Chapter 59: World Two [29]

Boss Hao calmly drank her tea. Under Director Li’s repeated urging, she slowly gave her answer.

“The bad news is your originally designated male lead and investor were also implicated. However, the investment funds aren’t an issue; the ten million given by Miss Jing is sufficient to cover it. But you’ll probably have to recast your chosen male lead. If you can’t find a suitable replacement, the filming schedule might have to be pushed back.”

“Also, strictly speaking, it’s not just the male lead. Several actors who were supposed to make cameo appearances can’t come anymore either. You’ll have to rearrange related auditions. Don’t think about slacking off this Spring Festival; overtime is unavoidable.”

Director Li exclaimed, “Ah!”, slapping her own head. “That really is bad news. His acting was quite good. Did he get mixed up with Mu Chengzong too?”

“No, that’s not it. It’s something that happened at a recent private banquet. The police have sealed off related information; people on the outside only know who committed offenses,” Boss Hao shook her head.

“Director Hua was also implicated. His position as chief director for the tribute film is probably going down the drain.” Boss Hao paused before continuing, “If you act fast enough, you might be able to snag a director role for one unit’s story.”

“Forget it. The director positions for tribute films are basically monopolized by that circle. I don’t get along with those people. I’d just go and get bossed around. It’s annoying,” Director Li tutted. Her eyes swiveled before she smilingly looked at Jing Ke.

“Jing Ke, you’re the boss of New Life Entertainment, right?” Director Li asked with a smile.

“Yes,” Jing Ke nodded.

“There are still some promising talents at New Life Entertainment. Do you mind if I take a few days to hold auditions at your company? If their looks and acting skills are suitable, there’s still time to start coaching them,” Director Li said.

The female characters under Director Li’s lens tended to be slightly more outstanding, but that didn’t mean the male characters had no appeal. It was a relationship of mutual achievement; neither side’s character design was conventional or stereotyped.

“You’re most welcome. The artists who are still staying at the company now are somewhat distrustful of me, the new boss. If Director Li releases news that you’ll be holding internal auditions at our New Life Entertainment, it might persuade quite a few people to sign with New Life Entertainment,” Jing Ke said, accepting Director Li’s goodwill.

“Alright, it’s settled then. I’ll come to your company after New Year’s Day. We’ll release the news seven days in advance to give them some time to consider,” Director Li was also a straightforward person. What she said, she meant.

Considering the unending chain of disturbances in Sea City, Yu Hongjun and the others weren’t in a hurry to return. While looking after their friend, they also began concerning themselves with Shao Qing’s situation.

In the drama, Yu Hongjun was originally Shao Qing’s master. The two had quite a few scenes together, and gradually, they started rehearsing their scenes ahead of time.

After watching for two days, Director Li couldn’t help but jump in and join them, beginning to thoroughly deconstruct the plot settings and character designs for Shao Qing. The script was revised again and again, and the total screen time for the master-disciple plotline, originally about an hour, was doubled.

It was worth mentioning that during these three days as they settled into the film set’s working rhythm, Jiang Qingyi spent most of her time observing from the side. She seemed very interested, and her facial expressions became much more animated.

Boss Hao didn’t participate in that. Instead, she discussed with Jing Ke some projects within the industry that lacked investment funds.

As more and more entertainers and industry investors were imprisoned, many payments that hadn’t yet arrived were temporarily cancelled, leaving many producers and directors starting to get headaches.

Boss Hao’s task was to carefully categorize these projects lacking investment, selecting stable options with relatively good returns to recommend to Jing Ke.

Boss Hao had originally thought three or four projects would strain Jing Ke’s cash flow, but she hadn’t expected that even after fifty million was invested, Jing Ke still acted very interested in the projects.

“President Jing, may I ask how much liquid capital you still have available?” Boss Hao couldn’t help asking, changing her address from ‘Miss Jing’.

“There’s still quite a bit. If it’s just projects in the tens of millions range, the company can probably invest in five or six more. Any more than that, and I would consider registering a new investment company,” Jing Ke said.

“If it were over ten projects, could Boss Jing handle it?” Boss Hao once again modified her way of addressing Jing Ke, unable to suppress her curiosity about Jing Ke’s financial strength.

Jing Ke smiled. Thinking of Shao Qing’s cautious nature, she pulled back slightly. “If it’s investments at the hundred-million level, I can probably handle over ten. That level of capital input won’t affect my normal life.”

Even someone as usually calm and composed as Boss Hao couldn’t help being stunned by Jing Ke’s words. She used her new form of address for Jing Ke even more firmly.

“Boss Jing, later I’ll list out all the good projects for you. You can select from them, and I’ll act as the intermediary for you,” Boss Hao said, a trace of wariness appearing in her eyes as she looked at Jing Ke.

Regardless of Jing Ke’s background, the mere fact that she could control such a huge amount of money was enough to prove she wasn’t as naive as she appeared.

“Sure, I’ll be troubling you, Boss Hao.” The smile on Jing Ke’s face didn’t change. She didn’t pay any attention to the wariness that had crept into Boss Hao’s eyes.

To Jing Ke, whether Boss Hao feared her or trusted her made no difference. Her definition of their relationship was also very simple—just commercial partners.

The capital relationships in the entertainment industry were indeed intricate and complex. For an individual or a single entity to fight against those behind-the-scenes capital forces was extremely difficult.

But when the state intervened, those malignant tumors were swept away as efficiently as autumn leaves in a gale. Apart from some stars initially trying to use their fans to stall for time and slip out of the country, there were no major disturbances.

For most citizens, upon hearing that causing trouble could lead to detention, a criminal record, and affect three generations of their family’s eligibility for civil service exams, their urge to make trouble mostly vanished.

The arrest storm, along with the tax storm, essentially concluded by the end of December.

According to information released by the authorities, after tax audits, the back taxes owed by entertainers in the industry alone approached the staggering number of seventy billion.

If that much money were distributed evenly to everyone, each person would get a few dozen yuan. If entirely used for charity, who knows how many people could break free from the constraints of family and environment.

As for the nationwide crackdown on organized crime and evil launched in December, the first phase had come to an end. Approximately thirty thousand people, from major to minor offenders, had been arrested and brought to justice by local police stations.

The number of people publicly announced within the entertainment industry was seventy-nine in total. These were all individuals where the criminal evidence was ironclad.

Their arrests caused many unreleased film and television dramas and variety shows to face being stillborn. Many works currently airing met the same fate, with numerous being temporarily taken down.

Fortunately, the authorities didn’t enforce a blanket ban outright. They tacitly permitted the use of facial blurring. As long as faces were promptly swapped out, they turned a blind eye.

Of course, if someone was the lead actor or actress, they shouldn’t expect to appear on the big screen in the short term.

As New Year’s Eve celebrations and New Year’s Day arrived, the unpleasant events from before were quickly and gradually cast to the back of the public’s mind.

The entertainment industry was never short of people or productions. After certain works were taken down, meticulously made films and shows that previously lacked traffic and money for promotion got their chance to shine. Some niche genres also gained a wave of attention, resulting in a brief period where ‘a hundred flowers bloomed’.

After discovering that losing a few dozen people from the entertainment industry didn’t affect their drama watching or their enjoyment of handsome men and beautiful women performing for them, netizens forgot those people even faster.

After the three-day New Year’s holiday passed, only the fans who had been too thoroughly brainwashed were still struggling.

But after real-time IP addresses were introduced, many professional fans who had covertly done bad things also began to fear, gradually settling down and quieting.

After staying with Grandma in the urban-rural fringe area for over half a month, Jing Ke and Shao Qing, each carrying a large bag of pure, natural ingredients prepared by Grandma Shao, got into the car driven by the little assistant under her reluctant gaze. They waved goodbye to this quiet and warm place.

Because they had quite a lot of luggage, the two didn’t choose to fly back this time. Instead, they opted for the high-speed train. After sleeping in first-class seats from morning until afternoon, they arrived smoothly in Sea City.

After reorganization, Sea City’s airport had far fewer ‘station sisters’ and fans picking up artists. Those entertainers not caught up in the turmoil kept a much lower profile—so low-key that Shao Qing almost didn’t recognize them in the VIP passageway.

But this was actually quite nice. With everyone keeping a low profile, the instances of fans tearing into each other also decreased, bringing a period of calmness across various platforms.

The director and regular guests of the variety show “Who Is the Murderer?” were all relatively reliable, all managing to emerge unscathed from the storm. It became one of the few local flagship variety shows preserved.

This led to the situation where, after the production team announced the first episode would be a full live broadcast with multiple camera angles, many restless netizens flocked in. In just ten minutes of the test broadcast, the viewership exceeded a million.

The director was grinning from ear to ear. Working overnight, he threw money into improving the related equipment, stubbornly adding over ten more cameras to ensure the best experience for viewers in the live stream room.

“Who Is the Murderer?” had gameplay similar to a scripted murder mystery. The five regular guests plus two flight guests—all seven people—would have their own identities and corresponding living areas.

Among the seven, there would be one or two murderers. The murderer’s goal was to perfectly conceal their act and pin the crime on someone else.

The guests who didn’t draw the murderer card had the task of finding the murderer and escorting them to the designated police station (the small dark room) before nightfall.

“Who Is the Murderer?” had already filmed several seasons by now, with a very good fanbase and excellent data across the board. As long as flight guests didn’t act too foolishly on the show, they could generally easily gain six-figure follower counts.

To maintain mystery, before the live broadcast started, the production team only publicly announced the list of the five regular guests. Only after the broadcast began did they reveal the identity of the two flight guests for the day through the multi-camera setup.

[Ahhh, it’s Qingqing! I haven’t seen Qingqing active in so long! Sob, baby wife, let me kiss you!]

[Wow, Shao Qing’s look this time is stunning! The ID card she drew is a male role, or rather, a woman cross-dressing as a man. She looks so dashing.]

[So beautiful and so dashing! Truly worthy of being my master! Woof woof woof!]

The show’s director was very fair. Besides a main live stream room that switched between views, each guest had their own dedicated live stream room, maximizing the experience for solo fans.

As an investor, Jing Ke had exceptionally received permission to enter the director’s control room to observe. She could see not only the barrage comments floating across the large screen but also the reactions of different guests simultaneously.

Of course, being able to see different guests didn’t mean Jing Ke would watch them. Aside from occasionally glancing at the main screen, Jing Ke’s gaze remained fixed only on Shao Qing.

Shao Qing had only received her character setup the night before. This time, the story background of “Who Is the Murderer?” leaned Western. The role she needed to play was the sole heir of the deceased, a knight ennobled by the king and a future duke.

The other six guests were respectively: the Old Butler, the Butler’s Daughter, the Old Duke’s Second Wife, a visiting Noble Lady, the royal family’s unfavored prince, and a Foreign Merchant.

The role Shao Qing drew was a bit special, with an extremely outstanding appearance setting. On the surface, she was the Noble Lady’s fiancé(e), but in reality, she maintained ambiguous relations with both her Stepmother and the Butler’s Daughter.

Honestly, after getting such a scumbag male role, Shao Qing was quite thrilled. She usually played female roles who dealt with scumbags, and hadn’t actually played a scumbag in the true sense before.

So, after the ten-minute introduction segment ended, Shao Qing immediately got into character. In front of the Noble Lady, she acted extremely refined, like a model twenty-four filial piety fiancé.

And while searching for clues, Shao Qing seized the opportunity to manufacture time alone with the Stepmother and the Butler’s Daughter. She gifted the former a rose and gave the latter a battle trophy she’d claimed on the battlefield, making both beam with smiles.

From the live stream, it was clear Shao Qing herself was fully immersed in the role, and moreover, was having quite a bit of fun.

But Jing Ke, watching the live stream from outside, wasn’t having that much fun, much less enjoying herself.

[Whoa, an amorous knight! Quite a novel setup. At last, not a knight silently guarding a princess.]

[Damn, Shao Qing captured my heart when she was in women’s clothing. How is she so handsome in men’s clothing too? At this rate, my sexual orientation is going to become Shao Qing’s shape!]

[So this time, the role should be a cross-role? If it were a woman cross-dressing as a man, she shouldn’t be that much of a playboy.]

[That’s not necessarily true. Have you all forgotten the rumor mentioned earlier? The sole heir of the Duke’s household was sickly in childhood, and had a delicate male appearance and feminine beauty. He only became healthy after joining the army at fifteen. I strongly feel this could be a hidden setting!]

Jing Ke glanced at the barrage comments. If she were still a consciousness form now, she would probably be reading these comments aloud to the other person, right?

Shaking her head lightly to clear away useless thoughts, Jing Ke once again seriously watched Shao Qing’s performance.

When Shao Qing got the character card yesterday, she had immediately shared the information with Jing Ke.

So Jing Ke knew very clearly in her heart that Shao Qing, the one who seemed the most suspicious on the surface, was actually the real murderer.

Shao Qing’s true identity was just as some viewers in the live stream guessed. She wasn’t a man playing a cross-role; the character was originally a woman cross-dressing as a man.

Watching Shao Qing in the live stream, holding the Noble Lady in her arms, Jing Ke expressionlessly sorted through her somewhat tangled emotions.

Be rational. Calm down.

Shao Qing is doing this to interfere with those people collecting evidence, not because she actually likes them.

It’s all fake. Just a pretense.

And besides, even if it were real, you would only ever be Shao Qing’s collaborator.