This was one of the commonly known media tactics.

  First, the company would use a negative trait to attract attention and banked on the publicity. Once the entertainer became well-known, they would then find some ways to get her on a show to express her innocence. It was easy for pretty faces to get off the hook as the audience tended to be more lenient with them. As such, the prettier the artist was, the easier it would be to employ such a tactic.

  Soon, the manager calmed himself down. He had been in this industry long enough to see through any tactics; this was nothing new to him, actually.

  On the other hand, the young assistant was still hitting the roof and almost wanted to smash the tablet when she saw the model’s post.

  “How shameless! This woman is a white lotus through and through! It’s obvious that she’s gone under the knife to look like Shishi yet she simply refuses to admit it. Her Weibo tweet and press release are out to ride on Shishi’s popularity, and not only that; she’s bringing in Xingze as well! This woman is cashing in on our superstars! It’s so infuriating!”


  Qin Zhou’s mouth twitched once as his facial expression froze momentarily. “Xingze has gone too far this time!”


  Mu Xi probed, “Has his camp responded? What did they say?”


  The man gave a frigid reply, “His camp has to remain silent to overcome this crisis. Any adverse news must be treated with care. The more he tries to explain and clarify, the worse it’ll sound.”


  “Why?”


  “His fans will want to see him coming forward to explain his stance, but it has to be a good one. If he can’t provide a strong justification, then it’s better for him to keep quiet or it’ll make the situation worse.”


  “Jeez…… It’s absolutely maddening!” The assistant almost broke into angry tears. “I’ve never seen such a shameless woman before!”


  “There are plenty of such characters in this industry.”


  “What should we do next?” The woman snorted with fierce indignation. “Don’t tell me that we’re just gonna let that woman ride on our artist indefinitely? Her company doesn’t look like it’s going to stop!”


  “Even though Shishi isn’t an A-lister yet, she’s still too popular to be caught in this cheap ploy. We can’t afford to have her entangled in this series of bad publicity, so we’ll keep a low profile for now and see how this will pan out!” replied the manager who was also caught in a fix.

  “That’s true; it’ll cheapen our status if we choose to engage in this dogfight.”
……

  The editor, who was supposed to interview the actress, arrived soon after Yun Shishi finished with her makeup.

  They exchanged courtesies, and pretty soon, the editor went straight to the point with the latest gossip.

  “Shishi, what do you think of Li Xiang’er?”


  The actress was startled. “Li Xiang’er?”


  “Oh, haven’t you heard anything about this at all?” The editor was truly astonished by her ignorance on this matter. “This morning, Chengguang Entertainer published some stolen shots of Gu Xingze entering a hotel with a model by the name of Li Xiang’er.”


  “I see.” She nodded and with a slight frown, then returned a question calmly. “May I know how that is related to our interview today?”


  Beneath her polite tone lay a sharp retort; she was clearly miffed by the unexpected question, which veered off the interview script.