CHAPTER 29 (PART 2)

Jiang Su added, “Hmm, so when both sides only care about their own interests, the fight is bound to be spectacular!”

She had the face of a young girl, and even her tone was light and airy, seemingly innocent.

Yet the words she spoke made them freeze for a moment and instinctively feel a chill.

By the time they snapped out of it, Jiang Su had already walked away.

Yu Xinyan opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but all she heard was Li Mo’er saying, “She likes grapes.”

Yu Xinyan: ?

Wait, that’s all you took away from that conversation?

The results for the third performance’s voting came out quickly.

• Jiang Su: 190,233 votes
• Li Mo’er: 112,200 votes
• Yu Xinyan: 103,812 votes
• Ding Xuan: 103,811 votes
• …

Gossip forums across the internet were speechless.

[Miss Ding is faking it so blatantly. Just one vote apart? She’s obviously manipulating the numbers—stopping right before the top three so she doesn’t provoke the biggest fanbases, but also making sure she doesn’t lose even a single point.]

[She probably wanted to show off her strength at first, but then she realized she was completely outclassed by Jiang Su. So now she’s gone all out, letting us “peasants” see how powerful her capital backing is.]

[Dong Jiayu is pitiful—was she pressured by the production team? Her clean reputation is getting ruined by Ding Xuan.]

[Pitiful? She has Cheng Yue backing her. Who would dare pressure her into anything?]

At first, this comment didn’t gain much attention, but gradually, people started bringing up this “Mr. Cheng.”

Dong Jiayu had actually mentioned “Mr. Cheng” quite a few times in public. She never explicitly said “Cheng Yue,” leaving room for speculation, letting gossip magazines and fans dig into it.

This way, she wouldn’t seem too lowly in front of Cheng Yue.

Once someone brought up Cheng Yue, everyone suddenly remembered.

[Wait, is Dong Jiayu’s “Mr. Cheng” really Cheng Yue?]

[Yeah, wasn’t that confirmed ages ago?]

[Damn, if that’s the case, then no one would dare threaten Dong Jiayu.]

[Unless… she’s actually not clean and made some kind of deal with Ding Xuan.]

Ding Xuan’s blatant vote manipulation was already sparking public outrage, and now it had dragged in Dong Jiayu and an even bigger capital force behind her.

This was turning into a scandal people just couldn’t look away from.

The forum thread’s popularity was skyrocketing.

Jiang Su lounged on the sofa, lazily tapping away at her phone screen.

She had hidden her IP address and watched as the discussion unfolded exactly as planned, leading down the path she had set…

Still not enough.

Jiang Su popped a grape into her mouth.

You love waving the Cheng Yue flag, don’t you? Love hinting that the original host of this body was so madly loved by him?

She kept typing away:

[Dong Jiayu is really something~ She’s Cheng Yue’s one and only “pure moonlight.”]

Even though that was just the original host’s wishful thinking.

Jiang Su kept going:

[Cheng Yue adores her. Whenever she films a kissing scene, he gets so jealous—like, three whole baskets of jealousy.]

Whatever, just make stuff up for now.

Dong Jiayu would probably dream of this being true.

Jiang Su, finding it still not ridiculous enough, continued:

[When Dong Jiayu got sick, Cheng Yue literally ran from a business meeting, floored the gas pedal at 800 mph, and personally carried her to the hospital.]

After a moment’s thought, it still didn’t feel real enough.

It needed a more down-to-earth, slice-of-life detail.

She added:

[Cheng Yue even cooks for her every single day.]

And on and on she went.

Meanwhile, the audience in the behind-the-scenes livestream had no idea what she was up to. Seeing the slight smirk on her lips, the comment section exploded.

[Our baby’s smile is so cute!]

[What fun thing are you up to, sweetheart?]

[I have to admire her. Ding Xuan is pulling all these dirty tricks, and Jiang Su is still having the time of her life? Tomorrow is the final group debut night!]

After spinning a web of ridiculous lies in the post, Jiang Su finally tossed her phone aside and went to take a bath before bed.

At that moment, Cheng Yue had just returned from a business trip.

He was picky about his sleeping environment, only able to rest well in familiar settings, so he often had trouble sleeping.

Now, he looked utterly sleep-deprived and radiated an intimidating aura. His assistant didn’t even dare glance at him.

A ding sounded.

The assistant’s phone vibrated with a new message.

He glanced down at it and then looked up in shock.

After hesitating for a long moment, he finally said, “There’s a trending post online… for some reason.”

Cheng Yue’s name rarely appeared online.

Because he didn’t like being discussed.

His PR team constantly monitored his name as a keyword—whenever it popped up, they’d demand the platform take it down immediately.

But “Mr. Cheng” was a common title. There were countless people with the surname Cheng, so no one bothered managing that.

Yet today, his full name had been called out loud and clear.

And the people around him… they had all seen Dong Jiayu at his side before. They weren’t sure what their relationship was, but between a man and a woman, what else could it be?

The post was written in such a detailed and vivid manner… Could it be someone from Actress Dong’s side digging things up, trying to force a confrontation?

The staff weren’t sure, so they reported it to Cheng Yue’s assistant.

The assistant swallowed nervously and said, “It’s about you and Actress Dong.”

Cheng Yue frowned, his face darkening. “What is this?”

The assistant hesitated for a moment, recalling the contents of the post, then decided to hand over his phone. “Take a look?”

Cheng Yue took the phone, and within moments, his expression was clouded with rage.

“Dong Jiayu is my untouchable, pure first love? Hmm?”

“I carried her to the hospital and didn’t even care about business?”

“I personally cooked for her? Ha!”

“Who the hell in this world deserves that?”

“What kind of nonsense is this?!”

The assistant instinctively hunched his shoulders, keeping completely silent.

“This stupid garbage, do I even need to see it? You couldn’t just delete it?” Cheng Yue lifted his gaze, staring coldly at the assistant.

The assistant stammered, “It’s just that… the staff weren’t sure if they should delete it. They don’t know who posted it… What if we accidentally offend Actress Dong?”

“What does slapping her face have to do with me?”

Assistant: ?

Assistant: “But… but isn’t she your woman?”

“Who the hell told you that?”

The assistant was stunned.

Well… now that he thought about it, it had always been people saying, “I heard Actress Dong and Mr. Cheng grew up together,” or “I heard Actress Dong and Mr. Cheng have a special relationship.”

In the end, it was all just rumors.

But it was true that Dong Jiayu often appeared by Mr. Cheng’s side.

Then again, when had there ever been any other women around Mr. Cheng?

Even his assistants were all men.

So, of course… people just… assumed?

“Where is Dong Jiayu?” Cheng Yue suddenly asked.

The assistant shuddered at the sound of his voice and stammered, “I think she’s at the hospital? I—I’m not sure. But I do know where she’s going tomorrow. She’s attending the Idol Trainee Girls finale.”

Cheng Yue let out a cold chuckle.

“She really likes using my name, doesn’t she?”

“Well, not exactly…” The assistant paused mid-sentence, then suddenly realized something. “But now that you mention it… every time she speaks, she always phrases things in a way that… implies something without saying it outright. You don’t think about it at first, but when you do…”

“Like last year, she came to the company and gave everyone some Hainan specialties. She said something like—‘Mr. Cheng always praises how good this tastes, so I brought some for you all too.’”

The assistant spoke more fluently the more he went on, “See? She didn’t directly mention any relationship between you two, right? But as assistants, our job is to read between the lines. And this line… the more you think about it, the worse it gets! Mr. Cheng always praises it—see that ‘always’? That implies you talk to her a lot. And who gets to talk to you that often? Plus, this sentence is so casual, like you always share your favorite foods with her. Doesn’t that make it sound like you two are especially close?”

Crack.

The assistant looked down.

His phone had been snapped in half.

“I see,” Cheng Yue said, his expression unreadable. For a moment, he was eerily calm—so calm, it was like staring into a pitch-black abyss, deep and cold enough to swallow a person whole.

The assistant thought to himself.

This is bad.

“Go to finance and get 10,000 to buy a new phone. And take an extra 30,000 as a bonus.”

“Oh! Thank you, Mr. Cheng!”

Wait, there’s more! The assistant was elated. I’m not done yet!

“The Idol Trainee Girls finale, you said?”

“…Yes. Do you want to go? I can call the production team in advance.”

“No need.”

Cheng Yue tugged at his tie, his Adam’s apple shifting as his gaze darkened.

“…Dong Jiayu really doesn’t understand my personality.”