Zhu Linyun had been frozen by Xingyue Media.

She was originally the company’s rising star, receiving all the best resources and scripts. But now, not only had her role in the new drama been taken away, the business deal she had negotiated was also canceled, and she was required to pay the breach of contract penalty.

Her agent, Sister Li, who used to fulfill all her requests, now had a new artist to manage. When she saw Zhu Linyun, she acted indifferent. Sometimes, when Zhu Linyun persisted in bothering her, Sister Li would turn to sarcasm, humiliating her to the point where she could barely lift her head.

Zhu Linyun knew exactly why this was happening. She wanted to defend herself, to say it was all a misunderstanding, but as soon as she spoke, Sister Li laughed, “Mr. Zhong already showed the evidence to our boss. And you still say it’s a misunderstanding?”

Zhong Ce had a casual acquaintance with their boss, Sheng Bai.

When rumors about Zhu Linyun wanting to change agencies first surfaced, Zhong Ce sent Sheng Bai a screenshot of their conversation, making his intentions clear: he wasn’t wronging their artist.

The conversation conveyed a straightforward message.

It was Mrs. Cheng who had openly recommended Zhu Linyun to Zhong Ce.

“Little Zhu, just because you have Mrs. Cheng backing you doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. How many times have I warned you? In this industry, you have to be low-key when it’s time to be low-key.”

Seeing Zhu Linyun still unwilling to accept it, Sister Li clicked her tongue, “I just don’t get it. Why would you go and provoke Zhong Ce, that troublemaker?”

It was too late to regret now. Once the arrow was shot, it couldn’t be retrieved.

Zhu Linyun had tried to contact Zhong Ce, but every time she called, she was humiliated by “Cheng Susu.” After a few more attempts, he had blocked her. The root of the problem wasn’t being solved, but she still had to try to resolve it nearby. After all, she had been with the company for so long. Playing the emotional card would be much easier now. “But Sister Li, I’m the company’s top artist right now. Freezing me won’t benefit you either. The profits I bring in are dozens of times more than the newcomer you’re managing.”

Sister Li shook her head and chuckled lightly, amused that Zhu Linyun thought too highly of herself.

She suddenly leaned in close, patting Zhu Linyun’s cheek, her lips curling into a mocking smile, “The company made you who you are today.”

After a pause, she added, “Or do you think Xingyue can’t create another star like you?”

Zhu Linyun didn’t respond. She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms, and the pain caused her to distort her expression.

“Don’t be so confident, young one,” Sister Li said, retracting her hand and looking down at her with disdain. “Instead of begging us here, why don’t you go ask Zhong Ce if he’ll forgive you?”

That was it—she had been kicked back into a corner.

Zhu Linyun knew this was hopeless. She shot Sister Li a furious glare, her high heels clicking loudly as she turned and left.

She had to go back to the Cheng family; she wasn’t out of options yet.

There must be a way. Her parents would help her.

She could definitely make a comeback!

She was only frozen by the company, without resources, but she wasn’t at the point of being completely blacklisted across the internet. She still had fans, and as long as she had fans, she still had a chance.

She refused to believe it.

Once Cheng’s mother stepped in to speak, Cheng Susu would no longer be so arrogant.

Suppressing the rage and grimace on her face, Zhu Linyun entered the elevator. She pulled out her phone from her bag and dialed without hesitation. Once the call connected, she forced a smile and sweetly said, “Mom, I’ll be home for dinner later.”

Netizens were tired of following Zhu Linyun’s scandal.

As the heat died down, they slowly realized it wasn’t a big deal. At the time, everyone had been discussing it intensely, so they just blindly joined in the “verbal battle.”

Now that no one was fueling the drama, they quickly snapped back to reality.

Afterward, they felt a bit embarrassed, as if they had missed the point.

It wasn’t until a bold user, nicknamed “Second Young Mistress of the Zhong Family,” spoke up that the real focus shifted.

【Ahhhhhh, after cursing out Miss Zhu for being shameless and trying to ride on the heat, I suddenly realized my rival isn’t Miss Zhu! Zhong Ce is married! What does his wife look like? Why did they blur her face in the interview video?!】

【I’ve watched the interview video countless times. Hmm, my husband is so handsome and so tough. As for my rival, honestly, a bit of a bitch.】

【Seriously, she’s a total bitch. It feels like she deliberately called him ‘husband’! And why is she sticking to my husband like that? Ahhh, jealousy is splitting me apart!】

【Final tweet: The real focus of this trending topic is that the national husband is married! You readers with zero reading comprehension! I’m pissed.】

“Second Young Mistress of the Zhong Family” was a beauty blogger with over a hundred thousand followers. Besides live-streaming makeup tutorials, she was a fan of Zhong Ce. When she raised the question, supported by her fans and other sympathetic users, the hashtag “Zhong Ce is married” quickly climbed to the top of the trending list.

Unexpectedly, this stirred up some heat for Cheng Entertainment.

Meanwhile, Zhong Ce was frustrated, regretting that he had let a scared, old hen push him into Cheng Susu’s arms. It was an embarrassing moment.

This left him with an indelible shadow.