Chapter Sixty-Two: Xiao Liang

"Were you all waiting outside in this cold until midnight?"
"Do you think we're that foolish?" Zhou Lun laughed.
"Exactly! Do you think we're that foolish?" Yue Yun and the others chimed in.
Jiang Yun smiled, sighing inwardly. It seemed, after all, that this world was a pretty good place.
"Boss, hurry up and blow out the candles!"
"Alright!"
Jiang Yun blew out the candles.
"Boss, there's more!"
Li Lulu produced a tablet and swiped the screen.
On the screen appeared two figures. "Son, happy birthday. I never knew what you were up to before, but now I do—my son is actually a celebrity!"
Jiang Yun shook his head, chuckling. "Mom, Dad, take care of yourselves. You don't have to keep running the noodle shop. I've already bought a house. Come visit the metropolis when you have the chance!"
"Alright, we'll do as you say!"
Jiang Yun smiled.
After ending the video call, he turned to everyone. "Thank you all for coming here especially, and thank you to the production team as well!"
"Jiang Yun, don't be so formal. We're all friends here!" Deng Xin said.
Jiang Yun grinned.
With the cake in hand, the group returned to the Mushroom House and sat down together.
"Where are you all staying tonight?"
"Boss, they’ve arranged a hotel for us at the foot of the mountain. Don’t worry about us."
"Oh right, Boss, let me show you something else!" Li Lulu said.
"What is it?" Jiang Yun asked curiously.
Li Lulu took out her phone and opened Weibo, holding it up for Jiang Yun to see.
Li Mengya V: "Happy birthday to Jiang Yun. Wishing you peace, success, and ever greater heights! @JiangYunV."
Zhou Lun V: "Happy birthday to Jiang Yun. Wishing you peace, success, and ever greater heights! @JiangYunV."
Yue Yun V: "Happy birthday to Jiang Yun. Wishing you peace, success, and ever greater heights! @JiangYunV."
The three posted their messages in perfect unison, punctuation and all.
Looking at the others, their posts were exactly the same as well.
Tian Zhen V...
Wang Feng V...
...
Jiang Yun smiled.
They all chatted together for about an hour before piling into their cars and heading down the mountain.
"Lulu, take care of the company!"
Li Lulu poked her head out of the car window. "Boss, I will!"
Zhou Lun and the others left one by one.
Only Jiang Yun stayed behind, since he still needed to finish recording the show and would leave the next day.
At that moment, a trending topic shot to the top of Weibo's hot search list.
Shocking! Numerous celebrities celebrate Jiang Yun’s birthday—does this count as excessive extravagance?!

Shocking! Countless celebrities posting for Jiang Yun—just who is he, really?
Jiang Yun frowned as he looked at the two trending topics.
Everyone had arrived last night, the recording wasn’t finished, and the episode hadn’t aired yet. How did these people find out what happened last night?
Just after midnight, Li Mengya and the others had posted their celebratory messages, and their activity was still visible. None of them had deleted their posts because of the trending topics.
Jiang Yun looked at the hot searches. The first included photos from last night: fireworks, Li Lulu holding the cake, and others clapping.
The second was a compilation of their posts.
"Jiang Yun, should we post something to support you?"
"No need. If you post now, it’ll only make things worse." Jiang Yun’s expression was cold. "I want to see who’s behind this."
Jiang Yun returned to his room, opened his laptop, and activated his hacking tools. The screen flashed blue as lines of code cascaded down.
In less than a minute, Jiang Yun had traced the source to an email address, revealing correspondence between Xuanwei Music and another individual.
"Damn! Xuanwei Music again!"
"Who’s the other person?" Jiang Yun followed the trail and hacked into the other party’s phone.
When he saw the photos on the phone, he was stunned. "It’s actually him..."
In the metropolis, at Canghai Villa—
"Director Li, should we start public relations?"
Li Lulu, dressed in a black business suit and skirt with glasses, replied, "No need. Wait for the boss’s call."
Yu Xue knocked and entered the office.
"Director Li, the legal letter is ready. When should we send it?"
"Wait for the boss’s call."
The phone rang.
Li Lulu answered, "Alright, I understand."
She hung up, fingers interlaced under her chin, exuding the aura of a powerful executive.
"Send the legal letter now."
"Yes, I’ll do it right away."
Yu Xue left to send the legal letter from her computer.
Zhao Ze was a popular Weibo influencer, often posting sensational content.
After seeing the trending topics, Zhao Ze knew this was his chance to make money.
All he had to do was write an article, ride the wave, and his income would rise.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhao Ze wrote gossip about Jiang Yun, claiming he was the son of a wealthy tycoon who had made a bet to live independently, then ventured into the entertainment industry.
His analysis was detailed and convincing, as if it were all true.
Ding!
Zhao Ze received an email. He opened it and found a legal letter.
"Damn!"
After reading it, he immediately lost his nerve.
And he wasn’t the only one.
Everyone who fabricated stories about Jiang Yun’s background received a legal letter.
All those who spread rumors and gossip about Jiang Yun were cowed by the legal action.

While the legal letters were being dispatched, Jiang Yun wasn’t idle.
He took screenshots of the evidence showing Xuanwei Music’s hired accomplice.
Then, logging into his Justice Messenger account on Weibo, he immediately posted it.
Within moments, his post shot to the top of the trending list.
Ding! New message received.
Zhao He, a recent college graduate, liked to browse Weibo in his free time.
Today, just as he was checking the trending topics, he saw a new notification.
He clicked it open. "Xuanwei Music again?"
Meanwhile, netizens flocked to comment under the Justice Messenger’s post.
"Xuanwei Music again—Jiang Yun really has bad luck!"
"Hang in there, Jiang Yun!"
"Haha, Xuanwei Music always stirs up trouble and always loses! I knew they’d lose again this time—if only someone would bet with me!"
"Poor Xuanwei Music, exposed once more!"
After Jiang Yun, under the guise of Justice Messenger, posted his update,
the production team of "Yearning for Life" quickly followed up with a Weibo post: "Here are the receipts for Jiang Yun’s birthday celebration—total expenses, 5,000 yuan. Zhou Lun, Deng Xin, and the others attended for zero appearance fees. [Picture]"
Netizens flooded the "Yearning for Life" post.
"It’s just a birthday—what’s the big deal?"
"Exactly. The fact that so many celebrities posted just shows how well-liked Jiang Yun is!"
"Five thousand for a birthday—is that a lot? He’s a star, and his fame grows every day. Half the money was spent on fireworks."
"5,000 is perfectly reasonable!"
"+1"
"+10086"
On set, Jiang Yun found a quiet spot away from everyone.
Someone was following him, looking uneasy.
Jiang Yun stopped and turned to face him. "Xiao Liang, how much did they pay you?"
Xiao Liang, a member of the camera crew who had even played games with Jiang Yun and the others, exhaled deeply and steadied himself. Since Jiang Yun already knew, there was nothing left to hide.
"A million!"
"I see." Jiang Yun nodded.
"They paid me a million to film any moments where you made mistakes or looked bad during the show."
"I can pretend this never happened," Jiang Yun said, arms folded. "I won’t tell the director or the producer. I hope there won’t be a next time."
With that, Jiang Yun strode past Xiao Liang and left.
Xiao Liang watched him go, silent and ashamed.

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