Chapter 30: The Thirtieth Day of Wearing the Book – Donation Record (1)

Yun Shuning rarely actively searches for information about herself online because she feels it’s unnecessary.

In her past life, whenever she played a role, once the drama aired, she couldn’t resist searching her name online.

At that time, she thought that even if someone criticized her, it was fine.

But no one did. In the credits of that show, her name wasn’t even listed. She was just a supporting actress with a few lines, barely worth noticing.

As she gradually rose through the ranks and her roles became more significant, sometimes as a courtesan appearing a few times in a brothel, sometimes as a henchwoman to a malicious female character, or even as a cold-hearted assassin…

She finally had a name of her own, but the rising popularity mostly brought online insults.

Every time she searched for her name, there were people who thought she overshadowed the main lead, others who thought she was just trying to grab attention, and some who thought…

In short, when someone dislikes you, they will find everything about you unpleasant.

Occasionally, there were a few positive comments, but they were few and far between. If she hadn’t stubbornly kept searching, she might not have even found them.

So, gradually, she began avoiding online comments about herself and spent more time improving her craft.

This habit stayed with her until now.

She knew that even if she searched for news about herself online, it would either be praises from fans or sarcastic remarks from people who didn’t know her or even disliked her. Perhaps some might maliciously speculate about her from various angles.

Many times, no matter how much goodwill there is, one malicious comment can overshadow it, so why bother with things that make her unhappy?

Thus, she didn’t know that the PR representative for Mingli, who had called her last night, had been subtly mocking her online for a long time.

After her livestream, she left her community for the first time in a while, heading to a painting school she had found yesterday that had great reviews.

“Hello, is there anything I can help you with?” The receptionist greeted her warmly with a smile as she entered.

“I’d like to take a look at your painting courses.” For some reason, as Yun Shuning looked around the bustling lobby, hearing the children’s joyful laughter, she suddenly felt a sense of reality.

Before, she often found herself alone, away from crowds and cities, as if she could only keep company with loneliness. The few people who would frequently visit her only made her nerves tense, making her more afraid to move freely, afraid of making a mistake.

So, back then, she felt like the world was fake and dreamlike. It felt like she could wake up from this long, indescribable dream, unsure if it was a beautiful dream or a nightmare.

Humans are social creatures, and the long time she spent alone had a big impact on her psychology.

“I’m not sure what your foundation is, do you have any specific goals you want to achieve?” The receptionist’s eyes flickered with admiration as she heard her voice. Why did this person’s voice sound so beautiful?

The receptionist was so captivated by the voice that she momentarily forgot what to say next. After gathering her thoughts, she smiled more sincerely. “Or do you have any painting categories in mind that you’d like to learn?”

“Such as sketching, watercolor, oil painting…”

Yun Shuning, listening to her questions, felt her long eyelashes tremble slightly. She seemed to have never thought that far.

She simply felt that she wanted to learn and came, without having had time to make such detailed preparations.

Sensing the pause in the air, the receptionist smiled and sincerely suggested, “Miss, why don’t you first take a look at our studio? You can slowly figure out what you want to learn.”

“Is that okay?”

Yun Shuning nodded, “Then, please guide me.”

The art school was large, with a long hallway specifically reserved for excellent artworks.

On this corridor, there were graffiti works by elementary school students. Although the strokes were raw, they were lively and full of spirit, bringing joy to anyone who saw them.

There were also some oil paintings. To her, these works were already quite impressive. A wilted bouquet, an elderly face, all looked incredibly lifelike, with the dried yellow leaves and fine wrinkles around the eyes clearly visible.

It was stunning, but it wasn’t the kind of painting she wanted to create.

What kind of painting did she want to learn? Perhaps not so realistic, but something that could immediately convey what she was painting, something that could express who it was.

It should also look warm, with large blocks of color, and it should depict dreamlike, captivating scenes…

At this thought, she stopped at the edge of the corridor with the painting exhibition.

“Do you like works such as floral arrangements or comic-style paintings?” The receptionist asked gently as she noticed Yun Shuning’s gaze.

“Mm.” Yun Shuning nodded seriously after looking at a painting in the center that seemed to radiate intense heat and the dry, scorching sun.

“Today, our painting teacher, Liu, is giving a class,” the receptionist glanced at her phone. “She’s been teaching for ten minutes already. If you’d like to learn more, you can attend the trial class.”

“Since this batch is for beginner lessons, you won’t have trouble keeping up if you join now,” she added, sensing Yun Shuning’s interest.

“Okay.” Yun Shuning finally moved her eyes away from the painting. She turned her head and nodded sincerely at the receptionist to thank her.

“You’re welcome, it’s my job,” the receptionist quickly waved her hand, not wanting to take credit.

Honestly, working at the front desk wasn’t easy. They had to deal with sales duties too.

They encountered many difficult customers every day. Some people thought they were just selling something and wanted them to leave, while others wouldn’t listen and mocked them. The worst were the ones who brought noisy children to inquire about painting courses. It was a battlefield.

So, whenever they met a polite and understanding customer, they treasured the encounter.

Under the receptionist’s guidance, Yun Shuning entered the classroom and began her trial class.

In truth, many times, dreams and reality are different.

Sometimes, people dream of opening a cat cafe in the future, imagining afternoons under the warm sun, petting cats, sipping coffee, and watching the sunset, enjoying a peaceful time.

But when they actually do it, they realize it’s not as simple as imagined. The feeding, the cleaning, the hiring of staff, the store location, the decoration—everything added together was enough to shatter childhood dreams.

Painting was the same.

It wasn’t as simple as just having tools and ideas, then using them to make your imagined scenes appear on paper.

At first, learning was troublesome—using brushes, understanding colors…

These things might discourage many people, but Yun Shuning, after encountering them, found herself more and more excited.

She liked the steady, methodical feeling. With each brushstroke, she felt she was understanding painting more.

After the trial class, she paid for half a year of lessons.

When she got home, she was still eager to continue painting, even though the paper was full of crooked lines that couldn’t be considered a piece of art. She still felt full of interest.

While she was painting at home, a new wave of discussion about her stirred up online.

From the morning, the Mingli Charity Night had begun its official announcement, starting with various popular celebrities. By 1 PM, they finally revealed the star-studded final announcement.

Among these celebrities were also several influencers, making them seem out of place.

There were two leading influencers from Xibo Live and some other prominent hosts from various platforms. What was surprising was that, this year, two streamers from Jincui Live had managed to get in.

Everyone knew that Jincui Live had fallen behind, with its top influencers not being able to compare to the leading figures from other platforms, so netizens found it odd.

“Don’t you know? Jincui Live changed its shareholders, it seems it’s the son of the Su family. Mingli is probably doing this to give face to the young master.”

“Is that true? Jincui Live is nowhere near as good as it was a few years ago, why would the young master go for this?”

“Maybe for these rich people, money doesn’t matter.”

“True, maybe the young master just wanted to buy a company to play with.”

“Jealous.”

“But don’t you think it’s strange? The top influencer on Jincui Live now is Shuyan, why isn’t she at Mingli’s Charity Night?”

“That’s true, Shuyan’s become famous outside of the circle, even my mom knows her. She listens to her livestream every night.”

“Did Mingli invite the wrong person? Shuyan would’ve been a better fit.”

“Did you see the private Weibo post from the PR team?” (Attached with pictures)

“Oh my god, there’s a scoop.”

“Is there a celebrity throwing a tantrum, not wanting to attend the Charity Night? Impossible, with such huge traffic, just walking the red carpet would be worth it.”

“Would any influencer really turn down Mingli’s invitation? If it was a famous actor or actress, maybe, but an influencer…”

“Even so, don’t you think the response from the PR team looks really bitchy? It made me so uncomfortable.”

“The topic’s veering off, but this person definitely didn’t post fake information. They probably just added some flair to the language. Do you think the influencer who rejected Mingli’s Charity Night is Shuyan?”

“Looks like we don’t need to investigate further. Mingli invited the famous influencers, so anyone left out is probably the one not coming.”

“Now that you mention it, no one except Shuyan is missing, right?”

“And Mingli would rather invite those two Jincui Live influencers who aren’t even on Shuyan’s

level…”

“Really weird.”

Yun Shuning had already received messages from her fans when she saw this on Weibo.

Everyone was clearly speculating that she wasn’t going to attend the Charity Night, which made her look like she was rejecting Mingli’s invitation on purpose.

It was so odd. She didn’t even know about the event until this morning. Wasn’t she already broadcasting when the invitation was issued? She had no idea at all, but now, people on Weibo had turned her refusal into something with malicious intentions.

In the evening, the public relations department for Mingli finally released a statement clarifying the misunderstanding.

“Wasn’t there someone who said that Mingli invited Shuyan recently?” She took a deep breath, slowly exhaling as her crimson nails glimmered in the night, giving off an inexplicable sense of fear. “Have someone post a comparison of my donations with Shuyan’s under this Weibo thread. We’re both top influencers on Koi Live, so this comparison will be more targeted.”

The most important thing was, she had been the top influencer on Koi Live, but somehow, Shuyan had surpassed her. If her approach today worked, Shuyan’s traffic would definitely be affected.

This should be a two-in-one win.

“Why aren’t you going yet?” Ning Xiaomeng glanced at her assistant, who stood frozen, her voice dripping with disdain. “Do I need to teach you how to do everything?”

Before long, a new topic surged to the top of trending searches.

The post read: “Top Koi Live Influencers: Ning Xiaomeng vs. Shuyan, who do you prefer? (Including Ning Xiaomeng’s donation picture, Shuyan’s livestream image).”

It was clearly a “put one down to raise the other” tactic, but netizens didn’t mind. After seeing the poll, they eagerly rushed over to vote.

“Of course, I’ll pick the kind-hearted influencer.”

More and more people joined in, and fans of the trending stars seemed to realize that this was a good opportunity to suppress their own donations’ popularity and rushed to vote.

There were plenty of comments below the Weibo post:

“Speaking of it, influencers earn quite a lot of money every year. Sixty thousand, just like that, donated.”

“Some influencers earn a lot, but they’re still stingy. It really depends on the person.”

“Who exactly is Shuyan? Why has she become so popular this year? I hear my daughter mention her often.”

“She seems to be a voice-based streamer, and I heard her voice is really nice.”

“Don’t you guys know the radio drama ‘Qiming Chao Ge’? She’s the voice of the Saintess.”

“She’s only been an influencer for a few months, and she’s already earning as much as top streamers do in a year. She’s rich.”

“Sometimes, the wealthier people are, the more stingy they get.”

“Did you see the post from Mingli’s staff not long ago? They said Shuyan was acting like a diva and refusing to attend Mingli’s Charity Night.”

“I searched and couldn’t find it. Anyone got the right keywords?”

“I couldn’t find it either. Looks like the topic was blown up. I don’t know who’s funding Shuyan, but the topic exploded as soon as it was brought up.”

“Impossible, isn’t it? I heard they said Shuyan isn’t that good-looking. How could someone who’s not pretty have a backer?”

……

As the discussion was heating up, this Weibo post suddenly vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, Xu Zheng looked at the person still working late at night, his expression conflicted. “Boss, are you really going to do this?”

He knew very well that if they suppressed the topic outright, it would only provoke backlash from netizens, making people even angrier.

Actually, it was already so late that the post probably hadn’t been seen by many people. By tomorrow morning, they could naturally let the trending topic fade, minimizing the damage and damage to Miss Yun’s reputation.

He knew Su Muqing couldn’t possibly be unaware of this, so why was he using such a blunt method?

“If we block the topic, the impact on Miss Yun…”

Su Muqing put down his pen, lifted his head, and gazed at him with a deep look in his eyes.

Xu Zheng felt the weight of his gaze and suddenly realized that he had said too much. He was only responsible for executing orders, not questioning.

“Shuyan has been very heartbroken these past few years.” After looking at him for a moment, Su Muqing suddenly smiled brightly. “So maybe she didn’t have the time or the energy to think about other people’s issues.”

“At that time, she even wanted to give up on herself, how could she think about doing charity?” He paused here, feeling a bit uncomfortable in his chest. He tugged at his tie and spoke softly. “I just want to help her solve this trouble, don’t I?”

Watching Xu Zheng leave, he restrained his smile, his eyes filled with unreadable emotions.

He had always liked to prepare thoroughly for things, so he had to think ahead. If Yun Shuning would never like him, what would he do?

If Yun Shuning were just an ordinary person, with no one paying attention to her, no one loving her, and she would only belong to him… then, he could…

Su Muqing didn’t just block the online news. In Yun Shuning’s livestream room, he set all related keywords and aliases to be filtered and also employed several network administrators to closely monitor Shuyan’s livestream room.

His actions now looked like he wanted to build a fantasy, an untouchable castle for the princess. To anyone who saw it, it looked like a clear display of his deep affection for her.

But some things, the more you suppress them, the more they backfire.

At first, netizens might have only been passively watching the drama surrounding Shuyan, but now, with everything being stirred up, they had been filled with anger.

Various forums and platforms began showing subtle references to Shuyan.

The most curious thing was: who was Shuyan’s financial backer? Someone with enough influence to cause such a massive uproar and control the narrative at will.

Eventually, people dug deeper and found out that after Shuyan joined Koi Live, Su Muqing also joined shortly after.

If they said they weren’t connected, no one would believe it.

However, this also indirectly showed that Shuyan was truly stingy, having such a rich backer but still refusing to spend any money.

While netizens were discussing it with hidden references, this particular alias also got blocked, and no one could find anything related to it anymore.

This fueled netizens’ anger even further. They had initially just wanted to watch from the sidelines, but now they weren’t planning on letting it slide.

After changing places seven or eight times, they still weren’t leaving the matter alone. It was safe to say that they were now ready to take matters into their own hands.

An influencer, especially a popular one, couldn’t be flawless.

Some internet users, skilled at digging up dirt, began preparing to find Shuyan’s past mistakes and wrongdoings.

But as they kept digging, they suddenly realized something strange. Shuyan seemed like a fake person, with no social media accounts or private contact methods. She always went live on time in the mornings and ended her streams on time, never revealing too much about her personal life.

Koi Live had upgraded their backend, so it was now much harder to get any specific information about the streamer’s identity.

Just as they were about to give up, a user uncovered something odd.

It’s well known that paying taxes is a responsibility and duty for every citizen of Huaguo, and the tax situation of public figures needs to be disclosed by the state.

But when people saw the amount Shuyan paid in taxes as an influencer, they found that while the amount wasn’t small, it didn’t match her livestream earnings.

Every artist has various income sources, including advertisements, acting, livestreaming, etc., but netizens weren’t sure about the exact income from these sources. As a result, they had suspicions but couldn’t find solid evidence.

However, for influencers, livestream income was very transparent. It was easy to estimate the monthly income from livestreams.

Some even asked Koi Live’s customer service, discovering that Shuyan had been operating solo, without joining any guilds, and there were no cuts taken from her earnings.

Based on Shuyan’s daily earnings, it was calculated that she had paid at least half of the taxes she owed since becoming an influencer, and this didn’t even include any other potential sources of income.

This was no small issue. People remembered the last time a celebrity was caught evading taxes—they were blacklisted and never got the chance to come back.

Now, another big scandal emerged. Many were curious—since an influencer’s income was so transparent, how had no one noticed that Shuyan had been evading taxes?

It wasn’t a case of a small amount of evasion that could be explained away. The amount she hadn’t paid was too large, and netizens quickly calculated that her monthly income was at least three million, yet she had only paid a little over one hundred thousand in taxes. The numbers couldn’t possibly be fudged.

At this point, even Shuyan’s fans didn’t know what to say. The evidence was right there, and no matter how much they explained, it only seemed like weak excuses.

It must be said that these fans were quite rational. They immediately said they would trust the government to clear Shuyan’s name. If she had really done something wrong, they would unfollow her.

These rational fans gained some goodwill from onlookers, but only a few. Tax evasion was always something that people despised.

Many directly @’d the national tax bureau and other relevant departments.

Huaguo took such reports very seriously, and not long after, they began a thorough investigation into Shuyan.

More and more people joined the discussion, and even if someone tried to shut down the topic, they no longer had the power to do so.

Anything involving the state, especially something already developed, couldn’t be touched or ignored by anyone, no matter how big the company.

Online news changes rapidly. After Su Muqing had just finished a half-hour company meeting, Xu Zheng told him that netizens had found evidence that Yun Shuning might be evading taxes.

Without looking back, he spoke. “Impossible, Yun Shuning would never do something like this.”

Xu Zheng followed him, cautiously asking, “What if it’s true?”

“If that’s the case, she wouldn’t be Yun Shuning anymore,” Su Muqing stopped walking, smiling at him as if he were half-amused.

For a moment, Xu Zheng didn’t quite understand the meaning behind his words. Was he saying Yun Shuning could never do something like that, or was he saying that if Yun Shuning did do something like that, she would be tainted in his eyes… and not worth his attention anymore?

At that moment, he suddenly began to wonder: Does the boss really like Yun Shuning?

Many people who cared about Yun Shuning, not just Xu Zheng, but also Yu Cheng and He Chen, couldn’t believe it when they heard the news about her possibly evading taxes. Their first reaction was disbelief.

Yun Shuning had lived a life that seemed like an empty shell, and money meant nothing to her—it was just an external thing.

Someone who had nearly destroyed her body and lived such a frugal life would never evade taxes. It didn’t make sense.

They were more inclined to believe that someone was scheming against her or that there had been some issue with her finances.

As they considered how to help her, Shuyan suddenly posted a message on her Koi Live private page.

Yun Shuning had noticed something strange during her livestream this morning. Although the platform had blocked the relevant keywords, she still saw an overwhelming number of comforting messages on the screen, which seemed odd.

Normally, this would only happen when she was being attacked or hurt, but there were no attacking comments, and no one had told her what was going on.

However, having weathered so many storms before, she didn’t take it to heart. Since nothing had come to her attention, it meant that the situation wasn’t too serious.

After the stream, she curiously opened various apps and searched for her name.

What puzzled her even more was that, no matter what platform she checked, she couldn’t find any negative news about herself—it was as if someone had blocked it all.

Something wasn’t right.

Even the most popular public figures couldn’t avoid having some haters. There couldn’t just be one-sided praise.

She didn’t think she was popular enough to deserve such universal admiration.

What had really happened?

She followed the method she used in her past life to search for relevant news and ended up sneaking into a Weibo account that seemed to be one of her haters, following the clues to piece together the situation.

She truly hadn’t expected that all of this started because she had rejected Mingli’s Charity Night invitation.

From the initial insinuations by the publicity staff, to Koi Live’s top influencers comparing her to Shuyan, and the continuous blowing up of the topic.

Even she, the person involved, had been left speechless by these manipulations.

She truly didn’t know who hated her so much that they were relentlessly trying to stir up animosity online.

Didn’t that person know the saying, “It’s better to ease than to block”?

Was it Yu Cheng? Or Su Muqing?

She refreshed the page, watching as the post she had been using to follow the situation was deleted once again.

Yun Shuning took a deep breath and started thinking about how to solve the issue.

She didn’t want to know what these enraged netizens wanted to do to her.

She had known for a long time that the power of the people was immense. If she truly offended them to the core, it would be disastrous.

Actually, shutting them up was easy. She just needed to upload the records of her daily donations since she started as a streamer, and the netizens would see that the entire uproar was over nothing.

However…

It was still too early. If she released these records now, it might make people think she was innocent, but she couldn’t let the guilt of the netizens toward her be maximized.

What she needed to do was wait—wait until the situation looked truly serious, wait until she was being mercilessly criticized, and only then release these things. That would be the most advantageous moment for her.

In truth, she still had a vague feeling inside that she didn’t want to make these records public, because from the very beginning, she had never thought about using them to gain sympathy or respect from others.

She just wanted to do this thing, not for fame, and not for profit.

She didn’t have grand ambitions; she only wanted to make life a little better for those children without parents. It was really just that simple.

But many things in the world don’t develop as she imagined.

The afternoon sun was warm as it bathed her body. She closed her eyes and began a long wait.

By the afternoon, she watched as the netizens dug up her tax amounts and monthly earnings, seeing the collective anger and how many were petitioning the tax bureau. She helplessly closed her eyes.

She hadn’t expected things to develop this way. Indeed, the netizens were truly capable of anything.

She figured if she didn’t respond soon, the tax authorities would probably come knocking on her door. Her emotions were mixed, and with some reluctance, she gathered the donations from the past two months and posted them on her personal page on Jinli Live.

Her followers and netizens immediately noticed her update.

Looking at the long list of donations, they suddenly felt a bit ashamed, but what caught their attention even more was the name in the “donor” column—He Yan.

A question flashed in everyone’s mind: Who is He Yan?