Liang Dan wanted to strip Xu Mei of her acting contract and bench her, but Taiwan disagreed.
The romance queen, long-established and famously detail-oriented, wouldn’t allow changes to her adapted work, not even dialogue. Swap out a chosen actor at the last minute?
No way.
During casting, Producer Yang deliberated long before settling on Xu Mei. Now Liang Dan claimed scheduling conflicts, saying Xu Mei might not star in the romance queen’s new drama. Yang called Xu Mei in front of Liang Dan, asking why she was going back on her word.
“The contract’s signed. Didn’t you clear your schedule? The shoot’s about to start, and now you say it’s a scheduling issue? Xu Mei, this is a breach. If you act like this, not only will I never work with you again, but in this small industry, what reputation will you have left?”
Xu Mei’s voice on the phone sounded aggrieved, as if she’d bare her heart to Yang.
“Sister Yang, you’ve misunderstood me! Who said I have scheduling issues? My focus is your drama. To be honest, I’ve read the source material countless times to prepare. I treasure this chance. Why would I back out now?”
Yang hung up and glanced at Liang Dan. “Looks like Miss Xu has the time.”
Everything in the world boils down to supply and demand. The romance queen’s decades-long reputation far outshone a new company like Tianjiao.
Yang chose Xu Mei for the key role not through Liang Dan’s connections but after weighing acting skills, fame, and image. Finding someone who met such strict criteria was tough. Once Xu Mei was chosen, no changes were made lightly!
Liang Dan wasn’t happy?
This wasn’t a deal with her or Mr. Guan personally but with Hunan Satellite TV as a whole.
What was Liang Dan in the grand scheme?
Yang’s pushback left Liang Dan fuming.
Unable to block Xu Mei from the romance queen’s drama, Liang Dan vowed to give her no other work and make her defection a pipe dream. She consoled herself: once Yuan Fenghui was crushed, she’d deal with Xu Mei!
The industry couldn’t keep secrets. Yang’s fuss spread the news of Xu Mei’s defection. Yang even wondered why Xu Mei didn’t consider her company. Xu Mei was humble. “This lawsuit could drag on. How could I make you wait, Sister Yang? Plus, you’ve got business with Hunan. I don’t want to put you in a tough spot.”
Fair point.
The acting contract was signed, and Liang Dan couldn’t stop Xu Mei from filming. But she could delay the defection.
Yang didn’t care about Liang Dan’s feelings, but with ongoing business, a lawsuit would be awkward.
Xu Mei hadn’t yet earned enough value for Yang to go all-in for her.
Yang changed the subject. “So, which company are you joining?”
“Shanghai Jiaxin.”
“Sounds familiar…”
Yang racked her brain but couldn’t recall any major Jiaxin hits.
Xu Mei’s decision to jump ship was right, but her youth and lack of foresight were not. If she couldn’t get resources under Mr. Guan, joining a weak company wouldn’t help either.
“I hope you resolve this quickly and don’t let it affect your filming!”
Yang’s biggest fear was the drama flopping. As long as Xu Mei performed, nothing else mattered.
Despite siding with Xu Mei against Liang Dan, Yang would drop her without hesitation if she caused trouble.
Xu Mei hadn’t expected to keep this opportunity.
Were she and Liang Dan’s couple cosmically mismatched, dragging down her luck?
She hadn’t even left yet, but it felt like her fortunes were turning.
Xu Mei felt reassured.
She’d told Cao Bo she was testing Jiaxin’s sincerity and didn’t care about losing the contract, but deep down, she did. Keeping it was ideal.
Xu Mei felt she should do something.
Since they’d already fallen out.
Xu Mei often hyped her relationship with Cao Bo and had friendly reporters. When Liang Dan threatened to bench her, Xu Mei leaked her defection plans to them.
…
“2004 Talent Show Champion Xu Mei Seeks to Terminate Contract!”
Wen Ying learned from the newspaper that Xu Mei had clashed with Liang Dan and her husband.
Xu Mei had guts, clearly having secured a new home before acting.
Her defection perfectly matched Wang Shuang’s PR post. The champion, runner-up, and third-place winners all leaving proved Mr. Guan couldn’t keep talent.
Imagining Mr. Guan’s face, Wen Ying nearly died laughing.
The report didn’t say where Xu Mei was going, but reporters eagerly speculated she’d join Tianjiao, reuniting with Li Mengjiao and Zhang Yangning!
Nonsense.
If Xu Mei were joining Tianjiao, Wang Shuang might not know, but Wen Ying would.
Wang Shuang hadn’t realised he had a prophet’s knack.
“Xu Mei jumping ship is great. With her leading, I bet tons of Mr. Guan’s artists want out. Let them all leave and make him a lone commander!”
Wang Shuang didn’t care much about Xu Mei’s move. He just wanted Yuan Fenghui to clear her name.
Li Mengjiao was mostly cleared, but Yuan Fenghui was still in the eye of the storm!
“I think the timing’s right. Teacher Yuan should close the net.”
If she didn’t, while Yuan Fenghui could handle the pressure, others at Tianjiao were anxious. No one wanted her slandered.
Yu Tianlin must be smug, right?
His “unspoken-rule dinner” reveal brought another wave of attention.
But his spotlight would soon depend on Yuan Fenghui’s mood, not his control.
Wen Ying thought Yuan Fenghui would confront Yu Tianlin directly, but she underestimated her. Yuan Fenghui’s counter was cleverer.
While Yu Tianlin exposed her dirt in the mainland, three women in Taiwan spilled his.
A variety show host, a TV actress, and a model, all in Taiwan’s entertainment scene, shared one identity: Yu Tianlin’s ex-girlfriends.
It started when the model appeared on the host’s show and was subtly targeted. Annoyed, they clashed in the break room. The host accused the model of interfering in her past relationship with Yu Tianlin, causing their breakup.
The model denied it, saying she and Yu Tianlin dated secretly for two years, approved by his friends and even meeting his family. When had she meddled with the host?
“I was the one cheated on!”
She revealed a TV actress had come between her and Yu Tianlin. But tracing the timeline, when the model dated him, he hadn’t yet split with the host. The model was completely in the dark—Yu Tianlin, a serial cheater, juggled multiple relationships and finally crashed!
The host was livid. While dating Yu Tianlin, there wasn’t just a mistress model but a fourth-party actress?
Women digging up old grudges unearth everything. The model, denying she was a mistress, cursed Yu Tianlin’s shamelessness.
“What a scumbag. You don’t know how low he’d go for fame! He secretly met a chamber of commerce lady boss, saying she’d invest in his new drama. She slept with him and didn’t deliver. When he tried to confront her, she detained and threatened him. Desperate, he told me to save him. What could I do? I called his agent, Sister Yuan, who didn’t even know… She said this wasn’t the first time. As his agent, bound by contract, she had to clean up his mess. I wasn’t trapped by him, so why stay tied to such a guy? Sister Yuan urged me to think hard about staying with him. I hesitated because he was good-looking, but after catching him with the actress, I was done and dumped him!”
The model was furious recounting it.
She’d been a known model, but the heartbreak sent her into depression. She studied abroad for two years, returning to Taiwan with her fame faded.
Yu Tianlin hadn’t just hurt her heart; he’d ruined her career!
The host, stunned, murmured, “Now that you mention it, when I was with him, his phone had several ‘big sisters.’ I got jealous, and he blamed me for dirty thoughts, saying they were just friends…”
Both exes fell silent, then simultaneously mentioned Hu Man.
“So, he just likes older women?”
“Not just older women—older women with money or power!”
Initially at odds, the two united, cursing Yu Tianlin as a scumbag.
This was a private break-room chat, but someone secretly recorded and sold it to another Taiwan station.
With Yu Tianlin’s hot topic status, the station was thrilled.
The news exploded instantly!
The host and model, once rumoured as Yu Tianlin’s girlfriends but never confirmed, spilled his dirt. The mentioned actress, not wanting the “fourth-party” label, quickly clarified she was a victim too.
She revealed her breakup wasn’t due to a “fifth-party” but because Yu Tianlin was a “bisexual plug,” with not just “big sisters” but “sugar daddies.”
The actress spoke of him with disgust, saying his private life was a mess and urging his exes to get blood tests for safety!
These three exes, less famous than Yu Tianlin but known enough, collectively exposed him, leaving Taiwan’s public stuffed with gossip.
With information spreading fast, the mainland caught wind too.
Mainland journalists were practically exploding.
—My God, what year is it? They didn’t need to chase news; it came to them!
