【What is this? No way? This gossip is this intense?】
【I give up, why is it you again?! Can you please just disappear already? I finally managed to forget that I used to like you, and now you’re popping up again looking for attention. I just followed a celebrity, and now it feels like I’ve got a criminal record, it’s embarrassing just to talk about.】
【What, got caught riding several sugar daddies’ laps at once, your gentle persona completely collapsed, can’t make money anymore, so you’re just dropping the act and throwing a tantrum out of shame?】
【Too many words, and there’s a snide undertone to it, don’t want to read it, next.】
【Let me translate: in short, Jiang Yi is saying his manager pimped him out, and that Director Gong Wan took a liking to him and wanted to sleep with him. He refused, which hurt his manager’s interests, his manager got embarrassed and angry, and then he got shelved by his manager, saddled with some trumped-up charges (not sure if these charges include him climbing the ladder by riding sugar daddies’ laps?) and a huge amount of debt. So pitiful, let’s all go feel sorry for him.】
【Dying laughing, that sister above really went all in on the sarcasm, hilarious. Doesn’t even look at what he looks like, “Director Gong Wan took a liking to him”, if Director Gong Wan actually wanted to sleep with him, would he still be a bottom-tier celebrity? More likely he wanted to latch onto Gong Wan, Gong Wan wasn’t interested, and now he’s turning it around and playing the victim.】
【Sister really spoke the truth. Does he really think that just because he’s climbed a few sugar daddies, everyone will want him? I really was blind before, that I actually found someone like this especially gentle. Ugh! I just want to say, disgusting.】
【No wonder he got bullied back in school. Someone like him, I feel unlucky just looking at him twice.】
【What bullying? What’s this gossip about? I’m all ears.】
【Not to hide anything from you, sisters, I used to be blind too, I started stanning him right when he debuted. Some of the old fans know: Jiang Yi’s parents divorced when he was little, and neither of them wanted him. It was his grandfather who raised him. He’s got kind of a strange personality, and he was isolated and bullied in school.】
【Huh, why does that suddenly sound kind of pitiful?】
【He is pretty pitiful, I guess, but a pitiful person must have something detestable about them too, otherwise why wouldn’t even his own parents want him? I wonder what his grandfather, who worked so hard to raise him, would think if he knew he’s now making money off his body.】
【I knew the entertainment industry was dirty, but I didn’t think it was this dirty. His manager pimping him out? And Director Gong Wan too? I can hardly believe it.】
【Of course you shouldn’t believe it. Who’s going to believe the words of someone who climbed to the top through backdoor dealings, taking resources from his own seniors, while juggling several sugar daddies at once? It’s obvious he’s run out of money and is out here trying to scrounge some up. After all, even bad publicity is still publicity, it’s best not to give people like this any traffic at all, better not to even look.】
【Jiang Yi? Who’s that? Never heard of him.】
Reply to 【Jiang Yi? Who’s that? Never heard of him.】: 【Sister, didn’t you see the trending search a while back about him juggling several sugar daddies at once and using them to push out his seniors for resources? I’ve got the gossip and videos all organized, DM me and I’ll send them to you, sister, it’s seriously wild.】
【Not a fan of anyone here, just want to ask, such a huge scandal, is there evidence? What does “the evidence will surface sooner or later” even mean? Doesn’t that mean there’s no evidence right now? Daring to say something like this with no evidence, aren’t you afraid of getting sued?】
【Where would he even get evidence from? He’s clearly just talking nonsense off the top of his head. It’d make more sense for someone else to have evidence of him accompanying sugar daddies. Just wait quietly for the cease-and-desist letters from Director Gong Wan, Yun Yanghua, and Yiming Entertainment’s lawyers.】
【Help, no way, this can’t be real, right? My Mei Xiangming is still under Yun Yanghua’s management. A manager wouldn’t be so blatant about forcing their own artist to sleep with clients, would they?】
【No way, sister, don’t worry. Even if it’s true, Mei Xiangming’s an alpha, he should be pretty safe.】
【Who says alphas are safe? Some big shots specifically like alphas. Anyway, this isn’t something we can say for sure, let’s see whether Jiang Yi produces evidence, or Yiming’s lawyers send the cease-and-desist first. Either way, a scandal this big can’t just be brushed aside so easily.】
【Ahhhhh, my brother is also one of Yun Yanghua’s artists. Isn’t Yun Yanghua supposed to be pretty good to his artists? How could such a huge scandal come out about him? I’m so worried about my brother.】
【I’m telling you, this thing doesn’t even have a shred of proof yet, there’s not a single piece of evidence, what are you worrying about for no reason? Don’t just believe every rumor that comes along, whoever believes what this person says is a fool.】
……
Jiang Yi scrolled through the comments under the hashtag and under his own Weibo post, his expression blank, only coldness in his deep-set eyes.
He mechanically swiped through the page.
When he came across an amusing comment, he could even give a light laugh.
Another ten-some minutes passed, and the Weibo comment page was suddenly replaced by an incoming call.
The three characters “Manager” bounced back and forth on the green screen.
Jiang Yi’s hand paused for a moment.
Then, without hesitation, he swiped down to answer, and said in a hoarse, teasing voice, “Yo, Brother Yang, what made you think to call me? Who’s taken a liking to me this time and wants me to accompany them? I’ve gone up in price now, under fifty million, I won’t agree, you know.”
“Jiang Yi, what do you mean by that?! And what’s this thing you posted on Weibo?! Do you not want to survive in this industry anymore?!”
The voice on the other end was low, carrying a trace of barely concealed anger, put on as if it were real.
Jiang Yi only found it funny. “What do I mean, Brother Yang doesn’t understand? What, did Brother Yang forget the things he did himself? Of course I don’t want to survive in this industry anymore, otherwise why would I post something like that on Weibo?”
Yun Yanghua laughed along with him, his tone scornful and smug. “Is that so? Since you’re saying I forced you to sleep with clients, can you produce any evidence? If you can’t produce evidence, that’s slander, and I will sue you for it. I’d imagine your breach-of-contract penalty is already covered, then? So you’re back to trying every trick you can think of to send me money?”
The voice on the other end was too grating, hurting Jiang Yi’s ears.
He impatiently dug at his ear, tapping lightly on the table with a smile on his lips, his tone unchanged. “A little bit, I suppose. As for the evidence you want, don’t rush, I already said it, it’ll surface sooner or later, just wait.”
“Fine, then I’ll wait and see……”
The voice on the phone suddenly cut off.
Jiang Yi waited two seconds, and when the other side’s next words didn’t come, he took the phone down to look, only to find it had run out of battery and shut off automatically.
The battery dying at just the right moment, as if it knew he didn’t want to keep listening to the other man’s ranting, and had taken it upon itself to block him out.
How obedient.
Jiang Yi set the phone down on the table, satisfied.
A gust of cold wind blew past, and right after, a chill surged up from deep within his heart.
After being blown by the wind for several hours, Jiang Yi was starting to run a fever again.
Cold and heat mixed together, his temples throbbing nonstop, an aching weakness spreading from his limbs.
Jiang Yi suddenly felt a bit tired.
He raised his hand and rubbed his temples in a few circles, then, following his body’s instinct, lay down against the cool marble tabletop to steady himself.