--------------------
Author's Note:
There will most likely be no update tomorrow.
Chapter 85 Scandals Galore
Zhou Chengru was fortunate to be entrusted with such an important task by Old Madam Zhou, and he couldn't wait to finish the matter and present the result to his grandmother in a beautiful way so that she would be happy and he could get a larger share of the family property.
However, after taking over the case, Zhou Chengru discovered that it was not as simple as he had thought. Zhou Chengli was not telling the truth at all. He claimed that the responsibility for the accident was not his, but that was not the case at all. Not to mention that there were cameras on the road, both of the cars involved in the accident had dashcams. The police's current conclusion is that the main cause of the accident was still Zhou Chengli's fault.
If the other party involved in the incident were an ordinary person, it wouldn't be so bad; a little money could easily cover it up. But the other party isn't an ordinary person; they're a celebrity. He spent money and used his connections to find out what they were hearing. Apparently, the minor celebrity hasn't woken up yet, so they're not giving the Zhou family any face at all. If this matter really blows up, it will be difficult to handle in the end.
Just when Zhou Chengru was at a loss for what to do next, his subordinates gave him an idea.
"Young Master, I heard that the minor celebrity has a lot of dirt on her. Anyway, the police haven't released any evidence yet. Why don't you just go all out and find a way to destroy all the evidence? Then hire some online trolls to dig up all her past scandals. Public opinion will definitely be on your side then."
"Really? That celebrity has a lot of scandals?" Zhou Chengru thought it was a great idea when he heard his subordinate's suggestion, but only if the celebrity actually had a lot of scandals.
"Of course, you can look it up. I heard that this minor celebrity was arrested before, suspected of drug use!"
The idea was good, but Zhou Chengru looked at his subordinate with some suspicion and asked, "How do you know so much about this?"
The man smiled sheepishly and said, "I have a younger sister who loves following celebrities and knows a lot about the ins and outs of this industry. I only know what she says. I usually just listen for fun, but it's come in handy now."
His words immediately put Zhou Chengru at ease. Zhou Chengru said, "Just do it this way, find more people, and make a big fuss about it!"
"yes!"
... ...
Tang Xiaole has been awake for two days, but Zhou Paihuai shows no signs of waking up. Cheng Minxin is anxious but can't help at all. She asked the doctor several times. At first, the doctor advised her not to worry, but now the doctor has changed his mind and told her that the situation is indeed not optimistic. If Zhou Paihuai doesn't wake up soon, she may become a vegetable.
"Doctor, is there really no other way?" Cheng Minxin asked again with hope when the attending physician came to check on Zhou Paihuai's condition.
The doctor said, "During the car accident, the patient injured his head. The human brain is very complex, and once injured, no one knows in which direction the injury will worsen. If the patient cannot regain consciousness during this period, he will become a vegetative state, which is what we call a 'living dead'."
"Is there any way to wake her up?"
"Based on the current test results, there is a high chance that the patient will wake up, so the family doesn't need to worry too much."
"..." Cheng Minxin was speechless. If it weren't for the inappropriate timing, she would have transferred Zhou Paihuai to another hospital. Even though her condition was already so serious, they were still telling her not to worry. The hope of her waking up was high, but she just wouldn't wake up!
After completing the routine examination, the doctor left the ward directly. Cheng Minxin looked at Ji Anxi, who was standing silently by Zhou Zhou's bedside, and said, "Anxi, you don't need to worry too much. The doctor just said that Zhou Zhou's condition is not that serious. She... she still has a great chance of waking up."
“She will wake up. No matter what the doctors say, I believe she will wake up.” Ji Anxi said firmly. “I know her better than anyone else. Besides, it was just a minor car accident, and she wasn’t seriously injured.”
Cheng Minxin sighed helplessly. Ever since Zhou Paihuai's car accident, Ji Anxi had been extremely worried about her. At first, when she couldn't wake up, Anxi was so anxious she couldn't eat. But as time passed, Ji Anxi was able to eat, drink, and sleep normally, and she would stay by Zhou Paihuai's side whenever she had free time. She now believed more than anyone else that Zhou Paihuai would wake up. Cheng Minxin was really scared now, firstly because she was worried that Zhou Paihuai wouldn't wake up, and secondly because she was worried that if she didn't wake up, Ji Anxi would continue to act this abnormally normal.
“If you’re tired, go and rest for a while. I can stay with her!” Cheng Minxin patted Ji Anxi on the shoulder.
"Sister Cheng, you should go and rest first. I'm not tired. I'll rest when I'm tired. By the way, you should go and check on Xiaole again. Although Xiaole is awake, she must be feeling unwell. When Zhou Paihuai wakes up, he might blame us for not taking good care of Xiaole."
"She can't even wake up, so how can you blame us?" Cheng Minxin didn't say those words aloud. She just felt very sad. Subconsciously, she already believed that Zhou Paihuai would never wake up again. How could she think that? Zhou Zhou was only in her early twenties, the best years of her life. Why should a perfectly healthy, living person be lying here?
After leaving Zhou Paihuai's hospital room, Cheng Minxin received a call from her company. She hadn't been to the company at all these past few days because of Zhou Paihuai and Tang Xiaole, and naturally knew nothing about what had happened recently.
But what do the people at the company mean? Zhou Paihuai's scandals are flying everywhere? She's already in a car accident and is unconscious, so why are people still so determined to oppose her? Which powerful figure has she offended?
Seeing the overwhelming online criticism of Zhou Paihuai, from her poor acting skills since her debut to her unprofessionalism and strikes on set, and even some people's ability to dig up the fact that Zhou Paihuai was detained after calling the police, they concluded that she had touched something she shouldn't have.
This time, news of Zhou Paihuai's accident couldn't be concealed. However, instead of sympathy and pity, netizens mostly gloated, with some even maliciously speculating that the accident might have been caused by Zhou Paihuai and his assistant being high on drugs and losing control. Others attributed the accident to Zhou Paihuai's unprofessionalism, saying he rushed to the film set just in time and got into trouble on the way... In short, there were too many rumors, and the vast majority were personal attacks.
Having been in the entertainment industry for a long time, Cheng Minxin had seen enough ups and downs, but this time she still couldn't help but think, how could these people not be kinder? Zhou Paihuai was still lying in the hospital room. Even if she had the will to live, even if she wanted to struggle to wake up, if she knew that these people were cursing her online, would she still be able to wake up?
"I will immediately send lawyer's letters to those trolls who fabricate facts. I will not allow my artists to be smeared like this!"
--------------------
Author's Note:
I've finished writing, let me update it.
Chapter 86 She can't do this
Even though Cheng Minxin issued a strong lawyer's letter, aside from a few marketing accounts that spearheaded the rumors deleting their posts and running away, it didn't stop the massive online backlash against Zhou Paihuai. As for the truth about the car accident, the intersection camera was broken, and the dashcams of both cars were deliberately vandalized. What truth could there be? And who would care about the so-called truth?
Cheng Minxin didn't dare tell Ji Anxi about the news online. At this time, not knowing was the best thing for her. Otherwise, Cheng Minxin couldn't imagine what Ji Anxi might do, and she might have to gamble her acting career again.
Despite having so many worries, Cheng Minxin still had to make herself look less distressed when facing Tang Xiaole.
"Xiaole, come and have lunch."
Tang Xiaole gently shook her head, indicating that she didn't want to eat. She was very weak and couldn't talk much, but she still managed to ask with difficulty, "How is Zhouzhou?"
Cheng Minxin forced a smile and said, "Zhouzhou is fine, but you need to eat so that you two can get better."
"Okay, I'll eat it."
Cheng Minxin fed Tang Xiaole spoonful by spoonful, and only after she finished eating did she finally ask, "Xiaole, how did you and Zhouzhou get into the car accident?"
With such a huge online uproar about Zhou Paihuai, Cheng Minxin strongly suspects it was orchestrated by the young master of the Zhou family. After all, before the scandal was released, the young master had approached her to discuss settling the car accident privately, which she refused. Then came the online backlash against Zhou Paihuai, with much of the discussion focusing on the cause of the accident and directly blaming him.
"At that time, Zhou Zhou told me to slow down. I slowed down and soon a car rushed from the side. I didn't avoid it."
"So that car suddenly appeared, right? You weren't speeding, and you didn't run a red light, right?"
"I didn't, I didn't." Tang Xiaole denied it repeatedly. Zhou Zhou was still in the car at the time. How could she dare to ignore Zhou's life by speeding or even running a red light?
"I know!" Sure enough, she knew they had been framed.
"Sister Cheng, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing. The police are just asking routine questions to determine responsibility for the accident. You should focus on getting better; I'll handle this."
... ...
The evidence of the car accident was completely destroyed. Zhou Chengru then hired several groups of people to release negative information about Zhou Paihuai online one after another. Now, in the public's mind, the responsibility for the car accident is basically entirely with Zhou Paihuai, directly exonerating Zhou Chengli, the eldest son of the Zhou family.
When Zhou Chengru was feeling very proud of himself, he couldn't help but take this answer sheet, which he was very satisfied with, to the Zhou family's old house.
"Grandma, my eldest brother really has to thank me this time. I've taken care of everything for him!"
"What are you saying? We're all family, why are you thanking me?" It was Zhou Chengli's mother, who was very angry. Her son was the one who was injured in the car accident, but Zhou Chengru, that brat, was taking the credit. "Besides, it was the other party's responsibility in the first place."
"Aunt, do you really believe what my brother said is true? Others may not know, but I know very well that if it weren't for that little starlet having something on us, it would have been our Zhou family who lost face this time!"
Upon hearing the words "little star," Madam Zhou's eyelids twitched. She pretended to be calm and said, "Chengru, explain yourself clearly."
Zhou Chengru recounted his great achievements, but of course, he couldn't reveal the underhanded schemes he used. Instead, he shifted all the blame onto Zhou Paihuai: "That little star is no good either. He deserves his bad luck this time for messing with our Zhou family."
"Is she really as bad as you say?" Old Madam Zhou's expression remained unchanged, but her voice dropped a few decibels.
Zhou Chengru was completely unaware and said, "Of course, I just had someone dig up some old stories. These are things she did before. The internet remembers everything, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to dig up all this information so quickly."
"Very good, very decisive." Old Madam Zhou said six words to him, then looked at Zhou Xueyao and asked, "Xueyao, what do you think?"
Looking at the smug Zhou Chengru, Zhou Xueyao felt a surge of sarcasm welling up inside her. Suddenly, she heard Old Madam Zhou calling her. She pursed her lips and said, "I don't think so, Grandma. It's better to investigate some things thoroughly."
"Investigate what?" Zhou Chengru asked directly, not understanding their cryptic exchange.
Old Madam Zhou's patience ran out. She said, "Alright, what you should know, you will know naturally. What you shouldn't know, don't ask. I'm tired. Don't wait here today, go home."
Zhou Xueyao was the first to leave. She knew the old lady was in a bad mood and wouldn't stay to invite trouble. Once the first one left, a second followed, then a third... No matter how unwilling Zhou Chengru was, he still chose to leave the Zhou family's old house.
After everyone left, Old Madam Zhou collapsed onto the sofa as if all her strength had been drained away. She was completely unaware that besides Zhou Chengli, Zhou Paihuai had also been involved in the car accident, and that Zhou Chengru had allowed Zhou Paihuai to smear her with so much slander... And now, Zhou Paihuai was still lying in the hospital, not even awake.
"Get the car ready, I need to go to the hospital!"
Old Madam Zhou arrived at the hospital. The last time she came was to see Zhou Chengli; this time it was to see Zhou Paihuai. She reached Zhou Paihuai's ward, but didn't even have the courage to push open the door. She stood outside the ward for a very, very long time...
"Who are you?" Cheng Minxin came to see Zhou Paihuai, but she didn't expect to see an old woman acting suspiciously at the door. Her vigilance immediately rose.
Madam Zhou still didn't have the courage to reveal the purpose of her visit, and replied, "My old eyes are failing me, I can't see the ward number clearly, is this ward 607?"
Zhou Paihuai was staying in room 602. It was understandable that the elderly man couldn't see clearly for a moment, so Cheng Minxin didn't think much of it and said, "This isn't room 607. Please look over there. Could you please move aside? I'll go in first!"
Madam Zhou stepped aside and, taking advantage of the moment when Cheng Minxin opened the door to go in, glanced into the ward. She saw Zhou Paihuai lying on the bed with a pale face. Her face was lifeless, completely different from the cunning and clever look she had on her last face when they met.
She dared not go in, just as she dared not reveal Zhou Paihuai's true identity to the world without certainty. What could she say or do if she went in now? Could she risk the Zhou family's reputation to bring justice to Zhou Paihuai? She couldn't; she simply couldn't.
--------------------
Author's Note:
I vaguely remember sending it once, but it didn't go through.
Chapter 87 Zhou Paihuai woke up
"How long do you plan to stay here and watch over her?" It has been five days since Zhou Paihuai fell into a coma, and Ji Anxi is still staying by her side as she did at the beginning. "If Zhou Zhou never wakes up, are you going to stay by her side like this for the rest of your life?"
Cheng Minxin's first sentence didn't elicit any reaction from Ji Anxi, but after she finished speaking her second sentence, Ji Anxi suddenly raised her head and yelled at her, "I told you, she would definitely wake up. She's just too tired right now and needs to rest."
Rather than watching Ji Anxi deceive herself like this, Cheng Minxin is willing to play the villain. She said, "The crew of 'King of Chaos' came to me today. The crew is burning through money every day. If Zhou Zhou's condition does not improve, they will consider replacing her."
"It's only been a short time, and they can't even wait that long?" Ji Anxi knew very well what the drama "King of Chaos" meant to Zhou Paihuai. She loved the drama, and even though she didn't particularly like Sheng Huanyan, she still put her heart into playing the role. She would even ask Chen Siku for advice on how to act out the character's upcoming scenes during acting classes. But now that she was in trouble, lying here, the production team wanted to abandon her.
Cheng Minxin wanted to laugh at her naivety, and the corners of her lips curled up, but she couldn't laugh: "Anxi, it's hard to maintain relationships between people based on feelings alone." Besides, she felt that the crew had already done more than enough. Zhou Paihuai's reputation was already ruined, and the crew didn't give up on her immediately, but instead gave her a chance.
"How much money is the production crew short?" If the production crew is really impatient because of money, then she will use money to buy Zhou Huipai time. She can afford any amount of money, and she can wait any amount of time.
This isn't about money at all. Cheng Minxin has realized that Ji Anxi is truly not behaving normally right now, and she's even more afraid to let her know about the current state of public opinion. But if she can't tell her about the current public opinion, what should she say?
"I'm sorry, I got too excited just now." Ji Anxi apologized first. No matter what, Cheng Minxin was very good to Zhou Paihuai, and she couldn't throw her negative emotions at her. "If there's really no other way, the crew can just replace her. Anyway, once Zhou Paihuai wakes up, there are plenty of scripts for her to choose from."
Ji Anxi was full of hope for Zhou Paihuai's future. Cheng Minxin didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing, but she wouldn't shatter her beautiful fantasy. She patted Ji Anxi's shoulder, pulled the blanket up a bit more for Zhou Paihuai, and said, "Let's not talk about Zhou Zhou's matter. You've been here for so many days now, it's time to go back to a normal life. Although the 'Mountain and Wind' crew won't replace you, this is still your first film. I think when you chose to enter the entertainment industry, you must have had your own dreams, and you definitely don't want to leave so hastily, right?"
After saying that, Cheng Minxin left. Ji Anxi remained in the same position by Zhou Paihuai's bedside for a very long time. Her initial dream of entering the entertainment industry was undoubtedly influenced by Zhou Paihuai; she didn't want to just be a little fan, so she wanted to enter her world and see for herself. At first, she wasn't opposed to the industry, but later, as she learned acting step by step, she truly fell in love with the process.
If Zhou Paihuai were truly conscious, she would definitely not want her to stay here indefinitely, neglecting everything else. She would surely laugh at herself for being so pathetic, needing someone to accompany her even when acting.
"Zhou Paihuai, if I can't stay with you all the time, will you blame me?" Ji Anxi held Zhou Paihuai's arm tightly. "But don't worry, I will come to see you every day, and wait for you every day until the day you wake up."
... ...
On the sixth day of Zhou Paihuai's hospitalization, Ji Anxi returned to the "Mountain and Wind" crew. She apologized to the director and other crew members and then returned to normal filming work, just like before, showing no signs of anything unusual.