Chapter 507: A Hole in the Brain

On October 9, Heart Bloom grossed 31.08 million at the box office; on that same day, Zhang Songwen was summoned for a tax interview.

In an instant, he was nearly surrounded by negative news; online speculation ran rampant, and netizens hurled all kinds of insults at him.

"Terrible character!" even topped the trending list!

The outside world certainly didn't know the actual situation, didn't know Zhang Songwen's circumstances, and didn't know this was the result of a struggle between two sides.

But the truth was, he was merely questioned after being reported, nothing serious happened, and he was released soon after.

But the outside world didn't know; they assumed he had done something terrible, and his reputation was ruined—they thought he had broken the law.

Those within the industry, watching the back-and-forth struggle between the two sides, all viewed it as entertainment, knowing full well this was a cat-and-rabbit conflict.

Those who couldn't see clearly would ask those around them!

For instance, Da Baobei and Huang Jiaozhu had just finished their affair, their faces still flushed, leaning against her boyfriend's chest: "I've been watching the public opinion trend lately—it doesn't seem this simple?"

"Of course it's not simple; they're testing each other in this struggle." Huang Jiaozhu gently stroked her hair.

"Why? Just to destroy Zhang Songwen?" Da Baobei's hand slid down to grip the gearshift.

"It's not that simple; Zhang Songwen is just a pawn, not important at all. Fundamentally, Alibaba wants to fully enter this circle and integrate the film industry. Yu Tu is an insurmountable mountain, and Yan Zi is merely the vanguard."

Huang Jiaozhu added again: "But Yu Tu doesn't want to lose its voice, doesn't want to be dragged along by capital, so it must choose to resist."

"Isn't being dragged along by capital good? Why resist?" Da Baobei didn't understand.

Capital provides money and resources—what's wrong with that? Why resist? Doesn't the Principal have a hole in his brain?

"That's why women always have long hair and short insight—that's someone's hard-won legacy, their blood and sweat. How could they let capital taint it? Once tainted, it's no longer under your control. Like your own hard-earned empire—would you share it? Wouldn't you want to maintain independence?" Huang Jiaozhu said.

"Who are you calling long-haired and short-sighted?" Da Baobei tightened her grip.

"Ow! Baby, I'm sorry!" Huang Jiaozhu begged.

Da Baobei gloated, then pouted fearfully: "The power struggles between these big shots are so complicated—they can quietly ruin someone without a sound. I'm so scared."

"It's fine, it's fine, baby—I'll protect you." Huang Jiaozhu looked tenderly at her.

"Little Huang, you're the best." Da Baobei hugged the man tightly, her hands tightening again—this time gently.

On the other side, Da Mimi and her husband were also discussing this matter.

Almost everyone in the industry was talking about what had happened recently.

Fang Hong hadn't expected the other side to use such a method to utterly destroy a person's reputation.

If you get tainted by this, it becomes a permanent stain—everywhere you go, people will whisper about you.

On a soft, large bed, Fang Hong lay bare-chested, face down; Liu Tianxian, in her pajamas, sat on his buttocks, pounding his back and kneading his shoulders.

"Ah oh—be gentle!" Fang Hong cried out in pain.

"Your shoulders are too stiff—I'm massaging you. This is because you sit too long and lack exercise." Liu Tianxian rubbed, her technique quite good.

"I lack exercise? I'm exhausted every day just from being on you." Fang Hong turned his head to say.

"Smack!" Liu Tianxian slapped his back: "Stop talking nonsense."

"If I don't talk, who do you chat with? Then you'd be bored every day—no one to talk to at night. Don't you feel lonely and empty?" Fang Hong spoke logically, as if he were doing her a great favor.

"Should I thank you then?" Liu Tianxian didn't stop her hands, still kneading his shoulders and back.

"No need to thank me—just serve me well from now on, like this—gentle, virtuous." Fang Hong was smug and thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Hey, you've got high expectations, haven't you?" Liu Tianxian laughed.

"What's the point of marrying a wife if not to enjoy her?" Fang Hong had barely finished speaking when he cried out, "Ah!"

Liu Tianxian pinched the flesh on his back and asked: "What's the point of marrying a wife?"

"Ow, ow, stop!" Fang Hong begged.

"Who serves whom?" Liu Tianxian asked again, her hand still gripping tight.

"I serve you, I serve you!" Fang Hong kept crying "Ah!" as if in unbearable pain.

Only then did Liu Tianxian release her grip, satisfied—the skin was red, but she paid no mind, smoothing it and continuing the massage.

"Can we agree that from now on, we'll only argue with words, not hands? Physical fights are uncivilized—we live in a civilized society now." Fang Hong negotiated.

"Then I'd be at a disadvantage—I can't outtalk you."

Liu Tianxian added: "Hey, I'm curious—how are you so good with words?"

"I've got no talent—so I've got my mouth left." Fang Hong laughed.

"Hahaha!" Liu Tianxian burst out laughing.

This man started out with nothing—just his mouth, lying and scheming everywhere—and somehow he actually succeeded.

But he was quite capable, after all.

Liu Tianxian rubbed his back: "It's too dry without oil—it doesn't feel right. I'll bring some oil from the spa in a couple days to give you a back treatment."

Without oil, it's too dry—it won't work well.

"Where did you learn all this?" Fang Hong, though slightly sore from the massage, felt quite comfortable.

Mostly because Liu Tianxian's technique was quite good—her hands were strong yet soft.

"Do I need to learn? When others massage me, I can feel how it's done." Liu Tianxian said.

Hearing this, Fang Hong turned his head to look at her.

"What?" Liu Tianxian frowned, puzzled by his strange gaze.

"Did other people touch your body?" Fang Hong's tone was sour. "Women." Liu Tianxian glared.

"Even women—no. Only I'm allowed to touch you." Fang Hong said.

"Can you do spa?" Liu Tianxian was speechless—he was jealous of everything.

"No, but I can learn—learn to give you spa." Fang Hong said.

No wonder Liu Tianxian's Skin was so soft, smooth, and fair—she regularly went to spas. But many women do, and celebrities especially have dedicated places and technicians.

If they didn't, it would've been exposed long ago.

"I don't think you want to learn, you just want to..." Liu Tianxian trailed off mid-sentence, but her hands didn't stop.

"Just want what?" Fang Hong asked.

"Just want to play around with something improper." Liu Tianxian figured this man probably hadn't even had a proper spa yet, and already wanted to get busy.

"Hehehe." Fang Hong laughed, about to get up — he wanted it right now.

"Don't move, I haven't finished your massage yet." Liu Tianxian pressed him back down again, not letting him rise.

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Fang Hong could only lie still, enjoying the service.

Although Liu Tianxian said with her mouth that she was going to serve him and all that, in action she was quite tender toward this man.

"That matter with Zhang Songwen — what do you plan to do next?" Liu Tianxian said.

"No way around it, I'll just have to make an example of someone."

Fang Hong added: "Originally I planned to give them a warning and let the matter rest, but since they don't know what's good for them, I can only take that person out and dig up every bit of dirt on her from the past and stir it up again."

"Wouldn't that be too intense?" Liu Tianxian said.

That person's dirt was simply too plentiful — things like desecrating the military flag, beating a pregnant woman until she was hospitalized, and plenty more.

"No choice. If I don't go hard, the other side won't back down. They keep wanting to test what cards and strength I have. Honestly, do those rotten deeds of theirs even need testing? At its core it's just a question of whether you dare or not.

In this circle, no one dares to offend them, but I'm just a stubborn fool — I insist on going up against them." Fang Hong said.

"I'm just afraid you'll go too far and won't be able to pull back. If the matter blows up bigger and bigger, that won't be good." Liu Tianxian said worriedly.

"If I back down, that would be the real trouble." Fang Hong said.

If he backed down, people would think he was scared, and all the other petty crooks would swarm in at once to take down Jade Rabbit. The first to suffer would be Jade Rabbit's celebrity artists.

This isn't fearmongering — a good bird chooses its tree to nest in. If you can't protect them, they'll find a better backer.

Liu Tianxian could roughly understand what this man was thinking. Sometimes winning or losing doesn't matter; what matters is an attitude — the attitude of daring to fight.

If you don't dare to fight, others will think you're a coward and can freely attack and seize your territory, plundering your base.

"I'll post something to support Song Wen — what do you think?" Liu Tianxian was quite enthusiastic.

"Don't. This matter has nothing to do with you. Don't get involved, and don't take any stance." Fang Hong refused outright.

It was best for Liu Tianxian to stay out of it entirely — not getting involved was the best option, to avoid drawing fire onto herself.

Liu Tianxian fell silent, knowing this man didn't want her getting involved.

On October 10th, "Xinurufang" hit 24.88 million at the box office, with cumulative box office surpassing 840 million.

The fighting between the two sides hadn't really affected the movie's box office, and the film wasn't affected either — the authorities hadn't responded by saying they were going to pull the movie or anything like that.

Even "Dearest" was still in theaters, though its box office had collapsed to around 5 million, but that film had already turned a profit.

It was just the open and covert struggle between the two big shots that had made Zhang Songwen withdraw into himself, basically not showing up in public anymore.

Meanwhile, Shen Teng was still riding high — appearing on variety shows everywhere, doing interviews. This was his peak moment after all.

A reporter asked him: "What's your view on the recent matter with Song Wen?"

"I trust him completely. He's a good actor, and good actors don't come easy. Please give him more trust." Shen Teng openly declared his support for Zhang Songwen.

He knew which side he belonged to, and he knew some of the inside story of this matter.

Afterwards, some directors who had worked with Zhang Songwen also publicly stood by him. Among them, Lu Yang posted: "An actor as low-key as Zhang Songwen can still be targeted by capital — now I finally understand why domestic entertainment audiences are always force-fed garbage by capital.

An actor who toiled in the industry for over a decade finally got noticed for his acting, yet some people, afraid that such a common grassroots figure would rise up and block their idol's money path, started targeting him to clear the way for certain traffic stars and resources."

Afterwards, directors like Guo Fan and Wang Ran also posted one after another in support. These supporters didn't help much — a direct confrontation was still necessary.

And it was on this very day that all of a certain someone's past dirt was dug up and rehashed online.

Including what, what else, what they had done — every past incident, every item, the viciousness of the offenses, the outrageousness of the behavior, simply too numerous to record even if all the bamboo in the world were used up.

Headlines like "True Colors Revealed, Incorrigible" were everywhere.

Even recent stock market leeks-harvesting schemes and financial manipulations were exposed in full.

They also dug up some things about her husband — things that were easy to look up online, but hadn't been dug up that deeply before.

However, these were only ambiguous exposures. After all, regarding certain backgrounds and connected parties, even Fang Hong couldn't afford to offend them.

If all of that were exposed too, it would truly blow the lid off and there'd be no way to pull back.

Fang Hong still knew his limits. If everything were exposed, it would no longer be a commercial matter — he'd have offended everyone across politics, business, and the underworld.

(End of chapter)