CHAPTER 51 — Four Months Later, Everything Had Changed
Four months passed.
Quietly.
Steadily.
Dangerously.
The world had calmed—at least on the surface.
But beneath it, everything had rearranged itself.
Especially the Shi Corporation.
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The Impossible Revival
Four months ago, the Shi Corporation was collapsing faster than anyone could save it.
Stock prices had crashed.
Banks had withdrawn support.
Investors had run.
Yet one morning—
Without warning.
Without explanation.
Without logic—
The Shi Corporation stabilized.
A massive influx of capital appeared overnight.
Old debts disappeared from the books.
All lawsuits paused mysteriously.
Even government pressure loosened.
Business gossip went wild.
"Did a foreign investor step in?"
"Did the Shi family offer something big as collateral?"
"No one saves a dying company for nothing—what did they trade?"
But no matter how much people dug,
no matter how deep journalists searched,
the source of the money was a complete ghost.
Not a name.
Not a signature.
Not a paper trail.
It was as if the money simply… materialized.
Suspicious.
Terrifying.
And most importantly—
completely out of the Shi family's control.
Even they didn't know who had saved them.
But they clung to the miracle desperately.
Because miracles were rare.
And in their case—almost never repeated.
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The End of Filming
Meanwhile, far from the chaos of corporate desperation, life on the film set reached its final act.
The drama "Across the Moonlit Veil" officially wrapped filming.
The final scene shot—
Shi Yunxi in a flowing white costume, standing beneath a snowing stage set, lanterns flickering around her—
was breathtaking enough that the director called cut with a trembling voice.
"Perfect. That's the final scene. We're done!"
The entire crew erupted into applause.
Some cried.
Some hugged.
Some bowed to Yunxi in respect.
Because everyone knew—
She had carried the entire production.
Her acting.
Her discipline.
Her quiet strength.
Even the harshest critics had become silent admirers.
⸻
The Vanishing of Zhou Lanying
Two days after wrap-up, the production team held a meeting.
Short.
Cold.
Final.
Zhou Lanying's name was removed from the cast list.
Permanently.
Her posters—gone.
Her teasers—deleted.
Her character—re-shot with a new actress.
The official statement read:
"Due to scheduling conflicts and unforeseen circumstances, Actress Zhou Lanying has withdrawn from the project."
Everyone in the industry knew that was a lie.
But no one questioned it.
Because no one wanted to be associated with a woman whose face had been ruined by "an allergic reaction" —
a reaction privately known to be caused by Roulan's poison scheme.
Even Roulan's connections couldn't save Zhou Lanying.
Her agency terminated her contract.
Brands tore down her endorsements.
Top directors blocked her number.
Her name became taboo.
A warning.
A ghost.
And yet—
the production suffered nothing from her removal.
In fact—
Without her drama and scandals, the filming ran smoother.
Cleaner.
Brighter.
The director smiled for the first time in months as he watched the final rough cut of the series.
"It'll be a hit," he declared.
"No—this will break records."
And everyone agreed.
Especially because of the actress leading the entire storm—
Shi Yunxi.
⸻
A New Dawn for Yunxi
Four months had turned her into something sharper.
Colder.
More untouchable.
Rumors in the industry said:
"She's too clean—no scandals, no blackmail material."
"She acts like she doesn't fear anything."
"She's the type of woman who burns the one who tries to burn her."
And yet—
Her popularity only soared.
Brands lined up.
Scripts flooded in.
Directors begged for a meeting.
Fans called her the industry's quiet storm—
the kind that arrives without warning
and destroys everything in its path.
Except she destroyed only the ones who deserved it.
⸻
But in the shadows… something darker stirred.
Because someone had revived the Shi Corporation.
Someone had revived the enemy she thought she buried.
Someone was waiting.
Watching.
Moving pieces she didn't know existed.
And as Yunxi stepped off the stage on wrap-up day,
flowers in her arms,
the wind cool against her hair—
a chill ran down her spine.
As if the next storm had already begun.
But this time—
she wouldn't be the hunted.
She would be the one hunting.