However, after the episode aired on TV, Bai Youlan found that the program was completely different from what she had expected.
Almost all her scenes were heavily edited out. Even the parts where she had to appear were reduced to just one or two fleeting shots—so perfunctory it was insulting.
The episode wasn’t even over yet, but she anxiously kept watching, hoping the later segments would give her more screen time. If Bai Youlan didn’t know that Xu Changshan had also invested in this show, she might have suspected the production team was deliberately targeting her.
And of course, the production team was doing exactly that on purpose.
The directors knew the rules of talent shows inside out. When a major investor puts money in, they have to deliver results—that’s the only way to secure future investments.
Although the investor demanded that Bai Youlan be cut out almost entirely, the production team still had to consider her fans and the audience’s reactions.
Bai Youlan herself was already a rising star, bringing heat to the show even before it aired. Some viewers tuned in specifically because of her. If they completely erased her from the screen, it would likely raise suspicions.
If the online trolls started stirring up trouble at this point, it could ironically give Bai Youlan the perfect opportunity to stage a comeback.
That would be completely against the investor’s wishes.
Familiar with all these unspoken rules, the production team carefully controlled Bai Youlan’s screen time to a very delicate balance—minimal, but not so little that viewers would completely miss her or become suspicious. Yet, just enough to make her presence forgettable, without any standout moments.
The editors were so skilled that some of the post-production staff even wanted to privately ask the big investor for overtime pay and bonuses.
Moreover, in every shot featuring Bai Youlan, her expression was always cold and aloof, completely devoid of personality. Her expression management was truly flawless.
Because of previous incidents, Bai Youlan had already attracted attention online. Some people were watching the show just for her. Seeing this, they couldn’t help but feel disappointed and confused. “Why does Xu’s daughter, Bai Youlan, barely appear? I specifically tuned in to see her.”
“Uh, I saw her. She was just standing to the side watching everyone else shuck corn.”
“Such a bad attitude. If she doesn’t want to work hard, why even join a variety show like this?”
“Ugh. She’s not even a real Xu family daughter, yet she acts so high and mighty. If she looks down on her teammates, she should just leave.”
“I used to like her, but now I’m so disappointed.”
Comments like these floated across the screen in the video’s comment section, but Bai Youlan’s fans quickly jumped in to control the narrative, fiercely defending her and claiming this was malicious editing.
After watching the video, Bai Youlan was so furious her face turned pale. Bai Yaxiu also frowned slightly, looking at her husband gently and asking, “What exactly is going on here?”
As a devoted father who loved his daughter, Xu Changshan had also invested in this talent show. After watching the episode, he immediately called to demand an explanation for why Bai Youlan’s screen time was so limited.
On the other end of the line, the production team kept dodging and weaving, giving vague excuses. Xu Changshan’s expression darkened.
Bai Youlan stared fixedly at the images on the TV screen, her expression deeply troubled. She was not one to act on impulse; on the contrary, she was very cautious and had always followed the system’s planned path. This time was no different.
Listening to Xu Changshan beside her as he argued on the phone, she suddenly felt a wave of anxiety. But her worry wasn’t about her own screen time on the show.
According to the original plan laid out by the system, she was supposed to reveal her identity as the heiress of the Xu family at the right moment, attracting admiration and affection from countless fans. This would, in turn, make Xu Qingqing jealous enough to enter the entertainment industry herself.
But now, everything had gone completely off track. Where exactly had things gone wrong?
Bai Youlan was filled with worry, while Xu Changshan, standing nearby, sternly threatened the person on the other end of the line, “If you maliciously edit my daughter’s footage, you owe me an explanation. Otherwise, don’t blame me for pulling the investment.”
“Mr. Xu, we assure you there was no malicious editing. Everything you see is your daughter’s genuine reactions on the show,” the director replied with a sly smile, dodging the accusation.
Xu Changshan’s offer was tight—only four million yuan—and his demands were many. He wanted the production team to guarantee Bai Youlan’s screen time, secure her the center stage spot, and even let him personally write scripts for judges’ praises and flattering remarks.
By contrast, Xu Qingqing was the ultimate golden sponsor: no questions asked, she threw ten million yuan at the production and promised to add more if needed, with only one condition—Bai Youlan’s footage must disappear.
Anyone could see which side the director preferred. He was overjoyed at the prospect of working with such a generous sponsor again.
After hearing something from the other end, Xu Changshan’s face darkened. With a sharp click, he hung up.
Bai Yaxiu was also deeply concerned about her daughter. Hearing this, she grew anxious. “Old Xu, what’s going on? Has our Youlan offended someone?”
As soon as she spoke, the others at home immediately grew uneasy, all recalling the recent hot topic incident.
But no one knew who had pulled the strings this time. Surely Xie Lianqing and Aunt Xu wouldn’t be involved, would they? And definitely not the Xu patriarch and his family.
Bai Youlan bit her lip, hesitating before saying, “Could it be Qingqing?”
Her expression was full of grievance. “If Qingqing doesn’t want me to enter the entertainment industry, I’m willing to give it up.”
Xu Changshan frowned. “That’s unlikely.”
He knew Xu Qingqing’s personality well. She usually ignored them altogether, at most complaining to others. This matter was probably the doing of Xie Lianqing and Aunt Xu, trying to stand up for her.
Having been dismissed by Xu Changshan, Bai Youlan’s face instantly turned pale.
Bai Yaxiu shot her a glance, then lightly pushed Xu Changshan. “If you’re going to speak, just say it. Why scold her? You’re only making Youlan more upset. Is that what a father does?”
Only then did Xu Changshan come back to himself, helplessly replying, “Youlan is the apple of our eye. How could I bear to scold her? I’m just trying to find a solution.”
Bai Yaxiu wrapped her arms around her daughter, her voice choked with emotion. “I don’t care. Xu Qingqing has the shares and dividends promised by your parents. So much of the family fortune belongs to her. You and I, and even Tianbao, have nothing. If Youlan had shares too, why would she even need to enter the entertainment industry?”
Xu Changshan immediately embraced her, soothingly saying, “What are you talking about? What’s mine is definitely yours.”
He frowned, resolutely declaring, “As for the shares, as long as I’m here, neither Tianbao nor Youlan will be shortchanged.”
After all, he was the rightful son of the Xu family. Tianbao and Youlan were his children; it made no sense to let Xu Qingqing snatch up the entire inheritance alone.
Since he was going to fight for his daughter’s shares, Xu Changshan was somewhat reluctant to let Bai Youlan enter the entertainment industry. This time, he had been viciously criticized online—his reputation and dignity completely stripped away. The only reason he hadn’t lost his temper yet was because of his genuine love for Bai Yaxiu.
He looked at Bai Youlan thoughtfully and said, “Youlan, I’ll talk to your grandfather about the shares. But as for the entertainment industry, maybe it’s better if you don’t go.”
Bai Youlan’s eyes flickered, tears falling down her cheeks. “But acting is my dream.”
Over the years, she had snatched away Xu Qingqing’s perfect family, stolen her father’s love, and caused her to lose her mother. Yet, Bai Youlan’s own protagonist aura stubbornly remained trapped within the top 50.
That was because Xu Qingqing still had many people’s love. Despite being so difficult and spoiled, she was still cherished by her grandparents, her aunt, and even the male lead—the world’s destined child. So Bai Youlan could never quite complete her mission.
Unable to gain the recognition of these people, Bai Youlan had no choice but to join the entertainment circle to win the favor of fans. Although the fans’ love and hatred ratings were both low, the sheer number could help her accomplish her goal.
So, of course, she couldn’t give up on becoming a star. Among the important people in Xu Qingqing’s life, she simply couldn’t sway the goodwill of her grandfather and others. Now, if she wanted to snatch the fate points, becoming a celebrity was the fastest shortcut.
Xu Changshan choked on his words. Bai Yaxiu didn’t quite understand her daughter’s thoughts either, but she felt all they needed to do was support her. Xu Changshan’s issue with the shares was still unresolved; if they made Bai Youlan quit now, what if it all ended up being for nothing?
So she helped persuade, “If Youlan wants to do it, as her parents, all we need to do is support her.”
Under his wife’s encouragement, Xu Changshan reluctantly gave up trying to stop Bai Youlan’s plans. He called Lin Donghan, and the two discussed matters at length. Bai Youlan then picked a relatively good script and variety show, and under her assistant’s escort, she joined the production team.
Once in the car, her gaze darkened as she silently vowed she would become famous this time. As long as she won the audience’s favor rating, she could seize Xu Qingqing’s fate points. She had already learned from the system that the one sabotaging her behind the scenes was Xu Qingqing.
Xu Qingqing could invest in blacklisting her once, but could she keep doing it forever?
As long as Bai Youlan had Xu Changshan and Lin Donghan backing her, she would always have resources. On the contrary, if Xu Qingqing kept interfering, Bai Youlan could expose her scheming attempts to suppress her, then clear her own name and turn the tables.
Xu Qingqing was still unaware that her shares were being eyed by someone else, and had no idea that Bai Youlan was obsessively planning to trample on her to build her own image.
Right now, she was busy arguing with netizens online.
Since the last incident involving Bai Youlan, Xu Qingqing’s low-profile secondary Weibo account suddenly caught the attention of many people. Once she gained followers, it was no surprise that Xu Qingqing quickly became popular.
Due to a legal letter from the Xie Corporation’s lawyers and numerous insider revelations, everyone finally understood that this person was actually the legendary true heiress of the Xu family.
Her Weibo was originally just a place to record her daily life. After being discovered, she even considered abandoning the account. But then Xu Qingqing thought to herself: if she stopped using this account, what if Bai Youlan later debuted, riding on the Xu family heiress’s reputation?
So, she decided to keep the Weibo account.
More and more people flooded into Xu Qingqing’s Weibo, bombarding her daily in the comments with all sorts of messy questions. They asked about her relationship with Xie Lianqing, or whether she was really as wealthy as some marketing accounts claimed.
Others, after reading the gossip about the Xu family, asked if Xu Qingqing was willing to forgive Xu Changshan—after all, he was her father, and there’s no such thing as a parent without faults.
As a young internet addict who could personally engage in online battles with keyboard warriors, Xu Qingqing certainly wasn’t going to be so aloof as to ignore these comments.
She casually picked a few interesting ones to reply to. For those urging her to forgive Xu Changshan, she bluntly replied, “Get lost,” and blocked them.
For the curious netizens asking how much money she really had, she answered, “Not that rich, only a little over a billion yuan.”
Xu Qingqing wasn’t bragging when she said that—she truly believed it. Most of her friends were worth tens of billions, like her grandparents, her aunt, and Xie Lianqing.
In this era when celebrities’ fees easily reach several billion, Xu Qingqing honestly didn’t think she was that rich. Besides, she hadn’t yet received her grandparents’ shares; the shares under her name couldn’t be sold and only generated dividends.
So although a billion-plus sounds like a lot, the actual money Xu Qingqing could spend was limited to some pocket money from her elders and the fixed annual dividends from the company.
But the majority of netizens didn’t see it that way—and that’s how Xu Qingqing became famous.
Of course, she became famous for being insulted. A small portion believed she was telling the truth, but most thought she was flaunting her wealth.
Xu Qingqing was so frustrated she almost lost her mind. To clear her name, she started a live stream. While many netizens were still furiously typing insults, a live stream link popped up.
Everyone clicked in and saw a spacious, luxurious hall, then a walk-in closet stretching over ten meters, lined with rows upon rows of handbags and shoes. Passing through the closet, there was a glass cabinet shimmering with sparkling gemstone jewelry.
What on earth was this?
Oh my god, I just saw that handbag I’ve wanted to buy but never dared to—tens of thousands of yuan each—and she has the entire color range.
Help! Is this what the joy of being rich looks like?
Brothers, I’m here now—should I follow the usual script and insult her, or just roast her outright?
At that moment, a soft voice came through the screen: “What I said online before wasn’t really flaunting wealth. Real flaunting looks like this.”
The camera showed a fair, beautiful hand slowly drawing back heavy curtains.
The next moment, the outdoor swimming pool and the vast garden lawn appeared in everyone’s view. The butlers and waiters bustled about, gardeners trimmed the branches and leaves, and large patches of roses and climbing vines spread out like a sea of flowers. The sunset slowly descended, and everything looked unbelievably beautiful.
The livestream chat instantly exploded.
“Seriously, I’m hurt—this is just showing off wealth, right?”
“Turns out I really misunderstood her.”
“I’ve been thinking, nowadays celebrities earn millions per day for a single shoot. After taxes, it’s still billions. For the super-rich, maybe tens of billions really isn’t that much.”
“Is it just me who thinks Xu Qingqing’s voice is so nice? So soft!”
Xu Qingqing held her phone up and slowly panned upwards. The last thing to appear in the frame was the fiery red sunset.
Her soft, gentle voice could still be heard as she muttered to herself, “The weather’s so nice today, time for dinner.”
After she spoke, she tapped the screen, flipping the camera just in time to catch her face up close.
On screen, she had a high pink ponytail, wore a camisole dress, and her skin was so fair it seemed to glow. Her delicate, exquisite features were so perfect she looked like a beautiful girl straight out of a manga.
In this unfiltered, high-definition video, viewers could even see Xu Qingqing’s slight frown of curiosity and confusion, along with the tiny fine hairs on her face.
Xu Qingqing’s Weibo was only used for venting and recording snippets of daily life; she had never posted photos of herself. The Xu family corporation had always protected her carefully, and Xie Lianqing shared this understanding. When Xu Changshan’s scandal broke, even Xu Qingqing’s real name was never leaked.
Strictly speaking, Xu Qingqing had never revealed any photos or personal information to netizens.
Yet those with sharp eyes had still dug up traces from her old Weibo posts. After all, university students aren’t exactly offline, and combining clues about Xie Lianqing, the Xu family corporation, and Xu Changshan, it was easy to deduce that Xu Qingqing was the rumored daughter of the Xu family.
On the university forums, there were quite a few photos of Xu Qingqing. Although most were taken secretly, they still couldn’t hide her exquisite beauty. Netizens who saw these photos were skeptical—after all, modern society is full of beauty filters and photo enhancements.
Though the pictures were stunning, people only sighed quietly and didn’t take it too seriously.
But now, faced with Xu Qingqing’s overwhelming beauty in the livestream, the previously nonstop barrage of comments suddenly paused for a moment. Before anyone could react, Xu Qingqing decisively ended the livestream.
She quickly bounced down the stairs, jumping as she called out, “Nanny Wang, I’m hungry! When’s dinner?”
Xu Qingqing effortlessly demonstrated what it really means to flaunt wealth—from money and lifestyle to figure, looks, and even hair volume, it was a one-sided massacre. Everyone was left thinking, “Wow, the happiness of the rich is beyond my imagination.”
“So even rich people have to eat, huh?”
“Help! Xu Qingqing is so beautiful. I was planning to roast her, but now I want to switch sides.”
With just a few moves, Xu Qingqing suddenly became even more popular. Some even wanted to interview her, but of course, she declined.
Xu Qingqing wasn’t really a fan of being surrounded by too many people, so even though her fans begged her to do a few more live streams, she simply refused. Occasionally, she would pick some comments on Weibo to reply to and chat with.
Someone asked if she’d join the entertainment industry now that she was so popular. Xu Qingqing pouted, clearly disdainful. “Of course not.”
Others thought she was discriminating against the profession, but before they could start criticizing, Xu Qingqing replied again, “I can argue and block you all now, but if I became a celebrity and you guys insulted me, I probably wouldn’t be able to fight back.”
She thought about that scenario and said, “I’d probably end up driving myself crazy. That would be so miserable.” She still didn’t understand why her past self was so foolish—why she’d want to be a star instead of just being a good, well-off young lady.
Although being a celebrity seemed glamorous, it was still a job. Xu Qingqing didn’t even want to study, let alone work.
So she’d rather be a lazy rich second-generation heiress, happily waiting to collect dividends from the company.
Because of Xu Qingqing’s genuine personality, she actually gained a group of fans. Some came just to watch her flaunt her wealth, some liked her character, and the rest were simply her “face fans.”
In this situation, some of Bai Youlan’s fans insulted her, calling her a plastic surgery freak.
Xu Qingqing, who hadn’t logged into Weibo for a long time, saw it and completely lost it. She quickly fired back, “You’re the plastic surgery freak! Your whole family is!”
Xu Qingqing hated being insulted about her appearance more than anything else in life.
She was so beautiful that her mother had given birth to her just to be praised.
She could tolerate being called dramatic or overly sensitive because those were facts, but if anyone dared to call her ugly or accuse her of plastic surgery, she would flip out on the spot.
So everyone saw the usually calm and carefree Xu Qingqing personally step up and go back and forth with that hater for more than ten replies.
In a fit of anger, she even posted photos of herself from childhood, saying, “Born this way.”
Although she deleted them soon after, some quick-fingered fans had already saved the pictures.
Damn, there really are people who’ve been beautiful since they were kids.
Xu Qingqing is so gorgeous—what must her mom look like?
Am I the only one who finds Xu Qingqing kind of funny? She ignores all the nasty comments calling her dramatic or overly sensitive, at most just blocking the offenders. But as soon as someone says she had plastic surgery, she completely loses it.
There’s something a bit endearing about that. Honestly, when she was arguing with that hater, I wanted to jump in and help her insult them. Her vocabulary was too limited—she kept calling the other person “nonsense” and “idiot,” which had zero impact.
Yeah, especially considering that not long ago she got torn apart online because of Bai Youlan, even quitting the internet for a while, and in the end her boyfriend and the Xu family CEO had to come and settle things. I couldn’t stop laughing.
It was like a kid who lost an argument, ran home crying, and told the elders to get involved.
Xu Qingqing got really angry, tossing and turning on her bed, “You’re the kid, your whole family is.”
She thought for a moment and blocked that fan.
Xie Lianqing handed her a piece of fruit, just catching her blocking someone. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “What did they say?”
Xu Qingqing immediately flipped over and complained, "She said I’m just an elementary school kid."
Xie Lianqing raised an eyebrow, finding that description oddly fitting. But seeing his girlfriend so upset, he smiled faintly without saying a word and handed her a piece of mango.
With her mouth full, Xu Qingqing pounded the bed, mumbling indistinctly, "Besides, I didn’t lose the argument. I just didn’t bother to argue with them."
Losing was simply impossible for her; she was unbeatable.
Xie Lianqing’s eyes sparkled with amusement as if he suddenly understood, nodding knowingly and saying softly, "Hmm, I believe you."
Xu Qingqing rolled her eyes at him and thumped the bed again. "Of course, if you don’t believe me, then I’ll break up with you." Her courage had grown bolder now, turning back into that drama queen who threatened to break up with Xie Lianqing at the drop of a hat.
Xie Lianqing knew she was just speaking nonsense and didn’t mind or get angry.
Xu Qingqing tossed her phone aside and stormed off to take a shower.
Meanwhile, a certain fan realized she couldn’t see Xu Qingqing’s profile anymore and discovered she had been blocked by the star herself.
Recalling what she had said, she immediately asked a friend to plead under Xu Qingqing’s Weibo posts. She even posted the entire process of being blocked in the fan community, which instantly cracked everyone up.
From this, everyone finally understood what kind of person Xu Qingqing really was. However, some people said she was too petty—after all, the fan only casually called her an elementary school kid, and Xu Qingqing got so mad she blocked her.
On the other hand, some fans defended her, saying she was a young lady, not an internet celebrity. Everyone was just here to surf the web, so why should she tolerate being picked on and insulted?
No way—Xu Qingqing must be a comedian. Losing every argument and still managing to be the number one blocker.
