novellhall Chapter 34 Zheng's Father: Betraying Teammates, Zhixing: Becoming a Traitor
Chapter 34 Zheng's Father: Betraying Teammates, Zhixing: Becoming a Traitor
As time went on, the online public opinion not only failed to subside but intensified because the parties involved remained silent.
The cost of spreading rumors is always the lowest, and some people have even started to confidently reveal on forums that Li Zhixing is a habitual offender who has cheated countless naive young girls with his good looks.
Just when public opinion was about to completely spiral out of control and the haters were celebrating to their climax.
LOEN Entertainment's official website unexpectedly featured a statement at the top.
Clarification Announcement Regarding False Rumors about IU (Lee Ji-eun) and Mr. Lee Ji-hwan.
Regarding the recent rumors circulating online about a "late-night rendezvous" between our artist IU and Mr. Li Zhixing, our company hereby solemnly declares that these rumors are completely unfounded.
Lee Ji-eun and Mr. Lee Ji-hyun are family members who live under the same roof with their grandmother and younger brother; they are each other's closest siblings.
Following this, to further prove the relationship, LOEN's official statement included three photos.
The first photo is captioned "[May 16, 2006, Zhi En's birthday]".
The background of the photo is a cramped and simple living room, with a small cake on the table.
Wearing a birthday hat, IU is making a wish with her eyes closed. Lee Ji-hyeong, who looked a little thin at the time, is sitting next to her with a smile on his lips. In the corner of the photo, a little boy with his face blurred is secretly dipping his finger into the cream on the cake.
The second photo is captioned "[September 18, 2008, backstage at the debut stage]".
The photo was clearly taken on a whim.
IU, who had just finished her performance, burst into tears backstage, and Lee Ji-hsing was standing in front of her, gently wiping away her tears with a tissue.
The third photo is captioned "[February 2009, Junior High School Graduation Ceremony]".
Wearing a school uniform, IU held a bouquet of flowers, while Lee Ji-hyeong, dressed in a suit, stood behind her, making two childish peace signs above her head. The smiles on their faces were incredibly bright.
Three photos, three of the most representative milestones in life.
Below the photo is a clarification regarding last night's upskirt photography incident.
On August 17th, IU participated in the full-day recording of SBS's "Star King" starting at 9:00 AM. After returning to her company in the evening, she practiced for two hours in the dance studio.
[As her older brother, Mr. Lee Ji-hyun went to pick IU up from work. Feeling sorry for his sister who was severely exhausted and whose legs were weak, he carried her back to their home.]
The moment this statement was released, the previously noisy and bustling internet fell into a brief moment of collective silence.
Immediately afterwards, public opinion exploded.
"What the heck? They're siblings?!"
"He picked up his sister from dance practice late at night, exhausted, and carried her home on his back. What an amazing older brother!"
"The first birthday photo brought tears to my eyes. That poor but warm family atmosphere is something you can't fake!"
"She recorded 'Star King' all day and still has to go back to the company to practice dancing at night? IU is so dedicated!"
"What filthy words did I just utter? IU, I'm so sorry! Lee Ji-haeng, I'm so sorry!"
Public opinion has completely reversed.
Those haters who were initially the most vocal suddenly fell silent in the face of irrefutable evidence, sheepishly deleting their malicious comments and pretending to be dead.
Those fans who had been struggling to explain for Li Zhixing while feeling anxious finally breathed a sigh of relief.
They straightened their backs and joined in the frenzied praise.
Li Zhixing went from being universally condemned as a "pervert" to being hailed as "someone else's good older brother" by countless netizens in an instant.
Many passersby were even moved by this sincere family affection and spontaneously expressed their intention to go to the cinema to watch "Haeundae" again.
This incident not only did not have a negative impact on Lee Ji-eun, but her popularity also surged because of their enviable sibling relationship.
This incident has drawn more attention to this new female singer who is not only cute and charming, but also hardworking and has a brother who is a box office actor with millions in box office revenue.
……
The evening of the second day after the scandal broke.
Zhengjia Apartment, Pentang District.
Li Zhixing held a styrofoam box in his hand and entered the password to unlock the door.
As he changed his shoes and walked inside, he called out, "Auntie, a friend gave me some flower crabs. We'll cook them tonight..."
He had only spoken halfway when Li Zhixing suddenly realized that the atmosphere in the living room seemed a little strange.
Zheng's mother sat in the center of the sofa with her arms crossed, her face cold and silent.
Mr. Zheng, on the other hand, stood in front of the TV like a schoolboy who had made a mistake, his neck hunched over, trying to explain something with a forced smile.
As for the two Zheng sisters, they had already hidden themselves by the bar in the open kitchen.
Jessica leaned against the bar counter and, seeing Li Zhixing enter, gloated as she made a "throat-slitting" gesture at him.
Soojung lay down beside her, her eyes shining as she waited to see what would happen.
Upon seeing Li Zhixing, the little girl instinctively raised her hand to greet him, but seeing her mother's gloomy face, she guiltily shrank back.
Li Zhixing felt a chill run down his spine.
Oh no, something's happened.
Noticing Zheng Ma's piercing gaze, he chuckled dryly and held up the box in his hand: "Well, I'm just here to deliver flower crabs. I have something to do later, so I'll be going now!"
"Where are you going? Get your foot in here," Zheng Ma said coldly.
Li Zhixing's face fell.
He could only walk over obediently and stand side by side with Zheng's father.
However, the moment he stood still, he quietly took half a step back, making Zheng's father, who was not tall to begin with, stand out at the front.
Aunt Zheng glanced at him and scolded him irritably, "You brat, you've got some nerve, haven't you? Daring to get your Uncle Zheng involved in stock trading, and you even conspired with him to keep it from me?"
Li Zhixing glanced at Zheng's father with displeasure.
This traitor who sold out his friends for personal gain has confessed to everything!
However, now was not the time for reckoning. Li Zhixing decisively chose to admit his mistake, his attitude extremely sincere: "Auntie, I'm sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn't have helped the president speculate in stocks, and I shouldn't have failed to uphold my principles when the president begged me to recommend stocks. The worst thing I did was to keep it from you, Auntie. Please scold me!"
"Um?"
Zheng's mother astutely caught the key phrase and frowned in confusion: "Did your uncle beg you to recommend stocks?"
"Huh?" Li Zhixing looked up blankly. "Yeah, what's wrong?"
"But your uncle said that you said you could definitely make money by investing in stocks, and you took the initiative to get him to buy them."
Li Zhixing suddenly turned his head and shouted in grief and indignation, "President!!!"
Mr. Zheng remained unmoved, his gaze fixed straight ahead, as steady as an old dog, not even glancing at him: "In the first place, it was you brat who showed off your returns to me; otherwise, why would I have followed you into stock trading!"
Li Zhixing gritted his teeth secretly.
He forgot that Zheng's father has absolutely no bottom line when it comes to his wife!
Just as Li Zhixing was about to expose Zheng's father's shamelessness, Zheng's mother waved her hand impatiently.
"Alright, I don't care who brought whom along, neither of you can escape blame!"
Zheng's mother looked at Zheng's father and asked in an icy tone, "How much money did you lose this time?"
Mr. Zheng quickly waved his hand with a smile, his expression even revealing a hint of pride: "No loss, no loss, we made a profit this time! Zhixing's eye for stocks is impeccable; he's basically never lost money on his recommendations!"
Zheng's mother was slightly taken aback, but her tone remained unchanged: "Even if you made money, it's no good. With stocks, making money is temporary, but losing money is for life. This kind of thing can't exist in our family. Tell me, how much did you make?"
Mr. Zheng paused slightly, then gave Li Zhixing a very subtle look.
He grinned and held up five fingers: "Fifty million, honey, let me tell you, we made fifty million this time, we really didn't lose money."
"Oh, really?" Zheng Ma crossed her arms and snorted coldly.
Li Zhixing keenly caught the cold, distrustful glint in Zheng Ma's eyes.
The next second, without hesitation, he stepped to the side, pointed at Zheng's father with righteous indignation, and loudly declared, "Auntie, I confess, the club president is lying to you!"
......