Chapter 101 – Qi Yushuo
Lin Ganzhi then clicked on Qi Yushuo’s comment section.
[Sob, sob, sob, could the CP I ship actually be real? I’m so excited, ahhh!]
[Could certain hopeless shippers please stay away from my idol? You’re old enough to know what you should and shouldn’t say, aren’t you? Lin Ganzhi is already married, yet you’re still senselessly shipping them!]
[Watch your mouth. What are you even getting so worked up about? Do you think we don’t know Ganzhi is married? Do CPs have to be real? Does shipping their brotherly bond bother you people?]
[Heh, this immoral artist Lin Ganzhi actually has a colleague defending him? It seems Qi Yushuo is no saint himself. He has no consideration for his own group members. I suggest he quit the group immediately and stop dragging the others down.]
[What’s wrong with speaking up for a friend? If he hadn’t stood up, you people would surely be under his Weibo calling him heartless!]
[I never thought of saying that. Lin Ganzhi senselessly cursed out his boss. What kind of values does someone have to have to speak up for him in a situation like this!]
[First of all, my idol only said he believes in Lin Ganzhi; he had no intention of defending him. Secondly, I sincerely hope this jinx Lin Ganzhi stays far away from my idol. He cherishes the opportunity to be on stage more than anyone. All his sweat and effort belong to the stage. I hope you stop stirring up trouble every day, only to end up implicating my idol!]
[I agree with the post above. Lin Ganzhi has no ability whatsoever. He should just leave the entertainment circle and stop dragging others down. The entertainment industry doesn’t welcome people like you! Hurry up and scram with your useless husband!]
[There’s nothing wrong with Qi Yushuo standing up for Lin Ganzhi! Didn’t you all see their previous performance? He clearly cares a lot about Ganzhi! Please stop trying to sow discord here!]
Lin Ganzhi scrolled through the comments for a while, his feelings a tangled mess. The solo stans, shippers, and their anti-fans—these three factions could probably argue for days. The key point was that he didn’t understand why anyone would ship him with Qi Yushuo!
Lin Ganzhi looked up and met Yan Shengping’s faint, smiling eyes.
A sixth sense warned Lin Ganzhi of a subtle crisis. He subconsciously tried to explain, “I… I didn’t expect Qi Yushuo to post on Weibo to speak up for me. I absolutely did not contact him privately!”
Yan Shengping didn’t take the bait, merely propping his chin on his hand and asking, “Just friends?” His captivating eyes followed Lin Ganzhi’s gaze intently, and his well-defined right hand tapped a rhythm on the table. Lin Ganzhi could sense that his mood wasn’t as pleasant as his expression suggested, so he answered meekly.
“Yes, yes! Friends.” Definitely not what they’re saying online!
Hearing this, Yan Shengping let out a light chuckle. This time, the smile reached his eyes, as warm as a spring day in full bloom. Lin Ganzhi couldn’t help but smile back.
Wait! Lin Ganzhi suddenly put on the brakes. How had he suddenly turned into a henpecked husband?
In the end, Lin Ganzhi blamed it all on Yan Shengping’s face. It was just too damn handsome! And to make matters worse, he’d suddenly developed the traits of a face-con. Lin Ganzhi could only silently lament his own weakness.
On the surface, Yan Shengping appeared calm, but his heart was far from tranquil. No one understood how wonderful Lin Ganzhi was better than he did. It was only natural for some people to harbor improper thoughts, but natural didn’t mean he could accept it.
Fortunately, Ganzhi was emotionally dense, his feelings written all over his face. He probably wouldn’t have even connected himself with Qi Yushuo if he hadn’t seen the netizens’ fuss. But as for Qi Yushuo’s intentions, Yan Shengping could see them at a glance.
“By the way, didn’t you say on the show last time that you wanted to invite them over for dinner? How about sometime after the New Year?” Yan Shengping, who disliked crowds, made a rare suggestion.
Lin Ganzhi’s eyes lit up, and he immediately said, “That sounds great!”
“Will Qi Yushuo come? It’s rare for him to speak up for you like this,” Yan Shengping said, prodding at the key point.
“I’ll ask him. As long as there are no scheduling conflicts, he should be able to make it.” In any case, Lin Ganzhi felt he should thank the man.
Yan Shengping smiled in satisfaction along with Lin Ganzhi, though the reasons for their smiles were clearly different.
***
Meanwhile, Qi Yushuo sat on the sofa, silently listening to his manager’s tirade.
“Little Qi, are you insane? You’re the most popular member of the group right now, and the company’s focus for next year is all on you! So what do you do? You suddenly run off to support Lin Ganzhi? What’s his status, and what’s yours? Do you have any idea how many people are cursing you out on Weibo right now? You’re really… insane!” The manager was so angry he was gasping for breath.
Qi Yushuo poured a glass of water and handed it to his manager before calmly saying, “For the sake of the company’s profits next year, the higher-ups will find a way to deal with this, right?”
The manager paused, then reacted, asking, “Are you indirectly threatening the company?”
Qi Yushuo didn’t answer directly. Instead, he said, “I know the company’s PR is famous in the industry for handling these kinds of problems.”
“You!” The manager was in disbelief.
“I’m willing to give the company all the savings I’ve accumulated since my debut to get this done,” Qi Yushuo said, his expression unchanging. As this year’s top star, he had saved up tens of millions.
The manager looked at Qi Yushuo with a strange expression and asked uncertainly, “Don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen for Lin Ganzhi?”
Qi Yushuo’s expression finally changed slightly. “It’s just as a friend,” he said. “His family has it tough. If no one helps him, it’ll be hard for him to survive in the entertainment industry.”
“Ha, I don’t see Lin Ganzhi caring that much about his status in the entertainment industry. No one is more ruthless than him when it comes to dissing fans and rivals. Besides, I’ve never seen someone help a friend to this extent. It would be much faster for you to just give him a few million than to help him clarify the situation,” the manager said, pulling a cigarette from his pocket and sticking it in his mouth, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“He has talent. The entertainment industry is his stage. I hope the company can help with this,” Qi Yushuo said seriously.
Having been in the industry for so many years, the manager could only say that Qi Yushuo’s skills were solid, and the company wouldn’t give up on this pillar of support for the time being. Otherwise, this incident would have been enough for him to pay several times the contract termination fee. He had originally thought Qi Yushuo was a mature kid who hadn’t caused him any trouble since his debut. But now he’d stumbled over something like this, and he was the type to be stubbornly persistent. From his understanding of Lin Ganzhi, the man probably had no idea Qi Yushuo had such feelings for him. What was the point of playing the part of a devoted lover here? He had just thrown away tens of millions, and while he himself wasn’t heartbroken, his manager was!
“Fine, I’ll talk to the higher-ups. But, from a personal standpoint, I advise you to give up sooner rather than later. It would be better for everyone,” the manager said, pulling out a lighter. The blue flame hid the downward turn of his lips.
Qi Yushuo didn’t respond. In truth, he had given up long ago. He just purely wanted to help him.
***
At six in the evening, three hours after the recording incident began, while the matter was still fermenting wildly online, Lin Ganzhi updated his Weibo. He clearly stated that the recording showed signs of being edited and directly revealed that the meeting at the time was attended only by internal staff. Since the meeting’s content was confidential, it meant a mole had leaked the recording.
Beneath this post, a considerable number of questioning voices joined the chorus of curses.
Shortly after, Lin Ganzhi’s Weibo updated again with another post. This one showed traces of key disseminators since the incident began, as well as chat logs of payments made to marketing accounts and Big Vs.
This time, the doubts grew even louder.
Normally, the truth wouldn’t require so many tricks to spread, especially for a universally loathed artist with a polarized reputation. But with this evidence, everyone had to consider the possibility of a conspiracy. Lin Ganzhi’s words had been directed at President Shao. Now that a problem had arisen, people’s attention naturally shifted to the original ‘victim’. This could only be explained as a corporate power struggle, with the least powerful Lin Ganzhi being used as cannon fodder.
However, there was no direct evidence yet to prove that President Shao was the mastermind behind this. Most people were still just speculating. More than that, Lin Ganzhi’s anti-fans were still working hard to attack him. Among them, the largest group was Zhong Jingyi’s fans, who hurled insults without a second thought, not even bothering to use alternate accounts before slinging mud.
Just as Lin Ganzhi finished dinner, he received a call from Zhang Dianhuai. He was a bit surprised that Brother Zhang had taken so long to contact him this time. The first thing he said after answering was, “Ganzhi, would it be convenient for me to speak with CEO Yan?”
Lin Ganzhi subconsciously looked at Yan Shengping, who typed a few words on his tablet and held it up for Lin Ganzhi to see.
[You decide.]
Lin Ganzhi’s eyes flickered for a moment before he resolutely handed the phone to Yan Shengping. A faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared in Yan Shengping’s eyes. He then spoke into the phone with a deep “Hello.”
“CEO Yan! Ahem, hello, I’m Ganzhi’s manager, Zhang Dianhuai. You can call me Little Zhang.” Zhang Dianhuai’s previously weary tone suddenly became formal, tinged with a hint of nervousness.
Lin Ganzhi thought: He’s a total fanboy of Yan Shengping, confirmed. And why does he get to call him Little Zhang when I have to call him Brother Zhang! Unfair!
“Yes. I believe in this matter, our Ganzhi should be considered a victim, or perhaps more like a punching bag,” Yan Shengping said, hitting the nail on the head.
Lin Ganzhi’s ears burned when he heard Yan Shengping say “our.”
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“Yes,” Zhang Dianhuai replied without hesitation. “This is also why I hesitated for so long before deciding to contact you. I’ve already investigated the matter thoroughly. It was President Shao who uploaded the recording. He and I have been partners for over a decade, but now that the company has grown, people have become selfish. He tampered with my contract, wanting to use this opportunity to suppress me. Ganzhi’s situation is part of that.”
“So what are you thinking of doing now?” Yan Shengping asked simply.
“First, we need to resolve this. There are actually two ways. One, I bow down to President Shao and find a scapegoat in the company to take the fall. Ganzhi and I would be fine, but our resources would get even worse. Two, I terminate my contract early, leave the company, and personally tear things open with President Shao.”
Listening to their conversation, Lin Ganzhi felt a surge of anger. So he was just a punching bag. Were all workers just donkeys to those capitalists, to be paraded around without even a notice?
Suddenly, a hand gently ruffled the top of Lin Ganzhi’s head. When Lin Ganzhi looked up, Yan Shengping leaned over and gave him a light kiss on the corner of his mouth. The cold, woody scent on his nose seemed to linger for a moment before fading. In those two seconds, Lin Ganzhi’s long eyelashes trembled violently.
He’d been sneak-kissed. But he didn’t feel the anger he expected. In fact, he was a little… happy.
Lin Ganzhi took a sip of water to hide the smile that was uncontrollably spreading across his face.
“I imagine you already have an answer,” Yan Shengping said, twirling a pen between his fingers so fast that only a streak of dark green light could be seen dancing in the air.