The Rise of Chinese Entertainment in 2008

Chapter 164 Speculation

Gu Ning didn't talk much. After finding out Fan Chunxi's whereabouts, she left.

Entering a classroom on the first floor, Fan Chunxi was giving acting instructions to several main actors.

Seeing Gu Ning enter, she exclaimed with delight, "Director Gu, you're finally back! I've been trying to call you, but your phone is always off. President Liu was so worried!"

"I forgot to charge my phone last night, and I didn't have time to charge it this morning because I was rushing to catch my flight," Gu Ning explained.

"Senior Brother Gu, I've already had people try to suppress public opinion, but we couldn't," Jing Tian said somewhat embarrassedly.

"fine!"

Gu Ning said nonchalantly, "You guys take a rest first, I need to talk to Director Fan about something."

After saying that, Gu Ning called Fan Chunxi out of the classroom.

"Tell me what happened," Gu Ning said.

"This morning—"

Fan Chunxi briefly recounted what had happened.

Yesterday's Hundred Flowers Awards ceremony concluded, and this morning entertainment news covered it extensively.

Originally, it wasn't a big deal, but some news started circulating online that Gu Ning had said Feng Xiaogang would definitely win the Best Director award at the Hundred Flowers Awards because Huayi was about to go public.

Many reporters then came to the film set to interview Gu Ning, and that's when Fan Chunxi found out about it.

He finally managed to get rid of the reporters and was about to call Gu Ning when Liu Yang called.

They said they couldn't get in touch with Gu Ning and asked if he had any ideas.

What could he do? He could only try to get Tian Zhuangzhuang's number, but when he called, he learned that Gu Ning had already boarded the plane.

Not only did reporters come from the film crew, but many reporters also came from the company.

"You can continue filming as usual here, I'm going back to the company!" Gu Ning said.

"Don't worry, Director Gu, leave this to me." Fan Chunxi nodded.

Gu Ning didn't have time to say much. She used Fan Chunxi's phone to call Liu Yang, said a few words, and then drove away from the film set.

On the way, Gu Ning kept thinking about who did this.

The internet wasn't as developed back then, so the news of the Hundred Flowers Awards spread online in just one night.

The news didn't even originate from the media, yet it received so much attention overnight, which is clearly abnormal.

These days, news on the internet needs time to spread, unlike when everyone went online later on, when some high-profile issues could be known overnight.

There's a high probability that someone is pulling the strings behind this, and that person is the target.

Gu Ning hadn't offended anyone; the only people with whom she had conflicts were the two kings of Huayi, Lu Chuan, and Ning Hao.

Ning Hao can be ruled out directly. Although the two had some conflicts, they didn't escalate to this point.

It's unlikely that Huayi will agree, since this matter would also be detrimental to Huayi.

Could it be Lu Chuan?

Lu Chuan had this motive, but what was the point of doing so?

It's only through online rumors and the hiring of online trolls to stir up controversy that this matter gains attention.

Although it could cause him some trouble, without any evidence, as long as he was about to die and denied it, Baihua and Huayi wouldn't pursue the matter now.

They wanted the matter to be resolved quickly, even more than Gu Ning.

Moreover, if this matter is investigated, Lu Chuan will be unable to work in the industry.

It's normal for people in the industry to throw dirty water on others, but if he actually did that, he wouldn't just offend Gu Ning, but also Baihua and Huayi.

A semi-official organization, an industry leader, Lu Chuan can't be that stupid, right?

When he drove to the company, Liu Yang was already waiting for him.

Gu Ning gave him a reassuring look and said, "Let's talk in my office!"

"President Gu!" Zhang Tianai greeted him.

Gu Ning handed her the phone and said, "Charge it for me, then make me a pot of tea and bring it over."

"Yes!" Zhang Tianai took the phone and hurried away.

"Please sit down!"

Gu Ning greeted him.

"President Gu!"

Liu Yang said, "I have already contacted Baihua to explain, and they didn't say anything."

Huayi called and told us to calm things down as soon as possible, otherwise they couldn't afford the consequences.

"Hmph!" Gu Ning snorted coldly upon hearing this, and remained silent.

Although it's a threat, there are many people waiting to take a slice of the pie behind Huayi.

Huayi is not a listed company, so it is impossible to determine from the stock price whether it has been affected.

Once Huayi goes public, no matter how much the stock price rises, they will feel that they have been affected by this incident.

"Find out what Lu Chuan has been up to lately," Gu Ning said.

"Lu Chuan has already signed with Huayi," Liu Yang said.

"Um?"

Gu Ning asked in surprise, "How did you know?"

"Huayi probably wanted to use this news to suppress the matter. After the incident broke, they held a press conference to announce it."

Liu Yang said, "The reporters weren't interested in this matter at all. Instead, they were all asking whether Feng Xiaogang winning the award was the result of Huayi's public relations efforts. In the end, the press conference ended abruptly."

"Is Huayi a pig?"

Gu Ning was speechless. If you wanted to suppress this matter, you should at least release a big news story.

Using one news story to suppress another is a common tactic, not only within the entertainment industry but also among outsiders.

There's no way around it; celebrities in the entertainment industry have a huge fan base, and their scandals are enjoyed by a huge number of people.

Even exposés about wealthy men having mistresses or illegitimate children aren't as juicy as gossip from the entertainment industry.

Because the general public thinks this is normal; it would be abnormal if a wealthy man only had one wife and no other women.

But usually, they use particularly sensational news to suppress it.

For example, which celebrity cheated on their partner.

However, Gu Ning quickly realized that Hua Yi wasn't stupid, but rather inexperienced.

Even though it's 09, many companies still focus on online promotion.

However, there is actually very little experience in dealing with online crisis public relations.

Media reports are much slower than online reports, giving them ample time to react.

They received the news even before it was reported.

Just then, Liu Yang's phone rang. He took it out and said, "President Gu, it's Mr. Wang from Huayi."

"Give me!"

Gu Ning reached out and took the phone, then clicked to answer.

"Liu Yang, has Gu Ning returned?"

As soon as the call connected, Wang Zhonglei's angry voice came through.

"Mr. Wang, why are you so angry?"

Gu Ning said calmly, "It's not very polite to call someone by their first name!"

"Gu Ning?"

Wang Zhonglei was stunned for a moment, then roared, "You still have the nerve to talk to me like this? You've done your own thing, so clean it up right now. If it affects Huayi's stock price after its IPO, plenty of people will deal with you!"

"I didn't do this, and I don't believe Huayi is unaware of it!" Gu Ning said.

At first, he also thought it belonged to Gu Ningqian, but after careful consideration, Wang Zhongjun dismissed the possibility.

The main problem is that doing this would not benefit Gu Ning at all.

Huayi wanted to sign Gu Ning, but he didn't agree, yet there was no direct conflict.

Gu Ning didn't submit any works for this year's Hundred Flowers Awards, so there's no point in him doing this.

But even if it wasn't him, it was still aimed at him, which implicated Hua Yi, so Hua Yi naturally had no choice but to go after him.

"I know who did it. You can figure out how to handle it yourselves. As for who wants to retaliate against me, I don't care," Gu Ning said calmly.