Chenxing Entertainment specialized in idol groups, boasting a large number of trainees with high overall quality.
Jiang Yuan followed Fang Yuan through the facility. Whenever he saw someone with a good look or outstanding talent, he would mention it, and Fang Yuan would have his secretary note them down as potential candidates.
The trainees, who were in the middle of their practice, watched curiously as their General Manager led a remarkably handsome young man through the halls to scout talent. Not knowing his background, they could only steal glances.
Only one person knew exactly who Jiang Yuan was. After all, he had misjudged the situation at Amoy that night and tried to put a hand on Jiang Yuan’s boyfriend, nearly getting his head cracked open in the process. The memory was still fresh.
"Why are you hiding in the back?" Du Tingming asked, looking at Xiao Xiaoyan, who was shrinking into the crowd, with confusion.
This young man, who clearly had a significant background, was obviously there to pick people. Although Du Tingming didn't know the purpose, for trainees like them, any extra exposure meant more popularity. High popularity was the only way to have a chance at debuting.
Normally, Xiao Xiaoyan was very proactive. Even if their manager wanted someone to accompany clients for drinks, he would fight for the chance. In this industry, if someone backed you, your chances of making it big were much higher.
Xiao Xiaoyan shrunk behind him and whispered, "That’s a major benefactor. Last time, I misjudged and touched his boyfriend. Even the boss didn't dare protect me. I'm afraid he still remembers."
Du Tingming’s spirit jolted, and the way he looked at Jiang Yuan changed. He nervously licked his lips, his heart pounding. He hadn't expected this young man, who was prettier than many minor celebrities, to be such a powerful figure. If he could catch his eye, it didn't seem like a bad thing to accept...
Jiang Yuan scanned the practice room and quickly noticed Du Tingming standing in the corner. Du Tingming’s appearance was exceptionally striking; even among a crowd of handsome men and beautiful women, he had a strong presence. He was exactly the kind of "seed player" Jiang Yuan wanted.
"That tall one over there is good. Keep him for me," Jiang Yuan said to Fang Yuan, looking at Du Tingming.
He didn't intentionally lower his voice. His naturally cool voice was slightly raspy for certain reasons, and it echoed in the suddenly quiet practice room, sounding inexplicably suggestive.
Du Tingming’s face instantly flushed red.
Fang Yuan followed Jiang Yuan’s gaze to Du Tingming. After looking him up and down, he realized that Du Tingming’s features were actually sixty to seventy percent similar to Xie Chengnan’s. However, due to his age, he looked more sunny and casual, lacking that steady, commanding aura.
Fang Yuan couldn't help but joke, "Young Master Jiang, your tastes are quite consistent." He didn't think much of it, just a casual tease. After all, with Xie Chengnan’s caliber right there, he didn't think a minor artist like this could truly catch Jiang Yuan’s eye.
The others, however, didn't know the inside story. They all looked at Du Tingming with unreadable expressions—some with envy, some with disdain, and some purely for the drama. It left Du Tingming feeling utterly flustered.
Jiang Yuan said nothing, only letting out a soft chuckle before turning to the next practice room.
By the time Jiang Yuan arrived at Onion Culture, it was already one in the afternoon.
The former General Manager, now Vice President Qian Mian, had been waiting anxiously all morning. Upon seeing his young and beautiful new boss, Qian Mian froze in disbelief for a long moment before snapping out of it. He introduced himself, "I am Qian Mian. I will be your deputy from now on."
Onion Culture was a small company with a young workforce. As Jiang Yuan walked through, he couldn't help but find it strange. "With so many young people in the company, how did the live-streaming platform end up looking like that mess?"
Qian Mian rubbed his nose awkwardly. "Well... we were short on cash. We couldn't afford advertisements or famous streamers. It just slowly turned into that."
Jiang Yuan didn't comment further and directly announced his decision: "Have the technical staff prepare. Issue a notice today: the platform will be closed for one week for internal restructuring."
Hearing this, Qian Mian hesitated, looking like he wanted to say something.
Jiang Yuan took the initiative to ask, "What is it?"
Qian Mian summoned his courage and asked, "Because of the acquisition, many people are worried about layoffs..."
Jiang Yuan didn't give him a definitive answer, only saying, "Those with ability will naturally stay. As for those who play tricks and slack off—I'm not running a charity."
"I understand." Qian Mian didn't say more and led Jiang Yuan to the newly prepared General Manager's office.
Jiang Yuan took only one look before asking, "Where is the meeting room?"
Qian Mian blinked. "I'll take you there. Do you need me to gather the heads of all departments?"
"Yes." Jiang Yuan was very satisfied with Qian Mian’s reaction; the man was smart.
Jiang Yuan didn't care what the others thought after the meeting. He only knew that he had assigned the tasks, and now it was time to test their abilities.
Just as he announced the end of the meeting, Fang Yuan’s call came in.
Since upgrading from a fair-weather friend to a business partner, Fang Yuan’s status in Jiang Yuan’s eyes had naturally risen significantly.
Young Master Jiang leaned back in his chair, teasing in a familiar tone, "Did Young Master Fang just realize he forgot to fleece me for a meal?"
Fang Yuan was somewhat flattered, but he remembered to get to business first. "A post smearing you has appeared on Weibo. Do you want me to find professionals to handle it? We have a team we work with long-term if you need them."
Jiang Yuan raised an eyebrow. A smear post? He was actually quite curious, so he said casually, "It’s fine. I’ll go see what they’ve written. If I need help, I’ll trouble you then."
Fang Yuan smiled. "You're too polite, Young Master Jiang. Just give me a call if you need anything."
After a few more pleasantries, they hung up.
Jiang Yuan opened Weibo and found that he didn't even need to look for it; a bunch of people had already sent him the link via private message.
Most of them were CP fans of him and Xie Chengnan, defending him and offering comfort. There were also some trolls saying very nasty things, whom Jiang Yuan promptly blacklisted.
Jiang Yuan clicked in and looked at the title: *Let’s dish the dirt on the 'Zero' who’s pretending to be a White Lotus in that high-profile couple.*
White Lotus? Young Master Jiang clicked his tongue. He didn't know when he had ever been associated with that term. Intrigued, he read on.
Ever since Xie Chengnan called him "Baby" on Weibo, their fans had followed suit, calling him "Baby Yuan." This nickname easily brought to mind words like cute and soft. Because of this, many people assumed that in real life, Jiang Yuan must be a simple, harmless child who was pampered by others.
Jiang Yuan didn't care how others saw him, so he hadn't bothered to clarify. After all, he wasn't a public figure and didn't need to market an image.
He just hadn't expected someone to use this to dig up "black material" on him.
The author of this smear post was clearly someone who knew Jiang Yuan in real life.
The post started by mentioning that Jiang Yuan had a terrible temper, was arrogant and domineering, and often hit people over minor things. Young Master Jiang raised an eyebrow. Well, his temper indeed wasn't great.
Then it mentioned that Jiang Yuan originally claimed to be straight, only admitting he was gay after being exposed for having a boyfriend, yet he acted all righteous and "shameless" about it. Young Master Jiang thought about it; this wasn't entirely wrong either, except he hadn't hidden it on purpose—he had only just been bent.
Next, it mentioned the ten-year age gap between Jiang Yuan and Xie Chengnan and that they met at a club. Putting these two sentences together was practically the same as saying they were in a "sugar baby" relationship.
Jiang Yuan couldn't help but laugh. It started as a "sugar" relationship, sure, but he was the one who had "bought" Xie Chengnan. He wondered if their CP fans would believe that.
The rest was mostly nonsense, claiming that before Jiang Yuan hooked up with Xie Chengnan, he had another "Gold Master." This benefactor’s name couldn't be mentioned, but everyone in the gay circle knew he liked to play with young boys—and play rough.
It also said that Xie Chengnan had just returned from abroad and didn't know these things; he was being deceived by Jiang Yuan, treating a "piece of trash" who had been ruined by others as a treasure, wasting money and emotions as a "sucker" taking over someone else's leftovers.
At the end of the post were two photos. The people next to him were blurred out, leaving only Jiang Yuan’s face visible.
The first was a selfie where the person happened to capture Qiao Song and Jiang Yuan in the background. Qiao Song’s arm was draped over the back of the sofa behind Jiang Yuan, and he was holding a piece of fruit to Jiang Yuan’s lips. They looked very intimate.
Judging by the background, it was taken during a party on the high seas with a group of second-generation heirs last summer. There were many people on the boat, but because of the heavy blurring, Jiang Yuan couldn't tell who the original poster was.
The second photo showed Jiang Yuan holding a wine bottle and pointing it at someone—likely from the incident at Amoy. At the time, both Xie Chengnan and Qiao Song were beside him. The poster had intentionally blurred Xie Chengnan heavily, while Qiao Song’s face was only partially obscured, with a caption explicitly stating he was the same man from the first photo who was intimate with Jiang Yuan.
Jiang Yuan’s smile faded, his finger tapping rhythmically on the armrest.
There was a reason this post was going viral. The content was a mix of half-truths and lies, touching on the kind of melodramatic plot points the public loved to gossip about. With photos as "evidence," it was easy for people to believe it was all true.
However, since the poster could get these photos, there was no way they couldn't find out Jiang Yuan’s true identity. This meant they were intentionally misleading public opinion to blacken his name.
Just as Jiang Yuan was wondering if the culprit was Jiang Hao, his phone received a notification from a "Special Follow." When he clicked in, the corners of his mouth, which had flattened, couldn't help but curl up again.
**Chengnan Gege:** Wait for it. //@asdfg: *Let’s dish the dirt on the 'Zero' who’s pretending to be a White Lotus in that high-profile couple.*
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
辰星娱乐 | Chenxing Entertainment | Fang Yuan's entertainment company.
洋葱文化 | Onion Culture | The struggling live-streaming company Jiang Yuan acquired.
杜霆鸣 | Du Tingming | A trainee at Chenxing who resembles Xie Chengnan.
肖小言 | Xiao Xiaoyan | The trainee who offended Jiang Yuan/Xie Chengnan at Amoy.
钱勉 | Qian Mian | Vice President of Onion Culture.
小白花 | White Lotus | Slang for someone who acts innocent/fragile but is often manipulative.
零 | Zero / 0 | Slang for the submissive partner (bottom) in a gay relationship.
接盘侠 | Sucker / Leftover-taker | Slang for someone who unknowingly dates/marries someone with a "messy" past.
乔松 | Qiao Song | A friend of Jiang Yuan's from his social circle.
