Chapter 706: Win Or Lose
For his own safety, the author accepted an interview from a famous reporter and did not meet with too many other people.
During the interview, he had his head down, but he managed to explain the entire incident in detail, including the moment when he first received a phone call from the instigator.
"I was indeed instructed by someone, but I never saw who she was, nor was I told of her identity. All I know is, she is also an author and she is part of the entertainment industry."
"She is young; roughly 22 to 23-years-old and she is very cautious about what she says."
"Her final motive was to prevent Tangning's film from screening."
"I investigated her phone number and IP address, but all I discovered was that she is located somewhere near the national university. I couldn't find anything else."
The instigator was an author from the entertainment industry; she was 22 to 23-years-old with a deep grudge towards Tangning; and most importantly, she lived near the national university. With so much information, finding this person wasn't going to be hard. And with the amazing research abilities of netizens, they quickly produced a list of candidates which matched some of the given criteria. But, in the end, only one person ticked all the boxes: Song Xin!
Song Xin did not expect to be locked on as a suspect so easily. In fact, she wasn't even given any time to react before the internet began its scolding.
"Is this the Song Xin that has a thief for a manager?"
"Isn't she the artist that was very famous in Beijing just a few days ago? But, because of her manager, she began to lose fans. I never imagined her to be so evil."
"I can't believe it. They are both in completely different fields. Why would she treat Tangning in this way? She even caused Elder Wu to attempt suicide."
"Haha, this woman has always been arrogant. I assume she couldn't stand that Tangning was more famous than her and that she had access to more resources than her. It's not that strange at all."
"If it's really Song Xin, I hope she dies!"
"What a bitch and a piece of trash! She's too evil!"
"I used to think the songs written by her were good, but from now on, I will have to wave goodbye to her. There are plenty of people in this world that write good songs; I will leave my support for the ones with a kind heart."
"Could Hai Rui please ban her from taking any more jobs, so this crazy woman can stop harming others."
The internet was filled with scolding and, of course, Song Xin was notified of this. As soon as she realized what was going on, she was shocked.
She never expected that she'd be discovered and exposed. How was this possible?
So, a minute later, Song Xin gave Fang Yu a phone call and asked in a stern voice, "What's with the scolding from the public? How did I suddenly get slandered? Why hasn't Hai Rui done any PR? What are you planning to do about this?"
"Hai Rui is in the process of uncovering the truth."
"The truth? The truth is, you should first protect the reputation of your artist. Unless this is how Hai Rui treats their artists? I've seen that Tangning's reputation has been well-maintained. Is she perhaps being treated differently?"
"Even when something happens to Tangning, Hai Rui won't do anything PR related until they've uncovered the truth. If you're innocent, why should you be afraid of being investigated?" Fang Yu asked calmly.
"Great, that's great! From what I see, the entire Hai Rui has been opened for the sake of Tangning." After speaking, Song Xin hung up the phone and called Xiao Yuhe, "I'm being slandered, it's terrible."
Xiao Yuhe had already found out about everything online. Even though Song Xin was a suspect, there wasn't conclusive evidence, so he didn't think that she deserved to be attacked.
"Song Xin, tell me honestly, did you do this?"
Song Xin was caught out by Xiao Yuhe's question. Although she didn't know what Xiao Yuhe had planned, she ended up denying everything after a short pause, "What are you talking about? What has something like this got to do with me?"
"Even with me, you can't be honest? I can only protect you if you are honest."
"I really didn't do it," Song Xin continued to deny, "Trust me…"
"Fine. I hope you remember everything I've done for you," Xiao Yuhe said before he hung up the phone.
Song Xin was a little stunned. After hanging up the phone, she reached for her chest and felt her heart racing. Why did she feel so guilty?
She didn't know how Xiao Yuhe planned to help her draw away the public's attention, all she knew was, he was now her only hope…
Of course, Tangning knew that Song Xin wasn't going to admit defeat so easily. Especially when there wasn't any solid evidence. But, faced with a sly woman like Song Xin, she had her own tricks.
…
Inside the peaceful hospital, night had hit…
Duan Jinghong never expected that Tangning would come looking for her. She didn't notice when Tangning had walked into her room, all she knew was when she awoke from her sleep, Tangning was already sitting on the sofa near her bed. Of course, if she was to find out that Mo Ting was just outside the room door, she would be even more surprised.
"You…"
"You've already paid back for what you did to Huo Jingjing. But, what about what you did to me?" Tangning asked as she raised an eyebrow.
Duan Jinghong looked deeply into Tangning's eyes and realized Tangning practically saw right through her and knew everything she was thinking.
"You…you are referring to…"
"I'm talking about how you provoked Hua Wenfeng into placing Quinidine in my chicken soup," Tangning blinked and continued before Duan Jinghong could refute, "Although you had a disguise on at the time, Hua Wenfeng still identified you through some surveillance footage we showed her. Are you still going to deny it?"
As soon as Duan Jinghong heard this, her palms became sweaty.
"You don't need to be afraid. The person I'm looking for is the initial instigator," Tangning comforted. "You know better than anyone how difficult Song Xin is to deal with. She's sneaky, cunning and good at defending herself. I'm sure you must also hate her, right?"
Duan Jinghong bit her bottom lip and did not say a word.
"As for the incident with Elder Wu…"
"She did it…" Duan Jinghong blurted. "But I can't help you testify against her. Or else, I'll be testifying against myself."
"So, you're waiting for me to uncover it? Won't Song Xin bite back and blame it all on you instead? Huh?" Tangning asked with a slight smile. "If you make a move first, I'm sure you won't be implicated. In fact, you may receive sympathy from everyone."
"Think about it. Are you more willing to trust Song Xin or me?"
When comparing the two, she obviously trusted Tangning more. There was no doubt about it.
"Song Xin will definitely find a chance to defend herself. If we don't find someone close to her to testify against her first, I'm certain she will bite back at you to protect herself from being betrayed. What do you think? If she can't find a way to retreat, she will definitely throw the blame on you. If you plan to wait until that time to fight back, what do you think are your chances of success?"