However, whether it was Xie Lianqing or Chairman Xu and his wife, both sides were very tacit in not telling Xu Qingqing about the plan targeting Xu Changshan.
Old Master Xu and the others didn't think it was a good thing to separate their child out ahead of time, let alone when the other party was Xu Qingqing's own father. As for Xie Lianqing, he didn't want to tell Xu Qingqing, to avoid her getting excited and running to Xu Changshan to spill the beans, which might stimulate him and provoke a desperate, reckless reaction.
So up until now, Xu Qingqing still didn't know that Old Master Xu had already changed his will, and that apart from the few small companies they got that day, Xu Changshan and his family would get nothing else.
Although she was unaware, the luck value above Bai Youlan's head had indeed changed, and the mission progress had also regressed.
If it were possible, Xu Qingqing would have loved to have her grandfather perform another act like that, making Bai Youlan's luck value and mission progress plummet rapidly.
But such a thing was, of course, impossible. Recalling Bai Youlan's shocked expression when the luck value dropped, Xu Qingqing guessed the other girl was probably filled with regret.
After that day, Xu Qingqing was curious about why the halo of the female lead above Bai Youlan's head had suddenly changed so much. Moreover, out of a kind of intuition, she felt that Xu Changshan's sudden visit to her grandparents to demand property was likely related to Bai Yaxiu and her daughter.
After all, Xu Changshan was truly a waste. Ever since he was demoted and kicked out of the headquarters by his father years ago, his arrogance had diminished considerably. On his own, he wouldn't dare to personally show up asking for shares.
She just wondered what they wanted to do now that their wish had been fulfilled.
Before this incident, Xu Qingqing had left matters concerning Bai Youlan to her secretary to handle and report, only responsible for regularly providing financial support herself.
After all, the other party was backed by the Xu and Lin families, with good resources and many engagements. Xu Qingqing didn't have time to keep watching Bai Youlan's variety shows and interviews to study and analyze; it would be undignified, and more importantly, who could live like that?
Because of this matter, Xu Qingqing subsequently changed her previous attitude and began quietly paying attention to Bai Youlan's movements.
Sure enough, changes soon occurred.
Bai Youlan's company was probably well-prepared. With capital as their confidence, her figure soon appeared at a certain high-end fashion show abroad.
Someone revealed that Bai Youlan hadn't received a red carpet invitation and was crashing it. This piece of black material seemed ordinary, but it quickly fermented, trending on social media and attracting much attention.
No way? Bai Youlan is backed by the Xu Group, how could she end up crashing the red carpet?
'Upstairs, don't you know Bai Youlan isn't the Xu family's biological daughter? Crashing a red carpet isn't impossible.'
'So embarrassing.'
'Although Bai Youlan isn't the Xu family's biological daughter, she's still quite favored in the Xu family. After all, Xu Changshan has declared she's his only daughter.'
Didn't you see the trending topic from a while ago? Xu Changshan is the most useless president ever. Being favored is pretty useless.
Don't understand. Waiting for further updates.
Fans below were wildly controlling the reviews, tearing into each other. Of course, more bystanders expressed skepticism but became interested in the matter. Bai Youlan's reputation took a further hit, but simultaneously her popularity skyrocketed, staying on the trending searches for several consecutive days.
Seeing this, Xu Qingqing found it strange and asked Xie Lianqing, "Did you do this?"
Xie Lianqing frowned and said, "It wasn't me."
He wasn't that idle to pay attention to someone he wasn't even familiar with. If not for Xu Qingqing, he wouldn't even know what Bai Youlan looked like.
"Strange." Xu Qingqing certainly believed Xie Lianqing. She said, "If it wasn't us, then who was it?"
As everyone knows, buying black hot searches costs money, and with Bai Youlan backed by two major supporters, Xu Changshan and Lin Donghan, ordinary celebrities wouldn't have the inclination or money to smear her.
So if something happened to Bai Youlan, the person behind it would be easy to identify.
However, Xu Qingqing felt this matter wasn't that simple.
Because of the red carpet crashing incident, many people suddenly emerged to accuse Bai Youlan of impersonating the Xu family's heiress. Gradually, the public's criticism of her shifted from being an illegitimate daughter to being a fake rich beauty.
The latter, while embarrassing, did not involve the bottom line of moral values. So this set of operations looked like smearing, but its essence was to shift the focus from secondary contradictions. Moreover, if the situation were to reverse, Bai Youlan, having been misunderstood and subjected to online bullying, would gain public sympathy and thus turn the situation around with goodwill.
A red carpet incident being blown up so big made Xu Qingqing increasingly sense a conspiracy, and she couldn't help but think of the incident where Xu Changshan demanded shares some time ago.
Could it be that Bai Youlan was still unwilling to give up, trying to take the opportunity to solidify her status as the Xu family's precious daughter?
Sure enough, after fermenting for two days, the situation began to reverse. Bai Youlan's studio released an exclusive invitation letter unique to the elite socialites. It turned out she didn't attend as a star, but as Miss Xu, a socialite.
So Bai Youlan wasn't crashing the red carpet; she was a VIP!
After reading this, Xu Qingqing was simply amazed. If she still couldn't tell that this entire operation was Bai Youlan's handiwork, she might as well not live.
Simultaneously, Bai Youlan was officially announced as the spokesperson for several major products under the Xu Group, as well as some well-reputed, decent second-tier brands. Xu Qingqing keenly realized that this likely involved not just Xu Changshan's operations, but also Lin Donghan's connections.
Probably because Xu Changshan had obtained the subsidiaries, in others' eyes his leverage within the Xu family had increased. People speculated that he would participate in the power struggle of the Xu family group and were thus willing to show a certain level of sincerity.
Those older stubborn individuals, even though Chairman Xu and his wife had repeatedly stated that the company would be left to Xu Qingqing to inherit, some self-righteous people thought that was just a joke to deceive the outside world, believing it was a measure by Chairman Xu and his wife to motivate their son and grandson to strive for success.
And after Xu Changshan acquired those companies, the series of products under his name immediately strongly supported Bai Youlan, allowing her to successfully establish her identity as a "daughter of a wealthy family."
Actually, Bai Youlan also planned to change her surname to Xu Youlan, so that after Xu Qingqing's death, she could rightfully take over the Xu family.
However, she didn't get the consent of Old Master Xu and the others. Additionally, due to various revelations from earlier, her identity was unexpectedly exposed, and everyone basically knew she had no blood relation to the Xu family. If she suddenly changed her name now, she would likely face ridicule from netizens.
So Bai Youlan had to temporarily set aside this plan. But she never gave up using the benefits of the "Miss Xu Group" title. This was one of the important steps in the plan she and her system discussed to complete the task most easily.
So she had been secretly plotting for a long time, encouraging Xu Changshan along with her mother to demand shares from Chairman Xu. Only after he successfully obtained more assets did she begin to take formal action.
With the backing of the Xu Group and Lin Donghan's behind-the-scenes PR and water army operations, Bai Youlan instantly had the background of a wealthy socialite crafted for her. Her status and tier were set apart from ordinary celebrities, making her seem different.
Once the red carpet incident was reversed, numerous water army accounts emerged, expressing pity and affection for Bai Youlan. Coincidentally, a reality show she participated in was urgently broadcast.
This dating show focused on reality TV, inviting celebrities and outstanding individuals from various fields to participate, choosing someone they were attracted to for a contractual relationship. The response and word-of-mouth reputation were quite good, with high online attention.
This show was recorded before the red carpet incident. Xu Qingqing clicked into the variety show and found that, probably due to the issues surrounding Xu Changshan and Bai Youlan's identity as the daughter of a mistress, everyone's attitude towards Bai Youlan was quite subtly nuanced, ostracizing her both openly and covertly.
However, Bai Youlan was remarkably able to keep her composure. On the show, she rushed to do household chores, could not only cook but also meticulously prepared gifts for everyone, truly embodying the ideal of being accomplished both socially and domestically.
This program was closely monitored throughout by Lin Donghan and his team, likely afraid of another malicious editing incident like before.
Therefore, Bai Youlan appeared on the show as the image of pure kindness and beauty—gentle and good-tempered. Even though everyone misunderstood her, she still kindly helped her companions, shucking corn in the scorching heat of the cornfield, working hard to earn money to buy gifts for everyone.
The barrage comments reacted with unexpectedly intense emotions.
Initially watching the show to curse at Bai Youlan, but seeing other guests exclude and bully her, they suddenly couldn't bring themselves to curse anymore.
Can I say Bai Youlan is so pitiful? When she was alone meticulously preparing gifts for everyone, no one in this group called her to eat.
Only her contractual romantic partner was somewhat nicer to her, even feeling guilty and waiting for her.
Why are these people so bad? Bai Youlan's mother was just a mistress; she couldn't choose her parents herself. She hasn't done anything bad, so what right do they have to bully her?
Yeah, seeing everyone go to eat without a single person calling her, my blood pressure skyrocketed.
Furthermore, those watching the show's broadcast today had already seen the invitation proof posted by Bai Youlan's studio, knowing that although she wasn't the biological daughter, she was still very much doted on in the Xu family, a socialite from high society.
Someone couldn't help but say, "Am I the only one who thinks Bai Youlan is actually not bad? Clearly a socialite, yet so good-tempered even when ostracized on the show."
Yeah. Used to think she was fake, but now it's really getting hard to watch.
And Bai Youlan's fans, probably having contacted Lin Donghan's company, didn't insult or curse other guests while watching the show. They just plaintively explained on Bai Youlan's behalf that she was a good person, that everyone misunderstood her, etc.
To whitewash/redeem her image, Bai Youlan also put in considerable effort. With fans controlling the comments, combined with her performance on the show, coordinated with her hyped-up socialite identity, this series of actions allowed Bai Youlan, relying on her gentle, generous, and sensible persona, to gradually attract a wave of new fans, finally salvaging the previously one-sided collapse of her image.
Meanwhile, Bai Youlan's contractual romantic partner on the show was a wealthy and handsome musician. When Bai Youlan was bullied and ostracized, he actively protected her. Their romantic atmosphere on the show was very sweet, with various surprises that made people obsessively ship them/get addicted to their pairing.
When they successfully held hands and signed the relationship contract, amidst the blessings of other guests, Bai Youlan played a piece on the piano live in the garden.
Seeing this, Xu Qingqing outside the screen tutted twice, cracked a sunflower seed, and snarked, "I bet fifty cents she definitely has connections within the production team."
When she started watching, she thought it was just Lin Donghan and them keeping a tight watch on the editing. Now it seemed this was clearly a tailor-made script for Bai Youlan's image rehabilitation/redemption.
From the initial ostracism of Bai Youlan by other guests on the show, making the audience sympathize and pity the lonely Bai Youlan, to slowly allowing Bai Youlan to showcase her special skills and strengths, bit by bit testing and melting the guests' unfavorable views of her.
Of course, the guests' attitude changes from beginning to end were likely also following a script in their acting.
After all, for the entertainment industry, Bai Youlan's "daughter of a mistress" black mark really isn't that big of a deal.
Who in this circle isn't shrewd? With a little inquiry, they could know Bai Youlan had capital backing her. Without any reason, why would they deliberately make things difficult for her, creating a powerful enemy for themselves?
Xu Qingqing only had to think a little to guess why the production team was putting on this show.
Whether the guests truly changed their views of Bai Youlan wasn't important. What was important was that the audience's perception of Bai Youlan subsequently reversed.
People tend to believe their own eyes. They witnessed with their own eyes Bai Youlan go from being ostracized to being accepted by the guests. Viewers who followed the entire show would have their thoughts shaken accordingly.
So now, in the barrage comments, compared to the first episode, apart from steadfast anti-fans, most people's impression of Bai Youlan had changed considerably.
She doesn't seem that bad after all. Recently online, people have really demonized her, talking about raising little ghosts and framing many people, almost as if she were eating children. It's so ridiculous.
Bai Youlan has always been kind and gentle. Just because her mother was a mistress, should she herself also be hounded and cursed? Not everyone can choose their own background.
Yeah, she's clearly a socialite backed by capital. She never mentioned it for the few years since her debut, probably out of guilt, I guess.
As the video played, various barrage comments expressing a changed view of Bai Youlan floated by. On screen, she wore a white long dress, her black hair cascading down to her waist, like a lotus flower emerging unstained from the mud.
Bai Youlan's fingertips danced across the piano keys, a series of beautiful and melodious music flowing forth. The surrounding guests and audience couldn't help but show expressions of surprise and astonishment.
Even Xu Qingqing, hearing this piano piece, was shocked.
Xu Qingqing had also learned piano since childhood. The piano piece Bai Youlan was currently playing was extremely difficult, requiring very high skill from the performer. Not only did the rhythm need to be appropriate, but the performer also needed abundant emotion and explosive power.
Xu Qingqing considered herself to have studied piano for many years, but if she were to play Bai Youlan's piece, she wouldn't dare guarantee she could play it better than her.
But in Xu Qingqing's memory, Bai Youlan only studied piano for a few years in elementary school. Later, after coming to the Xu family, she stopped continuing her studies because she found practicing piano too tiring.
Did she recently start learning again? Beyond her shock, Xu Qingqing couldn't help but wonder, does Bai Youlan really have such high talent in piano?
When they practiced together as children, she hadn't noticed that!
Xu Qingqing outside the screen was already sufficiently surprised. The guests listening live on screen would only be more astonished.
"I never expected you to play the piano so well, Youlan! I think my title as a musician should be given to you instead."
Facing the admiring gaze of her contract boyfriend, Bai Youlan smiled gently and explained, "When I was little, my family was poor, and I was very envious of girls who could play the piano. Sometimes I would line up the empty liquor bottles my father finished and tap on them like a piano, dreaming that I too would have the chance to play my own melody."
The surrounding guests and the audience in front of their screens were also deeply moved.
Because of the studio invitation, the whole world now knew Bai Youlan was a socialite from a wealthy family. Hearing her speak now, it seemed her childhood circumstances were different from what they had imagined.
Furthermore, the father Bai Youlan mentioned... wasn't that Xu Changshan? Bai Youlan said the empty liquor bottles at her home could be lined up in a row, and a child could play with them freely. That didn't sound like a good person at all.
Pretending not to notice the curious looks from others, she said with a tone of nostalgia, "When I was little, my mother and I visited a friend's house, and I saw a very beautiful little girl playing a lovely piece on the piano. At that time, I thought, if only I could be as confident as her."
The male guest felt heartache for her: "You've achieved it."
Bai Youlan nodded gently, "Yes. Later, when I came to my father's home, I finally had my own piano. Once I had the means, I was determined not to waste this opportunity."
This was the first time Bai Youlan had actively mentioned her parents on the show, referring to Xu Changshan and Bai Yaxiu, who had been thoroughly criticized online.
Under the varied gazes of everyone, Bai Youlan said, "I know my parents have their flaws; they are not perfect people. But no matter what others say about my parents' faults, I will always be grateful to my father for giving me a home."
The implication was that it wasn't convenient for her to speak ill of Xu Changshan and the others.
Bai Youlan offered a fragile smile, saying meaningfully, "I'm just a daughter; it's not my place to comment on the affairs of my elders. I also don't know who leaked this matter, disturbing everyone and my parents. It saddens me too."
This move was very clever. Just as the segment was about to end, the guests had been eager to bring up the messy issue of Bai Youlan's family background to generate buzz.
Unexpectedly, she took the initiative to reveal the inside story, even mentioning the hardships she endured as a child. In an instant, everyone could understand her.
A viewer commented in the bullet chat: "Right, what else can she do? She can't exactly kill her own parents, can she?"
"Ah, what she says makes sense. Others can criticize all they want, but she herself received kindness from Xu Changshan; she definitely can't do that."
"Exactly, wouldn't that be ungrateful?"
"Am I the only one who noticed Bai Youlan said her family was poor when she was little, and her biological father drank and gambled?"
"Whoa, so in that sense, Xu Changshan kind of saved a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage."
"This is starting to sound like an early romance novel plot."
"Get a grip, do you even have any morals? Trolls above, I'm going to be sick."
A few sporadic comments from passers-by who remembered Bai Youlan's past deeds appeared but were quickly drowned out by the voices of other viewers and fans.
On screen, Bai Youlan proactively bringing up the Xu family matter gave the audience and fans an explanation. Then, quite strategically, she glossed over the controversial family background, changed the subject, and started talking about the piano again.
While the bullet chat was fiercely arguing, Bai Youlan was telling the other guests about her excitement, joy, and initial clumsiness when learning the piano. This made everyone feel both heartache for her and proud of her.
They felt heartbroken for what she had gone through, and proud that she had persevered and stood tall.
As Bai Youlan spoke about her experience learning the piano, she suddenly hesitated, "It's a pity though, later on, that girl I looked up to, the one who was high and mighty learning piano, gave up on this music and didn't continue her studies."
Others immediately sighed, "Some people are born with good resources but don't know how to cherish them, while others have to scheme and strive to move up. That's society for you."
Off-screen, Xu Qingqing was cracking sunflower seeds: Why do I feel like I just got shot?
The person who learned piano with Bai Youlan back then... couldn't be me, could it?
Xu Qingqing immediately opened her personal account. She hadn't logged into Weibo for a while and had almost forgotten about this little account.
Xu Qingqing used to like recording and complaining about her life on it, but ever since everything she posted was picked apart by people below and forwarded to marketing accounts, she stopped enjoying posting.
Everything she did was scrutinized under a magnifying glass; even an offhand remark was seen as having ulterior motives. Even her failing a course last semester was dug up by netizens and used as proof of her being idle and unstudious.
Xu Qingqing could block one or two people, but with too many, she lost patience. She wasn't a celebrity; she didn't make money by selling her privacy. On the contrary, a bunch of marketing accounts loved reposting her stuff, feeding off her fame and information.
Xu Qingqing lacked for nothing, including the pursuit and attention from netizens. Becoming a celebrity or influencer was something others pursued; it was useless to her. So, she hadn't used Weibo in a long time.
And now, her long-dormant personal account was bustling with activity.
"Check-in for the Contract Romance variety show!"
"Check-in 1!"
"I used to sympathize with you because of the mistress and scumbag, but now it seems a pampered young lady like you, who lacks perseverance and can't even stick to playing piano, isn't worth sympathy at all."
"Bai Youlan and Xu Qingqing seem to have grown up together. Who would have thought one would become a big star everyone looks up to through her own efforts, while the other remains an idle, unstudious young lady living off her family."
"Rich people, tsk tsk."
Sure enough, some resourceful netizens had already dug up that the person Bai Youlan mentioned on the show was probably Xu Qingqing.
The reasons were ample. Bai Youlan said she learned piano as a child and specified that the other was a high-and-mighty girl. Just this information was enough.
Furthermore, she had posted a childhood photo on S a long time ago, where Xu Qingqing happened to be sitting with her at the same piano.
So, everyone basically concluded that the person Bai Youlan mentioned—the one with favorable family conditions who couldn't endure hardship and didn't persist in learning piano—was Xu Qingqing.
Xu Qingqing: This woman just loves stepping on me to climb up.
Is Bai Youlan crazy? If she wants to whitewash herself, fine, but why drag me into it?
And where did Xu Qingqing give up halfway because she didn't like playing piano? The reason she stopped playing later, others might not know, but how could Bai Youlan not know?
Back then, Lin Jiangxue and Bai Yaxiu were close friends, so Bai Youlan often came to the Xu house to play. The Bai family's situation wasn't good, so Bai Youlan often stayed at the Xu's for meals and lodging, even learning piano together with Xu Qingqing.
The very first piano in Bai Youlan's life was even a birthday gift from Lin Jiangxue to her.
Xu Qingqing still remembered back then, when Bai Youlan received that piano...
Later, after Lin Jiangxue passed away, whenever Xu Qingqing touched the piano, she would think of the scenes of her playing and having fun with Bai Youlan, feeling dizzy and nauseous, so she never wanted to play again.
Fortunately, Xu Qingqing's grandparents knew the inside story at the time. Believing she should have a happy childhood, they didn't force her, letting her continue only with her favorite subjects, painting and ballet.
Although Xu Qingqing was somewhat delicate, she had always shown great perseverance in things she loved. Ballet, which others considered arduous, she had practiced for over a decade, and she had passed the art school entrance exam of University A with her own ability in painting.
She didn't understand why Bai Youlan had deliberately said those things just now. Since they were little, Bai Youlan had been like this. When they were both young and before Bai Yaxiu had dropped her pretense, Bai Youlan liked to act obedient and ingratiate herself in front of Xu Changshan and Lin Jiangxue.
Back then, Xu Qingqing was just an ordinary child, completely unaware of the subtle manipulations in Bai Youlan's words. She only vaguely sensed that she didn't seem as likable or adorable as Bai Youlan, and even her father seemed to prefer the other child.
Fortunately, Xu Qingqing had a cheerful personality. She had her good friend Zhou Chenyu by her side, as well as her doting grandparents. And although her father was partial and dissatisfied with her, her mother Lin Jiangxue always praised her, saying she was the best child in the world.
That's why Xu Qingqing didn't develop psychological shadows or become a withdrawn and insecure girl from Bai Youlan's little schemes over the years.
As they grew older, Bai Youlan became even more so. She liked to use strange remarks to belittle herself in front of Xu Changshan and others, thereby highlighting her own qualities.
And now, the other party had actually publicly used her as a foil on a show to say those words. It couldn't possibly be just to let her fans come to laugh and criticize, or to anger her.
Connecting this to the text above Bai Youlan's head, along with that peculiar mission and system, while feeling angry and frustrated, Xu Qingqing suddenly realized she seemed to have uncovered part of the truth.
