Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 268 The Foolish Beauty Influenced by Chen Xiu

When all the auditions were over, Meng Ziyi arrived at the audition room with her executive agent and assistant.

They happened to run into Yang Zi, who had arrived earlier, and her agent, who was arguing with Li Kun.

"Mr. Li, didn't we just agree that Xiao Zi would be cast in this role? Why has it changed at the last minute?"

"This is not a temporary change, it's just a normal choice."

What constitutes a "normal choice"?

"I originally thought Yang Zi was the most suitable candidate for Jinmi, but I never expected that there was another actress who was more suitable than her."

While Li Kun was spouting nonsense with his eyes wide open, he had already caught a glimpse of Meng Ziyi's team arriving out of the corner of his eye.

He apologized to Yang Zi's agent and then turned to stand in front of Meng Ziyi.

"Hello, we need to sign a letter of intent first. The specific actor contracts will be handled by a dedicated person later."

"Okay, thank you for your help, Mr. Li."

While answering, Meng Ziyi's executive agent subtly glanced at Yang Zi and her agent.

During the audition, she called Yang Ming to report the situation, and then Yang Ming contacted Li Xiaoping through Kunchi Pictures' network.

Throughout the entire process, Meng was unaware of the meaning of the characters and did not disturb Chen Xiu.

The matter is too trivial. If it gets reported to Chen Xiu, it will only highlight their incompetence and won't serve any other purpose.

When Li Kun saw that someone had come out specifically to make contact, he led them to the other side and began to discuss the letter of intent.

At this point, Yang Zi and her agent realized that the roles in "Ashes of Love" were completely out of their reach.

Just as Yang Zi's agent was looking indignant and thinking about something, a voice suddenly reached her ears.

"Hello, Senior Yang Zi! My name is Meng Ziyi."

The agent turned around and saw Meng Ziyi smiling, extending her hand to Yang Zi just like when they first met.

Just as she was feeling bewildered and about to voice her criticism, Yang Zi had already reacted first.

"Congratulations on getting this role."

Yang Zi's smile was somewhat forced, but she wasn't particularly disappointed. An audition was important, but she wasn't lacking in resources.

Losing the election is not a big deal; we still need to maintain our composure.

Meng Ziyi gently squeezed Yang Zi's hand twice, then smiled and said, "I loved watching 'Home with Kids' when I was little. After the third season, the cast changed, and I stopped watching it."

"Forehead……"

Yang Zi frowned and hesitantly looked at Meng Ziyi's bright smiling face.

She instinctively felt that the other party was using the recasting of "Home with Kids" as a veiled criticism of today, and also to mock her, a "senior" who had been in the industry for over a decade.

However, Meng Ziyi's tone was sincere, and his eyes were genuine and clear, so it didn't seem like he was being sarcastic.

"You've already got the role, there's no need to come here and show off, is there?"

Yang Zi's agent responded with hostility.

Meng Ziyi's smile froze, and she said in confusion, "I didn't come here to show off. I just wanted to make friends with you, senior. If there's an opportunity in the future, we can work together!"

"you……"

"Sister Meng, let me do it..."

"Eh."

Yang Zi stared wide-eyed at Meng Ziyi, completely bewildered as to what she was implying.

Upon being looked at like that, Meng Ziyi thought for a moment and then understood what was going on: "Senior, I'm sorry, the people around me are used to calling me Sister Meng (the assistant quickly called out to confirm this), I thought you were calling me."

"Oh, my executive agent's surname is also Meng."

Yang Zi gave an awkward smile. After this interruption, the atmosphere between her and Meng Ziyi actually relaxed a bit.

You said you wanted to be friends with me?

"Yes!"

"But if you and I have to compete for the same role again in the future, can we still be considered friends?"

"We'll see when the time comes. Our acting styles probably won't overlap that much."

Meng Ziyi said casually that she felt she didn't need to worry about resources at all, and naturally didn't have the concerns that Yang Zi thought.

Yang Zi looked her up and down again, a hint of hesitation flashing across his face, and asked in a low voice, "Did you use your own resources for this audition?"

"Yes, I didn't use it, but my agent probably did, just like you, senior, except I have better resources."

"..."

Yang Zi suddenly widened her eyes, feeling that Meng Ziyi's excessive sincerity seemed extremely unreal.

She composed herself and said, "Since you know I have resources, and you've used them yourself, why do you still want to be friends with me? Aren't you afraid of me..."

"Don't be afraid, because you can't beat me."

Meng's tone wasn't exactly boastful; it was more of an explanation of the situation.

The light streaming in from the window cast a golden halo around her cheeks, making her radiance even more dazzling and giving her an aura of inner confidence and self-assurance.

Seeing Yang Zi's stunned expression, Meng Ziyi chuckled, then frowned, pondered for a moment, and finally offered an explanation for his actions. "Someone taught me—no, he showed me some things."

"what?"

"He said winning is enough. As long as there's no grudge between us, there's no need to go too far, and he did just that. We're just competing for a role, it's no big deal. There will be many more roles in the future, let's just be friends!"

Faced with Meng Ziyi's extended hand of friendship once again, Yang Zi hesitated for a moment, but still shook it.

She sensed that this seemingly not very intelligent beautiful woman was quite different from her scheming "colleagues" in the industry.

Holding Yang Zi's hand, Meng Ziyi smiled so broadly that his eyes crinkled at the corners, thinking that when he saw Chen Xiu next time, he would definitely tell him everything that had happened today.

Wow~, I'm so awesome! If Brother Xiu heard me say something like that, he would definitely think I'm amazing too!

Meng Ziyi was lost in his own thoughts when he added Yang Zi on WeChat and waved goodbye to her warmly and generously.

People always influence each other. After spending time together, Meng Ziyi observed Chen Xiu's behavior and figured out some things about her.

After signing the letter of intent, Meng Ziyi took his people directly to the airport.

Filming for "Ashes of Love" started in mid-June. The formal contract was signed, and the actors went on to train ahead of schedule, all in June.

Upon arriving at the airport, Meng Ziyi did not return to Beijing with her executive agent, but instead flew directly to Changchun with her assistant.

This Spring Festival, she only had one day off, and only had time to rush home for the New Year's Eve dinner before flying back to Dongguan to film "Day and Night".

After filming wrapped, he flew back to Beijing and stayed home with Chen Xiu, playing games.

After playing for more than two months straight, I'm gradually returning to work and will soon be busy again.

Considering that she has to prepare for her graduation ceremony next month and has no other time to go home this year, Meng Ziyi decided to go home to see her parents after the audition for "Ashes of Love".

When she arrived in Changchun, she was picked up by Wang Qian at the airport, and her assistant was also given a vacation.

On the drive home, Wang Qian kept glancing at Meng Ziyi, who was happily playing with the dog in the passenger seat, in addition to checking the highway conditions.

"Xiao Yi, how are things between you and Xiao Chen lately?"

"Great!"

"The thing you told me about last time, did he go to the hospital for a checkup?"

"Huh? Last time I told you it was my best friend's boyfriend, what does that have to do with Brother Xiu!"

Wang Qian rolled her eyes at Meng Ziyi, who was making up a story out of nothing.

"The moment you bend over, I know what you're going to poop! Your best friend? Isn't your best friend Chen Duling? Her boyfriend is healthy too, isn't he?"

"Dudu doesn't have a boyfriend yet..."

Meng Ziyi, whose lie had been exposed, pursed his lips in displeasure.

Wang Qian clearly wasn't particularly concerned about her daughter's honesty; she brought it up because she had another question.

"Whether other people have boyfriends or not is none of your business. Just mind your own business! Tell me about Xiao Chen's situation. Has he eaten anything?"

"No, no, really not! For the past two months, I've been with him almost every day. Sometimes, we don't leave the house for three days straight. We eat and drink together..."

At this point, Meng Ziyi suddenly tilted his head and sighed, "Maybe Xiu-ge'er is just physically strong. He turned one room in his house into a gym, and the backyard is his archery range, all for exercising."

Upon hearing this, Wang Qian remained silent for a long time.

It wasn't until they slowed down and passed through the gate at the highway exit that she murmured, "That's because your body is too weak; you can't handle him."

Upon hearing this, Meng Ziyi's expression and body froze.

Then, a surge of heat rushed from the bottom of her heart to her forehead, making her entire face, ears, and neck turn completely red.

"Oh dear, Mom, how could you say something like that?!"

"There's no one else in the car except for a dog, so what's wrong with saying it?"

"That's still not okay... Oh dear! I have my pride too."

"What face or not? What face do you have with me? Seriously, Xiao Chen is in such good health, what are you going to do about it?"

Meng Ziyi was taken aback, not understanding what else could be done; surely he didn't need to ask someone for help...

"I feel that Brother Xiu is not a womanizer... well, he probably isn't."

"If you're not sure, then that's it."

Isn't it normal for men to be lustful?

"Mainly because he is too outstanding. During the last live broadcast, all the women in the entertainment industry had their eyes shining and wanted to pounce on him on the spot."

Wang Qian pointedly remarked that she usually watches Chen Xiu's live streams and can notice some things that her silly daughter overlooks.

When she pointed it out, Meng Ziyi felt a sense of crisis, but after thinking it over, she couldn't figure out what to do.

"Sister Qian, what do you think we should do?"

"Sigh~, I don't know either. It's up to Xiao Chen to deal with temptations. You should put more effort into exercising! Maybe it will help you get better. Look how fat you are, you should lose some weight."

Hearing this usual wave of disdain, Meng Ziyi pursed her lips, but in her heart she was assessing whether Chen Xiu was really a lecher.

If he were lustful, he should have taken Nezha away long ago, since she was so proactive; if he weren't lustful, then his constant new tricks seem a bit hard to explain...

Meng Ziyi was able to calmly accept Nezha's situation.

(End of this chapter)