No matter who it was, as long as they could ruin Meng Nianchu, she had to find out!
The Heartbeat Café wasn't too far from where Jin Hui lived. Linda arrived there in no time and headed straight for the second floor.
She found the room mentioned in the message. Summoning her courage, Linda pushed open the door.
"It seems Miss Linda is in quite a hurry. You're here so soon," a strange male voice came from inside. Linda walked in, looking puzzled. When she saw the man sitting on the chair, she instantly understood. Her guard relaxed a bit. She sat down opposite him and looked straight into his eyes. "Reporter Li, if you have something to say, just come out with it."
"Straight to the point!"
Li Bei took out a photo from his backpack and placed it on the table.
Linda glanced down, and the smile on her face froze for a moment.
Li Bei, with his sharp eyes, keenly noticed her subtle change and looked even more certain. He said with a smile, "I took this photo by chance in Nanbin. Mu Junze took Meng Nianchu to the most luxurious lounge there."
Linda clasped her hands tightly on her thighs.
She never thought those two would be having so much fun outside.
"I remember this was the time when the crew was filming. Meng Nianchu ignored her work and went out with Mu Junze to relax. These days, there have been countless news stories about Meng Nianchu's dedication to work on the Internet. If this photo were to be released now, it would definitely stir up a storm!"
This was finally getting to the point.
Linda temporarily suppressed her annoyance. She leaned back and fixed her gaze on Li Bei. "Your condition."
"One million," Li Bei said casually, and the huge sum rolled off his tongue.
Linda hesitated slightly.
Li Bei took the opportunity to deliver a powerful blow. "I not only have this photo, but also the ones of them in the lounge. You don't even need to post these yourself. I'll arrange for people and self - media to handle these matters. By then, even if Meng Nianchu wants to find out the source, she won't be able to trace it back to you."
Linda retorted, "Why should I trust you?"
Li Bei let out a snort of laughter. "Who on Weibo doesn't know that you and Meng Nianchu are at odds? I have such good resources that can help you damage Meng Nianchu's reputation, and I can get the money I want from you. It's a win - win situation."
As long as two people had a common interest, cooperation would come naturally.
Linda really needed the photos that Li Bei had brought. After some thought, she finally agreed to cooperate with him. But just to be on the safe side, she only paid Li Bei a part of the money first, and the rest would be paid later.
Li Bei agreed.
After finalizing the deal with Li Bei, Linda rushed back to the villa to take care of Jin Hui. She thought the photos wouldn't be released until a few days later, but she didn't expect Li Bei to act so quickly. At 8 p.m. that night, the news was out.
Moreover, several self - media outlets posted the news simultaneously, and it happened to coincide with the evening rush hour. The popularity was imaginable.
Meng Nianchu finished showering and sat on the edge of the bed.
Mu Junze was dealing with the work he hadn't had time to finish during the day.
Meng Nianchu picked up her phone and nestled into Mu Junze's arms. Just as she got comfortable, her phone started buzzing.
Dozens of private messages came in almost at the same time.
Meng Nianchu thought some fans were being very enthusiastic. She opened Weibo and clicked in, only to find a bunch of people scolding her for not focusing on filming during work hours and going out to play!
Although she had endured a lot of abuse, this kind of baseless accusation was a first for her. She quickly flipped to the hot - search list, and the first thing she saw was the obvious title:
Meng Nianchu's dedicated persona collapses.
Out of curiosity, Meng Nianchu clicked in to take a look. When she saw the top - ranked photos and the so - called articles about how Meng Nianchu was being affectionate with her husband during work hours, it all dawned on her.
"We've been photographed again," Meng Nianchu said, as she saw the photos of her and Mu Junze in the lounge. The images made her recall the time when she was captured by those men and taken to that filthy place. She closed her eyes, suppressing the nausea, and whispered to Mu Junze.
Mu Junze glanced down at her and simply said coolly, "Stop looking at nonsense."
Having been in the entertainment industry for quite a while, Meng Nianchu had long passed the stage of losing sleep over a single negative news story. She thought it was just a bunch of out - of - context and baseless lies that would fade away in a few days. There was no need to explain specifically.
So she just posted a Weibo saying "Be yourself" to reassure her fans and kept silent about the incident of being captured by men.
After all, the police were already handling the case, and there were three other girls involved. She couldn't expose their wounds just because of her own small matter.
Meng Nianchu didn't take these small things to heart. She went to bed early and went to the film set early the next day, ready for the upcoming work.
After she arrived at the set and roughly looked through today's shooting plan, the other actors in the crew also arrived one after another. Different from their usual enthusiastic greetings, their faces showed embarrassment when they saw Meng Nianchu today.
Meng Nianchu didn't bother to care.
About ten minutes later, Bai Ling rushed to the set in a hurry. When she saw Meng Nianchu, she quickened her steps and walked over.
"Do you know you scared me to death these days? I'm so glad you're okay!" Seeing that Meng Nianchu was safe, Bai Ling felt relieved.
Meng Nianchu said with a touched smile, "I'm fine."
When she got back to Shangting and heard from Mu Junze that Bai Ling also knew about this, afraid that she would worry, Meng Nianchu immediately called her to report her safety.
Bai Ling pulled her to sit on the chair. "Those people are really bold. They dared to act right at the crew's entrance. If I had known, I would have gone out with you that day. Maybe they would have thought twice before doing anything."
"Don't worry."
As the two sisters were talking about the incident when Meng Nianchu was captured and almost assaulted, suddenly, someone approached them and made an envious and discordant remark.
"I was wondering why I had so many extra scenes to film the other day. It turns out Meng Nianchu was using work time to go out and play. She doesn't take her work seriously at all," Linda sneered as she stood behind them.
Meng Nianchu turned around and looked at her coldly. "Do you have nothing better to do than gossip about others all day long?"
"Don't talk to me in that sarcastic tone!" Linda suddenly raised her voice. "You delayed the crew's filming for two days. What right do you have to be dissatisfied?"