Spilling the Tea on the Movie Star Who Won't Leave Me Alone - Chapter 34

On the day Gu Jingxuan officially wrapped his scenes, Childhood Sweethearts was released. As soon as it hit the screens, its reputation exploded. Even Lu Qing, despite her lack of acting skills, trended on social media, making her a household name for many.

However, for Xu Chi, this brought not only better and more traffic but also a succession of blows.

#Xu Chi Snatches Resources from Company Senior# #Xu Chi Subjected to “Unspoken Rules” to Steal Roles# #The Hidden Secrets of Popular Young Star Xu Chi#

These trending topics and news reports appeared across every major website. It was impossible for Xu Chi not to notice.

When he was filming for Director Jiang, he hadn’t taken on any other projects, so where did this talk of “snatching resources” come from?

He only had to click on a few links to understand everything. On the screen were Zeng Shuqi’s words, phrased to make him sound incredibly aggrieved:

“I originally went to the audition with Xu Chi. Back at the company, the manager told me to look out for the newcomers. He said we should ensure the younger juniors have a good path and that I should guide them, so I invited Xu Chi to go with me. During the audition, Director Jiang’s expression seemed to show he quite appreciated me. Xu Chi only barely passed the first round. Who knew that a few days later, he’d be the one getting Director Jiang’s script, while the rest of us were all pushed aside. Although I said I’d look out for my junior, everyone knows Director Jiang’s reputation in the industry. I personally admire Director Jiang very much, but I can’t help feeling a bit unreconciled and chilled by this. I really don’t know how much Xu Chi ‘paid’ for this role. It’s not easy for any of us.”

Zeng Shuqi’s words were very polished; they made him look magnanimous while highlighting Xu Chi as a cunning and unscrupulous person. By ending on such an ambiguous note, he clearly steered people toward the worst possible conclusions.

After reading the report, Xu Chi was so angry he was speechless. The hand holding his phone was trembling.

Zeng Shuqi was a veteran at the company. He was in his thirties and no longer had much “heat” or popularity to speak of. His resources in recent years had been poor. After Xu Chi joined the company, Xu Chi’s younger and more handsome appearance had led to him taking many of the “melodramatic romance” scripts that would have originally gone to Zeng Shuqi.

Usually, when they met at the company, Zeng Shuqi never greeted Xu Chi. After having his “warm face” met with a “cold butt” several times, Xu Chi stopped bothering with him. When they saw each other, Xu Chi simply acted as if he hadn’t seen him to avoid any friction or arguments.

Director Jiang’s Childhood Sweethearts had been publicly casting for the second male lead, and the audition location was well-known. Almost every male actor who knew about it and had a free schedule went. On the day Xu Chi attended, the studio was packed. Actors were called in one by one; within a minute, someone would be called out.

Xu Chi had been a bit surprised to see Zeng Shuqi at the studio because he vaguely remembered Lin Tao telling him that Zeng Shuqi’s schedule for the entire year was full. However, he didn’t feel the need to comment. He simply greeted Zeng Shuqi and sat in a far corner away from him.

Zeng Shuqi entered the audition room before him and came out shortly after, looking dejected. One look was enough to tell he had been rejected by Director Jiang. At the time, Xu Chi only worried internally whether he would also be cut in the first round; he didn’t think twice about anything else.

Xu Chi didn’t see Zeng Shuqi at any of the subsequent auditions; he had clearly been eliminated.

Seeing these reports now, Xu Chi truly wondered where Zeng Shuqi got the nerve to say Director Jiang “appreciated” him.

A moment later, Lin Tao’s call came through. As soon as Xu Chi answered, he heard his assistant’s explosive voice: “That bitch Zeng Shuqi is truly shameless! He’s old enough to be a relic, yet he doesn’t even look at whether he fits the role of the second male lead. He has the audacity to say that? I just asked the company, and they claim they only knew he went to the audition, but didn’t know you went.”

Lin Tao spoke all this in one breath, paused for a gasp of air, and continued: “Are these people at the company blind, deaf, or is their brain water-damaged? You were on that set filming for so long, and now they say they didn’t know you auditioned? Do they really prefer protecting Zeng Shuqi over you? Oh, I’m so angry I could die!”

On the other end of the line, Lin Tao was fuming so hard he sounded like he wanted to grab a knife and go after someone.

Xu Chi had been angry, but hearing Lin Tao’s uncontrollable rage actually made him laugh. “Don’t actually go hack them; our salaries for the year haven’t been paid out yet.”

Hearing Xu Chi joking with him, Lin Tao’s anger dissipated slightly. “My ancestor! You can still joke with me at a time like this?”

Xu Chi felt quite calm now. He had thought things through. “We’ve worked with Director Jiang; we know what kind of person he is. The media used to say Director Jiang never responds to any actor’s comments, which is probably why Zeng Shuqi felt he wouldn’t be exposed by saying these things. But I have a feeling Director Jiang might actually tell the truth.”

“Brother Lin, don’t I have a public appearance tonight? When you come over later, bring me some food. Let them spread their rumors; we’ll just sit back and watch the show. Don’t let it ruin your health; it’s not worth it.”

Reflecting on it, Xu Chi was right. Lin Tao dropped the idea of calling the company and Xu Chi’s manager, and instead resigned himself to ordering some light takeout for him.

Although he had tried to put it out of his mind, when he attended the public event that night, Xu Chi was inevitably cornered by the media, who repeatedly threw questions at him about the situation.

“Xu Chi, is what Zeng Shuqi said true?” “Xu Chi, were you really ‘specially treated’ via unspoken rules?” “I heard the assistant director of Childhood Sweethearts has certain ‘preferences’ for handsome male actors. Is that really why you joined the cast?”

Hearing that last question, Xu Chi almost lost his composure and laughed. Having been on that set for so long, he had never even seen an assistant director, let alone known where this media outlet got its “information” about one.

Xu Chi endured until the final minute to complete the event’s proceedings before giving a direct answer to the questions the media had asked a thousand times:

“The heavens are watching what man does. Since I haven’t done these things, how would I know if they’re ‘true’?”

His response left the reporters unsure of how to follow up. Before they could recover, Lin Tao grabbed Xu Chi and led him out of the hall through a side door.

After dealing with reporters all night, Xu Chi sat in the back of the car, swaying as he felt like his jet lag still hadn’t quite cleared.

He was drifting off into a daze when he was jolted awake by Lin Tao’s sky-piercing voice: “Xu Chi, look! Film King Gu just posted on Weibo!”

“The only second male lead I acknowledge is Xu Chi.”

My beloved is a peerless hero. I know that one day, he will appear before the eyes of the world, clad in golden armor and treading upon clouds of seven colors.