Chapter 513

Chapter 513 Hathaway’s Invitation

“Director, what do we do?” The noise outside was practically blowing the roof off, and the concert team had nearly reached their breaking point.

“Besides waiting, what else can we do?”

The director was even more helpless, shaking his head with a sigh: “I will never work with a star like this again! This is just too unreliable!”

Hearing this, the manager and assistant both looked a little sour, but had no way to argue back, because this really was Tian Xixi’s fault. She had a habit of throwing diva fits on a regular basis, so it was no wonder people assumed her continued absence was just more of the same.

“Is there anything we can do to fix this?” the manager asked.

“Fix what? Listen to what they’re shouting out there!” The director’s face was full of fury.

The manager pricked up her ears and listened, and her expression instantly changed.

Because tens of thousands of audience members in the stands outside were chanting in unison: “Refund! Refund! Refund!”

“Director, why don’t you go on stage and say a few words? Even a brief explanation would help.” the manager said helplessly.

“Explain what? It’s not my fault. I’m not about to wipe this kind of star’s ass.” The director slammed the folder in his hand to the ground, yanked off his headset, and said: “I’m not dealing with this kind of mess. Whoever wants to handle it can go right ahead!”

With that, he stormed off in a rage.

The manager was on the verge of losing her mind. With the crowd outside demanding refunds, she had absolutely no options left, and could only steel herself and shout: “Never mind what they’re chanting out there. We’ll wait ten more minutes. If Tian Xixi still hasn’t shown up by then, I’ll go on stage and apologize to the audience!”

Ten minutes was nothing. It wasn’t going to change anything. By this point, the manager no longer believed there was any chance Tian Xixi would actually show up.

“This is bad. News of the concert delay has already been posted on Weibo, and within just a few minutes it’s already trending on the hot topics list!”

Hearing this, the manager’s expression shifted.

“Keep waiting! Stop reading that kind of news. It’s bad for morale!” the manager snapped, her face full of anger.

After grinding through a pointless ten minutes, the manager finally stepped out onto the stage. Many people in the audience had already started getting up to leave.

“Today, we owe everyone an apology. Due to some health issues, Xixi is currently still in the hospital. Despite every effort, she has not been able to fully recover, and it would be impossible for her to perform a concert of this scale on her own. So we ask for your understanding. Your tickets will not go to waste. We will announce the refund process afterward. Please keep a close eye on Chenhua Entertainment’s official Weibo and WeChat accounts.”

“Please allow me to apologize to everyone on behalf of Tian Xixi!”

With that, the manager bent at the waist to a full ninety degrees, holding the bow for nearly a full minute.

Her sincerity was evident, but the audience below was having none of it.

“Get lost. Who do you think you are?”

“Do you even have the right to speak on Tian Xixi’s behalf?”

“If she was sick and couldn’t make it, why wasn’t there any advance notice? I took a 500-kilometer train ride just to be here!”

“They can refund the ticket, but what about my travel costs?”

The manager’s words not only failed to calm the crowd’s anger, they made it worse.

It’s just being sick, right? How hard would it have been to put out a statement in advance? Letting all the audience members wait for nearly an hour before announcing that Tian Xixi wasn’t coming — wasn’t that just screwing everyone over?

Even a fool would know something was off.

“I bet Tian Xixi saw how insanely successful Tang Ni Landor’s concert was and got so scared she wet herself!”

“No matter what, I’m never supporting her again. Even if she stripped down and filmed that kind of movie, I wouldn’t give it a single glance!”

“Seriously, this kind of female celebrity is just absolutely disgusting.”

There was no stopping the chatter, and so Tian Xixi’s manager could only watch helplessly as wave after wave of audience members got up and streamed toward the stadium exits.

She was so aggrieved she was on the verge of tears. Even though this wasn’t her fault, the heartache was impossible to hold back.

…………

At that moment, in a hotel room, Tian Xixi and Li Chen were pacing around in a panic.

“Chen-ge, what are we supposed to do? At this point, the concert has probably already started!” Tian Xixi clutched Li Chen’s arm and pleaded: “Chen-ge, we’re stuck here and can’t get out. Come on, think of something!”

“You think I’m not anxious right now? But does being anxious solve anything?”

Li Chen knew that anxiety was useless. The two burly men in the room were watching them like hawks, and there was absolutely no way to escape.

At this moment he utterly despised the person who had come up with this scheme. Couldn’t they have just let the concert go ahead without any trouble? Even if the turnout wasn’t huge, at least it would have been a good start for Tian Xixi’s singing career.

She clearly had the talent to reach a respectable level on her own merits. So why did she have to ride Tang Ni Landor’s coattails to get ahead? This was pure publicity-stunt thinking.

Digging a pit and jumping in yourself. A self-dug grave.

Things had already come to this. There was nothing to be done. Regret was useless for both of them. All they could do was passively accept reality.

Tian Xixi sat on the mattress in a daze. She looked nothing like the glamorous female celebrity she was supposed to be.

Publicly standing up an entire concert audience — once that news got out, who would ever dare work with her again?

Just then, one of the men guarding them suddenly received a phone call, then turned to them and said: “You’re free to go now.”

“We can go now?”

They had been locked up for two full days, and Li Chen and Tian Xixi had nearly given up hope. Hearing this news so suddenly, they could hardly believe their own ears.

“Well? Are you going to get out of here or not?” The burly man shot them a glare, nearly scaring the pair half to death. Neither of them bothered to gather their things. They bolted straight for the stairs.

Two full hours had already passed since the concert was supposed to start.

“Quick, hurry, let’s grab a cab. We might still be able to make it!” Li Chen pulled Tian Xixi along, and the two of them flagged down a taxi and headed for the stadium.

About half an hour later, they arrived in front of the stadium. But the massive venue was completely empty, not a single audience member in sight. The seats inside had all been cleared away, and only a handful of workers remained, dismantling the stage.

The giant bikini poster of Tian Xixi that had hung above the stadium entrance had been torn down and tossed carelessly on the ground, looking rather forlorn.

Taking in the scene, Tian Xixi knew it was truly over for her.

Her career in entertainment had come to an abrupt end on this very day.

Perhaps far in the future, once the vast majority of the audience had completely forgotten about this incident, she might have a chance to reclaim her glory. But with each passing era comes new talent, and by the time that day arrived, even more female celebrities would have emerged. More “scandal videos” would be stirred up for publicity. She would become a washed-up has-been, and be thoroughly buried in the sand.

Tian Xixi covered her face and began to sob softly.

Li Chen’s face had gone ashen as well. He knew this industry inside and out, and the deeper his understanding, the more clearly he could foresee the consequences.

Even if every single ticket was refunded, the direct loss would only be in the tens of millions. But the fallout that followed would be truly terrifying. Even if Li Chen was the son of Ninghai’s wealthiest man.

“This incident is too big. We need to come up with a reasonable explanation for the public, or we’re both finished.” Li Chen said, his expression dark.

Just then, a camera flash went off right beside them.

A reporter had spotted the two of them and was snapping away furiously.

Showing up three hours late to the scene — if these photos made it to print, what on earth would Tian Xixi have to say for herself?

“Stop shooting. I said stop shooting!”

Li Chen was furious at the sight. He was already at his boiling point, and now he was about to do something irrational. He actually lunged at the reporter to grab the camera.

When that failed, Li Chen swung his fist.

Unfortunately for him, every move he made was being recorded by a second reporter.

This reporter was smart about it, filming quietly and slipping away without a sound, never once being noticed by Li Chen from start to finish.

Li Chen ultimately failed to get the camera. He watched the reporter run off, and in a fit of rage, kicked a trash can on the side of the road.

One kick, and the trash can caved in halfway.

At that moment, an older woman wearing a red armband stood up from a nearby bench and said: “Deliberately damaging public property. That’s a 200-yuan fine.”

…………

The next day, Su Rui was browsing the news about Tian Xixi online and couldn’t help but find it quietly amusing. When he got to the part where Li Chen meekly paid the 200-yuan fine to the old woman, he laughed until he couldn’t stop.

That volunteer inspector grandma was basically the ultimate finisher, driving a blade straight through Li Chen’s heart.

The rest of it no longer required him to step in. He was confident Mo Baifen could handle things just fine.

Just then, Su Rui’s phone buzzed.

“Su Rui, it’s Hathaway. Do you have some time right now?”

“Of course. When a beautiful woman calls, I always have time.”

Su Rui knew that after the concert, Tang Ni Landor still had a few commercial engagements to attend, so she would be staying in Ninghai for a few more days.

“The thing is, Landor is filming a promotional video, and I don’t really know anyone in Ninghai. Would you be willing to play tour guide and show me around the city?”

Su Rui knew that a manager wasn’t the same as an assistant. There was no need to be by the celebrity’s side around the clock.

“It would be my pleasure.”

With that, Su Rui headed to the president’s office to ask Lin Aoxue for some time off, then got in his car and set out.

What he didn’t know, however, was that even though this was Landor’s first time holding a concert in Ninghai, Hathaway had actually visited the city many times before and knew all the local attractions like the back of her hand.

From a distance, Su Rui could already spot Hathaway, dressed in a boldly colored sundress, standing at the hotel entrance, blooming like a flower.

Su Rui’s eyes lit up with admiration. He couldn’t figure out how this woman was put together the way she was, or how certain parts of her could be so breathtaking, so almost exaggerated.

Walking down the streets of China with a figure like that, the number of double-takes she’d get went without saying.