Chapter 35: A Major Crisis!
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At eight that evening, Zhao Wenji opened his livestream right on schedule. His handsome face, covered in bruises, appeared on-screen.
He had spent a fortune promoting the stream. Besides, he had long been active on a short-video platform, and the account already had around a million followers.
Before long, several thousand people flooded into the livestream.
“Oh my God, Brother Wenji is streaming!”
“I’ve already shared it with the fan group.”
“Why is the lighting so dim? I can’t see Brother Wenji’s handsome face properly.”
“Wait. Didn’t anyone notice that something’s wrong with Brother Wenji’s face?”
“Damn, who was bold enough to hit our Brother Wenji in the face?”
Zhao Wenji sat “aggrieved” in front of his phone, his eyes never leaving the scrolling comments. Seeing that the makeup on his face had achieved the desired effect, he secretly congratulated himself.
He had turned on only a single small lamp.
Naturally, this was to conceal his poor makeup skills.
“I’m sorry. Thank you all for supporting me over the years, but from this moment on, I, Zhao Wenji, am leaving the music industry.”
A flood of question marks filled the screen.
Then came an endless stream of gifts meant to comfort him. The dazzling gift animations soon made the comments almost impossible for Zhao Wenji to see.
As more and more fans entered, the number of viewers climbed into the tens of thousands. Among them were paid trolls stirring up trouble, as well as passersby who had no idea what was going on.
“I’m here to apologize to everyone. I’m the one who let you down, but it isn’t convenient for me to explain the exact reason in the livestream.”
As he spoke, Zhao Wenji struggled to squeeze out several tears.
His fans instantly went wild.
A thousand scandalous possibilities flashed through their minds.
“I think I know why.”
A comment swept past. Several sharp-eyed viewers spotted it and began frantically tagging the user, urging them to explain.
“When Brother Wenji first joined Starsea Entertainment, the company’s president took a fancy to him. Brother Wenji had only just entered the entertainment industry back then—how could he possibly have had the power to resist? He was forced into a relationship with her. So many years have passed, yet she still refuses to give him a proper status.”
“Please don’t spread rumors in the livestream. Is there a moderator? Ban this person.”
Zhao Wenji appeared to have seen the comment. With panic on his face, he asked someone to ban the account.
That only made the story seem more credible.
Some clever fans had already followed the prominent user and pulled her into the fan group.
The viewer did not disappoint. As soon as she entered the group, she posted all kinds of things: screenshots of chat records, voice messages with no context, and similar scraps of evidence.
Finally, the group’s leading members came forward to summarize the situation.
Their Brother Wenji had been “coerced” by his boss when he first debuted. After carrying on a secret relationship with her for so many years, Brother Wenji had believed he would eventually receive a legitimate place by her side. Instead, he had been discarded by the heartless woman. Worse still, she had flirted openly with another man right in front of him.
Brother Wenji had tried to argue his case, only to be beaten by that man.
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That was how the injuries on his face had come about.
The man had repeatedly sent Brother Wenji provocative photos and voice messages, including, among other things, post-coital pictures of himself lying in bed with that shameless female executive.
In the end, Brother Wenji—the woman’s “official boyfriend”—had not only been beaten, but also imprisoned by her and prevented from going to the hospital. The man had even arrogantly declared that he would have Brother Wenji blacklisted.
The heartless executive had shown no reaction whatsoever.
Once the analysis was complete, the fan group exploded.
#ZhaoWenjiBetrayed and #ZhaoWenjiSecretRelationshipExposed surged onto the trending lists, their popularity nearly matching that of ZJ.
The number of viewers in Zhao Wenji’s livestream climbed past one hundred thousand. Gifts flooded the screen with increasing extravagance. Earlier, he had merely been unable to see the comments; now, he could barely see himself.
Seeing that almost everyone who was going to arrive had arrived, Zhao Wenji brought out a guitar.
“I’ll sing a song I wrote for her… Sorry, let’s not talk about her. I’ll sing a new song I wrote for all of you instead.”
“It’s called ‘Love Confession Balloon.’”
……
“Sister Hong, Zhao Wenji is trending!”
Sister Hong, who had spent the entire day cleaning up after that idiot, had finally found time to sit in a coffee shop and drink some water. Hearing that name again, she nearly choked to death on her first sip.
“Trending?”
Without even catching her breath, Sister Hong gestured for her assistant to continue.
“He started a livestream, and someone exposed his relationship with President Peng.”
She did not even need to hear the rest. Just the words “started a livestream” nearly made Sister Hong stop breathing.
“The villa still had internet? Did you really think I locked him in that room for his enjoyment?”
The assistant lowered her head and did not dare say a word.
“What exactly is happening now?”
The assistant did not even need to answer. A customer at the next table happened to be watching Zhao Wenji’s livestream. When his familiar singing drifted over, Sister Hong felt as though her entire world had shattered.
“It’s over… It’s all over…”
“Sister Hong, what do you mean, it’s all over? Hasn’t Brother Wenji cleared his name?”
Sister Hong could not be bothered to respond to her mindless assistant. She took out her phone and called He Nan, the highest-ranking person at Starsea Entertainment whom she could reach.
The call was answered quickly, and He Nan’s solemn voice came through.
“I already know.”
“Director He, I’m not asking for forgiveness, but could you please ask President Peng to give me a chance?”
Continuing to work at Starsea Entertainment was obviously impossible, but she still hoped to remain in the industry.
“I’ll do anything. I’m only asking for one chance!”
He Nan fell silent for a moment.
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“I can only try.”
“Thank you, Director He!”
After hanging up, Sister Hong grabbed her bag and hurried outside.
“Sister Hong, slow down! Where are you going?”
“Where?”
Her eyes bloodshot and her teeth clenched, Sister Hong spat out:
“Where else? I’m going to kill that bastard Zhao Wenji!”
……
Meanwhile, Chen Fan and Peng Jiaxin were choosing a movie. Peng Jiaxin had said she wanted to try doing the things couples did, and the first thing Chen Fan thought of was watching a movie together.
Fortunately, they had a private home theater, so it was very convenient.
“What kind of movies do you usually like?”
This was Chen Fan’s first time watching a movie while lying down, and he found the experience quite novel.
“Hmm… If I had to name one, probably science fiction. It’s a pity that there aren’t many good science-fiction movies in our country.”
“Hey, I can’t agree with that.”
Chen Fan pointed toward the romance movies listed on the tablet.
“Aren’t all of these good ‘science fiction’?”
Peng Jiaxin instantly understood what he meant and smacked him on the shoulder in exasperation.
Chen Fan chuckled and casually picked the latest science-fiction film, casting it onto the large screen.
Whether someone had deliberately wanted to stop them from watching the movie or Peng Jiaxin truly had an urgent matter to deal with, her phone rang hundreds of times before the film had even been playing for ten minutes.
Peng Jiaxin’s beautiful brows drew together. She was just about to turn off her phone when Chen Fan said, “Answer it. What if it really is urgent?”
They both saw the caller ID: “Director He.”
“…All right. Wait for me. I’ll be right back.”
Peng Jiaxin rose and went outside to answer the call.
“President Peng, you finally answered.”
He Nan was nearly in tears. Every senior and junior executive at the company had tried calling Peng Jiaxin, but she had ignored them all. Fortunately, He Nan had refused to give up. At last, President Peng had picked up.
“What happened?”
“President Peng, please check the trending lists.”
“Something terrible has happened!”