hours, #Ji Li acting arrogantly#, #Ji Li breached the contract#, and other black terms appeared on the hot search list.

Soon, another netizen picked up more information.

The TV series that Ji Li broke the contract with was ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’. This was also a masterpiece written by Shen Yanda after five years.

The moment this supplementary news was sent out, it immediately pushed Ji Li to the cusp.

What type of person was Shen Yanda?

He was a well-deserved boss in the screenwriter’s circle!

His works had won two Best Actress awards, and he created dozens of popular stars! The palace fighting trilogy created by him had almost become a classic memory for a generation!

During a time when the TV industry was booming, how many stars rushed to win a role in his script?

It could be said that Shen Yanda’s words were his power and connections.

Even in terms of the current new work, there were many actors vying to appear in it. Ji Li got the male lead, but refused the role?

They couldn’t understand.

Had he ascended to heaven?

-Ji Li, this is floating, right? Do you dare to even reject Teacher Shen Yanda’s work? Aren’t you afraid to offend the entire TV circle?

-I really didn’t expect him to be associated with the words ‘acting arrogantly’? The screenshots of the chat couldn’t have been faked, right?

-Hey, sure enough, there are many people who are popular. How can Ji Li’s fans learn to commit Internet violence? Disgusting!

-I had a good impression of Ji Li and just casually voted for him for the China Television Awards yesterday.

Such remarks quickly occupied the real-time comments area.

Ji Li’s popularity had always been good, but no matter how good it was, it was hard to match Shen Yanda, who always relied on his television works to speak.

Shen Yanda had been in the circle longer than him and had a better performance than him. The scale of public opinion soon showed a one-sided trend.

Black fans took the opportunity to jump up and down. The fans of other artists occasionally pretended to be passersby to lead the rhythm, many passing netizens secretly watched the excitement, and some ‘fake industry insiders’ jumped out to break the news.

Ji Li had offended a real big shot again, and it was estimated that high quality TV drama scripts wouldn’t look for him again in the future.

***

The PR department of Chaoying Culture.

Ji Li looked around at the staff members and apologized. “I’m sorry. You have to help me deal with this scandal on a Saturday.”

“What’s the problem? The department is supposed to take care of these bad things for an artist. We have to work even if it is 1 or 2 o’clock in the morning.” The leader of the public affairs department spoke, his tone very calm.

Ji Li’s character and conduct were obvious to everyone. Now that the other person was in the center of public opinion, they should help him with this situation, both in private and in public.

“I’m speechless. Our fans are all good and obedient. This Momoi can’t even take a screenshot of the ‘fan abuse’, and yet used ‘Internet violence’ as a topic to casually act as the vulnerable one.”

Baozi was very angry.

The other person used the topic of false Internet violence to invisibly stand at the height of social morality.

This self-directed and self-acted play not only raised the attention of netizens and fans, but also brought trumped up charges to Brother Ji and his fans.

This trick was really destructive!

The director of the PR department saw through these routines. “That Momoi should’ve been instructed by the crew. She said that Ji Li delayed the crew’s schedule and his fans committed online violence, deliberately escalating the matter.”

After Ji Li got the script from the producer, the costume team of the crew did ask for his body measurements, but the time they proposed to resign was much earlier than the time of the chat script.

The crew must’ve had an alternative actor for the male lead. Based on the spare time they had to frame Ji Li, it was entirely possible to find another actor to replace him.

The half truth and half lie was the easiest way to mislead netizens.

This was the crew and producer teaming up to go against them.

“God, why do they have to target Brother Ji? Our resignation was under the normal process? There were no delays at all,” a new employee muttered.

“What else could the reason be in the entertainment industry? Shen Yanda and the producer are teaming up to take advantage of the popularity to hype themselves.”

Yu Fuya saw through their actions very thoroughly.

Ji Li’s popularity was definitely one of the best among new actors. The drama crew wanted to take advantage of a wave of popularity by slandering him.

Look, in just a few hours, the words ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’ had already followed Ji Li onto the hot search.

Ji Li sat in his seat and sharp understanding flashed in his eyes. “…Shen Yanda is also warning me through these means.”

Baozi wondered, “Do you mean about the script plagiarism?”

“Yes. He poured dirty water on me first, saying that I temporarily broke the contract and caused losses to the crew.”

Ji Li looked around and calmly analyzed it. “Even if we come out now to clarify that we rejected it due to problems with the script, it will be regarded by netizens as forced whitewashing.”

It was as they said before.

For a gold medal screenwriter like Shen Yanda, netizens had an inherent impression that his original works were good and his personality couldn’t be picked on.

Before the finished drama came out and there was evidence to support the facts, all the so-called ‘plagiarism’ statements would seem unfounded.

“I know what you mean.” Yu Fuya exchanged looks with Ji Li.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t fight back. It was that the time hadn’t come.

If they rushed to fight back now, they would give the other person a chance to get away with it while also possibly contaminating themselves.

Yu Fuya told the head of the public relations department, “Let’s go according to the conventional process of suppressing public opinion. The matter of the ‘breach of contract resignation’ can be explained with an announcement.”

“Of course, we will do it right away.”

Ji Li suddenly remembered something. “By the way, there are two more things. I want to ask everyone for a favor.”

Everyone heard this and focused their attention on the young man.

***

At 6 o’clock in the evening, the official Weibo of Chaoying Culture released a statement.

They didn’t deny that Ji Li had been in contact with the script for ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’, but clarified that he only signed a preliminary contract, and it wasn’t a formal filming contract.

Ever since his debut, Ji Li had participated in various movie and television works and never stopped to let his body get enough rest.

In order to prioritize their artist’s health, the company declined the invitation to film the TV drama.

Moreover, according to the preliminary agreement, Ji Li and the company didn’t violate the contract.

Chaoying’s approach was particularly straightforward and they attached the preliminary contract drawn up by both parties. It was clearly written in black and white.

Ji Li’s fans and onlookers mostly accepted this statement.

Yes, Ji Li had been involved in many TV dramas and movies and occasionally shot for daily magazines and advertising endorsements. This workload already surpassed many actors and artists.

Wasn’t it normal for him to take advantage of the completion of the last movie to rest for a month or two?

For a large-scale series like ‘The Long Song of the Southern Dynasty’, an important role like the male lead would require filming for at least three or four months. If things continued like this, how could his body bear it?

In addition, the preliminary intention contract wrote that the date of the start of filming was roughly set for early September. How was this a breach of contract on the verge of entering the crew?

Just as public opinion calmed down a bit, Shen Yanda suddenly published on Weibo.

“Some young male actors use high-sounded excuses to disrespect the screenwriter, producer and crew.”

“Such a person is not worthy of appearing in my TV series, nor is he worthy of a long-term foothold in this TV drama circle!”

Shen Yanda’s Weibo post didn’t name anyone but everyone understood that he was criticizing Ji Li.

The just subsided popularity of Ji Li and the drama rose again.

---

TL: Advance chapters are available over on my Patreon. You can go check out the details on my Patreon page.

Proofreader: Azure