While Wu Linzhi was searching the trending topics list online, Dong Manman's attention was focused on gossip...
"Xiao Xixi, why do I feel like the ideal girlfriend that you spoke about is someone I already know?" Dong Manman asked him as she patted An Qi on the shoulder.
The three other guys paid no heed to her words, as their attentions were currently all on An Qi's cell phone.
"Hey, are you guys listening to me at all?" Dong Manman asked, clearly frustrated.
After An Qi's touch up, her lips looked much better than before. However, once she pouted them again, they still looked rather unsightly. So, the men dared not look at her, but simply left her to mumble to herself.
"According to some of my stylist friends, so many women stampeded the salons this morning in order to have their hair permed and dyed. In fact, they were all in such a rush that they almost trampled each other and broke the doors down! Apparently, the whole lot of them requested hair extensions to make their hair longer, and they also wanted it to be black and straight, just like you like it! Ha!" Dong Manman exclaimed with a chuckle.
She then added with a smile, "I've got to admit that you do have some skills when it comes to creating a trending topic, but if you continue to go on like you did this morning, you'll lose fans and your popularity soon. So, you have to be careful."
Without caring that nobody was paying attention to her at the moment, Dong Manman belched loudly. She then turned her attention to An Qi and said, "Qiqi, you're so lucky! Your hair's already long, black, and straight, so you don't have to go to the salon. And your long, slender legs... and Yufei..."
"Manman, you really did drink too much." An Qi sighed as she thought… This girl always causes trouble when she drinks! When we were younger, it was a trivial thing. But... How could she act this way in this situation, especially when she was flirting with Wu Linzhi y in front of her dream love Leng?
Besides, other than Sheng Jie, only Dong Manman knew what had happened between An Qi and Leng Yuchen. If she were to accidentally give it away in a drunken tirade, Leng Jin might think that she was approaching him to help Leng Yuchen compete for the family inheritance!
Alas, a wealthy family was indeed troublesome! Even though they were all family members, they simply could not reconcile with each other!
"I… I am not drunk! Besides, I still have to take a look at Xiao Xixi's trending topics and articles!" Dong Manman exclaimed frantically.
As she spoke, she grabbed An Qi's cell phone back without hesitation. As she struggled to stand up, she swayed a bit. It looked as if she was about to read the topics aloud to everyone right then and there!
Because of her half-drunk daze, Dong Manman had to focus several times on the words before her vision became clear enough to read them. She then began to read aloud, "Well-known international popular cute guy, Wu Linzhi, was pressured by the entertainment agency and forced to recite lines against his will..."
She then skipped to some other headlines and began reading them aloud, "What is Wu Linzhi's ideal type? Sixteen rotten eggs were thrown at the doors of the entertainment agency..."
"Ladies, stop lining up to make your hair longer, black, and straight, as Wu Linzhi's ideal girlfriend's image was surely only a stunt by the entertainment agency..." By the time Dong Manman had finished reading, she was almost completely sober.
However, the first thing she regretted was not how she'd humiliated herself in front of her dream lover Leng, but how she'd missed so many wonderful entertainment headlines during her drunken stupor!
Not only was Dong Manman excited by these headlines, but An Qi and Sheng Jie were equally affected, and their mouths were hanging wide open for a long time. An Qi had already prepared her comforting speech for Wu Linzhi, as she assumed that he would be miserable.But, this amazing stunt was quite unexpected!
Although that host had helped to intensify the situation, the most critical thing was that, even though he was in the midst of the media storm, Wu Linzhi still seemed and steady and stable as a rock! Such complexity was really not in line with the celebrity idol image that he usually presented to the public.
"Linzhi, is this true?" An Qi asked in a hoarse voice.
Wu Linzhi did not deny it. "Yes, just like the trending articles said, what I said on the live broadcast interview was all a publicity stunt that was set up by the entertainment agency."
As he spoke, he looked at An Qi casually, while hoping to see disappointment on her face. However, to Wu Linzhi's dismay, instead showing disappointment, An Qi breathed a sigh of relief. It was like she was satisfied with his answer!
Even though Wu Linzhi knew that An Qi had sighed because she was relieved for him, he could not help but feel bad. Fortunately, he hadn't played the entertainment agency just for An Qi's sake. Otherwise, no matter how good Wu Linzhi's acting skills were, he'd probably have burst into tears on the spot!
Just when An Qi was feeling happy for her old classmate, Dong Manman was quietly glancing at Leng Jin. When she saw that he was not as surprised as they were, she knew that he'd already known that Wu Linzhi would not face any repercussions for his actions this time. In fact, it was even possible that this farce would make Wu Linzhi even more popular!
However, since they had never been satisfied with this entertainment agency since the beginning, it was baffling to ponder why Wu Linzhi had not chosen another agency that he liked better when he first returned home. After all, when they had just started planning to collaborate, Dong Manman herself had said that it was a small company that seemed incompatible with Wu Linzhi's status.
However, Leng Jin and Wu Linzhi had both felt that the agency had good resources, so they had simply laughed at her ignorance regarding the hidden rules of the entertainment industry. As they sneered at her, they said that they should teach her and An Qi more when they had the time.
It seemed like only yesterday that Wu Linzhi, who had been regarded as the apple of the agency's eye, had fallen out with them. Now, all of the entertainment agency's dirty laundry had been aired.
This just didn't seem like it could possibly be a coincidence. The only explanation for it was that the company had wanted to suppress Wu Linzhi!
Although this sh*tty excuse might be enough to deceive others, Dong Manman had met the owner of the agency herself, and because Wu Linzhi was the first popular idol that their agency had dealt with, their attitude toward Wu Linzhi was as respectful as they would be towards the Jade Emperor! Thus, she knew that there was no truth to what the internet had said.
Regardless of what the truth was, An Qi felt that seeing her old classmate come out of the situation unscathed was worth celebrating! As she thought of this, she raised her glass and smiled at everyone.
She then said, "People often say that everything is too difficult at the beginning, but I think that every detail is very important on the way to success. Although we are bound to go through disasters, as long as the end results are good, then it is worth it... And it is up to us to enjoy the process!"
"Well said!" Leng Jin agreed and nodded his head.
Wu Linzhi also raised his glass and was very appreciative of An Qi's toast. Dong Manman and Sheng Jie then followed suit, raising their own glasses. Unlike the others, however, as Sheng Jie knew that An Qi's throat was injured, he was not so joyous, as he did not want to encourage her drinking.
"Manman, have you finished reading the headlines on An Qi's cell phone yet?" Sheng Jie quickly changed the topic and cleverly handed An Qi an empty cup under the dining table.
An Qi was a little stunned by this at first, but then she took the cup and even smiled a little. After all, it felt good to have someone take care of her.
"Umm... Yep. Here you go." Dong Manman was puzzled at first, but she quickly returned to her senses and placed the cell phone directly into Sheng Jie's hand.
"Thank you. My phone's battery died, so I wanted to send a message from An Qi's phone." After Sheng Jie said this, he downed the glass of wine in his hand.
When everyone saw him drink, they tilted back their heads and drank too. An Qi deftly took this opportunity to switch to the empty cup that Sheng Jie had just supplied her with.
Then, while everyone was busy drinking, Sheng Jie did another thing in secret…