Coming full circle

Wei Zhao sat on the office sofa, tablet in hand, frowning as he monitored public opinion in real time.

His phone lay on the coffee table in front of him, its screen showing that it was calling Ye Yizhou.

Wei Zhao had already braced himself to redial countless times, only for the call to connect suddenly and Ye Yizhou's bright, cheerful voice to come through. "Hellooo."

"Huh? Why did you pick up so quickly today?" Wei Zhao was a little surprised.

"Because I'm following the drama too."

Ye Yizhou seemed to be in an even better mood, with an unmistakable smile in his voice.

Ye Yizhou knew perfectly well why Wei Zhao would be calling him.

"How can you still laugh? They planted the seeds in advance, hired trolls, and coordinated with gossip accounts to steer the narrative and smear you. They've got the whole routine down pat. They practically want to stomp you straight into the mud so you can never get back up."

Wei Zhao was worried sick on Ye Yizhou's behalf. Finding the man himself so cheerful only made him more frustrated, and by the end, he was gritting his teeth in anger.

"It's painfully obvious whose handiwork this is. Does he hate you that much?"

"He used to step on you to build his universally adored image, acting gentle toward you while pretending to keep his distance so he could look respectable and win his fans' sympathy. Whenever anything went wrong, he could dump the blame on you and say you'd pestered him into making a mistake. I used to think you liked him, so I turned a blind eye, but I really thought you must be blind."

Remembering all the shady stunts Song Jincheng and his team had pulled before, Wei Zhao couldn't help rolling his eyes.

"It's only because you used to be so laid-back and never bothered with it. They thought you were an easy target and got addicted to bleeding you dry."

"It must be because you said you were married on the livestream, then slapped him in the face by saying he wasn't your first love, and even flirted with his planned on-screen partner during the stream. He probably thinks you've gone crazy and that he can't get any publicity by clinging to you anymore, so he might as well destroy you outright. What a bastard."

They had all been in the industry for so long, and every one of them was shrewd. Who didn't know whose tricks these were or who was pulling strings behind the scenes?

Seething with anger, Wei Zhao swore and ranted without stopping.

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I think you're right."

Ye Yizhou was clearly the victim, yet he was so calm that he seemed to be following someone else's drama.

"You're married?"

Only after finishing his rant did Wei Zhao calm down enough to indulge his curiosity.

Amused, Ye Yizhou teased him. "It's been trending for days, and you're only asking now?"

"Trending topics are a mix of truth and lies. I've only just realized that hardly anything out of your mouth is true either!"

Wei Zhao no longer knew what was real.

Especially when it came to Ye Yizhou. Everything he had thought he knew had suddenly been overturned.

"I never lie."

There was a hint of mischievous amusement beneath Ye Yizhou's innocent tone. "Didn't I tell you?"

"What did you tell me?" Wei Zhao started thinking back. He was certain he hadn't known.

"I told you I signed an agreement with him. Mm, a marriage agreement."

Wei Zhao: ...

"Ye Yizhou, have you lost your mind? You didn't listen to a word I said before, did you? I told you to have some fun, not get emotionally invested, and you went straight to getting married."

Wei Zhao's brow furrowed deeply enough to crush a fly, and he snapped irritably.

"You think you're his one and only baby, but he's actually got sweethearts by the dozen."

"Have you watched my dating show livestream at all?" Ye Yizhou was speechless.

"...No."

Wei Zhao felt guilty for a moment, but soon regained his confidence. "I've been busy, haven't I? You told me to stay out of your business. How would I have time to watch the livestream? Checking the trending topics and watching a few clips was enough."

"So what does that mean?" Wei Zhao couldn't be bothered to think anymore and asked directly for the correct answer.

"You were the one who thought he was a male escort. I never said that, not once." Ye Yizhou sounded innocent.

Wei Zhao: ?

"You didn't deny it either!"

Wei Zhao could even remember how happily Ye Yizhou had laughed when he'd thought Ye Yizhou had found himself a male escort.

So that was it!!!

"Then who's the person trending with you?"

The smear campaign and manipulation behind the trending topic were so obvious that Wei Zhao didn't believe a word of it, but he couldn't help being curious.

Besides, the trending topic had caused quite a stir. He needed to get the facts straight before he could figure out how to handle it.

"Who else? My dad. Didn't I tell you ages ago that I went home to lean on my old man?"

"Huh? Your family really is loaded? In that trending video and those photos, although you can't see much clearly besides your face, that car really is expensive."

Belatedly, Wei Zhao realized that everything Ye Yizhou had told him before now came full circle.

Ye Yizhou never lied, but he never told the whole truth either.

"You're not going to leave this alone again, are you?"

At the thought of that possibility, Wei Zhao couldn't help frowning. His fists were already clenching.

"Didn't I publicly respond already and say I was laying my cards on the table and dropping the act?"

Ye Yizhou's voice cooled a little, and he gave a cold scoff. "He knows I've been acting crazy lately and won't be controlled, yet he still dares to provoke me. Isn't that just asking for death?"

"Tell me, how are we going to get him?"

There was even a little excitement in Wei Zhao's voice. "I can't wait."

"There's no need to make it so complicated. I'll just post a response on Weibo."

Ye Yizhou was unconcerned. He didn't think this was anything particularly difficult to handle.

Wei Zhao couldn't help worrying. "Are you sure that'll work? They've poured serious money into this, coordinating with all sorts of gossip accounts, dropping topics straight onto the trending list to steer the narrative, and using a huge wave of paid trolls to sway casual onlookers. Will one Weibo post do anything?"

"If one post doesn't work, I'll post two!"

Ye Yizhou knew what he was doing, and his tone was calm. "I'm at the center of public attention right now. Anything I post on Weibo will go straight onto the trending list. I won't need to pay for it, and even if they want to spend money suppressing it, that won't necessarily be easy."

By the end, Ye Yizhou couldn't hide the wicked amusement in his voice. "Watching a whole year of their work go down the drain without spending a penny sounds pretty fun, doesn't it?"

"You really did put on a great act before. You're the truly sneaky one!"

Wei Zhao couldn't help shaking his head and marveling once again. "You're like a sweet rice ball. All white, soft, and cute on the outside, but black on the inside."

Ye Yizhou gladly accepted Wei Zhao's analogy.

Ye Yizhou said, "I'll deal with the trending topic in a bit. See you tomorrow."

"Huh? See me tomorrow?" Wei Zhao was baffled. "Where?"

"You'll find out tomorrow."

Ye Yizhou smiled mysteriously, deliberately leaving him in suspense. He cheerfully said, "Bye-bye," then promptly hung up.

A little puzzled, Wei Zhao thought about it for ages without figuring it out. He simply gave up thinking about it and turned his attention to the trending topics.

Barring any surprises, a fresh storm of bloodshed was about to begin.