IDEI Ch22.1

At 8 PM, when the Red Bean Forum had the highest traffic, a post quietly appeared.

@momo: Qi Yanning was seen at a clothing wholesale market. Has his life become this miserable after he withdrew from the competition?

RT, my family is in the clothing business. I went to the A City clothing wholesale market today and saw Qi Yanning. He was walking deep into the market (where the cheapest clothes are). I thought idols, even if they are not popular, would wear designer brands. No one would fall to the point of wearing wholesale clothes. Is it really this bad for idols who withdrew from the competition?

@I, 188: Wow, that’s rough! Did his rich benefactor abandon him?

@Today is also annoying: Maybe he isn’t buying for himself… Could it be he’s going to sell at a night market? Hhhhh, the prince of street goods who used to sing and dance but now has gone downhill?

@Lemon Ice Americano: He deserves it, right? Instead of honing his skills, he resorted to underhanded methods. Speaking of which, I really feel for Luo Heng. Qi Yanning is doing such things, and he still claims to be a good person in his trainee vlog. Haha.

@Niu Bi 123: Yeah, yeah, Luo Heng’s genuine feelings for his friend have been wasted by Qi Yanning! Qi Yanning deserves to be a nobody for life!

…

As the discussion in the post stomped on Qi Yanning, it began to show pity for Luo Heng, who had once been Qi Yanning’s friend. For a time, it felt as if everyone was riled up, and those who spoke up for Qi Yanning were treated like hired guns. Under this overwhelming momentum, it seemed they were determined to nail Qi Yanning to the “shame post of betrayal.”

Afterward, the post was quickly moved to the Star Blog, where Qi Yanning’s dark past was dug up again, and the two trending topics rose and fell on the hot search list.

#Qi Yanning Deserves It#

#Feel Sorry for Luo Heng#

Under these two trending topics, Qi Yanning’s dirt was being spread everywhere, leaving people overwhelmed.

Qi Yanning was completely unaware of all this. He only found out about it after the hot search had been buzzing for several hours.

At that moment, he had just finished a meeting with the makeup and styling team. While he was still sorting through the key points of the meeting, Li Jinshi suddenly let out a gasp.

Qi Yanning frowned and looked up. The three little assistants were holding their phones, looking at him with worried expressions, while the others had various expressions on their faces.

He squinted his eyes and reached out to Li Jinshi.

“Qi, Qi-ge?” Li Jinshi held onto her phone, giving an awkward smile.

“Phone,” Qi Yanning said flatly, but Li Jinshi, who had hesitated a moment ago, now handed her phone to him obediently, as if someone had grabbed her by the neck.

Qi Yanning quickly skimmed through the trending topics and roughly understood what had happened.

“Qi-ge, don’t be angry,” Li Jinshi said cautiously. “We all believe in you!”

Wu Jianming and Chu Sixiu were nodding vigorously beside her.

Qi Yanning locked the screen of Li Jinshi’s phone and handed it back to her. “This isn’t worth getting angry over.”

“I’ve withdrawn from the competition, so the public opinion won’t affect me much.” Qi Yanning leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

He glanced at the people present, and they all quickly collected their expressions.

“Alright, this little matter is nothing. You can all go rest now.” He spoke up.

The remaining makeup artists and assistants felt relieved and quickly left the makeup office.

However, Li Jinshi and the others didn’t leave yet.

“Qi-ge, are you… really okay?” Chu Sixiu asked worriedly.

“Don’t worry,” Qi Yanning said with a light smile. “You’re all so young and worrying about so much.”

“But it seems some people have a poor memory.” He raised an eyebrow, and his gaze suddenly turned sharp.

The three little assistants felt a chill run down their spines.

Suddenly, Qi Yanning’s phone rang, breaking the silence in the room.

Looking at the caller ID, he saw it was a voice call from Ling Cangzhou. He raised an eyebrow and answered promptly.

“A-Ning? Have you seen the Star Blog?” Ling Cangzhou’s deep voice rang out, filled with obvious concern.

“Star Blog?” Qi Yanning replied in a calm, lazy tone. “Are you talking about my dark history being dug up again?”

Ling Cangzhou paused, then a hint of laughter emerged in his voice. “Yes. It seems that your mood hasn’t been affected?”

“Just a bunch of rats in the gutter,” Qi Yanning said, still sounding lazy, but a hint of coldness could be detected in his voice. “I haven’t had time to deal with them yet, but these people are jumping up and down.”

“Do you need me to help you deal with it? Although you don’t care, having it hanging there is still a bit annoying.”

“Not for now.” Qi Yanning narrowed his eyes. “The first way to resolve a rumor is to forcefully stop its spread. The second way—”

“Is to cover it up with a bigger rumor?”

“It’s time to teach that person behind the scenes a lesson and make them behave!”

＊

It was precisely the time for practice for the trainees, yet Luo Heng was hiding in the bathroom talking to the public relations company he had contacted. He was openly skipping training, which was causing their group’s rehearsal to come to a halt, while his teammates dared not voice their anger.

Since the second public performance when Luo Heng was threatened by Qi Yanning and lost all the spotlight to Pei Huan on stage, he had begun to feel anxious. He was originally not a gentle and warm person, and in this situation, his true temper had been exposed.

Many trainees distanced themselves from him, but due to his backing, they had to pretend to express admiration and gratitude towards him in front of the cameras, just like now.

He had no valid reason to leave training, yet his teammates had to come up with excuses for him on camera. They exchanged glances, their expressions not looking good.

As for Luo Heng, he was quite the opposite at that moment, a bright smile on his face.

Since Qi Yanning withdrew from the competition, he had been harboring resentment, keeping a close watch on Qi Yanning’s movements.

Your Star‘s management of personnel entry and exit is relatively strict, so he only knows that Qi Yanning entered Your Star as a makeup artist and is unaware of Qi Yanning’s abilities.

He always thought that Qi Yanning had entered Your Star by taking advantage of his sister Qi Yu, who works in Your Star‘s production team. At that time, he felt quite pleased, believing that Qi Yanning was completely useless.

Your Star‘s makeup artists frequently stand out, but he didn’t think this had much to do with Qi Yanning. However, when Qi Yanning attended the Chenxing Entertainment Gala, and then there were trainee idols thanking their makeup artists on the red carpet, he began to sense something was off.

He got in touch with a makeup artist who had been dismissed by Your Star and finally learned that the standout makeup work at Your Star was actually all done by Qi Yanning!

Even Pei Huan’s standout look was created by Qi Yanning!

Upon hearing this news, his face turned pale and then flushed.

Damn, why hadn’t Qi Yanning displayed such talent before?

If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have offended such a gifted makeup artist. Given their previous relationship, Qi Yanning would definitely have designed a fantastic look for him, and at that point, he could have skyrocketed to fame!

But now, it was already too late. He had completely made a bitter enemy of Qi Yanning.

Luo Heng’s expression was extremely grim as he gritted his teeth, his face darkening.

Since he had already made an enemy, he couldn’t allow Qi Yanning to continue developing! In such a short time, Qi Yanning had already connected with Chenxing Entertainment. If he allowed him to continue growing, it would be his own reputation that would be ruined!

Luo Heng made a firm decision. After the private investigator informed him about Qi Yanning being at the clothing wholesale market, he came up with a good idea.

He would use this incident to deepen the public’s impression of Qi Yanning’s scandal and step on him to build his own image of being pitiful.

Luo Heng’s plan was quite effective, and things developed just as he had imagined.

“Keep sending out the hired posters! Push the narrative to its peak, and then guide it toward gaining public sympathy for Luo Heng!” Luo Heng spoke viciously during the call.

The public opinion had already fermented for quite some time, and it was time to reap a wave of victory.

Unexpectedly, after a moment of silence on the other end, the voice became somewhat strange: “Are you sure? Luo Heng just had a scandal break; continuing to guide it in this direction may not have the best effect…”

The person on the other end continued speaking, but Luo Heng couldn’t hear anything anymore. His brain was buzzing—

Luo Heng… had a scandal?!

He trembled as he hung up the call and opened Star Blog.

#Luo Heng Plastic Surgery?# The entry was prominently displayed in the top five trending topics.

Luo Heng felt a rush of blood to his head as he clicked on the first Star Blog post, which was content from a marketing account rehashing the Red Bean Forum.

@Entertainment Duel: #Luo Heng Plastic Surgery?# There’s a post that details and compares Luo Heng’s photos over the years, exposing his plastic surgery history! What’s going on? Didn’t Luo Heng claim he was a natural face?[/confused]

[Image＊9]

In the comments section, Luo Heng’s fans were desperately trying to control the narrative, fiercely arguing with bystanders and fans of other idols.

@Heng Is My Eternal Heart: I’ve said it eight hundred times, my brother has a natural face, okay? Spreading rumors is illegal! Why not come and see the handsome Luo Heng’s latest stage! [Image]

@Heng Rides 10086: LOL, is there anyone who still doubts my brother Luo Heng’s face? [Image]

@A Bite of Melon: I always thought Luo Heng’s face looked a bit strange; it turns out it’s all because of technology!～

Luo Heng’s fans were working hard to control the comments. They naturally believed their idol’s words more than a questionable post and its content.

But at this moment, their idol Luo Heng’s pupils were constricted, and sweat was pouring down his face.

The screenshots from that post made him increasingly terrified.

Because what was written inside was all true.

Damn it, he had been abroad for so long, with very few old photos, and the only ones were of him as a chubby teenager. How did this person discover that he had undergone extensive surgery?!

Was it someone close to him who leaked the information? The phone slipped from his hand as Luo Heng nervously bit his nails, his eyes filled with panic and rage.

＊

At this moment, the originator of the public opinion was leisurely taking a spoonful of soup and gently sipping it.

“Is it good?” Ling Cangzhou rested his chin on his hand, sitting across from Qi Yanning, smiling as he asked.

“Not bad.” Qi Yanning glanced up at him before lowering his head to focus on drinking soup.

“How did A-Ning think to use Luo Heng’s plastic surgery against him?” Ling Cangzhou looked at Qi Yanning with a mixture of curiosity and amusement in his eyes.

“This is his weakness,” Qi Yanning said lightly.

When he guessed that the public opinion was instigated by Luo Heng, he immediately thought of a countermeasure.

Luo Heng had above-average singing and dancing skills, and his gentle, warm-hearted persona was well established. Attacking Luo Heng’s performance abilities? There had already been a wave of public opinion regarding that, but it did not significantly affect his fans’ affection for him. Even if Idol Competition was labeled as having weak skills, it didn’t harm its ratings that much.

In the current climate of public opinion, lacking strength wasn’t considered a significant scandal; even the original character, who was just a pretty face, could become a popular contestant.

With the capital backing him, Luo Heng’s persona wasn’t easily broken; Qi Yanning had to take a different approach.

He found some images from the original character’s memories. Luo Heng’s gaze toward the original character had always been strange, mixed with deep jealousy beneath his facade of false gentleness.

What could the original character have that would make Luo Heng so envious? Qi Yanning thought for a moment and quickly understood: it must be that strikingly handsome face, which ranked first in Idol Competition.

Compared to Qi Yanning’s naturally stunning good looks, Luo Heng’s features appeared much duller. It was only because he had crafted a warm persona, enhanced by just the right makeup, that he still looked relatively handsome.

But…

What if that beauty was fake? Qi Yanning narrowed his eyes.

He clicked into Luo Heng’s super topic and collected photos of Luo Heng from various periods from his big fans. Qi Yanning lowered his gaze at those photos. Previously, he had felt that Luo Heng’s face was somewhat incongruous; at this moment, comparing the photos from different periods made the changes in his face evident.

Qi Yanning let out a light laugh. The doctor Luo Heng found had decent skills, but no artificial traces could escape Qi Yanning’s eyes.

In his previous life, Qi Yanning rose from being a bullied nobody in the palace to becoming the apprentice of the Chief of the Tailor Bureau, relying on this pair of eyes.

Back then, he had been bullied by an older little eunuch and was sent to deliver clothes to the favored consort. On the way, he accidentally discovered that the color of the palace outfit was different from what he had seen before.

Seven-year-old Qi Yanning’s gaze was serious. He pondered for a moment, gritted his teeth, and ran toward the Chief of the Tailor Bureau’s residence. It was just noon, and he was sweating profusely from running; as soon as he entered, he rushed straight to the Chief.

“Chief! The color of this outfit is wrong!” He shouted, his body directly collapsing to the ground.

The Chief, disturbed from his rest, frowned at the dusty little boy, “What did you say?”

“The color of this outfit is wrong! It’s much duller than before!” Qi Yanning repeated, this time not only more resolute but also raising his head, his dark eyes staring straight at the Chief.

Seemingly influenced by his seriousness, the Chief indeed came to check the outfit.

Sure enough, it was wrong. The difference in color was minimal; the Chief didn’t actually discover the problem, but… the texture of the palace outfit had become somewhat rough.

The Chief’s expression darkened for a moment, then he resumed his usual smiling demeanor.

“Good boy, this matter…” the Chief spoke gently.

“I know nothing,” Qi Yanning lowered his head, saying respectfully.

“Good lad!” The Chief patted Qi Yanning and hurriedly left.

In the following days, Qi Yanning did not hear any rumors. He acted as if that day’s incident had never happened, quietly doing his menial tasks and struggling to survive in the palace.

Until the Chief took on apprentices, and he suddenly became the Chief’s chosen one, the ultimate winner.

Qi Yanning appeared utterly surprised and ecstatic on the outside, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.

This move was a gamble that paid off!

The Chief, who initially just wanted to express gratitude, after observing Qi Yanning for several days, saw that he was humble, calm, and collected. He genuinely appreciated this kid and subsequently imparted all his skills to him.

He always said, “A Nü, your eyes are your most important weapon.”

At that time, Qi Yanning, still called Yu Nü, always replied earnestly, “Master, I understand.”

Later on…

Qi Yanning closed his eyes, suppressing his deep thoughts.

However, his mood was still somewhat affected, so he became even more ruthless in his writing.

He began to dissect Luo Heng’s facial features on a blank page, analyzing them one by one, and used the photos to make the argument clearer.

He even casually drew several illustrations, recreating Luo Heng’s appearance before the plastic surgery in a hand-drawn manner.

By the time he organized all this material, it was already seven or eight o’clock. Several little assistants had long been sent back to rest by him.

Qi Yanning snapped out of his focus, rubbed his somewhat sore shoulders and neck, and looked up—

Only to see Ling Cangzhou sitting across from him.

Qi Yanning leaned back in his chair, raising an eyebrow and smiling, “What brought you here?”

Ling Cangzhou seemed to be lost in thought for a while before coming back to himself. He gestured toward the corner of the table where a thermos box was placed and smiled, “I passed by the Your Star base and brought you some food.”

Qi Yanning glanced at the night outside the window. He looked at him with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

Your Star‘s shooting base was in the suburbs, and Ling Cangzhou coming out to the suburbs at night… Is he camping in a suit while bringing soup?

Ling Cangzhou touched his nose, “Okay, I came over to see if you need my help.”

“Chenxing Entertainment has a very professional public opinion and public relations department; your trending topic will be resolved quickly.”

When he saw the trending topic initially, apart from calling Qi Yanning, he also considered whether to directly have the trending topic removed.

However, that thought only crossed his mind for a moment. He knew that, given Qi Yanning’s character, he wouldn’t want others meddling in his affairs. So he just had the public opinion department keep a close eye on the trending topic and didn’t rashly intervene.

But he couldn’t sit still either; so at quitting time, he got a bowl of soup from the cafeteria and drove directly to the Your Star shooting base.

Entering the makeup department office, he saw Qi Yanning diligently writing at one side of the conference table. He didn’t disturb Qi Yanning or intrude on what he was writing but quietly sat down opposite him.

He took out his phone and casually scrolled through it, but his gaze occasionally drifted to Qi Yanning.

A-Ning, you really are good-looking…

Qi Yanning sat upright and elegantly, with a straight back, his writing movements extremely serious but somehow exuding an effortless charm. The office’s lights shone down on him, casting a small shadow beneath his long eyelashes.

His nose was straight, and his thin lips slightly curled up in a relaxed state. But on Qi Yanning, such lips didn’t convey a sense of smile; instead, they emitted a subtle hint of sarcasm.

Ling Cangzhou remained silent, his gaze completely fixed on Qi Yanning.

He watched like this for an unknown amount of time until Qi Yanning raised his eyes, at which point he barely returned to his senses.

Qi Yanning smiled gently and didn’t reject his kindness. He handed the finished material to Ling Cangzhou, “Then I’ll trouble you with this.”

Ling Cangzhou took it. He had been very curious just now but had not looked out of politeness. Now, as he received the material, before even seeing the content, he was already astonished by Qi Yanning’s handwriting.