Chapter 56

Light Rain Washes the Years (11)

Chapter 56

This really proves the saying: the more popular you are, the more trouble you get.

Tan Mian saw the trending hashtag #Mu He Sugar Daddy Scandal# and her first reaction was: her handsome boyfriend got exposed—frequenting riversides, how could one not get their shoes wet?

Paparazzi are everywhere; it was only a matter of time before their relationship was exposed. She just didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

At this critical moment, it was obviously an attempt to stir trouble.

She clicked in and nearly lost her mind from anger! Shock! Mu He meeting a wealthy businessman from Deep City in a hotel late at night, suspected of being sugar-daddied.

In the video, a well-fed middle-aged man was holding a young woman dressed provocatively. They were cozy in the hotel corridor. The scene was unbearable; Tan Mian forced herself to watch despite the disgust, like swallowing a fly. At the hotel room door, the woman clung eagerly like a water snake. Then, her face was fully revealed—her eyes nearly popped out: “Oh my God!”

The marketing accounts and hired trolls set the tone perfectly; the comment section was a complete mess, unbearable.

“Your circle is so chaotic, I’m genuinely disgusted.”

“No wonder she became famous so fast.”

“Weren’t you supposed to be pure and naive? How did you suddenly become the rich man’s mistress?”

“Official media even praised you, and now you crash in just a few days. How embarrassing.”

“The evidence is too solid this time; she can’t clear her name—she’s done for.”

Bystanders had seen so much gossip that they were careful, especially since this celebrity was known for plot twists. Before the truth surfaced, they weren’t in a hurry to take sides, mostly just watching the chaos for fun.

Qian Zhihe became Mu He’s strong backing. Led by the fan club president Yang Le Duo, everyone worked together to protect their goddess: “Don’t believe rumors, don’t spread rumors, don’t give the haters even a glance.”

The media didn’t think like that. Such explosive news meant that whoever got an exclusive interview with Mu He wouldn’t worry about their annual performance. They swarmed in, cameras ready, and even security couldn’t stop them.

Filming was forced to stop. Mu He sincerely apologized to the producer, director, and other actors, then returned to the lounge, closed the door. Tan Mian’s face was full of worry; she sighed deeply: “What should we do now?”

Mu He had already seen the video and found it utterly absurd. She had never met that Deep City businessman; how could they appear together in a hotel?

Yet the woman in the video did have a face that looked exactly like hers.

Could it be her twin sister?

She couldn’t make sense of it.

“Yang Yang, right now the online chatter is mostly driven by marketing accounts,” Tan Mian comforted her, “The company won’t sit idly by. PR is probably figuring out how to remove the trending topic…”

Mu He held her cold hand and joked: “Mian Mian, you seem more panicked than I am.”

Tan Mian almost cried. A bright future suddenly faced a wave of ferocious, undeniable black PR—anyone would have a mental breakdown. She sniffled: “Yang Yang, aren’t you worried?”

Mu He’s expression was calm: “Why worry about something that’s made up?”

“We know it’s false,” Tan Mian said, expressing her concern, “but the fans don’t.”

The crucial problem: there was no evidence to clear the rumor.

She carefully asked: “If your boyfriend finds out, could it… affect your relationship?”

Mu He paused, then chuckled: “Mian Mian, you’re so cute.”

Just then, Xi Heng’s call came in. She swiped to answer; his familiar cold voice came through: “Are you alright?”

“I felt uneasy before answering, but not anymore.”

Mu He teased him: “By the way, darling, my assistant worries that you might break up with me if you see the rumor. Do you want to make a statement? For example, that you love me so deeply that no matter what happens, you’d never break up with me in this lifetime?”

Tan Mian: “…” She suddenly thought of an idiom: emboldened by favor, truly trusted and loved, daring to act without restraint.

Mu He was just joking; with his personality, he wouldn’t respond seriously now. She was about to change the topic when she heard him say seriously: “You can tell her, in life or death, I’m yours…”

Her softest spot was struck. Not wanting to hear the rest, she interrupted: “Don’t say it.”

The call lasted at least ten minutes. Tan Mian covered her mouth and belched—overwhelmed by the love.

Mu He put away her phone: “Feeling relieved now?”

“Absolutely!”

Tan Mian nodded vigorously: “Looks like Mr. Xi has passed a severe test.”

The lounge door opened. Ye Xi walked in: “The reporters are outside; we can’t stay here.”

“Xi Jie,” Mu He stood, meeting her gaze calmly, “That woman is not me.”

Ye Xi nodded without hesitation: “I believe you.”

That was enough. The core of a team’s cohesion is not profit, but mutual trust. Only then does everyone feel a sense of belonging, and everything becomes unstoppable.

Tan Mian clenched her fists: “We will definitely get through this!”

To avoid delays causing problems, Ye Xi said: “The car is ready. Let’s go now.”

“Go back and rest, don’t think about anything.”

“Okay,” Mu He replied softly, “Thank you, Xi Jie.”

A tough battle awaited.

Reporters blocked all major exits in North City, but they didn’t account for it being a war city with secret passages. Mu He slipped away unnoticed and got into a waiting car in a small grove. More than two hours later, she returned to her Jin Yue Bay residence.

The living room was bathed in golden sunlight. Huo Xi Heng leaned by the window, radiating coldness, his tone deep and inscrutable: “How’s the situation?”

“Not optimistic,” said Huo Wen on the phone, “Someone is deliberately smearing Si Aunt. The company has tried to suppress the trend, but it’s only a temporary solution.”

The opposition had a plan, with agents on Weibo, public accounts, TikTok, Bilibili, etc. Videos were deleted and reposted, accounts blocked and replaced—persistent and unstoppable.

Deleting videos and negative comments is easy; the hardest part is restoring reputation.

As for that leaked video… Huo Wen knew nothing and dared not ask. The only thing he could do was minimize the damage as much as possible.

Hearing the door open, Huo Xi Heng’s deep eyes narrowed slightly: “Let’s leave it at that for now.”

“Xi Heng,” Mu He dropped her bag, bounced over, hugged his waist from behind, rubbing against his back, reporting good news, not bad: “Every cloud has a silver lining. At least I can stay home for a few days.”

Even if there was chaos outside, wherever he was, there was peace.

“Oh?”

Huo Xi Heng played along, with a slightly teasing expression: “Then tonight, can we continue what we didn’t finish last time?”

Mu He pretended not to understand, blinking innocently: “I don’t remember anything.”

“Maybe I should help you remember with actions?”

“No.”

In broad daylight, let’s not announce anything.

“I’m Mu, three years old now. You can’t teach bad habits to a child.”

He turned his head and kissed her.

Mu He found the position too tiring. He simply lifted her onto the sofa, leaned over, and indulged himself.

The sun hid behind clouds; the living room dimmed slightly. Lightning tore the sky, thunder rumbled, and soon a heavy downpour began.

The sudden rain came and went quickly; sunlight returned. Outside, a rainbow appeared, dreamy and surreal. After the rain’s cleansing, the green of the leaves flowed gently.

Exhausted, Mu He fell into a deep sleep.

Huo Xi Heng carried her back to the bedroom, helped her change into pajamas, and draped a thin blanket over her waist. He then sat down quietly, gazing at her sleeping face, his brow slightly furrowed, faint blue shadows under his eyes, his gaze increasingly deep and dark.

Mu He slept until dusk. When she opened her eyes and saw him, she stretched lazily, resting her head on his leg: “Where’s my phone?”

Huo Xi Heng stroked her hair: “Hungry? What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”

Mu He lightly poked his arm in return: “Mr. Xi, avoidance isn’t a way to solve problems.”

Everyone was fighting for her; even if she couldn’t do anything for the moment, keeping an eye on the online situation was still possible.

“Your girlfriend’s endurance isn’t that weak.”

After some soft persuasion, Mu He finally got her phone back. It turned out he had put it on airplane mode. Once disabled, all kinds of notifications popped up nonstop. Weibo was almost overflowing; she logged in several times to get through.

On the square and in her comment section, Qian Zhihe controlled comments very well. The #Mu He Sugar Daddy Scandal# tag still stuck tightly to the trending list like glue. There were plenty of negative comments, but compared to the time she was being blackened across the entire internet, it was far less severe.

As the saying goes, adversity reveals true feelings. Who is sincere and who is false is self-evident.

Zhong Li Fei, Lin Xi Yu, Qi Hao, Zheng You You, Dai Ning Xin, Director Xie, Ai Qing, and others all posted to strongly support Mu He. She felt grateful and thanked each of them individually on WeChat.

Zhong Li Fei sent a video invitation: “Teacher Mu, hang in there. If you weren’t popular, no one would be attacking you.”

Mu He, still flushed from sleep, smiled: “Do you think I’m glowing from being popular right now?”

Zhong Li Fei saw her still in bed: “Yes, radiant and clearly just been nourished by a man.”

Mu He glared at her: “Shut up.”

Luckily, Xi Heng had gone out to make porridge.

“By the way, have you offended someone or blocked someone’s path?”

Mu He always followed the principle: if people don’t provoke me, I won’t provoke them. She wouldn’t actively stir up trouble. Publicly, the only grudges were Zhao Yi Ke and Yuan Xin Er. The former couldn’t even manage herself, so she wouldn’t stir up such a big wave. As for the latter…

Besides friction at the Xianxia Romance premiere, they hadn’t crossed paths recently.

Zhong Li Fei speculated: “Could it be Yuan Xin Er?”

Mu He: “Hmm?”

“I checked. The jewelry endorsement you just got—Yuan Xin Er’s team had been negotiating for it too, but the brand chose you in the end. Could Yuan Xin Er hold a grudge?”

It was common in the industry for female stars to stop at nothing to grab resources. Zhong Li Fei and Yuan Xin Er had secretly set traps for each other before; Yuan Xin Er was certainly capable of this.

Mu He suddenly realized: “Think another way—if someone wanted to ruin my reputation, who would benefit the most?”

The answer was obvious.

Yuan Xin Er, their suspect, was now happily scrolling Weibo. Though the criticism of Mu He wasn’t as overwhelming as expected, the direction was firmly controlled by the trolls she bought. Xing Yu Media tried to mediate, reducing the heat repeatedly—but so what?

The internet has memory. Even if videos and negative comments were deleted completely, people would still recall Mu He’s scandal whenever her name was mentioned.

Defamed, let alone a jewelry brand canceling a contract, Mu He’s career would face a total decline.

Getting that video was a convoluted process. Paparazzi asked around but no one had dirt on Mu He. Yuan Xin Er didn’t believe it. She raised the price to ten million, and finally someone brought the explosive material.

As expected, Mu He had risen by methods she couldn’t publicly claim. Yuan Xin Er probably watched the video over a hundred times, especially to relieve stress. She laughed every time, couldn’t sleep at night, and even woke laughing in dreams.

She opened the video to watch again, her delicately made-up face full of smiles.

At the same time, Mu He and Zhong Li Fei discussed the unknown woman in the video who had the same face as her. After long discussion, they got nowhere. Mu He spent the whole night pondering this. After a shower, too lazy to move, she called Xi Heng over to blow-dry her hair.

Amid the whooshing of the hairdryer, she murmured to herself: “Is there really someone in this world who looks exactly like me?”

Her phone lit up with a Weibo notification. Mu He quickly grabbed it, clicked in. A fan with the ID Xiao Lu Luan Luan Zhuang sent over a dozen private messages:

“Please, goddess, you must see this. It’s very, very important!”

“My boyfriend says you were framed! They say it’s called AI face-swapping technology…”

After reading, Mu He was overjoyed: “Xi Heng!”

Excited, she reached out to hug him but accidentally pulled off the loosely tied belt of his robe, exposing a large portion of his chest. Springtime spread downward; from her angle… well, quite a big package.