Chapter 261: What If She Falls for You
"Wow! That's intense! Luckily for me, I don't really want to become a celebrity," Tan Mo exclaimed happily. She could eat whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.
Xu Miaotong pouted jealously. She wanted to pinch the young lady's face but couldn't do so because she was afraid that she could ruin her makeup. Instead, she gently poked Tan Mo's leg through her dress.
"Ah!" Tan Mo gasped.
"So, you're Tan Mo?" Yu Yixian suddenly appeared behind them after hearing Xu Miaotong calling the young lady Tan Mo.
After hearing how unfriendly her tone was, Tan Mo did not react to the actress the way she interacted with Xu Miaotong and replied, "I am. And you are?"
She didn't address the actress in a friendly manner as she was afraid the actress might hate it and respond with something like, Who do you think you are? We aren't that close.
Xu Miaotong was glad to see how Tan Mo responded to Yu Yixian, as it was proof that the little girl was still picky when it came to who she liked or disliked.
It was also proof that Tan Mo meant what she said, that she was fond of Xu Miaotong from the moment they met.
Another thing that Xu Miaotong was proud of was the fact that Tan Mo did not recognize Yu Yixian, but had recognized her the moment they'd first met.
"Don't you know who I am?" Yu Yixian asked while gawking at Tan Mo in shock. "Don't you watch TV or surf the net?"
Tan Mo blinked as she really could not spare any extra time to waste on these pursuits. "Hm...I don't really have the time for that."
"You!" Yu Yixian thought that Tan Mo had done that on purpose just to embarrass her. "Who the heck are you anyway?"
Since Tan Mo was shorter than Yu Yixian, and the former was also wearing a shorter pair of high heels, the latter had to lower her head to glare at the little girl.
"I am..." Judging from Yu Yixian's expression, Tan Mo could tell that she had no intention of hearing the answer. That was why she slowed her sentence down and stared at the actress with a cute expression.
Um...hurry up and interrupt me! Tan Mo yelled inside of her head.
Just as the little girl had expected, Yu Yixian interrupted her. "Well, who you are isn't really that important. You just joined the entertainment business, right?"
It was clear that she didn't know what Tan Mo had done to participate in the event, but seeing how gorgeous Tan Mo was, she guessed that the little girl was an actress who had just started.
Yu Yixian guessed that she had some connections for her to be able to get invited to the awards ceremony and get Liu Jingping to do her makeup.
However, the actress could tell that the person backing Tan Mo up wasn't all that powerful because if they were, she would've heard of her name already, as they would have done all they could to boost Tan Mo's popularity.
Since acting rashly could result in a huge problem in this business, that was why Yu Yixian carefully read the situation before making any decisions.
She had already gotten the list of the people who had tried to employ Liu Jingping on this day, and all of them were people that were as famous as she was.
Since these were people who were in a friendly rivalry with her and had worked with Liu Jingping before, they were close.
Yu Yixian didn't have to ask her colleagues to know that they also had tried to find out who had been able to employ Liu Jingping in the end, and they would keep an eye out for the person.
After seeing that Liu Jingping had chosen to work for Tan Mo, they thought that he had made the decision because no matter who he chose, he would've offended the other actresses.
If that was the case, then he would rather work for a new actress and let her become the target for these famous actresses instead.
That was the conclusion they came to.
Unfortunately for Tan Mo, Yu Yixian was the type of person who wasn't afraid to get on someone's bad side.
She had the confidence that the people behind her would calm any problems that she had stirred up.
Being as famous as she was, fighting among her peers was common, and cases where they brought the fights into the public eye weren't uncommon either.
These were celebrities who had already established themselves as some of the best, and they weren't worried about quarreling with another celebrity.
And Yu Yixian was one of these famous celebrities. With how successful her dramas were, she already had a couple of shares of some big companies, resulting in a lot of sponsors begging her to be part of their dramas.
There was nothing for her to be afraid of, especially not Tan Mo, a new celebrity who had no one to back her up.
It was evident that the elegant makeup on Tan Mo's face had been done by Liu Jingping, and it angered Yu Yixian.
How dare he decide to work for a nobody and not me! Who is she to be prettier than I am?
The main reason Yu Yixian was angry was that she was confident that she would win the Best Actress Award that night, and she would never allow anyone else to look prettier than her.
The moment she noticed Tan Mo wasn't paying attention, she reached her arm out to try and smudge the makeup on the little girl's face and scratch her.
However, no matter how sudden Yu Yixian's action was, her movement was basically slower than a turtle in Tan Mo's eyes.
Before Yu Yixian realized it, Tan Mo was already hiding behind Zhou Jingan. The man was swift with his hands as well, and he quickly caught Yu Yixian's reaching arm by the wrist tightly.
"What the heck are you doing?" Yu Yixian scolded in a high-pitched voice.
"That's my question! Would you care to explain why you are trying to scratch the young lady's face?" Zhou Jingan roared back.
Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Xu Miaotong looked around, trying to find Director Liu and Tan Jinqi.
Unfortunately, Director Liu was nowhere to be seen.
Xu Miaotong quickly noticed that Yu Yixian wasn't paying attention to her and left to find her assistant. "Hurry up and help me find Director Liu!"
The assistant quickly ran into the crowd while Xu Miaotong ran the other way.
After a couple of minutes, she finally found Director Liu with Director Hou and Tan Jinqi.
"Director Liu! Director Hou! Director Tan!" Xu Miaotong gasped for air as she jogged toward them. "T...Tan Mo is being bullied! You guys have to hurry up!"
Xu Miaotong knew how important Tan Mo was to Director Liu, so important that the director would be willing to leave his career behind for her. He was the person who would do anything to stop Yu Yixian from hurting Tan Mo and had the authority to do so.
"What?" The moment Director Liu reacted, Tan Jinqi had already run toward where Xu Miaotong had come from. The two directors were stunned for a second and then started chasing after the young man.
"Yu Yixian is the one bullying her!" Xu Miaotong yelled as the distance between her and the men was getting wider. She couldn't run as fast because she was wearing high heels.
"Let go of me! What do you think you are doing grabbing my hand?" Yu Yixian scolded. "Are you trying to molest me?"
Tan Mo quickly tugged Zhou Jingan's tuxedo from behind and whispered in a voice that she thought was low but was still loud enough for the other people to hear. "Brother Jingan, hurry up and let her go. What if she fell for you because of this?"
"You're right!" Zhou Jingan gasped with a disgusted expression as if he was seriously afraid that Yu Yixian would fall in love with him and suddenly let go of his grip.
Yu Yixian stumbled backward and was about to fall when her assistants stopped it.
Even if she didn't fall, it was still an embarrassing sight.
After she'd stabilized herself, Yu Yixian looked around and couldn't believe the disgust she was seeing on Zhou Jingan's face. It was as if she was a virus to him.
"What the h*ll? How dare a greenhorn like you insult me!" Yu Yixian scolded when she spotted Tan Mo poking her head out from behind Zhou Jingan.
It was as if Tan Mo was making fun of her.
The actress quickly turned to her assistants and ordered, "Get her!"
Chapter 262: Who Is That Auntie
"Do you think I can't teach you a lesson? You who have just joined the entertainment business?" Yu Yixian roared.
Ms. Liu and Ms. Zhao looked at each other, wondering if they really should try and grab Tan Mo. It was impossible to get past Zhou Jingan.
The moment they took a step forward to try and approach Tan Mo, Zhou Jingan glared at them, and they stopped immediately.
"You better take that makeup off or I'm going to get you today!" Yu Yixian barked as she rubbed her wrist that had been gripped tightly by Zhou Jingan earlier. "I'm going to make sure you won't survive in this industry!"
"This industry?" Tan Mo looked at the actress with her big eyes. "What industry are you talking about?"
She was confused as they weren't even working in the same industry.
Yu Yixian stared at Tan Mo, unable to believe that the little girl actually had the nerve to challenge her.
The staff had started to arrive after hearing all the commotion.
"Ms. Yu, what's wrong?" a hotel employee asked as he tried to stand in between Tan Mo and Yu Yixian. "Maybe we can help you solve the problem?"
"Oh? Then take her and make her remove her makeup," Yu Yixian ordered as she pointed at Tan Mo.
"How dare you?" Tan Jinqi scolded Yu Yixian immediately on his arrival. He was glad to see that Zhou Jingan was protecting Tan Mo by shielding her behind him.
Tan Mo even had the audacity to peek her head out from behind Zhou Jingan in order to challenge Yu Yixian.
It was then that Tan Jinqi realized he was starting to understand his little sister a little better.
Only his two little brothers were dumb enough to think that Tan Mo could get bullied because they hadn't spent a lot of time with her.
After spending the whole winter break with Tan Mo, Tan Jinqi had gotten to see what Tan Mo was really like.
She was the type of person who would say nice things to people who were nice to her and mean things to people who were mean to her. Another of her traits was that she didn't feel bad about dragging someone who had made her angry deep down into the mud.
Of course, that didn't change Tan Jinqi's image of his little sister, which was of a cute and gentle girl. She was still the most important member of the Tan family.
The only change was that he realized he didn't have to worry about Tan Mo when she wasn't with her family as much as he had thought he needed to previously.
He knew that she had the ability to protect herself.
No one tried to stop Yu Yixian as they knew that her offensive behavior would end in her own demise.
All they could do was take pity on the little girl who had become the actress's target, especially after seeing her hiding behind Zhou Jingan with a pale expression.
They couldn't help but wonder what kind of bad luck the little girl had to make the infamous Yu Yixian yell at her like this.
Seeing that Tan Mo was fine, Tan Jinqi let out a sigh of relief and approached his sister.
"Big brother!" Tan Mo exclaimed when she saw him.
Zhou Jingan also let out a sigh of relief. "She's fine. No one has hurt her."
"Thank you," Tan Jinqi nodded as a sign of his gratitude.
He was able to leave Tan Mo and go find the two directors because he trusted Zhou Jingan's ability to protect Tan Mo.
Yu Yixian was even angrier when she saw that no one was paying any attention to her order. It was the first time she had been embarrassed since she had become famous.
Not only had the organizer not prepared a suite for her at the hotel, but she also hadn't been able to get the famous Liu Jingping to help with her makeup and had to employ a not-so-famous makeup artist instead.
Now, the three people in front of her were treating her like a nobody.
"Why shouldn't I?" Yu Yixian scoffed. "I am very important. I don't care what you do. You better get that makeup off her face... You know what? At first, I thought of letting her off the hook, but now I'm going to make sure she never survives in the entertainment business no matter what she does. If anyone tries to stop me, then I won't participate in this event, and I'll tell the press about how I was bullied here."
By this time, the manager of the ceremony had arrived on scene. "Ms. Yu, we sincerely apologize for what happened today. Please find it in your heart to forgive everyone."
"Forgive them? Like h*ll!" Yu Yixian yelled. "You heard what happened, right? You choose. Me or her? I'm not going to participate in this awards ceremony as long as she's here, do you hear me? Are you sure you're going to chose a nobody over me?"
"But..." The manager hesitated. He had a list of all the guests, but other than the famous ones, he couldn't put faces to all the names on the list.
"Miss, you are?" The manager had no choice but to ask who Tan Mo was.
There was no way he could chase Tan Mo away. The ceremony wasn't an event where Yu Yixian could do whatever she wanted or else they would become the biggest joke ever.
It was clear that Yu Yixian was causing a scene here, and the manager had no choice but to find a way to get the little girl to apologize to the actress.
"Oh? So it's either you or her?" Director Liu and Director Hou had finally arrived.
Since they were both already well over 50, there was no way they could run as fast as Tan Jinqi.
Yu Yixian was immediately stunned when she saw them and couldn't believe the two famous directors were going to take part in this.
"Directors, are you going to take her side?" Yu Yixian couldn't hide her surprise because they were well known for never taking anyone's side in any disputes.
If they really wanted to stop her, then she would have no choice but to back down as they were two of the best directors in the industry.
She would have to rely on them once she grew older and couldn't act in trendy dramas anymore.
"I am. Is that enough to stop you?" Director Liu raised his eyebrows.
"Of course...I have a lot of respect for you." Yu Yixian smiled and turned to Tan Mo. "All I want is for her to apologize. It's not like I wanted her to attend the event without any makeup. I just want her to change it."
She just could not stand to see Liu Jingping's work on another person's face.
"Originally, I wasn't planning on letting her attend even if she removed her makeup, but since Director Liu has insisted, then we'll just leave it like that."
Yu Yixian was still confident because she thought that Director Liu wouldn't side with Tan Mo all the way. There was no way she would let Tan Mo off the hook without gaining something in her favor, or else people would definitely make fun of her when they learned about the incident.
Now that Tan Mo was being protected by Tan Jinqi, Zhou Jingan, and even Director Liu and Director Hou, she didn't have to pretend to be a weak young lady anymore.
The little girl turned to the manager of the hotel and asked, "Mister, who is that auntie?", pointing at Yu Yixian.
Yu Yuxian almost exploded into anger on the spot. "Who the f*ck are you calling auntie?"
The manager kept his mouth shut and did not answer Tan Mo. If he had, it would mean that he agreed that Yu Yixian was already at the age for other people to address her as an auntie.
Tan Mo blinked innocently and said, "Since she looks almost the same age as my uncle, then I should call her auntie, right?"
Chapter 263: Misunderstanding
Tan Mo raised her head to look at the others with an innocent expression, seeming to ask, am I wrong?
Director Hou turned to look at Tan Jinqi as if he was questioning the young man.
Is your sister always this playful? Where's the cute and easily bullied little girl that you're always talking about?
Tan Mo's words were basically like a knife aimed at Yu Yixian's throat that rendered the actress speechless. She could only stare at Tan Mo with flames in her eyes.
It was clear that Tan Mo was planning to take it to the next level instead of playing along with her.
"Director Liu, do you see? It's not that I don't respect you, but this little brat is just rude," Yu Yixian complained.
"Why are you even arguing with a child? Aren't you an adult?" Director Liu sighed and almost couldn't hold himself back from calling the actress a child too because of the way she was acting.
"W...what do you mean?" Yu Yixian couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"You want her to remove her makeup? Well, that's not going to happen." Director Liu scoffed at her.
"Auntie, why do you keep asking me to remove my makeup?" Tan Mo asked. "Is it because my makeup was done by Mr. Liu Jingping? Are you blaming me because he refused to help you instead of me?"
Yu Yixian's eyes got wide. The girl had guessed the real reason before the actress could even spill the truth.
People began to chatter all around them, with one of them saying, "Isn't that too much? Why is she arguing with a child over a makeup artist?"
Since there were a lot of people around, Yu Yixian didn't know who had said that.
There were a lot of other actresses present too who had also gotten rejected by Liu Jingping.
They all laughed the moment Tan Mo made the comment about the reason Yu Yixian was so angry.
"Liu Jingping refused my offer too, and I haven't said anything. Who the heck does she think she is?"
"He probably chose this young lady because he didn't want to offend any of us. Yu Yixian has really gone over the line this time."
Never did Yu Yixian expect that Tan Mo would be such a scheming person.
Director Liu could only let out a sigh after seeing Tan Mo give the final blow to the actress.
"It took this young lady a lot of time to get that makeup done, and there's no way she's removing it. And why does she even have to apologize? Did she do anything wrong?" Director Liu said. "If you really want the organizer to choose between you and her, then I'd prefer she stays instead of you."
The moment Director Liu made that statement everyone couldn't help but gasp, wondering who Tan Mo really was for the director to protect her to this extent.
Never in a million years would Director Liu abandon Tan Mo, but what he said to the manager next shocked the crowd even more.
"I'm going to say this first. If the organizer decides to side with Ms. Yu here, then I'll leave. The decision is up to you guys."
"Liu, I see you are still as arrogant as ever, huh?" Director Hou laughed and turned to the manager. "I'll apologize in his stead for giving you such a hard time."
The manager secretly let out a sigh of relief when he heard that. He thought he was really going to have to choose between Director Liu and Yu Yixian and was thankful to Director Hou for his help.
But what Director Hou said next shattered his hope.
"Count me in then. I'll side with Liu. Either you choose Ms. Yu here or us. I'm sure this will make it easier for you, right?"
Yu Yixian could only stare at the two directors dumbfoundedly, unable to believe that they would go to such lengths to help Tan Mo.
They were known in the industry for being nice to people and would rarely butt into other people's business. Even if they did, they did it in a very subtle way.
That was the reason why Yu Yixian thought she could still make Tan Mo apologize and change her makeup, thinking that the directors would prefer to end things peacefully.
It was basically impossible for her to think that they would actually protect Tan Mo to the end. For a split second, she even thought she was dreaming.
Am I dreaming? Am I still in my room? This is just a dream, right?
The actress secretly pinched her leg and could feel the pain. She wasn't dreaming.
That was when Yu Yixian finally turned to look at Tan Mo and wondered who the young lady really was.
She was starting to feel worried.
Never could she ever have predicted that two of the best directors working today would stand by Tan Mo's side. She had completely underestimated the little girl.
"O...of course," the manager laughed awkwardly, knowing that it was already impossible to make Tan Mo apologize and redo her makeup.
He understood that Yu Yixian now needed a way to get out of the situation and quickly said, "Ms. Yu, it's your turn to walk the red carpet."
"What?" Yu Yixian asked with a stupid expression on her face. She still hadn't recovered from the shock, which was not like her.
What had just happened had turned her mind upside down, and she couldn't think straight.
Didn't you say my turn was at the end?
Most famous celebrities with a lot of fans worldwide would usually enter the venue at the end. The reason for that was so that people could keep their focus on the red carpet event until it ended. By doing so, the fans and the reporters would all wait until the event ended.
Ms. Liu was the first one to understand the manager's meaning and quickly whispered into Yu Yixian's ear.
Only then, did Yu Yixian realize that the manager was trying to help her and said, "Oh, right! I'll go get prepared right away."
She then quickly turned and left the scene.
The others couldn't help but laugh at how awkward her reaction had been.
The manager then quickly pulled one of the staff off to the side and said, "Hurry up and inform the host of the red carpet event that Yu Yixian's schedule has been pushed forward. Make sure they don't announce the wrong name."
The staff nodded and left right away.
After making sure everything had been settled, the manager finally apologized to Tan Mo, "We are really sorry for everything. Are you all right?"
"This industry sure is scary," Tan Mo said with a pale expression.
It definitely wasn't a place where an honest person like her would stay.
The little girl then slowly turned to look at Director Liu as if she was telling him that she didn't want to work in such a scary industry any longer.
The director immediately recalled what Professor Zhao had warned him about when he went to visit. The professor told him that Tan Mo was very lazy, that if there was a chance for her to laze around, she would take it.
If Professor Zhao hadn't told Director Liu that, the latter would've believed that Tan Mo was really scared.
"Come on, with Director Hou and me here, no one would ever dare to bully you." Director Liu laughed like a sly wolf.
Even if she hadn't been protected by them, she was still the only daughter of the Tan family and the precious niece of Wei Zhiqian. No one in the world would ever dare to mess with her if they knew that.
"Liu's right. There's nothing to be afraid of." Director Hou laughed as well. "Only other people will suffer if you join this industry."
It was Tan Mo's turn to be speechless.
Why do I feel like people misunderstand me all the time? What the h*ll is happening?
"Little girl, didn't you promise that you'd write my next script? Don't you dare try to run away." Director Liu smiled.
Director Hou took a chance and said, "Don't forget that I helped you just now too, okay?"
Chapter 264: Working Together
Tan Mo could only stare at Director Hou speechlessly as this was the first time they had actually met and talked.
Since when were we this close? The entertainment business sure is weird.
It was as if Director Hou noticed what Tan Mo was thinking, and he smiled. "Since I'm your brother's teacher, doesn't it make sense that we should be close as well? Come on, don't be a stranger. You have to write a script for me in the future, deal?"
Tan Mo blinked and quickly thought of an excuse. "But I only know how to write scripts for historical dramas..."
"What a coincidence!" Director Hou exclaimed with a loud clapping of his hands. "I'm super-good at directing historical dramas too!"
Tan Mo was rendered speechless once again.
Professor Zhao, what kind of a teacher did you get for my brother...
The little girl turned to look at her oldest brother for help, but he only smiled at her and did not help her.
"Hou, you know she's willing to work for me because I agreed to assist Jinqi in his first drama, right?" Director Liu said.
Tan Mo looked at Director Liu and thought, Wasn't that the deal we made when I agreed to write the script for "Legend of Wei and Jin"?
Director Liu winked at Tan Mo secretly, and she immediately realized that he was trying to help her. Since Director Liu had agreed to work as the assistant director for Tan Jinqi on the latter's first film, he was trying to help make Director Hou accept the same deal so that Tan Jinqi could benefit from it.
Realizing that, Tan Mo quickly nodded in agreement.
It was as if she was eager to get as much help she could for her oldest brother.
Director Liu couldn't help but laugh as he thought, Wait, are we teaming up together to trick Hou now?
Director Hou then said, "I see... Then, how about this? If you agree to help me, I'll assist your brother with his second drama. With Liu and me helping him, I can say for sure that his first two dramas will be hits, and that'll help boost his popularity as he gains experience. Once that's done, he should be able to direct his dramas alone from then onward."
Tan Mo was so happy that her lips were twitching as she tried her best to hide her smile.
However, she failed the moment she spoke as her grin was as visible as one could ever be. "Then...I'll help with Director Hou's script as well. Happy to work with you!"
"That's the spirit!" Director Hou laughed happily.
Tan Jinqi smiled, knowing that his sister had agreed to help the two directors just so they would help him in return.
Then he turned around and noticed Xu Miaotong munching on one of the cookies that Tan Mo had given her. He quickly said, "You have to thank Miaotong. She was the one who ran all over the place to find us and warn us that you were in trouble."
"Really?" Tan Mo exclaimed and ran to hug Xu Miaotong.
"H...hey! Slow down! I'm still eating over here." Xu Miaotong almost choked on the cookie that she'd just put into her mouth.
"Thank you so much, Sister!" Tan Mo wanted to kiss Xu Miaotong on her cheek, but realized she had lipstick on and decided to blow a kiss instead.
"Come on, it was nothing really. You were always so nice to me. There's just no way I could stand by and let you get bullied, right?" Xu Miaotong said, blushing.
"You are the best!" Tan Mo smiled and opened the bag of snacks that Zhou Jingan had brought her. "Here! I have a lot more snacks in here."
Xu Miaotong thought of taking more for a moment, but quickly dismissed the idea. "No, no! I have to stop! Or else my manager is going to scold me!"
The actress quickly put the remaining cookies in her hand back into the bag.
It was only then that her manager, Zhao Anqi, interjected, "Wow! It looks like you still have some self-control. And here I was waiting to see how much you were going to eat before you stopped."
Throughout the incident with Yu Yixian, Xu Miaotong had been happily munching on her snacks while she watched, as if she was enjoying a good drama.
Fortunately, the organizer approached them once again just in the nick of the time and said, "Mr. Liu, it's time for you and the crew of 'Legend of Wei and Jin' to enter."
Xu Miaotong quickly pulled Tan Mo away with her to avoid getting scolded by her manager.
As they waited by the entrance, the cold wind was getting stronger and stronger, to the point where Tan Mo could feel the cold even when she had a thick jacket over her.
"Oh, my God! It's freezing! Can I go back on my word and not do this?" Tan Mo asked as her teeth chattered.
She instantly regretted not listening to Wei Zhiqian's advice, that being pretty was not as important as she thought.
Xu Miaotong was also chattering next to Tan Mo and said, "You can, but this is the only entrance into the venue here. Are you sure you want to walk back outside and endure the cold wind for the whole journey to the guest entrance?"
Of course, the event was only open to invited guests and not to the public, but even so, it would be strange for the guests to enter the venue through the same entrance as the celebrities.
"The time it'll take might be longer than waiting here," Xu Miaotong said.
Hearing that, Tan Mo changed her mind.
Regret was all she could feel at that moment.
I should've just listened to uncle and entered the venue through the guest entrance instead...
"How about you keep the jacket on?" Tan Jinqi suggested.
"No!" Tan Mo insisted. "If I have to endure the cold anyway, I'll do it gorgeously!"
They waited until the staff came to inform them that it was their turn. Tan Mo took her jacket off and handed it to Zhou Jingan.
The moment she took it off, she couldn't help but shudder for a bit.
"Don't worry. The cold will be gone once we started walking on the red carpet," the experienced veteran Xu Miaotong comforted Tan Mo.
Tan Mo nodded. "I have a lot of hot patches in my dress."
However, there were none near her shoulders and arms since she was wearing a sleeveless dress.
A simple breeze was enough to make her shudder.
"Me too," Xu Miaotong whispered.
They then held hands and followed the crew and walked onto the red carpet.
"Look!" the host announced. "We have the whole team from 'Legend of Wei and Jin'!"
Since Xu Miaotong was famous, the reporters kept taking pictures of her while the guests kept asking for a handshake with her.
Tan Mo let go of Xu Miaotong so that she could interact with her fans.
Since Tan Mo and Tan Jinqi were people who worked behind the scenes, no one recognized them. The host didn't introduce them either since it was a huge team, and it would take a long time to introduce everyone.
They would have to wait until the short interview after they signed on the wall to be introduced.
However, most questions during the interview were aimed at the director and the actors.
None were directed toward Tan Mo and Tan Jinqi.
The siblings tried not to stand out as they walked on the red carpet, but the reporters thought that they were actors from "Legend of Wei and Jin" because of their good looks.
Chapter 265: It Really Is Tan Mo
Naturally, the reporters had seen "Legend of Wei and Jin", but it was hard to recognize an actor from the character they played because of the costumes and makeup.
It was even harder to recognize actors who had played in Director Liu's historical dramas as they tried to recreate the looks that were prevalent in the olden days.
However, despite not being able to recognize who Tan Mo and Tan Jinqi played in the drama, they decided to take pictures of the siblings anyway.
Back at the Yuan Mansion, Yuan Keqing was sitting on the couch watching the award's livestream as she munched on a plate of fruit because one of her favorite male actors was going to be there.
Yuan Keqing had once begged Yuan Zhengwen to see if he could find a way for her to work on the same project as the actor so that she could meet him.
However, her goals hadn't changed: she still wanted to marry Wei Keli in the future.
But that did not stop her from admiring good-looking actors.
Being able to meet with the actor and posting photos of them together would be more than enough to fuel her vanity.
As the show went on, Yuan Keqing suddenly jumped off the couch and ran toward the TV to take a closer look at a face that she had just noticed.
"What's wrong?" Xu Mingjing asked, not paying attention to the show as she was playing a game on her phone.
"I...I think I saw Tan Mo," replied Yuan Keqing.
Xu Mingjing was stunned by her answer for a second before laughing, "Are you sure? Isn't this the Tulip Awards? Why would she even be there? She has nothing to do with the entertainment business."
The mother was sure since Tan Mo was still a student at Beijing University and had never come into contact with the industry as far as she knew.
She was sure that her daughter must have mistaken someone else for Tan Mo.
Yuan Keqing frowned, wondering if she had been really wrong.
She had been taught by her parents that they should always prioritize Tan Mo ever since she was a child, that getting on Tan Mo's good side was more important than anything else.
Unfortunately, this had affected Yuan Keqing in the opposite way.
The more her parents urged her to do that, the more she wanted to be better than Tan Mo.
She wasn't happy that she had to let Tan Mo win all the time and had to get on her cousin's good side, wondering why it couldn't be the other way around.
That had become one of her life goals, that one day, she would stand above Tan Mo and the latter would have to lick her boots.
Yuan Keqing had viewed Tan Mo as her rival ever since they were little. She could never forget her cousin's face, even if it only flashed in front of her for a second.
Did I really see wrong? Yuan Keqing asked herself as she sat back on the couch.
Since there were a lot of people at the event, it was impossible for the camera to focus on a certain person for a long time, especially when there were a lot of world-famous actors and directors present at the event. The less famous the person was, the less screen time they would get.
That was why the Tan siblings only appeared on the screen for a second and the cameraman quickly moved on to other people.
Yuan Keqing was still sure that she'd seen Tan Mo. She kept her eyes glued to the screen as she put a piece of fruit into her mouth.
Fortunately, the TV in her living was enormous and she could see every detail in it. It was as if she was sitting in a private theater.
At the event, the "Legend of Wei and Jin" team stood in front of a wall and everyone took turns signing it.
After everyone had their signatures on the wall, only then did the host walk over to them. "Welcome! Please move over here a little and smile for the camera."
The host then waited for the cameramen to take a few photos before beginning the short interview. "If we had to choose the best drama last year, I would say the title definitely belongs to 'Legend of Wei and Jin'. The drama became a hit the instant the first episode dropped during the summer and it remains at the top of every chart even after the series has concluded up until now. Mr. Liu, do you have anything to say to all the fans out there?"
"Well, I'll have to give the credit for the drama's success to our script. The moment I read the script, I knew that as long as I was up to my game, this drama would definitely succeed. Of course, the overwhelming success of the drama is not something I thought would happen. Even I was shocked to see the results."
"You're being too humble." the host smiled.
"No, I'm serious. I have to thank everyone on the team for the success, and I'm being serious about that too. If not for all the amazing actors, there's no way I could complete the drama to such a great degree. As to how hardworking these people were, I've already talked about it in a previous interview so I'm not going to bring it up again. But here, I still have to give my utmost gratitude to the scriptwriter of this drama, Tan Mo."
"Mom! It really is Tan Mo," Yuan Keqing exclaimed as she hopped off the couch once again. "Look! Jinqi is there as well! Did he just say scriptwriter? How did Tan Mo become the scriptwriter for 'Legend of Wei and Jin'?"
Xu Mingjing was still skeptical, but seeing her daughter's reaction, she became curious as well and moved her gaze from her phone to the TV.
As soon as she looked at it, she recognized her niece and nephew right away.
"You're right! Mo Mo and Jinqi are both there," Xu Mingjing exclaimed. "Wow! They are part of the team behind 'Legend of Wei and Jin'? They really are the pride of the family!"
In the midst of her excitement, Xu Mingjing was somewhat disappointed as well.
She turned to look at her daughter, who was the same age as Tan Mo. One was already walking on the red carpet of the biggest drama awards in the Hua Empire, while the other was still loafing around at home.
"Oh? I didn't expect the scriptwriter for 'Legend of Wei and Jin' would join us today as well," the host said excitedly. "Ever since the drama topped the charts, everyone has been curious as to who the scriptwriter is to be able to produce such an amazing script. So, I can assume that Qimo is the scriptwriter's pseudonym? And that his real name is Tan Mo? May I know which one he is?"
The host thought that the scriptwriter was Tan Jinqi since he and Tan Mo were the only two people the host didn't recognize in the team.
And since Tan Mo was clearly still a teenager, the host naturally came to the conclusion that Tan Jinqi was the scriptwriter.
"Tan Mo, come here." Director Liu waved at Tan Mo.
Tan Mo quickly walked toward the director while Zhang Kangwang, who had been standing next to Director Liu, quickly moved away so that Tan Mo could stand there.
The host was stunned for a second to see such a young girl was the scriptwriter for such a successful drama.
"I hope it's not too rude for me to ask this, but, Ms. Tan, may I know your age?" the host asked with a smile.
Director Liu turned to Tan Mo and signaled her to answer it herself.
"I'll be 17 this year," Tan Mo answered.
Everyone was stunned, not only those who were present at the event but also those that were watching the awards at home.
People began to leave comments under the video.
"She's going to be 17? Are you kidding me? She's still in high school?"
"She said she'll be 17 this year. Since 'Legend of Wei and Jin' came out last year, doesn't that mean she was 16 when she wrote the script?"
"Is it possible that she's from a prestigious family and they paid the real scriptwriter off so that she could get famous?"
"It's possible. I mean, the dress looks expensive."
"You got it right! That dress is from a luxury brand, and I just checked its price online. It cost more than $8,000!"
The comments section got silent for a few seconds as everyone couldn't help but gasp at the price tag.
Chapter 266: Shocking the Audience
Tan Mo was, without a doubt, from a rich family.
Director Liu took the microphone from the host and said, "To be honest, a lot of troubles occurred as we filmed this drama. I'm sure that people still remember the scandal about our scriptwriter and consultant, right? It caused our first sponsor to withdraw, and the drama almost got canceled. I can confirm now that the scandal was, in fact, true. But it was only a part of the truth. That is why I want to take this chance and give everyone a good explanation to prevent other people from using this as a method to target my team or the drama. The scandal wasn't the first problem we really had to endure, but the second. Not many people know this, but I'm sure there are a few of you who know that our original scriptwriter was not Tan Mo. I'm not going to name names here, so we'll just call the person the original scriptwriter."
Whether the original scriptwriter had left on their own or was fired, Director Liu decided to let the public decide for themselves. It would at least show that he was generous enough not to expose the identity of the original scriptwriter.
At the same time, those who knew who the original scriptwriter was were people in the same industry. After learning of the incident, some would most likely stop working with her in the future, while others wouldn't care.
"Well, part of the incident was my responsibility as well. I didn't know much about our own history and wanted to do a historical drama. That was why I didn't see anything wrong with the first script and was ready to start filming. Fortunately, Tan Mo was introduced to my team as our history consultant."
"Consultant? Are you saying that Tan Mo is the consultant as well?" the host exclaimed, not hiding his surprise. He'd completely forgotten that he was hosting a show.
Director Liu quickly explained with a smile, "That was another source of gossip. Didn't people spread on the net that the scriptwriter was working as the consultant as well? Some even got angry and said that it was an unprofessional thing to do and the drama would be trash. I decided not to do any explaining at that time as it would sound like I was just making excuses. No one would have believed me then. The truth is, Tan Mo here is a student of Professor Zhao at Beijing University."
"Professor Zhao?" The host's jaw dropped. "B...but isn't Tan Mo just 17?"
How could a 17-year-old girl, who's supposed to be in high school, be Professor Zhao's student?
The host could tell that Tan Mo's dress was from a luxury brand and must have cost thousands. He could also tell that the dress was a real one and not some fake product.
It was proof that the little girl came from a prestigious family, and the host couldn't help but think how influential her family must have been to make Professor Zhao accept her as his student.
Since Tan Mo was still young, that was the conclusion the host came to, just like everyone else probably had.
However, Director Liu proved them wrong the next instant. "Does everyone remember the high schooler who got a full score in the graduation exam from B City a few years ago?"
The director's face was beaming with pride as if he was talking about his own daughter.
"Well, that was none other than Tan Mo. She was just 15 that year and got a full score in the high school graduation exam. She accepted Mr. Mu's, the president of Beijing University, invitation to attend the university. From what I know, the presidents of five of the top six universities in the Hua Empire tried to get Tan Mo to enroll in their universities. However, she chose to attend Beijing University."
"I have to apologize for judging a book by its cover," the host said, embarrassed. "I never thought I would be talking to a prodigy."
"Tan Mo joined Beijing University as a student in the Finance Department, but Professor Guo and Professor Zhao noticed her knowledge and talent in ancient language and history," Director Liu continued to explain. "They tried to invite her to change to their majors, but Tan Mo insisted on staying in her original major. However, she did join the two professors' research teams and became their student. In her freshman year, she won the Ancient Text Competition on her own against Ph.D. students from ten other universities. In her sophomore year, she learned all of the Twenty-four Histories and was able to dominate an exchange between Beijing University and Tsinghua University."
Everyone was utterly speechless now.
"If there's anyone who doubts me, feel free to check Beijing University's web site or ask around. These achievements are no secret, and I didn't make them up," Director Liu said.
No one was even doubting him as this wasn't something that a person could fake easily as the results were all recorded.
The reporters and cameramen were all staring at Tan Mo speechlessly now and had completely forgotten their job was to interview the celebrities.
There were a few cameramen who reacted quickly and began to take photos of Tan Mo.
She was a prodigy and the student of two of the most famous scholars in the Hua Empire. She was also the winner of the Ancient Text Competition and also the scriptwriter and consultant for "Legend of Wei and Jin".
All of those titles were much more amazing and intriguing than the famous celebrities.
Even the host had completely forgotten about his job of interviewing the rest of the team.
The flow of the event was completely messed up now. In order for the schedule to proceed smoothly, the staff could only lead the celebrities into the venue right away and push the interviews until the event ended.
The celebrities who were still on the red carpet got the worst of it.
No camera was pointing at them now.
Even if they were standing in front of the cameramen, their cameras were all aimed at Tan Mo.
Some would take a couple of photos of the celebrities and shift their attention back to the prodigy.
If the celebrities left, they would miss out on the chance of getting their photos taken. But if they stayed, they would have to wait in the cold while the line didn't move.
It didn't take long for the staff to start urging the celebrities to enter the venue.
"Oh, I apologize for straying from the main topic." Director Liu laughed awkwardly. "I just wanted to say that even if Tan Mo is still young, I can vouch for her ability. Professor Zhao sent her to my team as soon as I mentioned that I needed a consultant."
He didn't even mention Shen Jingyi during the interview. He would gossip about her with his friends.
If he were to bring the incident with Shen Jingyi up, he would pull Professor Zhao down with her.
And that was unacceptable.
Another reason the director did not mention Shen Jingyi was so that she would not be able to spread lies about her being the history consultant for "Legend of Wei and Jin."
If she were to say that, people would at least question her authenticity.
The only consultant that Director Liu had ever acknowledged was Tan Mo.
The director had calculated everything.
"The moment she read the script, she knew what was wrong with it," Director Liu said. "The problem was that we were one week away from filming. If we were to use the old script, how were we supposed to explain it to the sponsors? If we were to produce a bad drama with such a huge sponsor, everyone would've been affected by it."
Chapter 267: Played by a Little Girl
"However, if we didn't use it, we would delay the filming process. That would cost a lot for the sponsors. Fortunately, Tan Mo is Professor Guo's student as well and had some first-hand experience in scriptwriting," Director Liu went on, lying about the fact that Tan Mo had never written a script before. "Of course, Tan Mo did her best to write the script as fast as she could, but it would have been almost impossible for anyone to finish the whole thing in a week. In the end, we decided to film an episode as soon as she finished the script for that. This was a slower process than filming after completing the whole script, yes, but at least we could start filming as scheduled.
Director Liu paused to take a breath and went on, "The reason Tan Mo used a pseudonym was that she doesn't want to stand out. Also, she's afraid that people might judge her negatively because of her age, and it would affect the drama. It's amazing how a young lady like her was willing to sacrifice fame for the drama. Now that the series has concluded and had been well received by the community, I believe it's time for me to introduce the most important piece of its success."
The cameramen did not stop snapping pictures of Tan Mo and Director Liu, while the reporters swiftly sent messages back to their companies, asking their colleagues to help confirm the story.
They could either interview people at Beijing University or Tsinghua University to learn if the director was telling the truth or not.
The best outcome for these news agencies was if they could either interview President Mu, Professor Zhao, or Professor Guo, but even if they couldn't, asking about Tan Mo from her fellow students would be more than enough to judge the authenticity of the story.
Fortunately for them, they were able to run into a lot of students on the campus at the time they arrived.
"That was informative. Thank you for introducing us to Tan Mo and clearing up all the questions that everyone had ever since the scandal surfaced," the host thanked Director Liu and turned to Tan Mo. "Ms. Tan, it's no secret that you are nominated for the Best Script Award. How confident are you at winning the title?"
"I'm more than honored enough to be nominated for the award," Tan Mo said, smiling. "I'm still inexperienced compared to all the other nominees and still have a lot to learn from them. It's natural that they would win instead of me."
That was the answer that the host had expected. Whenever he interviewed a nominee and asked about their confidence in winning the prize, everyone would give the same answer so that they would appear humble and would not embarrass themselves if they didn't win the award.
"That's right. You are still young after all and have a lot to learn. But I'm sure that with time and hard work, you'll be able to achieve even greater success," the host smiled.
Unfortunately for the host, he didn't know Tan Mo's true personality.
As soon as the host said that, the students of Beijing University and Tsinghua University could only smile bitterly.
Some of the Tsinghua University students even covered their faces when they saw that.
They knew the next scene would be brutal.
Back at the event, Tan Mo nodded happily and replied, "That's right! I'm still only 17 years old after all. Oh, wait, my birthday is in a few months, but since we are going by the year, I'll say I'm 17, right? Well, anyway, I was only 16 when I wrote the script, so you're right. I still have a lot to learn."
The host could only look at Tan Mo speechlessly, unable to tell if the young lady was being humble or was trying to boast.
It was already a huge honor for someone to be nominated for the award, but achieving that at the age of 17, or, technically, at the age of 16, was something else.
The host almost forgot the fact that Tan Mo had written the script a year ago.
She's being humble, right?
That was the only thought going through the host's head right now.
"But...am I the youngest to ever get nominated?" Tan Mo asked as she stared at the host with her big eyes.
"Uh...I...I think so..." The host thought about it and quickly came to a different conclusion.
Not only had the host never heard of any scriptwriter being nominated at the age of 16, but he'd also never heard of a single person writing scripts for successful dramas at that age.
The host had finally recognized what kind of a person Tan Mo was, that she wasn't as humble as he thought.
Afraid that he was going to get played by this little girl and, in turn, offend someone else, the host abruptly ended the conversation. "I see. Thank you for your time. Ladies and gentlemen, once again, this is the team that created the successful 'Legend of Wei and Jin'!"
The host then quickly urged the team to enter the venue because he was completely afraid of the little girl among them now.
After the team left the red carpet event, the surroundings finally returned to their normal state.
As soon as Tan Mo was out of the cameras' range, Zhou Jingan quickly helped put her jacket back on for her.
"Oh, my God! I'm freezing!" Tan Mo wailed as she wrapped her jacket around her body tightly.
"Let's hurry inside. There are heaters in there, and all the chairs have warming pads on them," Zhou Jingan urged. "Mrs. Tan also brought a thicker jacket for you as well. You'll feel better once you sit down."
Tan Mo was rubbing her hands while blowing warm air onto them.
Seeing Tan Jinqi was with Tan Mo, Zhou Jingan leaned in and whispered to the oldest Tan sibling, "I'll take my leave first. I need to tell Young Master Wei about Yu Yixian."
Tan Jinqi immediately understood what Zhou Jingan wanted to do and nodded, "Sure thing. Tan Mo will be fine with me around."
There was no way the oldest brother would let his cute little sister get bullied.
Zhou Jingan nodded and left. It didn't take him long to locate Wei Zhiqian among the crowd.
The man was sitting in the audience, but fortunately the venue wasn't crowded yet as the celebrities were still having their interviews and photos taken outside.
Zhou Jingan approached Wei Zhiqian and noticed Tan Mo's name tag was stuck on the back of the chair next to the man.
"Young Master," Zhou Jingan greeted him.
Wei Zhiqian turned around and was surprised to see his personal assistant here. "Did Mo Mo finish the red carpet event?"
Zhou Jingan nodded and leaned in to whisper next to Wei Zhiqian's ear.
The man's expression turned cold the next instant, and Zhou Jingan could faintly hear him grinding his teeth.
Wei Zhiqian stood up and said, "Let's go!"
Zhou Jingan didn't need his boss to tell him where to go to know what the man was planning to do.
However, Xiao Menghan wasn't in the loop and didn't know why her son was suddenly leaving his seat. "Where are you two going?"
"Oh, I'm just a tad interested in the list of nominees," Wei Zhiqian answered with a smile.
"Ah, I see! You want to see if Mo Mo won or not, right?" Xiao Menghan grinned.
"No. I would rather wait for Mo Mo to find out. There's no point in learning about the result first. The unknown is what makes this exciting."
Wei Zhiqian wasn't really bothered if Tan Mo didn't win the award. It was okay if she didn't, as the award wasn't the only thing that decided if her work was good or not. The success of the drama was more than enough to prove that.
However, if she did win the award, Wei Zhiqian wanted to be there to see Tan Mo's genuine reaction.
He could already tell how cute she would look.
If he were to learn about the result beforehand, he knew that he would never be able to hold himself back from telling her.
That was why he decided to hold back his urge to learn about the result first.
Xiao Menghan was completely confused now. She wondered why her son was interested in the nominees if it wasn't about Tan Mo. He was never the type of person who was interested in things that didn't concern him or the people he was acquainted with.
But, seeing how serious Wei Zhiqian was at the moment, the mother decided not to ask about it and nodded. "I see. Hurry up then."
Wei Zhiqan smiled and left with Zhou Jingan.
Just a few seconds after Wei Zhiqian left, Tan Mo arrived inside the venue with her oldest brother.
They quickly spotted their parents and Xiao Menghan and walked toward their seats.
Chapter 268: Bullying Sister
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Tan Wenci, Xu Mingzhen, and Xiao Menghan's seats were directly in front of Tan Mo, Wei Zhiqian, and Tan Jinqi.
Behind her were Tan Jinsheng and Tan Jinyi.
They were all directly in front and in back of each other.
"Eh? Where is Uncle?" Tan Mo asked, noticing that Wei Zhiqian was not around even though his name was on a label on the back of the seat beside hers.
Who knew...? Suddenly, she heard a desolate voice, "Could it be that it is not enough for your brothers to accompany you?"
Tan Mo turned toward the source of the voice and saw her third brother Tan Jinyi looking at her plaintively, as if there was a dark cloud above his head.
"I...I was just asking casually," Tan Mo said.
"What were you casually asking about?"
Tan Mo froze. "......"
Wei Zhiqian hadn't returned until just this minute.
He was just in time to hear Tan Mo's remark.
Tan Mo was about to figure out a way to cover up the matter, but Tan Jinyi, acting like a saboteur, said before she could answer, "Mo Mo was just asking if you were around. It isn't that she really cares about you!"
Tan Mo: "......"
Wei Zhiqian gave a short laugh: "Heh, heh, heh."
"Uncle, I missed you so much!" Tan Mo quickly gripped Wei Zhiqian's arm. "Just now when I arrived, the first person I asked about was you."
"It just was a casual query," Wei Zhiqian lazily said.
Xu Mingzhen was watching her little daughter having to deal with Wei Zhiqian and her brothers.
She spent some time pacifying one, then spent time pacifying the other.
Tan Mo was in a difficult position.
Xu Mingzhen was about to pass her coat to Tan Mo, but Tan Wenci was a step ahead of her and picked up the coat, passed it to Tan Mo, and said with a sympathetic expression, "Tan Mo, you must be freezing. Put this coat on."
"This is great!" Tan Mo happily received the coat, quickly put it on, and felt warmer immediately.
At this moment, Tan Wenci had the look of a villain who had accomplished his goal. "Look at these brothers of yours, and your uncle, all of whom are only concentrating on your words, but do not know how to quickly give you your coat to warm you up!"
Xu Mingzhen: "......"
Tan Mo is already facing enough trouble. You don't have to add to it.
...
Yu Yixian had just returned after completing her interviews outside.
At the red carpet wall of autographs, one of the events was being interviewed by the M.C.
After returning from the carpet, next to the inner event area, there is another spot to meet the media.
Many artistes would head over there to get interviewed again.
After Yu Yixian entered, she started to search for Wei Zhiqian.
Although she had quarreled with Tan Mo in the waiting area, she didn't at all forget her main goal after entering the inner event area.
At this moment, the number of people in the area was increasing gradually.
Everyone found a person with whom they had a good relationship and started chatting.
There were also sponsors here who one could be introduced to.
Tonight, this is a location of fame and hopefully monetary returns.
This was the first time Tan Wenci and Xu Mingzhen have attended such an event.
Thus, not many people would recognize them and didn't know that Tan Wenci was the largest sponsor of "Legend of Wei and Jin".
However, there were some people who recognized Xiao Menghan and Wei Zhiqian.
There were many who wanted to approach them, but because there was no one to introduce them to the pair, they did not dare to make any rash moves and could only stare at them with desire.
While Yu Yixian was searching for Wei Zhiqian, she realized that many people were constantly turning to look in a certain spot.
She looked over there.
And found Wei Zhiqian...
But at the same time, she also saw Tan Mo.
Unexpectedly, Tan Mo was seated with Wei Zhiqian.
And they were currently chatting!
She had no idea how that Tan Mo had such great luck for her to be seated with Wei Zhiqian.
Yu Yixian found it rather odd. How had the organizers gone about the seating arrangements?
To think, Wei Zhiqian was seated in the third row.
She herself was seated in the second row, just in a different area than Wei Zhiqian and his party.
Wei Zhiqian and his party were seated in area A, while she was in area B.
As she was a candidate for this year's best actress role, Yu Yixian's seat had to be near the front and center area.
However, when speaking about Wei Zhiqian, he should be seated in the first row no matter what.
Yu Yixian had walked the red carpet earlier than the crew of "Legend of Wei and Jin".
By the time Director Liu and the others were interviewed in front of the wall of autographs, Yu Yixian had already entered the media room of the indoor location to wait for her turn to be interviewed.
Therefore, what Director Liu had said about Tan Mo being their scriptwriter wasn't known by Yu Yixian.
She saw Tan Mo seated in the third row, a seat that was not attainable by many artistes who were more famous than Tan Mo. In addition, it was beside Wei Zhiqian.
Attention was also supposed to be paid by the arranger to who was to be seated side by side.
The seat beside Wei Zhiqian, no matter how it was arranged, should never have fallen to Tan Mo.
However, since the organizers had placed Wei Zhiqian in the third row, committing a senseless act such as placing Tan Mo beside Wei Zhiqian no longer seemed so odd.
Yu Yixian looked at the seat beside her, which was currently unoccupied, and next to it was another female actress, Xu Feifei.
Pretending to be casual, Yu Yixian leaned toward Xu Feifei and asked, "The little lady seated next to Wei Zhiqian looks unfamiliar. I haven't seen her before."
When they'd been outside, it hadn't been a good idea for Tan Mo to stick to Wei Zhiqian.
Plus, her brothers had also been around.
Afraid that her brothers would be jealous, Tan Mo sat upright.
By being right in the middle, no one would need to be jealous.
Yu Yixian had chosen the right person to speak to.
Xu Feifei happened to be one of the artistes who had unluckily been pushed around on the red carpet and had not been photographed by the reporters.
When she heard Yu Yixian's statement, Xu Feifei's expression instantly changed to an awkward one, as she explained, "She is the scriptwriter of 'Legend of Wei and Jin'."
"What?" Yu Yixian exclaimed. "She is so young!"
"Don't you know?" Xu Feifei asked.
"What should I know?" Yu Yixian lifted her eyebrows.
Xu Feifei laughed. "Perhaps because you walked the red carpet earlier, you did not see what happened. I was walking behind Tan Mo and heard the whole thing."
Yu Yixian wondered what Xu Feifei was talking about.
Is she making a jibe just because she'd walked the red carpet earlier?
Saying that she is more popular than her in a roundabout way...?
While Yu Yixian was attempting to figure out her meaning behind the words, she heard Xu Feifei say, "Her name is Tan Mo. Don't pay attention to her young age, she is a genius."
Anyway, there was no clash with her occupation, so Xu Feifei could openly express her admiration.
"She scored full marks on her high school leaving exams when she was 15 and was fought over by the top six universities. The principals of five universities personally went to her home to invite her to join their schools. She eventually entered Beijing University. Although she is majoring in finance, she became the mentee of Professor Zhao from the History Department and Professor Guo from the Chinese Language Department. She represented Beijing University when she was in her first year and single-handedly won the Ancient Text Competition even though her opponents were PhD students. She was assigned by Professor Zhao to be a consultant to 'Legend of Wei and Jin', found many errors in the original script, and then personally rewrote the script to help Director Liu out of a tight spot, and created 'Legend of Wei and Jin'. She isn't even 17 yet."
"To say that she is a genius is not an exaggeration," Xu Feifei praised her.
Chapter 269: Courage from the Heavens
"I just spoke to Director Hou briefly and heard that Director Hou and Director Liu had already reserved Tan Mo to write the scripts for their next dramas," Xu Feifei said.
Yu Yixian: "......"
Yu Yixian turned to look at Tan Mo again.
No wonder she was so arrogant. It turns out that she has reason to be.
No wonder both Director Liu and Director Hou were helping her.
Because they wanted a script from her...
Xu Feifei understood very well. "The scriptwriters in our country don't have much power. Their status is far from directors and actors. If the director and main lead say that they want to change the script, other than the few top scriptwriters, normal scriptwriters would have to bite the bullet and change it according to what they want.
"However, my guess is that even if Tan Mo does not get an award this time, she will still join the ranks of the top scriptwriters," Xu Feifei went on. "When that happens, her scripts would become very popular. Similar to other top scriptwriters, once it is seen that she is the scriptwriter, actors would compete to act in her works.
"She might even have the choice to choose the actors or at least have the power to reject them. To act for her script, they might even need to get into her good books." Xu Feifei is not afraid to say this to Yu Yixian.
How could Yu Yixian not know this?
Yu Yixian looked at Tan Mo with Xu Feifei's words in her ears. She curled her lips in denial. "She only has one successful work. How many people have failed after their one success? To join the ranks of the top scriptwriters, she still has to produce two or three more works to prove herself.
"Director Liu and Director Hou sure are confident in her, daring to continue working with her after just one work." Yu Yixian snorted. "Aren't they afraid that she only has one quality work in her and could have failures for her next two?"
Xu Feifei laughed after hearing her words, "Oh, sister Xian, was she insensible and ruffled your feathers?"
"She was indeed not too sensible." There had been so many people in the waiting area earlier when she'd had the incident with Tan Mo. Xu Feifei was sure to hear about the incident sooner or later. Yu Yixian did not hide it, but she also did not say too much.
At the time, the waiting area had been chaotic, and she hadn't noticed if Xu Feifei was present.
However, from Xu Feifei's words, it seemed as if she didn't know about the conflict between her and Tan Mo in the waiting area earlier.
Yu Yixian glanced over and saw that many wanted to make a move toward Wei Zhiqian, but unfortunately, due to no one referring them, they didn't dare to go over hastily.
Yu Yixian thus looked around to see who could take her over.
Chairman Yao from Journey Films was also present, but he had gone over to chat with Director Liu.
Evidently from what Director Liu had told Tan Jinqi, in this industry, the only thing that does not change is the desire for profit.
Having seen the excellent results of "Legend of Wei and Jin", while Chairman Yao was envious, he also wanted to amend his relationship with Director Liu.
Yu Yixian moved her sights elsewhere and found that Chairman Zhu from Zhulu Culture was also present.
Yu Yixian happened to be friends with Chairman Zhu and therefore stood up, lifted her dress, and walked over.
"Chairman Zhu," Yu Yixian walked over and addressed him with a smile.
"Oh, Yixian," Chairman Zhu smiled back.
Seeing an empty seat beside Chairman Zhu, Yu Yixian sat herself down. "Chairman Zhu, do you know who are the two people seated with the main creative team of 'Legend of Wei and Jin'? The two seated beside Director Liu...?
"Oh, I indeed do know." Director Zhu naturally had been curious as well about the people who were sitting there. Moreover, they were new faces, and Chairman Zhu had happened to take the initiative to talk to them earlier.
"Those two are the chairman of the TanYue Group and his wife," Chairman Zhu said, "and they are the biggest investors in 'Legend of Wei and Jin'.
Even when the TanYue Group was mentioned, Yu Yixian did not connect it to Tan Mo.
After all, there were many people with the same last name.
Making assumptions willfully could create misunderstandings and even offend people.
"So, that's who they are," Yu Yixian said with a smile. "Have you spoken to them yet?"
Chairman Zhu, who was quick on the uptake, understood the meaning behind her words. "Do you want to meet them?"
"Yes," Yu Yixian admitted graciously. "Knowing more people is good for my career."
It would be hard to approach Wei Zhiqian. However, TanYue's chairman and his wife should not be as hard to talk to as he was, right?
After all, TanYue is very different from any one of the eight great clans.
They are not of the same class.
Every one of the eight great clans was very hard to approach.
However, there was no harm in trying to approach those beneath the eight great clans.
"No problem." Chairman Zhu does not mind. He stood up and took Yu Yixian toward the Tan family.
He was only introducing a few people to Yu Yixian.
He was only responsible for the introduction and would not lose anything by it.
Building a few bridges could also be advantageous for him.
He is helping Yu Yixian to build a connection, and she will also do the same for him.
These benefits are mutual.
You shouldn't think that Yu Yixian is only an artiste. She also has many connections from her usual interactions with people from various industries and jobs.
It is possible that they would be of use in due time.
"Chairman Tan, Mrs. Tan," Chairman Zhu came over again, with Yu Yixian beside him now.
Tan Wenci and Xu Mingzhen had heard from Tan Jinqi regarding the incident with Yu Yixian bullying Tan Mo in the waiting area.
They regretted that they had not been there at that moment.
Otherwise, Xu Mingzhen would have slapped her.
Did she borrow courage from the heavens for 500 years to bully their Mo Mo?
They had heard that Zhou Jingan protected Tan Mo and that Director Liu and Director Hou embarrassed Yu Yixian, eventually leading to Yu Yixian's leaving in defeat.
Then the pair's minds could be at ease.
But they were still upset over the matter.
Tan Wenci had even secretly set his mind to expanding his business in order to have more connections to the entertainment industry.
He would not let Tan Mo suffer from such incidents again.
Even if Yu Yixian was the one who had ended up being embarrassed.
However, Tan Wenci felt that just by being scolded by Yu Yixian, Tan Mo had already suffered.
Seeing Yu Yixian standing nearby, Tan Wenci's expression immediately turned cold. "Chairman Zhu, why did you bring this one over?"
Chairman Zhu was confused by Tan Wenci's attitude.
As Tan Wenci played the role of the bad cop, Xu Mingzhen tacitly played the role of the good cop. "Please don't misunderstand, Chairman Zhu. My husband is not against you. It is an honor for us to know you and since we know each other now, we are friends."
Still at a loss, Chairman Zhu nodded.
"That's right." Tan Wenci nodded in acknowledgement. "However, pardon us for falling short of Yu Yixian's standards."
"What's this?" Chairman Zhu was stunned.
He had even been ready to befriend Tan Wenci.
How did Yu Yixian offend him?
Yu Yixian had even asked him to build this connection for her after offending the person in question.
In a moment, Chairman Zhu had filled in the blanks himself.
It must be that Yu Yixian had offended the Tan couple earlier and was afraid to be shunned if she had approached them herself.
Which was why she had approached him to mediate.
But she did not dare to be upfront with him.
And was afraid that he would not help if he knew.
Thus, she made up an excuse saying that she wanted to acquaint herself with the Tan couple and asked him for help.
Yu Yixian felt that with him around, it would not be good for Chairman Tan to ignore her.
Perhaps Chairman Tan would be uncomfortable to make things ugly in front of Chairman Zhu.
It was obvious that Yu Yixian had been making use of him.
Chairman Zhu was so alarmed, he almost broke out in a cold sweat.
Chapter 270: A Complete Meltdown
As it happened, Tan Wenci was the type of person who would say whatever was on his mind. He wasn't someone who would smile at a person and spread rumors about them behind their backs.
If Tan Wenci had been that kind of person who always acted kind to others but then would stab them in the back, they would never have learned that they had offended him until they were in deep trouble.
"Oh, my!" Chairman Zhu exclaimed as he pushed Yu Yixian away. "My apologies for not knowing that."
He couldn't believe that the actress actually had had the nerve to pretend that she didn't know Tan Wenci and his wife. If the couple were to punish him for that, it would've all been her fault.
"I had no idea that Mr. and Mrs. Tan didn't like her or else I would never have tried to introduce her to you." Chairman Zhu smiled awkwardly before turning to Yu Yixian angrily. "You! Are you trying to ruin me?"
Yu Yixian could only look at the chairman and the married couple speechlessly.
She couldn't understand why they were angry at her as she wasn't even acquainted with them.
Yu Yixian was starting to get anxious and her face turned pale. "Um...Mr. and Mrs. Tan, I don't think we've ever met before this. Did I do something wrong to upset both of you? Can you please let me know as I think there's a misunderstanding between us? I don't want the misunderstanding to worsen... If I really did something wrong, then I hope you will give me a chance to apologize for my mistake..."
The actress then turned to Chairman Zhu to explain, "Mr. Zhu, I really am not acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Tan. You have to believe me. That's why I asked you to introduce them to me..."
She was trying her best to clear up the misunderstanding as Wei Zhiqian was right next to them. She thought her words and confused expression would make the man take pity on her, plus she was confident in her looks as well.
"Ms. Yu, I'm seriously impressed at how good your acting is." Tan Wenci sighed. "So, you're basically the kind of person who tries to play nice in front of people you can't offend, like Mr. Zhu and us, but bully those who you think are below you? Do you even know that sometimes your words and actions could ruin a person's future? For what? So that you can show to the public that you're a person of higher standing than others and that your peers have to respect you?"
The latter part of Tan Wenci's words immediately made Yu Yixian think of Tan Mo.
Coincidentally, Tan Mo was sitting in front of the married couple.
The actress was convinced that Tan Mo had taken the chance to tell them what had happened earlier.
"Mr. Tan, did someone talk to you about me?" Yu Yixian acted innocent and pointed at Tan Mo. "Was it her? Are you trying to belittle me because you're sitting close to Mr. and Mrs. Tan? Are you trying to ruin my future? Who would've thought that a little girl like you would think of such a thing! Don't you know it's wrong to try and frame someone behind their back?"
Yu Yixian paused and continued to scold Tan Mo, "I heard you're a student at the prestigious Beijing University, right? And that you're the student of the famous Professor Zhao and Professor Guo? Don't you think your actions will bring shame to the professors and the school? Is this how you repay the professors that have shown you kindness? What will other people think when they hear of this?"
Tan Mo could only leave her mouth wide open after hearing all that.
D*mn! She really is an actress!
"Auntie, if you act this good in your dramas, the Best Actress Award should definitely go to you tonight," Tan Mo complimented her as she shot a thumbs-up at Yu Yixian. "You definitely deserve the title!"
Yu Yixian almost cursed at the little girl for calling her auntie again.
Who the f*ck are you calling auntie?
Tan Jinsheng could only exclaim at how kind his little sister was being. Even after being bullied by Yu Yixian, the little girl was still able to see the actress's strengths and compliment her for it.
The brother came to the conclusion that Tan Mo always got bullied because of her kindness.
"Y...you! Shut up!" Yu Yixian was completely furious now. "Tan Mo, tell us the truth. No one would blame you since you're still a child. There's no way we would be angry at you."
The actress still pretended to be generous.
"But, it really wasn't me..." Tan Mo pouted.
It was big brother and Brother Jingan who had told Mom and Dad...
"Are you kidding me? Who else then? Huh?" Yu Yixian scolded her, pointing at the people sitting next to her. "You guys must be working with her as well!"
"Enough!" Tan Wenci finally lost his cool and roared. "How dare you try to frame my daughter in front of me? Now, I can finally picture how vile you were back at the red carpet event!"
Yu Yixian was completely dumbfounded this time. Her mind went completely blank in an instant. Even ten years after that night, she was still regretting the choices she had made this night.
If she had never tried to bully Tan Mo, her future would still have been bright.
At that moment, Yu Yixian could feel her strength leaving her. It was as if she was a robot that was out of juice.
A few seconds passed before the actress turned to look at Tan Mo and Tan Wenci.
"D...daughter? What...what daughter?" Yu Yixian was praying to God that she had been mistaken.
D...don't tell me that Tan Mo...is Tan Wenci's daughter? It's impossible, right?
"Tan Mo," Xu Mingzhen slowly said, "is our daughter."
Those five words were enough to break all of Yu Yixian's hopes.
She could not believe that Tan Mo was actually the daughter of Tan Wenci, one of the richest and most influential men in the country.
Even the makeup wasn't enough to cover the blood being drained from the actress's face.
She could feel the chills running down her spine. All she could do was laugh at her own stupidity.
How? How did I get myself into this? W...why didn't anyone tell me that Tan Mo is Tan Wenci's daughter?
Yu Yixian was now on the verge of bursting into tears.
"What?" Chairman Zhu exclaimed and turned to glare at Yu Yixian. "She bullied Mo Mo? How dare you bully such a nice little girl?"
The chairman had no clue as to what had happened between Tan Mo and Yu Yixian, but judging from Tan Wenci's attitude, he could tell that the latter had bullied the former.
"And you dare to ask me to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Tan after what you did to their daughter? How shameless can you be?"
Yu Yixian completely ignored Chairman Zhu as the most important people she had to apologize to at the moment were Tan Wenci and his wife, not the chairman, who she thought of only as a disposable item.
To her, Chairman Zhu was at most a person that she was using and nothing more.
If she could get Tan Wenci and Xu Mingzhen to forgive her, then there was nothing Chairman Zhu could do about it, and he might even pretend that the incident had never happened.
"I...I'm really sorry for the small misunderstanding between Tan Mo and me," Yu Yixian quickly apologized as she tried to make the consequences for her actions as minimal as possible. "I didn't know she was your daughter..."
She completely regretted her decision to ask Chairman Zhu to introduce her to the chairman of the TanYue Group. Even if their relationship really did turn sour because of her actions, that was something she could worry about in the future.
At the very least, she would still have her relationship with Chairman Zhu.