"I don't know what they're going to do behind the scenes this time. It's really ridiculous. If it weren't for the company and for ourselves, I wouldn't bother coming to this stupid event."

"Keep your voice down! There are so many people here. Don't you know walls have ears?"

Jian Qing put a finger to her lips, somewhat anxiously signaling them to stop talking.

If others overhear and spread this, they will all suffer the consequences.

When Ming Jiayi heard the sound disappear, she turned around and looked back in confusion.

When they saw Ming Jiayi suddenly turn around, the group looked at each other, afraid that she would scold them.

To everyone's surprise, Ming Jiayi nodded thoughtfully and chimed in, "I also think this activity is pretty boring. How about we slip away after the performance?"

They exchanged a slightly shocked glance, then looked at Ming Jiayi in unison, "Great! Anyway, there are so many people here, no one will notice that we slipped away."

"Can!"

Unbeknownst to the five, the staff member leading the way was turning around and staring menacingly at Ming Jiayi...

...

Mo Xing was looking for Ming Jiayi all over the venue with her phone, but she couldn't find Ming Jiayi anywhere.

She quickly browsed the comments under the trending topic and found that although a small number of people were talking about the little parrot, most people were focused on Ming Jiayi.

For example, Ming Jiayi looks really beautiful today! For example, Ming Jiayi's dress is gorgeous today! For example, Ming Jiayi looks so gentle and charming! For example, the little parrot seems to blend in with Ming Jiayi! And so on and so forth...

She couldn't keep up with all the praise for Ming Jiayi, and as a true fan, she was overjoyed.

Based on her years of experience as a fan, Mo Xing was absolutely certain that Ming Jiayi was going to go from being moderately popular to becoming incredibly popular!

So she asked someone to help her do some data analysis. According to the data, she found that Ming Jiayi's previous trending topics and the things that were exposed to the public were all helping to increase her popularity and raise her profile.

This trending topic acted as a catalyst, accelerating the entire process and rapidly increasing the favorability of her among fans and casual observers to 90% or more.

Mo Xing had just opened Ming Jiayi's Sina Weibo homepage and discovered that Ming Jiayi's followers had increased by over a million in just a few hours, and the number was still rising.

She couldn't wait to find Ming Jiayi and tell her this wonderful news.

But where did she go...?

"How about it? Isn't this parrot beautiful? Never seen one before, have you? Hehe, I borrowed it from Ming Jiayi." Fan Wenfeng's boastful voice reached Mo Xing's ears.

Upon hearing Ming Jiayi's name, Mo Xing subconsciously raised her head and immediately saw the Bull Skull King standing on the stranger's shoulder.

She walked quickly forward and politely asked, "Hello, do you know where Jiayi is?"

Fan Wenfeng resumed his serious expression and calmly asked, "What do you want to see Ming Jiayi about?"

“I’m her agent, her phone is with me, and I can’t find her,” Mo Xing replied.

Fan Wenfeng said "Oh," then took out his walkie-talkie and asked softly, "Has anyone seen where Ming Jiayi went? Please respond if you receive this message."

"Received. Assistant Director, I just saw Ming Jiayi going backstage with the staff to change clothes. The third program in a bit is 'Entertainment'."

Fan Wenfeng said "Oh," then put down the walkie-talkie and repeated the sentence to Mo Xing.

"Thanks."

...

Ming Jiayi followed the staff to the top floor of the venue with a puzzled look on her face.

She increasingly felt that something was wrong.

The staff had just said that the men's and women's changing rooms were not in the same location, so after going to the men's changing room, Ming Jiayi followed the staff to the women's changing room.

However, the staff then led her up to the third floor.

The lighting here is dim, making it hard to see the way. Things are scattered everywhere, and there's even a foul smell. How could there possibly be a changing room in such a dark place?

Ming Jiayi stood still, frowned, and calmly asked, "Excuse me, where is the changing room? Haven't we arrived yet?"

The staff member kicked the object in front of her and replied coldly and gloomily, "We're almost there, don't rush."

Ming Jiayi's tightly furrowed brows relaxed. She looked at the person before her expressionlessly and answered calmly.

"Maybe I have paranoia, but you're definitely not a good person either."

The man feigned ignorance and scoffed, "Do I need you to tell me whether I'm a good person or not? I was just taking you to the changing room, why are you attacking me personally?"

“I don’t think I’m making a personal attack on you. Whether you really want to take me to the changing room or not, I’m leaving now,” Ming Jiayi replied politely.

After saying that, she turned around and walked back the way she came.

Suddenly, she felt a cool breeze, which made her shiver.

…

Gu Family Manor

Gu Shaojin had just finished showering, and water droplets were still slowly dripping from his hair. He was wearing a black silk pajama set, and he looked somewhat languid.

He walked to his desk and picked up his phone with remarkable ease.

He frowned as he glanced at the conspicuous red lettering, then quickly dialed the number back.

As soon as the call was connected, Du Yan's somewhat anxious and gruff voice rang out.

"Boss Gu, you finally answered the phone! I was so worried!"

Didn't you send us to protect Sister-in-law? The scouts reported that they found Sister-in-law had been taken to a dark place, and there were more than a dozen people with decent martial arts skills around her.

There were only two people protecting my sister-in-law, and they were no match for those dozens of people. I'm leading my men there now, but I'm afraid..."

"Beep..."

Gu Shaojin's heart skipped a beat.

He impatiently hung up the phone, grabbed a trench coat from the nearby clothes rack, and ran out like the wind.

He looked at the location information that Du Yan had sent him, stepped on the gas pedal, and rushed to the venue as fast as he could.

His face was extremely cold, and he was like an iceberg, freezing everything or anyone that came near him.

Du Yan was stuck in traffic, sitting in the passenger seat, anxious but helpless.

From the very beginning, he couldn't get through to the two brothers who were sent to protect Ming Jiayi.

He now truly regrets not protecting his sister-in-law himself today.

If anything were to happen to his sister-in-law, he would be held responsible even unto death.