Chapter 66: She Tasted Bitterness
Nangong Ying had always been a proud person since childhood. Being outstanding since young, she could obtain anything. Perhaps precisely because of this, she was somewhat different from ordinary people, possessing a trace of arrogance deep down. As long as she wanted, she could do anything; she could achieve what others couldn’t.
She thought she was the strongest.
She thought she could do anything.
But today, reality taught her a lesson, letting her understand what a painful lesson meant. Sometimes, just having ability, just being outstanding, was far from enough. In the face of absolute power, everything was so insignificant. She thought Orange River couldn’t force her, but she didn’t expect Orange River to pull this move.
Today’s sunlight dimmed. Nangong Ying sat in the lounge, somewhat dejected. She had lost her job, been kicked out of the crew, and her salary was naturally gone. Although the actors in the same crew were pleading for her, especially the male lead Liang Hui who she co-starred with, this was a decision from above; they had no right to interfere.
“Xiao Ying.”
Li Yuexin saw her like this and couldn’t bear to watch. Since the failure of the lawsuit, the loss of her job, followed by the banning of the movie, a series of blows left her disheartened. Li Yuexin also grew increasingly worried.
She knew Nangong Ying was a newcomer, and starting on this path would inevitably lead to setbacks. She just didn’t expect her to suffer such a blow. Let alone Nangong Ying, even Li Yuexin hadn’t expected Orange River to make this move.
This big company clearly retaliated because Nangong Ying refused to sign under their banner, using it as an excuse. It was just that nobody dared to speak these things out loud. The water in the entertainment industry ran far deeper than people imagined.
“Sister Yuexin, did I do something wrong?”
Nangong Ying was dejected, her tone extremely depressed.
She didn’t understand. She clearly hadn’t done anything wrong. Why did it turn out like this? Why treat her this way?
The land she yearned for, wanted to gain a foothold in, was actually so treacherous. Just as her father once said, this place was too chaotic, too dangerous. A slight carelessness, and you could be dragged down.
This was also one of the reasons her father didn’t want her to develop here.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just… many times, people like us are constrained by circumstances. We can’t decide our own destiny, but at least, we must learn to bow our heads. Because stubbornness brings us no benefits.”
Nangong Ying fell silent.
She thought about how to proceed on the road ahead. With her being kicked out of the crew, no other director would dare to hire her. Who didn’t know she was in trouble now? Who would still dare to want her? The worst part was “Storm Seal,” which she had finished filming. Relying on Orange River’s influence, this movie might be shelved, prevented from release.
This movie had an investment of 90 million, but post-production wasn’t finished yet. Therefore, including the early and mid-stage investments, about 50 million had been spent in total. Orange River contributed 29 million of this. For this large company, losing this amount of money was nothing. But the one likely in trouble was Miss Ye. She had invested nearly 10 million in it. If the movie didn’t make money, she would really lose money.
Orange River did this precisely to suppress Nangong Ying, teach this arrogant girl a lesson, let her know the rules. And Nangong Ying indeed tasted bitterness.
Her biggest trouble now was that the movie she filmed couldn’t be released, nor could it enter post-production. Relying on their influence, no one in the entire circle dared to speak out. Nangong Ying tasted what true disparity meant.
“Rest for a while first. I’ll help you figure out a way later.”
Patting her shoulder, Li Yuexin said this. Actually, she didn’t feel good either. The banning of the movie meant the soundtrack their band completed couldn’t gain fame through the movie’s release. The pressure she bore was not small either. But in front of Nangong Ying, she had to be strong.
News of the movie being banned quickly reached Ye Zhiyun’s ears. Although she had been busy with other things these days, she received the news from her butler immediately. When she learned this news, her first reaction was anger. She had worked hard to invest funds, and now it was all going down the drain just like that?
Furious, she almost wanted to drive to Orange River to argue with them, but was stopped by the butler.
“Miss, please don’t be impulsive. Orange River has already sent someone to talk to me. They stated that if the movie cannot be released, they are willing to compensate you for your losses. I think they were prepared for this.”
Ye Zhiyun was very angry, but not to the point of losing her cool. She knew what Orange River meant. They simply wanted to suppress others to satisfy themselves. They were rich and powerful, not afraid of losing this bit of money. And they probably had a backup plan; they wouldn’t casually fight such a disadvantageous battle.
Indeed, loss wasn’t a happy thing for anyone. Orange River must have had a plan before doing this.
Judging from kicking Nangong Ying out of the crew without paying her a cent, they had a plan. As for the banned movie, it was unlikely to be truly banned forever; at most, it would be shelved and released after a few years. Mainly because “Storm Seal” looked like a bad film, lacking audience appeal. As an established company, they understood movies better than anyone. They probably dared to act so unscrupulously because they felt this film wouldn’t earn much money.
“Miss, we cannot go find them. If we go now, they will have an excuse to deal with us. Even if not for yourself, please think about Master. We cannot get involved in this muddy water.”
The highly skilled and assertive Miss Ye, in the face of a huge commercial empire, also had to bow her head. What if she was capable? She had personally told her father she wouldn’t rely on family power. Obviously, she couldn’t ask her family for help. Besides, she didn’t want to involve her parents.
Ye Zhiyun sat down defeatedly, clutching her head, ultimately having to accept fate. In the face of absolute power, she had no resistance either. Orange River was too big; it wasn’t something she could deal with.
“Miss, don’t look so down. The movie invested in Director Murong before is about to be released. It will earn a sum of money then. We should now look for new movie projects to invest in. That is our task.”
Ye Zhiyun rubbed her head, forcing herself to calm down. She had to admit, he was right. Instead of wasting time thinking wildly here, it was better to find ways to look for new projects to make money.
Since she was a businesswoman, she had to act like one.
“Alright, how much liquid capital do we have left that we can use?”
“You earned 10.02 million. Including the uncommitted amount, there’s over 20 million in total. After Director Murong’s movie is released, the box office share should be around forty million, of course, this is an estimate.”
“Okay, this amount is enough for me to invest in a major production.”
Although troubled, fortunately, she still had a lot of money on hand, enough for her to continue investing. She, a rich second-generation, had doubled the 5 million her father gave her back then into such a figure, which was already quite impressive. In just three years, she went from having nothing to becoming a veritable multi-millionaire.
Although far from being as great as her father, she felt she was really quite amazing. Earning so much money at the age of eighteen, others probably couldn’t do it.
At this moment, what she needed to consider was how to continue making money. She didn’t particularly like money; she just enjoyed the process of making money.
While these things were happening in the entertainment industry, the outside world knew nothing. No one knew what exactly happened inside. Everyone continued living their own lives, completely unaware of the events behind the scenes.
Yu Linna returned to her normal life. After school every day, she went to work part-time to earn money, and her days gradually stabilized. She attended school every day now and was even selected by the homeroom teacher as a representative to participate in the city’s English competition. Although she didn’t want to go, hearing that the first place had prize money immediately made her eager. Yu Linna didn’t have many special abilities, but in studying alone, she wouldn’t lose to others.
Every day, she had one class period dedicated to receiving tutoring from the English teacher, precisely to defeat the contestants from the Experimental Middle School in the city’s English competition and win the championship. In the past, the City Middle School had never won first place.
“Classmate Yu, your foundation is very good, and your spoken English is also quite excellent. I think you have the ability to compete for that first-place throne. As long as you listen to me, I guarantee you won’t make mistakes.”
The English teacher actually didn’t have much left to teach because Yu Linna had basically learned all the high school knowledge. When she performed well on English exams, she scored 140 points. Such formidable strength made her outstanding even nationwide.
Sure enough, is it because she’s mixed-race that her English ability is so outstanding? The English teacher couldn’t help but think.
If he knew Yu Linna had actually never been abroad, wonder what his reaction would be.
To win the award, Yu Linna could only nod. Anyway, as long as she won the award, everything would be fine, right? She really wanted that prize money. She happened to be short of money recently, having eaten instant noodles for several days again. She wanted to get some money to add extra dishes for herself.
“By the way, Classmate Yu, have you heard about Classmate Nangong?”
Suddenly, the English teacher mentioned Nangong Ying, the person who hadn’t attended class for a long time.
“No, what’s wrong?”
“She took leave for a long time, said she went filming, and there’s been no news until now. You have a good relationship with her. Do you know what she’s doing now?”
“Not sure. I only know she seems to have gone out of the province, supposedly took on a new role. I don’t know much more.”
“Then let me know if you have news. Her homeroom teacher is looking for her, saying her graduation aspiration form hasn’t been submitted yet.”
Yu Linna nodded. She planned to send her a message later to ask.
It had been a while since she heard from Nangong. She didn’t know if she was working well, didn’t know how she was doing now. Hope everything is well with her.
Whenever she thought of Nangong Ying’s figure back then, her heart always felt warm. She wouldn’t forget the kindness Nangong Ying had shown her. They were good friends, good friends for life. If she could become famous, Yu Linna would also feel happy. Although there would be disappointment in her heart, happiness would definitely outweigh it.
But how could she know that Nangong Ying was caught in a struggle?
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