Since it was a battle between Agents, Xiao He naturally wouldn't be so boring as to meddle in it.

He just joined the other netizens, transforming into a drama-hungry onlooker, jumping up and down with the rest of them.

Anyway, he had plenty of time now.

Thus, on the way back to the hotel, Xiao He marveled while following the drama: "Wow, Sister Liu, when did you start organizing these gossip threads? This could practically be a textbook example for gossip mongers to break a story. The logic is clear, the timeline is obvious at a glance, and the cause and effect of the storyline are all there. I feel like its excellence could allow it to be spread for a long time."

A gossip thread lasts three generations; the person may go, but the drama remains.

Liu Rulan was still busy with the public opinion work on the internet. Hearing Xiao He's words, she replied casually, "I've been preparing since the first day I saw her in 'the imperial cause' Film Crew."

"Ah?"

Xiao He was very surprised. "That early?"

That meant she had prepared the counterattack before they even went to America!

"When you encounter an opponent who clearly harbors ill will toward you, you shouldn't hesitate to use all sorts of dark speculations and be ready at any time for a stylish counterattack," Liu Rulan said. "Because you never know when that thing in the dark corner will suddenly pop out to disgust you."

"Besides, An Laijia's reputation precedes her. Anyone can guess Yun Ziqi's purpose for hiring her as his Agent. I couldn't let her take the upper hand in the discourse first."

Liu Rulan then glanced sideways at Xiao He and said in a calm tone, "Otherwise, don't think that her using Su Shengxi and Jiaxing Entertainment to attack me was her final move. If that woman were given the chance for her next move, I guarantee our partnership would really fall apart."

Ruining her reputation was the first step. Making Xiao He the target of other fans' attacks because of her was the second step. Once the dissatisfaction of the little box fans was provoked, with a little more instigation from An Laijia, Liu Rulan not being replaced as Agent would become a major flaw in Xiao He's career.

By then, no matter how much Liu Rulan had done for Xiao He before or how solid their partnership was, the fans would only see that Liu Rulan had brought a lot of trouble to Xiao He because of her past artists, leading to him being attacked by other fans.

Over time, people's hearts would inevitably change.

Moreover, regarding An Laijia, Liu Rulan had discussed her with He Wenming before; she was the type of person that Agents in the industry detested.

She was a public relations expert who was extremely skilled at stirring up confrontational topics and could turn everything—whether black or white—into something lewd in the end.

For example, during her time in South Korea, a female member of the same girl group had a great body, high education, and high emotional intelligence. She gained a large following of fans who admired her strength as soon as she became a trainee and ranked very high in the survival show.

So, An Laijia deliberately bribed media outlets and manipulated behind-the-scenes footage to exaggerate how voluptuous the girl was, to the point of it supposedly affecting her life. Then, she used ambiguous screenshots to imply the girl was deliberately selling her body and using suggestive content, intentionally posting them on platforms with poor reputations to let others judge and criticize her.

Ultimately, An Laijia successfully attracted a large number of vulgar perverts to the girl, dragging her from a high-education persona down to that of a common "working girl." The fans who originally admired her strength were scared away by the comments of the perverts, and the girl's ranking plummeted. She became completely tied to vulgarity and lost her chance to debut.

An Laijia could be said to have never failed with such similar methods. Under her PR, it seemed that any major problem would eventually turn into that kind of lewd trash. People never tired of it, and instead, more important issues like tax evasion, drug use, solicitation, or assault... none could compare to the interest in eavesdropping on people's bedroom activities.

In the end, everyone stopped paying attention to the issues they should have focused on and instead focused entirely on the things she wanted them to notice.

This was An Laijia—an opponent who, as long as she was thick-skinned enough and had no bottom line, could definitely disgust people.

Facing such a person, giving her the chance to come out and face off directly was clearly unrealistic; instead, it was easy to get oneself covered in filth.

Therefore, Liu Rulan was determined to eliminate any opportunity for An Laijia.

Xiao He frowned as he listened. "This kind of person is indeed a cancer in the industry. She should just crawl back to wherever she came from."

Don't stay here and harm others.

"Don't worry, she will sooner or later."

As Liu Rulan spoke, her eyes were full of determination. Then, as if remembering something, she looked at Xiao He again, this time with seriousness: "Xiao He, do you think that work of Emperor Chen exhibited at the Art Center is real?"

Xiao He raised an eyebrow. "Why ask me?"

"Well, I don't know," Liu Rulan pondered for a moment before giving an answer. "You can consider it a woman's intuition."

If Xiao He had still harbored doubts and confusion before entering the Restoration Center, now that he had left and seen the work with his own eyes, he was very firm, without any doubt or hesitation.

It was as if he had completely confirmed something. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Xiao He couldn't help but laugh upon hearing Liu Rulan's words.

"Sometimes I really wonder if you've got a cheat."

He couldn't help but say.

"So, your answer is?"

The smile on Xiao He's face slowly faded, and his gaze shifted out the car window. There was a hint of obscurity in his eyes, and his tone became more solemn: "I think it's fake."

"Fake? A forgery that even machines couldn't detect?"

Liu Rulan murmured softly, unsure if she was thinking about the logic or something else.

But soon, her eyes lit up.

"That means this whole thing is actually a play directed ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) and acted by the Yun Family? They took a fake calligraphy work and somehow bypassed all those inspections to enter the Art Center, only to have Qian Wenhao unexpectedly discover something was wrong. So, they simply destroyed the forgery to ensure 'no testimony from a dead witness'—oh, it's also possible that burning the forgery was part of their plan all along, but they didn't expect Qian Wenhao's appearance to make the Police suspicious about the authenticity of the work..."

As expected of Sister Liu; from just one short answer, she had instantly deduced many things and was gradually approaching the truth.

Xiao He curled his lips and nodded slightly at her, neither saying she was right nor wrong.

"Are you sure?"

Liu Rulan confirmed once more.

"I said it's just my guess. I can't guarantee it's true."

Xiao He shrugged, his gaze drifting in another direction.

A brand-new skill appeared before him.

【Treasure Hunting: Helps you quickly distinguish the true value of all items on-site, thereby assisting the treasure hunter in stealing suitable treasures and committing crimes more efficiently.】

This was the Intermediate Pool skill Xiao He had just drawn at the Restoration Center, costing only forty thousand Points. It was also the source of his confidence in being so certain of the truth.

Because he had already seen through all the complex mists to the truth of the incident and saw the real value of the items.

After that, deducing the result from the answer became easy.

And Liu Rulan, who knew nothing about the Golden Finger or the further details, didn't hesitate to clap her hands in belief of Xiao He's judgment, a smile appearing on her face: "This will be the best news I've heard lately."

Xiao He understood Liu Rulan's subtext and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Sister Liu, you're not planning to...?"

"Mm-hm."

Liu Rulan chuckled. Then, in front of Xiao He, she redialed the number for Song Yuanqi of Jiaxing Entertainment.

"Hello? Mr. Song, let's talk about that cooperation again, shall we?"

The woman's voice became exceptionally gentle, yet it contained hidden killing intent. What she said next made Song Yuanqi's breathing tighten.

"I wonder if you are interested in the project 'the imperial cause'?"

"How about... we snatch it away for fun?"