Chapter 30: Scandal Exposed

From that point on, everything proceeded according to plan, moving steadily in the expected direction, and overall, things went smoothly.

The film “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio” was confirmed for release on July 15, with its theme song, “White Fox,” scheduled to premiere simultaneously at midnight on the same date on DailyTune.

Both “Father’s Prose Poem” and “Boundless Skies” had finished recording and would be released on DailyTune at midnight on August 1.

In recent days, the marketing and branding departments of Star Orange Entertainment had gone into full swing.

The inspirational stories of Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an had been carefully crafted and packaged.

Online, several influential microbloggers had already begun to build hype.

“Star Orange Entertainment’s new song ‘White Fox’ will be released alongside the major film ‘Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio’ on July 15.
Directed by Li Chengnian, ‘Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio’ features ‘White Fox’ as its theme song.
Will it live up to the audience’s expectations? Let’s wait and see.”

“I attended the premiere and can only say—it’s absolutely worth it.
The entire movie is gripping, evoking both laughter and tears.
What’s especially noteworthy is the theme song—it’s truly beautiful.
I don’t know who the singer is, but the moment their voice came on, I got goosebumps all over!”

“I haven’t seen the film, but I was lucky enough to hear the theme song ‘White Fox’ through a friend.
All I can say is, it’s the best song I’ve heard in years.
After listening, I could almost tell what the story of the film is.
The melody is haunting and sorrowful—if you love music, don’t miss it!”

And so on.

Of course, none of this was Su Chen’s concern anymore.

During this period, Luo Jiaxing and Qu An’an, having learned from Kong Qishui about how Su Chen had stood up for them in front of Wang Yan, came to thank him multiple times, but Su Chen always sent them away.

To them, Su Chen was their mentor and benefactor for life.

To Su Chen, however, they were just two trainees he had chosen for now.

Still, when he learned that Kong Qishui had let them know about his support, he gave a silent nod of approval.

He wanted everyone to see that following Su Chen meant sharing in the rewards.

While Su Chen was busy with all this, he was unaware that a storm was brewing in the entertainment industry—one centered around him.

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“Breaking news! Pop princess Jiang Yan spends the night at a man’s home, leaves in the morning!”

“Shocking! Idol singer Jiang Yan seen acting intimately with a man—are they dating?”

“Legal experts weigh in! When Jiang Yan and the man went home, was she already impaired? Was it a crime or was it consensual?”

“How many fanboys’ dreams has the goddess shattered this time?”

And similar headlines began circulating widely online.

The source of the rumors was two videos shot by a social media personality.

The first showed Su Chen taking Jiang Yan into his apartment building—about ten seconds long.

The second, about three seconds, captured Jiang Yan leaving the building the next morning.

In the first video, both had their backs to the camera so their faces weren’t clear.

In the second, Jiang Yan’s face was visible. Though she wore a mask and sunglasses, anyone could easily recognize her once the footage was enlarged—her features were distinctive.

Comparing her clothes and bag across both videos, it was clear the person was the same.

It was confirmed: it was Jiang Yan.

The goddess idol, who had never had a single scandal in all these years, suddenly found herself at the center of a storm. Many fans simply couldn’t accept it.

Some even vowed to track down the man in the video.

“Brothers, are there any locals from Jiangcheng who can identify the address from the video?”

“Come on, Jiangcheng friends, help us out! Once we find the address, I’ll fly there and stake out that bastard!”

“Let’s see if the Jiangcheng crew is up to the task!”

“We must find this guy and grind his bones to dust!”

“It breaks my heart to think my goddess is suffering every night!”

“She must be so exhausted she’s lost weight! Her knees must be bruised!”

And so on—the rumors grew more and more outrageous, and as the story spread, it morphed into claims that Jiang Yan had secretly married an old man.

“My god, is this real? I can’t believe Jiang Yan is that kind of person!”

“What’s so strange? Don’t all women like older men? Older men are reliable, and they have a pension!”

“There’s only one omnipotent power in the world: money!”

And so forth.

Meanwhile, the celebrity chat group was once again abuzz because of this incident.

[Ji Xiangyang: /link, @JiangYan @SuChen, you two have been exposed!]

[Luo Zhe: Haha, after all these years, Jiang Yan finally has a scandal—I can’t wait to see what happens!]

[Jiang Jing: @JiangYan, what’s your plan? Need some advice from your big sister?]

[Luo Zhe: Yeah, go to her @JiangJing—she’s an expert at this! Hahahaha…]

[Jiang Jing: Get lost!]

Jiang Jing, an actress, had often been embroiled in rumors for the sake of hyping up new dramas with fake relationships, so Luo Zhe wasn’t wrong in his teasing.

But it was all in good fun.

After all, such things were commonplace in the entertainment world.

They also knew the full story between Su Chen and Jiang Yan, and understood how some media outlets deliberately distorted facts for attention.

As for the online rumors about Jiang Yan marrying an old man, they didn’t believe a word of it.

That’s why they joked so freely—had the rumors been true, they would have been far more cautious, perhaps even pretending nothing had happened.

[Jiang Jing: What do you think would happen if everyone discovered Su Chen was the man in the video? Would he get torn apart by rabid fans?]

[Luo Zhe: Haha, don’t even joke—Su Chen would become public enemy number one for male fans!]

[Ji Xiangyang: I bet Su Chen is trembling in fear right now!]

[Ji Xiangyang: @SuChen, come say hello to everyone!]

When there was no reaction from Jiang Yan, they began tagging Su Chen relentlessly.

After all, watching a spectacle is always fun—especially when it involves someone else’s misfortune.

For them, today’s hot news was a delight, made even better by the fact that the main characters were Jiang Yan and Su Chen—it was the height of entertainment.

You could hardly call this group anything but a band of first-class instigators.

Their agents and companies were seasoned pros at handling such matters, so none of them were worried about things getting out of hand.

After a while, seeing that neither Su Chen nor Jiang Yan replied, they were about to leave the chat, when the usually aloof King Lu finally spoke up.

[Lu Yuanqing: @SuChen, stay safe!]

[Jiang Jing: Hahaha, even our cool guy Qing has come out of hiding.]

[Jiang Jing: @SuChen, stay safe!]

[Ji Xiangyang: @SuChen, stay safe!]

[Luo Zhe: @SuChen: stay safe!]

[…]

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