BDB Chapter 63

His personal intervention was certainly feasible.

However, sometimes it was not appropriate for the person directly involved to get involved in dealing with rumors.

Even if the explanation was well-reasoned, there would always be people accusing one of making excuses. In the end, it might only worsen the situation.

Xiao Zhang had tried to reason with him, citing examples of celebrities who had ended up in worse situations after personally addressing public controversies. Despite his efforts, the president remained unmoved.

Li Jueyan, seemingly unaffected by the situation, had only spoken up when he was finally exhausted from swallowing his frustration. “What am I afraid of? Being disgraced?”

He had few fears. Now, his only remaining fear was losing her and failing to protect her.

Given their hierarchical relationship, Xiao Zhang could only offer advice but couldn’t alter the president’s decisions.

With the influence of Li Group, while ordinary Weibo verification required a waiting period of one to seven days, Li Jueyan had managed to secure a verified yellow V account in less than half a minute.

However, he didn’t rush to post anything right away. Instead, he waited for a full three days, until netizens, using their formidable sleuthing skills, discovered his Weibo account and the frenzy of insults and provocations reached a peak under the automatically posted first tweet by [Weibo Assistant]. Only then did he publish an official post.

Even though the number of netizens at that time was not as high as in later years, many had computers at home and mobile phones with 2G internet. Around nine in the evening, when most people had finished school or work, the increased media coverage had significantly boosted Weibo’s traffic. Hence, after the hot search rankings were updated, many people quickly noticed the latest development in the trending Jiang Tang incident.

—The other party involved in the incident had finally spoken out!

Sister Wang, Jiang Tang’s manager, was naturally aware of this hot search. In fact, she had been almost constantly glued to Weibo these past few days! After all, this person was the most successful one under her management. While she was infuriated on her behalf, she also thought this rich young lady had a hole in her brain—to have secretly gotten married without even telling her.

Was marrying into a rich family that easy? It was said that if a man was trustworthy, even a sow could climb a tree!

Although this man was their behind-the-scenes big boss, after working with Jiang Tang for so many years, Sister Wang didn’t just rely on her for fame and profit. She hoped Jiang Tang would have a good life too.

But this one under her management had believed the man and had chosen to quit her thriving career, refusing to act in dramas or participate in variety shows to make money.

And what happened? After finally returning to acting, she was cornered by a scheming little minx from the same crew!

However, upon checking the hot search rankings and entering the blog content page, Sister Wang realized she might have misjudged the situation.

She had considered many possibilities before. She thought Li Group might issue an explanation, send a lawyer’s letter, or leak information to shift public attention.

At the most despicable, if President Li had no genuine feelings for the mistress, he might even shift all the blame onto the other party.

She never imagined that after days of inaction, President Li would make a major move, stepping forward himself and presenting a bunch of bewildering evidence.

The evidence consisted of nine items, including Jiang Tang’s entry and exit records, a hospital admission certificate from a medical facility in Country M, multiple-angle photos of Jiang Tang in a patient gown, and a marriage certificate alongside a divorce certificate.

Caption: [See for yourself]

Anyone with internet access would naturally click on this Weibo post, and those who did would start examining it immediately.

Netizens, initially curious about what extravagant excuses he might come up with to fool the public, were eager to find faults in his somewhat curt three-word response.

However, they soon discovered that while the couple had indeed obtained a marriage certificate, the date on the certificate was much later than Jiang Tang’s date of departure and her admission date. 

What was even more surprising was that the date on their divorce certificate was no more than two days apart from the time on Jiang Tang’s entry proof.

If all these documents were genuine, and the marriage certificate wasn’t obtained in person, plus the fact that they divorced just after your return, then what kind of couple are you two?

There were not many comments holding this view, but there were still quite a few. Sister Wang scrolled for a long time before finally finding a netizen who shared her perspective.

The person mentioned that Jiang Tang had indeed been seen at the airport and had even signed autographs. This was also what Sister Wang wanted to say.

During this period, she had met Tangtang multiple times and had urged her to take on some work.

Although she had refused every time, Sister Wang had indeed seen her in person.

However, the passport entry and exit records indicated that Jiang Tang had not entered or left the country during this period, leaving Sister Wang perplexed about what was really going on.

After all, while ads for fake documents were common, openly posting fake documents on a public social platform to prove one’s innocence was a method only a truly foolish person would consider.

Clearly, based on the rumors she had heard before, President Li was not such a person.

Unable to piece together the logic behind it, Sister Wang could only place her hopes on the person involved, with whom she had a good relationship.

But when she pulled out her phone to call Jiang Tang, the familiar female voice on the other end said, “Hello, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later…”

Sister Wang nearly threw her phone in frustration.

She had initially wanted to risk helping Jiang Tang privately, driven by a sense of humanitarianism and past relationships.

It seemed she didn’t need her help at all.

Fine! She was left with some peace of mind, not having to worry about being fired for interfering.

But this time, she was wrong.

While Jiang Tang had indeed been avoiding phone calls previously, she was now unable to answer them.

How did President Li obtain the evidence on his Weibo?

It wasn’t through illegal means or flattery from someone who provided the evidence to him. After all, the stock prices of Li Group had dropped several percentage points due to the incident’s fallout within just three days. It was fortunate if business partners didn’t take advantage of the situation, let alone help him.

Yet, the evidence had indeed been delivered to him.

The arrival of the evidence bearer was timely. If there had been another night’s delay, Li Jueyan might have gone to confront them himself.

The visitors were not one but three: an elderly couple and a younger person, creating a picture of a harmonious and happy family in a different context.

However, the lone male standing in the middle now had a humble attitude, his face creased into a stiff, forced smile, “President Li.”

At that moment, Li Jueyan appeared to be in the midst of his work. Upon hearing this, he looked up at the visitors.

The man smiled back, but Li Jueyan’s response was a cold, unsettling smile. The man’s ingratiating demeanor contrasted sharply with Li Jueyan’s icy expression.

As a former father-in-law, with the marriage arrangement between their children, the Jiang and Li families had collaborated more than once or twice, and Jiang Dongcheng had followed Li Jueyan on several projects.

Thus, Jiang Dongcheng knew that the smile was not meant for amicable interaction but was indicative of a desire to destroy him.

Immediately, he bowed at a ninety-degree angle and placed his hands on the backs of the two women beside him, “Apologize to President Li.”

The woman on the left complied and bowed, while the woman on the right resisted. Frustrated, Jiang Dongcheng quickly slapped the woman on the right, then hastily bowed himself.

The woman on the left was Bai Yurou, and the woman on the right was Jiang Tang.

After being slapped, Jiang Tang’s face quickly turned pink, then red.

Her back remained straight, refusing to bend.

Li Jueyan’s gaze lingered on her for only a moment before he turned away. Although he didn’t know much about his fiancée, it was clear that such a thoughtless scheme wasn’t something a seasoned person in the entertainment industry would devise.

As expected, Jiang Dongcheng’s subsequent words confirmed his suspicion, “It’s all their fault. My wife is not very bright, and Tangtang is young and her condition is just stabilizing, so she was obediently following the plan. I leave them to you and beg you, President Li, to show leniency and forgive the Jiang family for the sake of past relations.”

In just three days, the stock price of Li Group had fallen continuously, which was a significant blow.

However, the Jiang family’s ongoing projects were plagued with problems, numerous board members and senior executives faced calamities, and their products were exposed for failing quality inspections—these were far worse.

Jiang Dongcheng had initially paid little attention to these mishaps, but as the accidents piled up, it became apparent they were deliberate. His secretary had then informed him of the foolish acts his family had been secretly involved in.

It was known that even a dead camel was larger than a horse, and Li Group’s assets could buy more than ten Jiang families. Even if they truly wanted to bring down the Li Group, they shouldn’t have been so blatant.

Yet, these two fools were not only blatant but also ignored their past actions, falsely attributing fabricated issues to Li Group and accusing Li Jueyan of having an affair and seeking a mistress.

Not only was it rumored that the “mistress” was someone’s lifeblood, but even if she were indeed a mistress, what did it have to do with them? Could they gain substantial benefits from this?

——