Chapter 83: The Storm of Slander

Xi Dong was someone who had experienced the world; he could see that his daughter harbored special feelings for Chen Fang.

But Xi Yuanyuan herself didn’t think so.

Those involved are always the last to see the truth.

Precisely because of this, Xi Dong was secretly anxious.

He sighed inwardly, though his face remained warm and gentle as he smiled, “Xiao Chen, once you’re done, just ask your friend to come for the final round of auditions. As for whether she’ll be chosen, that’ll depend on her own abilities.”

Chen Fang’s face lit up with delight.

It was settled!

In truth, when Chen Fang mentioned the role of second female lead just now, it was a bit of a stretch.

His real intention was simply to get Su Murou a part—third or even fourth female lead would suffice.

After all, Chen Fang’s task was to let Su Murou join the cast and start filming. As for what role she ultimately played and how big the part was, that wasn’t up to him.

With business concluded, Chen Fang stayed a little while longer before saying his goodbyes.

If he stayed any longer, he’d surely be pressed to stay for dinner.

Xi Dong and Liu Keren were both wonderful people—just a bit too enthusiastic, making Chen Fang feel a little overwhelmed.

...

In the Xi family’s living room.

“Daughter, you need to seize the chance.”

Xi Dong was exasperated at her lack of effort.

The more he interacted with Chen Fang, the more satisfied he became—such an ideal son-in-law was hard to come by, even if you searched with a lantern. Missing out would be a lifelong regret.

Yet,

Xi Yuanyuan herself was indifferent.

Back in the day, when Xi Dong was courting Liu Ke, he was nothing if not decisive.

Who knows where Xi Yuanyuan inherited this dilly-dallying, unhurried temperament...

“What’s the rush?” Xi Yuanyuan pretended not to understand.

But in truth, she was also troubled inside.

How did Chen Fang know an actress? When did they meet? Could their relationship truly be just friends?

Seeing this, Xi Dong shook his head.

Suddenly,

Xi Yuanyuan remembered something. “Dad, you didn’t talk about the price for the song. Should I discuss it with Chen Fang?”

Xi Dong crossed his legs and picked up his newspaper again. “That’s just where Chen Fang’s cleverness shows. He purposely didn’t bring up the price, leaving it to my discretion.”

Leaving it open-ended meant it would fetch the highest price.

If he gave too little, it wouldn’t be appropriate.

If he gave too much, he’d be loath to part with it.

But whether it was more or less, Chen Fang would still come out ahead.

If Xi Dong paid less, it was like selling him a favor—if Chen Fang ever came asking for help, it would be hard to refuse. On the other hand, if he paid more, Chen Fang would make a killing, because any favor Xi Dong might want in return would be useless—he was already a big-time director; did he need anyone else’s favor?

Chen Fang was a sly fox.

Xi Dong was an old fox.

That’s why, whenever the two of them got together, they could talk so congenially.

That night,

Chen Fang’s bank account increased by ten million.

Looking at the balance, Chen Fang couldn’t help but marvel.

To be honest,

Xi Dong was quite generous.

Chen Fang’s expected price was around five million, but Xi Dong had directly doubled it.

“System.”

As soon as Chen Fang spoke,

the next second,

his mobile banking app notified him of a ten-million expenditure, leaving only two thousand in the account.

At the same time,

the lyrics and melody of “Lady Shexiang” appeared in his mind.

“You’re quite prompt,” Chen Fang said with a smile.

The system’s cold voice replied, “I just don’t want you bothering me. Every time you call me, I get a headache.”

Chen Fang scratched his head.

Heh.

Others might want Chen Fang to act like a sycophant, but he wasn’t willing!

Now that he was the one eager to please the system, the system actually found him annoying.

Ignoring the system’s complaints, Chen Fang quickly reviewed the lyrics and melody of “Lady Shexiang” in his mind. Truly worthy of the title “God of Square Dance” songs—even just humming it made one want to sway along.

“Tomorrow will be a busy day,” Chen Fang mused, closing his eyes in contemplation.

He needed to hurry and record “Farewell.”

Since Xi Dong had been so generous, transferring the money right away, Chen Fang couldn’t afford to slack off. He had to ensure both quality and speed.

In addition,

he needed to record “Lady Shexiang” for Wang Situ.

A bit of busyness was good.

Otherwise,

he’d just keep thinking about running off to Ji Mei’s place.

Lying in bed, watching the scattered stars in the night sky, Chen Fang slowly drifted into sleep.

The next morning,

Chen Fang woke up early.

As usual—time to open the mystery box!

He’d expected his luck to remain as poor as before, yet surprisingly, today’s box yielded a prop card.

[Time Rewind Card].

After use, time would rewind by one hour.

A legendary prop card!

But the problem was,

Chen Fang couldn’t think of a situation where he’d need to rewind time.

So,

he threw the card into his warehouse to gather dust.

So far,

Chen Fang had three prop cards in total:

[One Day Bad Luck Card], [Beginner Acting Card], [Time Rewind Card].

After breakfast, he hurried off to the company. Xi Yuanyuan also arrived early, and the two of them entered the recording studio together.

Over the course of the morning, Chen Fang hurried and toiled, finally managing to finish “Farewell.”

Truth be told,

doing everything alone was exhausting.

If he’d let the company’s professional music team handle the accompaniment, it would have been much easier.

After lunch,

Chen Fang continued working in the studio.

He still needed to record “Lady Shexiang.”

Xi Yuanyuan was called away for a meeting in the afternoon, so the whole recording studio was Chen Fang’s alone.

Time flew by.

At seven in the evening,

Chen Fang rubbed his aching arms, downed two bottles of water in one go, and collapsed onto the studio’s sofa.

A whole day spent playing various instruments left his arms, wrists, and fingers sore beyond measure. Striving for perfection, he’d restart the recording at the slightest flaw, and his voice was beginning to strain.

Just then,

the door opened.

Xi Yuanyuan entered, looking troubled.

Seeing this,

Chen Fang asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”

“There’s been a problem.”

“Kang Zikai, along with a large group of trainees, broke their contracts and defected to Imagination Entertainment.”

Imagination?

That sounded familiar.

Chen Fang thought for a moment.

Oh!

He remembered now.

Before signing with Future Star, he’d discussed which entertainment company to choose with Ji Mei. At the time, Ji Mei had told him that there were three leading entertainment companies in China: Imagination Entertainment, Starlight Entertainment, and Dream Builder Entertainment.

An Tinghan belonged to Dream Builder Entertainment.

“Kang Zikai isn’t particularly talented—let him go. The company can even sue him and make some money out of it.” Chen Fang wasn’t at all sorry to see him leave; Kang Zikai was mediocre at best, with only a slight advantage in looks and nothing else to recommend him.

Xi Yuanyuan sighed.

The contract termination wasn’t the main issue.

Kang Zikai had gone online to air his grievances, accusing Future Star of mistreating its artists, and, as an insider, fabricating all sorts of damaging rumors.

Given Kang Zikai’s temperament, he’d never dare do such a thing on his own.

After all,

spreading falsehoods was illegal.

Clearly, someone was manipulating him from behind the scenes.