The jade pendant was placed back on his neck, this time without the searing hot sensation.
Instead, a touch of coolness permeated his body, gently dispelling the few strands of vexation that had arisen from confusion and the unknown.
The lingering, indiscernible haze in his heart vanished, leaving a sense of clarity.
His mind seemed to have gained something, yet he couldn't quite articulate what.
As if guided by an unseen force, Gu Jiangyan unbuttoned his collar.
He lowered his head. Right in the center of his chest, a faint, water-drop-shaped mark had appeared, the same color as the jade pendant, as if it had been there since birth.
Was the intense heat he felt earlier the branding that created this mark?
After only a few seconds of observation, Gu Jiangyan casually buttoned his shirt back up.
He picked up his phone from the ground, the lines of text still displayed on the screen.
Gu Jiangyan checked again, feeling that everything was in order, and pressed send.
In his mind, he recalled the moment the jade pendant had burned him.
At that time, he seemed to have wanted to delete that social media post?
Thinking back carefully, he also recalled a hint of anger and dissatisfaction towards Jun Ruo and the little troublemaker for their ability to stir up trouble?
Gu Jiangyan pressed his temples.
Was it an illusion?
No!
If it had been before he was burned by the jade pendant, he might have truly believed it was an illusion.
But now, his mind was exceptionally clear, every memory from the past few minutes vivid. There was no way he could have misjudged!
Gu Jiangyan's expression was complex as he raised a finger and pressed send.
-
In a small county town at the foot of the Great Mountains in the southwestern region.
In a room on the seventh floor, the curtains were tightly drawn, and dim light illuminated a face exuding a "宅男" (otaku) aura.
A young man wearing black-rimmed, non-prescription glasses suddenly coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood onto the keyboard in front of his computer.
However, he didn't have time to feel sorry for his newly bought keyboard. Without even minding the blood continuously dripping from his mouth, his fingers rapidly moved, executing complex sequences.
After more than ten minutes, the young man finally stopped.
With lingering fear, he wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth.
"Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have played so big back then. The current situation seems to be completely out of control. I've truly shot myself in the foot."
He cursed angrily, but a look of suspicion then flickered in his eyes.
"It's just that the initial development was so normal. Why did the destiny lines of those few people suddenly change so drastically?"
"Even excluding the part where I intervened to guide them, the normal progression of other events has deviated from the track. I can't even force it back into place. What is going on?"
"Is it because of my involvement that fate has gained more variables, becoming more chaotic and complex?"
"Heaven's secrets, karma, destiny – this path is truly profound and difficult to fathom."
"It's time for me to personally visit the capital and assess the situation on-site."
The young man muttered to himself, unplugged the data cable connected to his keyboard, and carefully, albeit reluctantly, began to disassemble it for cleaning.
On his computer screen, a word processing software was displayed. Several novels, whose titles were exceptionally melodramatic, lay quietly on the bookshelf.
If Jian Sheng were present, she would definitely recognize it.
On the third book from the left on the bookshelf, there was the melodramatic, angsty romance novel she had read.
-https:/
"New Home" variety show recording site.
Seeing Jiang Bin's on-the-spot reaction, Hu Guangxu breathed a huge sigh of relief.
He finally stopped worrying about his increasingly thinning hair.
However, looking at the comments section, which was once again on the verge of an argument, Hu Guangxu's expression twisted for a moment. His hand trembled, and he finally reached up to his scalp.
While he was pained by his hair, his life was more important!
He would rather pull out a few more strands of hair in his excitement than to suddenly kick the bucket at such a young age.
He glanced with a mix of love and hate at the young girl in the courtyard. Suddenly, he noticed his assistant, who was staring blankly at the girl with his mouth agape.
The young assistant wasn't old, having started looking for work right after graduating from high school. He was now only eighteen or nineteen.
At this moment, his eyes were practically sparkling with admiration.
Hu Guangxu felt a pain in his scalp and his heart:
"Didn't I ask you to go buy medicine? Why are you still here?"
The young assistant snapped back to reality. After a few seconds, he remembered what Director Hu had said. His expression became flustered as he quickly replied:
"Director Hu, don't get agitated. Take care of yourself. I'm going to buy it right now."
With a reluctant glance at the tablet in Hu Guangxu's hand and the scene in the small courtyard, he bolted.
Hu Guangxu sighed deeply, "Alas, everyone is so worrisome."
The assistant director leaned in, "Director Hu, regarding Jian Sheng, what should we do?"
Hu Guangxu glanced at him, "Do what?"
The assistant director, trying to gauge his expression, asked tentatively:
"It's just that Jian Sheng causes too much trouble. Should we keep her?"
"It's only been a little while, the scandal about faking hasn't passed yet, and more controversy has already arisen."
"It's only the first day, and she's already caused so many incidents."
"If we let her continue like this, who knows what other mischief she'll stir up later."
"The trending searches criticizing our program are still up. I'm genuinely worried that if we're not careful, we'll crash and burn along with her."
The assistant director's expression was filled with reluctance as he spoke.
After all, this was a natural source of traffic!
Having been in the entertainment industry for so many years, he had never seen anyone who could generate so much buzz.
Didn't he see that the trending searches were almost dominated by the young girl?
#NewHomeProgramTeamComeOutAndTakeYourLicking#
#LetsGoNewHomeProgramTeamFakedItAndCrashed#
#IsBigStrongCuteBabyRealOrFake?#
#JianSheng'sPaintingSkills#
#XiuHuanWithdrawsFromNewHomeVarietyShowRecording#
#JianSheng'sBackground#
...
Well, not all of it was Jian Sheng.
But the rest of it was all instigated by the young girl!
The assistant director only had to glance at them briefly to feel his scalp tingle.
Forget about the questioning from live viewers; if he wasn't the assistant director of "New Home" and didn't know if their program had deliberately set up personas or written scripts, he would definitely have believed that the trending searches were all for the purpose of creating buzz and establishing personas for the celebrities' debuts!
But the fact was, he knew that all of this was real!
There was no fakery whatsoever!
The popularity was real, but the constant teetering on the edge of a scandal was also real!
Hu Guangxu glanced at him indifferently.
"Then tell me, is the popularity Jian Sheng brings real?"
Assistant Director: "It's real."
Hu Guangxu: "Did we help her fake her so-called persona? Does she truly have the ability?"
Assistant Director: "We didn't help. She truly has the ability."
Hu Guangxu: "Her kidnapping, and the matters concerning her family, were those things she could decide on her own?"
Assistant Director: "...No, they were not things she could decide."
Hu Guangxu: "Finally, tell me, in the entertainment industry, can you guarantee that any celebrity will absolutely not cause a scandal?"
Assistant Director: "I cannot guarantee."
Hu Guangxu: "...Then what the hell are you still saying?"