Chapter 184 - 142: She Was Unkind First, So Don’t Blame Me

Chapter 184: Chapter 142: She Was Unkind First, So Don’t Blame Me

Just then, Director Zhang was looking through the camera when Yang Mi came over and patted him on the shoulder. With a mysterious expression, she said, "Director Zhang, you’ve got to see this."

Hearing this, Director Zhang pulled his face away from the camera and looked at Yang Mi seriously.

Before he could say a word, Yang Mi quickly handed him her phone. "Look. It’s the author of our show. An influencer put him on blast, saying he’s involved with his sister-in-law and calling him a freeloader. Just watch, you’ll see."

Although she didn’t know Xiao Ran well, just based on his talent for adaptation, Yang Mi really didn’t think he was the type to be a freeloader.

This was clearly just someone trying to slander him. As celebrities, they were all used to being targets of smear campaigns.

In her eyes, this sort of thing couldn’t be more normal.

’But this is the first time I’ve ever gotten gossip about a brother-in-law and his sister-in-law. This is so juicy!’

Hearing this, Director Zhang took the phone dubiously. After seeing the content of the video, he couldn’t help but frown. "This is clearly a malicious fabrication!"

Fame attracts trouble—that’s a timeless rule. They must have seen that Xiao Ran was getting a little popular and now they wanted to leech off him and ride the hype.

This sort of thing was commonplace in the entertainment industry.

’Xiao Ran seems like a decent young man,’ he thought. ’He can’t be this kind of person!’

Meanwhile, Liu Min had also seen the news. Deciding to dig a little deeper, she searched for the keywords and immediately found four such videos, posted by four different streamers, all at the exact same time.

With the show currently airing, if this news exploded, everyone would find out that Xiao Ran was the author.

If it affected the viewership ratings, it would be no laughing matter.

With this in mind, she hurried over to the filming area and approached Director Zhang. "Director Zhang, there’s something I need to talk to you about."

Director Zhang frowned. "What is it?"

"Well, I just saw four influencers all slandering Xiao Ran," Liu Min said seriously. "I’m worried that if this continues, it will inevitably be bad for our show."

Hearing this, Director Zhang, who was sitting on a small stool, looked astonished. "Four?"

’I’ve only seen one. How could there be four of them?’

Yang Mi was also taken aback by what Liu Min said. Her beautiful, fox-like eyes widened slightly as she said in surprise, "No way. Someone must be targeting him."

One person could just be a random critic, but this many? It was definitely more than simple criticism. There had to be something else going on behind the scenes!

Director Zhang thought for a moment. If four influencers were really all saying the same thing, then it was almost certain, just as Yang Mi had said, that he was being targeted.

After some thought, he decided to give Xiao Ran a call.

After all, it was his show, and Xiao Ran was the one who wrote it.

If this incident blew up, some viewers would surely choose not to watch the show.

That would be a loss for him.

He had, after all, poured a great deal of effort into this drama.

’I really can’t afford a single misstep!’

Liu Min looked at Director Zhang seriously. "What do you think? Should I contact Xiao Ran now and ask him who he might have offended recently?"

Director Zhang lit a cigarette and thought for a moment before speaking. "First, go ask him. And while you’re at it, find out who’s behind this. It’s not a huge problem, so let’s just take care of it for him."

Don’t get the wrong idea.

’This isn’t me sticking my neck out for him,’ he thought. ’It’s just that if this is easy to resolve, I might as well do him a favor.’

After all, he was a talented author. If this show did well, they could collaborate again on the next one.

In this day and age, even the best screenwriters were just hired hands for top editors. The easiest way for a production to make money was to adapt a good book; many authors wrote material far more interesting than what screenwriters could produce on their own.

He definitely needed to maintain a good relationship with an author like Xiao Ran. Nurturing their personal connection was the same as safeguarding their professional one.

Hearing this, Liu Min nodded. "Okay, Director Zhang, I’ll get right on it!"

With that, she turned and walked to a quieter spot, took out her phone, and hurriedly called someone in the network department.

"Xiaowang, I’m about to send you a few videos. I need you to find out which company these influencers belong to. Do it now."

This matter had to be dealt with as quickly as possible.

In less than three minutes, the network department had already gotten to the bottom of it and sent the information straight to Liu Min’s phone.

Liu Min frowned as she looked at the message that came back.

’Influencers from Yunya Company?’

’This Yunya Company...’ she thought. ’Weren’t they the ones pestering my subordinate, Xiaozhang, just a couple of days ago, trying to get their new web series onto Ai Qi?’

She recalled hearing that the show wasn’t very good, which was why Xiaozhang hadn’t been keen on acquiring it. She remembered that much.

’If I contact their boss directly, this shouldn’t be hard to solve. It just means reluctantly picking up one of their shows. It’s not like Ai Qi is short on bad dramas, anyway.’

’What’s one more?’

’Still, it feels like a raw deal.’

She mulled it over as she dialed Xiao Ran’s number.

The top priority was still to find out exactly who he had offended.

The atmosphere in the car was exceptionally somber. No one spoke, and even the radio was silent.

Yan Xici and Xiao Ran were sitting in the back, holding hands.

Zhang Chuan was just about to speak when Yan Xici’s phone rang. He closed his mouth.