Chapter 24 – Notice: Blacklisting Shen Baizhou

“What? It’s not The Tuner?” The room practically exploded. Rustling whispers scattered in all directions… No one expected The Tuner to be rejected. Some of the shrewd early birds—people like Guo Miao and Mao Yi—had already been scheming how to win Shen Baizhou’s favor to get into the crew… And now, The Tuner didn’t make it? Even Chen Xuanzuo wore an expression of disbelief and turned to look at Huang Liang in astonishment.

“Everyone, quiet!” Huang Liang hurriedly said. “There’s also a tie for second place—Shen Baizhou’s The Tuner!”

At these words, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, though their expressions turned slightly awkward.

A tie between The Tuner and July? Are you saying diamonds and glass are worth the same? The executive judges were four in total. Shen Baizhou and Han Ming clearly voted two-to-two. So, out of these four people, two actually thought You and Me That July was better than The Tuner? What kind of logic is that? Comparing mud to gold and claiming the mud is more valuable?

“No way,” Guo Miao rolled her eyes. “These two are tied? Are they even comparable?” Even she, who had been the biggest fan of July, couldn’t see how that cliché-ridden drama could be on the same level as The Tuner… Isn’t this ridiculous? In fact, after listening to The Tuner, she had completely forgotten what You and Me That July was even about—who even cares!

At the contestants’ table, Shen Baizhou couldn’t help but glance over at Sima and his group. Hmm, I really underestimated your shamelessness.

“This is really interesting!” Li Shuqing shrugged. “It seems that my understanding of good cinema, compared with Director Chen, is very different from the commercial geniuses like Minister Sima and Director Huang.”

Sima smiled awkwardly and cleared his throat. “I think July’s commercial logic is more mature. After all, making movies is mainly about making money, right?”

“And Han Ming is a seasoned director, while Shen Baizhou is just a rookie—too risky! Plus, he doesn’t even have a team. How could he possibly shoot it?” He looked around as if seeking approval. “Since The Tuner isn’t mature enough, why don’t we shoot July first? Shen Baizhou can have his chance later.”

Chen Xuanzuo didn’t respond. His face had grown stormy. Having navigated the film industry for so long, he knew exactly how murky media companies could be. In truth, Huang Liang and Sima’s reasons were all nonsense. New talents can be nurtured, and teams can be built. Right now, this was clearly an internal factional battle—and Shen Baizhou wasn’t on their side.

Deciding what to shoot or not, Chen Xuanzuo, as an outsider, could only advise, not make decisions. Over decades in the film industry, he had seen too many talented people isolated or blacklisted. The film world had never been a pure land. It was just unfortunate for this young man in front of him… Looking at Shen Baizhou at the contestants’ table, a genuine sense of regret appeared in his eyes.

“All right, since no one objects, it’s settled.” Sima made the decision.

“So that’s it for today’s competition,” Huang Liang said from the stage with a chuckle. “Considering the overall results and management’s assessment, the first films to be produced will be Blind Sword and July. As for The Tuner, further discussion is needed…”

“Wait!” HR Director Jiang Yichen suddenly ran over, holding up her phone. “Minister Sima, the voting isn’t over yet…”

“What? Not over?” Huang Liang looked confused.

The audience, who had been feeling frustrated moments ago, suddenly perked up, a spark of hope stirring in their hearts…

“The CEO and Liu Susu watched the live broadcast of the competition online, so there are still four votes outside,” Jiang Yichen paused. “I just received the information—they all voted for Blind Sword and The Tuner! So first place is Blind Sword with six votes, and second place is The Tuner with four votes!”

As soon as she finished speaking, cheers erupted.

“That’s more like it!”
“Finally, some sense!”
“Looks like someone’s not blind…”
“Honestly, I thought our CEO had zero presence, turns out he has good vision and strategy.”
“CEO assistant Liu Susu isn’t bad either. I’ve met her—she’s a genuinely upright girl…”

Amidst the chatter, everyone instinctively looked toward Shen Baizhou at the contestant table.

Then, scattered applause began, and gradually more people joined in… Soon, the applause grew into a roaring wave, echoing through the conference room.

Everyone knew there had been foul play just now—they’d all been working long enough to recognize it. Looking at the quality of Shen Baizhou’s work, and remembering the morning’s slanders calling him a nepotism hire, it was obvious someone was deliberately sabotaging him. Workers have their own sense of justice. I might not openly call out the corruption, but surely it’s not illegal to clap?

Amid the ongoing applause, Gu Chen stepped over to Shen Baizhou and shook his hand firmly.

“Xiao Shen, I really like your work,” he said candidly, paying no mind to Huang Liang’s expression. “This film is high-level! If you need any support with cinematography, just let me know.”

“Thank you, Teacher Gu,” Shen Baizhou replied sincerely. “I’m really looking forward to working with you in the future…”

Watching this, Chen Xuanzuo nodded in satisfaction. Making films is about making money, but money alone isn’t everything. The industry may be full of corruption, but there are always people daring to fight against it, and those people always earn the applause. That’s enough. Seeing these two young directors, Chen Xuanzuo felt that coming today had been worthwhile.

Meanwhile, Sima beside him wore a gloomy expression, his eyes reflecting a deepening darkness. The applause at the scene felt like a slap in his face.

“Fine, Su Hongdou, normally you’re never in the office, but at the crucial moment, you come to ruin things!” He grabbed his phone and quickly sent a message to Huang Liang on stage:

“Make arrangements. The Tuner must not be allowed to succeed!”

“Don’t worry, boss, I already have a plan,” Huang Liang replied instantly.

Back at his workstation, Gu Chen couldn’t stop thinking about Shen Baizhou’s The Tuner. The script was truly excellent, and Gu Chen had already mentally designed several key shooting scenes. Especially that final mirror shot! Shen Baizhou’s description had already sparked a complete vision in his mind…

The more he thought, the more he was itching to shoot it. Compared with other directors, Shen Baizhou was more like a pure cinematographer. He wasn’t too interested in the plot; he wanted to master the visuals.

“One film or two films, the workload for a short film isn’t too much… How about I take on cinematography for Shen Baizhou too, and help him shoot The Tuner? Especially since the story is so compelling!”

Yes, that’s what I’ll do, Gu Chen decided. He was about to tell Shen Baizhou…

Then, ding—a message popped up from the Internet Division executives’ group chat. It was from Huang Liang:

“Attention all department heads: under no circumstances are you to provide any support for Shen Baizhou’s The Tuner! Whether it’s actors, cinematography, costumes, makeup, props, or lighting, no one is allowed to participate in the production of The Tuner. Anyone who does will face the same blacklisting as Shen Baizhou. I mean what I say! Make sure this is communicated to your teams. I’ll say it again: no one is to provide any support for Shen Baizhou!
Additionally, this chat is confidential. If I find anyone sharing screenshots or records, don’t blame me for cutting ties!”