"Yes," Kong Anqing explained, "At first, you trended on social media because of the hotel explosion. Later, people discovered that you are the female president of Huanning Group and are very beautiful. In addition, your fourth brother owns an entertainment company, and many people know him. Combining these factors, people are very interested in discussing you, so you've been trending every day lately. Now many people know you, and there are many of your female fans online!"
Xin Ying frowned slightly.
Lin Leyao is a public figure, and more people know about her recently. Does this mean the two of them won't be able to meet easily in private anymore?
However, the fact that you can't meet up casually in private doesn't mean you have to be extremely careful when contacting each other on WeChat.
Since Lin Leyao returned to China, the two of them haven't been in contact for a week.
Xin Ying opened her phone and tapped on her chat window with Lin Leyao.
After Lin Leyao returned to China, she didn't send a single message.
Xin Ying frowned, pondering the reason.
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Author's Note:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 00:00:00 on February 19, 2022 and 23:55:00 on February 21, 2022!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the grenade: 55157345 (2 grenades);
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: 55157345 (1 landmine);
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 50452852 (2 bottles); snower (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 34
The atmosphere in the Japanese restaurant was very lively. After a few drinks, the director, in high spirits, pulled Liu Fang aside to talk.
Lin Leyao listened to their conversation silently, unaware that her phone vibrated in her bag.
Xin Ying waited for a while, but the other party did not reply.
The airport is some distance from the villa area. Seeing that Xin Ying had put down her phone, Kong Anqing suggested, "Ms. Xin, we still have fifty minutes to go home. Why don't you rest in the car for a while?"
Xin Ying closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. The long flight had left her mentally exhausted, but her mind was full of thoughts and she was not sleepy at all.
A few minutes later, Xin Ying's phone suddenly rang.
She had been dozing off, but she opened her eyes instantly, her pupils clear.
Upon seeing the caller's name displayed on her phone screen, Xin Ying's slightly fluctuating mood instantly plummeted.
The caller was Xin Yuan.
The little girl had argued with her father and was sobbing on the phone. Xin Ying comforted her for a few moments, told her not to stay up late chasing celebrities, and then hung up.
Xin Ying noticed that the WeChat chat box was empty; Lin Leyao still hadn't replied to the message.
Xin Ying didn't rest any longer. She skillfully logged into Weibo and entered Lin Leyao's super topic.
Xin Ying quickly realized something was wrong.
It was 1 a.m., and Lin Leyao's name was at the top of the trending search list, followed by the word "hot".
Clicking on the trending topics, the first thing you see is a photo of Lin Leyao talking intimately with a middle-aged man.
The Weibo post that broke the story also provided an introduction to the middle-aged man.
Wang Baoliang, male, 51 years old. President of Canghaiyun Technology Co., Ltd., and also the owner of Baoliang Media. The whistleblower specifically noted that Baoliang Media is the investor in the drama "The Palace Prisoner" that Lin Leyao is currently filming.
Such a seemingly intimate chat photo is not enough to cause it to go viral.
The whistleblower also posted several photos in the comments.
Some photos show Lin Leyao and Wang Baoliang having dinner together, while others show Wang Baoliang talking to Lin Leyao after the awards ceremony today.
In addition, the whistleblower dug up many clothes and videos of Lin Leyao and Wang Baoliang wearing at various occasions in the past, and extracted the matching items, saying that the two wore matching clothes and matching jewelry.
Kong Anqing sat in the passenger seat and inadvertently saw her boss's increasingly cold expression in the rearview mirror.
"Oh."
A cold laugh suddenly came from the back seat, and Kong Anqing felt a chill run down her spine.
Immediately afterwards, she heard Xin Ying from the back seat say, "Fourth Brother, help me remove a trending topic."
Kong Anqing couldn't help but glance at the rearview mirror again. She didn't know when, but Xin Ying had already dialed Xin Si Nan's number.
Shin Si-nam, who was already sound asleep, was woken up by this phone call and was extremely upset.
"Miss! It's one in the morning now. My employees need to sleep too. They work for me, I can't just exploit them like this!"
Xin Ying calmly and decisively replied: "This year, the year-end bonuses for all employees in your company will be doubled."
Upon hearing Xin Ying's words, Kong Anqing, sitting in the front seat, had tears welling up in her eyes.
I'm secretly hoping for a doubled year-end bonus! Oh my god, Mr. Xin, let her do it!
Unfortunately, Xin Ying couldn't hear her thoughts at that moment.
On the other end of the phone, Xin Si Nan rubbed his messy hair, and after a long while, he finally said helplessly, "...Fine, you wait."
The conversation ended, and the carriage fell silent.
Kong Anqing secretly glanced at the rearview mirror and saw that Xin Ying's face was tense and her eyes were dark and brooding, as if she was thinking about something.
It was almost two o'clock when Lin Leyao saw the message Xin Ying sent.
Xin Ying: [I'm back in China.]
After returning to China, Lin Leyao didn't speak to Xin Ying. Seeing this message, she couldn't help but recall the conversation between Xin Ying and her third uncle in the Australian hospital.
Since the other person has no feelings for her, she should be more discreet and avoid making things awkward for both of them.
Lin Leyao had just come out of the shower, her hair still wet. Water droplets trickled down her fair and slender neck, gathering in a pool at her delicate neck, glistening and translucent.
After a long while, Lin Leyao finally came to her senses, edited a few words, and sent them over.
Lin Leyao: [Get some rest early, goodnight.]
As the car pulled into the villa, Xin Ying finally received a reply from Lin Leyao.
Upon hearing the sound, Kong Anqing in the front seat immediately looked up at the rearview mirror.
After Xin Ying finished looking at her phone, her expression turned even colder.
Half an hour after I got home, Xin Si Nan sent me a WeChat message saying that everything was done.
Xin Ying logged onto Weibo and saw the trending topic #Lin Leyao's company denies rumors#.
Lin Leyao's company issued a statement overnight, along with a photo of Lin Leyao and Liu Fang having dinner together that evening.
The statement explained that the investors for the drama series "Palace Prisoner" had already changed, and Lin Leyao sat next to the new investor, Liu Fang, at tonight's awards ceremony. The statement also released CCTV footage from the awards ceremony, which showed that although Lin Leyao and Mr. Wang had some conversation after the ceremony, they were clearly not intimate, and she talked more with Liu Fang.
After reading the statement, Xin Ying's gaze fell on the photo of Lin Leyao and Liu Fang having dinner together.
Looking at the description in the statement, Xin Ying already knew that these were the photos of Lin Leyao having dinner with her new investor tonight.
So he hasn't been replying to my messages because he's having dinner with this woman?
Xin Ying lowered her eyelids and typed a message to send to Xin Si Nan.
Xin Ying: [Is this how you refute the rumors?]
Xin Si Nan: [...]?
Inside the film studio hotel, Lin Leyao was drying her hair with a hairdryer when she received a call from Xiao Yan.
The other party spoke very concisely.
It's said that Lin Leyao and Wang Baoliang are trending on social media tonight, with rumors circulating that Wang Baoliang is her sugar daddy.
However, not long after, Mr. Xin took the initiative to contact her and help dispel the rumors.
At this point, Xiao Yan quickly reminded her, "The Mr. Xin I'm talking about is Xin Si Nan, not that...that..."
Lin Leyao replied calmly, "Yes, I know."
Xiao Yan said, "Actually, if you go public with your CEO Xin, all these rumors will naturally disappear. Moreover, with your partner's wealth, you won't lack resources, and you'll definitely thrive in the entertainment industry in the future."
Go public. These two are really very tempting. Once they go public, Xin Ying will be under the spotlight, and the two will be completely intertwined.
But... Lin Leyao was lost in thought, remembering when Xin Ying took the initiative to say that she wouldn't go public. What was she thinking at that time?
After a moment of stunned silence, Lin Leyao smiled helplessly and replied to Xiao Yan, "We'll see."
When Lin Leyao was lying in bed, she logged onto Weibo and saw the trending topics and the company's statement.
Because she had splashed wine in Wang Baoliang's face, everyone in the crew knew that she and Wang Baoliang were unlikely to become lovers, let alone enemies.
However, the angles and positions of these photos exposed by the paparazzi don't seem like paparazzi candid shots; rather, they seem like they were taken by someone from the film crew.
Especially the photo of me having dinner with Wang Baoliang.
Everyone else in the photo has their faces blurred out, except for her and Wang Baoliang, who are sitting together, making them appear to be very close to an unsuspecting person.
She had only eaten with Wang Baoliang once. At that time, the private room was filled with the main creators of "The Palace Prisoner". It was easy to guess who it was by eliminating them one by one.
Lin Leyao lowered her eyelids, deep in thought.
Filming started rather late the next day, and when Lin Leyao arrived on set, no one was whispering about the trending topics from the previous night.
First, everyone has heard about Lin Leyao splashing wine in Wang Baoliang's face. Second, Lin Leyao's company's denial statement included CCTV footage from the awards ceremony that night. The two-plus hours of footage were released in its entirety, and no evidence of any romantic involvement between the two was found.
There were no night shoots today, so Lin Leyao went into the dressing room to remove her hair as the beautiful sunset fell.
As soon as Lin Leyao entered the room, the conversation inside abruptly stopped.
The two people talking are Su Wenyu and—
Lin Leyao raised an eyebrow in surprise when she met the person's gaze.
It turns out to be that internet celebrity, Qian Tong.
I didn't expect the two of them to be so close; they were chatting and laughing in the dressing room.
Qian Tong noticed that Lin Leyao was acting very awkwardly, standing there frozen without saying a word.
Su Wenyu quickly realized what was happening and laughed, "Le Yao, you're done filming too?"