"Okay." Jiang Xiaomian agreed with a doting look, but her face still showed deep worry.
"You don't believe it at all, do you?" Qiao Xia rolled her eyes helplessly. "Think what you want."
Qiao Xia closed the door, needing to calm down. Perhaps because she was too tired, she collapsed onto the bed and slept soundly until the next morning.
When I picked up my phone, I found that there were over 99 missed calls in the message bombardment.
Besides the energetic CEO Wang, there's also Julie, the top agent who just took office a few days ago.
Qiao Xia didn't rush to return the call, but instead opened Weibo's trending topics.
The top ten spots were all taken by members of the group. Besides the prominent entries for "Mu Xiaozhe leaving the group" and "Jiang Xiaomian nightclub regular," the entry for "Su Jiu speaks out" followed closely behind.
But what also caught Qiao Xia's attention was a rapidly rising trending topic: "Jiang Xiaomian's inside story".
Qiao Xia clicked on the entry and what came into view was her interaction with Jiang Xiaomian last night. According to the paparazzi's voice-over, she and Jiang Xiaomian had become a sweet couple who didn't care about the rumors from the outside world.
The paparazzi also specifically pointed out her identity in the video: the legal representative of Xingyao Media, the real person in charge of the boy group's management contracts.
Guided by the paparazzi, netizens speculated that Mu Xiaozhe left the group because he refused workplace unspoken rules, and some tech enthusiasts pointed out that Jiang Xiaomian's vote count was abnormal, suggesting that someone was rigging the results.
Therefore, the comments under this entry can be roughly divided into three camps.
One group consists of Mu Xiaozhe's fans and the fans of the contestants who have been hovering around the debut positions. They demand that Qiao Xia return Mu Xiaozhe's center position and the debut positions that the others should have received, and they also demand an apology from Qiao Xia.
The other group consists of Jiang Xiaomian's fans, who demand that Qiao Xia come forward to clarify the situation and resign.
Another faction was stirring up trouble, but their ultimate target was Qiao Xia, which made her feel a little strange.
It's understandable for fans to criticize and belittle each other, since there are conflicts of interest between idols, and it's also understandable to shift the blame onto an idol to protect their image.
The person who took action immediately had all the official accounts involved, which clearly indicated premeditation, but judging from the direction of the move, it wasn't about taking over the boy band that she was making money from.
Of the nine members whose debut lineup has been confirmed, apart from Mu Xiaozhe who has announced his withdrawal and Su Jiu who has posted a statement to distance herself from the group, the rest have all been exposed to varying degrees of negative information.
From bedwetting at age six to using other people's toilet paper at school, it's clear they're all going to be ruined, unlike the usual practices of management companies.
When Qiao Xia left, she inadvertently glanced at another message on the trending topics list.
The chairman of a listed company, in an attempt to seize family assets from his wife, abducted and sold his own daughter, committing heinous acts that have caused the company's stock to plummet.
For some reason, Qiao Xia thought of the company that Qiao Zhaoxing had acquired. Qiao Zhaoxing, who was immersed in the joy of successfully completing the task, obviously did not see the trending topics.
After hearing the news from Qiao Xia, Qiao Zhaoxing sat up with a start. "Why does this sound so familiar? Don't worry, Xia Bao, Dad will definitely not lose this time."
To be honest, Qiao Xia wasn't entirely at ease, but she also had a lot of messes to clean up, so she could only postpone the matter for now.
Julie flew overnight from City A, accompanied by Jiang Xiaomian's former boss.
He was still the same as before, cautious in his speech and actions, but his face clearly showed a hint of smugness.
“I don’t know what we have to say to each other. I bought out Jiang Xiaomian’s management contract in the first place, and we also signed a confidentiality agreement, but obviously you did not abide by the contract.”
The boss spread his hands, "But you can't sue me, can you? Going to court would just be telling everyone that the videos circulating online are real."
Qiao Xia glared at him angrily, "What do you want?"
The boss sat cross-legged, looking relaxed, and said, "If it were as you said on the phone, 20 million would have been enough for me, but now the price has gone up to 50 million, and I can't accept a penny less."
Qiao Xia slammed her fist on the table in anger. "You're taking advantage of my misfortune! This is extortion!"
“It’s extortion, but you still have to pay this money.” Qiao Xia’s anger seemed to have triggered his excitement, causing him to completely lose his usual rationality. “I know what you’re thinking. You just think that things will pass with time.”
“But I still have a lot of those videos. I’ve long felt that that kid is no ordinary person. I’ve made a lot of backups of things about him, including videos of him taking a shower and changing clothes.”
If Qiao Xia's anger earlier had an element of acting, hearing these words made her genuinely disgusted: "How could you have the nerve to say something like that?"
The boss shrugged indifferently, "I'm a businessman. Everything a businessman does is for money. Anything that can be exchanged for money is a commodity. Have you thought it through?"
"How do I know that if I give you this chance, you won't threaten me again?" Qiao Xia's hands were trembling with anger, but the boss mistook her for being afraid.
So, the old man said calmly, "That depends on my mood. The fact that you're still here listening to me means that Jiang Xiaomian can bring you greater profits. Have you thought it through? In a little while, the price might not be the same."
Qiao Xia closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, saying, "Give it to him."
Mr. Wang, who was temporarily acting as his secretary, stared wide-eyed in shock. "You really gave it to me?"
"Give."
"Too late," the boss interrupted with amusement, looking at his nails. "It's seventy million now."
Mr. Wang rolled up his sleeves in anger, "Seventy million? Do I look like I have seventy million?"
Startled by his sudden outburst, the boss took a half-step back. Qiao Xia quickly grabbed President Wang, saying, "Don't be impulsive."
Seeing this, the boss became even more arrogant, "Because of his rudeness just now, the price is now eighty million."
Qiao Xia gritted her teeth and said, "Here you go."
Mr. Wang stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Are you crazy? Even if you sold that kid off the hook, he wouldn't be worth 80 million!"
Seeing this, the boss knew that this amount of money was probably Qiao Xia's limit, but he still wanted to make one last profit. He widened his eyes and said, "One hundred million, and I will never appear in front of you again."
Qiao Xia also only uttered one word, "Give."
The boss was still somewhat unsatisfied, but he could also tell that if he continued calling out to President Wang, he really wouldn't be able to hold back.
He could only leave dejectedly, but before leaving, he couldn't help but gloat, "If I had just handed over the twenty million over the phone back then, would we be in this situation today..."
Qiao Xia grabbed his collar and slapped him repeatedly.
After the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms strike, the boss's face swelled up like a pig's head. "One hundred million for eighteen slaps, you actually made a profit. Remember, don't try to act innocent after getting a good deal from me. Get lost!"
Even after the man left, Mr. Wang was still furious. "Where did you go from dealing with me with that kind of attitude? A hundred million! You just let someone extort it like that? If you don't know how to spend money, then you spend it for me. This is infuriating."
Qiao Xia unplugged the USB drive from the computer and threw it to him, saying, "You'll have to throw it up sooner or later, so what's there to be angry about?"
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