CHAPTER 177: CHAPTER 177: CHANGE IN STATUS

"Hey, buddy, heading to the city?"

Perhaps due to the lack of passengers today, Li Jing tried to order a ride through the app but didn’t succeed, so he approached a car parked by the roadside and asked, "Can I catch a ride?"

The middle-aged man with a buzz cut in the car glanced coldly at Li Jing, his eyes indifferent, took a drag of his cigarette, and continued to look down at the short video on his phone, saying impatiently, "I’m here to pick someone up, not a ride-share driver."

"One thousand."

"One thousand what?" The middle-aged buzz cut man frowned in confusion.

"Drive me back to the city now, I’ll give you a thousand."

"A thousand?!"

The middle-aged buzz cut man’s voice involuntarily rose, and he looked at Li Jing in surprise, his originally lazy demeanor becoming a bit more spirited.

He sized up Li Jing once more, noting his high-end attire, his interest piqued, but still doubting, he asked, "You’ll really give a thousand? Where are you going?"

Li Jing provided Mr. Chen’s residence location, which was precisely where he parked.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged buzz cut man’s eyes shifted slightly, and after pondering for a moment, he said, "I can take you, but you must pay in advance."

"Okay, I can give you five hundred first, and another five hundred upon arrival."

"Alright, deal!"

The middle-aged buzz cut man agreed more readily than Li Jing had anticipated, promptly extinguishing his cigarette, turning around to clean up the mess in the passenger seat, and then turned back to Li Jing, saying, "Bro, hop in!"

Seeing the abrupt change in the man’s attitude, Li Jing climbed into the car, jokingly asking, "Not picking up your friend anymore?"

"It’s a friend I’m picking up, but he probably won’t arrive for some time, so it’s fine to drop you off first."

Having received Li Jing’s five hundred, the middle-aged man’s demeanor noticeably improved, adjusting the navigation and promptly heading toward the city.

Unexpectedly, he received a call from his friend shortly after starting.

"What, you’ll be here in twenty minutes? Didn’t you say the highway was jammed?"

"Why don’t you ask if the driver can take you straight to my house, I’ll send you the location."

"He’s not willing? Said he’d only drop you at the highway exit? Why is he so stubborn? Well, hang on then, I’m... stuck in the city traffic, might be another forty or fifty minutes before I get there, maybe entertain yourself with your phone at the highway exit."

"Come on, don’t complain, city traffic is heavy, Celestial Sea City’s roads are crowded, can’t help it. You think I don’t want to pick you up sooner? It’s an unavoidable factor!"

...

At the same time, Wen Lan personally drove Yang Xiaoxiu back to Celestial Sea Drama Academy.

On the way, they exchanged many ideas on the script and performance.

To Wen Lan’s surprise, Yang Xiaoxiu was even more impressive and diligent than she had expected, and importantly, she genuinely loved acting rather than just doing it for money.

This was one of the reasons Wen Lan favored her.

In Wen Lan’s view, passion is the best teacher, and anyone who stands out in any field is invariably fueled by enthusiasm and interest.

Stopping at the academy’s gate, Wen Lan turned to Yang Xiaoxiu in the passenger seat, ready to disembark, and encouraged her, "Don’t stress too much over it. We’ll handle the cast change; just focus on how to better interpret the role."

"Got it. Thanks, Director Wen. I’ll work hard." Yang Xiaoxiu nodded earnestly, understanding the importance of grasping this rare opportunity with all her might.

Seeing the determination and sincerity in her eyes, Wen Lan nodded in satisfaction, then added, "Actually, you should really thank President Li. Without his recommendation, I wouldn’t have realized you were this outstanding."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaoxiu’s expression shifted slightly, then she nodded firmly, "I understand; Brother Jing is a benefactor in my life. Without his help, I might have completely missed the chance with this film."

Noticing the differing attitude towards Li Jing, Wen Lan squinted slightly, feeling a sudden urge to inquire about their relationship, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately asked:

"Xiaoxiu, there are things I shouldn’t pry into, but I’ve been thinking about it and hope to understand: what’s your relationship with President Li?"

Yang Xiaoxiu seemed to have anticipated someone would ask her this question, her expression remained unchanged, explaining openly, "Director Wen, Brother Jing is a wonderful person, he just has confidence in me; we don’t really have much of a relationship."

If I must say, we’re at most regular friends, and that’s only with Brother Jing’s agreement."

Wen Lan was somewhat surprised by this answer, unable to resist frowning and pressing further, "You really are... just ordinary friends?"

Having said that, Wen Lan immediately regretted asking about such a private matter.

Just as she tried to explain, Yang Xiaoxiu already responded with a smile, "Director Wen, I know people might speculate otherwise, but Brother Jing and I really are just ordinary friends. He’s a gentleman in the truest sense, quite different from other men, at least he’s never made any inappropriate requests of me."

"A... gentleman??"

Wen Lan thought she had misheard, unable to fathom that could be Li Jing’s reputation.

In her mind, a gentleman seemed entirely disconnected from Li Jing.

Yet, Yang Xiaoxiu stated it sincerely and naturally.

After watching Yang Xiaoxiu get out of the car and leave, Wen Lan still hadn’t regained her composure.

President Li... is really enigmatic...

Perhaps... it’s precisely these aspects that attracted Wei Jia?

...

Following the change of the second female role, a significant disruption ensued within the entire crew.

The crew members speculated secretly, marketing accounts also started stirring online, even Dai Weiwei’s boyfriend personally visited the set demanding explanations from Wen Lan and others.

Fortunately, Wen Lan handled the situation with Wei Jia’s decisiveness, quickly unifying the management’s opinion, and proceeded legally, compensating Dai Weiwei’s boyfriend with due breach of contract payments.

Within days, besides the cost of compensating and managing online discourse, news of Li Jing’s additional five-million investment in the crew spread.

The crew was extremely shocked by Li Jing’s actions and realized that his financial power might be even more substantial than imagined.

This was directly evidenced by Li Jing’s reception in the crew, where the personnel showed noticeably more respect toward him.

Unlike the random public, the crew is a community of interests, and without Li Jing’s investment, everyone’s interests would be affected in varying degrees.

Thus, exhibiting immense financial capability once more, Li Jing’s status elevated significantly within the crew’s minds.

Furthermore, originally a minor role, Yang Xiaoxiu’s emergence in the second female lead sparked another hot topic discussed privately among crew members.

Fortunately, due to Mr. Chen’s strong recommendation, as well as the recognition from Wen Lan, Wei Jia, and others, the crew refrained from publicly expressing dissent and limited their gossip to quiet whispers.

However, amid the numerous explosive news, a small rumor subtly circulated among some gossip enthusiasts, suggesting Yang Xiaoxiu’s acquiring the role had significant ties with Li Jing.

This rumor was highly confidential, making no one brave enough to directly verify.

Nonetheless, people’s perception of Yang Xiaoxiu transformed, seeing her no longer as a resource-less newcomer without connections.

As for Li Jing, not only could he readily invest millions but also influence the selection of major roles in the crew, these combined facts made the crew feel his sway was much greater than initially presumed.

Thus, if Wen Lan was deemed the most revered figure to obey in the crew, Li Jing’s status now stood just beneath hers.

Whatever words he casually uttered now held more authority and impact than those from other deputy directors in the crew.