Xi Mo hadn’t investigated properly yet when the studio that had first revealed the information began to do so again. This time, it was proof of Xia Xuan acting haughty on set as well as her bullying others. There were photos as well as video evidence.
The Xia Xuan in the videos seemed like a completely different person from the one she showed to the public. With the photos from before as precedence, this matter was quickly accepted by the public. Yet another wave of outrage targeted at Xia Xuan rose on the internet.
Those who had been too afraid to speak up because of her status as a Top Actress took this opportunity to employ the Internet Water Army[1], seeming as if they wouldn’t rest till Xia Xuan was off her high pedestal.
“President Xi, there’s only one person in that studio. There aren’t any traces of there being anyone else.” Xi Mo’s assistant gazed nervously at his boss.
“Investigate the IP address!”
“…We couldn’t.” The assistant’s legs were softening and his speech was getting less fluid.
“You couldn’t?” Xi Mo’s voice raised a couple of notches. “How were you not able to investigate it? If you can’t do it then find someone who can! Do I need to teach you such a simple thing?!”
The assistant hurriedly left to contact someone to investigate the IP address. However, that IP address had already been altered by Shi Sheng so of course Xi Mo’s men didn’t manage to find anything.
While Xia Xuan was dealing with endless criticisms, Shi Sheng’s newly aired TV show made it big. Shi Sheng’s popularity also grew. 《Extreme World》 had also started airing, causing quite a bit of discussion online.
[Little Meatball is such a troll. Has she even considered the feelings of the cameraman? Cameraman, tell us how you feel!]
[Am I the only one that feels like goddess Qiu and Little Meatball look made for each other?]
[You’ve suffered in filming such an unreliable celebrity, Mr. Cameraman. I hereby represent the Little Meatball Fan Club in offering our deepest respects for your noble sacrifice.]
[Agree+1]
[Little Meatball was so cuuute in her new show! *excited barking* I’m going to go continue licking the screen now.]
[What do you mean cute? That’s clearly domineering, okay?! I’m going to go lick my screen too!!!]
[Wowowow, those elves are so pretty pretty pretty!!!]
[Yeah I know right! They’ve opened a whole new realm of pretty for me. They look like angels~ I want to change hubbies!]
Once Han Ling and crew showed up, their good looks immediately garnered them quite a few fans who went to ask the producers of 《Extreme World》 which company they were from and what other shows they wanted to act in, etcetera.
The producers were very obliging; They posted single-shots of each of the four people as well as group shots before tagging Mantian Entertainment with an @. This made it very clear that they belonged to Mantian Entertainment.
The following describes the shared thoughts of those fans: ‘Wasn’t Mantian Entertainment Little Meatball’s company? Aaahaahaah, Little Meatball is in the same company as the Elves, my life is complete!’
Tang Yin had long since been prepared for this. The company held a press conference where they declared the true debut of the group, ‘King’. King’s first music video was also released to the public.
They were nicknamed ‘The Elves’ by their fans; Not just because of their elf-like beauty but also for their elf-like singing voices. This song made the four famous.
……
Tang Yin was busy with the King group so he didn’t have much time for Shi Sheng. Shi Sheng could only deal with her own matters.
Accepting new roles in shows? She had to do it herself.
Accepting an offer to star in an advertisement? She still had to do it herself…
‘If I become an agent in the future, I think I’ll do quite well…’
Once Shi Sheng had sent off the people she was negotiating her new acting contract with, she called Lu Qingyun. She spoke with a half-dead voice, “Mr Lu, your girlfriend has gotten lost in the Grand Carlisle Hotel on Anju[2] Road. Please hurry over to pick her up.”
Lu Qingyun appeared to be busy with something for his end was very noisy. It quickly quietened down though, as his clear, laughter-filled voice could be heard through the phone, “Leave her there for a while.”
“Mr Lu, I think you must certainly be missing Grandpa Lu right now.”
‘Humph, I’ve already gotten Grandpa Lu to like me so much he listens to me! As the saying goes, if you want to take care of someone, first take care of the people around them[3]. There is truth in these words ah!’
“…Wait there.”
Lu Qingyun preferred dealing with Shi Sheng over his grandfather. At least the most she made him do was pay for her expenses and didn’t interfere in his affairs.
By the time Lu Qingyun had reached the place Shi Sheng had mentioned, he saw a table full of untouched food as well as the person who was still busy ordering more. His lips couldn’t help but twitch. ‘Just how bored are you?’
“Yi? You got here so fast? I only ordered one round though.” Shi Sheng closed the menu. The waitress cast a glance at Lu Qingyun who had entered before quickly leaving the room after making sure Shi Sheng wasn’t going to order any more.
She was a long-standing employee but she had never seen this kind of customer who would order food just for fun. ‘Isn’t it a waste?’
“Do you really like spending my money that much?” Though she made him buy clothes and bags for her, he had never even seen her wear or use them.
Shi Sheng blinked her eyes innocently. “Spending my own boyfriend’s money is to be expected. What’s wrong with that?”
Lu Qingyun’s smile froze before he pulled up a chair beside her. His gaze swept over the contract on the table. “You’re acting in a new show?”
“There’s no choice ah, I have to work hard for the crown of Top Actress!” Shi Sheng’s face fell. “Patron-sama, why don’t you buy me a Top Actress title?”
Lu Qingyun “…” ‘Why don’t you just get me to buy you another Earth for you to play with?! You clearly don’t want to yet you still force yourself to do it… Are you sick in the head or something? It’s the same as how you keep getting close with me despite not liking me…’
Lu Qingyun’s eyes darkened. The only thing he was certain in their period of interaction was that she really wasn’t a spy sent by others. As to her motive, he had only unlocked one: To spend his money.
Shi Sheng left the table full of food for the waiters and waitresses to eat as she left while holding on to Lu Qingyun’s arm. She left behind a crew of bewildered waiters and waitresses who all shared this thought: ‘Rich people sure are capricious.
Wait a second… Why did that person just now look so familiar?’
By the time they realised who it was, she was already long gone.
……
Not long after Lu Qingyun escorted Shi Sheng back home, a new headline made its way online.
#Revealing the Rising Star, Jiang Wan’s, Secret Backer#
Shi Sheng saw that the picture was very blurry. It was a picture of Lu Qingyun standing beside the door he had opened for her as she got on. Only Lu Qingyun’s profile had been caught.
Perhaps it was on purpose that Lu Qingyun’s features were blurred out while hers were crystal clear. Her news these past few days hadn’t been few so this immediately started a flame war.
Tang Yin called her to ask if she needed help from the company or if she could resolve it on her own. He also lectured he about not noticing people taking pictures of her while she was outside.
Shi Sheng just hung up before going on Weibo and posting.
Jiang Wan ‘V’ : Goodnight patron-sama Lu Qingyun {don’t bother clicking}.
The fans who had been waiting for a new development saw this post and immediately got excited as they clicked on the link to the person’s page.
Lu Qingyun’s Weibo account wasn’t a verified one. There was only one post and it was a link. There wasn’t even a single word. This caused these busybodies to be confused.
‘This person who doesn’t even have a verified account is Little Meatball’s patron? That link just brings you to a page that looks like a login screen; There are places to enter username IDs and passwords. But there isn’t anywhere to sign up for an account! And what’s with this domain name?! Were we tricked?’
The group of hater fans had already begun rubbing their fists in anticipation when they saw the list of Lu Qingyun’s followers. What they saw stunned them. Not only were there influential media companies, there were also influential veteran businessmen. There were even some with alluded ties to the government.
Scanning the list, pretty much all they saw were those accounts with blue and yellow ‘V’s[4].
‘Who the hell is this guy?!’
[1] People paid to write comments in China. Here’s the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Water_Army
[2] This is pinyin for ‘安居’.
[3] I know I made it sound like she was talking about killing him off but I swear she’s not… Maybe.
[4] Don’t ask me what these are. I don’t know either. I’d guess there are different rankings of verified accounts?