Chapter 10.2 - Fine, let’s have a face-to-face showdown. (2)
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The most popular costumed-drama discussed over the internet lately was Qing Ying Ji, precisely the one that Wu Lichen was acting in. And the supporting role that he was acting in, because of the role’s high possessiveness, has caused great controversy.
Most of the netizens were saying that this type of persona was bursting with Su[1].
【Ahhhh, how could you be so handsome? How could the female lead bear to kill such a man, even if just for his face, she should let him live!】
【Why is the male lead always carrying himself like he’s the only truth while thinking everyone opposite him must have problems with their three views[3]!】
【It’s because the supporting male lead indeed has dubious three views, but that’s precisely why he’s so d★mn attractive! Ahhh, I want to f★ck!!!】
【F★ck, is that person above serious?? Count me in!】
Yet some people were also complaining that they couldn’t see anything good about it, that the role was precisely just a lunatic. One who would become unscrupulous once they aren’t able to get something, if such a person wasn’t sick in the head, what are they?
【Haha, if she’s not getting together with someone who has an upright three views, should she follow along with the support male lead to destroy the world?】
【Don't know how a nutjob could have any Su.】
But no matter what the evaluations were, Wu Lichen's popularity skyrocketed, and there was a significant increase in comments on his Weibo. And the time when he used to embarrassingly act and sell cute was now taken as gap-moe[2].
As a result, at this time, someone suddenly exposed Wu Lichen's black material on the internet.
Hu Yinli had been feeling choked up with anger since that day and so certainly had wanted to vent it out. He couldn’t make it a physical fight, but there were other options which were his strong suit.
Wu Lichen's reality-variety show was under pressure, so matter what was said, they wouldn’t allow him to continue filming. And even online, a lot of water army had been hired to take turns to vilify him. Black material came out in succession, the only thing that was missing was probably that Wu Lichen had touched a female student’s face during their kindergarten days.
The system was so anxious that its data had almost become a mess. It kept on harping to Cen Simiao that she better go and work it out, otherwise, their progress bar would be in shambles if she waited another two days - and they would be finished.
Cen Simiao wasn’t worried at all. She planned to let Wu Lichen get vilified for another two days, so when he finally gets washed white, his popularity would be higher than it is now.
As a result, in the topic of his black material, the direction suddenly changed, and some information about behind-the-scenes investors started spreading.
There was a strong impact from each new post, all of which attracted people’s eyes.
The posts keep getting deleted one after another, but the speed of new posts being published was even faster, which made people feel more and more upset.
Cen Simiao saw how fast the situation was developing and felt a bit confused.
The system was digging into an ice cream, particularly puzzled. "Ah, this... what is this right now? Is this how men fight nowadays?"
She looked at the man with an apron on who was cooking in the kitchen, she didn’t speak.
Wu Lichen seemed to have felt the gaze from behind him. His movements paused, and he turned to look, just so happen to meet Cen Simiao’s eyes. She pursed her lips then, with unease, turned her head to the side.
He chuckled, then lowered his head to continue chopping vegetables.
He asked, "What do you want to eat for lunch?"
Cen Simiao reflexively answered, "Stir-fried meat with pickled tofu."
As soon as the words came out, she wanted to strangle herself, so she quickly amended, "Not eating."
Hu Yinli had caught heat particularly badly. His throat was inflamed, there were cold sores at the corner of his lips, and even his voice had become hoarse. But he still made great efforts to deal with Wu Lichen.
He knew that that variety show and TV drama were both invested by Cen Simiao. So as long as he suppressed them so they couldn’t be aired, no one would buy them, and they would only be able to sit in her hands - netting a loss.
He also hired a lawyer to take back the house that Cen Simiao was living in. That villa was bought under Cen Simiao’s name. At that time, Hu Yinli had just brought out the fake marriage certificate to deceive the original owner and was anxious to settle her down. Moreover, he had felt a bit guilty.
But now, all that guilt had transformed into anger and resentment.
Originally, everything was progressing along in the direction of his plan, but then suddenly something went wrong. And those friends who were helping him all got completely subdued. It was nothing much for black material to spread, but the stock price was influenced to drop.
Just deleting posts wasn't working.
What caught him unprepared the most was that one day, his Weibo actually posted a piece of black material, pushing these two days of Wu Lichen being vilified on the boss of another entertainment company.
Aside from the initial reason being false, all the other details were as true as they could be.
Moreover, it was posted during the midst of this still being a hot topic. Though it was immediately deleted, it was still screenshotted by many.
It was obvious that the account had been hacked, so any further explanations wouldn’t have been effective anyway.
The comments that followed all went:
【Stand firm, there aren’t many people like you left who dare to tell the truth.】
【It turns out that there are so many things that have been hidden from people’s eyes, how horrifying.】
【Wu Lichen, just a newcomer, can be vilified by the entire internet just for offending someone with no room to justify or explain himself. It seems to mess up somebody’s life is only too easy.】
Hu Yinli's cell phone was about to explode from all the incoming calls.
And so business plummeted. With no support, no matter how good of a reputation they had, their stock price became particularly ugly.
In just mere days, public opinion changed. That anger that he was originally about to vent, again had to be swallowed back down, making him feel even more repressed.
After smoking several cigarettes, with stubble about his chin and his past glowing spirit gone, he ruffled his hair then turned to unlock his phone.
"Where are you, come out for a meeting."
Wu Lichen went out to the supermarket to buy ingredients and two large bags of snacks. When he came back and knocked at the door, he waited a long time but there was still no response. His lips that were originally curved with a slight smile gradually flattened.
After he entered and set the things aside, he scanned the room as he called out to Cen Simiao, but no one responded. With a frown, he went to open the door to the bedroom, it was completely empty.
Then, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he went straight to the wardrobe.
The purse wasn’t there, the shoes she loved to wear weren’t there, and the suitcase had also been taken away.
[1] Typically references the “Mary Sue” phenomenon, or when describing a certain action or voice to be highly attractive. In this case… More so the latter.
[2] Gap-moe is Japanese originated, it refers to the cuteness that arises from the contrast of (typically) how they look vs. how they actually act.
[3] The three views refer to (1) one’s view of the world, (2) one’s view on value, and (3) one’s view on life.
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