When people in the production crew found out, rumors naturally started circulating. Paparazzi were also waiting outside the set, observing Xu Zifan's visit, and captured images of him leaving with Yao Kexin. As soon as the photos were uploaded online, Yao Kexin quickly became a trending topic.
[Xu Shao doesn't seem like someone who likes palace dramas, so his visit to the set must be for someone, right?]
[Is Yao Kexin Xu Shao's new love interest? That makes perfect sense; Xu Shao definitely invested in this drama to promote Yao Kexin!]
[Xia Shuangshuang is the female lead in this drama! Her new love and old flame are in the same production, and Xu Shao often visits the set. Wow, it's a real love triangle! I wonder if they've had any conflicts.]
[Just a quick note: Xia Shuangshuang deliberately made things difficult for Yao Kexin, making her act out a drowning scene in the lake for a long time.]
Is it true or false? Is there any evidence? Don't spread rumors like this, it'll only start a fight.
The story originated from a crew member using a secondary account; they left immediately afterward, not daring to reveal more. Many people asked for details in the comments, and upon receiving no answers, their imaginations ran wild, conjuring up a fierce feud between a new love and an ex. Xia Shuangshuang's fans all stepped in to refute the rumors, even bringing up the video of Xia Shuangshuang apologizing, saying that Xia Shuangshuang is a gentle and sunny girl and would never intentionally bully a newcomer. Furthermore, Xia Shuangshuang and Xu Zifan broke up amicably, and she has no competitive relationship with Yao Kexin; she would be out of her mind to bully Yao Kexin, and she would never do such a thing.
Everyone in the crew who knew the inside story found these comments laughable. Although Xia Shuangshuang's fans were defending her, it was unclear whether Xia Shuangshuang herself was happy or angry. Her fans called her behavior brainless. During this time, Xu Zifan visited the set but never glanced at Xia Shuangshuang, acting as if they didn't know her at all. Xia Shuangshuang, on the other hand, often appeared with a sullen face out of the camera's view. At first, some thought she wasn't feeling well, but later they noticed she was constantly glancing at Xu Zifan and Yao Kexin, and it became clear. She was clearly jealous, and coupled with her past mistreatment of Yao Kexin, everyone's impression of her worsened.
Xia Shuangshuang was angry that Xu Zifan treated Yao Kexin better than she did. Although she had been with Xu Zifan before, he never knew what gentleness and consideration meant, and never thought about her. He only remembered her when he wanted to hang out with her. But now? Xu Zifan had stopped going out and was visiting the set whenever he had free time. He even gave everyone on set treats for Yao Kexin. She watched as everyone on set treated Yao Kexin much better, as if she were the female lead.
They're both Xu Zifan's girlfriends, yet the treatment they receive is so different. How can she feel at peace with that? Xia Shuangshuang also wanted Xu Hao to visit the set, but he wouldn't come. Even her current girlfriend couldn't compare to Xu Zifan. Even though Xu Hao was in charge of the Xu family and was much more capable than Xu Zifan, she couldn't stand seeing Xu Zifan and Yao Kexin laughing and talking every day. She was about to explode with anger!
Xia Shuangshuang deliberately suggested adding more scenes, speaking to the director in a seemingly professional manner: "Director, I don't think the Consort is a main character. Her value in bullying the female lead in the early stages to show the cruelty of the harem has already been achieved, so she has no need to exist later. It would be more interesting if there were more conflicts between the Empress and the female lead. What do you think?"
The director flatly refused, saying, "This can't be changed casually. The screenwriter has already revised the script once; any further changes will create chaos."
Xia Shuangshuang's smile faded slightly. "Director, please reconsider."
The director nodded dismissively, clearly not taking her words seriously. Xia Shuangshuang felt depressed. She found a secluded spot and called Xu Hao, saying aggrievedly, "Brother Hao, the lead role you arranged for me is almost given away to someone else. Now Yao Kexin is the center of attention in the crew, and I'm just a wallflower on the sidelines. Do you think Xu Zifan is deliberately targeting me? He's your nephew, can't you do something about him?"
Xu Hao considered it for a moment and felt that enough time had passed, so he said, "I will have my assistant handle this matter. You can focus on filming. As for Zifan, you don't need to worry too much. He's practically your nephew now. If he goes too far, you can teach him a lesson, but don't go too far. After all, he's a member of the Xu family."
Xia Shuangshuang's eyes widened in surprise, then she was overjoyed. "Brother Hao, you're so kind! You'll wait for me to finish filming so we can have dinner together?"
"Okay, I'll send a car to pick you up."
After they finished speaking, the director soon received a call from Xia Shuangshuang's company, demanding that he revise the script according to Xia Shuangshuang's wishes. The caller's words were tactful and not harsh, but their attitude was very firm, implying that if he didn't make the changes, there might be problems with the later broadcast. This was practically a threat. The director hung up the phone and snorted a few times, but he wasn't particularly angry. He had already been angry when Xia Shuangshuang first added scenes, and besides, he was prepared and wasn't afraid of this.
When the director revised the script last time, he listened to Xu Zifan's suggestion and didn't show her the final script, only the part that had been filmed first. In other words, Xia Shuangshuang thought that only a few scenes had been added for her and a few scenes had been cut for others, but in reality, many scenes had been changed, and only she was unaware of it. So this time, if the director showed her another part of the script and told her that it was for her, he could directly deal with her added scenes.
Thinking of Xu Zifan and Xia Shuangshuang, the director couldn't help but sigh. Xu Zifan was incredibly perceptive; he had anticipated Xia Shuangshuang's antics. Without preparation, Xia Shuangshuang would have truly given him a run for his money. Xu Zifan was practically his lucky star, saving him a huge problem.
The director called Xia Shuangshuang over, flipped through the script, and pretended to frown and think for a while. He then waved his hand and said, "Okay, your suggestion is good. I'll discuss it with the screenwriter later and we'll go shoot the next scene. You have a lot of scenes, so you have to film them well and not affect the quality of the show, understand?"
Xia Shuangshuang smiled sweetly, "I understand, Director. Our drama is sure to be a huge hit."
Summer Frost
Shuang found a sense of superiority in adding scenes, and her mood improved again. Because Xu Zifan often came, Yao Kexin became Xu Zifan's girlfriend again. Not wanting to lose face, she took filming very seriously, strictly following the system's instructions. The number of takes decreased, and filming went much more smoothly.
Xu Hao helped Xia Shuangshuang this time to force Xu Zifan to make another move. He knew his nephew's personality well; he was a playboy, living for the moment, and had no interest in real relationships. How could his feelings for Yao Kexin be genuine? In his view, Xu Zifan's actions were simply aimed at Xia Shuangshuang. If it were him, he would also retaliate if a woman he had dumped splashed water on him, except he would directly blacklist her. Xu Zifan, on the other hand, was acting like a child playing house, fooling around on the film set.
This is even better. If Xu Zifan wants to target Xia Shuangshuang, he'll help Xia Shuangshuang behind the scenes, making Xu Zifan increasingly unhappy and causing him to act more and more ruthlessly, eventually leading to him making a mistake and causing trouble. Once Xu Zifan's reputation is ruined, he can then rightfully teach him a lesson. In reality, Xu Zifan's shares represent at most one-fifth of the entire Xu Group. He has created far more wealth, but he doesn't want to give that one-fifth to Xu Zifan.
If it weren't for him, Xu's Real Estate would have been gone long ago. Xu Zifan, a mere child, couldn't have handled it; he might be bankrupt and sleeping under a bridge by now. It was he who saved Xu's Real Estate and expanded into other industries, making Xu's Group bigger and stronger. The entire Xu's Group should belong to him, including Xu's Real Estate! When his father passed Xu's Real Estate to his eldest brother, giving him only 10% of the shares, he was already resentful. Now, he finally has the opportunity to take over the entire Xu's Group. He wants to show his father and eldest brother, who are now in the underworld, that he is the most suitable person to lead Xu's Group!
However, Xu Zifan didn't react after learning that Xia Shuangshuang had added scenes. Xia Shuangshuang also wanted Xu Zifan to cause some trouble so she could expose their relationship and teach him a lesson as his aunt. That opportunity and feeling would be incredibly satisfying! But they waited for several days, and Xu Zifan even visited the set twice, but he still didn't react. Even Yao Kexin didn't react. He didn't seem like someone who had been wronged by having his scenes cut.
There was a slight change when Xu Zifan visited the set. He didn't just chat with Yao Kexin anymore; he brought several high-end computers and played games with Meng Yuncheng, Shi Xueman, and Yao Kexin in the live stream while they were resting!
The video of Xu Zifan, a super-rich second-generation heir, and Meng Yuncheng, a popular star, playing games attracted a lot of viewers. Their appearance alongside Shi Xueman and Yao Kexin drew even more attention. Besides fans, there were also many fans who shipped the two characters, especially those who shipped Meng Yuncheng and Shi Xueman. They were incredibly grateful to Xu Zifan, who not only had them act as brand ambassadors in an advertisement and appear together on posters, but also got them to play games together. This was official fan service—more than they'd received in the entire previous year!
However, Shi Xueman and Yao Kexin didn't play very well. Two days later, Meng Yuncheng discovered that Xu Zifan's gaming skills were comparable to a professional level. He invited several celebrity friends who were good at gaming to play with Xu Zifan, and this time the girls didn't join in. While the CP fans left, a large number of fans of the celebrities flooded into the live stream, and even more were professionals from the gaming world!
[Wow, Xu Zifan is so professional! Has he been trained? Rich people are so good at games, they must have hired a private coach!]
[Xu Shao's skills are amazing! He can even one-shot people with that kind of positioning? I'm impressed, I want to kneel down and worship this master!]
[Looks good, Xu Shao, stop playing with them. Meng Yuncheng's skills are alright, but what are those guys? Come join us! I'll send you the live stream ID →]
[Don't even think about stealing my player! Xu Shao is challenging me to a game. I'm itching to join! I'm streaming tonight, are you in?]
Xu Zifan glanced at the comments and calmly said, "If you want to play with me, come and stream on my channel."
[Haha, Xu Shao's ad is awesome! His recruitment tactics are even more outrageous than the game itself!]
[Young Master Xu, wait for me! I'm going to register an account and start a live stream. You can't back out now!]
That day, the number of registered users for Xu Zifan's live stream skyrocketed. Xu Zifan actually played two games with several well-known e-sports players. Before, we could only see that he was good at the game, but playing with e-sports players really showed his professionalism. His skills were even better than some of the players, which was surprising. The hashtag #XuZifanProfessionalE-sportsPlayer# quickly rose to the top of the trending topics and stayed there for a whole day. The topic was extremely popular, and everyone knew how good Xu Zifan was at gaming.
His game live streams were replayed countless times, giving his live streaming platform free advertising—and super-powerful advertising at that—making his name known to everyone!