The moment Shen Xuanrun walked onto the set, he saw Jiang Yi looking thoroughly gloomy. From the looks of it, he was the one behind the online incident. How brainless. Of all the dirt he could have leaked, he had chosen to accuse Shen Xuanrun of latching onto someone powerful.
Shen Xuanrun proudly tilted his nose up, declaring, "I'm a capitalist, after all."
Suddenly, Shen Xuanrun felt an intense gaze on him. When he looked closely, it turned out to belong to the female lead, Deng Yingying.
The little figure inside Shen Xuanrun's mind scratched its head. Why is she looking at me like that? We don't seem to know each other, do we? Maybe she became a fan of my looks at some point. Oh dear, I'm so full of myself. The little figure covered its face again.
But Deng Yingying's gaze was friendly, so Shen Xuanrun didn't give it much thought. He smiled gently at her, then went to his seat.
Deng Yingying grew even more excited when she saw Shen Xuanrun's smile. Oh my goodness, that smile is so bottom-coded!
Shen Xuanrun, sitting in his seat and reading his lines, knew nothing about this.
Just before filming was about to begin, Cheng Hao suddenly received a phone call. He immediately halted the shoot and said with a serious expression,
"We're canceling today's shoot. Everyone, take another day to prepare. Jiang Yi, come out here for a moment."
Almost everything was ready, so the entire crew was puzzled, unsure what had happened.
"For certain special reasons, the male lead has been replaced. You can leave in a little while. The new male lead will be here soon," Cheng Hao told Jiang Yi in a corner.
"On what grounds?! Why, Director? My acting isn't bad! If anyone should be replaced, it's that pretty face Shen Xuanrun. He can't act at all! Why are you replacing me?!" Jiang Yi roared.
"There's no reason. Just pack your things and leave immediately." The biggest financial backer had spoken, and he didn't know why either, the simple-minded director thought before turning and leaving.
He left Jiang Yi standing there, his face dark,
"It must be that bastard Shen Xuanrun's doing. He's definitely jealous that my acting is better than his, so he used his financial clout to force Cheng Hao to replace me. He must be laughing at me. I can't just slink away like this."
"Right, I can still go to Huang Shuangru. She's been competing with that Chen Wei for so long. She'll definitely think of something for me."
Jiang Yi immediately pulled out his phone and called Huang Shuangru, but despite calling for ages, no one answered.
"Oh, great, that damned woman Huang Shuangru isn't answering my calls! She's utterly useless! Who knows what she does all day! She never finds me good opportunities or a good financial backer! All she does is compete with that Chen Wei every day, forcing me to come up with solutions myself. If she weren't still a little useful right now, I'd have replaced her ages ago," Jiang Yi cursed in the corner.
"It's fine, it's fine. I can still go to that person." Jiang Yi immediately called the person he had mentioned.
"Bro, someone snatched my role in this drama. Could you look into it for me?" Jiang Yi said ingratiatingly into his phone.
"Oh, my dear Jiang, I'd like to help you out, too, but there hasn't been anything fun to play with lately, and it's left me feeling so down!" An extremely sleazy voice came from the other end of the phone.
"Ah, bro, don't worry. I certainly won't forget you. Once you've helped me settle this, I'll immediately find a few good-looking ones and send them over," Jiang Yi said, looking pained at the cost.
"All right, then. Send me the name of your drama, along with the director's name and phone number," the sleazy middle-aged man continued.
Jiang Yi put down his phone and returned to his lodgings with peace of mind, waiting to hear from the man.
Before long, the man called.
Overjoyed, Jiang Yi immediately picked up his phone, answered the call, and asked,
"Bro! Has it been sorted out?"
"Ah, my dear Jiang, I'm afraid you've run into a tough opponent this time. That director of yours wouldn't even do me the courtesy. Looks like he's got some powerful backing! To tell you the truth, there's nothing I can do. Go find someone else. I'm hanging up now. I've got things to do." The sleazy middle-aged man immediately hung up after saying that.
"Hey, bro, don't hang up yet! Hello? Hello?!" Hearing the call disconnect, Jiang Yi hurled his phone away in fury.
"That greedy bastard comes clinging to me whenever there's something to gain, but the moment anything goes against his interests, he dumps me."
"Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock."
"Jiang Yi, you haven't left yet? The director wants you to move out faster. The new male lead will be here soon." A crew member's voice came from the doorway.
"I know! Where's my personal assistant, Xiao Gao? Get him over here to help me pack! He's nowhere to be seen all day. How can he call himself a personal assistant?!" Jiang Yi began venting his anger on those around him.
"Xiao Gao? Your agent called three hours ago and called him away. He still hasn't come back?" the crew member at the door asked.
"I'll fire him sooner or later!" Jiang Yi roared, overturning the table.
Hearing the table overturn inside, the crew member at the door shook their head, sighed over Xiao Gao having such a difficult employer, and left.
After hearing the director's announcement, everyone on set returned to their lodgings. Shen Xuanrun also planned to return to his lodgings and quietly spend more time reading the script.
As he walked, he heard other people talking.
Unknown extra: "Hey, I heard from the producer that Jiang Yi seems to have been replaced as the male lead."
Unknown Z-list actor: "Really? Why? He's been replaced before filming even started?"
Unknown young actress: "Maybe he offended someone. But I think replacing him is a good thing. He's only just arrived on his first day, and he's already making such a spectacle of himself. He doesn't have the standing of a big star, but he's got all the attitude. Look at how he keeps ordering Xiao Gao around."
Bystander A: "Exactly. One minute he wants his back pounded, the next he wants his shoulders massaged. I heard he arrived late for the costume shoot, then immediately commandeered the makeup artist who was doing Shen Xuanrun's makeup."
Bystander B: "Tsk, tsk. He really puts on airs. Before I had any contact with him, I thought he was just an honest, career-focused star."
Unknown extra: "Who do you think will play the next male lead, then?"
That's not right. Jiang Yi shouldn't have been replaced this quickly, should he? Besides, the impression Jiang Yi gave me was more that he'd offended someone and had his role snatched away because of it. Shen Xuanrun thought as he walked.
Still, his being replaced ahead of time was a good thing. At least he would disgust Shen Xuanrun for two fewer days.
After the Gu Group and Shen Xuanrun's PR team simultaneously refuted the rumors, things on Weibo gradually settled down as well.
The shippers were very upset. The pairing they had only just started shipping had met a bad ending in less than a day. However upset they were, they could only go their separate ways and find some other gossip to follow.
But many shippers were unwilling to believe it. Still, since the people involved had already denied the rumors, they could only enjoy their ship in their own little corner. They quietly created groups, singing and dancing away in them and churning out fan fiction like mad, but they didn't dare flaunt any of it in front of the actual people involved.