Chapter 19: The Evidence

Yu Ling withdrew from her embrace; just a few seconds of warmth were enough to replenish her strength. In moments like this, she was the one who could not back down.

“Sister Li, should I post a rumor denial on Weibo first?”

Li Wan shook her head decisively. “No need. I’ll contact a lawyer directly to send a legal notice.”

“But sending just a lawyer’s letter won’t be enough. We have to find solid evidence to refute it.”

Yu Ling nodded in agreement.

Li Wan’s expression grew troubled. “Evidence will be hard to come by…”

This realization left them both a bit disheartened, but Yu Ling forced herself to stay optimistic. It was okay—she had the live comments.

“Sis, leave this to me. I happen to know someone in this field; I’ll ask him.”

Li Wan quickly ran through Yu Ling’s acquaintances in her mind but couldn’t find anyone fitting. She knew Yu Ling disliked socializing and had very few friends. So, Yu Ling’s words sounded unreliable now. She asked uncertainly, “What friend? Do I know him?”

Yu Ling hesitated, then made up some vague explanation to dodge the question. “A new friend. You don’t know him.”

After saying that, she tried to grab her phone and tablet to make a quick escape.

But just as she stood up, Li Wan pulled her back down, scrutinizing her with disbelief. “Can a new friend be trusted?”

Her concern was natural, but Yu Ling couldn’t explain that this “new friend” was actually the all-knowing, all-seeing live comment feed, like a god’s perspective.

So, she only managed a vague, “Reliable. Really,” before swiftly retreating into her room.

Left alone in the living room, Li Wan exchanged glances with Chu Ming, who had just walked in.

Chu Ming thought, “This is bad, I’ve walked right into a trap.”

Zhang Yue followed behind her. Seeing her stop, he silently asked with his eyes, “Why aren’t you leaving?”

Chu Ming winked at him, signaling him to look inside.

Wasn’t Sister Li just sitting in the living room?

Zhang Yue, unaware of what she was afraid of, walked straight in.

“Sister Li.”

Li Wan nodded at him.

With Zhang Yue entering, Chu Ming became even more conspicuous and had no choice but to steel herself and follow inside.

Li Wan, seeing her lowered head like a quail’s, said flatly, “Close the door.”

Chu Ming meekly went to close the door.

When she returned to Li Wan’s side, she didn’t even dare to raise her head.

Yu Ling’s actions today were so daring that as her assistant, Chu Ming not only failed to stop her but even helped.

The more Chu Ming thought about it, the more anxious she felt. Would Sister Li be furious with her?

Li Wan wasn’t in the mood to scold now; if she was going to scold anyone, it would have to wait until after this matter was resolved.

She had only one question. “Has Yu Ling made any new friends recently?”

New friends?

Chu Ming was puzzled by the question and thought about it. She couldn’t recall Yu Ling contacting any new friends...

So she answered honestly, “I don’t think so.”

Li Wan immediately pressed, “What do you mean ‘don’t think’? Either yes or no. Does she or doesn’t she?”

Chu Ming was inwardly distressed. She was just a junior assistant, not living or eating with Yu Ling, let alone sharing a bed. She simply didn’t know.

She couldn’t possibly monitor Yu Ling 24/7 or install cameras in her home—that would be illegal.

Seeing Li Wan’s growing displeasure, Zhang Yue quickly intervened to ease the tension. “Actually, Yu Ling did say she recently made a new friend, but she didn’t specify who.”

“Is that so?” Sister Li’s expression softened considerably and she let the matter drop, sending them off to other tasks.

Chu Ming sighed in relief. Lowering her voice so Li Wan couldn’t hear, she asked Zhang Yue, “Why don’t I know anything about this new friend Yu Ling supposedly made?”

Zhang Yue hid behind his hand, whispering, “I don’t know either. Just guessing.”

Chu Ming was alarmed. “How can you lie about something like this?”

Zhang Yue winked at her. “If I didn’t say that, Sister Li might have scolded you. They must have talked before we came in, so she’s asking for a reason. We just need to check with Yu Ling later.”

Chu Ming thought that made sense.

After all, things had already come to this.

She looked longingly at the closed bedroom door. “I wonder what Sister Li is doing in there.”

Zhang Yue glanced at her. “Stop staring and get to work.”

Li Wan instructed them to gather all the marketing accounts currently spreading negative rumors about Yu Ling. At this critical juncture, everyone needed to focus and stay alert.

“Understood.”

---

If I remember correctly, in the original storyline, there was a similar incident where Lin Mianmian commissioned someone to create face-swapped photos and even found a person with a voice very similar to Yu Ling’s to record audio. But that only surfaced after Yu Ling was tricked into filming a scandalous video, which completely ruined her reputation.

“Yes, but why is it happening so early now?”

Yu Ling speculated silently. This must be the so-called butterfly effect.

She hadn’t followed the predetermined plot; she had successfully saved herself and even outsmarted Lin Mianmian, forcing her into desperation and driving her to take such measures.

Now, Yu Ling had already gathered crucial information from the live comments: face-swapping and voice dubbing.

The audio hadn’t been released yet, but it was very likely Lin Mianmian would release the recording after the public outcry simmered, utterly condemning her.

Therefore, if Yu Ling could find the original photo or its owner, and expose the person behind the voice dubbing, she could prove her innocence.

After a day of interaction with the live comments, Yu Ling had grown quite familiar with them—they would proactively tell her what to do.

Her mood had calmed considerably; she could say she had the upper hand.

“The original photo is of a petite model named Yu Yang, who has a red floral birthmark on her waist like Yu Ling. Lin Mianmian learned this from the system and had the model paint the same birthmark in the same spot, then took photos for the face swap.”

Yu Ling sneered. That system really knew her well—it even knew where her birthmark was.

Yu Yang. She repeated the name silently.

It sounded familiar.

On second thought, Yu Ling realized who she was.

Two years ago, while filming a historical drama, someone had recommended this girl as her body double, but she declined, feeling it unnecessary.

Their physiques were indeed very similar; from behind, without seeing the face, one could easily mistake one for the other.

Thinking this through, Yu Ling understood.

Perhaps this person had harbored resentment against her since then.

Yu Ling noted down the name and looked back at the live comments.

“The owner of the audio is an unsavory older man with a pockmarked face who often uses his voice to deceive people online. Lin Mianmian paid him a large sum to imitate Yu Ling’s voice and say some scandalous things. The man lives in Unit X, Building X, XX Community.”

The live comments provided a detailed address. Yu Ling hurriedly jotted it down on a piece of paper, grabbed her phone, and rushed out.

She now had all the information she needed and had to discuss with Sister Li how to proceed.