Yuan Fenghui never shied away from discussing her past failures.
What Yu Tianlin was now, Yuan Fenghui had been back then.
No, the old her was even more aggressive and ruthless than Yu Tianlin, blind to her own limits, intoxicated by the success of her Miracle Group. When she fell, no one in Taiwan’s entertainment circle stood up for her!
“Teacher Yuan—”
Wang Shuang wanted to comfort Yuan Fenghui but couldn’t find the right words.
Yuan Fenghui rolled her eyes, “Enough, I don’t need anyone’s pity. I wasn’t done. I used to be like Yu Tianlin, but now… heh, I’m even tougher than him.”
“…!”
The trio was instantly speechless.
Wang Shuang desperately wanted to slap himself.
Tch, who was he to pity Teacher Yuan with his meager worth!
Wen Ying laughed: Yuan’s feigned ferocity was kind of cute.
Xie Qian wasn’t as lighthearted as Wen Ying.
Now he knew Yu Tianlin had spread the false rumor. Yuan knew, Wen Ying knew, even Wang Shuang knew, but Cao Bo and his crew didn’t!
They’d likely pin the blame on Teacher Yuan, thinking she used the scandal to ruin Xu Mei and weaken her rivals.
—Teacher Yuan was too modest, thinking Yu Tianlin cared more about Cao Bo’s drama than her.
In truth, Yu Tianlin feared Yuan Fenghui. Having betrayed her, her success kept him up at night.
Yu Tianlin worried that the rift between Manager Guan, Cao Bo, and Yuan wasn’t deep enough. Framing Xu Mei with the scandal was a two-birds-one-stone move, deliberately stoking conflict between the camps.
Cao Bo and Manager Guan? They’d only hold a grudge against Yuan, but she was used to enemies and didn’t care about adding more hate.
Xu Mei, though, was a different story. Her brain was mostly for show, always making wrong choices at life’s crossroads. She wouldn’t guess Yu Tianlin was behind it, nor would she dare confront Yuan directly. She’d likely target Wen Ying instead.
Smart people’s actions were predictable, but fools’ thoughts? Even Xie Qian couldn’t guess. Silently, he marked Xu Mei as someone to watch out for.
“Hey, what’re you thinking about?”
Wen Ying noticed Xie Qian’s distraction and nudged him with her elbow.
“Nothing, just some unimportant stuff.”
No need to burden Wen Ying with this. With her hamster-like brain capacity, too many worries might stunt her growth.
He didn’t care about height, but she did.
Wen Ying was about to say more when Li Mengjiao hurried over, cheeks flushed, lifting her skirt, “Wen Ying, where’d you guys go? Reporters couldn’t find you for interviews, so Teacher Yuan had Teacher Zhang step in.”
Another first-layer player, impossible to carry. Wen Ying bluntly said they went to watch the drama.
What drama?
The venue had plenty of drinks and fruits—watermelon, cantaloupe, even honeydew. Wasn’t that enough?
Seeing Li Mengjiao’s confusion, Wang Shuang regained the confidence lost to a thousand stabs.
“Wanna know? I’ll tell you…”
Though he barely understood, Wang Shuang could parrot it back.
Yuan Fenghui sighed watching them.
These fools were all in one nest. If she wasn’t tough, they’d be swept away in one go!
As Li Mengjiao said, the celebration had passed the reporter interviews, and many guests grew distracted, hearing about the off-site scandal and gossiping in small groups.
“Heard it was Duan… ugh, not from Hunan, but Sichuan TV.”
“With who? That Xu—*Emerald Forest*’s Xu?”
“Real or fake? Isn’t Xu Cao Bo’s girlfriend?”
“Caught red-handed, no fakes here. Heard Duan’s wife caught them and slapped her hard.”
“Duan’s wife is Xu’s manager…”
Wherever Director Fan went, he overheard this gossip.
But something felt off.
The affair was clearly with Xu Mei’s assistant, so how’d it become Xu Mei?!
Director Fan frowned. Someone was out to ruin Xu Mei.
Xu Mei was a nobody, and Fan didn’t care about her career, but he was there too… What if Cao Bo and Manager Guan thought he spread the gossip?!
Director Fan didn’t for a second suspect Wen Ying’s trio of sabotaging Xu Mei.
Without that level of discernment, he wouldn’t hold his position.
He hadn’t said anything, nor would Wen Ying’s trio. So how did the gossip spread so fast and so wrong?
Who was stirring trouble?
Hmph.
Whatever their goal, they better not cross him, or he’d show those schemers why the Horse King has three eyes!
Zhang Yangning had been trailing Yuan Fenghui all day.
When Yuan was busy, Zhang stayed quietly with Yun Chen and Li Mengjiao, mingling actively but not stealing their spotlight.
Everyone was talking about Xu Mei’s scandal, and Zhang heard it too.
Her first reaction was disbelief.
“What’s Xu Mei after?”
Cao Shao was decent-looking, young, and devoted when pursuing Xu Mei. His fidelity aside, he was single, and their relationship was normal for young people.
Messing with a married man like Deputy Station Chief Duan? Xu Mei wasn’t brain-dead!
Even for resources, Xu Mei wasn’t developing in Sichuan. Why bother with Duan?
Zhang Yangning didn’t believe Xu Mei would do it.
Yun Chen sighed, “The issue isn’t whether she did it, but that everyone thinks she did. She can’t clear her name… Forget it, it’s not our business. The entertainment world is full of truths and lies. We just protect ourselves, avoid trouble, and don’t burden Teacher Yuan!”
When artists mess up, managers clean up.
Yuan Fenghui handled three artists—Li Mengjiao, Yun Chen, and Zhang Yangning. If any were troublemakers, she’d be exhausted.
Not everyone could be a good manager. They secure jobs in good times and need the skill and backing to fix messes.
Zhang Yangning never had a good word for Manager Guan, doubting he’d go all out for Xu Mei.
Whether Xu Mei could weather this storm depended on her manager, Professor Fang… uh, the other party in the scandal.
If Professor Fang caught her husband cheating, could she stay calm and handle Xu Mei’s crisis?
Zhang Yangning was skeptical.
…
Zhang Yangning was right. Professor Fang couldn’t even save herself, let alone resolve Xu Mei’s scandal.
Manager Guan said he’d quash the gossip, but it spread faster.
Somehow, it became Xu Mei caught with Station Chief Duan.
Utter nonsense!
Manager Guan called Cao Bo, whose head was buzzing.
Cao Bo’s ex-girlfriend wasn’t the only one sending condolence texts. With rumors swirling, Cao Bo was starting to doubt his own memory: Wasn’t Professor Fang beating Pan Li, not Xu Mei?!
