Chapter 283: The Man Loved by All

The Jade Rabbit's indiscriminate attack began across the entire internet without any warning.

No notice, no preview — it just started.

It swept in every current first- and second-tier female star.

In other words, it was as if Fang Hong had opened a new battlefield: if you brought up rhythm attacks against Liu Tianxian, then the Jade Rabbit would re-fry your old scandals.

The entire internet battlefield descended into chaos, simply because everyone's scandals had come out.

Not only the Four Dan and Double Bing, but the whole '85 generation — Da Mimi, Xia Jie, Da Baobei, Nini — and also Sun Li, who is currently very popular thanks to her TV dramas.

Also included were Yao Dazui, Qin Lan, Huo Siyan, Li Xiaolu and the like.

Along with them, Hong Kong Emperor Group's top male and female stars, Xie Biwang and Rong Zu'er.

And then there were Tianyu's cash cows — Chunge, Shuangzi, Zhang Jie and so on.

Tianyu must be blackened to the death, no question about it!

Among these people there may be some who were wronged, but if you skip one and hit another, there will definitely be some who slip through the net; the Jade Rabbit couldn't be bothered to tell who was good and who was bad.

That would take too much energy, too much time — better to take them all on at once, and make it big.

"Fan Xiaopang's scandals."

"Li Bailian curries favor with bigwigs."

"Da Mimi's unspoken rules."

"Xia Jie's private flirtations."

"Da Baobei's plastic surgery, dark history dug up."

"Chunge goes off-key, terrible singing."

"Shuangzi."

"."

Tieba, Qzone, Baidu entries, forums, Weibo, Q groups, Bilibili and other social media — everywhere was flooded with all kinds of dirt on stars big and small.

In one stroke, the recent rhythm attacks against Liu Tianxian were all redirected away.

Even news media outlets were reporting on the various stars' juicy scandals.

Netizens were happily feasting on melons — melons they knew and melons they didn't — all laid out before their eyes, truly an eye-opening experience.

"Never expected, never expected, truly an eye-opener. So many melons I'm hearing about for the first time — the entertainment circle really is a fucking cesspit!"

Some netizens commented like this.

All kinds of melons were raging across the internet, and the entire entertainment circle began to grow jumpy and paranoid — who's blackening me? Who am I blackening?

Utterly dumbfounded, they didn't know what was happening, asking around everywhere, trying to gather information.

"Who's blackening me?" she asked her agent.

She was completely baffled — she hadn't done anything recently, yet was inexplicably blackened.

She couldn't figure out the answer for the moment, so she could only have her agent ask around everywhere, find out who she'd offended and quickly explain things.

With her current ability she couldn't handle this, and her agent couldn't either — she could only turn to her company for help. Her current agency should be Orange Sky.

But it seemed like after the New Year she'd be going to Huanrui.

Da Mimi stared at her tablet, equally stunned: "Did Liu Tianxian buy a publicity draft?"

Her scandals were suddenly everywhere online, so her first instinct was Liu Tianxian — simply because recently she had bought a lot of publicity drafts blackening Liu Tianxian.

Of course it was done sneakily, nobody knew!

No other reason — just because Liu Tianxian had blocked her from several commercial events and a brand endorsement, infuriating her to death, her Mimi aching with rage.

Thinking of this, she placed one hand on her chest.

"Doesn't seem like her. That girl generally doesn't buy publicity drafts, and it's not just you being blackened — lots of currently popular stars have been hit, even the Four Dan and Double Bing weren't spared," her agent Zeng added.

It wasn't that Liu Tianxian couldn't afford publicity drafts — even if she bought them, they'd be useless, she couldn't outbuy others.

"The energy behind this is just too massive — every female star in the entertainment circle is swept up in it," Da Mimi marveled as she scrolled through the online chatter.

Although her current philosophy was that black-red was still red.

But this kind of black-red was completely different from the black-red of netizens cursing you — this was rhythm attacks, blackening with a hidden hand behind it.

Done badly, it would cost her endorsements, cost her events.

"Someone is protecting Liu Tianxian — it should be the Principal," Zeng guessed.

This wasn't hard to figure out at all. Liu Tianxian and the Jade Rabbit had collaborated on so many productions — either it was a working relationship, or there was an emotional bond.

Although the Principal rarely appeared in public view, whenever he did, Liu Tianxian was basically always by his side.

Take the recent Macau Film Festival and Golden Horse Film Festival — the two were seen in the same frame at both, and the stars and celebrities on site all knew the two were very close together.

This let everyone in the circle know that Liu Tianxian's relationship with the Principal was no simple matter.

Da Mimi found the Principal's personal photos online, stared at his appearance and smile, her eyes full of complicated feelings.

How did Liu Tianxian manage to find a man like this to protect her? Why couldn't she ever meet one!

The Principal's deeds over the past few years — anyone in the circle knew them. From a greenhorn to rising up, it was truly a path of constant struggle and constant victory.

This time, stirring up such a huge storm, it couldn't help but make one feel a little fearful.

The man had been fighting against that Huayi Beijing-circle crowd for ages — they didn't amount to a fart.

"This matter can only be resolved by asking someone to mediate," Zeng suggested.

Mediation — Da Mimi felt some resistance in her heart, because she didn't want to bow to Liu Tianxian, but there was no other way if they didn't mediate.

Because they couldn't fight the Principal — even her agency was out of his league.

They didn't have the Principal's contact information, nor any of the Jade Rabbit's upper management's contact info. The only public contact the Jade Rabbit had was the artists' agency phone number.

People at a lower level simply couldn't reach the key figures — they could only go through intermediaries.

Now the entire entertainment circle was either dumbfounded, anxious, terrified, or baffled for no reason.

For example, Young Master Zhou — she's already so laid-back, yet people still paid for publicity drafts to smear her. It's baffling.

Nobody even knows what it's about?

Most people still don't know what's going on, because this whole thing happened rather suddenly.

As for Fan Xiaopang, she was relatively calm — she'd guessed it was the Principal, she just hadn't figured out how to word the phone call. The reason was that she'd also bought a lot of publicity drafts and dirt on Liu Tianxian.

The reason, naturally, was that Liu Tianxian had previously snatched some endorsement away from her.

Liu Xiaoli and Liu Tianxian, mother and daughter, were both watching the online public opinion — they hadn't expected Fang Hong's method to be an indiscriminate attack.

They'd always assumed that dealing with Zeng would settle the matter, but it was far from over.

Zeng was only the trigger, not the main contradiction.

"I was wondering why Little Fang was so hesitant to act and insisted on pulling me in — turns out it wasn't just aimed at Zeng, but at the entire entertainment circle."

Liu Xiaoli looked at her daughter: "Looks like Little Fang still cares about you a great deal."

She now understood that Little Fang never actually wanted Red Star Pier's money — a storm this big couldn't be settled for a few million.

"What makes you say that?" Liu Tianxian said.

"Isn't it just that he's afraid you'll blame him — his methods too ruthless, the scope too wide," Liu Xiaoli said.

"You're wrong. I only said it out loud; I've never blamed him in my heart, because I know what he did wasn't wrong. If he didn't act this way, others wouldn't have let him off either."

Liu Tianxian looked at her mother: "To put it simply — do you want your man to be loved and respected, or do you want people stabbing him in the back?"

Liu Xiaoli was silent. Of course, loved and respected — good character, mature and steady, a sense of responsibility. A man like that could make a person feel proud.

It seemed her daughter had marriage on her mind — only Little Fang couldn't grow into the kind of man her daughter wanted.

In the end, he'd have to shield her daughter from all the demons and monsters.

The mother and daughter quietly watched the situation develop. Liu Tianxian didn't stop it either — it was already done, and there was no stopping it now.

Besides, she could see Fang Hong still had restraint — he was only rehashing the past dirt of those female stars.

Just as everyone was thinking different things, Deng Chao didn't hesitate — he called the Jade Rabbit Agency's Artist Department directly. Huang Bing picked up.

Jade Rabbit only had this department's phone number public, after all, it had to take on outside announcement business, and this department was also the one closest to public relations — because it had to package artists and do their publicity.

Deng Chao didn't say much on the phone — just begged them to leave his wife alone.

He didn't even need to guess — the biggest recent storm was the Liu Tianxian incident. At this juncture, only the Principal could redirect public opinion and "slap the mountain to scare the tiger."

Liu Tianxian didn't have that kind of power — only the Principal did.

"Deng Chao just called, saying his wife and her agency weren't involved in the Liu Tianxian incident, and never will be," Huang Bing reported after hanging up.

"Which company is his wife with?" Fang Hong asked.

"Hairun," Huang Bing said.

Fang Hong nodded and said nothing. Huang Bing waved her hand, signaling the removal of Sun Li's dirt.

The other operators present had a notebook in front of them — sending a message could pull Sun Li's dirt down.

Before the words had even faded, Chen Zhixi's phone rang again. She glanced at the screen, then said softly: "Fan Xiaopang."

"Pick it up!" Fang Hong signaled.

Chen Zhixi was the Producer of "Star You," so she was quite familiar with Fan Xiaopang.

"Hello, Bingbing," Chen Zhixi set the phone on the table and put it on speaker.

So Fang Hong could hear what the other side was saying too.

"Zhi Xi."

Fan Xiaopang sounded quite warm: "There's something I need your help with."

"What is it?" Chen Zhixi played dumb.

"It's just a little misunderstanding recently — the people below bought some random publicity drafts without my approval. I wanted to apologize to you and the Principal." Fan Xiaopang's tone was sincere.

Chen Zhixi glanced up at Fang Hong. Seeing he gave no indication, she said into the phone: "You're talking in circles — I don't even know what you're apologizing for?"

"Liu Tianxian isn't an artist at your company, is she?"

"She's not an artist at our company, she just collaborates with us quite a bit," Chen Zhixi said.

"Oh, then since Liu Tianxian has a good relationship with the Principal, could you pass along a message for me? I'm truly sorry — there's been a misunderstanding." Fan Xiaopang said again.

Although she wasn't afraid of being smeared, offending the Principal was a different matter entirely — not just a question of being smeared or not.

It was a question of resources and her future being affected.

"So you're saying you did it — you stirred up the rhythm against Liu Tianxian." Fang Hong spoke up directly.

That voice made Fan Xiaopang on the other end gape, utterly shocked — she hadn't expected the Principal to be right there. She quickly recovered.

"Principal, it was the people below — I didn't make myself clear enough." Fan Xiaopang explained.

"Don't put on an act in front of me. Tell it straight, and everyone can still be fine." Fang Hong's tone was flat.

Fan Xiaopang hesitated, then said bluntly: "I did it. I apologize to Tianxian — personally."

In her earlier words she'd only been apologizing to Fang Hong and Chen Zhixi; she'd never intended to apologize to Liu Tianxian.

Because Liu Tianxian couldn't cause her any real harm — the ones who truly had interests at stake and could cause damage were these two.

"No need for a personal apology. This ends here — I don't want to see a next time." Fang Hong didn't want anyone bothering Liu Tianxian; he kept her out of it throughout.

"Alright, I promise."

Fan Xiaopang said it firmly.

She had no choice — the Principal was shielding Liu Tianxian, his stance was clear, she could only compromise.

As for joining forces with anyone to oppose the Principal — impossible. Relationships in the entertainment circle were tangled and complex; you could be backstabbed at any moment.

Besides, joining forces meant picking a side — and offending the Principal to death.

In the current situation, admitting fault and offending no one was the best outcome — they could still greet each other and cooperate in the future.

After the two hung up, Fan Xiaopang pulled the publicity drafts and water army posts about Liu Tianxian.

This caused Liu Tianxian's incident to lose some of its heat.

The entertainment circle is made up of all kinds of big and small circles. Deng Chao has his various circles, and Fan Xiaopang has hers too. Once a few people know that the Principal is shielding Liu Tianxian, even more people will come to know.

They all pass the word along to each other, spreading it back and forth. Within the entertainment circle, the rumor spread that the Principal was shielding Liu Tianxian and demanding the withdrawal of the Publicity Drafts smearing her.

The matter passed just like that, and everyone lived in peace.

But some lower-tier female stars couldn't be reached directly. Huarui Century's General Manager Zhong Junyan called personally to ask what had happened.

It was still Chen Zhixi who picked up. They could only find Chen Zhixi's number—her rank was high enough.

"President Chen, what you've done is really underhanded. We've always kept to our own turf, never stepping on each other. You people smearing my company's artist—there is no justification for it." Zhong Junyan's voice was that of a middle-aged woman.

"Are you saying we wronged your artist?" Chen Zhixi said.

"Exactly." Zhong Junyan still sounded self-righteous.

"Da Mimi is your company's artist, isn't she? Dare you say she didn't buy Publicity Drafts to smear people?" Chen Zhixi countered.

Zhong Junyan was left speechless for a moment, completely tongue-tied.

Huarui Century was nothing remarkable. At that company, whoever got famous left—just like people. But the company had a thicker foundation than people did, and later big capital came in.

But that was in '14; right now, there wasn't any yet.

"President Zhong, if you want to get along peacefully, then keep a better attitude and speak nicely." Fang Hong spoke up again.

"Principal?!" Zhong Junyan was startled.

"It's me." Fang Hong said.

"Principal, I know you're protecting Liu Tianxian, but you can't just smear everyone!" Zhong Junyan's attitude softened.

"If all of you had behaved properly, why would I need to resort to such measures? Besides, it was your artists who started the trouble first." Fang Hong said.

Zhong Junyan was silent for a moment: "Fine, I'll apologize on their behalf to you, and to Liu Tianxian. I guarantee there won't be a next time."

"Who exactly are you speaking for?" Fang Hong asked.

"Da Mimi, and the others." Zhong Junyan said.

It had already been agreed that once the contract expired she would sign over, so she still had to make decisions on her behalf.

Zhong Junyan had no choice. Without big capital behind her, she simply couldn't fight Jade Rabbit. Forget spending tens of millions to fight—even a few million wouldn't be worth the loss.

The current entertainment circle didn't have that much big capital coming in, buying shares in various companies and holding their lifelines.

And so it went—whenever a company leader called, it was just a greeting, and the matter was over. If an artist called personally, an apology was enough to wrap it up.

Fang Hong had no intention of clinging to the matter. Part of the reason was that these artists were far too mobile—working at one company this year, possibly running off to another next year.

Another reason was to wrap up Liu Tianxian's matter as quickly as possible. Even if settling scores came later, it would have to be over something else.

Because it was handled so swiftly, the heat on the smear pieces about Liu Tianxian online dropped sharply for the time being.

The major online platforms also deleted a lot of articles and posts.

As long as those artists and companies bought less, deletion was a very simple matter.

But it didn't mean they were all gone—online there were still people setting the rhythm.

"I just came to take a look, how did all those calls end up coming to me?" Chen Zhixi complained.

Suddenly swamped with calls, she couldn't stop answering them.

"It proves everyone knows you—your influence is huge. I wish I could even get calls, what a failure." Fang Hong shook his head and laughed.

"Can you not be so Versailles? I'm leaving." Chen Zhixi made to stand up.

"Just kidding." Fang Hong said.

The others all smiled. The truth was, the Principal's phone wasn't easy to get through to now—before, it had been quite easy.

"Beep beep beep!"

Fang Hong picked up his phone: "Look, someone's looking for me."

(End of chapter)