Director Gao and Zhou Shunche had never witnessed such a scene. Terrified, they scrambled to their feet and retreated into the corner. They wanted to pull Du Anrao and her brother to safety, but they were paralyzed by the fear that any sudden movement might provoke the madwoman and lead to everyone’s downfall.
At this moment, Xi Jingyue, who had been outside taking a call, became everyone’s only hope. Xi Jingyue felt the same. His expression darkened, and he took long strides toward the private room, only to stop short when he heard Du Anrao’s voice from inside.
"Sister, where did you get your nails done? They’re beautiful."
Inside the room, Du Anrao had suddenly stood up and grasped President Jiang’s hand, subtly shielding Du Hexuan behind her.
This move caught everyone off guard. Du Hexuan couldn't stop her in time, and President Jiang, momentarily stunned, allowed her to get close. After a long pause, she asked guardedly, "Who are you? And what is your relationship to him?"
Judging by her expression, she clearly viewed Du Anrao as a potential romantic rival.
Du Hexuan’s eyes flickered. He wanted to play along with the misunderstanding, but the words died in his throat when he looked at the bodyguards standing behind her. If this madwoman truly believed that Anrao was his girlfriend, there was no telling if her rage would shift from him to his sister. Who knew what atrocities a lunatic might commit to "teach him a lesson"?
"She’s my sister. My own sister," Du Hexuan said, stepping forward. "Whatever your problem is, take it up with me. Don't touch her."
"A sister? Your biological sister?" President Jiang seemed slightly surprised, and for the first time, she truly looked at Du Anrao. After a long moment, she dropped a bombshell: "Looking closely, you aren't half-bad. You’re actually my type."
The onlookers: "?"
Du Hexuan: "!"
Du Anrao: "..."
*Seriously, sister? You are absolutely shameless! It’s one thing to force yourself on a man, but now you’re targeting women, too? And if that weren’t enough, you’re trying to snatch both the brother and the sister? What is this, are you trying to squeeze our whole family dry?*
Veins bulged on Du Hexuan’s forehead. He finally lost his temper and erupted: "Jiang Huaiying, don't go too far! Others might fear you, but I don't! Push me to the edge and I’ll make sure we both go down in flames. If you dare touch my An’an today, I’ll stake my life on making sure you don't have an easy time of it!"
When these words were spoken, everyone in the room wore an expression of shock and terror. The difference was that Zhou Shunche and the others were genuinely afraid, while Du Anrao was simply bewildered and shocked.
*[Jiang Huaiying? She’s Jiang Huaiying? The woman known as the Iron Lady of the entertainment industry, the one who kept half the male stars as her private harem, stirred up endless chaos, and eventually destroyed herself after her secret affair with a stand-in was exposed?]*
Du Hexuan’s face was a palette of shifting colors—shock, suspicion, grim satisfaction, and confusion—as his rage flared.
*[No wonder she was so brazen about trying to force my second brother into a back-room deal! When sweet-talk and bribes didn't work, she decided to use force. It turns out she’s a seasoned predator!]*
It was no wonder Du Anrao was stunned. The character Jiang Huaiying was mentioned in the very same "Mary Sue" entertainment industry novel that Yang Jiantao was currently background-dressing for. The protagonist of that book was a low-level extra, and Jiang Huaiying was one of his early-game benefactors and love interests.
That’s right—one of his love interests. The book was a harem story with a male lead and multiple female partners. The downtrodden, perpetually depressed male protagonist had caught the eye of the entertainment industry’s hidden queen by chance, becoming one of the lovers she kept on the side.With the protection and support of this powerhouse of the industry, the male lead officially began his life as an unstoppable force. From a nobody playing bit parts, he climbed step by step to the pinnacle of the domestic entertainment scene, becoming a household name and an international superstar.
However, just as his career was soaring, he unexpectedly discovered that the reason Jiang Huaiying had chosen to keep him and treat him differently in the beginning was entirely because she had once held a torch for a "white moonlight" she could never possess.
That person had once been a dazzling star in the industry, but because he had repeatedly and sternly rejected her advances, he suffered Jiang Huaiying’s ruthless retaliation, which left his reputation in tatters and forced him to exit the circle entirely.
After personally destroying him, Jiang Huaiying had seamlessly transitioned to keeping the male lead, who bore a five-or-six-point resemblance to that man.
By then, the male lead had long grown weary of Jiang Huaiying’s overbearing and domineering nature. Compared to the other understanding and tender confidantes in his life, the male lead, upon learning the truth, increasingly felt that Jiang Huaiying was a complete psychopath.
Yet, because he still needed to leverage Jiang Huaiying’s influence to climb higher, he was forced to suppress his resentment and continue playing along with her.
When the time was ripe, the male lead decisively conspired with Jiang Huaiying’s own capable lieutenants to secretly strip her of her power, eventually crushing her beneath his feet.
What left the deepest impression on Du Anrao was that, upon his successful coup, the male lead had stood there with a confidante in each arm, channeling his inner "Zhen Huan" as he faced the disheveled and wretched Jiang Huaiying.
"To tell you the truth, every moment spent by your side over these years has made me feel suffocated. Every time I touched you in bed, I felt absolutely disgusted. Rest in peace, old woman; I will take good care of the empire you built."
Driven into such a rage that she coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, Jiang Huaiying died on the spot, and a legendary queen of the entertainment industry fell.
When Du Anrao had flipped through this book before, she had only paid attention to Yang Jiantao. Now that she knew the identity of the person in front of her, and looking at the scene before her eyes...
*Help! Is my second brother actually that ill-fated, wronged "white moonlight"?*
This couldn't be blamed on Du Anrao; the focus of the original novel was primarily on the male lead and his various confidantes, with descriptions of other characters barely amounting to a passing mention.
Not to mention that this so-called "white moonlight" had been kept in a state of near-total obscurity throughout the story. The reason she was making this guess now was purely based on an analysis of the timeline, the relevant people involved, and the reference points within the film crew.
The original text mentioned that after the "white moonlight" was framed by Jiang Huaiying and blacklisted, she immediately seized his resources and handed them to the male lead. She had then stepped over him to successfully launch the male lead, effectively creating a "White Moonlight 2.0" who took over all the high-end resources left behind, perfectly replicating his path to fame.
Now, Jiang Huaiying had already tracked them down, and Yang Jiantao just happened to be a background figure in the very first resource the male lead had acquired...
Summarizing all of this, her second brother truly might be the male lead's designated blood bank, and the first resource the male lead was about to snatch was likely this very role he was currently playing.
*What is this? Eating melon and finding it's my own family? Second brother is unlucky enough as it is—why go and provoke this Yandere man-eating flower? Not only will she destroy you if she can't have you, but even after you die, she'll drag you out of the grave to pick your bones and suck the marrow, draining every last drop of value. Is she even human? She’s a man-eating ghost! Go away, stay away!*
Du Hexuan, who was about to become a mobile blood bank: "..."
Although, technically, he hadn't wanted to provoke this woman either. Was it his fault that he was born too good-looking and too likable?