“Sister Coco, y-you okay?”
The woman snapped out of it abruptly. The call had already ended, but what she’d heard had left her chilled to the bone.
“Quick! Pull back all of our water army—immediately!”
“Huh?” The staffer was stunned. “W-withdraw? All of them?”
“Yes, all of them!”
“Sister Coco, that’s not a good idea! There are already signs pointing toward us as the ones smearing Han Heng. If we give up control of the comment sections now, public opinion will turn completely against us. We won’t be able to recover!”
Coco’s face turned cold. “Who’s in charge here—you or me? I said withdraw everything. Why are you still talking?!”
“…Got it.” The staffer shrank his neck and pouted, aggrieved.
She was only thinking of Brother Yan’s interests. If they pulled back now, all their effort and money would be wasted—and they’d get themselves caught in the mess. She really didn’t get what Sister Coco was thinking. It felt way too reckless…
“What’s going on?” Suddenly, the door opened and a tall figure stepped in.
Everyone greeted him quickly: “Brother Yan.”
“Ah Yan? Weren’t you on set? Why are you back at the office?” Coco stepped forward.
“I overheard what you said to Little Xia just now. Why the sudden change of plans?”
They’d been setting this up for so long—finally managing to get photos of Han Heng entering and exiting a hotel, hinting at a romance. They’d passed it to all the major media outlets and were just waiting for it to explode.
During that time, their studio deployed water armies to guide public opinion. Everything had been going smoothly, with the narrative turning against Han Heng.
But then—his side had come out to clarify that the girl was just his niece?
The scheme collapsed. He Yan was furious and distracted on set, causing multiple takes to fail. The director finally let him take the afternoon off.
He rushed back to the company, only to hear Coco’s order to withdraw.
“You’re just going to give up halfway?”
“Ah Yan, we really can’t keep going!”
“Then give me a reason.”
Coco took a deep breath. “President Liu just called. He ordered us to back off immediately. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise what?”
“He said he’d cancel all your endorsements for next year, terminate your contract with the studio, and cut off all your resources.”
He Yan gasped, eyes wide in disbelief: “That’s impossible! The company doesn’t even have another male artist who can carry the brand. Why would President Liu such a move? It doesn’t benefit him at all.”
“It’s not just unbeneficial—it’s practically cutting off his own arm. But have you thought about it? For Liu to go this far, why?”
He Yan was momentarily at a loss.
Coco’s gaze turned icy. “Because someone powerful put pressure on him. Even President Liu can’t hold out—he had no choice but to compromise. Why else would he step in? Remember, he approved the funding for this whole plan himself.”
“Han Heng doesn’t have that much pull. There must be something more!”
Sure, the Han family was rich—but in the entertainment industry, money alone didn’t rule. It took connections, networking, background.
Money was just the entry fee.
If President Liu was being forced to bow his head, Han Heng wasn’t enough to make that happen—otherwise, He Yan would’ve been forced out of the circle long ago.
Coco was momentarily stunned. “Didn’t they pressure Liu to protect Han Heng? What other reason could there be?”
He Yan narrowed his eyes. “The operation didn’t just protect Han Heng.”
“You mean… people in his team?”
He Yan shook his head. “You’re overlooking one key figure.”
“Who?”
“His niece.”
“You mean that Jiang… something-yue girl?”
“Yeah.”
“How could that be? Just Han Heng’s niece—a high school student. Other than some popularity online, she has no background. Aren’t you overthinking it?”
“Even if it seems impossible, we won’t know until we see for ourselves.”
Coco raised a brow. “What are you suggesting?”
He Yan said coldly, “Aren’t we filming a new episode of ‘Home of the Old Boys’ tomorrow? The director arranged for some inter-family visits. I want to see for myself—just who is this niece of Han Heng’s that’s stirring up such storms behind the scenes.”
…
Thanks to Han Heng’s timely clarification and controlled comment moderation, the situation quickly died down.
And in the minds of many fans, the genius girl Jiang Fuyue now had another impressive identity—the niece of Grand Slam Best Actor Han Heng, heiress of the ultra-wealthy Han family.
A real white-rich-beauty, a true academic goddess.
The already large fan base exploded even further after this event.
They even came up with an official fan name—The Yue Army!
The fan team leaders were dubbed the “Yue Guard Elite,” meaning they would always protect their mighty Moon Goddess.
Han Heng’s manager rushed to the house with good news: “Phew! That was close, but we made it through. Amitabha!”
Han Heng sprawled across the couch without a care: “You guys were panicking like the sky was falling.”
“My ancestor! If you had really gotten into a scandal, it would’ve been the end of the world! I, and the whole studio, would be out of jobs, back to eating our own savings.”
Han Heng pouted. “It wasn’t that serious…”
“Thank god it turned out to be a false alarm. I bet He Yan is fuming now—classic case of ‘trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice.’ Total self-destruction! Hahaha—netizens are already digging up dirt on the other side. I’ll contact a few gossip accounts to cement the blame. Let’s see how that old hag Coco keeps dancing.”
Han Heng never cared much for these things and never saw He Yan as a threat. He waved his hand lazily, voice casual: “You handle it however you want.”
The manager’s lips twitched—then he froze, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the girl playing with Little Mang.
“Uh… Heng, there’s one more thing.”
“Hmm? Let’s hear it.”
“This time, the reason we won so easily… we really owe a lot to the Yue Army.”
“The Yue Army?” Han Heng raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, your niece’s fan group. I’ve been in this business for 20, 30 years, and I’ve never seen such a well-organized, battle-ready, and entirely self-mobilized moderation squad. It’s unbelievable! I looked into it—no one even manages them. They formed on their own…”
Han Heng sat up and uncrossed his legs. “What are you getting at?”
“Uh…” The manager rubbed his hands together. “I just wanted to ask—has your niece signed with any company yet? If not, let me have her agency contract! Come on, we’ve worked together for years, you know what I can do—haha… I swear, if she signs with me, I’ll get her the best resources!”
“Three years—no, two! I can make her famous all across Asia!”
“Look at that figure, that face—she’s a born star! One in a million! In industry speak, she’s ‘blessed by the gods’!”
“Look at her fan appeal, her base attributes—there isn’t a single rookie in the industry that can compare!”
He got more and more excited as he spoke. Even though Han Heng hadn’t reacted, he himself was already swept up in fantasies of Jiang Fuyue’s bright future.
“Heh…” Han Heng gave a cold laugh. “What, tired of managing me? Want to pick up a fresh face?”
Manager: “?”
“And by the way, she’s my niece. Not yours. Who’s ‘our’ niece, huh? You shameless b*stard.”
“I-I didn’t mean it like that…”
“What, still not convinced?” Han Heng lifted his chin, eyes sharp.
The arrogance of a wealthy young master came out instantly.
The manager trembled, head ducked like a quail.
“And you’re calling her ‘blessed by the gods’? Bullsh*t—my Yueyue doesn’t need anyone’s blessings. She’s the one doing the blessing.”
“Yes, yes, yes…”
“The entertainment industry? Please. Not even worthy of holding her shoes.”
Manager: “…” And yet you’re living inside it?
“You know what IPhO and IOI gold medals mean? It means she can pick any top university—B University, Q University, all hers. A top scholar like her turning into a celeb—how can you not feel sorry for the nation? What’s the point of state support, huh? To feed useless guys like you?!”
Manager: “…” Why is this suddenly about national pride?
He had come to report good news, but now he was getting verbally obliterated.
Nope. Couldn’t win.
Han Heng: “You still daring to think about Yueyue?”
“No no no.” I’d like to live, thanks.
“Good. Then you can leave now.” Han Heng picked up his teacup and took a sip. Scolding people was hard work.
The manager gave a pitiful “okay” and trudged halfway out before suddenly stopping.
“Heng, there’s something I think you should know. Just in case—”
“What is it?”
