HDRDTH -Chapter 37 Shadows Beneath the Starlight

“Is the entire internet going crazy?”

Yu Xian frowned, glanced again at the motionless fishing float, and sighed as he set the fishing rod onto its stand.

“Speak human language. What exactly is going on?”

“Dad! The USB drive you gave me is basically a nuclear weapon!” On the other end of the line, Wang Dafu was so excited he was barely coherent. The background was filled with the honking of car horns.

“I followed your instructions and anonymously slipped the USB into the mailbox of that reporter named Li Wei. Guess what happened? That guy is ruthless! After getting the drive, he verified the clues overnight. At 2 p.m. today, he directly published a 20,000-word in-depth investigation report on the official account of Southern Weekly!”

“The title is ‘Shadows Beneath the Starlight: Exposing the Dark Industrial Chain of the Entertainment Industry’s Biggest Tumor!’”

“Inside, there’s not only evidence of Xingmang Entertainment maliciously registering copyrights and suppressing newcomers over the past few years, but also solid proof of their dual contracts and tax evasion, including photos of their accounting books! The most explosive part is that there are even audio recordings of Zhao Gang engaging in sexual favors with female artists under his company!”

Wang Dafu took a breath and continued shouting:

“Now the repost count of this article has exceeded ten million! Weibo’s servers have completely crashed! Major state media accounts are reposting and liking it! Xingmang Entertainment’s official account has been completely flooded by furious netizens!”

Listening to Wang Dafu’s report, Yu Xian showed no particular surprise.

The contents of the USB drive were all prepared by him—using his “future knowledge” advantage to package together clues, hidden accounting locations, and key whistleblowers that normally would have taken three years to uncover.

These were ironclad pieces of evidence built on the blood and tears of countless victims in his previous life. Once exposed, Xingmang Entertainment would have nowhere to escape.

It was just that… the speed of escalation seemed a bit faster than he had expected.

“Alright, I got it. Get back here quickly,” Yu Xian said, preparing to hang up.

“Wait! Dad! There’s more!” Wang Dafu hurriedly shouted. “Besides that report, the internet suddenly exploded with coordinated waves of paid accounts digging up all of Xingmang Entertainment’s dirty past! And just now, several major cinema chains and streaming platforms jointly issued a statement—indefinitely removing all works by Xingmang’s artists!”

“This is definitely capital forces pushing behind the scenes! Dad, do you know some extremely powerful big shot?”

Yu Xian paused.

Capital push? A joint industry ban?

This wasn’t part of his plan.

He only gave Li Wei the USB to trigger official attention and push things into the legal system to completely pin Xingmang Entertainment down.

This kind of blunt, overwhelming suppression felt more like… personal revenge.

Yu Xian subconsciously turned his head and looked at Qin Yue, who was standing beside him, calmly holding a teacup and smiling as if everything was under control.

“Xiao Qin… did you do this?” Yu Xian raised an eyebrow.

Qin Yue gently set down her teacup and bowed slightly.

“Mr. Yu, you are the chief security consultant of the Qin family. Your matters are the Qin family’s matters. A few noisy flies like them aren’t worth dirtying your hands. I merely had the public relations department ‘make a small move.’”

Yu Xian’s mouth twitched slightly as he looked at her.

A small move?

You call this a small move? You basically flattened Xingmang Entertainment with a bulldozer.

“You…” Yu Xian shook his head helplessly and sat back down on his fishing chair. “You really have too many unnecessary tools for the job. Is this level of overkill even necessary? Waste of resources.”

Even though he said that, deep down he didn’t really mind.

This “soft life” was getting more and more comfortable.

“As you say, Mr. Yu,” Qin Yue replied respectfully, not the slightest hint of displeasure in her tone.

To her, Yu Xian’s indifference toward capital power only reinforced his image as a true hidden master.

“Fine. Since the stage is already set,” Yu Xian said, picking up his fishing rod again and staring at the water, “we might as well sit back and watch the show peacefully.”

“I refuse to believe the fish today can be harder to catch than Xingmang Entertainment’s fate.”

……

At the same time, Beijing CBD, Xingmang Entertainment Headquarters.

If this place had been an arrogant steel behemoth in the morning, it had now become a living hell.

Top floor, Artist Director’s office.

“Bang!”

Zhao Gang smashed the computer monitor onto the ground. The screen shattered instantly, sparks flying everywhere.

His eyes were bloodshot, hair disheveled, pacing the room like a cornered beast.

“How did this happen?! Who did this?! Where did that reporter Li Wei get the accounting books?! How did those recordings get leaked?!”

He roared hysterically, his voice sharp with terror.

Just half an hour ago, he had still been dreaming of signing Su Xi and making a fortune. But in the blink of an eye, everything collapsed.

Every word in that report was like a death scythe, accurately slicing through his arteries.

Tax evasion, dual contracts, exploitation scandals—stacked together, they were enough to put him behind bars for the rest of his life!

“Zhao… Zhao CEO…” The secretary pushed the door open, her face as pale as paper, barely able to stand. “The building… the building is surrounded by reporters! And a lot of angry fans are throwing rotten eggs and paint at our entrance…”

“Where are the security guards?! Kick them out!” Zhao Gang roared.

“The security guards… they all ran away…” the secretary almost cried. “And just now, the chairman called. He said… the board has decided to remove you from all positions and… and pursue legal responsibility…”

“What?!” Zhao Gang’s face turned ashen, collapsing into his chair.

A scapegoat?

After everything he had done for the company’s dirty work, after all the black money he had helped them earn, they were now throwing him under the bus?!

“No! I can’t go to prison! I absolutely cannot!”

He suddenly sprang up and rushed to the safe, frantically entering the password.

He needed cash. He needed passports. He needed to escape abroad.

As long as he fled, he still had a chance to make a comeback.

Click.

The safe opened.

Just as he stuffed the contents into his briefcase—

Bang!

The office door was suddenly kicked open from the outside.

Several uniformed police officers entered with cold expressions.

Leading them was Zhang, a captain from the Beijing Criminal Investigation Unit—the same man who had previously worked with international police officer Smith’s Chinese counterpart in the Maldives case involving Yu Xian.

“Zhao Gang?” Zhang showed his badge. “We received a实名举报 (real-name report). You are suspected of occupational embezzlement, tax evasion, and multiple rape cases. You are hereby summoned according to law.”

He raised the arrest warrant.

“You are under arrest.”