"Seven years? That's a long time, a really long time." Zhou Tong patted his chest in lingering fear. "A whole night has passed. I thought you two had already made up!"
"No, we've decided to separate for a while to calm each other down. Besides, there are more important things to deal with right now, and I can't ignore them and let the villains succeed." Su Yanxi pulled herself out of her emotions and put on a rational one.
Last night's exhaustion and sudden drowsiness forced him to postpone the trial of the treacherous villain. Now that the sun has risen for a new day, he must deliver a precise and powerful counterattack.
"Sister Tong, I'd like to understand the online discussion last night. You must have contacted your PR team, right? Could you tell me the details?"
Zhou Tong was overjoyed and sat up straight to explain the public relations process of the previous night in detail.
Although Zhou Tong acted like a hands-off manager while in Su Yanxi's room last night, as a top agent, she still fulfilled her duties. After leaving Su Yanxi's room, she immediately contacted the outsourced public relations team.
"I was worried that you'd be too busy mediating your relationship problems to handle your work, so I contacted PR for you. The PR team responded very quickly, giving me a clarification statement in less than ten minutes."
"To be honest, I only realized last night that your outsourced PR team is actually the PR department of YUNSO Holdings!"
Zhou Tong clicked his tongue repeatedly, becoming more and more impressed as he spoke.
"You're really something, using the PR department of a top holding group as an outsourced PR team. Aren't you afraid of wasting their talent? That's impressive, truly impressive!"
On second thought, YUNSO is a family-owned company owned by another family, and its employees are essentially people employed by that family. It doesn't matter who they are employed by—it's normal for them to be employed by the daughter-in-law!
Su Yanxi smiled modestly: "I don't have many channels, and I can't find many good public relations people. Rather than finding outsiders to open blind boxes, it's better to use our own team that we know well."
"Yes, that makes sense. Last night, the team removed the trending topics and cleared the public opinion. They also found a lot of marketing accounts and KOLs to release our trailers, barely managing to suppress the buzz and public opinion."
“When I was reviewing the manuscript, Tsai Yu-yen contacted me, and we reviewed the final draft together. Here it is.”
Su Yanxi was pleasantly surprised; he hadn't expected his brother and sister-in-law to come and help last night. He quickly took the phone and carefully read the clarification statement posted on his personal Weibo account.
The statement first denied that Su Yanxi was being kept by a sugar daddy, and interpreted Su Yanxi's phrase "long-term meal ticket" as a joke with a friend. Furthermore, the statement not only obscured Bie Yunzong's identity but also the relationship between Su Yanxi and Bie Yunzong.
The last sentence of the statement is arguably the essence of the entire document: "[Artist Su Yanxi and Mr. Bie have always maintained a normal relationship. Please do not make biased judgments about the artist's private life based on subjective assumptions.]"
"Your brother and sister-in-law changed that sentence. I originally wrote 'normal social relationship,' but it was changed to 'normal business relationship.'" Zhou Tong couldn't help but chuckle, giving a thumbs up. "Just one word difference, but the impression it gives is worlds apart!"
Normal interactions would immediately lead people to guess that Su Yanxi and "Mr. Bie" had intimate contact; but what exactly constitutes a normal relationship?
"This statement is indeed typical of my brother and sister-in-law's style—he really understands me."
"Firstly, it obscures Yun Zong's identity, making it impossible for people to guess whether the man in the video whose face is not clearly visible is the rumored second young master of another family; secondly, it obscures the relationship between Yun Zong and me, making it unclear whether we are lovers, partners, or friends?"
Su Yanxi's face revealed a confident smile once again.
"Although a simple written statement is weak and the sarcastic comments below show that the statement cannot convince the public, it is enough to obscure the identities and relationship between me and Yunzong and leave the onlookers confused."
Seeing that Su Yanxi seemed confident, Zhou Tong pressed further, "What are you planning to do?"
"One thing at a time. I can't make everyone believe my statement, but I can make everyone gossip about other people's business."
As for whose restaurant to eat at...
Su Yanxi pulled up the video she had taken at the Four Seasons Restaurant on her phone, pointed at Xiang Mingyue who was smiling broadly in the video, and sneered.
"Let's choose him."
At 10 a.m., just as office workers finished breakfast and were getting into work mode, an even more sensational and eye-catching piece of gossip suddenly appeared at the top of the trending search list.
#Xiang Mingyue Knows Three and Becomes Three#
Unlike Su Yanxi's blank resume, Xiang Mingyue is a second-tier artist who has acted in several TV dramas and even has television works. Although his lack of talent results in less public attention, his fan base is far larger than Su Yanxi's; Su Yanxi has eight million followers on Weibo, while Xiang Mingyue has fifteen million.
Compared to the commonplace "entertainment industry phenomena" like being kept or having someone else as a meal ticket, the headline "Knowing and Becoming a Mistress" is much more attractive. The topic immediately topped the charts, quickly attracting a large number of reads and discussions, and within just half an hour, it became a trending topic.
Su Yanxi had no interest in appreciating the chaotic mess online. He drove his Aston Martin sports car, which Bie Yun had given him, to the flagship store where he had picked up the car the day before.
The store manager and all the employees were waiting inside the store. As soon as Su Yanxi's car appeared, they hurriedly bowed and scraped as they went to open the door to greet her.
"Mr. Su, I'm so sorry!" The store manager apologized profusely, his attitude humbled to the point of being groveling. "It was our negligence. We didn't manage our employees well, and your private video was leaked!"
Last night's trending topics were not only a major crisis for Su Yanxi, but also a public relations crisis for the Aston Martin car brand.
If public opinion were to escalate even slightly, this brand would be forever tarnished with the stigma of "leaking customer privacy." In more serious cases, it could even shake the trust of VIP clients worldwide!
Chapter 52
"We will do everything we can to compensate you for your losses, and we ask that you accept the compensation plan and give us a chance to correct our mistakes!"
"No need." Su Yanxi got out of the car carrying her bag. "Where's the security guard from yesterday? Bring him over so I can see him."
The store manager gestured to the staff.
A short while later, two tall, well-dressed male salesmen, one on each side, escorted yesterday's security guard over and brought him before Su Yanxi. The security guard was still wearing his sloppy security uniform, looking just as listless as yesterday.
"Who sent you?" Su Yanxi asked bluntly.
He crossed his arms and, instead of sitting in the chair the manager had prepared, stood high above the security guard and questioned him.
The security guard avoided eye contact: "No one instructed me; I accidentally leaked the video myself."
"I don't believe it," Su Yanxi scoffed. "Even though you're just a security guard watching the back garden, you must know that leaking the video would cost you your job. You wouldn't risk secretly filming and then leaking the video without anyone's permission."
"I'll ask you one more time, who sent you here?"
The security guard hesitated: "I..."
When direct questioning didn't work, Su Yanxi changed her tactics, resorting to threats and intimidation: "Do you know that video isn't just my privacy, it also represents Aston Martin's brand image. If I sue Aston Martin because of this, Aston Martin will sue you. You are the one who negligently damaged the brand image, and you are the one directly responsible for the brand's losses."
"You will be sued for one million, two million... tens of millions!"
The store manager looked very unhappy. He was worried that Su Yanxi would really sue the brand. If that happened, not only would the lowly security guard be implicated, but he, as the manager, would also lose his job.
"No, no!" The security guard was successfully frightened and knelt down before Su Yanxi with a thud, trying to grab her leg. "I don't have that much money, I can't afford to pay for it!"
"Now you know how to cry and complain?" Su Yanxi dodged the security guard's hand, raising an eyebrow disdainfully. "When you were greedy for money and easily manipulated, did you never think about the consequences?"
"Because...because that person gave too much!" The security guard broke down and began to confess the whole story in one go. "I'm not some married father, I'm just a lazy bum who's so poor that I can barely afford to pay my rent."
"I finally got into this place through connections, and I want to do a good job! But that person... that person transferred 30,000 to me in one go, saying it was a deposit."
According to the security guard and the shop assistant, the thug had only been working in the back garden for a short time—he had just arrived last Monday and had worked for a total of six days.
Although this job didn't offer weekends off and only gave two days off at the end of the month, the work was very easy. Sitting in the security booth in the back garden all day, he could earn six or seven thousand a month. The petty hoodlum was satisfied with the job, but he couldn't wait to get his salary to pay the rent.
In that critical moment, someone offered him 30,000 yuan as a deposit for secretly filming videos. Naturally, he was tempted by the money and took the risk to accept the task.
“I don’t know who that person is. He found me through email first! I always called him ‘sir’ and contacted him in real time through Alipay, and sent him videos via email.”
"You don't know who that person is...?" Su Yanxi frowned, feeling that things were more complicated than she had imagined. "Could you give me their email address and Alipay account?"
"Yes, yes, of course!" the thug nodded hurriedly.
After ordering, the thug suddenly remembered something and added ingratiatingly.
"And another thing! That person even called me over to talk. He told me not to be afraid of being caught secretly filming, and if I was caught, to say that I have a family, that I am a married father, and that I wanted to film the car to show my children later!"
"Look, the other person seems to understand your personality very well! Otherwise, how could they have anticipated my reasons?"
Su Yanxi also took this into consideration.
He frowned and stared at the thug for a while. Once he was sure the thug couldn't provide any more useful information, he stopped talking and turned to leave.
Before leaving, Su Yanxi beckoned the store manager over and whispered a few words: "Manager, please collect any useful information, organize it into a document, and send it to me."
"Yes, yes." The manager knelt on one knee and bowed humbly, leaning against the car door with a subservient posture, and whispered to the distinguished guest in the driver's seat, "Then what about the compensation plan you mentioned earlier..."
"No compensation is needed. I also made a mistake by believing what others said. If needed, I can write a clarification letter for you to prevent further damage to your brand's image and reputation."
“I have only one demand: that security guard be dismissed and that he be compensated according to the amount stipulated in your employment contract. And after today, I do not want to see him continue to work.”
Su Yanxi's request was simple and easy to fulfill, and the manager nodded in agreement without hesitation: "No problem! Thank you, Mr. Su, for your understanding and support of our store!"
"And one more thing—" Su Yanxi wanted to say something more, but stopped after only saying the beginning, "Never mind, I'll contact you if there are any problems."
The manager nodded respectfully again and got up to close the car door for Su Yanxi.
This swift trip still took more than half an hour. By the time Su Yanxi drove back to the Garden Hotel, it was almost 11:30.
Lin Xiaohai and Zhou Tong were both waiting in his room. Seeing him return, Lin Xiaohai asked curiously, "Is everything resolved?"
“Hmm,” Su Yanxi put down the keys to the sports car worth millions, “and gave that person a good scolding. The store manager and the store staff were all terrified.”
"Hehe, serves you right!"
"Have you found out who's behind this?"
“No, the thug who secretly filmed me said he didn’t know the other person’s identity either.” Su Yanxi drank a large glass of warm water and calmed down for a while. “But the thug also said that the other person knew my personality very well; the story he told me was taught to him by the person behind the scenes.”
Zhou Tong chuckled: "Knows your personality? Then there's no need to say more, it's definitely 'him'."
Chapter 53
"He's your old classmate, and he's been studying under the same roof as you for over three years. Besides him, who else fits the bill?"
"Yes, I think so too." Su Yanxi stretched her limbs, not having rested enough, and was already preparing for the next battle. "Xiao Hai, where is he?"
Xiao Hai obediently reported that he had just seen the person hide in the fire escape corridor.
"Okay." Su Yanxi straightened her clothes. "I'll go meet them."
The "he" that Su Yanxi refers to naturally refers to Ming Yue.
The trending topics at 10 AM not only exposed Xiang Mingyue's habit of seeking financial backers, revealing that he has had such backers since his university days, squeezing out the living space of normal students, but also exposed his despicable character and dirty methods. He claimed that even knowing his financial backer was married, he still fawned over him. On the surface, he was all smiles and flattery towards his backer, but privately he complained that his backer wasn't supportive enough and couldn't afford even slightly better resources.
The cheating incident during the previous audition was also brought to light. After this incident, Xiang Mingyue's reputation in the industry was completely ruined, with no possibility of a comeback.
When Su Yanxi found Xiang Mingyue, Xiang Mingyue was squatting on the stairwell between the buildings, frantically tapping on his phone screen.
"Aren't you tired of squatting while using your phone?"
Su Yanxi didn't greet anyone and went straight to the point.
"Have you done too many bad things? Are you so ashamed to face people? Squatting next to the trash can, are you trying to blend in with the garbage?"
Upon hearing the sound, Xiang Mingyue put down his phone, stood up while holding onto the trash can lid, and glared at Su Yanxi with hatred.
"Why do you still have that aloof face? You're definitely more sophisticated and have a thicker skin. You're just as pathetic as me, yet you can still act like nothing's wrong and go out into the world without a care."
In the press release exposing Xiang Mingyue's true colors, Su Yanxi included many subtle hints, subtly telling the public that Su Yanxi was a thorn in Xiang Mingyue's side, and that Xiang Mingyue was framing Su Yanxi out of jealousy.
The two were classmates, audition partners, and actors in the same production crew. With these three factors combined, the claim of framing was exceptionally convincing. After Xiang Mingyue's scandal was exposed, the original onlookers quickly switched sides, all believing that Su Yanxi was innocent and had been framed by Xiang Mingyue.
Of course, the truth is that Su Yanxi was framed.
"I'm sick and tired of hearing that 'you're just like me' argument. Can't you say something else? Why do you keep repeating the same thing over and over again?"