Chapter 29

While Xia Xi was staring blankly at Song Yuan’s phone screen, her own phone suddenly rang.
She froze for a moment but quickly snapped back to reality, pulling her phone out of her pocket. This time, unlike before, the call was from an unknown number. She hesitated briefly, but as the phone continued to ring persistently, she finally answered.
"Hello?"
"Xia Xi, hello. I’m Yu Ying, the agent of Actor Liang." A woman’s voice came from the other end of the line. Although her words were meant to persuade Xia Xi not to expose the scandal, her tone carried a hint of arrogance. "I’m calling to discuss this with you, I hope you won’t reveal the news about Actor Liang’s drug use. We can negotiate anything else."
Huh… not bad, Actor Liang’s team reacted pretty quickly.
Xia Xi narrowed her eyes in surprise.
However, if they were calling to beg for mercy, hoping she would let them off the hook, this agent had miscalculated. Xia Xi was never one to repay kindness for malice, she always paid back every slight in kind.
Xia Xi couldn’t help but roll her eyes inwardly. Although she felt too lazy to deal with this agent, she didn’t hang up immediately as she normally would. Instead, she maintained a polite and courteous tone, as she happened to have some free time today. She chuckled lightly and said, "Miss Yu, hello. Although I admire Actor Liang very much, I’m not quite clear about the matter you mentioned. It would be best for you to contact my team directly. I believe they will provide you with an appropriate response."
"Are you brushing me off with these words?" There was a pause on the other end. Actor Liang’s agent had initially thought a minor celebrity like Xia Xi would be easy to handle, but hearing her evasive response made her somewhat displeased. She felt Xia Xi didn’t understand the rules. "Xia Xi, let’s speak frankly and stop pretending. I called you because I know you’re fully aware of this matter and have the authority to make decisions."
Actor Liang’s agent had always believed Xia Xi was insignificant and that negotiating with her was already giving her face. If Xia Xi refused a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit, she wouldn’t mind teaching her a lesson.
"Xia Xi, I hope you think this through carefully and don’t make a decision you’ll regret. If you release Actor Liang’s scandal, do you really think we’ll let you continue to survive in the entertainment industry?"
The agent paused for a moment before continuing, "But if you refrain from releasing the scandal about Actor Liang this time, we’ll naturally help you. I imagine you’re currently being criticized online for your poor acting skills and probably don’t have any good scripts in hand. Actor Liang can put in a word with the director for you to play the seventh female lead in the big-budget film he’s about to star in. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
The seventh female lead?
Xia Xi listened to the condescending tone of Actor Liang’s agent on the other end of the line, and her brows involuntarily furrowed. The good mood she had just moments ago instantly vanished. She had always been someone who held grudges, and her long period of lying low was all for the sake of settling scores more effectively later.
Now, with the news of Actor Liang’s drug use firmly in her grasp, information that could instantly bring the illustrious actor crashing down, his agent still had the audacity to act so arrogantly.
Why were they so certain she wouldn’t dare offend them?
Was it because she had no backing, no connections? Did being a newcomer in the entertainment industry mean she had to endure threats and swallow her pride?
On the other end, Actor Liang’s agent noticed Xia Xi’s prolonged silence after hearing her proposal and couldn’t help but smile. She assumed Xia Xi was intimidated by her threat and decided to press her advantage. "Xia Xi, I hope you’ll carefully consider my suggestion. After all, this kind of, "
"No need to consider it," Xia Xi interrupted the agent mid-sentence and let out a light laugh.
"What, you agree already?"
Hah, "agree already"? Actor Liang’s agent really had some nerve.
"Not at all. There’s no need to consider it because I don’t agree," Xia Xi narrowed her eyes, unconsciously rubbing her temples as she spoke calmly. "When you all schemed against me back then, you weren’t so accommodating. Are you scared now? Your team must have thought I’d choose to endure it and not dare offend you seniors in the industry."
"But that’s not the case. I’ve never been one to shy away from trouble. Let me make it very clear to you now: I will definitely release the scandal about Actor Liang’s drug use. And I will repay every bit of what you’ve done to me on Weibo. Instead of wasting your breath on me, you’d be better off thinking about how to explain this to the public, though it probably won’t do much good."
At this point, Xia Xi chuckled again, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Also, since I dare to release it, I’m not afraid of your retaliation. Bring on whatever means of revenge you have, I’ll be waiting. But I imagine once this news breaks, Actor Liang’s title as ‘Award-Winning Actor’ won’t be worth much. By then, forget about being the male lead in a film, he probably won’t even qualify for the seventh male role. He can save his explanations for prison."
"You… Xia Xi, you have no right to act so arrogantly! You’d better face reality and cooperate with us, "
Hearing the agent’s flustered tone as she tried to soften her stance and persuade her further, Xia Xi didn’t wait for her to finish. She decisively hung up the phone.
Silence returned to the world.
How typical, bullying the weak but fearing the strong…
She slowly slipped her phone back into her pocket, feeling that the time for her counterattack was almost ripe.
Xia Xi had long known that in the entertainment industry, if you had talent or powerful backing, people would show you some respect. But if you were just a newcomer with poor acting skills, other artists would keep their distance, and the audience’s impression of you would only worsen, because you lacked the ability to deliver a good performance or suppress negative press.
At times like this, the best approach was to remain silent, letting the heat of the situation gradually fade before considering the possibility of a comeback.
So, if Xia Xi were to step forward now and explain that she wasn’t being kept by someone or that she wasn’t a homewrecker… not only would these explanations likely provoke even fiercer backlash from self-righteous netizens, further fueling the scandal, but it might also provoke Luo Chu’an to target her more seriously.
In summary, Xia Xi had no intention of explaining her past relationship with Luo Chu’an at the moment.
However, staying silent didn’t mean she wouldn’t fight back. Her current plan was to take down her opponents one by one.
She would drag those who were standing on the sidelines, laughing at her misfortune, into the mud and stir up the waters. Since they had schemed against her so thoroughly, she might as well bring everyone down with her. After all, she now had a powerful backer and had nothing to fear!

The entertainment industry had been incredibly lively during this period, with one gossip story after another making headlines.
It all started with Luo Chu’an publicly announcing his relationship, which left his legions of fans heartbroken and instantly thrust Lin Wei into the spotlight, making her the target of their collective anger. Then, rumors about Xia Xi’s diva behavior, poor acting skills, and her collaboration with Fang Zichen on stage spread like wildfire, further tarnishing her already damaged reputation. Not long after Lu Yisheng publicly voiced his support for Xia Xi, the entertainment world was hit with a series of textbook-level exposes.
The gentle and polite Emperor Liang, a revered figure in the industry, was revealed to be a drug user. The model wife and empress of the screen, Bai, was exposed for having an affair. Even the exceptionally talented Song God Fang was caught up in a plagiarism scandal.
The gossip-loving netizens, who usually reveled in such news, were left utterly bewildered this time.
There were simply too many shocking revelations to process, yet they couldn’t doubt the authenticity of these claims, every one of them was backed by solid evidence.
Weibo instantly exploded with activity. Xia Xi’s few negative rumors paled in comparison to these bombshells. Netizens quickly forgot about her and flocked to the social media accounts of these entertainment heavyweights, transforming into self-appointed guardians of morality and condemning them based on the most fundamental human values.
Naturally, Xia Xi’s image crisis in the entertainment industry was resolved. After all, netizens were notoriously fickle, once something more intriguing captured their attention, they promptly cast aside Xia Xi’s affairs.
But Xia Xi wasn't optimistic. She understood that setting something aside didn't mean it hadn't happened, the stereotypical impression netizens had of her hadn't faded. If she wanted to overturn the public's perception of her poor acting skills, it would probably take some time. Only when the drama she starred in aired could the label of "bad acting" be removed from her.
But what if that drama recast her role?