Whispers of Scandal
Wang Yue shook his head and frowned. "The grades don't matter. You never claimed in interviews that you were top students. I'm only worried they'll make a story out of Xiaofei having a crush on Wang Zheng, using it to drum up publicity and boost his fame."
Liu Yang had also filled Qiqi in on how things worked for stars these days: once an idol was exposed as being in a relationship, their popularity would plummet.
Besides, Xiaofei had been presented as a good student. If it suddenly came out that she had a crush on another boy, she was bound to lose a lot of fans.
There wasn't much Qiqi could do, though. She had a general idea of Xiaofei's personality and knew Xiaofei might not listen to her.
As it turned out, Wang Yue's prediction came true. Just a month later, sales of Qiqi and Xiaofei's albums had started to decline, even as both girls' popularity reached its peak.
Their families never came looking for them, but then rumors of Xiaofei and Wang Zheng having an affair suddenly appeared in the newspapers.
And Xiaofei seemed to have forgotten everything he'd told her about avoiding paparazzi. Instead, she openly flaunted her relationship with Wang Zheng.
Some fans were fanatical, and most of Qiqi and Xiaofei's fans were teenagers, without the maturity of adults. Once they learned Xiaofei had a boyfriend, many of them promptly turned into haters.
Xiaofei didn't care at all. But Wang Zheng, who had been a nobody, suddenly became famous and seized the opportunity to release an album.
Huayue Entertainment even hired lyricists and composers from Hong Kong to create an album tailored specifically for Wang Zheng. They used the scandal to sell it.
To be fair, Huayue Entertainment's tactic was underhanded, but