Chapter 4
Lei Yin talked about it all night. After the two had eaten, Meng Zhen began to practice some basic skills again.
She was practicing the Huadan step today. With both hands on her waist, loosely squeezing the ‘Phoenix Fist’, her arms swayed gently and lightly under her feet, like a rose swaying in the wind.
Lei Yin didn’t know how Meng Zhen comprehended the emotions of a young woman missing her husband in the ancient times. Her eyebrows were lightly knitted and her apricot eyes, filled with a heaviness that drew sympathy, sometimes looked down, and sometimes looked up. Even without a single line, one could feel her yearning through her brows and smile.
Lei Yin’s eyes searched around, and she quickly picked up the phone to record Meng Zhen’s movements. Although she was missing a finger, her pinky finger did not affect the flexibility of her palm. Coupled with the young girl’s good aesthetics, she captured 90% of the aura Meng Zhen gave off, which was no less than that of the experienced opera singers on TV.
When Meng Zhen first joined the talent show, Lei Yin had also joined her fan group. Recently, she saw members of that group leaving and was hit hard by it.
Now that the small video was recorded, Lei Yin opened the chat app and found that the fan group had hundreds of new messages.
There was a tight squeeze in her heart, for fear that some news unfavorable to Sister Zhenzhen broke out on the Internet. After hurriedly entering, Lei Yin’s face was even darker than the bottom of the pot.
The reason for those messages was that Ji Xiaoling, the female lead of “You Feng Lai Yi”, reposted an article about artistic virtue and liked the Weibo post where netizens mocked Meng Zhen’s lack of acting skills.
Although the response given by Ji Xiaoling’s studio was that it happened due to a slip of hand, people in the entertainment industry were not fools, and neither were the fans. How could one not understand Ji Xiaoling’s implication; it was nothing more than wanting to step on Meng Zhen’s foot.
Fuck!
Was Ji Xiaoling sick?
Sister Zhen Zhen probably didn’t hit her at all and yet, she’s actually acting on Weibo, was she a drama queen?
Lei Yin was so angry that she didn’t dare to tell Meng Zhen. For fear of her sadness, she could only grit her teeth and endure the raging anger in her heart before sending out some cute emoticons in the fan club group to comfort the few remaining fans.
Even so, there were still a few “Hazels” making an uproar about the news, who kept saying that they still had the basic three life views and would not be fans of a star with moral flaws anymore.
—✵
The cast of “You Feng Lai Yi”.
Ji Xiaoling was sitting in the dressing room getting ready for a costume photo. The dedicated makeup artist put her makeup on and said in a flattering tone, “Sister Xiaoling, your skin condition is really good. It’s much better than the one called Meng Zhen, a little talent show debutant. She even dares to play big with you. Doesn’t she even look at herself in the mirror to see if she’s worthy or not? The temple is really small, the demon wind is big, the pool is shallow, and there are many kings.”1Anna: This is derogatory! The temple is small and the demon wind is big, which means the entertainment circle is small but has a lot of people so it’s easy to overturn the skies. The pool is shallow and there are many kings, which means the circle’s threshold is low so it attracts all kinds of people, and because of that various small circles form within the big circle, each with their own “king” that keeps butting heads with each other. This is all an elaborate way to say Meng Zhen is so low birth for being an orphan, how dare she try to step into the entertainment circle and act as if she is of higher birth.
Ji Xiaoling had a delicate and sweet look, with thin and light eyebrows, and a soft, smooth face. Her appearance looked soft and weak, but her personality was completely opposite. Not only was she competitive, but she also couldn’t bear to see others live a better life than her.
Originally, Ji Xiaoling couldn’t understand Meng Zhen, an idol born from the talent show, but her bones were full of poor energy, and only that face could still be looked at. She was parachuted into the cast just because she had a few fans. But to think that her role was almost more important than the female lead, were those fans blind???
Fortunately, Meng Zhen’s reputation is gone now. When the drama “You Feng Lai Yi” goes on air, the audience might not even remember this person.
Thinking of this possibility, Ji Xiaoling pursed her lips and smiled.
She flipped through the comments on her Weibo and found that most of the fans were complimenting her for her beauty and dedication. A few were insulting Meng Zhen with the most vicious words, but Ji Xiaoling only raised her eyebrows and did not restrain her fans in the slightest.
“Don’t compare me with someone who is uneducated like her.” The woman’s tone was full of superiority.
Hearing this, the makeup artist nodded her head in a hurry.
Ji Xiaoling was rumored to be the subject of bullying by Meng Zhen’s crew, and her status as a victim helped her attract a lot of pity from passersby, allowing her fans to grow from three million to eight million. The web drama “You Feng Lai Yi” also gained some hype before it was even broadcasted, and the director, along with the investor, was overjoyed.
“Meng Zhen seems to be a hot topic these past few days, what happened to her?”
The makeup on Ji Xiaoling’s face got thicker and thicker. She played the role of a famous actress from the former dynasty. In order to show the great demeanor of traditional opera, the crew specially hired a Peking Opera teacher for her to learn opera while filming.
Unfortunately, Ji Xiaoling had been alive for more than 20 years, but she had never been exposed to Chinese opera and felt that it was too old-fashioned. With resistance in her heart, she naturally slacked off when studying. Even after months of tossing and turning, there was nothing gained, and the crew’s funds were almost depleted.
In desperation, the director could only find a stand-in for Ji Xiaoling. When she put on heavy makeup and sang, the girl from the Chinese Traditional Opera Academy appeared in her stead, and when he needed to show her face, he would change to Ji Xiaoling. She would lip-sync, and they would find a professional opera actor to dub in the later stage.
After all, “You Feng Lai Yi” was only a web series, it was not as demanding as a star-studded drama, and the audience would not be fussy.
The makeup artist took the blender to press it on Ji Xiaoling’s brow and said while snorting, “Just now, I came across a post and took a glance. It seems that Meng Zhen hit someone in a supermarket. Sister Xiaoling, do you think she got too much of a shock and became mentally ill, otherwise how could she do such a thing?”
“Who knows what’s going on with her. Since her brain is not good, there is no need for her to mix in the circle in the future. Fortunately, Yunlai Entertainment terminated the contract with her. Otherwise, the company’s reputation would be tarnished if she was exposed as such.”
Ji Xiaoling’s lips were painted with lipstick so it’s not convenient for her to drink water. The assistant hurriedly put the straw into her mouth, afraid that their slow action would provoke Ji Xiaoling.
After makeup, she put on an exquisite costume, and surrounded by her assistants and staff, she was rushed to the studio to take the final photos. She had never studied opera and almost never listened to one so even while taking pictures in her costume, she showed no classical charm. On the contrary, it was a bit unconventional.
The good thing was that her face was still pretty and hence, generally passable.
After the photographer took a few sets of photos of Ji Xiaoling at different angles, Ji Xiaoling yelled that she had a headache and called it a day early.2Anna: I don’t get where she gets this attitude from, this is a web drama with no A-list actors! So wtf???? She is a C-list actor at most!
Quickly, she got into her van to return to the hotel. When she saw that her assistant’s face was a bit ugly, she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s going on? Who are you showing that stinky face to?”
The assistant gritted her teeth secretly and without saying a word, directly handed the phone to Ji Xiaoling. A netizen with an ID called Favorite Bunny posted a Weibo to clarify for Meng Zhen.
【A few days ago in the supermarket checkout line, a pervert peeked under my skirt. Fortunately, he was stopped by a young lady, and after I reported to the police, I did not have a chance to thank the young lady. I did not expect her to be a star, thank you, young lady; you are really beautiful and kind-hearted. (with pictures)】
The blogger’s photo was the mosaic version of a record. At first, there were people who questioned Favorite Bunny being a water army hired by Meng Zhen to whitewash herself.
Similar comments related to this speculation were all pushed to the top, making many netizens believe it. After all, there were endless means of marketing in the entertainment industry, and there were not a few actresses who would do anything to gain attention. Now that Meng Zhen was in the slums, she would naturally find ways to change the situation.
Fortunately, the Bejing Daily timely issued a press release about the act of secretly taking pictures of women under their skirts in public places. It also recognized Favourite Bunny’s post, which curbed the attack of anti-fans.
Although there were many irrational people on the Internet, sensible citizens still accounted for the majority. Based on the fact that Meng Zhen was hacked before, how could she have the ability to ask the official media to whitewash her?
The situation at hand showed that Meng Zhen was not mentally deranged and did not wantonly attack ordinary people, but in fact, she was a good citizen who recognized righteousness and fought against peeping toms.
Passers-by now had a much better impression of Meng Zhen, and her fan base that was originally shrouded in clouds seemed to have been injected with a booster.
【I said Zhen Zhen would not do anything big. That Ji Xiaoling even sent a Weibo to slander her. Her hands are so slippery. How much hand cream did she put on?】
【Comrades, I suspect that Ji Xiaoling lied. In the group of gifs that came out before, the younger sister was wearing a phoenix crown and a harp, obviously dressed up like when she was married. In the past two days, I read the novel “You Feng Lai Yi” again and found that in the original book, the female supporting actress did slap the female lead on the day she got married. It was clear that she was performing according to the script. How could it be regarded as bullying the crew?】
The novel “You Feng Lai Yi” was published more than ten years ago. It was not a popular one at that time. The few fans that actually read the novel could not remember the whole plot. Therefore, after the set of gifs exploded on the Internet, netizens went with the flow of the current created by the ‘navy’ of fake accounts for promotions and said Meng Zhen was bullying Ji Xiaoling.
The group members took a picture of the episode which had the slapping scene and sent it to the group. After seeing the contents of the picture, the group was quiet for a good half a day, and then finally exploded.
【Isn’t it? My younger sister is miserable!】
【Ji Xiaoling is too vicious. My younger sister has just made her debut, and she is only 18 years old. What good does she get from letting fans abuse a little girl on the Internet?】
【You don’t understand this, my younger sister is more beautiful and more popular than her. Ji Xiaoling must have been afraid that the female lead’s limelight will be suppressed by the female supporting character after the web series is broadcast.】
【Sisters, I’ll post the photo to get another hot topic again. Remember to repost and like it for me!】
It’s also strange to say that Meng Zhen was clearly a beauty, but most of the fans she attracted were women, from young girls who had just gone to school to successful female entrepreneurs, all ages and occupations were covered. At this moment, they were determined to help their idol clarify, and it didn’t take long for them to cause a lot of enthusiasm.
The “slap incident” had been hung up on Weibo hot searches for a long time before backing down, and this time, Meng Zhen’s fans brought it back again. Many celebrity followers and people who watched from the side had all seen that Weibo. The original paper version of the novel recalled the deepest memory in their minds. Some people even re-purchased the book “You Feng Lai Yi” to read the related content.
After reading it, all netizens were stunned.
Meng Zhen wasn’t the perpetrator, but the victim?!
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Additional notes:
Here is a simple present for Christmas and New Year, an early update. Hope you all have a great winter holiday and got a lot of gifts xD
Happy Holiday!
From LD’s team <333