Assistant Bai Really Does Have a Three Year Old Child - Chapter 14

Bai Tan could no longer remember how he had just managed to swallow two six-inch cakes.

He only knew that he felt sickly sweet now and had drunk a stomach full of water to cut the greasiness; if he shook his body, he could hear his stomach clanking and sloshing.

Li Wenyan was truly polite, even wanting to send two portions.

Carbohydrates make one feel sleepy. Bai Tan originally wanted to work on his outline a bit more, but as soon as he lay on the bed, he fell fast asleep.

When he woke up, it was already 6:00 PM.

Looking at the rolling red clouds outside the window, the world suddenly became incomparably silent. In that instant, he had a feeling of being abandoned by time.

What brought him back to the normal world were the twenty-odd missed calls on his phone.

The person calling was Yu Jian.

Twenty-odd missed calls paired with the name Yu Jian caused an inexplicably strong sense of dread.

He hurriedly called Yu Jian back, and the other person started cursing the moment he opened his mouth:

“I’ve called you twenty times, what are you doing!”

“Sleeping, it was on silent. Do you want me to contact the driver to pick up Teacher Huo?”

“Forget Teacher Huo for now. I’m telling you, you’re finished. Prepare your money and wait to pay compensation.”

Bai Tan: ?

“Go look at Weibo.” Yu Jian seemed very busy; he threw out these words and hung up the phone.

I’m finished?

Bai Tan repeatedly chewed on these three words.

He slowly raised his eyes, thought for a long time, and suddenly let out a “ha” laugh.

As expected, an accident was bound to happen.

Opening Weibo, the hashtags hanging high at the top of the trending list were:

#TheLegendOfNightRain FemaleLeadChanged#

#TheLegendOfNightRain AllScenesInvolvingFemaleLeadToBeReshot#

The cause was a newly registered small account that posted a video on Weibo. Although the video looked completely black, as if the phone had been placed face down on a table, voices could be heard speaking inside.

A very young-sounding male voice:

“The female lead of the drama Huo Yang is currently filming has been temporarily changed.”

“If the lead is changed, wouldn’t the scenes filmed before have to be reshot all over again?” Following that was an inquiry processed through a voice changer, making it impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.

Then, it was still the male voice without any voice-changing processing:

“Mm.”

The video ended there.

As soon as this video came out, the fans of the artists participating in The Legend of Night Rain couldn’t take it anymore:

The production team should come out and explain. What do you mean by reshooting everything? During the promotion, you said that for the sake of pursuing perfection, it took three months to film barely a quarter of the script. Do you mean the actors have to waste another three months to reshoot? If you want to change the person, just cut all of QS’s shots and let the replacement actress film her own parts and use “green screen matting” to paste them in.

You are also ridiculous. What do you take the other artists for? Pasting them in with matting?

Heavens, ancient costume martial arts dramas have many fighting scenes and many dangerous actions. To make everyone reshoot, is the production team crazy?!

@DirectorGuoQing, come out and say something, don’t play dead!

My heart aches so much for Yang-gege. It was said earlier that he was very tired and wanted to rest, but in the end, there was never an opportunity, and his break was delayed again and again. Are you going to work him to death? He hasn’t rested for three whole years!

There were also some netizens who stated:

Who is the one who exposed this news? Is the news reliable? Everyone calm down first, don’t listen to rumors and think it’s raining.

The cast of the drama The Legend of Night Rain was luxurious, and the fan base was massive, occupying almost half of the internet users.

Director Guo made everyone sign a non-disclosure agreement precisely because he was afraid that the news of the reshoot would leak and cause dissatisfaction among fans.

As expected, his private message box was almost blown up by the fans’ denunciations and questions, making his phone lag for a time.

Unable to withstand the pressure, he hired a public relations team to release an official statement.

First was a round of simple and sincere apologies, followed by an admission:

“In order to bring the most fluid visual experience to the audience, after careful consideration by the production team and having obtained the consent and understanding of all the teacher actors, it was decided to reshoot everything. This is to be responsible to my conscience from many years in the industry and also to be responsible to the audience.”

Those affected were not just Director Guo; everyone from the production manager down to the gaffers and editors was not spared.

Even the “site sisters” (fans who take photos at filming sites) who were innocently passing by were inexplicably kicked, being accused of not reporting the artist’s itinerary in a timely manner and not discussing such a big matter with the fans.

The people who were being scolded for no reason couldn’t endure it anymore.

Temporarily replacing an actor and reshooting is the only option now. In order not to make the fans feel bad, our entire production team signed a non-disclosure agreement. Who on earth leaked the secret and caused such a big mess? I’m speechless to death!

Director Guo’s side was also investigating. The production crew played that non-image video over and over again many times, but they just felt the voice was very unfamiliar and didn’t seem to be someone from the production team.

Not a single person guessed it, but someone on the internet pointed out a clear path for them.

The voice of the person exposing it sounds a lot like Huo Yang’s new assistant. What do you guys think?

In front of the screen, Xiao Wan composed this sentence with a calm and composed air, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

One stone created a thousand ripples. The fans were already quite dissatisfied, and now this was great. What? Huo Yang had already privately found a new assistant, and even the site sisters didn’t know about this matter?

The private affairs of the artist and the production team were just like that, spoken through his upper and lower lips, making it known to everyone in the world???

Bai Tan silently scrolled through the comment section.

Probably the director didn’t bomb him with phone calls because he was still busy with public relations and had no time to deal with him; he would wait until the fans’ emotions were appeased before coming to settle scores with him.

No wonder. Why would Xiao Wan take the initiative to show goodwill? It turns out she was waiting for him right here.

As the common saying goes: when things are unusual, there must be a demon.

That video without images was also clipped at the beginning and end, changing interrogative sentences into declarative ones, and even edited and reversed the order of the conversation between the two people, only applying voice-changing processing to Xiao Wan’s own voice.

It wasn’t hard for Bai Tan to guess why Xiao Wan wasn’t afraid of him striking back. She felt that a “little sparrow” couldn’t stir up a great storm, right?

Or perhaps she felt that even if he came out to clarify, even if… the netizens would believe her. Even if the truth came to light and Xiao Wan got into trouble, she would have her mother’s gentle comfort and continued investment of money for her public relations to protect her “only” precious daughter.

That’s why Xiao Wan had the courage to act willfully.

Is that so?

Bai Tan threw away the mouse, and his body leaned heavily against the back of the chair.

His gaze, moving away from the screen, looked to the side, and the scene before his eyes became more and more blurred.

He took a deep breath and gently let it out.

It was as if he was breathing out all the expectations of these years along with the disappointment on Xiao Wan’s birthday.

He pressed his palms against his eyes and rubbed them hard.

Don’t cry, don’t cry. Just as Li Wenyan said, if there’s no love, there’s no love. Crying to make someone stay won’t have any result.

Bai Tan turned off the computer and lay down on the bed.

Better let the bullet fly for a while longer.

The fans were working together through various channels to find this person, Bai Tan.

Regardless of whether they were people with the same name as Bai Tan or those with the internet handle “Bai Tan,” even an owner who sold sandalwood (tán xiāng) was scolded by netizens until he was covered in dog’s blood.

It was as if the fault did not lie with Qiao Si, who had forced the production team to temporarily change the lead due to bullying and tax evasion, but rather that Bai Tan, who spread the news of the replacement, was the heinous great sinner.

The matter fermented for a whole night, and the next day it was Director Guo’s turn to settle accounts with the traitor.

In short, Bai Tan needed to do two things:

First, raise money as soon as possible to compensate the production team for their losses; second, the production team would hold a press conference for the vast number of fans, and Bai Tan must appear to apologize sincerely.

Perhaps Director Guo felt it wasn’t good to disregard Huo Yang’s face after all, this assistant was brought by him so this settlement only called Bai Tan alone.

Bai Tan sighed.

He originally wanted to let himself “continue to fly” for a while longer, waiting until more people paid attention to this matter before handing over the ironclad evidence and letting all the people following the matter judge for themselves.

On the day he met Xiao Wan at the MEET Cafe, he borrowed a recording pen from the organizer’s director team before leaving, and the recording pen had already started working from the moment he entered the cafe.

Although he wasn’t considered smart, he wasn’t a fool either; how could he not see that Xiao Wan’s “intent was not in the wine” (she had ulterior motives).

How could a person who daily used a small account to send private messages calling him a “sewer rat” be willing to put down her airs and take the initiative to bow her head and show goodwill?

“Director Guo.” Bai Tan fished a USB flash drive out of his pocket and placed it on the table. “Inside this is the unedited recording. As for the truth, you should listen to it before speaking.”

Director Guo was half-doubting. He pinched the USB drive and looked at it for a long time, then casually handed it to his assistant to let him play it and listen.

The recording finished loading, and everyone held their breath to listen.

“By the way, I remember you are currently working as an assistant for Huo Yang.”

“Mm.”

“Isn’t there a problem with the female lead of the drama he is currently filming? I heard rumors from people in the industry saying the female lead is to be temporarily replaced; is it true? If she’s replaced, wouldn’t the scenes already filmed have to be reshot all over again?”

“This matter involves the production team’s privacy; I can only say ‘no comment’.”

“What ‘no comment’ is there between us? I already knew.”

“Who told you that the female lead of the drama Huo Yang is currently filming has been temporarily replaced?”

“I write books, after all; basically all of them have been adapted into film and television. I often have to communicate with screenwriters and participate in casting. Isn’t it normal to know a few people in the industry?”

“Regardless of whether this is indeed the case, it is a secret after all, so don’t spread it further.”

The recording ended.

Director Guo slowly raised his head to look at Bai Tan. His face was a bit pale, revealing a hint of embarrassment.

Just now, the moment he saw Bai Tan, he didn’t care about heaven or earth and opened his mouth with a round of foul-mouthed scolding.

Now he could only change the subject:

“Who is this woman speaking? And how did she know the female lead was being temporarily replaced?”

“Xiao Wan,” Bai Tan said bluntly. “As for how she knew, it should still be someone in the production team who leaked the wind.”

The staff and actors whispered. Yang Yueqian, who had been sitting in the corner in silence, suddenly stood up, casually took his phone, and went out the door.

Director Guo rubbed his hands and took a cautious look at Bai Tan:

“Xiao Wan… is that very famous author? Wan Wan?”

“Mm.”

The director’s pair of rough large hands rubbed even faster, crackling with sparks.

There was no way out.

In fact, finding a little assistant with no power or influence to “take the pot” (take the blame) for this matter was the most suitable; it could also smoothly shift the attention from the temporary replacement to the leak, only then could the fans’ anger be appeased as quickly as possible.

But if Xiao Wan did it…

This young girl also had quite a few book fans, and she was considered one of the best in their author circle. Making her take the blame the book fans wouldn’t just let it go like that; at that time, it would probably be another fierce battle.

Moreover, maybe he would receive scripts written by her in the future. To tear the face (break relations) now, how would it be easy to meet in the future?

“Director Guo, are there any other questions? If not, when the press conference arrives, I will disclose this recording on the spot.” Bai Tan pulled the USB drive from the computer and tucked it into his pocket.

“Ah…” Director Guo let out a sigh absent-mindedly.

During the gap of silence, the production assistant over there received orders to bring Huo Yang to the set. At that time, the press conference would certainly not be complete without the participating personnel; they had to breathe some air into them (brief them) in advance.

Huo Yang saw that Bai Tan was also there, and his brow furrowed.

“Director Guo, then I’ll head over first.” Bai Tan bowed politely.

Seeing that Huo Yang had come over, he took the initiative to step forward to help him straighten his collar, saying with a calm and composed air:

“Teacher Huo, I’m going to your house now to help you pick out the clothes to wear for tonight’s activity. I’ll be back in a while.”

Huo Yang moved his gaze away and gave a low “mm.”

Bai Tan walked to the door and raised his hand to touch the doorknob.

“Whoosh—” But the door opened one step ahead of him, bumping into him and making him retreat two steps.

A staff member poked their head in:

“Director Guo, there are two ladies outside who want to see you, saying they have something to say to you.”

Bai Tan took the opportunity to look out.

In the dim corridor, the light, which didn’t seem very bright, appeared to have unstable voltage. It went out with a “click” and then lit up again, briefly projecting onto the two uninvited guests.

Bai Tan’s heart leaped suddenly, with some emotions that were hard to explain.

Having only lost face once, he must control his emotions this time.

He gave way and invited Xiao Wan and Lin Zhiwei to enter.

“Hello, Director Guo, we have met before.” Lin Zhiwei took the initiative to step forward to shake hands, followed by Xiao Wan, whose eyes were red.

Director Guo certainly knew her; he had once served as the general planning director for Lin Zhiwei’s jewelry exhibition, and the two were considered old acquaintances.

“Mrs. Lin, what business do you have coming to find me so early?”

Lin Zhiwei gently looked at her daughter behind her whose eyes were red, fumbled from behind to find her hand and held it in her palm, and said to Director Guo with a smile:

“Let’s find a quiet place to talk.”

After saying that, she quickly swept a glance at Bai Tan:

“And Xiao Tan, come over together, okay?”

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