Chapter 171: Fan Xiaopang: Li Bingbing, a Defeated Dog

In 2004, a non-entertainment figure dominated numerous headlines: a man named Li Houlin.

Li Houlin primarily dealt in jewelry and diamonds, owned multiple jewelry stores across various regions, possessed considerable wealth, and was still young—early thirties—earning him the title of diamond bachelor.

With money came the desire for romance.

Due to occasional ties between his business and the entertainment circle, Li Houlin gradually met many female stars and began pursuing them.

Rumors circulated that mainland singers Zhou Yanhong, Sun Yue, and Wang Siyi, who portrayed Pan Jinlian in the CCTV version of *Water Margin*, had all been linked to him or pursued by him.

Yet the real reason he made front-page entertainment news was due to Qin Hailu, the Golden Horse Award-winning actress, and the popular host Li Xiang.

It was said that when Qin Hailu was dating Li Houlin, he abruptly broke up with her and immediately began dating Li Xiang, marrying her within just over a month.

Qin Hailu not only wept openly during interviews but also publicly blamed Li Xiang; Li Xiang, the top host of Hunan TV, was no pushover and fired back.

Li Houlin alternated between apologizing to Qin Hailu and claiming Li Xiang was the better woman.

The romantic entanglement among the three became one of the biggest entertainment scandals of 2004.

At the start of 2005, Zhou Jielun's failed romance with Hou Peichen sparked new public interest in celebrity love triangles.

Before Zhou Jielun's news had cooled, the "Two Bings Compete for Yanli" scandal erupted—media outlets condemned the chaos of entertainment relationships while feverishly reporting the story.

Ordinary netizens and viewers cursed loudly but watched more eagerly than ever.

Sina, Sohu, and NetEase all launched special sections; major entertainment media scrambled to write stories, even media from Taiwan and Hong Kong joined in.

*"Two Bings Serve One Man? Yanli Takes Fan Xiaopang Home in His Luxury Car, Li Bingbing Can't Get Her Young Grass"*

*"Sisters Bings Tear Each Other Apart for Love, Yanli's Lavish Fortune Draws Envy"*

*"Mainland Love Triangle: Zhou Jielun Lets Out a Sigh of Relief"*

*"…"*

Yanli and Fan Xiaopang quietly observed the situation; among the three parties, Li Bingbing was the first to speak.

More precisely, her agent and younger sister Li Xue gave an interview, stating her sister was currently filming and had no knowledge of or interest in outside events.

But insiders soon revealed that Li Bingbing was not filming—she had chosen to travel and take a break after the incident and would not accept interviews anytime soon.

Someone on Tianya even claimed that after seeing the news, Li Bingbing went to Fan Xiaopang's place demanding answers, leading to a confrontation in which Fan Xiaopang was slapped by Li Bingbing.

"These two sisters have the nerve to openly attack me like this."

When Fan Xiaopang called Yanli, she was furious about this post.

She strongly suspected the Tianya thread was written by Li Bingbing's people—shameless, and even if both sisters teamed up, they still couldn't match her.

Yanli remained calm: "They're already cooperating quite well."

Although they tacitly accepted the "Two Bings Compete for Yanli" hype, Li Bingbing couldn't truly play the role of the wronged party.

Like Qin Hailu's "tears everywhere," that was too much—it would look pathetic and invite ridicule.

So the Li sisters' stance was neither confirming nor denying, deliberately vague.

Not confirming the relationship meant they could always retreat and walk away.

Not denying it also allowed them to claim a share of the spotlight, gain exposure, and wait to strike later.

Flexible—able to advance or withdraw!

"Li Xue has improved significantly—she's mastered the timing perfectly."

Yanli felt satisfied; after all, Li Xue was half his disciple, now adept at coordinating hype with her own strategy—ready to graduate.

"Sounds nice, but it's just wanting it both ways."

Fan Xiaopang spoke sharply: they wanted the love triangle exposed, sought sympathy, refused to be outmaneuvered by Fan Xiaopang in romance, and feared getting too deeply entangled—ready to cut ties at any moment.

She despised this game, and Fan Xiaopang always believed Yanli's words were right.

If you want to make money or become famous, don't fear criticism!

Li Bingbing hesitated even to play the "wronged party"—Fan Xiaopang boldly stepped forward, embracing the label of "other woman."

Not just "other woman"—if she later left Huayi, she could claim she followed her lover; alternatively, she might be seen as being "thrown out" by Li Bingbing.

At this stage, although the two Bings had some tacit understanding, they had also "broken the ice."

Li Bingbing's side would no longer treat her as a good sister and wouldn't hold back—even if the Li sisters held back, Li's fans wouldn't spare her.

Fan Xiaopang wanted to prolong the "Two Bings" rivalry and achieve a decisive victory in love.

"I say, just announce your move to Yi'an outright—it'll add fuel to the fire."

Fan Xiaopang was eager, but Yanli told her to stay calm: "No rush."

Set aside Wang Jinghua for now—Yanli openly poaching talent meant Huayi might not let her go.

Although Fan was less valued than Li now, she was still Huayi's rising star—not someone you could just snatch away.

Yanli didn't care about lawsuits or breach penalties, but they could trap Fan Xiaopang, dragging things out and harming her development.

Worse, Fan was already branded "other woman"—if she were further labeled a traitor to her old company, it would be counterproductive.

Being "black-red" is still red, but too black makes whitewashing impossible.

Yanli's original plan was to use Wang Jinghua as leverage.

He had confirmed: Fan Xiaopang's contract was with Huayi, but Wang Jinghua held the decision-making power.

Her cooperation agreement with Huayi contained several hidden clauses.

In other words, Yanli and Wang Jinghua could bypass Huayi entirely to conduct transactions, including Fan Xiaopang's contract termination and re-signing.

But then Wang Jinghua couldn't explain it to Huayi—Yanli had been considering how to persuade her.

But one monthly intelligence report gave him another option.

Wang Jinghua planned to defect from Huayi—and she'd strip it bare doing so!

Yanli didn't care about Wang Jinghua's disputes with Huayi, but under such massive corporate upheaval, Fan Xiaopang's transfer wouldn't seem significant.

Of course, snatching her from the fire would certainly make enemies.

But since Yanli chose to poach Fan Xiaopang, making enemies was unavoidable—if reconciliation was possible, fine; if not, then let them come.

If you want to make money but insist on being a nice guy, you might as well not bother…

Facing her future boss—the man who single-handedly boosted her fame—Fan Xiaopang was obedient.

"Then I'll follow the plan."

"Good."

Yanli hung up and arranged for the artist management department to coordinate at all times, while preparing backup plans.

If Fan Xiaopang's public image turned too negative, shift attention toward him.

This had been agreed upon earlier: Yanli would take the fall if things turned sour.

He was a man, and his behind-the-scenes role outweighed his acting identity—he didn't fear public criticism. When the time came, whether "wronged party" Li Bingbing or "other woman" Fan Xiaopang, both would be portrayed as "victims" of Yanli's two-timing.

So while Li Bingbing's side spoke out and Fan Xiaopang prepared to respond, Yanli remained half-hidden.

Of course, though half-hidden, Yanli's spotlight never dimmed.

"Two Bings Compete for Yanli"—the two Bings were the heroines, but they couldn't escape him.

Many online users cursed him—though more were envious, jealous, and resentful.

Those were the Two Bings!

Both had strong fame, and their year-long coordinated hype had built a certain brand effect.

Though still inferior to the Four Little Goddesses, they had already begun standing out among other rising stars, with steady upward momentum.

Many saw them as their goddesses—only for Yanli, this damn beast, to ruin them one by one.

Cough cough~

Yanli felt wronged—these people underestimated him. What did he mean by "ruining them one by one"? He had clearly stacked the Two Bings together…

…

Two days later, the set of *The Investiture of the Gods: Phoenix Sings at Qishan* in Hengdian opened.

This was Fan Xiaopang's first public appearance since her scandal with Yanli, drawing a flood of reporters.

Fan Xiaopang was in good spirits and accepted several interviews.

"Are you dating Yanli?"

Fan Xiaopang smiled slightly: "I'd rather not disclose personal matters."

Gossip is gossip; romance is romance!

This distinction must be clear—hype doesn't require admitting a relationship.

Yet to maintain exposure, she wouldn't deny it either—instead, she gave ambiguous answers to imply.

This way, exposure continued while leaving room to maneuver—let the public guess, and let them arrive at the answer they wanted to believe.

Pull the drawer—flexible, able to advance or withdraw!

Li Xue's tactic had been coached by Yanli—his disciple had learned it; the master played it better.

"How do you respond to claims you interfered in Yanli and Li Bingbing's relationship?"

"False rumors—I'm not an other woman."

Fan Xiaopang's tone was firm: "I met General Yan back in 2002 during the filming of *The Treasure Basin*. Even if there's some notion of 'first come, first served,' I'm not the latecomer."

"Oh~"

The reporters present were thrilled.

They had expected another round of official platitudes, but she directly challenged Li Bingbing, implying Li was the real other woman.

"So you believe Li Bingbing interfered in your relationship with Yanli?"

Fan Xiaopang smiled politely: "I didn't say that. I won't answer questions about personal relationships."

Then what did you mean just now?

One reporter sensed something and asked: "Some believe your rivalry with Li Bingbing is just a stunt to tie her to you—what do you think?"

"I don't care what the outside world thinks—I'm Fan Bingbing, and I just need to be true to myself."

This answer was somewhat evasive, yet many reporters understood its meaning.

She avoided addressing the gossip about Yan Li, instead steering her remarks toward Li Bingbing.

Experienced reporters swiftly shifted focus, changing the line of questioning from romance and love triangles to the feud between the two Bings.

Indeed, although Fan Xiaopang mixed in many evasive and roundabout answers, she also dropped some "bombshells."

"We're kind of friends, but since we're both busy, we hardly see each other at the company—only occasionally call."

{We're not close; we hardly even call each other.

"An actor's career is long—I'm still young, and I have time to catch up."

{Though I'm not as good as her now, I'm young—I've got time to overtake her on a curve.

"This is already our fourth collaboration—I mean, we have great chemistry... When he called me for this drama, I came right away. I'm not sure if I contacted her."

{Did you see that? Yan Li and I are the real love.

"I can't say much about others' affairs—aren't they publicly calling themselves friends?"

"Ha, I'm also friends with Director Yan—and good friends at that."

{Li Bingbing, a defeated dog.

"..."

As soon as the interview ended, Fan Xiaopang immediately called Yan Li.

"What do you think of my answers?"

There were Yi'an people on set; Yan Li had already received the news: "A bit harsh, but acceptable."

Fan Xiaopang sighed in relief—it was better not to burn bridges outright; it tested one's skill more.

But Yan Li immediately reminded her: "Get ready—Li Bingbing should be acting soon."

"I'm afraid of her?"

Fan Xiaopang didn't care—Li Bingbing wouldn't curse; she'd just be sarcastic, and Fan had already prepared for it.

(End of chapter)