"A year ago, you fell into a coma. In the first three months, Ling Zhizhi covered up for you and we hoped she could drag it on until the day you woke up, but in the end, we still couldn't keep it covered up for long.
"'Nine Realms' and 'Mother' were released in theatres one after another. You just got too popular and you received all sorts of huge awards and endorsements until Ling Zhizhi's hands were tied. All over the media was coverage about you. Among the female artistes in the entire entertainment industry, you were the most popular..."
Lu Jingli was just getting emotional as he recalled this when he quickly stopped. He glanced worriedly at her, afraid that she would not be able to accept the current contrast in circumstances.
"Wow, I was so amazing!" Ning Xi cupped her chin and was listening eagerly. Then, she urged, "Continue! And then? What does all of this have to do with Han Zixuan?"
When Lu Jingli saw that she seemed quite nonchalant, he continued, "Exactly! Because you were so popular, you drew too much attention, so your going missing couldn't be contained anymore. Later on, after we discussed it at length, we decided not to respond to the public and let you naturally retire..."
Ning Xi nodded in understanding. In such a situation then, cold treatment was indeed the best way to deal with it because if they responded, no matter what message was released, it would only be attacked like mad by the media, leading to all sorts of suspicions. It might even be intentionally distorted and misinterpreted.
"This Han Zixuan popped up after you vanished. She was initially Glory World Entertainment's new artiste. You rocketed to popularity. Glory World Entertainment wanted to create a few more similar artistes with your style, so they recruited many rookies who looked attractice, but because of your limelight suppressing them, none of these rookies stood out.
"However, because you suddenly went missing, all your resources and a lot of collaborations were all set aside. Naturally, Glory World could not sit idle. They had to find other artistes under their label to gobble up all of these opportunities.
"Back then, I had already returned to help my brother with the company. Glory World's side of things was completely handed over to Yi Xudong to handle. The new artiste that Yi Xudong groomed to replace you after that was Han Zixuan!
"All of your opportunities were almost all taken over by her. In such a situation, even a blockhead can become popular!"
"No wonder... What's the deal with the job-hopping? Yi Xudong supported her so well, so why would she still jump companies?" Ning Xi was confused.
Lu Jingli laughed grimly and answered, "Haha, Sis-in-law, not everyone's like you! To repay the gratitude of patronage, you can go through water and tread on fire. There are too many people in the entertainment industry who wouldn't hesitate to kick their benefactor in the teeth. Besides, Yi Xudong and that Han Zixuan were just bordering on unspoken rules; it was simply a transaction of money and lust.
"Because all of Han Zixuan's opportunities were initially yours, she was completely taking your route. As long as she stayed in Glory World Entertainment, she would need to live in your shadow, thus naturally, she couldn't wait to leave!
"Not only did she leave, she even took away a large group of Glory World's artistes with her manager. All of them turned to Glory World's rival, Starlight. Every opportunity that Yi Xudong had thrown her way were obviously all wrenched away too. Everything really went right down the drain!"
Lu Jingli paused, then he spread out his hands and continued to say, "The point is, now Glory World Entertainment isn't the same as before. We've been completely suppressed by Starlight.
"After the incident happened, I looked for Yi Xudong to discuss matters once. I let him allocate the more urgent opportunities in equal proportions according to the performance and qualifications of the company's artistes. Those that could be dragged on should be delayed, especially those with better scripts.
"However, he promised the sun and the moon in front of me before he turned around to throw it all at that woman. When I questioned him, he even tried to push the blame and said that the investors had mentioned names to be assigned. Pfft! Did he think I didn't know about the tricks he was pulling behind my back?
"Now that it's turned out like this, the guy still has the audacity to run to the corporation to cry for help! Sure, I'll save his ass!"