Chapter 178: Pretending to Retire from the Industry
Xu Youyou finally understood the weight behind the phrase “chosen rival.”
When Song Zhi Bai trended on social media, Xu Youyou’s cheap little brother, Gu Shuangbo, immediately followed suit with his own trending topic.
However, unlike Song Zhi Bai, who was showering his fans with love, Gu Shuangbo’s situation was entirely different—his trend was a pure blacklisting.
Both involved fan meet-and-greets at the airport, but the difference was that Gu Shuangbo actually showed up at the airport. From a distance, fans saw a young woman in a simple pink suit holding a walkie-talkie walking beside him.
In the video, the woman was originally very close to Gu Shuangbo, but as soon as she noticed the fans filming from afar, her brows furrowed, and there was a fleeting look of disgust in her eyes. She quickly spoke into the walkie-talkie, and soon, a group of tall bodyguards dressed in black positioned themselves in front of Gu Shuangbo and blocked the fans from getting closer.
At that point, Gu Shuangbo’s fans, who had been focused on attacking Song Zhi Bai’s fans, immediately shifted their attention to controlling the comments on Gu Shuangbo’s social media posts.
If it was just the bodyguards blocking the fans, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. However, in the video, as the fans got closer, they clearly caught the young woman saying, “Push them away, it’s really annoying when they block the way.”
As the video came to a close, the camera shook violently, followed by startled cries from the young girls filming.
Xu Youyou recognized the woman—she was Gu Shuangbo’s manager, Wu Yue, who would soon become his second wife. Given the timing, they must have privately confirmed their romantic relationship by now.
Wu Yue was quite possessive. In the past life, because Xu Youyou was merely considered a foster daughter of the Gu family, Gu Xueying’s meddling had caused Wu Yue to misunderstand Xu Youyou’s relationship with Gu Shuangbo. Gu Shuangbo spoiled Gu Xueying and never explained anything, letting Wu Yue mess with Xu Youyou.
Back then, Wu Yue had spent all her energy dealing with Xu Youyou, but didn’t seem to care much about fans. It had seemed like a somewhat harmonious situation.
Xu Youyou’s face darkened as she remembered this. She suddenly realized that Gu Shuangbo had done this on purpose! If Wu Yue focused on tormenting Xu Youyou, she wouldn’t have the time or energy to bother with the fans, saving Gu Shuangbo time and effort.
As for Xu Youyou’s feelings? Gu Shuangbo didn’t care at all.
Xu Youyou forced herself not to dwell on the unpleasant events of her past life, repeatedly reminding herself that everything was in the past. She glanced at the comment section and immediately saw that Wu Yue had indeed stirred up quite a mess this time.
At the end of the video, Wu Yue instructed the bodyguards to push away the fans, but they weren’t careful enough, causing one fan to twist her ankle and another to fall.
This particular fan wasn’t just an ordinary fan; she was one of the data fans who had supported Gu Shuangbo since his first drama. She wasn’t a rich fan, but she had been actively involved in controlling comments and defending Gu Shuangbo from blackening. She was an important member of Gu Shuangbo’s fan club.
Now, this fan took the lead in confronting Gu Shuangbo, demanding to know why he allowed Wu Yue to behave so recklessly and whether the airport incident was his intention.
Xu Youyou shook her head, thinking to herself that if they didn’t want to deal with fans, they shouldn’t announce their schedules for airport meet-and-greets. But instead, they wanted the best of both worlds—they wanted Gu Shuangbo to maintain his top-tier celebrity status while resenting fans for interrupting their romantic lives. This is what led to the current mess.
At first, Gu Shuangbo and Wu Yue probably didn’t take it seriously, but as more and more fans got involved, many had already been scolded by Wu Yue during offline events, with various videos or photos as proof.
What started as suspicions about Wu Yue’s attitude gradually turned into fans questioning her professional competence.
Wu Yue wasn’t some unknown manager; she had initially debuted as an actress but failed to make any impact with several dramas, proving she had no audience appeal. Eventually, she mysteriously transitioned into becoming Gu Shuangbo’s manager.
Fans questioned how Wu Yue was able to transition so easily into managing a top-tier male star like Gu Shuangbo, but Xu Youyou knew the real reason.
The Gu family was full of opportunists, and Wu Yue became the second wife of the Gu family because she was from a wealthy family—not from Shanghai, but from the capital.
Wu Yue’s relationship with Gu Shuangbo was following a “chasing and escaping” storyline, where she fell in love with him at first sight. Her rich family background made it easier for her to make mistakes without consequences. Whether as an actress or a manager, it was all just a means to get closer to Gu Shuangbo. Gu Shuangbo’s management company was even controlled by Wu Yue’s family.
Despite her wealth, Wu Yue’s resources were no match for her poor taste. This year, Gu Shuangbo starred in three major male-lead dramas, but all of them failed miserably, with poor CP chemistry, low streaming numbers, and disappointing viewership. One of the dramas was even cut off halfway through its broadcast.
Now, people were quietly mocking Gu Shuangbo as the “poison of the drama industry,” and Wu Yue, who had pushed for these three projects, became the target of fan criticism.
Xu Youyou watched as the attacks on Wu Yue grew louder in the comment section and wondered if Gu Shuangbo would be willing to distance himself from his girlfriend.
In a luxurious penthouse in a high-end neighborhood in the capital, Wu Yue was throwing a tantrum, smashing everything she could get her hands on.
“Why should I apologize? I didn’t do anything wrong!”
Gu Shuangbo, listening to the sharp sound of porcelain breaking, furrowed his brows in slight annoyance and glanced at his plain-looking, slightly overweight assistant standing next to him.
The assistant immediately stepped closer, her face full of pity, and coaxed, “Sister Wu Yue, I understand how you feel. I also think the fans are going too far, but what can we do? Gu Ge still needs the fans to support him. He values you the most, and you care about him, right?”
Wu Yue pushed the assistant away, “Are you treating me like a child?”
The assistant almost stumbled but steadied herself, feeling a twinge of pain in her ankle but not daring to show it. She was technically one of Gu Shuangbo’s assistants, but most of the time, she served Wu Yue.
Gu Shuangbo had three assistants, but the other two, both young and attractive, had been dismissed by Wu Yue, leaving only two male assistants.
The assistant was terrified that she might be dismissed too, so she didn’t dare look at Gu Shuangbo. She gave a dry laugh and continued, “Sister Wu Yue, I’m not trying to flatter you. Look at my phone’s memo, it’s full of your likes and preferences. If it weren’t for Gu Ge telling me, how could I know so much? Gu Ge really does think highly of you, afraid I might not take care of you well.”
Wu Yue glanced at the assistant’s memo, which indeed had a lot of detailed notes. She didn’t know that the assistant had written all of this herself. She turned and gave Gu Shuangbo a sweet look.
Gu Shuangbo felt the timing was right, so he seized the opportunity to say, “Yue Yue, no matter what others say, you will always be the best in my heart.”
Wu Yue’s expression softened.
Gu Shuangbo continued, “I’m only second at home. My parents dote on my older brother, and they favor my younger brother and sister. They never believed I could make a name for myself, but now that I’ve finally succeeded in the entertainment industry, if you and the fans are having a conflict, maybe I should just retire and focus on being with you.”
