Liu Wanying turned her phone facedown on the dressing table. The screen struck the marble surface with a sharp clack.
The face in the mirror remained gentle and composed, but the corner of her eye twitched involuntarily.
Public opinion surrounding Metamorphosis was reversing at the very speed she least wanted to see.
The dirt she had spent real money spreading had been washed to pieces by a rainstorm and two boxes of fever medicine.
The gossips in her circle greeted her with smiles to her face, but behind her back, several versions of the story about her "paying trolls to smear her stepson" had already made the rounds.
Sooner or later, those rumors would reach Jiang Changping.
Liu Wanying picked up her phone and called the PR company.
"President Liu." The other party answered quickly. Keys clattered in the background, occasionally interspersed with hushed conversation. "We really can't push the outright smears anymore. Everyone online is siding with Jiang Xun. The moment any of the accounts we set up before shows up, netizens chase them down and curse them out. Several have been reported and banned outright."
Liu Wanying frowned. "I'm not paying you to report bad news!"
"Don't worry, President Liu. I have a new approach." The person on the other end paused, and the typing stopped. "What's a variety show's worst nightmare? A guest's downfall. The more perfect Jiang Xun's public image is now, the harder he'll fall when it crumbles."
"Get to the point."
"The cause of Shen Wangjing's father's death. The material you gave us last time mentioned village rumors that he pushed his own father into the river. We looked into it. It caused quite a stir in Shiban Village back then. Although the police ultimately ruled it an accidental drowning, the villagers still call