Chapter 36 - Crafting a Solution
Ch36 – Crafting a Solution
“...” He Yun Yi glanced at him and helplessly shook his head. He said, “Let me go with you.”
He Yun Chen’s knee jerk reaction was to refuse but thinking that his brother’s mind was much nimbler than his, coupled with his identity as the President of the Academy of Sciences, he might just be of some help. So, finally, the two brothers left together.
When Ruan Tang was woken up by the doorbell, he was a bit confused. Since coming over to this world there had been no guest who have taken the initiative to come to his door. The last time, He Yun Chen had been invited by himself, so this doorbell function had never been used before. This doorbell sound was very unfamiliar to Ruan Tang.
He walked to the door with some vigilance. When he looked at the door monitor and found the two brothers, He Yun Chen and He Yun Yi, he relaxed but then couldn’t help but immediately worry. What could have happened to bring these two people at his door this late at night?
“Marshal He, President He, what happened?” He opened the door and ushered them in.
Marshal He and President He were very important personages in the Blue Star Empire, not to mention their family background. For these two people to come find him this late in the evening, something important and related to him must have happened.
The two didn’t hide the matter and told him what was happening on the star network.
Ruan Tang was shocked. He didn’t think that his identity would be exposed so quickly. Since he had to leave for the Academy this morning, he had gotten up very early. After doing the live broadcast in the evening and eating dinner, he began to feel sleepy. So he slept very early and knew nothing about what was happening on the star network. The light brain would automatically turn on the ‘do not disturb’ function when he sleeps, so if they hadn’t come to tell him about it, Ruan Tang was afraid he would have been caught completely unaware when he opened the live broadcast tomorrow.
He thanked both of them and because of the late hour, he could only offer them some tea. He invited them to sit on the sofa and he logged into his rarely ever used Weibo. Seeing the top three searches, he then visited the root of all this trouble, Wei Zhuo’s page. After seeing the photo evidence, he knew that there was no use denying it.
When the two men came to his door, they must have already known about his identity so Ruan Tang simply admitted it.
“I really am that Film Emperor Ruan Tang, but I lost my memory after I woke up. I don’t know anything about the past. The only information I know is from my agent.” Ruan Tang smiled bitterly and continued. “At the time, I had already been in a coma for five years. My popularity was already nothing like it was before, and the contract with the company had already expired, so I just agreed to cancel the agreement.”
“After the company canceled the contract, I didn’t have a source of income. There wasn’t much money left on my account. I wanted to find a job, but I was in poor health and I didn’t know what job I could find. Later on the star network, I saw the live food broadcasts and I don’t know why but when I saw those ingredients, I felt that I would do it, and before I knew it, I was a food anchor...” Ruan Tang’s story was 70% true and 30% false. After all, explaining something like transmigration was just too bizarre. He has no way to explain that to others. Anyway, he now has amnesia as an excuse. Saying that he himself had no idea about these matters shouldn’t be a big problem.
“Amnesia...” He Yun Chen’s index finger knocked on the table and he nodded. “The most accepted theory regarding your identity online was that you were a descendant or disciple of a long hidden family. If you were indeed a descendant of a hidden family, it’s justifiable that you would retain your cooking skills in spite of the memory loss.”
He Yun Yi couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “Hidden family? Do you believe this kind of nonsense?”
Seeing his normally astute brother fail to get his implication, He Yun Chen gave him a cold glance and said, “Isn’t it enough to give the netizens a direction for their guesses?”
Listening to these words, Ruan Tang also understood his meaning. At this point, there was no need to deny his identity any longer. Exposing his identity would only lead to him becoming more popular. However, after his identity is made know, the most suspicious point would be the source of all his cooking knowledge.
Since Wei Zhuo’s post only focused on his dual identity, he didn’t need to look for further trouble. As long as he focused on the identity issue, using just a word or two, he could give the netizens a half-true half-false direction for their guesses to follow. This would be enough.
It wasn’t a bad thing to maintain a certain sense of mystique.
With a smile on his face, he thought of Wei Zhuo’s photo of the contract for the termination agreement, and then went on to say, “I signed a confidentiality agreement with the company for the contract that Wei Zhuo exposed.”
Generally speaking, if an artist and the entertainment company cancelled the contract, the company would issue a notice. Especially for someone like him, who was a Film Emperor with still some popularity. At that time, he had just transmigrated. Considering this, he proposed to the company to that they keep the termination of the contract a secret so as to avoid the notice of the fans which might lead to more trouble. Therefore, they also signed a confidentiality agreement.
After that, things had been calm and quiet, and he had forgotten all about it. Now that Wei Zhuo had exposed the contract ignorantly, he remembered it. Suddenly, he felt that the other party was really unlucky.
Hearing his words, He Yun Chen immediately said, “This is good. You can sue Wei Zhuo for infringing on trade secrets and personal privacy. With his lawsuit he won’t be free to post things on Weibo. It would also lower the netizens’ trust in him. We will control public perception at this time and guide it towards the right direction.”
“Yes, it is best to collect more evidence. Don’t give him any time to react.” He Yun Yi continued on, “You shouldn’t open the live broadcast for the next two days. Let the public opinion continue to ferment and then wait for it to calm down. Then we respond and counterattack.”
This is exactly what Ruan Tang had in mind. He nodded and agreed with them. Ruan Tang added, “I have another idea. I’d like to disclose my identity as consultant for the Academy of Sciences. But I will be vague as to the timing of when it happened. President He, is this possible?”
“Wouldn’t this be disadvantageous to you?” He Yun Yi still hadn’t spoken when he heard his younger brother refuse, favoring an outsider instead of his own family. “There’s no need for you to muddy the time frame. If you don’t, being a consultant for the Academy would be verification of your strength. The Academy of Sciences has a high credibility in the Empire. As long as your identity as their consultant is announced, it would prove that the Academy of Sciences values you, and no one would dare to insistently pick a bone with you.”
If they publicized Ruan Tang’s identity was a consultant, using the prestige and authority of the Academy of Sciences, there would be no need to fear any calls into question regarding his ability. But if you blur the time when he became a consultant, the netizens would think that he had been able to complete those dishes with the help and support of the Academy.
Although this was more in line with the logic of the netizens, it would also wipe out more than half of peoples’ perception regarding Ruan Tang’s abilities. Some people may even think that Ruan Tang was just some lucky chef selected by the Academy of Sciences. Half of their commendations for Ruan Tang’s skills should actually belong to the Academy. Although this was beneficial to the Academy of Sciences, it was not conducive to Ruan Tang’s personal image and subsequent development.
Ruan Tang gave a little smile, “Thank you. Actually, I have thought about this issue, but I think being more low-key may be more in line with what I hope... And what would be to my benefit.”
Ruan Tang didn’t have any big ambitions. He just liked to cook. He simply wanted to share his food with everyone. Receiving people’s acknowledgement of his craftsmanship gave him a sense of satisfaction. So, in actuality, even though this news broke, it had very little impact on him.
Seeing Ruan Tang insist, He Yun Yi also agreed.
Ruan Tang pursed his lips and said with some embarrassment, “In fact, I still have a presumptuous request I would like to trouble you with.”
He Yun Chen immediately asked, “What is it?”
Once again, he raised his face, smiled and explained, “Because of the amnesia, I have no memory of my past. I don’t know if I have any family members. Could I trouble you to check it for me? In addition, I found my before I used to transfer a large amount of money from my account every month. I also like to know who I transferred those to?”
These are things that Ruan Tang had always wanted to know. But he didn’t have any safe and effective channels to investigate these things. In order not to incite any trouble, he had been ready and waiting for an opportunity. Now that his identity was exposed, he needed find out about these things as soon as possible, so that no one could use his memory loss to take advantage of him. And there was no one more suitable for this task the He Brothers before him.
He looked up at He Yun Chen with a pair of black eyes, and then he turned his head to look at He Yun Yi.
He Yun Chen suddenly reached out and turned his head back, and then with a light cough said, “Of course, you can.”
As a marshal of the empire, He Yun Chen held a key positions in the military. Looking up this kind of information was of no difficulty for him.
“Thank you!” Ruan Tang’s eyes suddenly lit up, and his smile grew bigger. His cheek suddenly revealed a shallow dimple, and seeing it made He Yun Chen dazed. He even forgot to take back his hand from Ruan Tang’s head.
It was He Yun Yi who noticed his younger brother’s loss of manners. He couldn’t help roll his eyes. When he saw Ruan Tang direct him a questioning look, he shot a look his younger brother, who was still completely unaware that he was already taking advantage of someone else. He Yun Yi took down the offending hand from the innocent anchor’s head. He shook his head and said, “It’s no big deal, it’s nothing difficult at all.”
It was only then that Ruan Tang was made aware of the strangeness of He Yun Chen’s actions just now. However, he didn’t make much of it and only thanked them profusely. The brothers helped him out a lot this time.
“Hehe, if you really want to thank us, then give us something delicious to eat. Your dishes are absolutely perfect!” He Yun Yi said with a wink.
“No problem, even if I don’t do any live broadcasts, I won’t forget your share when cooking.”