Chapter 278: Mother-in-Law, I'll Foot the Bill—Leave the Matter to Me to Settle (Extra Chapter for the Alliance Chiefs)

Chen Zhixi walked out of the office, just brushing past Liu Xiaoli.

The two exchanged a glance and nodded to each other in greeting.

"Auntie Liu, why did you come in person? A phone call and I could have gone to pick you up," Fang Hong stepped forward to greet her.

"No need for the trouble. I just have something I want to discuss with you—I'll leave once it's said, won't hold up your business."

Liu Xiaoli had a handbag slung over one arm, wore a high-end down jacket, and was dressed like an elegant lady of leisure.

She surveyed the office; "Your office is quite impressive."

The office was quite spacious, luxuriously decorated, with an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the high-rises of Beijing outside.

"It's all for show. If I made it too plain, I couldn't show it off," Fang Hong invited Liu Xiaoli to the sofa area.

Liu Xiaoli sat on the sofa, set her handbag beside her, and unwound the scarf from her neck.

Doing business is like this—you have to hold your ground. Even if you don't have real strength, the outward appearance has to be polished.

That makes people think you have real strength, that you're very rich!

How much real strength you have, how deep your pockets are—others don't know. They can only see what you put on display.

"Auntie, what tea would you like?" Fang Hong asked.

"Plain hot water is fine," Liu Xiaoli said.

Fang Hong took a cup from the coffee table, rinsed it with hot water, poured a cup of tea, and presented it with both hands: "Please, drink."

"No need to be so formal, just be at ease," Liu Xiaoli thought this young man was being too polite to her.

But wasn't that also a form of respect? She was quite touched—no matter how successful he became, his attitude had never changed.

"Alright!" Fang Hong sat down across from her and said nothing, quietly waiting for Liu Xiaoli to speak.

Liu Xiaoli took a small sip of tea, holding the cup with both hands to ward off the cold: "I came to find you because I want to discuss with you how to handle the matter with my Xixi."

"I've been following this matter as well," Fang Hong nodded, his expression serious.

He couldn't say he wasn't paying attention—if he said he wasn't, that would show he didn't take their daughter seriously enough.

Seeing that he wasn't offering an opinion but waiting for her to speak first, Liu Xiaoli could only say: "I'm planning to issue a statement to clarify things. What do you think?"

"Not a good idea."

Fang Hong shook his head decisively: "Someone is deliberately steering the narrative. A statement from you alone won't solve it."

In his past life, Hongxingwu had even issued three statements, the gist being that Liu Tianxian likes tall, imposing men.

But it didn't do a damn bit of good—she was still being smeared nonstop, it never stopped.

"Issue the statement first. If things can't be salvaged, you and Xixi go public with your relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend—that way the outside world won't have any doubts," Liu Xiaoli said.

"Does Tianxian agree to that?" Fang Hong asked.

"This matter doesn't depend on her. Even if she disagrees, she has to agree. It just depends on what you think," Liu Xiaoli's gaze fixed on him across the way.

At this point, Fang Hong seemed to have figured something out.

In his past life, when this incident happened, Liu Tianxian had simply toughed it out through sheer tenacity—it wasn't thanks to any Korean romance or anything like that.

Looking at the entire Korean affair, she had never cooperated with it. If she really wanted to cooperate, she could have just said something ambiguous and suggestive on Weibo, letting people assume what they wanted.

The whole time she didn't say a single word, only defending herself twice.

One possibility was that she was being pressured by the interest group led by her mother—neither confirming nor denying, letting the outside world distort and magnify the matter, letting the Korean ride her popularity.

This way they could both shake off the same incident and break into the South Korean market—but they hadn't expected an even bigger pitfall waiting: the ban on Korean entertainment!

Even so, Liu Tianxian still toughed it out through sheer tenacity, weathering both the Korean and the Korean ban landmines.

It was like having pig-tier teammates on her own side and god-tier opponents on the other, yet Liu Tianxian dragged them all down to death one against four.

That tenacity was truly formidable—even Fang Hong admired her.

Just like this incident, after being smeared for a year or two, Liu Tianxian still refused to hurt others, choosing instead to tough it out—her tenacity was off the charts.

"Since you've come to discuss this with me, I'll speak plainly."

Fang Hong continued: "It's not that I disagree with your plan—it's that in my view, your plan is utterly useless. They come to attack, and you block. That's the whole approach.

If next time they spread rumors that we've broken up, by your logic, should we go out and put on another show of affection for them to see?

Are we dating for ourselves, or for those fans, those Wangyi? We'd be completely trapped on the defensive."

These words left Liu Xiaoli silent.

Her daughter had said the same thing before—if someone provokes us, does that mean I have to have sex with Fang Hong for them to watch?

"Going public is a bad move. It plays into their game and drags you into another whirlpool of public opinion. They can target your romance persona and keep fabricating rumors.

It also boxes Liu Tianxian's persona into a fixed range. From now on, if she so much as gets a little closer to some man, or looks at some man a bit longer, they'll say she's cheating.

What I mean is, the Zeng incident isn't really the core issue—the core issue is that no matter what happens to her, others can smear her.

Even if she just spits on the ground, others can say she has no manners and blow the matter up without limit.

So this approach is completely wrong-headed. It doesn't clear her name—the old stuff is still there, and you've created a whole new wave of public opinion for her."

Fang Hong said a lot, leaving Liu Xiaoli unable to help falling into deep thought.

Doing this would only mean one wave dies down and another rises.

"You don't want to go public with my Xixi?" Liu Xiaoli asked this one question.

"It's not that I don't want to—it's that our love is free. It's not for others to judge, not for others to control. We live for ourselves, not for others."

Fang Hong's tone grew heavier: "Your daughter has been working hard to break free of her persona. You can't box her into another one."

That last remark made Liu Xiaoli feel a pang of shame inside, as if this young man understood her daughter better than she did.

He also saw through the whole matter more clearly, grasped the essence of the problem more sharply, and read the opponent's playbook more lucidly.

The atmosphere fell silent. Liu Xiaoli took a deep breath: "So what do you suggest?"

"I've always said—to solve the problem, solve the person causing the problem. That's all there is to it," Fang Hong spread his hands.

"The problem now is, there's no way to solve the person causing the problem. We can only find a solution from our own side. You can't really throw someone into the Pacific Ocean!" Liu Xiaoli felt he was being unrealistic.

They could never get Zeng to resolve this—they had to solve it themselves. If they resorted to violence, what would be the difference from a criminal gang? "How can it be impossible? I gave the 'knife' to Tianxian. No need to show up, no need to do anything—just reverse everything, as long as Tianxian has the heart to be ruthless," Fang Hong said.

"What knife?" Liu Xiaoli asked, puzzled.

"Intimate photos of Zeng with a man—many of them. I gave them all to Tianxian. You didn't know?" Fang Hong looked confused.

"I didn't know," Liu Xiaoli shook her head.

The two stared at each other, eyes filled with bewilderment and confusion—as if something unknown to them had slipped through, and communication had broken down.

"That damn girl," Liu Xiaoli muttered.

She realized: her daughter had never told her about this—she'd kept it hidden.

Fang Hong understood too. He'd assumed Liu Xiaoli knew, so he waited for her to act—only to wait in vain.

This Liu Tianxian is far too sentimental!

This was the result of their poor communication—if they'd talked regularly, this would've been resolved long ago.

If Fang Hong had given the photos to Liu Xiaoli from the start, this would've been settled too.

But if he'd handed them to Liu Xiaoli to leak, Tianxian would surely blame him—for acting without her consent, for being too cruel.

"Xiao Fang, do you still have copies of those photos?" Liu Xiaoli's expression turned serious.

"I do!"

Fang Hong stood up, walked behind his desk, and pulled a thick stack of photos from a drawer.

These were a year's accumulation—never stopping, always collecting Zeng's intimate photos, including shots of the two of them having sex.

There was nothing to be done—they'd reached the point of no return, and they'd simply let it happen.

Not every woman has Tianxian's willpower to go years without sleeping with her partner.

But Fang Hong didn't pull out the sex photos—only those of kissing and hugging. He didn't want to go too far, mindful of Tianxian's feelings.

Liu Xiaoli flipped through the photos: all showed Zeng with a slender, handsome man.

The man in the photos was indeed Zeng—she'd seen him before.

"Xiao Fang, help me release these photos," Liu Xiaoli placed the stack on the coffee table, her tone decisive.

At least she was more decisive and ruthless than Tianxian.

"Auntie Liu, aren't you setting me up? Tianxian will blame me," Fang Hong said. He'd held off this long precisely because Tianxian would blame him.

And you can't just release this stuff—it requires buying marketing channels.

Releasing photos doesn't automatically spark a storm of public opinion—unless it's an explosive scandal.

And we must prevent hostile forces from suppressing public opinion.

"I'll take responsibility. If she blames you, she can come after me," Liu Xiaoli patted her chest.

This has gone too far—it's not just hurting my daughter, it's damaging my interests too.

"You're forcing me," Fang Hong shook his head.

"Xiao Fang, I'm not forcing you. You know our mother-daughter situation—we can't handle this. Just help us out," Liu Xiaoli pleaded.

Hongxingwu is just a makeshift crew. Buying publicity drafts? Fine. But generating major public opinion? No professionals, no expert team.

We can't compete with those who manipulate trends.

This left Fang Hong with no choice—he'd end up doing it anyway, playing the villain.

"Even if Xixi blames you, I'll clear your name. I'll take full responsibility for this," Liu Xiaoli said firmly.

No matter how angry Tianxian got, she'd never blame her mother—maybe just sulk a bit.

"And you don't want Xixi to get hurt, do you? For the past few days, she's locked herself in her room every day," Liu Xiaoli added.

"Since you've said this, I have nothing more to say," Fang Hong conceded—he couldn't refuse when they played the emotional card.

Liu Xiaoli relaxed: "You're a good kid!"

"Let's be clear—I'm doing this for Tianxian, purely as a favor," Fang Hong reminded.

Liu Xiaoli nodded, unsure what he was getting at.

"The company isn't mine alone—it's a whole team. I can't let my personal matters override the company's rules. I'll help, but the PR costs must be covered by Hongxingwu."

Fang Hong added: "Public is public. Private is private."

Liu Xiaoli froze. She'd never met someone so rigid about separating public and private.

Don't you fear ending up alone for life?

"Should we pay for these photos?" Liu Xiaoli pointed at the stack on the coffee table.

"No. I paid for them myself—consider it a favor," Fang Hong said plainly.

This whole affair was never clean—it could never go through company accounts. In essence, it has nothing to do with Yutu.

But since we're now using Yutu's resources to buy PR channels, the money must come from Hongxingwu—not Yutu.

Tianxian isn't a Yutu artist. Yutu has no obligation to reverse public opinion for her.

And her mother didn't pay any protection fees.

"Fine," Liu Xiaoli said. She'd never met a businessman so principled.

No wonder Yutu has stayed so stable—never had internal problems. These people are clear-headed. No talk of feelings—only business.

If there were a sycophant named Baolong: "I'll pay, Auntie. I'll fix everything."

(End of Chapter)