Zhong Ruanxing knew that Song JinXing had arranged for two bodyguards to accompany him to the dinner party, so she guessed that tonight would probably be like the Banquet at Hongmen, and therefore she was not surprised at all when she heard that he had beaten up the producer after coming back.
After all, compared to when she had once burnt bird feathers, beating up a producer was really nothing.
Song JinXing had changed into a new set of clothes and was doing his daily workout, with his phone placed on the treadmill. On the screen was his own face with a pitch-black facial mask pasted on.
Song: Getting a new creepy look every day.
Zhong Ruanxing patted the facial mask on her face to promote absorption of the essence: "You want to terminate your contract with Sheng Entertainment?"
Song JinXing nodded: "Things have escalated to this point, the high-level executives of the company probably won't make peace with you. They have also invested in the drama 'The Face Reader', and have common interests with Yuan Zhiyong. Moreover, I really dislike Sheng Entertainment's style of operation. They haven't created a single superstar artist in so many years of operation. It won't be very helpful for your future development."
Zhong Ruanxing hesitated a little: "But they may not be willing to let me go so easily. After all, I'm considered the hottest artist in the company now."
Song JinXing said calmly: "With Xu Qishen around, paying the penalty fee won't be an issue."
Zhong Ruanxing shook her head resolutely: "No! I don't want to give them a penalty fee for nothing!"
In all these years, Sheng Entertainment hadn't really invested anything in her. She was able to become popular entirely thanks to Song JinXing's efforts and her own hard work, and had nothing to do with Sheng Entertainment. They hadn't paid anything, and now they still wanted to take a penalty fee from her. Not a chance!
She knew that a penalty fee was just pocket change to Song JinXing, but she just didn't want Sheng Entertainment to take advantage!
Song JinXing knew that his girlfriend always had her own stubborn principles on some strange issues. From his perspective, paying a penalty fee was the most time-saving and effortless approach, but she was unwilling, so he would not force her to accept his view either.
After thinking for a while, Song JinXing said, "Then let's make them initiate the termination."
Zhong Ruanxing's brow quirked up: "Will they?"
Song JinXing said, "They will. A person like Yuan Zhiyong obviously doesn't seem like someone with a big heart. He will definitely not let this beating go so easily. We just need to cooperate with him initially, and Sheng Entertainment will not be able to sit still on their own."
"You'll have to bear some pressure and may be smeared by the outside world for a period of time."
Zhong Ruanxing waved her hand indifferently: "Haven't I been smeared countless times already? As long as I don't pay the penalty fee, being scolded a few times is completely fine for me!"
She paused, looking completely justified: "Besides, the one being scolded now is you, what does it have to do with me, Song JinXing?"
Song JinXing smiled and shook his head: "Alright, then let's wait and see."
It was also a good opportunity to see who were real people and who were scumbags in the industry. He would annihilate all these lurking scumbags ready to hurt others when the time came.
Things unfolded just as Song JinXing had expected. They didn't have to wait very long.
A person like Yuan Zhiyong clearly didn't seem to have a magnanimous heart. He definitely wouldn't let this beating go so easily. Aside from using his capital to blacklist Zhong Ruanxing, he would certainly also suppress her reputation. For the entertainment industry to deal with someone, there were no other means besides these two.
Letting the other party be disgraced and forced to retire from the industry, bearing hatred and having no recourse, was just routine for capitalists.
And Zhong Ruanxing was an artist with a "track record". She had risen too swiftly and encroached on too many people's profits, so there were already many who eyed her covetously. Now with Yuan Zhiyong jumping up and down to incite things, a large-scale smear campaign against Zhong Ruanxing quickly unfolded online.
Overnight, those black posts that had previously disappeared under Xu Qishen's efforts reemerged.
The black fans had learned to be smarter this time. To avoid being used as examples by Xu Qishen, they no longer named names directly, but used euphemisms commonly employed by marketing accounts to refer to Zhong Ruanxing indirectly.
For instance, "the sexy actress who recently became popular because of a reality show", "the goddess known for her beauty", "the actress who became popular because of a leaked shooting photo", these descriptions made it obvious to anyone who had been online who they were talking about, yet they deliberately avoided stating her name directly, so that even if Xu Qishen wanted to send a lawyer's letter for warning, he would have to go through great effort to obtain evidence.
As for the netizens in the comments claiming it was Zhong Ruanxing, what did that have to do with them? If Xu Qishen was so capable, he could sue all the netizens!
Spreading vulgar rumors had always been the simplest yet most vicious means of attacking women since ancient times.
Evidence wasn't even needed. Just say a casual sentence, make up a random story, add an "I heard it from my circle of friends", and an innocent woman could be nailed to the so-called pillar of shame, allowing ten thousand people to curse at her.
The black fans created rumors, the internet water army fanned the flames, and netizens who loved gossip were easily swayed to begin with, so distorting the facts was just a matter of one expose post:
【The currently trending sexy actress, she advanced her career by relying on her body in the past, but offended a sugar daddy by not putting out, and her resources were pitiful afterward. In order to make a comeback in recent years, she has changed sugar daddies multiple times. This old man in the industry feels compelled to condemn those sugar daddies who only want to eat but not pay. You should at least give the girl some sweetness! Calling out these stingy rich men by name!】
【Back to the main point, this actress changed four to five sugar daddies until she hugged the right thigh last year, immediately landing two major endorsements. You know what happened after. She rose swiftly and is now successfully counted among the ranks of second-tier flower vases.】
【Unfortunately, good times didn't last. The previous sugar daddy got tired of playing, so the actress lost her backstage support. Therefore, she had no choice but to start looking for prey again recently. This time, she targeted a very popular IP adapted drama, and in order to win this big IP, the actress schemed her way into a dinner party held by the producer of the IP. She pulled out all the stops during the dinner, just short of taking off her clothes on the spot. But the producer also had discerning taste and didn't take her bait. The actress left in humiliation and rage. Afterwards, the female lead role of this IP was given to another second-tier flower vase from the same company.】
This well-founded exposé post was reposted to the hot search trends, and the comments broke ten thousand swiftly:
- ZRX?
- I dare not state the name of the sexy goddess directly, beware of lawyer's letters!
- The big IP mentioned is definitely "The Face Reader". The female lead was just announced yesterday to be Cheng Xitian, she and Zhong Ruanxing are both artists under Sheng Entertainment.
- I've wanted to say long ago, Zhong Ruanxing had no popularity whatsoever when she landed endorsements from the Song Corporation. If it wasn't paid intimacy, I'll eat shit.
- It's actresses like her who ruin the atmosphere in the entertainment industry!
...
The front row comments were all planned water armies distorting public opinion, not even giving a chance for real passersby and fans to chime in.
The star chasers naturally didn't believe these exposes, and left messages under Zhong Ruanxing's studio Weibo account and her own account, asking them to refute the rumors quickly. But both accounts remained silent the entire day, which seemed to confirm the truth, making the black fans even more rampant.
Sheng Entertainment's high-level executives did plan to teach Zhong Ruanxing a good lesson, having her go apologize to Yuan Zhiyong to resolve matters. But as the company's currently most popular artist, Sheng didn't want to ruin her. However, Yuan Zhiyong was the resentful type. His actions were clearly aimed at destroying Zhong Ruanxing, leaving Sheng Entertainment no room to reconcile.
On one hand there was the producer with powerful connections and resources in the entertainment industry, on the other hand there was the artist who had just risen to popularity and had an explosive temper and potential for outbursts at any time. Adding to the already skewed online opinion, Sheng Entertainment quickly made their choice.
Terminate their contract with Zhong Ruanxing.
When Song JinXing received the notice to go to the company and sign the termination agreement, the looks shooting his way were truly remarkable. Especially Weng Hanzhi, the arrogance and smugness almost bursting out of her crown chakra.
The current situation was like a dream come true for her. The only dissatisfaction was that Zhong Ruanxing herself didn't seem affected at all.
She was still so untouchably beautiful, with a tranquil and serene expression, as if she wasn't going to sign an abandoned termination contract, but a deed to free herself from bondage.
This sparked an inexplicable feeling in Weng Hanzhi's heart.
However, she took this as Zhong Ruanxing's final attempt at saving face. When she came out of the office, walking with an arrogant gait, just about to mock her a couple of sentences, a joyful voice suddenly came from the side: "Ruanxing, my resignation has also been approved!"
Ran Ting rushed over like a gust of happy wind, affectionately pulling Zhong Ruanxing's arm.
It was as if the two hadn't seen her. They walked straight past.
Weng Hanzhi heard Ran Ting's happy voice, "Let's go eat hot pot tonight to celebrate!"
Celebrate?
A contract termination, a resignation, what's there to celebrate?
She couldn't help but sneer, "You two don't have jobs now. You'll have to be thrifty with your money. Don't end up doing livestreams begging for donations from fans to pay for meals."
There were artists like this in the industry before.
Ran Ting looked back. Her happy expression didn't seem fake at all. This time she didn't snap back, but smiled and said, "Sister Weng, you keep struggling in this filthy, disgusting mud pit. I wish you continued stink and decay."
After speaking, she even winked at her.
Watching the two's lighthearted backs as they left, the strange feeling in Weng Hanzhi's heart grew stronger.