Guan Zhou froze on the spot the moment he saw Chi An. The middle-aged woman beside him was initially joking with him, but when he suddenly stopped responding, she followed his gaze and saw Chi An as well.
The middle-aged woman was clearly a veteran of such situations; not a hint of panic showed on her face. She gave Chi An a meaningful look, then patted Guan Zhou’s chest flirtatiously before stepping aside.
She adopted an air of ‘this has nothing to do with me’.
Guan Zhou had received a sudden call from the middle-aged woman and had snuck out behind Chi An’s back. Before leaving, he had even fabricated an excuse, saying he was going to look for Mu Yanxi.
In his plan, Mu Yanxi was also an artist walking the red carpet and would have gone to the front to prepare early on. Chi An wouldn’t find him here, so he would be safe.
But he never expected that Mu Yanxi and Chi An would appear here together and catch him in the act.
Mu Yanxi and Ling Yi consciously stepped to the side, leaving the stage to the three people at the center of the vortex, doing their best to minimize their presence.
Indeed, the trio had no extra energy to pay them any mind. The atmosphere was tense, ready to explode at any moment.
Guan Zhou opened his mouth, about to say something, when Chi An strode forward in her high heels and, with a sharp “smack,” slapped him hard across the face.
A hint of embarrassment finally appeared on the middle-aged woman’s face, and she took a few more steps to the side.
After all, this was the banquet venue, with so many cameras outside. A slap like that would surely be noticed.
But Chi An had no such reservations.
To the middle-aged woman, Guan Zhou was just a plaything. With his young girlfriend showing up, she had no intention of getting involved.
Guan Zhou was completely stunned by Chi An’s slap. Then, as if her hand hurt, Chi An switched hands and delivered another slap.
One on the left, one on the right. Guan Zhou’s face, covered in several layers of powder, immediately swelled up, with faint bloody scratches from her nails.
After the two slaps, Chi An calmed down slightly. She looked at the middle-aged woman standing aside, and her anger flared up again. “Cheating on me is one thing, but for an old woman like this?”
Guan Zhou, who originally had no confidence, had been letting Chi An hit and scold him to vent her anger. But when Chi An turned her fire on his sponsor, he could no longer stand by.
Guan Zhou abruptly shielded the middle-aged woman and gave Chi An a push. “Have you made enough of a scene?”
Wearing high heels, Chi An lost her footing from the push and nearly fell to the ground. It was Mu Yanxi who, unable to watch any longer, reached out and pulled her up, saving her from the fall.
Chi An’s makeup was ruined. Seeing Mu Yanxi, she began to attack indiscriminately:
“Guan Zhou, you bastard scum, do you have any shame? Isn’t it disgusting to be with a woman old enough to be your mother? I’d rather your affair was with Mu Yanxi. Are you fucking blind?”
In an instant, Mu Yanxi, who Chi An was pointing at, became the center of attention.
Mu Yanxi took two steps back toward Ling Yi and said with a dry laugh, “Don’t worry, I have zero interest in this old, ugly, and greasy man. I won’t fight you for him.”
After saying that, she added slowly, in a way that was sure to infuriate, “Who knows if he has diseases from such a messy private life?”
As her words fell, the air seemed to freeze. You could hear a pin drop in the entire corridor.
Guan Zhou’s face was a sight to behold. Already a mix of red and white from the slaps, it now became even more colorful with rage, his expression one of utter shock.
The middle-aged woman who heard this was even more stunned. She let go of her previous displeasure, shot Guan Zhou a sharp glare, and hurried away.
It was as if she was rushing to the hospital for an immediate check-up.
This made Guan Zhou’s expression even more spectacular, his face alternating between black and white.
Chi An was still crying and shouting, her makeup completely smudged. She was so worked up she could barely breathe, hitting and kicking Guan Zhou.
“Scumbag, bastard, I’m going to expose everything about you!” After a while of this punching and kicking, perhaps Guan Zhou’s refusal to fight or talk back stirred a sliver of pity in Chi An.
Chi An actually calmed down.
But in the next second, Chi An seemed to realize there were still spectators. She suddenly turned her spearhead toward Mu Yanxi, grinding her teeth. “Are you satisfied now, Mu Yanxi? Let me tell you, don’t get too complacent. I heard you have a partner too, right?”
Ling Yi frowned beside her. When she looked at Mu Yanxi, sure enough, the little ancestor’s face had already darkened.
Chi An thought she had hit a sore spot. “You have so much negative press. When you were framed as a third party, I didn’t see your partner come out to say a word for you. What, are you so unpresentable that you have to hide them away like this?”
Mu Yanxi’s buttons had probably been pushed. She paused for two seconds before coming back to her senses.
She seemed unable to tolerate anyone speaking ill of Yi Wulan.
Even if Yi Wulan had flaws, only she herself could point them out.
Who did Chi An think she was?
“I’m not like you.” Mu Yanxi glanced at Chi An’s hand, which was being held, and mocked her with a tone of ‘you can’t save a lost cause.’ “After all, I’m not dedicated to being a garbage recycling station.”
After saying that, without another glance at Chi An and Guan Zhou, she took Ling Yi’s arm and swept away with great flair.
The red carpet for the Nansha Charity Gala had already begun. As soon as Mu Yanxi and her manager went out, they rushed to the waiting area.
Just as they entered, the main live camera swept over. Mu Yanxi instantly switched to her professional face, smiling faintly at the camera.
The camera moved on, and her manager led her further into the waiting area.
The seating in the waiting area was arranged similarly to how the main event hall would be, based on the artists’ status. The bigger the star, the closer to the front they sat.
An eighteenth-tier celebrity like Mu Yanxi, who had barely secured an entry ticket, was naturally placed in an inconspicuous corner, where even the cameras on site would hardly pan to her.
Mu Yanxi was happy with the peace and quiet. She took out her phone to browse Weibo, only to find that the first thing she saw was drama about herself.
The cameras had caught Chi An and Guan Zhou when they arrived earlier, and sharp-eyed netizens had already had a round of discussions about Chi An’s dress.
Now that Mu Yanxi appeared on the red carpet in the same outfit, wasn’t it a classic case of clashing outfits?
If it were a normal clash, it would simply be a case of whoever looked worse being embarrassed.
But the dress they both wore was a newly released haute couture gown from Chanel. The number of such gowns available for loan was often limited, meaning one of them had to be wearing a fake.
The entanglement between Mu Yanxi and Chi An was already common knowledge on Weibo. Now, with this outfit clash, marketing accounts immediately posted pictures: 【Gossip Here: Chi An and Mu Yanxi clash in the same dress. Who is wearing the real one? (curious)】
The post included screenshots of the two from the live broadcast, and the comment section exploded:
【Place your bets, everyone. Which one of them is wearing a knockoff?】
【This dress is a haute couture piece worth over a million. Even if you wear a fake, can you not pick something so ridiculously high-end? Are you afraid people won’t know?】
【To be honest, just looking at how it fits, doesn’t Chi An look like a child wearing an adult’s clothes? She can’t even fill it out. Would Chanel really lend a multi-million dollar gown to her?】
【Wait, why are you all talking about Chi An? Why is no one mentioning Mu Yanxi?】
【Has Mu Yanxi ever worn anything authentic? Does that even need to be brought up?】
And so, Mu Yanxi watched as the comment section of the top post went completely off-topic: 【With the little flower vase’s show-off personality, if she were wearing the real thing, a nine-photo grid wouldn’t be enough for her to flaunt it.】
【No, no, she probably would have struck several extra poses for the dress when the camera swept by just now.】
【But to be fair, if I were Chi An, I’d die of embarrassment. Mu Yanxi’s beauty and aura, even in a fake, puts her leagues ahead.】
When Mu Yanxi saw this comment, she wanted to like it, but the death glare from her manager forced her to retract her hand.
She instantly lost interest and switched back to the trending list.
Unexpectedly, in just a few minutes, #ChiAnWearsFakeDressOnRedCarpet had already shot up the trending list, showing signs of soaring into the top ten.
Many fashion bloggers were studying the photos of Chi An from the live broadcast and the retouched photos released by her team, comparing them with the model from the Chanel runway show. The number of doubters grew.
The bandwagoning public started fighting with Chi An’s fans:
【It’s confirmed that Chi An is wearing a fake, right? And she doesn’t even look as good in the fake as Mu Yanxi next to her. If I were Chi An, I’d be too ashamed to walk the red carpet.】
【To the person above, our An’an earned this haute couture loan with her own achievements. What’s with your snide remarks?】
【An’an’s manager already said Guan Zhou bought the dress for her. What are you all randomly suspecting?】
【Exactly, exactly. Spread the word: Chi An’s fake dress is a disaster.】
【To the one who said not to doubt Guan Zhou, I advise you to check the trending topics right now. I’m a good person, don’t thank me.】
Mu Yanxi was thoroughly enjoying the drama. Seeing a new target, she immediately went to join the new commotion.
Tonight’s top ten trending topics were all about A-list celebrities on the red carpet, but the middle ranks seemed to have been taken over by Chi An and Guan Zhou. A quick glance showed a string of related hashtags, their popularity soaring.
Mu Yanxi had just witnessed the live version of Chi An catching Guan Zhou cheating, and she didn’t expect to see the hashtag #GuanZhouCheating on the trending list so quickly.
It seemed she and Ling Yi weren’t the only ones watching the show in that corridor.
Clicking on the #GuanZhouCheating hashtag, the top post by a marketing account was a short video. Mu Yanxi clicked to enlarge it and saw it was a video of Guan Zhou kissing the middle-aged woman. The intensity could have been rated R.
Was this the same Guan Zhou who was hailed as the cold, aloof male god of campus dramas?
Without any need for text, netizens accustomed to melodramatic plots automatically concocted a grand drama. Guan Zhou’s persona as a good man who dared to love openly and take responsibility collapsed overnight.
The view count for this topic continued to climb, surpassing the press releases of several A-list stars and arrogantly claiming the fifth spot on the trending list.
Various marketing accounts rushed to cash in on the heat, releasing all the photos they had previously taken of Guan Zhou with other people, as if clearing out their inventory.
Guan Zhou had been tied to Mu Yanxi and Chi An in marketing campaigns recently. While the fans of Chi An and Mu Yanxi were at each other’s throats, he had been reaping the benefits from both sides. Naturally, he had rivals who were displeased with him.
Now that this incident had blown up, all sorts of demons and ghouls came out to kick him while he was down.
Hashtags with Guan Zhou’s name appeared in what seemed like a permutation, linking him to numerous female stars in a long, sprawling list.
There were plenty of both real and fake photos mixed in to muddy the waters. Netizens took out their magnifying glasses to identify the people in the blurry pictures and actually managed to dig up some industry insiders who had ambiguous relationships with Guan Zhou.
Some conscientious marketing accounts were very responsible, even marking the time and place the photos were taken. The labels were revealing; among them were photos taken after Guan Zhou had publicly announced his relationship with Chi An. It was clear Chi An had been thoroughly cheated on.
What amused netizens the most were the photos showing Guan Zhou dating multiple partners on the same day: spending the morning with Chi An, flirting with a young actress from his film crew in the afternoon, accompanying an older rich woman at night, and then returning to Chi An’s residence late at night.
He was practically a time management master.
Some netizens even joked that Guan Zhou should publish a book.
So much solid evidence constituted a massive scandal. Before Guan Zhou’s management team could even react, his brand sponsors were the first to respond:
【Zhiyi Phones: Effective immediately, our company will terminate the endorsement contract with Mr. Guan Zhou and cease all cooperation.】
【RL Sports: RL Sports has always operated with innovation and integrity as its goals. After an emergency meeting, it has been determined that Mr. Guan Zhou does not fit our company’s image. We will terminate all cooperation with Mr. Guan Zhou.】
【Mingshang Cosmetics: Effective immediately, we are terminating all cooperation with Mr. Guan Zhou and will pursue legal action against Mr. Guan Zhou for the negative impact on our company.】
【…】
The endorsements dropped one after another. It was quite a spectacle.
Hearing about the termination of endorsements under such circumstances, Mu Yanxi casually asked her manager about the astronomical penalty fees Guan Zhou would have to pay. When she heard the amount, her eyes crinkled into a line from smiling, and she was just short of writing ‘schadenfreude’ on her face.
Just then, a staff member came to remind her about the red carpet. Mu Yanxi reluctantly handed her phone to her manager, asking her to find a power bank for its nearly dead battery.
The manager took the phone and straightened Mu Yanxi’s hair. “Go on.”
Mu Yanxi gained plenty of exposure on the red carpet. The live comments flew by, all demanding that Mu Yanxi’s team release the retouched photos immediately.
When Mu Yanxi returned backstage again, amidst the trending topics dominated by Guan Zhou, another one about her had popped up: #MuYanxiWearsFakeDressOnRedCarpet, replacing the original #ChiAnWearsFakeDressOnRedCarpet.
It was obvious that Chi An’s team was behind it, trying to divert attention by dragging her down with them.
This wasn’t the first time Mu Yanxi had seen a trending topic about her wearing fakes. Honestly, she didn’t feel sad at all, just a little secretly thrilled.
After all, this trending topic was bought for her by that little white lotus, Chi An. It must have cost a lot of money, right?
On second thought, among all of Guan Zhou’s scandal-related trending topics, her name, his ‘former CP,’ was conspicuously absent. Did that have something to do with her?
Mu Yanxi clicked on the Weibo post about her wearing a fake. Unexpectedly, the sentiment among netizens was surprisingly uniform:
【One minute, I want all the information on this young lady!】
【What is Mu Yanxi’s management team doing? Why haven’t they released the retouched photos yet? I’m waiting to use them as my profile picture.】
【The little flower vase truly lives up to the divine beauty I certified her for. She looks this good even in a fake. Chi An must be fuming, hahaha.】
Her manager beside her comforted her, “It’s okay, it’s not the first time anyway. At least not as many people are cursing you this time, right?”
Mu Yanxi gave a casual reply.
Her manager, thinking she had hurt her artist’s fragile glass heart, immediately turned into a praise machine, lauding Mu Yanxi’s beauty as heavenly and unique, even forgetting her own previous warnings and calling Mu Yanxi the number one in the domestic entertainment industry.
Mu Yanxi blinked. “Sister Ling, aren’t you afraid of being mobbed by those A-listers’ fans?”
Her manager had a look of self-sacrifice. “It’s fine, I can work overtime.”
Mu Yanxi finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud, saying nonchalantly, “Alright, I’m not sad. I just feel a little bad that Chi An spent so much money on me this time.”
Manager: …
She had worried for nothing.
Mu Yanxi switched back to her own Weibo, planning to perform her routine duty of blocking a few of the more obnoxious haters.
But just as she blocked a few, her manager suddenly let out a shriek, startling her.
At the same time, the other artists around them looked over. Mu Yanxi smiled at them awkwardly.
Then she turned her head and reminded her, “Sister Ling, keep it down. There are so many people around.”
The manager looked at Mu Yanxi’s outfit up and down in disbelief. “This… this outfit of yours is real?”
Mu Yanxi lifted her chin. “I never wear fakes.”
But after saying that, she found it strange. “Why do you suddenly ask?”
The manager shoved her phone in front of Mu Yanxi’s face. “Look at this.”
Mu Yanxi stared at the Weibo post on the screen and was slightly stunned.
It was Chanel’s official account, which had reposted her red carpet photo, claiming the haute couture piece:
【Chanel EL: Mu Yanxi appears at the Nansha Charity Gala awards ceremony, wearing a piece from the EL 2022 Coco Beauty Haute Couture collection. The long gown is elegant and captivating.】
Mu Yanxi stared at this post for a long time, repeatedly clicking on Chanel’s official account, even closing and reopening Weibo to check again.
After all that, she finally confirmed that it was indeed Chanel’s official Weibo account.
It wasn’t just her; the trending topics also exploded. Netizens were completely stunned.
At the same time, the hashtag #ChanelMuYanxi shot straight to third place on the entertainment trending list. The last time Chanel had held such a high-ranking spot was when they announced their Asia-Pacific makeup ambassador.
Although Mu Yanxi had been struggling in the entertainment industry for two years, and many netizens recognized her face, they couldn’t match it with her name.
Therefore, when her name suddenly appeared linked with Chanel, the buzz was unprecedented:
【No way, no way, was Chanel’s account hacked?】
【Is there another artist in China named Mu Yanxi? This can’t be the one I know, right?】
【Are you blind, person above? Didn’t you see which Mu Yanxi’s picture Chanel reposted?】
【You probably don’t know, but I even restarted my phone just to believe this wasn’t a network glitch, that it’s real.】
【Come out and take a bow. Did you win the lottery? Did you pay your taxes? @MuYanxi】
【(Grandpa on the subway looking at his phone.jpg)】
【Is this still the little flower vase I know who loves to steal pictures and wear fakes?】
【Little flower vase, don’t tell me you got into a pyramid scheme to make money just to save face? @YunchengPolice, come quick, I’m reporting someone for illegal fundraising!】
【It’s over. I don’t think I can support the little flower vase even by collecting bottles anymore.】
【…】
Mu Yanxi browsed the hashtag’s feed for a long time, her initial shock slowly subsiding.
Although she spent millions on major luxury brands every year, especially Chanel—just halfway through this year, she had already bought three gowns, and Chanel always had someone personally deliver an invitation to her for their shows.
But private transactions were one thing; interacting publicly with the brand on Weibo was a first.
Chanel wasn’t some small brand. A luxury brand of this caliber was extremely selective even with its ambassadors and rarely interacted with anyone on a daily basis.
Suddenly tagging her like this didn’t seem to benefit Chanel in any way.
Anyone with eyes could see that Chanel was elevating her status. What was in it for Chanel?
Her obscurity? Her countless haters?
The more Mu Yanxi thought about it, the more incredible it seemed. Although she didn’t really care about the online comments, she had to admit that seeing Chanel come out to claim the dress, seeing those haters instantly change their tune…
It felt incredibly satisfying.
Chanel wouldn’t elevate her status for no reason. Someone must have orchestrated it.
Her sister, Mu Yanqing, hadn’t meddled in her entertainment career for the past two years, so it was unlikely she would suddenly jump in now. A name suddenly flashed through Mu Yanxi’s mind.
Once the thought appeared, the more she considered it, the more plausible it seemed.
Could it really have been Yi Wulan?
Ever since the drunken incident that night, Mu Yanxi had been deliberately avoiding Yi Wulan. Even when the other party called, she would find an excuse to hang up after just a few words.
So… could Yi Wulan be trying to make a peace offering?
Mu Yanxi secretly clicked on Chanel’s official Weibo again, clutching her racing heart and taking a deep breath.
Since the other party was being so sincere, it wouldn’t be too much for her to deign to take the initiative and contact Yi Wulan, right?
With this little thought in mind, Mu Yanxi dazedly made it through the end of the Nansha Charity Gala. The moment she got back to the hotel, she sent a video call to Yi Wulan.
She had planned to ask directly but felt that with Yi Wulan’s personality, she might just deny it.
So, before the video call, she deliberately wiped off her lipstick. The red carpet required a full face of makeup, and without lipstick, her lips looked somewhat pale, making her appear pitiful.
Yi Wulan answered quickly on her end. She looked like she had just gotten out of the shower, her skin still dewy.
Mu Yanxi admired Yi Wulan’s beauty for a moment, then checked her complexion to reassure herself.
Then, she suddenly sighed with feigned grievance. “I went to the Nansha Charity Gala red carpet today.”
Yi Wulan nodded. “Mm.”
“I… I, mm.”
Seeing Mu Yanxi with her head bowed, Yi Wulan’s gaze slowly moved down, landing on Mu Yanxi’s pale lips.
Yi Wulan’s brow furrowed slightly, and she softened her voice. “What’s wrong?”
Mu Yanxi’s head drooped even lower, like a child tattling to their parents. “They all said I was wearing a fake. I was hung up on the trending list and scolded for a long time.”
Yi Wulan’s eyes widened slightly, and she blurted out, “Didn’t I have Assistant Gu handle it?”
The next second, Mu Yanxi suddenly lifted her head, the sadness and grief on her face completely gone, replaced by a bewitching smile.
Mu Yanxi had already guessed what Yi Wulan had done, but she deliberately waited for Yi Wulan to say it herself.
Her foxy eyes were full of smug pride, utterly infuriating.
“Yi Wulan, so it was you.” Mu Yanxi slowly twirled a lock of her hair, winking flirtatiously. “How do you think I should repay you?”
