It had only been ten minutes for a new tag #Jiang YueXian Xu WanZhi# to get onto the top trending list.
That's the way of the entertainment circle. Things came fast and ended fast. The Weibo user that started the trend #Xu WanZhi blatantly scamming a few entertainers# immediately deleted her original post and replaced it with the clarifying message from Jiang YueXian. And, she stated her stand along with the new post: [Fighting Internet Violence Starts with You and Me].
The poster stooped arguably lower than Xu WanZhi did when she was forced to leech off Jiang YueXian's popularity by posing as a couple with him. Audiences on the internet were no dummies. They immediately took screen captures and paste them together. One even made an advertisement out of it.
"A second ago, it was fighting blatant scamming; a second later, fighting internet violence. You're a true professional flip-flopper."
While the internet bystanders were mocking this flip-flopping actress, Jiang YueXian's fans instinctively rejected him standing up to speak for Xu WanZhi. His fans quickly came up with all sorts of speculations as to how that could have happened. Some of them said that Xu WanZhi's team had hacked into Jiang YueXian's Weibo; other said that Xu WanZhi's team had infiltrated Jiang YueXian's team, which would also explain how she was able to know his agenda so well in the past; others gone as far as speculating that Xu WanZhi had casted a spell on Jiang YueXian, as that'd be the only reason he'd speak up for her.
In the end, all of them were able to agree on one thing – this was the handiwork of Xu WanZhi's marketing team. They must have paid Jiang YueXian's team an exorbitant amount to save her reputation. That's why JiangJiang had updated his Weibo against his own will.
As for Xu WanZhi's end, even though "Blossoming Us" hadn't started filming for very long, the frequent posting of behind-the-scenes news on both her personal and official Weibo had gained her quite a bit of followers. And now, they were standing up to speak up for her:
[The fans of the film emperor are all film emperors. A spell? I say it looked more like a spell was casted on all of you conspiracy theorists.]
[Our WanZhi-jiejie is the real deal. She didn't need to scam the film emperor to boost her popularity and her continuous improvement speaks for itself.]
[Are all of Jiang YueXian's fans delusional? Is it time to go seek professional help?]
[Ugh, your marketing team is so classy. How'd they possibly accept money from another party? Are you kidding me?]
[One true fan can resist ten black fans. Now off you go.]
Over time, even some of the bystanders started siding with Xu WanZhi and started criticizing Jiang YueXian's fans. Jiang YueXian's fans, facing resistance from multiple directions, were isolated. They finally resorted to foul languages and personal attacks.
After the issue had marinated a bit, Jiang YueXian couldn't remain silent anymore and posted another message: [I posted that Weibo message personally and am asking my fans to please stop with the speculations that resulted in all kinds of conflicts.]
Along with the pos, theret were three selfies, all taken using his cellphone Weibo app. They more than sufficiently supported that fact that he was, indeed, aware and agreed with what was going on.
Afterward, he further proactively hired a team to control his fans and successfully suppressed all the fans that were overly aggressive and spieling foul languages.
His quick and concise response earned him another round of new fans. Even some of Xu WanZhi's fans spoke up to praise him; that's how an idol should behave.
By the evening, the waves online finally started to calm. Xu WanZhi's negative publicity of "blatantly scamming the film emperor" was successfully quelled.
Chang XiaoYa's head had turned into the size of a pig head from all the faceslapping. Xu WanZhi could clearly sense that in the span of a single day's from "Speak up and fight scamming" in the morning to "Like stirring up sh*t and scheming" in the evening, the way the crew members looked at Chang XiaoYa had flipped altogether.
At the end of the day, even Zhang Xuan, Chang XiaoYa's agent, who didn't show up very often, was there.
The director, fanning himself with a hand fan as he was on his way out, ran into Zhang Xuan right away. He immediately walked up to her, snickered, and said, "Miss Zhang, do you think you should try to rein in your actress some? We are still filming right now and she was backstabbing someone on the same crew like mad. This is very bad for teamwork. How am I supposed to keep filming?"
Zhang Xuan was one of the best agents in the field but even she was speechless in front of the director's harsh words. She had no choice but to bow and apologize to him.
The director, his face cold, crossed his arms in front of himself and carried on, "As you know, we are only filming part 1 of 'Blossoming Us' right now. If XiaoYa is not going to learn her lesson going forward, I just might have to consider talking to the screenwriter and change things up a bit. Her role, after all, is not that vital."
As he was still talking, it so happened that Xu WanZhi and Chang XiaoYa walked out one after another.
Chang XiaoYa was half listless when she saw Zhang Xuan. She walked over to greet her with her head lowered. Zhang Xuan paid her no attention. She quickly walked up to Xu WanZhi and said to her politely, "I apologize, Miss Xu, for all the troubles that we have caused you today. Our company didn't do the best job on following up. Please forgive us."
Having said that, she turned toward Chang XiaoYa and said to her sternly, "Come over here and apologize to Miss Xu now."
Chang XiaoYa stared at her from afar. She only wishes that she could do her harm from just her stare alone.
Xu WanZhi nonchalantly glanced over at her and said to Zhang Xuan, "It's alright, we are actresses in the same crew. There is no need to make things awkward between us. XiaoYa probably didn't do it on purpose. She probably just happened to run into me discussing some issues with Jiang YueXian and took the picture just for fun. We are still young. I trust that she would be more experienced in handling situations like this in the future."
Having said that, she nodded slightly, walked past Zhang Xuan, and gracefully entered her own nanny van.
She had excellent hearing and could hear Zhang Xuan asking Chang XiaoYa in an angry, low voice, "You took the picture? Do you just want to create more work for me?"
Xu WanZhi smiled slightly and closed the door to her van.
***
When she arrived home, Mu ZhenYu just stepped out of the shower. He was topless with a loosely-fit pair of shorts. There were still water droplets on his body, showing that he had come out of the shower.
Xu WanZhi was smiling when she walked inside the house. She was startled when she saw the beautiful lines of his abdominal muscles. She looked away and turned to walk toward her bedroom.
He called out to her from behind. "Xu WanZhi."
Resigned, she stopped in her steps.
"I've heard that you have redeemed yourself at the filming location. Aren't you going to share?" He walked over to her at a moderate pace. Putting his hands on her shoulder, he turned her around so she faced him.
The moisture from the shower, mixed in with his scent that could make one's heart beat faster, enveloped her in a very domineering manner.
She could see his sturdy chest and his very-defined clavicle. Every inch of his tightened muscle exuded the beauty of strength. Two scars on his waist extended under his shorts. They were violent and seducing at the same time.
She tightened her lips a bit. Her red lips were luminating. She said, "I didn't think Mr. Mu would be interested in such minute events inside the entertainment circle."
"You are right about that." He squinted his eyes slightly. Remaining quiet for a little bit, he carried on and said, "But I am interested in you. What can I do, Xu WanZhi?"
Her eyes widened a bit, and there was a shred of cute franticness inside of them.
That kind of cuteness forced its way into his heart, making it beat faster. A sense of dry heat rose up inside of him, his heart throbbed. He knew that no matter how calm and serene she was when faced with all sorts of backstabbing and drama within the entertainment circle, she always exposed her soft and shy side in front of him.
He looked at her in a teasing way while waiting for her answer.
Suddenly, her phone started ringing at the worst of time.
She wasn't sure whether she should pick it up or not. She thought about stalling until the other person hung up; unfortunately, as soon as it stopped ringing, it started up again.
She had no choice but to open up her purse and pull out her phone.
She could see the caller ID on the screen: Jiang YueXian.
A dangerous sense crossed his eyes, and Mu ZhenYu spoke again. "I see that you two have already exchanged your numbers. Aren't you going to pick it up?"
Feeling awkward, Xu WanZhi shook her head. "He didn't give it to me. Sun-jie was the one who gave it to me. I never dialed this number before… I can't believe it's the right number."
Having no other choice, she answered the call.
Jiang YueXian's cheerful voice came over from the other end immediately. "WanZhi, I have resolved all the PR issues for you today. Feel free to let me know if you need anything else."
It all started because of him. Wasn't it his job to take care of those PR issues to begin with?
Xu WanZhi was baffled, but she replied politely, "Thank you."
Jiang YueXian, on the other end, did not give up. He stressed again strongly, "I did all those things personally despite the great pressure from my agent. I've only done all those for you."
Xu WanZhi could sense clearly the unmistakable killer's intent radiating from Mu XiYuan.