WAM CH8

The clarification statement was issued shortly after, compiled and released by a proxy lawyer. Neither Shao Si nor Gu Yanzhou expressed any personal stance throughout the entire process; their respective managers didn’t want the artists overly involved in this matter.

As if this situation were genuinely of any real importance.

It was perhaps the most unique clarification statement in the history of the entertainment industry. It included an email from the internationally renowned jewelry designer David, stating that although the design was niche, it was absolutely not a wedding band, but rather a decorative ring he had created several years ago.

Then, the statement went on to explain Shao Si’s accidental exposure… of his underwear.

— Liars! Do you really think we can’t tell the difference between underwear and a tattoo?

— That is clearly a tattoo!

— I think it’s underwear! You bunch of blind bats!

This scandal instantly morphed into a dispute between underwear and a tattoo. It was even more controversial than the debate a few years ago over whether a certain dress was ‘blue and black’ or ‘white and gold’.

The photo of Shao Si’s accidental exposure was snapped by a fan. It caught him bending over to pick something up while attending an event. The image quality wasn’t good, and it was slightly blurry.

From the photo, not only could you see a corner of a black underwear band, but you could also see a section of his lean waist.

…His waist was actually quite thin.

For the first time, Chen Yang found himself laughing while scrolling through Weibo, despite previously being annoyed by this ‘waves without wind’ incident. After chuckling a couple of times, he felt it was a bit inappropriate, so he coughed, adjusted his expression, and said to Gu Yanzhou, “The statement has already been released. It might not die down immediately, but it’ll be fine after a while.”

Gu Yanzhou had his eyes closed, allowing the makeup artist to apply powder. Hearing this, he said nothing.

Chen Yang thought for a moment and added, “That Shao Si is quite interesting. I remember you used to like him a lot, right? When he first debuted, you even praised him…”

Gu Yanzhou’s eyelids twitched.

“Why are you so averse to him now?” Chen Yang rarely saw Gu Yanzhou hold a bias against anyone.

Gu Yanzhou opened his eyes. Normally, his face always carried a faint smile, making him look gentle and humble. But right now, with makeup being applied, his face was devoid of expression. Looking at him like this, one would surprisingly feel that this Best Actor Gu—always renowned for his ‘gentleness’—actually looked quite cold, with an intimidating hostility deep in his eyes.

Gu Yanzhou glanced at Chen Yang and smoothly changed the subject. “Brother Yang, help me grab my script.”

Chen Yang got up to fetch the script. After pausing for a moment, he still couldn’t hold back and continued, “Let me think, how did you phrase it back then… ‘This kid is quite talented and looks good too’… If I remember correctly, didn’t you even praise his figure?”

When Shao Si first debuted, he filmed a swimming-themed movie about a child with a heart condition who dreamed of becoming a national swimmer. The film frequently featured shirtless scenes with him wearing only swimming trunks.

…

The hand Gu Yanzhou used to flip through the script paused, and he gestured for the makeup artist to stop applying powder.

Only after the makeup artist packed up and left did he lean back in his chair, crack his knuckles, and say nonchalantly, “You remembered wrong.”

The more Chen Yang thought about it, the more he found Gu Yanzhou’s attitude interesting. He deliberately insisted, “I wouldn’t remember wrong.”

Gu Yanzhou relaxed his hands and checked the time. “It’s almost nine o’clock. Don’t you need to head back to the company?”

Chen Yang thought to himself, Could you change the subject any more obviously?

However, no matter how they clarified, the scandal between Shao Si and Gu Yanzhou continued to ferment. This kind of thing was like having a chamber pot dumped on your head; even if you took the pot off, the stench lingered.

People didn’t care about the truth; they only wanted to believe what they wanted to believe. There was no stopping the mouths of millions of netizens, nor stopping them from taking sides.

The day passed quickly.

The sky gradually darkened, and the air felt oppressive; a rainstorm would likely hit during the night.

Just as the city finally quieted down, another explosive incident was quietly brewing.

“…I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough,” it was a woman’s hoarse voice. She first muttered lowly, then suddenly raised her volume, emitting a sound like a sharp knife scraping against metal, startling to hear. “—You forced me!”

That voice seemed to pour out every ounce of strength from her chest, her teeth seemingly laced with poison.

She forced the words out of her throat syllable by syllable, repeating, “You forced me.”

Whatever the person on the other end of the phone said, the woman’s expression quieted down, but only for a second. A second later, her eyes curved, and she grinned, laughing out loud.

Her soft, gentle laughter echoed in the room.

But the expression on her face didn’t match at all. Her mouth, smeared with bright red lipstick, split almost to her ears in a bizarre smile.

At this moment, she had her back to the balcony. The glass doors connecting the second-floor living room to the balcony were wide open. The wind blew the curtains, and through the fluttering sheer fabric, one could glimpse the pitch-black night outside.

The woman was wearing a costume—a water-blue qipao that accentuated her curvy figure beautifully.

Laughing, she said, “Yes, I can’t fight back against you. I’ve been manipulated by you my whole life, living miserably like a bug… but you’ll get your retribution… you will get your retribution.”

Having finished, the woman didn’t listen to the other party’s response. She slowly lowered the hand holding the phone from her ear. The screen was still lit, showing the call duration continuously ticking upward.

The person on the other end was still talking non-stop, and their voice was quite loud. Even through the air, a few distinctly articulated words pierced through and reached her ears.

‘Bitch.’

‘Slut.’

‘Fuck.’

“…So noisy,” the woman seemed to say softly, and then she hung up the phone.

She bent down, picked up a white medicine bottle from the table, poured herself a glass of red wine, and then walked toward the balcony holding them.

It was already very late, and this house was clearly in a remote location. The woman sat on the edge of the balcony in an extremely dangerous posture, her feet dangling in the air.

She gazed into the distance for a long time but didn’t see many lights.

So cold, she thought.

The woman twisted open the medicine bottle. The vintage agate ring on her finger gleamed with a low-profile luster in the night. Even though she wore a luxurious costume with exquisite stitching, this was her only accessory.

Perhaps she noticed the ring too, because she froze, as if remembering something.

Thus, she set down the medicine bottle and dialed another contact’s number.

The name displayed was: Big Brother Gu.

[I have a bad feeling.]

At 6:30 AM the next morning, the system woke Shao Si up. […Really, I just feel like something isn’t right.]

[What is it… this early in the morning.]

Shao Si rolled over. He had spent the entire previous day studying the materials the private detective sent him. The file contained organized photos and itineraries. Among them was a secretly recorded video of Yang Yinyin looking unwell and being supported into the company building by her manager and assistant.

He wondered just how sick a normal person would have to be to convulse all over as if they had taken drugs.

…Drug use wasn’t entirely impossible either.

Last year, he and the system had teamed up and taken down several drug users. However, catching a drug user only rewarded one year of lifespan, and going 50/50 with this broken system meant they each got half a year.

But when issuing the target list this time, the system had clearly stated that completing the mission would reward ten years of lifespan. Ten years—even split with the system, that was still five years.

Therefore, this mission was definitely not that simple.

At this moment, the system suddenly fell silent. After a good while, just as Shao Si was about to fall back asleep, it cried out again: [Something’s really wrong. Yang Yinyin’s fate has changed. Did something happen to her?]

[…Don’t jinx it.]

After saying that, Shao Si remembered the system’s past track record of ‘jinxing’ things and got a headache. Resigning himself to his fate, he opened his eyes and sat up.

Although the system was broken, among its few remaining abilities, its jinxing power had always been quite strong. One hundred percent accuracy.

Shao Si turned on the light, grabbed his phone from the nightstand, and the moment it connected to the internet, a ding-dong signaled a hot Weibo push notification.

— Shocking! Actress Y found dead late at night! Suspected suicide, exact cause of death still under further police investigation.

[Actress Y…] Shao Si scratched his hair. [Yang Yinyin…? System, your jinxing mouth is incredibly potent.]

System: [I didn’t want this either.]

[If the mission target dies, does the mission count as a failure?]

In all the missions Shao Si had done before, he had never encountered a situation like this. Basically, they were all arrested by the police after he completed the mission.

However, contrary to his expectations, the system replied: […No, it doesn’t.]

[Then how is she still a mission target?] Shao Si fell back onto the bed, staring blankly at the word ‘dead’ in the report.

[She died, but the thread she was connected to hasn’t broken.]

The system gave an ambiguous explanation: [As long as the dark secret remains, the mission will not terminate.]

This happened too suddenly. Initially, Shao Si preferred to believe it was fake news, just like his marriage to Gu Yanzhou.

But it was real.

Especially when Li Guangzong called and cautiously tried to have a heart-to-heart with him.

“Dad, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Life is always the most important thing. I know the company has arranged a lot of schedules for you recently, and sometimes my attitude isn’t the best either… I’ll be gentler with you in the future and be more tolerant of your bad temper. We have to keep clear heads. No matter when or what happens, choosing suicide is absolutely wrong…”

It was only then that Shao Si’s heart truly sank.

Naturally, the media wouldn’t immediately make such news public, especially when the cause of death hadn’t been confirmed. But whether someone was dead or not, the people in the circle were definitely the first to know.

Shao Si felt a chill in his heart: “Yang Yinyin is really dead?”

“You found out?” Li Guangzong was surprised at first, then sighed lamentably. “Dead, completely dead. Swallowed a whole bottle of sleeping pills and then jumped from the second floor.”

“Tell me, what problem couldn’t be resolved properly? Why did she have to take things so hard and choose suicide? Once you’re gone, isn’t everything gone… She didn’t even leave a suicide note or anything…”

Li Guangzong paused midway. “But there is one thing that’s very strange. When she jumped, she was wearing that qipao from Tales of the Old Beacon Fire—you know, that really popular Republican-era TV drama from last year.”