Chapter 484: Contemporary Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian: Cancelled!

Niu Meihong's maneuvers could not be said to be entirely useless.

That evening, after the photos of Dong Jie traveling with her child were posted online, they did indeed win over a wave of public sympathy.

There was no helping it; although she had the endorsement of Starry Sky Culture, without presenting concrete evidence, women naturally held the advantage in public opinion.

What's more, Leng Qingqiu from *The Noble Family* remained the "white moonlight" in many people's hearts.

Coupled with the image of a single mother, the buffs on Dong Jie were stacked very high.

But Zhang Xu had signed a military order this time; how could his counterattack be so simple? The previous maneuvers could at best be considered public relations, meant to keep public opinion from being one-sided, or at least to keep those industry insiders from fanning the flames and kicking someone while they were down.

After all, although Pan Yueming's glory days were gone, he still maintained the status of a second-tier actor, and his endorsements and commercial contracts, especially the film offers for the *Ghost Blows Out the Light* series, were enough to make people jealous.

Only after settling public opinion was it time for the counterattack.

One night passed, and several explosive news stories appeared directly on the front-page headlines of major entertainment portals.

"Personal Assistant of a Hong Kong Heavenly King's Wife Reveals: A Certain Mainland Actress Named Dong Appears Pure but Has Remarkable Means; Intervened in Another's Marriage Years Ago."

"Cheating During Marriage and Then Throwing Mud: One Cannot Be This Vicious!"

"Shocking! Pure 'Jade Girl' Secretly Meets Famous Ugly Star; Is This a Distortion of Human Nature or a Loss of Morality?"

No matter the time, clickbait news is the ultimate Dharma Treasure for attracting attention, and numerous netizens were instantly hooked.

And then, Fengxing released a set of videos and photos, the content of which directly subverted the public's worldview.

"Golden Boy and Jade Girl Turn into Enemies; Is This the Truth Behind the Divorce?"

"Miss Dong and Mr. Wang Seen Together, Three Days and Three Nights in a Hotel..."

"Dong and Wang Are Deeply Affectionate; At Dusk, They Embrace Deeply and Kiss Passionately for Several Minutes Before the Bed, the Man Hands Wandering, the Woman Lost in the Moment."

Once the news broke, the internet exploded.

"Holy shit, this is so worldview-shattering!!!"

"Awesome, Starry Sky Culture dared to endorse her; there really was something fishy going on."

"No, wait, although Pan Yueming is getting on in years, he's still a handsome uncle. What does Dong Jie see in this guy surnamed Wang?"

"An ugly man with no redeeming qualities from any angle actually managed to poach the little sister-in-law; I feel like I could do it too."

"I just want to know, how could Dong Jie bring herself to do it?"

"Could it be that this guy surnamed Wang is well-endowed and skilled? Or does he have resources behind him?"

"Damn, these adulterers; this dog Wang Dazhi is truly killing the heart, how dare he still openly cry foul on Weibo?"

"..."

Niu Meihong stared blankly at the video, feeling as if all the strength in her body had been drained away.

"Didn't you say it was very discreet? How could this happen?"

"Sister Niu, I... I don't know either. How could there be a video? What are those paparazzi after?"

Dong Bailian was completely stunned. If such a video existed, shouldn't they have taken it out early to threaten her? Couldn't she have just spent money to buy peace?

"Sister Niu, what do we do now?"

"What do we do? You're asking me what to do? What can I do?"

Niu Meihong was somewhat hysterical.

There was no way around it; a small essay could be blamed on the Studio account being hacked, or a malicious employee acting recklessly, but once the video was out, there was no washing it clean.

Just then, someone knocked and entered.

"It's bad, Sister Niu, a lawyer's letter from Starry Sky Culture has arrived..."

Niu Meihong swayed, collapsing weakly onto the sofa, while Dong Bailian beside her also turned pale, her gaze vacant.

Beijing, Jishuitan Hospital.

Watching his elderly father, who was now out of danger and fast asleep, Pan Yueming finally let out a sigh of relief; he hadn't closed his eyes for two days and two nights.

Looking through the messages sent by Chen Xi, Pan Yueming's heart was filled with gratitude.

He dared not imagine what would have become of him if Wei Jin hadn't stepped in.

Perhaps he would have waited until today to post some meaningless clarification online, or perhaps he would have been so devastated and disheartened that he wouldn't have bothered to defend himself, or even offered no resistance at all.

It turns out that once a woman's heart changes, it really can be this terrifying.

Fortunately, it was all in the past; now, the sky had cleared.

As the saying goes, when a wall is about to collapse, everyone gives it a push; with the situation as it was, there was no need for Wei Jin to act. Driven by interested parties, all sorts of people jumped out to stomp Dong Jie into the ground.

More and more dirt on Dong Jie was exposed, and her former "Jade Girl" image was shattered directly. Even the staff from the *Please Forgive Me* crew stood up to make real-name revelations:

"When we were on set, Dong and Wang would make appointments to open a hotel room; they had an improper relationship long ago, even back when Teacher Pan came to visit the set."

Once the news broke, netizens became even more furious.

"Damn, I remember this show was filmed at the end of 2010; these two adulterers hooked up that early?"

"Poor Pan, kept in the dark for so long and smeared like this; it's too tragic..."

"Dong Jie, Wang Dazhi, you two shameless dogs, get out of the entertainment industry!!"

"..."

Watching the public indignation online, the corners of Wei Jin's mouth lifted slightly.

Proving one's own innocence is a thankless task; once public opinion is stirred up, no one cares how many bowls of noodles the innocent person actually ate.

In his past life, Pan Yueming spent three or four months mired in lawsuits to clear his name, losing all his endorsements, announcements, and film offers. Even when his innocence was finally proven, his status had already plummeted.

For this kind of thing, the only way to break the situation is to knock the opponent down directly at the source.

That is, as long as the opponent is black, then all her accusations are smears; the lies naturally collapse, and the netizens will fill in the logic behind it themselves.

It was just that there was one thing Wei Jin couldn't understand, so he specifically called Zhang Xu over to ask.

"Old Zhang, is there really no one behind Dong Bailian? How did she dare to do this?"

Zhang Xu understood what his boss meant and helplessly spread his hands.

"President Wei, as it stands, there are indeed no traces of other companies. If I had to say, another assistant by Dong Bailian's side might be suspicious."

Wei Jin nodded thoughtfully. Dong Bailian's team composition was quite bizarre; after returning from the Hong Kong Circle, the former assistant of Best Actor Liang became her assistant.

After she got tangled up with Wang Dazhi later on, another person, Niu Meihong, appeared by her side.

Wei Jin even suspected that Liang and Wang were planting spies to prevent this woman from cheating. But if it was Ren Jiaying pulling strings behind the scenes, could the mastermind be the Hong Kong Circle?

Of course, it could not be ruled out that Dong Jie and Niu Meihong were simply stupid; such people are not uncommon in the entertainment industry.

Shaking his head, Wei Jin stopped thinking about these irrelevant things; whoever sticks their head out gets hit, that's all.

"What does the legal department say? Can Dong Jie and Niu Meihong be sent in?"

Zhang Xu shook his head, "President Wei, legally, the most we can charge them with is malicious slander, defamation, etc. Administrative penalties or a public apology are more likely."

"Hmph, if apologies were useful, what would we need the police for?"

A cold sneer curled at the corner of Wei Jin's mouth. This was probably the reason why these uneducated celebrities in the entertainment industry dared to smear others so unscrupulously, right?

"Send out the notice, sue to the end. Also, spread the word: the Dong Jie Studio, Niu Meihong, Wang Dazhi, and anyone else related to this matter—count them one by one—are all to be blacklisted."

Although Boss Wei played hard, he always had a bottom line.

Since stepping into the entertainment industry, he had never laid a finger on a married woman, even when there were many explicit or implicit hints from those wanting a fling; he had rejected them all.

Seeing people like Wang Dazhi and Dong Jie, who had an illicit affair and then tried to frame the victim, made him feel disgusted.

If he didn't blacklist them, his Dao heart would have flaws, and his thoughts would not be clear.

"Understood, President Wei."

From the "white lotus" playing the victim to Shanhe Media entering the fray, it took only two or three days for the matter to be settled.

And as the "blacklist order" from Shanhe Media spread, the industry was struck with fear.

Overnight, manipulating public opinion, reversing the decline, and turning the tide—it was nothing more than this.

It proved once again that Shanhe Media could not be provoked, and artists from Starry Sky Culture could not be provoked.

However, compared to the deathly silence in the entertainment industry, the netizens were overjoyed.

Although everyone was a spectator looking for fun, they still had moral bottom lines.

Dong Jie and Wang Dazhi both had families; cheating was one thing, but to turn around and frame the victim was like a modern-day "Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing," and the internet was filled with cheers.

"Boss Wei is mighty and domineering!"

"Well done!"

"Adulterers, everyone has the right to punish them!"

"."

Of course, Dong and Wang had been in the entertainment industry for many years and still had some connections.

Especially Wang Dazhi; although he was ugly, his family was a family of performers, and he was also a fellow townsman of Wei Jin. The roundabout pleas for mercy even reached Wei Xingbang.

Comrade Old Wei had high ideological awareness. When he learned it was such a shameless matter, he cursed the intermediary until they were drenched in dog's blood.

In his words, in ancient times this was called adultery, and adulterers would be drowned in a pig cage; just being blacklisted in the entertainment industry was already letting them off easy.

In addition, Wang Dazhi had worked with Wang Baoqiang, Zhang Yi, and others on Soldiers Sortie, and had also worked with Kang Honglei on My Chief and My Regiment, so he also wanted to use these people's channels.

Unfortunately, there are no fools in the entertainment industry. Everyone was not exactly life-and-death brothers, and besides, this was such a reputation-ruining matter that no one was willing to take the bait.

Dong Jie also had many connections. As a Mou Girl, she even called Zhang Yimou, who had just received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Mumbai International Film Festival in India and had been back in the country for less than two days.

Zhang Yimou had been eating curry in India every day for these past few days. Although he brought plenty of stomach medicine, he was still tortured enough. After returning, his body hadn't even recovered, so how could he pay attention to such matters? He directly had his Studio staff dismiss her.

Dong Jie still wouldn't give up and continued to ask Wong Kar-wai to step in.

Dong Jie had been an artist under Wong Kar-wai's Zedong Films since her debut. Even though she had established her own studio now, it was still affiliated with the latter's company.

So Wong Kar-wai specifically called Wei Jin to explain the ins and outs of the matter, attributing the main responsibility to Niu Meihong, hoping for some leniency.

To be honest, back at the Cannes Film Festival, Wong Kar-wai and Wei Jin had some rapport, and the former was also a big fan of great men, actively moving closer to the Mainland China market in recent years.

But in this matter, Wei Jin could not give face. He had just blacklisted them, and now he was going to stop pursuing it? Wouldn't that be slapping his own face?

Chen Xi understood this logic, so when he was visiting an elder at the hospital and learned that Pan Yueming wanted to plead for Dong Jie, he found it unbelievable.

"Are you not rested well, is your brain muddled? This woman harmed you so miserably, and you still want to plead for her?"

Chen Xi really couldn't understand Pan Yueming's train of thought. He had been cuckolded, and he still wanted to show womanly benevolence?

The expression on Pan Yueming's face was complex: "Chen Xi, she called me yesterday and cried for a long time, she kept admitting her mistakes..."

"Heh, admitting mistakes now, what were you doing earlier? When you first discovered it, why didn't she admit her mistakes to you immediately?"

Pan Yueming, suffering a soul-crushing blow, was slightly stunned and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Chen Xi, I can't bring myself to be ruthless."

"You can't be ruthless, but she is ruthless enough. Fabricating facts, framing you, and turning the tables—if the boss hadn't stepped in, you would have been crushed by public opinion by now, just like Yin Xiaotian back then. At that time, would she have looked at you even once? Huh?"

Chen Xi's words were heavy, with more than a little frustration at his lack of resolve.

As Pan Yueming's best friend, Chen Xi had witnessed the happiness of Pan and Dong, and also witnessed the shattering of their marriage.

To say that Pan Yueming still had feelings for Dong Jie, Chen Xi did not believe it; it was mostly for the sake of the child.

But doing this, where did it put the boss?

So Chen Xi didn't beat around the bush and laid it all out.

"Old Pan, as the victim, if you really want to plead for her, the boss might indeed show some leniency, but think about it, in the current situation, even if the company stops pursuing it, does that woman still have any chance of turning things around?"

Chen Xi was telling the truth. After this incident, Dong Jie's reputation was completely ruined. As long as the film crews and Producers in the country weren't idiots, none of them would use her again.

Even without the blacklist from Shanhe Media, it would be extremely difficult for Dong Bailian to make a comeback.

Watching Pan Yueming remain silent, Chen Xi's tone softened.

"Yueming, if you really want what's best for the child, the top priority is to get custody. If the child stays with her, they won't turn out well."

Just as Pan Yueming was about to say something, a cough came from the hospital bed, so he hurriedly stepped forward.

"Dad, are you awake?"

Looking at the concern in his son's eyes, Father Pan sighed.

"Pan Yueming, if I hadn't woken up, you would have done something foolish. Xiao Chen is right; your boss is standing up for you, so how could you put your benefactor in such a difficult position? If you really did that, how would you conduct yourself at the company? *Cough, cough*."

Father Pan had only just been rescued and was still very weak; after saying only a few words, he began to wheeze, so Pan Yueming hurriedly helped him sit up and patted his back to soothe him.

Yet Father Pan's lecture had not stopped: "Pan Yueming, one must pay the price for doing wrong. With the money she has earned over these years, she won't have to worry about food or drink for the rest of her life. Leaving this circle now might not be a bad thing."

Pan Yueming nodded slowly and said, "Dad, I understand."

(End of chapter)