Chapter 21
After so many bombshells from Gossip System #10086, fans could guess the direction this new one would take just from the title alone.
[And sure enough, the post revealed that Jiang Mo had falsely taken credit for saving Meng Yuansheng’s life. The actual hero was a young boy, only about ten years old. After rescuing Meng, the boy had injured his leg, requiring stitches from a doctor who vividly remembered the incident. The doctor, working his first emergency shift, recalled how the boy endured over a dozen stitches without anesthesia, never crying out once—a feat that left a lasting impression of a natural-born leader.]
The Gossip System didn’t have to spell it out. The Sherlocks in the comments quickly started connecting the dots.
[Only ten? Isn’t Jiang Mo three years older than Shengsheng? Shengsheng was twelve back then, meaning Jiang would’ve been fifteen, practically an adult. Would a doctor really mistake a fifteen-year-old for a ten-year-old?]
[Jiang Mo can barely handle a paper cut without making a fuss. Not a peep during stitches, and without anesthesia? Believing that is harder than believing I’m the first Emperor of Qin!]
[Just checked Jiang Mo’s photos. If he really had over ten stitches, there’d definitely be a scar. [photo]]
By this point, the public had already started doubting that Jiang was Meng’s savior.
But Gossip System wasn’t done yet.
It promptly released another post detailing how Jiang had used his so-called life-saving favor to control Meng, not only exploiting him but piling all the grunt work on him, making him essentially a one-man staff.
In his personal life, Meng cooked and ran errands for Jiang at all hours. Professionally, he handled everything, from concert support to album production. The standout designs in Jiang’s previous albums? Meng’s ideas—yet Jiang had claimed them as his own.
Every line in the post felt like it had been wrung out of pure blood, sweat, and tears.
[What the hell?! Is Jiang Mo even human?!!]
[I don’t usually swear, but seriously, Jiang Mo is trash!!]
[I thought my boss was a jerk, but compared to Jiang, he’s an angel. Jiang is in a league of his own.]
[Even if Jiang had saved Meng’s life, Meng’s more than repaid him! And now we know even the rescue story was fake. Can Jiang sink any lower?]
[Faking a life-saving favor, stealing others’ work—Jiang Mo’s rotten to the core.]
[Poor Shengsheng, what kind of hell did he live through all these years? Anyone who calls my baby ungrateful again, I’ll bite their head off!!]
[Without this trash in his life, Shengsheng will only soar higher!!]
*
Gu Xingshi breathed a sigh of relief after reading the comments.
But it wasn’t over yet.
How had the camera “accidentally” stayed on just long enough to catch those two Guangyi trainees talking? And how had they even learned of such a story in the first place?
[Bingo! Good guess!]
The Gossip System chirped, [Someone is indeed behind this mess.]
Gu Xingshi thought for a moment. [Ji Yiwei?]
If Meng Yuansheng were taken down, it might also impact Cheng Xin’s ranking, which would benefit Ji, who currently held third place.
The system didn’t drag it out. [Yep, it’s him. And it wasn’t just this incident—Guangyi Entertainment has been pushing all of these scandals behind the scenes.]
Gu Xingshi frowned. [Why so dedicated? Don’t tell me Ji Yiwei is the boss’s illegitimate child or something?]
[How did you know?]
Gu Xingshi: [???]
The system explained: [The Guangyi boss made his fortune through his wife, Liang Wenjun, a top-tier agent from Beijing. She supported him tirelessly for years and only had a daughter late in life. But he had already fathered a son with his first love and sent the boy to South Korea to keep him hidden from his wife’s family. He used “business travel” as an excuse to visit them.]
[Once his illegitimate son grew up, the boss got ambitious and wanted him to inherit Guangyi. To pave the way, he brought Ji Yiwei back to China. And to keep Liang Wenjun from interfering, he even tried to poison her.]
Gu Xingshi: [!!!]
Clearly, this scumbag’s true face needed to be exposed for justice to be served.
Gu Xingshi crafted a carefully worded post and published it immediately.
*
Ji Yiwei distractedly finished a dance routine.
Since learning Meng Yuansheng’s “secret” from Yu Pingjia, he’d told his father, Guangyi’s CEO, Cao Guangli, who then reached out to Jiang Mo’s former manager to confirm the story.
Once they’d verified it, Ji put his plan into action: first, reveal that Jiang Mo had saved Meng’s life, then flood the forums with posts labeling Meng as an ungrateful ingrate who stepped on his benefactor to rise to fame.
The truth didn’t matter.
As long as there were enough posts, public opinion would swing in their favor.
But even that wasn’t enough.
Ji had also directed paid commenters to enter Meng’s livestream and confront him directly.
In his mind, Meng would be rendered speechless, humiliated, and finally forced to leave the livestream in disgrace.
And once that happened, how could Meng compete with him for the center position?
Maybe he’d even be so devastated he’d quit the show altogether.
The more Ji thought about it, the more thrilled he became. He checked the time, thinking that by now, Meng must be in a complete mess.
Sneaking a look at his phone during a break, he opened Meng’s livestream.
To his shock, the atmosphere in Meng’s livestream was completely serene.
Meng was smiling as he danced, with comments pouring in praising him—no sign of anyone accusing him of ingratitude.
What was going on?
Did the hired commenters mess up the timing?
Just as he was wondering, a fellow trainee from Guangyi Entertainment called out to him with a pale face. “Yiwei… the comments…”
The comments?
Ji blinked, suddenly understanding.
Jiang Mo’s fans must have realized it was the two Guangyi trainees who accidentally revealed Jiang’s “secret” and were now here to question them.
He’d anticipated this and already prepared an excuse.
He adjusted his expression, feigning regret as he stepped in front of the camera. “Li Ye and the others didn’t realize the camera was on and said things they shouldn’t have. I hope everyone can forgive them. I apologize on their behalf.”
But instead of receiving grateful apologies from Li Ye and the other trainee, they looked at him with expressions that turned from blue to white, whispering almost inaudibly, “Yiwei, check… the comments…”
Ji Yiwei frowned.
What was wrong with the comments?
He leaned closer to see, and his face went white.
[What are you rambling about? Do you think playing dumb will get you out of this?]
[Cao Guangli is your real dad, right? How much do you know about him poisoning Liang Wenjun?]
[Illegitimate son alert! Now I get it—Guangyi Entertainment has tons of talented trainees, but they chose you two average ones just to babysit the boss’s kid!]
[Cao Guangli’s done a lot for you. As the biggest beneficiary, are you really going to pretend you’re innocent?]
One question after another hit Ji like bolts of lightning.
His deepest secret was laid bare for everyone to see. He panicked, stumbling back.
How?!
How could they know?!
Seeing that he was visibly shaken, the comments only intensified.
Watching the flood of insults like “illegitimate child,” “fraud,” and “disgusting” scroll across the screen, Ji snapped. He let out a strangled scream and hurled the camera and equipment across the room.
By the time he was restrained, the studio was a wreck.
Li Ye and the other trainee tried to calm him. “Yiwei, try not to worry. This could just be a misunderstanding…”
But Ji ignored their attempts, glaring at them with venom. “You two must’ve leaked this!”
Li Ye frowned.
They’d only ever kissed up to Ji because the company favored him.
But now that Ji’s status as an illegitimate son was exposed, along with rumors that his father had poisoned his wife for him, Ji’s future looked grim—he might end up worse off than them.
Both trainees turned icy. “Check Weibo yourself.”
And with that, they walked out of the room.
Ji Yiwei ground his teeth as he watched them go.
They used to fawn over him like loyal servants, and now they dared to turn their backs? He’d make them pay once he fixed this situation.
But for now, he needed to find out what had happened.
He opened Weibo, and there it was, the top trending post: his father’s name.
[The Cruelest Husband: Plotting with Illegitimate Son to Murder Wife—Shocking!]
did gossip system just casually cleared a murder case?