The most beautiful space

56. Wei Cheng and Lin Shanshan

There was once a theory in the scientific community that gaze has a tangible form. Although it has not been proven, anyone with a modicum of sensitivity would feel being looked at, even without seeing the person.

The reason Su Tong noticed Chen Qi, with whom she had little interaction, was largely because she discovered that Chen Qi frequently stared at her with a rather malicious gaze. However, Su Tong and Chen Qi had no past grudges or recent conflicts. Chen Qi's animosity towards her likely stemmed from jealousy of Su Tong's appearance, her rapid rise to a prominent position, and her supposedly enviable background and connections. Su Tong felt at the time that she shouldn't get too close to someone like Chen Qi.

As for Wei Cheng, the young master who has recently been brought up for discussion, Su Tong had actually seen him once on set. It was the day Xie Chengjing first came to visit Su Tong on set. Usually, when Su Tong was sitting in the corner memorizing her lines, she would also pay attention to her surroundings. That day, she noticed something unusual about Lin Shanshan.

Lin Shanshan originally brought three assistants that day, but later a male assistant wearing a blue t-shirt suddenly appeared. His status was clearly different from Lin Shanshan's assistants; the other three assistants subtly served him. The observant Su Tong felt something was off about him, but didn't think much of it. Later, Lin Zhen and An Jing came over to chat with her, and Su Tong also subtly observed the assistant. She noticed that Chen Qi spoke to the man twice, as if they knew each other.

I only found out from the news these past two days that the man was Wei Cheng, and that three years ago when Lin Shanshan was on set, the two of them were rumored to be boyfriend and girlfriend.

It was because she saw Wei Cheng disguised as Lin Shanshan's assistant that she guessed that Wei Cheng was actually there to visit Lin Shanshan on set, but couldn't show himself due to his identity. That's why she was even more surprised when she saw Xie Chengjing in the audience while dancing on stage, which almost caused her to fall.

After Xie Chengjing saved her on stage and they went to the dressing room together, Lin Shanshan walked towards them with a cold face as soon as she saw Xie Chengjing. Su Tong, who was on stage, looked down at Wei Cheng, who was standing behind Lin Shanshan with his hands in his pockets. When Wei Cheng looked up, he noticed Su Tong's gaze and gave her a strange smile that also seemed to indicate his determination to have Lin Shanshan. At that moment, Chen Qi's gaze towards Lin Shanshan was filled with deep-seated hatred.

Considering the close relationship between Chen Qi and Fan Keqin on set, and the fact that Chen Qi had previously worked with Liu Ning in a modern drama, and the surge in Chen Qi's popularity after the incident of Lin Shanshan bullying newcomers, it's not hard to imagine that Chen Qi was the instigator.

But she couldn't tell Xie Chengjing any of this. The reason Su Tong noticed Chen Qi's affection for Wei Cheng was because she couldn't help but pay close attention to Lin Shanshan. However, the reason she paid attention to Lin Shanshan, though she didn't want to admit it, could only be because of Xie Chengjing. Xie Chengjing had helped her time and time again, and had taken her in without giving her any choice. He had even sworn never to ask about Su Tong's "invisibility" again. Given his status, his reasons for doing these things for Su Tong were obvious, but Su Tong had never dared to think about it too deeply.

So Su Tong could only laugh and say, "Don't ask me how I knew. I'm so clever, I guessed it."

Xie Chengjing glanced at her and said, "It is indeed Chen Qi. As long as they can't resist trying to completely ruin Lin Shanshan's reputation while it's hot, Lin Shanshan will fight back."

Their decision to have Ren Xuan come out and cry, and to show her the photo of Lin Shanshan slapping Ren Xuan, was to force Lin Shanshan to take action. Sure enough, on the night Xie Er'er was bitten and the Second Young Master was in a bad mood, Lin Shanshan swiftly retaliated.

However, Su Tong's focus was no longer on this matter at this time. Although the Second Young Master said he would handle the matter and then didn't say anything more, when the two of them, Xie Er'er, and Kongkong were sitting in the yard, and Su Tong was looking at the news on her computer and saw the latest news about Lin Shanshan, the Second Young Master still looked very unhappy.

After spending some time with him, Su Tong discovered that Xie Chengjing's mood was actually quite easy to observe. His coldness also had different levels. When he was happy, although he was still expressionless, he didn't exude any intimidating aura. But when he was angry, like now, even if you were quite far away, you could feel the chill emanating from him. Xie Chengjing also had a good habit: no matter how bad his mood was, as long as it didn't involve you, he would never take it out on you. He would just sit quietly on the carpet like now, hugging Xie Er'er, thinking about things while sulking to himself, looking strangely lonely.

The latest news Su Tong is seeing about Lin Shanshan is that, just when the rumors about her bullying newcomers were reaching their peak, things took a sudden turn, and Lin Shanshan, who had been silent until now, gave an exclusive interview to Hong Kong TV.

Upon seeing this interview, Su Tong recalled that she and Xie Chengjing had been following Lin Shanshan's news recently, so she called Xie Chengjing "Second Young Master".

Xie Chengjing turned to look at Su Tong. Su Tong calmly met Xie Chengjing's rather cold gaze, seemingly oblivious to his bad mood, and said, "Second Young Master, you were right last time. Lin Shanshan has already made her move. Hong Kong TV is broadcasting her interview live right now. Why don't you come and take a look? And bring Erduo along to play with Kongkong too. Kongkong is too shy to play with Erduo over there." This was the first time she had asked Xie Chengjing to do something in a statement rather than a question. After speaking, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about her boldness in front of Xie Chengjing.

Fortunately, Xie Chengjing simply got up and walked over with Xie Er'er in a very ordinary manner.

Su Tong was sitting at a rattan table and chair set, placed diagonally opposite the doghouse in the yard. She had seen it the day after Xie Chengjing returned from the military exercise, when she came back from the film set. It wasn't particularly fancy, but it was quite square and imposing. Ever since arriving at the villa, Su Tong had unconsciously been in a constant state of alertness, trying not to displease Xie Chengjing. When Xie Chengjing approached, she pulled out the chair next to her, which earned her a displeased, cold glance from him. Su Tong could only pretend not to notice his cold look and concentrate on watching the live interview.

In this interview, Lin Shanshan didn't say a single unnecessary word, maintaining her usual aloof and beautiful demeanor. She directly presented a fascinating video clip from three years ago, which even included footage of her slapping Ren Xuan. Although the video quality was slightly poor, it was still perfectly recognizable.

The interview begins with Ren Xuan and Liu Ning seemingly chatting happily together. However, the instant Lin Shanshan, radiant as ever, walks in with her assistants and bodyguards, their expressions change drastically. It seems they genuinely fear Lin Shanshan, as if she has bullied them too much. Ren Xuan and Liu Ning appear weak and helpless, while Lin Shanshan, accompanied by several assistants and bodyguards, exudes an aggressive aura. Two of the bodyguards are even holding a thin, disheveled man hostage. Then, Lin Shanshan steps forward and slaps Ren Xuan across the face, shocking those watching the interview. Is Lin Shanshan about to make a self-deprecating joke?

After the slap, before Ren Xuan could even react with tears welling in her eyes, Lin Shanshan threw a small packet of powder at her face, saying mercilessly, "Ren Xuan, it's Wei Cheng's business who he likes, and it's your business if you want to cling to him. You can't get ahead without me. You actually came up with such a despicable trick to drug me and ruin me. Unfortunately, you don't know me well enough. You actually drugged me at 'Night Phoenix.' Do you even know whose place 'Night Phoenix' is?!"

The bodyguards promptly brought the disheveled man before Ren Xuan and Liu Ning. Ren Xuan, who had just been slapped, recognized the man's bruised face as the one she had bribed to drug Lin Shanshan. She was stunned, speechless, wanting to defend herself but finding nothing to say. She wanted to beg for mercy, but couldn't bring herself to do it for Lin Shanshan. Liu Ning, however, burst into tears, crying out, "Sister Shanshan, Sister Shanshan, I'm just close to Ren Xuan, and I couldn't bear to report her after finding out. I tried to persuade her, but she still did it! Sister Shanshan, I absolutely didn't mean it! Please spare my life..."

Amidst Ren Xuan's deathly pale face and Liu Ning's pleas for mercy, Lin Shanshan continued, "I have all the valuable first-hand information here about how you and Liu Ning plotted to deal with me at 'Night Phoenix,' and how you carried it out. If you don't want to be truly ruined, Ren Xuan, pack your things and get out!"

Once this video was released, everything that Fan Keqin, Liu Ning, Ren Xuan, and others had worked so hard to achieve was completely destroyed, losing all credibility and becoming shamefully ugly. After the Hong Kong TV interviewer expressed his surprise and exclamation, Lin Shanshan smiled slightly and said very sincerely, "I am very grateful for the support of my fans during the time I was slandered by rumors. Although I am not usually talkative, I am always very grateful to everyone and will work hard to repay everyone with more and better works. Thank you!" After saying that, she bowed deeply to the camera.

Watching live news online, you can directly see the various comments from netizens below the news. Lin Shanshan, who has always been a cool and aloof beauty, showed such genuine emotions today after clearing up the rumors. Various true fans, casual fans, and onlookers comforted and praised Lin Shanshan, while also launching all kinds of bottomless insults against Liu Ning and others. The comments section quickly filled up with a lot of comments.

After a brief pause, and as the host reiterated that the truth would eventually come to light and strongly condemned those artists who sought to climb the ladder by stepping on others, Lin Shanshan continued, "Back then, I didn't want to go too far, so I didn't pursue Liu Ning too much. However, after gaining some fame and hooking up with a wealthy businessman, Liu Ning tried every means to destroy the evidence I had left behind about how they plotted against me at 'Night Phoenix.' Then, thinking I couldn't prove the truth anymore, she tried to turn the tables on me. But they didn't know I had this short but effective video that could prove everything. Liu Ning, Ren Xuan, Fan Keqin, and another actress from our crew all conspired to slander me. I want to warn that actress who's still in our crew," Lin Shanshan stared coldly at the camera, as if at Chen Qi, "I already know what you've done, but I only have partial evidence. Everyone's struggling, so I don't want to argue with you anymore. I hope you—will behave yourself."

At this point in the live stream, Xie Chengjing suddenly reached out and closed the webpage, asking Su Tong, "Are you very concerned about Lin Shanshan?"

Su Tong was inwardly admiring Lin Shanshan's ruthless move. Knowing full well that Chen Qi was responsible, she didn't directly expose her like she did with Liu Ning and the others. Instead, she kept Chen Qi in the film crew and the entertainment industry, subjecting her to constant torment. Once she'd suffered enough, she could simply use someone to produce the evidence and destroy Chen Qi. Su Tong, upon hearing Xie Chengjing's question, froze completely.

Author's Note: Oh dear, I've been so busy I kept forgetting to mention this, I'm so sorry! A huge thank you to Duoduo and Q for the landmines during this really tough time of mine, and thank you all for your encouragement in the last chapter, even if you didn't mind! Thank you so much! (166reading.com)