The delicate and stunning face was as white as snow. Ren Shuzhi’s heart pounded loudly; she vaguely felt that something was wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what. Who was trying to sabotage her?

If it was just to expose her scandal, why did the paparazzi say the man was Rong Xu?

That was obviously Ma Qi!

That night, she had been turned away coldly by Rong Xu. After returning to her room, she chatted with Ma Qi, who invited her to look over a script. Then the two of them spent three hours together in the room, and she only left after 5 a.m.

Who was this? Who was behind this? Why frame her?

Ren Shuzhi’s eyes turned red with worry. She felt a strong sense of foreboding.

Lately, she had deliberately kept her distance from Rong Xu because she clearly noticed that Huaxia Entertainment was pushing him hard.

Huaxia Entertainment had poured tons of resources into Rong Xu, even making him the brand ambassador for In-Your-Heart. This showed how much the company valued him.

She was not an artist under Huaxia Entertainment, and she didn’t want to provoke such a giant. Even if she liked someone like Rong Xu, she didn’t want to risk her future. If she really affected Rong Xu’s career, Huaxia Entertainment would definitely retaliate—not necessarily banning her outright but possibly preventing her from getting good roles.

Huaxia Entertainment was capable of doing such things. This company was no saint; it was difficult to mess with them. At least, they could easily impose an internal ban: forbidding Ren Shuzhi from acting in any films or TV shows invested by Huaxia, or appearing on any variety shows.

No matter what Huaxia Entertainment did, the outcome was something Ren Shuzhi did not want to see.

Having no time to attend the upcoming live event, Ren Shuzhi asked her assistant to postpone it. She then took a car from the airport and called her manager.

One of her manager’s phones was already off, probably overwhelmed by calls from reporters. Ren Shuzhi quickly dialed her manager’s private number.

As soon as the call connected, before she could speak, the manager’s sharp questions came rushing out: “What’s going on? Since when did you have an affair with Rong Xu? Huaxia Entertainment and our company just talked, and they’re furious. The only way out is to announce that you two are dating. Shuzhi, I don’t care how you usually behave, but you know Huaxia is pushing Rong Xu. He’s in his rising phase. If this dating news breaks out, it’s a huge blow to him—he’s a young star! This is bad! What exactly is going on between you two?”

Listening to the manager’s scolding, Ren Shuzhi held back her resentment and quickly explained, “That photo isn’t Rong Xu at all. It’s Ma Qi. Sister Li, I really tried to reach Rong Xu… to talk to him, but never succeeded, so I gave up. And after seeing Huaxia pushing him, I started avoiding him. You must help me clear this up. It’s impossible!”

The manager hesitated a moment, then said, “You mean the person in the photo isn’t Rong Xu?”

Ren Shuzhi repeated firmly, “It’s Ma Qi!”

“Have you contacted Ma Qi?”

“I just called him, but he didn’t pick up.”

After a long pause, the manager said, “This is easy to solve then. You and Ma Qi go public, say the people in the photos are the two of you. That way, Rong Xu is cleared. Then announce you’re dating. Ma Qi has no girlfriend anyway, and Shuzhi, you endure a little—just pretend to date him. When this blows over, you can announce your breakup.”

Ma Qi was a second-tier star, but Ren Shuzhi was a popular leading actress. If she dated him, it wouldn’t bring her any benefit, but Ma Qi could raise his profile and get public attention by being her “boyfriend.”

Besides, in this incident, Ren Shuzhi’s fans were leaving her far more than Rong Xu’s fans. Many male fans angrily called her a cheap woman for daring to date, and some even took her albums and threw them in the trash or burned them on the spot.

Ren Shuzhi’s image was that of a sexy star, and these male fans had once admired her greatly. Now that the dating news was “confirmed,” no one expected them to be this enraged.

Dating Rong Xu was one thing—many fans thought they matched well. But dating Ma Qi…

Ren Shuzhi clenched her teeth in anger and finally burst into tears.

Damn it. Dating that useless Ma Qi would definitely hurt her popularity, and he’d be leeching off her fame!

Suddenly, Ren Shuzhi thought, “Sister Li, could it be Ma Qi who leaked this news on purpose?” The more she thought, the more likely it seemed. “If he had only leaked the photos, we could still find a way to fix it. But dragging Rong Xu into this… I have to admit the man in the photos is him, or else Huaxia Entertainment will hate me.”

The manager suddenly understood: “It’s him?! Yes, probably him!”

Now Ren Shuzhi was furious, itching to find Ma Qi and beat the hell out of that ruthless jerk.

She hated herself for not controlling her urges and always chasing after men. This was a consensual thing, and Ma Qi never objected back then—so why was he biting her now?

Fine, Ma Qi. Just wait. Once I catch my breath, I’ll destroy you!

The manager quickly went over some precautions with Ren Shuzhi. Ren Shuzhi called Ma Qi again, but still no answer. Just as she was about to follow the manager’s advice and declare on Weibo that the man in the photos wasn’t Rong Xu, she suddenly saw an explosive news post!

[Entertainment Circle Captain: @RongXu and @RenShuzhi caught kissing late at night? Totally wrong! The man in the photo isn’t Rong Xu, but @MaQi! This afternoon the Captain specially asked friends to contact the ‘Lost City’ crew, who revealed that during filming, Rong Xu hardly spoke to Ren Shuzhi, but Ma Qi was always close to her.]

Ren Shuzhi was stunned: What was going on?

The Entertainment Circle Captain’s Weibo immediately drew many replies: “This is ridiculous, right? Could the paparazzi really mistake Rong Xu? How is it possible it’s Ma Qi?”

Rong Xu’s fans rejoiced, clearing the confusion: “Rong Rong said he never had any intimate relationship with Ren Shuzhi. Those people in the photos aren’t him. We believe Rong Rong!”

Though it was true, Ren Shuzhi felt uncomfortable. After someone pointed out it wasn’t Rong Xu but Ma Qi, she felt completely humiliated. Dating Rong Xu would have been glamorous—he had the popularity and resources, and in the industry, his status wasn’t inferior to hers, maybe even higher. But Ma Qi…

If she truly liked Ma Qi, it wouldn’t matter, but she and Ma Qi were just fuck buddies.

So embarrassing! Truly humiliating!

Angry and depressed, Ren Shuzhi felt a slight relief, but before she could recover, she saw more rumors circulating online.

#RenShuzhi Li Xiaozhen hotel secret meeting#

Ren Shuzhi’s eyes widened: “!!!”

Clicking on the trending topic, she saw a marketing account exposing that last year during filming a movie, she had a late-night secret meeting with the male lead. This time, there were no photos, but the description sounded plausible. The male lead was Li Xiaozhen, a middle-aged, handsome man with a sizable fanbase.

Ren Shuzhi couldn’t believe it, watching Li Xiaozhen’s fans collectively insult her. Her pupils trembled as she sensed something wrong.

Because… she really had been Li Xiaozhen’s f*ck buddy for a while during filming.

And that was not the end of it!

Once again, paparazzi broke a story that during a concert, Ren Shuzhi had a hookup with a young fresh-faced male singer at a hotel. This time, there were even photos. Ren Shuzhi immediately recognized herself, but the young singer’s face was pixelated.

And this was actually true!

How could this happen? Wasn’t Ma Qi only interested in a contractual romance with her? Why would he expose all her past affairs?

The phone from her manager rang urgently. There was no need to ask Ren Shuzhi whether those people were really her hookups—because the manager already knew that the number of people she’d been involved with was far more than those revealed. At this moment, although Ren Shuzhi was crying uncontrollably with anger, no matter how calm or smart she was, she was still just a woman in her twenties.

Ren Shuzhi forced herself to calm down: “Sister Li, someone’s trying to frame me.”

Online, Ren Shuzhi’s reputation was so ruined that everyone was cursing her.

Because someone revealed that the person in the photo was not Rong Xu but Ma Qi, people didn’t specifically attack Rong Xu, but instead scolded Ren Shuzhi for hooking up with so many men.

Of course, some of Rong Xu’s haters still attacked him, saying he wasn’t a good person either, having hooked up with Ren Shuzhi.

But five minutes later, Ma Qi actually logged into Weibo and posted a statement. The post was only two simple characters, but it completely cleared Rong Xu. He only said: “[It’s me.]”

Seeing Ma Qi’s Weibo post, Ren Shuzhi got furious and called him. This time Ma Qi actually answered. Before Ren Shuzhi could scold, Ma Qi angrily said: “Ren Shuzhi! Who did you piss off to drag me into this? Are you crazy? If I see people like you again, I’ll definitely stay far away. You prostitute, once this is over, I’ll settle scores with you!”

Ren Shuzhi was stunned by the scolding. Meanwhile, more of her hookups were being exposed online.

Besides Li Xiaozhen, whose name was revealed, others were only mentioned by code names. Only that young fresh-faced singer had photographic evidence; the rest were just gossip from paparazzi mouths and could still be denied. As long as Ren Shuzhi refused to admit, the paparazzi had no way to prove it.

Ren Shuzhi was furious; she had no idea who she had offended. What she didn’t know was that across the ocean, Xu Jin was looking at the new message on his phone and suddenly paused: “Hmm, she was wronged, it turns out she wasn’t the one who posted the news…”

The next second, no more paparazzi exposed Ren Shuzhi’s scandals. But since a few hookups had already been revealed, Ren Shuzhi’s reputation was utterly ruined. Many netizens insulted her, saying she was infamous in the industry for being promiscuous.

These netizens might have gone too far because none of the men she hooked up with had girlfriends or families. Ren Shuzhi still had principles; she wouldn’t be a homewrecker but only satisfied mutual physical needs.

If this happened to male stars, they might be criticized but never so harshly. Yet for female stars, some hardcore misogynists hated her so much they wished she would just die. This was gender inequality and very unfair to Ren Shuzhi. But putting that aside, the fact was that Ren Shuzhi was being trashed everywhere.

Her agency kept investigating who was behind framing her. Meanwhile, Xu Jin frowned in difficulty and said to a man with a sullen face, “…I think I mixed up the target. This time Ren Shuzhi is pretty innocent. It was Liu Wenqing who bribed someone to frame her.”

At this moment, Qin Cheng was messaging his young man, Rong Xu, who took ten minutes to reply because he was dealing with the scandal.

Hearing this, Qin Cheng raised his head and arched an eyebrow: “Liu Wenqing?”

Liu Wenqing was a Chinese actress. She won a Best Actress award when young but gradually faded. Now close to forty, when she was in her early thirties, her husband was caught cheating by paparazzi, which ruined her reputation. After years of cold treatment, they divorced last year.

As a female star, Liu Wenqing had once been glamorous but now her career and family both suffered. She had to raise her daughter alone. Her body changed drastically, and her face showed several unavoidable nasolabial folds. Not even forty, production crews only offered her mother or grandmother roles. She rarely had a chance to shine.

Xu Jin briefly explained.

Apparently, many years ago before Liu Wenqing married her ex-husband, Ren Shuzhi had been the ex-husband’s mistress for a while. Later Liu Wenqing married him. While filming together, Liu Wenqing deliberately slapped Ren Shuzhi dozens of times in public and kept mocking her.

Later, the news about Liu Wenqing’s husband cheating was actually stirred up by Ren Shuzhi.

The relationship between these two women was chaotic, impossible to say who was right or wrong, though Ren Shuzhi seemed somewhat more innocent. Overall, Xu Jin could only shrug: “This time I messed up the target. I’ve already exposed several of Ren Shuzhi’s past hookups.”

Qin Cheng wasn’t interested in the matter but asked, “How’s his side?”

Xu Jin thought for a moment and understood Qin Cheng meant “him”: “Next, Huaxia Entertainment will take over. Luo Zhentao has contacted several media to prepare press releases. This has nothing to do with Rong Xu. It’s just Liu Wenqing wanting to blow things up. Ma Qi’s influence isn’t enough, so she pinned it on Rong Xu.”

Qin Cheng’s slender, sharp eyes narrowed slightly. After a long pause, he coldly said: “Then go find the real parties involved, help her out, and make this matter blow up.”

Xu Jin chuckled and turned around to continue contacting people.

The handsome man lowered his head to look at his phone. On the smooth screen, the young man’s reply slowly appeared.

[Rong Xu: Busy, but it seems Ren Shuzhi was framed this time. I was just dragged into it. Qin Cheng, was this you? ^_^?]

Seeing the smiling emoji at the end, the man’s thin lips curved slightly softer.

[Qin Cheng: What exposure? Nothing to do with me.] Well, it was Xu Jin’s doing.

Xu Jin, sitting in the front passenger seat, said: “A-Qiu! Hey, could it be Ren Shuzhi is cursing me?”

Looking at the reply on the phone, Rong Xu sat in the back seat, slowly raising his head, looking out through the darkened car window at the clear sky.

Really wasn’t you?

The young man smiled faintly.

[Rong Xu: Although I can handle this easily, it’s risky to act first and report later. But since you solved it quickly, I’ll let it slide this time. When are you coming back? ^_^~]

Qin Cheng’s thin lips curled up: [Are you going to reward me?]

Rong Xu chuckled lightly: [So you admit it?]

[Qin Cheng: ^_^~]

[Rong Xu: Do you like durian, Mr. Qin? ^_^~]

Online, the kissing scandal had just been exposed for five hours, but one party was already chatting casually with his lover. They talked for a long time until Qin Cheng had to attend a cocktail party, then the conversation paused.

Luo Zhentao was busy in city B handling the matter, while Rong Xu sat steadily in the car, safely returning to the hotel.

At the hotel entrance, sure enough, a large group of reporters had gathered. They had somehow gotten the hotel info for the cast of Silent. One by one, they held microphones and crazily pressed toward Rong Xu.

At this moment, the two bodyguards hired by Luo Zhentao…

Now the bodyguards finally had a chance to show their skills.

Two strong, muscular bodyguards blocked the reporters, keeping them at least a meter away from Rong Xu, not giving them any chance to get close. But those reporters wouldn’t let such big news slip away—they followed Rong Xu into the hotel, still pushing forward deliberately.

One reporter shouted loudly, “Rong Xu, what do you think about the rumor today involving you and Ren Shuzhi? Do you have anything to say?”

The young man slowed his steps, turned his head, took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of clear, beautiful eyes.

“I… the rumor about me and Ren Shuzhi? Isn’t it actually about Ma Qi and Ren Shuzhi?”

The reporter immediately froze.

With a slight smile, leaving behind that sentence, the handsome and elegant young man strode forward, letting the bodyguards block those annoying reporters in the hotel lobby.

Those reporters actually already knew this had nothing to do with Rong Xu, but they still wanted to squeeze some news out of him. With Rong Xu’s current popularity, and such a scandal starting with him, if he said anything inappropriate, the reporters would definitely exaggerate and spin the story.

But for Rong Xu, this matter was already over. After this event, his fans went through a kind of cleansing. True fans decisively stayed and stood by him, strengthening the bond among them.

Meanwhile, the feud between Ren Shuzhi and Liu Wenqing was only just beginning. Out of some sense of apology, before stirring up Liu Wenqing, Xu Jin took a more indirect approach and gave a friendly heads-up to Ren Shuzhi’s agency so they would know who the real mastermind behind the scenes was.

In this world, the scariest thing is not open, aboveboard tactics, but the scheming and plotting behind the scenes. Ren Shuzhi was no pushover—otherwise, she wouldn’t have schemed to destroy Liu Wenqing’s family and career, leading to her downfall and fading from the spotlight. And Liu Wenqing, crazily retaliating, had many tricks up her sleeve—not a simple character.

Of course, none of this had much to do with Rong Xu anymore. The drama between these two women was theirs to fight, no matter how explosive it got.

Rong Xu walked out of the elevator, casually flipping through a Weibo post Ren Shuzhi just published.

[Ren Shuzhi: I’m not a mistress, I haven’t cheated, and my private life is my own business. Thanks for the concern, netizens. As for some people… they just can’t stand to see others doing well. I’ve learned my lesson this time. When some women go crazy, they really bite everyone.]

She was starting to fight back directly?

Looks like today’s mess wasn’t over yet.

Rong Xu glanced at the replies from his fans under his own Weibo post, sighed softly, and posted a message to check in with his fans—

[Rong Xu: What did you guys have for dinner? Make sure you eat well. I had noodles, @Director Xu Sheng treated, @Xiao Zitong ate two bowls, though she said she wanted to go on a diet before… [laughing emojis]]

After sending this message to reassure his fans, Rong Xu put down his phone and went to find his room card. But just as he lowered his head, suddenly, a phone was shoved in front of him. He froze, not even looking up before hearing a deliberately hushed voice right before him: “Mr. Rong, may I ask what you think about the recent scandal? Are you really dating Ren Shuzhi? Do you have a girlfriend?”

Slowly raising his eyes, he saw the handsome, cute-faced singer reporter standing in front of him. Rong Xu twitched his mouth but held back the urge to punch the other guy.

He raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly: “Reporter Lin, your news is way behind. Didn’t you see the latest? The person in the photo isn’t me.”

Lin Xuan’s eyes widened: “Huh?!!!”

---

Author’s note: Qin Chengcheng: Baby solved this problem, but Rong Rong didn’t give me a kiss, and even made me kneel for durian! Hmph (,,???,,)!!!