A mont later, Niu iling and Jian Chuo looked at the photos “Teacher Kou” had attached to the email. The images showed Mo Fei holding hands with a tall man as they walked out of the Civil Affairs Bureau. The two won exchanged silent glances.
After a long pause, Niu iling frowned and pointed at Yang Yi’s face in the photo, asking, “Who is this man?”
Jian Chuo shook her head and said, “I don’t know, but that little girl he’s holding should be Mo Fei’s daughter, Xixi.”
“You think I need you to tell that?” Niu iling rolled her eyes.
“Sister Ling, could this man be Mo Fei’s partner? He seems really close to Xixi. But wasn’t it said that the child’s father had already passed away?” Jian Chuo asked, puzzled.
“I made that up… I asked Mo Fei before, but she absolutely refused to say who the father was. It’s like she was deceived and completely gave up on that man. If I didn’t make up a reason, what would happen if you all started guessing and spreading it as gossip?” Sister Ling said casually, fixing her gaze on Yang Yi in the photo.
In the photo, the man and Mo Fei were holding hands, gazing at each other with such sweetness in their eyes. There was no way this could be explained away as just a driver.
Moreover, when Mo Fei was with that man, she showed a sowhat dependent deanor, which made Niu iling feel a pang of jealousy, as if her own daughter was being taken away.
At that mont, Jian Chuo asked, “Hey, Sister Ling, what do you think they were doing at the Civil Affairs Bureau? Were they…”
Jian Chuo stopped mid-sentence, and as she and Niu iling exchanged glances, they both silently revealed a flash of understanding.
Was there even a need to ask? What else would a couple in love do at the Civil Affairs Bureau?
Niu iling remained relatively calm. She instructed Jian Chao, “Send a reply using my na. Ask him what exactly he ans by this.”
Lu Yue, also known as “Teacher Kou”, replied almost instantly, as if he had been waiting at his computer.
“Sister Ling, he said to na our price,” Jian Chuo said with a sigh as she turned around.
Actually, when sending the email, Jian Chuo already knew how the other party would respond… it was exactly like what happened after Zhen Muqian’s incident. If they were worried about the photos being leaked, they’d have to pay to buy them back.
Of course, they had also inquired with industry peers before. This “blackmailing” Teacher Kou was sowhat well-known in the industry and had a decent reputation. Generally, once paid, the photos wouldn’t be leaked, and Teacher Kou was known to keep his word.
Niu iling didn’t respond to Jian Chuo. She frowned at her computer screen, staring at a newly attached photo in the email. Compared to the previous video screenshots, this photo was blurrier, as if taken by a low-quality phone cara.
It was a red-background photo, with Mo Fei and the man’s smiling faces clearly visible.
It was obvious now.
“This careless girl, getting married in secret and getting caught on cara! Even the wedding photo got dug up! Didn’t she sign a confidentiality agreent with the Civil Affairs Bureau?” Niu iling couldn’t help but grumble in her heart.
Little did she know, Mo Fei had indeed signed a confidentiality agreent with the Civil Affairs Bureau. None of the photos taken with the officials inside had leaked. This particular marriage photo was obtained through the cunning efforts of the resourceful Lu Yue.
“What should we do? Should we ask Mo Fei?” Jian Chao asked softly.
Niu iling shook her head slightly and said, “Asking her won’t change the outco. We’ll still have to clean up her ss. Let’s not say anything for now so as not to affect her concert. You negotiate with Teacher Kou and buy the photos… Mo Fei’s career is on the rise right now. We can’t let news of her marriage or having a child leak out. The impact would be too big.”
Of course, that wasn’t Niu iling’s true thoughts. She didn’t want to tell Mo Fei about this now mainly because she didn’t want to affect their contract renewal negotiations. Moreover, Niu iling planned to settle this debt with Mo Fei after she signed the renewal contract. The money spent cleaning up this ss would be deducted from Mo Fei’s share!
If they told her now, wouldn’t the company have to shoulder the cost of buying the photos just to appear generous and supportive?
Niu iling had even considered another possibility – simply not paying and letting Teacher Kou leak the photos, suppressing Mo Fei’s popularity, then they wouldn’t have to renew her top-tier contract. After all, with so many classic songs under her belt, once the initial turmoil passed, the company’s PR efforts could eventually restore her image. She was a powerhouse vocalist, not an idol singer whose career would be destroyed by marriage.
But Niu iling couldn’t do that, because if the news were to be exposed, there would be no way to cover up the fact that she knew about it but did nothing. If Teacher Kou exposed this as well, it would damage her reputation and harm her relationship with Mo Fei, causing significant trouble for the contract renewal!
The risk was too great!
……
Two days later, Jian Chuo and Teacher Kou reached a deal. Tiani paid 500,000 yuan to buy all the materials related to Mo Fei’s situation—videos and photos.
Lu Yue was a smart man. He knew that if he pushed too hard, Tiani and Mo Fei might just go public. So he didn’t demand an exorbitant price, settling on a figure that both parties could accept, and sold the materials to Mo Fei’s managent company.
“Sister Ling is indeed loyal, it was a pleasure doing business with you. Rest assured, after sending you the materials, I’ll clear my hard drive, leaving no traces. Until we et again.” After Lu Yue confird receiving the money, he sent the prepared email.
Jian Chao received the email and opened it for Niu iling to see.
“Sister Ling, what do we do next?” Jian Chuo stood to the side, looking at Niu iling as she asked.
Niu iling took out a USB drive, copied the email and all the files onto it, and then used a tool to permanently delete the original files from Jian Chao’s computer.
“Forget about this matter! Just pretend it never happened.” Niu iling stood up and gave Jian Chuo a calm look.
Jian Chuo was montarily stunned, then she nodded smartly.
Niu iling returned to her office with the USB drive, sat in her executive chair, and played with it for a while. However, her gaze wasn’t on the USB drive. Instead, she frowned slightly, staring into space, deep in thought.
Suddenly, she muttered, “You got married and didn’t even tell your Sister Ling. Mo Fei, you’ve changed.”
For so reason, a hint of lancholy flashed in Niu iling’s eyes.
But this emotion passed quickly, and she soon regained her usual resolute deanor. She opened her safe and placed the USB drive inside.
“I hope you haven’t really changed…”
The safe door closed with a thud.
……
That night, Mo Fei’s recorded episode of Zhi Xin Interview aired on Shanghai TV. On-screen, when Luo Xin said, “Mu Li’ang is the man who understands you the most,” Mo Fei didn’t deny it. Moreover, the smile at the corner of her mouth was noticed by many viewers.
At that ti, under the broadcast announcent posted by Mo Xiaojuan on Mo Fei’s Weibo, netizens flooded the comnts with shock and speculation.
“Whoa, was that a hint?”
“Is this just for hype? Didn’t she say there was no possibility with Mu Li’ang before?”
“Lies! I rember on ‘Music Fast Fast Fast,’ she firmly stated that Mu Li’ang only gave her songs because he admired her singing. How did it suddenly beco that ‘he understands her’?”
“It’s probably not hype. Her career is already soaring. Does she even need to do this? Use your brain!”
“I ship Mo Fei and Mu Li’ang! One is the best singer, the other the best songwriter. Together, they’d make such a perfect pair!”
“Haha, I ship Chen Yijie and Mu Li’ang! He’s an amazing singer too!”
“Stop being sour. I don’t care who Mo Fei ends up with. I just love her songs!”
“Sa here! But I do like the idea of Mo Fei and Mu Li’ang together. They’re such a great match! If they get together, they could give us more songs like ‘Listen to the Sea’!”
While Weibo was in an uproar, an international flight slowly landed at Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai.
Ju Jie, wearing a neck pillow with a big-eyed frog design and dressed casually but stylishly, appeared at the exit, pushing his luggage with excitent.
“Mu Li’ang actually asked for help? Haha! Here cos my chance to beco super popular again!” He had slept well on the plane, so even though it was late at night, he was full of energy. Excited, he couldn’t help but perform a little dance around his luggage—a move he had practiced specifically for variety shows.
However, in his excitent, he forgot he was in public. His bizarre dancing imdiately drew a lot of attention.
“Wow! Isn’t that Ju Jie? Ju Jie, can I get an autograph?” Several professional fans who specifically waited for celebrities at Hongqiao rushed over excitedly.
Ju Jie was montarily stunned but quickly regained his composure, putting on a cool expression. “You’re my fans? Want an autograph? Sure!”
“Ju Jie! You’re so handso!”
“Ju Jie! I love your songs!”
One sentence of flattery after another, nearly lifting Ju Jie to the heaven.
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