Lu Bochuan was efficient. That very afternoon, he managed to contact "Little Sun" herself and, using some methods, found out who was behind it all.
Zhou Zheng took the evidence to the CEO's office. "Mr. Lu, here is the video recorded by 'Little Sun' herself. Shall I send it directly to Mrs. Lu?"
Lu Bochuan stood up and took his suit jacket from the coat rack. "No need, I'll give it to her personally."
Zhou Zheng respectfully handed over the phone.
He truly hadn't expected that for such a minor matter as investigating someone, the boss would personally oversee it.
It seemed that from now on, anything related to Mrs. Lu must be his top priority.
The black Rolls-Royce pulled up at the entrance of the SF Studio. Lu Bochuan got out, straightened his suit, and then knocked on the door.
Shu Qingqing hadn't expected him to come in person. "Aren't you busy with work?"
Lu Bochuan: "It's manageable."
"It's been clarified. This 'Little Sun' is indeed a pregnant woman, but she had a fall earlier, was hospitalized for a while, and ultimately lost the baby. The person behind this hired her to make the story more sensational."
Lu Bochuan handed her the phone. "This is the explanation video shot by 'Little Sun' herself."
Shu Qingqing quickly took it.
The video was five minutes long. "Little Sun" detailed the entire process of being bribed to fabricate the story and finally revealed the real name of the mastermind: Liu Lulu.
Wasn't that the girl who was with Xu Lingshan at the banquet before?
Seeing her frown, Lu Bochuan reached out and gently smoothed the space between her brows. "The person who previously bought the water army to target you hasn't been traced yet, but I suspect it probably isn't Liu Lulu."
Shu Qingqing gave a wry smile. "Even you haven't found them. It seems the person who bought the water army before has an even deeper background."
Lu Bochuan led her to the sofa to sit down. "Don't worry, I'll keep investigating. But for this current matter, how do you plan to handle it?"
Shu Qingqing raised an eyebrow. "Let the bullet fly for a while."
By not responding, the other side would surely think she was helpless and would inevitably double down, hiring more marketing accounts to smear them. This would draw even more attention from netizens.
Shu Qingqing was waiting for the heat to reach a critical point before striking back.
That way, the damage to the opponent would be maximized, while they, on the contrary, would ride the wave to become even more popular and better establish their brand image.
After hearing her plan, Lu Bochuan nodded approvingly. "Using their own force against them. Not bad."
Shu Qingqing raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Just look at whose wife I am."
Lu Bochuan's heart stirred.
They sat side by side on the sofa, extremely close. The familiar fragrance filled his senses, suddenly making him feel restless.
At this distance, he only needed to lift his hand to wrap it around her shoulder from behind.
Or just move his fingers slightly to hold the slender, delicate hand beside him.
Lu Bochuan hesitated, raising his hand, but then saw Shu Qingqing lean back. "Good heavens, why is human nature so complicated? That saying is so true—no one wants to see you doing well."
Lu Bochuan curled his fingers, dismissing his previous thoughts, and turned to look at her. "Human hearts have always been inscrutable. It's hard for us to see past the surface to guess what's true or false. Besides, they are ultimately insignificant people, not worth your energy. You just need to do what you want to do."
"Mr. Lu is right." Shu Qingqing suddenly sat up straight. "There are always treacherous subjects trying to harm their emperor, isn't it just because this emperor is too outstanding? However, this great empire can only belong to me!"
Seeing her spirits lift, Lu Bochuan also smiled.
Two days later, discussions about the incident grew increasingly heated, with topic search volume and page views exceeding ten million.
Shu Qingqing knew the time was right.
At six o'clock that evening, she posted a clarification video. Besides including the fake clothing inspection reports, the anti-counterfeiting labels on her own garments, it also featured "Little Sun"'s video.
Furthermore, at the end of the video, Shu Qingqing called on all customers who had purchased their clothes to tear open the collar and check for the anti-counterfeiting label. She wouldn't ask them to do it for nothing: any customer who tore open their garment and provided a video or picture as proof would receive a refund of double the original price of the item, plus an additional coupon for 200 off on a purchase of 500 or more.
From the start of Shu Qingqing's livestream sales until now, over half a month, excluding returns, they had achieved a total sales revenue of 810,000.
After deducting costs and platform commissions, their net profit was less than 300,000.
They calculated that if every customer who bought clothes was willing to provide proof, they wouldn't make a single cent; in fact, they would lose over 500,000.
But Shu Qingqing didn't care. You have to give to get. She believed that after this, their customers would be even more loyal, and their brand image would reach a new level.
In the future, they would earn even more because of this.
As soon as the video was released, netizens were abuzz.
After surfing the web for so many years, this was the first time they had seen such a reversal and such a direct, generous content creator.
Within less than an hour, almost all customers who had bought their clothes posted proof videos.
Instantly, related topics surged back onto the platform's hot search list.
Shu Qingqing and Feng Xiangdi stayed at the studio, closely monitoring the development of events.
Just as they were rejoicing over their customers' support, Shu Qingqing suddenly received a call from Xu Lingshan.
After the call connected, Xu Lingshan didn't speak. After a long silence, she finally asked, "Was it really Lulu?"
Shu Qingqing: "Lu Bochuan personally investigated it. I don't think there's a mistake."
"I see. About the studio... I won't be coming anymore."
Shu Qingqing paused before saying, "Okay." "Go talk to your father. I accept your apology."
"...Alright." Xu Lingshan hung up after saying this. Just as she was about to go out, Liu Lulu hurriedly ran over.
"Shanshan, you have to help me! You've been getting along quite well with that Shu Qingqing lately, right? Can you beg her for me, ask her to show some mercy? I can compensate her with money!"
Xu Lingshan sighed. "Lulu... how can I help you? What Shu Qingqing wants isn't money. And this time, it was Lu Bochuan who personally handled it. You should know the consequences of provoking him. You... ah, why did you do this?"
Liu Lulu suddenly became agitated. "Why did I do it? Xu Lingshan, have you forgotten who you are after being Shu Qingqing's little sidekick for a few days? Or have you forgotten how we used to gang up on Shu Qingqing together?"
"Lulu, but what you did this time is illegal."
Liu Lulu suddenly lost all strength.
Although her family had some standing in the capital, it was nothing compared to the Lu family. In their little social circle, the only family that could rival the Lu family was the Ren family. But she had already approached Ren Qiuyang, who said he was powerless to help.
Her lawyer told her that if Lu Bochuan insisted on pursuing the matter, she would face jail time.
She suddenly felt deep regret. Why did she have to oppose Shu Qingqing? It wasn't like she was that fond of Lu Bochuan anyway.
Liu Lulu gazed blankly at the pitch-black night sky.
She wasn't like this before.
Looking back now, it seemed as if an invisible hand was pushing her, step by step, toward the abyss.
How had things come to this?
Xu Lingshan watched Lulu's despondent, retreating figure, her own heart aching unbearably.
During this period of time together, she had unexpectedly begun to feel that Shu Qingqing wasn't actually that detestable.
She would swiftly hand over a water glass when Xu Lingshan gestured thirstily, would voluntarily massage her shoulders when she was tired from broadcasting, and would also stand her ground without backing down when she threw a spoiled tantrum, arguing back until Xu Lingshan was fuming.
Yet, strangely, she could sense that all of Shu Qingqing's actions were imbued with a genuine kindness from the heart.
There was even a time when she thought that becoming friends with Shu Qingqing might actually be quite interesting.
Thinking back on her own little clique of sisters, it seemed to consist more of rivalry and hollow pretenses.
How had things come to this?
