The Ji Group was immensely wealthy, and its public relations team was second to none. Dealing with a little online controversy was nothing to them.
This wasn’t even the first time they had cleaned up Su Muyao’s scandals.
In the past, whenever Su Muyao fought with others over resources or billing positions, fan wars would erupt between both sides. The Ji Group’s PR team could wipe everything clean overnight.
They would simply manipulate the trending topics, delete comments and likes, and flood the internet with paid accounts to steer public opinion.
At the same time, they would carefully craft an image of Su Muyao as the innocent victim while viciously trampling the other side.
There were too many actresses in the industry who had been used as stepping stones by Su Muyao to even count. But what could they do? Behind her stood the two financial giants—the Su family and the Ji family.
They had no choice but to swallow their grievances.
But this time, the Ji Group’s PR operation failed.
Because this wasn’t a fan war at all.
Su Qian wasn’t a celebrity—she was just an ordinary person.
She had casually thrown out a ten-million-yuan giveaway, attracting countless curious netizens who simply wanted to join the fun. The traffic was overwhelming, and there were far too many comments to censor.
Besides…
How were they supposed to delete those Weibo posts?
They were all reposts of the giveaway announcement!
And fan-circle tactics simply didn’t work on ordinary internet users.
When many people realized their comments and likes had been deleted, they exploded in anger.
[What the heck?? Why can’t I repost the rich lady’s giveaway?]
[They’re censoring comments… Seriously?]
[Can you fan groups take your fight somewhere else? Don’t stop me from entering the giveaway!]
[I don’t care how you fight. But if I lose my chance at winning money because of this, I’m becoming an anti-fan of your idol.]
The paid commenters were even more ridiculous.
[Do you think spending a little money can make netizens speak for you?]
[To all the curious bystanders, please get to know our Muyao first. She’s been working hard filming dramas all these years. She won the Magnolia Best Actress Award at seventeen and excels in both acting and singing. She doesn’t have time to argue with nobodies.]
[Seriously? You got exposed, so now you’re trying to cover it up with a cash giveaway? What did our Muyao ever do to deserve this?]
[I’ve gone from neutral toward Su Qian to hating her. (Two yuan per post, delete the brackets.)]
…
The internet nearly died laughing.
At the same time, another hashtag shot onto the trending list.
#SuMuyao_SilencingPeople
Its popularity quickly surpassed all the previous trending topics.
Thanks to the internet’s natural rebellious streak, by the next day the hashtag had completely exploded.
The entire web was talking about what had happened the previous night—how Su Muyao had first bribed paparazzi to secretly photograph her own younger sister, then tried to suppress the story by controlling online discussions.
Many users who couldn’t repost or even leave likes had screen-recorded the issue as proof.
There was so much evidence that it was impossible to deny.
Su Muyao’s studio was in complete chaos, and she no longer had the time to cry to Ji Yuhan.
“What do we do now?! What are we supposed to do?!” she screamed inside the office, smashing nearly half the furniture.
“Can’t you idiots explain things properly to the Ji Group?! Useless trash!”
“S-Sister Muyao, we’re sorry… We’ve always followed the same procedure, and the Ji Group also said there wouldn’t be any problems…”
“They said there wouldn’t be problems, so you just believed them?!” Su Muyao snapped. “They’re not even entertainment industry professionals!”
She grabbed a flower vase and hurled it at the assistant who had spoken.
The assistant quickly dodged.
The vase shattered against the wall.
“Alright, Yaoyao, calm down. Don’t panic yet.”
Her manager hurried over to comfort her.
“The most important thing right now is you. The dating reality show starts filming very soon. You absolutely can’t appear on camera like this. It’s going to be live-streamed to the entire internet.”
“Su Qian has already ruined me! How am I supposed to go on that show now?!” Su Muyao shouted.
“That’s exactly why!” her manager said quickly.
“I’ve already discussed it with Young Master Ji’s manager. You’ll use this show to restore your image. Everything will be fine.”
“Restore my image through the show?”
“Of course! The two of you were going on the program to show off your relationship anyway. It’ll definitely attract a huge wave of new fans—as long as you perform well.”
She paused before adding,
“But the key person is Su Qian.”
“Her?”
“That’s right. We’ve already made arrangements. Once filming starts, Young Master Ji will keep his distance from her and make it clear that there’s nothing between them.”
“As for you, just treat her a little better. Put on a heartwarming sisterly act, and the audience’s opinion of you will naturally improve.”
“Will that really work?” Su Muyao frowned.
“And besides, you want me to pretend to be close sisters with her? Wouldn’t that just give her more attention? I’m not doing it.”
“The whole internet is watching this now!” the manager explained.
“It’s not just your original fanbase anymore. This is the perfect opportunity to gain a huge number of casual fans and raise your status. You’ll never get another chance like this!”
Hearing that, Su Muyao’s expression shifted slightly.
The manager immediately smiled.
“See? You know I’m right.”
Su Muyao snorted.
“I’ll think about it.”
Two days later, the dating reality show “Heartbeat Star” officially premiered.
It was an exclusive production by Orange Entertainment and the first romance variety show to use a fully live-streamed format.
Rumor had it that dozens of cameras had been installed throughout the set, along with several camera crews following the guests around at all times, making the live broadcast quality even better than pre-recorded programs.
Orange Entertainment was already one of the hottest online entertainment platforms, and this was their flagship variety show, so public anticipation was sky-high.
On top of that, the guests had already spent the past few weeks fighting each other across the trending charts.
The hype was through the roof.
Netizens joked that before the show had even aired, it had already become the biggest source of internet drama.
Who cared about romance?
They were all here to watch people tear each other apart!
On one side was the entertainment industry’s famous pure and innocent “little white flower.”
On the other was the wealthy young lady who had been dominating Weibo with her savage online clapbacks.
Just imagining those two facing off was thrilling enough.
But Su Qian couldn’t have cared less about any of that.
For the past two days, she’d been busy discussing a business partnership with the future big boss, Lu Yan.
Lu Yan’s new energy project had already gotten on track. According to the proposal he sent her, an investment of just five million yuan would make her one of the company’s major shareholders.
In fact, her shareholding would even exceed Lu Yan’s own.
When Su Qian saw the proposal, she was stunned.
What kind of concept was that?
After Lu Yan’s new energy company went public in the future, it would become an industry giant worth tens of billions of yuan.
And she could gain controlling shares for only five million?
She had arrived at exactly the right time!
She was so shocked when she received the proposal that she couldn’t help sending Lu Yan several question marks in a row.
He replied almost immediately.
“Is that too much?”
“If I cut down some expenses, I can lower it even further.”
Wait…
He was actually offering to reduce the investment requirement even more?!
Who negotiates prices like that?!
Su Qian hurriedly stopped him.
After signing the contract, she transferred him another five million yuan, making it a total investment of ten million.
Ten million in exchange for a future company worth over ten billion…
She felt like she had become a robber.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked over the phone on the day they signed the contract.
“Once we sign, the share ratio can’t be changed. You can think it over again. You don’t have to give me this much.”
On the other end of the line, Lu Yan’s voice was cool and slightly husky, making Su Qian’s ears itch.
“No need,” he said.
“This contract is perfectly fair.”
“Why?” Su Qian asked.
“Aren’t you worried your company will make a fortune in the future?”
Lu Yan fell silent.
Even without Su Qian saying it, now that the project was on the right track, making money was only a matter of time.
But…
No one in the entire Lu family had supported this seemingly impossible dream.
He had invested all of his personal cash flow into it.
Truthfully, Su Qian’s five million yuan was neither here nor there.
Yet this unfamiliar girl—bright, dazzling, and full of life—was the only person who had believed in him unconditionally and told him that he was special.
Even if it was all a lie…
What did it matter?
After a long pause, Lu Yan finally spoke.
“I only have one request.”
Su Qian blinked.
“What is it?”
Lu Yan said,
“Treat these shares as your personal property before marriage. They must never be divided with a second person.”
Su Qian was dumbfounded.
“…Huh??”