Ran Keqing had long anticipated that the Xie family would not easily accept Wen Ying.
When this was confirmed, she felt immense satisfaction.
Just as President Ran had warned, she must not offend the Xie family simply out of dislike for Wen Ying. Now that she knew the Xie family had not accepted her, what was there to fear?
Ran Keqing’s delight was not something she could share with the little newcomer or the new favourite; these matters were beyond the newcomer’s understanding. In front of Luo Hao, however, there was no need to hide it. They both loathed Wen Ying equally.
Hearing that the Xie family had not accepted Wen Ying, Luo Hao also breathed a sigh of relief.
If Wen Ying had been fully embraced by the entire Xie family, his hope of revenge would have been utterly lost.
Ran Keqing was already smug, yet Luo Hao still fanned the flames. “The Xie family’s standards are so high. Someone like Sister Keqing would be a better fit. What is she, an ordinary girl from a small city?”
Ran Keqing thought exactly the same.
Yet Xie Qian did not see it that way.
Ran Keqing was several years older than Xie Qian, so it was difficult for her to follow Wen Ying’s path of slow, steady progress. She had not even had the chance to be his classmate.
Thus, she did not feel inferior to Wen Ying in any respect. She had lost only because she had met Xie Qian at the wrong time. That single disadvantage was hard to overcome. The current Xie Qian was inevitably different from the high-school version of himself. For a clever young man like him, every additional year brought exponential growth in experience and insight. The same tactics that might have moved the high-school Xie Qian could not touch the man he was now.
But it did not matter. Destruction was always easier than construction. Ran Keqing had never intended to win Xie Qian’s heart. She only wanted to ruin his relationship with Wen Ying.
Ran Keqing lit a cigarette. Her wine-red manicure made her slender, pale fingers stand out. As smoke rings curled from her lips, she exuded a decadent, seductive beauty.
“Since the Xie family has not yet accepted her, they will not allocate resources to help her. This interview was not arranged by them, so I have room to intervene.”
Before Luo Hao returned, Ran Keqing had already gathered plenty of insider information.
It was said that today’s talk show recording had been interrupted several times.
It was said that someone had tipped off the programme team, exposing Wen Ying as a shareholder in a medical aesthetics company.
It was said that the host, highly skilled, had guided her step by step until Wen Ying admitted it on air.
Some time ago, the “Silan rights protection incident” had caused a huge stir. Wen Ying’s bet with the sister of the Silan boss had drawn widespread attention, pushing the entire incident into the public eye and triggering a chain of consequences.
Now, not only had Silan gone bankrupt, it had dragged several other companies and brands down with it. Suddenly, every food or pharmaceutical company with lax management was on edge.
The public consensus was that Wen Ying’s bet with the boss’s sister had begun because the sister provoked her first.
But what if the truth was different?
What if Wen Ying, for personal gain, had used her influence as a public figure to steer public opinion towards Silan’s product safety issues, deliberately amplifying the incident and causing misfortune for other companies and brands? Those affected would despise her, would they not?
In broad daylight, no company would stoop to hiring killers over something like this.
“But as long as they remember the grudge, whoever trips her up behind the scenes will give her plenty of headaches.”
Ran Keqing’s eyes were hazy from the alcohol.
Luo Hao smiled. “If even these cannot stop her, a collapse of her public persona will deal her a fatal blow. Everything she has now, her fame, her money, even her love, is built on that persona.”
It was readers’ affection that made Wen Ying “Fish Swimming Against the Current,” a bestselling author with celebrity-level popularity.
The Wen Ying that Xie Qian loved was surely the bestselling author, not an ordinary girl from a small city.
Without readers’ affection, Wen Ying would lose everything and revert to her original self. Luo Hao very much wanted to see whether an ordinary Wen Ying would still meddle in others’ affairs, or even have the ability to do so.
“So, we will have to trouble Sister Keqing.”
Luo Hao spared no effort in flattering her. “Besides Sister Keqing, who else could influence a CCTV talk show?”
Even for Huanyu, interfering with CCTV programme production was far from easy.
Fortunately, what Ran Keqing needed to do this time was limited: simply ensure that in post-production, the team did not cut the segment where Wen Ying admitted to being a shareholder in the medical aesthetics company.
“Sister Keqing, did she really admit it?”
Luo Hao had prepared himself for a long wait before revenge could come. The sudden prospect of success so soon felt almost unreal.
Ran Keqing stubbed out her cigarette. “Whether it is true or not, we will know soon enough.”
She spoke mysteriously, making Luo Hao’s curiosity itch unbearably.
The two whispered in the study for a long time. When at last they emerged, the party was still in full swing. Ran Keqing’s friends teased her for being too busy, and she laughed and scolded them. “Do not stir up trouble!”
Ran Keqing genuinely did not like Luo Hao.
His ambition was written all over his face. She had no interest in men who presented no challenge.
Miss Ran’s party continued until past three in the morning before finally breaking up.
Early the next day, Luo Hao was once again staking out the hotel where Wen Ying was staying. He watched with his own eyes as she and Yuan Fenghui headed to the airport.
In between, Wen Ying did not visit the Xie family, nor did Yuan Fenghui meet anyone from the talk show team.
Yuan Fenghui had probably already handled everything over the phone.
Top agents in the industry always had their methods and connections.
Luo Hao felt a slight worry that Ran Keqing might not pull it off.
At noon, Ran Keqing rang him. “Come to the office.”
Luo Hao arrived at Huanyu’s office building. In her office, Ran Keqing toyed with a videotape. Luo Hao asked, puzzled, “This is…”
“A copy of the talk show tape. I obtained it through some connections.”
Ran Keqing played the copied tape for Luo Hao. It showed the host firing rapid questions at Wen Ying. The interview began harmoniously, then suddenly the host revealed Wen Ying’s secret as a shareholder in a medical aesthetics company.
Wen Ying asked where the host had obtained the information, but the host refused to let her evade the question. In the end, Wen Ying admitted that she was indeed a shareholder.
The tape ended there.
Luo Hao was overjoyed yet still hungry for more. “Sister Keqing, you are incredible to get hold of something like this. If only the tape were longer. It is a pity we did not copy the full interview.”
“The person who copied it for me took a huge risk.”
Ran Keqing locked the tape in a drawer. “The complete interview runs several hours. Copying it all would have been too easily noticed. Regardless of whether the team ultimately cuts this segment, we now have a backup.”
Ran Keqing would find a way to ensure the team kept the segment in.
Even if Yuan Fenghui managed to suppress it through PR and the segment never aired in the final broadcast, Ran Keqing would leak the secretly copied backup herself.
This single small videotape, if handled properly, would be enough to destroy the carefully crafted persona that Wen Ying had worked so hard to build.
