Wealthy Fan

She probably didn't expect that both Wu Assistant and Sister Li knew about it. After ending the conversation with Qin Ran, she casually sent a message to Sister Li. The message was abrupt and direct: "Sister Li, you knew all along?"

At that moment, Sister Li was accompanying a new artist for a photoshoot. The young, graceful artist posed under the studio lights as instructed by the photographer, looking somewhat tense and scared. This line of work was chaotic, and the newcomers would often get frightened when they heard about photoshoots. Sister Li had to be there to reassure them and calm their nerves.

Her phone vibrated. Sister Li took it out from her pocket and saw Yu Shuman's message. At first, she wondered what Yu Shuman was talking about, but then it clicked. Yu Shuman was talking about her relationship with Qin Ran. However, being the sly person that she was, Sister Li hadn't expected Yu Shuman to be so innocent. Didn't she remember consulting Sister Li about her relationship problems before taking leave?

She should take credit for them being together.

Sister Li thought of teasing Yu Shuman a bit, pretending she didn't know what she meant by saying, "What do you mean by 'knew'?" But before she could send it, Yu Shuman sent another message: "Forget it, I didn't say anything."

Oh, it seemed that Yu Shuman wasn't that clueless after all. She must have realized what she was talking about. But Sister Li still wanted to tease her, so she replied, "Yeah, I know. The whole company knows."

She was just messing with Yu Shuman. How could the entire company possibly know? Anyone with a bit of common sense would know that what Sister Li said was impossible. But the little fool, Yu Shuman, must have been quite shocked. She quickly replied with three exclamation marks. Seeing the "!!!" on the screen, Sister Li almost burst out laughing.

Yu Shuman: Everyone knows??!!

Sister Li couldn't help but chuckle, drawing glances from the photographer's assistant and the nervous artist. Realizing she was acting unprofessionally, she coughed to compose herself, waving off any concerns before replying to Yu Shuman.

Sister Li: Yeah, you don't get along with Ling Miaohan, right? Everyone knows about her third brother being taken in by the police today.

Sister Li almost applauded her own mischievousness. Yu Shuman was probably frozen for a moment before replying: Oh, right, that's what I meant to say.

Teasing the little fool brought unparalleled joy. Sister Li happily put away her phone, thinking about how Yu Shuman must be squirming in her seat. But soon, she realized she shouldn't be so mean; this was definitely Qin Ran's influence. Otherwise, why would she find such joy in teasing an innocent soul?

Blaming it all on Qin Ran, Sister Li still felt guilty and sent Yu Shuman another message: Alright, I know you were talking about your relationship with Qin Ran. Don't worry; only a few people know, and I won't tell anyone.

Yu Shuman didn't reply immediately, likely still processing what happened. After a long while, Sister Li pocketed her phone. Eventually, Yu Shuman sent a dry "Thank you."

Yu Shuman had genuinely forgotten that she had consulted Sister Li as a relationship advisor. Qin Ran's revelations had overwhelmed her—first, the row of little bottles fried her CPU, and then there was a flat-out thunderbolt, causing Yu Shuman to instinctively reach out to Sister Li without really processing it.

The result was Sister Li teasing her quite thoroughly. Yu Shuman sighed and opened her chat with Qin Ran, poking at her bunny avatar a few times. She then closed the chat app and opened Weibo to check her trending status.

She wasn't sure if other celebrities did this, but Yu Shuman loved browsing her fan groups and looking at her trending topics, especially reading fans' comments cheering her on. After Fashion Week, she had been busy filming and was out of the public eye, but her supertopic remained highly active, with fans eagerly waiting for her return.

Despite the lack of public exposure, her supertopic remained active thanks to the management by the company's information department and her famously wealthy fan in the entertainment circle. This fan was truly rich, regularly hosting giveaways in the supertopic and requiring fans to have the supertopic level up to the standard. They even checked the homepages to ensure fans weren't following Ling Miaohan.

After various incidents, it was clear that Yu Shuman's fans couldn't coexist with Ling Miaohan's. This wealthy fan excluded fans of a certain Xu artist and Ling Miaohan from the giveaways. Initially, Yu Shuman suspected this wealthy fan might be a company account. But after asking Sister Li, who was also clueless, she confirmed it was indeed a wild wealthy fan.

The wealthy fan frequently chatted in the supertopic's small circle, often using screenshots from Yu Shuman's breakout moments in the variety show.

Sometimes, Yu Shuman wanted to use her verified account to message the fan and ask them not to spend so much money. But in the end, she didn't, instead using her Weibo to promote rational consumption. This message would then be retweeted by the wealthy fan, who would host another 200 yuan giveaway.

The reason Yu Shuman didn't privately message the wealthy fan was that she often saw Qin Ran in them. She could advise Qin Ran but couldn't outright tell her not to spend money; that would be annoying. Though she might sound insincere as a beneficiary, having Qin Ran by her side made Yu Shuman more mindful not to boss others around.

But sometimes, watching the wealthy fan spend so much money, she couldn't help but feel a little pained. Then, in a fit of stinginess, she'd use her alternate account to join in the fan's giveaways. She didn't participate often, but she still won 200 yuan once. If she managed to get a small prize, imagine how much other fans could rake in by being active in her supertopic.

Most fandoms require fans to spend their money, but being a Yu Shuman fan was different. The money they spent wasn't as much as what they could win from the wealthy fan.

Curious as she was about the wealthy fan, Yu Shuman left it at that. She saw the fan's latest Weibo post:

"To celebrate today's mention of Manman and her trending topic, let's have a giveaway of 200 times 200 yuan. Same rules apply: some people shouldn't join. We'll be checking homepages, so stay away."

Yu Shuman sighed and didn't retweet, not wanting to compete with her fans. She then glanced at the trending topics list. By the time she logged on, any topics related to her had already been taken down by Wu Assistant, and the ones about Ling Miaohan had mostly been removed by the Ling family. The trending list looked harmonious again.

After browsing for a while, Yu Shuman went to take a shower and prepare for bed. Her shoot was nearing completion, and she would soon be able to go home. Being close to finishing work made her even more determined to maintain her state, avoiding any slip-ups that might require reshoots.

Unlike her peaceful environment, the atmosphere at the Ling residence was tense. In the living room sat Ling Eldest Brother and Ling Miaohan, both with unpleasant expressions. Ling Third Brother was about to be incarcerated, and Ling Father was preparing to rush back. This time, Ling Miaohan didn't shed tears because no one was there to comfort her.

Ling Eldest Brother sat on the sofa, holding a cigarette, the smoke swirling around. The secondhand smoke caused Ling Miaohan to cough softly. Ling Eldest Brother frowned but put out the cigarette. Frankly, he was a businessman and had indeed delayed his biggest deal because of his little sister—a marriage alliance with Miss Zhao.

The collaboration between the Ling and Zhao families had been a sure thing, but Miss Zhao suddenly called off the engagement, tearing up the agreement and impacting their stocks. Meanwhile, that woman managed to use the situation to climb the ranks and become the head of Zhao Group. Under her leadership, Zhao Group successfully formed partnerships with numerous foreign companies, taking it a step further.

Ling Eldest Brother wasn't aware of Qin Ran's influence behind those foreign companies. He thought Miss Zhao had secured those deals on her own. Had she not called off the engagement, those collaborations would have fallen into his lap eventually.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. But he wasn't one to introspect and find fault in himself. He habitually blamed external factors. Regarding the dissolved engagement with Miss Zhao, he wouldn't think it was his fault. Initially, he blamed Miss Zhao, but eventually, he started resenting Ling Miaohan.

Although he still considered Ling Miaohan his beloved little sister, he couldn't help but harbor some resentment. If it weren't for her falling that day, causing him to abandon Miss Zhao, she wouldn't have called off the engagement. Even now, many in the media believed Ling Miaohan had meddled, deliberately sabotaging her brother's marriage.

Ling Third Brother had gotten into trouble because of Miss Zhao, ending up in prison.

Ling Eldest Brother wanted to say something but sighed instead when he saw Ling Miaohan. "Your second brother will be back soon, so don't worry. The third one will just have to spend a few years inside, but he'll come out strong. Your second brother has some connections and will definitely help the family." Ling Miaohan nodded, her expression softening slightly, only to hear her brother continue.

"You should also get closer to Pei Qi. He hasn't visited our house recently. He likes you a lot, so he won't ignore you. Also, try to leverage your past connections. We can't let the company stocks keep falling."

Ling Miaohan's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at her brother. Was he suggesting she cozy up to Pei Qi? Ling Eldest Brother looked at her, his expression grim. "Miaohan, you're grown up now. You can't keep playing around like before. The Pei family matches ours, and Pei Qi isn't bad. A little temper here and there is fine, but now the family is facing challenges, and you need to step up and shield it."

"Your priority is to secure Pei Qi and marriage into the family. As the future mistress, you'll be able to support the family better."

Qin Ran's secret wealthy fan identity won't be hidden for long...

Qin Ran: ??!!