Chapter 9 - Chapter 9The Directors' Scandal

Her face twisted into a terrifying snarl of rage. One couldn't help but wonder what her fans would think if they ever saw her like this."That little bitch Ye Jialan! I refuse to believe she can still stay unscathed in showbiz after all those negative rumors are leaked!"As the saying goes, public opinion is a formidable force. A single person's words mean nothing, but when thousands upon thousands echo the same sentiment, the outcome is entirely different. Having clawed her way through the industry for years, she knew all too well how crucial public opinion was to a celebrity's career.So what was Ye Jialan? Nothing but a rookie who'd starred in just one movie.The thought that the news she'd ordered to be released might get Ye Jialan shelved by her company as early as tomorrow morning sent a thrill of excitement coursing through her veins.She brushed the delivery guy's infuriating words out of her mind, hummed a tuneless ditty, and padded back to the living room in her slippers.She held out a hand with gaudy bright red nail polish, turned off the stereo, then picked up the phone she'd tossed onto the sofa and unlocked it with her fingerprint.Logging into a Xunlu Network forum with her throwaway account, she'd expected the entire platform to be buzzing with trending topics about Ye Jialan. To her utter shock, however, the forum was eerily quiet.The pinned headline at the top of the page was still an old story about an actress getting divorced from her husband."How is this possible?!"Something must have gone wrong. She logged out and tried again with another burner account. Same result."No! This can't be happening! Why are they all gone?!"Overwhelmed by the shock, she attempted to post a derogatory comment about Ye Jialan using a new account, only to be met with a message that read: Your content violates our guidelines. Please edit and resubmit."This is fake! It's all fake! How could this happen? How?!"Bai Xiuwen assumed her post had been too explicit, so she changed tactics, condensing her message into a short, snarky remark of just a dozen characters. But her second attempt was rejected all the same.Blinded by fury, she hurled her phone across the room in a fit of rage.Crack!It hit the glossy white floor with a sharp, crisp sound, its screen shattering into a spiderweb of cracks.Bai Xiuwen stood up, her face still contorted with rage, and stormed barefoot into the bedroom. She rummaged through the nightstand drawer and pulled out a brand-new cell phone box.Her house was stocked with dozens of phones, bags, and articles of clothing—gifts from sponsors after she'd starred in commercials.She unboxed the new phone, returned to the living room, swapped the SIM card from her broken device into the new one, and powered it on. Having calmed down a little, she logged into a smaller, more obscure entertainment website using yet another throwaway account.While this site couldn't compare to Xunlu Network in terms of traffic, smaller platforms had their own advantages.For one thing, they were swarming with lecherous men—those sad sacks who spent their days ogling TV screens, movie stills, and even advertising posters, indulging in their dirty little fantasies. Most of them whiled away their time on small sites like this, scrolling through gossip that spread like wildfire.Bai Xiuwen's mind was made up. She would make sure Ye Jialan could never show her face in the entertainment industry again.With a triumphant smirk, she uploaded a photo she'd snapped on the set of Little Tenderness—a picture of Ye Jialan going to see Director Ji An to discuss the script—and paired it with a sensational headline:RISING STARLET CLIMBS THE LADDER: SNEAKS OFF TO MEET A RENOWNED DIRECTOR LATE AT NIGHT!Though she didn't name names, she deliberately included the hotel's address in the post, along with a clear shot of Ye Jialan's unforgettable, stunning face.Barely five minutes after the post went live, a user named "Are You Lonely? I Am" commented: She looks familiar. Her figure seems amazing.A cruel smile tugged at Bai Xiuwen's lips when she saw the comment. She quickly switched to another throwaway account and replied under the man's post: Isn't this the second female lead from Little Tenderness? If that's the case, then the director must be...She deliberately left the sentence hanging, then logged out of the site in a hurry."Ye Jialan... Ye Jialan. After this, I refuse to believe you can still stay popular!"In a buoyant mood, Bai Xiuwen headed to the bathroom, drew herself a relaxing bubble bath, and began to daydream about the trending topics she'd see the next morning. She decided to get a good beauty sleep and enjoy the show tomorrow.At the villa in the western suburbs of the capital, Lu Shihuan had just stepped out of his study. He went downstairs to make a cup of coffee, but before he could take a sip, his phone on the table began to ring.A faint frown creased his handsome brows. He glanced at the Italian clock in the living room—it was already eleven o'clock at night. Who could it be?Lu Shihuan sipped his coffee while glancing at the caller ID. When he saw the name "Xu Mu", a glint flickered in his eyes.He set the coffee cup down gracefully on the glass table, picked up the ringing phone with his long, slender fingers, and answered the call."Hello..."His deep voice, laced with a hint of drowsiness, echoed through the quiet living room."Sir, we've taken care of the Xunlu Network situation. But...""Yes?""I—I found another rumor about Miss Ye on a small pornographic website. Should we...?"Pornographic website? What audacity!A flash of murderous intent flickered in Lu Shihuan's jet-black eyes. If it weren't for the fact that they'd just returned to China, and he didn't want his whereabouts leaked to those people overseas, he wouldn't have bothered keeping such a low profile."Sir? Sir, are you still there?"Lu Shihuan's voice turned cold and icy. "No need. Just tell me the name of the website. I'll take a look myself.""Right away..."As soon as Xu Mu finished saying the website's name, Lu Shihuan hung up the phone without another word.Xu Mu patted his pounding chest, muttering to himself in relief: "Holy crap! Thank goodness I don't have a crush on Miss Ye. Otherwise... I'd never live to see the sun rise tomorrow."Back at the villa, Lu Shihuan leaned lazily against the cotton sofa in the living room, his fingers flying across the screen as he typed in the URL Xu Mu had given him.The moment the page loaded, it was flooded with pixelated photos of half-naked women and even explicit videos that played with a single click.Lu Shihuan's eyes narrowed, and he cursed under his breath: "Idiots. Disgusting trash."He silently compared those scantily clad women to Ye Jialan, only to find that all of them combined weren't even worth a single strand of her hair. There was simply no comparison.His fingers scrolled down the page quickly, as if delaying even a second longer would soil his eyes.However, a few seconds later, when he saw the photo Xu Mu had mentioned, his rage boiled over, so intense he could barely keep himself from killing someone.The photo itself was innocent enough—a simple shot of Ye Jialan talking to Ji An—but paired with that headline, it was enough to spark all sorts of unsavory, salacious speculation.LATE-NIGHT RENDEZVOUS: ROOKIE ACTRESS MEETS WITH A CELEBRATED DIRECTOR...Lu Shihuan stared at the headline, and instead of getting angrier, he let out a low, chilling laugh.Ji An's face in the photo had been blurred out with a mosaic, while Ye Jialan's face was crystal clear. The comments below were more vile and disgusting than the last.Lu Shihuan gripped his phone tightly, his eyes darkening as he read each and every one of them. Then, he suddenly smiled—a cold, ruthless smile."Very well. Excellent. If you have the guts to do it, you'd better have the balls to face the consequences..."