“Miss Gu, I have one here!”
Gu Xiqiao had just finished asking her question and a few people had already responded immediately, and a few of the staff were coming over in her direction with laptops in hand.
Song Guanjing suddenly realized that the eyes of the crew members who had been looking at her in suspicion at the beginning had suddenly changed.
“Have I done anything?” Song Guanjing asked Li Yu quietly, who was standing beside her. “I feel like their attitude toward me has changed, or am I overthinking things?”
Li Yu glanced at Gu Xiqiao, smiling softly after hearing those words. “You’re not overthinking it, they really have changed their attitude toward you.”
“?” Song Guanjing didn’t understand, she knew that impressions of a person was difficult to change. Similar to those netizens on the internet, unless there was any black and white evidence, she was fated to bear this black spot on her name for the rest of her life.
“Don’t worry too much about it,” Li Yu said, pointing to Gu Xiqiao who had placed the laptop on the table as he smiled again. “Those people are all her die-hard fans, you’re basically in a situation of ‘love me love my dog[1]’.”
“Her?” Song Guanjing looked toward Gu Xiqiao, the bafflement and confusion continuing to climb.
Li Yu and Director Cheng were two very authoritative figures among the production crew, but the attitude of these two had not affected the crew in the slightest. How could this person who had only been on set for a measly few days be more influential than them?
Li Yu didn’t bother to continue elaborating, a mysterious smile appearing on his attractive face. “You’ll understand later.”
He wasn’t very close to Gu Xiqiao, as she was only on set for two days. During these two days, her capabilities at reading fortunes and doctrine skills have managed to win over the entire crew, and even the strictly impartial and incorruptible uncle who took care of their meals would add an extra chicken thigh for her every time.
As for now, he was just curious, what was she up to? From what he could see, it looked like she was planning to find some evidence?
Li Yu chuckled to himself, the anticipation practically vibrating off him.
“Little Gu, what are you doing?” Cheng Zhou was extremely puzzled at her actions.
Gu Xiqiao found a spot to sit down with the laptop, and turned on her wireless hotspot on her phone. After connecting to the laptop, she started to click on the browser. “Finding some gifts to return the favor.”
Cheng Zhou opened his mouth to ask, but then he suddenly recalled the video that Gu Xiqiao had sent him the last time, and his eyes lit up with excitement.
He was not the only one who had his attention on her, the entire crew on set had their eyes on her, their eyes unblinking as they watched her move.
“What do you think Beauty Gu is going to do?”
“She looks good doing anything!”
“Holy sh*t, hurry up and come see this!”
“What the f*ck!”
“Holy crap!”
“So freaking awesome, is this hacking?”
“…”
The thin slender fingers danced across the colored keyboard, from this angle, you could only see her side profile, and her face was as smooth as jade. She squinted her eyes slightly, and you couldn’t see the deep expression in her eyes. Under the lighting of the set, she looked extremely graceful and attractive.
She sat there lazily, an indifferent expression on her face which exuded a unique air about her, which was slightly different than usual. From the moment the laptop had touched her fingers, her entire demeanor had changed, her flawless face becoming even more eye-catching, dazzling everyone present.
Jiang Shuxuan leaned against the door, he was standing quite a distance away, but you could clearly see the gentle and warm expression on his face as he kept his eyes on Gu Xiqiao.
He was staring intently at her, even more so than the others around the set.
As one interface after another kept popping up on the screen in front of her, everyone’s eyes bounced between looking at Gu Xiqiao and the screen, their surprise climbing higher and higher as the time passed.
The first thing that had popped up on the screen was the Weibo interface, this was the Weibo of a well-known blogger. He was the one who had released the news of Song Guanjing this morning.
Then there was another blank interface on the screen, and Gu Xiqiao typed in a bunch of codes in almost an instant, and then the Weibo interface jumped to the blogger’s computer desktop screen.
All of this was like watching a circus, everyone watched as Gu Xiqiao openly hacked into the blogger’s computer, and proceeded to dig out many encrypted files.
In the beginning, they were still able to gasp out some words to express what they were feeling, but eventually, they were all stunned speechless and numb as they continued to watch Gu Xiqiao work.
“I found a recording.” Gu Xiqiao finally stopped her fingers, shooting a smile toward Song Guanjing. “It should prove to be useful to you, I’ve sent it to your WeChat.”
She even found a recording?! Beauty Gu, you were only on the laptop for about twenty minutes!
Song Guanjing flipped open her phone with a slight feeling of numbness, seeing the audio file that Gu Xiqiao had sent to her. She didn’t even see her holding her phone, when did she send the file over?!
Every staff on the set: Beauty Gu, if you told us you knew how to ascend to the heavens, we would all still believe your words!
“Cough.” Cheng Zhou glanced at Gu Xiqiao, although he had some guesses, he could feel his view of the world crumbling inside his mind. He snapped out of his daze and cleared his throat. “Alright then, places everyone, we’ll begin to shoot the next scene.”
“Guanjing, you won’t talk about leaving the crew now, right?” Cheng Zhou asked, looking toward Song Guanjing again.
Song Guanjing was listening to the audio file that Gu Xiqiao had sent over to her, a complicated expression flashing across her face as she did. “Director Cheng, I wouldn’t leave even if you tried to make me.”
Gu Xiqiao was texting in WeChat at this time.
For A Millenium: Yu Ning, dig out your moldy Weibo account, I have something I need you to do.
Yu Ning: I don’t even remember my password for it anymore!
For A Millenium: Find it. Immediately. Now. Chop chop.
Gu Xiqiao was tempted to beat up Yu Ning, with his capabilities, it would only take him minutes, if not seconds to retrieve his password, if he really had forgotten it.
Yu Ning: I don’t care, I really don’t remember it. I need a decryption route from you to trigger my memory!
Yu Ning had a sh*t eating grin on his face as he sat inside the office of Nine Heavens, he was suddenly grateful for his unintentional actions at that time. When Weibo had just started, he had registered himself a hacker account, hacking his way into the Weibo backend system to authenticate himself as ‘God Lo’, and managed to make a super topic on his own homepage.
He was the first hacker in history to register and authenticate himself, and the entire country couldn’t do anything toward his account. The account still existed, and no one else could crack it. Neither was anyone able to find out any real information about this ‘God Lo’.
For A Millenium: Is fine if you don’t want to then, I’ll just blacklist your Weibo account now.
For A Millenium: Don’t expect me to give you any decoding routes in the future either. ╮（╯▽╰）╭
Seeing what she had typed, Yu Ning, who had thought he had gotten a one up on her, immediately straightened up in a panic.
Yu Ning: Understood Boss Gu, I’ve already retrieved my password. What orders do you have for me?
For A Millenium: Wait a while for someone will add you, remember to approve it. You can talk to her privately about the specific matter after that.
Yu Ning: Don’t worry Boss Gu, I will definitely carry out the task without flaws. （⊙_⊙）
Gu Xiqiao exited WeChat after that. ‘What a retard!’
Yu Ning on the other hand, once he exited WeChat, ‘Lazy *ss!’
“Sister Song, the recording alone will not explain anything. I’ll introduce you to a well-known hacker on Weibo, he’ll be able to help you,” Gu Xiqiao said as she sent Yu Ning’s WeChat ID to Song Guanjing.
The netizens would definitely accuse her of faking the recording if she were to do anything with it alone, but with Yu Ning backing her, it was a different matter. As a well known top hacker in the circle, Yu Ning had the power and authority. Let him find and reveal the source of the fake pictures and videos on the internet, the rumors would then naturally dispel on its own.
Song Guanjing didn’t know that the hacker Gu Xiqiao talked about was Yu Ning, and assuming that it was just an ordinary hacker, she wasn’t too concerned about it. “Miss Gu, thank you.”
If you were to give too much gratitude, it would seem insincere. The dead end was broken by Gu Xiqiao this time, and Song Guanjing could only vow to keep this matter firmly in her heart in order to repay her someday.
Gu Xiqiao gave her a gentle smile. “The evidence has already been found, as long as you make a Weibo post, adding on the company’s PR, this whole matter can be overturned.”
Her right hand squeezed her phone tightly, and her heart finally relaxed a little. She would find a suitable time to post it out, and she also wanted to see what kind of expression her ‘girlfriends’ would have at that time?
“Director Cheng, how long more before this movie will finish its shooting?” Gu Xiqiao turned her head toward Director Cheng as she asked.
Cheng Zhou recalled the matter that Gu Xiqiao had told him last night. “It won’t be too long, I will send you all the clips once I’m done with it!” He obviously remembered what she had said, especially now since he had seen her abilities with his own eyes, he was really looking forward to it.
“…” He was so obviously reluctant last time, it’s a bit too fast for him to change his stance, right? “The script has already been sent to your WeChat, remember to look over it.”
“I’ll look at it tonight.” At this point, Cheng Zhou seemed to think of something. “Shooting a movie is not some trivial matter, you have to plan ahead properly. Don’t look at how efficient ‘Empire Under Siege’ was, we had to use an entire year to prepare the costumes and props for it prior to the start of shooting.”
Looking at the girl in front of him, she really was so young, and it made Cheng Zhou slightly apprehensive when he remembered how young she was.
“Director Cheng, someone else has already arranged for all of it. The costumes and props are all in the middle of being customized and constructed right now,” Gu Xiqiao said thoughtfully as she rubbed her chin. “I think I need to give you a bribe.”
“What the heck for?” Cheng Zhou was alert immediately as he narrowed his eyes at Gu Xiqiao. Every time she said something like this, he could feel the frustration eating at him.
Gu Xiqiao laughed happily. “I have a candidate for the female lead in this script, can I bring her through the back door?”
“Xiao Yun?” After thinking about the relationship between Gu Xiqiao and Xiao Yun, he immediately assumed that it was her. If it was Xiao Yun, he didn’t have a problem with her at all. He would look at the script again later, if the character didn’t have too much of a difference, then it was fine to use Xiao Yun.
“It’s someone else.” Xiang Kun had given Xiao Yun a role in a web drama, and Gu Xiqiao had faith in Xiang Kun’s judgment. “A person who has the looks, but been in quite a string of bad lucks. It’s definitely someone who will not let you down.”
Hearing Gu Xiqiao’s words, Cheng Zhou’s curiosity was piqued. This was the first time he had heard Gu Xiqiao boasting about someone else, and damn it, he was moved. “When will I meet her?”
“When ‘Empire Under Siege’ is done, then we can start anytime.” Gu Xiqiao glanced at Li Yu who was standing beside him. Using this actor to enhance Ning Qing as a stepping stone, would he be big enough of a foil?
“Miss Gu?” Li Yu could no longer ignore the intense gaze that Gu Xiqiao was giving him, and he turned to meet those clear eyes of hers.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t been the subject of intense scrutiny before, but Gu Xiqiao’s gaze was far different than those others that he had been under before. Those clear eyes of hers didn’t contain any impurity, but they looked at him like she was looking at a gold mine. It really wasn’t an exaggeration when he said that, and he shuddered slightly inside.
Gu Xiqiao turned away, thinking that she had to find a suitable opportunity for this.
Moreover, Su Wu’s script would definitely be a big hit, so dragging Li Yu in was definitely not a loss in his favor, right? Now, the real question was how to con him into it.
“Director Cheng, I’ll be leaving first.” Looking at the time, it was about time for her to meet Ning Qing. That was the reason for her coming here today.
Cheng Zhou waved his hands dismissively, an expression of disgust on his face. “You’re not even here to film anymore, you’re just an eyesore to me!”
“…”
Jiang Shuxuan only got up when she walked over, and they both left together.
“Who was that?” Song Guanjing had wanted to bid Gu Xiqiao goodbye, but she was taken aback when she saw Jiang Shuxuan. When his obsidian eyes had landed on her, she felt like she was frozen in place, a chilling feeling washing over her.
But when he lowered his head, his face melted into a warm and gentle expression. It was two completely different temperaments, but the transition had been so natural.
“He’s even more stylish than any other guy I’ve seen in America? Let me tell you, Li Yu, don’t be deceived by his thin figure, his body under that white shirt is definitely not any worse than those male models you always see. These are all observations based on my past experiences.” Song Guanjing only has one hobby in her life, and that was to study and research the figures of men, and this was one of the reasons that people were able to exploit her weakness.
Li Yu spared her a glance. “Experience from corrupting someone’s life?”
“… I just think that man has an unusual aura. What does Miss Gu do actually?” Song Guanjing said, ignoring his previous comment.
“Don’t worry about that, they’re both on the same level of abnormal.” Li Yu replied easily, turning his gaze away.
Song Guanjing thought back to the words that Gu Xiqiao had said. “You said that Little Gu wants Director Cheng to shoot a movie, why would she get someone other than Xiao Yun to play the lead?”
“It depends on who she’s pulling in. I don’t know who’s the lucky one to have caught her eye.” Li Yu lifted his hand to wave at her. “It’s my scene now, you should change your clothes quickly, so that Director Cheng won’t have to scold anyone later.”
Song Guanjing contemplated the words that Li Yu had just said, “It depends on who she’s pulling in.”. She always thought that Li Yu had a better understanding of Gu Xiqiao than he was letting on.
The person who had caught her eye was indeed a very lucky person.
Turning around to head to the dressing room, she almost slammed into Xiang Kun. “Brother Kun, what are you doing?” Usually he would go on and on about how great Gu Xiqiao’s acting skills were and how he needed to convince her to develop her skills in the entertainment industry, but today he had vanished the moment she stepped foot onto the set area, what was up with that?
Xiang Kun had not said a word since Gu Xiqiao’s appearance, and he remained invisible the entire time, and now he raised his head as he said quietly, “How curious indeed.”
Song Guangjing didn’t understand what was happening, and could only watch as Xiang Kun left without offering any explanation. The phone in her hand rang twice, and she looked at the screen to find it was her manager calling. After staring at it for a while, she picked up the call.
“Guanjing, the matter is blowing up and spiraling out of control, especially when it’s reposted by those extremely popular artistes, which is now affecting you even deeper now.” The manager’s tone was frustrated, if it was just the media that was spreading the news then that was still controllable. What was more terrifying was the fact that Song Guanjing’s so-called ‘besties’ were all stabbing her in the back, which made all the netizens who read the news more convinced of it.
“Don’t worry about it, the matter is going to be resolved soon,” Song Guanjing said quietly with her eyes lowered, her tone not any different than usual.
***
At the same time, in another dressing room of a certain crew…
“Sister Wen, will we be alright?” Wen Wen’s assistant asked.
A well-manicured hand touched the long, ebony locks, and Wen Wen’s lips twitched slightly, mockery flashing in her eyes. “With such a situation, do you really think Song Guanjing can turn the entire thing around?”
When Wen Wen’s assistant thought about it, she did make sense. Every time something like this happens, the actress would be forced into a corner with no way out, and although it wouldn’t be any different this time, she still felt some anxiety about it.
Seeing that Song Guanjing was about to plummet to the bottom, the people who were close to her were quick to cut ties with her, for fear that they would be dragged down together. Wen Wen and Song Guanjing were roommates during their college days, they had auditioned and joined competitions together, and finally, they had entered different companies. While Song Guanjing was regarded as a film queen by Cheng Zhou, Wen Wen was, until now, just a small-time actress who could barely get a few lines every time.
It’s impossible to say that she wasn’t jealous, and Song Guanjing would talk about her experience abroad every time, in her eyes, that was just showing off!
The envy and contempt accumulated in her heart over time would definitely erupt one day.
Wen Wen went about her day, shooting her parts, and as soon as she was done and returned to the dressing room, she came back to her terrified assistant.
“Sis… Sister Wen, Miss Song, she posted a Weibo post.”
“What of? Did she admit her wrongdoings?” Wen Wen laughed coldly, taking the phone to look, the smile on her lips fading away as she read it.
How was that possible?! It was completely impossible for Song Guanjing to be able to do this! Who?! Who the hell had helped her?! She hurriedly scrolled through the comments, and the phone slipped from her grasp, dropping to the ground with a loud ‘bang’.
It was over. That was the only thought in her mind.
(Verified) Song Guanjing: I have submitted an application to the court regarding this matter, and I will definitely investigate all the way to the end! Recording link address
(Verified) Song Guanjing: Justice is at the will of the people // (Verified) God Lo: I saw a few interesting videos and pictures today. The cropping and editing methods were too clumsy. I have restored the originals, no thanks needed.
If the first post had garnered the attention of countless fans around, then the second post had sent the entire hacker community into an uproar.
Speaking of ‘God Lo’, it was obvious how renowned the name was. He had once hacked into the military system of America, and specifically left his own name in it in an arrogant challenge for them to track him down, and even till the end they couldn’t manage to find a hide of him.
That incident was already known to be a legend these days, and countless enthusiastic and passionate youth blindly worship this person.
Xiang Kun was completely dumbfounded at the post. “Guanjing, you’re actually acquainted with God Lo?!”
Song Guanjing also had a dumbfounded look on her face. “I didn’t know, it was someone Miss Gu introduced to me, she just said that he was a hacker.” She didn’t know the name ‘God Lo’, but from all the comments that were left on the post, it seemed like he was some sort of great person?
Xiang Kun: ‘Why are the people around Gu Xiqiao all kinds of insane and crazy?!’
Thinking of that, Xiang Kun turned to glance at Xiao Yun. Fortunately, this person seemed to be normal, at least. Or so he thought, until the next second when Xiao Yun lifted a box with one hand, a box that he was sure needed at least two men to lift!
… that was a real quick slap of reality to the face.
***
“What did you want to say to Li Yu just now?” Jiang Shuxuan asked, seemingly casually as he drove the black Bugatti.
Gu Xiqiao did not suspect anything about his question at all, but when she recalled the conversation, she felt a little depressed. “I wanted him to take a role in the movie, but I couldn’t find a good way to hit him up.”
“Hit him up?” Black eyes narrowed slightly, his tone rising a little.
“The revolution has yet to succeed.”
“…” Jiang Shuxuan glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. “He’ll come begging for the role from you.”
“How would you know?” Gu Xiqiao said, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
The corner of his lips quirked up, though the indifferent expression on his carved face didn’t change. “Just a prediction.”
“Where are we going?” Although he wanted to say something else, he followed up with those words. Gu Xiqiao scrolled through her phone, before rattling out an address.
She had miscalculated her timing. When she had left to look for Ning Qing, she found that the other had already returned home, so she could only head to her home to find her now.
There was actually no rush to look for Ning Qing for the next few days, but Gu Xiqiao had read her fortune and found that today was one where she would have an encounter with some mean men, so she deliberately called Ning Qing to ask for her address.
The low-key luxury car drove toward the indicated address slowly.
***
Ning Qing’s community area was older than even Su Wu’s, and the roads inside were extremely narrow, making it hard to park in front. Gu Xiqiao got Jiang Shuxuan to stop the car, and the both of them got off.
Ning Qing was feeling extremely unlucky today, when she reached the set she was late, and the minor role that was promised to her had been given to others and she had gone for nothing.
If that wasn’t enough, the landlord that had promised her a five-year lease suddenly said that his son would be getting married and was saving money to buy a new house, so they were intending to sell this house. She hadn’t found a suitable accommodation yet, and she didn’t have any money left. Where she was going to stay tonight was also another problem.
The landlord was an elderly couple, and looking at them, Ning Qing didn’t have the heart to ask them for the compensation of breaking the contract. So here she was, dragging her luggage out with no money in her pockets.
Behind her, the two pairs of elderly eyes were full of apologies.
“Ning Qing, if you’re willing to sign on with me, I’ll arrange for you to enter the company’s apartments immediately!” Her former agent, and Jin Sitian’s current manager was standing beside her.
Ning Qing looked at him and smiled coldly. “Sign on with you? Do you think I’m stupid like Jin Sitian? Letting you sell me off like some possession of yours?”
“You!” Jin Sitian’s manager was flushed red, since Jin Sitian had disappeared without a trace, he currently didn’t have any artiste under him, and the company no longer paid any attention to him, and none of the new artistes were willing to work with him.
It was difficult for him, but he had managed to make some connections yesterday. The real estate tycoon that had been obsessed with Ning Qing still couldn’t forget about her, and the mind of Jin Sitian’s manager had immediately perked up at the opportunity.
After so many years of being an agent and manager, how could he not have some sort of savings? He had spent a sum of money on bribes and management, it was not a problem with Ning Qing’s arrogant behavior. If there was a first time, there would naturally be a second time. As long as a person was driven into a desperate situation, how would it be impossible to control her?
Jin Sitian was gone now, and Ning Qing was his hope to turn things around.
Looking at Ning Qing leaving, the manager’s eyes flashed. “Ning Qing, if you don’t agree to this, don’t even think about changing your fortune in this entire lifetime!”
This was probably the most vicious and spiteful punishment for an artiste.
Just as he said those words, a crisp chuckle sounded out.
[1] T/N: To describe the case in which the love for a person extends even to the things or persons related to him/her