Upon hearing Gu Ting’s question, Xiao Lan raised her head proudly and declared, “I am a graduate of the Film Academy’s Acting Department. I have previously appeared in 《Three Kingdoms》, 《The Great Tang Dynasty》, and 《Struggles of the Capital》. These three works were all popular dramas of their time, sufficient to prove my level.”

“Is that right?” Gu Ting tugged at the corner of his lips. His handsome and scholarly face bore a smile, but Xiao Lan felt a chill run down her spine.

“If I remember correctly, you played supporting roles in all three dramas. The truly outstanding actors were someone else. How can the efforts of others be considered your achievement? Your background doesn’t mean everything. Each year, thousands graduate from film academies, but only a few can truly be called an artist.” Gu Ting stated calmly.

Xiao Lan felt as if needles were pricking her. She wanted to retort about how she was comparable to those people, but when faced with Gu Ting’s icy gaze, the words stuck in her throat.

“Teacher Gu, no matter what you say, it’s useless. I have a contract with the production team. If Director Cao doesn’t want to use me, they’ll have to pay a penalty of over seven million. That’s no small amount.” Xiao Lan smirked, her eyes and brows filled with pride.

Gu Ting couldn’t help but sneer. “When production teams sign contracts, they always include clauses for exemption. If an artist engages in behavior that violates the law or public interests, the production team has the right to terminate the contract. Yesterday, your deliberate action to cause harm during filming, if it goes to court, the production team wouldn’t be at fault. Your so-called penalty fee simply doesn’t exist.”

With each word Gu Ting spoke, Cao Lei’s eyes brightened. He hadn’t expected contracts to include exemption clauses related to intentional harm. Now, he didn’t have to endure using Xiao Lan anymore. It was logical to terminate the contract early. Otherwise, with Xiao Lan ruining their perfectly good production, who could he turn to for justice?

Cao Lei quickly instructed his assistant, who hurriedly retrieved the contract from the tablet computer. Upon confirming the existence of the exemption clause, Cao Lei’s face lit up with a smile. He picked up the tablet and handed it to Xiao Lan, grinning, “Ms. Xiao, shall I ask you to leave, or will you leave on your own?”

Feeling the eyes of everyone focused on her, Xiao Lan wished she could disappear into the ground. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and if it weren’t for one of her assistants supporting her, she would have collapsed to the ground by now.

She stared fiercely at the people standing before her, her voice filled with resentment. “Fine! You all collude against me! Great! I’ll leave, who cares to stay in this lousy production anyway?”

Xiao Lan gripped the assistant’s arm tightly, dragging her out of the filming location. By the time they reached the parking lot, crescent-shaped bruises had already formed on the assistant’s arm from her tight grip, looking particularly miserable.

The assistant was in pain, tears almost welling up in her eyes. But Xiao Lan was still furious, so the assistant dared not say much, fearing to provoke the boss further and end up in trouble herself.

“Sister Lan, don’t be angry. The script for 《The Icon’s New Clothes》 is outdated, and there are currently no famous artists joining in. Even if they managed to get a dragon logo and release it, the box office won’t be high.”

Xiao Lan’s anger subsided slightly upon hearing that. “You’re right. If I hadn’t terminated the contract with the production team and ended up filming such a lousy drama, it wouldn’t just be a lack of real achievement but also fodder for others to ridicule. Instead of that, I might as well look for more suitable opportunities.”

Those words weren’t just for the assistant to hear but also for herself. After all, Xiao Lan had been smooth sailing in her career for so many years, rarely encountering any setbacks. Now, being humiliated by Gu Ting like this, it would be strange if she didn’t hold a grudge.

Xiao Lan sat directly in the back seat of the nanny van and dialed Yu Jing’s number.

“Aren’t you shooting right now? How come you have time to call me?”

Xiao Lan’s face twisted momentarily, her voice slightly hoarse, “I terminated my contract with the production team.”

On the other end of the phone, Yu Jing was extremely surprised. She couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you do that? Didn’t we already agree on everything? Once you finish filming this movie, we can manipulate the trends to trample on Meng Zhen. Then everyone will know Meng Zhen is just a fake and you’re the real deal. This way, she won’t have a chance to turn things around again.”

Xiao Lan gripped the phone tightly. If it weren’t for Gu Ting’s meddling, she would gladly follow the plan to destroy Meng Zhen step by step and ensure Meng Zhen remained a minor celebrity forever, unable to threaten her position. But Gu Ting appeared and kicked her out of the production, causing their plans to go down the drain.

“I had a bit of an incident on set and had to terminate the contract.” Xiao Lan explained patiently to Yu Jing.

“I warned you before to be careful, why didn’t you listen?”

Yu Jing had just sorted out a mess for one of her artists when she received the bad news from Xiao Lan. She was beyond frustrated. She had put in a lot of effort to get Xiao Lan into 《The Icon’s New Clothes》, even spending two hundred thousand to buy off that actress named Yu Liang. She had worked tirelessly and spent a lot of money, only for Xiao Lan to ruin it all.

Yu Jing rubbed her throbbing temples and asked hoarsely, “Now that you can’t shoot the same movie as Meng Zhen, do you have any other plans? We can’t just let her off like this, can we?”

In the industry, if there was anyone who least wanted Meng Zhen to succeed, it was Yu Jing.

Meng Zhen was originally an artist under Yu Jing but had her reputation ruined by Ji Xiaoling’s plot. At that time, Yu Jing could have easily used her influence to hire spam accounts to clear Meng Zhen’s name. However, she felt that Meng Zhen lacked potential and was worthless, so she not only ignored her but also mocked her by suggesting she should only do those explicit movies

In the entertainment industry, it’s common for people to flatter those above and oppress those below. If Meng Zhen became popular, how can Yu Jing still have a good life?

“Don’t worry, even if I’m not part of 《The Icon’s New Clothes》, once things settle down, we can have the marketing accounts release articles comparing her to me. Label her as ‘Little Xiao Lan’. That way, even if she becomes famous, the audience will only remember my name.”

As if she had thought of something amusing, Xiao Lan’s lips curved slightly, and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Articles comparing one artist to another were commonplace, so Yu Jing didn’t find anything wrong with the idea. After thinking for a moment, she nodded in agreement.

“Alright, I’ll talk to those marketing accounts and wait until next month to stir up the buzz.”

Xiao Lan responded with a light hum.

———pr

With the lead actress gone, the production team’s schedule was completely disrupted. Fortunately, Xiao Lan hadn’t been with the team for long, otherwise, Cao Lei would have been at a loss for where to cry.

Cao Lei contacted Yu Liang again. Since she wasn’t very well known and hadn’t received new job opportunities after the previous contract was terminated, she agreed without much hesitation.

The next day, all the actors gathered, and Meng Zhen finally met Yu Liang. She was about the same age as Xiao Lan, around twenty-four or twenty-five. Although not as stunning as Xiao Lan, she was a delicate and pretty woman. Moreover, being a professionally trained actress, Yu Liang had been honing her skills throughout her school years, taking on numerous supporting roles. As a result, filming with her went much smoother than it did with Xiao Lan.

Seeing the filming progress catching up, Cao Lei’s worries were finally put to rest. At the end of a day’s work, he approached Meng Zhen and softly reminded her, “Tomorrow, we will be filming the scene where you seduce the company’s CEO. The character will be played by Gu Ting in a cameo. I heard that you two have worked together before on 《Investiture》, so you should be familiar with each other. Both of you have great acting skills, therefore, let’s aim to get it right in one take to avoid wasting the time of the big movie star and getting nagged by his manager.”

Cao Lei and Gu Ting were quite familiar with each other, so Cao Lei didn’t hold back when joking around. After giving his instructions, he didn’t linger but left the set directly by car.

In contrast to his calm demeanor, Meng Zhen was stunned for a long time. She hadn’t expected to have the chance to work with Gu Ting again, especially in an ambiguous scene, which was quite coincidental.

Meng Zhen shook her head, pushing aside the strange emotions in her mind, and then she followed Xin Xin back to the hotel.

———pr

The next afternoon, after wrapping up 《Mountains and Rivers》, Gu Ting arrived at the set with his assistant.

He naturally drew everyone’s attention as soon as he walked in, including Meng Zhen’s gaze.

At the sight of Gu Ting, Cao Lei’s face lit up like a blooming chrysanthemum. He smiled so broadly that his face creased with joy. He waved, urging Meng Zhen, “Quickly go change your clothes. We’re starting the shoot soon.”

Typically, female stars require much more makeup time than male stars. Therefore, Meng Zhen didn’t say much and simply nodded before heading into the makeup room.

According to the script, Shi Yuwei was originally the CEO’s secretary. They traveled together for a business trip and stayed overnight at a five-star hotel. After taking a shower, Shi Yuwei knocked on the CEO’s door wearing a dark robe.

While this storyline might seem embarrassing, it was indeed logical within the context of the script.

At this moment, Meng Zhen sat in front of the dressing table while Sister Long held a curling iron, creating fluffy and slightly curled waves with Meng Zhen’s freshly washed hair from this morning. Sister Long then put a lot of effort into Meng Zhen’s eyebrows, eyes, and lips, applying a natural makeup that highlighted her beauty. Meng Zhen’s lips were alluring, and her eyes and brows were delicately charming, flawless in every aspect.

Sister Long took a few steps back, crossing her arms over her chest, and murmured, “Even though Shi Yuwei isn’t the traditional good girl, she’s too beautiful, isn’t she? That CEO seeing through her green tea nature, his eyes must be sharper than X-rays.”

As she spoke, Sister Long found the prepared robe and urged Meng Zhen to change, “Movie King Gu is already ready. We need to speed up too.”

Meng Zhen nodded repeatedly and went into the dressing room to change. When she pushed open the door and stepped out, Sister Long glanced up. The milk tea, which Sister Long wasn’t holding firmly, slipped from her hand and splattered on the ground with a clatter.