CHAPTER 468: CHAPTER 466: FORCED INTO PUTTING ON A PLAY

The phone rang just at that moment, and Wen Qiao passed her phone to Xiao Chu before checking her own.

It was a call from Shi Koufan.

Once connected, Shi Koufan’s anxious voice reached her ears, "I’m sorry, Qiaoqiao, I just got to the hotel, and only after my agent called did I find out. Don’t worry, I’ll have the company handle this right away."

"Don’t panic just yet," Wen Qiao paused, "Have you had time to check Weibo yet? Qi Ming is trending too, and it’s related to you."

"Qi Ming? What happened to him?"

"There’s a marketing account that posted a video from the night of our first show’s conclusion, the one where you were helping move boxes and Qi Ming was playing with his phone. They must’ve paid to trend it, and that’s why it climbed so fast." Wen Qiao briefly explained, then hesitantly asked, "Have you come across any trouble lately?"

"Trouble?" Shi Koufan was taken aback, "No, why?"

"With both these trending topics stirring up, it seems I’m the one who’s affected the most on the surface, along with Qi Ming, but you stand to gain the most from it. Usually, in cases where a celebrity couple is exposed, it’s the woman who gets bashed more. Plus, with that video for comparison, the comments are likely to lean more in your favor," Wen Qiao analyzed her view to him, "But in reality, both of these incidents are linked to you. At first glance, the netizens might be misled by the marketing accounts, but I bet the public opinion will shift once they cool down."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Wen Qiao asked again, "The paparazzi who staked out today must have known in advance you were coming to dine with me. Think about it, has your whereabouts been leaked?"

"No, no one knew except my agent and driver..."

Shi Koufan’s voice trailed off as he spoke.

The incident had come suddenly; when Shi Koufan received the call from his agent about it, he had only glanced at the article exposing the "relationship" with Wen Qiao before calling her. He was worried she would misunderstand that he had orchestrated everything to leverage her popularity for hype.

He admitted that during the live broadcast of the first episode, his intentional proximity was indeed calculated, but as time passed, he felt that everyone was genuinely interacting. With the show running for so long without any similar hyped Weibo tags, and even the production team not buying trends to use them for eyeballs, Shi Koufan had dismissed the idea.

In the entertainment industry, a cutthroat place where genuine feelings are hard to come by, if he did encounter them, it was his good fortune. He was not willing to exploit the sincerity of those who befriended him for publicity.

Today, he had simply wanted to have a meal with Wen Qiao. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have invited Shen Zai on the spur of the moment when he saw him.

Now, Wen Qiao’s words had made him realize something was amiss.

Today’s meal with Wen Qiao was actually first suggested by his agent, who mentioned that he would be passing through Hang City and why not dine with Wen Qiao to catch up and relax, combating online rumors that their "strong relationships" only existed on camera and weren’t genuine.

Only then did he remember that Wen Qiao was in Hang City and sent her a message.

He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but on reflection, he realized that he’d been unwittingly cast into a play without his notice.

From the Weibo post foreshadowing a relationship today to being photographed dining with Wen Qiao this evening, he’d been led by the nose the entire time. If there was any unexpected event in this whole scenario, it was probably the last-minute inclusion of Shen Zai.