CH 42.1

A few days later–

It had been three days since the final debut night of “Starlight”. To everyone’s surprise, Jian Xingsui’s popularity on Weibo had not dissipated. The problem of voting manipulation was still ongoing, as many people felt they were scammed out of their money. Unfortunately, Anran’s reputation had been dragged through the mud thanks to his fans’ poor behavior. Even until now, there’s still many discussions surrounding his flaws. 

[Anran’s family is filthy rich, right? It’s clear he had the capital to get through the back door, if you catch my drift.]

[He got the same number of bought votes as Suisui, but he came third.] 

[Well, his older brother was one of the special guests. Do you need to doubt that there’s nepotism at play here?]

[Did he robbed someone else’s place then?]

[Ah, I thought he was very cute before, but I didn’t expect him to be such a rotten person.]

Originally, Anran had a good impression in the eyes of the public, but because of his fans’ rude behavior that night, his good impression vanished within seconds. The public perception of him had hit rock bottom. 

In Jian family’s mansion–

“Bang!”

There was a loud noise in the living room, which showed how furious the man was.

Jian Zhi was very angry when he saw the netizen’s evaluation of his baby brother Anran. He seethed, “How dare they slander you so easily? They even said you are flaunting your capital and playing nepotism! Netizens these days are getting more irrational.” 

Anran sat beside him with puffy red eyes. It was obvious that he had suffered a great grievance.

Li-jie, Anran’s manager, sat across from both of them, “Ranran, I didn’t expect that the situation would become this bad. I suspect that someone is actually out to get you. It must be Jian Xingsui!  He must’ve instigated his fans behind the scenes to harm you on purpose.” 

Anran glanced at Jian Zhi quietly, and said softly, “That’s impossible, Li-jie. I know Suisui, he… he is quite nice, he couldn’t be the one behind all of this.  This matter is also my fault, blame me for not restraining my fans well. Don’t blame Xingsui, even if he did it, it’s nothing. I think maybe Suisui is still blaming me. Because if it wasn’t me, it would be impossible for him to leave the Jian family’s house…”

Jian Zhi felt a little distressed when he heard his little brother’s words.

“Ranran, how could this be your fault?” Jian Zhi has always liked his excellent and sensible younger brother, “You are my own younger brother, it’s only natural for you to come home here. I think Li-jie is right, maybe Jian Xingsui did some tricks behind our backs. Didn’t he get close to that Shen Xingchen? When I was looking for him before, he said that he didn’t care about money. I guess it was because he got a new thigh to hug1hugging (thick/golden) thigh = depends on a stronger person., so he now dares to be this audacious.” 

Anran’s mind was very flexible, and he grasped this line very efficiently. He continued to pretend to be weak to gain pity, “Second brother, what should I do now then?”

Jian Zhi crossed his legs and said, “Don’t worry, the public opinion is a fickle thing. We can ride this one out very soon. Jian Xingsui’s company got that one million, so now they have to give us an explanation. I believe they will hide him in the future. When he is cornered with no way out, he’ll grovel in front of me to beg for forgiveness.” 

Anran and Li-jie looked at each other, and they both saw consideration in each other’s eyes.

The solution was not to wait for public opinion to pass. They need to be proactive in whitewashing Anran’s reputation. 

If Anran wanted to enjoy the glory and wealth, he could rely on the Jian family. But his goal in this life was to make up for the regrets of his previous life. He was not convinced of his lost last time. He must find a way to win Fu Jinxiao over as his lover. But according to his understanding, Actor Fu always liked hardworking people. So, it’s imperative for him to not go astray, be smart, and keep his innocent facade. 

Now everyone on the Internet is saying that he was using his capital to win his ranking, saying that he’s using Jian Zhi’s reputation to get privileges. If he let these sayings seep deep into the netizen’s mind, how would he make Fu Jinxiao like him?? Originally, he thought that he could use Jian Zhi’s power to attack Jian Xingsui, but he didn’t expect that he was so unable to do so. It seemed that everything could only be done by himself.

Meanwhile, in the hospital– 

Jian Xingsui has been watching Zhang Xiangyang for the past two days. The exhaustion had made him lose weight. 

When Mrs. Zhang came with a meal, she saw Jian Xingsui was wiping Zhang Xiangyang’s body. She walked over and said with a grateful tone, “Suisui, thank you for your hard work, without you, I really don’t know what to do. “

“You’re welcome, I just do what I should do,” Jian Xingsui replied. He then turned to Zhang Xiangyang and said, “Please lie down, I’ll pour out the water into the basin.”

Zhang Xiangyang nodded. He and Jian Xingsui have been in contact these past two days. At this time, he found how gentle and kind Jian Xingsui actually was. The child was very patient with him, and had taken care of him without any complaint. What’s more, didn’t Jian Xingsui have returned not long ago? 

Zhang Xiangyang looked at Jian Xingsui’s tired face, and said softly: “Suisui, you should go back home soon. I just need your Mother to be here. You have been up all night, you have to go back to rest properly.”

Jian Xingsui’s dazed state made him hesitate for a moment. He then nodded, “Okay.”

Mrs. Zhang quickly said, “Don’t go back to the company’s dormitory. The room at home has been tidied up. Just go back and live there for a while, okay?”

Jian Xingsui didn’t hesitate at this time, “Okay.”

After Jian Xingsui left, the husband and wife pair looked at each other, as if they had something to say to each other.

Zhang Xiangyang walked through the gate of hell this time, and he unexpectedly had reached some level of enlightenment. The things he had been obsessed with before seemed so insignificant in the face of death. With a calm voice, he asked, “Did I have another illness?” 

His wife, Zhang Xia2Yes, they have the same surname even before marriage. But this doesn’t mean they’re related by blood. came over and said, “It’s not serious, don’t worry about it.” 

“Don’t lie to me, I know my body condition quite well. I can feel it by myself, you know?” Zhang Xiangyang coughed a few times, “The treatment of my disease will cost a lot of money. Do we have enough?”

Zhang Xia comforted him, “Don’t worry, Xingsui and I will figure out a solution to this matter, you just need to rest so you’ll recover faster.” 

Zhang Xiangyang subconsciously frowned, “That child Xingsui, I heard that when he left home, he didn’t take any money. It’s not like you don’t know that he only got paid 20,000 yuan for the show. How much money can he have? Back then, we were afraid that Ranran would be bullied when he returned to the Jian family, so didn’t you give him 500,000 yuan? Now that I’m in this situation, he shouldn’t be short of money, go and ask for it back.” 

Zhang Xia was taken aback, “Asking him to return it?” 

Zhang Xiangyang was still frowning when he continued to explain his stance, “Yes, why can’t we ask it back? You have seen his situation at the Jian’s family. That family treats him very well. Now he has made his debut in an idol group and has his own stable job. Look at Suisui again in comparison. He was eliminated, and now he’s busy taking care of me. Just where will he get money, then? We urgently need the money, I think you know this very well.” 

“But…” Mrs. Zhang hesitated, “What I’m afraid of is that if Ranran has any difficulties now. How will he face that, then?”

Zhang Xiangyang felt chills down his spine when he heard his wife speak. 

It seems that from the very beginning, after bringing Anran back, his wife regarded this child as her own. She was devoted to this child and gave him whatever he wanted. When the inevitable truth came up and they had to return Anran to his biological family, his wife was very sad. She was unwilling to separate from Anran, and even stuffed 500,000 yuan for the child as he went back to that rich family. 

He could understand how deep this twenty-years of love ran. After all, he also watched Anran grow. But this time, how can she still be so obsessed? Zhang Xiangyang thought she was really crazy. 

As her husband, it was his duty to wake her up from her obsessive state, “A-Xia, is my life more important than his difficulties?”

Zhang Xiangyang knew saying this was akin to emotional manipulation. But he felt he had no other choice. 

At this time, a doctor came in from the outside and said: “Ward rounds.”

The doctors came, and the conversation naturally ended. Zhang Xiangyang was obviously much thinner during this period. After the examination, the doctor said: “For family members, please follow me. I’ll explain some things about the patient’s condition.” 

Zhang Xia hurriedly followed.

When they got outside, the doctor explained, “At present, we haven’t found a suitable kidney donor, but we will still do our best to treat his condition. We will update you with the future treatment plan, so you can choose which one suited your condition the best. Inform your family members, you all should also make the corresponding psychological preparations. Don’t let the patient have any psychological burden. Lastly, I need to ask your son’s permission for a blood matching test. If the test comes out positive, then his kidney can be used as a donor. We can schedule the operations as soon as possible, then.” 

Hearing the last bit, Zhang Xia froze.

Whether Jian Xingsui was willing or not was one matter. But, they didn’t have any blood connection at all, so how could they use Jian Xingsui’s kidney? But… how could she tell the doctor this truth? 

Zhang Xia asked again, “Doctor, is it okay if… we still want to find other suitable donor…” 

The doctor gave Zhang Xia a meaningful look.

Zhang Xia felt a little guilty.

The doctor had no choice but to say: “Of course that’s fine, but you have to know that the patient’s treatment opportunities are limited. We also can’t be sure that a matching donor could easily be found. Your family should weigh all the decisions carefully.” 

Zhang Xia nodded, “I understand, doctor.” 

Of course she knew that it would be difficult to find. But at worst, she would go to Ranran, and that lovely boy would definitely not ignore her and the Father who had raised him for so many years. As long as Ranran was willing to help, everything would be fine.

Uh… hurray for Zhang Xiangyang to finally see the truth? Took you a near-death experience to reach it, but congrats I guess.