Chapter 40

Chapter 40

After a slight hesitation, He Shixia continued, "Regarding this question, I'll be honest as well..."

The audience in the livestream had already sensed something fishy from his pause—

"From Brother He's hesitation, I smell something indescribable..."

"What, Film Emperor He, you actually considered lying about this?!"

"Tell us, don't treat us like outsiders."

"Holy crap, so the one-night stand really did happen? Otherwise, why would He Shixia suddenly hesitate?"

"When the news of my marriage was first exposed, I denied it was a 'shotgun wedding' because A Ning and I had actually known each other for a long time before that, unrelated to that accident. But it's true, something like a 'one-night stand' did happen," He Shixia said unhurriedly. "That was indeed the crucial turning point in my relationship with A Ning."

"Holy crap! It's true!"

"Wow... so intense..."

"He just admitted it so frankly?!"

"Does He Shixia mean that it was precisely because of this one-night stand that he had the chance to marry Ning Yichu?"

"Film Emperor He: I only denied that my marriage partner was someone I met from a one-night stand, I didn't deny that a one-night stand happened. I wasn't lying, okay!"

"I'm just in a livestream listening to the film emperor talk about his one-night stand, hahahahaha."

"Go on, go on, I'm so anxious."

He Shixia's voice turned cold. "But aside from the fact that such an incident did occur, the entire account from today's self-proclaimed insider is slander against A Ning and me."

"A Ning and I were indeed drugged that night. But as for where the drug came from, how we ingested it, and how we ended up in the same room... these questions should be directed at the instigators, the Ning family."

"So the drugging is real too? I thought they were just drunk or something."

He Shixia looked into the livestream camera and continued recounting the situation from the night of the accident a few months ago. "As everyone learned a bit about yesterday, there is an ancestral marriage agreement between the He and Ning families that didn't specify individuals, so it remained unfulfilled by our generation. Before this, my parents and the Ning family intended to fulfill the agreement by pairing me with Ning Zeshu—I refused outright from the beginning. Please don't create rumors because of this; A Ning already dislikes me enough."

"Sorry, shouldn't laugh, but Film Emperor He's final disclaimer is hilarious, hahahahaha."

He Shixia: "The night A Ning and I had the accident over three months ago was also orchestrated by the Ning family. Their original intention was to 'matchmake' me with Ning Zeshu. Knowing that drugging someone couldn't be hidden afterward, they also planned to frame A Ning. But by accident, their scheme failed, and instead, I took advantage of A Ning."

"Although it backfired on them, the Ning family still insisted on blaming A Ning for the drugging, changing their story to claim A Ning did it to me to curry favor with the He family. A Ning's health is poor; he was sick for several days afterward and couldn't defend himself at all... it's a bit like today's situation, they're causing trouble again while A Ning is sick."

"Damn the Ning family..."

"Hmm... sick for several days... Film Emperor He, be honest, what did you do to Ning Yichu that night? (Sorry, wrong focus)"

"He Shixia's summary of the one-night stand: I took advantage of A Ning. Hehe."

"The Ning family really loves making Ning Yichu the scapegoat, huh..."

"Misidentifying a child? Blame little Yichu for deceiving them. Afraid of gossip for keeping him? Tell outsiders little Yichu clung on and refused to leave. They clearly abused little Yichu, yet claim he's ungrateful. Previously, they also pinned the drugging for the one-night stand on him."

【It's quite laughable that the other party involved, He Shixia, is still able to speak. That online 'insider' wasn't afraid of being exposed when they leaked this, 'speaking for' him as if they were inside He Shixia's head. Now it's been personally denied by the man himself.】

"That insider seems a bit like Ning Zeshu from yesterday, I mean in terms of making up their own narrative. It's clear He Shixia cares about Ning Yichu, yet they insist on acting like they know the situation better than the parties involved, saying things like He Shixia used to dislike Ning Yichu and didn't want to marry him."

"They've told the lie so many times they believe it themselves, stubbornly refusing to accept other information. But I think Ning Zeshu is deliberately stirring the pot, which is different from the tone and mindset of this insider's leak (not defending Ning Zeshu)."

"It's reasonable to suspect there's no 'insider from the same circle' at all. Like that suddenly appearing elementary to high school classmate, it's probably another orchestrated act by the Ning family."

"This insider is all talk. That classmate, though also anonymous, at least posted a few photos of Ning Yichu from his student days."

"But those photos only show Ning Yichu and random classmates. It doesn't actually prove the person who posted the photos was Ning Yichu's classmate since childhood. On the contrary, being able to produce those photos... is quite suspicious."

【Are the Ning family so accustomed to being flattered in their own circles that they think unrelated netizens will also support them mindlessly? They try to fool us with such leaks that are riddled with inconsistencies. I'm so angry.】

"That photo of me carrying A Ning into an ambulance, which came out with the marriage news, is indeed real," He Shixia addressed each matter one by one. "It's true that A Ning once attempted suicide; the scars from that time are still on his wrist. Every time I see them, I feel like I should die. But the online rumor that he used suicide to coerce me into marriage is baseless."

"Oh my god..."

"Ning Yichu really attempted suicide..."

"Almost forgot about this. Film Emperor He is quite thorough, clarifying every single point."

He Shixia closed his eyes briefly, composing himself before continuing. "A Ning was just in too much pain at the time, acted impulsively by cutting his wrist, but he regretted it afterward and originally intended to call for an ambulance."

"After the accident that night, while A Ning was sick and unconscious, I took the liberty of setting '12' as the emergency contact number to dial me in his phone. I planned to tell him after he woke up. But after he woke up, he didn't want any further contact with me, and I forgot to mention it. So he didn't notice to delete the emergency contact. When trying to call for help, his hand slipped and missed a digit, ultimately calling me instead. I've been incredibly grateful ever since that I didn't miss that call that day."

Having finished the truthful part, He Shixia didn't pause and began mixing truth with fabrication—the final straw that broke Ning Yichu was the pregnancy, but He Shixia didn't plan to admit Ning Yichu was pregnant during the program's live broadcast.

In his previous statement, he didn't specifically address this, maintaining a neither-confirm-nor-deny stance because a man being pregnant is too bizarre. He Shixia didn't intend to invite such gossip about Ning Yichu.

But now that it's been exposed again and he's responding point by point, if they were keeping the child as in his past life, He Shixia would choose to admit Ning Yichu's pregnancy now.

After all, the child would be born months later; they couldn't hide it from the public forever. The child's origin would need an explanation, and it would be the perfect opportunity to go with the flow and tell the truth now.

But they've already scheduled the surgery. A few days after the program ends, Ning Yichu will have the procedure to terminate the pregnancy. Since that's the case, why add another topic for criticism? A man's pregnancy isn't exactly amusing gossip.

So, He Shixia only continued, "As for why A Ning was in such pain to that extent... blame the Ning family, blame me."

"When A Ning wanted to explain, I, thinking I was saving him face, brushed him off, which made him give up trying to explain... He couldn't clear his name either. By the time he woke up, the matter was already considered settled. The accident happened on the Ning family's turf; he couldn't prove something he didn't do. I could investigate because I'm a He, but he was just an unwelcome adopted son the Ning family was wary of."

"...Huh?"

"Wait, you believed the false accusations the Ning family pinned on Ning Yichu?"

"Then I finally understand why Ning Yichu treats He Shixia the way he does now..."

"So that's another reason why Ning Yichu didn't want anything to do with He Shixia after the one-night stand accident mentioned earlier."

"Poor A Ning."

"The trap the Ning family set for He Shixia—though setting the trap isn't He Shixia's fault—Ning Yichu was purely collateral damage, right? Yet he, who should have been completely unrelated, bore all the blame. I'd have a breakdown too."

"So Ning Yichu attempted suicide to prove his innocence? But now the Ning family is using it to claim he was threatening He Shixia with death to force marriage..."

"Although, but, don't harm yourself for so-called innocence. Thankfully, Ning Yichu realized it himself and called for help in time; otherwise, if he had died then, there'd be no chance for public clarification now."

"But I don't think Ning Yichu is the type to attempt suicide just to prove innocence. It's reasonable to suspect there were other factors that piled up and made him act impulsively."

"I'm confused. So the one-night stand happened just a few months ago, but He Shixia said earlier he's liked Ning Yichu for a long time. So why did he believe the Ning family's false accusations against Ning Yichu after the one-night stand?"

"Because the Ning family has been ruining Ning Yichu's reputation outside all along, so...? I don't know, I'm just guessing."

"Although not entirely clear on what Film Emperor He was thinking before, at least it's clearer why Ning Yichu is so cold toward his legal spouse."

"So curious, how did He Shixia and Ning Yichu finally decide to get married?"

He Shixia's next words actually echoed some viewers' guesses about the reason for Ning Yichu's suicide attempt: "Being wronged and physically harmed made A Ning sad, but having grown up in the Ning family, these things alone wouldn't have driven him to suicide... It was because the Ning family refused to let him go."

"A Ning was always under the Ning family's control. He wanted to escape them as soon as possible, so he gave up on a guaranteed postgraduate recommendation and just wanted to graduate quickly and start working. But the Ning family, leveraging their connections in the business world, made it impossible for A Ning to get any job offers... Feeling hopeless for a moment, A Ning impulsively attempted suicide."

After hearing this, the original audience of the livestream and the netizens who hadn't watched yesterday's show but came specifically for the gossip became even more outraged—

"Holy shit, controlling college applications and job opportunities, the Ning family should be in jail!"

"Sigh, that makes sense. He was holding onto the hope that graduating and working would let him escape the Ning family's clutches, only to realize how insignificant he was in the face of that behemoth. He was already used to the verbal and physical humiliation; what he couldn't accept was the shattering of his hope."

"Ugh, I'm reminded of what Ning Yichu said yesterday: if it weren't for hating He Rulin for toying with him and delaying his college application, he might have agreed to He Rulin's confession back then just to escape the Ning family's control..."

"When I heard that yesterday, my focus was on the college application thing, and I was too angry to really think about the blood and tears behind those words. I just thought Ning Yichu was trying to piss off He Shixia. Sigh."

"Hmm, so did Ning Yichu marry He Shixia as a reluctant move to escape the Ning family too?"

"Very likely."

"After so much suffering, he still grew up well and kept his sharp edge. That's really not easy."

"The Ning family is disgusting. In comparison, even though Ning Zeshu is weird, at least he admits to what he did. Next to the other Ning family members who are still trying to smear Ning Yichu, he almost seems decent (of course, Ning Zeshu is still disgusting, no whitewashing intended)."

"Our company always stays at Kangning for business trips; we have a long-term partnership with them. The first phase of our contract for next quarter is about to expire, and we planned to renew, but now I've decided we won't renew no matter what! I'm so mad! Don't worry about whether I can make that decision; our company = my family's company, I'm the heir."

"That reminds me, I bought some Kangning stock a while ago and just left it there. I'll go sell it off later."

"Next, there's the matter of A Ning 'being pregnant'." He Shixia continued, letting out a somewhat speechless laugh. "This is so absurd that I couldn't be bothered to address it in my last statement. Just the act of 'clarifying' it feels ridiculous. But since someone insists on repeatedly making a fuss about it, I'll publicly clarify—A Ning is not pregnant. Until there's a breakthrough in the medical field, this is highly unlikely to be true."

"Hahahaha sorry, but seriously clarifying something like this is indeed a bit ridiculous."

["But how did the 'leaker' even come up with such an absurd rumor?"]

He Shixia wasn't worried about the Ning family producing evidence to prove Ning Yichu was pregnant. In fact, only Ning Yichu himself, He Shixia, and the specialist doctor from the He family's private hospital who examined Ning Yichu could produce documented proof as evidence at this point.

After Ning Yichu's wrist-cutting suicide attempt, He Shixia learned about the pregnancy. Worried that news of it would negatively impact Ning Yichu, he immediately arranged to have the reports from the hospital where Ning Yichu had previously gone for a check-up destroyed. He also offered high salaries to poach all the medical staff who had access to Ning Yichu's records to the He family's private hospital.

Since then, only the doctor specifically assigned to Ning Yichu's case, Ning Yichu himself as the patient, and He Shixia as the patient's family member had access to the medical reports. Even other members of the medical team besides the doctor only saw reports with the patient's personal information redacted.

In short, the Ning family, the He family, and many other families in their circles knew about Ning Yichu's pregnancy, but no one had concrete evidence. When He Weian wanted to see the report, He Shixia showed it to her and then took it back, not even leaving a copy with his own mother.

"The exposure of mine and A Ning's marriage news before was done by my then-second cousin. He was worried that, as the first grandchild in the family to get married, I would gain more advantages, so he wanted to force me to deny the marriage news through the leak." He Shixia continued bluntly.

"He bought the leaked photos from paparazzi. I was on set preparing to film when I got A Ning's call for help. Leaving suddenly in the middle of filming, it was normal for paparazzi waiting outside to follow me."

"The instigator behind this was my former second cousin. His initial goals were not only to break me and A Ning apart but also to pin the blame for the leak on A Ning. After I found out, I informed both the Ning and He families, so no one blamed A Ning for it before. But now this leaker suddenly brings it up again to shove the blame onto him, thinking netizens don't know the truth?"

"Yes, it's like they're treating us netizens as fools!"

"Former second cousin... hahaha, what a weird title. Why did he stop being a cousin so quickly?"

"The He Third Young Master mentioned yesterday too, said he's not part of the He family anymore. Really curious what happened."

"He Second Young Master becoming a former second cousin is likely Ning Yichu's doing, just like He Third Young Master. Impressive, I support Ning Yichu in taking revenge on these villains!"

"Ning Yichu has so many people trying to shift blame onto him, it's infuriating. Heartache."

He Shixia: "I thought about it. Although there's no evidence right now, this sudden, riddled with holes, yet containing many details only those who were there would know leak can only be the work of the Ning family. As for the Ning family saying A Ning was 'pregnant,' they were probably inspired by my former second cousin, wanting to create a connection. And as for why my former second cousin thought of this, it was probably for the shock value to attract attention."

After saying this, He Shixia pondered a bit more: "What else needs clarifying... Oh right, A Ning currently holds more than just eight percent of He Corporation shares. In total, he holds thirteen percent. Eight percent was gifted by me, his partner, and five percent was just gifted to him by my grandmother a couple of days ago. It's just that the time is short, so He Corporation hasn't finished the official procedures to announce the shareholding change publicly yet."

"A Ning is the shareholder with the largest stake in He Corporation's board of directors, aside from my mother."

"Eyes wide open, thirteen percent!"

["Wow, for the grandmother to gift her grandson's partner so many shares as a present clearly shows she really likes Ning Yichu. And the 'insider' was saying the He family also hates Ning Yichu. So very 'informed' indeed!"]

"He Sixth Young Master: They say my wife has eight percent of He Corporation shares? Let me clarify: it's thirteen percent. Hahahahahaha."

He Shixia: "As for the fact that A Ning and I got married without a wedding ceremony, that's true. But after hearing all this, you've probably figured out by now: we didn't have a wedding because A Ning doesn't want to acknowledge me as his legal partner. As for why he's so unwilling to acknowledge me, you all probably have your conclusions. I deserve it."

"Being able to marry him at all is me taking advantage of his suffering. If he hadn't been desperate to escape the Ning family and had no other choice, he would never have agreed to get the marriage certificate with me."

"That's true..."

"But since Brother He knows so much about his wife, besides finding out himself, his wife must have told him some things too, right? So there's still hope... Brother He, keep trying..."

"Hahahaha Film Emperor He's fans are really being optimistic."

"So heartbroken for A Ning. Still hope he can be with someone he loves."

"Seems like everything's been clarified? Nooo, I want to hear more!"

"This kind of point-by-point, clear explanation is so friendly to us drama enthusiasts!"

He Shixia thought again and indeed couldn't think of anything he'd missed. So he addressed the camera with a concluding statement: "I've said all I need to say. As for the so-called 'classmate' and 'industry insider' comments online, I'll leave them to my lawyers. I don't have that much time to waste. A Ning is still sick, I need to go take care of him. Not seeing him for so long makes me a bit anxious."

"I love this kind of no-nonsense debunking!"

["What 'so long' hahahaha, Film Emperor He, just admit you can't bear to be away from your wife."]

"Hope A Ning gets better soon~"

"Speaking of which, it's daylight now. Shouldn't we get a view of the bedroom camera? Let us see how A Ning is doing."

"I think the doctor came to give him an IV."

"Oh, I just thought of another debunking point haha. If Ning Yichu were pregnant, he'd have to be very careful with medication, right? But listening to the livestream from the bedroom earlier, when the doctor asked about any allergies or medication contraindications, He Shixia didn't mention anything."

"But having to specifically debunk that a man isn't pregnant is just hilarious hahaha."

He Shixia returned to the bedroom. Seeing Ning Yichu sleeping quietly, his coughing mostly subsided, he finally felt a bit more at ease.

He sat back down by the bed, motionless, watching the person on the bed.

Just as He Shixia finished his clarifications and the debunking statements began to spread, it was the time when most people were waking up and starting their day.

On one side, there were anonymous, highly suspicious "classmates" and "insiders." On the other side, there was He Shixia with his reasoned explanations. Once neutral parties got involved, public opinion naturally shifted from the initial "condemn Ning Yichu" to "heartache for Ning Yichu, even more disgust with the Ning family."

Seeing the trend turning against them, the Ning family wanted to halt their plan, but they were no match for the enthusiastic gossip-loving masses. At this point, it wasn't something they could just stop and silence.

Ning Anxia wanted to forcefully suppress the public opinion and remove hashtags to forbid discussion, but He Shixia's studio naturally wouldn't allow it. The slapdash PR department of Xiazhi Entertainment couldn't compare to the professionals at He Shixia's studio. And outside the entertainment industry, the Ning family was even less of a match for the He family.

Not long after the stock market opened that day, Ning Shaoren received a message: "President Ning, Kangning's stock price has started to drop..."

"There was a trend yesterday, but it wasn't severe. But now the direction isn't looking good. If it hits the limit down today, Kangning will become a laughingstock!"

"What do you think... maybe you should have a good talk with your adopted son?"

"As a business, Kangning is still in the hotel industry catering to guests. How important reputation and public perception are, you, as the head, surely understand better than we do, right?"

Ning Shaoren was so furious he almost wanted to smash his phone, thinking to himself, was this something that could be fixed just by having a good chat with Ning Yichu?

Besides, Ning Yichu was currently sick and unconscious—even if he was willing to swallow his pride, there was no one to talk to!

Kangning’s stock price took a significant hit that day, hitting the limit down before the afternoon even arrived. The Ning family, on one hand, couldn’t understand why their usual excuses that had worked for so many years had completely failed this time; on the other hand, they were overwhelmed by the stock market fluctuations.

He Rulin’s company, however, wasn’t greatly affected—firstly because the brunt of the online backlash was directed at the most malicious Ning family, leaving little for others. Secondly, because He Rulin’s company wasn’t well-known, making it a smaller target, and it hadn’t even gone public yet, so there was no need to worry about stock price fluctuations.

But that afternoon, He Rulin suddenly stepped forward on his own, using the company’s official account to admit that he had, out of a mean-spirited sense of fun, delayed Ning Yichu’s college application years ago, and stated: “…Although coming clean won’t make Xiao Chu forgive me, continuing to play dumb would probably make him even angrier. Better to just own up to it—maybe if Xiao Chu sees me getting criticized, he’ll feel I’ve been punished and won’t come after me in the future.”

If he hadn’t stepped forward, netizens might not have found a place to criticize him, but by taking the initiative, he gave many netizens exactly what they were looking for.

At the same time, this meant that yet another person had put their name to confirming the bullying and mistreatment Ning Yichu suffered from the Ning family.

Kangning’s stock price had already hit the limit down for the day, but that didn’t stop some monthly or annual cardholders from being disgusted by the news and choosing to cancel their memberships. Potential or renewing partners were also influenced by the public opinion, hesitating to continue cooperation. In a short time, the entire Kangning organization was plunged into gloom.

This outcome far exceeded the Ning family’s expectations.

Ning Shaoren, frustrated by the data in his office, simply returned to the Ning residence, smashed several vases, and then blamed Ning Anxia, who happened to be back, for her incompetence.

Ning Anxia was scolded as soon as she entered and retorted unhappily, “When He Shixia hadn’t clarified things this morning, you weren’t saying this—you even praised me for being capable. Brother, you can’t be so two-faced. In my opinion, besides Ning Yichu, shouldn’t Xiao Shu be the one most to blame? If it weren’t for him, where would Ning Yichu have gotten so many opportunities to shine? Would we have been forced into this situation?”

Mentioning Ning Zeshu and realizing that he really was to blame for this, Ning Shaoren and the other Ning family members present fell silent.