Shen Peipei took out her phone to call the director and explain the situation.
"Director Li, Qiming and I have some things to attend to, you all go ahead and eat, I’ll have Old Zhang drive us directly to the airport later."
Everyone had been enduring the mountainous film shoot for so long, and they had looked forward to enjoying a good meal at this wrap-up banquet, only to find that the lead actress was absent.
The director was somewhat disappointed, but he didn’t ask further.
"Then you go ahead and take care of your matters, we’ll meet up again once we’re back in the capital."
Shen Peipei, holding back tears, felt that as soon as she returned to the capital, she’d probably need to find a good hospital to treat her son.
How had things come to this?
Gong Qiming gave his mother a look but said nothing else.
Forget it, his response was indeed too strange, and it couldn’t be easily explained at the moment.
Perhaps it was just as well to leave it as a misunderstanding.
Yue Qingqing was completely unaware of all this, feeling only that the road ahead had suddenly opened up much more, and she breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.
She was still worried that she arrived too late and the press conference had already ended.
The press conference had only just begun at that moment.
The journalists who came were few and far between, some of whom belonged to minor newspapers that hardly anyone subscribed to.
They naturally weren’t among those influenced by Jia Shaoyuan.
The others were paid to stir trouble, bombarding her with one malicious question after another.
"We’ve heard that Ms. Yue only hires female employees. Could you explain why? Is it because female employees are easier to control, or is it gender discrimination?"
"We’ve heard Ms. Yue’s past experiences were quite difficult? Did they ever involve a criminal case?"
"In just a few years, Ms. Yue’s brand has grown so immensely; is there a powerful patron behind this?"
Each question was more insidious than the last.
They even dredged up Yue Xiaofang’s past experiences for scrutiny.
It was almost to the point of directly accusing Yue Xiaofang of impropriety, malevolence, and being in the pocket of some wealthy patron.
Cultured people do not use foul language when they insult.
If Yue Xiaofang didn’t respond well today, she would certainly be portrayed in a series of articles with an undertone of malice.
Yue Xiaofang was no longer the naive girl who was ready to die at the village entrance to defend her honor. She calmly picked up the microphone and rebutted each point.
"First of all, our recruitment requirements do not specify gender; it just so happens that most of the fashion designers and tailors are female, which is a phenomenon created by the industry. Since Fangfei Clothing Company has just been established, I hope to have more like-minded friends join us, regardless of gender, to create a business together."
"Moreover, today I will only answer questions related to the company and the related industries, as a sign of respect for our employees. After all, this is not my personal press conference, but a debut for the entire company."
"If you say the company has been aided by someone influential, that would be my partners. It is only with everyone’s concerted efforts that we have achieved what we have today."
Standing behind Yue Xiaofang, Liu Pingxiu and others wore smiles, not taking the journalists’ sneaky tactics seriously.
Each of them stood tall and confident, a far cry from their former selves.
The journalists were still not willing to let go, "But today’s press conference is quite deserted. Does this also mean that the market does not look favorably on your company?"
Yue Xiaofang smiled slightly, "Whether it is favorable or not should naturally be judged by the sales, shouldn’t it?"
Another journalist continued to provoke.
"As a woman, does Ms. Yue tend to be too emotional in many decisions? Moreover, we’ve heard that you don’t have a good educational background, and you didn’t have any entrepreneurial experience before, just being an ordinary housewife. With such a boss, can your employees be assured of their livelihood in the future?"