Zoe understood that as an adult, expecting unwavering loyalty from Lan or anyone else was unrealistic. Lan had her priorities and plans, just as Zoe did.
Regardless, Lan had always been diligent and fair in handling Zoe's affairs, even if she couldn't fully take her side. Zoe couldn't blame her for that.
If there's no one to rely on, I'll rely on myself.
It was at this moment that a message from Song arrived.
Song sent a laughing GIF followed by: "Looks like we're fated to cross paths—another trending topic!"
Zoe hadn't realized she was trending again. Prompted by Song, she quickly logged into Weibo.
As soon as she logged in, a flood of unread messages bombarded her notifications.
Sure enough, the trolls were back, hurling insults and vile comments that cast a shadow over her mood.
Ironically, Song's fans had given her a sarcastic nickname: The Princess of Chengqian. They mocked her for supposedly leaning on the company's influence to snag opportunities like sharing the screen with Song.
Expressionless, Zoe skimmed through some of the comments, then returned to her chat with Song.
"I'm enlightened now. I didn't even get a role in Spring Chill."
Song replied: "Your company's project, and you're not in it? I thought you were."
"I wish I were, but the company didn't assign me a role."
"For such a big production, and they didn't give you anything? Everyone's scrambling for this project—they're saying it'll be next year's biggest hit."
Zoe responded with a bitter smile emoji.
"I thought this rumor was your company's strategy to hype you up," Song said.
"I heard it came from someone in my company, but it's strange. The person spreading the rumor has nothing to do with Spring Chill. I have no idea why he'd say something like that."
To Zoe's surprise, Song called her directly.
Caught off guard, she answered, "Hello?"
"Who's the one spreading the rumors?" Song's voice sounded lazy, as if he were resting.
"Someone named Liu Zitong. He works under Yin Zishi. Do you know Yin Zishi?"
"Yeah, I know him," Song replied. After a pause, he added, "I think I get what's going on."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"The person in charge of Spring Chill is your company's deputy general manager, Cheng Wei. A project this massive, and Yin Zishi isn't involved? That's already telling. I've heard Yin Zishi and Cheng Wei are constantly at odds—they've been feuding for years. This sounds like Yin stirring the pot. Saying a few words here and there to cause trouble for Spring Chill would be just his style."
Song chuckled softly before continuing, "Planting rumors that the two of us are in the cast makes my fans develop negative feelings about the project. When the production clarifies that neither of us is involved, my fans will naturally believe their opposition had an impact. Either way, it's bad PR for Spring Chill."
Zoe listened to his analysis, nodding internally. It made sense.
"I didn't know about all this behind-the-scenes stuff," she admitted.
"You're still new to the industry. It's normal not to know," Song replied lightly.
He didn't elaborate further, but his position in the entertainment world meant he would naturally be privy to such feuds. After all, everyone knew that if Song agreed to a project, it was a guaranteed hit. With strategic pre-production advertising, a project could break even before filming began. It wasn't hard to imagine both Yin Zishi and Cheng Wei vying for Song to star in their projects.
4o