AYF CH22
Chapter 22: It’s Me
Shen Xici slept until past one in the afternoon. His brain felt a little sluggish from the all-nighter. He reached out from under the quilt, accurately grabbed his phone, and prepared to scroll through Weibo to wake himself up.
On the hot search list, #WenYageAllegedlyHasNewLove# was ranked fourth and very conspicuous.
Inwardly marveling at Wen Yage’s speed in changing boyfriends, Shen Xici clicked on the topic with a gossip-hungry mindset.
Huh?
The new love is actually myself?
His sleepiness vanished instantly. Shen Xici’s half-closed eyelids snapped open, making him as wide awake as possible.
Scrolling down through the Weibo posts one by one, Shen Xici quickly learned the whole story behind the hot search.
During Cheng Ningyu’s live stream, she had accidentally captured footage of him standing at Wen Yage’s room door, and at the highly suggestive time of four or five in the morning. The evidence was “solid,” essentially catching him red-handed.
In the video, Cheng Ningyu claimed she was checking her ID and stepped out of the frame. On the other end of the hallway, his action of knocking on the door was clearly recorded.
Shen Xici’s eyes turned slightly cold.
Accidentally?
“——Is a house collapse this fast! I only just liked this newcomer the day before yesterday! And today you’re telling me his house has collapsed? Even shoddy construction wouldn’t be this fast!!”
“——He only just became a little bit popular… Does this newcomer have no restraint? Trying to climb into bed to get to the top so quickly. I thought he was clean and pure before, but it turns out he’s utterly foul!”
“——Don’t let every piece of trash and garbage touch my Sister Wen! Get lost, get lost, get lost!”
“——Doesn’t he know Sister Wen is dating Lin Xuesen? Or is he doing it knowingly, a male third party trying to climb his way up? I’m truly disgusted. Does he want to be a homewrecker that badly? Look at yourself—how do you compare to Xuesen?”
Lin Xuesen had been in the industry for three years, never quite breaking out. After Wen Yage broke up with her ex-boyfriend, she was single for a while, and then came Lin Xuesen. In the half-year they’ve been together, Lin Xuesen has secured three endorsements, released an album, and become the male lead in a major investment historical idol drama. His career has been rising very quickly.
He was not shy about his relationship at all, often showing affection on Weibo. The ‘handsome and clingy puppy’ and ‘sultry older sister’ CP miraculously carved out a new, highly popular niche. While gathering many CP fans, Lin Xuesen’s popularity also skyrocketed.
Shen Xici carefully reviewed the public sentiment. Passersby were cursing the entertainment industry for being dirty, and actors for shamelessly sleeping their way up. His fans expressed great disappointment, withdrawing their support. Wen Yage’s fans emphasized that this was the man’s attempt to latch on, claiming that while their Sister Wen’s dating history was rich, she absolutely didn’t cheat during a relationship. The strongest fighting force was Lin Xuesen’s fans, with seven out of ten posts cursing him.
His current fans were almost all ‘face fans’ (fans based on looks). He hadn’t hired anyone to manage his fan club or guide his fans, which meant his fan base was very weak and scattered. It was almost inevitable for fans to leave once a situation arose that harmed his image.
Slipping on his slippers, Shen Xici opened the bedroom door, phone in hand. He immediately locked eyes with Sheng Shaoyan, who was sitting on the sofa.
Crucially, on the computer screen in front of Sheng Shaoyan, he was watching himself knocking on Wen Yage’s door.
Shen Xici: “…”
Under the other man’s silent gaze, Shen Xici felt inexplicably nervous. He began to explain: “I really did go to the director’s place last night, truly. The assistant director and screenwriters can testify.”
Sheng Shaoyan, with his long legs braced on the floor, nodded, looking up at him: “And then?”
This scene felt a lot like him opening the door to return home early in the morning, only to be met by his cold-faced boyfriend waiting at home, demanding a full confession of what he’d been up to the night before.
Despite the thought, Shen Xici honestly continued: “In the middle of the night, they got carried away with script revisions and changed some of Teacher Wen’s scenes. The director then had a sudden idea and wanted Teacher Wen to come up to discuss it too. But knocking on a door in the middle of the night to disturb someone’s sleep is very likely to get a scolding from Teacher Wen. No one wanted to be the one to bear the brunt, and since I’m the newcomer, the task fell to me.”
“So you went downstairs to knock on Wen Yage’s room door?” Sheng Shaoyan saw Shen Xici nod. “What happened after that?”
“After that, I knocked four times, and no one opened the door. I don’t know if Teacher Wen didn’t want to open it or if she wasn’t in the room at all.”
Sheng Shaoyan shifted the topic: “Which situation do you think is more likely?”
Shen Xici thought for a moment: “It should be the latter. Typically, staying in a hotel booked by the crew, everyone coming and going is staff. Everyone knows where the male and female leads stay, and they even lower their voices when chatting near their rooms at night. If someone knocks in the middle of the night, it’s very likely a sudden crew emergency or an urgent matter from the director. Teacher Wen is very professional; if she heard someone knocking, no matter how angry she was, she would open it to ask what was going on.”
Seeing Sheng Shaoyan’s brow move, Shen Xici’s mouth moved faster than his brain, and he quickly answered: “The assistant director was afraid I wouldn’t dare go downstairs to knock, so he specifically told me stories about Teacher Wen’s professionalism in the past!”
“Mhm.” Sheng Shaoyan got up and brought the warm food from the kitchen to the table, telling Shen Xici to come and eat. He added, “The data for the topic is wrong. The hot search was bought, and many accounts are suspicious. It’s definitely an internet army; the comments posted are highly manipulative. However, after the topic fermented, most of the participants in the discussion are real fans. Lin Xuesen’s major fans posted a lot of inflammatory content. There must be some financial incentive behind it.”
Shen Xici, who had just picked up his chopsticks, was surprised: “You’ve already looked into it?”
Placing a glass of warm water beside Shen Xici, Sheng Shaoyan continued: “Cheng Ningyu and Ye Mei have been friends for many years, always helping each other in their careers. After Ye Mei became Xu Lingjia’s godmother, the business interests of the two families became more deeply tied. Ye Mei and Cheng Ningyu must have learned that Cui Yunwei wants to sign you. Your appearance in the live stream might have been unintentional, but every move afterward was deliberate.”
Shen Xici held his cup, drinking water seriously, nodding as he listened.
He felt a strange satisfaction.
Mr. Sheng, Vice Chairman of the Shenghe Group and a man worth tens of billions of dollars, was actually giving him a detailed analysis report. This treatment was too good!
Moreover, Sheng Shaoyan’s voice was very pleasant, with a magnetic texture and an unhurried tone. Listening to it felt like a massage for the auditory nerve.
“A large portion of those who are cursing you and saying they’ll stop being fans are not fans but the internet army.”
Stunned, Shen Xici understood. It was likely because he had told Sheng Shaoyan before that he became an actor hoping that more people would like him.
So, was he saying this specially because he was afraid Shen Xici would be sad?
However, in his past life, Shen Xici had been on black hot searches countless times. At first, he was hurt by the overwhelming malice, but later he realized he wasn’t a gold mine; it was impossible for everyone to like him. He just needed to have a clear conscience.
“I know, and it’s okay if they are real fans,” Shen Xici said lightly. “I don’t have any work or achievements yet, and no way for them to understand me, yet I’m demanding they stand firmly by me in the face of what looks like hard evidence. That’s a bit too much.”
Seeing that he truly wasn’t affected, Sheng Shaoyan continued: “I went to that hotel to ask for the surveillance footage.”
A spot in Shen Xici’s heart felt suddenly and lightly tickled by a feather.
He had no manager, no company, no team. From the moment he found out about this, he was thinking about how to solve it himself.
But here was someone sincerely and diligently helping him analyze the situation and find a way to break the deadlock.
Sheng Shaoyan: “But that hotel didn’t have any surveillance installed. The cameras on the walls were actually glued on.”
Shen Xici: “…They are very creative.”
He truly hadn’t expected that kind of maneuver.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Sheng Shaoyan told Shen Xici to continue eating and went to open the door himself.
At the door, Lan Xiaoshan, carrying a backpack, verified the address. He thought he hadn’t knocked on the wrong door, but when the door opened from the inside: “Shen—Ah, Brother Shao?”
He stuttered, then inwardly regretted it—They can’t even stand to be apart when going to the set, so why would they be apart when sleeping?
It’s just a young couple living together. As a well-traveled assistant, I shouldn’t be surprised!
After entering, Lan Xiaoshan quickly surveyed the room’s layout. Oh, one bedroom. Sure enough, they couldn’t bear to be apart even when sleeping.
Good thing I’ve treated Brother Shao like the second boss from the very beginning!
Shen Xici saw the person who walked in: “Xiaoshan, why are you here?”
Lan Xiaoshan quickly said: “I just saw that hot search, so I wanted to come over and see if there was anything I could help with.”
Shen Xici was silent for a moment, then joked: “If you come to help, I don’t have a salary to pay you.”
Lan Xiaoshan immediately waved his hands: “No salary, no salary! Really, I can’t help much anyway!”
He hadn’t had much schooling, but he knew who was genuinely good to him.
Stomach medicine was expensive. He often endured the pain for a couple of hours, and the pain would pass. Brother Shen had found out somehow that he had a stomach condition and often kept stomach medicine in his bag, calculated the time, and made him take it.
He ate a lot, and the boxed meals the crew ordered for the staff sometimes had more vegetables than meat. Brother Shen would use the excuse that his portion was the ‘actor’s meal,’ that the food was too much, and artists who ate too much didn’t look good on camera, sharing half of his meat with him.
Since following Brother Shen, he hadn’t been woken up by stomach pain from hunger in the middle of the night for a long time.
Every crew he joined had different staff. Everyone was used to working together for a while, only to likely never cross paths again. Shen Xici hadn’t expected Lan Xiaoshan to come looking for him.
After briefly recounting what happened last night, Lan Xiaoshan asked: “No surveillance is really troublesome. Should we talk to Teacher Wen? If Teacher Wen is willing to help clarify, it should be quite effective, right?”
Shen Xici shook his head: “Teacher Wen and I aren’t that close yet. Besides, even if Teacher Wen comes out to clarify, some people might believe it, but the act of Teacher Wen speaking up for me will make even more people suspect foul play.”
He patiently explained to Lan Xiaoshan, “Also, her team won’t let her speak up. If she says nothing, the hype around this matter will pass. One more rumor won’t affect Teacher Wen, who already has a few high-profile relationships. If she does speak up, she won’t gain any benefits and will just attract trouble.”
Lan Xiaoshan worried: “If Teacher Wen doesn’t come forward, what about the crew?”
Shen Xici pointed to his phone: “I’ve already contacted Director Wan. Director Wan said he will have the publicity team issue a statement, but the effect isn’t guaranteed.”
Not long after, the official Weibo for the movie “Mountain Range Line” issued a statement, explaining that Shen Xici was revising the script with six staff members, including the director, all night, and the rumors circulating online were completely untrue.
“—Understood, shutting us up, right? Who knows if it was an all-night script revision or an all-night bed-climbing session? If you’ve got guts, release the complete, unedited surveillance footage from the hallway, otherwise, we don’t believe anything.”
“—An eye-opener! A male third party, a homewrecker, trying to climb into the female lead’s bed, and the crew is shielding him? Did he really manage to latch onto the Best Actress? He can even command the crew and make the director speak up for him. This newcomer is impressive!”
“—I really want to believe it, but so far, not a single piece of evidence has been released. Are they guilty, afraid that if they release the evidence, it will only confirm the story?”
“—@LinXuesen, I have a bad feeling. You don’t realize your girlfriend is being stolen, do you? I truly feel sorry for you!”
Lan Xiaoshan was quite optimistic at first, hoping the crew’s statement would work and clear Shen Xici’s name. But after seeing the comments, he was furious. He quickly started fighting the commenters with three of his small accounts, typing furiously.
Sheng Shaoyan scrolled through the comments one by one, looking as though he was reading a financial report, his face expressionless.
“The hotel doesn’t have surveillance, but other places do.”
“I think I know where Teacher Wen went.”
The two men spoke at the same time, their eyes meeting.
Realizing they had the same idea, Sheng Shaoyan asked first: “How do you know where Wen Yage went?”
“Huh?” Shen Xici was somewhat used to Sheng Shaoyan’s lack of focus. He explained, “Before I joined the crew, besides watching many interviews with Director Wan, I also watched some interviews with the male and female leads to understand their acting styles. Teacher Wen said that in the later stages of filming, she’s under a lot of pressure. Besides smoking more, she also goes out drinking in the middle of the night.”
Actually, this was one of Wen Yage’s habits Shen Xici discovered in his previous life while filming the movie Stealing Heaven with her.
“A bar, or a pub.” Sheng Shaoyan stood up, put on a new black mask, “Lan Xiaoshan and I will go look. You stay at home.”
Shen Xici stood up, wanting to go with them, but Sheng Shaoyan turned and pressed him back down: “Finish this bowl of rice, then go catch up on your sleep.”
The front door closed with a “bang.” Shen Xici opened his mouth, surprised that Sheng Shaoyan had seen right through him again—Damn it, he really didn’t want to eat at all!
More than three hours later, a little past six, right in the middle of rush hour, a new hot search quietly appeared at the bottom of the list.
“@BarOwnerKevin: Who understands? With Wen Yage sitting there drinking all night, is the bar I run in a small county? No, it’s in the century-old foreign quarters of Shanghai!”
This Weibo post was only accompanied by two pictures. One was of a dimly lit small pub. A bottle of wine and a glass were on a round table, the amber liquid in the glass clear and bright. By the table, Wen Yage wore a silk wrap dress, draped in a white fur shawl. Her black hair was voluminous and curly. Her pale hand held a thin cigarette, supporting her chin, as she stared into space.
The other picture showed her noticing someone taking her photo. She turned her head, indifferently raising her red lips to the camera. Her flirtatious eyes were more intoxicating than the wine, appearing aloof yet charming.
“—Face fan screaming! Aaaah, the face rules the country! My Sister Wen’s atmosphere is unbeatable!”
“—She looks like a famous actress from Old Shanghai! Alluring yet sorrowful! Boss, where is your shop? Were these photos taken recently?”
The owner reposted and replied: “The shop is in a small border county. The photos were taken early this morning. The shop has now launched the ‘#BestActressSolo299Package#’! 299! Love forever! And the ‘Best Actress Beloved Package,’ 2999! Love forever and ever! A must-order for fans! Sister Wen’s poster is already on the door. I’ve wiped this table squeaky clean. Sisters, if you come to visit, you’re welcome to take photos and check-in! We’ll be drawing 29 ladies for a free meal under this Weibo post!”
“—Hahaha, Boss, what kind of commercial genius are you? The Best Actress Solo Package! Good, good. If I ever visit, I must order it!”
“—The tears of a beauty-lover are running down my chin! I love the number 299. I suggest including a poster of Sister Wen’s Goddess Descending beauty with the order!”
“—Wait a minute, Boss @BarOwnerKevin, when did you say you took this photo? Early this morning? Drinking all night? Do you even know what you’re saying?”
Huddling on the sofa and scrolling on his phone, Shen Xici saw this post. The numbers 299 and 2999 looked exactly like the unscrupulous prices set by a black-hearted capitalist like Sheng Shaoyan.