Chapter 11

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...

These days feel like a dream to me. I remember standing at the edge of the rooftop, filled with despair, the whole world seemed gray... Now I'm shooting a Dove chocolate commercial, and I feel like I'm living in a fairy tale... Today, Mr. Gu settled my pay in advance, ten thousand yuan, I never thought I would earn so much...

Liu Tao, with her back to Mai Xiaoyu, gazed at the stars outside the window and poured out her heart, recounting her true feelings over the past few days. Time slipped by, and before she knew it, an hour had passed, but her story continued.

Mai Xiaoyu yawned and asked, "What do you really want to say?"

"Um..." Liu Tao turned around, a Zippo lighter in her palm, "I'm giving it to you."

She was so nervous, her face flushed, her breathing quickened, her heart raced, and she kept her head down, not daring to look at Mai Xiaoyu's reaction.

"I know this gift is quite ordinary, but it's the first pay I earned, I hope you like it."

"Mr. Gu sure knows how to treat people; ten thousand yuan for a commercial isn't bad." Mai Xiaoyu smacked her lips.

Don't think that shooting a commercial for a big company pays much. It depends on the person! Just like big directors and big productions, many actors are willing to join for zero pay, and it's up to the director to decide.

For a pure newcomer like Liu Tao, getting a few thousand yuan for a commercial is already high. Dove chocolate is a big company with extensive advertising and promotion, and many new stars are willing to take a low price to get a spot.

The ten thousand yuan pay was due to Gu Hongzhou's consideration for Mai Xiaoyu; otherwise...

"Ten thousand yuan, you and the company split it 40-60, so you only get four thousand. Save this little money, why buy all these things?"

"I'm sorry, I disturbed your rest." Liu Tao sadly took back the lighter, her nose tingling, her head almost buried in her chest.

"Wait, my lighter is out of fuel, I'll use this one for now. Don't buy unnecessary things in the future; I don't need them. If you have money left, send it home."

Mai Xiaoyu said casually, taking the lighter from Liu Tao.

Liu Tao looked up in surprise, her eyes brimming with happy tears.

Mai Xiaoyu pretended not to notice, waving her hand, "Go back and rest early, you'll be shooting the commercial tomorrow, take care of yourself."

"Okay, I understand."

The gloom in her heart lifted, and Liu Tao ran back to her room like a happy little bird.

Mai Xiaoyu took out a Zhongnanhai cigarette, lit it with the Zippo, then put the Zippo away and casually tossed the exquisite limited-edition Givenchy lighter on the table into the storage box.

...

The biggest difference between the fraud circle and the entertainment industry is that the former is fine as long as nothing goes wrong, but once it does, it's game over. In the entertainment industry, something can go wrong at any time.

Early in the morning, before Mai Xiaoyu had time to eat breakfast, she received a call from Zhang Xiaoquan.

The company was in trouble, and the angry lambs were storming the door!

This was expected; otherwise, Mai Xiaoyu wouldn't have set the rule to leave after two months.

But this time was different; the number of lambs storming the door was too many. According to Zhang Xiaoquan, except for those on travel, business trips, or visiting relatives outside of Beijing, the rest of the lambs came in a rush, over a hundred people blocking the company, even alarming the police!

Two police cars were parked outside the Jinlong Building, and as soon as the elevator opened, the noise in the hallway could be heard. The entrance to Mengren Film and Television was crowded, and the office was in chaos. Men, women, and children, about a hundred people, were angrily shouting, and the dozen or so police officers on the scene were at a loss.

Some of the more agitated ones, emboldened by their numbers, dared to push and curse the police, who, fearing a mass incident, could only grit their teeth and endure it while calling for backup.

Mai Xiaoyu's appearance completely ignited the crowd's anger. Someone shouted, "The fraudster is here!" and they all rushed over. The first few were young men who, upon seeing Mai Xiaoyu, immediately lunged at her without a word.

A cold light flashed in her eyes, and Mai Xiaoyu ducked to avoid the punch, then delivered a powerful blow to the chest of the first attacker.

The man grunted, feeling his stomach cave in, losing control and falling to the ground, with undigested food and gastric juices surging up his throat, causing him to vomit uncontrollably.

Two more young men rushed in, attacking Mai Xiaoyu with punches and kicks. Mai Xiaoyu dodged the kick and met the punch head-on.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Mai Xiaoyu took a punch to the chest, staggered, but the man who threw the punch lost control and fell to the ground, vomiting like the first one.

After taking down two in one move, the remaining young men were stunned, fear flashing in their eyes. But Mai Xiaoyu wasn't done with them, delivering a punch to each, and within three minutes, all six young men were on the ground, vomiting, and the hallway was filled with a foul smell.

"Anyone else?"

Her icy gaze swept over the crowd, and those who met her eyes all stepped back, no one daring to approach.

Too fierce!

1 vs 6, and she won!

Cheating and violence, is there no justice in this world!

Where are the police?

When things get dangerous, they definitely call the police, even if they had previously cursed the police to high heaven.

The leader was a second-level police inspector, who approached with his colleagues. Before he could speak, Mai Xiaoyu said, "Sorry, I caused you trouble."

Seeing her attitude, the police, being human, instinctively felt a bit of goodwill. However, they were police and had to handle things by the book. Mai Xiaoyu was suspected of fraud, nearly causing a mass incident, and had publicly assaulted people, which everyone had seen.

"Give me five minutes to resolve this, or I'll go with you."

"You said it, five minutes."

Mai Xiaoyu took two steps forward, and the lambs took three steps back, scared.

Some started shouting at the police, accusing them of colluding with the fraudster. Mai Xiaoyu roared, "Shut up, all of you!" and everyone fell silent.

"Do you recognize these people?" Mai Xiaoyu asked, pointing to the young men she had knocked down.

The crowd looked around, then shook their heads.

"I don't recognize them either, because they are not company members. If you don't believe me, you can check the company's membership records."

The crowd was confused, not understanding the implications.

Someone shouted, "What are you trying to say?"

"I want to ask why you think the company is a fraud?"

Why?

When you interviewed us, you talked so convincingly, about shooting commercials and films, saying we had the potential to become famous and be stars. How long has it been? Not even a call for an audition. If you're not a fraud, what are you?

More importantly, someone called me last night, exposing the company's fraudulent nature!

Someone called me too.

I also received such a call.

Me too.

Me too.

...

The crowd started to realize something was off as they spoke.

Mai Xiaoyu's lips curled into a smile, "One last question, who made these calls? Why don't they stand up, and instead incite you to cause trouble at the company, and send people to pretend to be members to attack me?"

That's two questions!

But now isn't the time to nitpick.

It seems we were used as pawns...

Shit!

The police also sensed something amiss, realizing the situation wouldn't escalate into a mass incident, and they breathed a sigh of relief.

However, a college student-looking girl stepped forward, "Mr. Mai, no matter what you say, the fact remains that you used the guise of a talent scout to defraud us of money!"

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