The next afternoon
Li Ke, who had barely rested after staying up all night, woke up to so surprising news.
Lv Fangxin and Chen Yinghan were collaborating online.
What he didn’t know was that the seemingly cheerful interaction between the two was re pretense.
Lv Fangxin forced herself to smile, speaking like she always does.
She was no longer the child who couldn’t hide what was on her mind.
On the table in front of her lay the script she was supposed to follow today.
Chen Yinghan also wore a sunny expression, but her heart was drowning in bitterness.
She knew that after this, the two of them would hurt each other in unimaginable ways.
"Fangxin, stop calling ’Erxun.’ I really hate that nickna."
"But I like calling you that. I’ve always done it, and now you say you hate it?"
"The past is the past. It’s over. From now on, you need to call by my na."
"Fine! Yinghan, if you don’t like it, then I’ll call you by your na."
Fans on both sides were stunned in front of their screens. What was going on? Were they arguing?
The diehard fans of both sides imdiately went wild.
"You didn’t mind being called ’Erxun’ when we were voting for you. Now you complain?"
"So this is burning bridges after crossing the river, huh? Should’ve cut ties earlier. All you do is leech off of us."
"Your true face is showing. Do you think you’re better than us poor people?"
"This is terrifying—publicly dissing your so-called best friend like this. CP fans are crying their eyes out in the bathroom."
Chen Yinghan’s fans weren’t backing down either.
"Really showing your ’low-class fish’ nature. Totally uncultured."
"So what if we’re born rich? At least we don’t pretend we’re huge stars."
"Even if we’re friends, calling her that isn’t appropriate. Would you like it if we called you ’low-class fish’?"
"We don’t need votes from people like you. Our idol can debut effortlessly in minutes."
Li Ke was both upset and baffled watching this unfold.
Because he had caught traces of Lv Fangxin’s secret rendezvous activities.
He was certain that she had been eting Chen Yinghan periodically.
He had even planned a big surprise for the "Village Sprouts" fans but was shocked to see it all fall apart.
Maybe they were just venting their emotions at each other.
The Villa
Lv Fangxin, whose tears had already run dry, stood alone by the window, looking desolate and forlorn.
Outside, everything was wilting; yellow leaves fluttered in the wind.
For a brief mont, she felt like she had grown up, no longer the dream-stricken little girl.
"Fangxin, are you okay?"
"I’m fine. Did Mr. Zhou send you?"
"Yes, she asked to check on you."
"Don’t worry! I’m not going to jump out of the window."
Ye Yuwei chuckled when she heard the resentnt in Lv Fangxin’s tone.
"Let’s have so ’Anhui cuisine’ tonight. I’ve reserved a table."
"Are you trying food therapy on ?"
"To address your sorrow, we first need to address your stomach."
"You’re so annoying, making seem like a total glutton."
Lv Fangxin pouted her soft red lips and gave her a look full of sadness, as though silently accusing her of being heartless.
Ye Yuwei couldn’t help but take Lv Fangxin’s hand: "Mr. Zhou said she tailored a major variety show specifically for you."
"This was all planned out beforehand, wasn’t it? Am I going to have to fake a relationship with a guy, too?"
"Fangxin, it’s natural to feel heartbroken, but you need to let go of the resentnt. This is our fate; it’s not up to us."
"Sister Yezi, I’m determined to beco a superstar. I want everyone to bow to ."
"Haha! Sure!"
Lv Fangxin felt a little better in her heart; in truth, much of her resentnt had already faded since yesterday.
"Sister Yezi, can you stay with a bit longer? Zijing isn’t around either."
"...Alright! Let’s watch the leaves falling outside together!"
"Sister Yezi, what’s the deal between you and Li Jiaqi? I’ve read so many gossip articles about you two."
"If you know they’re gossip, then why bother reading them? Jiaqi and I are the kind of friends who’d give our last cup of instant noodles to each other."
The light dimd in Ye Yuwei’s eyes; in truth, Jiaqi and Fangxin had a lot in common.
"Then why did you still, still choose to beco friends with Sister Zijing?"
"Human relationships are complex. You can’t asure loyalty solely through arbitrary standards."
"...Sister Yezi, then why can’t we make it work?"
"Because I don’t want our group to fall apart. Only when the group is successful can we succeed."
Yezi extended her hand and gently brushed back the stray strands of Lv Fangxin’s hair.
The two of them continued chatting and confiding in each other.
anwhile, the internet was blowing up, with fans fighting viciously for their respective "idols."
As planned, Chen Yinghan’s hired trolls were the first to invade Lv Fangxin’s social dia space.
For the "Village Sprouts," this was an unbearable humiliation.
They couldn’t understand how soone with far fewer fans could manage to dominate their idol’s space.
The controversy quickly shot to the trending list.
The desperate Village Sprouts began organizing themselves for intense retaliation.
The feud escalated completely, with marketing accounts fanning the flas.
One side’s solo fans accused the other side of being a talentless leech and ugly, while the other side said their rival idol lacked skills and drew universal hate.
The Village Sprouts collectively battled Chen Yinghan’s fans with a mixture of frustration and fury.
They couldn’t accept their idol being called a useless leech, especially after the supposed "working-class girl ets rich CEO" narrative had seemingly co true in her story.
Li Ke, as one of the major supporters, was facing unprecedented pressure.
At this stage, it wasn’t about whether he wanted to fight anymore.
He had to fight, and he couldn’t utter a single neutral word; otherwise, he would lose his influence over the group.
Film Set
"All departnts, get ready. Action!"
With the director’s command, the cara operators started tracking Li Jiaqi.
anwhile, two additional fixed caras were capturing the scene.
In the fra, Li Jiaqi’s performance was exceptionally smooth and natural.
She portrayed the confusion and fear of a small-town girl trying to survive in a big city with precision.
Director Lu watched through the monitors, surprised that the "talentless investnt pick" could deliver such acting.
Or perhaps "talent" would be a more accurate word.
She managed to convey the multifaceted emotions he had requested flawlessly.
"Good! Jiaqi, that was excellent—passed!"
Lu Hai was highly satisfied with her performance; the initial thoughts of brushing things off were replaced with newfound respect.
Li Jiaqi was both shocked and delighted. She had expected to ss things up and was prepared for harsh criticism, but she pulled it off. Was the director just going easy on her because she was put forth by the investors?
"Director, if there’s anything I didn’t act well, please let know. I can take it."
"Haha! You perford very well. Go find a coach to help with your lines—you can start using your original voice soon."
"Thank you, Director. I’m already working on it."
Li Jiaqi finally relaxed; it seed the director truly recognized her abilities.
This was a promising start.
She had spent the past few days in the crew either accompanying Zhang Yuzhe or quietly studying the script, making extensive notes.
Her role wasn’t actually very significant. Though Zhang Yuzhe was the main investor, he didn’t have the authority to control a director of this caliber.
Many people believed that investors could dictate the director’s choice of cast.
With unknown directors, that might be the case.
But reputable directors had their prestige to safeguard. They wouldn’t tarnish their reputation by bending to investors when it ca to casting. They held substantial authority in these decisions.
Still, they generally didn’t disregard the preferences of investors. If the investor had soone in mind, they usually assigned them a role.
"Jiaqi, let’s go have dinner together. Tonight, it’s on ."
"Sure!"
Li Jiaqi understood this invitation probably signaled the director’s acknowledgnt of her skills; otherwise, he wouldn’t bring her into his inner circle.
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