Xiao He was truly feeling helpless this time.
Please don't imagine his family as being that incredibly powerful!
Xiao He was speechless with frustration.
Seriously, his father had worked his entire life and was nearing retirement, yet he was still just a small section chief. Why did these rumors make it sound like his father had become a bureau chief who dominated the department and threw his weight around?
And his mother wasn't any grade-level director either! She was just an ordinary homeroom teacher who got frustrated with students every day. At most, when introducing herself to others, she could call herself an experienced teacher with rich teaching experience.
He really begged these people—his parents were just a few years away from retirement, so please don't cause trouble!
Xiao He was genuinely angry.
Moreover, Xiao He could tell that although these fabricated lies were obviously false, they had a clear purpose. The fact that they accurately mentioned his father's workplace and his mother's school meant that the rumor-mongers were very familiar with his family situation.
In other words, they had definitely investigated him offline—even though Xiao He had taken precautions online to prevent others from digging up his parents' information through improper means, living in this world inevitably left traces.
If those people investigated his parents' situation in real life, such occurrences were practically impossible to prevent entirely.
This was exactly why some people hated stalker fans—their invasive capabilities were downright terrifying. Even if no traces were left online, they could dig three feet deep offline to find celebrities' residences.
Although the people deliberately digging into him this time were different from that group, it still reminded Xiao He that he should strengthen security measures for his parents' real-life situations to avoid potential encounters with irrational fans who might cause trouble for them.
Xiao He took a deep breath, organized all the evidence he had collected online, then made another call to Liu Rulan.
"Hello? I'm about to check in for my flight, so make it quick."
"I've collected all the information and evidence about the rumor-mongers. Please contact our lawyer for me and have them review what can be submitted and what can't. I want to report these people to the police and have them all arrested."
There was silence on the other end, followed by a "Wait a moment" before the call disconnected.
About half a minute later, Liu Rulan called back, her background now much quieter.
"How did you obtain this evidence?"
Xiao He gave a wry smile, though she couldn't see it. "Sister Liu, haven't you already guessed?"
He didn't believe that someone as smart as Sister Liu hadn't noticed that during certain online public opinion incidents, an invisible hand had tightly controlled the direction of public sentiment.
Moreover, when he sometimes had overly well-informed news, Sister Liu would only roast him a few times but never pressed for details.
Xiao He's abilities and Liu Rulan's awareness had reached a tacit understanding between them.
Sure enough, Liu Rulan showed no surprise nor denied it, merely chuckling lightly on the other end. "It seems you're really furious this time."
Not even bothering to pretend anymore.
Xiao He lowered his voice. "They've gone too far this time."
Even the underworld has rules about not harming families—these people's methods were too dirty, so they shouldn't blame him for fighting back.
"Alright then."
The sound of Liu Rulan pushing her luggage came through the phone.
"Aren't you about to board your flight?"
Xiao He found the sounds somewhat concerning.
"Returning to the studio to help you coordinate with the lawyer," Liu Rulan replied. "I'll personally oversee this matter. I can just reschedule my flight."
"...Thank you."
"No problem, this is part of my job as your agent anyway. You providing so much assistance is already very helpful. But regarding Xingchen Film Industry, even if you've investigated something, don't act rashly. Their situation is much more complex than this current matter, and personally, I don't think the higher-ups are aware of Qin Yuezhang's actions. They might not necessarily blacklist you for Qin Yuezhang's sake."
With the situation unclear, recklessly confronting a large corporation now was obviously an unwise choice.
"I know."
Xiao He didn't plan to overestimate his capabilities either. "After this incident, they probably won't make moves against me for a while."
"Mm, good. It's just..."
The voice on the other end hesitated momentarily.
Xiao He smiled helplessly. "Sister Liu, just say it directly."
"Don't get your hopes up too high for this award." Liu Rulan lowered her voice. "The situation is tight, but it's not completely without news."
"Ha, is that all?" Xiao He chuckled lightly. "This year's Best Supporting Actor competitors are all very strong. As a newcomer, I don't really have the advantage."
Back when he was nominated, Xiao He could already guess he probably didn't have much chance.
Youth was his greatest asset, but it was also his obstacle.
This was the White Magnolia Awards, one of China's three major television awards. The average age of his competitors was over forty—all senior colleagues with years of experience in the industry. The fact that he was nominated was already a miracle.
Xiao He sneered coldly. "And given the current situation, I actually hope I don't win the award this time. If I did win, those people would definitely seize the opportunity to start a new wave of rumors. Right now, I just want all those rumor-mongering bastards to get locked up."
Some awards, he would eventually win them. But some people, he couldn't tolerate even a little bit right now.
"Alright, I understand your thinking."
...
After hanging up, the fire burning in Xiao He's heart finally subsided somewhat.
But soon enough, Xiao He turned his attention to investigating this Qin Yuezhang.
He wanted to see exactly what background Qin Yuezhang had to be so arrogant.
Qin Yuezhang's family background had actually been circulating online for some time, with fans periodically bringing it up to boast about him. However, online personas mixed truth with fiction, and Xiao He was genuinely curious about the actual situation.
A few minutes later, he obtained Qin Yuezhang's true circumstances.
Qin Yuezhang's family background was indeed different from what his fans boasted about, though it was still beyond what most people could hope to achieve.
His grandfather was a professor at Beijing Drama Academy who had taught many students, and many in the Beijing Drama Academy entertainment circle were willing to give him face. His grandmother worked at a famous theater troupe in Beijing, his mother was a renowned dancer, his grandmother was a famous calligrapher, and his grandfather had once been an official in a certain bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. Though retired and with diminished influence, a starved camel was still bigger than a horse.
Qin Yuezhang's background could truly be considered that of an "artistic family" descendant.
His father was the executive CEO of Xingchen Entertainment, currently the top person in charge.
Qin Yuezhang's ability to conduct large-scale marketing using his "Xingchen Entertainment crown prince" status was closely tied to his father's current position. Indeed, for many in the industry, his family situation was already quite intimidating.
However, now that the old master had retired, the Qin family was, in a sense, no longer connected to official channels. Many capitalists were willing to give them some face, but not because they feared them.
Of course, it needed to be clarified that Xingchen Entertainment was merely an entertainment company under Xingchen Film Industry. The entity with massive capital and influence was Xingchen Film Industry—the so-called group.
Qin Yuezhang's father could currently only be considered a minor shareholder in Xingchen Film Industry plus half a senior employee. Within this group, he didn't have much actual power or say.
As for why they could use the "Xingchen Film Industry" name to market Qin Yuezhang's identity—that was naturally thanks to Qin Yuezhang's father's methods.
After all, one was the group, the other was an entertainment company under the group—both bearing the "Xingchen" name. Many outsiders didn't have such clear concepts and often couldn't distinguish the relationship between "Xingchen Film Industry" and "Xingchen Entertainment."
Coupled with Qin Yuezhang indeed being the "crown prince" of Xingchen Entertainment all these years and consistently being highly involved with projects under Xingchen Film Industry, the group naturally turned a blind eye over the years. They couldn't possibly clarify Qin Yuezhang's identity by issuing a notice telling everyone that Qin Yuezhang was just borrowing Xingchen Film Industry's reputation and wasn't the "crown prince" of Xingchen Film Industry.
Thus, leveraging the information gap among netizens, Qin Yuezhang's reputation as the entertainment industry's strongest capital-backed young master was established.
Building a persona required boldness and thick skin.
As for Xingchen Film Industry blacklisting Xiao He—that was completely the fox borrowing the tiger's ferocity. It was just that over the years, Xingchen Entertainment had grown accustomed to throwing their weight around using the group's name. Some production teams didn't dare confront them directly, so when making choices, they proactively avoided Xiao He to steer clear of trouble. The group's higher-ups might not even know about Xiao He's existence.
However, this situation couldn't be allowed to continue indefinitely. They needed to cause them some trouble...
Reviewing this information, Xiao He's thoughtful gaze finally settled on Qin Yuezhang's father.
The root of Qin Yuezhang's arrogance was precisely because he had such a father.
Since you're claiming my father has problems, let me ask you—
Can your father withstand investigation?