Chapter 71.2
In less than a day, the matter of ‘Xu Luoyang and the production team tearing each other apart’ had seen all kinds of twists and turns.
First, Xu Luoyang announced his withdrawal, then Qi Chang’an and Jiang Liu followed suit. Then Song Yao gave an interview where he hinted that there was more to the story. Following this, the ‘truth’ about Xu Luoyang’s disagreement with the production team and him staging this play was revealed.
However the situation reversed quickly. Song Yao was accused of having evil motives and lying in the interview and Xu Luoyang, who was the victim, was maligned unjustly.
Then at exactly four o’clock in the afternoon, the program director, Wen Zhiling’s dark history was exposed and the label of ‘a scumbag who abandoned his wife and children’ was attached to him firmly.
The crowd of melon eaters said that the melons were too much to keep up with, but then begged that they shouldn’t stop! Meanwhile, the credibility of the production team suffered a heavy blow and public opinion gradually began to lean towards Xu Luoyang’s side.
However as the situation unfolded, everyone started to get involved. Even Star TV station, which had been competing for ratings with ‘Top Secret Action’ got involved actively.
In the office, Zheng Dong, holding a cup of coffee looked at the real time public opinion monitoring data on the screen of the laptop, “We can win, but I keep on feeling that something is missing.”
Xue Ying, the publicity assistant, rolled her eyes as she looked up at him, “Zheng Ge, isn’t it just that you’re afraid things aren’t big and so want to create a bigger spectacle?”
It was as if she had triggered something, because just as soon as she finished speaking, she noticed the screen suddenly turn red. Her eyes widening, she couldn’t help but shout, “Damn, who provided a new piece of gossip? The heat has surged so high all of a sudden! It’s rocketing!”
At this time, a message from Qi Chang’an’s manager, Liang Qiu appeared on Zheng Dong’s phone, “The video has been released.”
Video? Before he had time to figure it out, he saw Xue Ying in front of him explode, “Suppress Song Yao without explanation! I’m pissed!”
Zheng Dong leaned in closer to the screen and saw a video playing. The timestamp in the upper right corner showed that it was the night before the program was recorded, the location being the outskirts of the abandoned factory. Despite being disguised in the video, he could identify Song Yao at first glance.
His expression turning serious, he asked Xue Ying, “What’s the situation?”
“A text explanation was released alongside the video. It basically says that Song Yao went to the factory quietly in disguise the night before the recording and came out about an hour later.”
“Disguise?” Zheng Dong thought about it, “There’s room for argument on this.”
And sure enough, Song Yao’s fans below the video had already exploded, saying that anyone with a similar body shape could easily impersonate him with a bit of dressing up. This was a setup! They didn’t expect Xu Luoyang to be so malicious. Not only did he slander the production team, he was also trying to drag Song Yao down!
However, it was as if the person who had uploaded the video had been waiting to slap them in the face with this reversal, because as the comments became more intense, another video was released.
The video this time seemed to have been composed of surveillance records from several points along the route. It fully documented Song Yao leaving the factory, walking all the way to a secluded corner, removing his disguise, then walking out wearing only a baseball cap.
After that, the video continued until Song Yao got into a taxi then got out outside the villa area where he lived. Then the video ended.
For a moment, all of Song Yao’s fans were speechless, but soon shouted that although Song Yao appeared at the factory, he might have just been checking out the recording site for the next day. Wasn’t he allowed to check the site out?
Unexpectedly, the last spark was ignited by Wen Zhiling himself.
Not long after the video was released, Wen Zhiling’s Weibo quickly posted a statement saying that the production team had always conducted rigorous safety checks on filming locations and that this incident was absolutely man-made! It was Song Yao who had made such a vicious move to compete with Xu Luoyang for a role, and that the production team had no knowledge of this and were deeply wronged!
With continuous updates on the situation, onlookers declared that this was really the grand drama of the year. If this accident was really caused by Song Yao, then it amounted to nothing less than murder!
Zheng Dong tapped his fingers on the table, “Qi Chang’an must have pressured Rainbow TV at the same time he released the video, that’s why Wen Zhiling was so hasty and very unlike himself, immediately turning against Song Yao and even bringing up the fight for the role. But Qi Chang’an’s tactics are quite something. No wonder Luoyang was taken in by him so quickly.”
He thought for a few seconds then quickly made a decision, “Xue Ying, they’ve paved the way for us, it would be a waste not to follow. Expose the fact that Luoyang had dinner with Du Ruan Lan before, then Song Yao also met up with Du Ruan Lan afterwards. Let’s release both pieces of information.”
Xue Ying hesitated, “But if we provoke Director Du—”
“We have Qi Chang’an behind us.”
“Okay!”
Ten minutes later, the discussion reached new heights.
“—Today’s melon is simply unending! The Top Secret Action team, Xu Luoyang, Song Yao and even the big director Du have been dragged down. Are the big shots all making trouble?”
“—I, this fairy, can’t stand it anymore. Is it fun to play people like this? Guo Wei wants to raise his pay, but you, big director Du can’t handle it, so you just push my Luoyang up casually, then throw him away when he’s no longer useful. Sure enough, you’re a big director, really impressive!”
“—Heavens, how much hardship has my Luoyang gone through lately! I’m so distressed that I’m about to explode!”
“—Non-fan here. So let me get this straight. Du Ruan Lan, in order to stimulate Guo Wei, used Xu and Song as cannon fodder. Song, in order to get this role and settle a long standing grudge, resorted to underhanded tactics, intending to force Xu to withdraw from the competition and take the role himself. Only he didn’t expect it to end in nothing.
And the production team’s safety checks were inadequate, but after the accident, they blamed Xu Luoyang forcefully, then together with Song Yao, tried to smear him. After Song Yao was exposed, Wen Zhiling rushed out to fight in a dog eat dog manner. I just want to say, Song Yao, your acting is so good, you deserve to be the best actor! Also, look up the crime of murder!”
Before nightfall, the latest news came out. Song Yao had been taken directly from the studio by the police and it was said that someone had provided detailed evidence pointing directly at him, leaving no room for evasion.
The discussion on this matter lasted for several days and the topic stayed at the top of the hot search and didn’t come down. The media and reporters were also following up on this story. When Song Yao was being questioned, he insisted that he never wanted to kill Xu Luoyang, he only wanted him to be injured so he would withdraw. Once this record came out, it was ridiculed by netizens.
In the third episode of ‘Top Secret Action’ that was aired on time on June 14th, the guests were changed completely, however the plummeting ratings made the media directly describe it as ‘too horrible to look at’ and coupled with the boycott online, ‘Top Secret Action’ had to announce a suspension after only two and a half episodes with huge losses. At the same time, the guests who had been added temporarily didn’t manage to ride the wave of this hot topic as they had expected and instead attracted a lot of trouble.
Meanwhile during this time, Xu Luoyang had been at home recuperating, being taken care of very well by Qi Chang’an. When he received an invitation from Wilson, the creative director of Stu, he tried the new seasonal styles that came along with it on eagerly, only to find that he couldn’t! button! them!
Looking at himself in the mirror, Xu Luoyang looked as if he had nothing to live for— as expected, life always strikes when you least expect it!
A dim expression on his face, he turned to ask Qi Chang’an, “Chang’an, when was the last time I gave Stu my updated body measurements?”
“Half a month ago.”
Maintaining his despondent expression, he said, “I want to eat buddha jumping over the wall tonight.” and seeing Qi Chang’an laughing, clutched his heart, “This is definitely my last evening dinner. My heart really hurts!”
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Xu Nao Nao’s little emotions:
I need comfort qaq
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