I Really Like the Male Supporting Character (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 61

In the early morning, Ah Luo was startled awake by an urgent knocking at the door. She sat up in bed, opened the door, and saw her assistant, Xiaolin, who looked visibly anxious.

“Sister! Something’s happened!” Xiao Lin blurted out in a panic.

Ah Luo didn’t even frown. She stepped aside to let her in and asked calmly, “What is it?”

Xiao Lin raised her phone and held it in front of Ah Luo’s face. “Sister, look! Someone’s exposed a scandal about you. They’re saying you’ve been kept by a sugar daddy and even posted some so-called evidence. It’s blowing up out there right now.”

Ah Luo lowered her gaze to the phone screen. It showed a forum page, and the comments beneath the post were indeed in an uproar. Some fans refused to believe it and were lashing out at the whistleblower, but more were convinced by the seemingly ironclad evidence and were clamouring to unfollow her.

The rest were mostly onlookers, there just for the gossip and to make cynical comments.

[I’ve said all along that Xin Luo had a sugar daddy. Just look at her—she’s clearly the seductive type. How could a woman like that possibly behave herself?]

[Honestly, I’m not even surprised. With Xin Luo’s looks, it’s obvious she couldn’t be clean, right? She totally looks like a femme fatale, yet she’s always claiming she’s never dated anyone, that she’s been single since birth—who’d believe that?]

[Are those of you judging based on her looks actually being serious? So by that logic, any woman who’s pretty can’t be decent?]

[Who doesn’t already know about Xin Luo and the CEO of Xingchen? I thought that was common knowledge. She’s been with him since she was eighteen, hasn’t she? He’s been promoting her all these years—she’s practically Xingchen’s sole pillar of support. If there wasn’t something more going on, how could that make sense?]

[Disgusting. I didn’t think Xin Luo was that kind of person. I actually liked her on that variety show. Thinking back now, it makes me want to vomit. The CEO of Xingchen has a wife and kid, right? The kid must be nearly an adult. And she’s willing to go that far just to stay famous?]

[Xin Luo hasn’t responded yet. Everyone calm down, maybe there’ll be a twist?]

[What twist could there be? Didn’t they post pictures up there? Isn’t that Xin Luo kissing Xu Dongzhou? She looks about eighteen or nineteen in those photos. She’s shameless. Some of you brain-dead fans still defending her, go ahead.]

[Wasn’t there a rumour a while back that Shen Xi was pursuing Xin Luo? Hah. So she’s trying to ditch her sugar daddy and find someone to take over? Xin Luo’s fans didn’t even think Shen Xi was good enough for her back then, saying he was too young and immature—what a joke. They should take a good look at how filthy their ‘Sister’ is.]

At that point, Ah Luo stopped scrolling. She handed the phone back to Xiaolin. Her expression was calm and untroubled as she said, “It’s nothing serious. Don’t panic.”

Xiaolin hadn’t been with her as long as Sister Pei had, and still didn’t understand how things worked in the company. She was fairly naive, so upon hearing that, she let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good then, that’s good. If you say it’s fine, then it must be fine. The company’s PR team will definitely take care of it for you.”

Ah Luo gave her a faint, inscrutable smile but said nothing.

The company’s PR team would handle it? Not a chance.

That scandal was most likely released by Xingchen’s own PR department. The post neatly detailed how she and Xu Dongzhou had met, as though the poster had been watching from the sidelines the entire time. It even included a few photos of them appearing to be close, along with countless fabricated events, clearly invented but disturbingly plausible. It was well-organised and logically coherent—if Ah Luo herself weren’t the person involved, she might have believed it too.

Ever since that unpleasant parting with Xu Dongzhou, she had been waiting for this moment. She just hadn’t expected it to take this long. Then again, given the timing, it actually made perfect sense—there was an awards ceremony tomorrow, and the film she’d shot six months ago with Zhou Jiayin had been nominated. Barring any surprises, she was likely to win another award.

To release a scandal at this moment—Xu Dongzhou clearly meant to bring her crashing down. So what was waiting for her next?

Strangely enough, Ah Luo felt no panic whatsoever. Her mood was unusually calm.

And why wasn’t she worried? Because Xu Dongzhou wasn’t the only one with ‘evidence’—Ah Luo had her own ways to fight back.

All she needed to do was make public the contents of the contract she’d signed all those years ago, and the rumours would collapse under their own weight.

She was no longer the helpless, easily manipulated Xin Luo of the past. She now had countless fans, numerous works to her name. As long as she was willing, Xu Dongzhou wouldn’t be able to touch her.

Now, she was just waiting for Xu Dongzhou to finish making his move. Once he had, it would be her turn to respond.

After breakfast, she headed to the filming location. Quite a few people on set gave her curious or furtive glances, but no one approached her directly. They merely watched and gossiped behind her back. Scandals were commonplace in the entertainment industry. For every expose, there was a counterattack. Moreover, since Ah Luo’s demeanour was no different from usual—seemingly unaffected by the public outcry—people began to suspect that the matter wasn’t as clearly-cut as it seemed like now.

Sure enough, by midday, just as her sugar daddy scandal was reaching a fever pitch, a second bombshell post appeared out of nowhere.

This time, the story was about Xin Luo and Shen Xi being in a relationship.

Someone had floated the idea a while back, claiming Shen Xi was pursuing Xin Luo, but it hadn’t gained much traction at the time due to lack of evidence.

Now, though, the new post claimed they had long since turned their fake romance into reality, and had confirmed their relationship during that variety show. Shen Xi hadn’t joined the crew of Ballad of the Azure Palace as just her suitor, but as her actual boyfriend.

Because Xin Luo didn’t want to go public, they were currently in a secret relationship. The post had a video of Xin Luo and Shen Xi on set attached to it—inside a hotel corridor, the young man had pinned the woman against the wall and kissed her. Their postures were undeniably intimate.

In addition, the poster had dug up Shen Xi’s family background: it turned out that Shen Xi was actually the second young master of the Shen family, the wealthiest family in City N—making him the younger brother of the brilliant and powerful CEO Shen Yu of Brilliant Stars.

This revelation was far more explosive than any of Xin Luo’s previous scandals with Xu Dongzhou, and it immediately stirred up widespread discussion. In fact, Shen Xi’s family background had already been investigated once when the variety show aired, but because there hadn’t been many clues, the matter eventually fizzled out.

Now that his identity had come to light, combined with the resurfacing of Xin Luo’s old scandals, netizens quickly believed they had uncovered the ‘truth’ and began turning on Xin Luo.

[What the hell—Lingshen was totally tricked by Xin Luo, right? She must’ve known his identity ages ago and deliberately went on that dating show to seduce him. Poor Lingshen, falling for such a disgusting woman with his pure young heart. She’s just using him as a stepping stone to kick away her sugar daddy and marry into a rich family, isn’t she?]

[Agreed. I always wondered why Xin Luo would like Shen Xi. I mean, even if he’s good-looking, she’s way out of his league—he’s seven years younger than her! Now it all makes sense. All I can say is, I feel sorry for Shen Xi. He’s such a sweet, innocent puppy, and for his first love to be someone like her…]

[Honestly, we were all duped. Everyone thought she joined the show for Zhou Jiayin, but turns out that wasn’t her goal at all—it was Shen Xi.]

[Can a morally questionable woman like Xin Luo please get out of the entertainment industry already? Stop dragging down our Lingshen!]

[So gross. Just a short while ago, I was still shipping them, hoping their relationship would become real. And now that they are real, I just want them to break up already. Please, Xin Luo, leave Shen Xi alone.]

[Thinking back to all those little strange moments on the show, they all make sense now. Like how she seemed to know Shen Xi so well, like she already knew they’d be paired together—it’s like she had everything planned from the start. And that Sennheiser games console—if she hadn’t prepared it beforehand, how did she manage to pull it out so conveniently at that exact moment? And the maze castle part—why didn’t she let Shen Xi press the switch? Maybe even that was premeditated.]

[Holy shit, looking back now… it’s creepy as hell the more you think about it.]

[Xin Luo is seriously manipulative. It’s terrifying. Lingshen has to see all this. He needs to realise what she’s really like and stop falling for her lies!]

In reality, Shen Xi had seen the post almost immediately.

His girlfriend was extremely busy with work, and he, as a gaming livestreamer with a flexible schedule, spent most of his time at home with little to do other than stream and surf the internet. During these lonely days without his girlfriend’s company, he’d started hanging out in Xin Luo’s fan chat groups, watching her dramas or interviews for a bit of comfort. He’d even been so generous buying the products she endorsed that he’d ended up as one of the group admins.

The fans in these groups were always quick on the uptake. As soon as the scandal about Xin Luo’s supposed sugar daddy broke, the news spread through the group like wildfire.

Once the exposé post dropped, the group chat instantly descended into chaos. Fans were never known for being particularly loyal—it’s easy for them to stan a star one day and unfollow the next. Moreover, this time, the allegations were too compelling. Most people who read the post ended up believing it. A wave of fans immediately left the group and declared they were no longer supporting her.

At first, Shen Xi was completely stunned. He stared at the photo of Xin Luo and Xu Dongzhou kissing for a long time, his mind utterly blank.

After a moment, he finally came to his senses and switched into admin mode without hesitation. He kicked out the former fans who had started hurling abuse at Xin Luo, comforted the ones who were confused or on the fence, and used his wit and eloquence to full effect. After spending the entire morning painstakingly smoothing things over, he finally managed to calm the group down and even got some of them to help manage the post’s comments section to control public opinion in Xin Luo’s favour.

Just as everything seemed to be settling and the situation was beginning to improve, a second exposé post dropped at noon—immediately reigniting public outrage.

Shen Xi: ‘…’

Let it all burn! I’m tired!

One group member, seeing how fiercely loyal he was, couldn’t help but sneer sarcastically, [Well, today I’ve truly seen what it means to be a braindead fan. Xin Luo’s done something this vile and you’re still defending her? Doesn’t that make your skin crawl?]

Shen Xi replied, [I believe in her.]

The group member said, [I’d believe she doesn’t have a sugar daddy, but there’s no denying she tricked Shen Xi. How else do you explain everything on the show? That poor guy had never even been in a relationship before, and she manipulated him and stole his heart. Isn’t that completely heartless?]

Shen Xi replied, [She didn’t trick Shen Xi. She really likes him.]

The group member said, [Who are you to say that? You’re not Shen Xi, though. You saying that doesn’t prove anything.]

Shen Xi replied, [Who says I’m not?]

The group member: [???]

Shen Xi: [Look at my group nickname.]

Everyone in the chat glanced at his nickname, which said, ‘Xin Luo’s boyfriend.’ The words practically glowed with an aura of smug provocation.

All the group members: […]

After a brief stunned silence, one member finally muttered, [Well, that’s it then. Shen Xi’s been completely bewitched. He’s fully brainwashed. He’s committed to cleaning up her mess without a shred of complaint or regret!]