After I Gave Up/Let Things Slide, I Became Famous Across The Entire Internet - Chapter 6

Cheng Zeyu didn’t claim to know Mu Yingying inside out, but as partners bound together, covering for each other wasn’t a one-time event. However, Mu Yingying tonight gave him a strange sense of incongruity; he couldn’t quite pinpoint where it was.

Seeing a familiar face, the tension in Cheng Zeyu’s nerves instantly relaxed, and he even forgot the minor episode of swallowing a pill just moments before.

Cheng Zeyu chose a seat facing ‘Mu Yingying’ and sat down. “What are you doing running over here? What if Tang Shuxia sees you?” He then paused, thinking it odd. This place was chosen by Tang Shuxia, so how would a random person know? Moreover, this person was Mu Yingying. “Wait, did Tang Shuxia also arrange to meet you?”

‘Mu Yingying’ toyed with the tea set in front of her and casually hummed in affirmation.

Cheng Zeyu frowned. “She arranged to meet me first, then asked you to come. What is she planning by bringing us together? Is this about those online issues of hers?” He quickly shook his head. “No, no, before she asked me to meet, she sent me a strange message saying she knew my secret, and then asked you to come…”

As if realizing something, Cheng Zeyu’s expression changed drastically, and he leaned in anxiously, lowering his voice. “She wouldn’t have found out that we are in a fake marriage, would she? So she plans to use this leverage to threaten you and me into changing our story?”

Xie Jinzhi was stunned when she heard this. She had originally come to make the scumbag clarify things between him and Tang Shuxia, but what was she hearing instead?!

Cheng Zeyu and Mu Yingying, the nation’s model couple, were fake married?!

Good heavens.

While Xie Jinzhi’s mind was churning with earth shattering news, she almost lost her grip on the phone she was using to start screen recording. Looking at Tang Shuxia sitting beside her, playing with the cups, she remained completely unfazed, as steady as Mount Tai, upon hearing this shocking confession from the scumbag.

Xie Jinzhi momentarily felt she couldn’t read the person in front of her. She swallowed nervously, almost blowing her cover.

Calm down, calm down.

Cheng Zeyu saw that ‘Mu Yingying’s’ face was expressionless, her hand spinning a teacup expertly. Her relaxed demeanor irritated Cheng Zeyu. He couldn’t help but tap the table. “Please, stop acting like this has nothing to do with you. If my secret gets out, you won’t escape unscathed either. Don’t forget, when you got pregnant by that old man, who cleaned up your mess? If your fans knew you were being kept by an ugly, old man, could your ‘virgin’ persona still stand?”

Xie Jinzhi: “!!!”

Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow.

Mu Yingying, this triple award winning actress, was kept by an old man and got pregnant? So the rumors about her retiring at the peak of her career for love were all fake, a cover up for this scandal!??

Xie Jinzhi was dumbfounded, unable to process it for a long time. Fortunately, a signal came soon enough.

Bang.

Tang Shuxia’s cold gaze swept over, and she placed the teacup heavily on the table, causing a crack to form, breaking it.

Xie Jinzhi: “…”

They are really putting on a show. Her acting skills… maybe she deserves an Oscar for this?

Cheng Zeyu was startled by the noise and immediately clasped his hands together, repeatedly apologizing. “Look at my rotten mouth. Please be magnanimous and don’t hold it against me. By the way, why isn’t Tang Shuxia here yet?” He instinctively started to check the time, then paused his movement to take out his phone. “Half an hour has passed. Is she planning to stand us both up?”

‘Mu Yingying’: “She won’t.”

Xie Jinzhi also nodded. They were quite punctual; in fact, they arrived early to set things up.

The longer Cheng Zeyu waited, the more anxious he became. The more anxious he got, the more he felt the need to talk to someone two heads are better than one. He licked his lips. “What if she really uses our secret and demands we change our story?”

Tang Shuxia gave a cold smile. “You made the mess, you handle it.”

Cheng Zeyu: “??? What do you mean, ‘the mess I made’? Didn’t I propose this? How did you respond to me? You said, since she’s just some obscure nobody who isn’t fated for stardom, why don’t we just give her a boost and help her leave the turbulent entertainment industry? You even said that in a few years, she might thank us.”

Xie Jinzhi: “…”

This is the limit.

As an outsider listening to this, she felt her fists clenching. Is this how a decent person acts?! If she hadn’t been present today, hearing Cheng Zeyu say this with her own ears, she would have thought Mu Yingying was also a victim. As a woman herself, her husband cheating, even on a spiritual level, made her the most wronged party. Why would one woman make things hard for another?

As a result…

‘Mu Yingying’ hummed thoughtfully. “So, why did you have to make things difficult for an obscure nobody back then?”

Cheng Zeyu looked at her doubtfully. “Didn’t I mention this to you before? Some woman approached me, promising us resources if I ruined Tang Shuxia’s reputation. The last time I told you, you directly agreed. I told you, now that things have come to this, don’t even think about stepping away cleanly.”

If Xie Jinzhi was still in the mood for excitedly ‘eating melon’ before, hearing this made her entire body go cold, a chill rising up her spine. She hadn’t expected another person’s shadow to be behind the whole thing.

Tang Shuxia, however, became interested. “You must know who that woman is, right?”

Cheng Zeyu, changing from his previous confident manner, hesitated and shook his head. “No. Every time we meet, she’s heavily wrapped up, afraid I’d remember her.”

Upon hearing this, Tang Shuxia lost interest and waved at Xie Jinzhi. “Let’s go.”

Cheng Zeyu: “???”

Xie Jinzhi: “???”

She was in a daze, and it was over just like that. She desperately made meaningful faces at Tang Shuxia, who stood up gracefully, put on a pair of large sunglasses, and walked past the confused Cheng Zeyu. Xie Jinzhi had no choice but to hurry after her. Only after stepping out the door did she realize she was covered in a cold sweat, and her legs were even a bit weak.

It was only after watching them leave that Cheng Zeyu muttered, “When did Mu Yingying get a new assistant?”

Xie Jinzhi took a full half an hour to process the gossip she’d consumed today. She saved the evidence and, fearing accidents, made an extra backup copy. “I’ll organize it and release it tonight. These two wicked women and scumbag men are rarely seen in the world. I don’t believe the netizens will still side with them after eating this melon.”

Xie Jinzhi was boiling with anger, muttering about Cheng Zeyu and Mu Yingying for a full ten minutes, yet she saw that Tang Shuxia looked completely unconcerned. Back in the private room, she could understand her maintaining Mu Yingying’s façade, but now… Xie Jinzhi asked, “Aren’t you angry?”

Tang Shuxia replied, “I am.”

Xie Jinzhi: “…”

This attitude couldn’t have been more perfunctory.

Tang Shuxia tossed the sight obstructing sunglasses into the trash can. As soon as she got into the car, she kicked off her high heels, freeing her pair of fair, delicate feet. “Much more comfortable.” She settled into a comfortable spot and, seeing Xie Jinzhi engrossed with her phone, reminded her, “Don’t rush to expose them yet.”

Xie Jinzhi: “Why?”

Tang Shuxia lounged on the back seat lazily. “When dealing with people like them, you can’t just strike them dead in one blow; that’s letting them off too easily.”

Xie Jinzhi: “???”

Tang Shuxia crossed her legs and jiggled them, “Was today’s show exciting?”

Xie Jinzhi nodded. The gossip she consumed tonight was probably the most sensational of her entire life. The entire juicy story was personally disclosed by the ‘steamer’ (referring to someone being exposed). Recalling how Cheng Zeyu casually revealed those shocking details, she still couldn’t quite understand, “Why would he abandon his bright future to clean up Mu Yingying’s mess, even raising her child?”

Tang Shuxia wasn’t interested in the scumbag’s ‘reasons.’ “Want to know?”

Xie Jinzhi: “Yes! If we had waited another ten minutes, maybe Cheng Zeyu would have spilled it all himself.”

Tang Shuxia held up one finger and shook it. “The moment has passed.”

Xie Jinzhi had grown accustomed to Tang Shuxia’s archaic manner of speaking. After thinking it over carefully, she quickly understood. “Could it be that the effect of your pill has worn off?”

Tang Shuxia glanced sideways at her.

Xie Jinzhi understood. “A bit of a pity.”

She almost got to hear the full version of the scoop.

Tang Shuxia, however, didn’t think it was a pity at all in fact, it was excellent value. Her pill was a simplified formula for a truth serum, possibly missing some ingredient, so its effect naturally couldn’t compare to a real one. The duration was short, and if a person had strong willpower, the pill would likely be ineffective anyway. Fortunately, Cheng Zeyu lacked that fortitude.

She gained quite a lot tonight, plus an unexpected surprise. However, the information on the woman Cheng Zeyu mentioned was too scarce.

Now that she knew there was such a person behind the scenes, the whole matter became much simpler. Someone wanted to ruin the original owner’s reputation. In a way, the enemy’s plot succeeded; the original owner was indeed ruined and even died unexpectedly. Wait, perhaps that ‘accident’ was also orchestrated by the enemy.

But for her, this whole affair was about to end.

Xie Jinzhi saw Tang Shuxia suddenly sit up, and she couldn’t help but ask, “So what do we do next? Should we first clarify your situation with Cheng Zeyu, and then slowly release the gossip about them? But how will you clarify? You don’t have direct evidence proving you’re unrelated to him.”

Tang Shuxia replied, “It is indeed time to clarify.”

Xie Jinzhi was surprised she agreed. “How do you plan to clarify?”

Tang Shuxia searched through the original owner’s memories. “That thing called a live stream—your people here like to use it, right? Or maybe hold a press conference.”

Xie Jinzhi almost choked on her saliva. A press conference? Did she think she was the CEO of a major corporation?

“Live stream, a live stream is good.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

When Xie Jinzhi arrived at the villa where Tang Shuxia was staying, she was still distracted. She hesitated for a moment about whether to report to her company. Ultimately, relying on the major evidence she held, deciding to fight for respect over immediate gain, she didn’t report it. She directly started the live stream and posted the channel link under Tang Shuxia’s Weibo account, which had already been overwhelmed by haters.

【Is it the collapse of morality or the distortion of human nature? There is only one truth you need to know. If you want to know, let’s meet here tonight at 8 PM. Address attached.】