SABA Chapter 48

Jiang Tiao sulked, crouching across from Huo Shen’s company complex, his sports duffel bag packed haphazardly at his feet. He didn’t know why he was squatting there. He didn’t want to go home, but if he didn’t go home, he wouldn’t see Huo Shen. He should have been bold enough to drag Huo Shen out to live somewhere else with him, but he didn’t know why he was hesitating.

Just as he was about to denude the ornamental holly bushes by the roadside, Nie Jin called.

The voice on the phone was exceptionally cold and ruthless, and if one listened carefully, one could even detect a hint of anger. “I recall you were supposed to arrive at the company before nine, but it’s already ten forty-five. The meeting has been underway for half an hour, where are you?!”

There were no scheduled events today, only a tedious internal company quarterly commendation meeting. Jiang Tiao was silent for a while. “Sister Jin, the public opinion has fermented as much as it should; let’s wrap it up.”

Nie Jin paused. Although she often lost her temper when facing Jiang Tiao, compared to most artists, Jiang Tiao was actually quite low-maintenance. He was intelligent and had his own opinions, understanding your intentions without needing things spelled out. He understood the rules of society, knew which actions were for his own good, and was willing to cooperate to the best of his ability, not causing trouble for anyone.

Yang Min’s statement was within her expectations; she had already prepared a response. How could they not capitalize on the unexpected surge of attention? What was even rarer was that Chu Qingchao’s side had also tacitly agreed, willing to let Jiang Tiao leverage the heat from himself and ELEGANT. Her original plan was to wait another day or two for public opinion to reach a fever pitch before clarifying, delivering a fatal blow.

However, even though it was a bit early, the attention they wanted had been gained. One truly shouldn’t be too greedy. Chu Qingchao’s news was all over the internet; if any undesirable information were to be dug up, offending Chu Qingchao would be a loss that outweighed the gain.

Nie Jin hummed. “I understand. So where are you now? The boss is going to present you with an award soon!”

A tiered auditorium, leaders presenting awards, followed by acceptance speeches… Jiang Tiao found these old-fashioned and rigid practices utterly unsuitable for an entertainment and media company; they were terribly cliché and embarrassing to even think about.

“I’m on a curb. Just make up an excuse for me, and have someone accept it for me.”

Nie Jin’s eyes twitched as she looked at the phone that had been hung up.

“Where is Jiang Tiao? We haven’t seen him at all?” This was the administrative staff responsible for the venue setup.

Nie Jin put away her phone. “Oh, didn’t his head get hit at the airport before? It seems he’s not feeling well again, so he’s gone to the hospital for a follow-up check-up today.”

Administrative staff: “?”

…

Nie Jin’s efficiency was remarkable. Not long after Jiang Tiao hung up, he saw ELEGANT release a new announcement on their official Weibo account. The announcement stated that the contract termination with Yang Min was due to the company discovering that several of his previous works were suspected of plagiarism, and during the investigation, they found him to have improper conduct, looking down on the less fortunate, and engaging in bribery—small models or artists had to give him gifts for him to help them take usable photos.

The evidence released was also extremely detailed, including transfer records, chat logs, call recordings, and surveillance videos of him insulting and targeting artists on-site for not gifting him—including a video of Jiang Tiao being publicly humiliated and threatened by him.

Subsequently, ELEGANT also deeply reflected and apologized for their improper supervision, offering apologies and compensation to the known victims. They also encouraged any victims not yet identified to contact them proactively.

The announcement concluded by stating that the choice of Jiang Tiao was twofold: firstly, the filming schedule couldn’t accommodate selecting a new person and rescheduling; secondly, Jiang Tiao’s image received unanimous positive feedback internally. They also thanked Jiang Tiao for reciprocating their bold choice with his spirit of hard work and professional dedication.

Finally, they released several of Jiang Tiao’s finished photos and time-lapse behind-the-scenes videos of him applying and removing makeup and filming for hours without drinking a drop of water.

ELEGANT’s official announcement was clear, humble, and responsible, coupled with complete evidence, leaving no room for criticism.

This matter was already a recent hot topic. Less than ten minutes after the announcement was released, it topped the trending searches. Public opinion immediately reversed. Those who had previously cursed ELEGANT for being unprofessional and Jiang Tiao for being undeserving of his position began to curse Yang Min. Even Ye Qinghan’s fans started to aggressively distance Ye Qinghan from Yang Min.

【There’s no need for this. If you were Han Han, you wouldn’t know that colleagues you’ve collaborated with a few times are like this in private, right?】

【Please focus on the work and stay away from personal lives.】

【The youngest Best Actor at twenty years old, with a promising future! Investing in him won’t lose money!】

【Winning Best Actor at twenty, and after five years, the only role worth mentioning is still that one. Heh, is he the Fang Zhongyong of the entertainment industry?】

【When Yang Min spoke up for him, he benefited from it while hiding behind the scenes. Now that Yang Min has collapsed, he’s gone into hiding. I wonder what Yang Min, who was used as a pawn, feels about this.】

【I’m thinking ELEGANT’s announcement didn’t mention Ye Qinghan at all. Why are you trying to frame him? What? Is there guilt by association in the entertainment industry now just for having collaborated?】

【Everyone stop arguing. This is an ELEGANT trending topic, after all. Don’t you think ELEGANT’s shooting level this time is beyond exceptional? It feels like it’s on a different level from their covers in the past year.】

【Did they change photographers? I heard Chu Qingchao personally took the shots. It’s natural he would have this level of skill.】

【I always thought Jiang Tiao was sunny and cheerful, but I didn’t expect him to portray brokenness and a faint sense of melancholy so well. I feel so sorry for him, really.】

【There’s a sense of wanting to live but not wanting to live, a brokenness that fits the psychology of contemporary young people. Already changed my wallpaper.】

【Changed my wallpaper +1. My favorite is the last one, like seeing light in despair. It gives a sense that even though this world is terrible, one can still live for a few more days and see if things get better.】

【Changed my wallpaper +2. I have a premonition that this series of photos will become popular this year.】

【Tell Chu Qingchao to stop managing the company and come back as a photographer.】

【Exactly, what’s so good about being a CEO? Photography should be the career you dedicate your life to!】

【Compared to this, Yang Min is truly garbage! His character is bad, his photography is as rotten as a pile of shit, and who knows how many unknown young artists he’s suppressed over the years.】

【People like him should be banned from the industry! ELEGANT really did a heartwarming thing with this matter!】

…

Yang Min sat at home, his face growing paler as he looked at the one-sided comments and countless private messages cursing him. His fingertips trembled as he called Li Xiao’s number and then messaged Ye Qinghan on WeChat. After a full half-hour, no one answered.

He knew he had been abandoned; he had become a discarded chess piece!

If Ye Qinghan hadn’t asked him to speak up for him, he would have just lost a job. But now, he had become a rat that everyone in the industry wanted to kill. He could no longer find work in this industry, and he was even facing hefty compensation!

Anger and panic consumed all his emotions. Fine! Ye Qinghan! Since you are not benevolent, don’t blame me for being unrighteous!

Yang Min slammed the glass cup in his hand fiercely, opened Weibo, and posted another lengthy article amidst the storm. He detailed the entire cause and effect of the matter and pushed all blame onto Ye Qinghan.

The dog-eat-dog drama should have been entertaining, but because Yang Min couldn’t produce any evidence, the entire incident turned into an unsolved case where everyone had their own version of the truth. Some believed him, and some didn’t. Regardless, Ye Qinghan’s reputation still suffered some damage as a result.

…

Jiang Tiao paid no attention to any of this; he only looked at the Weibo post where ELEGANT had released their announcement. Most of the material regarding Yang Min’s plagiarism was compiled and provided by Zhuang Xiang. Zhuang Xiang had shown it to Nie Jin before showing it to him. He remembered there was no court judgment. One had to know that pursuing copyright infringement cases was very difficult. Even if everyone was convinced, obtaining a court judgment would require extremely high economic and time costs.

Jiang Tiao’s initial biggest worry was that without a court judgment, Yang Min couldn’t be definitively proven guilty. He never expected that in less than half a month, Zach Wong would successfully file a lawsuit in the Paris High Court? He opened WeChat thoughtfully and asked Zhuang Xiang.

Zhuang Xiang, as an assistant, was very conscientious and replied to messages extremely quickly.

【The judgment was given to me by President Lin. The ruling only came down yesterday, and it hasn’t been announced on the official website yet.】

【I heard Chairman Huo provided the photographer who filed the lawsuit with a reliable legal team, which is why they won so quickly.】

Jiang Tiao closed his phone and looked at the Sheng Yao logo on the company gate for a moment before turning and continuing to pick at another holly bush.

…

A tall, burly man, in a bad mood, wearing a baseball cap and mask, squatted at the company entrance like a baboon for a whole morning. At his feet was a black bag, stuffed full of unknown contents. Any vigilant security guard would find this suspicious, wouldn’t they?

The security guards of Sheng Yao Group were no exception.

After asking twice, “Excuse me, who are you looking for?” and only receiving silence, they began to consider whether they should call the police.

…

After plucking over a thousand leaves, Jiang Tiao finally made up his mind—why was he so hesitant about seeing Huo Shen? He was being ridiculous!

Just as Jiang Tiao was about to take off his mask and go to the security guards to open the door, two uniformed police officers stood before him with alert expressions.

Jiang Tiao: “?”

…

Huo Shen, halfway through a meeting, received a call from Jiang Tiao. He rushed to the company entrance. Lin Shun had already taken several security guards and seen the police officers off with apologies and gratitude.

Huo Shen saw Jiang Tiao, who was hanging his head and unmoving, and the holly leaves scattered around him from being plucked, and felt utterly helpless, a mix of annoyance and amusement. “Why didn’t you come in if you were looking for me?”

Jiang Tiao had been on the trending searches recently. If he hadn’t worried about being recognized, he wouldn’t have dressed like this. There were still red marks on his face from wearing the mask for a long time, and his expression was dejected and wronged. “This is my first time dressing like this, I don’t have much experience.” He paused and added, “I’m sorry, it seems I’ve caused you some negative impact.”

Huo Shen felt a pang in his heart. He wanted to smooth Jiang Tiao’s hair, which had been messed up by the hat, but halfway through extending his hand, he remembered the morning’s events and felt it wasn’t appropriate, so he retracted it. “There’s no negative impact, and nothing to apologize for. You know, that’s not what I’m asking about.”

Seeing Huo Shen’s movement, the last glimmer of light in Jiang Tiao’s eyes extinguished. He asked, confused and dejected, “It feels like you’re angry with me.”

Huo Shen looked at Jiang Tiao’s dim and disappointed expression and sighed. What else could he do? He couldn’t do anything about him.

“I’m not angry with you,” Huo Shen took the baseball cap from Jiang Tiao’s hand and slowly put it back on his head. “I’m just a little… unhappy.”

“Why?” Jiang Tiao was even more confused. He racked his brain for a long time. “Is it because my brother and I argued? He said that to you, and I wasn’t happy! If it’s because of this, I can go find him and apologize, okay?”

Huo Shen looked at Jiang Tiao’s confused and anxious appearance, and a rare surge of sourness and hopeless despair rose within him. He hadn’t made things clear, but he hadn’t gotten a good result. He said sadly, “Will you do anything I ask?”

Jiang Tiao was pricked by the sadness in Huo Shen’s eyes, and he felt a needle stab into his heart. Without thinking, he replied, “Of course.”

Huo Shen silently looked at Jiang Tiao, allowing the sourness to flow from his heart to his limbs and gradually dilute into his blood, making it difficult to separate.

“Why do you care so much about my emotions?”

Jiang Tiao paused slightly. He opened his mouth and then closed it. He swallowed all his reasons and followed his heart. He looked at Huo Shen seriously. “Because seeing you unhappy makes me sad.”

Huo Shen looked into Jiang Tiao’s eyes, which rarely showed such seriousness, carrying a hope that even he didn’t want to have. “Why? Are you like this with your other friends too?”

“Of course not,” Jiang Tiao frowned slightly. “Because you are my best friend.”

Huo Shen heard something shatter. He said “Oh” indifferently, grabbed Jiang Tiao’s runaway bag, and handed it to Lin Shun, who was waiting at a distance. “Take him to the cafeteria to eat, give him extra walnuts and fish!”

Jiang Tiao and Lin Shun, left behind, stared at each other.

Lin Shun: “?”

Jiang Tiao: “?????”

…