Tony's back stiffened. He lowered his head slightly and smiled.
"Zhong Canxi, you should thank me."
"Thank you?"
Zhong Canxi scoffed. "Thank you for spreading the news that I've been kept by someone?"
"It'll happen sooner or later!" Tony frowned and clicked his tongue. Then he turned around, patted Zhong Canxi on the shoulder, and said, "You can't have failed to notice. That girl is your fan who has a crush on you. Her intention to keep you is so obvious that even a blind person can see it!"
"We've been in this situation before. There were so many rich women waiting to keep you, but we just didn't take them up on their offers. But, Canxi, things are different now, aren't they?"
Zhong Canxi pursed his lips and said nothing. The light in his eyes dimmed a little.
Tony seemed reluctant to push him further. He held Zhong Canxi's shoulder and made him turn to look in Ji Xiaoli's direction.
"Do you know? This girl is naive but rich. She invested 100 million yuan in this drama. If you can get in with her, you'll never have to worry about not getting a chance to shine in the future."
"Canxi, are you really willing to remain obscure for the rest of your life? We used to be stars under the spotlight. Are you willing to let it all end like this?"
Zhong Canxi unconsciously tightened his hands that were hanging by his sides.
He wasn't willing.
But he didn't know what to do either.
...
Ji Xiaoli had been worrying about this matter all day.
The filming on the set was still going on in an orderly manner, but the issue on Weibo was still escalating.
The trending topic #Zhong Canxi Has Been Kept# had jumped from ninth to sixth place.
And judging from the popularity, it was still rising...
Ji Xiaoli was getting a headache. After much thought, she decided to post a Weibo to clarify the matter.
After all, the rumor of being kept would have a negative impact on Zhong Canxi as an artist, and it was probably not negligible.
She had just typed out 140 characters when her phone was suddenly snatched away.
"You're going to clarify?" Li Songyuan looked at the text on the Weibo post and smiled faintly. "Don't you think that your explanation will only make things worse for him? It'll just be like trying to clear mud with more mud."
"Then what should I do..."
Ji Xiaoli slumped. "Am I supposed to do nothing?"
"Do something, but not like this." Li Songyuan returned the phone to Ji Xiaoli. "Think about it. All the retweets in the trending topic are from marketing accounts. There must be someone behind the scenes manipulating it, right?"
Ji Xiaoli suddenly realized. "Then..."
"Don't worry." Li Songyuan gently patted her on the shoulder. "I'll handle it."
After saying that, Li Songyuan walked to one side.
His expression turned solemn. He opened his contacts list, scanned through the names of a bunch of journalists, and finally went back to the keypad and dialed a number he knew by heart...
Before the other person could say a word, Li Songyuan rubbed his temples and asked, "Yuan Yuan, is this really necessary?"
There was obvious suppressed anger in his tone, but it didn't scare Yuan Yuan at all.
Yuan Yuan let out a laugh and taunted, "What did I do?"
"That trending topic was your doing, wasn't it? You hired those marketing accounts, right?"
"Do I have that much power?"
"You don't?" Li Songyuan was so angry that he laughed. He had dated Yuan Yuan for almost three years, so he was naturally familiar with her network of connections.
"If a big journalist from Huayin Voice doesn't have the power, what about your sister? That contracted journalist from an entertainment company who knows all those entertainment companies so well. It shouldn't be difficult for her to create a trending topic, right?"
Hearing this, Yuan Yuan stopped pretending. "Isn't this good? It'll let you see the true face of this woman. Keeping a young hunk and having a promiscuous private life..."
"Yuan Yuan!"
Li Songyuan got angry, but he quickly suppressed it. "What exactly do you want?"
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
"I want to see you." Yuan Yuan said.
...
In the afternoon, on the set.
Ji Xiaoli was still worried about this matter.
After she asked Yang Xiaoyang to look into it, they managed to find out some clues.
There were two main marketing accounts that posted blogs with the relevant topic tags - Entertainment Granny Nine and Melon-Eating Girl. They were both from the same entertainment company, Canxing Entertainment.
Ji Xiaoli wouldn't believe that this company wasn't behind this.
But the problem was, what should she do now?
[I think you should talk to them, Xiaoli.]
Yang Xiaoyang sent this message in the group chat of the three of them.
[See what they really want. Maybe they just want to extort some money.]
Ji Xiaoli was thinking about it and hadn't replied yet when she saw Tao Tao angrily say, [We can't just give in to them if they want to extort money! Do you think Xiaoli's money comes from nowhere?]
Ji Xiaoli: [Then what do you think I should do?]
Tao Tao: [You... Well, since they're spreading rumors, why don't you just make the rumor come true and keep him! It's not like you can't afford it!]
Ji Xiaoli: ???
"Miss Ji."
A clear and steady voice sounded.
Ji Xiaoli felt a sweet fragrance waft into her heart, making her feel so comfortable that she was almost floating. She looked up and met Zhong Canxi's clear but dim eyes.
He had just finished filming and was slightly sweaty. He was holding a bottle of mineral water in his long, slender hand and offering it to Ji Xiaoli.
"Do you want some?"
"I..." Ji Xiaoli stammered. She quickly coughed and lowered her head to take the water.
Their fingers gently touched, and a wave of heat rushed over, making Ji Xiaoli feel like a cat was scratching at her heart.
"...Thank you."
Ji Xiaoli's voice was soft. Sensing that he was still standing in front of her, she couldn't help but look up again. "Do you... have something else to say?"
Ugh... She shouldn't have asked such a stupid question!
Zhong Canxi must have wanted to talk to her about that matter!
"That matter..."
"Miss Ji, are you free tonight?"
Zhong Canxi asked softly. "If you are..."
He paused for a moment and then stuffed something into Ji Xiaoli's hand. "Please come then."
Ji Xiaoli was completely stunned.
For a moment, she felt her palm start to heat up. The thing in her hand was not...
A room card.
Tao Tao and Yang Xiaoyang were still arguing in the group chat of the three of them.
[Come on! Look at how rich people do it! Soft beds and handsome men in their arms.]
[Tao Tao, you're so vulgar! Xiaoli wants true love, okay? Can true love come from keeping someone?]
[What true love does she need? What she wants is just this guy!]
...
It was as if Tao Tao's words had triggered some kind of mechanism. The system, which had been silent for a long time, finally slowly came out and said:
[The system has detected that the player's romantic luck has blossomed, but beware of bad romantic encounters! Beware of being scammed for money and love!]
Ji Xiaoli: Scammed for money and love? Are you talking about me? Am I going to scam Zhong Canxi?
The system was probably speechless and started its long journey of pretending to be dead again.
Ji Xiaoli had finally managed to get the system to show up, so she wasn't going to let it go easily.
Ji Xiaoli quickly asked again: Who is the bad romantic encounter you're talking about?
[To unlock the analysis of your romantic fortune, you need to exchange it with good luck points.]