Ace of the Dragon Division

Chapter 243: Banned (2) (Part one)

No matter how stupid Ou Li was, he would know what it meant at this critical moment that he got exposed for this scandal.

“Who did you offend recently?” Ou Li asked him.

“Who else could it be? Didn’t the both of us get in trouble with Lin Chuxue recently?” Yan Xian asked.

“Then it is really possible that someone at Imperial Entertainment wants to stink up your reputation and retaliate.” Ou Li glared at him. “You too, how can you keep these kind of pictures? Your wife is pregnant, yet you are still doing sh-t like this! That Lin Chuxue doesn’t have much of a background, so she probably only can use this to retaliate. You are famous for being a playboy, so it’s not hard to find scandals of yours to expose.”

Yan Xian felt like he wanted to cry. “But the thing is, a lot of people want me to pay compensation for breaching their contracts and cancel with me, but you know I already gave most of my money to you to invest in the movie we just shot. Where am I going to find the money to pay them back?”

Ou Li also felt that it was a big headache. Indeed, Yan Xian took the 50 million that he made with those contracts to make a film investment with him.

“Don’t worry, everyone’s gonna have some kind of scandal in this circle. Besides, your reputation had always been not that great. Right now, we just need Li Wen to keep quiet, and you just need to keep denying it. Just those pictures alone won’t get you banned by the State Administration of Media and Entertainment. We just need to hire 5-cent armies to flood social media saying that those pictures were clearly photoshopped. Maybe this scandal will even help you gain more fame and hog more headlines.”

Yan Xian looked at Ou Li. “But right now, a lot of people want to cancel their contracts with me and demand compensation.”

Ou Li: “You just need to get some PR done and fix your public image, and then why would they still want to cancel? Are you dumb? I’m also quite influential in this circle. I just need to get all of them together and have a meal, and then talk about your case and promise that we would get the necessary PR done so as to not let this scandal affect your image. Wouldn’t that be all?”

Yan Xian immediately nodded. “President Ou, I have to rely on you now!”

Ou Li nodded. “We are in the same boat now, and many of my films have you as the male lead. At a time like this, I obviously should help you, or else if your reputation goes down the drain, wouldn’t my films be dead before they reach the theatre?”

Yan Xian’s agent came to the hospital and brought Yan Xian away. When he came back to the company, he could hear from far away that the president was shouting in fury as his voice echoed in the hallway.

When Yan Xian went into the meeting room, he saw all of the PR staff had their heads lowered; clearly they had been scolded by the president already.

After the president saw Yan Li, a hint of coldness appeared in his eyes. “Why are you not dead yet? What use would laying in the hospital and hiding do for a scandal this big? Tell me, what the f-ck actually is going on with you?”

Yan Xian swallowed his saliva and just like Ou Li instructed, he tried very hard to deny everything. “That woman Li Wen saw that I have been pretty popular recently so she just wants to use me as a topic to get herself some attention too. Those pictures were all photoshopped, and from the timing and everything, it was clearly orchestrated. I think Lin Chuxue is behind all of this. That’s right, their company knew they couldn’t deal with me head on so they actually resorted to this kind of despicable means to damage my career. Right now, the photoshop technology is so mature that the media actually believed it. Besides-”

Before Yan Xian could finish, the president already furiously slammed the document in his hand onto the desk. Then, he turned his laptop around and said to Yan Xian, “Open up your f-cking eyes, you think it was just those pictures?”

Yan Xian saw that the laptop was playing a news segment, and apparently a recording of a phone call between Yan Xian and Li Wen was also leaked online.

And that phone call was just the one Yan Xian had at the hospital with Li Wen. His relationship with Li Wen was basically confirmed, and in the recording, Yan Xian exposed his true character of being the type that would cuss at Li Wen and tell her to f-ck off just to protect his own reputation.

Chapter 243: Banned (2) (Part two)

The president pointed at the computer, his whole body trembling in rage. “You take a look at what the netizens are calling you right now! They are all saying you are scum! Also, ask your agent, ask him how your Weibo account is doing and how many people were calling you names on there! Your follower count dropped from 5 million all the way down to 700 thousand! You tell me, is it just those photos? What is this recording then? Let me tell you, maybe Li Wen’s picture can be fake, but every woman you laid your hands on can take out a picture with you. Are they all fake too?”

Yan Xian fell into his chair, his head going blank.

The president took in a deep breath and said as he lifted a stack of documents, “These are all of the notices given by advertisers asking to withdraw your endorsement. Spit out the money you took from them, and the company will also take out our share too. Those advertisers already told us that they don’t need us to pay any liquidated damages, but they need the money we got paid returned right away.”

Yan Xian became anxious. “But… President Zheng can you chat with them? We already inked the contracts and everything, wouldn’t it be merciless to ask for a full refund? How about this? I will lower my price and charge them less, how about that? They aren’t getting the short end of the stick that way, but if they want me to pay them all back, then where will I go to find that money?”

President Zheng was furious. “Let me tell you, Yan Xian, they already said that if you return the money right away, they won’t go for liquidated damage. You should read the contract yourself, it clearly states that if during the period of endorsement that your reputation and image affects the brand image of the company endorsed by you, then the contract is defaulted, and you will have to pay double the compensation. Each of your endorsement deals is ten million for two years, so with seven deals, that’s 70 million. They were doing me a favor by just asking you to pay them back the endorsement fee. You give me your 30 million, and I will handle the rest.”

Yan Xian began to panic. “But where would I get 30 million though, can you talk to them again? After the few movies that I invested in air and make big money, I will for sure pay them back. President Zheng, please help me out with this.”

President Zheng sneered. “Your movies? You mean those few that you invested in with Ou Li?”

Yan Xian nodded. “I know that my scandal could affect the box office, but those movies are indeed pretty good, and I should at least be able to break-even on those.”

President Zheng continued to reply with a sneer, “Yan Xian, you have been in this circle for so long now, don’t you know that you were already playing with fire? All of this happened so fast with the purpose of destroying your career, so do you think the person you offended has a simple background? Right, you are correct, if it was just for this scandal, those businesses wouldn’t be ending the contract with you right away, yet they did it all at the same time. Don’t you sense something fishy going on? Also, I just got a call from the director of the State Administration of Media and Entertainment. He said that celebrities have great effects on the teenagers, so those celebrities with scandals shouldn’t be allowed to participate in films, shows, or ads, as otherwise, they would have  the wrong influence on society. I have been in this circle for a long time, yet it’s my first time getting a call from the director. I was truly honored, yet it was a call to scold me and it was all because of you, do you know that? After this, other celebrities under our company might also get treated with a bad impression. Lin Chuxue had been in this circle for so long yet no one dared to touch her, so I’m just super curious, where did you get the balls to get your hands on her? Now, look at what happened, a big fish appeared, a fish that could shock the entire entertainment industry, and you only got the company burned too! You tell me, what should you do?’

When President Zheng got to the end, he was almost roaring. He directly threw a document at Yan Xian’s face and shouted, “Take your f-cking contract with the company and get the f-ck out! I can’t afford to have a celebrity like you! Let me officially announce to you right now, our employment relationship ends right here!”