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In the beginning, Zhu Ai's side job wasn't known to Chen Mei. Chen Mei had posted her request online, but no one wanted to take it due to the low payment. It just so happened that Zhu Ai hadn't received any commissions this year, so she reluctantly accepted and entertained Chen Mei, despite being paid barely a quarter of her usual rate.
Later, after realizing how much traffic Liu Leah's gossip attracted, Zhu Ai decided to sell the information Chen Mei had given her to other news outlets in order to cover the income gap.
It was purely by accident that Chen Mei discovered Zhu Ai's online identity. Though they both worked at the same company, Zhu Ai had underestimated Chen Mei's combination of nosiness and luck.