Chapter 95
The audition site fell into an uproar.
After finishing his audition, Bai Su did not go collect the boxed lunch prepared by the production team. Instead, he was getting ready to head straight out in his manager’s car.
At one moment, the people around him suddenly started looking at him with unusual “enthusiasm.”
Bai Su had no idea why. He simply assumed that quite a few of the people nearby were his fans, so he instinctively put on a somewhat shy smile and gave them a restrained nod in return.
Everyone: “…”
Ji Ran ground his teeth and muttered under his breath, “He still has the nerve to smile. I really want to rip his mouth apart.”
His voice was very low, so only Jiang Qianqian, who was sitting next to him, heard it. She responded with the same angry muttering, “That disgusting scumbag. Even if you chopped him up and fed him to dogs, they wouldn’t eat him.”
The two exchanged a glance and saw the same fury in each other’s eyes.
Bai Su quickly got into the car and left. Inside the audition room, Zhao Meng, who had just been so furious at the scumbag’s actions that his face and neck had turned red, gradually calmed down.
That strange “inner voice” just now—was it the truth, or was it merely some imagined “story”?
Zhao Meng absolutely condemned that kind of inhuman behavior, but at the same time, he could not wrongly accuse an innocent person.
He suddenly thought of Lin Zhiqiao’s widely circulated nickname online: Gossip King.
Before this, he had only assumed that netizens were saying it for fun, or that Lin Zhiqiao’s publicity team had built it as part of his image. But now it seemed…
After thinking for a moment, Zhao Meng found a place where there was no one around and where the livestream camera could not reach, then called his grandnephew.
Song Fengshi picked up quickly. “Great-Uncle, what’s wrong?”
“There’s something I want to ask you,” Zhao Meng said directly. “About Lin Zhiqiao.”
“I understand,” Song Fengshi said. “I’ll organize the materials and send them to you shortly.”
Zhao Meng was startled. “You know what I want to ask?”
“I’m watching the livestream,” Song Fengshi replied.
Zhao Meng could not help pressing, “Then Bai Su’s case…”
“Even if I give you a definite answer right now, you’ll still have your doubts,” Song Fengshi said instead. “But the facts will give you the answer. Trust me, it won’t take long.”
Zhao Meng was silent for a moment, then said calmly, “All right. I understand.”
Meanwhile, at Bai Su’s home—
After finally coaxing all three children to sleep, Bai Ying at last had a moment of free time to think about what to do next.
She knew very clearly that filing for divorce and exposing the truth about Bai Su’s long-term domestic violence would not be easy.
Bai Su had a huge reputation. He had money, and he could also find very powerful connections. As for her, she had been a housewife for so many years that even the money for hiring a lawyer had been secretly saved bit by bit.
Bringing Bai Su down would be extremely difficult.
She needed evidence.
But all these years, Bai Ying had always been the weaker party. She had never even dared entertain thoughts of resistance, let alone preserve any evidence.
After thinking it over again and again, there seemed to be only one way left.
If she had no evidence, then she would have to create some.
Bai Su had been violent toward her more than once or twice. Over all these years, Bai Ying had never learned how to calm an enraged Bai Su—but she knew very well how to provoke him quickly.
To get beaten one more time in exchange for lifelong freedom for herself and her children—Bai Ying thought that was a very worthwhile trade.
She knew Bai Su had not been staying at the set these past few days, so he had been coming home relatively often.
If she was lucky, maybe tonight she would be able to gather the evidence she needed.
Bai Ying closed her eyes. Just imagining what was about to happen made her body shrink involuntarily.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself, the fear in both her body and mind had long since sunk deep into her bones.
Right at that moment, the harsh sound of a phone ringing cut through the silence.
Bai Ying gave a start, instinctively assuming it was Bai Su calling.
She grabbed the phone almost immediately. Without even having time to look at the caller ID on the screen, she answered and pressed it to her ear. “Hello?”
Her voice still carried a barely noticeable tremor.
Answering too slowly was itself one of the reasons Bai Su used to beat her. Since then, Bai Ying had never dared let her phone leave her side.
But this time, the voice on the other end was an unfamiliar woman’s. “Hello, is this Ms. Bai Ying?”
Bai Ying froze, then realized it was not Bai Su calling. A wave of relief washed over her. “…Yes, it’s me.”
The caller immediately explained her purpose. “Hello, Ms. Bai. I’m a staff member from the Women’s Protection Association. We’ve heard that you have suffered violence within your family. We can provide you with assistance free of charge. May I ask if you need help?”
Bai Ying was completely stunned. After the phone call ended, she accepted the help the other party offered.
Before she even had time to catch her breath, the phone rang again.
This time, the caller was still not Bai Su, but another unfamiliar male voice.
The caller did not reveal his identity. He only told Bai Ying to log into an email account. Inside, he said, was the “evidence” she needed.
The email account information was then sent to her phone by an unfamiliar number via text message.
Evidence?
Was it the kind of evidence she was thinking of?
Bai Ying was skeptical. Even she did not have the evidence she needed. Could the other party really have it?
Half-believing, half-doubting, Bai Ying logged into the email account.
Inside were several video clips. Bai Ying tapped one of them open, and her pupils contracted sharply.
The video showed Bai Su using violence against her. The image was somewhat dim, but both Bai Su’s face and her own had been captured with perfect clarity.
There was also a document attached to the email. Bai Ying opened it with trembling hands. It explained where the videos had come from.
Bai Ying almost immediately remembered those scenes.
When Bai Su abused her, most of the time it happened at home, indoors. Once the doors and windows were shut and the curtains drawn, his violence would not be noticed by others.
But there had been a few times when Bai Su had failed to control his temper and laid hands on her outdoors, in deserted places.
Bai Ying remembered very clearly—when these videos were recorded, it had always been late at night in places where no one would pass by, deep in dim alleyways. The only nearby building was an abandoned house that had stood empty for years.
Relying on the fact that nobody ever went there, Bai Su had acted with complete disregard.
But according to the document, a surveillance camera had been installed beside that uninhabited house by its former owner and had never been shut off, so it happened to record Bai Su’s violent acts in their entirety.
Suppressing her intense fear and discomfort, Bai Ying watched all the videos.
These were the hard-won pieces of evidence she needed. They were her bargaining chips for escaping that sea of suffering.
When the last video finished playing, the room fell into a deathly silence.
Her cheek suddenly felt a little warm and itchy. Bai Ying raised her hand and touched it, only to discover that at some unknown point, her face had become wet with tears.
Though she did not know who this anonymous good person was, she felt genuine gratitude for their kindness.
On the other side, after doing a good deed without leaving his name, Song Fengshi glanced at his phone and quietly waited for the trending news notifications to come in.
That very night, the trending charts exploded.
#BaiSuSecretlyMarriedWithThreeChildren
#BaiSuDomesticViolence
#PrivateFanOrBaiSu’sWife
…
Bai Su’s scandal collapsed with overwhelming force, like a towering building crashing down in an instant. It was unstoppable and shook the entire internet, and the evidence was so solid there was absolutely no room for a comeback.
Ever since Bai Ying created a Weibo account and posted the hard evidence, not only had countless marketing accounts reposted it, even many official accounts had joined in.
And Bai Su’s own Weibo account, along with his agency’s account—both usually famous for clearing things up at lightning speed—had now gone completely silent.
“At this point they still haven’t clarified anything. Looks like he really has no way to defend himself.”
“Damn, I really never thought Bai Su would be this kind of person.”
“What ‘pure college boy’? A secretly married father of three who beats his wife is a pure college boy? As an actual college student, I feel offended.”
“My heart aches for Bai Ying. Can all domestic abusers just go extinct already?”
“Which scandal is this already this year? Is the Gossip King just too powerful or what?”
“If this keeps going, are there even going to be any celebrities left in entertainment that people can safely stan?”
“After seeing so many scandals, this time when Bai Su fell apart I didn’t even feel sad. I was just furious and wanted to tear this piece of trash apart…”
“If you want to stan someone, only trust people certified by the Gossip King. Guaranteed high quality and no fear of a collapse.”
Ever since speaking with his grandnephew, Zhao Meng had been keeping an eye on the trending topics on Weibo, whether consciously or unconsciously.
So when Bai Su’s name suddenly shot to the top of the trends, Zhao Meng saw it immediately, and he devoured the explosive scandal in full at once.
Song Fengshi had been right. This scandal was as solid as it could possibly get.
Just then, the group chat for the directing team suddenly started chiming nonstop.
Zhao Meng tapped it open and saw that the people in the chat were also discussing Bai Su.
“He looked so clean and fresh as a young guy. How could he do something so utterly heartless…”
“You really can’t judge by appearances. How could anyone even bring themselves to hit someone like that?”
“There were so many videos. I only dared watch a few seconds of one before I couldn’t continue. It was terrifying.”
“He was clearly beating her like he meant to kill her. There wasn’t a shred of humanity left in him…”
“By the way… now that Bai Su’s fallen apart, doesn’t that mean we currently don’t have a suitable lead anymore?”
The moment that message appeared, the entire chat went almost instantly silent.
Everyone realized the seriousness of the problem.
All Things Have Spirit was an official commissioned short film, and there was a final deadline for turning in the finished work. Subtract the time needed for filming, and there was not much time left before the deadline.
Zhao Meng also immediately realized just how serious the situation was.
Although he had never been especially satisfied with Bai Su in the first place, if they could not find a more suitable candidate in the next few days, then with Bai Su at least they had a lead they could use.
But now… they did not even have someone merely passable.
Zhao Meng felt a headache coming on.
If they still could not audition a suitable lead in the last two days, then he would have no choice but to pick the best among the previously auditioned actors, even if it was a case of choosing the tallest among the short ones.
But clearly, that was not the outcome Zhao Meng wanted.
He rubbed his forehead and started recalling all the actors who had auditioned for the lead.
This one would not do—the acting was very good, but the appearance did not fit. He looked too fierce.
That one would not do either—his features were too soft and feminine, completely mismatched with the character…
He rejected one candidate after another, irritation mounting in him.
Then suddenly, a figure flashed through his mind.
Lin Zhiqiao.
Lin Zhiqiao had not auditioned for the lead. He had come for one of the supporting roles.
At the time, Zhao Meng had actually been rather pleased with him, but because of his prejudice about “backdoor recommendations,” he had not carefully considered any other possibilities for the young man.
But now…
Zhao Meng reviewed him again in detail.
His acting was not weak, his appearance fit, and that faint shyness about him, mixed with the lively spirit hidden beneath it, was exactly the same as the lead in Zhao Meng’s imagination.
That’s him.
Zhao Meng’s heart suddenly gave a sharp throb. He took a deep breath, suppressed the excitement surging inside him, and sent a message into the group chat:
“I have a candidate in mind.”
