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But before he could figure it out, Gao Su came looking for him first and tore into him. Afterward, Gao Su even told him to pack up and get out.

"Why?" the male director demanded indignantly.

He did have some connections, but compared with Gao Su's, they were nothing.

Gao Su said with a dark expression, "You still have the nerve to ask me why? Go look online yourself. Get out."

The male director left in a fury. The moment he stepped outside, he pulled out his phone and found that Weibo's trending searches were still discussing him.

[#xxx Throws His Weight Around?] [#No Talent, Big Temper#] [#Digging Up the Grudge Between Two Directors#]...

It turned out that what had happened between him and He Rong back then had been exposed as well.

Even the underhanded tactics he had used to ostracize He Rong had been laid out in painstaking detail.

The male director's eyes widened as he stared at those trending topics, his heart sinking lower and lower.

Before he could even open the comments section, another call came in. It was from one of the investors funding his new drama's production.

Seeing the call, the male director had an even worse feeling.

He answered it, and just as expected, the other party wanted to withdraw their investment. Clearly, they had no confidence in his upcoming drama.

The male director hurriedly lowered himself and started making excuses. He said idol dramas were always filmed like this, that the poor broadcast performance of the television series had been caused by the other company's suppression, marketing, and manipulation of public opinion. He even promised that he would put more effort into the new drama.

Unfortunately, the investor was not buying any of it. "I heard that the funds Boss Gao gave this drama had already exceeded the normal allocated amount by a long shot. You pocketed the excess, didn't you? Go compare what you filmed with what they filmed."

"Anyone with a functioning brain wouldn't shoot with camera angles that spin around like that. And that's only one of your flaws. With skills like yours, how could I possibly feel safe investing in you?"

"Don't say another word. You're not cut out for this line of work. In my opinion, you should pack up and get out of the directing industry already."

What lousy skills. He dared call himself a director, talked such a good game, and then produced utter garbage. The investor cursed as he hung up.

The male director was furious beyond measure. Finally unable to hold himself back, he slammed his phone to the ground with a loud smash.

He bore a grudge against He Rong and wanted to deal with her. Unfortunately, he had no idea that He Rong had signed a contract with Jinbai Entertainment for her upcoming film and television projects. With Cai Jinbai protecting her, she was not someone he could touch whenever he wanted. The result of his malicious intentions was that the male director was ultimately forced out of the industry.

Glory adopted a format where it was filmed and aired at the same time. Its plot moved quickly and tightly, made logical sense, and was nothing like the same old story of an overbearing CEO falling for a sweet little duckling while the second and third male leads fell in love with her too.

Every character in the drama had a distinct personality, with their own romantic arcs—or none at all—while still displaying their own strengths.

Glory fit its theme perfectly, telling the story of everyone striving toward their own goals.

The female lead was played by Chu Rong, champion of the third season of The Actors, while the male lead was Qiu Ziyao. The supporting male and female roles were played by rookie actors such as Xie Qianxue, Bai Fu, Wu Wangfei, and Ji Zhizhi.

Looking closely, all of them had come from The Actors.

Among them, Xie Qianxue played a wealthy young heiress. Her beauty had a cool, aloof quality entirely different from Chu Rong's.

In reality, however, her family background was very ordinary. Yet in the drama, she truly seemed like someone raised in luxury. Every gesture of hers was noble and elegant, like a princess doted on by everyone.

She was cold and difficult to approach.

But as the story continued, viewers discovered that it was all just a façade. The wealthy heiress played by Xie Qianxue was actually a homebody with mild social anxiety. Because of her family circumstances, she had no choice but to go out and socialize often, occasionally creating plenty of comedic misunderstandings because of it.

Her dream was to become an outstanding manga artist, but her family only wanted her to take part in the company's affairs.

Chu Rong's female lead was a character with intelligence, methods, and schemes in equal measure.

She and the male lead began as business rivals, but as they gradually spent more time together, they slowly came to understand one another.

Setting aside the direction of the characters' storylines, even the visual quality, filming techniques, and shooting locations were flawless.

From the actors' bearing and temperament to the luxurious villas, yachts, grand estates, and horse ranches required by the plot... every setting was breathtaking, and paired with the music, it created an incredible atmosphere.

This drama had achieved perfection starting from even the smallest details.

A genuinely independent and strong-willed female lead with her own opinions and ideas; an overbearing CEO male lead who had normal intelligence, was not greasy, and could even be considerate; a wealthy second female lead with dreams of her own who worked hard for them; a gentle second male lead who no longer existed merely to highlight the male lead; and other equally brilliant third female and male leads all came together to perform an exceptionally captivating story.

The push-and-pull between the female and male leads, along with the contrast in the second female lead's personality, left viewers unable to stop watching.

[Ahhh, Chu Rong is even more beautiful in this drama! Every second makes me want to lick the screen!]

[Xie Qianxue is so pretty too, and so is Ji Zhizhi. The three girls each have their own beauty, and they clearly did not neglect their makeup just because they were supporting characters.]

[I feel like the texture of all their clothes is amazing. They really look like the kind of lightweight but warm clothes rich people wear, hahaha.]

[I heard all the outfits were custom-made, even the shoes. President Cai really spent a lot of money filming this idol drama.]

[Hehe, why do I feel so reassured whenever President Cai invests in something?]

[This one is still better. Your Sweetness next door is bad, really bad, absolutely terrible! Yes, I'm calling it out by name. What kind of nonsense did they film? The second male lead has no personality of his own at all. He only exists to highlight the male lead, like some kind of tool.]

[Whenever the female lead needs him, he appears. Whenever she does not, the male lead appears. So they all exist to serve the male and female leads, and the supporting female characters are the same... The plot is really so tacky.]

[I can't watch Your Sweetness either. I feel like every element in this idol drama can be found in old idol dramas. What era is this? The female lead can still secretly sneak into the male lead's office... My god, where are the security guards? Aren't there employees or secretaries outside the office? And the female lead is not even from that company. She just walked in like that? It really makes me suspect that this overbearing CEO is actually just the owner of some tiny rundown company.]

[Holy crap, there's no end to the things you can mock about Your Sweetness. Compared to it, Glory, which Jinbai Entertainment invested in and filmed, is practically a drama with a conscience. The logic is tight, the female lead acts reasonably, and the male lead is not greasy.]

[He doesn't just say, 'Woman, you've provoked me.' Ugh. And the second male lead actually seems to have a soul now. He is no longer just a tool serving the protagonists and the plot. I actually like the second female lead. Hehe, the contrast in her personality is so funny.]

[All the actors in this drama had to undergo special training before joining the production, specifically to train their posture, sitting positions, and so on.]

[And have you noticed that the huge villas, grand estates, horse ranches, and so on in the drama can all be found online by name? I was shocked for an entire day! No, how did you rent such expensive estates?!]

[Estates? What estates?]

[The grand estate that appeared at the end of episode five. It is the famous M Manor overseas in real life. It used to belong to the royal family of Country Y, but it was later auctioned off for an astronomical price and bought by a wealthy man. Wait, this wealthy man... I need to search again?!]

[Hmm? We know this television drama was invested in by President Cai, and we also know President Cai has always been absurdly wealthy, so?]

[So this estate belongs to President Cai?!]

[That's right! Friends, I'm back with the latest news. This M Manor was provided by President Cai as a friendly contribution. It is one of President Cai's assets!]

[Wow, I'm going to watch it again!]

As soon as this news came out, the view count for episode five of Glory soared once more.

Cai Jinbao monitored online information and said to Cai Jinbai, "Master, lots of netizens have started searching for information about you overseas."

"Oh, just like Master said, Star Universe Entertainment has made its move too."

Cai Jinbai said, "'Ethnic Chinese with foreign citizenship' is a very easy point to attack. Huaguo people are very united. If it had not been difficult to fit in here at the beginning, I would not have chosen to develop overseas first. Fortunately, I had already begun making preparations before coming to Huaguo."

The timing was perfect now.

Chapter 36

Some so-called "netizens" began digging deeply into Cai Jinbai's past overseas. They looked into how many assets he owned, how often he appeared in this idol drama, when his ancestors had begun developing their fortunes, and just how powerful his background had to be for him to buy an entire office building in the center of the New Urban District outright.

That was not something money alone could accomplish.

Therefore, Cai Jinbai was not merely wealthy; he must also have connections.

And perhaps those connections had been bought with money, with favors greasing the wheels from top to bottom. That was why a landmark building in the New Urban District of S City, which belonged to Huaguo, had been successfully purchased by a "foreigner."

Just thinking about it, this was a city the country valued for development. The construction of the New Urban District was an absolute priority, and the importance of its central landmark building was obvious.

It would undoubtedly become the center of the New Urban District's future development, a symbolic structure.

If such a building fell into the hands of a foreigner, even an ethnic Chinese foreigner... for a time, many netizens began spinning conspiracy theories.

[Although President Cai is very handsome and I really like him, when I think about the fact that he is an ethnic Chinese foreign national... emm, it just does not sit right with me.]

[Why should a building in our city be bought by a foreigner? If it were an ordinary building, that would be one thing, but it is a landmark building in an important development area. Damn it, could there be traitors up there? Were they bought off with money and just sold off the country's land like that?!]