Chapter 29

Ding Fengjiao’s team had always excelled at marketing hype. With her stunning beauty and strong backing from several industry moguls, she had spent the past few years cultivating an image of a glamorous, irresistible femme fatale. In the marketing copy her team bought, it was always the same story: every time she joined a production crew, there would inevitably be male actors falling at her feet.

Her fans even dubbed her a “male god harvester.”

Thanks to this carefully crafted public persona, she had managed to stay highly relevant, making her a rare actress in the industry who balanced both popularity and acting skills.

Otherwise, there was no way she could have landed the lead role in The Regent Prince.

After all, the entertainment industry was full of all kinds of people, and although her background was deep, there were others with even deeper roots. Take Luo Qingyao for example—his family had been directors for generations and were deeply entrenched in the industry. Trying to get into his productions through mere connections simply wouldn’t work.

Despite this, upon joining the crew, Ding Fengjiao didn’t abandon her marketing persona. On the contrary, even though Ji Hanzhang held an untouchable status in the industry, she wasn’t afraid to offend him. In fact, she even hoped to stir up a “clout-chasing” scandal to flirt with Ji Hanzhang.

She had long coveted this legendary “walking beauty” of the film industry.

That night, Ding Fengjiao’s studio posted on Weibo to announce her joining the crew, with an accompanying promotional photo of the Regent Prince and Su Xiaowei gazing affectionately at each other. Ding Fengjiao also shared the post on her personal Weibo, boldly tagging Ji Hanzhang and captioning it: “After so long, we finally meet.”

Almost simultaneously, several marketing accounts released some vague, ambiguous “clues,” hinting that the mysterious woman previously seen with Ji Hanzhang was actually Ding Fengjiao. They suggested that Ji Hanzhang’s studio had only described her as a fellow crew member to avoid stirring trouble.

Well, male and female leads—calling each other “colleagues” wasn’t technically wrong.

Netizens had already been curious about the “mystery woman.” The topic had cooled off only because the studio had handled it passively, and no further clues had emerged.

Now, with Ding Fengjiao’s studio stirring things up again, the curiosity was reignited. With the “clues” planted by marketing accounts and the guidance of internet trolls, it didn’t take long for people to let their imaginations run wild and start shipping them.

“At that time, wasn’t Ding Fengjiao still shooting an ad? And wasn’t the location also in S City? So Ji Yingdi left the set specifically to meet her? Then got into a car accident and the secret was accidentally exposed?”

“Aaaah, he loves her so much! Ji Yingdi is famous for being dedicated to his work. Once he joins a crew, he rarely goes out just to maintain his state. But now he actually broke his rule for Jiao Jiao. I’m hooked!”

“It’s not just that—he was about to join the crew and still insisted on meeting her. What does that say? That he couldn’t help himself!”

“As expected, our Jiao Jiao’s charm is irresistible. Even the cold and lofty Ji Yingdi isn’t immune! The title ‘male god harvester’ is well deserved!”

…

As a result, with the studio’s intentional push, three hashtags shot to the top of the trending list:
#MysteriousWomanDingFengjiao
#DingFengjiaoMaleGodHarvester
#DingFengjiaoJiHanzhang

---

As soon as Ji Hanzhang got to his room, he received a call from Deng Youhui, asking him to check the trending topics.

Over the phone, Deng Youhui sounded a bit exasperated: “I knew Ding Fengjiao’s team wouldn’t sit still, but I didn’t expect them to be so shameless. Do they really think you’re one of those little fresh meats she can summon and dismiss at will?”

Ji Hanzhang loosened his collar and scrolled quickly through the trending topics with one hand holding the phone. Out of nowhere, Jiang Shuwan’s words popped into his mind: “I hope you’ll open your eyes and see her. I don’t believe you’re completely blind.” He rubbed his temples and let out a quiet sigh.

He truly wasn’t Tang Sanzang, but Ding Fengjiao—she was starting to resemble a spider demon.

His personal Weibo was usually managed by the studio, mainly used to repost promotional content from production teams or brand partners.

Ji Hanzhang tapped a few times, logged into his account, and posted a new Weibo.

On the other end, Jiang Shuwan had just finished washing up and was about to read when her phone buzzed several times—messages from Xin Li on WeChat.

Lillian: LOL, Ding Fengjiao is really a joke. Trying to leech off my living Adonis? She kicked the iron wall this time!

Lillian: Xiao Wan Wan, look! Isn’t this the kind of handsome, humble man that makes your heart flutter? Time to give up that D-list nobody you’re clinging to!

Jiang Shuwan tapped the link Xin Li sent. It opened to Weibo, displaying Ji Hanzhang’s latest post:

@DingFengjiao First time meeting you. Welcome to the crew, Teacher Ding.

Fans flooded the comments with sarcastic replies:

“First time meeting—so Ding Fengjiao isn’t the mystery woman. Take note, everyone.”

“First time meeting—don’t confuse the role with the actor.”

“First time meeting—Old Ji is truly dedicated. Everything else is just gossip.”

“First time meeting—my male god is still my male god. No one can steal him. [Dog head emoji]”

“First time meeting—don’t be too confident, remember the mystery woman. [Side-eye emoji]”

…

The phrase “first time meeting” instantly became a meme.

Even nosy netizens went to the trending topic square and spammed “Ding Fengjiao’s face is too big.” Some bold ones even made a GIF meme where Ding Fengjiao’s face was being stretched back and forth, with flashing characters next to it: “Such a big face.”

If it hadn’t been for her team’s quick response, “Ding Fengjiao’s face is too big” would’ve made it onto the trending list as well.

The catch was, Ji Hanzhang’s post was completely flawless—no angle for Ding Fengjiao to argue or play the victim. They had no choice but to grit their teeth, pull down the trending posts, and pretend nothing happened.

After all, all that “mystery woman” and “male god harvester” talk came from the fans. It had nothing to do with Ding Fengjiao herself.

Although Ji Hanzhang’s wording was clearly more official and distant compared to Ding Fengjiao’s, the team tried to twist it as proof of her professionalism—after all, she was talking about Su Xiaowei, not herself.

Ding Fengjiao’s team tried desperately to save face. They even deployed some paid trolls to steer public opinion. It took a lot of effort just to suppress the backlash from this failed publicity stunt.

Jiang Shuwan scrolled through Weibo, finally piecing together the full picture. She couldn’t help but mumble, “See? You almost got entangled by a demon.”

She went back to Ji Hanzhang’s Weibo post and glanced at his profile picture—it was a ginkgo tree with golden leaves, radiant and warm. Jiang Shuwan stared at it for a few moments before her eyes drifted to the “+ Follow” button on the right. She tapped it.

Then, she put her phone down and opened her book.

---

Ding Fengjiao really did seem to be down on her luck. Her team had spent a lot of money to stir up buzz, only for Ji Hanzhang to post a single calm Weibo that instantly rendered all their efforts worthless. Not only did they lose their investment, they had to spend even more just to lower the heat.

Then, just as they’d finally managed to quiet things down, in the middle of the night, the West District Public Security Bureau of S City suddenly released a police report…

The main content of the bulletin was that the police had recently cracked down on a human trafficking criminal gang. More than thirty suspects had been arrested, and four abducted women—Sun XX, Zhao XX, Weng XX, and Ying XX—had been rescued on the spot. The case was currently under further investigation, and in the next phase, the police would conduct follow-up searches and rescue efforts based on the clues they had gathered. They also encouraged the general public to actively provide any relevant information.

At first, this bulletin didn’t attract much attention from gossip-hungry netizens. Only a few night owls happened to come across it and left some comments such as: “Human traffickers deserve to die,” “Absolutely shocking,” “Must investigate thoroughly,” and “So tragic, the victims must be rescued as soon as possible.”

That was until a certain “Sunflower” fan, who had followed the S City West District Public Security Bureau’s official Weibo account after they cleared Xia Xiangyang’s name, happened to see the new update. She quickly skimmed through it, then scrolled back up to reread the second-to-last paragraph of the bulletin:

“During the operation, a civic-minded citizen, Ms. Jiang, cleverly outwitted the criminal gang and lowered the guard of the suspect, Ma XX. She obtained key evidence and promptly contacted the police. With the assistance of fellow citizens Mr. Ji, Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Lin, she managed to stall the suspect long enough for law enforcement to arrive and successfully rescue the victims. With approval from higher authorities, our bureau intends to formally recognize Ms. Jiang, Mr. Ji, Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Lin for their courageous acts.”

Normally, any netizen would simply admire these civic-minded citizens for their bravery.

But this “Sunflower” had been in the fandom circles for years, and what’s more, Ji Hanzhang was her ultimate bias. When she saw the combination of Mr. Ji, Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Lin, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of suspicion.

She thought maybe she was just overthinking it, so she reread the bulletin carefully a few more times.

And the more she read, the weirder it seemed.

The time mentioned in the bulletin was the same day that Ji Hanzhang had been unexpectedly seen by a passerby at the police station. The bulletin mentioned “Shangsi Village,” which wasn’t far from the film city, and happened to fall under the jurisdiction of the same police station where Ji Hanzhang had been spotted.

Then, judging from the photos posted on Weibo that day, when Ji Hanzhang’s “team encountered an incident,” both his assistant Xiao Zhang and his chauffeur Lao Lin were present.

Mr. Ji, Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Lin.

It all matched up.

Then this “Sunflower” fan’s eyes fell back on the first sentence: “Ms. Jiang, a civic-minded citizen, cleverly outwitted the criminal gang.”

A spark of realization struck her.

Could the mysterious woman who had caused such a stir on the trending list back then actually be this very Ms. Jiang?

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became, feeling like she had stumbled upon the truth. But she didn’t dare to post anything reckless under the official police account, so she cautiously left a comment: “Citizen Mr. Ji, is he the well-known artist everyone is familiar with? If not, please ignore me, admin sis!”

After posting her comment, she immediately shared the Weibo post in the fan group and started explaining her theory in a flurry of messages.

The “Sunflowers” had already had a good impression of Ms. Jiang. After all, it was because of her that Xia Xiangyang hadn’t been wrongly canceled from the industry.

Now hearing that Ms. Jiang had once again stepped up and played a major role, even though they weren’t sure if it was the same person, they still excitedly flooded the official police Weibo.

Of course, fangirls tend to have plenty of fellow fangirl friends. Even if they don’t stan the same idol, as long as they’re not rivals, they usually get along just fine and enjoy sharing their fandom experiences.

Many of the “Sunflowers” had friends like that. Once they saw the police bulletin and read the discussion in the group chat, they couldn’t resist forwarding the post to other fan friends—especially those who were fans of Ji Hanzhang. They frantically messaged:

“Girl, go check this out! Is that Mr. Ji your beloved Old Ji? He’s being officially commended! Aaaah—is it him or not?!”

Soon, Ji Hanzhang’s fans swarmed the scene.

And just then, the official police account replied to the initial “Sunflower” commenter: “Mr. Ji is indeed a well-known and outstanding artist! wink emoji”

Almost at the same time, someone from Ji Hanzhang’s studio—dragged out of bed to work late—reposted the police bulletin with the caption: “Everyone has a responsibility to combat crime. Let’s work together to fight against human trafficking.”

By the early hours of the morning, two hashtags had shot up the trending list:

#JiHanzhang OfficiallyCommended
#ItWasn’tACarAccidentItWasAFightWithCriminals

Closely following were:

#CivicHeroMsJiangScoresAgain
#CivicHeroMsJiang = TheMysteriousWoman

And finally:

#UncoverWhoFalselyClaimedToBeTheMysteriousWoman