As expected, Jiaojiao topped the hot searches list again. She had already topped the top two spots on the search rankings after her appearance at the award ceremony.

One of the articles was about her being falsely accused of trying to help others, while the second article was naturally about her bagging two awards at the ceremony.

There was even video evidence that showed that Ren Jiayin had tripped and fallen on her own. Jiaojiao actually went and offered a helping hand, but her hand was smacked away by Ren Jiayin. After which, Ren Jiayin ran to her Weibo to play the victim.

Even onlooking netizens commented that Xu Jiaojiao got implicated unnecessarily and suffered for nothing.

However, Jiaojiao was not bothered by it at all. Currently, she was busy preparing a drawing in the studio for one of her lucky fans, as she could not think of anything else to give.

Knock knock! A knock came from the door.

Sheng Jiaoyang put down her pen and went to open the door. She was greeted by the sight of Aunt Zhang, the nanny. She raised her brows and asked, “Aunt Zhang, what's the matter?” Whenever she was working in the studio, Aunt Zhang would never interrupt her, unless there was important stuff.

“A person called Mr. Pan is looking for you, and Old Master Yang said that you should meet him and handle it.”

“Oh, I'll go down immediately.”

Sheng Jiaoyang wrapped up her work before she headed down toward the living room. When she got there, she saw Pan Zihui seated on the sofa.

Pan Zihui stood up immediately and called out to her intimately, “Jiaojiao.”

Grandfather Yang, who was seated on the long sofa, quickly glanced at Pan Zihui before going back to reading his newspapers.

Sheng Jiaoyang took a look at Pan Zihui before she sauntered to the sofa to take a seat. With one hand resting on the armrest, she asked coldly, “Why are you here?”

“Jiaojiao, I miss you. That's why I came to see you,” Pan Zihui said.

Sheng Jiaoyang smirked silently at Pan Zihui.

“W-what is it?” Pan Zihui suddenly got nervous.

“Don't you think what you've said earlier was too fake?” Sheng Jiaoyang tilted her head and sneered.

“I'm not lying to you. I've missed you dearly. I know that I haven't done my part all these years, although this was partly because I never knew about your existence. I've thought about it long and hard. No matter how much you hate me, I just want to make it up to you for all the lost years. Jiaojiao, please give me this chance.”

“Interesting. It's not like this is the first day you knew about my existence, but you only decided to act now? Do you need one entire year to think about the issue of acknowledging me?”

Pan Zihui coughed awkwardly and thought over his words before saying, “Even if I wanted to acknowledge you back then, I couldn't do so due to various reasons. But now…”

“Your wife deliberately leaked the DNA report to the internet to try and influence the public into thinking that I was your illegitimate child. Now, after I explained myself in a press conference, you suddenly want to acknowledge me. The real reason why you're here today is for you to maintain your own reputation!” Sheng Jiaoyang cut Pan Zihui off and accused him.

“You mustn't think of it that way. I'm here today because I really wanted to acknowledge my own flesh and blood. I want to give you the fatherly love that you had missed out on over all these years. I have no other motives. Today, I'm here to speak as a father who is indebted to his own daughter,” Pan Zihui replied seriously.

Sheng Jiaoyang's tone suddenly changed, “Do you know how long I've been waiting for this day?”

Pan Zihui was stumped, and he could not recover in time.

“Do you know what it felt like when my cla.s.smates laughed at me for not having a father? Do you know what it felt like to receive all those sympathetic looks at the parent-teacher meeting? Do you know how mother and I had endured all those years together? You said that you want to repay me, but how are you going to do it?”

Grandfather Yang took a quick glance at Sheng Jiaoyang. He obviously knew that his own granddaughter was acting, but he would definitely not expose her. Jiaojiao must have her own reasons for doing so.

Pan Zihui was touched by her words. He might have had other thoughts when he first came, but now, he was overwhelmed with guilt

“You dare to say that you wish to make it up to me when you didn't even know anything. Tell me, how are you planning to do that?” Sheng Jiaoyang spoke with a face full of disappointment.

Pan Zihui felt his heart shatter, and he hastily added, “Although I haven't thought of how to make it up to you, I'm already mentally prepared to do anything that is necessary.”

“Leave. I need to think about this.”

Pan Zihui opened his mouth and was about to say a few more words. But he stopped himself, as he was not a tactless person. Since it was obvious that Sheng Jiaoyang did not wish to listen to him any longer, he stood up, and said just one final sentence before leaving, “Jiaojiao, whatever I've said was the truth. I sincerely wish that I can hear a positive reply from you soon.”

After Pan Zihui had walked out of the front door, Sheng Jiaoyang's face, which was initially filled with sadness, suddenly changed.

“What are you playing at?” Grandfather Yang waited till Pan Zihui left before he asked.

Sheng Jiaoyang leaned against the sofa seat and replied lazily, “I just want to let that idle woman get a taste of her own medicine. She hired people to hack me, so I want her to experience the feeling of being alienated by her loved ones.”

“Shouldn't you have promised Pan Zihui instead of pus.h.i.+ng him away then? Aren't you afraid that he might not want to acknowledge you anymore after you rejected him so harshly?”

“Grandfather, your way of thinking is wrong. When something is hard to get, then you'll cherish it even more. I want Pan Zihui to pay more attention to this matter. If I had readily agreed, they might think that I have something else up my sleeves.”

Grandfather Yang looked at Sheng Jiaoyang in admiration. “You've really grown up, I can rest a.s.sured that no one would be able to bully you.”

“Who dares to bully me now?” Sheng Jiaoyang laughed and headed upstairs to continue working on her painting.

The fan meeting was held as planned.

Although Sheng Jiaoyang knew that there would be a lot of fans attending the event, she was still surprised at the sight before her.

The crowd looked quite dense, and when the fans saw Jiaojiao appear, they screamed loudly in unison, as though they were at a grand carnival.

Sheng Jiaoyang picked up the microphone and greeted her fans, “h.e.l.lo everyone, I'm Jiaojiao. I never expected that so many fans would turn up today. Are there any fans who travelled a long distance here just to see me? Can you raise your hands, please?”

Many hands were raised in an instant. Some people were even waving and shouting for Jiaojiao. It was clear that the fans were extremely excited.

At that moment, Sheng Jiaoyang felt extremely happy that so many of her fans loved and supported her unconditionally.

When Sheng Jiaoyang motioned for everyone to quieten down, the silence came almost immediately.

“I can't sing, so I'll be here to chat with everyone today. If there's anything you'd like to know, you may raise your hand and pose your questions.”

Sheng Jiaoyang found a stool and sat down. Then, as if she was simply having a conversation with her friends, she spoke in an amiable tone, “Everyone knows when my debut was. After my college entrance exam in June last year, I never expected that I would be able to accomplish so much in just one year. I never thought that I would receive everyone's love and support. Who here has liked me from back when I first joined the Supermodel Contest?”

The way she interacted with her fans livened up the atmosphere.

Her fans were quite cooperative. After she asked her question, a portion of them raised their hands.

“Wow, that's quite a large number of you. Those who have their hands raised up, don't put them down yet. I'll get the staff to give all of you a number.”

This number was for them to enter into a lucky draw, so that she could select a lucky fan to gift her present to. After all, they were long-time fans who had followed her all this time, and they must be treated exceptionally well.

The fans were whispering amongst themselves.

“Eh, why did Jiaojiao hand us numbers?”

“Is there a surprise for us?”

“Seems like there's going to be a lucky draw. Haha, I hope I will be chosen by Jiaojiao. Amitabha, please let me get chosen!”

“I should have raised my hand earlier. Jiaojiao must be bringing out something big.”

Whilst waiting for the staff to allocate the numbers, Sheng Jiaoyang continued, “I'd like to take this chance to specially thank all my fans who had gone through thick and thin with me from the start. There were so many ups and downs throughout this period, and it mustn't have been an easy journey for you guys who made it this far.”

“Jiaojiao, we believe that you're the best!” a person in the audience shouted out of the blue.

As if that was a signal, everyone started shouting together. Words like “Jiaojiao, I love you” and “Jiaojiao, we'll support you forever” were shouted out repeatedly.

Sheng Jiaoyang laughed and said, “All of you are so cute.”

Oh my goodness! The fans felt that they had it great, as they could hear their beloved celebrity called them cute in her warm and gentle voice.

“I used to think that I was always unlucky and had to deal with all sorts of troublesome and difficult matters, but now, I feel that I'm very lucky. In fact, I may be the luckiest person in the world, as I am lucky enough to receive all of your love. I saw the comments made by the netizens. Some of them said that my fans are the most rational and disciplined. People always say that celebrities are responsible for the actions of their fans. You guys have always helped me keep my dignity, and I'm very proud to have all of your support.”

After she ended her speech, Sheng Jiaoyang stood up and bowed towards the audience.

Some fans returned her bow, while others shouted and cheered. The scene was quite messy, but it was also moving.

Some emotional fans even started crying. They weren't upset or disappointed. On the contrary, they felt elated that their love was being reciprocated.

Sheng Jiaoyang motioned for everyone to quieten down before she continued, “Just now, the staff allocated a number to all of my original fans. To express my grat.i.tude, I'll be choosing three lucky winners and gifting each of them my handmade present.”

“Wow!!” The fans who had received a number had an expectant look on their faces, whereas the other fans were filled with envy.

“Can I have the fans holding onto the numbers 9, 39, and 17 come on stage to receive your presents? As for everyone else, don't worry, I've prepared more gifts so there are still chances for you to get something.”

Even though there was no singing, dancing or any other special performance in this fan meeting, there was never a quiet moment. The fans were still excited and curious to find out what gifts Jiaojiao had prepared for them.