Chapter 207: Rumor

What's wrong?

Inside the office, Jiang Heng noticed Liu Yifei seemed a bit off, and couldn't help asking.

"Nothing, I just didn't sleep well last night, feeling groggy!" Liu Yifei forced a smile.

"How about you go rest first and come back tomorrow?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I can do it!" Liu Yifei steadied herself.

Jiang Heng casually asked a few questions, then had her give a simple performance.

While Liu Yifei performed, Jiang Heng sat back at the computer and clicked to search 'Liu Yifei'.

The top results were all 'Song Zu leaks: the Fairy Sister is actually a boy.'

"Bang!"

Jiang Heng couldn't help slamming his palm on the desk, startling Liu Yifei, who was performing, into a big jump; she stood there stiffly.

"When something like this happens, why didn't you tell me?"

She's just an eighteen‑year‑old girl; she really can't take this!

Feeling the care and concern of the person before her, Liu Yifei could no longer hold back, suddenly hugging Jiang Heng and bursting into tears.

In fact, these years she has lived feeling somewhat repressed.

"Look at you, all happy!"

Fortunately, Liu Yifei had her back to the door; although she could still hear the commotion, by now she didn't care about those things.

Liu Yifei cried even harder, her makeup smudged.

As a child, because of her outstanding looks and talent, she was bullied by her female classmates; after going to the United States, she was ostracized by Korean girls.

Liu Yifei was first shocked, then tears streamed down instantly—she became a tearful person in a flash.

Jiang Heng stepped forward, took a tissue, and helped her wipe her tears.

"Sorry, I got your clothes dirty; let me wash them for you?"

Hearing that, Liu Yifei let out a pleasant laugh.

At that moment, the office door opened; the assistant, holding coffee, stared at the scene before him, somewhat dumbfounded.

Perhaps she felt too wronged; Liu Yifei was now crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.

"I know you're usually busy and have no time for these trivial matters. Besides, we—"

Liu Yifei laughed through tears: "Of course I'm fine—I'm naturally a girl; such absurd rumors can't hurt me!"

After crying for over ten minutes, Liu Yifei gradually calmed down, noticed Jiang Heng's clothes were soiled, and instantly felt ashamed.

Jiang Heng initially froze, then gently patted her back as if soothing a child.

Jiang Heng waved his hand, signaling the assistant to leave; the assistant hurriedly slipped out, closing the door softly.

Having entered the entertainment industry, though her development had been fairly smooth, she never imagined she'd be smeared with such filthy water.

Liu Yifei smiled and said: "I just find it funny—you're not from Xianggang, where did you learn that catchphrase?"

Jiang Heng nodded, smiling: "Indeed, lies don't hurt people; the truth is the sharp blade. People like him are just a toad trying to eat a swan—harmless but annoying."

Jiang Heng chuckled: "It's fine, as long as you're okay."

Jiang Heng said: "Isn't this about preparing for graduate school entrance exams?"

"Huh?"

The young lady didn't get this meme, but Jiang Heng added: "We can't indulge that brat—hire a lawyer, spend big money, get the best lawyer!"

Liu Yifei looked bewildered: "Like this, is it okay?"

In this era, everyone's legal awareness is quite thin.

Stars rarely used legal means to protect their rights, unlike later, when lawyer letters would fly at the slightest provocation.

But in fact, the 'legal weapon' depends on who wields it.

Take the '3Q War' back then: Tencent called the police, and as soon as Zhou Hongyi stepped out his door, he got a call—over thirty police arrived from his company, and you had to flee.

Zhou Hongyi immediately sensed the gravity: without any substantive charges, just the news that a 360 founder had been taken away was enough to ignite public opinion.

Zhou Hongyi hurriedly checked his passport, saw the validity of all visas, found he could go to Xianggang, Japan, or the U. S., so he chose the most convenient—Xianggang—and thus escaped disaster.

On Jiang Heng's side, naturally it wouldn't blow up that big, but he wouldn't let that brat off easy.

First he called Han Sanping to ask if he knew any professors at Peking University Law School.

Han Sanping blinked, then asked what was up.

Jiang Heng briefly explained; Han Sanping thought it somewhat unbelievable, but for such a matter, many big law firms would be willing to take it on.

Moreover, Outstanding Rising Film Company itself had signed a legal counsel agreement with a law firm.

Jiang Heng said: "I've heard there's a legal genius there; I'd like to talk with him!"

Han Sanping didn't press further; shortly after he gave Jiang Heng a phone number—the vice dean of Peking University Law School.

After a brief chat, Jiang Heng mentioned the name 'Luo Xiang'.

The vice dean laughed: "I never expected Director Jiang to have heard of his name; alright, I'll let him know and have him call you back."

"All right, thank you, Dean Guo!"

After hanging up, Liu Yifei gazed over with curious eyes: "Really possible?"

Jiang Heng laughed: "I don't know either, but let's give it a try—later we'll have Lawyer Luo work out a sky‑high compensation to scare that brat first. Besides, we'll have someone look into his company; I don't believe there's no loophole. On the media front, I'll make a few more calls."

Jiang Heng contacted Newbright; the other side, hearing Jiang Heng's enthusiasm, said they'd been cooperating for years.

After hearing Jiang Heng's request, they said they would handle it and also invited him to open a blog on Newbright.

After Jiang Heng agreed, the person on the other end was overjoyed, affirmed again, and guaranteed to complete the 'mission'.

Jiang Heng then made several more calls—some to media outlets, some to industry regulatory authorities.

Most gave face, but a few media outlets with the attitude of 'heaven is high and the emperor far away' thought that although Jiang Heng was famous and rich, they couldn't be touched, and their perfunctory intent was obvious.

After hanging up the phone, Liu Yifei saw Jiang Heng's face not looking good, and quickly said, "Why not just let it be? Things have come to this; it's already quite good!"

Jiang Heng gave a cold smile, "That won't do; if a tiger doesn't show its might, you'll treat me like a sick cat!"

Mainly, Jiang Heng felt that he should have made arrangements in the media; otherwise, anything would be too passive.

Short videos are still premature now, but this thing called Weibo can be handled.

If we could get ahead and launch Weibo, we would have a foothold in the public opinion market.

As for print media, although it will decline in the following years, it is still quite prosperous for now.

We can buy a few of them; first, to help ourselves speak out, and second, to lay the foundation for a future "media empire."

Besides doing these, Jiang Heng also plans to speak out publicly.

At the end of February, Jiang Heng and his team were about to fly to the United States to attend the Oscars award ceremony; before departure, a large number of media reporters went to the airport for interviews.

When Jiang Heng accepted the interview, he publicly spoke out in support of Liu Yifei, condemning Song Zu for his lack of virtue, for recklessly spreading rumors and slandering others, causing huge losses to the Pacific Rim 2 production crew and huge losses to Liu Yifei.

The production crew and Liu Yifei herself will take legal action, demanding at least 100 million yuan in economic compensation from him.

As soon as the news came out, the domestic entertainment industry was shocked!

(End of chapter)