Chapter 66

What grudge did Tudou News have against her? She didn’t remember ever provoking that outlet.

Xu Chun’s eyelid twitched. She turned to Zheng Yanran, who had been gloating this whole time, narrowed her eyes, and said viciously, “Laugh one more time and I’ll throw you out there as bait.” Then she smiled sweetly. “I’m sure your mother would be delighted to treat you to a nice meal of bamboo shoots and pork.”

Zheng Yanran: “...” You’re heartless, cold, and completely unreasonable.

She shut up at once, not daring to make another sound.

Jiang Banxia frowned slightly at the news, then quickly picked up her phone and called the hotel manager. “Why are there paparazzi outside my room? Is this how your hotel handles security?”

The manager apologized profusely and promised repeatedly that he would send security to clear them out immediately. Only then did Jiang Banxia let it go.

A few minutes later, the hotel manager called back, his tone very polite. “Miss Jiang, I’ve had security clear out everyone who didn’t belong there. I’m terribly sorry for the trouble. Would you like the hotel to arrange a private car for you? Rest assured, our cars are very private and secure.”

“No need, thank you.” Jiang Banxia refused coldly, hung up, and said to Xu Chun and Zheng Yanran, “Let’s go. There’s no one outside now.”

Only then did Zheng Yanran dare to speak. She scratched her chin and looked at Xu Chun. “Looks like from now on, going out with you means I need to practice my paparazzi-ditching skills first.”

Xu Chun only frowned. She’d never had anything like this happen when she went out before. After thinking it over, once they were in the car, she opened her chat with her agent and asked: 【Sister Yang, what’s the story behind Tudou News?】

Sister Yang was probably busy handling the online scandal and didn’t reply right away.

Xu Chun had no choice but to put down her phone. She bantered with Zheng Yanran for a while, and they finally arrived at the restaurant Jiang Banxia had reserved in advance. The private room was very secluded; Zheng Yanran plopped down without any decorum the moment she entered and opened the menu to see what she wanted. Jiang Banxia handed another menu to Xu Chun and said softly, a rare occurrence for her, “Order whatever you’d like.”

Xu Chun really wanted to feast, but she remembered she was currently filming, so she only ordered a small steak.

Zheng Yanran listened to the dishes Xu Chun named, then looked at the pile she’d ordered herself, and her eyelid twitched violently. Didn’t that make her look like a total glutton?

After some hesitation, Zheng Yanran painfully canceled half her dishes. Jiang Banxia looked at her, puzzled. “Order what you want to eat. You’re not a movie star; why are you eating so little to follow her lead?”

Zheng Yanran smiled modestly. “This is enough.”

She still had to pay attention to her image in front of the person she had a crush on.

Since she insisted, Jiang Banxia let her be. After ordering, Jiang Banxia gazed at Xu Chun, her expression hesitant, as if she wanted to say something but held back. She really wanted to tell Xu Chun something related to Yu Sui’an, but she didn’t know if now was the right time.

Xu Chun noticed her internal struggle and was about to ask when the phone on the table suddenly lit up with a message from her agent. She had to set aside her questions for Jiang Banxia and pick up the phone to open the chat. Her agent’s message read, 【Tudou News is a self-media company under Jiang Banxia’s father’s name, but a while ago her father handed full decision-making power over the entire company to an illegitimate son of his, Jiang Banxia’s half-brother.】

No wonder.

Xu Chun’s brow furrowed slightly. Zheng Yanran immediately asked with concern, “What’s wrong? Hasn’t the online thing been resolved yet?” She blinked. “Want me to help?”

“Not for now.” Xu Chun shook her head, then asked her agent: 【So how should we handle what just happened?】

This time the agent replied quickly: 【How to handle it? The cold-shoulder approach. You’ve done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide; you don’t need to fear false accusations. Besides, anyone with half a brain knows this kind of thing can’t possibly be true.】

Xu Chun’s suggestion was instantly choked back down her throat: “...”

She had done nothing wrong, but: 【Sister Yang, isn’t the problem that the impact is bad?】

【And I can feel that Tudou News has already marked me as a fat sheep. Today’s incident is only the beginning. If we don’t deal with it in time, it will definitely get worse and worse.】 Xu Chun sent a tearful emoji: 【Sister Yang, could you bear to watch your little treasure constantly mired in these kinds of romantic scandals?】

【If some unscrupulous media outlet affects my commercial value, that would be a lose-lose!】

Most importantly, Xu Chun thought with a tense little face: if Qin Yao or anyone else believed it, wouldn’t her day of reckoning arrive?

So she absolutely would not allow this kind of thing to happen a second time.

The agent thought it over and agreed there was some sense to it, but replied, 【That illegitimate son has some skill. Look at the article he wrote. It’s just a factual narrative, no twisting of right and wrong or confusing black and white. At most it hints to the readers. So in this situation, how do you expect me to step in?】

Xu Chun’s face twitched violently at the message: “...”

With nowhere to vent her anger, she finally put down her phone in a huff and stared seriously at Jiang Banxia. “I’ll add another hundred million in investment.” Before Jiang Banxia could speak, Xu Chun blinked earnestly. “As long as you can help me take down Tudou News within a month.”

Jiang Banxia immediately understood why Xu Chun had been so angry. She couldn’t help but smile gently. “Sure.”

Then she added, “Actually, even if you hadn’t said anything, I was already planning to deal with him.”

With that assurance from Jiang Banxia, Xu Chun felt much relieved. She said solemnly, “When you run into any problems, just say the word. I’ve got people and I’ve got money. I guarantee I can lend you a hand.”

Even as she said this, Xu Chun was also thinking: I wonder if asking Grandfather to step in could wipe out Tudou News entirely.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was worth a try. Anyway, the person in charge behind Tudou was Jiang Banxia’s illegitimate half-brother; destroying Tudou News would count as a daily good deed.

Having silently made up her mind, Xu Chun turned to Jiang Banxia. “By the way, what was it you wanted to tell me earlier?”

“Nothing.” Jiang Banxia pressed her lips into a thin line, then seemed to feel that was too perfunctory and added two sentences: “I just wanted to tell you about the person behind Tudou News.” She tugged at the corner of her mouth. “But now you already know.”

Xu Chun didn’t press further. Just then the food arrived, so she set aside her extra thoughts and focused on eating. After all, from here on out, her carefree days would be few. Not only did she have to film, but she also had to privately train her fighting skills so that when someone came for revenge later, she wouldn’t be completely defenseless.

After the meal, Xu Chun returned to the hotel. Zheng Yanran didn’t leave; she seemed to have something to say to Jiang Banxia. Back at the hotel, Xu Chun first drew lots to decide which self-defense techniques to practice during her rest time, then called Xu Jixian to complain: “Grandfather, lately there’s a media outlet spreading rumors about me and making up scandals every day!”

“They’re ruining my reputation. How am I supposed to get married in the future?!”

She sounded utterly grief-stricken. Xu Jixian’s brows immediately knitted fiercely. “Whose media outlet has such nerve?” His eyes blazed with fury; he wanted to hack that outlet and the people behind it to pieces.

“Who else could it be? Besides President Jiang’s illegitimate children who want to claim the heir’s position, who else would be so vicious as to dare to touch you, Grandfather?” Xu Chun pouted. “What child from a proper family doesn’t know I’m under Grandfather’s protection?”

That was true. Xu Jixian realized, and his brows furrowed even deeper.

He had heard a little about the despicable things that Jiang Man had been doing lately. He found the man’s behavior utterly contemptible, but since it was another family’s private matter, he had no right to say anything, so he hadn’t paid it much mind. But now it was different. Those illegitimate children the man had acknowledged actually dared to reach their hands toward his granddaughter. This was beyond bearing!

If he didn’t intervene this time, wouldn’t everyone think the Xu family was easy to bully?

After a moment’s thought, Xu Jixian immediately picked up the phone and dialed a certain number in his contacts. He was determined to teach them a lesson, so they’d stop learning from Jiang Zhaolie and doing nothing but dirty deeds.

Even Jiang Zhaolie, thanks to Qin Yao speaking up for her, had ended up paying compensation until she was practically down to her undershorts.

The next day, Xu Chun went on filming and training as usual. Because her rest time was repeatedly compressed, she spent very little time looking at her phone. But being away from her phone didn’t affect her life much, because the TV drama she was working on was already more than halfway through production and would wrap in less than three months.

She had already decided that once this drama wrapped, she would rest at home for a good long while to build up her strength.

Around that time, Secret Crush, which she had filmed with Yu Sui’an, would also premiere. If the ratings were good, she could take the opportunity to pick better scripts and push forward.

Everything was fine for Xu Chun on set, but some people were frantic and losing their heads.

Ever since Jiang Zhigang took over Tudou News from his father, he had been single-mindedly determined to develop it into the country’s largest news media outlet, one that could manipulate public opinion and influence every aspect of ordinary people’s lives. He knew clearly that only if he performed well enough could he defeat the other illegitimate children in the family and the current most legitimate heir, his dear little sister, Jiang Banxia.

He didn’t pay much attention to the other illegitimate children, but Jiang Banxia was someone he had to treat with the utmost vigilance.

Originally, he too had assumed that Jiang Banxia, a woman raised in luxury and shielded from worry, couldn’t possibly understand anything. But he had suffered a loss at her hands the very first time they met face to face, so he had no choice but to take her seriously, though he’d initially dismissed her.

He and Jiang Banxia were destined for a fight to the death. On top of that, his Tudou News urgently needed to make a name for itself, so Jiang Zhigang scoured the entertainment industry and finally focused his attention on Xu Chun, who was on good terms with Jiang Banxia.

Xu Chun could be said to be the top female star in popularity and traffic right now. If he could make good use of her, his Tudou News would surely establish a firm foothold in a short time, surpass all other media outlets, and leap to become the industry leader.

Tempted by this prospect, Jiang Zhigang didn’t hesitate and immediately made his move against Xu Chun.

At first he had reservations, worried that Xu Chun’s agency behind her would step in to protect their artist. But as time passed, he found that neither the principal nor the team behind her reacted at all. Jiang Zhigang instantly grew bolder. After all, his operations could also raise her profile to a certain extent, making it a win-win situation. Why wouldn’t she be happy about it?

Thus he gradually let down his guard. But how could Jiang Zhigang have anticipated that the other side would stay silent until the moment they acted? They went straight to the relevant authorities and ordered him to suspend operations for rectification, not allowed to resume until the rectification was complete.

To Jiang Zhigang, this was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

He knew his father valued him and placed high hopes on him, which was why his father tilted most of the resources toward him. But if he made a mistake, if something went wrong—would his father still approve of him as before?

Probably not.

Not only that, but the other illegitimate children would pounce like starving wolves and jackals catching the scent of blood, tearing chunks of flesh from him and wishing they could finish him off on the spot.

If he fell this time, it would be even harder to make a comeback in the future.

Those illegitimate children wouldn’t give him a chance. His father wouldn’t give him a chance. Jiang Banxia certainly wouldn’t.

Jiang Banxia might look gentle and unaggressive on the surface, but in reality she was ruthless and merciless, even more so than he, a man. Jiang Zhigang could almost picture the overwhelming retaliation he would face from Jiang Banxia after this failure.

But... looking at the officials from the relevant department before him, Jiang Zhigang had no choice but to agree.

The other side’s attitude was firm. No matter how he pleaded, no matter how he tried to bribe them, they were like an iron wall with no opening he could exploit. Helpless, he could only ask tactfully, “Might I ask if I’ve offended someone recently?”

That was all he could think of. Other than that, he truly couldn’t figure out who would be so bored as to come after him.

Right now Jiang Banxia hadn’t even cleaned up her own mess; she definitely wouldn’t have time to retaliate against him. But if it wasn’t her, then who?

Those illegitimate younger brothers and sisters? Unlikely. They didn’t have that kind of power, Jiang Zhigang thought darkly.

The official he questioned glanced at him and didn’t deny it. “Next time you go around spreading rumors, I suggest you investigate the other party’s background properly first.” He smiled slightly. “Some people may look easy to bully, but that doesn’t mean you can knead them as you please.”

Jiang Zhigang met the other man’s false smile and suddenly had a flash of insight: Could it be... Xu Chun?

That shouldn’t be. The Xu family was just an ordinary business family. She had even swallowed her pride and endured in silence when she was jilted by the Jiang family’s young lady. What kind of backing could she possibly have?

Jiang Zhigang thought until his head was about to explode and still couldn’t figure it out, but there was no time for him to figure it out now. Because what he needed to think about most right now was how to deal with his younger brothers and sisters stabbing him in the back while he was down.

In any case, he absolutely had to seize his father’s company and family fortune.

Because that was what should have belonged to him in the first place.

Now that he had finally gotten his chance, he was unwilling to watch what he had been so certain of since childhood slip away right before his eyes.

Xu Chun didn’t know what Jiang Zhigang was about to face. She only knew that her agent had brought her a very pleasant piece of good news today: 【Tudou News has been ordered to rectify.】

【Was it President Qin?】

Xu Chun blinked. 【No, it was my grandfather.】 She paused, then felt something was off and asked her agent: 【Why did you think it was President Qin?】

Agent: 【Nothing. I just feel like you and President Qin get along pretty well.】

Xu Chun frowned, sensing something was off but unable to put her finger on it.

Then the agent added: 【Alright, focus on filming. With Tudou News as an example, if any other media outlet dares to spread rumors about you in the future, they’ll have to weigh whether they can afford the price.】

Xu Chun perked up. That would make things much easier.

But speaking of Qin Yao... Xu Chun hadn’t seen her in several days, and the same went for Zheng Jinchan and Zhao Ciying. Xu Chun counted on her fingers. The conference they had all come to attend was probably about to end. Did that mean they would be leaving soon?

She wanted to see Qin Yao again before she left, but Xu Chun knew these people were busy with the “Tianyu” project and probably couldn’t spare any free time. She didn’t feel discouraged. There would be plenty of time to meet later, so there was no need to rush.

After confirming the schedule with the director, Xu Chun learned that in about a week the entire crew would move to a new location for filming. The new place was still remote but much more scenic, judging from the photos and videos the director had provided. Xu Chun was quite satisfied.

As the days passed, Qin Yao and the others indeed left immediately after the conference ended. Before they left, Xu Chun was busy filming and had no time, so they agreed to meet after she wrapped. Qin Yao said nothing much, gave her a few reminders, and then went silent.

Jiang Banxia stayed, as did Zheng Yanran.

Jiang Banxia had been very busy lately, not only with her own company’s affairs but also with dealing with her suddenly appearing brothers and sisters. She was like a spinning top. Once she got busy, she had no time for Zheng Yanran, so Zheng Yanran had no choice but to come to Xu Chun’s set every day. Over time, Zheng Yanran and He Qingli also became familiar with each other.

Xu Chun had just come over to rest when she saw the two of them lying in chairs like they were on vacation, each holding a cup of milk tea. Her eyelid twitched. “Zheng Yanran, if you really have nothing to do, why don’t you go find a job?”

Zheng Yanran instinctively wanted to retort, but then her breath caught and her eyes lit up. “That makes sense.”

She shot upright and looked at Xu Chun thoughtfully. “You’re saying if I went to Xiaxia’s company and got a job as an assistant... wouldn’t I be able to follow her every day and look at her?!”

The more Zheng Yanran thought about it, the more excited she became. Once she realized this plan was feasible, she rushed over and tightly grabbed Xu Chun’s hands. “Sis, you really are my sis!”

“When my happy day comes, I’ll definitely give you double... no, ten times the wedding candy!”

Xu Chun’s eyelid twitched. “...”

Zheng Yanran acted on her thoughts immediately. After a brief goodbye to the two of them, she rushed to her supercar and sped off toward Jiang Banxia. He Qingli watched her back with a hint of envy in her eyes.

Xu Chun withdrew her gaze and sat down in the chair Zheng Yanran had vacated, then asked casually, “How’s Little Fu doing lately?”

“Pretty good.” He Qingli smiled, clearly in a good mood. “Thanks to those lawyers you recommended. Ever since they stepped in, her parents have been much more docile.”

“Fu Xin and they are already going through the process now. Once it’s done, there’ll be no relationship between them at all.”

He Qingli’s tone was relaxed as she said this, clearly untroubled by the process. Xu Chun thought of that thin, frail figure and nodded with feeling. “That’s good.”

But speaking of which, she asked nosily, “When are you two planning to go public?”

He Qingli’s expression froze. Xu Chun raised an eyebrow. “No way. Don’t tell me you two still haven’t even confirmed your relationship?” She pressed instinctively, “Has either of you ever actively confessed your feelings to the other?”

He Qingli’s silence was the answer.

Xu Chun’s eyes widened. “So you two are both just silently thinking of and sacrificing for each other right now?”

Perhaps her tone was too shocked, because He Qingli shot back, “So are you and President Qin together now?”

Xu Chun: “...”

Forget it. We’re all sisters. Let’s not hurt each other.

But she wasn’t willing to let it go and stubbornly defended herself: “That’s because I’ve been busy lately, running all over the country filming.” Xu Chun said solemnly, “Once this drama is done, I’ll have a lot more free time.”

“Oh?” He Qingli replied perfunctorily, clearly not buying her nonsense.

Xu Chun choked and decided not to continue this topic with her. The two looked at the calendar together, planning to go out and have some fun before leaving this place, since they were already there.

But when the day finally came, He Qingli flaked on Xu Chun for some reason, and Zheng Yanran happened to invite Xu Chun to dinner. Xu Chun had nowhere else to go, so after a moment’s thought she agreed.

She drove to Jiang Banxia’s office, only to unexpectedly catch sight of a figure she hadn’t expected.

When Yu Sui’an saw Xu Chun, a smile immediately rose on her fair face. “Sister, long time no see.”

Xu Chun looked at her in confusion. She was about to ask why she was here when Zheng Yanran rushed over indignantly, pulled Xu Chun to Jiang Banxia’s side, and pointed at Yu Sui’an furiously. “Don’t think that just because that Jiang man acknowledged you, you’re the Jiang family’s eldest daughter!”

“The Jiang family’s eldest daughter has always been, and will only ever be, my Xiaxia!”

It took Xu Chun quite a while to recover from Zheng Yanran’s words. She stared at Yu Sui’an in disbelief. What the hell? This person’s real identity was Jiang Banxia’s half-sister?!