Chapter 325

Seeing Yan Li had dealt with paparazzi for years, but this time he truly took a bitter blow.

Upon learning he'd made the Xiangjiang headline, Seeing Yan Li's first thought was that someone had set him up.

Very few knew about the yacht party—even Seeing Yan Li's own team only found out once they arrived; if someone leaked it, it had to be the Huang family or Kim.

The Huang family had no motive—this benefited them nothing—but Kim was suspicious, perhaps hoping to profit from hyping up the rumor about Wen Yongshan.

Later, Seeing Yan Li reconsidered and thought it unlikely—if this were a deliberate scheme, the system would have warned him.

Besides, based on Kim's various behaviors, she wasn't that foolish.

Arranging paparazzi to sneak photos and expose this would at most give Wen Yongshan a bit of heat, but negative heat at that; Seeing Yan Li would never admit to it, and he had plenty of gossip partners—he wouldn't gain much from this.

If the scandal blew up, Seeing Yan Li would surely grow suspicious, and her hard-won connection with him would be severed.

Worse, if Seeing Yan Li traced it back to her—or even suspected her—he might face fierce retaliation from both Seeing Yan Li and Dongfang Films.

The yacht and itinerary were arranged by the Huang family; if Seeing Yan Li got into trouble, they couldn't escape blame—they had to give him an explanation.

Kim's people were also unlikely—Kim was experienced and wouldn't have gone unprepared; on the yacht, nothing was confiscated, and no one could have leaked word.

So, it was most likely just coincidence.

To be safe, Seeing Yan Li triggered the system at midnight to confirm—it was truly no conspiracy.

This was a famous yacht harbor, occasionally hosting wealthy celebrities; paparazzi were a permanent fixture here.

And because the yachts were far out, their equipment was far from ordinary.

Seeing Yan Li knew this well—he'd only stepped out in his underwear for less than half a minute, yet was photographed crystal clear.

Back when the blog scandal broke, Seeing Yan Li had comforted himself: at least he hadn't shown his cock—only to be proven wrong less than two months later.

Still, there was some coverage—he was still more decent than Chen Laoshi.

"Decent ***，％＃＄@＃＆％￠……"

Seeing Yan Li couldn't hold back—he cursed loudly. Was there no other job in Xiangjiang? Paparazzi everywhere, sneaking photos, and headlines so damn provocative.

For hours after the incident, Seeing Yan Li dared not check Weibo—he was certain the mob of onlookers would have nothing but vile comments.

Instead, the Weibo official in charge called him to ask whether to suppress the trend.

Of course not—suppressing it would just hand the advantage to other platforms.

His face was already lost; the heat must not be lost!

In fact, Seeing Yan Li had Ding Feng use his Weibo to issue a clarification, anchoring the heat firmly on Weibo.

The clarification was simple: a friend gathering, rented yacht for a party, a healthy get-together—no rumors of models or anything strange.

As for the "cannon" thing—fine, he'd admit it; in a way, it wasn't even embarrassing.

Immediately after Seeing Yan Li's clarification, Little Huang also came out: he'd invited Seeing Yan Li to a friend's birthday party; Wen Yongshan and others were just friends of friends, all there to eat, drink, and sing.

Had he not feared inflaming things further and been unsure of Seeing Yan Li's stance, Little Huang might have even claimed Wen Yongshan as his girlfriend.

Either way, he had to distance Seeing Yan Li from this to reduce negative fallout and avoid Seeing Yan Li developing ill will toward him.

Not just Little Huang—Wen Yongshan and Baby also explained via media, sticking to the same story.

Though their stories aligned logically, few believed them.

Come on—that was Seeing Yan Li. Believing him was less plausible than believing Chen Laoshi's photos were all edited.

Seeing Yan Li never expected to fully clear his name—he just needed an explanation, or else the media and netizens would fabricate whatever they wanted.

On another front, Seeing Yan Li used his connections to bribe and warn certain Xiangjiang media outlets: stop this nonsense, end it here.

The mainland was just enthusiastic masses; Xiangjiang had real triads.

On the mainland, though they didn't suppress the heat, they avoided mentioning sensitive terms like "party," focusing instead on mocking Seeing Yan Li himself.

That said, while mockery dominated, there were still some positive voices.

Men envied Seeing Yan Li's ample endowment and abundant romantic luck; women lusted after his endowment and physique.

Seeing Yan Li in his underwear wasn't just close-ups of his private parts—he had broad shoulders, a sturdy frame, a narrow waist, long legs, clearly defined muscles, and with his endowment, it was a genuine super bonus.

Especially some seasoned old hens who'd seen it all—they went full throttle, and even Seeing Yan Li blushed watching.

It even sparked a new question: many wondered, back when Seeing Yan Li hadn't yet made it big, how he'd managed to land beauties like Dong Xuan, Huang Shengyi, and Qin Lan.

Back then, everyone said he was handsome, sweet-talking, good at flattery—but now, everyone had overlooked one crucial reason.

Since the blog scandal, Qin Lan had kept a low profile; her comment section remained closed, never reopened; Dong Xuan claimed she was busy with work, hiding at school.

Both Bingbing and Shuangbing were currently on the set of "The Wind," able to avoid the spotlight; others weren't visible publicly, so no one could ask them.

Huang Shengyi, the "ex-girlfriend," suffered the most—she was caught at an event, cornered by reporters, grilled relentlessly: "What do you think of this? What's your impression of Seeing Yan Li's… abilities?" and so on.

Unprepared and faced with such explosive questions, Huang Shengyi stammered, desperately changing the subject; the reporters weren't to be trifled with and quickly published an article.

"When Mentioning Seeing Yan Li, Huang Shengyi Blushes, Stammers About the 'Cannon'"

…

Amid the chaos outside, once he realized there was no particularly negative impact, he relaxed.

This matter could be big or small; given Seeing Yan Li's image, there was no "fall from grace"—if pushed toward entertainment, it'd just mean a few future jabs.

The more troublesome issue was Qin Lan herself arriving in Xiangjiang, under the pretense of caring for him—everyone knew the real reason.

Seeing Yan Li occasionally strayed, and his women at home turned a blind eye—but once exposed, it was a different story.

Qin Lan came on her own, but behind her stood Dong Xuan and Fan Xiaopang's support, even the shadows of Old Yan and Zhang Hong.

The old couple felt their son had gone too far—yachts, models, all those messy online rumors sounded unseemly; they could ignore other things, but if their son was going down a bad path, they couldn't stand by.

Seeing Yan Li felt helpless—he couldn't explain it away.

Besides, he was busy now and had no time to deal with this; Qin Lan's arrival wasn't bad—having someone around eased his stress.

But Wen Yongshan and Baby were at a loss.

They'd finally hooked onto Seeing Yan Li, expecting to move even closer—then Seeing Yan Li went silent.

At first, they thought it was due to the paparazzi exposure—he was lying low, understandable—but later they learned: someone had come from the mainland.

Baby even wanted to go directly to Seeing Yan Li's place, but Kim stopped her—right now there's still a chance; showing up would violate taboos and guarantee disaster.

Wait a bit longer; if things don't improve, wait until the storm passes, then head north to the mainland.

Kim, after hearing Wen Yongshan's account, judged that Seeing Yan Li still had some interest in the two—at least for a short-term fling—and as long as Seeing Yan Li hadn't forgotten them, there'd be a way to reconnect.

Moreover, although they couldn't reach Seeing Yan Li for now, the incident still brought some benefits to Baby and Wen Yongshan: their fame and exposure surged, and their appearance fees rose significantly.

Kim helped arrange work opportunities, planning to boost them up, make a quick profit, increase their fame further, and strengthen their position when facing Seeing Yan Li again.

In the absolute worst case, if Seeing Yan Li ignored them entirely, their increased fame and value would still allow them to pursue other plans.

Just as Kim was confidently preparing, this unexpected event overturned the plan.

The financial crisis arrived!

Xiangjiang was a famed financial city, once hailed as Asia's financial center, where even old men on the street spoke fluently about stocks, and housewives and stall owners might have brokerage accounts.

When the financial crisis hit, Xiangjiang descended into chaos—people were frantic, panic spread, and someone was constantly jumping off rooftops, imitating *Infernal Affairs*.

Seeing Yan Li's gossip was ignored entirely; Xiangjiang's mainstream media were completely flooded with coverage of the financial crisis.

Even entertainment media focused solely on celebrities devastated by stock trading or investments; paparazzi no longer sneaked photos—they approached stars and asked, "Did you trade stocks? How much did you lose?"

According to incomplete statistics, Li Jiaxin, who had recently joined a wealthy family, lost possibly hundreds of millions due to her enthusiasm; luckily, her husband was footing the bill, or she'd have had to return to acting.

Even worse off were Li Tianwang and Liu Nai Cha, rumored to have invested most of their fortunes in Lehman Brothers, instantly reduced to nothing.

Additionally, numerous Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities were dragged into the mess; media interviews and headlines were filled with gloom.

If the X-photo scandal earlier this year was an earthquake in the Hong Kong entertainment circle, the current financial crisis was a true collapse of heaven and earth.

Hong Kong and Taiwan celebrities suffered, but many in the mainland were hit too.

After all, the past two years had been the peak of China's A-share market, and many wealthy celebrities had rushed into the stock market—only to suffer devastating losses.

For example, Feng Kuzi, who had always loved trading stocks, was reckless and stubborn; rumors said he lost over 90%.

Host Xie Na revealed on Weibo that she had lost heavily just this year, prompting the similarly ruined Huang Sanshi to joke that the bear market should be renamed "Na Market."

Tong Dawei stated in an interview that he had also lost some money, claiming it was equivalent to filming two movies for free.

Still, he felt relieved—he had listened to Seeing Yan Li's advice and withdrawn some funds earlier, then called Seeing Yan Li again for guidance and quickly exited his positions; otherwise, he might have lost money for his child's formula.

Tong Dawei's remarks drew attention to Seeing Yan Li, who was known as a stock trader who built his fortune from scratch and long dubbed the "Stock God of the Entertainment Circle"; he had made a fortune during the previous A-share bull market.

So how is he doing now? Has he crashed?!

Since his debut, Seeing Yan Li had sailed smoothly, making massive profits; many people resented him and eagerly awaited his downfall, ready to gloat.

Yet Seeing Yan Li never responded to any of it; from the yacht incident until the financial crisis erupted, he remained hidden, never appearing or speaking out.

Gradually, voices emerged—sources claimed Seeing Yan Li had suffered massive losses in the financial crisis, owed huge debts, and that Yi'an and Weibo were nearly bankrupt; the so-called post-80s business leader would be utterly finished.

These rumors were, of course, orchestrated by competitors to damage Seeing Yan Li's image and reputation and undermine his company's operations.

Seeing Yan Li had planned to strike back immediately and stabilize morale, but suddenly noticed internal unrest at Yi'an; he paused, holding his ground.

Weibo and Yi'an didn't need his direct attention—the accounts had cash, projects continued, and a little internal reassurance would prevent any problems.

The key issue was Yi'an Cinemas: during his second round of financing, Seeing Yan Li had mortgaged heavily to borrow from banks to build theaters; now, his books showed no cash, funds were frozen, and he still carried external debt.

With the financial crisis, shareholders were struggling, and hearing rumors of Seeing Yan Li's troubles, they worried about Yi'an's future—internal dissent grew loud and messy.

Under these circumstances, Seeing Yan Li contacted shareholders, insisting his finances were perfectly sound and the situation was actually excellent.

Yet he never responded to any external rumors, nor did he appear in public.

This contradictory stance made some shareholders even more anxious, even suspecting he had fled the country.

"Big Brother Mang, you've got to believe me—I'm making money right now, the company won't collapse; in a while, I'll bring back a huge sum, and maybe I can even acquire other cinema chains…"

Seeing Yan Li hung up the call, sipped his coffee, thought of the other side's evasive tone, and shook his head.

From start to finish, he had told the truth—he had money, and would have even more; he couldn't return to Beijing for now, and they shouldn't believe the wild rumors.

But these people refused to believe him, swayed by rumors, firmly convinced he was bankrupt and had fled.

He was, after all, a business genius draped in glory—how little they trusted him.

Then again, it wasn't entirely their fault; too many big names had gone under in the financial crisis, and some were simply suffering, terrified of losses, too anxious to gamble anymore.

Seeing Yan Li felt he should stretch it a little longer—someone would eventually sell their shares, and he'd be ready to "grit his teeth" and buy them up.