“Puff—”

From upstairs, Ji Ya watched helplessly as Zhang Xiao attracted the attention of the reporters and editors she had invited by posing provocatively next to the T-stage she had paid to build!

Could they not see the word “Elegance” made of flowers above their heads?

Even if they couldn’t see the logo at the top of the T-stage, “Elegance” was printed everywhere—on the invitation cards, seat cushions, and even the drinking glasses. These were all details Ji Ya had learned from international brands… Were these people blind, chasing after Zhang Xiao and asking about “Luna”?

Xia Xiaolan was using Ji Ya’s money to advertise for that trashy little brand.

Ji Ya suppressed the urge to spit blood:

“Who let her in? Get rid of her quickly! Tell the host we invited to announce the start of the fashion show immediately, following the rehearsed procedure!”

Nobody had invited Zhang Xiao.

It was Ji Ya who had insisted on inviting Xia Xiaolan to witness her success.

The “plus one” written on the invitation was meant for Xia Xiaolan to bring Liu Fen!

Xia Xiaolan had brazenly brought several companions, and since the staff had been instructed that Xia Xiaolan must be allowed entry, they couldn’t tell who was who when they saw Zhang Xiao dressed so fashionably. Who knew that when her hat fell off, she would turn out to be a movie actress?

Having a movie actress present wouldn’t have been strange—it could have proved the success of the Elegance fashion show.

But Zhang Xiao was so shameless, actually mentioning another brand, which was unacceptable!

The agent was more experienced than Ji Ya, knowing how developed Hong Kong’s tabloids were:

“We can’t chase her away. If we do, the newspapers and magazines will write whatever they want. No matter how successful your fashion show is, their reports will all focus on why Zhang Xiao was thrown out!”

If Hong Kong paparazzi were here, they could spin ten different stories from just one photo!

It was truly a case of one photo leading to endless fabricated stories.

Le Feng held back the impulsive Ji Ya as Zhang Xiao’s unhurried voice drifted up from below:

“…, in a few days, everyone will see the advertisement I shot for Luna. I hope you’ll all support it.”

Damn.

She came to sabotage the event.

Zhang Xiao was being incredibly bold, really going all out!

A reporter couldn’t help but ask, “Sister Xiao, how much did Luna pay you for the advertisement?”

This typically shouldn’t be disclosed, and the reporter was just teasing, but Xia Xiaolan specifically wanted her to say it and had prepared a standard answer.

“To be honest with everyone, I’ve never seen so much money before. Luna gave me a full ten thousand yuan. When I saw that much money, I was scared. Thinking about getting paid so much just for shooting an advertisement for a few days, I couldn’t even sleep at night.”

Ten thousand yuan!

Those despicable capitalists.

People’s psychology is strange. Originally, they thought Zhang Xiao looked beautiful today, but after hearing she was paid over ten thousand for an advertisement, her beautiful makeup suddenly became unsettling.

How much did reporters make in a month?

How much did ordinary people make in a month?

Why should an actress get paid over ten thousand for an advertisement?

This Zhang Xiao had gotten too full of herself. Couldn’t she be more low-key about making money? She had to announce it publicly.

This needed to be included in their reports, some reporters thought bitterly.

They had completely forgotten they were invited by Elegance to watch a fashion show.

Zhang Xiao’s entrance was spectacular enough, playing mysterious, crashing the event, and revealing her advertisement fee—this combination had completely captured everyone’s attention.

Fashion show?

What fashion show? They would write an article discussing the problem of excessive advertising fees for actors!

Getting paid so much money, they’d have to praise the clothes even if they were bad—wasn’t that deceiving the common people?

Not only were Ji Ya and her group stunned, but even Shao Guangrong hadn’t reacted.

“Sister-in-law, what’s going on? Why is she saying this?”

As someone working within the system, Shao Guangrong immediately thought of conspiracies. Perhaps Zhang Xiao had been turned by Ji Ya’s people, just like Wang Mingming who had stood them up earlier!

Xia Xiaolan wouldn’t let him stand up. “Keep watching patiently. This play is reaching its climax.”

Upstairs, Ji Ya’s group didn’t understand.

Chinese people have always believed in making money quietly. When everyone around earned just over a hundred yuan, suddenly Zhang Xiao jumped out saying she earned over ten thousand for an advertisement. Although this price was far below Hong Kong celebrities, the problem was that mainland people couldn’t accept it!

Why should she earn so much?

How could Xia Xiaolan hire such a stupid actress?

“Wait and see what happens.”

While Ji Ya said to wait, Zhen Wenxiu felt uneasy.

She had experienced Xia Xiaolan’s thick skin and cunning mind before. How could she make such a basic mistake?

Downstairs, the reporters who had been surrounding Zhang Xiao now looked cold, some even speaking sarcastically:

“Zhang Xiao, you should indeed lose sleep. Do you know that while you earn over ten thousand for one advertisement, our country is still developing? So many people have just managed to feed themselves. While you wear beautiful clothes and makeup for advertisements, farmers work hard all year in tattered clothes, and their entire family’s income doesn’t match your single advertisement fee…”

“Zhang Xiao, do you think this is right? You’ve revealed your fee, and other actors might follow your example. This influence is terrible!”

An upright reporter turned away, refusing to look at the beautifully dressed Zhang Xiao: “When I go back today, I must write a critical article. I, Liu Xuan from Beijing Evening News, stake my reputation on this!”

Zhang Xiao seemed frightened by everyone’s intensity.

She unconsciously stepped backward, and with her thin, high heels, Zhang Xiao fell.

Liu Xuan, the reporter who said he would criticize Zhang Xiao, got excited and quickly took a photo.

A critical article needed a photo of Zhang Xiao looking disheveled!

Under righteous questioning, Zhang Xiao had shown her guilt!

Even Shao Guangrong felt this was too much bullying, but Chen Xiliang ran faster than him, desperately squeezing through to help Zhang Xiao up, shouting angrily at the reporters:

“How can you wrongly accuse someone without distinguishing right from wrong? What kind of men are you, bullying a woman!”

The reporters felt somewhat embarrassed for pushing Zhang Xiao down. Zhang Xiao was also surprised—she hadn’t expected Chen Xiliang to come to help her up. This wasn’t part of the plan.

Chen Xiliang stuck his neck out and improvised:

“I’m Chen Xiliang, Luna’s boss. I’m the one who paid Zhang Xiao’s advertisement fee. What’s wrong with paying just ten thousand yuan for Zhang Xiao after all her excellent work? Hong Kong actresses ask for 100,000 yuan just to start negotiations. Of course, I would hire Zhang Xiao! When she got the money, she couldn’t sleep and asked if she could use the ten thousand yuan to have Luna make a batch of school uniforms—she wanted to donate them to rural primary school children! I feel ashamed. If Zhang Xiao can donate her entire fee, how can I, a grown man, be less generous? Although Luna is in a difficult startup period and our brand operates on small profits and high sales, I’ve decided that for every piece of clothing Luna sells, we’ll donate 1 yuan to rural school children. I, Chen Xiliang, will keep my word. I invite all reporter friends here today to witness this, and welcome everyone to supervise Luna in fulfilling this commitment!”

What?!

Zhang Xiao was using her over the ten-thousand-yuan fee to buy and donate school uniforms, and Chen Xiliang was saying Luna would donate 1 yuan for every piece of clothing sold.

What fashion show? The reporters had forgotten all about it.

They had wronged Zhang Xiao!

This Boss Chen had such resolve.

This was doing good deeds.

Shao Guangrong was dumbfounded, never imagining such a move.

Upstairs, Ji Ya felt the world spinning.

1 yuan?

She wouldn’t even bother picking that up from the ground, but her expensive fashion show, before it even started, had been overshadowed by this nonsense about “donating 1 yuan”… just empty words, who knew if they would follow through on this promise!