Chapter 27: Ah~ That Familiar Scent

But as for who actually gave her this rabbit plush, Bai Lu had no idea.

Many staff members had given her gifts, which were placed directly in her room. In her previous life, she had taken all the gifts home, except for this little rabbit. She hadn't thought much of it, assuming she’d accidentally left it behind while packing.

In truth, the person who gifted her the plush had secretly taken it back.

Fortunately, she only liked sleeping with large stuffed animals, and this rabbit was rather small, so in her previous life, she’d left it on the sofa in the living room.

Because of this, the most compromising footage the rabbit plush managed to capture was only her practicing yoga in pajamas. Her pajamas were always of the conservative long-sleeved, long-pants variety.

Somehow, in her past life, Yu Fuqing had gotten hold of the videos hidden inside that rabbit plush. After some editing, they became damning evidence that she’d supposedly slept with a sponsor to get ahead in the industry.

When she returned from the hospital, she’d seen the rabbit plush and, instead of throwing it away, decided to keep it.

She’d been waiting for this very day.

In her previous life, after her discharge, Yu Fuqing frequently visited the set. It was during this time that Shen Xinluo began an affair with him.

Yet in this life, Yu Fuqing didn’t visit the set until the final day of filming.

There were several moments when she felt uneasy and nearly threw the rabbit away.

Luckily, she hadn’t.

“Little bunny, shall I sleep with you tonight?” Bai Lu smiled radiantly at the plush. “Come on, you need to wear an eye mask to sleep~”

She covered the rabbit plush’s eyes, her expression gradually turning grim. Putting on gloves, she unzipped the rabbit’s back and quickly found what she was looking for: a tiny SD card, which she removed from its slot.

She locked the rabbit plush in the wardrobe.

With her laptop in her arms, Bai Lu watched videos until dawn, nearly blinding herself from the sheer number. There were over a hundred videos, spanning from her first day on set until now.

At last, she found the footage of Shen Xinluo and Young Master Yu’s late-night rendezvous.

“The wrap-up press conference is going to be interesting~~~”

Bai Lu whistled excitedly.

———

At 3 p.m., the wrap-up press conference began on time.

Aside from the attending media and journalists, the event was also streamed live online.

Not many media outlets had come—five or six—but considering the remote location deep in the snowy mountains, that was already quite a lot.

Zhuo Wei hadn’t shown up.

Since her rebirth, Bai Lu had checked every social media platform daily, but Zhuo Wei hadn’t leaked a single piece of gossip about her.

Instead, he’d revealed three celebrity relationships and exposed an affair between a famous couple, both cheating on each other.

But nothing about her—not even a mention. Bai Lu began to doubt whether she’d been seeing things the day she came back to life.

Still, she couldn’t exactly ask Zhuo Wei why he hadn’t exposed her.

All she could do was wait.

The event reached the Q&A session.

“Lu, did you not sleep well last night?”

Bai Lu’s dark circles were so pronounced that the makeup artist’s best efforts couldn’t hide them.

She yawned, “Yeah, I was up watching videos until ten.”

Next to her, Shen Xinluo had matching dark circles.

“Xinluo, you too?” someone asked.

Shen Xinluo blushed and lowered her head. “Y-yes.”

“Lu, you really need to rest. You were in a coma for more than half a month, then hospitalized for over a month. Now you’re back on set working non-stop—can your body handle it?” A familiar journalist aunt looked at her in concern.

“How did you end up falling, Lu?”

“Was it your sister who pushed you?”

Questions about her accident came one after another.

The nation’s sweetheart, gravely injured and comatose on set! And to make matters worse, pushed down by her foster sister, a fellow actress in the same production. What a scandalous headline.

But Bai Lu had been hospitalized in the private wing reserved for the richest man in the country. Apart from a miracle worker like Zhuo Wei, no reporters had managed to get anywhere near her, let alone conduct interviews.

Later, when Bai Lu was transferred to the city hospital, Yu Fuqing had preemptively informed the media, promising a full press conference after filming wrapped, and asked everyone to let Bai Lu recover in peace until then. Out of respect for Young Master Yu, no one came to bother her.

They’d all waited, patiently, until today.

Finally, the press could ask their questions.

Nothing too sharp was asked, likely thanks to Yu Fuqing’s prior arrangements. All the media present had good relations with Yuxing Entertainment.

Shen Xinluo looked a little panicked.

Now came the true test of her acting!

Bai Lu pouted, glanced at Shen Xinluo, then at Director Zhang, looked all around, and finally lowered her head.

She seemed to want to speak, yet lacked the courage, or perhaps didn’t know how to put it into words.

Director Zhang took the microphone. “The police determined it was an accident—Shen Xinluo lost her balance and pushed Lu off a seven-meter-high ski slope.”

His phrasing was masterful.

That wasn’t Director Zhang’s opinion, but the official police finding. He was simply relaying their conclusion.

Shen Xinluo covered her cheeks. “I lost my balance and accidentally pushed Lu. I feel so guilty. I stayed by her bedside every day, praying she’d wake up... Thankfully she did, otherwise I really…”

As Shen Xinluo broke down in tears, a reporter turned to Bai Lu. “Lu, is that true?”

“No—well, Uncle Reporter, you seem to have forgotten that I was in a coma,” Bai Lu replied, closing her eyes, twisting her mouth, and twitching as if imitating her comatose state. “Just like this, lying in bed, eyes closed.”

Director Zhang laughed and scolded her, “Bai Lu, are you playing a coma or having a seizure?”

Everyone laughed along, and just like that, the incident was glossed over.

The power of capital was truly immense.

Bai Lu could guess immediately that one of the conditions for Shen Yanghong to let her sign with Yuxing Entertainment was that Yu Fuqing must help Shen Xinluo completely bury the so-called ‘accident.’

“Lu, you played a national team athlete this time, with lots of skiing scenes. Did you perform all the stunts yourself, or did you use a double?”

That familiar tone.

Bai Lu looked up—sure enough, it was the same reporter Shen Xinluo had bribed in her past life.

She nodded. “Almost all of them. The championship scene was too difficult, so I used a double for that one. The rest, I did myself.” She looked back at Director Zhang. “Did I miss anything?”

Director Zhang nodded. “Yes, only that one scene used a double.”

The reporter immediately pulled out a phone and played a clip.

Director Zhang’s face darkened.

This footage hadn’t been released by the official production account. The quality was extremely high, clearly leaked by someone from the crew.

At the back of the crowd, Yu Fuqing frowned and asked his assistant, “Did you arrange for this reporter to be here?”

The assistant shook his head. “Not one of ours.”

Yu Fuqing narrowed his eyes, fixing them on Shen Xinluo. “An ill-intentioned guest, clearly targeting Lu. Find out who it is.”

The assistant nodded and left.

“Ah, that’s not me—it’s my stunt double,” Bai Lu pointed at the reporter’s phone. “She has a mole at the corner of her mouth; I don’t.”

The reporter pressed on, “But you just said you only used a double for one scene, and it wasn’t this one. Director Zhang confirmed it too. So what’s going on?”

With conviction, the reporter declared, “Are you saying the entire production lied to the audience and the public, just to promote Bai Lu’s devoted, hardworking image?”