Chapter 47: Half the Entertainment Industry, How Will She Handle It?

"Sister Mi, what's wrong?"

Looking at Yang Mi's unusual expression, He Baibai asked with a hint of worry.

Frowning deeply, Yang Mi said, "Boss Yu says he wants to cancel our cooperation."

"Right at this critical juncture, with filming about to start, pulling something like this is going to seriously delay our entire schedule!"

He Baibai's pretty eyes widened in shock as she gasped, "Ah?"

"How could this happen? How can they breach the contract at a time like this!"

"What should we do now? Should we go look for another location?"

After a moment of contemplation, Yang Mi replied, "We need to start reaching out to other hotels similar to the Peace Hotel to use as our filming location. We have to prepare for the worst-case scenario."

To be honest, Yang Mi really didn't want to use any other hotel. After all, the Peace Hotel carried genuine historical weight. Choosing it as a filming location would go a long way in ensuring the audience's immersion in the story!

Besides, this was Yang Mi's directorial debut; she wanted every single detail to be absolute perfection!

"Got it, I'll get on the phone right away," He Baibai said. "Shouldn't we brief Chairman Liu about this first, though? Let's see how he wants to handle it."

"I'll notify Chairman Liu myself," Yang Mi instructed. "You go ahead and find some alternatives to serve as a backup plan."

After receiving this sudden blow, Yang Mi completely lost the mood to discuss the script. Without a proper filming location, after all, shooting couldn't possibly commence.

Just then, a C-list actress cautiously approached Yang Mi.

"Sister Mi."

Holding her phone, the young actress looked both nervous and concerned.

Turning her head, Yang Mi offered a faint smile and asked, "What is it, Xiao Ye?"

The actress replied, "Sister Mi, have you seen what's going on online?"

"I accidentally just saw that Wu Yufei's new drama is about to start filming, and their chosen location is... the Peace Hotel."

"I was wondering, isn't the Peace Hotel our designated location? Why is she filming there too? Won't that cause some kind of conflict?"

The bad blood between Yang Mi and Wu Yufei was an open secret in the industry, so this was hardly news.

Hearing this, Yang Mi's eyebrows arched sharply, and her gaze instantly turned ice cold!

Beside her, He Baibai let out a gasp of utter disbelief: "What?!"

Without missing a beat, He Baibai pulled out her phone to check.

Sure enough, the trending topics were dominated by Wu Yufei's promotional campaign for her new drama.

#Shooting dates for the new drama locked in! Here are some exclusive details about the series!#

Wu Yufei, Li Wenwu, and other cast members were actively hyping up the project online! They even explicitly announced several famous Shanghai landmarks serving as backdrops for the film.

Among them was the Peace Hotel!

Arthur Chen had even chimed in to promote his young girlfriend's project, posting a special message of gratitude on Weibo:

'Special thanks to Boss Yu for his support in choosing the Peace Hotel as our filming location. I believe this film will turn out even more magnificent than imagined!...'

Seeing all of this, He Baibai turned red with fury!

"What is the meaning of this?!" He Baibai fumed indignantly.

"Did Yu Liang breach our contract just to turn around and cooperate with Wu Yufei?!"

"This is completely crossing the line!"

Yang Mi stood frozen for a moment before her eyes gradually narrowed, her expression turning terrifyingly cold.

No wonder Yu Liang had broken his word to her—it turned out Wu Yufei had snatched it right out from under them!

Taking a deep breath, Yang Mi forced herself to calm down. This was precisely the time when she couldn't afford to lose her cool or let anger cloud her judgment.

"I'll go brief Chairman Liu on the situation," Yang Mi said in a low voice, before turning and heading out of the office to find Liu Yanbin.

Too furious to even curse Wu Yufei further, He Baibai immediately rushed off to find alternative locations. The show had to go on, after all.

...

Inside the chairman's office, Yang Mi stood before Liu Yanbin, laying out the entire situation regarding the filming location.

"Chairman Liu, Yu Liang has rescinded our agreement, which will severely delay our production schedule. Should we look into changing the location?" Yang Mi asked tentatively.

To be frank, she felt a heavy sense of guilt. After all, the location had been lost suddenly entirely because of her involvement.

Seeing Yang Mi standing respectfully, Liu Yanbin didn't dare to remain seated either. He stood up and said, "I'm already aware of the matter, Miss Yang. Please don't worry, I'll take care of it."

"The production schedule can be slowed down a bit. There's no rush."

Yang Mi hadn't expected Liu Yanbin to be so unconcerned, but she herself was burning with anxiety. This was her maiden voyage as a director; it simply had to be a success!

"Chairman Liu, I'll go look for alternative partnerships then. Our promotional materials have already been released; if we fail to premiere on schedule, it'll reflect very poorly on us."

Yang Mi added self-reproachfully, "Honestly, this is partly my fault for bringing such trouble to the company."

Liu Yanbin quickly waved his hand with a reassuring smile, "Miss Yang, please don't say things like that. Changing a location is no big deal at all."

"Don't worry about it. Go ahead and take care of your work, truly, there's no need to stress."

Seeing that Liu Yanbin seemed unperturbed, Yang Mi nodded, then left the office to resume the search for corporate partners alongside He Baibai.

Once Yang Mi had departed, the smile vanished from Liu Yanbin's face.

Sitting back down on the sofa, his gaze gradually sharpened into a piercing focus.

"Chairman Liu, Yu Liang breaching our contract is actually entirely due to Wu Yufei pulling strings to squeeze us out," Secretary Bai said in a low voice from the side. "Would you like to have another word with Boss Yu?"

Liu Yanbin waved his hand dismissively. "There's no need."

"Arthur Chen and Director Feng Xiaogang have undoubtedly already locked down the arrangement with Yu Liang. What would be the point of me going over there now?"

Liu Yanbin knew very well that his current position had been bestowed upon him by Wang Mian, and his only job was to keep Jaywalk Studio running smoothly. As for power struggles of this caliber, it was not his place to interfere.

At this thought, the corners of Liu Yanbin's mouth curled into a faint, ironic smile.

Yu Liang, oh Yu Liang, you truly are courting death.

Wang Mian would find out about this very soon, and once Li Qing uttered a single word, Yu Liang's career and future would reach an abrupt end.

At that moment, the secretary spoke up hesitatingly:

"Chairman Liu, there is something I'm not sure whether I should say."

Liu Yanbin raised an eyebrow, then chuckled, "There's nothing you can't say here. Go ahead."

Nodding, Secretary Bai lowered her voice and said, "Chairman Liu, the enmity between Wu Yufei and Yang Mi is common knowledge by now."

"The two of them are at absolute loggerheads."

Liu Yanbin chuckled softly, "So what? I'm well aware of it, everyone is."

Secretary Bai pressed on, "What I mean is... should we perhaps reconsider... backing Yang Mi?"

"To be frank, I don't understand why you place such high value on Yang Mi. By thoroughly offending Wu Yufei, she has essentially made an enemy of Arthur Chen."

"And behind Arthur Chen stand Feng Xiaogang and Chen Kaige. Half the entire entertainment industry is controlled by that circle."

"Yang Mi is bound to lose, and our investment will go completely down the drain!"

The more Secretary Bai spoke, the more anxious she became. She firmly believed that if Liu Yanbin continued to heavily patronize Yang Mi, Jaywalk Studio would inevitably collapse sooner or later. After all, what kind of entertainment agency goes out of its way to cross the entire entertainment establishment?

Hearing these words, however, the smile instantly vanished from Liu Yanbin's face, replaced by a glacial chill!