Although there were suspicions about Yan Xiuyuan, there was no evidence. With Yan Han’s help, Pei Lang felt reassured and focused on recording the song upstairs.
The song was one of his previous debut tracks, which happened to meet the website’s submission requirements. So after recording it a few times, it was good to go—no challenge.
The healing music, combined with his voice and energetic lyrics, gained some listeners and comments once the song was released.
Lonely Wild Wolf: A new face on the website? Your voice is so nice. Did you write this song? Never heard it before.
Dreaming Blue Butterfly: Little brother, your voice is so nice, I love it. (^_^)
Chasing Ducks: Look what I found, a hidden gem of a voice! I’ll be your first fan. Your voice is amazing, please keep posting more songs. I love it.
The song was just released and the website didn’t know how high the listening rate was. Normally, after seeing the results, they would give it a promotional placement. So even though the song had listeners, not many people noticed it.
The few comments were very active and it seemed like there weren’t many people with psychological issues. Many users of this website seemed like normal people, after all, everyone has some pressure, and they could find healing here.
Since it’s a website, it doesn’t allow comments on photos and memes. So in the comment section, people would express their emotions more with words or emoticons.
Pei Lang thought it was pretty cute. He replied to the new comments, then closed the website and waited for Yan Han’s message.
Su Jia was quick; within an hour, he found out the truth.
“Boss, I found out. The photos were photoshopped, but the person is innocent.” When he said “the person is innocent”, Su Jia sounded noticeably more excited. He used to dislike Pei Lang. But after going back and forth with him these days, he realized that although Pei Lang liked to argue with a soft tone, he wasn’t a bad person.
Hearing that the person had been slandered, he felt relieved, not wanting Pei Lang to be hurt.
“Have you found out who the person spreading the rumors is?”
“I found the source, but it’s not the origin. Someone gave him these photos and asked him to spread rumors. Since Pei Lang already had so many negative news stories, the person spreading the rumors didn’t verify the authenticity of the photos. They took the money and made up a story.” The rumor maker fabricated the story so convincingly as if they had personally witnessed Pei Lang seducing the black man, even describing the time and location with reasonable detail. “I couldn’t trace who sent the photos, but I did find out what Young Master Yan was planning to do to Pei Lang a few days ago. So, I suspect it was Young Master Yan.”
Su Jia, who hadn’t met Pei Lang1refers to how his intelligence somewhat declines when arguing with Pei Lang, was still very smart, not at all like the fool who lost his intelligence.
“Go on,” Yan Han said. If the person behind it was Yan Xiuyuan, he would be even more willing to help Pei Lang.
“That day, Young Master Yan was fully prepared. He intended to completely ruin Pei Lang, using the same methods as today. But that time, he planned to take real action. Fortunately, Pei Lang didn’t show up. Recently he’s been staying home, so Young Master Yan’s plan failed. That’s why the rumors started today. Of course, this is just speculation. Young Master Yan has been looking for Pei Lang recently but hasn’t found him.”
Hearing these words, Yan Han’s face turned as cold as frost, and a trace of disgust flashed in his eyes. He remained silent for a long time.
The source that even Su Jia couldn’t trace could only be Yan Xiuyuan.
The photo editing skills were very advanced; ordinary people wouldn’t notice. This was an attempt to completely ruin Pei Lang. “One hour. This matter must be resolved.”
“Understood, boss.”
As an entertainment company, the PR team was very capable; they knew how to clear things up. Although Pei Lang was covered in filth, resolving this issue wasn’t difficult.
Su Jia found people, along with a group of internet water army, to expose the original photos. Then, several well-known computer system experts in the industry were paid to expose the photo manipulation incident. They spent money to remove the trending topic. After these operations, the dirty water was finally cleared.
However, although the netizens believed the rumors were false, they still thought Pei Lang was an immoral person. After all, he even tried to seduce his brother-in-law—what else was he capable of?
The internet has a memory and everything he had done was documented.
With the trending topic down, Yan Han pushed a few of the company’s popular actors to post pictures and do live streams. Because they had high attention, the focus of the netizens was finally shifted.
In the villa, Pei Lang was completely relieved after seeing the refutation. As expected, the original owner still kept his integrity. Perhaps seducing Yan Xiuyuan was just a bet with Pei Ziqing. His bad temper had also been caused by his family background. Though it wasn’t an excuse for turning bad, Pei Lang still felt a bit of sympathy for him.
Then, he thought of Yan Xiuyuan.
Finally, Pei Lang took Yan Xiuyuan’s phone number off the blacklist and dialed it.
Normally, Yan Xiuyuan wouldn’t have answered the phone so quickly, but these days, he had been looking for Pei Lang desperately. He even wondered if the person had died or disappeared. He had set the fire online, hoping to force him out, so there was no way he would let it go so easily.
“What’s this, now you want to contact me?” Yan Xiuyuan spoke arrogantly, clearly pleased with himself.
Pei Lang got straight to the point. “You were behind today’s incident, right?”
“So what if I was?” Yan Xiuyuan didn’t deny it at all. The issue was already settled. Pei Lang didn’t seem very angry; in fact, when Yan Xiuyuan said that, Pei Lang’s lips curled into a smile that was almost sinister.
Because he had turned on the recording function.
“What do you want me to do?” Pei Lang countered.
A sudden premonition surged in Yan Xiuyuan’s mind: Pei Lang seemed different. He wasn’t going crazy, he wasn’t cursing him, and he wasn’t trying to seduce him—he was countering him with questions.
What did he want him to do? Wasn’t that obvious? “Of course, stay away from me and Ziqing! Forget about it; I will never like you. People like you are an insult even to dogs!”
“Oh, I see?” Pei Lang responded, seemingly understanding. He then changed the subject and asked again. “Did you not understand what I said that day? Let me say it again today. Yan Xiuyuan, I have never liked you. The previous seduction was just to annoy Pei Ziqing, to see him suffer. As for why I hate him, you can ask him yourself. Actually, while you’re disgusted with me, I am equally disgusted at you. Pretending to be attracted to someone I don’t like just to take revenge on someone I hate—this feeling, you’ll probably never experience. But I’ve come to realize, instead of living in this cycle of hatred and entangling myself with horrible people, it’s better to just live a good life and be myself.”
Once again, Yan Xiuyuan was insulted by Pei Lang. Pei Lang spoke in an organized manner, and because Yan Xiuyuan was so angry, he couldn’t reply. All he could hear was Pei Lang’s voice.
“Today, I’ll say it one last time. You want me to stay away from you both. I’ve already hidden myself and will keep my distance. From now on, when we meet, I won’t even spare you a second glance. I’ve said this to Pei Ziqing. He probably didn’t pass it on to you. So, did you understand?”
It wasn’t teasing, it wasn’t a joke—Pei Lang was serious. Somehow, Yan Xiuyuan felt a deep discomfort. He had always been the one rejecting others, and no one had ever rejected him. Even though Pei Ziqing made him chase him for a long time, at least Pei Ziqing had given him some feedback. It wasn’t a firm rejection like this.
After meeting Pei Lang, Yan Xiuyuan trampled on his dignity and reputation, earning titles like the devoted, nation’s husband. Now, Pei Lang had decided to give up, and it was actually Yan Xiuyuan who brought it up first, which irritated him greatly.
What exactly bothered him, Yan Xiuyuan couldn’t pinpoint. Maybe it was his vanity; even if Pei Lang was giving up, it felt like he had been forced to do so under his foot.
“Do you think this is over? Heh~ Pei Lang, what are you pretending to be so noble for? When you stripped off your clothes and seduced me, you weren’t like this. The harm you caused Ziqing, do you think you can just erase it by saying you’re letting go?” Yan Xiuyuan gritted his teeth, wishing he could tear Pei Lang apart. “I want you to kneel in front of me and apologize to Ziqing. Maybe then, I’ll let you off the hook.”
Yan Xiuyuan was a prince charming, adored by many. He didn’t believe that Pei Lang wasn’t truly moved. So when Pei Lang said he didn’t like him, Yan Xiuyuan took it as the other being afraid, intimidated, and saying such words out of cowardice.
This condition was already very generous—letting go, leaving things in the past, and after a few years, everyone would forget, and Pei Lang could continue living well.
He thought Pei Lang would agree, but instead, he heard a scoff. Yan Xiuyuan instantly flew into a rage, nearly shouting, “What are you laughing at?”
“Laughing at an idiot!”
Pei Lang truly couldn’t hold back anymore. He had never encountered such a ridiculous persona, such a brain-dead male lead. Pei Lang rarely swore, but this time, he really couldn’t stop himself—he couldn’t find a better or more accurate word to replace these two.
“Say that again!”
After being insulted, Yan Xiuyuan couldn’t keep up his calm demeanor and fully exposed his emotions. But his fury only triggered a sharper tongue and more mocking laughter from Pei Lang.
“Still a deaf idiot.”
“Pei Lang, you’re asking for death. Just you wait. Don’t let me find you!” Yan Xiuyuan was not only not scared but cursed even harsher. His eyes reddened like a wild beast in the forest, unable to find an animal to vent his anger on, so he could only release his emotions on the things around him.
For example, by smashing things and breaking tables.
“You can try and find me. By the way, young man, it’s common for those who get angry easily to have liver problems. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Pei Lang!! Bang—”
This time, it wasn’t Pei Lang hanging up the phone. A loud crashing sound came through—Yan Xiuyuan was so furious that he smashed his phone.
Pei Lang let out a soft sigh. “Offended him again, sigh~ but it feels pretty good.”
He saved the recording. Pei Lang knew he couldn’t win against Yan Xiuyuan, so he kept these things for now. Who knew? They might come in handy in the future.
Yan Xiuyuan hated him to the core now. Pei Lang was even more determined to cling to Yan Han. In this world, only Yan Han could protect him. Ultimately, it was thanks to Yan Han’s help this time. Otherwise, alone, with no background, no connections, and no ability, Pei Lang didn’t know what he would have done.
“Mm, I’ll have to thank him properly.”
As for how to thank him, Pei Lang hadn’t figured that out yet. It was still early, so there was no rush. He went downstairs to say hello to Aunt Lin before heading to the gym for a workout.
