Chapter 101 – Control Group

Jiang Yuan and Yang Yingying were truly pitiful; they had saved someone, only to be slandered. Jiang Heng was even worse off—he had been unfairly saddled with blame and was cyberbullied online for hours. But at that time, he was on a plane, so the victim himself didn’t know anything about it, and thus, he didn’t care about any verbal harm or mental distress.

Speaking of the most tragic, it was still the driver.

Netizens sympathized with Jiang Yuan and Yang Yingying over their black-and-white reversal and genuinely felt wronged on their behalf. After feeling wronged for them, they thought of the driver—that was the most wronged one.

Netizens:

The driver really is too tragic.

Is there something wrong with that passenger? Can we expose her?

These days, can mentally ill people be kept at home and not allowed out to harm others!

The person who grabbed the steering wheel is vicious, but the person who maliciously edited and spread the video is even more vicious—they’re not good people.

Where’s the source of that video’s spread? Investigate that too; this person is too terrifying. They clearly knew what happened, yet instead of helping, they deliberately distorted the truth, treating all netizens like monkeys.

Amidst the myriad opinions, an eagle-eyed netizen suddenly said: Don’t you guys think…that woman in the surveillance footage looks a bit like Yu Xiaoxiao’s assistant…

In the complete surveillance video, both passengers in the taxi were saved by Jiang Yuan and Yang Yingying. The driver’s face was unrecognizable due to severe injuries, but Xiao Wei’s face was clearly captured, as she only suffered minor injuries.

As a celebrity assistant, she often appeared on camera in the past when she helped Yu Xiaoxiao with clothes and luggage at the airport. There were media outlets that ranked celebrities’ relationships with their assistants based on various airport photos. Many mentioned how celebrities who presented well on the surface would exploit their assistants behind the scenes. Yu Xiaoxiao, known for her gentleness and grace, was consistent inside and out, treating her assistant like a sister, and earned a lot of goodwill from this.

Now that she was linked to Xiao Wei, it was going to cause a mess.

Fans’ actions affected their idols, so the assistant’s behavior made the idol even more culpable. Yu Xiaoxiao’s army of haters quickly sprang into action, and her rivals took advantage of the situation to pile on. Many rushed to Yu Xiaoxiao’s Weibo page to hurl insults without discernment—Yu Xiaoxiao wasn’t innocent, but this venting-style abuse was no different from those who had cursed Jiang Heng without understanding the facts that morning, even if they stood on the side of justice.

Yu Xiaoxiao’s fans weren’t pushovers either, immediately engaging in a battle with the haters and passersby under her Weibo post.

“This assistant was fired by our Sister Xiaoxiao ages ago, okay? The recent ones following her around aren’t this assistant. I was just wondering why there was a change, now it’s clear it was because her character flaws were discovered, so our Sister Xiaoxiao changed assistants.”

“Why should our Sister Xiaoxiao pay for what this former assistant did?”

Some passersby also sided with Yu Xiaoxiao. Judging from the current events, Yu Xiaoxiao was indeed innocent. She had nothing to do with this matter; she was simply embroiled in a scandal because of a troublesome assistant.

…But the slap in the face came quickly.

Because Jiang Yuan, the president of Jiang Real Estate, personally posted a personal Weibo post.

Jiang Yuan V: [Images][Images][Images][Images] See you in court.

Also, Yingying and I are dating, a normal relationship. She’s a great girl, and if I see any abusive slanders against her on the internet again, I won’t mind pursuing a few more lawsuits.

Those images were an IP address, located precisely at Yu Xiaoxiao’s residence, along with evidence of her directing internet thugs to spread the incomplete surveillance video.

Once this Weibo post went out, public opinion was ignited once again.

“Here it comes! Reversal, reversal, and another reversal! Today’s melon-eating has left me stuffed, truly a blockbuster drama of the year.”

“Damn, President Jiang is so tough! A man protecting his wife is so handsome!”

“President Jiang, you’re awesome, this is practically an official announcement, congratulations, congratulations!”

“Wasn’t someone just saying Yu Xiaoxiao was innocent? What innocence, she’s the mastermind behind this whole scheme.”

“I can’t believe Yu Xiaoxiao would do such a thing. I used to like the TV series she acted in, but now thinking about it makes me feel like I ate a fly, disgusting, ugh.”

With the warning of a lawyer’s letter, Yu Xiaoxiao was now in serious trouble. Not only was what she did despicable, but by manipulating public opinion and turning netizens into fools, trying to use the power of the crowd to smear Yang Yingying, when things were exposed, that power inevitably backfired on her.

Who wanted to be used as a pawn? People were unwilling to admit that their ability to judge right and wrong was weak and easily led by the nose. They could only blame those who deceived them.

Yu Xiaoxiao’s Weibo was completely overwhelmed. Those who had originally spoken up for her had their faces slapped so hard that they all fell silent, or even turned around to curse her the hardest. Those words were unspeakably vile, cursing her family, digging up graves, sometimes the dirtiest words couldn’t match the viciousness of human hearts—

Yu Xiaoxiao shut her computer with a pale face and pulled out the power cord.

Her phone kept ringing, presumably from people calling to scold her. She didn’t want to deal with it, but the phone annoyed her. She grabbed the phone and smashed it against the wall, finally achieving peace and quiet.

She crouched down and covered her ears. In her empty room, it seemed as though voices were everywhere, all those curses and abuses.

Harsh words hurt like the cold of June. The power of words was truly terrifying. She wielded this sharp weapon to aim at others, but it ended up stabbing herself.

Which celebrity hadn’t suffered defamation? But she had a good positive image in the past, and the company had supported her, so those annoying words never reached her. But today…everything changed in an instant. After Jiang Yuan posted that Weibo, she was nailed to the pillory. They cursed her in the Weibo comments, sent private messages to abuse her, forcing her to close the comments and smash her phone. Even then, those voices buzzed into her ears like reality, driving her to the brink of mental collapse.

She never imagined that Jiang Heng had a twin brother, let alone that they were the crown prince of the Jiang real estate empire. If she had known the background was so untouchable, she absolutely wouldn’t have dared to do it! Now that they were holding her accountable, what was she supposed to do…what could she do?

What else could she do?

The net of heaven is vast, yet not a single thing escapes it.

Shen Fubai read a few comments under Yu Xiaoxiao’s Weibo post, closed the page, and didn’t have much joy on his face.

“I don’t like cyberbullying, but I also don’t sympathize with her,” Shen Fubai said softly. “This is what she gets for her own actions.”

Yu Xiaoxiao manipulated public opinion, causing Jiang Heng and Yang Yingying to receive plenty of abuse. Those words were so poisonous, piercing the heart, causing bone-chilling pain.

Fortunately, they were on a disconnected plane at the time, and the sky blocked out all the filthy words. But after reading those words later, even a few sentences could make him seethe. He wouldn’t allow anyone to insult Heng Heng; he would fight desperately.

Shen Fubai, an idol, and one who had maintained the vase idol image for six years, had suffered far more cyberbullying than Yu Xiaoxiao. He later got used to it, didn’t care at all, and those words no longer affected him. His heart was stronger and tougher than anyone else’s.

…But before getting used to it?

Getting used to it was a bloody process. He had been neglected in an American household, and when he came to China, he gave up his studies to fill his father’s hole. When he entered the entertainment industry, he thought he had been trained enough to be strong. But when he first faced the trolls’ words, he couldn’t bear it. His state during that period was too gloomy, even affecting his dance performance. Again and again, he couldn’t find the feeling in the practice room, silently looking at his reflection in the dance studio mirror.

He remembered the days when he was self-abandoning and reining in his sharp edges. After his first fall on stage, he was cursed the hardest. But looking at those words, he didn’t feel much. Those keyboard warriors wouldn’t know that the seventeen-year-old boy they were abusing had just buried his drug-ravaged father alone.

Never make baseless judgments about a person, for you don’t know what they’ve experienced. You don’t know how many heavy stones they carried before this last straw that broke the camel’s back—

Jiang Heng disliked Shen Fubai’s slightly melancholy appearance; he wanted Fubai to be happy forever.

“Stop looking at this, look at these compliments.” Jiang Heng handed him his phone, wanting to cheer Shen Fubai up.

Today’s chain of melon-eating reversals were endless and more exciting than TV dramas. People had eaten melons all day long, apologized collectively for misunderstandings, marveled at Jiang Heng’s educational background, cursed the instigator, and marveled at President Jiang and Yang Yingying’s divine love…they were busy having fun.

After eating the melons, people’s reflexes finally brought up a few questions.

There were too many things that had distracted people’s attention today. Once those matters settled down, Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai, two major stars, remained the focus of everyone’s attention. Netizens began to savor everything that happened today.

Why were Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai together?

And they seemed very familiar with the popular American star Xavier and supermodel Ethan.

And that dance-off video that set YouTube on fire was damn good!

All these comments praised them—

I’ve watched that dance-off video a hundred times! So amazing! This cultural exchange atmosphere is great! For Fubai to go abroad and promote traditional Chinese dance is something to be proud of. I even heard a foreigner exclaim “Chinese Kung Fu” in English when he did a somersault, haha.

Sure enough, beautiful people hang out with beautiful people? What kind of divine beauty is Xavier? That moment when the hat fell off, I almost suffocated. Little Brother Ethan is as beautiful as ever! After seeing him at the last fashion show live stream, I’ve been longing to see him again, never expecting he was friends with our Baibai.

What I’m concerned about is that little girl with heart disease. Fubai did such a good deed but never talked about it. There are always some trolls who say that our Baibai often trends because he loves to stir up controversy, so why didn’t he proclaim his good deeds to the world? Heng Heng and Baibai have also done so many good deeds quietly. As a fan, I just feel so lucky to support these two.

So Heng Heng and Baibai are on a honeymoon trip abroad? As a CP fan, I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot.

Regarding this, Jiang Heng quickly posted an explanation, stating that Shen Fubai was invited to participate in the filming of a Hollywood movie called “Paradise,” playing a supporting role. Everyone could meet him next winter during the New Year holiday, and they should support it. As for him, he had a personal connection with Director Chapman, so he came along.

This was agreed upon by Chapman. “Paradise” would be released simultaneously in North America and Mainland China, using Jiang Heng and Shen Fubai’s fame to promote it in China beforehand, which would benefit the box office later.

Hollywood’s fame was known worldwide. Even playing a small supporting role, Shen Fubai was the first Chinese male star under twenty-five to go abroad. For a time, Shen Fubai was almost being lauded to the skies.

Shen Fubai was already immune to praise, but seeing this, he still curved his lips. Praise always made one’s mood wonderful.

Seeing Shen Fubai smile, Jiang Heng’s own mood became very good.

Then Shen Fubai laughed louder and fell onto the bed.

Jiang Heng: “…My intuition tells me that Baibai isn’t laughing because of those online compliments.”

Indeed, Shen Fubai said, “I can’t help it, I still want to laugh. Every time I think about your high school photos, hahahahahaha…”

Jiang Heng helplessly said, “Baibai, we agreed not to mention this.”

Shen Fubai: “But I can’t help it, hahahahaha…”

This is how it happened.

Rewind to earlier in the day.

Jiang Yuan and Yang Yingying couldn’t hide their reconciliation. They had broken up before, and it was partly because the family didn’t approve, so they hadn’t told the family after reconciling. Jiang Yuan was still figuring out how to slowly get his mother to accept Yang Yingying. He didn’t expect the news to come so suddenly, with their relationship exposed.

What he didn’t expect was that this time, Mother Jiang agreed.

Mother Jiang wasn’t the evil mother-in-law from TV dramas; she was just a mother concerned about her son. She saw that Yang Yingying’s personality was too carefree. She could be a friend, but not a suitable wife. Her son would be firmly controlled. As it turned out, it was true. Yang Yingying was carefree after the breakup, while Jiang Yuan was stuck in it.

They could see their son’s unhappiness in those years and had some regret. Now that the two had reconciled, Yang Yingying seemed to be a good person, and since the child liked her, they would leave it to them.

Personality could be adjusted, and if it couldn’t be changed, that was the couple’s problem.

Seeing that his older brother and sister-in-law’s matter was settled, Jiang Heng couldn’t sit still and decided to tell them all at once.

When the group was about to leave the hospital, Jiang Heng stopped his parents. In front of them, he held Shen Fubai’s hand. “Dad, Mom, I’d like to formally introduce you. This is Shen Fubai, not my sworn brother. He’s my boyfriend, my lover, the person I want to marry in the future.”

Shen Fubai: “…” Such unexpectedness.

Unexpectedly, Father Jiang and Mother Jiang didn’t show much surprise.

They were experienced, having eaten more salt than the younger generation had eaten rice. Jiang Heng’s eyes were filled with such passionate love, how could they not understand their own son, and how could they not see through it?

Later, the whole family returned to the main house in Beijing for a family meeting to celebrate that both sons had successfully found partners.

The elders’ openness surprised Shen Fubai.

They were…homosexuals…Although same-sex marriage law had been passed a few years ago, there were still plenty of parents whose thoughts hadn’t caught up. Father Jiang and Mother Jiang accepted it too quickly.

Perhaps his expression of surprise was too obvious, Mother Jiang secretly smiled at him. “Looking at your expression, are you a little surprised that I agreed so quickly?”

Shen Fubai spoke honestly. “A little.”

He felt quite embarrassed. “To be honest, before coming here, I assumed you were that kind of…not very open-minded elder, because you seemed to…” made that gesture of throwing a check…

He didn’t dare say it.

Mother Jiang understood. “I know. As parents, we won’t comment too much on our children’s marriages, but we can’t have no opinion at all. There are only incompatible personalities, not incompatible genders. We know about Heng Heng’s orientation…he wasn’t interested in girls since he was young. I agree with you two because you’re a good kid, not because you’re a boy or a girl. Back then, I disagreed with Yingying…” She sighed lightly. “I’m getting old, thinking that such a young girl wouldn’t be good. Now, I realize biases shouldn’t exist. She’s good, you’re all good.”

Shen Fubai smiled. “You and Uncle are good too.”

“Auntie and uncle?” Mother Jiang teased him. “When we first met, weren’t you calling us ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ fluently?”

Shen Fubai was left with a big red face—

After the family meeting, Jiang Heng took Shen Fubai to tour his room at home. Jiang Heng had many houses, but this was the home where he grew up, different from the others outside.

Shen Fubai looked around until he saw the photo frame on the cabinet.

It was a high school-aged youth. Wearing a school uniform, tall and slender, holding a basketball, smiling brightly, and very handsome.

“Is this you? You looked like this in high school.” Shen Fubai chuckled. “Sure enough, you were handsome even in high school.”

“He’s not handsome at all, that’s me.” Jiang Yuan passed by and casually threw him an album. “This is him, let you see his true face.”

Jiang Heng’s expression changed, and he tried to grab the album. “Baibai, don’t look!”

Shen Fubai had already opened the album. “What is it? Aren’t you two identical twins…”

He paused.

Jiang Heng was of the type that gained weight from drinking water and loved sweets. After entering the entertainment industry, he could manage his figure, but before that, no one restrained him, and he lived a wealthy life, so naturally, he gained weight.

During infancy, Jiang Yuan and Jiang Heng were both plump babies. Later, they both grew into finely crafted, delicate boys. The watershed was in fifth grade. Jiang Yuan was still a cute little boy, while Jiang Heng had become a chubby little boy.

In junior high, Jiang Yuan was a fine, upright young man, while Jiang Heng was a robust sapling.

By high school, Jiang Yuan was a refined and elegant youth, while Jiang Heng looked rather simple and honest.

His facial features weren’t bad. Even if plump, one could see that Jiang Heng had good foundations. He wasn’t ugly, even somewhat cute. Compared to his current figure, which was neither too thin nor too fat, and his strikingly handsome face, there was a contrasting cuteness. On its own, it was quite outstanding, a beauty among the fat community. Tragically, he had a twin brother.

It was like a public execution.

“How did you lose weight?” Shen Fubai asked him with a smile.

Jiang Heng cleared his throat.

He loved sweets and couldn’t control himself, so he unknowingly became like that. Later, in high school, he saw Shen Fubai on TV and was struck by the beautiful teenager. At that time, he only thought: I need to be worthy of him.

So he started with losing weight. When he couldn’t hold on, he thought of Baibai’s stunning beauty, instantly becoming full of motivation.

I can’t control myself, so I rely on you to control me.

After that, it was faith.

Young Master Jiang’s faith was so simple, pure, and clean—

But Shen Fubai couldn’t stop laughing when he thought of Jiang Heng’s chubby appearance.

Who would have thought it? The famous, incredibly handsome movie emperor was so cute and silly when he was young.

Shen Fubai laughed and lazily yawned, a hint of sleepiness in his eyes.

So many things happened today. He had just returned from America and hadn’t adjusted to the time difference, not even taking a nap. He was truly tired now.

Jiang Heng urged him. “Go to sleep quickly.”

Shen Fubai tilted his head. “Goodnight kiss.”

Jiang Heng lowered his head and kissed him on the lips, his voice gentle.

“Goodnight.”