It was the weekend, and Qin He was woken up around noon by a phone call from Xu Wanwan.
“Miss Xu, what are you up to on a weekend?”
A boisterous voice came from the other end, “Qin He, do you know you’re trending on the hot search?”
Hot search?
Before she could ask, she suddenly heard Xu’s father’s angry roar.
“Wanwan! Where’s my Zisha teapot!”
The call with Xu Wanwan was immediately hung up.
Qin He’s heart pounded. How did she suddenly end up on the hot search?
She opened Weibo and found the trending topic that was already ranked first. It seemed to have been up all night, and discussions had already exploded online.
Her previous makeup tutorial videos were also being shared under the trending hashtag.
Complimentary comments poured in.
— This is what a true natural beauty looks like; she’s flawless even in close-ups!
— This sister seems to have such great character, and she speaks so gently. I’m following her!
— Her short video platform is called Qin Lao Xiao He? What a down-to-earth name! Does anyone know her real name?
Qin He held her head, feeling a headache coming on.
Although she hoped to expand her influence, she hadn’t expected it to escalate to trending on hot search.
But thinking of Shen Yilin’s good intentions, Qin He pursed her lips and ultimately decided not to have the trending topic removed.
She got up, washed, and ate lunch. Then she received a WeChat message from Shen Yilin.
[Sister, did I cause you trouble?]
Qin He was studying the book Wan Fang Lun and casually replied, [No.]
However, while she remained calm, a large number of people became restless.
Qin He’s followers on various short video platforms skyrocketed. She received numerous private messages inviting her to debut, and some were from platforms offering contracts.
After browsing, Qin He spotted a familiar name.
Li Feng’an: Hello, Qin Lao Xiao He, I am director Li Feng’an. I saw your short videos on the hot search and would like to invite you to audition for the lead role in the new drama “Jiang Yue Xing.”
Qin He chuckled and replied, I don’t want to debut, thank you for the invitation.
The internet was abuzz, but Qin He remained unhurried.
It wasn’t until the afternoon that the tide of public opinion abruptly shifted.
A large number of people with ulterior motives flooded the trending topic.
…Is this Qin Lao Xiao He a scheming woman? She even bought her way onto the hot search?
— I check the hot search for current events, we should be focusing on public welfare, how can such minor internet celebrities now buy their way onto the hot search?
— The videos she posted make me sick, what transformation videos, they’re just gimmicks to grab attention!
Qin He scrolled through the comments, her brow furrowing.
She didn’t mind one or two people, but these individuals were clearly prepared, resembling marketing accounts stirring up trouble.
Besides those “well-reasoned” attacks, most of the comments were baseless fabrications.
Some people even claimed to be her high school classmates, exposing her dark past—claiming she was a delinquent, a bully, and had a history of early romance and cheating, and so on.
Qin He scrolled through her phone, her eyes narrowing.
Someone was targeting her.
However, she had few enemies, and someone who could target her like this, and had access to hired trolls…
There was only one person—the little green tea, Song Nuan.
She got up from the sofa and was about to go to her room to investigate the matter when Qin Yun returned from outside.
His handsome face was filled with anger, “Qin He! When did you open a video account? Didn’t you say you were setting up a workshop to hone your skills? So you’ve been filming this?!”
Qin He smiled guiltily, “Brother, let me explain—”
As the eldest daughter of the Qin family, Qin He had enjoyed extreme protection since childhood. Except for a few people close to the Qin family, very few people in Qingcheng had ever seen her.
There was absolutely no information about her online, let alone any photos.
Although she didn’t understand her mother and brother’s overprotectiveness, Qin He had still lived a low-key life for their sake.
After a lengthy explanation to Qin Yun, accompanied by some pleading and cooing, Qin Yun’s anger intensified.
Qin He narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharpening, “If you keep this up, I’ll run away from home!”
Qin Yun’s eyes widened, he choked, and then began to scold the online trolls.
“Do you want me to remove the hot search?”
“No, let them curse.”
If the hot search could have been removed earlier, with the influx of these trolls, removing it now would only make her seem guilty.
Mid-conversation with Qin Yun, Qin He’s phone rang.
She glanced at it; it was another unknown number.
She answered, and a deep, cold voice said, “Grandma wants to see you.”
It was Gu Qichen.
This time, he got straight to the point.
Qin He paused her hand, which had been about to hang up.
During their last meeting, she had a good impression of Grandma Gu. Although she had lost her memory, seeing how Grandma Gu doted on her suggested she had been taken care of a lot in the past two years.
Qin He felt a sense of closeness to the old lady.
But Gu Qichen’s attitude—did he think she was at his beck and call?
Qin He narrowed her eyes, thinking of the trending topic online.
“If I go, I have conditions,” she said, playing with her fingernails. “Someone hired trolls to slander me online. You find out who is behind the trolls, and I’ll go see Grandma, how about it?”
There was a moment of silence on the other end, and when his voice returned, it was colder, “Alright, Yu Jing will pick you up in half an hour.”
Who was Yu Jing?
Qin He wanted to ask, but the call had already ended.
She gritted her teeth, wanting to curse, and then turned to see Qin Yun staring at her suspiciously.
“Who was that?”
“Gu Qichen.” Qin He had no intention of hiding it.
Qin Yun’s face immediately turned furious upon hearing the name, “You’re going to see him?”
“Not him, his grandmother,” Qin He said, her voice softening as she thought of the elderly lady she had met before. “No matter how much of a scumbag Gu Qichen is, his grandmother was good to me before. If the old lady wants to see me, I should go.”
Qin Yun looked worried, but Qin He didn’t dwell on it.
Twenty minutes later, the unknown number sent an image.
It was a chat log, a record of a woman named Mu Zi hiring trolls.
Half an hour later, a servant at the Qin family gate called, saying someone named Yu Jing had come to pick up the young lady.
Since she was going to see an elder, Qin He dressed in a ladylike manner and left the Qin residence with her bag.
She got into Yu Jing’s car and headed to the Gu family’s old mansion.
The car drove slowly, and Qin He noticed Yu Jing, in the front seat, glancing at her in the rearview mirror from time to time.
She curved her lips, “Are you Gu Qichen’s assistant?”
Yu Jing replied respectfully, “Yes.” Has Madam forgotten this too?
As Gu Qichen’s assistant, Yu Jing had met Qin He several times before.
He recalled that Madam used to speak softly and always acted as a devoted wife in front of President Gu.
But this woman, although her dressing style was the same as before, had a dazzling aura about her. She lounged lazily in the back seat, lacking any formal demeanor, yet inexplicably exuded an air of nobility and a subtle pressure.
Qin He chatted with Yu Jing the whole way. Her sharp mind allowed her to casually extract some past anecdotes.
The more she listened, the more indignant she became.
The Gu Qichen described by Yu Jing was like a god.
If the business world was a deadly chessboard, then he was the divine chess player outside the game, holding the pieces.
Well, the external evaluation of this scumbag Gu was indeed high!