The Heiress's Game

The official announcement was released promptly at 10:00 AM on Wednesday.

The notice, in white lettering on a blue background, reads: "Lan Moumou (male, 28 years old), who has confessed to the illegal act of soliciting prostitution, has been placed under administrative detention in accordance with the law."

No full name, no photo.

But for 28-year-old Lan, this information was enough to shatter all speculation and wishful thinking.

Less than three minutes after the message was pushed out, it went viral on trending topics, and the server crashed for nearly twenty minutes before it was barely restored.

The name that was once cherished by 90 million fans has become a taboo word that everyone avoids in just one morning.

Randy's hashtag was completely deleted within forty minutes of the announcement.

Those veteran fans who had followed Randy for five or six years, who usually took and edited photos, organized support activities, and managed fan groups, running the super topic more efficiently than a regular company, were now like bulldozers, wiping out years of hard work overnight.

They silently disbanded one fan group after another, silently deleted tens of thousands of retouched photos from their albums, and silently set their accounts to "deleted".

This account has no future. All those carefully selected angles, the amazing photos edited through countless sleepless nights, and the items bought with months' worth of savings have become a joke in this moment.

There is a long-time fan with the ID "Ultraman Tiga is shining today" who has been following Randy for seven years, ever since he was a trainee.

After the super topic disbanded, she posted a Weibo post with a photo showing her shaved head and cutting off her long hair, which she had kept for many years, at the roots.

The caption reads only one line: "Sealing my heart and locking away my love, from now on I'll only follow anime characters."

This Weibo post was forwarded over 100,000 times.

In the comments section, some people cried, some cursed, some advised her not to do anything rash, and some even sarcastically said, "She's obsessed with idol worship."

She didn't reply to any of them, and her account hasn't been updated since she posted that Weibo.

At the same time, in Dahai City.

Chen Cui put down her phone. The midday sun outside the window was shining brightly, making the photo wall in the living room, which was covered with family portraits, shine.

The largest photo in the series was taken on the day the first season of "Walking with Brilliance" wrapped up filming, with Gu Yunjin standing right in the center.

Chen Cui's family surrounded her, each with an unreal smile on their face, as if they had just woken up from a long dream and couldn't quite believe they were really awake.

"Mom, call your brother and sister-in-law over, right now."

In less than ten minutes, all the Chen siblings had arrived.

Chen Cui sat on the sofa in the middle of the living room.

"You should have all seen the official report: Randy has been detained for soliciting prostitution."

Chen Shuo scratched his head. "Sis, he is him, and we are us—"

"Shut up." Chen Cui glanced at him.

Chen Shuo immediately swallowed the rest of his sentence and stood up obediently.

Chen Cui took a deep breath. "I called you all here today not to discuss Randy."

"I want you to remember Randy, remember his name, and remember his fate."

Remember how he spent over a decade climbing to that spot, and then smashed it to pieces in a single night.

"What kind of life did we live before?"

Chen Shuo lowered his head, his chin almost touching his chest, and his ears were burning red.

"And now?" Chen Cui opened her arms and looked around the exquisitely decorated house.

"We now live in a hillside villa in Ocean City. What do people outside call us? 'The Brilliant Family'."

Brands lined up to offer us money to appear on TV shows, and Mr. Gu gave us equity, turning us from employees into partners.

Do you know how many people have tried to bring our family down over the years? Do you know how many people think we don't deserve this position?

"Let me give you another set of data. The total sponsorship fee for the first three seasons of the show 'Heartbeat Countdown' was 180 million yuan. After Randy's accident, it all went down the drain."

This is just the loss of Xingyao alone; the losses of brands, platforms, and other artists combined amount to an astronomical figure.

"It took President Gu almost three years to build Xingyao into what it is today, and Randy wiped out half of her business overnight."

She put her phone back on the coffee table, her gaze returning to her younger siblings, and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"If anyone feels sorry for Randy, sympathizes with him, or thinks this is far removed from our lives—tell me now."

Chen Shuo was the first to raise his head. "Sister, I understand. I won't let you down."

The younger sister, Chen Yao, immediately spoke up, "Sister, don't worry, I know what's important. If one person in our family gets into trouble, everyone's endorsements will be affected. I won't let that happen to me."

The other two younger sisters nodded in agreement.

Chen Cui looked at them and said, "I'm not forbidding you from dating, making friends, or going out."

"But you must remember—from the moment Mr. Gu handed the shares to our family, we were no longer ordinary people."

Our names, our faces, our every word and action are tied to Xingyao's stock price and the contracts with the brands.

"Outside, you represent not just yourselves, but the Chen family, Xingyao Media, and the vision of President Gu Yunjin."

"I don't want to go back to that kind of life."

"I don't want to go back to that rented room, and I don't want to be someone's handbag carrier anymore."

So if any of you did the same thing as Randy—I will not forgive you.

It's not that my sister doesn't care about family ties; it's because the six of us are one.

If one person dies, the other five will die with them. This isn't a threat; it's a fact.

Chen Shuo stepped forward and reached out to grasp Chen Cui's wrist.

"Sister, I've had enough of that kind of life," he said. "Don't worry. We won't let you down."

The other three younger sisters also gathered around, some holding Chen Cui's hand and others hugging her arm.

Chen Yao pressed her face against her sister's shoulder and whispered, "Sister, don't cry."

"I didn't cry." Chen Cui turned her face away and quickly wiped her eyes.

"Alright, everyone sit down. I have something else to say."

The younger siblings obediently sat back down on the sofa.

Chen's mother also looked longingly at her eldest daughter.

Chen Cui cleared her throat. "What I'm about to say is related to Xingyao."

"After Randy's accident, President Nan contacted me. Xingyao's attitude was very clear - future risk management will be fully upgraded."

"Risk management?" Chen Yao blinked, not quite understanding the term.

"It's about protecting us." Chen Cui looked at her and explained in a way she could understand.

"We are getting more and more exposure now, and more and more people want to get close to us."

Among these people, some genuinely want to cooperate, some want to ride the wave of popularity, and others—want to drag us down with them.

Mr. Nan's point is that Xingyao will be involved in the review of what content we post on social media, what brands we endorse, and who we associate with.

It's not about restricting everyone's freedom, it's about building a firewall in front of us.

She glanced around at her younger siblings' expressions to make sure everyone was listening attentively before continuing:

"I know you might feel uncomfortable. Nobody likes being told what to do."

But remember this—Randy got into trouble because nobody cared about him.

Or rather, someone is trying to control him, but he feels that the person controlling him is getting in his way.

He craved freedom, excitement, and the freedom to do as he pleased, and in the end, he got himself into trouble.

Chen Shuo nodded and said earnestly, "Sister, I understand. This isn't a restriction, it's protection."

"Yes." Chen Cui looked at him. "Remember this. From now on, the Xingyao team will conduct risk communication with us regularly. I hope that each of you will cooperate and not feel annoyed or that they are making things difficult for you."

They've seen far more than you have. They know which pitfalls to avoid, which people to associate with, and which occasions to avoid.

Listening to them is protecting yourselves.

The three younger sisters nodded in unison, and Chen's mother nodded heavily at the table as well. Although she didn't fully understand, she remembered her eldest daughter's last words.

Chen Cui leaned back on the sofa, her gaze slowly sweeping over each young face in front of her.

These faces were all exceptionally beautiful, the kind of beauty bestowed upon them by God. But more precious than their beauty was their trust and reliance on her.

"There's one more thing. Mr. Nan told me that Xingyao's future business focus will be entirely on 'Brilliant'."

Clothing, jewelry, and cosmetics – three derivative lines are being rolled out at full speed. Do you know what this means? It means that the Chen family's influence is greater than ever before.

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the faces of her younger siblings.

"The heavier something is, the less likely it is to be dropped."