Beyond Expectations

The day after Qi Si went out for a lavish meal with Qi Wang, the tide of online opinion changed.

When he returned after dinner last night, the internet had still been full of people criticizing Qi Si for having no grace and saying he deserved not to win over the one he loved.

But after just one night, everyone online had changed their tune.

The production team released an edited version, deliberately downplaying the part where Qi Si had Lin Weiwei write an IOU over the phone.

They also rearranged the order of the conversation, ultimately creating the impression that Qi Si had known all along that the show was being filmed and was deliberately teasing Lin Weiwei for entertainment.

As for the livestream recording that had already spread online, someone had suppressed it.

Thus, the comment section that had been full of insults directed at Qi Si yesterday suddenly became especially humorous today.

Not only did no one insult Qi Si anymore, but everyone started making memes in the comments.

Seeing the results of this publicity campaign, even though he was one of the people maliciously misrepresented, Qi Si had to admit that Lin Weiwei's team was indeed capable.

They had actually managed to turn public opinion around.

And Lin Weiwei's team was clearly smarter than Lin Weiwei herself. They knew that offending Qi Si would do Lin Weiwei no good.

So rather than letting Lin Weiwei deliberately play the victim and have her fans curse Qi Si, they chose to defuse the conflict as much as possible.

They even hoped Lin Weiwei would take the initiative to show Qi Si some goodwill.

But Lin Weiwei was clearly unwilling.

Qi Si had always been the one trying to please her, so Lin Weiwei naturally assumed that he would eventually come apologize and make peace.

Seeing Lin Weiwei's confident expression, her manager felt somewhat doubtful.

But recalling how attentive Qi Si had been toward Lin Weiwei before, the manager put those doubts aside.

"Fine. When Young Master Qi comes looking for you again, be nicer to him. Offending Young Master Qi won't do you any good."

"I know," Lin Weiwei said impatiently.

Seeing that Lin Weiwei clearly wasn't taking it seriously, her manager opened her mouth to offer a few more words of advice. After thinking it over, though, she closed her mouth again. Remembering Qi Si's previous attitude toward Lin Weiwei, she felt she might just be worrying too much.

However, both Lin Weiwei and her manager had miscalculated this time.

After seeing the production team's edited video, Qi Si laughed in anger.

He could not even be bothered to confront the production team. He simply reposted the livestream recording and added a confused emoji.

Although he did not say anything, the meaning was perfectly clear.

Why was the video you posted different from the version I saw at the time?

Those who had not watched the livestream were left questioning their lives after seeing the recording Qi Si reposted.

[Huh? Which version is this? Why is it different from the one I watched?]

[This seems to be the livestream version???]

[Holy shit! So wasn't the aired version an edited one that completely twisted the truth?]

[Hahaha, I'm dying! Whose face is Young Master Qi slapping here?]

[This is the first time I've seen someone cyberbully themselves. Doge.]

[Are you okay? As far as I can tell, Young Master Qi didn't do anything wrong in this video, did he?]

[I was wondering why Lin Weiwei's fans had such warped values. Turns out the fans take after their idol. Nose-picking.]

Lin Weiwei's team had not expected Qi Si to show them so little respect and publicly slap Lin Weiwei in the face.

Lin Weiwei's team had already stepped in to handle the livestream recording. They had deleted all the posts that were gaining traction, while leaving the ones without much attention alone.

As long as they had no traction, there was nothing to fear.

But they had never expected Qi Si himself to repost a video from a tiny account with barely any followers.

With Qi Si's popularity behind it, there was no way to suppress the video's momentum.

"What's going on? Didn't you say Qi Si would definitely be the first to back down?"

Lin Weiwei stared at Qi Si's Weibo with a livid expression. She did not know why Qi Si had done this either.

"Did you go apologize to Young Master Qi like I told you to?" her manager asked.

Lin Weiwei said nothing.

Of course she had not.

She still firmly believed that she had Qi Si wrapped around her finger. As long as she beckoned to him, he would come running over like a dog, wagging his tail as he tried to please her.

Only then did Lin Weiwei realize in panic that Qi Si really did not seem to be the person who had once only had eyes for her.

How could this be?

Lin Weiwei anxiously bit her finger, her mind beginning to run wild.

Could there be someone else by Qi Si's side?

"Weiwei, I don't care whether you like Young Master Qi or not. Go find him yourself! Win him over for me!" her manager said sternly.

Lin Weiwei was somewhat unwilling.

Seeing Lin Weiwei's reluctant expression, her manager nearly laughed in anger.

"Lin Weiwei! You're still unwilling? Have you forgotten how you got where you are today? Without Young Master Qi, you're nothing! Right now, you're still just an extra!"

Lin Weiwei was unconvinced. "Qi Si isn't the only one who has extended an olive branch to me."

"Yes, so why haven't you accepted the olive branches those people offered you?" her manager sneered.

Lin Weiwei's expression changed.

Why?

Wasn't it because those men were either less handsome than Qi Si or already had families?

And Lin Weiwei was not stupid. She could naturally see that, aside from Qi Si, the others merely treated her like a plaything. They did not genuinely like her at all.

Once they got tired of her, they could kick her aside at any time.

She was unwilling to be with any of them.

Only Qi Si was truly pursuing her.

Whether he was sincere or not aside, at least Qi Si respected her and had never truly forced her to do anything she did not want to do.

And Qi Si was not ugly either. Strictly speaking, he was even somewhat handsome.

But Lin Weiwei simply did not think much of Qi Si, and she did not know why.

Her manager saw through Lin Weiwei's thoughts at a glance, the sneer on her face never fading.

Lin Weiwei had not simply failed to take a liking to Qi Si. She merely thought Qi Si's status was not high enough. She felt that he still had an older brother above him, while control of the Qi Household rested entirely in Qi Wang's hands.

But with her current status, she could not reach anyone of higher standing.

Of all the people currently interested in her, Qi Si happened to be the most pleasing to the eye. Lin Weiwei wanted benefits from Qi Si but did not want anything to truly happen between them, so she had kept stringing him along.

Her manager did not care what Lin Weiwei was really thinking. She only cared about the outcome.

"Lin Weiwei, you need to understand that if you can no longer continue bringing profits to the company, the company can take back the resources it has given you at any time and give them to artists with more potential who are also more obedient."

Lin Weiwei's expression darkened further.

Of course she understood that. The company would not support anyone unconditionally unless that person had enough commercial value.

"I understand," Lin Weiwei said, looking aggrieved.

Looking at Lin Weiwei before her, the manager doubted for the first time whether she had misjudged her from the beginning.