SABA Chapter 46

Twenty-one o’clock, the peak of Yun Jing City’s vibrant and bustling hours. Wide avenues were choked with queues of cars, their taillights forming a river of light flowing through the night, intermingling with the distant neon signs.

Ye Qinghan sat in his office with a gloomy expression. His agent, Li Xiao, paced back and forth, repeatedly checking his phone to ensure he didn’t miss any messages. The atmosphere of anxiety and frustration starkly contrasted with the ceaseless flow of traffic outside the window.

Ye Qinghan’s face was somber. He truly couldn’t understand, “Why would Chu Qingchao stand up for Jiang Tiao?”

Hadn’t Jiang Tiao fallen out with his family?

Li Xiao was exasperated, “My ancestor, what time is it, and you’re still trying to figure out why! I’m the one who truly can’t understand! Jiang Tiao is just an eighteen-line minor artist. Your status and his are vastly different. Even looking at him is giving him face. Why do you always lower yourself to go against him? Isn’t it beneath you!”

“Don’t say it’s because of Guan Qing’s role! Don’t think I don’t know, as early as a few years ago when Jiang Tiao first entered the entertainment industry, you openly and covertly set many traps for him. It’s just that you were abroad back then, unable to fully commit!”

Ye Qinghan cast a sinister glance at him.

Li Xiao circled in place a few times and suddenly realized, “You wouldn’t have known him before entering the entertainment industry, would you?”

Ye Qinghan didn’t respond.

This meant he guessed correctly! Li Xiao felt a massive headache coming on, “What’s going on? Do you two have some personal grudges?”

Ye Qinghan: “You could say that.”

Li Xiao: If it’s yes, say yes; if it’s no, say no. What do you mean, ‘you could say that’?!

Ye Qinghan gazed at the colorful neon lights outside the window, his eyes deep, “Just as you said, if I can’t deal with him even within the entertainment industry, wouldn’t that be a waste of my vastly superior status and position?”

What did he mean by ‘just as he said’? His original words were clearly to advise him not to pay attention to him! Li Xiao was extremely distressed. Personal grudges were the most complicated things. In his opinion, they were meaningless disputes of pride, offering no help to their future. But Ye Qinghan was clearly determined. The relationship between an artist and their agent was like the east wind and the west wind; either the east wind overwhelms the west wind, or the west wind overwhelms the east wind. Ye Qinghan’s wings had long since hardened, and how could Li Xiao possibly control him now?

Li Xiao suppressed a surge of breath and coaxed him in a gentle tone, “May I ask what personal grudges you have with Jiang Tiao?”

As far as he knew, the only intersection between Ye Qinghan and Jiang Tiao was Chu Xu. Jiang Tiao’s liking for Chu Xu was well-known, and Chu Xu had an unclear, ambiguous affection for Ye Qinghan. If analyzed this way, it should be Jiang Tiao who hated Ye Qinghan. So why was Ye Qinghan targeting Jiang Tiao so much?

Ye Qinghan looked at himself in the glass of the window, remaining silent.

Alright, Li Xiao: “Then what are you going to do about today’s incident? Offending Chu Qingchao, aren’t you afraid that your fashion resources will be hindered later?”

“He doesn’t have the time to specifically target me right now. The Chu family is currently in a chaotic infight, like fighting chickens. Chu Qingchao and Old Master Chu are at daggers drawn, wishing they could kill each other. Despite being father and son, they act like enemies. It’s still unknown who will ultimately take over ELEGANT.”

Ye Qinghan paused, a smirk playing on his lips, “He should be grateful to have a good mother. If his mother hadn’t gone to great lengths to leave her shares to him and his younger brother before she died, then, heh, Chu Qingchao wouldn’t be so glorious today.”

He was merely a stray dog surviving in the cracks.

Li Xiao, upon hearing this tale of family feuds that could be submitted to gossip magazines, was at a loss for words. Having worked with Ye Qinghan for many years, he was well aware of his sarcastic nature. However, at least he knew that Chu Qingchao currently didn’t have the energy to bother with them, which was a much smaller negative impact than expected.

Ye Qinghan: “Jiang Tiao’s current fame is not enough to qualify for the quarterly magazine cover. So many companies are eyeing that position. You release the news, and we don’t even have to act. Those traffic-hungry fans will naturally tear him apart.”

“Chu Qingchao has long been in a high position and doesn’t know these intricacies down here. He actually stood up for Jiang Tiao, but little does he know, he’s actually harming him.”

“An eighteen-line artist with poor acting skills and no reputation has secured a spot on ELEGANT’s quarterly cover, and it’s an air-dropped cover shoot. What do you think netizens will think? Will they think he’s a reborn star or that there were dirty dealings behind the scenes?”

“Yang Min was fired, wasn’t he? He must be harboring resentment. You should talk to him. Heh, as ELEGANT’s former chief photographer, whose words carry more credibility than his?”

Yes, Li Xiao hit his left palm with his right fist, feeling his future suddenly open up. The situation was already as it was. Instead of constantly hitting a brick wall with Chu Qingchao, it would be better to use this incident to garner sympathy from fans, increasing their loyalty and purchasing power. Moreover, judging by Ye Qinghan’s words, Chu Qingchao and Chairman Chu had irreconcilable conflicts. Since Chu Qingchao had already been offended, it would be better to directly use this matter to offer a substantial olive branch to the elder Mr. Chu.

“Your identity as an actor is holding you back,” Li Xiao said with a fawning smile, flattering him, “If you weren’t an actor, you’d definitely be a top agent.”

…

Three streets away, at Xingyi Entertainment, Nie Jin was directing the publicity staff to subtly and seamlessly contribute to the heat of a post on a certain forum’s gossip group.

It was a spoiler post, with the uploader claiming to be a staff member of a fashion magazine. The post was created last night. The poster was clearly excited, saying that an actor she really liked would come to shoot the magazine cover tomorrow, and she had prepared photos, wondering if she could get an autograph. The poster’s tone was casual and everyday, clearly a low-value vent post that sank after being published.

The turning point came this morning. The poster apparently didn’t expect the actor, known for his professionalism, to be late. The team of dozens waited in the studio all morning for nothing. The big boss was furious, and everyone on the team was implicated. The cover might be replaced.

“Acting like a diva,” and “being replaced” were always hot topics for gossip groups. Coupled with the poster’s intermittent updates, only posting new progress every hour or two, it appeared exceptionally real, and the post immediately became popular. Below the post, people were guessing who the actor who deliberately delayed and demanded a higher price on the spot was.

The gossip group was also known as the entertainment industry connections group. It quickly compiled the shooting schedules for all well-known magazines in the country today. Suddenly, fans and anti-fans were at war, with everyone making guesses.

This was like poking a hornet’s nest. When various fans and anti-fans couldn’t win the argument, they started scolding the poster, accusing her of deliberately inciting conflict and not being a staff member at all. They said all sorts of things, and their words were very harsh. The poster, unable to bear it, posted a blurred photo of her work ID. However, sharp-eyed individuals could still recognize it as an ELEGANT work ID.

Thespearhead pointed directly at Ye Qinghan.

The poster apparently didn’t expect her casual post to cause such a stir. She quickly deleted the post and vanished, making the matter even more credible. However, the original post had already been screenshotted by people with ulterior motives and reposted in a new thread.

Xu Sisi witnessed Nie Jin’s series of operations and was truly impressed by its brilliance and cleverness, a testament to Xingyi Entertainment’s star agent.

“You didn’t know what would happen today last night, did you? How did you think of posting a post first?”

It was precisely because the post was made before today that the subsequent revelations naturally carried a degree of credibility.

Honesty and openness were equally important for cooperation and friendship. Nie Jin explained the conflict between Jiang Tiao and Ye Qinghan stemming from Guan Qing’s role.

“I didn’t think too much about it, I’m just used to having a backup plan after being scammed before, to prevent the other party from causing any trouble and catching us off guard.”

Xu Sisi saw another anonymous vent Weibo forwarded to her by their publicity department, exposing ELEGANT’s arrogance and the last-minute replacement during the shoot, and felt a deep sense of emotion.

“It’s fortunate you helped this time. By occupying the public opinion first, otherwise, we don’t know how badly we would have been attacked.”

Nie Jin heard Xu Sisi’s voice on the phone and replied politely, “It’s too kind of you to say you’re helping. This is a matter for both of us. Looking at how Ye Qinghan’s side is handling it, they definitely have a follow-up. I expect they’ll have that photographer named Yang Min speak out.”

Xu Sisi paused, “I have to admit, you are much more professional than I am in handling public opinion.”

Nie Jin: “It’s just specialization. If you ask me about fashion topics, I’m completely clueless.”

This was modesty, and Xu Sisi smiled, “Then let’s stay in touch.”

This meant they were standing on the same front and cooperating, which made Nie Jin very pleased. After all, although this incident had an impact on ELEGANT, the impact on Jiang Tiao would undoubtedly be more severe. Xu Sisi’s willingness to cooperate and help would definitely be of greater assistance to their side.

…

The following days were a mess online. Ye Qinghan’s fans first flooded all the search terms related to Jiang Tiao, and then, because they won too easily, they were still not satisfied. They then swarmed like locusts over all of ELEGANT’s official accounts on every platform, demanding that ELEGANT provide an explanation.

Jiang Tiao was Jiang Tiao, and ELEGANT was ELEGANT. Those who had long disliked Ye’s fans couldn’t tolerate their arrogance. They dug up the spoiler posts from the gossip group and, along with the contrarian public, engaged in a fan-anti war.

Suddenly, terms like “I feel sorry for Ye Qinghan,” “Ye Qinghan is acting like a diva,” “We just want justice,” “Ye Qinghan was five hours late,” and “Jiang Tiao got lucky” were all trending. Weibo was completely dominated.

Just as public opinion reached a fever pitch, ELEGANT released an official announcement. The announcement objectively stated the fact that Ye Qinghan’s five-hour delay disrupted the shoot, necessitating a personnel change. It also expressed gratitude to Jiang Tiao for stepping in and conveyed a friendly wish for future cooperation with Ye Qinghan.

The professional and magnanimous attitude won over many people. Just as public opinion was about to turn completely, ELEGANT’s former chief photographer, Yang Min, posted a long Weibo filled with melancholy. His words conveyed two meanings: first, that Ye Qinghan was not deliberately late, but had been delayed by an emergency and had already informed him, the person in charge of the day’s shoot, and requested leave. Second, that the decision to change personnel had hidden reasons, and Ye Qinghan was merely a scapegoat. He also claimed that he was fired for arguing with Ye Qinghan and had to leave the company he thought he would dedicate his life to.

This stirred up a thousand waves. There were those who liked to gossip, those who empathized with suffering, and Ye’s fans, who were left with only desperate resistance, found their backbone. Hidden reasons? What hidden reasons could lead to Ye Qinghan being casually replaced?!

Deals in the entertainment industry were nothing more than money, power, and sex…

At this moment, there were all sorts of speculations, and Jiang Tiao was once again pushed to the forefront. Even Chu Qingchao, who had not appeared in public for a long time, was dug up, along with his almost-public sexual orientation and past romantic histories of uncertain veracity…