What Should I Do if My Best Friend Is a Green Tea? [Transmigrated Into a Book]

Chapter 40

Qin Li returned home as the sky darkened.

He had successfully secured the male lead role that Strawberry Network had previously wanted to sign him for, but due to the issues surrounding *The Bottom Line*, Strawberry Network had also slashed his fee significantly. Strawberry Entertainment, as a video platform, invests in serious dramas every year. The drama Qin Li had taken on this time was a serious production with an investment of over 20 million. He had read the script and privately felt it wasn’t as good as the one written by Xiao Yu.

As for the director’s team, it was also inferior to *The Bottom Line*.

But for now, this was all he could do. His reputation had taken a hit, and he urgently needed a serious drama to turn things around.

“We’ll announce tomorrow that you’re set to star in *City of Trapped Beasts* and won’t have time for *The Bottom Line*. But will Jiang Tao cause trouble? If he reveals that you were previously very interested in *The Bottom Line*, this lie won’t hold up,” his manager continued to chatter over the phone even after Qin Li had returned home. Qin Li was the most popular artist under his management, and the manager’s biggest commission came from him. He wanted Qin Li to stay at the top more than anyone else.

Qin Li had his phone on speaker as he bent down to put on his house slippers. “Jiang Tao doesn’t know about the investment scam we set up. From his perspective, I’m just an actor who was interested in *The Bottom Line* and happened to connect him with Strawberry Network. I was just trying to help, and the negative trending search might have been bought by Strawberry Network. Jiang Tao won’t expose me.”

The manager breathed a sigh of relief, then complained, “From another angle, if it weren’t for you, Zhou Qingyu might not have invested in Jiang Tao, and he wouldn’t have been able to make this drama.” Qin Li’s eyes darkened slightly. The most annoying part of this whole situation was Zhou Qingyu, but unfortunately, she was the capital, and Qin Li couldn’t touch her—not yet.

After hanging up, Qin Li walked into the living room.

A gentle touch brushed against his lower back, and the soft warmth of a girl’s chest pressed against his back. “Qin Ge…”

Xia Momo had been asleep in bed but woke up upon hearing Qin Li’s voice. Qin Li turned around, his gaze falling on her flat stomach, and a wave of frustration surged in his chest. “It’s late, go to bed early.”

Xia Momo looked at him obediently. “I’ve scheduled a prenatal check-up for tomorrow. Will you come with me?”

Qin Li frowned. He had to go for the costume fitting for *City of Trapped Beasts* tomorrow. Where would he find the time?

“I’ve been really busy lately. Let Auntie Zhao accompany you.”

Xia Momo pouted unhappily. “Fine… Oh, Qin Ge, shouldn’t we get our marriage certificate soon? The baby is already three months old. If we wait any longer, it’ll start showing. I can’t have a big belly at our wedding, can I?”

Qin Li’s frown deepened. He had never thought about marrying Xia Momo. Agreeing to keep the baby had only been a delaying tactic—the child would eventually have to be aborted.

“Let’s wait a bit longer,” Qin Li said. “After I finish filming *Journey*, I’ll do whatever you want with you!”

Xia Momo smiled brightly, her deer-like eyes curving like crescent moons. No one noticed the cold glint that flashed in her eyes, as chilling as a December night in the far north. “Then… Qin Ge,” she suddenly drew out her tone, her voice cheerful, “stay with me tonight, okay?”

Having already rejected Xia Momo twice, Qin Li knew he shouldn’t refuse her a third time. Pregnant women were sensitive at this stage, and he was afraid that if he went against her wishes again, she might stir up more trouble.

So, he gently stroked her hair.

“Okay.”

The night was as dark as ink, and the city’s neon lights faded, the street lamps extinguishing one by one.

The sound of breathing filled the room. In the darkness, Xia Momo opened her eyes. She had always been a light sleeper. In countless nights past, when she woke up from insomnia and saw Qin Li beside her, her face would be filled with warmth and a smile. But tonight, as she looked at the man beside her, her gaze was as cold as ice. She quietly got up, making no sound, and stealthily opened Qin Li’s wallet, retrieving her ID card.

Then, without looking back, Xia Momo left with determination.

This was destined to be a sleepless night.

Even now, Qin Li and *The Bottom Line* were still trending on Weibo. The sensational role-snatching incident from earlier in the day had ended with rumors that marketing accounts had misled everyone.

Entertainment Dog Brother only realized he had been used after Xingyao released Shen Xinghe’s audition video.

What internal staff submission? This was clearly Xingyao’s PR move! And they had deliberately blurred the footage, making it hard to see the auditionee’s face at first glance!

What a bunch of scoundrels! So sneaky!

Entertainment Dog Brother had been heavily criticized by netizens, especially Qin Li’s fans, who swarmed his Weibo comments with all sorts of insults. If he hadn’t been wearing a dog head mask in his videos, he probably would have been photoshopped into a memorial photo. Dog Brother cursed internally, his resentment toward Xingyao growing. However, after Xingyao released the audition video, Dog Brother received a substantial marketing fee from their PR team.

Well, even though he had been used, he got what he wanted. He also gained a wave of followers and was sent to the trending topic by both bystanders and Qin Li's fans. From a marketing perspective, he didn’t lose out.

This resentment toward Xingyao was quickly redirected toward Qin Li by Dog Brother. Bah! What marketing account misled him? Wasn’t it Qin Li who bought the negative trending topics and articles about *The Bottom Line* earlier in the day? Why act all innocent now? The entertainment industry was full of people with eight hundred schemes up their sleeves, and none of them were clean!

Dog Brother felt that in this whole incident, he had been the most naive, used as a pawn by Xingyao. It was also his fault for being too eager and not paying enough attention to the private messages he received. He vowed to be more careful in the future!

As he thought this, another leak private message arrived on Dog Brother’s phone. This time, Dog Brother was smarter and wouldn’t easily leak it.

He carefully reviewed the materials, listening to the audio clip the sender had provided over and over again. He even brought in his team to confirm whether it was Qin Li’s voice.

After going through everything, Dog Brother took a deep breath.

This was a major bombshell!

He suddenly felt that the grievances he had suffered today and the curses from Qin Li’s fans were just the prelude to the rise of Niohuru·Dog Brother!

The netizen who sent the private message claimed to be a party involved. She stated that all the materials she provided were genuine, and she was willing to take full legal responsibility. She came to Dog Brother because her own influence was too low, and she wanted more people to see Qin Li’s true colors!

Qin Li’s fans were still diligently spreading the word about “marketing accounts misleading people.” They were cleaning up search terms related to Qin Li and controlling the comments under major marketing accounts’ Weibo posts.

At the very least, they wanted passersby who hadn’t caught wind of the scandal yet to know that the real problem was with the marketing accounts.

It was the marketing accounts’ fault—what did it have to do with their brother?

Suddenly, they noticed that one of the key marketing accounts that had been slandering Qin Li today—Entertainment Dog Brother—had reposted a Weibo post.

The Weibo account was newly registered, with the ID “Qin Li’s Ex-Girlfriend.” The account had no followers and no following, and it had only posted one Weibo.

The content of the Weibo post was shocking—it exposed that the investment scam involving Jiang Tao a few days ago was orchestrated by Qin Li!

The post included an audio clip, labeled as a conversation between Qin Li and his manager—

“We’ll announce tomorrow that you’re set to star in *City of Trapped Beasts* and won’t have time for *The Bottom Line*. But will Jiang Tao cause trouble? If he reveals that you were previously very interested in *The Bottom Line*, this lie won’t hold up.”

“Jiang Tao doesn’t know about the investment scam we set up. From his perspective, I’m just an actor who was interested in *The Bottom Line* and happened to connect him with Strawberry Network. I was just trying to help, and the negative trending topic might have been bought by Strawberry Network. Jiang Tao won’t expose me.”

“From another angle, if it weren’t for you, Zhou Qingyu might not have invested in Jiang Tao, and he wouldn’t have been able to make this drama.”

Entertainment Dog Brother was a marketing account, and today he was at the center of the storm. His repost carried significant influence.

The previously quiet Weibo exploded once again. Not only did Qin Li’s fans see the post, but many night owls also caught wind of it—

?I thought today’s drama was going to end poorly, but I didn’t expect such a huge twist!?

Was Qin Li the one behind the fake investment scam targeting Jiang Tao? And is he blaming the marketing accounts?

?So Qin Li teamed up with Strawberry Network to screw over Jiang Tao and snag the male lead role in *The Bottom Line*??

?Director Jiang is probably still in the dark, thinking Qin Li is a good guy!?

?If it weren't for Zhou Qingyu's intervention, Jiang Tao would probably have been fooled!?

?Yeah, without Zhou Qingyu, Shen Xinghe would have been pushed aside, and Qin Li would have openly taken the male lead role. Not many people would have known about this!?

?Qin Li is too terrifying!?

With the previous hype about snatching roles as a foundation, the related hashtags about Qin Li's scheme quickly trended on Weibo.

Originally, fans could still blame the "role-snatching" scandal on marketing accounts. But after this Weibo post, they couldn't anymore.

The "slandered" marketing accounts all came forward, transforming into an Avengers-like alliance, reposting this Weibo. Qin Li had tried to pin the "role-snatching" blame on the marketing accounts, but now that the truth was out, those accounts weren't going to let him off the hook! In the entertainment industry, who hasn't posted a few misleading tweets? Most marketing accounts in the industry had been cursed out by Qin Li's fans at some point. Now that Qin Li was in trouble, they naturally reposted the Weibo to curse him back! Qin Li's fans were the most bewildered.

One moment, they were busy cleaning up the Weibo feed, and the next, there was another juicy scandal about their idol.

This was the first time in Qin Li's career that he had trended on Weibo so many times in a row!

Some fans sensed something was off. When Qin Li shifted all the blame onto the marketing accounts, they had already suspected that he might have snatched the role, but their love for their idol made them subconsciously deny everything.

But now, this recording undoubtedly woke them up.

They fell silent, unsure of what to do.

After all, they had seriously followed him, worked on data, and cheered for him. The sunk cost made it hard for them to let go.

But there was another group of fans who still refused to believe the authenticity of the recording and the revelation.

?This must be AI-generated!?

?Our brother would never do such a thing! These people are framing him!?

The informant even calls herself "Qin Li's ex-girlfriend." What's her agenda? So disgusting!

?What kind of capital is targeting our brother? They're trying to ruin him! The recording is definitely fake! Our brother would never do this!?

Entertainment blogger "Dog Brother" couldn't help but laugh at the excuses made by Qin Li's fans online. Someone framing him?

Are these delusional fans suffering from persecution complex? It's your brother who's been scheming against others, okay?!

So stubborn, even with such solid evidence, they still refuse to admit fault.

But no matter, the framing was just a small interlude. Dog Brother had an even bigger bombshell! After the hashtag #QinLiFramedJiangTao# had been trending on Weibo for over an hour, Dog Brother reposted a second Weibo from "Qin Li's ex-girlfriend." If the first Weibo was the conclusion to today's events, this one was the real bombshell.

This Weibo was Xia Momo's personal account.

It detailed her three-year relationship with Qin Li, during which she was treated as a stand-in. She had once believed Qin Li loved her, but when she discovered his relationship with Ye Luoyi and heard him call her "little sister" in front of paparazzi, she realized she was just a substitute.

Xia Momo exposed her pregnancy medical records, photos with Qin Li, and... a recording of Qin Li pressuring her to get an abortion:

"Didn't you take the pill?"

"I did, but if you don't use protection and I take the pill afterward, the success rate isn't high..."

"Get rid of it."

"This is our child!"

"I'm at a critical point in my career right now. Do you think I can afford to have a child? Momo, we're still young. We'll have children later. This one just came at the wrong time. Get rid of it."

The conversation between Qin Li and his manager was deliberately recorded by Xia Momo. But this particular conversation wasn't intentionally recorded; it was captured by the surveillance camera at home.

Qin Li never expected that the surveillance system he used to monitor Xia Momo would become one of the pieces of evidence that would seal his fate.

?Isn't this girl the one at the airport today? Qin Li said she was his sister!?

?Sister my foot! Would a real sister harm her brother like this???The photo shows them kissing, and you're calling them siblings? What kind of family is this???Listening to the recording makes my blood boil. Not using protection and then forcing her to get an abortion! What kind of man is Qin Li!?

?And the chances of getting pregnant from one unprotected encounter aren't that high, right? He probably didn't use protection multiple times!?

?Girls, be smart! Protect yourselves—no protection, no intimacy!?

?I feel a bit sorry for Xia Momo.?

?According to Xia Momo, Qin Li likes Ye Luoyi and used Xia Momo as a stand-in??

?Possibly. Xia Momo and Ye Luoyi look alike, and Qin Li was quite nice to Ye Luoyi on "Travel"... Who would have thought there was such a backstory!??Our YiYi wants nothing to do with this! YiYi only sees Qin Li as a colleague! There's nothing else between them!?

Late at night, Qin Li was woken up by his manager's frantic calls. When he answered, he realized Xia Momo was gone.

Qin Li searched the entire house but couldn't find Xia Momo, nor the ID card he had confiscated from her.

When he tried calling her, all he heard was a busy tone.

Previously, when Xia Momo left, she had wanted Qin Li to find her, so she used his shared payment account to buy a plane ticket, letting him see the flight information. But this time, she was truly gone, leaving no trace behind.

"Your girlfriend is really causing trouble!"

At the company, the manager led Qin Li briskly toward the meeting room, both of their faces dark.

Being woken up in the middle of the night like this would make anyone unhappy.

"Have you contacted Xia Momo?" the manager asked.

Qin Li coldly spat out two words, "No."

The manager gritted his teeth. "For the Jiang Tao framing incident, the company can post on Weibo and deny everything. The other side only has a recording. We can claim it's AI-generated."

"But Xia Momo is a real problem. She's a living person, and you pressured her to get an abortion! There's no way to spin this!"

The manager stomped his foot in frustration. "You've been together for three years, and you can't even contact her? You need to comfort her. Women can be coaxed!"

Qin Li frowned. The problem was he really couldn't contact Xia Momo. He had always thought of her as a stand-in, someone he could summon and dismiss at will. He had only used her body to comfort himself when he missed Ye Luoyi. How could he have expected Xia Momo to be so uncontrollable?

The online public opinion was spiraling out of control. The role-snatching incident had already cost Qin Li a lot of public favor, and the recording of him framing Jiang Tao had completely destroyed his reputation.

Unless Jiang Tao stepped forward to clear Qin Li's name, there was no way to recover. But Qin Li knew very well that Jiang Tao would sooner kill him than help him at this point.

The top priority now was to retain his fans.

As long as he still had fans, there was a chance for a comeback! But to keep his fans, Xia Momo was a huge obstacle. Compared to framing Jiang Tao and snatching roles, most of his fans were women, and they would find it even harder to accept that Qin Li had pressured Xia Momo to get an abortion.

It was already very late at night, and posting a clarification at this hour wouldn't make much of a difference. Early the next morning, Qin Li immediately went live.

Regarding the framing of Jiang Tao, he flatly denied it. As for the Xia Momo situation, Qin Li's tone became sentimental: "Xia Momo and I did have a relationship. But it had nothing to do with her being a stand-in. I didn't know Ye Luoyi back then, so how could I have used Xia Momo as her stand-in?"

"Due to my career, I couldn't publicly acknowledge my relationship with Xia Momo. That was my mistake. And because of my career, I had already amicably broken up with Xia Momo yesterday. I failed her, choosing my career over love."

"But the abortion? That's completely untrue!"

"Momo, I don't understand. We agreed on everything yesterday. Why did you change your mind overnight and decide to slander me?"

Our brother looks so haggard!

Xia Momo is just bitter because he didn't go public with their relationship, so she's deliberately smearing him!

?I don't get it. Being able to date our brother is a blessing she should be grateful for. How could she not be satisfied? If I could be with him, I'd be fine with a secret relationship!??Breaking up and then slandering him like this—this kind of love is terrifying! Good thing he broke up with her!?

?Brother, don't worry. We'll always support you. We'll never believe this b*tch's lies!?

The fans still supporting Qin Li at this point were his long-time die-hard fans. To them, not going public with a relationship was perfectly normal. Celebrities can't just casually go public with relationships.

An abortion? Our brother said it's all lies! It's Xia Momo's deliberate slander!

Moreover, even if the abortion is true, so what?

Qin Li already said that he’s in a crucial stage of his career and can’t have a child right now. Aren’t there plenty of couples who get abortions? How does that become a stain on someone’s reputation?

Hu Xin was in the meeting room, helping Qin Li handle the live-streaming matters.

Upon hearing Qin Li’s live-stream content, Hu Xin was utterly shocked.

She never imagined a man could stoop so low!

When she first applied to be his assistant, it was because she liked Qin Li’s face—she thought he was handsome.

But now, she just felt disgusted.

What was this nonsense about “not being able to reveal their relationship due to his career”? It was nothing but shifting all the blame onto Xia Momo, misleading fans into thinking that Xia Momo was spreading rumors to get back at Qin Li for “not being able to reveal their relationship.”

But was Xia Momo really upset about not being able to reveal their relationship?

Hu Xin was absolutely furious.

What a scumbag! *spits*

Hu Xin was 22 years old, fresh out of college, and had applied to be Qin Li’s assistant because she liked him.

From the beginning, she knew about Qin Li and Xia Momo’s relationship. Like most people in the industry, she thought keeping their relationship under wraps wasn’t a big deal.

But over time, Hu Xin gradually learned more about Qin Li. For instance, Qin Li had Da Jiajun spread rumors about Yan Xi’s academic qualifications; Qin Li had colluded with investors to scam Jiang Tao… and then, just yesterday, he was at the airport buying abortion pills.

Hu Xin kept telling herself that she was just a small assistant, and these matters were beyond her control.

But secretly slipping abortion pills to his girlfriend? Wasn’t that a crime?! And now, with today’s live-stream… Hu Xin felt she couldn’t stay silent anymore! If the company wanted to sue her, so be it! If crimes like this couldn’t be reported, what kind of justice was there in the world?

At worst, she’d quit and go back to her hometown to raise cattle and sheep!

Ten minutes later, Hu Xin used her personal Weibo account to expose a recording of Qin Li calling her from the airport to buy abortion pills.

Many of Qin Li’s big fans and fan-site managers knew about Hu Xin, and a lot of fans followed her.

The moment Hu Xin posted, Qin Li’s fanbase exploded.

Xingyao, Entertainment Dog Brother, Xia Momo, and various marketing accounts… to Qin Li’s fans, these were outsiders.

Hu Xin, on the other hand, was someone they thought was on their side.

But today, she stood against Qin Li.

The words they had been ready to deny suddenly stuck in their throats. And in the recording, Qin Li had actually asked his assistant to secretly buy abortion pills for Xia Momo… How disgusting!

[Secretly buying abortion pills and trying to trick a girl into taking them as vitamins? What kind of man does that?]

[My illusions are shattered!]

[I used to tell myself that everyone was just trying to harm Qin Li, but now even his assistant is speaking out… I can’t keep lying to myself. Did Qin Li really do these things?]

[Men are all the same! I thought Qin Li would be different, but I was blind!]

[It’s all just a celebrity persona! When Xia Momo exposed Qin Li, we should’ve known he wasn’t a good person!]

[I even defended him and attacked Xia Momo before. Now I feel so guilty! I’m sorry, Xia Momo. Qin Li is just disgusting!]

[Wuwuwu, Assistant Hu Xin, please tell me this isn’t true! How could Qin Li do something like this? He’s always been such a good person!]

Hu Xin personally replied to this comment, her tone firm: “No, the recording I posted is from yesterday at the airport. I can guarantee 100% that it’s real. The scam involving Jiang Tao is also true.”

[And the rumors about Yan Xi’s academic qualifications being fake? That was Qin Li’s doing too.]

[I have recordings as proof. If you don’t believe me, you can have them verified. They’re 100% real!]

[Qin Li is just a disgusting creep! He’s not worth your admiration!]

Qin Li’s popularity completely collapsed.

If before, some fans had clung to the delusion that “others were framing Qin Li,” Hu Xin’s appearance shattered that illusion without a doubt. Advertisers quickly announced the termination of their collaborations with Qin Li.

Major video platforms swiftly removed Qin Li’s works and erased his name from their content.

Even Qin Li’s fan-site managers started speaking out, declaring they were no longer fans and cutting ties with him.

The once-celebrated actor, destined to reach the pinnacle of the entertainment world and hailed as a genius, was now nothing but a universally despised scumbag.

No one would love him anymore.

His future had vanished.

At the same time, a notification rang in Yan Xi’s mind—

[Ding! The novel’s male supporting character, Qin Li, has completely fallen from grace. Zhou Qingyu gains 5 points of luck. Current luck value: 26.1 points.]