105: Chapter 105 CCTV Posts, Haters Speak!

Official Weibo account of CCTV.

The video cover featured Li Li's tattered undershirt and the gleaming gold medal on his chest, with the four-character title: "The Backbone of Qingcheng Inheritance."

The comment section exploded.

The pinned comment was from the official CCTV News account: "Li Li, the acting director of Qingcheng Orphanage, and his foster mother, Director Zhang Guifang, have spent ten years protecting over three hundred orphans. He has now stepped in to fulfill his duties for his critically ill foster mother, interpreting the responsibility and dedication of the new generation of youth through his actions."

The tone of the top comments below went off-track.

[Wait, isn't this that non-celebrity from the Dating Reality Show??? The one who splashed Hotpot base???]

[Sisters! Brother Li from 'Li Li in Rumu' made it to the CCTV Evening News!!! A man stamped with approval by CCTV!!!]

[Company: I spent eight million to buy trending searches to smear him. CCTV: I'm giving him a clean name for free.]

[Some haters said Li Li's livestreaming was just for hype. Come on, try hyping up a national may 1st labor medal for me to see?]

[He donated 10 million and plans to continue investing; the authorities are willing to issue awards, yet here you are spouting nonsense.]

Fans of the Dating Reality Show, CP fans, casual viewers, and even the fence-sitting bystanders all leaned in the same direction.

Top three Weibo trending searches:

#Li Li receives national may 1st labor medal#

#CCTV reports on Qingcheng Orphanage#

#Company and Su Wantang's reputation collapses#

Under the third trending search, the Company's PR team issued three statements overnight, each worded more humbly than the last, changing from "false reporting" to "misunderstanding," and finally to "deep reflection."

The top-rated comment was just one line:

[Reflect my foot, just retire from the industry.]

Su Wantang's Weibo hadn't been updated for three days, her follower count dropped from one hundred thousand to twenty thousand, and the comments under her last selfie—which depicted a peaceful life—were filled with statements of people unfollowing her.

---

After the evening news, he didn't look at any of it—not the trending searches, nor the skyrocketing follower count.

He kept his phone in his pocket, set to Do Not Disturb. He was so tired that he slept until dawn and continued focusing on his own affairs.

At six the next afternoon, Li Li arrived at West China Hospital. The stomach cancer surgery was scheduled for eight the next morning.

The VIP ward was arranged by the attending physician; it was a single room with an en-suite bathroom and the curtains drawn tight.

Teacher Wang was inside keeping Mother Zhang Company, running back and forth to submit paperwork, sign informed consent forms, and confirm the pre-operative preparation procedures with the nurses. Though she was over sixty, she was more energetic than many young people.

Li Li finished the last bite of his bun, crumpled the paper bag into a ball, and threw it accurately into a trash can three meters away.

He pushed the door open and entered the ward.

Zhang Guifang was half-propped against the headboard, with an IV line extending from the back of her hand to the IV pole. Her complexion wasn't great, but her spirits were still holding up.

Teacher Wang was asleep on the adjacent companion bed, still wearing her shoes, already snoring softly.

"Is Teacher Wang asleep?" Li Li lowered his voice.

Zhang Guifang nodded and gestured toward Teacher Wang.

"She's been running around all afternoon, her legs are worn out. Let her sleep for a while."

Li Li pulled the folding cot from the corner and set it up in the gap between the hospital bed and the window, wedging its four legs into the tile seams so it wouldn't budge.

He sat down, and the canvas made a muffled sound.

The ward was quiet, with only the sound of liquid dripping in the IV line and Teacher Wang's steady breathing.

Zhang Guifang turned her head to look at him.

"Can't sleep."

"Yeah."

"Tell me about your time on the variety show."

Li Li paused for a moment.

Zhang Guifang had never watched a variety show in her life and rarely even turned on the TV; her only entertainment was listening to storytelling on the radio.

"Which part do you want to hear?"

"Tell me everything, from the beginning."

Li Li lay back on the folding cot, hands behind his head, staring at the cold white ceiling light.

"Alright, I'll start from when I got on the plane."

He picked and chose what to tell.

How the Production Team drew lots for pairings, how they flew to Dubai, and how they stayed in hotels.

He skipped over the Middle East conflict, the F-18s, and the spies, focusing entirely on trivial daily matters—who burnt the food while cooking, who twisted their ankle while walking, who fought, and who made up.

Zhang Guifang listened intently, occasionally interjecting with "And then?"

When he got to the part about the Dating Reality Show pairings, Zhang Guifang suddenly asked.

"That girl who was your partner, what was her name again?"

"Jiang Rumu."

"The one on your phone screensaver?"

Li Li turned his head.

His phone screensaver was the default system landscape photo; where would that come from—

Wait.

Before Mother Zhang was hospitalized last time, Jiajia had played with his phone and changed his lock screen wallpaper. It was a screenshot of Jiang Rumu eating ice cream on the Dating Reality Show, with a dab of cream on the corner of her mouth.

He had forgotten to change it back.

"…Jiajia changed it."

Zhang Guifang didn't pursue that topic.

"You like her."

It wasn't a question.

Li Li rubbed his thumb along the edge of the folding cot's canvas.

He didn't deny it.

He nodded.

Zhang Guifang was silent for a long while. The medication in the IV bottle dripped a dozen more times.

"Xiao Li."

"Yes."

"Let Mom tell you the truth."

Zhang Guifang turned her head to face him directly.

"Mom raised you from the Qingcheng Orphanage. You have no father, no mother, no house, no car, no savings, and no background. You have a bit of fame now, but at our core, we are just ordinary people."

Li Li didn't say anything.

"That girl, as you said yourself, is a top celebrity in the entertainment industry, and her family is..." Zhang Guifang carefully chose her words, "...very influential."

"Mom isn't saying you aren't good enough; Mom is just afraid the pressure will be too much for you."

The light from the ceiling lamp was very white, casting a cold pallor on everyone's faces.

Li Li stared at the light.

"Mom, I—"

He was just about to speak.

The ward door was pushed open.

A person leaning on a crutch stood at the doorway.

She was wearing no makeup, her hair pulled back into a casual ponytail. A thin layer of gauze was wrapped around her right foot, her left hand supported a crutch, and her right hand—was carrying two large bags of health supplements, so heavy they pulled her arm crooked.

Jiang Rumu.

There was someone following behind her.

A girl, twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, thin, with short hair, head bowed, also carrying two bags of things. She stood half a step behind Jiang Rumu, with very little presence.

Li Li sat up from the folding cot.

Zhang Guifang reacted first, bracing herself against the edge of the bed as she tried to sit up straight.

"Oh my—this is—"

The moment she saw Jiang Rumu, her hand froze.

No makeup. No foundation, no eyeliner, no adornments whatsoever.

Zhang Guifang had raised over three hundred children at the Qingcheng Orphanage and had seen every type of face. But as this girl stood in the frame of the white ward door, she suddenly understood why her son had forgotten to change his screensaver.

She was stunned for two seconds.

Then she glared fiercely at Li Li.

"Why did you call her here! Her leg is still injured, and she came all this way—"

"I didn't call her." Li Li raised both hands. "I didn't even tell her which day the surgery was."

Jiang Rumu walked in on her crutch and rolled her eyes at Li Li.

"Good thing I asked Dr. Zhang's assistant myself."

She paused, then looked down at Zhang Guifang, her expression shifting.

"Hello, Auntie. I'm Jiang Rumu. I was worried that Li Li, being the rough guy he is, wouldn't be able to take good care of you. I'm here to keep you Company during the surgery tomorrow, so please don't worry."

Zhang Guifang opened her mouth, but couldn't manage a full sentence for a long time.

She looked at Jiang Rumu's face, then at that injured leg, and then at the pile of health supplements in the hands of the girl behind her.

Finally, she turned to look at Li Li.

She didn't speak, but reached out to move the pillow beside her bed, making space, and patted it.

"Sit down, sit down, don't just stand there."

She slapped Li Li as well.

"What are you standing there for? Go pour her a glass of water!"

Li Li stood up to pour water, lowering his voice as he passed by Jiang Rumu.

"Your leg hasn't fully healed yet, why are you running around?"

Jiang Rumu poked his calf lightly with her crutch.

"Less talk."

She sat down on the chair next to the hospital bed and began chatting with Zhang Guifang.

From the food at the Qingcheng Orphanage to the children's studies, from the environment of Mount Qingcheng to the attitude of the nurses at West China Hospital.

As they chatted, the tension on Zhang Guifang's face relaxed.

Li Li stood to the side holding two cups of water, not interrupting.

This woman was an icy beauty in front of the camera, a goofy, snarky person in front of him, but in front of elders—her tongue was sweet as honey. She was smooth, much better at talking than he was.

While they were chatting away, Li Li turned to look at the girl standing quietly by the door.

Short hair, thin.

Her gaze behind her glasses was cast downward, and her fingers were repeatedly rubbing against the seams of her pants.

She looked a bit familiar.

"You are—"

Jiang Rumu turned her head and patted the arm of the girl behind her.

"Almost forgot. Li Li, let me introduce you to my new assistant."

She pushed her forward half a step.

"Lu Cheng, formerly in publicity at the Company. You should have an impression of her; when the Dating Reality Show first started at the airport, she was standing nearby."

Li Li looked at Lu Cheng.

He remembered.

The girl who had wanted to come over to help when Jiang Rumu's luggage spilled out at the airport, but was held back by two other people.

It was her.

"New assistant?" Li Li looked at Jiang Rumu. "You poached someone from the Company?"

Jiang Rumu leaned back in her chair, carefully resting her right leg on another chair.

"Not poached, she resigned on her own. My former assistant has already gone to, um, someone else. Now I've hired Lu Cheng as my assistant, and once my contract ends, I'll officially start my own Company."

Lu Cheng stood there, rubbing her fingers against her pants seam three times before speaking, her voice quiet and slightly stuttering.

"Li... Li Li, hello. I, I have already resigned from the Company."

Li Li nodded, not asking for the reason for her resignation; as long as Jiang Rumu knew, that was enough.

He turned to Jiang Rumu.

"Are you planning to have a falling out with the Company?"

Jiang Rumu's hand rested on the top of the crutch, her fingernails tapping lightly against the aluminum alloy.

"It's not that I want to have a falling out."

She tilted her head and looked at Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng kept her head down, her voice dropping even lower.

"The Company... is preparing to take action against Sister Mu."

The ward went quiet for a beat.

Teacher Wang's snoring suddenly sounded, then quieted down again.

Li Li set the water cup on the cabinet, leaned against the wall, and crossed his arms.

"What kind of action?"

Lu Cheng lifted her head, her gaze behind her glasses no longer cast downward.

"They paid to acquire records of un-livestreamed interactions between you and Sister Mu in Dubai."

Li Li didn't move.

"Including unaired footage from the ByteDance Production Team."

Jiang Rumu's fingers stopped.

"Plus, they've gathered many unaired behind-the-scenes clips from previous shows and film shoots. They plan to edit them into topics like 'Dating Reality Show fake romance becomes real, non-celebrity clings to female star, female star's history of affairs,' and coordinate with three marketing accounts to release them simultaneously."

No one in the ward responded.

Lu Cheng swallowed.

"And taxes."

As soon as those two words came out, Jiang Rumu leaned forward in her chair.

"Sister Mu's taxes were previously handled by the Company; she only received her post-tax income. If the Company had been falsifying accounts all along—"

"Sister Mu knows nothing about it, but the blame will be pinned on her."

Li Li's thumb paused on his arm.

Lu Cheng's last sentence was barely audible, as if she were confirming she really wanted to say it.

"The release date is set for the thirteenth of next month. Three days before Sister Mu's contract expires."

Three days before.

Renewing a contract in the middle of a media storm is signing a slave contract. Not renewing means leaving with labels of "moral turpitude" and "tax fraud."

Both paths were dead ends.

Li Li stared at Jiang Rumu.

Jiang Rumu leaned back in her chair, her fingers tapping rhythmically on the top of her crutch. Not fast, not slow, just rhythmic.

"That's why Lu Cheng came to find me; she was afraid I would be too passive."

She looked up at Li Li.

"This battle must be fought."

Li Li didn't respond and remained still for a long time.

Then he reached out, took the two bags of health supplements from Lu Cheng's hands, and piled them onto the bedside table.

"Don't rush."

He pulled out a stool and motioned for Lu Cheng to sit.

"How much of what the Company has is real?"

Lu Cheng just bent down to sit, but her body stiffened again.

"Those Dating Reality Show records are half-true, half-false. The tax part... is still uncertain."

She looked up at Jiang Rumu, then turned to Li Li.

"But there is one thing that is true."

Li Li waited.

Lu Cheng lowered her voice to the lowest possible volume.

"Someone inside the Company made a memorandum. I took a photo before I left. It's written very clearly—this time, it's not just targeting Sister Mu."

Her fingers were gripping the seams of her pants, her knuckles turning white.

"They named you, Li Li. You're on that list too."