Chapter 39: The Rival Always Wants to Taste Him Again [39]

Chapter 39: The Nemesis Can't Stop Wanting Another Taste of Him "39"

Ye Qi read these messages, replied with a couple of lines, and exited the chat interface before finally feeling ready to look at what was happening online.

By the time he finished reading, he couldn't help but furrow his brows.

Lin Ran had started a livestream a short while ago and directly made a public apology, saying that the script for "Phoenix Sings the World" was indeed not written by him personally, but rather purchased from someone else.

He bought the script to prove himself to the person he loved, never expecting that someone would use this opportunity to set him up.

And he directly stated in the livestream that the person targeting him was none other than Ye Qi, the one he had loved for all those years.

He twisted what should have been a clear case of plagiarism into a love triangle between three people.

Lin Ran didn't fully exonerate himself, nor did he directly say that "Phoenix" was the one that had been plagiarized. Instead, he simply portrayed himself as a victim who had been set up because of love.

He already had a batch of blind followers from before, and now that he personally came forward to address the matter, those fans went on the attack everywhere, not even sparing Shi Mo.

They believed that if Shi Mo had been willing to reciprocate Lin Ran's feelings, then Lin Ran wouldn't have bought the script to prove himself, nor would he have been set up.

Most of the attacks were directed at Ye Qi, especially from those who had been waiting for his "groveling to win back his wife" arc. Now they were demanding he face total ruin, refusing to give him even the slightest chance to win back his partner.

There were also those who questioned and mocked, arguing that Lin Ran's words had no credibility at all, but they were all drowned out by Lin Ran's fans.

Addressing the doubts, Lin Ran said with a bitter smile: "I know what I did was wrong. I admit my mistake. I shouldn't have bought someone else's script and passed it off as my own original work."

"You're right to question me now, because I'm also at fault here."

"But this is definitely not plagiarism! If this weren't deliberate scheming, then why did I keep saying I was going to film 'Phoenix' all along, yet they showed no reaction, and only released 'Phoenix' right before my film came out?"

Lin Ran's appearance wasn't unattractive to begin with, and now he had deliberately applied makeup, with a touch of red at the corners of his eyes.

He sat by the window, opening it so that sunlight bathed him while a gentle breeze stirred his hair, giving him an air of fragility.

Many people were already starting to feel sorry for him just by looking at him.

Others, after hearing his words, voiced their strong agreement.

They too began to question: if "Phoenix" had been plagiarized, then why had no one come forward to explain for so long, only releasing it at this particular moment?

This must be someone's deliberate scheme!

Lin Ran's father, who had been frantically dealing with this matter, saw the online feedback and immediately seized the opportunity to buy wave after wave of paid trolls to stir the pot.

As long as they could solidify the narrative that everything was deliberately orchestrated by Ye Qi, firmly pinning the blame on him.

Then no matter what "Phoenix" said afterward, they could claim that Ye Qi had already colluded with them.

Ye Qi looked at the comments online, his expression somewhat grave, but he wasn't too bothered.

After all, this matter truly wasn't his doing. Those people cursing him didn't matter to him—it wasn't like he'd lose any sleep over it.

The only thing that could get to him was the comments cursing Shi Mo.

No wonder Yun Mujin had just said that Lin Ran was confessing to him across the internet while also throwing them under the bus.

Whether Lin Ran was deliberate or not, his words, whether intentionally or not, told everyone:

He bought someone else's script because he liked Shi Mo, which is why he made this mistake.

A cold glint appeared in Ye Qi's eyes. Sure enough, he had still gone too easy on him back then.

He shouldn't have thought that giving Lin Ran a lesson was enough—he should have just ruined him outright!

The more Ye Qi thought about it, the harder it was to suppress the killing intent in his eyes.

"What are you looking at? So intently..."

Shi Mo's lazy voice drifted into his ears, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Ye Qi clearly hadn't expected Shi Mo, who had been fast asleep, to wake up at this moment.

He froze for a moment, then shook his head slightly, locking the screen and setting the phone aside.

"Nothing. Why are you up so soon? Why not sleep a bit more?"

Shi Mo reached for Ye Qi's phone, ignoring his question entirely.

He leaned his whole body against Ye Qi, grabbed the phone, and glanced at it.

Then he directly shoved the phone in front of Ye Qi's face, unlocked it with Ye Qi's face, and continued looking at the page he hadn't exited yet.

"Those people don't know anything—they're all talking nonsense. Mo, don't take it to heart. Give me some time, and I'll handle this matter."

Ye Qi held Shi Mo and spoke softly: "I told you before, Lin Ran is bad news."

"He used to always chase after me, saying he liked me, yet while claiming to like me, he would recklessly hurt innocent people."

"No matter how I punished or warned him, it never worked. In the end, I could only keep my distance from everyone... that was the only way to keep those people from getting hurt."

Ye Qi's gaze darkened as he spoke, his tone growing colder:

"Now he says he likes you, but when trouble comes, not only does he refuse to admit his own fault, he starts throwing us under the bus."

"Lin Ran can see the comments online, but he hasn't explained anything, because in this matter, he chose himself. So he's tacitly allowing, even indulging, those netizens to twist right and wrong."

"Mo..."

Ye Qi gently kissed the corner of Shi Mo's eye, with a hint of reassurance in the gesture:

"A selfish bastard like him isn't worthy of you, nor is he worthy of anyone."

"The people online are either paid trolls they bought, or netizens who don't know the truth and are being led by the nose while claiming to be righteous."

"So don't get angry because of their words. Getting upset over people like that and ruining your health isn't worth it."

In truth, they both knew that not everyone agreed with Lin Ran.

It was just that the momentum had been built up, and even if people objected, they'd be suppressed, possibly even subjected to abuse from Lin Ran's crazed fans.

So most people chose to stay silent and wait and see.

But precisely because the momentum had been pushed so hard, Ye Qi was too worried that Shi Mo would be affected by it.

So at this moment, he could only soothe him in a gentle voice while thinking about how to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.

A glimmer of light flashed through Ye Qi's eyes. He also felt that someone was pulling strings behind this—there were too many coincidences otherwise.

But when it came to people Lin Ran had offended, there were far too many from childhood to now.

So much so that, for a moment, he really couldn't think of who would do such a thing.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Shi Mo smiled softly, settling into a comfortable position in his arms, and grabbed his phone to start playing a game.

"Let them curse if they want to."

The harder they go at him, the better.

Because of this incident, a third of Lin Ran's protagonist aura had already been reclaimed.

But this was nowhere near enough.

He'd wait for Lin Ran to claw his way out of the mud, then shove him right back in!

After all, Lin Ran had claimed more than just a script as his own.

But now that the fire had been lit, it was time to drop the real bombshells.

A flicker of bloodlust crossed Shi Mo's eyes, but he quickly hid it.

Ye Qi held Shi Mo, watching him wreck the game, and said seriously:

"A Mo, don't worry, they won't be jumping around for much longer. It'll be over soon."

Looks like I need to speed things up.

Everything Lin Ran could do now depended entirely on the Lin family.

Once the Lin family collapsed, Lin Ran alone would be nothing to fear.

Shi Mo finished a round, then looked up at Ye Qi, taking in his words.

These two "protagonists" currently being cyberbullied couldn't have cared less.

They looked at each other with smiles in their eyes, both hiding deep scheming.

"Yeah, you're right. It'll be over soon."