"Xing Lan and Luo Sheng, you guys should go home first. The two of you don't need to get involved."
Xing Lan and Luo Sheng looked at each other and nodded their heads, "OK, Ning Jie."
Lin Qian was s.h.i.+elded by Li Jin, Long Jie was protected by Lu Che, and Tangning was naturally in Mo Ting's arms. No matter the time, as long as she was in Mo Ting's embrace, Tangning would feel safe.
The reporters rushed forward and directed their flas.h.i.+ng cameras towards Tangning and Mo Ting.
"Tangning, regarding your experience today, the industry has called it a dog-eat-dog battle. What are your thoughts?"
"There is substantial evidence for President Fan's revenge today. Could you tell us what you want from him?"
"Tangning..."
For some reason, when she heard these sharp, tricky questions, Tangning suddenly felt a bit tired. Was the media so desperate for attention?
"I haven't heard anything about dog-eat-dog. If I hear anything, I'll let you know how I feel."
"As for your second question, there's nothing that I want from President Fan. Everything will be handled according to the law. I don't want to put something dirty in my hands."
"As for any other questions, I hope you think it over before you ask me."
"Because, I'm not going to give you any of the answers that you want."
The reporters held out their microphones, but simply looked at each other. They were intimidated by Tangning's powerful response as they swallowed all the questions they wanted to ask.
"Move!"
As soon as the reporters heard Mo Ting say this, they subconsciously jumped back a few steps and cleared a path.
No matter how much they wanted to question Tangning further, no one dared to provoke her.
"Tangning, why can't you cooperate with the media?" someone suddenly asked, their voice filled with resentment.
"It's not easy to do our jobs..."
"There has always been an interesting relations.h.i.+p between artists and the media. If you don't cooperate with us, you will attract hatred and the media will naturally slander you. Someone with a high EQ like yours should understand this, right?"
Tangning looked towards the person that was talking and burst out laughing.
"I don't cooperate with reporters that have no professionalism. That's all I'm going to say. You want me to cooperate with you, but your questions are filled with hostility. It's as though you expect someone to respond to your scolding."
"Have you not noticed that the media are best at stirring up trouble? For example, are you sure that the media didn't make up the whole dog-eat-dog thing?"
"Your job may not be easy, but what about mine?"
"Just because you're weak, does that mean you're right?"
"If I have to take your job into consideration, should I also worry about your pay and support your family?"
"I may choose not to cooperate with the media, but I haven't stopped you from slandering me. If the media don't know how to judge a situation objectively, then you can create whatever rumor you want and I won't say a thing..."
"But, don't expect me to cooperate with you."
"You can't even show some respect by judging a situation objectively!"
"Yet, you expect me to face you with a smile?"
After speaking, Tangning and the others left. As she boarded her car, Tangning took a deep breath. However, it didn't take long before she received a phone call from President Fan. After their previous encounters, Tangning could already guess what he was going to say and his intention for the phone call.
"Come on, President Tang, don't take things too far. We want to be on good terms if we meet again in the future."
"President Fan, if you have something to say, then just say it," Tangning couldn't be bothered with small talk.
"How about this, we each take a step back and let this incident pa.s.s. You cancel your lawsuit and I promise to never cause trouble for you again. What do you think of this deal?"
"I don't think much of it," Tangning dismissed, "Because I'm not afraid of you causing trouble."
"Oh...President Tang. Think this over carefully. Are you sure that Superstar Media want to bring this upon themselves? You must know how I operate in this industry. Aren't you afraid of my methods? I'm not a righteous person like you, I walk a very different and dark path."
"Rather than wasting time on negotiating with me, you should worry about holding onto your position at your company," Tangning said before she hung up the phone.
Righteous person?
Tangning couldn't help but laugh at this term. President Fan was wrong; she was no righteous person, she was simply someone that stuck to her bottom line and didn't attack those that didn't attack her first.
If someone initiated an attack on her, they couldn't blame her for striking back in self defence.
"You must be tired. Let's go home and get some rest," Mo Ting said as he looked at her exhausted expression.
"Ting...take me to the set, I want to see the progress of An Zihao's take over," Tangning replied. "As you know, I've sacrificed a lot for 'The Ant Queen'. Qiao Sen even sacrificed his life for it. So, I don't want to see another accident happen."
"Your body is more important at the moment," Mo Ting said before he drove her straight home and coaxed her to sleep. "I guarantee that after you wake up, I will take you straight to the set."
In order not to worry Mo Ting, Tangning nodded her head and forced herself to get some rest.
But, she couldn't help thinking about Qiao Sen's face as he lay in his coffin as well as everything that happened outside the mourning hall and the media's pressures. The thought of everything made her extremely tired.
After she fell asleep, Mo Ting left his bedroom and entered the study room. He then picked up his phone and called Lu Che, "Tell Fang Yu to handle the PR. I don't want to hear that Tangning had anything to do with Qiao Sen's death again."
Mo Ting's heart ached when he saw Tangning's exhausted expression.
"Handle it strongly. Also, hunt down the reporter that was causing trouble today and make sure he disappears from the industry. Use him to set an example for everyone else in his profession."
"From now on, ask Fang Yu to automatically deal with any news regarding Tangning. She is, after all, an artist of Hai Rui's, so this is a reasonable request."
"I understand, President," Lu Che replied.
In the end, Mo Ting couldn't resist anymore. Although he often said that he wouldn't get involved with Tangning's progress and decisions, his heart still ached everytime she got hurt.
So, after a round of Hai Rui's involvement, the public no longer mentioned that Tangning caused Qiao Sen's death. Instead, all they talked about was the drama that President Fan created outside the memorial service.
Not only did Mo Ting want President Fan to become a target of criticism and a joke, he also wanted him to remain on the hottest searches.