She occupied five of the top ten trending topics, and the other few were about Xu Qingzhu and Minghui Jewelry.
The Weibo hashtags that day were incredibly lively.
Everything was developing in the direction Liang Shi had predicted.
Following the release of official statements and lawyer's letters from Dongheng Group and Minghui Jewelry, netizens began to follow the story closely.
Towards the end, I couldn't help but wail: "I felt like a badger jumping around in a melon patch! Can someone summarize this for me?!"
How many more surprises does Chen Liuying have that I don't know about? Why are so many people simultaneously criticizing her?
This is probably what happens when you offend capital. (Image: A weary man lighting a cigarette)
[...]
The peak time for internet traffic is between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM, when the number of fans on major platforms reaches its highest point, but tonight it feels like one platform is dominating the scene.
Because the conflict is being staged on Weibo, a multitude of stories are being shared, making it easy to get overwhelmed with gossip in no time.
Weibo's traffic peaked at 9:30 p.m.
Within an hour, four companies announced changes to their spokespeople, and a production team announced the termination of its cooperation with Chen Liuying.
Chen Liuying's resources disappeared at an alarming rate.
Inside the seventh-floor office of Jingyi Culture, the air pressure seemed to freeze.
Bai Weiwei's computer and mobile phone were both on silent mode, and the office phone line had been unplugged.
Chen Liuying looked down at the reversal of public opinion online; her phone was about to crash from the constant stream of messages coming in from the background.
After a moment of silence, Chen Liuying looked coldly at Bai Weiwei: "This is the result you so confidently promised, and then what?"
Bai Weiwei's hair was disheveled, making her look like a madwoman. Her eyes were red as she said, "It's impossible..."
“What’s impossible?” Chen Liuying gritted her teeth. “Things are already like this.”
“There’s definitely still a chance…” Bai Weiwei’s voice trembled. “This is definitely not the final outcome.”
She had just turned her computer back on when she heard a loud "bang."
The door was kicked open.
A man in a black suit walked in, carrying a stack of documents. With a flick of his wrist, A4 sheets of paper were scattered all over the office like snowflakes.
The man's furious voice rang out, "What are you doing?!"
Bai Weiwei immediately stood up, "President Wu, please let me explain..."
"What else is there to explain?!" President Wu stared at the two of them, glanced around, and then sneered, "Chen Liuying, how long have you been in this industry? You're already so arrogant?"
"And you, Bai Weiwei, I was grooming you to be an excellent agent, and what happened?! You committed a major taboo right from the start! Dating an artist, have you no shame?!" President Wu's voice was deep and loud, and the whole company could hear him. "The two of you have absolutely no shame! Now that you've made such a mess, who's going to clean it up?"
"I'm sorry..." Bai Weiwei stood there, her eyes bloodshot. Even though she was filled with extreme resentment, she still said in a low voice, "I will handle this matter."
"Deal with what?!" General Manager Wu said, "The CEO of Dongheng called me, and you..."
He paused, then said, "Get ready, apologize, and leave the entertainment industry."
Bai Weiwei and Chen Liuying were both shocked. "What does this mean?!"
"Chen Liuying, do you even remember how many endorsements you have?" President Wu looked at Chen Liuying and waved for his secretary to speak.
"You have three brand endorsements, two Asia-Pacific brand endorsements, and one brand ambassadorship, totaling 7.8 million yuan. All of these contracts include a clause stating that if the brand incurs losses due to the client's personal reasons, the client will be liable for ten times the losses," the secretary said. "Currently, we have received messages from all our partners requesting the termination of the agreements and compensation, and..."
The secretary paused, glancing at President Wu, who had already closed his eyes, too lazy to look at the two troublemakers again.
The secretary announced like a robot, "All our partners have sent us lawyer's letters, and there is a clause in the contract you signed with the company stating that if you cause damage to the company's reputation or cause a partner to terminate the contract due to your personal reasons, you will have to compensate the company ten times the amount of your compensation."
Chen Liuying immediately said, "President Wu, you can't do this..."
"You fucking look at what you've done before you say that!" President Wu couldn't help but curse: "You dated your agent and even harassed the third wife of Dongheng Group. Don't you know what kind of low-class you are? You're not even worthy of carrying her shoes. You wanted to rise to the top in one step. Well, now you deserve to be smashed to pieces."
Chen Liuying: "..."
"The company has initiated legal proceedings, and the lawyer's letter will be posted online. The summons will be sent to your home." Mr. Wu said coldly, "You'll spend the rest of your life diligently paying off your debts. Your career in the entertainment industry has come to an end."
"Mr. Wu..." Bai Weiwei seemed to wake from a dream, her voice hoarse as she said, "Mr. Wu, give me another chance... I'm sure I can turn things around..."
"Flip my ass!" Mr. Wu, who had already reached the door, stopped and turned back to give her a disgusted look. "Your Bai family is almost bankrupt, what do you have to fight against Dongheng and Minghui?! If I were you, I would go home and inherit the family business. Why not use that little bit of intelligence somewhere else? Instead, you've made yourselves into something inhuman for something like this!"
Bai Weiwei's tears fell silently down her cheeks as she cried.
Mr. Wu said coldly, "You've been involved in illegal contracts behind the company's back. The company will sue you. Now you and she can go pay off your debts together. Go to court, go to jail, you're in for a lot of trouble."
After he finished speaking, he couldn't help but curse, "Idiot."
After Mr. Wu left, Bai Weiwei collapsed, her body limp and weak.
She still can't understand why things turned out this way.
Given Xu Qingzhu's personality, that's simply impossible.
How can so many people be mobilized at the same time? What was the idea behind it?
After a long silence, Chen Liuying said angrily, "It's all your fault! I told you not to mess with Xu Qing..."
"Is it my fault?!" Bai Weiwei sat up and glared at her, her voice rough as if it had been ground by sand. "Didn't I ask you? What exactly did you say to Xu Qingzhu?! And you?! What the hell did you do?! Chen Liuying, are you a stud pig, all you do all day is go into heat and nothing else..."
"Smack—"
A crisp slap rang out.
Bai Weiwei stared at Chen Liuying in disbelief, only to see Chen Liuying glaring at her fiercely, grabbing her hair with one hand and pulling it back, making Bai Weiwei's scalp tingle.
She seemed to see a demon descending from hell.
Chen Liuying slapped her across the face again. Soon, both of her cheeks burned and swelled up at a visible speed. "If it weren't for you, would things have gotten this far?"
"You still have the nerve to curse at me?" Chen Liuying pulled her back completely. "Didn't you understand when I told you to stop causing trouble? Now that you've ruined me like this, are you fucking happy?!"
This was the first time Bai Weiwei had seen Chen Liuying like this.
It's even more real than what's being acted out.
She was so frightened that she trembled, and then Chen Liuying irritably threw her down and kicked her.
In the empty and silent office, Bai Weiwei lay on the cold floor.
When I close my eyes, I hear the advice I've heard before.
—Her temper isn't as good as you think.
She's trying to control you.
—She doesn't love you as much as you think.
—Weiwei, let's go see the sea together next year, okay?
The voices of Zhao Xuning and Xu Qingzhu overlapped in her ears.
Unfortunately, she never listened.
Some people, one wrong step leads to another.
Once you embark on this path of no return, there is no turning back.
//
9:40 PM.
Taking advantage of the surge in traffic that nearly crashed Weibo's servers, Minghui Jewelry's official Weibo account announced Yang Shuyan as the spokesperson for its autumn collection.
A powerful alliance.
And it's free popularity.
So, at Liang Shi's suggestion, Xu Qingzhu started a live stream at the same time and connected with Yang Shuyan.
Liang Shi, as the mastermind behind the scenes, remained silent.
Xu Qingzhu doesn't use beauty filters when she goes live, even at night, even though she's exhausted after a long day and her morning makeup is almost gone. Her looks are still stunning, and she doesn't look inferior to Yang Shuyan, a striking beauty.
Liang Shi suggested that she and Yang Shuyan do a live stream together for two reasons: to promote Minghui Jewelry's new products during this sensitive time, and to explain clearly what happened during the day.
Online, you don't have to create a persona, but you can't be a pushover.
Moreover, Xu Qingzhu has a good image, and once the show airs, countless fans who appreciate her looks will flock to it, which will only benefit Minghui Jewelry.
Having Xu Qingzhu promote their own products will undoubtedly give them a greater advantage.
For Yang Shuyan, publicly taking sides at this critical juncture is not a good thing.
But Yang Shuyan was not afraid and took the initiative to propose to cooperate with Minghui Jewelry. It was like a huge pie falling from the sky, and it would be a shame not to take it.
This made Liang Shi even more curious about the relationship between Lin Luoxi and Yang Shuyan, so before the show even started, Liang Shi secretly asked her about it.
Lin Luoxi coughed softly and said, half-concealingly, "We've fought together before."
Liang Shi was always able to control his curiosity, so he didn't ask any more questions.
Xu Qingzhu and Yang Shuyan's live stream together quickly became a trending topic.
Before netizens could calm down from criticizing Chen Liuying, they clicked in and saw—two stunning beauties.
So they started spreading the word.
As more and more people joined, Xu Qingzhu's Weibo followers increased rapidly.
It quickly rose by more than 300,000.
The comments section was flooded with messages:
[Waaaaah, this must be paradise for those who love good looks!]
[I really never imagined that the bizarre couple I used to ship would one day appear together.]
[This is so beautiful, tears are involuntarily streaming down my face.]
[How does my sister get so beautiful? Aww, I can't help but want to lick the screen.]
[Is this really not a dream? Have fairies descended to earth to save all living beings?]
[...]
The comments refreshed very quickly, but many of them praised Xu Qingzhu.
Liang Shi had already prepared an outline for Xu Qingzhu's live broadcast before she started, so when she started, he spoke gently: "I need to take up a little of your time to explain what happened during the day. I've known the other person for a long time and didn't want things to escalate to this point, but I didn't expect... I'm still sorry for ruining everyone's good mood for the whole day."