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Wen Yan and Ning Shuixin exchanged a glance, then looked toward the camera. Only after seeing that the livestream camera had been turned off did they breathe a sigh of relief.

Wen Yan stepped forward first, pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and offered it to the tall, imposing official from the relevant department. With an ingratiating smile, he said, "Comrade, I'm Wen Yan. Our studio has always paid its taxes on time. Could there be some mistake?"

The tall man glanced at the cigarettes in Wen Yan's hand but did not take them. His features were cold and stern, his sharp gaze seeming capable of seeing through people's hearts. His expression grew even frostier as he said coldly, "The fact that we came for you means we already have conclusive evidence. Come with us, or we will take compulsory measures!"

Under the man's stare, Wen Yan felt enormous pressure, and cold sweat seeped into his palms.

He exchanged a look with Ning Shuixin and said with an exceptionally honest expression, "Yes, we'll definitely cooperate with the investigation. But there has always been someone specifically handling tax matters, so we aren't very clear on the details ourselves."

Wen Yan and Ning Shuixin obediently followed the tax bureau personnel out of the villa.

The man followed them out as well, but after taking only a few steps, he turned around. His sharp gaze swept across the villa before finally landing on Chu Xiyue, who was sitting on the sofa watching the drama unfold with great interest.

Everyone's eyes followed his gaze to Chu Xiyue, and they thought, Could Chu Xiyue have evaded taxes too?

Chu Xiyue:?

Why were they looking at her?

The man looked at Chu Xiyue, frowned, and said in a deep voice, "Chu Xiyue, you don't even know to greet your older brother when you see him?"

Chu Xiyue: Huh?

The staff members, who had originally thought the show was about to gain another disgraced artist: Huh?

A faint ache swelled in her head, and a memory that did not belong to her appeared in Chu Xiyue's mind. After transmigrating for so long, she had finally inherited the original owner's memories.

Only then did Chu Xiyue learn the man's identity: Chu Chengyun, the original owner's older brother, and now her older brother as well.

"B-Big Brother." Chu Xiyue called out somewhat awkwardly.

Chu Chengyun looked at his little sister's timid gaze and sighed. He walked over, took out his wallet from inside his crisp uniform, then pulled out a card and stuffed it into Chu Xiyue's hand.

"Mm." He looked at Chu Xiyue and pressed his lips together. "Use it."

"When you have time, come home. Father and Mother miss you. As for that matter, if you don't agree, they won't force you."

Holding the card, Chu Xiyue was a little dazed. Did the Chu family have a habit of stuffing cards into people's hands whenever they met?

The system said: [When the original owner ran away from home, she left all her cards behind. Chu Chengyun was worried that you'd suffer outside, so this is your spending money. Around twenty million, probably.]

Chu Xiyue: Gasp!

How much?

The system: [Twenty million.]

For the first time, Chu Xiyue experienced the joy of being rich. Even spending money was handed out in units of tens of millions.

Holding the card, Chu Xiyue looked at Chu Chengyun again, her gaze now carrying the warmth one reserved for family. "Okay, Big Brother!"

I'll gladly call you Big Brother first!

Looking at his little sister, Chu Chengyun could not help reaching out to pat her head.

Feeling the pressure of his hand atop her head, a different kind of warmth began to grow in Chu Xiyue's heart.

"Take care of yourself," he said.

Chu Chengyun still had work to do. After telling Chu Xiyue to contact him if anything came up, he left the villa. The program staff looked at Chu Xiyue with a little more respect. They had thought she was an unknown nobody with no backing, but it turned out she had an older brother working at the tax bureau!

Not long after Chu Chengyun left, the topic #WenNingCoupleArrestedForTaxEvasion# rose to first place on the trending list, with an [Explosive] tag after it.

In the original plot, the scandal involving He Jinyuan and Wan Zhen had been exposed. The three of them withdrew from the program, He Jinyuan was blacklisted, and Wan Zhen and Xu Wenchong's mutual mudslinging occupied netizens' attention for quite some time.

But that was all. In the original plot, Miao Qingran had never discovered Wei Shaolin's true nature, and Wen Yan and Ning Shuixin certainly had not been arrested in front of over a hundred thousand livestream viewers at this point. The uproar had not been nearly as great as it was now.

All kinds of rumors flew around Weibo.

Some said Wen Yan and Ning Shuixin had not evaded taxes at all and were merely assisting with the investigation. They had already gone back to continue filming the show, the case had nothing to do with them, and it was all a misunderstanding.

Others said Wen Yan and Ning Shuixin's tax evasion had been confirmed, and they had already been arrested and transferred to a detention center.

Fans believed the former, while gossiping netizens felt the latter was more credible.

Weibo remained lively all night. The following afternoon, Sea City Public Security Bureau issued an announcement that completely ignited the netizens' appetite for gossip.

@SafeSeaCityV: Recently, the tax authorities in our city received leads provided by concerned citizens and, in cooperation with the Sea City Economic Crime Investigation Brigade, solved a criminal case involving suspected tax evasion through dual contracts, money laundering through false declarations, and the fraudulent issuance of value-added tax invoices. Criminal suspects Wen and Ning have now been apprehended. Upon investigation, criminal suspects Wen and Ning are suspected of having evaded nearly 500 million yuan in taxes in recent years, with the amount involved in their other economic crimes approaching 2 billion yuan.

The moment this announcement came out, it practically confirmed Wen Yan and Ning Shuixin's tax evasion.

[Alas, I'm uncultured. All I can say is holy crap.]

[I originally thought they had only evaded taxes. These days, celebrities getting blacklisted for tax evasion is nothing unusual; every year, several celebrities get shut down because they take chances with tax evasion. I never expected Wen Yan and Ning Shuixin to set a new record! Fraudulent invoices and money laundering—this is seriously criminal!]

[Five hundred million in tax evasion, plus two billion in money laundering and fraudulent invoices. Oh my god, I'm practically forgetting what the word money means.]

Just as netizens were marveling at how criminally liable Wen Yan and Ning Shuixin were, Wu Taotao's Weibo posted an equally forceful statement at the same time.

@TaotaoTheLittleDetectiveV: @WenNing @NingShuixin @Wen-NingStudio Recently, Taotao received a tip that your studio has, in recent years, used the excuse of training artists to sign newcomers in the industry with no resources or backing, then used exorbitant breach-of-contract penalties, psychological manipulation, labor exploitation, and other methods to force its artists into drinking companionship and sexual transactions. This has caused multiple artists to develop depression and even attempt suicide. Do you two dare to come forward and confront this? [Nine-image grid]

Rankings

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Transmigrated into a Book

Entertainment Industry

Female Supporting Character

Transmigration and Rebirth Romance

Tu Yanyan

Cannon Fodder