He Yong’s plan today was actually quite simple. If Zhou Yun’s unwillingness to cooperate was resolute, he would switch to a different approach—no longer promoting the sisterly "CP" between Zhou Yun and Xu Siyao, but rather changing their relationship, making Xu Siyao into Zhou Yun’s little fangirl. This would create a "idol and fan" topic, which could tie the two together.
He Yong chose Xu Siyao for a variety of reasons, but the most crucial point was simply convenience. Xu Siyao and Zhou Yun were about to join the same drama cast, which was a ready-made talking point. With good promotion, not only could Xu Siyao’s popularity rise along with Zhou Yun’s, it would also increase the notoriety of "Eighth Heartbeat," benefitting future broadcast numbers as well as the two actors.
However, what He Yong did not expect was how cautious Zhou Yun was, even a simple autograph was directly dismissed with a diversion.
But fortunately, he had made other arrangements.
He Yong gave a slight smile, knowing Zhou Yun’s determination, he did not attempt to make her relent again.
After finishing dinner, He Yong asked Zhou Yun if she needed a ride home.
Zhou Yun waved her hand and said, "No need, I’ve already called my driver."
"Okay then," He Yong nodded.
At this moment, Xu Siyao suddenly became anxious, wanting to say something but not daring to, her eyes hurriedly gazing up at He Yong’s face.
He Yong acted as if he didn’t see anything.
Zhou Yun saw this and thought to herself, Xu Siyao was probably anxious because she, again, didn’t attend to her today.
She simply played ignorant. When her driver arrived, she said goodbye to the two of them, got into the car, and went home.
Once Zhou Yun left, Xu Siyao anxiously said, "President He, she refused to give me an autograph, what should we do? Is this whole thing going to fall apart?"
He Yong was not fond of Xu Siyao’s affectation and said, "If you’re not likable to others, what can be done about it?"
Xu Siyao’s eyes filled with grievance and she pouted while looking at He Yong.
Seeing this, He Yong thought, she’s ultimately just a young girl, not weathered by life, it’s normal for her not to be calm.
Unlike Zhou Yun, whose thoughts were becoming increasingly opaque and abnormal.
He Yong softened his tone and said, "Alright, don’t worry, I’ve prepared a backup plan, just trust me."
Hearing He Yong say this, Xu Siyao showed a look of surprise.
"I knew President He would have a way!"
Xu Siyao’s eyes were filled with admiration, and He Yong’s heart also warmed.
There were many reasons for choosing Xu Siyao, and an important one was that she was sensible.
Unlike Wei Ru Xue and Zhou Yun, who were disobedient and hard to control.
When Zhou Yun returned to her apartment, she went to the balcony to call Zhou Lan, as there were no cameras installed by the production crew on the balcony, and she wanted to report to Zhou Lan about her dinner with He Yong.
"So, he just let you go back like that? He didn’t say anything?"
"Maybe he saw that I was rather firm, so he didn’t persist."
"He’s not that kind of person, don’t be fooled by his appearance. If he gave up that easily, he wouldn’t have made it to his position today." Zhou Lan didn’t breathe a sigh of relief like Zhou Yun, "I think he must have other arrangements."
"It couldn’t possibly be forcing a deal, right? Could they really disregard my opinion and speak on my behalf?" Zhou Yun asked.
Zhou Lan said, "If you really refuse to cooperate, the topic surely won’t become hot."
"So you’re saying if I disagree, this thing won’t progress."
"Then that’s fine, I’m going to take a shower, this dinner has really exhausted me." Zhou Yun complained.
However, the next day, Zhou Yun found herself on the trending searches.
The topic of the hot search was even stranger.
#ZhouYunRumoredNewRomance#
Clicking into it, it got even more absurd; there were some candid photos, featuring Zhou Yun dining with He Yong from the previous night.
The two were sitting opposite each other, and the moment captured was very clever, exactly when the two were laughing and talking.
Zhou Yun never imagined she would one day be involved in a romance rumor with He Yong.
Could it be paparazzi?
Thinking this, Zhou Yun even laughed, "If He Yong sees himself trending, his face must be as dark as can be."
Zhou Lan on the phone said, "Don’t be too quick to laugh, I’ve inquired a few marketing accounts I’m familiar with. One of them told me he also received these photos, sent to him at dawn by a throwaway account. Think about it, if it was shot by paparazzi, would they send out the photos to marketing accounts for free? Aren’t they trying to make money?"
Zhou Yun’s smile faded, "What does this mean? It wasn’t taken by paparazzi?"
"From the information I’ve gathered so far, no."
"Then that’s strange, could it be a passerby?"
"Then I’ll post on Weibo to clarify." Zhou Yun said.
Zhou Lan: "Don’t rush, don’t you find it strange?"
"This issue is trending, and until now, He Yong has had no reaction whatsoever, normally, he should have called us by now."
Reminded by Zhou Lan, Zhou Yun realized it was indeed abnormal.
Although this incident could put He Yong in an awkward position, which Zhou Yun found quite enjoyable, it was indeed unusual.
He Yong, seeing himself involved in baseless rumors, shouldn’t he be exploding? Having someone quickly withdraw the trending topic?
Zhou Yun’s face suddenly fell, "Could it be that He Yong orchestrated this himself to boost my popularity? That doesn’t make sense, there’s no need to drag himself into it to boost my popularity."
Zhou Lan suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"What’s up? Why the sudden cold laugh?" Zhou Yun felt Zhou Lan’s laughter was a bit scary.
Zhou Lan said, "Look at Weibo, the company’s official account has clarified."
Upon hearing that, Zhou Yun immediately grabbed her tablet and checked Weibo.
The company’s statement was simple, stating that Zhou Yun was not dining with a new boyfriend as captured; the gentleman in the photos was He Yong, a senior executive of Chengqian Entertainment. Last night, He Yong was not only dining with Zhou Yun but another female artist from the company, Xu Siyao, was also present.
Inside Zhou Yun’s mind, everything clicked in an instant.
She had previously felt smug about rebuffing Xu Siyao.
In fact, He Yong had already dug another pit waiting for her to jump in.
Zhou Yun gasped, cursing, "He Yong, that shameless bastard!"
Zhou Lan said, "I suspect this is just the first step; they likely want to build up Xu Siyao as your fan, your little fangirl, and use this identity to tie her to you."
Just as Zhou Lan had said, not five minutes later, Xu Siyao posted a new Weibo.