Chapter 385

Yangjiao Lantern Alley

Yan Li, reminded by Dong Xuan, realized he had gone to the hospital—and somehow ended up online.

Hmm, that's not surprising; hospitals are crowded, and Yan Li didn't hide his identity when coming and going, so being spotted or photographed was perfectly normal.

But what was utterly ridiculous was how wildly exaggerated the reports about his hospital visit had become.

Some credible leaks claimed Li Xiaolu was hospitalized, and Yan Li went to visit; rumors then spread that Li Xiaolu had an ectopic pregnancy and was rushed to the hospital, with Yan Li appearing as the child's father.

That at least had some connection, but gradually the rumor shifted to Huo Siyan being pregnant—and it spread even further.

Compared to Li Xiaolu, whose connection to Yan Li was limited, the gossip linking Huo Siyan and Yan Li was far more widespread, and someone had indeed captured blurry photos of the two at the hospital—Huo Siyan seeing Yan Li off downstairs.

When Yan Li saw this, he already stopped caring.

He'd thought he'd been exposed for something serious, but now it was clear: this was just tabloid media and internet trolls stirring trouble; even glancing twice was a waste of time.

Yan Li didn't care, but Huo Siyan and Li Xiaolu couldn't sit still.

They feared being dragged down by the scandal, and rumors of ectopic pregnancy or pregnancy would damage their careers and social standing, so they quickly clarified via Weibo.

Li Xiaolu denied being pregnant, stating she was hospitalized due to an accidental injury, posted her medical records, and thanked Yan Li for helping her find an expert friend for diagnosis.

She didn't mention switching wards—since that involved hospital internal matters—but asking an expert friend for help was perfectly understandable human behavior.

Huo Siyan also stated she wasn't pregnant; the online photos showed her escorting Yan Li on Li Xiaolu's behalf.

Both posted a photo of them together in hospital beds, clearly portraying close friends caring for a sick person—with no connection to pregnancy.

Ma Yili and Xiong Naijin also appeared in their comment sections to testify; Qin Lan even posted an emoji, indirectly confirming she knew Yan Li had gone on her behalf.

After both Weibo posts went out, the pregnancy rumors were settled—but the words "corpus luteum rupture" on the medical records pulled Yan Li back in.

Although this condition can result from falls or spontaneous causes, the majority of cases stem from physical activity—yes, various kinds of activity.

Everyone knows Yan Li's reputation as "Yan the Cannon," and combined with Li Xiaolu's petite frame and Yan Li's personal hospital visit, the association was impossible to ignore.

Now it was perfect: no explanation could possibly clear it up!

Pregnancy rumors were easy to debunk and drew limited attention, but this kind of ambiguous, explosive romantic scandal couldn't be refuted or disproven.

Even with evidence, people wouldn't believe it—they'd smile mysteriously and cling to whatever they wanted to believe.

Golf, Dragon Tent, stamp collecting—whether true or not, once tagged with this label, it was nearly impossible to remove.

Yan Li had faced similar romantic rumors before: the Seven Fairies all conquered, "Painted Skin" filming with two soldiers sharing a bed, Xiangjiang yacht scandal, and so on.

Even though those involved consistently denied them, many still refused to believe it—and now Li Xiaolu's incident had landed on him again.

Though, truthfully, most of these incidents were basically true…

For Yan Li, "when you have too many lice, they don't itch anymore"—he had too many romantic scandals to count; one more, Li Xiaolu's, made no difference, as long as he cleared himself with Qin Dong.

Dong Xuan and Qin Lan had no doubts either.

Li Xiaolu publicly had almost no contact with Yan Li; they both knew the full story behind today's incident—Yan Li was purely taking the blame.

So no matter how noisy the outside world became, Qin Dong didn't take it seriously—she merely mocked and laughed at how terrible his reputation was, to get tangled in such nonsense.

Li Xiaolu couldn't explain further, nor could she properly address it—she could only pretend ignorance and lie flat, letting the mockery roll over her.

Fortunately, Jia Nailiang believed her; mainly because when he rushed to the hospital, Li was only accompanied by Huo Siyan, and everything seemed perfectly normal.

Later, Yan Li's arrival followed a clear logic—he naturally wouldn't suspect falsely, nor dare to suspect.

As someone in absolute submission in pursuit, if Jia Nailiang dared to complain or make moves, Li Xiaolu would kick him out without hesitation.

As a top actress, Li Xiaolu truly wasn't short of suitors—but Jia Nailiang might never find another female star who'd put up with his act.

The entertainment industry is a marketplace of fame and fortune, prioritizing money, power, and talent; warm-guy tactics have an audience, but the proportion is truly low.

Imagine: ordinary beauties can keep several lickspittles; how much more so these female stars with money, looks, and endless glamour? One wave of the hand draws countless men groveling at their feet—even some with decent conditions.

Li Xiaolu thought she could just play dead, ride out the storm, and wait until the Spring Festival Gala news came out—then no one would care, at most a few teasing jabs now and then.

But unexpectedly, her ex-boyfriend Li Chen showed up.

The reason? A bored netizen, knowing Li Chen was Li Xiaolu's ex, went to his Weibo comment section and asked about it.

When Li Chen and Li Xiaolu broke up, part of the reason was his suspicion that she and Yan Li were involved, plus accumulated conflicts over romance and family, after which Li Xiaolu deliberately went to provoke him.

Li Chen probably still harbored resentment and seized this chance for a small revenge.

Perhaps wary of Yan Li, he didn't say it outright; his accusations leaned more toward Li Xiaolu, implying she was vain, betrayed true love, and now clung to a rich, powerful man—deserving her fate and so on.

Though merely implied, at this moment, combined with the rumors, it hammered Yan Li and Li Xiaolu once more.

Li Xiaolu was furious, her stomach aching; Huo Siyan, seeing this, stood up for her best friend—primarily to defend Yan Li.

The matter between the two Lis had nothing to do with Yan Li.

When Yan Li and Li Xiaolu had things, they were already broken up; the main reasons were Li Chen's lack of self-confidence, paranoia, and accumulated emotional and familial conflicts.

So Huo Siyan directly @ed Li Chen on Weibo, scolding him for malicious intent and dirty tactics, and laid out some of their past conflicts (mostly Li Chen's negative actions).

Huo Siyan was close to Li Xiaolu and understood their situation well; her statements were reasonable and well-supported.

The Teddy Sisters stood united; as soon as Huo Siyan opened fire, the others followed suit.

They knew relatively little—back then, the Teddy Sisters weren't especially close, and Li Xiaolu never aired her romantic affairs publicly; most just sided with Li Xiaolu.

But Li Chen had his own cronies, like Liu Tianzuo, who starred in "Soldiers Sortie," and Du Chun, his colleague signed to Huayi.

The former merely supported Li Chen as a good guy, backing his brother; Du Chun made pointed remarks, claiming not to bow to evil forces and so on.

As for the other cast members of "Soldiers Sortie," whether they didn't want to meddle in private matters or feared someone, none spoke up.

Seeing the Teddy Sisters' fierce onslaught, especially Huo Siyan's fearless demeanor, Li Chen grew wary and quietly deleted his Weibo replies—effectively surrendering.

Huo Siyan wasn't satisfied; she went to his comment section to shout at him, warning him to behave himself and never bother Li Xiaolu again—or she wouldn't let him off.

Impressive!

Li Xiaolu finally vented her anger; Huo Siyan thoroughly enjoyed this moment of commanding authority and power.

She even wished Li Chen would argue with her again—since all the leaks targeted Li Xiaolu anyway.

With Li Chen out of the picture, she grew restless again, eyeing Du Chun—but the bastard deleted his Weibo and vanished.

Liu Tianzuo didn't delete it, since it wasn't excessive, but his fame was too low—she simply didn't care to respond.

It was like Li Chen had jumped out to whine and complain, but Yan Li gave no indication at all.

The quality is too low!

Someone even Hu Siyan could easily handle was no different to Yan Li than a random passerby or Netizen B—getting angry at them would only lower her status.

Of course, not getting angry or caring didn't mean letting them jump around in front of Yan Li.

But Yan Li didn't need to take any direct action herself—her subordinates who were sensible and eager to advance would naturally act; if word of it reached her casually later, it became a point in their favor.

Yi'an's senior executives were little brothers in front of Yan Li, but outside, they were all major figures in the industry.

This could be seen from Luo Haiqiong's marriage to the vice president of Huayi—her wedding was attended by numerous stars and big names.

Of course, this vice president himself was also a shareholder of Huayi and had considerable background, unlike ordinary executives.

But Yi'an wasn't short of senior executives with shareholder power and strong connections—dealing with one or two moderately popular male stars was no big deal, and barely required effort: just trip them up, and others would naturally follow suit.

In the entertainment industry, the rarest thing is a benefactor willing to lift others up; the most abundant are colleagues and peers who kick you when you're down and trample you to climb up.

…

Yan Li, aside from occasionally asking about Li Xiaolu's health, devoted himself entirely to the New Year.

This year's New Year was slightly busier for Yan Li, mainly because he had to have dinner with Qin Lan and Dong Xuan's parents, who were coming to Beijing after the holiday.