Zhu Yuan was filling out an application form when he received a call from Tang Qingqiu.
Usually, he would not even bother with answering the phone. However, due to Tang Qingqiu’s persistence, he simply had no choice but to give in to him. It was at this moment that he understood why Gu Xiqiao put certain individuals in her blacklist. If this continued any longer, he would not think twice before blacklisting people like Tang Qingqiu.
“Don’t you want to patent your cell fusion process? I’m gonna be your investor! Just tell me how much you need!” Tang Qingqiu sounded genuine about this.
Zhu Yuan flipped through the papers to confirm its terms. “I gotta say, your proposal is really tempting but this decision is not mine to make. Unfortunately, I am not the owner of this patent nor am I responsible for discovering this process. You should find her if you want to go through with this plan of yours.”
“What? You’re saying that this isn’t your creation?” Tang Qingqiu was shocked. “Then who is she?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? She’s a prodigy student from A University.” Zhu Yuan gritted his teeth upon telling him this.
“Then what should I do now?” Tang Qingqiu’s voice sounded despondent over the phone. He thought that he could use his connection with Zhu Yuan as a leverage for his plan.
Zhu Yuan booted up his computer. “I’m gonna send her number to you. You should talk to her directly about this. Though, I highly doubt that she would accept it so easily. There will be a huge competition between investors should this patent be approved, and that includes international organizations so I wish you good luck.”
He was about to hang up the call.
“Wait!” yelled Tang Qingqiu. “There’s something else!”
“Cut to the chase!”
“… I heard your master’s coming back?” Tang Qingqiu thought back to the thread he read last night; it seemed pretty legit to him.
“My master?” Zhu Yuan raised his brow. “Relax, he won’t be after your asses for now. They’re still holding onto him there and it’ll be at least one month before he returns.”
He had no idea what his master was going through nor why he kept demanding to return but because his research was still incomplete, there was no way they would let him back so early.
Tang Qingqiu hung up upon receiving answers to his questions. It was after he had confirmed the time with Nine Heavens that he received a string of numbers from Zhu Yuan.
This number… seemed familiar.
Tang Qingqiu thought about his approach before deciding to use the Tang Enterprise as a big fat bait to lure the other party into his deal. Then, he finally tapped on the line of numbers.
“Hello?” A cold and distant voice sounded from the earpiece.
Gu Xiqiao’s voice was so distinct that Tang Qingqiu recognized who it was in a split second. With a stiff voice, he replied, “I’m sorry, I’ve dialed the wrong number.”
“…”
Face devoid of emotions, Gu Xiqiao hung up the phone.
“What’s up?” asked Jiang Shuxuan.
“Nothing, it’s just a wrong call,” replied Gu Xiqiao as she rubbed her nose.
Tang Qingqiu proceeded to spam Zhu Yuan’s phone with calls, one after the other. Zhu Yuan was so infuriated that he wanted to mail a bottle of sulfuric acid over to that bastard immediately! “Big brother, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
“Perhaps you have forgotten to tell me that the prodigy you spoke of is Gu Xiqiao?” Tang Qingqiu sank into his thoughts for a while after hanging up. People working in the medical field should be fairly careful when dealing with matters so ruling out all other possibilities, that person must really have been Gu Xiqiao herself!
Thus, he decided to call Zhu Yuan to confirm his suspicion.
“That’s right! Of course I wouldn’t say that!” Zhu Yuan suddenly came to his senses. “How do you know her?”
“I’m not particularly close to her but I am familiar with who she is.” Tang Qingqiu was confused.
“You know who she is but you are unaware that she is the owner of this patent?” Zhu Yuan found it hard to react to this situation.
Tang Qingqiu searched his mind before answering, “Something tells me that only a handful of your people know about this matter.”
Considering how ‘earth-shattering’ Zhu Yuan said this patent would be, it was surprising how little it was publicized on the news. In fact, he had never heard her talk about this. She was maintaining way too low of a profile for a person her age. How old was she? Twenty? Weren’t people her age supposed to be going at each other’s throats to be credited for such achievements? Even the older folks in research would make it a big deal if such a game-changing process was indeed formulated.
Thinking back, even Zhu Yuan was all the rage in the capital for his achievements. How could she be so calm about this?
“It isn’t just your premonition. It is simply the truth!” It was as if Zhu Yuan had finally found someone he could channel his complaints toward. “She’s nothing but a slacker! That girl’s got the brains but she refuses to be serious whenever actual work is concerned. I believe you’ve got a taste of what I’m talking about when she tried her luck in acting! God! Thinking about her makes my heart ache!”
Tang Qingqiu did not expect Zhu Yuan to be such a chatterbox. However, what he said suddenly reminded him of Xiang Kun.
“Don’t you ever talk about this in front of Xiang Kun. He thinks that she’s born to act. If you ever tell him that she’s a member of your research team, no doubt, he’d come looking for a fight immediately.” Tang Qingqiu was clueless as to how he was supposed to react to this.
“You think it’ll change anything? Let me tell you this, even if she’s not working here at the laboratory, no way she’ll take her acting job seriously.” Zhu Yuan rolled his eyes. It’ll be a fairy tale if she one day decides to take her job seriously, considering how extremely fearful she was of solving problems.
Tang Qingqiu hung up the call. He lit himself a cigarette and sucked in a large lungful of tobacco smoke.
Typically, this method was effective in calming down his emotions.
They were standing from different positions so naturally, what they saw was different. Unlike Zhu Yuan who had decided that she was a lost cause, Tang Qingqiu started evaluating Gu Xiqiao.
When he first bumped into Gu Xiqiao, he initially thought that there was no way she could be successful in the years to come. This was because by staying with Jiang Shuxuan alone, it would have inevitably invited envious eyes from countless powerful people from the ancient martial arts world. However, he soon realized what a nightmare it would be to offend this little devil. What’s more, there was an insanely powerful family who had their backs.
Then, he got a taste of how immense her mental strength was the second time he bumped into her. Although he wasn’t able to detect the chi waves contained in her body, he knew instantly after sensing it that she was no ordinary human.
After hearing what Zhu Yuan had to say, he couldn’t help but ponder if Gu Xiqiao had already surpassed the requirements for one to join the ancient martial arts world. In fact, it was also possible that she would create uproar in that world by doing so.
If he actually knew about her ancient martial arts level, no doubt, he would fall from his chair out of surprise.
It would not only cause an uproar in the ancient martial arts world if her identity were revealed but also the reshuffling of power in their domain.
***
Gu Xiqiao had completed her oil painting. Seeing how she wasn’t going to snap a photo of it, Jiang Shuxuan picked up his phone and took it himself.
A Flowing River: [JPEG] All done @For A Millenium
His account was almost microscopic. Virtually all his followers were automatically-generated bots created by the system so everything was eerily quiet when he uploaded the post.
Gu Xiqiao shot him a glance. “Brother Jiang! I didn’t know you were a Weibo user!”
Jiang Shuxuan responded with an unamused look. “The things I have to do in order to stay up-to-date.”
Weibo wasn’t the only new thing he had on his phone. He had also installed WeChat on his phone.
After refreshing her news feed, Gu Xiqiao liked his new post. She was about to exit the app when her eyes suddenly noticed a message marked in red.
The hottest, most-searched topic was related to the movie star, Song Guanjing. The both of them were mutual followers and they even chatted for a while just last night.
And yet, here was some bad press about Song Guanjing on the headlines.
‘Nudes of the suspected movie star, Song Guanjing in bed leaked. Rumors of her corrupt private life spreading like wildfire.’
‘Here’s some gossip about Song Guanjing’s sugar-daddies.’
***
Related articles started springing up like mushrooms after the rain.
Somebody had obviously paid an Internet Water Army to blackmail Song Guanjing. Gu Xiqiao glanced through the articles and came to the conclusion that her blackmailer was different from the one from before. Everybody was keen to know more about the movie star’s private life. To make matters worse, the posters of these articles were all well-known Weibo users. Some were even media outlets, who specialized in reporting news about the entertainment industry. It took only a couple of seconds for Song Guanjing to be buried alive by blackmail.
Countless people started sharing these articles, meaning the blackmail was going on with full effect.
Gu Xiqiao’s brows were tightly knitted as she studied the entire thing, including videos, pictures and the slanderous remarks about her friend. It seemed flawless, as if everything had already been planned beforehand. The puppetmaster behind this was trying his best to end Song Guanjing’s acting career once and for all.
She had just returned from overseas? Why was someone trying to target her?
“Brother Jiang, I’d like to go to Studio City.” If Song Guanjing’s blackmailing got out of hand, ‘Empire Under Siege’ might very well be under threat too. Judging from Song Guanjing’s personality, she probably would decide to quit the cast and Cheng Zhou would no doubt be strongly against this.
She couldn’t allow Xiao Yun’s first movie to fail like this. Anyway, she was also planning to meet up with Ning Qing in Studio City to discuss a potential contract.
Jiang Shuxuan had nothing going on in his life as of late so apart from being her driver, he would also serve as her personal attendant.
If the people back in the ancient martial arts world knew about how carefree Big Boss Jiang’s life actually was, no doubt, they would start coughing up blood.
***
Rumors of Song Guanjing exploded like a bomb, turning the entire frontpage of Weibo into a bloodbath. As if by sheer coincidence, Gu Xiqiao’s Weibo account too exploded from popularity.
Gu Xiqiao had just started fiddling with Weibo and whichever post she liked would magically appear on the front page.
And so, when the post of ‘A Flowing River’ appeared in one of her liked posts, countless of her followers scrambled around excitedly.
“Ahhhhh! Who’s this lucky man?! Why is he in a relationship with my goddess?!”
“Stop talking smack! Look closely! This is an oil painting that my Gu Xiqiao completed! Ahh! This work of art is so beautiful I might explode!”
“Am I the only one who noticed the two shadows on the floor?! From his shadow alone, I can guarantee you that the owner of this account is handsome as heck!”
“Shadow! Just look at that slender shadow! I wonder if he’s got the right proportions. I wonder if his face is equally as stunning as his lover’s!”
“I support the Li X Gu cp!”
“Isn’t it a fact that they are together?”
“Li X Gu shippers are probably gonna die crying in their bathrooms!”
***
The duo, who were on their way to Studio City was completely oblivious to the heated discussion that was currently going on. Also, Jiang Shuxuan had no idea that his followers had already breached ten thousand in a matter of minutes. This expansion of his fanbase wasn’t slowing down either.
At the filming set of ‘Empire Under Siege’, Cheng Zhou was sternly barking commands at his cameramen.
Song Guanjing changed into her own clothes before walking up to the director and flashing him a smile. “Director Cheng, I think it would be best if you switched over to a new female lead. This situation is getting increasingly out of hand and the Tang Enterprise’s PR team is still struggling to get this under control. Since I’ve just started working with you, finding another actress for my role shouldn’t be too much of a hassle, I think.”
She didn’t expect her blackmailing to turn out so bad. Her opponent was well-prepared with enough evidence to back up their claims. The false news was so convincing that she would start to doubt reality if not for how sure she was that she did not conduct in the alleged activities.
Even her co-workers started to give her weird looks after the rumors exploded all over the internet.
The ‘evidence’ spreading around the internet was simply too real.
A turmoil of such proportions was comparable to the leaked nudes of a certain A-list celebrity from back then. It appeared that her career in acting would be coming to an end.
Song Guanjing was clueless as to who would spend so much effort in trying to blackmail her.
It must’ve cost the person an astronomical amount to be able to fabricate the supposed ‘evidence’ as well as to buy his way into the well-known gossip accounts. Even the mighty Tang Enterprise scratched their heads while attempting to locate flaws in the false accusations.
“I have switched actors in the middle of a filming project before, but you should know that I absolutely won’t get someone to fill in your shoes this time. I trust that you aren’t the person they are talking about.” Cheng Zhou was calm and collected when responding to Song Guanjing.
No doubt, Song Guanjing was moved by the director’s words but precisely because of this, she was adamant about leaving the cast.
Cheng Zhou had spilled blood, sweat, and tears into this project; she simply could not put the effort of their entire team to waste. “The right to terminate our contract remains in my hand. Switch actresses, Director Cheng.”
“What are you doing! I want you to re-do this scene all over again!” Cheng Zhou started raging again. “Old Xiang! Come here now!”
Xiang Kun was also aware of what was going on. After spending such a long time in the entertainment industry, he knew just how serious the matter was. In this regard, he was far more rational than Cheng Zhou. “Director Cheng, I would advise you to let her leave the cast. What she needs most right now is to step out of the limelight. You’re aiming for an academy award aren’t you? If so, I don’t think it’s suitable for you to use Guanjing in your film.”
Cheng Zhou smashed the pen he held in his hand into the ground furiously. He went silent afterward.
The people present all looked over in horror. They started whispering to each other out of fear of angering the already steaming Cheng Zhou.
Noon was soon approaching and yet the entire crew was already visibly bummed out.
Suddenly, the appearance of two familiar silhouettes brought life back into their atmosphere.
That beautiful face and that serene smile she wore, it inevitably gave the entire film crew a sense of reassurance.
“What’s up?” Gu Xiqiao smiled as she greeted her friends. She felt something off about the atmosphere here at the filming set. Also, she noticed Cheng Zhou’s sullen expression. She turned to face Xiao Yun. “Is Director Cheng angry with something?”
Xiao Yun sighed. “Senior Song’s leaving the cast.”
Gu Xiqiao expected this to happen but she did not expect the movie star to be so decisive. It was only the very beginning and yet she was already so sure that she was going to quit the cast.
***
“Director Cheng, I won’t say anything much to everyone, you can let them know on my behalf after I’m gone,” Song Guanjing said to Cheng Zhou with a smile on her face. Her assistant had already packed her things. She didn’t expect that she would have to leave the set after just a few days.
“Why are you leaving?” asked a voice from behind.
Song Guanjing spun around to meet a pair of shining bright eyes, like a sea of stars in the night sky. Still, the look in her eyes was not an accusation.
Song Guanjing chuckled to herself. She was satisfied with the outcome. While a great deal of people were against her, she was relieved to see a handful still standing on her side. She was also surprised at how easily she was satisfied this time. “It’s because of the news spreading around the internet that I don’t have a choice but to leave this cast. It’s for their sake.”
Many of her friends had started distancing themselves from her the moment news about her scandal broke out this morning.
They all were just trying to protect themselves and although Song Guanjing understood why they did what they did, she couldn’t help but feel her heart go numb. Some of them were close friends she had made five years ago. It was only a few days before this that they took a picture together. Who would’ve thought that she would delete all posts related to Song Guanjing and worse still, write a long paragraph, denying the existence of their friendship the moment this scandal broke out.
Some even tried to use this as an opportunity to attract attention for themselves; the way they acted was far worse than the rookies she met from the cast of this movie. Song Guanjing laughed cynically. The only silver lining about this incident was that she was finally able to see through the facade put up by her so-called ‘friends’. She felt relieved that they severed connections with her. At least from now on, she wouldn’t have to keep up the superficial act with these people.
“The truth will speak for itself,” Gu Xiqiao smiled when she sensed how blissfully helpless Song Guanjing was feeling. “Sister Song, you must have faith that justice will always be on the side of the righteous.”
Gu Xiqiao whipped out her own phone and showed Song Guanjing her own Weibo page. The discussion on the first page had already reached a whopping 800,000 comments.
There were a lot of haters writing nasty remarks about Song Guanjing but there was also a group of die-hard fans making their last stand to defend their beloved movie star.
“I have faith in Song Guanjing! Fellow fans unite! We must drown out the accusations being posted by these haters so our Guanjing doesn’t see their nasty insults!”
“I have been her fan for so many years now, I don’t care what she does, I will remain on her side forever and ever! That’s right! Jing Jing! You’ve braved so many storms in the past! You absolutely must persist through this, no matter what!”
“…”
Gu Xiqiao reposted Song Guanjing’s first post on Weibo.
For A Millenium: “Justice will forever be on the side of the righteous. Take a closer look at this.” //@SongGuanJing: [JPEG]
Song Guanjing held back from checking her Weibo account the moment the scandal surfaced on the front page of the internet. Judging from the reactions of her “besties”, she figured that her account was probably already occupied by her haters. What she didn’t know was how lovable and loyal her true fans actually were.
Now that she has seen their reaction, her eyes started welling up with tears.
“Sister Song, what excuse do you have to not persist on?” asked Gu Xiqiao with a dead serious tone.
“Yeah.” Song Guanjing shut her eyes and raised her head to take in a deep breath.
Cheng Zhou directed a smile at Gu Xiqiao. “That’s the spirit! No replacements for my current cast!”
Gu Xiqiao stole a glance at Cheng Zhou and clenched her fists tightly. “Alright, the issue has been solved. Now, it’s time to check on what rumors they have now fabricated. Um… does anyone here have a computer that I can use?”