My capital is quite large.

Liu Shishi shuddered, a hint of fear flashing in her clear eyes.

Even if she were slow to realize it, seeing the sadness in Tang Yan's eyes, she understood.

"Tangtang, you...you guys..." Liu Shishi's voice began to tremble.

It turns out, those weren't just rumors!

It turns out that all the popular actresses at Haofeng Film and Television paid the price!

She was the only one who remained completely oblivious, enjoying a moment of peace like a fool!

However, after the initial shock, Liu Shishi's stubbornness, ingrained since childhood, made her bite her lip.

"Even so... even if that's the case, so what?"

Liu Shishi retorted somewhat indignantly, "I... I'd rather not have those top-tier resources! I just want to honestly film TV dramas and earn the pay I deserve! The boss hasn't forced me! Does he have to control who I like and who I date? We're not slaves!"

Listening to Liu Shishi's speech, Tang Yan closed her eyes in pain and sighed deeply.

"Shi Shi... you still don't understand how terrifying capital is."

"You think you're safe just because you didn't provoke the boss? You think that by signing that top-tier contract with a 50 million penalty for breach of contract and a 50/50 revenue split, you still have the right to make your own decisions?"

Tang Yan knew that it would be useless to preach any grand principles to this girl who had always lived in a greenhouse.

She had to make her see what reality really was.

"Fine, since you don't believe me."

Tang Yan took out her phone, dialed a number in front of Liu Shishi, and pressed the speakerphone button.

The phone rang twice and was quickly answered.

"Hello, Ms. Tang. The boss is in a meeting. Is there anything urgent?" The voice of Zhang Xinyu, the president's chief secretary, came from the other end of the phone.

Tang Yan glanced at Liu Shishi, who was standing there in a daze, and said into her phone:

"Secretary Zhang, could you please report something to the boss?"

"In the cast of 'Scarlet Heart,' there's a male actor who's been pursuing Shi Shi passionately lately, and Shi Shi seems to be somewhat moved by him."

After these words were spoken, there was a full three seconds of silence on the other end of the phone. Zhang Xinyu's voice came through again, this time cold and devoid of any warmth.

"name."

"Wu Qilong".

"understood."

"beep--"

The call was abruptly ended.

A deathly silence fell over the RV.

Liu Shishi's eyes widened, and she looked at Tang Yan angrily: "Tangtang! Are you crazy?! Why did you tell Secretary Zhang all this? Aren't you just making trouble for Brother Long? What does this prove? It's just a phone call, do you think the boss would fly all the way from Jinling to break us up?"

Faced with Liu Shishi's questioning, Tang Yan did not explain, but just stared blankly at the watch on her wrist.

"Just wait. You'll soon find out what this proves."

One minute.

Two minutes.

three minutes.

Liu Shishi's heart inexplicably began to pound.

Just as the fifth minute had passed!

"Bang bang bang!"

The RV door was being pounded on violently from the outside!

Tang Yan opened the car door and saw Li Guoli, the chief director of the "Scarlet Heart" drama crew, standing outside the car with a pale face.

"Director... what happened?" Liu Shishi's heart skipped a beat, and a strong sense of foreboding welled up inside her.

Li Guoli looked at Liu Shishi as if she were a nuclear bomb about to explode, and shouted in a hoarse voice:

"Spread the word to all departments! The entire crew must immediately cease filming! All equipment must be shut down!"

"The male lead... Wu Qilong..."

"We just received a joint notification from Mr. Cai of Tangren Media and Haofeng Film & Television!"

Wu Qilong has been officially fired from the production team!

......

Liu Shishi's legs went weak, and she slumped onto the sofa in the RV.

Five minutes!

It was just a phone call, less than five minutes!

They just kicked the male lead of this year's biggest drama out the door like trash!

There is absolutely no reason! There is absolutely no room for maneuver!

Looking at the chaotic film crew outside the car, and Wu Qilong in the distance, who was being ushered out of the dressing room by the production assistant with a blank expression, Liu Shishi trembled uncontrollably.

At that moment, she finally understood the meaning behind Tang Yan's words.

In this enormous gilded cage called Haofeng Film and Television, they are not employees; they are not even considered human beings.

They were merely expensive, private possessions with labels affixed to that man's shop window.

Even if the owner isn't interested in touching the owner's things right now, stray dogs outside are absolutely not allowed to lay a finger on them!

......

In Hengdian, the shutdown of the "Scarlet Heart" film crew has left everyone in a state of panic.

Wu Qilong didn't get a single extra explanation, and before he could even properly pack his luggage, he was "politely" ushered into a business van heading to the airport by Tangren Film and Television's security personnel.

Faced with the overwhelming force of absolute capital, his accumulated experience and pride in the Hong Kong and Taiwan circles were like a laughable bubble.

Inside the RV.

Liu Shishi's hands were tightly clasped together, and her usually clear and ethereal eyes were now filled with helplessness.

Tang Yan sighed, walked over and sat down beside her, gently putting her arm around her slightly trembling shoulders.

"Do you understand now, Shishi?"

Tang Yan's voice was soft, but every word struck Liu Shishi's heart like a hammer blow: "In this industry, there has never been any simple 'like' or 'freedom.' From the moment you signed that contract with the 50 million yuan penalty for breach of contract, you, your future career, your joys and sorrows, no longer belong to yourself."

Liu Shishi's tears welled up in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"But...why?" Her voice trembled with a broken sob. "If the boss doesn't like me, why keep me trapped here? I'd rather go back to a stable job than live like a puppet every day..."

"Who said the boss doesn't like you?"

Tang Yan interrupted her, giving this girl, who was rare in the industry for retaining a degree of innocence, a complicated look in her eyes.

"The boss is a pure businessman, but also a leader with an extremely strong desire for control. He recruited us actresses into the company as if he were collecting the most valuable works of art."

"He would hold some artworks in his hands and admire them; he would temporarily display some artworks in a shop window."

"However, regardless of whether he touches it or not, once it's branded with Haofeng's name, no outsider is allowed to get involved. Wu Qilong only had some inappropriate thoughts, and that's already touched the boss's sore spot."

Tang Yan earnestly warned, "Shi Shi, put away your unrealistic romantic fantasies. Today we only fired one male lead, but if you make the same mistake again, it won't just be Wu Qilong who gets ruined."

Liu Shishi didn't speak, but simply buried her head deeply between her knees.

She knew Tang Yan was right.

The swift and decisive action just now had shattered all her innocence and fantasies.

She was nothing more than a canary in the boss's palm. If she didn't want to be crushed, she could only learn from the other birds and obediently sing the most melodious songs in the cage.