Being a gigolo was too much for him, so he had to become a music superstar.

Lin Buyi didn't say anything more, turned around and went downstairs.

Su Nianwei watched his figure disappear at the top of the stairs, then stared blankly for a while, holding her coffee cup.

Then Su Nianwei put down her cup and turned her attention back to the computer screen.

She opened the comment sections of those smear articles and read them one by one.

The comments section was divided into two camps. One group followed the article's claims, questioning Lin Buyi's eligibility to participate, calling him a "nepotism case" and a "faked poor person." The other group countered, "So what if he was a latecomer? His singing is genuine," and "Fang Yizhou said there's no one else like him, can you haters at least listen to what he said?"

The two sides were arguing fiercely.

Su Nianwei turned off the comments section and leaned back in her chair.

She was thinking about one thing—the timing of these articles' release was extremely precise, precisely at the point when the hype had reached its peak and hadn't yet subsided.

The timing of this decision shows that the person behind it is very professional and patient.

They waited a whole day and night, until the hype was at its peak, before making their move.

Allowing positive and negative opinions to coexist creates a divide in public opinion.

This is not a small-scale operation. This is a well-funded and planned crackdown.

Su Nianwei tapped her fingers twice on the table.

She was waiting for Zhang Yang's call.

Forty-seven minutes.

Zhang Yang called back, thirteen minutes before the one-hour deadline Su Nianwei had given him.

When Su Nianwei answered the phone, she had already moved from the dining room to the study. The door was closed, and the blinds were half-drawn, so the light was dim.

"explain."

Zhang Yang's voice was tense: "Ms. Su, we've found it. But the situation... is a bit complicated."

"I'm not afraid of complexity. Go ahead."

"We investigated the dozen or so accounts that posted those articles. The source of the online marketing company was quite diverse, using at least three different marketing account matrices. Their methods were very unorthodox, and under normal circumstances, it would be difficult to trace them back to the client."

"but?"

"However, there are three core whistleblower accounts, each with over 500,000 followers. They're not ordinary paid trolls. These three accounts usually do in-depth entertainment industry scoops and have a certain level of credibility. I had someone check their business cooperation records for the past six months—"

Zhang Yang paused for a moment, as if considering his words.

"Stop keeping me in suspense." Su Nianwei's voice turned cold.

"All three of these numbers have recently secured major contracts with the same company: Brilliant Media."

Su Nianwei narrowed her eyes.

Brilliant Media. Su Nianwei was familiar with this name. It was a veteran media company in the entertainment industry, a competitor of Tianhai Entertainment, and the two had been vying for it for many years.

"Brilliant Media?" Su Nianwei repeated the name.

"Yes. But that's not the key point." Zhang Yang lowered his voice even further. "Ms. Su, I did some more research. Brilliant Media is currently working on a big project, acquiring the rights to a music variety show. I checked the business registration of the angel round investors for this project..."

"Who?"

"An investment company called Dingsheng Capital. The actual controller of Dingsheng Capital—"

"Wang Shaohui," Su Nianwei said directly.

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Ms. Su, as expected... Yes. Dingsheng Capital is Wang Shaohui's private investment platform. In other words, the financial backer behind Huihuang Media's recent project is Wang Shaohui. And the core account that published the smear articles has a direct business relationship with Huihuang Media."

Su Nianwei remained silent.

Zhang Yang waited a few seconds, then tentatively asked, "Miss Su, what do you think about this—"

"I understand," Su Nianwei interrupted him. "Don't do anything. Don't contact anyone, don't delete anything, and don't mention what we found out today to anyone."

"clear."

"And Zhang Yang."

"exist."

"You are not allowed to reveal a single word of anything you've told me today, including the information you've found, until I say yes. Not to anyone."

"I understand, Miss Su."

Su Nianwei hung up the phone.

She put her phone on the desk, leaned back in her chair, and stared at the ceiling for a long time.

Wang Shaohui. President of Tianhai Entertainment. One of the main financial backers of "Future Star". Chen Jiahao's boss.

To use someone else to do one's dirty work.

He was an employee of Tianhai Media Group, and it would be too obvious for him to directly target contestants on his own show. So he changed his approach—using the channels of his privately invested Brilliant Media to bribe influential outsiders to launch an attack from the outside.

In this way, even if it is investigated, on the surface it will only be the work of competitors, and will have nothing to do with Tianhai Entertainment or Wang Shaohui.

Su Nianwei mentally went through the sequence of events: Wang Shaohui → Dingsheng Capital → Huihuang Media → Whispering Influencer → Smear Article.

Four layers of middlemen. That's cautious enough.

But Su Nianwei still managed to find out.

Su Nianwei recalled the phone call Zhao Leiming made to Wang Shaohui yesterday—although she didn't know the specific content of the call, the timeline matched. Lin Buyi became an overnight sensation on stage, and that very night he surged into the top ten trending topics; Wang Shaohui must have known about it. Then, in the early hours of the next day, the smear articles appeared.

The fact that he reacted so quickly suggests that Wang Shaohui already had some incriminating material prepared in his possession.

He may have been keeping an eye on the players who could pose a threat to Chen Jiahao in this competition from the very beginning.

Lin Buyi's rise to fame merely triggered his reaction.

Su Nianwei took a deep breath.

This is something we can't confront head-on.

Wang Shaohui is the president of Tianhai Entertainment. Su Nianwei's father, Su Zhenbang, has business dealings with Tianhai, and the Su Group is also an indirect shareholder of Tianhai. If she directly confronts Wang Shaohui, it would be tantamount to putting her relationship with Lin Buyi on the table, and the consequences would be far more serious than these smear articles.

And—her father will find out.

This is something she doesn't want to see.

Su Nianwei stood up, walked to the window, and opened the blinds to look at the sunlight outside.

She had to protect Lin Buyi, but she couldn't expose herself.

She must fight back, but she can't alert the enemy.

Su Nianwei pondered for about five minutes, then returned to her desk and picked up her phone.

She opened WeChat and found someone she hadn't contacted in a long time.

The other person's WeChat contact name is Uncle Hu.

Su Nianwei sent a message: "Uncle Hu, is it convenient for us to talk?"

Less than thirty seconds later, the other party replied: "Xiao Wei? What's up?"

"I need your help with something. It's not through the company; it's a personal matter."

"you say."

"I need a reliable public relations team, the kind that can handle public opinion defense. No need for proactive attacks, just defensive and positive guidance. I'll cover the costs privately."

The other party replied after a while: "How big is the plate?"

"Not a big deal. At present, it only involves one person's public opinion defense. But the opponent may be a major player in the industry, requiring a highly professional team."