How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 421 Apologize!

"Ring ring ring!"

After a few rounds of drinks and several dishes, Li Lehua's phone suddenly rang. She took it out, glanced at the caller ID, and looked up at her friends, saying, "You guys continue, I'm going out to take this call."

After saying that, he got up and left the private room.

To avoid being laughed at by his friends, Li Lehua walked quite a distance with his phone before swiping his finger across the screen to answer Guo Yaoming's call.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Mr. Li, a brand called me and wants to terminate their contract with Song Haoran. What should I do?" Guo Yaoming asked anxiously.

Li Lehua's face darkened, and his fingers gripping the phone tightened unconsciously.

What was bound to happen has happened. Song Haoran's self-righteous and repeated attempts to challenge public moral boundaries are essentially courting disaster, and it's only a matter of time before he's abandoned by brands.

"Send out a notice announcing the company's termination of its contract with Song Haoran," Li Lehua said in a deep voice.

This decision had been in her mind for a long time; she had made up her mind ever since she saw Song Haoran's video of him apologizing in person.

She didn't want to clean up Song Haoran's mess anymore; every time she managed to quell the fire, he would just start an even bigger one.

I'm so damn tired.

"Terminate...terminate the contract?" Although Guo Yaoming had already guessed the outcome, he still couldn't help but be stunned when the words came from his boss's mouth.

After all, Song Haoran is an artist under his management. Those who know him might think that Song Haoran acts on his own initiative, but those who don't might think that he has poor public relations skills.

Song Haoran's behavior perfectly illustrates the saying: "If you don't court death, you won't die."

A winning hand played terribly; no one can save it.

"What, you think we shouldn't terminate the contract?" Li Lehua asked.

"No, Mr. Li, I just feel..."

Guo Yaoming tried to explain, but was interrupted by Li Lehua.

“Nothing more than that!” Li Lehua said coldly, his voice carrying an unquestionable authority. “Song Haoran’s behavior has seriously damaged the company’s reputation. If we continue to keep him, the company will also be implicated. Tell the legal department to draft a termination agreement immediately, the sooner the better.”

“Okay, Mr. Li,” Guo Yaoming said.

The boss had already made up his mind, so there was nothing more he could say.

After hanging up the phone, Guo Yaoming sent a WeChat message to Song Haoran, informing him of the company's decision to terminate the contract. He then went to the company's legal department to draft the termination agreement together.

Shortly after, Tianxi Media's official Weibo account released a statement:
"Due to differences in values, our company and artist Song Haoran have reached a mutual agreement to formally terminate the contract, effective immediately. Thank you for your continued attention and support."

The statement was like a bombshell dropped online, instantly igniting the entire social media platform.

In just a few minutes, the number of reposts exceeded 10,000, and the comment section exploded with a mix of opinions.

"Finally, the contract has been terminated! I support Tianxi Media's decision!"

"People like Song Haoran, who are habitual liars, should have been banned long ago."

"It's great to see this happen. Someone like Song Haoran doesn't deserve to stay in the entertainment industry."

"This is what they call reaping what you sow."

Many netizens support Tianxi Media's decision. They have long been dissatisfied with Song Haoran's series of actions, and the release of the termination statement has finally allowed them to release their pent-up emotions.

Some die-hard fans of Song Haoran flooded the comments section, frantically defending their idol.

"Brother Haoran was definitely framed. Tianxi Media, you will definitely regret this."

"Don't blame Haoran, it was the staff member who accidentally fell, it has nothing to do with you."

"Tianxi Media is unethical. When my brother was popular, you shared the profits. But when he got into trouble, you immediately distanced yourselves from him. I have never seen such a shameless company."

"Don't be sad, brother. Even though the company has given up on you, we will always support you. Everyone has a temper!"

"..."

However, it didn't take long for these voices to be drowned out by netizens' ridicule and doubts.

The real focus now isn't whether Song Haoran bullied the staff, or whether the staff stole his food. The real issue is that Song Haoran stated in his statement that he recognized his mistake and would sincerely apologize in person, but that this so-called sincere apology was just a staged photo…

Not only did they deceive netizens, but they also trampled on everyone's trust. Who would still like such an artist?
Following this, several brands with a strong desire to survive also announced on Weibo that they were terminating their endorsement relationship with Song Haoran, fearing that they would be implicated.

Even those fans who had been quietly supporting Song Haoran chose to unfollow him at this moment.

I don't love anymore, I can't love anymore.

Just one hour after Tianxi Media issued its termination statement, Song Haoran's Weibo followers dropped by more than 300,000, leaving him with only 9.6 million, and this number continues to decrease.

Nine million three hundred thousand...

8.6 million...

7.9 million...

Overnight, Song Haoran lost three million followers on Weibo, leaving him with less than seven million followers.

morning.

Zhang Wen arrived at the film set and stood before the portrait of his ancestor to offer incense and pay his respects.

In three days, the filming of this TV series will wrap up, and suddenly there will be a loss of hundreds of people who will be worshipping the ancestors. I wonder if the ancestors will be angry.

"Please forgive me, Ancestor. I will definitely offer you more incense in the future."

After speaking, he respectfully placed the incense sticks into the incense burner and bowed three times to the portrait.

Wisps of smoke rose slowly, outlining a hazy pattern in the morning light, resembling an OK sign.

After offering incense, Zhang Wen walked towards Director Han.

Good morning, Teacher Zhang!

"Teacher Zhang, have you had breakfast? I brought some bread, can you have a bite?"

"Teacher Zhang, do you need help calling out to them?"

Along the way, people kept greeting Zhang Wen, and compared to their usual politeness, everyone's eyes were filled with more caution today.

Everyone has seen the statement from Tianxi Media announcing the termination of their contract with Song Haoran. While secretly cursing Song Haoran for deserving it, we also feel awe for Teacher Zhang's methods.

Song Haoran is a third-tier male star, after all. He came to the set a few days ago to pursue Bai Lu, but after meeting Teacher Zhang three times, he was completely ruined. If it were them, the consequences would be unimaginable.

At this moment, everyone in the crew reached a consensus: don't offend Teacher Zhang. Zhang Wen walked to the monitor and waved to Han Xiaohua, "Good morning, Director Han."

"Good morning." Han Xiaohua smiled, looked up, straightened up and said, "I saw the news. Your methods are impressive. You took care of the person without making a sound. You don't seem like someone who's just starting out."

Zhang Wen smiled but didn't reply.

He didn't have any special methods; it was all Song Haoran's own doing.

The first time, he lost control of his emotions and flipped the table; the second time, he lied and deceived the public; the third time, he tried to clear his name by apologizing and posing for photos, but ended up completely backfiring. Every step he took was his own choice to jump into the pit, and there was no way to stop him.

Han Xiaohua looked around, then lowered her voice and asked, "We'll be wrapping up in three days. Should we stop filming now or not? If we don't stop, the show will be over."

"Pausing now would be too costly; let's wait until filming wraps up before making any decisions," Zhang Wen said after a moment's thought.

Director Han is willing to cooperate in putting pressure on Li Lehua, but the film studio will not. The venues here are rented out by the day, and if this drags on, it will be a significant loss for him.

He only wanted to threaten Li Lehua to force him to withdraw his investment and sell him the rights to the TV series; he didn't intend to cause trouble.

“Yes, this is definitely a safer approach.” Han Xiaohua nodded in agreement, then suddenly frowned, her gaze sweeping past Zhang Wen and looking behind him, asking in confusion, “Why is he here?”

Zhang Wen turned his head and saw Liu Haiyang appear on the set, walking towards them.

Although the other party is the producer of this TV series, he rarely comes to the set, usually only once every ten days or half a month. His appearance here today seems a bit out of place.

"Good morning, Director Han. Good morning, Teacher Zhang." Liu Haiyang greeted them with a smile and a hand outstretched.

"Good morning," Zhang Wen replied indifferently, without his usual politeness.

I don't know if it was because he was tormented by his decision to withdraw his investment, but his mental state was obviously not good, especially around his eyes, where he had obvious dark circles, and it was clear that he hadn't slept well last night.

Haha, you deserve it!
"Mr. Liu, what brings you here?" Han Xiaohua asked sarcastically, clearly not welcoming Liu Haiyang's arrival.

They actually bypassed him, the director, and let the assistant director post random messages on the TV series' official Weibo account, causing such a huge negative impact on the entire crew. If it weren't for the large number of Tianxi Media employees on set, he might even have put up a sign at the entrance of the production team:
The general manager (and deputy general manager) of Tianxi Media and flies are prohibited from entering.

Liu Haiyang naturally sensed the dissatisfaction in Han Xiaohua's words, smiled awkwardly, and said, "Isn't filming about to wrap up? I came to check on things and also to ask Director Han if there's anything else you need so I can help you."

"How could I dare trouble you, Mr. Liu, to solve my problem? I'd be lucky if you didn't create more problems for me," Han Xiaohua said with a sneer.

He wasn't an employee of Tianxi Media, so he wasn't afraid of Liu Haiyang.

Besides, the other party didn't even give him face, so why should he give them face?
"Ahem, actually, what happened these past two days was all a misunderstanding. The company has already terminated its contract with Song Haoran. Director Han, didn't you see the news?" Liu Haiyang asked.

If the company hadn't terminated Song Haoran's contract, he really wouldn't have dared to come here to see Han Xiaohua.

"I have a headache and can't focus on my phone," Han Xiaohua said, turning her head away.

Liu Haiyang was even more embarrassed, his palms were already sweating. He turned to look at Zhang Wen beside him as if he had grasped a lifeline, and asked expectantly, "Teacher Zhang, have you seen it? The company is really determined this time and will not tolerate Song Haoran's behavior."

"I saw it. The news feed was everywhere; it was hard to ignore." Zhang Wen paused, glancing at the other person indifferently. "Did President Liu come to the film set specifically to talk about this?"

“Not entirely.” Liu Haiyang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally someone had spoken up. “He mainly came to apologize to Director Han and Teacher Zhang in person. Song Haoran caused the crew so much trouble before, and the crew and Teacher Zhang were wronged.”

After speaking, he bowed slightly, adopting an extremely humble posture.

All the staff passing by looked over, their eyes filled with surprise.

This is the deputy general manager of Tianxi Media, a well-known figure in the industry. It's truly unbelievable that he's bowing and apologizing to a director and screenwriter.

Zhang Wen narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Liu Haiyang, unsure whether this performance was Li Lehua's idea or Liu Haiyang's own.

"There's no need for an apology. Mr. Liu, you should think about how to salvage the reputation of this drama. Right now, people online are saying that our production team was complicit in wrongdoing and that we should boycott it. I've also been getting a lot of flak from netizens," Han Xiaohua said.

Liu Haiyang's smile vanished completely. He knew that what Han Xiaohua said was true. Song Haoran's incident had a huge impact on the drama, and some sponsors who were in talks were now starting to wait and see.

"Director Han, don't worry about this. The company will arrange for the public relations team to do everything they can to salvage the situation. As long as the subsequent publicity resources are in place, we will definitely be able to guarantee the broadcast results," Liu Haiyang said confidently.

"I hope so," Han Xiaohua replied indifferently, then turned around to fiddle with the monitor, clearly not wanting to pay any attention to Liu Haiyang.

Liu Haiyang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Director Han leave, because he had something he wanted to say to Zhang Wen alone.

"Mr. Liu, congratulations," Zhang Wen suddenly said.

"what?"

Liu Haiyang was slightly taken aback and asked in confusion, "Congratulations on what?"

"Of course, congratulations on finding a new investor," Zhang Wen said with a smile. "Look, could you transfer the 80 million to me first? That way, I can explain things to Boss Wu."

Liu Haiyang looked completely bewildered. "There are no new investors, Mr. Zhang. Who told you that?"

Zhang Wen immediately frowned and said unhappily, "President Liu, you just said that as long as the follow-up publicity resources are in place, you will definitely be able to guarantee the broadcast effect. If you didn't get new investment, how could you be so confident?"

"No," Liu Haiyang quickly shook his head and said, "This is just a hypothetical situation, and it's also why I came to the film set to see you today. This film is about to wrap up shooting, and next comes the promotion. Mr. Zhang, do you think we could continue to invest..."

"Mr. Liu, are you just making empty promises to me?"

Zhang Wen interrupted the other party directly. Seeing the other party's stiff expression, he continued, "President Liu, it's not that I'm not giving you face, but the public relations and decision-making abilities of your Tianxi Media are really worrying. This is not just my opinion; everyone on the internet is saying it. I now regret persuading Boss Wu to invest in this TV series."

“This time is an exception; Tianxi Media has many other successful cases,” Liu Haiyang said.

He no longer sees this young man as a teacher in the training department, but as an investor, so he doesn't dare to put on airs at all.

Zhang Wen shook his head and said, "I spoke with Mr. Wu yesterday. His current stance is that either he withdraws or Tianxi Media withdraws; in any case, he doesn't want to cooperate with your Tianxi Media."

"No, Mr. Zhang, please talk to Mr. Wu again and ask him to trust Tianxi Media." Liu Haiyang said anxiously.

"Mr. Liu, you should know very well that laymen like Mr. Wu are extremely cautious about film and television investment projects. They get very nervous at the slightest sign of trouble. If it's because of poor ratings, he can accept it. But if it's because of the investor's lack of professionalism, how would you feel?"

"..."

Liu Haiyang was well aware that once he lost the trust of investors, it would be very difficult to regain their trust in the future.

“President Liu, please think carefully about Mr. Wu’s proposal,” Zhang Wen said. “Rather than a lose-lose situation where the TV series doesn’t sell, it would be better for one party to withdraw. At least everyone can save face.”

“This…” Liu Haiyang hesitated for a moment before saying, “Teacher Zhang, I’ll think about it when I get back.”

"Hmm." Zhang Wen wasn't in a hurry. Post-production hadn't started yet, so he had plenty of time.

"..."

Liu Haiyang didn't say anything more and turned to leave the set.

He had to go back and report to the general manager; he couldn't make the decision on his own.

……

(End of this chapter)