She Said: A Passionate Kiss [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 7

Gu Pingwan’s voice was completely different from earlier. She had spoken with full confidence during the product presentation, but now her voice was as soft as a mosquito’s: “I… haven’t bought a phone yet.”

“You need to scan a code to log in to WeChat on a computer,” she added.

Qiang Huai narrowed her eyes and looked her up and down, as if she wanted to absorb her into her gaze.

“Oh~ is that so?” Qiang Huai smiled brightly and stood up, walking to Gu Pingwan’s side. “I’m really looking forward to becoming WeChat friends with you, Chief Engineer Gu.”

Gu Pingwan nodded awkwardly. She felt like there was some hidden meaning in Qiang Huai’s words, though she wasn’t sure if she was just imagining it.

“How’s your mom doing?” Qiang Huai pushed over a chair and sat down next to Gu Pingwan with one hand, just like how she used to drag her chair over to Gu’s desk in high school to ask questions.

Gu Pingwan didn’t dare meet Qiang Huai’s eyes. She always felt like those eyes could see right through her. “She’s in much better spirits, still undergoing chemotherapy.”

Qiang Huai nodded in response. “That’s good. If you need anything, just let me know.”

Afraid she was coming on too strong, she added lightly, “After all, we were high school classmates.”

“Thank you,” Gu Pingwan said, pursing her lips.

Actually, Qiang Huai had considered visiting Aunt Gu, but she felt it might be too abrupt in her current identity. Gu Pingwan likely wouldn’t be comfortable having an outsider visit either.

…

Over on their end, Sister Qin and Pei Yang finalized a preliminary agreement. Further product testing was still required before signing the contract, and the ad shoot would take place in about a month.

At first, Pei Yang hadn’t held out hope of getting Qiang Huai as the spokesperson. He had sent the proposal without expectations but was surprised when she agreed so readily. Although her rate was several times higher than the other two celebrities, the potential returns were worth it.

When they returned to the conference room, they saw through the glass door that Qiang Huai had leaned forward and placed her hand on Gu Pingwan’s shoulder. The two of them seemed quite close.

Pei Yang was puzzled and asked Qin-jie, “Did they know each other before?”

Qin-jie shook her head expressionlessly. She’d already found it odd earlier—now it made sense why Qiang Huai had shown so much interest. She’d been waiting to see Gu.

Pei Yang recalled how Gu Pingwan had claimed she wasn’t familiar with actors or celebrities, yet the first personal file she picked up had been Qiang Huai’s. Was it just a coincidence? Or was he overthinking it?

Either way, the deal was sealed.

Qin-jie opened the door, her voice calm and even: “Miss Qiang, it’s time for us to go.”

Qiang Huai withdrew her hand from Gu Pingwan’s shoulder. As she stood, the unique scent on her body wafted into the air, and the hem of her black dress brushed against Gu Pingwan’s arm.

“Chief Engineer Gu, thank you for the presentation. If I have any questions later, may I reach out to you?” Qiang Huai’s tone revealed nothing unusual.

Gu Pingwan’s laptop still displayed the product demo. She looked up slightly—just enough to catch the razor-sharp angle of Qiang Huai’s jaw, more precise than most people’s life plans.

“O-of course,” she replied, standing up and rubbing the arm that had come into contact with Qiang Huai’s dress.

When Qiang Huai had placed her hand on her shoulder earlier, she’d frozen up. It had been a long time since she’d been in such close proximity to someone—it left her a bit flustered.

“Hahaha, Miss Qiang seems very interested in our product! Want to join the beta test?” Pei Yang asked enthusiastically, his tone warm.

Qiang Huai wasn’t suspicious but looked toward Gu Pingwan. “Really? Is that okay?”

Gu Pingwan gave a small nod.

Pei Yang printed out a QR code for the beta test and handed it to Qiang Huai. The app had already gone through multiple test phases; this was the final round.

“Chief Engineer Gu, if Miss Qiang has any questions, make sure to answer patiently,” Pei Yang said meaningfully, patting Gu Pingwan on the shoulder.

Qiang Huai kept her smile restrained, her demeanor like a doting parent visiting a child.

Qin-jie nudged Qiang Huai’s arm, signaling her to leave before she pounced like a hungry tiger.

“Well then, we’ll be heading out now, President Pei, Chief Engineer Gu.” Qin-jie gave a professional smile, shooting Qiang Huai a knowing look.

They didn’t leave the office building right away. The bottom levels of several connected office towers led straight to their own company.

“My dear Miss Qiang, could you tone it down a little?” Qin-jie pulled out a lipstick and touched up her makeup using the elevator’s reflective panel.

Qiang Huai tugged her coat into place. “Qin-jie, when your stomach’s touching your back from hunger, don’t you want to eat whatever’s in front of you?”

Xiaoyu didn’t understand the deeper meaning, but she noticed Qiang Huai’s cheeks were rosy and glowing—she really did look like she’d just eaten. Could it be they actually had food during the meeting?

Qin-jie capped the lipstick. “Over the past few years, you’ve basically had one ticking time bomb… which is still manageable. Let it blow—looks like the time’s come.”

Qiang Huai stared at her reflection thoughtfully.

Before they even made it back to the office, the PR department called Qin-jie.

“Alright, we’re coming right now.” She hung up and shrugged. “It’s started.”

Qiang Huai lifted her shoulders in a carefree shrug.

Somehow, paparazzi had gotten hold of photos from Qiang Huai’s high school days—dyed hair and heavy smokey makeup. The photos rocketed to the top of trending searches.

Three hashtags in a row dominated the hot topics:
#QiangHuaiDelinquentGirl,
#QiangHuaiSchoolBullying,
#ExposingQiangHuai’sFakePersona.

Each headline was brutal—more than enough to ruin her in the entertainment industry. The internet exploded with a bloodbath of old rumors and slander being dug up again.

In the office, everyone was working like crazy. When Qiang Huai and Qin-jie arrived, no one dared say a word.

Qiang Huai sat down in her large office chair, which overlooked a river view. Even with so many people crowding around to brief her, the room still felt spacious.

“Xiao Yu, you go first,” she said calmly, leaning back in her chair.

Qin-jie stood by, scrolling through trending statistics.

“Okay, President Qiang. A regular entertainment company posted the photos. The reporter received them via anonymous email.”

“Take a look.” Xiao Yu handed her the photos and chat logs.

Qiang Huai exchanged a look with Qin-jie. On the backend, Qin-jie saw the trending topics had spiked all at once—completely out of the blue.

“Should we release a clarification statement?” she asked.

Qiang Huai shook her head. “No need. That would just give them exactly what they want.”

“These photos are real, from my high school days. No Photoshop.” She handed them to Sister Qin.

Qin-jie examined them. “They look familiar. These surfaced once a few years ago, but they weren’t this clear.”

“Probably from the negatives,” Qiang Huai said, pen in hand. She jotted down a few names—all high school classmates.

Skirt Skirt (her friend) had warned her about Yu Lele before. Back then, he’d seen her with that look.

Just as she finished writing the last name, Skirt Skirt’s call came through.

“Huaihuai! It’s Yu Lele! It has to be him!” Skirt Skirt practically screamed through the phone.

Though it wasn’t on speaker, the whole office could hear her.

“You asked me to dig around about Gu Pingwan, right? Guess what!” Skirt Skirt paused. Qiang Huai gestured for Qin-jie to take the PR team out to begin crisis control.

Skirt Skirt continued, “According to An Linlin, Yu Lele went to your university to look for you, and when he couldn’t find you, he started posting dirt online!”

“He came looking for me?” Qiang Huai frowned. They hadn’t had any contact since graduating high school, and she’d deleted his number.

An Linlin, whom Skirt Skirt mentioned, was a former high school friend who was now a semi-famous internet celebrity.

“Yup! And that wasn’t the only time! He posted slander about you more than once!” Skirt Skirt said.

“All of this came out when he got drunk with An Linlin. She even checked his phone and found tons of insulting messages about you.”

Qiang Huai was baffled. “Wait… is this info reliable?”

“Half and half, maybe? Wait, didn’t An Linlin ever tell you about this?” Skirt Skirt asked, confused.

“No.”

In fact, besides the occasional holiday greeting, she and An Linlin hadn’t stayed in touch after graduation.

“Anyway, you should have someone look into Yu Lele. He’s been smearing you for years. I’ll send you screenshots.”

Skirt Skirt hung up and sent several images.

They showed photos of another phone displaying posts from an anonymous account accusing Qiang Huai of various fake scandals—being a homewrecker, having an abortion in high school, consorting with thugs, giving birth to twins, and even contracting an STD.

Qiang Huai let out a bitter laugh. Twins? What, did they fall from the sky?

The post dates were from a few years ago—during her transition period in the industry when her company was just starting up and she was shooting nonstop. Maybe Qin-jie had buried the rumors at the time to protect her.

Seeing Qiang Huai finish the call, Qin-jie returned. “The trending topics won’t drop.”

Qiang Huai spread her hands innocently. “Can’t help it—I’m too famous.”

“Look at this.” She pushed her phone over.

Qin-jie’s face darkened. “You were working so hard back then—we didn’t want to burden you with this.”

“You’ve worked hard, Qin-jie.” Qiang Huai stood and stretched. “To ruin a girl, all it takes is spreading smutty rumors. It’s cheap, vile, and effective.”

“There’s no trace of the source yet,” Qin-jie said. Thankfully, Qiang Huai’s foundation was solid—otherwise, she’d be ruined by now.

Qiang Huai poured her a glass of water. “Look into a former classmate of mine—Yu Lele.”

“Got it. Send me his info.” Qin-jie took the water and saw the lipstick print she left on the rim. It looked… oddly disturbing.

She glanced at her phone. A new notification popped up: Gu Pingwan has accepted your friend request.

[Qiang Huai classmate, hello. I’m Gu Pingwan.] she messaged formally.

Qiang Huai chuckled. Why so serious?

Qin-jie was exasperated and tapped her arm. “Hey, hey, you sending me that info or not?”

“Oh,” Qiang Huai said, tapping a few times. “Sent.”

Qin-jie walked out of the office with a sigh.

Qiang Huai smiled and sank into her chair. How could such ordinary words have so much magic? The more she looked, the more she liked them.

“Hi there, Classmate Gu.”

Gu Pingwan responded quickly:
“I’ve sent you the internal test account. You can scan the QR code to download and log in.”

Qiang Huai scanned the code with the phone she almost forgot about earlier.

The test account Gu Pingwan sent had the username HalloQiang, and the password was very simple.

“You…”

“Are you alright?”
Gu Pingwan followed up when she noticed Qiang Huai hadn’t responded for a while.