Chapter 48 Insufficiently Qualified

Jason raised his hand to stop her. He said coldly, "I'm not here to sign the contract, but to inform you that the directorial team has confirmed a Chinese actress. t's not Jiang Lingyun."

"What?"

Bai Shanshan froze.

"Jason, what happened? You watched Lingyun's video, she definitely has—"

"Those were your lies! The video was blurry, was it really Jiang Lingyun? And yesterday you told me that Yan Wen was just a washed-up actress with no previous credits and a lot of shameful behavior!"

Jason angrily slammed the document folder onto the table. "She's the best actress grand slam recipient and Narsha's good friend. Between her and Jiang Lingyun, even a fool would know who to choose."

"No..." Bai Shanshan was rendered speechless by his words.

"Enough. It's your company's business on who you want to push. But I won't forgive your deception!" Jason hit the table furiously. If not for Bai Shanshan's sabotage, he would not have misunderstood Yan Wen and almost lost out on an amazing actress.

"But Lingyun is here and we've been talking about working together for so long. With filming coming up, are you really going to swap her out? Don't be so heartless, Jason. For the sake of all the times, we've collaborated?" Bai Shanshan pulled out all the stops to try and change Jason's mind.

Jason sighed. "Well, whether to use one Chinese actress or two, is not up to me. It's up to her."

"Okay, tell me who she is. I will convince her to work together with Lingyun."

Bai Shanshan was confident in her powers of persuasion. But she was surprised to see Yan Wen walk into the meeting room.

It was her!

Hadn't she made Jason angry yesterday? Why did he invite her today?

Yan Wen, you bitch!

Agitated, Bai Shanshan turned to Bai Zhexuan with a low voice. "What's going on!"

Yan Wen was supposed to be in a plane on the way home now.

"I don't know..." Bai Zhexuan frowned, watching Yan Wen step into the room with ease. "Yan Wen. this has nothing to do with you. Get out."

A faint smile on her face, Yan Wen ignored Bai Zhexuan and walked in front of Jason, shaking his hand politely. "Good morning, Assistant Director."

"Let me introduce you to a participant of 'Backstage' this season, Yan Wen." Jason was direct. He gave Bai Shanshan an icy look. "She's also a Grand Entertainment artiste. Is working with her good enough to save your image?"

Bai Shanshan took a deep breath and tried to quell her anger. '...of course. If Yan Wen is the directorial team's choice, we definitely support it. Yan Wen and Lingyun are both from our company. Acting together is a perfectly normal thing, isn't it, Yan Wen?"

Her brows were furrowed as she glared at Yan Wen.

If Yan Wen embarrassed her in front of Jason, Grand Entertainment would become the laughing stock of the industry.

Jason glanced worriedly at Yan Wen. "Do you need my assistance?"

What was supposed to come, would come.

Yan Wen had expected this reaction from Bai Shanshan, and she turned to Jason. "You've already helped me a lot. I'll settle the rest. Don't worry, I'll definitely take part in this production."

"Alright then, I'll wait for you outside" Jason gave Bai Shanshan a long meaningful look and left the meeting room.

"Yan Wen, what's the meaning of this! Did you have to do this?" Bai Zhexuan raised his voice once the door was shut. He glared furiously at Yan Wen and bundled Jiang Lingyun behind him. "We're already over and you said we can never go back to the way it was. Why do you still insist on opposing Lingyun! Are you so jealous that you can't stand seeing her doing better than you?"

"Jealous?"

Yan Wen spoke with conviction. "I'm just taking back what is rightfully mine. I don't care that you support Jiang LHngyun, but the video that you provided was clearly my audition video. You're violating my rights. I'm already giving you face by not telling Jason the truth."

"...you!"

"I'm already being very nice. I have no plans to use Jiang Lingyun as my stepping stone."

"Zhexuan, I know I'll never be as good as her. Forget it, I'm going home. I don't want the best actress award, I only want you." Jiang Lingyun wept noisily and clung to Bai Zhexuan, leveling a jealous look at Yan Wen.

Bai Zhexuan grit his teeth. "It's okay, I'Il—"

"Enough!" Bai Shanshan shot Jiang Lingyun a venomous look. Right now, she and Yan Wen were at opposite ends of the scale. Yan Wen had evidence of Grand Entertainment's duplicity in her hand and if she leaked the truth, not only would Jiang Lingyun never be able to break into the entertainment industry here, the company's reputation would be affected.

And yet Jiang Lingyun still did not understand the situation and kept bothering Bai Zhexuan. The situation back home had become so serious mostly because Hiang Lingyun kept interfering. She was not sure that Bai Zhexuan had made a good choice with Jiang Lingyun.

"Yan Wen, you're still an artist of Grand Entertainment. If you want to make a comeback, the company won't stop you." Bai Shanshan pulled out a stool to take a seat, her tone becoming gentle. "But Lingyun is the actress that the company is pushing now. This reality show is the springboard to make her a household name. You've been in the industry longer. Why don't you help each other become more popular? The best option is to film together."

"I'm not interested in rubbing off Jiang Lingyun's popularity," Yan Wen answered calmly, her gaze unwavering.

They had used her enough times so Yan Wen knew not to reason with them, but to talk about the benefit. So she glanced to the side at the furious Jiang Lingyun and said lightly, "I can agree to film with her, but I have conditions."

Bai Shanshan forced out a smile. "What do you want?

"I'm just a washed-up movie star who's been wrung dry by the company. I don't have a say in my schedule arrangements. Moving forward from today, my manager and assistant only listen to me. I decide what advertisements to take on and what shows to film. If you agree to this, I will try to persuade Jason to let Jiang Lingyun participate."

To bring up such conditions to the company as an artist, Yan Wen was being very courageous.

"If you can't accept these terms, that's it then. It's all the same to me, but... for you?"

Jiang Lingyun had always dreamed of attaining best actress status but she needed enough popularity as her springboard. Her filming credits could only be described as average, and she relied completely on behind-the-scenes machinations to give her a fighting chance. If she lost this opportunity, she might...