Yao Jing was originally the Vice President in charge of artist management. As Xinghui Entertainment’s business had been sluggish for the past two years, they had signed many people but were never able to cultivate any good talents. To secure resources, Yao Jing had exhausted her mind, worn out her lips, and run her two long legs ragged. However, signing more people couldn't save Xinghui Pictures, and artist management was becoming increasingly difficult to do. Thus, Vice President Yao began to consider a job transfer.

It was right at that moment that the incident of Xie Guan fighting with President Zhang at a hotel occurred. On the night of the incident, Yao Jing strongly pushed for the resolution to expel Xie Guan during a high-level meeting. Afterward, using Xie Guan's contract termination as a pledge of allegiance, she successfully boarded the big ship that was President Zhang.

While President Zhang blacklisted Xie Guan in the industry, he reached a cooperation agreement with Xinghui. Yao Jing turned a disadvantage into an opportunity, leading Xinghui's boss, Yang Rong, to admire her greatly. He felt she was a good businesswoman and transferred her to the Film and Television Investment Department, forcing another vice president to resign and switch companies.

Yao Jing had a very clear understanding of the current situation. Her future did not lie with the declining Xinghui, but with President Zhang and Siyue Media behind him. President Zhang was the type to act on a whim. In situations that required a show of force or where his pride was at stake, Yao Jing had to be in complete agreement with him.

Had it been any other director, they would have likely bowed down and given in under the joint pressure of the two major investors. But this time, they had hit a steel plate. Bai Luzhou was a tough nut willing to devote herself to art. She had gone head-to-head with countless investors before; a mere Zhang Heshan was not even worth her notice.

Seeing President Zhang at a disadvantage, Yao Jing cursed Xie Guan eight hundred times in her heart, wishing she could tear him apart alive. This was the first project she had secured since her transfer to the Film and Television Investment Department; she absolutely could not let it be ruined by Xie Guan. Her mind raced, and in just a few breaths, she made up her mind: since she couldn't handle Bai Luzhou, she would push Xie Guan to the opposite side. Yao Jing refused to believe that Herun Tiancheng, no matter how ambitious, would tolerate an artist with a tainted record who had assaulted an investor.

She wore an expression of "deep sorrow," all the while guarding against Xie Guan potentially lashing out, and began to recount with great emotion how the company had been so benevolent to Xie Guan and had cultivated him with great effort, only for Xie Guan to violently attack President Zhang, an important partner of the company, out of "jealousy." In every word and phrase, she was accusing him of being an ungrateful, violent, and perverse scumbag.

As Yao Jing rehashed the old story, Zhang Heshan, listening to her account, suddenly remembered the uninvited guest who had appeared midway through that night.

He had long heard of that man's great name and had originally thought it was just a case of mistaken identity. Recalling the situation now, and connecting it to Bai Luzhou's unusual regard for Xie Guan, a bad premonition suddenly surfaced in his heart.

For Xie Guan to be able to connect with Bai Luzhou while under his blacklist and sit here challenging them, could that gentleman have helped him from behind the scenes? If that were true, then them currently ganging up on Xie Guan—

The consequences were too terrifying. Just thinking about it, Zhang Heshan immediately broke out in a cold sweat all over his back.

Just as Yao Jing was about to continue, saying that after Xie Guan left Xinghui, no company was willing to hire him, President Zhang suddenly cut in hastily, "That's enough, don't say any more."

Yao Jing was stunned. Seeing that Zhang Heshan had no intention of explaining, cold sweat dripped down her back, and she quickly tried to salvage the situation, "President Zhang is magnanimous and won't stoop to his level, but Director Bai should keep her eyes open and not be fooled by appearances."

Other staff from Xinghui were also present at the meeting. At this moment, their hearts were filled with contempt for Yao Jing. First, they had never seen someone kick a man when he was down like this. Xie Guan was no longer part of Xinghui, yet she was still slandering him in front of their partners. Second, Yao Jing was, after all, a vice president of Xinghui. To grovel before President Zhang with such a low posture in front of another company—her pretentious and affected demeanor was truly disgusting.

Bai Luzhou's brows were tightly furrowed. Without answering, she turned directly to Xie Guan and asked, "What do you have to say?"

Xie Guan hadn't interjected from beginning to end, his presence almost nonexistent. Now that Bai Luzhou spoke, everyone's gazes turned to him. Among the various expressions, there was curiosity, and also schadenfreude.

Xie Guan was silent for a moment, as if contemplating. After a long while, he slowly said four words: "There was a reason."

It was basically a useless statement.

Bai Luzhou waited for him to explain the reason, but Xie Guan refused to say more. He only said, "Everyone has a mouth, I can't control what they say. Everyone has their own judgment, I can't influence how they evaluate me. I can only say, my conscience is clear. If the same thing were to happen again, I would do exactly what I did then."

"If you don't give me a reason, how am I supposed to believe you?" Bai Luzhou never expected that finding an actor would stir up such a pile of crap. Suppressing her anger, she said, "You've already hit him, what is there to be afraid to say?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions on Yao Jing and President Zhang's faces immediately became colorful. The person in charge from Herun Tiancheng cleared his throat heavily, reminding Director Bai to watch her words.

Xie Guan let out a soft laugh.

He laughed very lightly, as if he didn't care at all about the suspicion, slander, and anger filling the room. There was even a hint of unrestrained and chic charm, but that warm smile only floated on the corners of his lips, never reaching his eyes.

"It involves someone else's scars, so I won't use it for gossip," he cast an apologetic glance at Bai Luzhou. "I'm sorry you had to hear such an unpleasant matter. On this issue, I have nothing to explain."

Surprisingly, Bai Luzhou didn't get angry. She looked at him thoughtfully.

A director is quite sensitive to an actor's emotional control. She couldn't necessarily see what Xie Guan was thinking, but she knew that at this moment, in this situation, a normal person's emotions would not be so calm and undisturbed.

He was too quiet, like a pool of stagnant water. He hadn't talked back after being slandered for more than half an hour, as if he had already prepared himself to be given up on.

He held no expectations at all, so he simply laid everything bare for others to say what they would, without arguing.

This was a completely different person from the rebellious and arrogant image Bai Luzhou had seen through Director He's lens.

A single setback couldn't possibly wear down a person's spirit to this extent. What had happened to him?

Bai Luzhou would never have thought of Huo Mingjun. She already disliked Yao Jing and Zhang Heshan, and subconsciously pinned the blame on them. Thinking back to Zhang Heshan's earlier clamoring, she concluded that it must have been Xinghui and Siyue secretly pulling some strings behind the scenes, causing Xie Guan's career to falter and making him lose heart.

When Bai Luzhou first debuted, she had won an international film festival award with her debut work, `Dance of Ash`, and was quite renowned in the director circle. However, she then fell silent for nearly five years before shooting `A Second Spring`, a work that was both a box office and critical success, allowing her to become active in the film industry again. Her low point was also due to being young and hot-headed; she had offended a very prestigious old director in the circle, which led to her facing restrictions and obstacles everywhere when making films afterward. She had to endure until that director passed away before she finally got her chance to shine.

Speaking of being "screwed over by unspoken rules," Bai Luzhou considered herself more experienced and far more miserable than Xie Guan. Therefore, drawing from her own experience, the great Director Bai prescribed a remedy, believing that Xie Guan was simply too timid and thin-skinned. One isn't a true hero until they've been blacklisted. A real man should face things head-on. How could he give up on his dream of stars and seas just because of two scumbags?

She waved her hand grandly and made a snap decision: "Alright, thank you Vice President Yao for worrying about my safety, but there's no need for you to worry for me, the director. It's the same as before, I have the final say on professional matters. Either we part ways here and now, and you can find someone better."

Yao Jing grew anxious: "Director Bai!"

Bai Luzhou seemed impatient to waste any more words with her and made a move to get up and leave. The people around them quickly went up with placating smiles to hold her back, saying repeatedly, "Director Bai, don't be hasty, don't be hasty. We're having this meeting to communicate and discuss. We can talk things over. If you leave, how are we going to shoot this movie? Sit, sit, sit…"

The crowd was in a state of chaos. Xie Guan's heart skipped a beat. He opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound, feeling only a dryness in his throat.

He had thought he would surely be the one to be abandoned, so he had been watching the whole spectacle like a bystander watching a monkey show. But at this moment, as Bai Luzhou firmly stood on his side, he suddenly realized that he had been extremely nervous about the final verdict.

A person's heart isn't made of stone. No matter how well he pretended, a crack had been left through which the wind could blow.

Under everyone's persuasion, Bai Luzhou sat back down with a huff. It seemed that Herun Tiancheng's respect for her outweighed their control. Even when she confronted the investors to their faces, they only offered a few painless words of persuasion, their skill at smoothing things over was truly masterful.

Yao Jing was still unwilling to give up, but President Zhang had figured out the stakes involved. He took advantage of the tea break to quickly send a message to his assistant, asking him to check on Xie Guan's recent situation. Yao Jing couldn't discuss it with him directly, so she sent him several WeChat messages in a row, but Zhang Heshan simply pretended not to see them, hiding in the bathroom and refusing to come out until the meeting resumed.

Almost no real business was discussed in the first half of the meeting. The three parties had an unhappy falling out over a supporting actor. When the second half began, Herun Tiancheng and Siyue tacitly skipped the issue of Xie Guan and went straight to the main topic. Xinghui, with its mind entirely focused on schemes and plots, didn't react in time. By the time Yao Jing could interject, they had already lost the initiative on key issues.

The atmosphere became harmonious too suddenly. Xie Guan was inexplicably spared on the spot. The well-dressed executives finally found their footing again and began to discuss investment and profit sharing at length. The target of the concentrated fire in the first half had instead become the most idle one.

The screen of President Zhang's phone, which was on the table, suddenly lit up. Xie Guan glanced over unintentionally and happened to meet the eyes of President Zhang, who was secretly observing him.

For a moment, Xie Guan thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He had actually seen a flash of fear in that old bastard's eyes.

Had he beaten a conditioned reflex into him?

With Zhang Heshan's means, he couldn't find Huo Mingjun's whereabouts. But just Xie Guan's resume after his contract termination was enough to greatly surprise him—after hitting walls everywhere, he disappeared for a period of time. Upon his comeback, he immediately signed with Xihua Entertainment. As soon as he joined the company, he landed the third male lead in Pang Zhonghua's `Jingwu Youth` and was also spotted by Bai Luzhou at a glance, participating as a special guest actor in the film version of `The Rising Tides of the Azure Sea`.

Xie Guan's experiences in Hong Kong had been wiped clean. However, Huo Mingjun and Ye Zheng had visited the set in person. Although they tried to be as low-key as possible, there were too many people and prying eyes. Coincidentally, Zhang Heshan's assistant found a blurry photo of them in profile.

Huo Mingjun was tall with deep-set features, his appearance quite distinctive. He was easily recognizable even in a high-blur photo. He was talking face-to-face with another person. That person was wrapped in a bucket-like black down jacket, and under the brim of a baseball cap, most of his face was revealed. Wasn't that Xie Guan, sitting at the other end of the conference table!

In an instant, it was as if a switch had been flipped on all of Zhang Heshan's sweat glands. Large drops of cold sweat slid down the back of his neck, soaking his shirt collar.

The person in charge from Herun Tiancheng sitting next to him noticed his unusual state and asked in surprise, "Oh my, President Zhang, why are you sweating so much? Is the heater on too high?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Zhang Heshan wiped his sweat repeatedly with a tissue, not daring to look in Xie Guan's direction this time. "I've been sitting too long, my chest feels a little tight."

The person in charge said, "We've pretty much wrapped up our discussion anyway. How about we call it a day? I'll arrange a dinner tonight. I hope everyone will do me the honor of attending."

Yao Jing hesitated for a moment, still unwilling to give up. She asked, "So, about the actor…"

The people from Herun Tiancheng were also starting to feel annoyed with this vase-like Vice President. `The Rising Tides of the Azure Sea` was such a big project, yet she was relentlessly fixated on an insignificant minor actor, playing dirty tricks under the noses of a group of industry tycoons. Once or twice was one thing, but she was being endless. With such a petty attitude, how could their partners rely on their investment strength and eye for talent?

Besides, her master had gone completely silent, why was this clueless thing still barking nonstop?

The person in charge's face fell. Zhang Heshan, reading the room, immediately stopped her, saying, "Since Director Bai insists on using him, we laymen will naturally respect the opinion of a professional. 'When recommending someone for a position, one should not avoid one's enemies.' Let's settle it like this."

This time, not to mention Yao Jing, even Xie Guan was shocked.

President Zhang, a man who cared so much about his pride and held such grudges, could actually say something as righteous as "When recommending someone for a position, one should not avoid one's enemies." How thick must the lard be that was clouding his mind?