Chapter 155: An Actor’s Duty? Are you the one paying my acting fee, Director Wang?

Wang Dagang was a clever man.

If he were to simply debate with Bai Ling, he would gain nothing, even if he left her speechless. After all, in the eyes of the public, he was an established, prestigious director, while Bai Ling was merely an ordinary actress. Wasn't it only natural for a director to hold authority over an actor? Even if he won, where would the sense of accomplishment be? Furthermore, Bai Ling’s previous rebuttal had already made it clear that this girl was not someone who would give in easily.

Therefore, Wang Dagang turned his gaze toward all the actors present and delivered that speech. He employed a bait-and-switch tactic, transforming Bai Ling’s individual case into a collective phenomenon affecting the entire acting industry. By doing so, he used this alleged phenomenon to challenge every actor in the room. Even if these actors felt inclined to modify scripts themselves, they dared not argue against the topic Wang Dagang had raised. To do so would be to position themselves in direct opposition to all directors. Moreover, their dissent could be interpreted as them presumptuously speaking on behalf of all actors. That was a heavy accusation. While true actors would not think this way, if capital were to intervene behind the scenes and stir up public opinion, the blow to them would undoubtedly be devastating.

Yet, if they remained silent, they were effectively letting Wang Dagang get his way. In a sense, silence would be interpreted as tacit agreement. Consequently, Bai Ling’s actions would be branded as insubordinate, even a violation of an actor’s fundamental principles. Thus, Wang Dagang had every reason to be angry, every reason to attack, and even more reason to leave Bai Ling humiliated.

Even though everyone knew this was Wang Dagang’s calculated scheme, they were helpless. Most of them admired Bai Ling—that was undeniable. The capability she had displayed proved that she was indeed a rare talent. But their relationship with her was not close enough to risk their own careers for her sake.

Watching the silence that descended upon the room, a smirk of triumph flickered in Wang Dagang’s eyes. Yes, this was the feeling. Wasn’t this exactly what he had strived for all these years? He immediately looked at Bai Ling and sneered, "Do you have anything else to say? Of course, if you still refuse to admit your mistake, I can accommodate you. I’ll step down as a judge today and let you take my place."

Countless fans of Bai Ling were grinding their teeth in fury. This Fatty Wang was truly shameless. It was one thing to hoard his own trash like it was some kind of treasure, but to forbid others from improving it? And now, to pressure Bai Ling like this? Did he want her to bow down and beg for mercy that badly?

"Why does Bai Ling always run into this kind of stuff?"
"What about the production team? Are they just going to stand by and watch?"
"What is going on here?"
"Someone needs to step in and mediate!"
"Bai Ling did nothing wrong; why does she deserve this treatment?"
"Who do you think you are, Wang Dagang? What gives you the right?"
"With so many rotten works of your own, how do you have the nerve to spout such nonsense?"
"Protect Sister Bai Ling!"
"Protect!"
"Protect!"

The production team’s inaction? That was only natural. Any variety show production team cares most about heat and traffic. They had gone to great lengths to put Bai Ling and Wen Yan in the same group—weren’t they just waiting for a stage incident like today’s? Indeed, during the performance, the livestream traffic had surged by a third. Currently, the buzz was three times higher than when the show started, and both the level of discussion and the trending topics were climbing sharply. To the production team, this was fantastic news. Under these circumstances, would they step in to stop Wang Dagang’s attack? To mediate the conflict? Don’t make them laugh. They wouldn’t intervene until the very last moment. As for serious consequences, they weren't worried. What else could happen? At most, it would just lead to a bit more social media backlash. What did that matter? In the entertainment industry, that was the most common thing in the world. They didn’t need to care at all.

On stage, watching Wang Dagang’s performance, the look of helplessness on Bai Ling’s face gradually faded. By now, Bai Ling had gained some understanding of this circle. Since the production team hadn't stepped in until now, she was on her own. If that was the case, what more was there to say? Although she was on the show for a fee, that didn't mean the money bought her silence in the face of unfair treatment. Everyone modified scripts. To put it bluntly, any performance that differed from the original work could be considered a script modification. Why was Wang Dagang targeting her alone?

Oh, she remembered. *Promising Future* and *The Princess* had once been compared. As it turned out, *Promising Future* hadn't even finished filming, while *Go Princess Go* had already taken off. This alone was enough to make Wang Dagang lose face. Not to mention the fact that *Our Youth* had been modified by Bai Ling. If it were modified poorly, Wang Dagang should be angry because it tainted his work. If it were modified well, Wang Dagang should be even angrier, because wouldn’t that be a slap in his face, highlighting his own incompetence? Therefore, it was only natural that he would kick up such a fuss.

Bai Ling knew that even if she bowed her head and apologized as the public expected, Wang Dagang would never let her off easily; he might even proceed to humiliate her further. He would continue until he regained his ego and began to celebrate his own "great victory." Since that was the case, there was no need for Bai Ling to be polite.

She met Wang Dagang’s somewhat arrogant gaze and his look of certain victory head-on. Bai Ling chuckled, "Director Wang—no, I think I’d better not call you Director Wang. I’ve been thinking, you aren't the director overseeing my work; you’re merely a judge on this program. If you were critiquing my acting or my professional standards, I would have nothing to say. But you’re obsessing over the script—are you that bored? The fact that you are deliberately picking a fight is as obvious as Sima Zhao’s ambition; everyone can see it."

"To put it bluntly, you aren't the one paying my salary, so what right do you have to nitpick about this?"

Bai Ling began to fight back directly. Wang Dagang was stunned, but he quickly retorted angrily, "You modified *my* script! How can you say it has nothing to do with me?"

Bai Ling countered quickly, "Did I ask for this script? To be honest, if I had been given a choice among all the scripts here, yours is the only one I wouldn't have picked! You treat a film whose box office didn't even cover a third of its production costs like a treasure—why should I have to value it?"

"As for why I ended up with this script and why I had to change it, you should ask the production team. You think it’s inappropriate? Go complain to the production team! You can ask them who assigned this script. What’s the matter? Am I, an artist, easy to bully, while the production team is too tough to handle? Oh, I really need to learn from your skill in choosing who to push around. When it comes to picking on soft targets, who here can beat you? You truly deserve your seat on the judging panel."