Gu Chengyu was momentarily confused by Su Qianqian's abrupt and seemingly out-of-nowhere statement.
What nasty things?
Online? How did he not know?
He instinctively tried to recall. For his main Weibo account, he had indeed swiped away many notification pushes last night and this morning, but he hadn't looked at the specifics. He just felt his screen was flooded with news about the marriage alliance, which annoyed him.
His alternate Weibo account was specifically for arguing with her anti-fans and only followed her. He hadn't logged into that one recently.
As for other things, his assistant Zhao seemed to have sent a few urgent messages, but he hadn't been in the mood for work lately and probably hadn't gotten around to reading them?
Just as he was about to ask for clarification, Su Qianqian stood up.
She lowered her head, her voice soft and thin. "I'm full."
With that, she actually turned and scurried out of the dining room, quickly slipping back into the secondary bedroom and closing the door behind her.
Her demeanor clearly showed she hadn't completely forgiven him yet. She was still holding onto a bit of grievance and resentment inside, needing some quiet time alone.
Gu Chengyu watched her disappearing figure and sighed.
First, he needed to figure out what these nasty things were.
Frowning, he leaned back in his chair, picked up his phone, opened Weibo, and searched for Su Qianqian.
The first thing that popped up was a smear post suggesting a newcomer in the entertainment industry had latched onto a golden patron from the Shen family.
The blogger didn't name names, but the comments section below had already started hurling insults.
["This Su Qianqian has some skills, huh."]
["Lin Shu and Qiao Xi suddenly got exposed by the Shen family and disappeared after being blacklisted. Was that her doing too?"]
["An orphan, climbing into bed pretty fast. Her resources are skyrocketing!"]
["Shen Que changes women so quickly. Just wait for the day she gets dumped."]
Numerous marketing accounts kept steering the narrative, hinting that the mysterious patron behind the scenes was Shen Que.
Hearing this kind of talk repeatedly, people started to believe it. Even Gu Chengyu, if he weren't genuinely fond of her, would feel very uncomfortable, planting seeds of doubt.
["Tsk, pure on the surface, who knows how promiscuous she is in private?"]
["What a scheming bitch! Give us back our great beauty Lin Shu!"]
Some even dug up old, unflattering photos of her from when she was an assistant, comparing them to Lin Shu's glamorous images, mocking her to the extreme.
Gu Chengyu's face instantly darkened terrifyingly. His fingers tightened sharply, almost crushing the phone.
He scrolled quickly, his gaze growing colder with each swipe. Rage and heartache swelled in his chest, threatening to explode.
So, while he was completely oblivious, she had been enduring all these vicious comments alone.
What was she thinking when she saw the news about his impending marriage alliance? And what had he done?
Hadn't he said that even if he got married, she would have to stay by his side?
Both he and those people online had placed her in the position of a mistress. No wonder she had cried so heartbreakingly and even shown him such a cold expression.
In that moment, she must have been truly disappointed in him.
Gu Chengyu, you are absolutely a scoundrel!
Only caring about your own ridiculous pride and games, not even knowing she was being slandered by these people out there.
"Bang!" He slammed his fist hard onto the dining table, making the dishes and bowls rattle loudly.
Heartache and remorse coiled around his heart like vines, squeezing it tightly, making it almost hard to breathe.
And surging up right after was a towering rage.
How dare they? How dare these parasites hiding behind their screens defame the person he held most dear in his heart?
He picked up his phone and directly dialed Assistant Zhao's number.
The moment the call connected, his voice was frighteningly cold:
"You have ten minutes. Get the Gu Corporation's team to work overtime immediately and clean up all the slander, rumors, and insults about Su Qianqian online! I don't want to see a single dirty word left!"
Assistant Zhao on the other end clearly had been prepared, but was still startled by the fury in his tone, immediately replying, "Yes, Young Master Gu!"
Gu Chengyu growled, "Also, investigate for me! Who started this first? Which accounts are driving the narrative? Who's behind it? Dig them out for me, one by one!"
He least believed in coincidences. This was clearly premeditated.
He wanted to see who, taking advantage of his neglect during their cold war, was pulling these strings behind the scenes, throwing mud at his Qianqian!
After hanging up, Gu Chengyu's chest still heaved violently.
He turned to look at the tightly closed bedroom door, his eyes becoming complex and pained.
He walked to the door, raised his hand to knock, but slowly lowered it again.
Only now did he realize how terribly wrong he had been.
Marriage alliance? What bullshit was that? Was he out of his mind?
And a cold war? Emotional neglect? She had given him her innocence, while he had played around with so many women before. So what if she scolded him a couple of times, found him a bit annoying?
Gu Chengyu, put down your pride.
If she doesn't like you, just start over. Win her back.
Now, with this mess, letting others take advantage of the situation, she probably dislikes you even more.
He leaned against the wall by the door, slowly sliding down to sit on the floor, irritably running his hands through his hair.
Only one thought remained in his heart: From now on, he would never, ever let her suffer the slightest bit of grievance again.
