In Chapter 65, it's still uncertain who will be unlucky in this threesome. ...

After discovering that Zhou Qixue's "girlfriend's" identity seemed suspicious, Shi Yao immediately went to the photographers she had arranged to take photos in advance to inquire about their progress. She received a positive reply that they had found Zhou Qixue's residence and would take the photos as soon as possible.

Because Shi Yao was generous, the other agents were very enthusiastic about bidding.

Actually, it wasn't that no one had followed Zhou Qi's example before. Although he hadn't officially become famous yet, just by looking at the scale of his company, you could tell that he was definitely one of the future traffic stars. So the paparazzi team still sent some people to follow and photograph him.

Some of these photos were taken because Zhou Qixue's counter-surveillance awareness was too good, and he didn't put in much effort to take pictures. However, a few photos of him and his partner together were also taken.

The reason it wasn't released was because Zhou Qixue's company had prepared a comprehensive contingency plan.

Unlike paparazzi, paparazzi don't release any solid evidence photos immediately. Instead, they release a smokescreen, revealing some key information without specifying who is involved. This attracts guilty artists' companies to try and identify the individuals, paying them hush money. Then, they release some obscure artist as a scapegoat.

In recent years, there have been more and more cases like this. Those paparazzi studios that were famous in the past would release a teaser with great fanfare, and the keywords would be more and more exaggerated, always starting with top-tier celebrities. But after several days of hype, in the end, all the celebrities announced were not very famous.

By now, these paparazzi studios have completely lost the trust of netizens. Whenever they post a teaser saying they're going to reveal some big news, people assume they're just asking for hush money and will eventually just throw out some random celebrity to divert attention.

Of course, there are also celebrities who refuse to pay hush money no matter what. Some simply didn't notice, while others are hoping that the paparazzi won't be talking about them. In such cases, the paparazzi studio will usually give them another chance. They will directly contact the studio of the celebrity who has been photographed with solid evidence, point out that the person photographed is Tang Mo, and ask them for hush money.

By this point, paparazzi studios have generally achieved their goal of getting hush money. After all, the more popular an artist is, the more afraid they are of their career collapsing. It's not easy to become famous, but it's easy to fall from grace. Having enjoyed the benefits of being a popular artist, how could they possibly accept returning to their previous life? Although paparazzi usually don't ask for a low price, as long as they continue to be popular, they can earn back any amount of hush money they ask for.

Everyone can tell the difference between spending money temporarily and losing a source of income forever.

Therefore, the more famous paparazzi studios have generally reached a tacit understanding with the artists' teams: unless there is a feud between the two sides, they will usually use the photos they take to negotiate a price rather than release them directly.

After all, paparazzi understand the importance of long-term, profitable partnerships.

Those big paparazzi studios have already gained fame, and they don't need to constantly release scoops to maintain a certain level of attention. Even if netizens know it's probably just a smokescreen, they will still habitually pay attention.

If they were to expose every celebrity they photographed, they would only gain attention, not monetization. Moreover, with too many people making accusations, they might offend the powerful figures behind those celebrities.

Over time, an unspoken understanding developed between the two sides.

Of course, there are also artist teams that are completely uncooperative. In the first stage, the paparazzi released some key information and waited for the artist team to come to them. In the second stage, they took the initiative to contact the artist team. In the end, no cooperation was achieved. The artist team knew that the photos had been taken, but they still refused to pay hush money.

Paparazzi studios only choose to directly expose information when it reaches this point. If they can't make money, they can make attention. Although making money is important, maintaining the credibility of the studio is also very important.

These paparazzi studios, while mostly keeping the photos of popular celebrities they capture private, still occasionally have to release one or two scoops. Otherwise, all the leaks would be fake, just a smokescreen to create a false impression, and eventually no one would believe them anymore. Netizens' patience has its limits.

Some paparazzi studios also choose to directly expose the news because they need attention more than money. They need to make a name for themselves and let netizens know that there is a paparazzi studio like theirs.

The number of celebrity scandals that are publicly announced each year is only about 10% of the actual number of people caught on camera; the remaining 90% are usually covered up in advance.

Paparazzi operate in the gray area primarily for profit, not out of a sense of justice.

Therefore, Shi Yao did not seek cooperation with those well-known paparazzi studios in the industry, because according to her speculation, those studios had probably already reached cooperation agreements with Zhou Qixue's company. Shi Yao checked the Weibo accounts of those studios and found that none of them had ever exposed any of Zhou Qixue's company's artists.

This was 200% pre-arranged. These big studios will never actually follow us, or if they do, they'll just reimburse us for the photos. Their purpose in taking the photos is to earn hush money, not to release them.

If Shi Yao were to approach them rashly, they might tip off Zhou Qixue's company first. Not only would they fail to get the photos, but they would also get Shi Yao into trouble herself.

After all, in the eyes of those big paparazzi studios, Shi Yao was just a small individual, someone they had never worked with before, while Zhou Qixue's company was a long-term client with whom they had cooperated many times. The relative importance of each was clear.

But proxy photographers are different. Whether they are stationed in film studios, airports, or freelancers who travel everywhere, the biggest characteristic of proxy photographers is that they are not organized. They mostly work alone, take orders at any time, cover a wide range of locations, and have a very high degree of freedom.

When Shi Yao chose to collaborate with them, it was a collaboration between individual business owners, unlike those paparazzi studios where she was alone against a large group of people, and there was a high probability that they had already reached cooperation agreements with her target users.

The scope of orders that these proxy photographers accept is also very wide. As long as you pay enough, they can take photos anywhere. After the photoshoot, you pay and receive the photos immediately. It's simple and straightforward.

Anyway, they weren't the ones who ultimately posted the pictures, so they don't need to worry about being retaliated against by the artist's company for taking these pictures. After all, those people probably don't even know who they are. All they care about is making money.

The people who take orders from Shi Yao are all very famous professional photographers in the industry. They have extensive connections, know all kinds of hidden shooting locations, and are also very familiar with the residences of celebrities. They don't usually go out to take photos, but if they get a special order like Shi Yao's, they can handle it with ease.

Shi Yao hired two people to photograph Zhou Qixue's residence, two people to photograph Zhou Qixue's company, and one person to photograph the airport. She took care of all possibilities, and as long as she could get pictures from any of them, she would achieve her goal.

The photographers who took the order were very professional. When they heard that she wanted to follow her private schedule, they didn't ask any questions. Although this is completely overstepping boundaries in the fan circle, most of the orders they usually take are like this. The only difference is that some are more serious than others.

Shi Yao has a history of requesting to be photographed at her residence and company, with a particular emphasis on whether she appears in the same frame as her partner. Some fans who frequently follow her offline and think that their idols might be dating would rush to do this.

Since they didn't know the address of the property owner, and the property owner couldn't easily sell it through a proxy auction, they had no choice but to choose this compromise.

Shi Yao didn't introduce herself, but the paparazzi all mistook her for a fan of Zhou Qixue, the kind of possessive female fan who was obsessed with catching him cheating.

Actually, even if you follow these kinds of orders, there's no guarantee of a result. Not every time you stake out an opportunity to take pictures, you'll get some. The photographers informed Shi Yao in advance before accepting the orders, and Shi Yao happily explained that they should just go ahead and take the pictures, and she would pay them regardless of whether there was a result or not.

With such a reassuring reply, what else did the paparazzi have to hesitate about? Moreover, Shi Yao wasn't like the kind of fans who had no information at all; she seemed to have something on her hands as well. She even reminded the paparazzi what to pay attention to, saying that Zhou Qi was very good at counter-surveillance and was very good at disguising and hiding, so they should be careful not to be discovered by him.

So the paparazzi became extra vigilant in keeping tabs on Zhou Qixue. Zhou Qixue was currently in the promotional period for his drama, and he traveled back and forth between home and the company every day. When he had promotional tasks, he would leave home in the morning to go to the company for interviews and photoshoots. When he didn't have any, he would stay at home and rarely went out of town for promotions.

After only half a day of waiting, the paparazzi discovered that Zhou Qixue's counter-surveillance awareness was indeed very strong. Several times, the paparazzi almost got discovered. Moreover, he was also very good at hiding himself, and he would cover himself up very well when getting in and out of the car. This was obviously suspicious.

The paparazzi responsible for staking out the company got excited, but because there were many people at the entrance of Zhou Qixue's company, it wasn't easy to get good shots. Zhou Qixue's movements were also watertight, and the two paparazzi couldn't get any useful photos.

On the other hand, the two paparazzi responsible for staking out Zhou Qixue's address were much better off. Perhaps it was because Zhou Qixue felt that no one knew where he lived, and he was much more relaxed after returning to his residential area than when he went out, especially at the company. He was no longer as sensitive to peeping eyes, making things much easier for the paparazzi.

What surprised everyone the most was that on the first day, they filmed a person wearing a fisherman's hat and a mask getting off Zhou Qixue's RV. That person got off after Zhou Qixue and went straight into Zhou Qixue's house, and didn't come out all night.

This is essentially equivalent to having taken usable photos, but there aren't any photos of the two people together yet. However, the suspicious person hasn't come out since entering Zhou Qixue's academy, which clearly indicates a close relationship with Zhou Qixue. If we continue to stake out, we'll definitely be able to take some useful photos.

The two people who had been staking out the house sent the photos they had taken of Zhou Qixue and his girlfriend getting out of the car and entering the house one after the other to Shi Yao. After receiving the first batch of final payments, they became even more proactive in staking out the house.

When Shi Yao received the photos from the front lines, she couldn't help but marvel at how professional people were; their speed was incredible. Although she hadn't received the photos of them together yet, they had made a small breakthrough.

She opened the photo and observed the person in the picture who was wrapped up tightly. Although the person's face was completely covered by a fisherman's hat and a mask, Shi Yao could tell from the figure and walking posture that this person was Zhou Qixue's love interest in the film crew at the time.

Zhou Qixue is indeed quite focused.

Moreover, he is gay. According to spoilers from the system, he has been dating this person since before his debut, and they will continue to date in the future. This level of stability is comparable to a golden wedding anniversary in the gay community.

Remembering that in the original storyline, Zhou Qixue would announce his relationship directly after winning the Best Actor award a few years later, Shi Yao suddenly became very curious.

She initially assumed the "partner" was a woman, but it turned out to be a man. China is not yet open enough to allow people to come out directly, and it is unlikely to happen in a few years. So how did Zhou Qixue manage to announce his relationship without being criticized or attacked?

"Because he didn't reveal his partner's identity, host. After winning the award, he only said that he had a partner outside the entertainment industry, without revealing any information about their identity. Netizens just assumed that he had a girlfriend and that the two were about to get married, and they were still wishing him a happy marriage, but in fact he can't get married at all."

After the system explained in a few words, Shi Yao nodded in understanding.

That is indeed a method, and quite a few people in the industry do it. Some celebrities remain unmarried until they are in their forties, when they suddenly announce that they have a child and have started a family, but they do not disclose the identity of their partners. Some do this to protect their non-celebrity wives, while others do not have a "wife" at all, and the child was not obtained through legitimate means.

I suspect that's exactly what Zhou Qixue was planning.

He's not straight, yet he maintains a single persona to attract female fans. He's also involved in creating romantic pairings with female celebrities while simultaneously enjoying a sweet and loving relationship with a boyfriend outside the entertainment industry.

Shi Yao was utterly speechless at Zhou Qixue's behavior.

After listening to Ye Jingyu's complaints about Zhou Qixue, she specifically watched Zhou Qixue's interviews related to the couple. In fact, some of the interview questions were quite normal, but he insisted on steer the conversation towards the couple, and his expression was always sweet when he answered, making it seem as if he had really fallen in love.

With acting skills like that, it's no wonder she won awards later on.

Shi Yao patiently waited for the photographers' replies. Now that she had the photos, she was even more composed. The situation was completely in her favor. Once she got more pictures, Zhou Qixue would be even less able to resist.

She originally thought that she might have to wait a few more days to get the photo of them together, because Zhou Qixue had no schedule these days and would probably stay at home and not come out.

But to her surprise, she received photos from the front lines at 3 a.m., before the next day had even arrived.

This time, there were several solo photos. The person in the photos was clearly a man. Although he was wearing a baseball cap, you could tell that his hair was very short and he was wearing men's clothes. He drove alone to Zhou Qixue's detached house, parked the car in the garage with ease, and then unlocked Zhou Qixue's door with his fingerprint.

Two paparazzi captured the entire process of the man driving up, parking, and opening the door, including the most shocking photo: after he opened the door, Zhou Qixue was waiting for him at the door, and the two hugged each other immediately after the door opened, and then they seemed to kiss.

Shi Yao: ?

Wait a minute, why is another person here? Or did the person who went back this afternoon leave and then go back again?

She stared wide-eyed and carefully examined all the photos, confirming that this person was not the same as Zhou Qixue's "boyfriend" from the beginning. The two did not match in height, build, or walking posture, but they were indeed very close to Zhou Qixue.

Shi Yao: ?

She was full of questions and quickly opened the chat box for the proxy bidding.

[AAA's Growth and Strengthening: Is this the same one as the one from this afternoon?]

The photographer across the street didn't expect her to still be awake. The reason she chose this time to post the photos was because the content was so shocking, and Shi Yao, her boss, was so generous, so she had to share it immediately so that Shi Yao could see it as soon as she woke up.

[Proxy Bidder 1: No]

[Proxy photographer 1: Boss, you're still awake?]

[Proxy photographer 1: The person you asked me to photograph seems to have a rather wild side in private.]

Shi Yao had a gut feeling that what the other person was talking about might go beyond just the photos, so she quickly asked:

[AAA's Growth and Strengthening: What's the Solution?]

[AAA's Growth and Strength: Are There More Gossip?]

[Proxy photographer 1: Look at the photos, it's very clear, isn't it?]

[Personal shopper 1: If I'm not mistaken, the person this afternoon was also this celebrity's partner, and the one just now was probably too. This person has at least dated two people.]

[Proxy bidding]

1: And these two know each other, is this a threesome?

[Personal Shopper 1: They're all men, this entertainment circle is really messy]

[AAA's growth and strengthening: ...]

[AAA is growing bigger and stronger: Are you two together now? Let's gossip together]

[Proxy photographer 1: Yes, the two of us were together, and we got both photos.]

[Proxy Bidder 1: How about it, boss? We did a great job, right?]

The paparazzi might have been bored from staking out all night, and when he saw that Shi Yao was willing to chat with him, he rattled off a whole bunch of his experiences and insights.

Although she herself could tell that the two were not the same person, she was still a little shocked to receive a positive answer.

She was just marveling at how devoted Zhou Qixue was, when she turned around and discovered that he had dated more than one person, and that both of them were aware of each other's existence.

this……

This person has started building a harem.

After the initial shock, Shi Yao felt something was off. Zhou Qixue had always been a very cautious person. This was evident from the fact that he had only been photographed in a relationship by one fan during the long filming period. He was very good at hiding his relationship.

Although most people don't know his home address, and the few paparazzi who do know it have already been dealt with by his company, he shouldn't be so careless as to hug and kiss someone right at the door before it's even closed.

Even if there are no paparazzi staking out his place, his career could still be affected if any passersby see him.

Such a careless approach to things is not in line with Zhou Qixue's usual habits.

Shi Yao sensed something was wrong. Once a person starts to behave abnormally, it's only because something big has happened around them that has excited them so much that they've forgotten these crucial details.

Shi Yao quickly opened Weibo and, sure enough, saw Ye Jingyu's name at the top of the list, with several entries in the top ten of the entertainment list featuring her.

She clicked on the top trending topic and found it was a report about the mentors' collaboration stage. It mentioned that Ye Jingyu's stage presence was very bold, and she was very close to each trainee. It even said that Ye Jingyu was very enthusiastic towards the trainees and didn't pay attention to the distance during practice, always intentionally or unintentionally flirting with the trainees.

This report was initially posted in a relatively obscure entertainment group on Greenban. The poster was an unfamiliar ID, but the IP address was in Beijing. Half an hour later, the post was reposted to the Show group, and the related content exploded. The original poster of the report then deleted their account and disappeared.

However, the content had already been screenshotted and recorded, so it spread wider and wider.

Ye Jingyu already had a lot of popularity recently, and her participation in a talent show has drawn dissatisfaction from many CP fans. She was criticized when the announcement was first made, and it was only under the leadership of some rational CP fans that the more extreme fans stopped criticizing her.

But they were still seething with anger and were prepared to wait until the full movie came out before watching it. If the content still disappointed them, they would continue to criticize it.

Before we even got the full episode, we were bombarded with a report that left us completely bewildered.

The fans of the pairing were already dissatisfied with Ye Jingyu's attitude towards the couple, believing that she was not as proactive as Zhou Qixue. After learning that she was going to participate in a talent show and perform a collaboration stage with a bunch of male trainees, they felt that this was a signal that she was actively breaking away from the pairing and declaring her independence.

Now that their guesses have been confirmed in the report, the anger of the CP fans was ignited in an instant, and the super topic was in an uproar. Ye Jingyu's comments had also been flooded with comments.

Correspondingly, Zhou Qixue's comments were also very lively, with countless CP fans feeling that he had been wronged. Although most of them had already sided with him, the fact that they waited until today to do so was simply because they needed a seemingly plausible excuse.

The show's fans were also discussing this. They didn't really care about Ye Jingyu's CP, since they didn't ship them. But for the CP fans who watched the show, this was like the sky falling. The show's fans had a lot of traffic, and soon this report was posted everywhere. Ye Jingyu was being criticized on every platform.

Some fans noticed something was wrong because the mentor collaboration stage was recorded in a completely closed environment, and no fans got a chance to watch it. Nobody knew how the recording would turn out, and everyone could only wait until it aired to see.

However, the poster who wrote the report spoke as if he were there, and his words were very suggestive. It was obvious that he was deliberately trying to get people to criticize Ye Jingyu, and he even mentioned the content of the practice session.

This further exposes the poster's unusual identity. Either this person is deliberately fabricating facts, or this person is an insider of the program team. Otherwise, how could they know so clearly?

The show's fans quickly realized something was off about the post, but the CP fans had no interest in watching. They had long wanted to criticize Ye Jingyu, and this incident was exactly what they wanted. The excitement had already been stirred up, and no one cared whether it was a genuine report or someone deliberately setting a trap.

As a result, Ye Jingyu immediately topped the trending search list, dominating several trending topics in one go. Her popularity soared across various platforms, and she was subjected to a barrage of criticism.

This battle to purify the CP (couple) fandom has started ahead of schedule.

After witnessing all of this, Shi Yao finally realized why Zhou Qixue had been so careless today.

It turns out it really was because I was in a good mood.

Is it because they saw that Ye Jingyu was starting to have bad luck, or rather, that they had already started to make her unlucky, so they couldn't wait to start celebrating?

Shi Yao couldn't help but sneer in front of the screen. Sorry, it's still hard to say who the unlucky one will be.