Jiang Mian’s response was direct and brutally simple.
Her first post slapped Wan Lianlian across the face.
It contained nine images. Each one was a dated chat record. In every screenshot, Jiang Mian was humbly, almost desperately, asking major brands to lend haute couture pieces.
Several of the brands were immediately recognized by Wan Lianlian’s fans—they were labels Wan Lianlian had worn before.
Although Wan Lianlian had not performed well on the red carpet, to claim Jiang Mian had not put in effort?
These haute couture gowns were not something just anyone could borrow.
Quite a few of Wan Lianlian’s fans began recalling the matter.
“…Honestly, borrowing couture from these brands is really not easy. If you say Jiang Mian did not put in effort for Lianlian, I do not think that is entirely fair.”
“Exactly. Looking at the chat records, it just seems the gowns happened not to suit Lianlian.”
Where some spoke up for Jiang Mian, others pushed back.
“She posts a few screenshots and you are already scrambling to whitewash her? How were they not suitable? Lianlian has not suited a single one for years—no one finds that strange? Was that not Jiang Mian’s arrangement?”
“I am disgusted. And people are defending her? If you are going to defend her, then take Lianlian’s name out of your mouths. You are not worthy! Tui!”
They had barely begun arguing when Jiang Mian’s second post followed.
Again, nine images.
Anyone who clicked through fell silent.
In these screenshots, Jiang Mian appeared even more humble than before. Judging by the dates, the messages were from four or five years ago.
At that time, Wan Lianlian had only recently become popular. The chats were filled with certain “bosses” explicitly requesting that Wan Lianlian accompany them for drinks. Some even bluntly asked Jiang Mian how much Wan Lianlian charged for one night.
Although the other party’s information had been censored, the contempt and condescension wealthy men held toward female celebrities seeped through the screen.
And from beginning to end, Jiang Mian never agreed. She kept making excuses to refuse on Wan Lianlian’s behalf, careful not to offend the other side.
If the earlier screenshots showed humility, then these reduced her to the dust.
She could not have lowered her head any further.
Wan Lianlian’s fans finished reading.
And collectively fell into silence.
This was the Jiang Mian Wan Lianlian claimed had forced her to drink with clients?
Some fans still shouted back.
“This is obviously Photoshopped! She is a manager—is manipulating images not her specialty? A few edited screenshots and she thinks she can clear her name? How ridiculous. If none of this happened, why did the other artists under her refuse to stay?”
“Do not let this woman fool you. I bet they are fake. Who keeps chat records from years ago? What normal person does that?”
Unexpectedly, Jiang Mian replied directly to that comment.
“A normal person would not. But a competent agent, in order to avoid offending the wrong people and forgetting the wrong things, backs up her chat records periodically.
Of all my backups, the ones concerning Wan Lianlian are the most numerous.”
After that, she posted a third update.
This time, it was not just screenshots.
It was an audio recording.
Alongside it, Jiang Mian finally spoke openly.
Jiang Mian:
“This recording was simply a habit of mine as an agent. At the time, I truly never thought I would make it public.
I thought you would come to me. That you would explain.
And then I would stop you, persuade you to leave him, and we would continue working hard for your career together.
What I did not expect was that you and he would join forces to teach me what reality truly means.”
“Reality is this: you secretly got together with President Li—a man who already has a wife and children—and never told me.
“I negotiated a collaboration with Designer Yao for you, and you turned around and complained that he was a newcomer with no reputation.
“While I was still grieving over why you would walk down such a path, you chose to smear me with fabricated accusations instead. The way you bit back at me made me unable to remember what that girl who once said we would stay clean and work hard together even looked like.
“But I should thank you as well. Thank you for letting me see your true face—and the faces of the others I managed, and the company too. Being abandoned by everyone is nothing more than that.
“I, Jiang Mian, can say with a clear conscience that I have never wronged anyone and never owed anyone anything. As for the company firing me without conducting any investigation, I will apply for labor arbitration. And you, Wan Lianlian—spreading rumors and throwing mud is not cost-free.
“It requires not only a clear conscience, but also the willingness to bear legal responsibility.”
Jiang Mian’s final post was a receipt showing that she had filed a police report against Wan Lianlian for defamation.
No one expected Jiang Mian to go this far.
Even fewer expected the recording to contain such an explosive conversation.
The netizens did not expect it.
Wan Lianlian did not expect it either.
The moment she saw the recording, her face drained of color.
How could there be a recording?
Jiang Mian had recorded it?
How could she have recorded her?
Suddenly remembering something, she grabbed her phone and called President Li.
Yes. Before too many people had seen or heard it, she needed President Li to get everything deleted.
Jiang Mian had gone mad. That woman had gone mad!
Her call was picked up almost instantly.
Wan Lianlian nearly cried with relief.
She knew many actresses who followed wealthy men, only to be immediately abandoned the moment trouble arose, the men terrified of being dragged into scandal.
But President Li was not that kind of person.
He truly cared about her!
Just as she was about to be moved, the voice that came through the phone was not President Li’s deep, weathered baritone—
—but a shrill female voice sharp enough to pierce her eardrums.
“So you two really are having an affair! I was wondering why that necklace went missing. Turns out he gave it to you. You filthy bitch, and you still dare call him? Let me tell you this—Li is finished as of today! And you? Just wait. You are finished too!”
“Smack!”
Before the call disconnected, Wan Lianlian heard a heavy slap.
She did not even need to think about who it had landed on.
Her carefully manicured phone slipped from her palm and clattered to the floor. Wan Lianlian collapsed with it.
At that moment, a notification lit up on the screen.
She glanced at it instinctively.
Another post from Jiang Mian.
Jiang Mian: By the way, I am a kind person. Since President Li, as a married man, was involved with another woman, I have thoughtfully informed Mrs. Li. No need to thank me.
It was her.
Of course it was Jiang Mian.
What was she trying to do?
Was she trying to destroy her?
Even Jiang Mian had not expected Wan Lianlian to call.
And the moment the call connected, it was filled with accusations.
She blew lightly on her freshly done nails, and a mocking laugh drifted into the phone.
“What joke are you telling, Superstar Wan? Was it not you who struck first, determined to wipe me out completely?”
The manicurist working on her hands quietly pricked up her ears.
Jiang Mian normally would not discuss such matters in front of outsiders. But now, there was no need to avoid it.
She gave a cold laugh.
“I gave you my heart and soul. And in the end, just because I overheard that little affair between you and President Li, you poured filth all over me and cost me my job. What? Did you think there would be no price for what you did?
“Oh, right. You probably do not know this. The reason I kept stopping President Li and refused to let you accept his gifts was because I knew he was already married—and that he married into his wife’s family.
“Everything he has in his hands? It all came from his father-in-law and his wife. Surprised? Unexpected?
“But perhaps you thought I was blocking your path to wealth and glory?”
With that, she hung up.
Wan Lianlian felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
President Li married into his wife’s family? Everything he had came from his father-in-law and wife? How did she not know?
That was not what he had told her. He had said—he had clearly said—
Suddenly, something clicked.
The necklace.
When President Li tried to give it to her, Jiang Mian had repeatedly stopped her from accepting it.
She had secretly looked it up. The necklace was worth millions, a piece sold at auction.
And it had actually belonged to Mrs. Li?
How laughable.
Jiang Mian looked down at the intricate design on her nails. This used to be a place she often visited with Wan Lianlian.
She herself rarely had her nails done—it would interfere with handling Wan Lianlian’s countless errands.
But now?
Beauty was all that mattered.
Thinking this, she glanced at the manicurist’s subtly raised ears and let out a soft laugh.
“Did you not expect it? I tried to stop her from jumping into a pit of fire, and she thought I was blocking her bright future.”
She sneered again.
“And that is not all. I begged and pleaded during the New Year holiday to secure her a custom-made opportunity tailored just for her. Finally got someone to agree. And what did she do? Complained that I was not capable enough to get her haute couture.”
After saying a few more words, she suddenly found it pointless.
What was the use of talking about it now?
Wan Lianlian was at fault.
But she herself was not blameless either.
Her biggest mistake—
was being too blind.
At that thought, Jiang Mian gradually calmed down again.
Blind was blind. Who goes through an entire lifetime without running into a few scumbags?
The more she thought about it, the more motivated she felt.
The more things were like this, the more she found herself quietly beginning to look forward to what might come next.
Would Tenghuang—and Agent Fan—give her a brand-new future?
The moment that idea surfaced, she pictured Fan Qing’s confident face.
Beautiful girl momentarily speechless.jpg
…If nothing else, it would definitely be new.
As for whether it would be the kind of new she actually wanted—that was another question.
Jiang Mian pondered silently.
But on second thought, she felt that a boss with Fan Qing’s personality might not be so bad after all.
She recalled the bloated, old-fashioned executives from her previous company.
…Well, at least this round, Fan Qing already won on looks alone, all right?
Mm. Not a loss.
Blowing lightly on her freshly done nails, Jiang Mian nodded to herself.
This was not bad either, she thought.
A brand-new future—one whose ending was not obvious at a glance—might actually be a better choice for her.
But before that, she would probably need a token of allegiance.
Jiang Mian mused.
She could not just show up empty-handed without knowing anything, could she?
That would make her seem a little too useless.
After briskly paying the bill, Jiang Mian put on her sunglasses, her aura fully switched on.
If nothing else, she was going to try again to get back that variety show Tomorrow!