CHAPTER 487: CHAPTER 487: YOU CAN DO MORE MEANINGFUL THINGS

Not until she was sitting on the long-distance bus, Yu Sui still pressed her voice to ask why: "Your Ying Xuaner was very successful, I’m sure you would do just fine as Mrs. Bao. Has the director got shit in his eyes? How could he just replace you on a whim?"

"Maybe... just like the director said, my acting is too modern."

Tang Li’s response was very grounded: "I never received formal training at school, so there are definitely flaws in my acting. The TV shows and films I’ve done before were all set in contemporary times, and suddenly jumping into costume dramas, it’s normal to struggle to adapt."

"If they thought you were not suitable, why bring it up now?" Yu Sui pointed out what was dubious: "We’ve been shooting for almost 20 days. The more I think about it, it seems like there’s been some behind-the-scenes manipulation."

As she spoke, she turned her head to look at Tang Li beside her: "Don’t you suspect that someone deliberately targeted you and schemed to remove you from the production?"

Tang Li took out an eye mask from her bag: "When facing a problem, you have to first examine yourself, and not always look for reasons in others."

"So, do you really think it’s because your acting wasn’t good enough?"

Tang Li didn’t pick up on this line of questioning.

When Zhao Zhenglei said that he wanted to replace her, she had a faint suspicion, yet she did not voice it. Ouyang Qian had visited Lishan yesterday, and today the director said her acting wasn’t up to par - it was too much of a coincidence.

But such a suspicion was baseless, Tang Li couldn’t casually tell others about it.

Even if Zhao Zhenglei did replace her because of Ouyang Qian, surely Ouyang Qian offered a proposition that made Zhao Zhenglei come to that decision.

Tang Li had been on set for more than half a month, and she somewhat understood Zhao Zhenglei’s way of doing things. As netizens said, he and Fan Xin were the only two directors in the country who took TV drama production seriously, so it wasn’t likely that Zhao Zhenglei privately accepted money to kick her out of the production. It could only mean that Ouyang Qian invested a large sum of money into "Phoenix Concubine."

To directors, funding is the lifeline, as well as the fundamental premise for refining their work.

In this, Tang Li was quite self-aware.

Even if her acting was impeccable, finding a replacement for her wouldn’t be difficult.

In the face of greater interests, the production crew’s decision to let go of her, a supporting role, was not unfounded.

Just as Feng Qi had told her over the phone, mid-project cast changes are not uncommon in the entertainment industry; she wasn’t the first nor would she be the last.

Yu Sui felt indignant for her: "You cleared a three-month schedule for ’Phoenix Concubine,’ and now they’ve thrown all your plans into disarray with this move."

"Actually, I can do more meaningful things."

"Like what more meaningful things?"

Tang Li didn’t answer her.

Some things are secrets that cannot be revealed for the time being.

At 8:30 p.m., the long-distance bus drove into the Capital’s North Bus Station.

That afternoon, some informed individual leaked the news of the cast change in "Phoenix Concubine" on a forum. In the evening, the official Weibo account of "Phoenix Concubine" released a new poster of the actress playing "Mrs. Bao/Bao Xin" and replied to comments from netizens, claiming that the original actress who played "Mrs. Bao" withdrew due to personal reasons.

Tang Li found out about the news just as she got off the long-distance bus.

— Yu Sui handed her the cellphone.

"What about your reputation?" Yu Sui’s voice was filled with anger: "It was clear that they replaced you, and now they are even pinning the blame on you!"

Due to that response from the official Weibo of "Phoenix Concubine," more and more voices of dissatisfaction with Tang Li appeared on V-blog, with comments such as she’s "egotistical after the success of Ying Xuanxuan," "became picky and doesn’t want to play supporting roles after gaining fame," and "typical nouveau riche mentality of a D-list actress, thinking about cashing in once they hit the spotlight."