Chapter 4: Is Collective Amnesia Enough to Make Everything All Right?

Jing Tian was Chen Mo’s junior at the Beijing Film Academy. To outsiders, she appeared aloof and distant. However, after truly getting to know her, Chen Mo realized she wasn’t cold at all; she was simply a blank slate who had been overly sheltered. Her apparent aloofness stemmed from a lack of experience in how to interact with others.

Back on that film set, she had projected an air of superiority. But could she help it? It was a small-budget production, and she had arrived in a top-tier luxury car that cost more than the entire film’s budget. The result was inevitable: she naturally isolated herself from the rest of the crew, and consequently, no one dared to approach her. Chen Mo, however, was exceptionally popular on set, and the girl was incredibly envious of him, though she had no idea what the root of her problem was.

One day, seeing her sitting all alone, picking at her high-end boxed lunch with a pitiful look on her face, Chen Mo felt a pang of sympathy and stepped up to strike up a conversation. It was then he discovered that she wasn't cold; she was simply unworldly, having been protected from the realities of life. In truth, she was quite easy to get along with; as soon as Chen Mo approached, she invited him to eat with her. That was how they went from acquaintances to friends.

Later, she asked him quite earnestly, just as she did now: "Are we friends?" After Chen Mo nodded, the girl excitedly made a request that tugged at his heartstrings: she wanted him to take her to an amusement park. Chen Mo agreed to such a trivial request without a second thought.

They became true friends. She envied his popularity on set and asked him how she could stop being ostracized by the others. Chen Mo didn't have a perfect solution at the time, but he gave her a piece of advice: people are more lenient when they’ve eaten your food or accepted your gifts. He suggested she bring snacks and small gifts for the crew. To his surprise, she prepared gifts for everyone, showing that she was actually quite clever and could apply the advice to broader situations. She gave the lead actors expensive luxury bags, scarves, and wallets. While it was a bit blunt and crude, it worked remarkably well. Soon, everyone realized she wasn't as cold as they had imagined. After accepting her gifts, they naturally had to thank her, and the back-and-forth gave her people to talk to on set.

She treated this trick like a treasure. Later, almost every time she joined a new production, she led with luxury gifts. While it was hard to make genuine friends that way, it at least made her very popular on set. And as Chen Mo had said, people are more inclined to be kind to those who treat them well; not a single person who worked with her had a bad word to say about her. However, her judgment—or perhaps the judgment of those backing her—wasn't great. Despite having massive resources, she remained an obscure figure in the entertainment industry.

Returning to the present, Chen Mo closed the script. The girl looked at him with anticipation: "What do you think? Not bad, right? Which role do you want to play? You can choose any of them."

"Ahem, is your family investing in this?" Chen Mo asked, coughing twice to hide his true emotions.

She shook her head. "No, but if you want to act in it, I can talk to the director." She said it so naturally, as if the matter were simple and would be settled the moment she spoke to the director. Chen Mo knew it was true; even if her family wasn't the sole investor, they were definitely involved. In fact, the film was likely made specifically for her. Don't ask how he knew—in his past life, he had learned about this massive flop. With an investment of hundreds of millions, it had crashed and burned spectacularly. Anyone with eyes could see that the film was defined by a lazy plot and absurd settings. Among the leads were veteran actors and seasoned filmmakers, yet the entire project reeked of the sentiment: "The fools have money, come and get it!" And that was exactly what happened—the film flopped, but the actors all made a fortune.

"Can I take a look?" Zhao Ming, who had been bewildered for a while, couldn't help but chime in.

"Sure." Jing Tian pushed the script toward him without a second thought.

Zhao Ming took it and his eyes widened. Good grief, it was a film script, and it even listed potential cast members—not top-tier, but definitely famous, capable actors. There was Sun "The King" Yan, Jiang Wu, Hong Kong’s Francis Ng, and even stars from Japan and Korea. It was an all-star cast, to say the least. But after reading the whole script, Zhao Ming was stunned. What on earth was this? The key was that a script like this would require a nine-figure investment. He had heard rumors about Jing Tian, but this was his first time seeing it in person. It really was a case of "The fools have money, come and get it!" He was at a loss for words.

"Well, forget it. I’m not planning on being an actor anymore. And tell me, do you trust me?" Chen Mo finally spoke up.

"I do! Why are you quitting acting? Is it because of what happened this time? Don't worry, I can get Uncle Lu to help you," Jing Tian said nonchalantly.

Chen Mo believed her. Even though he had offended a large group of industry insiders, if Jing Tian asked her "Uncle Lu" for help, it wouldn't be a big deal at all. After all, she was backed by major capital! What was a crisis for Chen Mo and Zhao Ming was nothing to people at that level. But Chen Mo truly had no interest. It wasn't about being pretentious; it was simply unnecessary.

"If you trust me, don't do this movie," Chen Mo said after a moment of hesitation.

"Okay, then I won't!" Jing Tian replied casually.

Zhao Ming, watching from the side, was dumbfounded. One dared to say it, and the other dared to believe it. Even though he thought the script was nonsense, it was still a major production! To discard such a resource on a whim—it really was infuriating to compare people. He knew about Jing Tian, the oddity of the entertainment circle, but he hadn't expected Chen Mo to be so close to her.

"Brother Zhao, things probably won't be easy for you at the company now. How about it? Any interest in continuing our collaboration?" Chen Mo suddenly turned to ask.

"Collaboration? Aren't you retiring from acting?" Zhao Ming asked, glancing hesitantly at the quietly sitting Jing Tian.

"I'm retiring from the performing arts, not the film industry. If you're interested, let’s find a time to talk properly," Chen Mo said with a smile. He certainly wouldn't tell him his plans just yet.

"Alright! I should go back and handle things first. You really have caused me a lot of trouble," Zhao Ming said, feeling a headache coming on as he thought about the public explosion Chen Mo had triggered.

After sending Zhao Ming off, Chen Mo had a meal with Jing Tian, and they parted ways after agreeing to keep in touch.

The next day, the topic of the "Stab-in-the-Back Alliance" was still trending. Netizens had even created an organizational chart for the group. For a time, the members of the alliance truly felt the weight of being drowned in the vast ocean of public opinion. A few, unable to handle the pressure, deleted their previous posts, but Chen Mo only sneered. Even at this point, not one of them had apologized. They were, just as Chen Mo had predicted, selectively forgetting the incident, as if deleting their words could make everything disappear. Besides, did they think deleting posts would be the end of it? There was no such thing as an easy way out in this world.

Chen Mo organized the information he had gathered over the past two days, copied it onto a USB drive, got up, and left. Soon, he drove to a law firm.