Chapter 32 – Schemes and Tricks
They had agreed after marriage not to interfere with each other’s lives. So, the investor’s romance with Xu Ruoxin was “open and legitimate.”
But lately, things had gone wrong. The “hideously ugly” screenwriter supposedly couldn’t bear to give up her marriage to the investor and regretted the divorce agreement.
This, the article claimed, made the investor and Xu Ruoxin look like tragic lovers, unable to truly be together. And the ugly screenwriter—she was painted as utterly vile.
The piece was concise, emotional, and impactful. It instantly resonated with netizens, who flooded Nan Xiao’s Weibo to attack her.
Her account was under the pen name “Xiaoxiao Wuye”, taken from the line “萧萧梧叶送寒声”.
Overnight, her inbox filled with vicious private messages:
—“Ugly freak, show us your photo! Are you so hideous you itch every day for a man?”
—“Ugly witch, dare to steal from Xinxin? How big is your ugly face?”
—“Ugly bitch, go die go die go die.”
Reading them, Nan Xiao trembled with fury. Her chest burned, as though her lungs would burst.
Just then, Lin Yan called again. Nan Xiao picked up and told her she had seen the posts. Lin Yan exploded:
“Was it that bitch Xu Ruoxin? She’s insane! How shameless can she be!”
Though furious, Nan Xiao clung to reason. “Ninety-nine percent sure it’s Xu Ruoxin. She even threatened me last night. I didn’t expect this is what she meant.”
“Damn! It really was that bitch! Just wait—I’ll find proof she set you up and destroy her!”
“It won’t be easy.” Nan Xiao frowned. “She’s too clever. If she wasn’t sure she could clear herself, she wouldn’t have done it.”
“Then what now?” Lin Yan asked. “By the way, has your real identity been exposed?”
“No.”
Though a moderately known writer, Nan Xiao had always used her pen name. Contracts bore her real name, yes, but confidentiality clauses kept it safe.
As for photos—none existed publicly. Her private life remained intact.
“Does Xie Chengyu know?” Lin Yan fumed. “He’s spotless in this mess.”
The fact that Xie Corp. funded The Empress Qin hadn’t been publicized. And the Xie family’s influence was so overwhelming that in Z-country’s business world, none dared expose him.
“I don’t know if he knows. But even if he does—so what?” Nan Xiao’s tone dripped with self-mockery.
Lin Yan paused. True enough. He’d never cared about Nan Xiao.
Cursing Xie Chengyu and Xu Ruoxin, she added, “I’ll dig for clues anyway. Maybe I’ll find something. Also—we need someone to manage the comments. I’ll reach out.”
“No, I’ll handle it.”
Nan Xiao had some industry connections herself.
But when she reached out, she learned Xu Ruoxin’s fan club—“Xu You True Heart”—was too massive and aggressive. Controlling the comments would be prohibitively expensive. She gave up.
There were important scenes to film that morning, so she decided to face the work first, deal with the mess later.
When she arrived on set, people stared at her strangely. Nan Xiao walked in calmly.
She had faced worse at ten years old, after her disfigurement. She was nearly immune to such looks now.
“Sister Xiaoxiao,” a friendly lighting tech approached cautiously. “Are you really President Xie’s wife? Was that article true?”
She noticed others pausing their work, ears pricked.
Nan Xiao answered clearly: “Yes, we are married. And yes, we are divorcing soon. But unlike what that article said, I’m not clinging to him. We’re simply in the mandatory cooling-off period.”
“Oh, oh, I see.”
“I knew it—nonsense. Sister Xiaoxiao’s not that kind of person.”
“Whoever wrote that went too far.”
Her reputation on set was solid. Many came to comfort her. Warmth flickered in her chest.
Then she saw Xu Ruoxin arrive. Nan Xiao’s eyes hardened. She excused herself and went straight to Xu Ruoxin’s lounge.
Bang!
She didn’t bother knocking—just shoved the door open and slammed it shut behind her.
Xu Ruoxin, just putting down her bag, turned in surprise.
“This is your idea of revenge?”
Nan Xiao thrust her phone at her. The screen showed her Weibo inbox:
—“Ugly freak, show us your photo, bet you’re desperate for men.”
—“Ugly hag, stealing Xinxin’s man, how big’s that ugly face?”
—“Ugly bitch ugly bitch ugly bitch go die go die go die.”
Xu Ruoxin glanced, then withdrew, lips curling in disdain.
“And aren’t they right? You’re upset because they hit a nerve?”
Nan Xiao’s eyes blazed. She suddenly raised her hand and slapped her, hard.
Smack!
Xu Ruoxin’s head snapped aside. Red finger marks bloomed across her cheek.
“You hit me?” she gasped.
“You’re damn right I did!”
“You have no right—”
Fury broke through her polished mask. Her elegant veneer ripped away, revealing twisted rage. The slap mark only made her look more distorted.
“It’s all because you won’t let go of Chengyu! If you’d just divorce him cleanly, would I need to do this? If you weren’t scheming, would I stoop so low? Being cursed online is your own fault!”
She wasn’t afraid of being overheard—the door was rigged with bug detectors.
Nan Xiao’s face contorted under her mask.
“What schemes? What have I ever done to you? Stop pretending to be a saintly victim!”
“You refused to change the script, then brought in a double to humiliate me! Isn’t that scheming?”
