Guo Meimei

Thirty minutes late, Guo Meimei arrives for the interview in her red Mini Cooper, a gift, she says, for her 18th birthday. The 20-year-old who flaunted her wealth online and wrecked havoc on one of China's largest charity organizations is neither apologetic nor afraid to speak her mind.

Guo settles into her seat in the café where her assistants have set her up with a series of interviews over the weekend. 

It appears her attention-seeking strategy has worked as she tries to prove the theory that there is no such thing as bad publicity. 

"I don't want people looking at me through tinted glasses," said Guo. "I have a long life ahead of me."

"I don't want my name to be associated with the Red Cross for the rest of my life," she said, stirring her cup of skimmed milk with a straw.

Three months ago, Guo shot to fame (some might say infamy), by claiming on her microblog that she was the general manager of Red Cross Commerce, which she suggested was a body associated with the Red Cross Society of China, but which actually doesn't exist.  

The lap of luxury

She boasted about her lavish lifestyle and posted pictures of herself leaning against one of the world's most expensive sports cars, and carrying various Hermes and Louis Vuitton handbags. She wrote about riding ponies and jet setting around the country in business class. 

China's aggressive and ever vigilant netizens grabbed the story and accused her of squandering charity donations that were supposed to help the needy.

Guo, who didn't finish high school and never attended college, sounds believable when she says she didn't understand the repercussions her microblog would have. 

"I truly had no idea what the Red Cross was before this incident," said Guo. "I thought it was just those blood donation sites you see on the streets."

Guo said she and her friends usually talk about clothes, makeup or celebrity gossips. "Red Cross or other social or political issues are just not part of our conversations," she said.

It took Guo about half a month to realize how serious the incident was. "At first I didn't understand why people were reacting like that and criticizing me," she said. 

Outrage online

Guo became the trigger for netizens to express their long-existing discontent with the lack of transparency at the Red Cross. The charity organization was forced to issue statements denying any connection with Guo or the existence of a "Red Cross Commerce."

Guo has changed her story regarding her connection with the Red Cross a number of times. Immediately after questions were raised, she wrote on her microblog that Red Cross Commerce was independent of the Red Cross but had somehow cooperated with it. 

Then she told Tudou, a popular video sharing site, over the phone that it was her cousin who changed her microblog details. A few days later she apologized, saying that she had made up the title and had no relation with the charity organization. 

"It was a stupid mistake," said Guo, checking her mascara on the back of her white iPhone. 

She now explains it like this: She had overheard her godfather Wang Jun and his business associates over dinner talking about setting up a company. "I heard 'red cross' mentioned but didn't really know what was going on," she said. Her godfather jokingly suggested she could be a manager there.

"Many of my friends claim to be CEOs and managers on weibo, which looks good, so I decided to change the title," said Guo. 

"I was just bored," she said. 

Web users were relentless in their search for Guo's connections with the "fat cats." Some claimed that Wang Jun, a former shareholder of a company that does business with the Red Cross China Business System, was in fact Guo's sugar daddy, not her godfather. There were even rumors that Wang was Guo's real father. 

"Those are ridiculous allegations," said Guo, rolling her eyes. "We never rely on men or use their money. Men use my mom's money."

Maserati 'a gift'

Guo has also done extremely well with Wang's money. She said he became her "godfather" when she was 17, and earlier this year he bought her a white Maserati worth more than 2.4 million yuan ($375,000). 

As it happens a vice president of Red Cross is surnamed Guo, and another vice president is also named Wang Jun. Both men say they've never met Guo Meimei. 

An embarrassed Red Cross cooperated with a police investigation and Guo and her mother were questioned for 20 hours over two days.  

Mother struck it rich

Guo said her mother has always provided a comfortable living. Her mother, Guo Dengfeng, who never married, struck it rich in the stock market in Shenzhen in the early 1990s. 

They have sold their two apartments in Shenzhen and one in Hunan, and now live in a 5,000 yuan per month rented apartment in Beijing. 

"Take away the cars and designer bags, we are just an ordinary well-off family." 

"I think it's just our attitude towards money is, you can't take it with you, so why not spend it anyway you want," said Guo, who was carrying a LV bag and wearing a Cartier watch. 

Attention seeker

Guo has been derided as a publicity hound and criticized for trying to take advantage of the controversy to promote her acting career. 

In mid-August Guo released a music video on her weibo and announced an endorsement deal with an online gaming company. 

Rumor has it she's been blacklisted from show biz, and no online gaming company has admitted to hiring her. Marie Claire, a fashion magazine, was heavily criticized for running an interview with Guo.

She also said that she and her family have been harassed with threatening text messages and suspicious strangers have knocked on their door. 

"I don't let the negative comments get to me," said Guo. "I'm pretty resilient under pressure."

"It's ridiculous that she would want to become famous and go into show biz," commented sociologist Zhou Xiaozheng from Renmin University. 

 "None of this has been a publicity stunt," Guo insists. "I think I have a good heart. Everyone in my family is Buddhist." 

She said she feels partially responsible for the loss of donation to the Red Cross after the scandal and vowed to make it right. "I will donate all the money I earned from the video game endorsement to people in need," said Guo.

Her manager refused to disclose how much she has made. 

"I don't have to be in show biz, I can do anything," said Guo. "I can study abroad, I can do business.  I've always wanted to be an independent, 'alpha' woman, like my mother," she said.