Wang Lili trembled as she answered the call from President Huo.
President Huo's voice was very cold, even tinged with a hint of frost: "Wang Lili, didn't I tell you to let this matter go and not make a scene? You were in the wrong first, you should know that yourself. Why did you do something so brainless? How do you plan to resolve this now?"
If Wang Lili had only gotten herself into trouble, he wouldn't have made this call.
The crux of the problem now was that Wang Lili's brainless actions had caused him to be implicated as well.
If not for this reason, President Huo wouldn't have stormed over in a rage to settle the score.
Wang Lili opened her mouth, wanting to explain that she was being forced by Director Wang and Director Li, but the words caught in her throat. She felt that the excuse was not easy to voice.
After all, Director Wang and Director Li had always been very responsible.
If it was really anyone's fault, it could only be her own. But wouldn't that be like contradicting herself?
Thinking of this, Wang Lili could only weakly explain, "President Huo, I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have said those things on Weibo. I'm willing to apologize, but I was just too upset. Are you angry with me?"
President Huo's voice was icy, "Wang Lili, ever since I made you famous, you've caused me trouble again and again, and you haven't been of any help. Rather than saying I'm angry, I'm disappointed in you."
"Alright, I don't have much else to say. Let's leave things as they are for now. Don't contact me again. I won't take back the shows and resources I've given you, but how far you can go from here on out will depend on your own fate."
After President Huo finished speaking, he hung up the phone.
Wang Lili was left staring at her phone, dumbfounded, water droplets still dripping from her hair.
President Huo, what did that last sentence mean?
He had abandoned her.
Wang Lili swallowed, unsure of what to do, her mind blank and her limbs numb.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
With the filming all done and the drama entering the review stage, Qi Yu was intently watching her phone, observing the situation with Wang Lili.
She had initially expected Wang Lili to retaliate even more fiercely after being provoked. But to her surprise, less than half an hour after those internet celebrities and big Vs turned their attention elsewhere, Wang Lili deleted her Weibo post and issued an apology.
Some of Wang Lili's fans were supportive, constantly calling in the comments section for the matter to be dropped, deeming it a trivial issue.
However, more anti-fans attacked Wang Lili in the comments.
"Sigh, it feels like our promotional strategy is going to go down the drain. What's up with this Wang Lili? She apologized so easily. This isn't like her usual style," Qi Yu said with disappointment, putting her phone aside and resting her chin on her hand. "Now I have to spend money to find other channels for promotion. It's so troublesome."
Qi Yu grumbled, finding Wang Lili to be utterly unhelpful. She had caused such a stir before, and Qi Yu had thought she was quite formidable, only to find her apologizing so readily.
Shouldn't she have struggled a bit more?
Si Qing was speechless.
Director Wang comforted Qi Yu, "Actually, the current situation is quite good. Many people are curious about our crew. I'll post the plot preview and some filming snippets later. We'll also include behind-the-scenes footage. If the situation allows, it would be best if you and the male lead could appear on a variety show or other programs. It would boost your fame and also promote our crew."
Director Li fanned himself with a fan, "Indeed, you are both newcomers now. Participating in a variety show at this time would be ideal. Some variety shows even allow the entire crew to participate, promoting the drama as a whole."
Hearing what Director Wang and Director Li said, Si Qing began searching for suitable variety shows.
Director Li, using his connections, listed a few options and handed them to Qi Yu and the others. "Director Wang and I have been in the industry for a long time, and we have our contacts. This list contains variety shows I can get you into. You can be slotted in within the next couple of days. See if you like these shows, as our entire crew can participate together."
As Director Li said this, he began to tally the potential participants from the crew who could appear on variety shows.
Needless to say, Qi Yu, Si Qing, Yue Zhiyin, Sui You, Feng Mingqi, Feng Yunzui, Feng Sixian, Wang Lanqing, Chi Shangming, Chen Xi, Yan Hua, Shaofeng, An Nuo, and Ming Lou were all definite participants.
Even though many of them didn't have particularly prominent roles, they were good-looking.
Being good-looking made it easy to gain fans.
Director Wang was also researching the list of variety shows he could get them into directly through his connections.
Qi Yu took the list and glanced at it.
There were three variety shows in total.
One was a wilderness survival adventure.
This show seemed to be specifically designed for promoting new dramas. All the guests participating were there to promote new dramas, and they would participate as a crew. Whichever crew survived the longest would get a promotional segment at the end, dressed in their drama costumes.
Another was a dating show.
This dating show involved the entire crew living together in a cabin, completing tasks, and developing relationships under live broadcast.
Qi Yu had no intention of dating and was not good at it, so she directly moved on to the next one.
The last variety show was a regular game show.
Qi Yu had no interest in watching it and simply chose the first one on the list, the survival show. "Director Wang, Director Li, let's choose the first one. Participating in this survival variety show as a team sounds interesting. After all, we've been filming for so long, a survival show might be a good way to relax a bit."
Si Qing searched online for highlights from past survival shows and watched a few videos. After finishing, she nodded and said to Director Wang and Director Li, "I'll go with my sister's choice. However, if the entire crew is going, shouldn't we do some trial practice beforehand?"
For example, basic survival knowledge.
After all, they were not all human. Even if they didn't eat for a year, they wouldn't starve to death.
But Director Wang, Director Li, and some of the actors were not like that.
To avoid any suspicion, they needed to synchronize and understand the limits of normal humans who could go without food for a few days.