Walking to the door, Xiao He realized that Liu Rulan and the others had already come specifically to pick him up.

Elder Qian originally wanted to ask a few more questions about what happened in the restoration room, but seeing this, he didn't ask further. He let Xiao He leave with his Agent first: "This matter has already troubled you all greatly. I heard it even led to your Film Crew stopping production. I imagine you'll be no less busy than us lately, so this old man won't delay you any further."

"Ah, it's fine. Elder Qian, let us see you off!"

Xiao He proactively opened the car door.

Liu Rulan also leaned her head out to invite him: "Elder Qian, let us drop you back at the Association first!"

"No need, no need. We have our own car, and I really haven't rested well lately. I won't go back to the Association this time; I'm going straight home to sleep."

Elder Qian waved his hand dismissively.

After several failed invitations, Xiao He could only see Elder Qian to his own car first before returning to get into Liu Rulan's car.

Once the car started moving slowly, Xiao He finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked Liu Rulan, "It seems everything is going smoothly on Director Qiu's end?"

"Mm, the public opinion impact of this matter is quite large. Yun Ziqi's side also wanted to take advantage of the chaos to stir things up and snatch back the role, so Director Qiu ran back first to avoid the limelight."

Liu Rulan explained.

Xiao He understood instantly and was a bit stuck between laughter and tears: "No wonder the Film Crew stopped production so decisively. This is completely different from his usual competitive king style."

In the past, Director Qiu would have insisted on everyone filming even under the pressure of not having a break during May Day.

But now, as soon as work stopped, he ran faster than anyone.

He didn't even give them a heads-up, leaving them clueless about the situation.

"Director Qiu is really something, not even giving us a heads-up in advance."

Xiao He couldn't help but complain.

Liu Rulan snorted and said with her arms crossed, "Don't think of him as too simple. Once he left and 'the imperial cause' Film Crew stopped production, you, as the Male Protagonist, are definitely more anxious than anyone. So now, the party responsible for managing the online public opinion has instead become us, Linghui Entertainment. All the statements and the rhythm of suppressing the hot searches are our responsibility, while 'the imperial cause' Film Crew has effectively hidden in the background."

Jingyou Entertainment now has that scoundrel Yun Ziqi adding fuel to the fire for his own company's project, wishing for things to get bigger and bigger. Meanwhile, Linghui Entertainment, which has no direct investment relationship with 'the imperial cause' Film Crew, is charging at the front lines of fire suppression just to protect their boss's role.

It sounded a bit ridiculous, but it was actually happening.

However, if Director Qiu hadn't made this brilliant move, the person busy running around right now would likely have been the director himself. After all, this matter required him to mediate in the middle.

But he was the director, and a state-appointed one at that. He wasn't Xiao He's person, nor did he have much to do with Jingyou Entertainment. Although he had enough creative authority in the Film Crew and wasn't afraid of the capital's demands to change actors, he didn't have much say when the upper investment structure of 'the imperial cause' Film Crew underwent a sudden change. Caught in the middle of both parties, helping either side would be awkward and offend people.

So, with a series of clever tricks, he extracted himself cleanly, avoiding the dilemma of being the middleman. He left Xiao He and the others to face Yun Ziqi's side directly, then patted his buttocks and escaped smoothly, returning to Beijing to watch the fire from the other side of the river.

See? Hasn't the situation turned out exactly as he wished?

The higher-ups at Jingyou Entertainment are busy with internal fighting and have no time to manage the public opinion storm of 'the imperial cause' Film Crew. Yun Ziqi can't find Director Qiu, so he can only continue to pressure the internet, increasing the intensity of the black materials. Meanwhile, to protect the role and the Film Crew's hard work, Xiao He's side naturally has to step forward and face off against the public opinion manipulators on Yun Ziqi's side, beginning a mutual'slaughter' on the internet.

And Director Qiu?

He's already at home drinking tea and waiting for the results.

Xiao He was stunned by Liu Rulan's analysis.

Liu Rulan finally concluded: "You have to know, to go from an ordinary entertainment director to someone with a permanent position on the government payroll—how could he be a simple character?"

Xiao He was silent for a moment, then said somewhat hesitantly, "Thinking about it this way, is it a bit..."

"Of course, I believe Director Qiu still wants to protect you more than anything."

Liu Rulan changed the subject and said with a smile, "Otherwise, he wouldn't have met me today, nor would he have let me go online to clash with that lunatic An Laijia. After all, Yun Ziqi's role has already finished filming. If we take him down, Director Qiu will still have a headache..."

No matter who changed what role, it required Qiu Zhenlong's consent. Since Qiu Zhenlong wasn't there, the matter could only be dragged out until everything returned to calm.

And his tacit approval of Liu Rulan attacking Yun Ziqi's Agent, An Laijia—wasn't that also a tacit approval for Liu Rulan to help 'the imperial cause' Film Crew replace Yun Ziqi's role?

"So Director Qiu, although he has a sharp tongue, is quite demanding, is old-fashioned, and loves to talk like a bureaucrat... aside from those—he's a decent person."

Liu Rulan said.

Xiao He: "...Sister Liu, if your intro chant could be a bit shorter, I guess Director Qiu would be happier if he found out."

Though the flaws she mentioned were indeed true, cough cough—

"But you just said you're clashing with Yun Ziqi's Agent online?"

Xiao He looked at Liu Rulan with some doubt and pulled out his phone: "What happened now?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Liu Rulan shrugged disdainfully, "Just a simple confrontation exclusive to Agents." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

A confrontation between Agents?

Xiao He didn't understand the deep meaning behind Liu Rulan's words. He thought it was the usual routine of artists throwing black materials at each other. He calmly opened his phone and began to check the main battlefield of the 'war'—Weibo.

The next second, countless hot searches entered his sight:

【An Laijia's Teammate Suicide】

【An Laijia Drove Teammate to Death】

【An Laijia Human Blood Buns】

...

Seeing those densely packed hot searches and the clear, concise names, Xiao He, who was clearly not fully prepared, fell into silence.

"How did this woman offend Sister Liu? Did she violate the laws of heaven?"

Sister Liu actually hung her at the top for so many entries in one go?!

Xiao He took a deep breath and clicked on a keyword to scroll down. They were actually all different; various floral combinations exposed An Laijia's black materials from before and after she became an Agent with complete clarity.

"Cough, cough—"

Xiao He was truly choked by his own saliva: "Sister Liu, such high-standard treatment?"

It was practically hanging her on a flagpole to whip and mock her frantically!

"Humph, she was the one who planned to move against me first. Isn't it normal for me to strike back?" Liu Rulan had a look of mockery on her face. "Do you know what she went to do? She found Su Shengxi and my former employer, planning to join forces to expose some black materials from when I was an Agent, to drive a wedge between us and lead fans and other rivals ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) to start a war against you."

Put it this way: as an Agent, who hasn't bought black materials on a rival?

Who hasn't hired water armies to attack a rival?

If an Agent's methods aren't a bit dirty, can they maintain the 'pure and flawless' image of their artist?

Who doesn't know who here?

Wanting to pull the artists and fans she once smeared into a siege against her, Liu Rulan?

Why do you think that idiot Su Shengxi could hold his breath and keep those secrets for several years?