Whenever Gu Zhaoye got angry, those around him would immediately show a look of deep concern, as if something unspeakable had happened.
A few of the people training with him noticed his foul mood and quickly exchanged glances.
Everyone knew that Young Master Gu had only come out to relax because something had happened at Yuanqi Technology recently.
No one knew exactly what went wrong—rumor had it that a round of financing had failed.
For someone like Gu Zhaoye, who had always enjoyed smooth sailing, this was a tremendous humiliation.
His close friends and admirers couldn’t fathom what kind of brutal business tactics or schemes could have dealt him such a blow.
Even though Yuanqi Technology wasn’t vital to the Gu family, it had been handed over to Gu Zhaoye as a way to let him gain some experience and have fun with it.
Even if something went wrong, it wouldn’t affect his status as the favored eldest grandson in the eyes of the family patriarch.
At most, it might give Gu Kaichang from the second branch of the family a chance to badmouth him.
Still, for a golden boy like him, a failed investment was a major embarrassment.
No one dared to guess who had taken him down.
They thought through all the ruthless old foxes in the business world and still came up empty.
What now?
Gu Zhaoye tossed away his cigarette butt, put on the jacket hanging beside him with a cold expression, and said,
“Back to Haishi.”
Everyone else stiffened and quickly replied, “Yes.”
Then they stopped the match and escorted him out.
Given Gu Zhaoye’s identity, the only thing that could make him leave in a hurry was a major issue with the Gu family or a big collaboration at Yuanqi Technology—things that absolutely could not be delayed.
But of course, they were overthinking it.
Right now, Gu Zhaoye’s mind was filled with just one thing—who had Liang Zhiwei gotten close to this time?
Work was not as important to him as they imagined.
Why?
Gu Zhaoye pondered deeply.
His feelings for Liang Zhiwei were complicated.
He knew she loved him, but it was precisely because he knew that, he looked down on her.
Back then, she had approached him out of desperation.
She agreed to be Ruan Nian’s stand-in.
He provided her with money and resources to get through the hard times.
That was all—nothing more.
He had used her to anger Ruan Nian many times, hoping she would come back to him.
When Ruan Nian finally did, he no longer needed the stand-in.
Of course, he still saw Liang Zhiwei a few more times after that, but once he solidified things with Ruan Nian, he cut Liang Zhiwei off for good.
Seeing the confusion and hurt in her eyes, he felt both a sense of superiority and emotional detachment.
That’s how he treated relationships—serious only about Ruan Nian.
But even so, how long had it been since Liang Zhiwei left him?
Just a year.
Had she already climbed her way up to someone else?
His expression darkened as he remembered how she always bent over backward to please him, never losing her temper, always smiling.
She really was good at catering to others.
The thought that she might now be doing the same for someone else made his expression grow colder.
He was determined to confront her.
No one but him—
Gu Zhaoye—could give her what she wanted.
If Liang Zhiwei thought otherwise, then she must’ve made the wrong move.
Meanwhile, Ruan Nian hung up the phone and crouched down, hugging her knees in exhaustion.
After a while, she looked up and asked,
“Is the filming done?”
Her assistant nodded slightly,
“It’s done. It had such a shattered feeling!”
This was the most serious PR crisis of Ruan Nian’s career.
She had to give it her all.
Ruan Nian breathed a sigh of relief and said,
“Hurry up and post the PR statement.”
The assistant immediately posted the pictures online, with the caption:
“Just saw Ruan Nian, she just came out of the police station. She looked so drained.”
Then came a series of explanations:
“This whole thing had nothing to do with Ruan Nian—it was her agent who acted on her own after hearing the news. Ruan Nian was shocked when she found out! As for the so-called insults to fans, Ruan Nian didn’t know what was going on. She was going upstairs when a fan shoved her, which is why she said those things—targeted at the sasaengs who were invading her privacy. The one who broke the fan’s camera wasn’t Ruan Nian, it was the director. Ruan Nian has always worked hard despite all the slander and storms she’s faced, rarely speaking up for herself. Is she really being doubted because of a few rumors?”
This round of PR actually worked to some extent.
At least, fans who were used to defending Ruan Nian started backing her again.
Still, even if she wasn’t at fault this time, fans were fed up with the constant controversies.
Some of them started calling out the agent: “Fire the agent! She keeps causing trouble!”
“How many incidents has she caused already?”
“Why keep an agent who only brings trouble? Does she have some kind of powerful backing?”
Watching the public opinion spiral again, Ruan Nian’s expression darkened.
These fans were impossible to deal with.
If her agent Li-jie was fired, who would take the fall next time something happened?
She tried to calm the fans herself, but this time the incident had blown up too much.
The fans, tired of seeing her get dragged through the mud, insisted on firing the agent.
Ruan Nian was dumbfounded.
Her assistant carefully asked,
“The boss just called. He wants to know if Li-jie really did all that. If she did, he’s considering replacing her too.”
That couldn’t happen.
Ruan Nian immediately wanted to stop it—but after thinking for a while, she had no idea how.
“Um…I need to think about it a bit more. I’ll reply to the boss later.”
“The boss wants a decision soon. He can’t tolerate her staying in the company if this is true. The show “Seasons of the Rich and Famous” is important, and we can’t have any more mess-ups. This one was even officially reported!”
Ruan Nian froze.
Did this mean she had no choice but to fire Li-jie?
What would she do after that?
No—what mattered more was what to do now.
After a while, she closed her eyes in despair.
Why did everything feel like it was falling apart?
“There’s no room for compromise?”
“None. The boss is furious.”
Ruan Nian hesitated for a long time.
In the end, she gritted her teeth to protect her own image.
She couldn’t admit it had been her fault.
“…Fine. I’ll talk to Li-jie.”
She’d also need to give Li-jie some hush money.
Though she believed in her loyalty, she couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t turn on her like those fans did if she got fired.
After such a chaotic day, Ruan Nian was completely drained—only to get a call from Li Xunxi.
Impatiently, she asked,
“Is it handled yet? Hurry back, our shop still needs to run.”
Even after all that, she was still being treated like a workhorse.
Ruan Nian took a deep breath and barely managed not to lash out.
She had to become the mistress of the Gu family.
Fast.
After the crowd was dispersed, fans were held back behind a barricade and couldn’t get in.
Once they saw the news online, most were shocked and began whispering among themselves.
Feeling guilty, many gradually left—after all, they weren’t going to see Ruan Nian that day anyway.
Only a few diehard fans remained.
Considering how bad things got, it was already lucky the show hadn’t been canceled.
The director felt like he’d narrowly escaped disaster.
To settle things quietly, he even paid for the fan’s broken camera out of his own pocket.
It was all because of Ruan Nian.
He had liked her before—even admired her for lowering her status to appear on the show after her agent stirred up trouble.
He had been grateful.
But after one incident after another, things between him and Ruan Nian just got more and more awkward.
He finally sent Ruan Nian back to continue filming, then checked his phone—only to be stunned by what he saw.
What the heck was this?
Who the hell wrote this press release?
“What?”
“They said he was the one who dropped the camera, and that’s what caused the conflict??”
“No, although it’s true he accidentally dropped it, can’t they just explain the full context clearly?”
“If Ruan Nian hadn’t secretly contacted fans to cheat, would all this messy stuff have happened? He stopped that fan just to prevent them from exposing how Ruan Nian bad-mouthed fans behind their backs!”
“Damn, what a reversal of the truth!”
The director had now truly seen what it meant to be betrayed by someone you tried to help—he was utterly fuming.
He grabbed his phone, ready to furiously type out a rebuttal.
But then he remembered—his show was still airing.
If he caused a scandal now, it could hurt the program, and that would be a major loss.
So, he forced himself to hold back.
But the more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in his mind—he remembered something he’d completely overlooked.
Wait…back when he was on the phone with Ruan Nian, discussing the incident, she had been near the hospital.
And someone on her side had said: “Nian Nian, you’ve been beaten up by Gu Zhaoping like this and you still won’t hold it against her?”
At the time, the director had genuinely felt sorry for her.
But later, when Gu Zhaoping showed up, Ruan Nian had already released all the evidence online—videos, surveillance footage, hospital records.
Ruan Nian was never actually beaten at all.
So where did that entire conversation come from?
The director, a veteran of the entertainment industry, suddenly felt a chill.
His pupils shrank.
Oh my God.
It seemed…he had just uncovered the real, explosive scandal.
The director gritted his teeth and put his phone away.
He’d wait until the show finished airing before making his move.
He glanced coldly at Ruan Nian, who was sitting beside him.
She didn’t look guilty at all, not the least bit apologetic—as if people like him, working behind the scenes, were just supposed to be scapegoats.
Fine.
If you’re going to be ruthless, don’t blame me for being heartless.
If Ruan Nian and her team pulled another dirty trick, he’d hit back—hard.
Meanwhile, Ruan Nian was completely unaware.
She’d returned to their restaurant, back to painstakingly preparing ingredients for her ninth slow-cooked dish.
This was in a building not far from the city’s commercial street.
At that moment, the CEO of a nearby company had just finished a business discussion and was walking out, smiling.
He noticed a group of employees passing by, chatting about a restaurant, and some celebrity.
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