Chapter 17: No One Can Bypass Me to Subject Chen Wei to Hidden Rules
When Chen Wei first joined the company, he was once the center of a fierce tug-of-war among the managers due to his outstanding temperament and appearance.
However, ever since he rejected the “explosive popularity” path the company had painstakingly prepared for him, the company had essentially discarded him, tossing him to Han Chi and never looking back.
Fortunately, the recent “plastic surgery” hot search topic had caused quite a stir in the industry, so the Director’s attitude toward Han Chi was currently somewhat polite.
Everyone was a sharp player. After the necessary pleasantries, Han Chi directly stated his purpose for visiting Xu Cheng.
Upon learning that Han Chi was there for a role in the drama Sword Soul, Xu Cheng was more than a little surprised.
Under normal circumstances, for a self-produced adaptation of a big IP bought by a media company, the casting priority would definitely be given to the company’s own artists.
Typically, the two top artists would be cast as the male and female leads to generate hype, and then the newcomers the company wanted to promote would be stuffed in as supporting roles according to their status.
In the entertainment industry, this was commonly known as the “Family Bucket” package or “nursing the newcomers.”
Although Chen Wei had been in a lukewarm state for years, his market value had inadvertently risen with the continuous hot searches over the past two days.
If Chen Wei truly wanted to play one of the supporting roles, it wasn’t impossible.
However, Xu Cheng had his own little schemes.
Chen Wei’s stunning looks had always been a point Xu Cheng couldn’t get over.
He had lost count of how many times he had secretly hinted to Han Chi about letting Chen Wei trade his body for resources.
With capital support and that face of his, it would be hard for Chen Wei not to be famous in the entertainment industry.
But Han Chi always treated his words like wind passing through his ears.
Now that they had finally opened their mouths to ask for something, Xu Cheng didn’t want to miss any chance to force them to submit.
He tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him, feigning difficulty, his tone carrying a sense of being forced:
“It’s not that I don’t want to help you… It’s just that, regarding the investors’ decision, a small director like me really can’t call the shots.”
“How about…” Xu Cheng began his hints again, winking and gesturing.
If Han Chi were sensible, he should follow the lead and continue the conversation.
Then, Xu Cheng could simply “push the boat with the current” and send Chen Wei to the bed of a big shot in the industry as a favor.
Except…
“So, you’re saying you don’t want to help us, Director?”
The beautiful fantasy was interrupted by Han Chi’s cold sneer. The smile that had just appeared on Xu Cheng’s face instantly stiffened.
Dropping his negotiating tone, he pulled a long face and snorted coldly:
“What do you mean I don’t want to help? Look at the artists who debuted at the same time as you. Which of them is like you two, still spinning your wheels after three years in the industry?”
Logically, someone with a stubborn personality like Chen Wei, who refused to serve people, should have been eliminated by the entertainment industry long ago.
Yet, over these three years, who knew what kind of connections Han Chi had?
Every time Chen Wei’s popularity was on the verge of dying, he managed to scrounge up one “trash” resource after another.
They were called “trash” because those resources were practically invisible in the entertainment circle.
But it was precisely these invisible scraps that had somehow kept Chen Wei steadily in the industry for three years.
Chen Wei’s contract hadn’t expired yet.
Xu Cheng wanted to blackball him but couldn’t quite manage it.
Whenever he thought about this, Xu Cheng felt as if he had swallowed a fly—utterly disgusted.
“It’s useless to talk to me if you want a role.”
With a cold face, he casually picked up a business card from the desk and tossed it in front of Han Chi:
“President Zhang of Yuanchen Technology is the biggest investor for Sword Soul. If you’re capable, go find a way through him yourselves.”
By now, if Han Chi still didn’t understand the meaning behind Xu Cheng’s words, his years in the entertainment industry would have been for nothing.
To avoid bringing trouble to Chen Wei, Han Chi had never told anyone about Chen Wei’s backing by Zhou Sijin.
To prevent Chen Wei’s secret from leaking, even the few members of their team were trusted people he had found from the start.
“When the path is different, even half a sentence is too much.” Since their ideas were different, there was no need to continue talking.
Asking Chen Wei to go to a drinking party to sell smiles and please people?
Not to mention that Chen Wei was now Zhou Sijin’s man!
Even without Zhou Sijin, he couldn’t bring himself to do something like pushing his own artist into a fire pit.
“Director.”
Han Chi rose from his chair, facing Xu Cheng with a cold but polite smile:
“After working at the company for so many years, you should know my personality best.”
He looked Xu Cheng straight in the eye, his face still bearing that flat expression:
“As long as I’m here, no one can bypass me and subject Chen Wei to hidden rules.”
Having said his piece, Han Chi didn’t hesitate.
After a slight nod of acknowledgment to Xu Cheng, he prepared to leave.
“Han Chi.”
The moment he turned around, Xu Cheng’s malicious voice followed from behind:
“I remember your contract is about to expire, right?”
Han Chi paused, stopped, and turned around.
Looking at Xu Cheng across from him, his brows knit slightly.
Han Chi asked, “What do you mean?”
Hearing this, Xu Cheng only smiled.
But no matter how one looked at it, that smile carried an indescribable, crafty coldness.
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