Chapter 121 Why shouldn't she take advantage of her own publicity? (1)
"That's impossible! You are lying to me!" Deng Lan's brain went blank with the amount of information that was thrown at her, but she still rebutted it reflexively.
Zhan Yun, who had been feeling compassionate for Deng Lan, was offended right away. "I am just giving you a heads up to be nice so you aren't counting money for someone after they have sold you. That is so unappreciative of you! Why else do you think Li ShiZe would have ignored his own sister and be so nice to someone whom he had just met some 6 months ago?"
Deng Lan wanted to rebut that, but she started having doubts after seeing how confident Zhan Yun was. She recalled the scenes when Li ShiZe and Jiang YaGe were together. Their closeness did give her an uneasy feeling. She had assumed that it was just love between siblings and had felt that it was better that Li ShiZe was closer to Jiang YaGe than with Li XinYun.
What was she going to do if this was true? She had done so much for Li ShiZe and even stooped down to befriend Jiang YaGe and took such good care of her. And the two of them had fooled her like she was some kind of idiot.
She couldn't help but clutch her chest. She was so angry that her liver was hurting.
Jiang YaGe had, just now, walked out in the clothes that she was trying on. The set that Deng Lan had picked out looked very good on her. The light blue dress made her waist seem very slender and the red belt added a colorful contrast to it, making her waist seem much slender as if it could be wrapped around with one hand.
From this perspective, Jiang YaGe wasn't the very beautiful type but she was, for sure, the type that made men feel protective of her. She lifted her head, walked over to Deng Lan, spun around, smiled, and asked, "Do you think it looks good on me?"
She quite liked this set of clothes.
When she met Deng Lan's eyes, nevertheless, Jiang YaGe noticed that she looked very unhappy. There seemed to be a volcano in the works in her eyes. Jiang YaGe took a step back reflexively and looked at Deng Lan with a little fear.
The very next second, Deng Lan gripped her wrist tightly. She held on so tight that it left a mark on Jiang YaGe's pale skin. Jiang YaGe frowned from the discomfort from the grip. "Lanlan..."
Deng Lan stared intensely at her. "What is your relationship with Li ShiZe."
A look of panic flashed passed Jiang YaGe's face. "He... he is my brother."
Deng Lan grew up in a family that valued boys over girls. She was very good at reading someone's emotions. She did not miss the look on Jiang YaGe. Deng Lan's heart sank and now she had completely believed in every word that Zhan Yun had said.
Deng Lan might be fond of Li ShiZe as of late, but that was mostly because he was the best one that she had come into contact with. On top of the fact that Li ShiZe was snubbed by both of his parents and had been relying on the Deng's to develop his business, his halo had paled in front of Deng Lan gradually. She was angrier from being fooled than sad from breaking up.
Her grip tightened, and her voice sounded like it was squeezed out between her teeth. "Just siblings huh? Then you can promise me that you and Li ShiZe will never be a couple."
Jiang YaGe still had feelings for Li ShiZe so how could she make such a promise?
Deng Lan snickered. "Oh, I see that you are a couple already. How dare you tell me you are just siblings in front of me? There are no siblings like that. You two disgust me. And I have trusted you so and was so nice to you. I took you shopping. I took you out for food, to have fun. Was it fun fooling me?"
Deng Lan might not dare to be so loud had Li ShiZe been there. But the only one in front of her right now was the bunny-like Jiang YaGe who looked like she could be walked all over. Deng Lan became fearless. Besides, she was the victim in this incident. Was it wrong that she wanted some justice?
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Chapter 122 Why shouldn't she take advantage of her own publicity? (2)
She was so angry that she had raised her voice. Nor did she have any intention to keep this on the down low. She only wished that everyone would find out exactly how shameless Jiang YaGe was. Chinese people love to spectate, especially when it comes to dirt of this caliber.
Romance between fake siblings! They have only heard about incidents like that online. This was the very first time that they have witnessed it in real life!
More onlookers started to gather around. They did not go straight inside the shop, but they gathered around outside the front door and pointed and talked occasionally.
"The girl is quite good looking. How could she do such a thing? If her parents found out that their children are in a relationship, they would probably break both of their legs."
"I pity her brother's girlfriend. What luck to have run into two scums like that? Judging from the way she's dressed, her family is probably pretty wealthy."
"Her brother's girlfriend is pretty decent. She even brought her here to shop. The set that she is trying on right now costs several thousand yuan."
The despicable looks from the onlookers made Jiang YaGe feel very uncomfortable. The words being exchanged turned into vines that wrapped around her heart, making it difficult for her to breath. She wanted to run away, but she still had on the shop's clothes, not to mention that Deng Lan was still holding onto her. She couldn't get away even if she wanted to.
She was so nervous that she broke out in sweat. There were tears rolling down on her eyelashes and she looked fragile and helpless. Li ShiZe would have lap it all up, but the same gender repulsed each other. Thinking about how Jiang YaGe used that look to seduce Li ShiZe, Deng Lan felt as disgusted as if she had just swallowed feces.
Zhan Yun looked around and was not used to being stared at. She even saw that a few individuals were already filming them with their phones.
She nudged Deng Lan a bit and said, "Okay. That's enough. Think about our status, there's no reason to ruin our image for a tramp like her." Even though she and Deng Lan were just plastic friends, she was definitely on the same side as Deng Lan when it came to someone like Jiang YaGe.
Deng Lan, too, had noticed others filming them by now. She let go of Jiang YaGe and said in a moderate speed and volume, just enough so everybody around them could hear her, "You go back and tell Li ShiZe that we are done. I'll leave you two siblings be. I hope you two will have a long and happy life together. All I am asking is for you to have some conscience. If you like each other, stay with each other and stop hurting other innocent girls."
After Deng Lan had created an understanding and kind image for herself in front of the others, she let go of Jiang YaGe and walked out, her back straight.
As for her loss over the last few days, she'd have her parents collect them from Li ShiZe. She'd admit that she had made a mistake and misjudged him.
The sales person came over and said politely, "Miss, you still have on our clothes. Do you mind changing out of them first?"
Jiang YaGe could see a hint of despise from her eyes. Her nose tingled and tears rolled down her cheeks.
How did all this happen?
***
Fang JunRong rubbed her temples. The matters of her company were starting to get on track and she didn't have a lot to take care of. She had been busy with something else lately. Beihe District's development was going to commence next year. She had a piece of land there, and she had planned to build a great shopping mall there. As such, many approvals and applications must be taken care of ahead of time.
After she had finished what she needed to get done, her assistant walked up to her on her way out and said to her softly, "Boss, Li ShiZe and Jiang YaGe are hot topics now."
Even though she knew very well her boss's attitude toward the two of them, she still felt that it was her job to give her boss a heads up.
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Chapter 123 - Why shouldn't she take advantage of her own publicity? (3)
Fang JunRong paused for a little bit, swiped open her screen, and searched for their names. The corners of her mouth twitched. She was familiar with three out of the top ten hot topics about Jiang YaGe, Li ShiZe, and Deng Lan.
Filled with curiosity for gossip, she clicked open the link about her son. The most trended one was a video clip, and it already received over 10,000 comments. Doubtless seen by many.
By the time she had finished watching the video and read the top few comments, she had a pretty good idea what had happened.
The relationship between Li ShiZe and Jiang YaGe had been exposed. Originally, only those in their circles were aware of it. Lo and behold, Deng Lan found out about it when she was in public with Jiang YaGe. A quarrel ensued, and someone recorded the event and uploaded onto the internet.
Jiang YaGe was, after all, someone who had been on the most trended list not too long ago. Many of the netizens recognized her quickly. The almighty netizens quickly found out who Li ShiZe and Deng Lan were as well as the fact that the Deng's had been investing in Li ShiZe. That had caused an uproar.
All the netizens unanimously sided with Deng Lan and criticized how shameful Li ShiZe and Jiang YaGe's acts were.
Fang JunRong, with nothing better to do, continued to read the comments. This could double as a form of stress relief.
[Man, I feel so bad for Deng Lan. Being kept in the dark by the scum and the tramp this entire time. She has such a good temperament. If it was me, I would have beat the living daylight out of Jiang YaGe.]
[I have never seen a tramp like Jiang YaGe. Taking advantage of Li ShiZe's current girlfriend as his ex-girlfriend? Her skin must be so thick that even bullets can't penetrate it.]
[What Li ShiZe had done was pretty despicable too, alright? Using his backup's money to support his ex-girlfriend. Puke. He's Li WangJin's son alright.]
[Li ShiZe is a blind man to not be able to appreciate a girl as nice as Deng Lan. I'm a fan of this young miss who knew when to bow out.]
[Both of Li ShiZe's parent are very wealthy, right? Neither Fang JunRong nor Li WangJin have any shortage in money. He could have gone and asked any one of them. It was not necessary for him to be a scum and sell his body, was it?]
[As someone in the circle, I need to reveal something. Everyone in our circle knows that Fang JunRong had given up this son a long time ago. Boss Fang divorced Li WangJin because he had cheated on her. With Jiang YaGe's aunt no less. Shocking, right?! Guess what happened next? Li ShiZe, the son, chose his father's love affair over his mother. He even had Jiang YaGe's aunt move in with them later on. That was why Fang JunRong said that she does not have a son. Remember everyone, Fang JunRong only has two daughters, no son.]
Looking at that comment and mulling over it for a little bit, Fang JunRong picked up the phone and dialed Sun Mei. "Did you post something online?"
Fang JunRong quickly described to her what had happened. Sun Mei expressed that she did not go on the internet and had no idea about this.
That, Fang JunRong believed. She quickly hung up on the call and wondered who it was who had said that. Whoever it was, they were trying to nail the coffin shut for Li ShiZe and Jiang YaGe.
Stroking the comment, Fang JunRong continued to contemplate who it could be.
There were too many people, and she really couldn't figure it out. After all, almost her entire circle knew about it.
Ugh, the very next second, she had inadvertently given the comment a thumbs up.
Her first thought was to undo it, but after some more thought, the comment wasn't incorrect. She was in the right, so why did she need to have a guilty conscience? If she canceled it, it would seem so deliberate. She could see that her thumbs up on this comment was confirming the truth in the statement. It wasn't difficult to guess that she, too, would be up in the most trended list in a little bit.
Why shouldn't she take advantage of her own publicity? Might as well throw in an advertisement while she was at it.
Thinking about that, Fang JunRong quickly drafted up a new Weibo message.
[I'm in a good mood today. 88 people will be drawn for a free box of Beautify Pills.]
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Chapter 124 They made him sound like a man who was no good except for leeching off of his wife (1)
The Beautify Pills, which had only been out for 2 months, was on high demand. Fang JunRong's publicity rose along with that. Her number of fans had been going up and up, and some people even checked her Weibo daily. Supposedly, doing that would bring one wealth.
Yang MeiHua was one of those people. She was now a loyal fan of Beautify Pills and would recommend it to those around her from time to time.
She felt that her moral standards had been shattered completely when she read about Jiang YaGe online today. As much as she didn't like Jiang YaGe and felt that she had some issues with her moral standards, Jiang YaGe's behavior this time had really crossed the line.
She was a couple with Li ShiZe but that did not stop her from taking advantage of Deng Lan as Li ShiZe's sister. Deng Lan was tricked by her and provided her with living expenses along with all sorts of luxurious items. Jiang YaGe had even shown off a lot in front of them by wearing the clothes that were gifted to her by Deng Lan.
She didn't seem to have any guilt at all when she did all those things. No wonder she could help cover up the affairs between Li WangJin and her own aunt. Perhaps, she was even the one who set them up to begin with.
If she disliked Jiang YaGe, then she definitely despised Li ShiZe. As a girl, they'd naturally relate to Fang JunRong or Deng Lan. Which was why she could not get over Li ShiZe's behaviors, especially when he used Deng Lan's money to support Jiang YaGe.
Their entire dormitory felt that Li ShiZe was a blind man. Any way one looked at it, Deng Lan was much better than Jiang YaGe. She came from a good family; her look was gentle and poised; she seemed to be a nice person. Yet, somehow, Jiang YaGe had won over her. Perhaps, that was just how men were.
Yang MeiHua, disgusted, bashed Li ShiZe on the internet.
Then, as usual, she went over to Fang JunRong's Weibo and saw that Fang JunRong had "liked" a comment in the other article. She thought her eyeballs were about to hit the ground. Could this Fang JunRong be any more brutal? She just straight up admitted that everything mentioned in the article was true?
"Maybe her hand slipped? Perhaps she'd remove it in a little bit," said her roommate.
Yang MeiHua gave that some thought and said, "You are probably right."
She refreshed the page again and saw that not only was that article still on Fang JunRong's Weibo, she had posted a new one after that.
After reading the post, whatever anger remained in Yang MeiHua was gone in an instant. She laughed out loud and slammed the table at the same time.
"OMG. I can't believe Fang JunRong did what she did."
Yang MeiHua had expected Fang JunRong to say something, but either to say how much of a victim she was or how she had already forgotten them or something along that line. But, nope, Fang JunRong straight up said that she was in a good mood followed by advertising for her own products.
Yet, why did it feel so satisfying?
She had only been following Fang JunRong because of the Beautify Pills, but now she was starting to like this female CEO.
Many others had the exact same thought as Yang MeiHua. Nevertheless, not everybody was necessarily on Fang JunRong's side. There were some unique viewpoints among them.
For example, some were on Li ShiZe's side. They felt that he was the child and no parents should treat their children that way. They should move him with love and guide him back on the right path.
Others believed that the reason that Li ShiZe was even formed was because of his parents. If they did a poor job raising them, they deserve being treated that way by their own son.
Different viewpoints clashed and brought about heated discussions and arguments and the hotness of the subject continued to rise. This round of free advertisement has, once again, brought about more publicity for Fang JunRong's company. The fans on the company's official site went up by hundreds of thousands. And these were all live fans, not stagnant ones.
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Chapter 125 They made him sound like a man who was no good except for leeching off of his wife (2)
Fang JunRong had read all of the arguments online as well. She didn't care about the accusations from the netizens who were only empty talk. She only chose to stay as far away from those who'd tell us to forgive and forget. She didn't want to be collateral damage when the thunder struck.
They could say whatever they want, but that would not affect her life a bit.
That being said, she did also read through some of the other popular comments. With the exception of the ones who pitied herself and Deng Lan, there were also a lot who praised what a pretty and kind person that Deng Lan was. That she was just like a fairy who walked straight out of a novel and a pure-hearted prestigious young miss. That had allowed Deng Lan to earn a very positive reputation among the public opinion.
With the exception of Fang JunRong who took the opportunity to advertise her products, Deng Lan was the one who gained the most out of this fiasco.
Fang JunRong had an inkling, and she called and had someone go look into the incident to see if there was someone behind all this.
The outcome of the investigation was in Fang JunRong's hands in two days' time.
She had originally thought that it'd be tricky to look into this when, in fact, getting to the truth was much easier than she had anticipated. It was, indeed, the Deng's who were behind this wave of public opinions. The truth was exposed originally by a water army hired by the Deng's.
Deng Lan went to a marketing consultancy company to create this wave of public opinions. The point was to stress Deng Lan's perfect image as a victim. Lo and behold, Fang JunRong's unexpected advertisement took away most of the attention from the netizens.
Deng Lan's father, being a frugal one, thought it was the failure on the marketing consultancy company's part and deducted a portion of the agreed upon amount, which led to the company critiquing them behind their backs.
Fang JunRong shook her head. The Deng's were certainly an eye-opener to her.
She put away the evidence carefully. She might need this dirt one day.
***
Li WangJin returned home, looking gloomy. He sank his body into the soft couch and half-closed his eyes.
He had just met up with Deng Lan's father who had accused him and his son of being indecent; they had treated Deng Lan like a fool. Deng Lan's father demanded an explanation. They were even planning to retrieve their investments. Li WangJin, not wanting to have one more enemy, had no choice but to clean up after his son.
As the father and son duo had poor reputations as of late, many of their companies' products were being boycotted. Their quarterly revenue was already bad. With this new incident, they had lost a lot of money. That made Li WangJin even more upset.
ShiZe was a valedictorian with an acute business sense in the past and was a son that he had always been proud of. Ever since he had met Jiang YaGe, he was spellbound and nothing he did made any sense any more.
Li WangJin couldn't help but miss the days before the divorce. Those were such happy and relaxing days.
Ever since he had divorced Fang JunRong, the differences in their circumstances had been very polarized. Not only had he lost all of his reputation, the company had also been going steadily downhill. Looking back at Fang JunRong, MeiFeng Corporation was going up and up, and she was getting prettier and more poise. She had become the perfect image in many people's minds.
He recalled something else and the jealousy almost killed him. He had found out just a few days ago that Fang JunRong had given someone else the Beautify Pills as gifts before their divorce. This formula should have been considered as part of their joint asset, and he should have a stake in it.
Thinking that he had just missed out on such a sizable wealth made his heart hurt so much that he could barely breathe.
His heartache was short-lived. It was interrupted by a call.