At the mention of Jiang Youli, Yu Linglong, who had been singing beside Long Yuan, stopped and glanced at Li Zixuan.
Long Yuan paid no attention to Li Zixuan. Instead, he set down his wineglass and looked at Yu Linglong expressionlessly. “Why did you stop singing?”
Yu Hongtu hurriedly added, “Yeah, Sis, why did you stop? Young Master Long was enjoying the performance. Aren’t you spoiling his mood?”
His words were laced with mockery.
Yu Hongtu’s words grated painfully on Yu Linglong’s ears. Her grip tightened around the microphone. She knew exactly what he was implying: she was nothing more than a plaything her father had offered to Young Master Long, someone responsible for pleasing him in exchange for the company’s development.
Yu Linglong lowered the microphone. “My mouth’s a little dry. Besides, Li Zixuan came to discuss something with you, Ah Yuan. I’ll stop singing so I don’t disturb you two.”
Realizing that she had dumped the blame on him, Li Zixuan immediately said, “Young Master Long, I’m sorry for interrupting your enjoyment. It’s just that there isn’t much time left before my bet with Jiang Youli expires. Time is tight, and Jiang Youli even came to provoke me today, so I’m worried…”
Yu Hongtu cut in dismissively. “Li Zixuan, what are you worried about? The deadline for your bet with Jiang Youli hasn’t arrived yet. Don’t worry—Jiang Youli is finished.”
Li Zixuan was overjoyed. His face filled with anticipation. “Young Master Long has come up with a new way to deal with Jiang Youli?”
“Of course Young Master Long has plenty of ways to deal with Jiang Youli,” Yu Hongtu said ingratiatingly.
“Besides, my company poached Jiang Zhao from Starlight Entertainment, and his new song is about to be released. You’ve probably seen how popular he is online. When Jiang Youli’s new song turns out to be mediocre and receives a lukewarm response, the entire internet will surely turn against her. And once some negative news about her is exposed, Starlight Entertainment will be dragged down with her.
“Then there’s the casting for Aspirations of the Azure Clouds. The male lead has already been confirmed as Chen Wang, and the villainous second male lead will be played by Zhou Zerui. Which one of those two actors isn’t drowning in scandals? Jiang Youli and that director, Liang Shenggui, actually dared to cast them. That project is just waiting to collapse and be ruined in their hands!”
Yu Linglong slipped her arm around Long Yuan’s and asked in feigned casualness, “Oh? Ah Yuan, I’m curious. What way do you have to deal with Jiang Youli?”
Behind them, the assistant cast a worried glance at Yu Linglong.
Long Yuan glanced sideways at the woman clinging to him and said, “Since you want to know, I don’t mind telling you. There will be a major event at Jiang Youli’s birthday banquet. If she can’t handle it, not only will Starlight Entertainment be affected—she’ll be finished too.”
Yu Linglong’s heart gave a jolt, but she kept her expression calm. “Oh? Ah Yuan, you can even make a move at Jiang Youli’s birthday banquet? She definitely won’t invite you to attend, will she?”
Long Yuan sneered. “For something like this, I naturally won’t be doing it myself. Someone else will take care of it.”
“I see.” Yu Linglong knew she could ask no more. If she continued, Long Yuan might grow suspicious of her.
Li Zixuan was ecstatic. “Really? Young Master Long, you’re incredible!”
He had already heard that Jiang Youli’s birthday banquet would be held on the twenty-first of this month—before the two-month deadline for their bet arrived!
If Jiang Youli could really be brought down at her birthday banquet, he wouldn’t have to suffer her humiliation anymore!
At that moment, the ringtone of Long Yuan’s assistant’s phone rang.
The assistant glanced at the caller ID and first reported to Long Yuan, “It’s Jiang Yangxu.”
Yu Linglong’s heart tightened. Jiang Yangxu? Wasn’t he Jiang Youli’s biological father? The news that his entire family had been driven out of the Jiang family by Old Master Jiang had spread throughout the upper-class circles.
How had he managed to get in touch with Long Yuan? He certainly couldn’t have good intentions.
Long Yuan said coldly, “Answer it.”
The assistant nodded and picked up the call.
Yu Linglong pricked up her ears, trying to make out the conversation between the assistant and Jiang Yangxu.
The assistant merely replied, “Mm,” to whatever was said on the other end before hanging up. He then leaned toward Long Yuan and said, “Jiang Yangxu said he can’t get an invitation to Jiang Youli’s birthday banquet, and his elder brother, Jiang Yehan, definitely won’t let him go there to cause trouble. So he wants you to think of a way to help him sneak into the Jiang residence.”
After learning Jiang Yangxu’s intentions, Long Yuan said, “Tell Jiang Yangxu that I’ll lend him Jiang Li when the time comes. He can figure out for himself how to create an opportunity to return to the Jiang family and attend Jiang Youli’s birthday banquet.”
The assistant nodded. “Understood.”
Yu Linglong heard every word.
So the major event Long Yuan had mentioned earlier would be caused by Jiang Yangxu!
She had to tell Jiang Youli and warn her to be on guard.
“Damn! Li Zixuan, look at Weibo!”
Suddenly, one of the lackeys looked up from his phone and shouted.
Li Zixuan pulled out his own phone and saw the trending topic: #JiangYouliWalksADog#
Furious, Li Zixuan tapped on the topic. The very first post was a marketing account’s upload of screenshots showing his bet and conversation with Jiang Youli in the “Capital Circle Rumors” group.
Netizens were going wild!
[What the heck! This is explosive! Jiang Youli actually made a bet like this with someone!]
[The loser has to be led around on a dog leash, while the other person has to lick their shoes. This is more dramatic than any TV show!]
[Everyone, tell us—who do you think is more likely to win?]
[Who’s this Li Zixuan?]
[Apparently, he’s the young heir of the Capital Circle’s Li Beverage Group, but he doesn’t have any real authority in the family. He spends all day fooling around and doing nothing.]
[Looking at the date on the screenshots, there isn’t much time left before the two-month deadline. Starlight Entertainment doesn’t seem to be in decline at all, so I think Li Zixuan is going to lose.]
[Not necessarily. I heard Li Zixuan follows Young Master Long around all day. He might have Young Master Long backing him.]
[Jiang Youli is seriously so busy! She just finished going head-to-head with Jiang Zhao, and now she’s taking on Young Master Li!]
[She hasn’t been back with the Jiang family for long, yet she’s already offended so many big shots in the Capital Circle! Still, I have to admit, her news is more entertaining than most TV dramas!]
Looking at the leaked chat records, Li Zixuan had assumed that some nosy group member who loved watching the drama had exposed them. He never imagined that Jiang Youli herself had posted them on Weibo.
He clicked into Jiang Youli’s comment section.
Sure enough, the comments beneath the Weibo post where Jiang Youli had uploaded the chat screenshots were buzzing.
[You’re way too gutsy, Goddess! But as your fan, I hope you win!]
[Of course Goddess can win. Her greatest talent is slapping people in the face! I also thought Goddess was guaranteed to win against Jiang Zhao!]
[I’m so worried about Goddess. If she loses even once, the whole internet will mock her to death!]
There were also plenty of comments questioning and insulting Jiang Youli:
[The more arrogant you are now, the more humiliating it’ll be when you fall later!]
[I don’t know how good you are, but Zhaozhao’s ability is obvious to everyone. We should really thank your arrogance—it’s made Jiang Zhao even more popular than before!]
