Chapter 53 – Fans Are Revolting (2)
As the situation increasingly declined, Shen Wei'an's scandal was gradually suppressed. More and more people gathered downstairs around Lan Jinyao's apartment. In the end, the security guards were left with no choice but to report this to the police and let them handle this.
When Lan Jinyao saw that the people outside were dispersing, she prepared to find an opportunity to go out. However, as soon as the police withdrew, the crowd unexpectedly gathered again. When Lan Jinyao, who was already fully armed to go downstairs, saw the battlefield outside, she had no choice but to stay inside. She hid in her room and didn't dare to go out again.
Soon after, Li Qi sent Xu Hao's number to Lan Jinyao. As soon as she received the number, she called him without a second thought. However, when it connected, she immediately heard an automated female voice on the other end: h.e.l.lo, the phone number that you've dialled is currently unavailable as the phone has been turned off.
She ought to have thought of this before. Since that guy had dared to post that kind of Weibo message, he certainly wouldn't answer her phone calls.
Lan Jinyao held her phone in her hand and remained deep in thought for a long time. After that, she quickly called Li Qi.
"Hey! Li Qi, help me convene a press conference, I can't let things get any worse! Also, could you please come and pick me up? I'm currently unable to leave the neighbourhood."
"Okay! I'll come right away."
Once Lan Jinyao hung up, she immediately opened the wardrobe to choose her outfit. After she'd started losing weight, many of her clothes could no longer be worn. Therefore, whenever she was free, she'd buy various styles of clothing for herself. She rummaged through her wardrobe and picked out a hoodie, a pair of jeans, a pair of flats, and a pair of sungla.s.ses.
Li Qi drove his car into her driveway and parked downstairs, so Lan Jinyao immediately got in when he arrived. The car was reversing slowly, so a few fans with sharp eyes saw Lan Jinyao and quickly followed them. For a moment, a large group of people ran behind the car; the scene was quite spectacular.
"Li Qi, take me to the set of A Thousand Years Of Tears first. I want to find Xu Hao!"
Lan Jinyao angrily thought: Xu Hao, as an artist, used his name to manipulate the public's opinion so much that he openly slandered other people. All of this showed that this man had a lowly character.
Upon hearing this, Li Qi said, "I'd long thought of this, so I went to the set this morning. However, the staff members there said that he hadn't gone in to work today. Since something like this has happened, he definitely won't be able to run away from his responsibilities. So, if he's not a home, then he must've found a place to hide."
Chen Meimei wasn't the only one who was looking for Xu Hao. Even President Fu had started to intervene.
Li Qi looked at Lan Jinyao, but, in the end, he didn't tell her that Fu Bainian was helping her.
"Then let's go straight to Xu Hao's home and try our luck!" Lan Jinyao clenched her fists. Her joints were locked so hard that the cracking of her bones could be heard.
Soon after, Li Qi and Lan Jinyao went to find Xu Hao. She didn't know whether her streak of bad luck was coming to an end, but Xu Hao was actually at home. They saw the black hair on the top of his head from the window on the second floor.
Pointing to that full head of black hair, Li Qi said, "Xu Hao's really at home!"
Lan Jinyao nodded and gave him a meaningful glance. "You can go and knock on his door!"
While they were speaking, she hid by the side of the entrance. Li Qi then went to ring the doorbell. The bell rang twice before footsteps were heard, and soon after, the door was opened.
"Li Qi? What're you doing here?"
Just as Li Qi was about to answer, a hand suddenly stretched out from behind him. He helplessly watched on as Lan Jinyao grabbed Xu Hao's collar, and then dragged him all the way out of his house.
"Xu Hao!!" Lan Jinyao tugged on Xu Hao's collar and yelled.
Li Qi, who was standing beside her, quickly covered his ears and retreated to the side.
"Have I ever offended you? Why did you slander me like this? I clearly told you that I didn't do that!" If she'd really done that, she reckoned that Shen Wei'an wouldn't have had the fortune to be currently lying in a hospital bed. She'd never expected that Xu Hao would explicitly go to find her that day because he'd dug a hole and was waiting for her to jump into it. What was more surprising was the fact that someone like Shen Wei'an actually had someone who treated her so sincerely.
Even though Xu Hao was being dragged by his collar, he remained composed and said to Lan Jinyao, "I'm sorry that something like this has happened, but Wei'an needed another news story to cover up her scandals."
Lan Jinyao gave a short, mirthless laugh. "So you're saying that compared to Shen Wei'an, I'm disposable and that she should be protected? That's why you used me as a s.h.i.+eld? Let me tell you, I, Chen Meimei, am not so easy to mess with."
The next second, Li Qi blankly stared as he helplessly watched Chen Meimei's fist land on Xu Hao's cheek. After that punch, a drop of blood had oozed out and stained the corner of his mouth. Now, a large red patch marred his handsome face which had managed to deceive countless young girls.
"I don't care who you've done all this for, but now you must come with me to a press conference."
Although Xu Hao was slightly treacherous, it was lucky that he still knew how to apologise, unlike Shen Wei'an, who was bad to the bone. Lan Jinyao was quite sure about taking Xu Hao to the press conference.
After Xu Hao had received that punch from Chen Meimei, he covered his mouth and looked at her in disbelief. Previously, he'd heard that this woman was as tough as nails, but he'd never seen it before. To think that she actually dared to hit him!
"I refuse!"
Xu Hao adamantly shook off Lan Jinyao's hand and turned to go back inside, but Lan Jinyao was quick-witted and instantly followed him in before he'd managed to close the door. She then stood in front of Xu Hao and blocked his way.
"You started this matter, so now you must come with me!"
Xu Hao walked past her and sat down on the sofa.
Li Qi was secretly anxious. As he continued watching, he kept repeating these words in his heart: My goodness, if you continue like this, then it'll be pointless to say anything more, and this matter will end unresolved!
He wanted to drag Lan Jinyao back, but there was nothing he could do because not even ten cows would be able to pull an angry Lan Jinyao away.
Xu Hao's stance was quite resolute. He shook his head and refused again. "I won't go!"
Lan Jinyao tugged at his collar and asked once more, "Are you going or not?!"
Xu Hao tightly pursed his lips and refused to say anything.
Lan Jinyao loosened her grip on his collar and said to Li Qi, "Li Qi, there's nothing to be done as I'm not able to persuade him. How about this: why don't we call the police to handle things from here? I'd really like to see who did all of this, and who was slandering me behind my back. When the time comes, it'll be unavoidable for us to talk about Shen Wei'an's trivial matters. When that happens, it won't be me, Chen Meimei, who will be done for, but Shen Wei'an… No, no, not only her but also you, Xu Hao!"
She swiftly pointed at Xu Hao, her gaze as sharp as a sword.
An hour later, at the press conference.
Lan Jinyao stood in front of the microphone and said to everyone, "Lately, there were a few articles on the net that were directed at me, but because I was relatively busy, I didn't care that much about them. To my surprise, things degraded and I now have no choice but to come forward and give everyone an explanation."
Surprisingly, Chen Meimei, who'd recently lost weight, had the bearing of a G.o.ddess when she stood in front of the microphone.
Everyone watching unanimously thought.