A stellar reputation

"Are you angry?"

Director Ji spoke cautiously.

Ye Yizhou glanced up at Director Ji with a cold expression. "Can't you tell?"

"Even when people smeared you and dragged your name through the mud, I never saw you this angry."

Ye Yizhou had the best mindset of anyone he had ever met. No matter how many negative trending topics there had been about him over the past two years, he had acted as though nothing had happened. His behavior today really was unusual.

"He's different from me," Ye Yizhou said firmly.

"It's perfectly normal for me not to get angry. When you're strong enough yourself, you don't care about those rumors at all, because..."

Ye Yizhou sounded distinctly self-congratulatory as he spoke, but his pause on that final word, along with the icy, piercing look he directed at the camera, sent chills down people's spines.

[Because what?]

The perfectly timed pause really left everyone hanging.

Ye Yizhou curled his lips. "Because I'm an extremely vindictive person."

"Huh?"

[Huh?]

Director Ji and the others listening beside him, as well as the viewers in the livestream, all looked utterly bewildered as they voiced a question from the depths of their souls.

What celebrity didn't tell the public how kind, caring, and empathetic they were, describing themselves with every flattering word available?

Well, this really was the first time they had heard someone openly declare how vindictive he was.

"What? You don't believe me?"

Seeing the screen fill with bewildered comments, Ye Yizhou specifically explained, "Personally tested by plenty of people."

"I have a stellar reputation."

Ye Yizhou gave himself a thumbs-up, a brilliant smile spreading across his face.

A stellar fucking reputation!

Director Ji covered his face, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Ye Yizhou really never played by the rules.

"Don't worry. I'm not the sort to brag or be full of myself. It's all word of mouth. Everyone sings my praises."

Ye Yizhou explained even more earnestly, "You'll find out what I've done soon enough."

"Oh, right, we were talking about Zhou Niansheng."

At the mention of Zhou Niansheng, Ye Yizhou's gaze softened considerably, and even his voice grew sweeter. "A beautiful little prince with porcelain-white skin. He speaks so softly and sweetly, and he's so well-behaved. He's really adorable!"

[Huh?]

Ye Yizhou's excited, enthusiastic tone left everyone bewildered all over again.

[Aren't you two rivals? What's with you acting like you like him so much?]

[You have a husband. You're swooning over another man. Snap out of it.]

[He only just became an adult. Restrain yourself!]

[I just checked the trending topics, and honestly, Zhou Niansheng really, really is beautiful.]

"Right? Right? He's mixed-race, with such deep, sculpted features, and those blue eyes are absolutely beautiful!"

Finding a comment he could relate to among the scrolling messages, Ye Yizhou happily began sharing.

[...]

[So we're selectively ignoring things now!]

[You can't see a single word of the comments telling you to snap out of it?]

[There was only one comment praising Zhou Niansheng on the whole screen. You've really got sharp eyes!]

[You really like him so much!]

[Now I know the online rumors about you liking Song Jincheng were all publicity. Your eyes don't shine as brightly when you look at Song Jincheng as they do when you mention Zhou Niansheng.]

Seeing a certain name in the comments, Ye Yizhou gave a quiet, derisive snort, but did not name him outright and deny it.

Ye Yizhou took out his phone and made a call.

"Did you buy that trending topic about Zhou Niansheng?"

Only after hearing the denial on the other end did Ye Yizhou speak slowly. "I thought that trending topic had been bought in too much of a hurry. You shouldn't be that stupid."

"You were given specific instructions, weren't you?"

In his own case, for example, he had told He Sipei from the start that he had his own goals and ideas, and the company was to stay out of it.

But the instructions regarding Zhou Niansheng were the exact opposite of his.

"Then, seeing him being attacked like this, do you still need me to teach you what to do? Are you handling it?"

The trending topic had been gaining traction for some time, with hundreds of millions of views already. People were calling Zhou Niansheng all sorts of things, yet Entertainment Emperor Entertainment had still made no move.

"Does your PR team just collect their salaries without doing any work, or can't you manage them? How about replacing you with someone capable who can take charge?"

Ye Yizhou's tone was perfectly calm, but the warning in his words was unmistakable.

As Ye Yizhou listened to the lengthy response on the other end, his furrowed brow eased a little. "Deal with it as soon as possible!"

"Okay, looks like I'm the one who has to protect my little cutie after all."

After hanging up, Ye Yizhou smiled at the camera in satisfaction.

Although no one knew who had been on the other end of Ye Yizhou's call, he had certainly sounded imposing just now.

Not long after the call ended, Yuhuang Entertainment Company's Weibo account posted a lawyer's letter addressing the malicious abuse, inflammatory manipulation, and slander directed at Zhou Niansheng, and declared that it would pursue legal liability against those involved in stirring things up and sowing discord.

"See? They can work pretty efficiently," Ye Yizhou murmured.

"You've got quite a say at Entertainment Emperor Entertainment!" Director Ji looked at Ye Yizhou in a whole new light.

Director Ji wasn't quite sure which family's young master Ye Yizhou was.

But he knew perfectly well that Ye Yizhou was the young master of a wealthy family. After all, the money Ye Yizhou had invested in the show was cold, hard cash!

Plenty of people came from rich families these days, but that didn't necessarily mean their money could help them in the entertainment industry.

He simply hadn't expected Ye Yizhou's words to carry so much weight.

"Huh? How did you know?"

Ye Yizhou covered his mouth with exaggerated surprise. "Oh, no, no. It's just a coincidence. It's really not like they do whatever I tell them to. I'm not that capable."

Uh...

That display instantly made it seem even more credible than if Ye Yizhou had admitted it himself.

"All right, today's seminar is over!"

Ye Yizhou pressed his palms together, firmly cutting off everyone's desire to keep discussing the subject. "This is a dating show, after all. Let's watch some sweet romance instead!"

Director Ji was exhausted. Thank you. You still remember this is a dating show!

Before Director Ji could ask whether Ye Yizhou planned to team up with the other guests next or had something else in mind, he saw Ye Yizhou open a video player with the livestream still running and click on a sweet little romance drama that had recently gained some popularity.

"What are you..." Even Director Ji's voice trembled.

"Just tell me, am I showing everyone sweet romance or not?" Ye Yizhou looked up at Director Ji and asked innocently.

"Don't we have sweet romance here too?"

Director Ji earnestly tried to steer the viewers' interest back toward his dating show itself.

"Do you think everyone hanging out in my livestream came here for sweet romance? Isn't gossip more fun than shipping couples?"

Ye Yizhou was clearheaded, saw things for what they were, and spoke very directly.

Well, yes, but everyone who gets it gets it. Could you please not spell it out just to twist the knife?

Director Ji had clearly underestimated Ye Yizhou. When it came to twisting the knife, he could only say that each cut went deeper than the last.