Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Unlike Lao Fan's reaction of being both moved and relieved, He Xiuqun was so angry at home in Shanghai that her hands were trembling. After forcefully pressing the remote control to turn off the TV, she threw the remote control away. Then she looked at the newspaper on the coffee table in front of her, and the headline article was "Zhao Yanzi, please don't lie."

He Xiuqun grabbed the newspaper and then made a "rip...rip" sound.

"Ungrateful, ungrateful."

The newspaper article He Xiuqun tore up wasn't about Zhao Yanzi's disappearance and diva-like behavior at the press conference, but rather Zhang Guoli's rant against Zhao Yanzi: "How could this child lie so badly!"

Why did Zhang Guoli scold Zhao Yanzi?

At the beginning of this year, the TV series "God of Wealth Arrives" starring Zhang Guoli was in preparation, and the female lead "Bao Mei" was played by Zhao Yanzi, who had just become very popular.

Zhao Yanzi readily agreed to the role.

Since she was still a student at the Beijing Film Academy, the school had to sign the "Labor Contract for Borrowed Personnel." Because Zhao Yanzi agreed, the school signed the contract with Asia Pacific Pictures, the investor of "God of Wealth Arrives."

She was supposed to start filming in early April, but Zhao Yanzi went to Taiwan to promote Huan Zhu Ge Ge for more than ten days. After returning, she went to Hong Kong and went missing, not answering the crew's calls.

The film "God of Wealth Arrives," originally scheduled to begin filming on April 14, was delayed and postponed, resulting in huge losses.

In May, Asia Pacific Pictures sent a lawyer's letter to the Beijing Film Academy, demanding compensation and an apology.

In June, the Beijing Film Academy officially apologized, acknowledging the breach of contract. Zhao Yanzi wrote a handwritten apology letter, admitting that she had agreed to act in "The God of Wealth Arrives"; she said she was unwilling to act because she felt the character was too similar to Xiao Yanzi after reading the script, and did not want to repeat the same acting style; she was willing to apologize for the losses caused.

Yes, I am willing to apologize.

So Asia Pacific Pictures was furious and sued Beijing Film Academy, demanding compensation for actual losses of 113 million yuan.

The trial officially began in early September. Zhao Yanzi said in court: "The school signed the contract for me without my prior knowledge."

The school said that the teacher spoke with her twice, and she agreed to go to the film crew both times, but then changed her mind.

Zhang Guoli did not appear in court, but instead spoke to reporters with great distress, saying, "How could this child lie so badly!"

The court ruled in the first instance that the Beijing Film Academy should return the 1.5 yuan deposit paid by the production team; the requests for 113 million yuan in compensation and a public apology were rejected; and Zhao Yanzi herself should not bear any legal responsibility (the contract was signed by the school).

Um....

As for Yi Ren Media, Qiong Yao's company, their version of events has always been: the school overstepped its authority, and Zhao Yanzi did not agree.

Actually, it was Yi Ren Media that got Zhao Yanzi a role in the movie "Fate 2000" in February and collected a deposit for her. Do you know how much it was? 500,000 yuan. Even Gong Li, who is so powerful, can't get 500,000 yuan for a movie these days, but Zhao Yanzi got a deposit of 500,000 yuan!

So why bother acting in TV dramas that are full of tedious tasks and low-paying jobs?

As for schools, aren't they just there to take the blame?

The Beijing Film Academy did not cancel its contract signing mechanism because of this incident, and continued to act as a "guardian".

However, two new mandatory requirements have been added: "students must give their own written consent" and "the brokerage company's contract must be reported to the school, and the school has the right to veto if there is a scheduling conflict."

Someone asked, why didn't these things make much of a splash later?

What a joke! People can wear the Japanese flag without any problems, so this is nothing!

............

Just as He Xiuqun was feeling a pain in her chest from anger, the phone rang. It was Zhao Yanzi's agent calling.

"Sister Xiuqiong, this Fan Bingbing is ungrateful and kicks us when we're down. Should we sue her? And what about 'Entertainment Live'? What are they up to? Let's sue them too!"

He Xiuqun's voice was hoarse: "Awen, I don't want to talk right now. Can you please keep your Zhao Yanzi in check?"

"Now she cries every time she appears in front of the cameras; the reputation of the Golden Eagle Awards is already shifting. Sister Xiuqun..."

He Xiuqun didn't want to listen anymore and hung up the phone.

Then her phone rang again. This time, she stood up immediately, slightly bowed, coughed lightly, and answered in a gentle voice, "Teacher."

The voice on the other end was also very gentle: "Xiuqiong, I'm not calling to blame you. I just want you to convey my message: a maid will always be a maid, she can't cause any trouble, but things still need to be done. We need to shut this down, and we can't let some people follow suit."

He Xiuqun thought to herself: Chong Sanxiao? You don't have that ability! Stop making things worse! Gan Linliang! One Zhao Yanzi has caused such chaos!

Despite his thoughts, he said, "I understand, teacher. Don't worry, I will tell the media."

"You don't understand. What I mean is to use Fan Bingbing to divert the media's attention and stop them from always focusing on Zhao Yanzi."

He Xiuqun slapped her forehead, realizing she had really lost her mind in anger.

The two chatted for a few more minutes before ending the call.

Opposite her was Qiong Yao, who was also He Xiuqun's mother-in-law, though she always addressed her as "teacher" in private.

After thinking for a while, He Xiuqun made a phone call and started making arrangements.

............

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye. Yang Che and Gao Yuanyuan left No. 8 Courtyard together and had breakfast by the roadside. Then they heard two middle-aged people chatting at the next table.

The gist of it is that a certain newspaper published an article titled "Qiong Yao: She can only play maids her whole life!"

The text states:

Aunt Qiong Yao's eye for casting is well-known in the industry. If she says Fan Bingbing can only play maids, then she can only play maids.

He refuted Fan Bingbing's claim that the breach of contract penalty was originally 100 million yuan, but considering her young age and the hardships she had endured, he calculated the resources invested in her and only asked for 10 yuan, and they broke up peacefully.

In summary, Fan Bingbing is ungrateful, talks nonsense, frames others, and maliciously hypes things up.

Diner A shook out his newspaper: "Look at these young girls, they become famous and then they don't recognize us anymore. Isn't that ungrateful?"

B: "I think Jin Suo has her reasons. If she could keep acting, why would she terminate her contract?"

A: "Hey, what do you mean by that? As for her, she's only good enough to play a maid."

Yi shook his head: "That's too vicious. It shows no respect for elders."

A man at another table, C, chimed in, "Huh? What do you mean by that?"

B: "An influential industry veteran made such a judgment on a young girl who has just debuted. What will others think? Isn't this ruining her future?"

Wow, as soon as he said that, half the people in the breakfast shop looked at B. B was quite pleased with himself, shaking his head and saying:

"Also, it's true that Zhao Yanzi breached her contract and harmed the school. She even wrote a handwritten apology letter. What did Qiong Yao say? She said that the school secretly arranged for Zhao Yanzi to take on roles."

I was thinking, the Beijing Film Academy is a prestigious art institution, what's wrong with them to do something like this?

So, I think your article in the newspaper is just throwing dirty water on Jin Suo.

Another woman at the next table, Ms. Ding, laughed and said, "What you say makes sense, but what in this world is love or hate without a reason?"

Yang Che was deeply moved by the old Beijingers' attitude of caring about everything, from family matters to national affairs to trivial matters.

Of course, he also knew that this was the opinion of most people when they were just gossiping, only because the internet wasn't as developed and the discussions were limited to the streets and alleys.