Xiao He was truly helpless this time.
Please don't imagine his family to be as amazing as they seem!
Xiao He was speechless and choked with emotion.
Please, his father has been working his whole life and is about to retire, but he's only a minor section chief. The way you're implying is that his father has become the bureau chief and is all-powerful in the bureau, doing whatever he wants.
Besides, his mother isn't a grade head! She's just an ordinary homeroom teacher who gets frustrated with her students every day. At most, when introducing herself to others, she'll ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) praise her as a senior teacher with rich teaching experience.
Please, I'm begging these people! His parents are retiring in a few years, please don't do this!
Xiao He was truly angry.
Moreover, Xiao He could tell that although these fabricated lies were very fake, they had a clear purpose. They even described his father's workplace and his mother's school in great detail, which at least showed that the person spreading the rumors was very familiar with his family situation.
In other words, they must have investigated him offline—although Xiao He had taken precautions against others using improper means to dig up information about his parents online, people will inevitably leave traces of their lives.
If those people were to investigate his parents' situation in reality, such things would be impossible to prevent.
This is why some people hate obsessive fans; their ability to infiltrate is terrifying. Even if they don't leave any traces online, they can still dig deep into the lives of celebrities outside the internet.
Although the people who deliberately exposed him this time were different from this group, it still served as a reminder to Xiao He that he should be more careful about his parents' future life, lest he encounter some terrible, irrational fans who would cause trouble for his parents.
Xiao He took a deep breath, organized all the evidence he had collected online, and then made another phone call to Liu Rulan.
"Hello? I'm about to check in. Get to the point."
“I have collected all the information and evidence about the rumor-mongers. Can you help me contact our lawyer and have him see which ones can be handed over and which ones cannot? I want to call the police and have all these rumor-mongers arrested.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end, then someone said "wait" and hung up.
About half a minute later, Liu Rulan called back, and this time the background noise of her call was much quieter.
"How did you obtain this evidence?"
Xiao He twitched the corners of his mouth and gave a wry smile: "Sister Liu, didn't you already guess it?"
He simply couldn't believe that someone as clever as Sister Liu wouldn't notice that in some of the previous online public opinion crises, there was an invisible hand tightly controlling the direction of public opinion.
Moreover, he was sometimes so well-informed that Sister Liu would only complain a few times but never question him further.
Xiao He and Liu Rulan were both aware of each other's limited abilities.
Liu Rulan showed no surprise, nor did she deny it. She simply chuckled and said, "It seems you're really angry this time."
I'm not even going to pretend anymore.
Xiao He lowered his voice and said, "They've gone too far this time."
The rules of the underworld don't extend to family members, but these people are too ruthless, so don't blame them.
"Sure."
The sound of Liu Rulan pushing her suitcase came from the other end of the phone.
Weren't you about to board the plane?
Xiao He sensed something was off about the voice.
“Go back to the studio and I’ll liaise with a lawyer for you,” Liu Rulan replied. “I’ll personally oversee this; just handle the flight rebooking.”
"......Thanks."
"It's alright, this is my agent's job anyway. You've already done a lot of work by providing so much help. However, regarding Xingchen Pictures, even if you've found out something, don't act rashly. Their situation is much more complicated than what we have now. Moreover, I personally think that the higher-ups are unaware of Qin Lezhang's actions. They might not necessarily blacklist you because of Qin Lezhang."
Given the unclear situation, it would be unwise to rashly confront a large corporation at this time.
"I know."
Xiao He didn't intend to be stubborn. "After this incident, they probably won't make any more moves for a while."
"Okay, but..."
The voice on the other end hesitated for a moment.
Xiao He smiled helplessly: "Sister Liu, just say it."
"Don't have too high hopes for this award," Liu Rulan said in a low voice. "The situation is very tense, but it's not like there's no news at all."
"Ha, is that all?" Xiao He chuckled. "The contenders for Best Supporting Actor this year are all very strong, and I, as a newcomer, am at a disadvantage."
Even when he was shortlisted, Xiao He could guess that he probably had no chance.
Youth is his greatest asset, but it is also his obstacle.
This is the White Magnolia Award, one of the three major TV drama awards in China. Xiao He was competing against other contestants from the same period, who were all over forty years old and veterans in the industry. It was already a miracle that he was nominated.
Xiao He sneered, "In fact, given the current situation, I'd rather not win this award. If we do, those people will seize the opportunity to stir up a new wave of controversy. Right now, I just hope those rumor-mongers all get out of here."
He'll win some awards eventually, but there are some people he can't tolerate right now.
"Okay, I understand what you're thinking."
...
After hanging up the phone, the fire burning in Xiao He's heart finally subsided.
However, Xiao He soon turned his attention to investigating Qin Lezhang.
He wanted to see just who this Qin Lezhang was, that he was so arrogant.
Qin Lezhang's family background has been circulating online for a long time, and fans bring it up to boast about it every now and then. However, the online personas are a mix of truth and falsehood, and Xiao He is genuinely curious about the real situation.
A few minutes later, he learned the truth about Qin Lezhang.
Qin Lezhang's family background is indeed quite different from what his fans boast about, but it is still a background that many people can only dream of.
His maternal grandfather was a professor of Peking Opera who had taught many students. Many people in the Peking Opera performing arts circle were willing to give him some face. His maternal grandmother worked in a famous troupe in Beijing, his mother was a famous dancer, his paternal grandmother was a famous calligrapher, and his paternal grandfather used to be an official in a certain bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. Although he had retired and his voice had weakened, he was still a big man.
Qin Lezhang's background truly makes him a descendant of an "artistic family".
His father is the general manager of Xingchen Entertainment, and is currently the person in charge.
Qin Lezhang's ability to leverage his status as the "crown prince of Xingchen Entertainment" for large-scale marketing is inextricably linked to his father's current position. Moreover, given their family's situation, they are indeed a force to be reckoned with for many in the industry.
However, now that the old man has retired, the Qin family, in a sense, has no connection with the government anymore. Many investors are willing to give them some face, but that doesn't mean they're afraid of them.
However, it should be clarified that Star Smile Entertainment is just one entertainment company under Star Smile Pictures, while the real entity with huge capital and influence is Star Smile Pictures, also known as the group.
Qin Lezhang's father is currently only a minor shareholder of Xingchen Pictures, and a semi-senior employee. He doesn't have much real power or say in the group.
As for why they were able to use the name "Xingchen Pictures" to market Qin Lezhang's identity, that was naturally Qin Lezhang's father's doing.
After all, one is a conglomerate and the other is an entertainment company under the conglomerate, both bearing the name "Star Smile." Many people outside the conglomerate don't have such a clear concept, and often can't even distinguish the relationship between "Star Smile Pictures" and "Star Smile Entertainment."
In addition, Qin Lezhang has indeed been the "crown prince" of Xingchen Entertainment for many years, and has been closely tied to projects under Xingchen Pictures for a long time. So, the group has naturally turned a blind eye to this over the years. They can't really clarify Qin Lezhang's identity and issue a notice to tell everyone that Qin Lezhang is just using Xingchen Pictures' name and that he is not the "crown prince" of Xingchen Pictures.
Thus, taking advantage of the information gap among netizens, Qin Lezhang, backed by powerful figures, established his reputation as the most powerful playboy in the industry.
The persona you're portraying is all about being bold and shameless.
As for Xingchen Pictures blacklisting Xiao He, that's completely a case of a fox borrowing the tiger's power. It's just that Xingchen Entertainment has become arrogant over the years by using the group's name, and some production teams don't dare to confront them head-on. So, in their choices, they deliberately avoid Xiao He to avoid trouble. The group's senior management may not even know who Xiao He is.
However, this matter cannot be left unresolved indefinitely; we should at least cause them some trouble...
As he perused the documents, Xiao He's thoughtful gaze finally settled on Qin Lezhang's father.
The root of Qin Lezhang's arrogance lies in the fact that he has such a father.
Since you say my father has a problem, then let me ask you—
Can your father withstand investigation?
