ARIBASIEI chapter 47

Wang Ying finally managed to get He Min’s number, but the call kept getting hung up.

“Looks like she doesn’t want to get involved in this mess.”

“It’s okay,” Chi Yan said. “Sister Ying, there must be another way.”

Just then, her phone vibrated again—another friend request on WeChat.

The request was from Liu He, the same Liu He who had clashed with her on the set of The Great Sheng Dynasty.

And the note he left with the request claimed: He had the full video!

Chi Yan hurried to tell Wang Ying about it.

“Add him first, see what he says,” Wang Ying advised.

Chi Yan messaged: Are you serious? How do you have the full video?

Liu He: Of course I have it. I recorded the video. Don’t ask how—I just did.

Chi Yan: Proof? Screenshot the video showing its full length.

Liu He: [Image]

Chi Yan: What do you want?

Liu He: My request is simple. Give me 5 million yuan, and I’ll send you the full video. I’ll also leave Haishi for good and never bother you again, Miss Chi.

“Five million?” Chi Yan frowned. “Is he crazy?”

Wang Ying said, “If he dares ask for that much, he must believe you can pay it. Has he found out who you are?”

Indeed, if he knew she was Chi Hongzheng’s daughter, then asking for 5 million wouldn’t be so surprising.

Seeing that she hadn’t replied for a while, Liu He sent another message: I know you’re Chi Hongzheng’s daughter. He’s rich, and you’re his only child—don’t tell me you can’t afford this?

Chi Yan: I need to think about it.

Liu He: Fine. But if you wait a few more hours, the price won’t be the same.

“Chi Yan, there you are. I saw the news online. Need any help?” Shen Chen rushed over right after his meeting, having been informed by Assistant Fang. He hadn’t even had time to drink water.

“You came?” Chi Yan looked surprised. “It’s a small matter. I can handle it. Don’t worry.”

Wang Ying glanced between her and Shen Chen and seemed to catch on to something.

She decisively told Shen Chen about Liu He.

Chi Yan felt conflicted. She knew if she let Shen Chen get involved, the issue would be resolved quickly—but she didn’t want to keep bothering him.

However, since Wang Ying had already told him, she couldn’t hide it anymore.

Shen Chen said, “This is easy to handle, but we have to report it first. Trust the law. If he still refuses to hand over the video, I can apply to access his computer and extract it.”

“I really don’t want to owe you again,” Chi Yan said. “If you keep helping me, I won’t even know how to repay you.”

Shen Chen pressed his lips together and didn’t respond. He thought to himself: If she became my girlfriend, that would be the best repayment.

But that was only a thought—he would never say it aloud.

Shen Chen’s upbringing and conscience had never allowed him to use favors as leverage.

Wang Ying said, “Alright, since Mr. Shen is helping, don’t worry about it. Let’s report it to the police.”

Chi Yan nodded.

Shen Chen had connections with the cybercrime division. After explaining the situation, they responded promptly.

“This constitutes a major extortion case. We’ll intervene as soon as possible.”

Over the next two days, Chi Yan kept stalling Liu He to buy time for the cyber police to trace his IP.

Ye Jiawen and Bo Le Studio both posted clarification statements. Some people believed them—many didn’t.

The doubters outnumbered the supporters. The two other people in the video hadn’t spoken out, and everyone knew how close Ye Jiawen and Chi Yan were.

From the day the video was recorded, Chi Yan was subjected to online abuse for two whole days and nights.

In reruns of Actor’s Journey, whenever she appeared on screen, the comment feed was flooded with vile messages.

Chi Yan was cursed at by countless strangers. During this time, Wang Ying forbade her from checking her phone.

“All those comments are meant to break you. Reading too many of them will only affect your mood. You’re not doing any work these two days—just rest at home.”

“Okay, Sister Ying.”

Actually, Chi Yan didn’t feel too bored at home. Since Ye Jiawen wasn’t working either, he came over to play games with her.

The biggest surprise was that Shen Chen lived in the same villa community.

Ever since he found out they were neighbors, he often invited Chi Yan out for jogs. He had a show-quality border collie, so he jogged and walked the dog at the same time.

Thanks to that, Chi Yan’s life had become quite colorful.

On the day Liu He’s full video was released, Chi Yan was invited to The Great Sheng Dynasty’s wrap party.

Qiu Sisi sat with her, chatting about funny things that had happened on set.

“You have no idea how hilarious it was! Thank goodness we’re done filming, or I might’ve died laughing on set.”

Ou Yang, nearby, nodded vigorously in agreement.

Chi Yan chuckled politely and said, “I’m actually in a pretty good mood. You don’t have to try to cheer me up.”

Qiu Sisi paused for a few seconds and said, “Alright, then let’s talk about something else.”

“I’ll tell you about what happened with Duan Jing,” Chi Yan said.

She recounted the “fall” with Duan Jing that happened before the rehearsal and evaluated herself, saying, “I held my own. Didn’t lose out.”

Qiu Sisi looked at her with affection and said, “Let’s be more careful next time. This time it was an edited video—who knows what it’ll be next time?”

“Okay, I’ll try to control myself. My agent’s been nagging me these past two days not to do that kind of thing in public.”

“She bullied you,” Qiu Sisi’s eyes widened. “Of course you have to fight back! People can say whatever they want—as long as you can handle it, that’s what matters.”

Ou Yang glanced at the two of them and finally spoke up to stop them: “You’re being too loud. The food’s here. Let’s eat.”

During that single meal, Chi Yan’s phone practically exploded.

There were calls from Wang Ying, Shen Chen, Ye Jiawen, even a famous director she had once worked with—and Duan Jing also called.

She had a feeling it meant Liu He’s situation had been resolved.

Sure enough, when Chi Yan called Wang Ying back, she answered quickly.

“Chi Yan? It’s settled! President Shen helped push the police to release an official statement! You’re trending again—retweet the official post to clarify things as soon as possible.”

“Got it,” Chi Yan agreed.

After wrapping that up, she updated Qiu Sisi and Ou Yang on the situation.

“It’s over,” Chi Yan said happily. “I can finally go outside and breathe again.”

Coincidentally, the clarification came out just two days before the episode of Weekly Fun she had recorded was scheduled to air.

The director of Weekly Fun immediately had the staff work overtime to edit her original footage back into the episode—because of the previous rumors, they had deleted a lot of her scenes for safety.

Now that the situation had cleared up, they had to re-edit to avoid backlash.

Wang Ying sent this update to Chi Yan.

“There’s some good exposure from the variety show, and Shen Chen’s robotics company GG is launching soon. I also got you a spot in a fashion magazine’s inside spread—photoshoot’s the day after tomorrow. Rest for now, things will get busy soon.”

“Sisi, don’t you have a variety show and GG to shoot? And Ou Yang, you’re entering a new production, right?”

Qiu Sisi said, “That’s not all—I have to fly to Jing City tomorrow to audition. It’s going to be a hectic period.”

“Yeah,” Ou Yang asked, “Why do you ask?”

“I’ll be busy too. Since you’re both busier than me, now I feel balanced.”

Qiu Sisi pretended to lunge at her. “Chi Yan, you’re too much!”

They all laughed and joked for a while before parting ways.

Just as Chi Yan was dropped off at her villa by her driver, she got a call from her mother.

“Hello, Mom?”

But instead of her mother’s voice, it was Chi Hongzheng’s.

“What’s going on between you and Yue Yi?” he said. “Come to your uncle’s house. Right now!”

Chi Yan’s heart sank. Not only had Chi Hongzheng taken her mother’s phone, but he was at her uncle’s house. What was he trying to do?

Since she hadn’t gotten out of the car yet, she gave the driver the address of her uncle’s house and asked him to take her there.

She felt a bit uneasy, but thanks to the newly uncovered lead—Shen Chen had messaged her after failing to reach her by phone, telling her there were signs that Yang Yueyi had been involved—she felt slightly more at ease.

As soon as she entered her uncle’s house, Chi Yan noticed that Chi Hongzheng’s attitude was noticeably different than usual.

Normally, he would’ve been yelling over the phone, demanding she hurry over. But today, even when she dragged her feet, he said nothing.

“Why did you call me here?” she asked.

Chi Hongzheng didn’t speak. It was her mother who answered.

“Your dad was thinking your birthday’s coming up in a few days, so he wanted to bring us home.”

Chi Yan, of course, knew that was just her mother trying to ease the tension. There was no way Chi Hongzheng would remember her birthday.

“Really? He doesn’t look very happy—doesn’t seem like someone wanting to celebrate my birthday.”

Chi Hongzheng forced a smile and said, “Of course not. Last time on the phone you said you’d come home with your mom after the competition. So here I am to bring you back.”

Chi Yan glanced around the living room—only Chi Hongzheng, her mother, and her uncle were present. No one else.

“Really? I thought you came to tell me to drop the matter with Yang Yueyi.”

“How did you know?” The words slipped right out of Chi Hongzheng’s mouth.

Chi Yan didn’t answer. Instead, she placed the glass of water her mother had just handed her onto the coffee table.

She looked down at Chi Hongzheng from across the table and said, “Yang Yueyi did something so outrageous, and you’re still protecting her?”

Chi Hongzheng fell silent.

Her mother urgently asked, “What did she do? Yan Yan, tell Mom.”

“Mom, the reason I was being slammed online so badly lately is because Yang Yueyi bribed someone I’d had issues with to secretly record a video that painted me in a bad light. After posting it online, they hired a bunch of paid trolls to steer the narrative, saying I was arrogant and ungrateful.”

Chi Yan let out a short laugh and continued, “Luckily, my friend called the police and helped investigate, or else I’d still be getting cyberbullied.”

“Enough,” Chi Hongzheng cut her off. “What Yueyi did was indeed wrong. But she only did it because you ‘stole’ her makeup artist—she got emotional…”

“Yang Lan told you that, didn’t she?” Chi Yan stated the facts. “That so-called ‘stealing’ never happened. That makeup artist was never hers to begin with.”

Chi Hongzheng stammered for a long while before saying, “Yes, she was in the wrong. But your issue’s already resolved. There’s no need to keep holding onto it, right?”

Chi Yan hadn’t responded yet, but her mother was already upset.

“What do you mean? An outsider bullies your daughter and this is your attitude?” she said to Chi Hongzheng. “If this is how you are, then maybe Yan Yan and I shouldn’t go back at all. If we do, you’ll probably kick us out again sooner or later!”