Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 730: "Imperial Enterprise" Production Halts! A Sudden Fire!

When Xiao He hurried back to the hotel, Liu Rulan was still in the middle of an impromptu online video conference.

"Keep pushing down the Hot Search. Watch the internal account management—don't post anything unnecessary. Have PR prepare three plans for me…"

"Alright, I understand. Handle this yourselves. If there are issues, contact Manager Lin directly."

When she saw Xiao He walk in, Liu Rulan's face didn't show much surprise. She simply muted the meeting microphone for a moment and asked, "How did you two get back? No trouble on the way?"

"Relax," Xiao He shrugged. "Ever since that time the paparazzi chased me, I've leveled up even more."

If the front door wouldn't work, take the back door. If the back door was blocked too, find some other hidden spot to parkour his way out.

Along the way, Xiao He hadn't forgotten to scan his surroundings, making sure no one caught him climbing walls and pulling off his old moves again. That would just add chaos on top of the mess, and Sister Liu would really start dishing out Verbal Abuse.

"Alright, just sit tight for now."

Liu Rulan was genuinely too busy to bother with Xiao He's antics. She simply pushed a nearby laptop over to him. "Wait until I finish this meeting, then we'll go over the details."

Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao He pulled out a chair beside him, sat down, and opened the other computer.

About twenty-plus minutes later, Liu Rulan finally wrapped up the video conference and turned her gaze to Xiao He. "You've got a general idea of what's going on, right?"

"Yeah, I've mostly figured it out."

Xiao He nodded.

"That authentic script of Emperor Chen was suddenly damaged during its transfer last week. Then this afternoon—right when we were on set for 'Mars Collision'—the Media Outlet leaked it online, sparking a ton of discussion among netizens."

Xiao He paused, frowning slightly. "And since the main Investor for the production team is also one of the people in charge of the authentic script, the compensation for this incident will most likely fall on them and the Calligraphy Association's Person in Charge. So now the production team is indirectly caught up in this, and they've halted filming."

Technically speaking, while the Yun Family lent that authentic script to the production team to help "Imperial Enterprise" with research and reference, the script itself had zero direct connection to the crew—it was entirely about the connections and collaborations between the companies above.

So the damage to the script shouldn't have directly affected the crew. But since many of the high-ranking people on the production team were tied up in the "borrowing the script" process, and since "Imperial Enterprise" naturally carried a ton of trending buzz—making it a fairly hot property in the entertainment industry—the moment this incident exploded, it dragged the entire "Imperial Enterprise" crew into a forced halt mid-production.

What's more, the key issue was that Qiu Zhenlong, the director of "Imperial Enterprise," had already hopped on a plane back to Beijing. Several of the other important Assistant Directors and producers on the crew were also no longer on set.

At this point, forget about filming—their director and Screenwriter had all left. How the hell were they supposed to shoot?

Liu Rulan said, "We're still investigating the specifics. We need to wait for more updates—so did you find anything?"

She believed that in the short time just now, Xiao He must have already dug up some intel they didn't know about.

"Yeah."

Xiao He nodded decisively.

First, the root of all this was that Yun Ziqi, to secure support for his role in "Imperial Enterprise," had used the Yun Family's connections to provide the crew with an opportunity to borrow and study the authentic script.

Since "Imperial Enterprise" had collaborated with a lot of industry insiders this time, it naturally drew in the Hua Country Calligraphy Association, related historical researchers, and other antique collectors who were also partnering with the project. So seizing the moment, all parties decided to cooperate, signed an agreement, and formally welcomed this precious symbol of historical heritage back to the country.

Of course, it had to be admitted that there was some profit motive for all parties involved—otherwise, they wouldn't have been so eager to push this forward.

For example, the art center where Xiao He had gone for his audition had been charging a fixed fee for admission. Calligraphy enthusiasts and history buffs had flocked in, bringing in a tidy cut of ticket sales. And with the release of "Imperial Enterprise"'s audition results and the deep ties to the entertainment Industry Circle, this event managed to break out of their niche, spreading the word about the Emperor Chen authentic script exhibition. Even more people came to visit…

So if none of what happened later had occurred, it would have been a win-win for everyone—a happy conclusion.

But unfortunately, in the end, disaster struck.

When the Yun Family was retrieving the Emperor Chen authentic script, this priceless artifact—already beyond market value in today's world—was accidentally destroyed by fire right at the art center, leaving only fragments behind.

By the time people on site tried to save it, it was already too late.

"At the time, there was a handover team from the Yun Family on site, along with appraisers from both sides. But since the paperwork hadn't been finalized—the Yun Family hadn't signed off on the acceptance documents—the ownership of the script was technically still with the art center. So now it's become this mess…"

As he spoke, Xiao He's fingers flew across the keyboard, pulling up the surveillance footage from the scene. "And as for the scene itself, it's full of suspicious details."

Liu Rulan was curious too, leaning in to look at the screen in front of Xiao He.

She had no idea where Xiao He had dug up that surveillance video, but the footage was incredibly clear. It showed a location at the art center that looked like a back storage area.

Typically, when returning something this valuable, the process would have to go through formal on-site inspection and appraisal, complete with detailed certification and a proper handover procedure. Otherwise, if other issues cropped up later, it would turn into exactly this kind of headache.

After all, no one could guarantee that what was lent out would come back in the same condition—especially for something as rare and priceless as this, the only one of its kind.

What if the original was real, but the returned item was a fake, and it wasn't caught on the spot? That's when the rule of "buyer beware, no takebacks" kicks in. In the entire antique circle, that's an unspoken rule. So the typical "switching with a fake" scenario was actually hard to pull off—especially when both sides were paying close attention.

But here was the problem: at that moment, the authentic script had already been packed up and brought to the back storage area. Logically, the inspection had been completed, and they were about to proceed with the final handover, allowing the script to be loaded normally into the truck for sealed transport… Yet right at that moment, the accident happened.

In the footage, someone who looked like the appraiser from the Yun Family was going over the documents one by one, preparing to sign off on the final acceptance paperwork.

But for some reason, all of them happened to be standing at the other end of the warehouse for the handover, far away from the truck—completely opposite ends. And the truck compartment where the authentic script was located was at the other side of the warehouse, with no staff member watching over it at all!

So when that truck suddenly caught fire, no one noticed at first.

It wasn't until thick smoke started seeping through the gaps in the compartment and triggered the warehouse's fire alarm that everyone finally realized what was happening!

Too little, too late.

A priceless authentic script, one that should have been packed and protected against fire and moisture to a certain degree, had withstood the ravages of time but couldn't withstand a single fire, and was casually burned to ashes…

After repeatedly studying the surveillance footage, Xiao He confirmed this with a sense of disbelief.

The scene of the accident was so sloppy, so careless!

At that moment, Xiao He almost wished some interested parties had secretly swapped the authentic script instead.