At noon, Qin Wei ordered two bowls of pork rib noodles. Half an hour later, the floor manager personally delivered them to the door. Qin Wei was holding a teddy bear and couldn't free her hands, so she let the manager bring the noodles in and put them on the dining table.
The manager walked in, glancing at the figure in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the bedroom, then immediately retracting his gaze.
I'm not supposed to peek...
He looked back again to see the young female celebrity still holding a teddy bear while looking at him.
The female celebrity hooked up the corners of her mouth, seemingly smiling, and asked faintly:
"You've seen it all anyway...so I won't hide it from you..."
The floor manager was startled and immediately said:
"Ms. Qin, please rest assured that our company has strict confidentiality policies. Customer privacy is our top priority..."
Qin Wei narrowed her eyes and smiled:
"It's okay! Just go and spread whatever you saw. I'll even help you come up with the headline—
The biggest scandal in the entertainment industry that I happened to stumble upon! I saw them together today! The rumors about Qin Qiao's rift are false! Qin Wei is Qiao Sixiao's best friend!"
The floor manager shook his head vigorously:
"Ms. Qin, don't have such concerns! As a professional hotelier, as long as there is no illegal activity, your privacy..."
"No no, people won't believe it if I don't exaggerate. If I don't spice it up, no one would even read it..."
The female celebrity leaned the teddy bear's head against hers, falling into thought,
"You write—
I risked my life sneaking this shot to show you the truth!
Then take out your phone to take a blurry, shaky photo of me, don't forget to add the tag #QinQiaoNotSplitUp. After they've seen it, post the previous message... Don't run, I'll give you a big tip!"
Bang—
The floor manager rushed out the door.
Qin Wei didn't react in time. He was gone.
"He didn't even take a photo,"
Qin Wei muttered under her breath.
"Even if he did, he wouldn't dare post it right?"
Qiao Sixiao came out from the bedroom, glanced at the bowls of pork rib noodles on the dining table, and couldn't help but frown. She pulled out a chair and sat down, transferring all the pork ribs from one bowl into the other, contemplated for a moment before putting two ribs back into her own bowl. As she mixed the noodles, she said to Qin Wei:
"With a pitch like that, it would take him seconds to expose you. There's no point anonymity if you violate professional ethics and get fired. It would also make you look desperate.
If you want this kind of hype, don't say anything. But leave some subtle clues that make people speculate while preserving plausible deniability. Let me teach you a lesson today."
Qiao Sixiao took out her phone and snapped a photo of her bowl of pork rib noodles, then drafted this caption—
【Qiao Sixiao: I'm having pork rib noodles today, what about you? [View photo]】
After sending it, she shook her phone at Qin Wei.
"I get it. I'll take a photo of my pork rib noodles too and say I'm also having pork rib noodles."
Qin Wei, still hugging the teddy bear, sat down as well, getting ready to take a photo and draft a post.
Qiao Sixiao shook her head and showed Qin Wei the incoming comments. Someone had already spotted an inconsistency and attached a photo.
The food itself wasn't important. What mattered was the metal ornament on the table reflected in the photo.
Zoomed in and sharpened, you could make out a figure with long hair wearing a white shirt hugging a brown furry object.
But you couldn't see the face, and the image was blurry, unrecognizable.
Qin Wei asked: "Should I come out to claim it then?"
Qiao Sixiao spread out her hands:
"Pay me 5,000 RMB and I'll tell you the next steps."
Qin Wei: "......"
Qiao Sixiao: "......"
Qin Wei: "............"
Qiao Sixiao: "Did you disconnect?"
Qin Wei shook her head and glanced at the account balance on her phone.
Qiao Sixiao's phone lit up with an incoming text showing 1,000 RMB transferred into this bank account, current balance xxxxxxxx.xx RMB.
Their eyes met. Qin Wei asked softly:
"Can I pay back the rest in other ways?
I learned a few dishes watching videos by a chef named Wang online."
Qiao Sixiao didn't refuse. She checked a message from her agent then told Qin Wei:
"The livestream time is set. I guess Li Yao will let you know soon and post from your account on the platform. Just take a photo according to my instructions and let Li Yao post it together."
As she was speaking, a message came in from Li Yao's side.
While Qin Wei was reading the message, Qiao Sixiao had already taken a nice photo for her and sent it over.
It showed Qin Wei wearing a white shirt, hugging a teddy bear while looking down at her phone.
The lighting was great and Qin Wei looked very natural.
Qin Wei forwarded the photo to Li Yao, who enthusiastically praised her:
"Your serious working attitude looks so beautiful, My Majesty!"
【Qin Wei_Vivian: Xing Yan is about to start a new arc! Let's wait together. See you tonight at 7 in the livestream room【View photo】】
Comments:
【Haven't watched vv's livestream in so long!】
【vv can you sing for us?】
【My wife is so pretty, love you baby】
【This photo...! I noticed something [View photo]】
【Isn't she obviously clout chasing? The photo was taken by Little Qiao, you can clearly see her assistant in the ornament reflection right? 】
【If you're not popular stop chasing clout and making people think it's you】
【My goose is not popular? Are you blind?】
【What? Your sister is a no-name trying to ride the coattails of actual celebrities. So what? 】
【A TV drama actor and some internet celebrity are not the same kind of famous okay?】
...
Qin Wei read the comments for a while, then looked up at the PR manager she had paid 5,000 RMB.
Her expression was grave.
"Ms. Qiao, this morning we just had 'suspected rift between two top trending celebrities', but now I've become an irrelevant internet celebrity clout chasing off your popularity.
Refund. Now."
...
Where exactly did things go wrong?
Qiao Sixiao sank into thought. Although she had never hyped anything with others before, she had seen plenty of examples. In theory, this kind of subtle hint-dropping should work, especially during promotions. Lots of companies, Huanyi included, would pull this kind of stunt.
Accidentally letting the paparazzi capture two celebrities having dinner together or going home together, the occasional expose of matching items, vague Weibo posts here and there, eye-catching interactions when appearing together...
But it seemed like the melon-eating masses weren't buying it this time...
Where was the problem?
"Cough up my 5,000 first..."
Qin Wei ate a few mouthfuls of noodles, impatiently rapping the table.
As if right on cue, Qiao Sixiao's phone rang. It was He Hong calling.
"I'll take this call."
Qiao Sixiao's face darkened as she got up to return to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
...
She said they didn't need to come, but around 6pm, Li Liang still showed up, and he came with Xiao Wang to help prepare for the livestream.
Qiao Sixiao emerged from the bedroom and told Xiao Wang:
"He Hong rented a conference room on the executive floor of this hotel. She wants us to livestream from there."
Clearly, He Hong had seen both recent hot search trends regarding Qiao Sixiao, as well as her Weibo post with the photo, and could infer where she was from that. With He Hong's business brain, there was no way she would let an unrelated person freely ride the coattails of her artist's popularity. She would definitely require Qiao Sixiao to distance herself from anyone without a stake.
"I won't interfere in your personal life, but don't let it affect your job.
Winning Best Actress is a great opportunity for your career. This could bring you to the next level. I didn't arrange any jobs for you the last couple days as a reward, so you can adjust your condition. Get back to work in two days at the latest."
He Hong had said it very clearly and politely. Qiao Sixiao had no grounds to refute, she could only say:
"Got it."
...
"Sure Sis, I'll go set up the equipment and adjust the lighting in the conference room."
Xiao Wang grabbed his bag and headed to the conference room on the same floor.
[Xiao Wang's Diary: A professional assistant's eyes can only see work, and ears can only hear work.]
