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When the video appeared, he immediately had the technical staff deal with it. After discovering they could not take it down, he even tried contacting that blogger, hoping to buy him off. Unfortunately, his messages vanished without a trace. Before coming here, he had tried nearly every possible method, but none of them worked.

The other party was either a hacker, or Jinbai Entertainment was behind this... No, Jinbai Entertainment was definitely pushing this matter. There was no mistake.

Did President Cai really have that much power?

The landmark building in the center of the New Urban District... Forget buying a place there—he did not even dare dream about it.

Gao Su gritted his teeth. "Mom, prepare yourself. Gao Chi's sentence... might really be increased."

Since they could find this video, they could also find evidence of Gao Chi's other crimes.

And Gao Su did not want to drag Starlight back into this over Gao Chi, who was already in prison...

Mother Gao stood up in shock, her face turning pale. "H-how could this happen? Why can't the video be taken down? Is there no other way?"

"Gao Su, Gao Chi is your biological younger brother. You have to think of something. You can't just let this keep escalating."

She was also afraid things would blow up further.

At that moment, she regretted it.

Gao Su said, "Too late. Who told you to act on your own... If not for this wave of damaging rumors, perhaps they would not have gone to such lengths to release the video."

After all, Starlight was not some minor company in the entertainment industry. Leave some room for others, and they could still meet with smiles in the future.

But Gao Su did not know that even without Mother Gao taking the initiative, Cai Jinbai would have found a way to push this matter forward. He had no need to meet Starlight with a smile.

Mother Gao collapsed onto the sofa, her face filled with regret. Not a trace of her earlier smugness or composure remained.

The Video

Gao Su had no solution whatsoever for the video.

Meanwhile, Liang Yi and Mu Xiaoying's Weibo comment sections were completely overrun by passersby.

Some netizens even dug up the video of Liang Yi's interview from back then, reposted it, tagged him, and asked what he thought.

[Looking at this video now, your smile makes me sick. Blegh.]

[If not for the surveillance footage clearing up the truth, I really would have thought you were a decent person. Never mind what kind of person Mu Xiaoying is—at least Xu Yuqing stepped forward back then, while you turned around and left. That is not necessarily a huge problem. Some people are righteous, while others are afraid of trouble and responsibility. That is human nature, and there is nothing to blame there. But what you absolutely should not have done was kick him while he was down afterward and take advantage of the situation. You did not even say a single word in Xu Yuqing's defense. Didn't you say you were friends? Is that how you treat a friend? Stabbing your friend twice?]

[Ugh, your character is just rotten. Spitting on you before I leave. I'm going to curse out Mu Xiaoying too.]

[Having fun stealing resources? I think you and Boss Gao were pretty close, huh? Did Starlight promise to give you Xu Yuqing's resources, then have you say that in front of the reporters? That reporter was probably arranged by Starlight too, right? The entire interview was hinting that Xu Yuqing knew Gao Chi and was even friends with him. Wasn't that misleading the public?]

[Liang Yi, stanning you really proved I was blind. Unfollowed.]

[I unfollowed too. Turns out you're such a disgusting person.]

[Just walk your own path. Why extinguish someone else's light? If you had stayed silent throughout this matter, it would have been better than saying that.]

Passersby condemned him, directly calling Liang Yi's character flawed. How was someone like that worthy of being an idol actor?

Not only had he turned a blind eye and stood by, but afterward, he had even kicked someone while they were down. He had lost all conscience just to obtain resources.

Although there was a saying that heaven and earth would destroy those who did not look out for themselves, when faced with someone embodying truth, kindness, and beauty, netizens still preferred the kind person.

Comparing Liang Yi to Xu Yuqing, the difference was obvious.

Even when facing threats and intimidation, Xu Yuqing had still chosen to save someone. That was character.

As for Liang Yi, the same thing still applied: if you would not save someone, then at least do not slander a good person.

Some of Liang Yi's fans spoke up for him, but they were all cursed back by passersby.

After the blogger People Can't Live Without Conscience posted the video, Liang Yi was immediately drenched in cold sweat. Realizing the situation was dire, he contacted Starlight at once. Unfortunately, Starlight had no way to take the video down either.

They wanted to suppress the trending topic, but could not. They even tried controlling the comments beneath the Weibo posts, yet that had somehow stopped working as well.

"Why can't we control the comments?!" Liang Yi shouted with a twisted expression. "Where are my fans?! What the hell are they doing?! Control the comments already! Can't they see the entire comment section is cursing me out? Even my follower count is dropping! Hurry up and control the comments!"

The manager looked troubled, his expression grim. "We can't control them. As soon as fan comments get pushed up, they drop back down in the blink of an eye. A lot of them have even been deleted..."

"Who deleted them?!" Liang Yi immediately asked.

"How would I know?" the manager said. "Starlight isn't the only one that can control comments. Isn't Xu Yuqing backed by Jinbai Entertainment now? They have no shortage of influence or methods. They could even dig up surveillance footage from three years ago, so controlling public opinion is nothing to them."

"When all is said and done, we aren't the ones most at fault here. Isn't the entertainment industry always like this? There are only so many resources. Either you fight for them, or someone else takes them. Resource shifts happen all the time. No one's name is written on them. If Boss Gao wanted to give you resources that originally belonged to Xu Yuqing, were we supposed to refuse?"

"The only thing netizens are holding against you is that one sentence. Just apologize, and it will be over. No one will care afterward. As for not saving Mu Xiaoying, just wait and see. She'll be cursed even worse than you. She's an ungrateful wretch."

Liang Yi was instantly soothed by his manager's words. He sat back down, looking more relaxed. "That's right. That woman Mu Xiaoying is still there to take the fall for me. Heh, no need to rush into apologizing. Let's see what response Mu Xiaoying gives first."

The manager nodded.

The two opened Mu Xiaoying's Weibo comment section.

As expected, this was an even harder-hit disaster zone, overrun by netizens hurling abuse.

Compared to Liang Yi kicking someone while they were down, Mu Xiaoying's actions were clearly even more detestable.

Toward the benefactor who had saved her, Mu Xiaoying had not shown so much as a shadow of herself afterward. If the surveillance video had not been exposed, they likely would not even have known that Mu Xiaoying had been involved in that incident. She had also been the trigger for Xu Yuqing being shelved and his acting career nearly being ruined.

[How do you still dare stay at Starlight? Aren't you afraid someone will drug you again?]

[You stepped on your senior's blood to keep being a star. Where's your conscience? Did a dog eat it? No, wait, I shouldn't insult dogs. Puppies are so cute, while you're so vile and disgusting.]

[Girl, if this is a misunderstanding, hurry up and clear it up. Did Starlight threaten you, so you did not dare say anything?]

[Xu Yuqing was shelved for three years. Three whole years! If he had not been lucky enough to sign with a new company, his acting career would have been destroyed. What about you? You did not say a single word for him in those three years, acting like nothing happened. This isn't when you were desperately begging for help anymore.]

[Xu Yuqing really saved the wrong person. Saving a dog would have been better than saving you.]

[Ungrateful and repaying kindness with enmity—how do you still have the nerve to remain in the entertainment industry? Doesn't your conscience hurt?]

[I don't think it does, because she has no conscience.]

Just as such comments grew increasingly intense, Mu Xiaoying finally stopped playing dead and logged on to post a Weibo update.

Its general meaning was—she had indeed wronged Xu Yuqing, but what happened back then had truly terrified her. It was the first time she had experienced something like that. Afterward, she could not sleep all night, fell into depression, and could only sleep after taking sleeping pills. Whenever she thought about it, she would break down crying, and she was terrified of Gao Chi retaliating against her, trembling all over.

She also did not want everyone to know about the matter, so she had begged Xu Yuqing not to tell anyone. After all, for a girl, even if she had not suffered actual harm, rumors and gossip could still destroy a person. She was afraid of being talked about.

She had truly been afraid back then. On top of that, Boss Gao had come to talk to her, so she missed the best chance to step forward.

Mu Xiaoying also praised Xu Yuqing for being a good person and posted screenshots of their chat. In them was a message Xu Yuqing had sent, saying that he did not want Mu Xiaoying to suffer secondary harm either. Since Gao Chi had already gone to prison, they should let the matter pass.

Throughout the post, she was trying to excuse her own mistakes. First, Starlight had indeed threatened her. Second, even Xu Yuqing, the victim himself, had not asked her to come forward or exposed her involvement. What right did these netizens have to criticize her?

In short, it was not her fault. She was also a victim and had her own difficulties.

As soon as this statement came out, Mu Xiaoying's fans immediately began defending her.

[If I went through something like this, I would not even want to mention it again. How can you blame her for not speaking out back then? She must have been terrified.]

[Please get your facts straight. The real culprits are Starlight and Gao Chi. Stop barking nonstop here.]

[Poor sis. Hurry up and terminate your contract with Starlight. You should not stay at a trash company like that.]

[I knew it! Starlight must have threatened you, which was why you did not dare speak up for Xu Yuqing. Sister Ying isn't the kind of person who forgets kindness and betrays others. I wasn't wrong to stan you. How could an ordinary person possibly resist capital like Starlight? My heart aches for Sister Ying.]

[Exactly. Even Xu Yuqing did not say anything, so what right do you have to curse her?]

[She's only an ordinary person. How could she possibly handle everything perfectly? In that incident, it was already amazing that she managed to protect herself from harm. Hugging you, baby. Gao Chi is in prison now, and no one will hurt you again. But you should terminate your contract with Starlight as soon as possible.]

For a time, Mu Xiaoying's image actually seemed poised to turn around once more.

Some netizens believed she was indeed one of the victims, and perhaps she had been unable to speak up for Xu Yuqing.

On top of that, Starlight must have threatened her too.

Some netizens even began to feel sorry for Mu Xiaoying.