Chapter 165: Wild Speculation

If there was anyone in the media industry who knew Xiao Ran best, it was undoubtedly Leung Ka-bau—everyone in the industry was aware of this. Leung Ka-bau, with his keen intuition, understood that Xiao Ran wasn’t the kind to play games with others, especially when it came to emotions. Otherwise, with so many beautiful female stars under the Shadow Group, why hadn’t Xiao Ran developed any relationships with them?

Most importantly, Leung Ka-bau didn’t think the age difference in Xiao Lin’s relationship posed any problem. He even dared to guarantee that Xiao Ran certainly wasn’t playing around with Lin Qingxia. As long as there was true love, nationality didn’t matter—what was an age difference compared to that?

It had to be admitted that the Oriental Daily seemed to have planned this in advance, dedicating several extra pages to cover this story. Not only was it presented in great detail with ample information, but two pages were also allocated for commentary. Of course, the commentary was one-sided, all arguing that Xiao Lin’s relationship was completely against moral principles.

Moral principles? Nonsense! Leung Ka-bau cursed loudly. The so-called moral principles had been misinterpreted by the Chinese people. Over five thousand years of history had turned them into shackles on the Chinese people’s bodies and minds.

But what could he do now? The only thing he could do was quit his job to vent his dissatisfaction. After thinking this through, he realized his only option was to speak up for Xiao Lin’s relationship in other newspapers.

He quickly imagined Xiao Ran’s expression and suddenly smiled. He wasn’t ignorant—he certainly knew about Xiao Ran’s activities in the underworld, including the methods he used to defeat the Fang family. He smiled broadly, thinking that the Oriental Daily might not fare well if they really angered Xiao Ran. After all, Xiao Ran wasn’t an ordinary person; he was a billionaire with a fortune of nearly ten billion.

Leung Ka-bau was wrong—Xiao Ran wasn’t angered. He wasn’t someone easily provoked, otherwise he wouldn’t have achieved what he had today. Moreover, he knew full well that their relationship would eventually be exposed. Despite his strong dissatisfaction with the Oriental Daily, he had to admit that freedom of the press was a fundamental right. Especially knowing the tactics of the paparazzi in the future, he didn’t take it too seriously.

His only concerns were hurting Lin Qingxia and dealing with public opinion. After the Oriental Daily published this explosive news, newspapers across Hong Kong quickly issued special editions, and the newspapers and magazines under the Shadow Group naturally spoke in Xiao Ran’s defense.

Yet, amid the almost one-sided public opinion, the Ming Pao Weekly also published Leung Ka-bau’s commentary on the matter. Of course, it was positive—Leung Ka-bau believed that true love could never be hindered by age and wished Xiao Lin and his partner continued happiness.

Unfortunately, such an article clearly couldn’t make much of a difference. For a while, Xiao Ran seemed like a public enemy among the Chinese people, under attack from all sides. If those attacks could have been bullets or even shells, Xiao Ran would have been reduced to ashes by now.

Xiao Ran understood quite well. Lin Qingxia was the goddess in the hearts of all Chinese people around the world, and for Xiao Ran to even think of taking her away from them was bound to provoke anger. Yet he didn’t think their dissatisfaction would lead to any real trouble.

Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia weren’t as anxious as before; there was no point in being rushed. They were at home now, with Wei Dongling handling all company matters. They were supposed to rest properly today, but even that wasn’t possible.

Zhou Runfa was the first to call Xiao Ran. After learning that he was on his way home, Brother Fa arrived soon after. Then came big stars like Zhong Chuhong, Huang Baiming, Zeng Zhiwei, Wang Jing, Anita Mui, Liu Hua, and Zhang Guorong. Backstage staff who were close to Xiao Ran, such as Huang Yongheng, Lin Daoyun, and Zhang Yaozong, also showed up. Even Yang Qi, Pan Disheng, and He Guanchang couldn’t resist coming.

That day, Xiao Ran’s home turned into a gathering of top figures in the film industry. There was no sense of festivity—everyone’s expression was grim. Xiao Ran pressed his hands downward to silence the chatter, then smiled and said, “I’m very grateful for everyone’s concern. The Oriental Daily got it right—I and Qingxia have indeed been together for a while!”

After a wave of murmurs, Xiao Ran glanced at the astonished crowd and spoke again, “You’re all my friends. I know you’re worried. But please rest assured—I can handle this. All I need from you is your sincere support, whether it’s opposition or approval. You’re still my friends!”

“Xiao Ran, I’m not your friend!” a rough and aggressive voice rang out. Everyone turned to see who dared be so rude to Xiao Ran, only to find it was Cheng Long.

Everyone fell silent and made room for Cheng Long. With a furious expression, Cheng Long stepped forward, his face pale. The monkey and Yang Guang beside Xiao Ran grew alert. Suddenly, Cheng Long raised his fist to strike Xiao Ran, but instead of a punch, there was a thud—as Cheng Long had been thrown by Yang Guang.

The crowd was shocked again. Cheng Long’s actual fighting skills were quite good, after all, he knew real martial arts. But no one expected him to be thrown four meters away so easily. Everyone looked at Yang Guang and the monkey in fear.

When Cheng Long swung at him, Xiao Ran realized things were bad. Yang Guang and the monkey didn’t care that Cheng Long was a big star or had influence. With their abilities, even ten of them wouldn’t stand a chance.

Sure enough, Cheng Long was thrown far away instantly. Xiao Ran inwardly groaned—he might have had a chance to resolve this issue. But with Yang Guang stepping in, how could the already arrogant Cheng Long bear such humiliation?

Normally, given Xiao Ran’s status, no one would dare attack him—at least not within the industry. But since everyone knew Xiao Ran treated them as friends, acting as friends didn’t necessarily mean they wouldn’t dare do it.

Xiao Ran hurried over, reaching out to help Cheng Long, but was pushed away with a slap. Cheng Long endured the pain, stood up straight, pointed at Xiao Ran with his finger, his expression even darker: “Xiao Ran, have I ever warned you not to touch Lin Qingxia? Do you know that Qin Xianglin is my elder brother?”
Xiao Ran sighed deeply, thinking that it was probably because he liked Lin Qingxia. With that thought, he gloomily admitted, “Yes, you have told me. But…”
“There is no but. From now on, you are no longer my friend!” Cheng Long’s face turned red with anger as he shouted a few words at Xiao Ran before storming off in a fit of rage.
Watching Cheng Long’s retreating figure, Xiao Ran shook his head slightly. He didn’t care what Cheng Long thought. Although losing a friend like this was indeed regrettable, he still preferred Lin Qingxia. Besides, if even a friend didn’t understand him, then having such a friend was meaningless.
Soon, the others gradually left, leaving only Zhong Chuhong talking with Lin Qingxia. Fa Ge let out a long sigh: “A Ran, I knew trouble like this would arise. What do you plan to do?”
Xiao Ran didn’t know what to do now. Of course, he could ignore all external opinions and stay with Lin Qingxia. But public opinion could easily turn unfavorable, which might not be good for the development of Meiying. The only option was to ignore it and let things settle down on their own. Alternatively, if those within the industry showed support, public opinion would diminish significantly. The day was tough, but the second and third days were even worse as Xiao Ran grew enraged.
It was simple—Dongfang Daily seemed to be stoking the fire by covering the incident extensively in its pages. This alone wouldn’t have angered Xiao Ran, but Dongfang Daily’s attitude was problematic. They focused on Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia’s ages and even invited some elderly scholars to launch harsh attacks on the matter.
As a result, even minor issues were blown up by Dongfang Daily into huge problems. Starting from the second day, almost half of the industry members expressed their full support for Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia through various media, with only a few close to Jiahé and Shaw Brothers remaining silent.
But Dongfang Daily stepped in again, hiring writers to analyze the situation in a sarcastic tone. Although the articles didn’t contain any overtly aggressive words, they constantly reminded readers that with Xiao Ran’s abilities, he could easily dominate everything, implicitly suggesting that the other industry members’ statements were made under his pressure.
Another day passed, and Dongfang Daily openly attacked Xiao Ran, claiming that someone as wealthy as him was unworthy of Lin Qingxia and was even playing with her feelings. They cited the so-called “protection” rumor involving Li Jiaxin as evidence, stating that Xiao Ran’s actions were outright desecration.
Other newspapers seemed to find excitement in the mundane and also started sensationalizing the incident like Dongfang Daily. Chinese-language newspapers around the world featured this news on their front pages, and every Chinese person knew about the man dating Lin Qingxia.

For a time, even Hollywood was shocked. Coppola was the first to stand up in support of the young director he greatly admired. He criticized Hong Kong’s media bluntly: “Love is always a matter between two people; it’s immoral for the media to pursue it for their own interests!” The New York Daily even couldn’t resist covering this news, ending with a sentence that described it: “It all seems utterly crazy—we could never imagine that two people’s love could attract so much attention.”

Yet, Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia now appeared utterly calm. Despite the reporters pestering them like locusts, they didn’t react at all, not even issuing any statements. Lin Qingxia was no longer afraid of any of this; the past seemed to have blown away like a gentle breeze. All she had in her heart now was Xiao Ran, and those past traumas no longer existed. As for Xiao Ran, instead of spending time dealing with the media, he might as well use this opportunity to promote his brand, Phantom.

In fact, Xiao Ran’s strategy of going with the flow was quite effective. When he later expanded globally, many people remembered Phantom. It shows that publicity can be very effective when used properly.

A few days passed. After consulting Xiao Ran, ATV boldly produced TV programs about the relationship between Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia, such as inviting experts to discuss the matter or interviewing ordinary citizens for their opinions. Interestingly, the public’s views changed rapidly. Starting with the Oriental Daily igniting the controversy, by the fourth or fifth day, public dissatisfaction with Xiao Ran and opposition to their relationship reached its peak—over 80%. The advantage was that ATV’s program achieved extremely high ratings, at 44%.

After the fifth day, under the strong influence of Shuxiang Media and as the incident gradually faded, the audience’s views changed again, dropping from 80% to 70%, then to 60%, 50%, and finally 40%. The only thing that hardly changed was the public’s negative view of Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia’s relationship—90% believed they would eventually break up.

Xiao Ran had been busy working for several days and spent a lot of time with Lin Qingxia. On the fourth day, after reading the Oriental Daily at the company, he finally lost his temper. But his outburst was peculiar, completely different from others’. After reading the newspaper, he quickly folded it down to only leave the words “Oriental Daily” visible. Then, as if treating it as a treasure, he gently smoothed out the edges before quietly asking An Yuxuan to invite Wei Dongling over.

When Wei Dongling entered, he immediately sensed that the atmosphere was extremely strange—very heavy and oppressive. Struggling to suppress his own emotions, he asked, “A Ran, what’s going on?”

“It’s okay!” Xiao Ran stood up with a smile. He didn’t understand why he was so calm—calmer than anyone should be. All his anger had vanished. He had originally intended to acquire this Oriental newspaper company, but then realized it would take days or even weeks, so he gave up on the idea.
So, he simply smiled and said to Wei Dongling, word by word: “Have Shuxiang stop all disputes with Oriental Daily, and also have ATV stop that program. I want this matter resolved within a week. I don’t want Oriental Daily to get any more entertainment news…”
Wei Dongling was slightly surprised. He was about to say that without media influence, it would be difficult to promote the artists under the company. But then he thought that Oriental Daily wasn’t the only newspaper in Hong Kong—Mirage owned one newspaper and three magazines.