HDRDTH -Chapter 33 When the Wall Falls, Everyone Pushes

The phone rang for less than three seconds.

“Keep an eye on Xingmang Entertainment.” Yu Xian tossed the boning knife into the sink with a sharp clang.

“The moment there’s any movement, report it to me immediately.”

On the other end, Wang Dafu sucked in a cold breath.

“Dad… did this company offend you?”

“They demanded five million from me and want to blacklist Qianqian.”

With one hand, Yu Xian lifted the mandarin fish coated in batter, head facing downward.

The scored fish meat drooped under gravity, looking like a perfectly shaped pinecone.

“Holy shit! Are they insane?! They dare mess with my sister?!” Wang Dafu exploded over the phone. “Dad, don’t worry. Leave it to me—I’ll watch them like a hawk!”

Gripping the fish tail, Yu Xian slowly lowered the fish head into the boiling oil.

SSSSZZZ—!

Golden oil bubbles surged violently, just like the boiling internet at that very moment.

“And one more thing.” Yu Xian stared at the hot oil in the wok.

“Go handle something else for me.”

“I want the front-page headlines of every major newspaper in Beijing.”

“They like making things public? Then I’ll give them the highest level of publicity possible.”

The malice of the internet spread faster than a virus.

In just one night—

#GeniusGirlSuQianFallsFromGrace#

#InvisibleWingsSuspectedOfSeriousPlagiarism#

Xingmang Entertainment’s PR department had thrown down enormous amounts of money. Countless marketing accounts and paid trolls swarmed through Su Qian’s videos like rabid dogs tearing at prey.

[A ten-year-old writing a song like this? So it was stolen! Plagiarists get out of the entertainment industry!]

[I heard her mom’s a single mother. Using her own daughter just to get famous—what disgusting parenting!]

Every word cut like a knife.

Inside the Jinshui Bay villa, the living room lights remained off.

“Beep… sorry, the number you dialed is currently busy…”

Su Wanyi hadn’t slept all night. Terrifying blood vessels filled her eyes.

This was the fifteenth phone call she had made.

The directors and producers who used to call her “sister” in the industry would either refuse to answer or awkwardly hang up the moment they heard the words “Xingmang Entertainment.”

In front of capital, personal relationships were thinner than paper.

“Mom…”

A timid voice came from the staircase.

Su Qian stood there barefoot, clutching her old doll tightly in her arms. The doll’s dress had been torn apart, exposing the stuffing inside.

On the little girl’s face was a clear red scratch left by fingernails.

“Qianqian, why didn’t you sleep a little longer?” Su Wanyi’s heart clenched painfully as she rushed over and hugged her daughter tightly.

“Mom… can I not go to school today?” Su Qian buried her face in Su Wanyi’s chest, trembling like a fallen leaf. “My classmates said I’m a thief… they threw my backpack into the trash can… Mom, I’m scared…”

Su Wanyi burst into tears.

“Fine! You don’t have to go! We’re not going anywhere!”

Slide—

The kitchen door suddenly opened.

Yu Xian walked out carrying two steaming bowls of preserved egg and lean pork congee.

He wore oversized shorts and flip-flops, his hair messy like a bird’s nest.

“Early in the morning, why’s everyone acting like someone died?” Yu Xian set the bowls onto the dining table with a thud. “Come eat. No matter how big the problem is, eat first.”

Seeing Yu Xian acting like an unconcerned salted fish, the final thread holding Su Wanyi together finally snapped.

“Eat eat eat! All you ever think about is eating!”

She screamed hysterically:

“Qianqian’s already so cornered she’s afraid to go to school! Our family’s about to fall apart, and you hid in the kitchen all night making two bowls of porridge?!”

Yu Xian ignored the outburst completely.

He calmly took a sip of congee. The rich flavor of preserved egg exploded in his mouth.

“With that much anger, you’re gonna get wrinkles.” Yu Xian put down the spoon and wiped his mouth with a tissue.

“Let me ask you something. If you panic like this, will Xingmang withdraw the lawsuit? Will the internet trolls shut up?”

“You’re acting like a headless fly right now. Other than smashing yourself bloody and giving people something to laugh at, it’s useless.”

“Then what do you want me to do?!” Su Wanyi collapsed into a chair in despair. “Just watch Qianqian get destroyed?!”

“I already told you. Leave it to me.”

Yu Xian’s voice remained lazy and relaxed.

“In my dictionary, there’s no such thing as ‘suffering a loss.’”

“They like playing with public opinion? Like using capital to crush people?”

Yu Xian sneered, a trace of the ruthless tyrant from his previous life flashing through his eyes.

“Fine. I’ll play with them to the very end.”

BANG!

The villa door was suddenly slammed open violently.

“Dad! Something huge happened!”

Wang Dafu rolled in like a giant meatball. His Armani suit was soaked with sweat, and he clutched his phone tightly.

“It’s early morning. I’m not dead yet,” Yu Xian said with disgust.

“No, Dad! It’s Zhao Gang—the artist director from Xingmang Entertainment!” Wang Dafu panted heavily, grabbing half a bowl of congee from the table and gulping it down to stay alive. “That bastard just called with a final ultimatum!”

Su Wanyi instantly stood up.

“What did he say?!”

“He said… Miss Su must go to Xingmang headquarters at ten this morning to meet him. One minute late, and they’ll immediately apply for court enforcement and freeze this villa!”

Su Wanyi staggered, her face turning deathly pale.

“And he also said…” Wang Dafu gritted his teeth. “As long as Miss Su obediently signs a contract, the five million debt disappears. Xingmang will even invest resources to make Qianqian the nation’s hottest child star.”

“A contract? What contract?” Su Wanyi sounded as though she had just grabbed onto a lifeline.

“A slave contract,” Yu Xian coldly spat out three words.

The classic strategy of capital—

A stick in one hand, candy in the other.

If they signed it, Su Qian would spend the rest of her life as meat on Xingmang’s chopping board. They’d squeeze even the marrow from her bones.

“Dad, are we going?” Wang Dafu wiped away cold sweat. “That Zhao Gang has connections in both the legal and criminal worlds. If we confront him directly…”

“Of course we’re going. Why wouldn’t we?”

Yu Xian sat back down and pulled out the pair of polished walnuts from his pocket.

Click. Clack.

The sound echoed throughout the living room.

“The stage has already been set.”

“We should at least show up for the performance.”