ISWMQ – Chapter 143

The matter wasn’t over yet.

Chu Feiliang took out her phone, completely ignoring the incessant ‘thump, thump’ of WeChat notifications, and swiped to the Weibo interface on her own.

The tabloid’s objective was also very clear. They didn’t dare to come directly at her; the tip of their sword was pointed straight at Rong Guang.

Rong Guang knew this in her heart.

But she was more worried about Chu Feiliang’s state.

Her first reaction was to snatch the phone from Chu Feiliang’s hand, saying, “Sister, don’t look.”

“Not look? Why?” Chu Feiliang let out a soft laugh, gently pressing down on Rong Guang’s hand, her gaze unwavering as she looked at Rong Guang.

Rong Guang hesitated for a moment.

Chu Feiliang was half-reclined in the chair, her expression placid as she scrolled through the messages and pictures. “I’m not that clueless kid from back then anymore. Baby—there’s nothing that can deal me such a fatal blow again. My mentality can collapse, and I can fall apart, but that all comes from things I inflict upon myself.”

She looked at Rong Guang and said, “I can curse myself, I can use countless reasons to negate myself, but these people are not allowed to negate you.”

Rong Guang was left speechless by her words.

After a long moment, she pursed her lips and said, “I’ll talk to the company about this and have them issue a response.”

“No need.” Chu Feiliang covered her hand and smiled. “What the company needs to do isn’t to respond.”

As she spoke, she looked up and saw Wang Lujie and Yan Congxue rushing over. She lay back down, thought for a moment, and said, “Let’s wait until my sister gets here to talk about it. I won’t agree to back down on this.”

Wang Lujie and Yan Congxue exchanged a glance, pursed their lips, and reluctantly nodded.

Before leaving, Wang Lujie shot Rong Guang a look, signaling her to keep a close eye on Chu Feiliang and make sure nothing happened.

Nothing happened to Chu Feiliang.

After putting her phone away, she snuggled into Rong Guang’s arms on her own, using her stomach as a pillow to rest.

Rong Guang continuously stroked her back, knowing that Chu Feiliang wasn’t asleep at all.

Her breathing was off, the frequency of her blinks was off, and even the way she shifted her body and the slight curl of her fingers were off.

She pursed her lips and opened that Weibo post again to look.

There wasn’t much substance to it; it even seemed vaguely like an article written just to slander her. Below it, there were even rumors of her being ‘kept’ by an unknown rich businessman, and it even vaguely implicated the entire NO.1 group.

A WeChat notification popped up. Rong Guang opened it and saw that the message was surprisingly from Tang Shi.

【Tang Shi: How are you? Is everything okay? Do you need me to help clarify things?】

This was followed by several pictures.

【Tang Shi: I remember these pictures are all your previous stills from the film set. This is a set you guys used, right?】

Rong Guang thought for a moment and replied.

【Rong Guang: Yes, but you don’t need to worry about it. Big Dipper is professional when it comes to handling these things.】

Not long after the message was sent, Rong Guang’s WeChat vibrated again.

She backed out and saw that it was, surprisingly, from Chu Siyue.

Rong Guang’s eyelashes trembled as she lowered her head and opened it.

【Sister Siyue: Rong Guang? Is it convenient to meet up alone? We need to discuss this matter in detail.】

【Sister Siyue: It’s about the news that just broke. The address is the café downstairs at Guangyuan Tower. I’ll be waiting for you in private room B-5201.】

Rong Guang thought for a moment and replied with an okay.

To be honest, the matter wasn’t that urgent—the standard reaction time for an emergency PR team is about 12 hours.

This timeframe gives them, as well as the public, a good amount of time to react: whether it’s waiting for a second wave of fermentation or waiting for the public to calm down, it’s an optimal period.

That evening, Rong Guang kept her appointment, quietly slipping out of the film set under the pretext of running an errand.

Chu Siyue was waiting for her in the private room. It looked like she had been there for a while; one of the coffee cups next to her was empty. When Rong Guang entered, Chu Siyue was on her phone, about to order a refill.

Rong Guang went over, sat down, looked at Chu Siyue, and called out, “Sister Siyue.”

“You’re here.” Chu Siyue glanced up at her, pushed a proposal in front of Rong Guang, and said, “Take a look at this file first.”

Rong Guang frowned, opened it, and began to read.

Inside was some text-based information, including documents with images and text.

“The one who bought these services to slander you is Yi Chun from your old group.” Chu Siyue took a sip of tea and said, “She was always called ‘Xiao Rong Guang’ by your group’s fans. Plus, after you disbanded and went solo, Duan Nong and Tang Shi’s career paths are completely different from hers. Only you and she both plan to develop in the entertainment industry. Your paths clash, your looks clash, and the timing happens to clash as well—and you have far more natural advantages than she does. It was only a matter of time before she came after you.”

Rong Guang read quietly for a while and said, “I understand.”

“Handling this matter isn’t difficult, to be honest.” Chu Siyue smiled and looked at Rong Guang. “You don’t need to be nervous. Big Dipper has always been decent; we don’t do things like sacrificing our actors. And we’ve never backed down from anyone. This time, I just wanted to ask about your attitude…”

“My attitude is very clear.” Rong Guang looked up and said, “I can accept Yi Chun stepping on me to get ahead—it’s not that I’m being generous, it’s just how the industry is. It’s the norm. But I cannot accept her stepping on me and then dragging the person I care about most down with her, just to ride on her popularity.”

What she and Chu Feiliang insisted on from beginning to end was exactly the same.

It was fine if it was aimed at themselves. But if it was aimed at the other person, that was not okay.

Chu Siyue chuckled in spite of herself. “In some ways, you and Tiantian are really alike.”

“Also,” she raised her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, “for this matter, I might need to ask for both of your opinions—wait a little longer, Tiantian should be here soon.”

“You invited her too?” Rong Guang was taken aback.

“Mhm,” Chu Siyue hummed lightly, thought for a moment, and said, “The Chu family doesn’t need to rely on her alone to make money. Tiantian was wronged for more than five years because of the company…” Chu Siyue paused here, took a deep breath, and then continued, “It’s time for me to pay it back.”

“What’s this about paying back or not?” Through the crack of the opening door, Chu Feiliang happened to overhear that sentence.

She raised an eyebrow, looked at Chu Siyue, and said, “What are you talking about with my girlfriend here? You even had to secretly ask her out behind my back? What’s this, trying to poach her?”

Chu Siyue fell silent, managing to restrain herself from splashing the coffee on the table at her.

“Sit down.” Chu Siyue ordered a milk tea for Chu Feiliang, then said, “I have something to discuss with you two.”

The moment Chu Feiliang sat down, she lost all composure, clinging to Rong Guang, wanting kisses one moment, pets the next, and hugs after that.

Chu Siyue sat across from them, the corner of her eye twitching with irritation.

“Sister…” Rong Guang, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, cupped Chu Feiliang’s face as it tried to nuzzle into her neck. “What are you doing?”

Chu Feiliang continued to nuzzle against her, mumbling something that Rong Guang couldn’t quite hear clearly.

“What?” Rong Guang tilted her head.

Chu Feiliang seized the opportunity, tilted her head up, and kissed her.

Chu Siyue: “…”

Rong Guang froze for a moment, a blush rising on her cheeks, and carefully kissed her back.

After messing around for a while, Chu Feiliang finally ceased her antics and collapsed onto the sofa.

She was propped up by four or five soft cushions—almost all the cushions in the private room were around her. And even that wasn’t enough. Chu Feiliang wrapped her arms around Rong Guang’s waist, holding her in a full embrace before she was satisfied.

Chu Siyue watched her thoughtfully for a moment, then shook her head and said, “It’s not a huge deal—I was just planning to take advantage of this news breaking to talk about you two going public.”

Go public?

Rong Guang was completely stunned.

She licked her lips and said, “Is this… appropriate?”

Never mind that she didn’t have a single representative film or TV work to her name right now. Besides, just last year she was on the hot search list because of the Jiang Lianming incident, followed immediately by the disbandment of NO.1. In this short span of less than a year, she hadn’t had many peaceful days.

She was practically a regular on the hot search list… and each time, it wasn’t for things like “Rong Guang’s Fashion” or “Rong Guang’s Stage Makeup” that were obviously bought. They were all genuine hot searches born from being cursed out or roasted.

In other words, while she certainly had fans, there were definitely more anti-fans and onlookers who were just there for the drama.

She didn’t know if public perception was good or bad, but after this wave of slander, there probably weren’t many good impressions left.

Just as Chu Siyue was about to speak, Chu Feiliang abruptly cut in, her hands on her hips, looking coldly at Rong Guang. “You’re not willing?!”

Her tone carried a sense of disbelief, as if she couldn’t believe that Rong Guang actually didn’t plan to make their relationship public.

Chu Siyue even felt like she could faintly hear the unspoken second half of the sentence, which would be, ‘Am I not presentable enough?’ ‘Am I embarrassing?’ ‘Is going public with me that stressful, Teacher Rong?’

And, living up to her expectations, Chu Feiliang did indeed repeat those words verbatim.

“Teacher Rong, you’re not willing to go public? Can you give me a reason? I can grace the grandest halls, but I can’t cook—I can learn that. I’m good-looking, sturdy, long-lasting, and so cute—you say you love me to death every day, so why are you unwilling to go public now?”

Rong Guang was left dumbfounded by Chu Feiliang’s words.

These were the exact words Yin Shuanghan had used when she forced Duan Xi to take her to the company!

And now, using them like this felt completely natural?!

Rong Guang’s composure shattered. She lowered her head as if begging for mercy and said repeatedly, “Pub… public, I’ll go public, okay!”

Only then did Chu Siyue sigh and retract the file on the table. “You two have really… completely reversed your roles.”

Shouldn’t it be Rong Guang, the small-time artist barely on the C-list, eagerly begging Chu Feiliang to go public, all while saying lines like, ‘Are you going to abandon me? Do you think I’m not good enough for you?’

Why did it now feel like… Rong Guang was being forced up Mount Liang by her younger sister, with the illusion of ‘Once we go public, you can’t escape.’