Chereads / Love from The Koi Goddess / Chapter 22 - "Sick and Brilliant" Manoeuvre

Chapter 22 - "Sick and Brilliant" Manoeuvre

The thought was very short-lived, quickly removed from Jinli's mind. In her eyes, that man held no weight.  

-- Returning to reality --  

No matter from which angle one looked, Lu Qingyuan was a man blessed by the Heavens, a definite winner in life. How did this epitome of perfection unfortunately get involved with the Queen of Scandals, Bai Jinli?

Jinli scoured through all news outlets, and just as expected, she landed on her answer without delay. This was unsurprising, considering the red-hot fame Lu Qingyuan had, and the highly scrutinised scandalous life of Bai Jinli. Not to mention, the incident was from not long ago, just a short 2 months.  

It all began with Lu Qingyuan's attendance of a blockbuster reality show. It may come as a surprise to many that an accomplished musician would willingly join a popular reality television show. Yet, Lu Qingyuan was a rare breed. While he was talented, young and successful, he did not let it go to his head. He remained humble and down-to-earth.  

Additionally, he truly loved music, and was very willing to attend any event with high exposure. He saw it as a platform to promote classical music, spreading love for music and the violin.   

It was on the show that the host asked about his new album's MV recording, and his unmade choice for the actress. Teasingly, he flashed images of an array of popular female artistes, asking if any of the ladies caught his attention. All of the chosen photographs were either of highly popular actresses or publicly recognised beauties. Within them was Bai Jinli.   

Well, unsurprisingly, Lu Qingyuan had no idea who she was. Regardless, the looks that kept Bai Jinli surviving in the industry caught his attention. Even if she was mired in scandals, her appearance was still undeniably bewitching. The simple-minded, practical musician threw a glance over all the photos, and decisively chose Bai Jinli and even complimented her beauty publicly.  

At this point, it definitely did not sound like too much of a hoo-haa. Any sane person would have been able to tell that it was just a polite statement. A joke for the screen. Even the intellectually underdeveloped Bai Jinli did not think much about it, though the praise did send her floating up to cloud nine for quite some time.

But that was not the end.

In came the ever-caring Morning Star. They saw this as a golden opportunity and began to pull strings behind the scenes. The Public Relations Director, who had never once cared about Bai Jinli's public image, saw this as a god-given chance to get the company, and himself, onto the route to success. This man, supposedly President's brother in law, poured in an unfathomable amount of funds, buying over a sizeable number of keyboard warriors, milking every drop out of this chance.  

Yes, it was basically exploitation. Forcefully bringing 2 unrelated ends together.  

That 1 innocent sentence, without any strand of hidden agenda, was unfairly twisted into a declaration of love and admiration.  

Shameless, baseless statements like: 

Look at Lu Qingyuan's overwhelming admiration for Bai Jinli!

were even released.

Most disgustingly, the Public Relations Director truly believed that he was doing impressively good deeds, asking for rewards for his "outstanding achievements". A sick, showy and brilliant manoeuvre, bringing about the best possible situation for the company. 

Fortunately, the netizens were not as intellectually disabled as our Director. Even with peas for brains, they could see for themselves just how unrelated the 2 parties were. Not to mention, the very fact that Lu Qingyuan never knew of Bai Jinli's existence before the show was painfully obvious. 

Admiration? Utter nonsense! 

All that the arrogant Director did was force his own artiste into the trending lists of the net. More truthfully, she was slandered and cursed by the netizens.  

#Bai Jinli Lu Qingyuan#

#Bai Jinli's shameless exploits#  

Well, be optimistic! At least, she's well-known now. Mission accomplished! Somewhat... 

Seeing the entire story, Jinli was too stunned for words. An artiste feared not the lack of action and support. What was scary was their detrimental string-pulling and underhanded tactics.  

Fortunately for her, she had already made the wise choice to cut all ties with Morning Star.  

Undesirably, this act had evolved to be an internet joke. Not only did time have yet to extinguish the entire scandal, it burned brighter than ever. 

The slanders and disrespect would not bring her any of the Golden Auras.

My gosh… First, I fell from the Heavens for no reason, and now I still have to clean up this mess for her? What in the world? 

Jinli felt so used and bitter deep within.