Starting from a Bar to Sign Internet Celebrities

At the Si Rui Film and television Group, Zhou Huapeng’s expression was grim.

He never expected that after spending a night with a starlet, he would wake up to find the sky falling.

Why was that Internet Celebrity Young Master flaming their film industry for no reason?

’What a psycho.’

Had they provoked him?

More importantly, what did the film industry’s costumes and props have to do with him?

If the guy was in a related business, that would be one thing. He could understand that.

But he wasn’t in that line of work at all. Blasting them while propping up others—wasn’t this just a case of someone being bored and having nothing better to do?

Worst of all, a director had even publicly attacked Si Rui’s costuming and props department, which held them over the fire.

Now, people online were even bringing up the topic of money laundering in the film industry’s costuming and props sector.

That was the worst part.

He was, of course, well aware of certain things. After all, he was the biggest beneficiary.

As long as these matters weren’t brought out into the open, the network of interests they had built could ensure the relevant authorities would turn a blind eye.

After all, the film industry involved massive interests and a vast industrial chain.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

But once it was exposed, there would be trouble. The nature of the situation would change completely.

If things went south, he and his people would all be finished.

So, he had urgently called a meeting with the relevant members.

They were powerless against that young master and didn’t dare to do anything. His maternal grandfather was not someone to be trifled with.

As for the director who made the attack, as long as he was still in the industry, they could slowly crush him, even destroy his reputation completely.

So, with all the heat online, the main priority was to deal with that internet celebrity, Chen Jincheng.

The key was that this Chen Jincheng wasn’t just some ordinary influencer; you could even call him an entrepreneur now.

They were all convinced that he had stirred up this mess because he wanted in.

Thus, he immediately pulled some strings to get Chen Jincheng’s phone number and made the call.

As soon as the call connected, he said, "President Chen, this is Zhou Huapeng from Si Rui Film and Television Group. Your methods are impressive; we’ve seen what you can do. But you just want a piece of the action, right? If you keep this up, you’re going to ruin the whole game for everyone."

At Second-Life Star, Chen Jincheng was taken aback by the voice on the phone.

’Si Rui Film and Television Group?’

’Zhou Huapeng?’

’So it’s this guy calling me.’

In his previous life, Si Rui Film and Television Group and Zhou Huapeng had been quite famous. The company was even once the most profitable in the domestic film industry.

Oh, right. That one famous actress, who went by the nickname ’Master,’ had deep ties to this company. She had just been exposed for tax evasion a while back.

But the company’s real claim to fame in his past life wasn’t its profitability. After all, ordinary people don’t pay attention to which film company produced a movie or TV show, even if they enjoyed it.

It truly became famous because it collapsed overnight.

Other once-famous companies like Zhouyi Film and Television or Qilin Film and Television mostly went bankrupt after losing a lot of money on bad investments, suffering losses on one production after another.

But this company, the most profitable one, had also collapsed. The reason given was that the board’s shareholders had all withdrawn their investments, leading to a capital crisis.

Why would shareholders pull out of the most profitable company en masse?

Later, the news reported that this Zhou Huapeng had been jailed for embezzlement and using his position to manage illegal funds. With that, the reason wasn’t hard to guess.

The board members must not have known the full story and simply wanted to avoid getting entangled in the company’s illegal affairs.

Listening to Zhou Huapeng now, Chen Jincheng immediately understood what was going on.

’He thinks I’m behind everything that’s happening online?’

’But it really has nothing to do with me.’

Although he wanted to promote Hanfu, he had never planned to take down the film industry’s costume and props sector in one fell swoop. He preferred the method of boiling a frog in slowly heating water. Besides, the other party was destined to self-destruct; he didn’t need to lift a finger.

He hadn’t expected the Internet Celebrity Young Master’s tirade to blow up like this, drawing Zhou Huapeng’s attention to him and causing this misunderstanding.

Most importantly, he realized something: if the costuming and props industry was getting flamed and Si Rui Film and Television was this nervous, what more needed to be said about the money laundering?

’Fuck!’

Chen Jincheng was speechless. He had such a bright future, and this guy actually thought he wanted to jump into their rotten pit and be buried along with them?

’Am I an idiot?’

So, he replied into the phone with a light chuckle, "President Zhou, I’m not sure what you’re talking about."

Hearing this, Zhou Huapeng’s face darkened instantly. "President Chen, let’s not beat around the bush. You acquired LeTV Film and Television’s assets, you’ve entered the film industry, you’ve invested in a few shows, and now you’re launching Hanfu. Isn’t this whole spectacle just a way to get a piece of the profits from the costuming and props sector?"

"Since you know the kind of profits involved, you should also understand that if you keep this up and ruin the whole game, there won’t be any profits left for you to join in on."

"..." Chen Jincheng was at a loss for words. "President Zhou, I’ve honestly never thought about getting into the costuming and props business. As you can see, whatever Eldest Young Master Wang or that director did has absolutely nothing to do with me."

’This guy is really letting his imagination run wild.’ He truly had no intention of ever joining the costuming and props circle.

That circle was doomed to fail, destined to be replaced by the costuming and props departments of the short-form drama industry.

Thinking back to his previous life, to the collapse of Si Rui Film and Television and the news of Zhou Huapeng going to jail, and then considering the current situation... it was highly likely that a major event was about to shake the industry, leaving a vacuum.

No wonder the costuming and props for short-form dramas had risen up with almost no resistance. Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t the established film and TV costume industry have fought back when they saw things going wrong?