Chapter 26
The pictures and videos of of bullying, the notice of the death of the bullied girl were all ironclad evidence that point the blame to Gu Qi.
With such strong evidence, the online comments on Gu Qi became even more one sided. Although there were still a few people who wanted to wait for Gu Qi to respond and give an explanation, they were scolded as brainless fans.
In fact, it wasn't that there weren't active stars who had participated in school bullying in the entertainment industry. This was a moral issue in itself, or it was difficult to distinguish between true and false. It was rare to have 'conclusive evidence' like Gu Qi. What's more, the girl who was bullied had even passed away.
Gu Qi's Weibo and the company's official Weibo were flocked with demand for an explanation or for her to scram out of the entertainment industry.
At this moment, Gu Qi's manager, Song Cheng suddenly stepped forward. However, he didn't respond to Gu Qi's matter and just opened a live broadcast for himself.
The middle-aged man looked at the camera with a wry smile, deliberately not responding to any barrage asking whether Gu Qi really participated in school bullying. He just remained silent for a long time and occasionally uttered a few words related to himself.
"It's hard work, of course it's hard work. In our line of work, it's hard work."
"Does being a manager make money? It's not about earning money. I think any industry is worth it as long as you can be respected as a human being, regardless of your status."
"Haha, don't think too much, I'm not hinting anything. It's an 'old man's' first time to do a live broadcast for fun."
"Of course, today is a good day. There will be plenty of good days in the future."
He only live broadcast for ten minutes before hurriedly ending the broadcast.
It was possible for anyone who may not know what happened to concidently do a live broadcast, but he was Gu Qi's manager! Under such a storm, he should be busy with the public relations team and scold people, How could he not know.
[I have never seen a more deliberate performance than this. Had me ROFLMAO]
[Gu Qi is exposed. I heard that her contract with the company was about to expire. Isn't this the definition of "
'pleanty of good days in the future'? Congratulations to the manager for not having to live such a hard life anymore! ]
[How many bad things had she done? Even the manager who should have helped her to smooth things over had to come out and pour oil on her]
[It seems that the staff members were bullied by her on a daily basis... The manager's implication is that he wasn't respected as a human being. Gu Qi bullied classmates in high school and now bullies colleagues in the workplace. The bully sister's persona will never collapse]
[She had done so many evil things, now this is retribution. She deserves it! ]
...
Several hot searches related to Gu Qi consecutively exploded.
Her company didn't respond. Anyway, it was clear that they wouldn't renew the contract with this artist. They would rather her ruined than go to make money for other companies after becoming famous.
Amidst the numerous insults, there were a few comments that stood up to speak for Gu Qi. For example, people who had met her and had real contact with her defended her, but they were all ignored or mocked with response like "She was just pretending in front of others and you really believed it" and "You weren't the ones who were bullied, and you weren't the ones who lost their lives. Of course, you can be moved by Gu Qi's small favors."
People who originally spoke for Gu Qi couldn't withstand so many insults and refutations and didn't know how to speak for her again. Some even began to waver.
Yes, maybe she was pretending.
How can small kindness beat great evil.
Online public opinion was completely one-sided, but nothing happened at the ongoing live variety show recording.
After lunch, the production team confiscated everyone's mobile phones.
In fact, artists were originally prohibited from using mobile phones during the recording. They were only given mobile phones because they were worried about the safety of the guests in the countryside last time. This time, they were preparing a birthday surprise for Ning Xiwei to facilitate their communication. Now that the surprise part was over, there nothing wrong with taking it back. Naturally no one suspect a thing.
The rest of the recording today was all done inside the villa.
First, Ning Xiwei, as the birthday girl, was asked to choose which group she wanted to join.
In the previous episodes, Ning Xiwei would definitely want to be in the same group with Jiang Lechuan, but now... forget it.
So Ning Xiwei smiled sweetly, "Of course I'm in the same group with my elder sister."
It was the answer everyone expected.
Ning Xiwei chose to be in the same group with Zhizi, which meant she formed a trio with Gu Qi.
Perhaps because today was Ning Xiwei's birthday, the production team's process had become very 'gentle', almost all of which were small games that can be played in the villa.
No complexity or difficulty at all. It was relaxed and leisurely that it felt like everyone was killing time together.
Gu Qi realized that something was wrong.
Because... itwas too boring.
These meaningless small games were all piled together. Although there was no difficulty, it meant this program have no highlights.
It was like for some reason, the arrangement was temporarily changed and only those spare small games could be used to make up the time.
According to the experience of previous recordings, most of their processes should be carried out outdoors. While today, all the games were indoors since the noon.
So during the break before dinner, Gu Qi sought the director team and asked, "Can I go out for a walk?"
The director said, "Dinner is in ten minutes, and there are some procedures in the evening."
Gu Qi didn't give up and continued, "I remember there is a convenience store in front. I will go buy a bottle of Coke and come back soon."
But the director team still refused and got a staff member to buy Gu Qi the Coke she wanted immediately.
Gu Qi didn't insist.
She was now completely sure that something must have happened outside.
She frowned slightly, with a bad premonition.
At this moment, Zhizi called her from the second floor, saying, "Xiaoqi, do you want to eat the fresh cake?"
Gu Qi forcedly raised her head and smiled before going upstairs.
A coincidence happened.
Jiāng Zhiyu came downstairs and bumped into her shoulder when she passed by her.
Gu Qi stumbled back without any psychological preparation. Unforeseen, she fell into an embrace.
Jiāng Fengzhi stretched out his hand to protect her, and reminded her: "Be careful."
This physical contact made Gu Qi feel uncomfortable. She quickly distanced herself from Jiāng Fengzhi, and verbally expressed: "Thank you."
Jiāng Zhiyu's face showed surprise and she quickly apologized: "I'm sorry, Xiaoqi, I didn't mean it."
Gu Qi knew Jiāng Zhiyu better than anyone else. She knew that she must have done it on purpose, but she didn't understand what she was up to in front of the camera.
Or more accurately, after the noon, Jiāng Zhiyu acted strange. Like she was going to do something... that she couldn't understand?
For example, she kept hoovering around her and tried to have some physical contact with her. Although she avoided her every time, it would still be a bit annoying if it occured too many times.
Gu Qi opened her lips and was about to say something. But when she looked up and saw Zhizi smiling at her tenderly from upstairs, she felt that the inexplicable irritability weakened a little. So she didn't pay heed to Jiāng Zhiyu and but walked upstairs with "It's okay".
Jāng Zhiyu froze a little.
Her bump was so obvious. It was just to irritate Gu Qi and goad Gu Qi to show a 'ferocious' or 'impatient' face in front of the camera.
Gu Qi didn't have any react?
She turned her head back to look at Gu Qi's figure. At this moment, Gu Qi had taken the small cake from Zhizi's hand. The two of them were eating and chatting. The atmosphere seemed to be all flowery.
Jāng Fengzhi glanced at her, "Be careful when you walk."
Then he went to the nearby bookcase to get a magazine and sat at the side to read it.
"Understood." Jiāng Zhiyu smiled as naturally as possible before walking to the side.
Gu Qi leaned on the railing and nibbled the cake.
At this moment, she finally remembered the system that had been forgotten for a long time.
She tentatively called in her mind: "System? Are you still there?"
[...Yes, it turns out that you still remember me]
Gu Qi asked it : "Did something happen outside?"
Otherwise, why would the director team deliberately hold them in this house? They were obviously preventing them from going out and getting in contact with the people and matter outside.
The system checked for a few seconds, and then answered——
[Oh host, you are unlucky]
Gu Qi: "?"
With the system's simple retelling, Gu Qi understood what was happening in the outside world now.
Everything was clear. Jiāng Zhiyu pushed all the things she had done onto her and made today's recording inside the villa to prevent her from hearing what happened from passers-by when she went out. The timing was deliberately chosen because she couldn't respond to any online rumors during the recording period.
No need to think, she must be cursed online now.
And Jiāng Zhiyu deliberately approached her a few times today to provoke her irritation or anger. At this time, her every move would be magnified and just happened to confirm her bully 'persona'.
The system couldn't help but sigh.
[Why do the vicious female support make things difficult for the vicious female support? You should unite to target the female lead.]
Gu Qi polished off the last bite of cake. Her mood didn't seem too bad. She responded, "Then this is a deviation from the original plot."
[That's right]
[What is the host going to do? ]
Gu Qi's reaction was still calm: "Let's leave it be for now. We'll talk about it after the recording was finished."
[? ]
[Host, aren't you anxious? There are people out there who are smearing you. Even your manager had been bought by them! ]
When she heard the word 'manager', Gu Qi's face briefly showed a look of loss. Suddenly, she exclaimed: "That's great."
The more successful Jiāng Zhiyu's plan is, the more people will scold her, and the more people will keep paying attention to this matter.
She completely aroused public anger, while the Jiāng Family continued to fuel the flames behind the scenes.
Once the matter fermented to the point that no matter how much money the Jiāng Family had, it could no longer be suppress.
This was treuly--
Great.
＊
At night.
The last game was a script murder game.
The theme of the script was obviously chosen deliberately. It told the story of a girl who died in school violence and turned into a vengeful ghost to seek revenge on everyone.
Everyone had a different identity and position. They all participated in the bullying to some extent. However, only by finding the murderer who really caused the girl's death could others survive.
As anticipated, Gu Qi got the murderer's script.
Her identity in the script was a girl who seemed to be ordinary, but because she was too mediocre, she was constantly rejected by the boys she likes. Nor could she fit into any circle. She became more and more withdrawn. Though her mentaility turned to the dark side, she dare not offend other 'big names' in the class. So she could only vent these dark thoughts on another classmate who was more well-behaved and quiet.
Gu Qi: "..."
She was utterly speechless.
Jiāng Zhiyu customized a complete original school bullying script based on her image, right? Beside making her the bully, she actually found the cause and effect and came up with a complete logical chain.
If she find many reasons to cover up her identity as a murderer now, it would be 'reality reflected in the script'.
So Gu Qi didn't focus on defending herself, but looked for loopholes in everyone's speech.
After all, everyone in the script had thought of harming the girl, but she was the one who succeeded.
Despite the seemingly unrelated characters and timelines, everyone's reasons 'surfaced' and became clearer under Gu Qi's meticulous logical analysis.
The netizens who were crowded in the live broadcast room waiting to insult Gu Qi thought it was just a coincidence and were shocked.
[My gosh, is this Heaven's arrangement? ]
[People do things, Heaven watches... I suddenly find it a little creepy. Could it be that the girl who was bullied by Gu Qi in school is still conscious, otherwise how can there be such a coincidence? ]
[It can't be that the reason why Gu Qi bullied that girl is written in the script...]
[It has changed from a variety show to a metaphysics show, right?]
[But Gu Qi is really smart. She had figured out everyone's storyline so clearly (I don't mean to whitewash her, I just feel that her brain is so useful, I wish she could take the college entrance examination for me)]
[Above +1. Although Jiāng Fengzhi is smart and locked on Gu Qi from the beginning, Gu Qi actually messed up Jiāng Fengzhi's rhythm through the two coincidental timelines in the script and made him vote for Ning Xiwei in the end]
[How can Gu Qi not be smart? If she isn't smart, how can she be so successful after killing someone?]
[I didn't expect that Jiāng Zhiyu actually voted for Gu Qi, the murderer]
[I thought she was following Jiāng Fengzhi's vote at first, but she didn't change even after Jiāng Fengzhi changed]
[Is Jiāng Zhiyu a wise fool? (I'm blindly guessing)]
Some people's attention wasn't on Gu Qi.
[What's wrong with Ning Xiwei today? Her eyes seem to be red since she started reading the script]
[I also... had she been bullied in school? It seems that she had a strong emotional understanding]
...
In the end, Gu Qi's identity as the 'murderer' wasn't uncovered and she won the title of 'Script Murder King' this time.
As a reward for the winner, she could ask three truth or dare questions. The person she asks must answer truthfully or complete the dare. If that person fails, that person will be fined a glass of wine.
Because Jiāng Zhiyu guessed the murderer correctly, she had a chance to ask someone present a truth or dare question.
The staff poured four glasses of wine on the table.
Gu Qi's eyes pinned at Jiāng Zhiyu and said directly: "The first question, what do you think of school bullying?"
Jīng Zhiyu was slightly stunned. It seems that she didn't expect Gu Qi to ask her such a simple question. This was what she wanted.
So Jiāng Zhiyu answered: "We just played this script murder game. I feel so depressed when putting myself in the perspective of the victim. She obviously had such a good life..."
As she said this, Jiāng Zhiyu's eyes were red and she sighed a few laments for the girl's life. She rallied on everyone to bravely resist school bullying.
The spectating commentors didn't mind making the matter big.
[How can there such a coincidence that Gu Qi's bullying is on the hot search list and the guests in the show are playing the campus bullying script together]
[They don't know what happened now and will find it quite awkward after the recording]
[Jiāng Zhiyu, do you know who is in front of you? Hahaha! You can just advise Gu Qi not to bully others in school! ]
[Gu Qi is really a bit funny. Does she not know that her little wicked matters have been exposed?]
[Gu Qi: What do you think of school bullying? Do you want to bully others with me? (Invitation)]
[What kind of hell joke is the sister above saying! ]
Some people raised doubts.
[Gu Qi and Jiāng Family siblings have known each other for a long time and were in the same high school class. Maybe they were in Gu Qi's small circle]
At once, someone denied it.
[Jiang Family had completely established itself after making a lot of money from the real estate projects in the city center in the past two years. Can't compare to Jiāng Family few years back]
[Although the assets of the two families aren't much different now, how to put it, Jiāng Family is a typical wealthy family that had been passed down from generation to generation and has a foundation and connections, while Jiang Family can only be regarded as a nouveau riche]
[Will Jiāng Fengzhi hit people? Can he beat me with a belt? I'm filled with anticipation]
[The friend above, the pants had fallen off. Please pick them up]
……
Jiāng Zhiyu was a little scared by Gu Qi's question. When she realized that she was afraid of Gu Qi, she felt a little embarrassed anger
Everything was going according to her plan.
What was she afraid of?
Thinking that Gu Qi was about to be ruined, Jiāng Zhiyu's mood soared again and she took the opportunity to speak: "I have a chance, right? Then I will choose Gu Qi."
Gu Qi nodded and said: "You choose, truth or dare."
"It's truth." Jiāng Zhiyu deliberately pretended to pondered before uttering: "Oh, there's nothing to ask, so just it's something random. Gu Qi, have you ever participated in school bullying? I'm asking casually, don't be mad."
Jiāng Zhiyu knew that her question would seem a little deliberate.
But she didn't care about these details.
As long as Gu Qi's reputation was completely ruined, her actions will only be regarded by netizens as 'she couldn't help exposing Gu Qi's true nature' and put in the collection of 'What secrets did the stars accidentally reveal'.
"No." Gu Qi answered firmly and asked Jiāng Zhiyu: "Then it's my turn again, which is the second question. Have you ever participated in school bullying? I'm casually asking. After all, there is really nothing to ask."
Jīang Zhiyu froze a little.
After a few seconds of silence, she realized that she was in front of the camera and naturally answered immediately: "Of course not."
Even so, Gu Qi kept looking at her. Her eyes never moved away.
Jīng Zhiyu felt that her heart beat faster for no reason, as if she had a bad premonition.
Could it be that Gu Qi knew what happened outside?
It was impossible... If she knew, she would only be angry or panic, how could she dare to confront her like this.
Jin Zhiyu comforted herself: Don't let your imagination get you in a mess, so what if Gu Qi know?
Even if Gu Qi stood up and told the world that she was the one who did the bullying in school, it wouldn't matter. She wouldn't be afraid.
Because she was sure that Gu Qi didn't have any evidence.
When Gu Qi was injured, she would get the servants to lock Gu Qi in the room and fetched the best doctor to treat her with the best plaster to never let her bare any evidence of injury or have the opportunity to ask for help from the outside world.
She would send someone to check Gu Qi's room every once in a while. She would also check Gu Qi's mobile chat and communication records at random time and there was nothing suspicious. After all, Gu Qi was extremely weak at that time and could do nothing but cry and beg for mercy. She even relied on her elder brother whom trusted her for a long time and thought that Jiāng Fengzhi would take her away from Jiāng Family.
How could such a stupid woman who was this useless to the point of pinning her future on a man leave any evidence?
She was different.
Jiāng Zhiyu still had a last trump card up her sleeve -
Evidence of Jiang Family parents embezzling public funds.
That happened many years ago. She accidentally saw the parents of Jiang Family kneeling in front of her parents, begging them to help them through the difficulties.
Curious, she laid in the corner and eavesdropped.
It turned out that her parents had handed over a project to the Jiang Family's parents, but unforeseen they were greedy and embezzled a large amount of money from it.
Although Jiāng Zhiyu later learned that it was a trap set by her parents to lure the Jiang Family to use the money and make the Jiang Family forever have their hearts at their throat. No matter how prosperous they were, they would always be humble in front of the Jiāng Family.
With such a fatal weakness in her hand, how could Gu Qi dare to resist?
Those were Gu Qi's beloved parents and family.
It was for them that Gu Qi was willing to stay in her home for so many years.
Jiāng Zhiyu actually didn't quite understand the meaning of 'family affection'. In her opinion, she was only relatively close to her twin elder brother from childhood to adulthood, but after she realized that her elder brother just wanted to use her as a tool for marriage to consolidate his position after adulthood, she didn't feel anything. In her opinion, her parents were just people who provided her with money and social status.
Family affection and love?
She didn't have such things. So when she saw others have them, she would always unconsciously want to destroy them.
Jiāng Zhiyu suddenly contemplated with interest-
How about she use the contract as a threat to make Gu Qi admit school bullying, apologize, and quit the entertainment industry.
Such a good deal.
She was so kind. Gu Qi should kneel down to thank her for letting their family go.