Against the Light - Chapter 40
Chapter 40: Don't Panic When Trouble Arises
When Gu Xinran got home, she collapsed onto the bed and pulled the covers over her head. Her heart still felt hollow, and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. She picked up her phone and found Yilan's number, wanting to call and ask if she'd made it home safely. But then she remembered how Bai Yilan had left without a word, and their agreement: after ten days, they would be strangers.
After hesitating again and again, she didn't make the call. Angrily, she shoved her phone under the pillow.
She didn't fall into a frustrated sleep until just before dawn.
In a daze, she thought she heard someone knocking on her door. The voice sounded familiar, like… Fang Jinghai?
Gu Xinran struggled to pry her eyelids open and saw that it was already broad daylight. She pushed her weary body into a sitting position, and sure enough, someone was ringing the doorbell.
She got up and opened the door.
Fang Jinghai was a little incredulous when the door opened. She had been ordered to come and intercept Sister Ran, not expecting her to have actually returned!
"Sister Ran! You're finally back!!!" Fang Jinghai exclaimed excitedly, then looked her over carefully. She looked to be in terrible shape.
"Wuwuwu, Sister Ran, if you hadn't come back, Sister Qi would have gone crazy!! Where on earth have you been these past few days! Your phone was off, you weren't on WeChat, Sister Qi thought you were missing and was about to call the police!"
"Didn't I ask her for leave?" Gu Xinran opened the door wider to let her in. "Sit wherever." After saying that, she went back to her bedroom.
Fang Jinghai looked around. In this living room, besides the piano, the only place to sit was the piano bench.
She sat for a while, listening intently for any sound from the bedroom, but there was nothing. Finding it a bit strange, she walked over and knocked on the door. "Sister Ran?"
The door wasn't closed, and no one answered. She pushed it open a crack and peeked inside, only to see Gu Xinran had crawled back into bed to sleep…
Fang Jinghai's face darkened. Thinking that she was probably just exhausted from her trip, she didn't disturb her further. She closed the door, returned to the living room, and called Qu Qi to let her know that Gu Xinran was back and that she could relax.
It was nearly noon when Gu Xinran finally woke up. She opened her eyes and glanced toward the door. Had Jinghai been here earlier?
She stretched. The bright sunshine outside should have put her in a great mood, but in the next second, the thought of Yilan leaving without a word yesterday came flooding back, and her spirits instantly plummeted.
She sighed and got up. What could she do? Even without Yilan, life had to go on.
After all, she had been the one constantly telling Bai Yilan how beautiful life was and that she had to keep going strong. She couldn't just fall into a slump now that it was happening to her.
Gu Xinran went into the living room and saw that Fang Jinghai had bought breakfast.
"Sorry, I fell asleep just now. Have a seat for a little longer, I'm just going to wash my face," Gu Xinran said with an apologetic smile.
"It's fine, it's fine. I know you're tired. Go on, breakfast is ready."
"Okay."
Gu Xinran forced herself to wash up and change her clothes.
"Sister Ran, happy birthday!" Fang Jinghai held out a small cake, beaming at her.
Gu Xinran froze for a moment, then returned a warm smile.
"Thank you." But then the memory of last night made her sigh inwardly.
"Hurry and eat. After you're done, we'll go to the company. If you don't go see her soon, she's going to eat someone alive."
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, well, online…" Fang Jinghai suddenly paused and looked at her sideways.
"Um… Sister Ran, I have a question for you."
"Hm?"
"Have you… had plastic surgery?"
Gu Xinran was a bit baffled. "I've done something like that?"
"???" Fang Jinghai was baffled too. Wasn't that a question? Why is she asking me back?!
The little assistant immediately took out her phone, found the Weibo post, and showed it to her. "This post has been on the hot search list for seven or eight days. It started right after you left. Sister Qi spent a ton of money trying to get it taken down, but it wouldn't budge. We have no idea who's behind it, but they're trying to ruin you!"
Gu Xinran looked at it with a skeptical expression.
The Weibo topic 【Gu Xinran Plastic Surgery】 was ranked first on the hot search list.
She clicked on it to take a look.
【Deep Dive Today: Yesterday, Little 8 received a shocking tip from a fan! After on-site investigation and verification, Little 8 has confirmed the authenticity of the claim! The recently resurgent talented actress, Gu Xinran, actually had plastic surgery before her debut! Tagging @Yu Hua here to ask Teacher Yu, do you remember that interview where you blasted surgically-enhanced faces? What are your thoughts on this? A second question for Teacher Yu, did Gu Xinran really get the role without any connection to Bai Yilan? By the way, fans, stop trying to defend her. Let the pictures speak for themselves. And regardless of whether plastic surgery is shameful, lying to fans and the public by claiming to be all-natural is just shameless.】
Below was a set of pictures, a few before-and-after comparisons. Lip fillers, bone shaving, nose jobs, chin implants—every possible procedure had been pinned on her. Following that was a certificate from a plastic surgery hospital, and finally, a screenshot of Yu Hua's past interview where she had criticized plastic surgery.
After reading it, Gu Xinran was dumbfounded. The "before" picture didn't look like her at all. The person had dull, sallow, dark skin covered in pimples, a very square face, and no nose bridge. There wasn't a single feature that resembled her. It was clearly just a random passerby's photo they had thrown up there.
"Sister Ran, I believe you haven't had any work done. Besides, if someone who looked like that could be transformed into how you look now, that plastic surgery clinic would be way too amazing."
"But… it doesn't matter what I believe. The netizens aren't buying it. And that certificate from the hospital seems to be real. Sister Qi looked into it, and there really is a record of you having surgery there."
Gu Xinran glanced at the comments. It was true. Some people said they didn't think plastic surgery was a big deal, that it was normal for celebrities. Others said it was shameful, and lying to fans about being all-natural was even more shameful. There were also many people commenting that the hospital's skills were amazing and that they wanted to go try it out.
Fang Jinghai carefully watched her expression.
Gu Xinran frowned. This kind of thing… she hadn't experienced anything like it in the decades she had lived in her previous life. These new-generation people really knew how to play games.
"What does Sister Qi say?" Gu Xinran asked.
"She wants to sue the hospital for malicious slander, but first, she needs to confirm with you. Did you really not do it?"
"I…" How would I know…
"Which hospital is this? I'll go take a look."
"No, no, don't! That hospital is definitely swarming with reporters. It's better if you don't show your face."
Gu Xinran glanced at her. "Whether I did it or not, this hospital deliberately leaked a patient's private information. They have no medical ethics. They can forget about staying in business."
Fang Jinghai mulled over her words. Why did she have a bad feeling about this?
Gu Xinran handed the phone back to her. "Find out where this hospital is. I'll go myself. Tell Sister Qi not to respond yet. We'll talk after I've seen it."
"Alright. Oh, right, although things with Director Yu have been smoothed over, the people on the crew are a bit…"
"I know. They're biased against me because of what happened with Yilan. It's fine. As long as Director Yu doesn't say anything, they can't do anything to me."
"That's true."
Fang Jinghai immediately went to look up the hospital's address.
After Gu Xinran finished her breakfast, the two of them headed to the company.
The moment she stepped through the company doors, Gu Xinran sensitively felt that the atmosphere was a little off. The last time she came, a group of young girls had run over, calling her "Sister Ran." Today, why was everyone acting like they didn't see her?
"Sister Ran, don't mind them. I heard from Sister Qi that the reason your topic has been on the hot search for so many days and can't be taken down is probably because you've offended someone you can't afford to offend. These people at the company are all snobs. When you're doing well, they all suck up to you. The moment you're in trouble, they all hide far away. Sister Qi said this is a good opportunity for you to see who around you is human and who is a ghost, so you can be more careful when making friends in the future," Fang Jinghai whispered.
Gu Xinran smiled. Did Qu Qi think she was a three-year-old? Did she think she couldn't tell who around her was genuine and who was fake?
The two exited the elevator. As they passed Su Cen's office, Gu Xinran paused and glanced inside.
"Hello, Sister Cen."
Su Cen shot her a look. "Well, well, well. The sky is about to fall on your head, and you're still in the mood to go on vacation?"
Gu Xinran laughed. "You're the first person to talk to me since I walked into the company." She winked at her, then turned around and jumped in fright!
Qu Qi was standing right behind her with her arms crossed and a hostile look on her face!
"Uh, hello, Sister Qi~"
Qu Qi gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes, looked at her, then glared at Su Cen, who shrugged with an innocent expression.
"So you finally decided to come back, huh?" Qu Qi huffed, dragging Gu Xinran into her office.
"Quick, think about who you've offended recently!!"
"Yang Xue, Luo Bing. Oh, or maybe someone was jealous of my performance on the show? And there were three competitors when I auditioned for Teacher Yu's drama."
As she spoke, Qu Qi counted on her fingers.
"Yang Xue is already dead in the water. If she had any backing, they would have come out to clear her name long ago. Impossible. Luo Bing… we're in the same company, after all. Su Cen wouldn't be that ruthless. Those are the only two from the show who have a grudge against you, right? Three from the audition? Which three?"
"I don't remember. They all looked pretty much the same; I'm a bit face-blind. But I didn't offend them."
"Wait!" A sudden flash of inspiration hit Gu Xinran, and she abruptly remembered. It seemed she had been threatened with □□ before!!
She quickly took out her phone, opened Weibo, and found the person she had blocked.
"Take a look at this."
Qu Qi took the phone, glanced at it, and instantly exploded.
"Why didn't you tell me about something this big sooner!?"
"What does this message from six months ago, 'Get out of the entertainment industry yourself, or I'll let everyone know how ugly you are,' mean? You were threatened by her six months ago? Six months ago… wasn't that when you and Yilan got divorced?"
Gu Xinran spread her hands. She was just as confused; there was too little information.
"Tsk, I'll try to contact this person, see if I can find a way to meet them." Qu Qi clicked on the person's profile picture, only to find it was completely empty. There was nothing to go on.
"Maybe… I can try?" Fang Jinghai quietly raised her hand.
"How would you try?"
"My… niece is a top student in computer science. She's a white hat."
"A white hat is…?"
"To put it simply… a hacker who upholds justice :)"
"!?"
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