Chapter 168 - Unmatched Relationship

He had known that the female lead would be replaced, but he had not asked any further questions. According to his memory, the female lead should be Zhang Jia. Thus, he would be more careful and would protect her well, changing her fate before anything happened.

However, he had not expected the female lead not to be Zhang Jia but Ling Sheng. When he’d heard her name, he had thought it was a coincidence until he had seen her.

“Since you are so insincere, there’s no need for us to continue talking, Mr. Lu. You can do whatever you want! I’ll never compromise.” Ling Sheng mocked him coldly before opening the door. “You’re not welcome here. Take care.”

“Pack your luggage. Someone will notify you soon.” After saying that, Lu Xianzhi walked out and took a look. There was no one in the corridor. His footsteps were a little clumsy as he walked to the stairs.

When he reached the dim staircase, he leaned against the cold wall. With trembling hands, he took out a cigarette and lit it. The flickering fire seemed a little strange in the dark environment, as though he was in a dark mood.

What she had said was the truth, so in fact, the actual situation was not much different compared to what she had said.

This film was indeed popular. Two years after it had first been filmed, it had won two Silver Bear Awards and clinched the Best Actor and Best Actress Award. It had experienced a moment of glory.

However, due to the issue of the film’s theme, the effect of the domestic screening had not been ideal. The number of seats had not been high, and only industry insiders and film-loving fans had watched it. They had not gained the recognition of the masses, and thus their box office sales had been terrible.

However, two weeks after the movie was released, a big piece of news broke out. During the filming process, the female lead, Zhang Jia, had had an accident. She had been raped, and the public opinion on this was aggressive. This story had quickly occupied the headlines of various portals.

He did not know if he should be sad or glad that “Moon” had caught the public’s eye this way.

Sometimes, human nature was so simple and ugly that it even emitted a sense of evilness. The people who liked to join in the fun and follow scandals would always be more than the people watching the film itself.

After the incident, the number of screenings and ticket sales had skyrocketed, and the film had occupied the leading spot of the box office. The box office sales had kept rising, and in just a week, they had gone straight to one billion.

At the time, he had only treated this as news. The media had revealed that this had been done by a local gangster and that the murderer had not been caught. He had sympathized with the female lead and contributed to the box office.

Later, when Zhang Jia had committed suicide, someone had dug the story up and said that the production team had promised her that they would give her money, resources, and a bright future. They had also promised that this incident would not be exposed, which was why they had suppressed the issue.

However, when the movie had been released and the box office sales had declined, the incident had been exposed, revealing that the investor was behind this.

Investors were shameless when it came to money and did not care about their scandal’s effect on people’s reputations or lives. They only cared about box office sales and profits.

However, they had not expected that a figurative bun made of human flesh and blood would not be delicious. Zhang Jia had committed suicide because of this incident, thus causing the film to be banned. Everyone in the film crew had been boycotted, and the investing company’s shares had dropped drastically, eventually turning it into a scorned entity.

A year after Zhang Jia had committed suicide, someone had revealed that this had not been the doing of a local rogue villager. A few investors had gone to check on the progress and had taken a liking to her. After getting her drunk, they had done the unspeakable to her…

In the entertainment circle, things seemed fleeting and ephemeral. The onlookers were only angered for a moment. Time was enough to wash away everything and erase people’s memories. Soon, they were attracted by new gossip and fresh scandals.

Everyone in the film crew knew that the female lead, Ling Sheng, was not on good terms with the male lead, Lu Xianzhi. Besides filming together, the two of them had not interacted in private.