Chapter 028: Hello, President Lu

After Lu Jingshan ended the call, Fang Yimeng, who had been silently pondering for a long time, finally had a chance to speak.

“When did you find out the truth behind the original footage?”

“The same night we signed the contract, I had people start investigating. What I’m curious about is this—this clearly wasn’t your fault, so why did you endure it for so long after regaining your awareness?”

Leaning his elbow against the leather armrest, his deep eyes were full of inquiry.

The truth about the so-called “on-set bullying” incident was not the same as what had been shown in that one viral clip on Weibo.

Back then, Fang Yimeng had brought tens of millions of yuan into the production, just to slap Liao Ran’s then-poor face. But unexpectedly, her financial backing quickly became a weapon in Liao Ran’s hands.

At the time, the male lead Xu Fangzhou was two-timing—he had a girlfriend outside the industry and another one on set. The mess exploded during filming. To suppress the scandal, Xu compensated his non-industry girlfriend with a large sum, but the actress on set resented him for it and swore to one day ruin him.

With such a dangerous scandal looming, the seemingly perfect and noble heroine of the novel, Liao Ran, certainly didn’t want to take the risk of keeping a TV drama that could be ruined at any moment.

Fang Yimeng’s arrival gave Liao Ran the perfect opportunity to scheme her way out cleanly.

Did she do those things? Fang Yimeng knew the answer perfectly well.

Liao Ran orchestrated everything—ruining costumes, spiking her drinks, and intentionally demanding additional scenes to provoke Fang Yimeng’s dissatisfaction. That led the emotionally unstable, plot-controlled Fang Yimeng at the time to publicly explode during a shoot.

Then the ever-clever heroine, backed by the powerful Li Jinchen, paid the breach of contract fee and exited the production unscathed.

That multimillion-yuan penalty fee also conveniently provided the viral video clip that nearly destroyed Fang Yimeng’s reputation. A profitable move for Liao Ran, all things considered.

That’s why Fang Yimeng, even after awakening, had been deliberately avoiding the topic of the “on-set bullying” scandal. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to resolve it, but because both Liao Ran and Li Jinchen were so cunning. Without absolute preparation, she didn’t dare fight back.

After she voiced her concerns to Lu Jingshan, he was silent for a moment.

Rubbing his brow, he let out a low laugh, amused and exasperated by her cautious demeanor.

“Ah Yi, you’re not fighting this battle alone anymore. I’m right here with you.”

Hearing this, Fang Yimeng realized how overly cautious she’d been. For once, her sharp tongue was at a loss for words.

A brief silence fell over the car, broken only by the ringtone from her phone.

“Director Wang? Weren’t you studying abroad? You saw the trending news on Weibo? Oh, no, this wasn’t our company—it was a friend of mine who couldn’t stand watching anymore and helped out. You’re coming back to China soon? Great, let’s catch up then.”

With just a few sentences, the vague call ended.

Frowning at the call log, she mumbled, “That’s strange.”

“What is it?” Lu Jingshan asked, restarting the car. One hand on the wheel, the other adjusting the AC, he didn’t forget to check on her.

“It’s just… weird. I wasn’t even close with Director Wang during filming, but now he’s calling me directly, telling me not to post anything on Weibo and saying he’s just going to take the loss—the drama’s not getting aired anymore.”

She turned to him, a bit annoyed. “People say Director Wang’s a rich second-generation who only cares about art, not money. But when I brought millions into the project, he didn’t even give me the time of day. Now he’s just… scrapping it like it’s nothing?”

Lu Jingshan’s voice was calm. “So what, you’re upset about losing the money you invested?”

“Not really. The millions I brought in came from my brother anyway. If anyone should be heartbroken, it’s him, not me. Hmph.” She gave a proud little snort.

But her words sounded an awful lot like she was trying to comfort herself over flushing that money down the drain.

Lu Jingshan heard the contradiction in her tone. His usually cold lips curved slightly, and the chill in his eyes softened into a hint of warmth.

After her little rant, Fang Yimeng pulled out her phone and messaged Li Ke on WeChat, asking her to contact the rental agent for Yuemei Luxury Apartments. She specifically instructed: if Unit 1901 in Building 3 still had a vacant neighboring unit—choose that one. No questions asked.

Li Ke didn’t dare pry and replied with a peppy “Got it!” before hurrying off to handle the negotiations.

After Lu Jingshan dropped Fang Yimeng back at the Fang residence, he stayed a while for a private conversation in the study with her father and brother Fang Jianyuan before finally leaving.

——

Li Ke, her ever-efficient assistant, quickly secured both units on the same floor of Yuemei Apartments. She even arranged the packing and moving service. By the time Fang Yimeng said goodbye to her parents and moved into her chic, high-rise bachelorette pad at Unit 1902, it was already the fourth day after the “on-set bullying” controversy broke out.

The luxury apartment was move-in ready, with minimalist decor and all essentials pre-installed. Other than some personal belongings, not much was needed.

The last item to enter the apartment was a massive 33-inch suitcase, rolled in by a male staffer from her agency helping Li Ke.

“Thanks, everyone! I’ll treat you all to dinner tonight!” Fang Yimeng beamed, dressed in a black bucket hat, a loose sweatshirt, and pale blue wide-leg jeans. The outfit made her look young and casual, without any trace of diva attitude.

Some of the male staff blushed at the sight of her.

“To celebrate my solo living success, have Sister Meng Qing bring the rest of the team over too. I’ve already booked the private room,” she said as she tapped away on her phone. Then she waved and grinned, “You better take this chance to mooch off me—opportunities like this don’t come often. Miss one and you’ve basically lost a hundred million, right, Li Ke?”

Li Ke, who’d been running around all day with the move, was caught off guard but quickly chimed in, “Sister Yimeng is super generous! If we’re recording a variety show late at night, she even gives me tons of overtime pay!”

Their back-and-forth teasing eased the tension among the male staff. A few outgoing ones even joked about switching roles to become her personal assistants.

The lively group spilled out of 1902 into the hallway, still chatting loudly about transferring departments.

Then suddenly, the sound of a door unlocking across the hall—1901—instantly silenced them. The whole group froze and turned in unison.

“P-President Lu… Hello.”