Although it's a foregone conclusion that publication will be banned, and both sides are not clean, the publishers are unwilling to swallow their anger and insist on competing to see who is more unclean.
With the two sides engaging in such a fierce back-and-forth battle, and with Li Wenyin's film of the same name already in production and both the male and female leads gaining popularity, quite a few people are paying attention to this matter.
Li Wenying felt that although she had been smeared a lot, she was satisfied with and welcomed the unsolicited traffic.
However, on the last day of the Lunar New Year, the entertainment industry was rocked by explosive news that instantly topped the trending searches – Su Ke was arrested for drug trafficking.
Drug use is common in the entertainment industry, but drug trafficking is not. Who Su Ke is, what his representative works are, and whether he is famous or not are not important.
Importantly, he is the male lead in Li Wenyin's movie, which has already started filming.
Chapter 70
"Su Ke is involved in drug trafficking?" Ji Mingshu had just finished applying a face mask when she saw the news. She hurriedly tore off the mask and ran out of the bathroom without even washing her face. "You didn't do this, did you?"
Cen Sen leaned against the headboard reading a book, then looked up and asked in a gentle voice, "Am I a member of the underworld?"
Ji Mingshu: "..."
Cen Sen slowly turned the page, his gold-rimmed glasses reflecting the light slightly. "I can't force him to commit a crime."
Ji Mingshu understood. The meaning of these words was: Although I cannot force people to commit crimes, I can seize on their minor offenses and report them to the authorities.
She really didn't expect that Cen Shisen was actually an outstanding resident outside of Chaoyang District.
She crept to the bedside and glanced at the book in Cen Sen's hand. Sure enough, Cen Sen's CEO demeanor was well-cultivated; even the book he was reading was a pure foreign language version.
She pressed down on the book, then suddenly leaned in and kissed it, before quickly sitting up straight and looking down at him, saying, "Good job, here's a reward."
Cen Sen chuckled lightly, then lowered his eyes and continued reading.
Ji Mingshu kissed him late at night, simply because she was on her period and could do whatever she wanted. It was called a reward, but it felt more like torture.
Ji Mingshu was also very self-aware. After teasing him, she got up in a good mood, put her hands behind her back, and walked with a bouncy gait, humming a tune as she ran ten miles away to the theme song of a palace drama.
Cen Sen glanced at her back. His usually cold and hard face seemed to soften considerably under the glow of the floor lamp, and the corners of his mouth had a faint upward curve.
Actually, if Li Wenying hadn't been so troublesome, Cen Sen wouldn't have thought to take action so soon, nor would he have thought to be so ruthless.
Other scandals can be covered up or suppressed, or the impact on the film can be minimized once the storm has passed. But drug trafficking is no longer a scandal or a matter for disgraced celebrities; it's a crime punishable by imprisonment.
Moreover, all the related news reports stated that Su Ke was arrested on the spot in Li Wenyin's film crew.
Li Wenyin's film was being shot at an international high school in Beijing. At the time, they were filming a scene where the male lead was left alone in the classroom while the female lead secretly watched from the back door, showing their unrequited love. Without warning, the police suddenly rushed in and took control of the suspect, Su Ke.
The incident happened suddenly, and the crew immediately stopped filming. All staff members were taken away for investigation. It is said that the female lead acted like a diva and refused to go to the police station, which eventually made a scene and she was almost forcibly taken away.
For a time, along with the rampant rumors of Su Ke's drug trafficking, there were also many movie-related topics.
Su Ke was chosen as the best male lead by Li Wenying herself, after considering factors such as capital, popularity, and acting skills. She knew Su Ke wasn't clean, but she also knew that he had a strong background and was unlikely to fall from grace. Therefore, after the official announcement of the male lead, she confidently posted on Weibo to support Su Ke.
Who would have thought that such a dramatic change would happen overnight.
After leaving the police station, Li Wenying's phone was constantly busy.
At first, she thought there was still room for reconciliation, since the movie had only just started filming and the male lead had an accident, so they could replace him.
However, the female lead, the second female lead, and the second male lead seemed to have conspired together, without even saying a word, and simultaneously posted on Weibo that they would be withdrawing from the filming.
Please, who would dare film this? People outside are saying their film crew is a drug den!
They wouldn't mind riding the wave of other trends, but right now they'd rather remain obscure nobodys for the rest of their lives than have anything to do with Li Wenying's production team!
Even more pragmatic than these celebrities are the investors. Due to the pre-release publicity of the film, Li Wenying had already secured several product placement deals, but now they are all calling to cancel their collaborations.
The Yuan family went even further, no longer contacting her personally, but having their assistant coldly inform her: they would not recover the first phase of investment, but unfortunately, all subsequent investments were cancelled.
It was only when she received this call from her assistant that Li Wenying truly came to her senses that perhaps true appreciation does not exist in this world.
When Feng Shuxiu introduced her to that sickly man from the Yuan family, she didn't think much of him, but with the intention of forming a good relationship, she was tactful in her approach.
Unsurprisingly, the other person admired her greatly, frequently inviting her out to movies and art exhibitions, and discussing classical literature, Chinese and Western film history with her...
Gradually, she changed her opinion of him and realized that he had genuine talent and appreciation for art.
So she used a little trick to make the man completely believe that she made this film not because she still had feelings for her first love, but purely to create the most inspired work, purely for artistic creation.
Not to boast, but she was very clear about how attractive she was to a certain type of man, and the fact that she later successfully obtained investment from the Yuan family was the best proof of that.
However, she was unaware that all the attraction and admiration couldn't outweigh a scandal that caused her initial investment to fail.
The last person to call was Feng Shuxiu.
Feng Shuxiu offered neither comfort nor sarcasm, but simply pointed her to the last path: "The Cen family has already told the Zou family that they never want to see you in the capital again. Clean up the mess you left behind and go abroad. Don't ever come back."
Li Wenying closed her eyes.
In that instant, she recalled many old memories.
I remember seeing Ji Mingshu wearing a pretty little dress and acting cute with her uncle and aunt when I was little;
I remember when I was in junior high school, the boys in my class would talk behind my back about how pretty Ji Mingshu was;
Thinking back to how I treated my classmates to dinner and karaoke, finally having a decent birthday celebration, and then everyone started talking about how Ji Mingshu went to the Crillon Debutante Ball in Paris for her birthday...
For many, many years, she stood in the place closest to Ji Mingshu, yet separated by the farthest distance in the world.
It was only during the three months she dated Cen Sen that she subconsciously felt that she and Ji Mingshu were on the same starting line.
Those were the times she missed the most.
Li Wenyin has left. After issuing an apology and announcing the suspension of filming, she has left indefinitely.
But as Jiang Chun said, those who are "green tea" are always seen as hypocrites. Even after Li Wenying left and announced the filming was halted, she still left behind a thought-provoking comment.
"It is my regret that I cannot put it on paper or put it on the screen. But in any case, those are the times I cherish the most."
Originally, fans were feeling sorry for Li Wenyin's bad luck, but she suddenly linked the postponement of her book publication and the suspension of filming, which made people wonder: Could all of this have been aimed at her all along?
Moreover, the more people thought about it, the more something seemed wrong. What a coincidence! The book couldn't be published, and then the movie had to be stopped.
Some people with ulterior motives followed the articles she had previously posted to dig out the prototype of her first love. In addition, Ji Mingshu and her friends’ social circle was not completely secretive. Soon, an insider subtly pointed out that the prototype of Li Wenying’s first love was her husband, the “silencer” who had caused a great uproar some time ago, and the current president of Junyi Group, Cen Sen.
Cen Sen has publicly available information online, but it's mostly irrelevant details like age, education, and work experience; his face has never been shown.
But the less they show their face, the more curious everyone becomes.
Because in Li Wenying's story, her first love's appearance was described as absolutely stunning, like a male protagonist straight out of a campus romance novel.
The male protagonist of this campus romance novel grows up to become the male protagonist of a CEO novel, which is most loved by girls. He even gets angry for his beautiful wife, removing trending topics and deleting posts for her. The group's official Weibo account posts several times to seek justice for his wife.
It's incredibly intriguing that a man and two women wrote two novels!
When Li Wenying posted this so-called last Weibo post, the onlookers were curious, but Ji Mingshu was almost driven mad with anger.
Overnight, countless Li Wenying fans flooded her with private messages, asking if she had interfered in Li Wenying and Cen Sen's relationship, whether her conscience bothered her, whether her marriage to Cen Sen was an arranged marriage, and what the point of living with someone who doesn't love you is...
The crucial point is that Cen Sen is still sleeping soundly next to her! His arms are wrapped tightly around her waist! She couldn't even move if she wanted to sit up and kick him!
Ji Mingshu was already a bit grumpy when she woke up, and now she was too lazy to think much, so she started typing away—
“From a young age, I learned a lot about etiquette. My teachers would tell me what I couldn’t do and what I couldn’t do. I couldn’t swear, because that was considered ill-mannered; I couldn’t get into conflicts with people face to face, because that would only make me look like I had low character; I couldn’t be petty about small things, and I had to be a tolerant and magnanimous person.”
"I've always felt that private conflicts should be discussed face-to-face between the two people, rather than brought up online for onlookers to judge. But Ms. Li seems to have taken advantage of my reluctance to confront you publicly, and has taken my repeated leniency as a license for her to take advantage of me."
"I would like to ask, Ms. Li has repeatedly emphasized that her first love is married and that she does not want to disturb him. However, despite the person involved's repeated requests not to distort the facts in a book or movie, she still insists on selling her so-called first love sentiment. Doesn't Ms. Li think that the phrase 'having your cake and eating it too' was made for you?"
"I hope Ms. Li will have self-respect and stop disturbing my husband and me, ending this farcical 'white lotus' drama. I also hope that no one ever encounters a terrible ex who writes 'My Ex Got Married,' which trends on social media, and who constantly publishes books and makes movies to commemorate their past. —Li Wen-yin"
Author's Note: Little Canary Baby: Waaaaah, my fans are finally going to surpass that woman's!!! Cen Shi Sen Sen is such a piece of trash! She didn't even buy me any followers!!!
Chapter 71
It has been more than half a month since Ji Mingshu last posted on Weibo. Some people were still checking in under her last New Year's Weibo post, waiting for her to come back online. Unexpectedly, what they got in return was this big bombshell.
[Stable chassis, fiercely powerful! The CEO's wife is truly something else!]
[Everyone in the front row gets a sunflower seed, cola, Sprite, and a small stool!]
[What happened? Who is Li Wenying?]
I once left a comment under a director's blog post titled "My Ex Got Married," saying, "If you don't want to bother your ex, you shouldn't have posted this article." That comment received many likes, but the director deleted it and blacklisted me. I still remember it clearly.
To be honest, my husband's ex-girlfriend was just as awful. When they were dating, she'd constantly try to get our attention. Because we had mutual friends, we didn't say much. Later, after my husband and I got married, she even posted old photos of the two of us on her WeChat Moments on our wedding day, saying things like "the past is gone, I miss it." I was too cowardly to confront her, but the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. My honeymoon was incredibly unpleasant. My husband felt I was being mistreated, so he posted on his WeChat Moments: "I don't want to go back. Don't mention me again, thank you." I was completely satisfied then. :)
[The comment upstairs reminded me of my own tearful experience, almost exactly the same, but different people have different fates. My ex-husband didn't help me fight back then, and when I got angry, he accused me of being dramatic. Later, he cheated on me during my breastfeeding period with his awful ex. :)]
...
Actually, once Ji Mingshu posted the Weibo, she felt much better. She never expected that the post would resonate so strongly with a group of female compatriots and a small number of male compatriots.
This Weibo post was also reposted by a popular relationship blogger with nearly ten million followers, who added: "Not all current partners have the audacity of a CEO's wife tearing someone apart, so we can only hope that some clueless exes will take a course on 'ex-person self-cultivation.' /smile"
Before long, #TheSelfCultivationOfAnEx# quietly climbed to the top of the trending topics list, rising from outside the top 30 to the top 10. Ji Mingshu could see his followers increasing rapidly every second he refreshed the page, and his inbox was overflowing with reposts, likes, comments and private messages.
When the post was shared over 30,000 times, Cen Sen finally woke up.
"What are you looking at?" His voice sounded hoarse, as if he had just fallen asleep.
Ji Mingshu turned to look at him, then hid her phone behind her back. "I was just... just checking Weibo."
She was furious before, but after posting on Weibo, she felt inexplicably guilty.
Well, she didn't really want Cen Sen to see her more outspoken side, like tearing into his ex on Weibo. She wondered if he would think she was being unladylike or petty.
But since this has already been done and caused such a big fuss, it's hard to delete it or hide it.
Ji Mingshu made a snap decision, suddenly hugged Cen Sen and kissed him profusely, then looked up at him and said in a soft, coquettish voice, "I have something to tell you, so be prepared, you have to accept it!"
"What's up?"
Cen Sen looked down at her, his voice still relatively calm, but his temples had begun to throb uncontrollably.
"Here's what happened: Li Wenying posted on Weibo last night..."
As Ji Mingshu organized her thoughts, she held up her phone and vividly described the whole story with pictures and text, "...Look, look, her fans are cursing me like this! They're calling me a homewrecker! How could I not be angry, right? And you know I'm a bit grumpy when I wake up in the morning, so I posted a Weibo post, this one, this one."
She carefully observed Cen Sen's expression and said, "Actually, I felt it wasn't a good idea as soon as I sent it. What's the point of arguing with her about this? But it's already been sent..."
After waiting a while without Cen Sen responding, she grabbed his arm and shook it while saying forcefully, "Anyway, you're not allowed to get angry or think I'm a shrew! I'm just letting you know about this, but you have to forget it. The Ji Mingshu in your heart can only be a fairy!"