That sudden "What?" not only made Xu Yanxia pause, but also gave Auntie Tao a start.
She quickly asked Lu Jingxi with concern, "Did something happen?"
Fortunately, Lu Jingxi, the second young lady who grew up in a wealthy family, still knew how to maintain composure. She hurriedly smiled at Auntie Tao and said, "It's nothing, just a minor work issue. Auntie, let's chat next time."
"Alright."
Auntie Tao also nodded goodbye to her, and Lu Jingxi pulled Xu Yanxia back to their seats.
The call had already ended, and there were no idle bystanders around, so Xu Yanxia asked her, "Did something happen with your work?"
Lu Jingxi let out a cold laugh and said, "My assistant said that green tea bitch is making a underhanded move against me, spreading rumors about me online."
What?
Hearing this, her older brother Lu Jingming and younger brother Lu Jingyao immediately turned their gazes towards her.
Lu Jingyao asked, "Are you talking about Bai Qingqing? What rumors is she spreading?"
Lu Jingxi said, "My assistant said they took the video from yesterday in the lounge, cut out the beginning and end, specifically edited out the part where I confronted her, and posted it online. They're letting her fans curse me for being a diva, for bullying a delicate little white flower like her just because of my family background!"
As she spoke, she opened a trending list on a news platform and sure enough saw an entry titled "Lu Jingxi Acts Like a Diva."
Lu Jingxi quickly clicked on it for everyone to see, and indeed, they saw the scene from the lounge during the show recording.
The edited clip showed her raging at Bai Qingqing—
"Don't you know everyone is about to get heatstroke? I even have a cold!!!"
"If the makeup artist isn't good, just change to another one! Who do you think you are?!!"
"You have free time, but does that mean others don't have other work to do?!!!"
"Please have some professionalism! Not everyone is your sugar daddy willing to pamper you!!!"
...
The half-minute video was filled with Lu Jingxi's furious outburst, while Bai Qingqing cowered in a corner, sobbing pitifully.
"..."
After watching the video, Lu Jingyao looked up at his sister. "Sis, judging from this video, it really does look like you're bullying her."
Xu Yanxia, however, said, "This video is clearly edited. They definitely cut out and pieced together only the parts that are favorable to them. The intent to deliberately retaliate is a bit too obvious."
Lu Jingxi didn't say anything, just opened the comment section below the video.
A bunch of people were cursing her—
[What is Lu Jingxi doing??? Bullying others just because her family is rich!!!]
[Right? Her having a cold is her own problem, why blame our Baby Qing for that too???]
[Lu Jingxi is way too much! Our Baby Qing debuted later than her, but Baby Qing has been working hard too. What right does she have to say our Baby Qing is free?!!]
[Exactly! Who does she think she is? She only won the singing competition because her family sponsored it, right?!! If it weren't for her dad and mom, where would she be now!!!]
[To be honest, I've never liked her! Such a big face yet acting like a beauty! Must be jealous of our Baby Qing's looks!!!]
[Yeah, actually spreading rumors that our Baby Qing has a sugar daddy? In the eyes of you rich people, do ordinary people not even have the right to work hard??? When she was having her championship bought by her family, our Baby Qing was practicing dance in the studio for over ten hours every day!!!]
...
Lu Jingxi laughed in anger. "Practicing dance? She was clearly out on a yacht with her sugar daddy!!!"
"And I'm spreading rumors about her??? She's the one spreading rumors about me!!! No one even knew who I was during my competition back then. That championship was all won by me with my own singing!!!"
Hearing this, Lu Jingyao also nodded indignantly. "Exactly! Before, when our school team got third place in the league, people spread rumors that our family bought it. We played well ourselves! If our family could buy it, they might as well just buy us the championship! Why bother playing so hard?!!"
"Everyone, don't get angry first,"
Xu Yanxia, the only non-Lu family member present, calmly comforted the siblings. "What's done is done. It's better to think of a countermeasure first. Since this video is edited, wouldn't everything be cleared up if the original video is released?"
"Sister Xia is right!"
Lu Jingyao quickly said to his sister, "Tell your assistant to release the video too!"
Lu Jingxi, however, said, "From this angle, it's clearly they secretly filmed it themselves. We signed an agreement before recording—no secret filming in the lounge. I'd love to release the full video, but we didn't film it! They're trying to smear me; they definitely won't release the full video."
"There should be surveillance cameras in the lounge too."
Her older brother Lu Jingming also spoke up.
Lu Jingxi frowned. "But we're still in the recording phase. According to regulations, surveillance footage cannot be leaked."
Lu Jingming smiled. "Well, according to the agreement, secret filming isn't allowed in the lounge either. Now that secret filming has happened, surveillance footage can be leaked."
Then he asked her, "Which platform produced this show?"
Lu Jingxi obediently replied, "Qiwei."
Lu Jingming gave an "Mhm." "I'll call their top management."
With that, he took his phone and went out.
A while later, he came back and told Lu Jingxi, "The complete surveillance footage will be released within twenty minutes. Tell your agency to prepare to guide the public opinion."
"They agreed?"
Lu Jingxi was a bit surprised.
Lu Jingming chuckled. "They just received 520 million in sponsorship from us. Unless they don't want to see more of it."
Lu Jingyao couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy shit! Big bro is so cool!"
Lu Jingxi was also moved to tears. "My big brother is the best!"
Only Xu Yanxia marveled silently in her heart—
520 million...
Indeed, in the face of capital, no amount of anti-fans matter.
...
With this "minor" trouble seemingly resolved, the appetizers arrived.
Lu Jingming picked up his knife and fork and said, "Such a trivial matter. Let's eat."
The family then began to eat.
Strict order is a characteristic of French cuisine. After the group had sequentially tasted the appetizers, soup, and main course, the server brought a cheese platter.
Even the gluttonous Queen Xixi knew this calorie bomb was absolutely off-limits for now.
To avoid temptation, she took out her phone and glanced at a news platform.
Then she nodded and said, "The full video is already number one on the entertainment trending list."
"Really?"
Lu Jingyao also quickly took out his phone to look. "I want to see exactly how you scolded her."
