My crush wants to be my sugar daddy.

Chapter 155 Protecting Chi Yuan

Li Weiran waited in the office for nearly half an hour before Jiang Haochen finally arrived.

Li Weiran: "President Jiang."

Before Jiang Haochen even sat down, he asked, "Do you have a solution on your end?"

Li Weiran nodded: "I just asked Chi Yuan, and he is not familiar with this Li Rui. They don't even have each other on WeChat, so Li Rui doesn't have any leverage over Chi Yuan."

Jiang Haochen frowned and asked in a cold tone, "What leverage do you think Li Rui has over Chi Yuan?"

Li Weiran was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "Naturally, it's the evidence that you're keeping Chi Yuan as a mistress."

Jiang Haochen: "..."

Jiang Haochen never expected that the leverage he had over himself would be his own.

He was embarrassed for a moment, then explained, "There's no evidence against me and Chi Yuan."

Only a handful of people knew about his relationship with Chi Yuan, and those few would never tell anyone. There was no evidence either; he had deleted Xie Lingzhou's recording that night.

Hearing President Jiang say this, Li Weiran felt even more relieved: "I've already had the company issue a clarification statement. No matter what Li Rui says online, as long as he can't provide evidence, we can sue him instead."

Jiang Haochen was not satisfied with this solution: "What's the point of winning the lawsuit? Rumors can hurt people without evidence. For ordinary people, it's okay, but for celebrities, it can even ruin their entire career. Li Rui doesn't need any evidence to support his claims. As long as people are willing to believe it, it will affect Chi Yuan."

How could Li Weiran not know these principles? But the cost of spreading rumors is so low. Besides, it's not even considered spreading rumors; there's just no evidence.

If Chi Yuan and Li Rui had no connection whatsoever, such rumors might not be believed. But Chi Yuan and Li Rui do have connections, and before joining Tianyu, Chi Yuan worked under Chang Lei for two years. The entire industry knows about Chang Lei's pimping activities. No one dared to expose Chi Yuan before because Chi Yuan's career path over the past two years has been very clean, and with Tianyu backing him up, no one has made a fuss about it.

Once Li Rui exposes Chi Yuan's affair, even without evidence, he will definitely be able to find a crack in Chi Yuan's egg. Li Weiran can already imagine the countless flies swarming around him afterward.

Li Weiran: "I will make arrangements with the reporters to minimize the impact as much as possible."

Public relations expenses will definitely be incurred.

Jiang Haochen: "That's not enough."

Li Weiran: "This is currently the best solution."

Jiang Haochen shook his head: "If you handle it this way, Chi Yuan won't be able to keep any of the endorsements he's recently secured. Even if he wins the lawsuit later, his resources will drop a level."

Speaking of endorsements, Li Weiran felt a pang of heartache. One was Starway, and the other was K Jewelry, both top-tier international brands. Li Weiran was naturally reluctant to give up these two endorsements, but she couldn't blame Chi Yuan for this; who could have imagined Li Rui would suddenly go berserk and bite someone?

Li Weiran: "There's another way, but I don't think it's very promising. Give Li Rui some money and tell him not to mention Chi Yuan during the live stream."

The thought of Li Rui made Jiang Haochen feel nauseous. There's nothing wrong with wanting to climb the social ladder, but as an adult, making a decision and then being unable to accept the consequences, and instead harming others, is disgusting.

Li Weiran continued, "Li Rui didn't reveal the information immediately, but chose three days later. There are only two reasons for him to do this. First, to create a teaser and build up buzz. Second, to get those artists who might actually have something on them to come to him privately, offer to buy out their rights, and make a quick buck. But Li Rui has completely gone mad now, and we might not be able to reach an agreement with him. Moreover, he didn't have any evidence to begin with, and if we talk to him, we might just give him something to hold against us. So I don't really recommend it."

Jiang Haochen pondered for a moment and said, "Go and find out who has been talking to him privately. I'll also have Chen Qing cooperate with you."

Li Weiran: "Okay."

Jiang Haochen hesitated for a moment, then said, "You...you should try to reassure Chi Yuan."

It's not really appropriate for him to be around Chi Yuan right now, and Chi Yuan probably... doesn't really want to see him either.

Li Weiran nodded, thought for a moment, and couldn't help but ask, "What if the rumors aren't contained in the end? What will happen to the company...?"

Always prepare for the worst.

Jiang Haochen said as if to assure him, "Chi Yuan will be fine."

With President Jiang's words, Li Weiran was completely relieved. With the company backing her up, even if this incident had some impact, she was confident that she could lead Chi Yuan back to the top.

Li Weiran is a decisive person. After talking with President Jiang, she left to handle her business.

In the office, Jiang Haochen opened Chi Yuan's WeChat. He stared at Chi Yuan's WeChat profile picture for a long time, but didn't send a single word.

After staring at it for almost twenty minutes, he finally switched to another app, opened Cui Dong's WeChat, and sent four words: {Protect Chi Yuan.}

-

In a private residence in City B.

A person wearing a hat and mask, fully armed, entered the apartment building somewhat furtively, walked to the fifth floor, and knocked on the door of apartment 503.

The door opened a crack, and Li Rui's face appeared from inside. There was a chain on the inside of the door, so it couldn't be pushed open from the outside.

Li Rui: "Did you come alone?"

The newcomer was extremely agitated: "Nonsense, would I bring anyone else along for something like this?"

Li Rui gave a lewd smile before opening the door and letting the person in. Once inside, the person removed their hat and mask, revealing a very handsome face.

The man who came was named Xu Ningyuan. He was a third-tier actor who, although he hadn't had any breakout works in recent years, had once been somewhat popular.

Xu Ningyuan was extremely impatient and reached out for the things: "Give me the things."

Li Rui: "Where's the money?"

Xu Ningyuan: "Cash on delivery."

Li Rui looked him up and down. Xu Ningyuan had come empty-handed: "I want cash."

Xu Ningyuan: "One million? Who carries a million in cash around these days? Give me the stuff, and I'll transfer the money to you right away."

Li Rui snorted: "Transferring money leaves evidence, doesn't it?"

Xu Ningyuan sneered in return: "I want to keep evidence. What if you continue to expose me after I've paid you?"

Li Rui: "I'll give you the things."

Xu Ningyuan chuckled: "I don't believe you don't have a backup."

Li Rui clicked his tongue: "We can't continue our discussion like this."

Xu Ningyuan: "Let's be frank, all you're doing is money. I'm willing to spend this million to buy my future career. But if you can't give me a guarantee, then we'll meet at the police station. I'll lose my career, and you'll go to jail."

Li Rui's expression changed.

Xu Ningyuan softened his tone: "Don't worry, I want to stay in this industry more than anyone else. It's just one million; I can earn it back quickly as long as I'm in this industry. So as long as you keep your promise, I don't need to fight you to the death."

Li Rui thought about it and agreed. He knew all too well how lucrative this industry was, and Xu Ningyuan really had no reason to ruin his future for a million. As for himself, once he received the money, he would leave the country immediately. Even if Xu Ningyuan wanted to sue him then, it would be useless.

The two quickly completed the transaction and received the transfer. Li Rui's attitude improved significantly.

Xu Ningyuan asked, seemingly casually, "That A-list celebrity you mentioned on the red carpet, is it really Chi Yuan?"

Li Rui asked warily, "What, you're interested too?"

Xu Ningyuan said confidently, "You don't have any evidence of Chi Yuan engaging in unethical practices, do you?"

Li Rui: "Are you so sure?"

Xu Ningyuan scoffed, "I don't know about others, but you definitely don't have any evidence against Chi Yuan. Chi Yuan and I worked at the same agency for a year, both artists under Chang Lei. You know what Chi Yuan's face looks like. The day Chang Lei signed him, he practically wanted to send him to the beds of those producers. Chi Yuan never agreed, and even threatened to jump off a building a few times. If it weren't for the contract, he would have quit long ago. He worked under Chang Lei for two years, and despite his looks, he made no waves. It's obvious he didn't compromise. Where did you get the evidence that he didn't do it?"

Li Rui: "It's not that they're unwilling to compromise, it's that they're selective. And look, they elected General Jiang!"

Xu Ningyuan: "Given Jiang Yingdi's popularity and character, as long as he comes out to clarify, if you don't have solid evidence, it probably won't have much effect. At most, it will only affect a few of his recent endorsements, but his career will still develop as usual."

Li Rui was most jealous of Chi Yuan. They acted in the same drama and were both subjected to unspoken rules in the entertainment industry. How come Chi Yuan was so lucky to meet Jiang Yingdi and become famous so quickly? While he was spending his time in the beds of one fat, pig-like man after another, and ended up like this.

Li Rui sneered, "Evidence? What evidence do you need? Rumors are like that; as long as someone's willing to believe them, that's enough. I'll release a few pieces of solid evidence first, letting netizens know that what I'm saying is true, and then casually mention Chi Yuan a couple of times, and everyone will naturally make the connection. Besides, he has a notorious former manager like Chang Lei; even without evidence, he can't wash away this smear. Moreover, this isn't even smear territory for me; he was indeed kept by Jiang Haochen, and Wang Ming told me that himself."

Thinking of Wang Ming, Li Rui's expression twisted. Every time Wang Ming messed with him, he would mention Chi Yuan, as if he were Chi Yuan's substitute and a defective product.

He wanted everyone to know that this so-called Fox Ancestor was nothing more than a thing that could be easily fucked, just like him.