After Secretly Marrying the Top Celebrity, I Fell in Love - Chapter 53

In the hotel suite, Zhang Mingxiu very readily approved Bai Yiyan’s leave.

“Xiao Bai, don’t worry, come back after the matter is handled.”

“I will have the coordinator reschedule your scenes.”

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Mingxiu immediately called the coordinator, asking him to temporarily postpone the scenes for the female supporting lead and shoot scenes for other actors in the next few days.

The coordinator didn’t quite understand why the director was making such arrangements, so he tentatively asked a question.

“Director Zhang, is your arrangement perhaps due to the trending topics?”

Zhang Mingxiu was bewildered and asked in return, “What trending topics?”

Coordinator: “Director Zhang, didn’t you look at the trending topics?”

Zhang Mingxiu: “I’ve been so busy all day, where would I find the time to look at any trending topics.”

Zhang Mingxiu usually didn’t pay much attention to Weibo, plus he went to the set early this morning and shot scenes all day. Therefore, he had no idea about the trending topics.

Zhang Mingxiu: “Wait! What trending topics did you just mention?”

Coordinator: “It’s… about Teacher Bai’s trending topics.”

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Mingxiu immediately clicked into Weibo. After reading a string of related terms, Zhang Mingxiu was so angry that he almost threw his phone.

“Damn it! Simply nonsensical!”

Zhang Mingxiu cursed loudly at the air, his face flushed and his neck veins bulging with anger, even spitting out profanity.

Suddenly, the phone in the man’s hand rang.

Zhang Mingxiu looked down; it was Ye Manqing calling. Zhang Mingxiu had a premonition that Ye Manqing’s call at this time was mostly about Bai Yiyan.

Sure enough, he was right.

Zhang Mingxiu’s furrowed brow slowly relaxed, and he said into the phone, “Manqing, don’t worry, even if you hadn’t contacted me, I would still speak up for Xiao Bai.”

“I’ve been busy all day and just found out about the trending topics.”

“Director Zhang, thank you very much for agreeing to help with this.”

“It’s nothing.”

After the call ended, following Ye Manqing’s reminder, Zhang Mingxiu found the two audition videos of Bai Yiyan on his computer.

Opening Weibo on the computer, Zhang Mingxiu first edited a piece of text and then clicked send.

Zhang Mingxiu: [I’ve been filming on set all day and only just saw the trending topic. I don’t understand, in this day and age, is a young, beautiful actress from a humble background automatically labeled as having been sponsored? Doesn’t everyone know there’s a word called “talent” in this world? For a talented, hardworking, and grounded good actress like Xiao Bai, regardless of her background or whether she attended college, I, Zhang Mingxiu, would give her the role of the female supporting lead. Words are nothing without proof; I have two segments of Xiao Bai’s audition videos here, and I will post them now.]

…

At 8:30 PM, the entire public relations department was brightly lit, with the sound of “clatter-clatter” keyboards echoing throughout the department.

Yu Tang had her secretary buy coffee and desserts for the colleagues in the public relations department; it was certain they would be working overtime tonight.

Yu Tang herself was in the tearoom with Director Sun from the public relations department, sipping tea and quietly waiting for Zhang Mingxiu’s response. After waiting for about twenty minutes, Zhang Mingxiu posted on Weibo, posting three times in a row.

Driven by curiosity, Yu Tang opened Weibo and clicked on the related posts by Zhang Mingxiu one by one.

After watching the two audition videos, Yu Tang’s face showed a variety of expressions. Finally, the expression on the woman’s face was replaced by “shock.”

Before Yu Tang could speak, Director Sun on the opposite sofa spoke first.

“This person’s acting is genuinely good!”

“She looks so young, maybe only around twenty.” Saying this, Director Sun looked up at General Manager Yu sitting on the opposite sofa.

“There’s absolutely no trace of acting.”

Yu Tang nodded in agreement: “Indeed, some people are born to do this.”

Director Sun’s eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had thought of something, and he looked at Yu Tang in surprise and asked, “Oh right! Does she not have an agency?”

The knuckles holding the teacup tightened an inch. Yu Tang immediately understood Director Sun’s meaning and asked for confirmation: “Director Sun means…?”

Director Sun took a sip of tea and slowly opened his mouth: “Of course, signing artists is your department’s matter, I’m just offering a suggestion. General Manager Yu, think about it, this Bai Yiyan is not ordinary. Good acting, pretty, and young—she has all the advantages. The key is, she has good connections too.”

“Look, as soon as something happens, how many people stand up to speak for her.”

“I know Zhang Mingxiu to some extent; he wouldn’t easily speak up for someone. Although, it is partly for the sake of our General Manager Ye. But that can only be considered one of the reasons.”

Yu Tang silently looked down at the cup of Biluochun tea in her hand, considering Director Sun’s words.

“Okay, I’ll think about it.”

…

Following Zhang Mingxiu’s actions, within half an hour, the related terms #ZhangMingxiuSupportsBaiYiyan# and #BaiYiyanAuditionVideo# instantly made it to the top three trending topics.

Meanwhile, Bai Yiyan was on her way to the airport, without the inclination to check Weibo, so she was unaware of what had happened.

It was a journey through wind and dust.

At 11:00 PM, Bai Yiyan’s flight landed at the vast Beijiang Airport.

Outside the window, the lights were sparse, the plane glided at a uniform speed on the wide runway, and the white wing cut through the cool air of early autumn.

Bai Yiyan withdrew her gaze from the window and took her phone, which had been turned off, out of her bag.

As soon as she turned it on, several missed call text messages flooded in, accompanied by a string of WeChat notification sounds.

Bai Yiyan first clicked through the text messages one by one.

The text messages showed that Director Jiang and Xu Xing had called around nine o’clock. Ye Manqing also called her, a little later, after ten o’clock.

Bai Yiyan first called Director Jiang back, telling the director that she had arrived in C City. She would be home within about an hour. The “home” here referred to Beijiang Welfare Institute.

In Bai Yiyan’s heart, Beijiang Welfare Institute was her home.

After hanging up the phone, Bai Yiyan turned to WeChat. Ye Manqing and Xu Xing had both sent WeChat messages during the same time period.

Through their WeChat content, Bai Yiyan learned about Director Zhang speaking out for her.

Bai Yiyan glanced at the time; it was already past eleven o’clock. Bai Yiyan directly replied to Ye Manqing and Xu Xing on WeChat, explaining that she hadn’t answered the phone because she was on the plane.

After replying to both their WeChat messages, the plane finished taxiing.

The passenger flow at the airport late at night was not heavy.

Bai Yiyan quickly hurried through Beijiang Airport, pulling her suitcase, dressed in a low-key, loose casual outfit, wearing a black mask over her small, oval face, and a baseball cap pulled down on her head.

After exiting the airport, Bai Yiyan had just gotten into a taxi when she received a call from Ye Manqing.

Bai Yiyan glanced at the caller ID, then pressed the answer button, and spoke gently into the phone.

“Hello, Teacher Ye.”

“Yanyan, are you in the car?” As soon as the call connected, Ye Manqing’s familiar gentle voice came from the other end of the line, clearly sounding concerned.

“Mm, just got in the car.” Bai Yiyan turned her head, habitually looking at the night scenery outside the window.

Outside the car window, bright streetlights uniformly receded, and the neon lights were a riot of colors, like a colorful, heavily textured oil painting.

“Are you going straight back to the welfare institute now?”

“Yes, I need to talk to the director first to understand the specific situation, and then go to the school tomorrow.”

More importantly, Bai Yiyan needed to personally reassure Director Jiang. The director was old and in poor health. Although the director’s condition had been well-controlled for the past two years, the cancer cells could spread at any time. The director had to take medicine constantly and have regular hospital check-ups. The doctor said it was very important for the patient to maintain an optimistic and positive attitude.

“Shall I come to pick you up later?”

Bai Yiyan didn’t want Ye Manqing to go through the trouble of traveling back and forth late at night, so she frankly declined her offer.

“No need. I’ll stay at the welfare institute tonight, and it will be easier to go to school directly tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

After the brief call ended, Bai Yiyan finally had the time to look at the trending topics.

Clicking on the trending list, the related term #ZhangMingxiuSupportsBaiYiyan# was currently at the top of the trending search, followed by a prominent “HOT” symbol.

The second and third trending topics were: #BaiYiyanAuditionVideo# and #DualReleaseTime#.

Bai Yiyan lowered her eyes and clicked on the number one trending topic, wanting to find out what was happening.

When Bai Yiyan finished reading the text posted by Zhang Mingxiu, her eyes instantly welled up with moisture, and the tip of her nose tingled with sadness.

Looking down, Bai Yiyan took out her earphones from her bag. She first connected the earphones to her phone and then put the earbuds in her ears.

Then, she clicked on the two audition videos one by one.

Bai Yiyan still had a vivid memory of the audition. Although she was the person in the video, it was the first time Bai Yiyan had seen these two audition videos.

About twenty minutes later, Bai Yiyan finished watching the two videos from the audition. Her first reaction was to save the videos.

More than two hours had passed since Zhang Mingxiu posted on Weibo, and the heat of the other two trending topics related to Bai Yiyan finally subsided, dropping outside the top ten trending searches.

After watching the two audition videos posted by Zhang Mingxiu, netizens were all impressed by Bai Yiyan’s acting skills. In addition, Zhang Mingxiu’s words of support for Bai Yiyan also played a role.

Public opinion was overwhelmingly tilted. The vast majority of people began to side with Zhang Mingxiu and support Bai Yiyan.

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