Chapter 93: Chapter Ninety-Three: Chicanery
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Gao Bei held a press conference, accompanied by her manager Xiao Ya.
Gao Bei—once described as a ‘fairy maiden’—looked a far cry from her previous youthful beauty. Gao Bei’s tears streamed down her face as she stood before the cameras, crying that she’d been tricked into going abroad and had several near brushes with death. She wailed that she was almost sold and transported to another country before the SWAT team managed to find and rescue her.
Gao Bei’s experience was saddening. Xiao Ya took the opportunity to cry and beg the many parties whom Gao Bei had signed contracts with to forgive the girl in consideration of her juvenile ignorance and tragic encounter and exempt her from prosecution and huge penalty fees. Xiao Ya promised her company would do its best to compensate for the losses these parties incurred due to Gao Bei’s breach of contract.
Fang Xi shook her head, sighed, and said, “Gao Bei had backed her into a corner, so Xiao Ya had no choice but to throw her to the wolves. Otherwise, it won’t be fair to her other artistes.”
Yun Nan frowned and questioned, “Didn’t they call the police to look into the matter?”
“Yes, they did. However, investigating this incident is one thing, and compensation is another. Just because Gao Bei was maliciously tricked doesn’t mean she doesn’t have to pay the penalty fees,” Fang Xi explained.
“By the way, that nominal husband of yours has put in a lot of effort. His legal team really impressed me; thanks to them, we’ve already received a lot of compensation from the online rumor-mongers. Ah, it feels good to settle the score! I got our financial department to donate every compensation sum we received to peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns and then publish the donation details on the studio’s official Weibo account,” Fang Xi stated proudly.
Yun Nan smiled and praised, “Fang Xi, you’re as dependable as always.”
Fang Xi glanced at her and inquired, “Do you know where most of the compensation came from?”
Yun Nan didn’t know, and Fang Xi smiled. “The Yun family,” she revealed as she spread her fingers to admire her new manicure.
Yun Nan fell silent, and Fang Xi continued, “I’ve asked around. Miss Ding was the one behind the rumors; no doubt she was acting under Yun Liu’s orders. Yun Zhang wasn’t at home, and by the time our legal team went over to him, the situation had already escalated to an irreparable stage. However, Yun Zhang was acting strangely. He agreed to compensate without much arguing and even gave a meticulous apology statement.”
Yun Nan was also surprised at that and commented, “Oh? That doesn’t seem like him.”
Fang Xi shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe he’d finally woken up to the truth?”
The ‘awakened’ Yun Zhang looked at Yun Liu’s tearful appearance and felt upset. This was the first time he realized that Yun Liu always prevaricated and danced around the subject when she talked to him. When he asked her why she hired Internet trolls to slander Yun Nan online, she cried that her dear brother no longer loved her. When he asked her why she smeared Yun Nan, she said that he didn’t care for her anymore and that there was no longer any place for her in their family.
Yun Zhang heaved a great sigh. He didn’t need to ask any further questions;
Yun Liu obviously targeted Yun Nan on purpose. He didn’t know how to explain himself to Yun Nan, and Yun Nan might not listen to his explanations. Yun
Zhang rubbed his face tiredly and waved at Yun Liu as he uttered, “That’s enough, stop crying. Leave. I want to be alone.”
“You want me to leave, Yun Zhang?” Yun Liu sobbed. “You still blame me, don’t you? Don’t you believe I’m doing this for Yun Nan’s sake? She will only come back if we drive her into a corner. I wouldn’t have done this if you had any other ideas! You want our sister to come back, don’t you? Well, I do, too!”
If it were in the past, Yun Zhang would definitely believe Yun Liu, but he didn’t feel touched by her words today—he only felt endless fatigue and annoyance.
Yun Liu saw his indifference to her tears and left, trembling. Her sadness emanated from her retreating back, but unfortunately, Yun Zhang had buried his face in his palms and didn’t notice.
Yun Liu’s dejected expression changed into an icy one as soon as she was out the door. She wiped her tears off her face, thinking, ‘Yun Zhang is getting more and more ridiculous. If this continued, he might really side with that wretched girl, Yun Nan. I have to speed up myplans and get rid other ASAP!’
She called Miss Ding and ordered, “Tell Director Zhang to see me in my office!” Since Yun Zhang was being stubborn, she’ll be the one calling the shots from now on! And while she’s at it, she could increase her publicity. She had to be one-up on Yun Nan before her movie was released!
Yun Nan prepared a tableful of delicious food to make up for the meals she owed Shi Nian during the time she was busy shooting her movie. Shi Nian tried his best not to let his happiness show as he looked at the table nearly overflowing with dishes and nodded slightly to indicate his satisfaction.
Yun Nan was unaware of what was going on in Shi Nian’s mind. She was feeling very pleased with the results of her afternoon’s work.
Seeing her state, Shi Nian questioned, “What’s gotten you in such a good mood?”