A week had passed, and Chi Yan’s new GG had already started airing. Many viewers commented that it was very good.
“Every time Chi Yan’s GG airs, I feel like I’m being healed.”
“Who wouldn’t love a stunning beauty? Chi Yan is truly gorgeous, and the diplomat she plays is just too cool!”
But as the GG aired, a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot was also leaked.
The first person to post the video was a small account on Weibo. Claiming to be a staff member of The Road of an Actor, he wrote in the comments: “Chi Yan has always been arrogant because her family is rich. Now that she’s famous, she looks down on us staff even more.”
At first, the post only circulated in a small circle. Some people who saw it were skeptical, but because of Chi Yan’s previous rumor with Yu Jingming, people merely questioned it—they didn’t fully believe it.
Later, one of Chi Yan’s major fans came across the staff member’s post.
She had been a fan since the early days and had watched Chi Yan’s fan base grow from almost nothing to its current size. She absolutely hated seeing others throw mud at her idol. Especially when that idol was Chi Yan—she was furious.
The major fan first checked the super-topic (fan forum) but didn’t find anything unusual. Then she rushed to the original poster’s comment section to argue with him. After the poster blocked her, she used an alt account to repost the tweet and accused him of spreading false rumors.
“Adults should take responsibility for what they say and do. Just because it’s the internet doesn’t mean it’s lawless…”
Fuelled with righteous anger, she wrote a long essay. Casually, she even used her main account to share what she’d written with her alt, receiving support from many Chi Yan fans.
However, a wave of internet trolls suddenly emerged. They spread blackmail about Chi Yan on forums like Tuchu and Douban Group 8, even using the fan’s long criticism essay as material.
Posts titled “Why is CY’s backing so strong?”, “Digging up CY’s hidden past”, and “Chi Yan’s fans are toxic” started to surface. Some people even dragged in the previous incident with Yang Yueyi, causing Chi Yan’s reputation to take a nosedive.
This also affected her popularity ranking in the top-ten finals.
Chi Yan, who was completely focused on revising her script, had no idea any of this was happening. She was fully immersed in the script and knew nothing of the outside rumors.
That afternoon, Chi Yan was in the training room, reading the script and revising lines.
“Chi Yan,” Ye Jiawen knocked on the door, “you’re getting smeared.”
She stayed calm, thinking that what was meant to come would come. She let Ye Jiawen in and said, “It’s fine. If people want to believe something, they’ll believe it regardless. And if they don’t—”
Ye Jiawen interrupted, “Your popularity ranking. You’ve dropped to fourth.”
Chi Yan had been in second place, her vote count nearly equal to Duan Jing’s. But now, because of all this, she had fallen to fourth. If she lost any more votes, she’d be in serious trouble.
“What?” Chi Yan rubbed her forehead.
Once she gathered her thoughts, she said, “I’ll go find someone for help.”
“You could consider asking Bo Le for assistance. They’re a professional company,” Ye Jiawen suggested. “But they’ll probably ask for something in return.”
“Thanks for telling me,” Chi Yan said sincerely.
Ye Jiawen had a script meeting with Yu Jingming and left after letting her know.
This week, the ten contestants hadn’t been asked to hand over their phones. Chi Yan pulled out hers and started scrolling through Weibo.
Sure enough, her fan forum was a mess. Some fans, who no longer believed in her, were saying goodbye in the comments. Some who still supported her were trying to calm the others. But most were asking her to come out and give a statement.
Chi Yan frowned. She already understood the full context of the incident. Solving it could be easy or difficult—it all depended on the attitude of the variety show director.
Without hesitation, she messaged the show’s staff, asking if they could forward her contact request to the director.
Given that she had helped the crew get through a previous crisis, the head director agreed without hesitation. He even added a reminder: The director’s been really busy lately, so slow replies are normal. Don’t rush him.
Chi Yan thanked him sincerely and immediately sent a friend request.
Ten minutes passed and it still hadn’t been accepted. She opened her contact list to see who else might help.
Scrolling back and forth, Chi Yan’s finger paused on Shen Chen’s name.
Right now, she didn’t know many people. Like Ye Jiawen said, if she went to Bo Le, they’d definitely ask for something in return.
Shen Chen…?
Chi Yan hesitated. Last time he helped, it was because Yu Jingming was involved. This time, he might not be willing. Besides, it had been days since they last talked—contacting him just to ask for a favor?
The more she thought about it, the more inappropriate it felt.
In the end, Chi Yan called Chi Hongzheng. With such a useful resource, why not use him?
“Hello, Dad?” Chi Yan, a top-tier actress, wouldn’t let herself fail at even a simple address. Since she’d decided to play the weak card, she would go all in.
“Yes? What’s wrong?”
“I’m being slandered. I don’t know who leaked a clip of me filming the show and posted it online, taking it out of context. People are attacking me. I can take the criticism, but they’re digging into my background, and I’m afraid it’ll affect the company…”
“What?!”
Hearing Chi Hongzheng’s sudden panic, Chi Yan knew she’d bet right.
He valued the company more than his own life. Knowing this news would definitely make him act.
Chi Yan seized the moment: “Someone’s clearly trying to frame me. Dad, could it be one of the company’s competitors?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll have someone take the trending topics down immediately. I’ll make sure the damage to the company is minimized.” As Chi Hongzheng kept talking, he started cursing, “You… how do you even get into this kind of mess just by entering a competition…”
He went on and on, and as usual, Chi Yan held the phone away from her ear. Her mood had lightened slightly—at least now, things could be handled.
But it still wasn’t enough, she thought. One day, these rumors would no longer shake her position.
She simply wasn’t famous enough yet—otherwise, how could just one short video cause her ranking to drop so drastically?
This served as a wake-up call for Chi Yan. She had been a bit too laid-back lately. Until she won an award that could really command respect from the audience, she couldn’t afford to be this careless.
Chi Hongzheng, worried the incident might affect the company, acted quickly. The video was soon wiped from the internet, and the account that posted it stopped replying to comments.
Seeing the fanbase calming down in the supertopic, Chi Yan finally felt relieved. Still, since she hadn’t communicated with the GG director yet, she didn’t want to post a public explanation on Weibo without permission.
That evening, the GG director finally accepted her friend request.
He messaged: Don’t worry. The main program director already filled me in. My assistant also tracked down the person who leaked the video. I’ll post an explanation on Weibo later—just share it once it’s up.
Chi Yan quickly typed out her thanks. She had expected a long negotiation but was surprised that the GG director took the initiative to handle it.
After posting the explanation, the GG director messaged her again: This is a minor issue. As long as it’s handled well, it won’t affect you.
Chi Yan thanked him once more. After scanning through his post, she reshared it.
She was a little confused though—when she had mentioned ending filming early, the GG director had been furious. By all logic, it would’ve been a win if he didn’t kick her while she was down. So why was he helping her now?
Looking closer at the GG director’s post, Chi Yan noticed that he was quite complimentary of her.
Words like “professional,” “talented,” “great acting,” and “respectful to senior actors” were all used in praise of her. He also explained the context of the video:
The strict direction was my fault. In the end, the version used in the final cut was Chi Yan’s first take. She was very professional—please stop attacking her. Oh, and by the way, the rumors that she mistreated staff are completely false.
The GG director took full responsibility for everything.
Soon after, his Weibo post went viral. Many of Chi Yan’s fans left thank-you comments under it.
Chi Yan’s own comment section was also flooded with comforting messages from fans:
“Don’t worry, sis! Getting slandered is just part of being popular. We believe you!”
“Ugh, so unfair. She just debuted and already so many false rumors… Please don’t be upset QAQ.”
“Looking forward to your performance in the top ten finals! Hope you get a great ranking~”
After Chi Yan reshared the post, Qiu Sisi, Ou Yang, Ye Jiawen, Xu Yi, and Xue Yi all reshared it too, and Chi Yan thanked them one by one.
She was also very grateful to the fans who continued to support her. She sent hug emojis to the top few fans who had left kind words. Seeing their excited replies really lifted her mood.
Just then, Chi Hongzheng sent her a message.
Chi Hongzheng: It was just a misunderstanding. I’ll handle the person who leaked the video. You don’t need to worry.
Chi Yan didn’t reply. Something about it felt off. Chi Hongzheng wasn’t the type to follow up like this unless he had something to hide.
She immediately thought of Yang Yueyi. The trending topic about her disrespecting staff had only just died down, and now it was Chi Yan’s turn? That was too much of a coincidence.
Chi Hongzheng had only dealt with the video, but many comments were still up. Chi Yan began looking into the accounts that had mentioned Yang Yueyi.
Just as she suspected, those accounts had default avatars, simple usernames, and very few posts—clearly burner accounts.
Chi Yan had seen accounts like this in her past life. Most of them were troll farms operated by agencies to stir up public opinion.
She pressed her lips together. There was a high chance that this was Yang Yueyi’s doing. Otherwise, why would Chi Hongzheng be so secretive?
Since Yang Yueyi was so eager to drag her down, Chi Yan thought, then she wouldn’t mind preparing a “special gift” for her after the competition.
Unexpectedly, Shen Chen also messaged her.
They hadn’t spoken in a while, but his tone was as familiar as ever:
Shen Chen: Jingming told me you were being slandered again. Why didn’t you ask me for help?
Chi Yan: I asked my dad this time. Next time, I’ll come to you first.
Shen Chen took a while to reply before sending a simple: Mm.
Chi Yan knew Shen Chen had been incredibly busy lately. He’d posted several late-night work updates. That was one reason she hadn’t reached out to him this time.
She thought, He’s so busy but still checks in on me—if I don’t say anything, that feels wrong.
Chi Yan: You seem really busy lately. Take care of yourself.
Then she sent another message, inviting him to her final performance:
Chi Yan: Are you free on the 3rd of next month? I have two tickets and would love for you to come watch my performance in person.
Shen Chen didn’t respond right away. After a long pause, he replied:
Shen Chen: I’m not sure if I’ll be able to make it. I’ll let you know on August 1st.
Chi Yan: No problem if you can’t come. Watching the livestream is fine too. Oh, and did you vote for me this week? My ranking dropped—hurry and vote!
Shen Chen replied almost instantly:
Shen Chen: Already did.
