Over the past five years, Jiang Liuyue's career had flourished more and more.
It started with her MCN live-streaming company growing bigger and bigger.
The live-streaming accounts for both the boy band and girl band broadcasts went viral several times, and even the original Douyin-style dances they created attracted celebrities to imitate them.
She never abandoned her own personal account either, though her streaming frequency reduced to once a week.
With money at her disposal during her other time, she simply dived into original content creation.
A graduate of S University's Music School, she had a solid theoretical foundation and even better resources. Relying on her own talent and a powerful financial push,
an original song she wrote and performed titled 'Morning After Morning' became the OST theme song for a historical fantasy romance drama.
As the drama became a massive hit after its release,
she officially emerged into the spotlight as a singer and entered the entertainment industry.
However, compared to her identities as a singer or a streamer, she still preferred her role as a boss the most.
A reporter once curiously asked, "Why?"
Jiang Liuyue stated frankly, "Being a streamer is a hobby. Creating original OST theme songs is even more like a labor of love. As for being a boss, that's what actually makes money."
This interview initially trended on social media, with many people criticizing her for being money-grubbing.
But Jiang Liuyue didn't care in the slightest.
Let them criticize, it was all traffic. As long as it benefited her streaming company and herself, then let them criticize.
However, gradually, some media outlets dug into Jiang Liuyue's upbringing.
A grandmother who favored boys over girls, an incapable and silent mother, a perpetually absent father, and a poor family background—people finally understood why she developed such a personality.
And for a long time after that, Jiang Liuyue remained this candid and outspoken.
Saying whatever was on her mind, she instead attracted a group of genuine fans who truly liked her.
She also finally secured a firm foothold in the entertainment industry.
Just as everything was thriving, suddenly, an entertainment gossip news outlet broke a story.
[Well-known female singer, 'Morning After Morning' original singer, is actually a homewrecker? Brazenly stole her university roommate's boyfriend!]
They released a video featuring a woman who claimed to be Jiang Liuyue's university roommate, but her face was blurred with mosaics.
The voice was also processed into an electronic tone.
They said it was to protect the interviewee's safety and privacy.
The woman in the video cried, "We were such good friends, so why did she have to steal my boyfriend?"
"When we were in university, her family was poor, she couldn't afford meals. Every time, I brought her food for free without taking her money."
"After graduation, we even lived together, and I was the one paying all the rent."
"I treated her with all my heart, thinking we were the best of sisters. Who would have thought she would stab me in the back!"
"What's even more unbelievable is that even though she stole my boyfriend, her life just got better and better, even entering the entertainment industry and becoming a singer."
"No wonder the domestic entertainment scene is so murky these days. Don't they have any character checks?"
At the end of the video was the sound of the woman sobbing, her head bowed.
After this news broke,
Jiang Liuyue faced an unprecedented wave of massive backlash.
But she remained composed as ever.
She even received a call from an unknown number.
Both Zhou Che and Huo Yaochuan frowned, advising her not to answer.
During the peak of the controversy, they feared unscrupulous media might seize on any slip of her tongue to continue the attacks.
"It's fine. Since when have I, Jiang Liuyue, ever been afraid?"
She curled her lips into a smile.
Directly pressed the speakerphone button.
After connecting, a familiar voice came from the other end: "Liuyue, it's me."
Zhou Che and Huo Yaochuan exchanged a glance.
It was Feng Xiaoman?!
Was she still trying to stir up trouble at this point?
Hearing Jiang Liuyue's silence, the other side paused for a moment, then continued on her own:
"The person who gave that interview wasn't me."
"Yes! I hated you for stealing Yaochuan, hated you for taking my boyfriend... I even spent every day after the breakup cursing you to die early."
"...But, five years have passed..."
"I said I'd wait to see your downfall, but it never came. Instead, you just lived better and better. At first, it was jealousy, then bewilderment, and later I understood..."
"We're already not people from the same world. You've reached heights I could never catch up to no matter how hard I try."
"Looking back now, I regret it, but there's nothing I can do."
"After all the frustration and resentment of these past five years, I've gradually come to realize that some things are really just fate."
"I might never be able to let this go, maybe I'll hold onto this grievance until the day I die."
"But, the person who appeared in that interview wasn't me."
"It must be someone who found out about what happened back then through other channels..."
Jiang Liuyue listened quietly.
Then, asked: "Are you finished?"
Feng Xiaoman on the other end said nervously, "I'm not saying this to shirk responsibility, it really wasn't me!"
"I know."
"I believe you."
After Jiang Liuyue uttered these six light words,
Feng Xiaoman on the phone, for some reason, suddenly felt her eyes grow hot, and tears began to stream down her face uncontrollably.
Five years felt so distant, yet the events of five years ago seemed like a lifetime away.
Even she didn't know what all that lingering resentment was really about anymore.
But upon hearing these six words, she suddenly felt a sense of release.
Right.
Jiang Liuyue wasn't a good person, and neither was she.
The idea of deception started with her first. They were both selfish, so what was there left to blame?
"Liuyue, I'll never call you again after this."
What Feng Xiaoman wanted to say was, Jiang Liuyue, I've decided to let it go.
"Okay."
After hanging up the phone,
the two men at the conference table had different opinions.
Huo Yaochuan said, "Have you figured out how to handle the PR crisis now?"
Zhou Che seized the chance to lift his head, putting on an obedient look.
"Yueyue, marry me. That way, those rumors will collapse on their own."
Huo Yaochuan glared at him, "In your dreams! Keep dreaming!"
Zhou Che snorted coldly, "It's all your fault, you troublemaker. If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened."
Even after five years of coexistence, they still couldn't stand the sight of each other.
Jiang Liuyue tapped her fingers on the conference table.
Signaling for both of them to be quiet.
"It's undeniable that as long as someone with ill intentions finds out Huo Yaochuan and I are together, this matter becomes a confirmed fact."
"So I will admit it."
Zhou Che said in a panic, "But then... your singing career, which you worked so hard to start, will be ruined."
Jiang Liuyue smiled freely and boldly.
"Since when have I been afraid of something like this?"
"I have my man, I've achieved my career goals. Wouldn't it be nice to take this money and travel the world from now on?"
A public statement was soon released across various platforms.
Many people were stunned seeing Jiang Liuyue candidly admit to what happened back then.
[Sis, we knew you were fierce, but not this fierce!]
[Oh my god... what a messy drama, truly Jiang Liuyue style.]
[So who exactly was the one who got 'stolen' from?]
Just as the crowd was swarming to criticize Jiang Liuyue as a 'homewrecker sister', Feng Xiaoman made a public appearance.
She admitted she was the university roommate, but denied the content of the previous video, saying someone had impersonated her identity.
She and her boyfriend had broken up amicably after an online relationship.
It had nothing to do with Jiang Liuyue.
This twist made many people wonder if she had been paid off.
Zhou Che even nudged Huo Yaochuan with his elbow and asked, "Did you have someone send a check to Feng Xiaoman?"
"I didn't. Did you?"
"No, I didn't either."
Jiang Liuyue pursed her lips in a smile.
"Perhaps you should believe that human nature is complex. Where there is a bad side, there is also a good one."
