Chapter 72

  "Bā Xiǎo Pù's scandal was during the New Year, when he exposed that Shū Mù and his agent Kē Yuǎn were gay lovers. Then they were caught by the media holding hands while shopping, and Bā Xiǎo Pù became famous overnight." Lí Jǐn narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Shū Mù really is a treasure who doesn't waste water on others' fields."

  Before his death, he had not been in contact with Shu Mu's daily work arrangements for some time. During the Spring Festival, it was exposed that he and Shu Mu were gay lovers, and then the media took pictures of him and Shu Mu holding hands on the streets of Milan. The following months were simply unbearable days. As a party involved, he had to avoid suspicion, so even though his agent's name was still on the list, he no longer contacted Shu Mu about daily matters. He couldn't even go to the company, with reporters waiting at the door like locusts. Even when he was staying at home, going out onto the balcony to get some fresh air and smoke a cigarette, he found a black camera lens sticking out of the window across from him.

  He was also puzzled at that time. Now, coming out of the closet has become a trend in the circle. When others come out, fans scream like they've been injected with chicken blood. But when it comes to him, it becomes an unforgivable sin. He felt suffocated and sad, his only comfort being Shu Mu's unwavering support. At that time, he trusted Shu Mu blindly, even when rumors spread that this scandal was fabricated by Shu Mu himself, he didn't believe it, until now...

  Can't help but believe it.

  It turns out that Shu Mu's methods haven't changed a bit. Looking at Ruo Fei now, he is just like his former self. The same unmentionable secrets were exposed to the public, first through explosive revelations and then confirmed by mainstream media. After the intense bombardment, his former self was successfully set up and eventually kicked out of the company in a daze. Now, Ruo Fei is likely to have a mental breakdown and quit the entertainment industry altogether.

  I knew he wouldn't let it go after I openly opposed him before. Sure enough, revenge has come.

  "Before, the revelations from Ba Xiao Pao were not very reliable, with a lot of sensationalism. It wasn't until after the scandal involving Chun Yue broke out that things started to get on track, and attention gradually increased." Lei Jindao said, "I suspect that previously, there was someone else behind Ba Xiao Pao manipulating things. That person didn't have deep roots, so most of the insider information they got wasn't very real. Later, they sold the account to Chun Yue, and under her team's operation, it gradually became more reliable."

  Bei Feng nodded: "Moreover, he's good at throwing smoke bombs and the first one to take himself out. I'm afraid that even if someone suspects Shu Mu is the mastermind this time, he has already prepared a backup plan to clear his own name."

  Li Jin responded with a sound, lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

  Bei Fengming saw that his face was slightly red, but his lips were pale and disheveled. He thought of how he had mysteriously disappeared the night before, and all the worries he had suppressed suddenly came flooding back. He patted Lei Jin's shoulder heavily, with a concerned tone in his palm, asking: "Xiao Jin, where did you go last night?"

  Li Jin was slapped by his bear palm, and Hao Xuan didn't even roll his eyes.

  Last night, Li Yiheng's uncontrolled behavior had caused him a lot of trouble, making his backside burn with pain. When he first got up, the pain wasn't severe, but when he heard the news on the radio while in the car, he felt anxious and suddenly the pain flared up like a rebellion. He quickly called Bei Fuming, but found that he was unreachable, which meant that he had probably already started gathering people for a meeting. So he hastily called Xiao Pu, asking him about the situation while telling him to print out a certain document from his computer. The area outside Art Song Company's building was swarmed with reporters, making it difficult for Li Yiheng's car to get close, so Li Jin had to get off early and sprint towards the location on foot. This sprinting caused even more friction, making the pain unbearable. By the time he entered the conference room, his lower back was aching so badly that he was drenched in cold sweat, unable to sit down, only able to stand.

  Unexpectedly, I also gained a good effect and acquired the "High Ground" skill.

  However, he didn't dare to sit firmly and instead used his thigh muscles to lightly perch on the chair. Unexpectedly, Bei Furen suddenly slapped him, pressing him down entirely.

  In an instant, Li Jin felt his cold sweat dripping down his back again.

  He glared at Bai Fuming with a bad temper, gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words: "Whoring!"

  "Stop messing around, look at you, it's no wonder others would take advantage of you." Bei Fuming had no idea he had hit the nail on the head and thought Li Jin had some unspoken concerns, so he considerately stopped rubbing salt in his wounds and continued what he was saying earlier, "How do you plan to resolve everything within a week?"

  "First, I need to calm things down upstairs." Li Jin stretched out his index finger and pointed upwards. "At noon, we'll go to the club, I've made an appointment with Liu to have tea. The matter of Luo Fei can be big or small, we must avoid being taken as examples by those upstairs and being directly ordered to shut down."

  Bei Feng nodded - the underworld, this has always been a deadly forbidden zone in China. Although most media articles use "local community" to replace those three words, everyone understands what they mean. Once these few words flash into the eyes of the top leaders, and they want to catch a typical example to establish their authority, then the Chinese Super League may be stillborn after just two more matches.

  "Secondly..." Lei Jin turned his head, his black and bright eyes staring steadily at Bai Fuming, "I'd like to trouble you for some help."

  "Then why be polite? Isn't it certain that I'll help you?"

  "No." Li Jin shook his head, "This time, I want to go all out and play big."

  "What do you mean?" Bai Fuming was even more confused.

  Li Yiheng's calm and serene gaze seemed to be etched in his mind as he took a deep breath before getting off the car.

  "Don't be too hard on yourself," he grasped his hand and kissed his forehead. "You can come to me anytime."

  "Lao Bei, I want you to check something for me. Who's currently in charge of Ba Xiao Pu's Weibo account? And which media outlets were the first to report that Luo Fei's father is a triad boss?" Lei Jin gritted his teeth, and a faint, cruel smile floated at the corner of his mouth. "Since they can't get along with me, I'll make them... unable to eat or sleep!"

  At that time, when his power was stripped and he couldn't leave the company, he once thought about how to deal with these media at home.

  In the end, it comes down to either pulling strings or...

  Bei Fengming had already roughly guessed what he was going to do, and disapprovingly said: "Are you crazy? Do you know that this will completely sever ties with the media?"

  "Do you think the situation will get better from now on?" Li Jinyin sneered, "Do you think that by giving the media something to eat for a few weeks, they'll be grateful to us? On the contrary, they'll think we're weak and vulnerable, and continue to bully us even more in the future. When the time comes, the popularity of Luo Fei will decline, new people won't be able to take over, and it'll be our turn to suffer. Besides, is it only our family's news that counts as news, while others' news doesn't count?"

  "Li Jin..." Bai Fuming felt that his mind, which had just cleared up a bit, was being confused again by him.

  "The media that will oppose you will always oppose you, we just need to suppress them and it's enough to give neutral media an attitude. The world is not only controlled by Shu Mu, we can also control it." Li Jin didn't plan to explain anymore, he solemnly said, "Old Bei, you've been in the circle longer than me, your connections are wider than mine, your face is bigger than mine, please make sure to understand these investigations. Whether Rong Fei and I can stay or not depends on you."