Chapter 566: Distant Relatives
As soon as Gao Min said this, everyone stopped and turned to look at Xiang Yueqi.
Xiang Yueqi was still feeling saddened by Qi Yingxuan's earlier remark about being "all alone" when she suddenly heard this. She snapped out of her reverie and asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with me? What's going on? Could it be that kid Asheng?"
“It’s not the second young master.” Gao Min had previously gone with Ye Wanxi to deal with Ning Anquan’s family matters, so she naturally knew Xiang Yueqi’s younger brother.
"She is a young lady named Xiang Xiaoxiao."
"Xiang Xiaoxiao? Also surnamed Xiang? A relative of the second brother?" Qi Yingxuan repeated the name twice. "Why does this name sound so familiar? Is she also in the entertainment industry?"
"Yes, Xiang Xiaoxiao was a well-known actress with a large following a few years ago. She starred in many popular idol dramas when she was young. In recent years, she has transitioned to the big screen. Director Qi should have heard of her, but he has never worked with her, so his impression of her is limited."
"I see." Qi Yingxuan's expression darkened slightly. Since they were in the same industry, getting involved was probably not a good thing.
Sure enough, the next second Gao Min said, "Xiang Xiaoxiao hasn't been very successful in transitioning to the big screen these past few years, and she desperately needs a work that can prove her abilities and boost her status. She's got her eye on the female lead in Director Fang's new movie, and has been trying to get it but hasn't been able to. And just then, she heard that Director Fang really thinks highly of Wanxi..."
Gao Min spoke cryptically, but no one present was a fool, so how could they not guess?
A sharp glint flashed in Feng Tianyu's eyes: "What did she do?"
“A cosmetics company called Ya Yue had been contacting us, hoping that Wan Xi could become their brand ambassador. However, Wan Xi was not interested, so we declined their offers several times. But they did not give up, and they kept trying to contact us before Wan Xi left, hoping to have a meeting.”
“Originally, we planned to meet one last time to make things clear and completely reject the endorsement, so that they would stop bothering the company and Wanxi. Who would have thought that Wanxi’s departure would take so long. At the time, I was busy dealing with those signed advertising endorsements and couldn’t spare the time. So I had my assistant meet with them to express our stance. They didn’t say anything in person, but they turned around and went online to make sarcastic remarks implying that Wanxi had become arrogant, diva-like, and untrustworthy.”
The faces of Feng Tianyu and the others, who were learning about this for the first time, were not very good. Gao Min glanced at them and continued, "Afterwards, the topic of the country facing a major disaster and the celebrity's misconduct was also stirred up by them behind the scenes. They even went to the orphanage where Wanxi used to stay, trying to prove that the orphanage that Wanxi had not helped raise her after she became famous, and that it was still poor and destitute, in order to imply that she was cold-hearted, selfish and hypocritical."
Ye Wanxi's face darkened upon hearing this: "Did they disturb Aunt Meng and the children?"
Gao Min only mentioned the donation and didn't mention the orphanage. Ye Wanxi never expected that this matter would involve the orphanage.
"At first, the company and Mr. Guan transferred people over there to prevent the media from getting close to the orphanage."
Ye Wanxi breathed a sigh of relief, but her expression was still not very good.
Feng Tianyu squeezed her hand reassuringly, then turned to Guan Xuan and asked, "What is the relationship between this cosmetics company and that Xiang Xiaoxiao?"
Guan Xian pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, as if he had anticipated that Feng Tianyu would ask when he returned, and said confidently, "According to the investigation, Xiang Xiaoxiao and the heir of Ya Yue Cosmetics are in a romantic relationship."
"Boyfriend/girlfriend relationship?" Feng Tianyu sneered, his icy gaze fixed directly on Xiang Yueqi. "Still haven't figured out what your relationship is with this person?"
Xiang Yueqi hadn't met his senior brother's death gaze in a long time, and now, caught off guard, he couldn't help but shiver.
With that shudder, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he remembered.
"I understand, she must be my cousin's daughter."
"Cousin?"
Xiang Yueqi looked embarrassed: "She's called my cousin, but she's really just a familiar stranger. My cousin's father, who is also Xiang Xiaoxiao's maternal grandfather, is my grandfather's brother. But they're not blood brothers, they're cousins. Out of politeness, we all call him Second Grandfather. Second Grandfather has three children, two boys and one girl. My cousin is the youngest and the only daughter in the family. She's been pampered since she was little."
"I think I met her when I was very young, but I was too young to remember her. My parents told me that she was spoiled rotten by her great-uncle, which made her develop a lot of bad habits. She started dating early in high school and fell for a poor, slovenly boy."
"My second grandfather was furious when he found out. He ordered them to break up and even wanted my aunt to transfer schools. But my aunt refused and argued with my second grandfather several times. In the end, she simply eloped with that poor boy, which made my second grandfather so angry that he died."
"That's not all. After her second grandfather died, her two older brothers found her and wanted to take her home to attend their father's funeral, but she refused. They even said some very heartless things, which angered her so much that her two brothers broke off all ties with her on the spot."
Everyone: "..." She was so angry that she killed her own father, and she didn't even want to come back for the funeral. What a filial daughter!
"Both of my second grandfather's uncles have cut ties with her, so naturally our family has even less contact with her."
"So, this Xiang Xiaoxiao is the daughter of your cousin and that poor boy who eloped?"
"Hmm. If you hadn't specifically brought it up, I really wouldn't have remembered this person. We don't usually keep in touch, and given the state of their family, after so many years apart, we're not even as close as neighbors in the same complex. The reason I knew this woman was my cousin's daughter was because she came to my house to acknowledge her as a relative a few years ago when she first became famous."
"She took the initiative to contact you to acknowledge her as a relative? You acknowledged her as one?"
"Whether we acknowledge them or not doesn't matter. Anyway, my parents are quite disgusted by the incident where my aunt caused my second grandfather's death, and they don't have a good impression of their family. But since they came to our house, we couldn't very well kick them out, so we chatted with them politely for a while and then saw them off. Then we told the property management not to let them in next time they come."
Upon hearing this, Ye Wanxi and the others understood.
The Xiang family was well-mannered and did not openly break off relations with them, but they did express their dislike for the family and their unwillingness to develop a close relationship with them in other ways.
If someone is smart, they would immediately understand the family's meaning when the property management stopped them like that, and wisely stop making a fuss.
But as it turned out, Xiang Xiaoxiao's family was indeed smart. They didn't continue to harass Xiang Yueqi's family, but secretly used their kinship as a pretext to gain a lot of benefits for themselves.
(End of this chapter)
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