He heard the words Yu Shuman fired back at him, and it made him so angry that he was practically fuming. He immediately retorted, "Why are you speaking so harshly? Was I wrong to say that you're petty and stingy? It's just a jar of beef sauce!"
The male celebrity didn't realize that this wasn't just about a jar of beef sauce anymore. The moment he launched his broadside, it had nothing to do with the sauce.
Yu Shuman took a deep breath. "You need to apologize for what you just said."
"What did I say?"
"You said, 'Are all women this petty?' You need to apologize for that." Yu Shuman calmly repeated what the male celebrity had said. Zeng Qian, who was beside her, was equally indignant. "Exactly, apologize. Not only did you finish off Sister Manman's beef sauce, but you also spoke like that. It's really not right."
As they quarreled, the other guests gathered around. Teacher Wang instinctively tried to mediate, "Hey, Xiao Xu, just apologize. Manman, it's only the first day. Let's not get too heated. Let's talk it out."
The male celebrity's manager, who was offstage, frantically gestured at him. The male celebrity clicked his tongue and reluctantly apologized.
But judging by his expression and gaze, he didn't feel he had said anything wrong. In fact, when Yu Shuman turned away to do something else, he shot her a vicious glare.
The cameraman following the male celebrity was a bit speechless. He had deliberately pointed the camera elsewhere, but still managed to capture that expression. Although the incident temporarily subsided on the show, it caused a stir off-screen.
A bystander captured the male celebrity's words and expressions and posted them online, but his young fans quickly flooded the comments. Most of these fans were female, yet they defended the male celebrity, even agreeing with his words:
[Xiao Xu didn't say anything wrong. It's just a jar of beef sauce. Why be so petty?]
[I'm a girl, and I think he's right. Women are just petty. Can't they learn to be more generous like men?]
[Seriously, it's just beef sauce. If you really can't afford it, our fan club will send you some.]
This fire quickly spread to Yu Shuman, with many people seizing the opportunity to post on her fan club's page: [Can't you afford beef sauce? I'll send you some!]
Yu Shuman's fans initially didn't plan to argue with the male celebrity. After all, Yu Shuman had already confronted him directly and made him apologize. They were just venting in their small groups and occasionally complaining in the fan club. But now, with these so-called "bystanders" showing up, they were infuriated and began sarcastically responding in the comments.
[Who can't afford beef sauce and has to eat Sister Manman's? Oh, I forgot, it's a certain male celebrity who took it without asking. Didn't your mother teach you that taking without asking is stealing?]
[I'm dying of laughter. Who can't afford beef sauce? Certainly not our Sister Manman. A jade pendant worth a small fortune, got it?]
[Got it. Another green tea type jealous of Sister Manman's rich friends.]
The fan club admins quickly got to work, raising the posting level requirements and pinning the beef sauce post to the top. No matter who visited, they had to spit on the original poster. Qin Ran was even more direct, sending out 1,000 red envelopes worth 200 yuan each before putting down her phone and looking across at Sister Li.
"My plan is to make sure he can't survive in the entertainment industry. Get him out."
Whether it was because he had offended her senior or because of his tendency to attack women, Qin Ran found this person utterly detestable.
The entertainment industry definitely didn't need this kind of scum. While there's scum in every profession, having such a person active on screen, collecting admiration from female fans, was something Qin Ran couldn't stand.
If she didn't have the ability, that would be one thing. But since she did, she was going to do something about it. In fact, under her influence, 99 Entertainment had done plenty of bold things. For instance, they often funded entire productions just because one of their artists was involved, sometimes becoming the top investor.
They didn't care much about scripts; their only requirements were that the scripts be polished and the final product well-made. If an actor didn't meet expectations, they were replaced. If other investors pulled out because an actor left, it didn't matter. 99 would cover both the actor's fee and the promotional costs, as long as the director and scriptwriter delivered.
Currently, 99 Entertainment was investing in at least ten dramas. Aside from the one starring Yu Shuman and Rong Hua that had already aired and concluded, several were still in production. Assistant Wu had predicted that these dramas would likely gain a good reputation and substantial viewership. Although the investment might not be recouped, that didn't seem to be Qin Ran's concern.
After hearing Qin Ran's words, Sister Li didn't even try to dissuade her. Instead, she grinned and said, "I agree." As a woman herself, she naturally had little sympathy for someone who casually spread sexist stereotypes and belittled women.
This was on a live broadcast, after all. If he could say such things publicly, his behavior off-camera was likely even worse. Sister Li, who had decent connections in the industry, knew what kind of person this male celebrity was. She was well aware of his history of arranging meetings with fans and being kept by wealthy men and women. Much of his resources had been gained through physical means, all while he scorned the very fans who gave him money, calling them gullible fools. There had even been a video taken of him, but his previous agency had been powerful enough to buy it and suppress the story.
Now that he had established his own studio with his "real" mom as his manager, he was spoiled beyond belief. As far as Sister Li was concerned, when the boss of a personal studio was a family member, the artist was bound to be difficult. Not all of them, but at least eight or nine out of ten.
In short, this male artist was no good.
For someone with neither good character nor professional ethics, Sister Li was fully supportive of Qin Ran's decision to ruin him. She casually asked, "I've got some dirt on him. Should I pass it on to you?"
"Give it to Assistant Wu. She knows what to do."
Sister Li nodded, understanding. The two chatted for a while longer, and when they had no other business, Sister Li left Qin Ran's office. Qin Ran had just given her a task to visit Yu Shuman on set.
If she could, Qin Ran would have preferred to visit herself, but Yu Shuman constantly nagged her to focus on her studies and not skip classes. If Qin Ran showed up on set, Yu Shuman would definitely scold her back.
So Sister Li had to take on the responsibility and visit on Qin Ran's behalf.
Qin Ran was always generous, giving Sister Li a large sum of money for the visit, including various benefits for the crew. Sister Li, smiling, used the funds Qin Ran had personally allocated to book a business-class flight. After handling some work in the afternoon, she prepared to fly out in the evening. While waiting in the airport lounge, Sister Li noticed that the male celebrity had already exploded in popularity on the trending searches.
It was a huge explosion. At first, clips of the male celebrity's comments during the live broadcast circulated as short videos on various platforms. Soon, the topic of his disrespect towards women surged in popularity. His fans were still trying to control the narrative, but then a "helpful netizen" revealed that this wasn't the first time he had made such offensive remarks.
On previous shows, he often said things that people found off-putting, but those programs had few viewers at the time, so no one noticed. Then someone uncovered his old Weibo account, where they quickly found all sorts of vile comments from his early days.
For example, under posts where ordinary people shared their beautiful photos, he would comment things like "Nice, wanna f**k?" or "How much for a night?" When called out by the original posters, he escalated to even worse insults.
After these revelations, even his fans couldn't defend him, and his personal studio had to hire trolls to manage the comments. However, due to recent crackdowns, there were fewer trolls available, so the studio couldn't fully control the situation.
Sensing that someone was taking advantage of the situation to fan the flames, the male celebrity's previous agency also stepped in to add fuel to the fire, especially his former manager, who leaked some minor but damaging information.
Sister Li knew they probably had more dirt on him and were merely hinting at his new studio, "You'd better come pay us to keep quiet, or who knows what we'll say next?"
Sister Li shook her head, feeling that the male celebrity was in deep trouble this time.
As it was almost time to board, Sister Li put her phone away. Although many flights now offered internet access, she decided to take a break. After landing, she didn't rush to the set but instead planned to rest for the night and visit the next morning.
Sister Li and her assistant checked into an executive suite. Upon landing, she found her phone flooded with messages. Most were from industry friends. After a quick glance, she realized they were all about the male celebrity. Once in her room, with her assistant in the guest room, Sister Li entered the master bedroom.
Taking her time, she showered, dried her hair, and finally lay in bed, picking up her phone to sift through the messages.
Some asked if 99 Entertainment was behind the male celebrity's downfall. Some praised her, saying 99 Entertainment was a true mad dog. Others, on behalf of the male celebrity's associates, sought her out as a mediator to resolve the situation. Still, others were simply there to gossip.
Sister Li checked the trending searches and saw that news about the male celebrity sleeping with fans had surfaced, complete with video evidence. Even more shocking was the discovery of his tax evasion. Sister Li hadn't expected this. If that was proven true, the male celebrity might be done for.
Yet his personal studio was still stubbornly denying everything, insisting that he was of good character and would never do such things. They claimed to pay taxes on time every quarter and would never engage in tax evasion.
Sister Li couldn't help but laugh. She immediately called Qin Ran. Qin Ran was chatting with Yu Shuman and, thinking it was something urgent, answered the call.
Sister Li's first words were, "Boss, where did you get that evidence?"