Chapter 41: I'm your great-aunt!

Chapter 41: Your Great-Aunt!

Perhaps being too triumphant, Qi Tong failed to notice the shifting atmosphere for a moment. He even pulled out his phone to open a media app to show Lu Jinzhao.

"President Lu, look. Seven out of the top ten trending searches are from our press conference; it's definitely the hottest news of the day. The peak number of concurrent viewers on the live stream exceeded twenty million, breaking the previous record by a landslide. The sponsors are extremely satisfied."

Seeing Qi Tong's lack of situational awareness, the corners of Lu Jinzhao's eyes twitched with rage. He slapped Qi Tong's hand away and glared at him. "You're awfully proud of yourself, aren't you? I scolded Wang Rui, not you, right? What on earth are you so smug about?"

The smile froze on Qi Tong's face. For a moment, he couldn't grasp the situation, nor did he understand why President Lu was suddenly so furious.

He blinked in confusion. "Wait, President Lu, what's wrong? The results have already exceeded our previous expectations. Are you still not satisfied?"

"Satisfied my ass!" Lu Jinzhao asked through gritted teeth. "Are you blind? Someone was missing from the press conference. Where is she!"

"Someone?" Qi Tong didn't react immediately, staring blankly. "What are you talking about, President Lu? What person..."

"I'll fucking—"

Lu Jinzhao felt like giving the Qi Tong in front of him a massive slap right then and there. Just as he was about to explode in anger, Wang Rui, the general manager of the press conference, arrived.

He ran up panting heavily, grabbed Qi Tong, and pulled him aside with a wave of his hand. Gasping for breath, he said, "President Lu, I'm here."

He had just returned to the company when President Lu called him back.

Wang Rui was far more perceptive than Qi Tong. He noticed Shen Ci's cold expression immediately and quickly spoke with an apologetic face. "Miss Shen, is it? This was our mistake. We are truly sorry."

"Of course it's your mistake. Is it my sister's fault instead?" Shen Ci said in an unfriendly tone.

Wang Rui nodded repeatedly. "But please, the press conference has already ended. Could you give us a chance? I promise that in all our future work, we will be extremely cautious. A situation like today's will never happen again."

Shen Ci turned her head slightly to look at Lu Jinzhao. Her gaze was dark and intimidating, which made Lu Jinzhao understand instantly.

Miss Shen had said on the phone: the press conference was over, but this matter was not. If she didn't get a satisfactory result, she would withdraw her investment!

He reacted immediately. "Miss Shen, let's go to the back to talk. It's too chaotic out here."

As he spoke, he extended his hand in a "please" gesture. Shen Ci said nothing more and walked toward the backstage area. Lu Jinzhao shot a furious glare at Wang Rui and Qi Tong before hurrying after her.

Wang Rui wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Just as he was about to leave, he was hurriedly blocked by Qi Tong. Qi Tong asked with a nervous and surprised expression, "Wait, Brother Rui, who is that girl?"

"Your great-aunt!" Wang Rui snapped, pointing at Qi Tong. "You've caused a massive disaster. May God help you!"

Qi Tong was stunned.

What was going on?

Backstage, Lu Jinzhao personally moved a sofa chair for Shen Ci to sit on, while he took a small stool to sit beside her.

"Speak. What exactly happened?" Lu Jinzhao adopted the aura of a superior, staring down Wang Rui and Qi Tong.

As the general manager of this press conference, Wang Rui was responsible for whatever problems occurred, even if they weren't his fault.

After a moment of hesitation, he spoke first. "It was an oversight in our work. President Lu, we truly know we were wrong this time."

"I don't want to hear the word 'oversight'!" Lu Jinzhao's eyes darkened as he rebuked coldly. "Don't try to use such a lame excuse to placate Miss Shen. Tell it like it is. I want the truth!"

To not notice someone was missing and call it an "oversight"—not only would Shen Ci not believe it, but even Lu Jinzhao himself wouldn't believe it.

Wang Rui's eyes darted around as he stole glances at Shen Ci. Although she hadn't said a word, the atmospheric pressure surrounding her was terrifyingly low.

She was the major investor for this project, someone even President Lu had to treat with utmost respect. He truly could not afford to offend her.

"It... it was because the stage area was insufficient. We temporarily cut one appearance slot, thinking... thinking..."

"Thinking that since Shen Li is a newcomer, she would be an easy target to pick on, right?" Seeing Wang Rui struggling to speak, Shen Ci spoke up coldly to finish his sentence.

Wang Rui was both embarrassed and terrified, but at this point, he could only grit his teeth and nod. He quickly added, "Miss Shen, this was truly a huge misunderstanding. If I had known that Shen Li had you backing her, I wouldn't have dared to cut her even if you gave me ten thousand lives, wouldn't I?"

He thought this reason was sufficient enough. They had admitted to the manual reduction of the lineup, and their attitude of admitting fault seemed very sincere. As an investor, even if Shen Ci was angry, she should consider the bigger picture.

After all, the press conference was over; there was little point in digging deeper.

However, Shen Ci's mood did not improve at all because of Wang Rui's words; instead, she was moved to a cold laugh.

She stared intently at Wang Rui and asked, "Do you think that because I'm young, I'm particularly easy to fool?"

"I... I didn't mean it like that, Miss Shen! How would I dare fool you!" Wang Rui was trembling with fear, casting a pleading look toward Lu Jinzhao.

Lu Jinzhao ignored him. He knew Miss Shen had to get to the bottom of this today, and the matter would only end when she said she was satisfied.

"Then let me ask you: if you had known from the beginning that Shen Li was my sister, who would you have cut from the final lineup?"

"Third male lead Song Anyu? Second female leads Ren Jia and Gao Fei? Or fourth male lead Sun Yalun?"

Shen Ci's tone seemed calm, but it was filled with overwhelming pressure.

Wang Rui opened his mouth, but for a moment, he didn't know how to answer.

Seeing this, Shen Ci let out a cold sneer and answered for him: "You wouldn't have cut anyone. Because those actors all have recognition, and none of their agencies would allow their actors to miss the stage. Once a fuss broke out, your press conference wouldn't have been able to proceed smoothly."

"So, you would have found every possible way to cram all the actors onto the stage and into the camera shots. But you are a professional team; you wouldn't have allowed such a chaotic situation to even become a possibility."

"That leaves only one answer: the reason 'the stage couldn't fit that many people' is pure bullshit. I will find someone right now to reconstruct the stage to scale, and have the same number of people stand on it. If it truly can't fit, I won't say another word; I'll bow to you, apologize, and add five thousand more in investment!"

"But if it *can* fit that many people? Can the two of you handle the consequences? Hmm?"