She Said: A Passionate Kiss [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 22

A few days later, the books that Qiang Huai ordered arrived.

She asked her operations staff to post a giveaway on Weibo — the prize being Qunjun’s book.

As soon as it was posted, Weibo exploded.

Qunjun’s book “Breaking Out of the Predetermined Frame” had already gained traction offline. Many of its viewpoints were embraced by a large number of women — and a small minority of men.

But a group of trolls suddenly appeared, posting unflattering photos of Qunjun on Tieba and Hupu, launching personal attacks and mocking her with the nickname “Feminist Master.”

These people believed women shouldn’t break free from the cocoons society had assigned them — that they should stay at home, support their husbands, raise children, take care of their in-laws. They believed women shouldn’t have careers, thoughts, or autonomy — that they were born to be subservient, to receive charity from society’s upper ranks.

In those disgusting threads, people even shared photos of their wives for others to rate, uploaded candid ugly shots of women, and took pride in “domesticating” them as life goals.

But in Qunjun’s book, she explained her decision not to have children was because:

“I don’t want to give birth to someone who will oppress me, from between my legs.”

She wrote that she didn’t want romantic relationships because she’d lost faith in the current social environment.

She clearly emphasized:
This wasn’t about encouraging gender opposition, but a demand for basic respect — everyone should have the right to choose their life, regardless of gender. True gender equality remains difficult in this society — what comes easily to them, we must fight tooth and nail for.

Soon, trolls started targeting Qiang Huai as well for her Weibo giveaway of Qunjun’s book. They scoured the internet for ugly photos of her. After turning over the whole internet, the only “bad” ones they found were from her high school days when she wasn’t wearing makeup.

But even then, Qiang Huai had still looked good.

Meanwhile, Gu Pingwan was buried in research. During a break, she sent Qiang Huai a message:

“Ah Huai, the weather’s really nice today. I’m doing well too.”

Qiang Huai received the message while running. She slowed her pace to type a reply:

“When do you get time off for the New Year?”

“Qunjun says she wants to eat with you again.”

Qiang Huai started to worry if things were progressing too fast. What if she scared Gu Pingwan away again? She wasn’t sure she’d be able to win her back.

“The institute hasn’t announced the schedule yet. It should be soon.” Gu Pingwan replied.

“How’s Qunjun holding up?”

Of course, Qiang Huai knew what she meant.

“She’s okay. She’s strong — currently practicing tai chi in my garden.”

After Qunjun’s personal information was leaked, some of those trolls had actually shown up at her house. She had no choice but to move in with Qiang Huai, whose villa was relatively hidden.

“Do you need my help?”
Ever since she and Qiang Huai got closer, Gu Pingwan had unconsciously started following entertainment news. She had even shared the giveaway for Qunjun’s book.

Qiang Huai thought of Gu Pingwan’s skill in tracking IP addresses — if things got serious, she definitely would ask her for help. But with her doing intense research every day, it didn’t feel right to bother her now.

“Not for now. She’s staying with me.”

“We’re four rooms apart.”

Qiang Huai didn’t know why she felt the need to immediately clarify that — maybe it was a little unnecessary.

Before Gu Pingwan could reply, Professor Ji called her away.

Their current project on astronaut biomechanical simulation was extremely challenging in China. This time, they were tracking data and muscle electrical activity on a core module. The Chinese Astronaut Research and Training Center had already sent in test participants for bone density, muscle force, and ShoreWestern testing.

When Qiang Huai saw no reply, she put down her phone and continued running.

Qunjun returned from the garden and said, “Are you not famous anymore? Why are you so free?”

Qiang Huai slowed the treadmill down. “I’m just not busy recently. You don’t even see me when I am busy.”

“You bought a new place for your parents?” Qiang Huai asked.

Qunjun nodded. “The old house isn’t really livable anymore. It was about time we moved. Tomorrow I’m handling the deed transfer and then moving in.”

“Bring them here for now,” Qiang Huai said. She used to love visiting Qunjun’s house — as a kid, she’d secretly eat spicy snacks there and hide the wrappers under Qunjun’s bed, only to get caught.

“No way. This place is too far.” Qunjun thought for a while.

“I’ve got a house in Jiangcheng. Moving out of Jincheng might be a better idea anyway. Too many houses — just pick whichever one you want.” Qiang Huai stepped off the treadmill, went to the living room coffee table, and pulled out a thick stack of property deeds.

Qunjun: “… What a world of inequality.”

“Gu Pingwan is so lucky. Can I take her place?” Qunjun hugged the property deeds to her chest.

Qiang Huai rolled her eyes. “Get lost.”

Qunjun picked a garden villa in Jiangcheng and said she’d pay rent every month. Of course, Qiang Huai refused. Instead, she had Uncle and Aunt Qunjun help her tend the garden as rent — they could stay as long as they liked.

She even arranged security guards for them, so the families could watch out for one another.

“So… looks like we’re not spending New Year’s together after all.” Though Qunjun had been acting normal lately, in this moment she seemed to fall apart.

Qiang Huai grabbed a bottle of red wine from the wine cabinet. “Drink?”

…

Gu Pingwan had just gotten off work and returned to her dorm provided by the institute. She opened her laptop and entered the site where Qunjun had been doxxed. She extracted all the IP addresses and accounts involved, saving screenshots of the relevant comments into a document.

Though she wasn’t particularly close with Qunjun, Qiang Huai was her good friend — and they were both women. So she naturally felt compelled to do this.

There were a lot of vile posts online, with rumors claiming Qunjun used to work at a hostess bar, even photoshopping her face onto explicit images.

As she collected the information, Gu Pingwan found it unbearable — how could people be this disgusting?

After nearly three hours, she finally finished. She sent the documents to Qiang Huai.

Qiang Huai hadn’t drunk much, but Qunjun was already passed out drunk.

Document 1
Document 2
“Ah Huai, here’s the evidence I gathered. See how Qunjun might be able to use it.”

After sending it, she noticed Qiang Huai’s previous message:

“I suddenly got called away by Professor Ji this afternoon. Sorry for not replying.”

Qiang Huai opened the documents — all the slanderous content about Qunjun had been neatly compiled, categorized by which account posted what, and annotated with potential legal strategies for each.

“Qunjun’s drunk. I had Auntie take her back to her room.”

“Thanks on her behalf.”

When Gu Pingwan saw these two messages, she felt a strange pang of jealousy. What was this feeling?

She replied:

“Is Qunjun going to keep living with you?”

“For now, yes. But in a few days, I have to go to Beijing for an annual gala.”

“Our bedrooms are four rooms apart.”

Qiang Huai added, just in case.

Gu Pingwan sent back a “good night” sticker, then stared out the window at the dim moon.

What exactly was this feeling?