Reborn in the Entertainment Industry: This Top Star Has Real Achievements

When the two arrived at the company, Zhang Hui and Li Qing already knew about it and were gathered around the computer, their faces looking increasingly grim.

"Take a look for yourselves." Zhang Hui didn't even look up, his tone so deep it seemed like it could wring water out of the screen, as he turned the computer screen towards them.

Li Xiang leaned forward, and the moment his eyes fell on the title, his brows furrowed tightly.

The news articles were all headlines full of leading questions, and when you clicked on them, they were filled with vague words like "it is said" and "maybe."

However, the words subtly imply that he humbled himself for the endorsement title but was rejected, yet he continued to contact the brand privately...

In short, they portrayed him as vulgar and stupid, with an obsequious and fawning attitude.

"This is clearly intentional." He rubbed his temples, barely suppressing the anger rising within him.

"The negotiations just fell apart yesterday, and she pulls this tactic today. That woman is really cunning."

Sister Zhou had also finished reading it, and her voice trembled with anxiety: "What should we do now? What if we wait for the media to react and things escalate further..."

Li Xiang interrupted her, turning to Zhang Hui: "Have you found the source?"

"The public relations department is still investigating," Zhang Hui said. "The most urgent task is to control the spread and get the platform to remove the article as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiang said helplessly, "If we retract the article, won't they just republish it? The company can't possibly use its connections to cover every single platform, can it?"

He paused briefly, then emphasized, "This is beyond our ability to resolve. With the limited manpower we have, we simply cannot find the root cause."

He wasn't exaggerating; he vaguely suspected that he might be blocking someone's way.

As for Zhang Weiping, whom he had been wary of, he excluded him this time.

It wasn't that I trusted Zhang Weiping, but I knew in my heart that with Zhang Weiping's limited connections, he simply didn't have the ability to persuade the brand to set up this scheme.

"Then..." Sister Zhou was so anxious she didn't know what to do.

"We can't just sit here and wait to be smeared, can we? Retracting a paper requires favors, while they have no cost to publish it..."

"Brother Zhang, let's report this to the board of directors." Li Xiang looked at Zhang Hui.

"The board of directors?" Zhang Hui was taken aback, clearly not expecting things to escalate to the point of involving the board of directors.

"How could she have such audacity on her own? Besides, how could a brand manager have the ability to stir up the media? I think this whole thing was a setup from the very beginning."

Seeing that everyone still didn't fully understand, he continued to explain:

"First, I used business cooperation to let the outside world know that I was in contact with Shu Uemura, since they did come to the company headquarters."

Then they started throwing dirty water on me, trying to ruin my reputation.

I'm currently a rising star, heavily promoted by the company, and my movie is still showing in theaters. If you ruin my reputation, the company will definitely suffer losses.

Especially since the company is about to go public, this is clearly something they don't want Mr. Zhao to have a smooth listing process.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hui immediately panicked.

When a personal grudge escalates to the company level, the nature of the situation changes completely.

"Moreover, as the male lead of the film, if a scandal breaks out during its theatrical run, the box office will definitely be affected," Li Xiang added.

"Please have the board of directors intervene in the investigation, and focus on finding out who the beneficiaries are, who has the ability to manipulate the media, and whose path I have blocked."

By carefully piecing things together, clues can always be found.

Zhang Hui's face turned completely gloomy.

If Li Xiang's analysis is true, then the other party's intentions are simply too malicious.

"I'll contact all the board members right away. We must get to the bottom of this and find out who's behind this."

After he left, Li Xiang stared at the words on the screen that deliberately distorted the facts, and the last trace of warmth in his eyes vanished.

He's only been famous for a short time, and people are already rushing to "prevent his rise to fame." They really think highly of him.

It remains to be seen whether the mastermind behind dragging Huace, a company that has been preparing for its IPO for many years and is like a wild beast poised to pounce, into the water can withstand the consequences.

Or perhaps, the other party's plan was to kill two birds with one stone—

They wanted to ruin his rising star status in the film industry, and also disrupt Huace's IPO process.

Even if the listing is ultimately successful, Huace's valuation will be slashed and its issue price will be lowered, causing it to fall behind in the capital market.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, and Zhang Hui quickly walked in, phone in hand.

"The board of directors already knows the news, and General Manager Zhao is on his way back. The other directors have also taken action."

The technical and legal departments have taken over the investigation into the source; it seems they're serious this time.

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

When their own interests were threatened, these high-ranking officials acted swiftly and decisively, immediately mobilizing all resources to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Those who manage to join the board of directors and secure a place in a company about to go public are all exceptional individuals.

In less than half a day, the truth came to light.

It turns out that this woman named Han Lu, although only a mid-level manager at L'Oréal, had already made a fortune in private.

Because of her influence over endorsement contract approvals, she has colluded with Huayi over the years, taking advantage of her position to receive substantial kickbacks in private.

In addition, recently that young CEO Wang wants to heavily promote a male star he favors—

I heard he's that woman's newly recognized "adopted brother," and he desperately needs a high-end endorsement to boost his status.

Han Lu was so charmed by this "younger brother" that she readily agreed, especially since Huayi had promised her generous benefits.

Unfortunately, the Shu Uemura that General Manager Zhao promised was exactly the one she had reserved for this "adopted brother," which directly blocked her path to wealth and also embarrassed her.

She wanted to secure resources for her younger brother and also wanted to show off her abilities in front of Huayi, which is why she volunteered to come to us to discuss cooperation. She had ulterior motives all along.

"I knew she was going to keep the endorsement fee so low; she'd already promised it to someone else!"

Li Qing was speaking when Zhang Hui waved his hand to interrupt him:

"It's not over yet. When this woman negotiates endorsements with celebrities, whether or not the deal goes through, they always give her some leeway. At least they maintain good relations even if the deal falls through."

Who would have thought we'd be so firm this time, refusing to discuss it further?

She panicked a bit after returning home, after all, there was still the matter of President Zhao's reputation involved, so she leaked the information to the higher-ups at Huayi.

He sneered: "You all know what Huayi is like inside, and that's why you immediately came up with this dirty trick—"

They want to bring Li Xiang down, and they also want our company to suffer a major setback before it goes public.

To put it bluntly, they just want to secure their position as the top listed company in the film and television industry.

Li Xiang was actually quite puzzled by this. He said that if you were to secure the top spot, it wouldn't hinder the development of the second stock, would it?

Why go to such extremes, using such underhanded tactics before someone goes public?

Sister Zhou clearly had the same question, so she directly raised it.

Zhang Hui shook his head and revealed the inside story of Huayi.

"They started out with the support of early policies. They were among the first batch of private enterprises that received key support from the state, and they were able to develop by absorbing the policy dividends."

Now that we're rising up too, and we're going to take away some resources, they're naturally not happy about it.

Moreover, they have the backing of the Beijing elite, who are used to dominating the market and wouldn't tolerate us sharing the spoils.

Li Xiang also fully understood that this was not a simple industry competition, but a deep contest involving resource allocation and policy favoritism.

Huayi's target is not just Li Xiang, but Huace's potential to disrupt the existing order and shake their foundations after its listing.

"So, this feud is now officially established?" Li Qing's tone was somewhat cold.

"Fine, let's get married then." Zhang Hui snorted.

"Do they think they can live off their number one reputation forever? They're not the only ones who can get things done now."

Li Xiang's box office success speaks for itself, and our project pipeline is also strong. We won't be short of funds after our IPO. If it really comes down to a head-to-head competition, who's afraid of whom?