Chapter 13 — The Public Opinion
After a brief silence, Su Yanyi asked with suspicion in her tone, "You, are you laughing at me?"
She didn't like this possibility because if it was true, then she wouldn't be able to guarantee the same persistence in completing this required mission!
Otherwise, wouldn't she have to make a fool out of herself nine more times in order to make Qin Jiran smile nine more times? What a joke!
Qin Jiran awkwardly withdrew his smile, but his eyes were still smiling as he explained, "Of course not, I'm just kidding. You've been acting weird these past two days."
"Hmph!" She harrumphed coldly. For the sake of that point she got, she decided to let him off.
This little incident greatly lifted the tension, making the atmosphere much more harmonious than before. Qin Jiran and Su Yanyi's expressions both softened considerably, and they interacted as two ordinary friends would.
Neither were talkative individuals, but together, they actually had quite a few topics to talk about; for example, about work, about Qin Jiran's scripts, and about the entertainment industry. They both had their own unique ideas and opinions, and lunch ended with them gaining deeper understandings of each other.
Qin Jiran had always admired Su Yanyi, but he didn't know her well enough. Even though they were a long-married couple and lived under the same roof, he'd never seen this lively side of her before. As they ate and conversed, time flew without either of them noticing.
After lunch, they returned to the company. The image of this beautiful pair leaving and returning together was almost impossible to ignore. Once again, fervent discussion commenced and by the time it finished circulating at noon, just about everyone in the company knew about President Su Yanyi and the new Film Emperor Qin Jiran's lunch date.
There were so many different versions of their supposed love story that it made one feel helpless and amused at the same time.
That afternoon, Su Yanyi received a call from Mother Su.
"So, Yanyi, are you going to make your relationship with Qin Jiran public? I received photos of you two leaving and entering the company together. Why don't we take this opportunity to disclose your relationship to the public? That way, I won't have to help you hide news anymore."
If Su Yanyi was referred to as the Entertainment Queen, then Mother Su had to be the Media Queen. What could be reported and what couldn't be reported were all under her command. It was all thanks to her that Su Yanyi and Qin Jiran was able to keep their marriage a secret for three whole years.
However, that had been at Su Yanyi's request and not Mother Su's own initiative. Su Yanyi didn't acknowledge the marriage, so she hadn't thought to publicize it. Mother Su understood her daughter's thinking, but the past two days had shown a clear and drastic change in Su Yanyi's attitude towards Qin Jiran. Mother Su wasn't sure what was going on anymore.
"Would disclosing it be beneficial?" Before, Su Yanyi didn't like the idea, but now the circumstances were obviously different. She didn't agree, but she didn't reject either.
"It has its advantages and disadvantages, so it all depends on you."
"Let's keep it a secret for now." She couldn't think of any reason to disclose it, especially since Qin Jiran was a star.
Under the interference of Mother Su, no media outlets dared to report about Qin Jiran and Su Yanyi. However, this time it would be impossible to keep the news entirely from leaking out. Afterall, they were in the advanced age of technology, and the two hadn't been secretive about their outing either. Thus, on that same day, a picture of Qin Jiran and Su Yanyi together took the Internet by a storm.
Su Yanyi liked to keep a low profile, so despite being famous inside of the circle, not many outsiders knew about her. This time, by borrowing Qin Jiran's light, she also became a hot topic herself. In only a few hours, her name was noted by countless people.
[Who is this woman? Why is she with our Emperor Qin? Though she's not ugly, Emperor Qin belongs to all of us, no one can take him away for themselves!]
[Emperor Qin's newest scandal girlfriend, Resplendent Entertainment's Queen Su Yanyi!]
[The relationship between the Entertainment Queen and the Film Emperor, is it true love or false rumors?]
[Emperor Qin's official webpage confession, his true love is the Entertainment Queen!]
All sorts of striking headlines were dished out. After making a round through the company, Su Yanyi was starting to get a headache.
"Kang Zhong, send our people to steer the direction of the rumors. Get rid of the ones that are damaging." Nothing too outrageous had come out yet, but this was only the beginning. Su Yanyi knew the entertainment circle's methods and changes all too well, so she had to be on guard.
"Yes, I understand."
Before long, it was proven that her worries had not been in vain. Just as Kang Zhong finished manipulating the tides to normal topics, a large number of slandering remarks about Qin Jiran suddenly surfaced.
[Shocking news! Emperor Qin is being kept by the Entertainment Queen!]
[Regarding Qin Jiran and his many post-debut scandals, how impressive!]
[Rumors that Qin Jiran's public confession was blocked by the company, secret affair with the company's president!]
[Mystery of Emperor Qin's unimpeded stardom raveled, his rumored high-rise 'escort'!]
The topics seemed to all have appeared on the major forums in the same timeframe. If it weren't for Kang Zhong's careful surveillance, the consequences would've been unthinkable. In this era where the public opinion could kill, a star's rise and fall were sometimes too simple.
"President Su, this is too obvious. Clearly, someone is trying to cause trouble. Should I investigate?" Under the control of Kang Zhong, all of those topics were deleted the moment they appeared, but he didn't like using this method of suppression. Furthermore, just looking at Su Yanyi's face told him that President Su was not happy at all.
If President Su was unhappy, then there would bound to be more people unhappy.
"Investigate! Anyone who dares to touch Qin Jiran will suffer the consequences!" Su Yanyi ordered without hesitation. Since Qin Jiran was under her protection, she would not allow anyone to harm him!
Kang Zhong acted quickly. He took many routes to trace the offenders back to one original source.
"It was the work of Star Entertainment. The specific perpetrator still needs to be identified, but their sole target seems to be Mr. Qin," Kang Zhong went over the report in his hand.
"Wang Zhilin!" Just from the words "Star Entertainment," Su Yanyi was already able to confirm the perpetrator's identity. However, she was surprised by Wang Zhilin's move.
Star Entertainment was the Wang family's business. Wang Zhilin served as the vice-president. The two companies seemed peaceful on the surface, but the reality wasn't so. However, this was their first time being so blatant as to blackening Qin Jiran's reputation. After a moment of contemplation, Su Yanyi was able to figure out why.
Qin Jiran's public webpage confession must've provoked Wang Zhilin, so she wanted to take this opportunity to pressure him. She would be able to kill several birds with one stone: test Qin Jiran and Su Yanyi's relationship, give Qin Jiran a warning, and pressure Resplendent Entertainment.
VIN: I think SYY's thoughts and actions in the next few chapters reveal that she might actually already be in love with QJR… she just doesn't realize it, Vin says right before going on hiatus.
RELEASE SCHEDULE: 5x a week. Why? Because chapter 65 begins the 8k (in raws) chapters, so I'll need time to stockpile those.