I'm Rich - 28
Chapter 28
"Alright, stop reading that. It'll just make you angrier!" Liu Yun said. "Homewrecker? How are you a homewrecker? Sure, maybe President Qi has some feelings for you, but he hasn't even done anything for you. You got that drama role on your own merit. I'm the one who fought tooth and nail for that variety show! How does that translate to you selling yourself??"
Guan Zhiyi turned off her phone. "...It doesn't matter now. Saying all this won't change anything."
Liu Yun took a deep breath. "You're right. I'll go back and get the company to put out a statement immediately."
Guan Zhiyi hummed in acknowledgment. "Let me go change. I want to go home."
"Alright."
After changing, Liu Yun and Mao Mao escorted Guan Zhiyi out of the photography studio and headed straight for the parking garage. But they'd barely stepped outside when a swarm of people with cameras and microphones came rushing toward them.
"Zhiyi, have you seen what's being said online? Do you have anything to say?"
"Is it true that you only got all those resources after getting involved with Qi Group's President Qi Chengyan?"
"Did you push someone else out to get the role of Zhaoyang?"
"People online say you're putting on an innocent act. What's your response?"
"How far has things gone with Qi Chengyan? Did you know he has a fiancée?"
...
The three of them had no idea anyone would be waiting outside. Suddenly surrounded and shoved into the center of the crowd, they were stunned for a few seconds. Liu Yun, the most experienced of them, recovered first and immediately moved to shield Guan Zhiyi. "Excuse us, please let us through."
A reporter: "Just give us a response, will you? Everyone's waiting for the truth."
Another reporter: "Nothing to say? Or is it because it's true and there's nothing you can explain?"
"Mao Mao, clear a path!" Liu Yun shouted at the assistant.
Mao Mao nodded immediately. Despite her small frame, she shoved her way forward. "Move! Please move!"
Liu Yun kept one arm around Guan Zhiyi, guiding her toward the car, and whispered in her ear, "Don't say anything. Anything you say right now will be used against you."
Guan Zhiyi knew that well enough. She nodded silently.
Liu Yun: "Can you all back off?! We'll make an official statement later! Just not now!"
But none of them were listening to Liu Yun. They kept pushing their cameras and microphones forward. Guan Zhiyi was jostled so hard she could barely stay on her feet.
"Ah—" Liu Yun couldn't hold her ground against so many people pulling at once. In one careless moment, Guan Zhiyi was shoved completely to the ground.
Click. Click. Click.
The flashbulbs kept firing.
The instant she hit the ground, Guan Zhiyi's hand shot out to catch herself. Her palm scraped across the rough pavement, a sharp sting shooting through her.
She froze for a second, then quickly scrambled back to her feet.
The lights were still flashing. She raised a hand to shield her eyes, her mind going blank for a moment. And when the blankness passed, her mother's face surfaced in her thoughts unbidden.
Had she once been like this too...?
"Move! This isn't a scheduled interview! Are you even real reporters?! Are you?!" Liu Yun was frantic and furious, shoving her way out with all her strength. Then she grabbed Guan Zhiyi and, together with Mao Mao, forced her into the car.
Bang—
The door finally slammed shut.
Liu Yun let out a breath of relief. "Drive. Now."
"Okay!" Mao Mao started the engine in a hurry.
"Zhiyi, are you alright?" Liu Yun looked at Guan Zhiyi's pale face.
"I'm fine."
"Your hand... Oh my god, your palm is all scraped up. We need to get home and treat that." Liu Yun stared at her palm, her heart sinking. "Something's wrong. Something is really wrong. Those reporters reacted way too fast. The trending topic had barely gone up and they already knew you were shooting a commercial, then showed up to ambush you, this wasn't a public schedule. Someone definitely set this up."
"I think so too! Those reporters were way too aggressive." Mao Mao glanced at the rearview mirror. "Yun-jie, if these people came prepared, is it even safe for Zhiyi-jie to go home?"
Liu Yun paused. "Good point. I don't know if anyone's staking out your place."
Mao Mao: "Then... should we not go back today? Stay at a hotel?"
Liu Yun looked at Guan Zhiyi. "What do you think?"
Guan Zhiyi stared at her palm. The sting was only spreading now, her fingers starting to go numb.
"Take me to Yuhe," she said suddenly.
"Yuhe... Yuhe Mansion?" Liu Yun was startled. She knew what Yuhe was. One of the most exclusive residential complexes in the capital, home to the wealthy and powerful.
"Why are you going there?"
Guan Zhiyi lifted her eyes to look at her. "I want to."
**
Meanwhile, in a luxury van parked in the Yixing Entertainment garage.
A woman lounged on the sofa, watching a video someone had just posted on Weibo. In the video, Guan Zhiyi faced a crowd of questions and accusations without saying a single word, and was ultimately shoved into a car in complete humiliation.
The woman curved her lips and opened the comments.
As expected, the comments were a mix of speculation, insults, and mockery, all attacking Guan Zhiyi. The woman read through them with satisfaction, liking several with the burner account she was browsing on.
"Yitong-jie."
Just then, the van door opened and a young man came in carrying two cups of coffee. "Yitong-jie, your coffee."
"Set it down." The person sitting in the van was none other than Zheng Yitong, an artist under Yixing Entertainment. She was also the one who'd had Guan Zhiyi removed from The Imperial Court cast, only to be replaced herself by Qi Chengyan's orders.
"Yitong-jie, those people have been taken care of. After they shot the video, they all posted it online one after another. It should be up by now."
Zheng Yitong smiled. "I saw. Not bad."
Seeing her pleased, the assistant continued, "We've also found out where Guan Zhiyi lives. We've got people stationed there too. She definitely won't have a moment's peace."
Zheng Yitong snorted. The memory of Guan Zhiyi's pathetic state in that video made her happy.
She wanted to see Guan Zhiyi hit rock bottom. She wanted to watch her get torn apart! It was all her fault for making her life a living hell!
"Yitong-jie, after we pay the contract termination fee, which company are we going to?"
"Haven't decided yet. Anywhere is better than staying at Yixing."
Ever since The Imperial Court and Qi Chengyan's acquisition of Yixing, she'd been effectively frozen out. She couldn't get her hands on a single resource in the company. Even Zhao Zhihui didn't dare help her anymore.
So why would she stay? Even if she had to pay a hefty termination fee, she was leaving.
It was all Guan Zhiyi's fault. If not for her, why would Qi Chengyan go after her like this?
Besides, she'd always been more popular and better positioned in the industry than Guan Zhiyi. Watching Guan Zhiyi thrive now was unbearable for her.
**
While the internet was in an uproar, Qi Chengyan had just stepped out of a meeting room. He'd been in meetings almost all day, so busy he hadn't had a moment to rest.
Seeing him finally come out, his assistant hurried after him. "President Qi, there's some bad news online. Would you like to take a look?"
Qi Chengyan walked forward with a cold expression. "What is it?"
"It's about Miss Guan and—"
"What about Xiao Wu?" Qi Chengyan stopped in his tracks.
The assistant said, "Today, a bunch of people suddenly came out online to smear Miss Guan, saying she seduced a financial backer to get ahead, that she used him to land all her good resources, and that she pushed out an original cast member to take the role of Zhaoyang in The Imperial Court."
"Seduced a financial backer?" Qi Chengyan blinked. "What backer would she possibly need to seduce?"
"Ahem." The assistant glanced at him and lowered his voice. "Um, President Qi, the backer they're referring to is... you."
Qi Chengyan: "..."
"And there's more. This incident involves you quite a bit. But I've already had your information taken down, and also—"
"So how is Xiao Wu?" Qi Chengyan cut him off.
The assistant paused. "Miss Guan isn't doing well. She may be dealing with reporters. Oh, right. You may want to a look at this video."
Qi Chengyan took the phone from his assistant and tapped on the video. It wasn't long, but it was crystal clear. In it, Guan Zhiyi stood with her head lowered, enduring questions from all sides. She was shoved by so many people that midway through, she was pushed completely out of frame and vanished for a moment.
Then the camera shifted, and she was just barely getting up from the ground.
The moment Qi Chengyan saw her stand up, her face ashen, his breath caught in his throat. A second later, his eyes went ice-cold. He turned and strode toward the elevator.
"President Qi—" The assistant hurried after him.
"Find out who's behind this. Now."
Seeing the dark expression on Qi Chengyan's face, the assistant immediately straightened. "Yes, sir!"
Qi Chengyan hadn't seen Guan Zhiyi in a long time. Partly because she was busy filming, and partly because...reasons he couldn't quite explain himself.
Ever since Xiao Ran's nonsense, he'd felt something was off. After thinking it over, he realized the oddness came from him. He'd been treating her no differently than when she was a child, and that was no longer appropriate.
He'd thought some distance was needed. But what happened that morning run... had shaken him. Maybe Xiao Ran's words had planted a suggestion, and that was why he'd had those tangled thoughts about someone he'd watched grow up, someone he'd always treated like a little sister.
He felt an inexplicable guilt toward her, so he'd unconsciously stopped reaching out.
But distance didn't mean he'd stopped caring.
When he got back to Yuhe Mansion, from the car he spotted a figure standing in front of his courtyard from a distance.
The moment he saw her, his heart clenched painfully.
He'd protected her so well when she was little. He'd never known that discovering she'd been bullied would hurt him like this.
"Xiao Wu." He got out of the car and walked toward her.
Night had fallen, and the girl's profile was ghostly pale. But the instant she turned and saw him, her eyes lit up with joy.
She looked at him, her brows and eyes curving gently. "Gege, I thought you'd be home.”
---
Comments
Post a Comment