CH 76

Slander

“Kiss on the cheek?” Xie Yan asked in a strange tone. 

“Don’t worry. I’m just doing it for show, lightly touching it.” Afraid that he would be worried, Su Shen explained.

Hearing this, the person on the other end couldn’t help but ask, “You kiss him?”

Su Shen was taken aback and paused before saying somewhat guiltily, “It’s just for show.”

From where she was, they would be confined in the ancestral hall if they even took another glance at other men. But in the entertainment industry, let alone kissing on the cheek, a real bed scene with touching the chest was there. If it was any other large-scale scenes, Su Shen would definitely not accept the play. No matter how good a play was, it was not as important as her own bottom line, but it was not so difficult to accept just a kiss on the cheek. After all, there were no other plays with just a kiss on the cheek scene. 

“When will you shoot this scene?” The man on the other end of the phone asked muffledly.

Hearing this, Su Shen thought for a bit before answering, “I’m not sure about the progress, but it should be around the beginning of the month.”

The filming by production crews was done according to the scenery, not according to the script, so Su Shen was not very clear about it. 

At that, there was no sound from the other end of the line. After a long while, a muffled voice uttered, “Got it.”

Somehow, she felt a little guilty, so Su Shen said that she was going to shower and quickly hung up the call. 

It was still raining outside. Su Shen drew the curtain closed, got her pajamas, and went to take a shower. She had to get up early tomorrow. Although she didn’t have many scenes, she could still go and see how the others acted. Although Ding Yan’s character was not subjected to talk about, her acting had nothing to be said. As a Best Actress in Film, the gold-bearing of it was much more solid than that of Fan Meng. 

Work began at 9:00 am the next day, so Su Shen arrived on set at 7:00 am to get styled. The weather was not so cold now; it was just right to wear a qipao. The production crew was already setting the scene, and some of the extras were wandering outside. They were all passersby and just needed to walk back and forth. The hawkers who showed their faces would earn a hundred bucks per day, and the ones who didn’t have to show their faces would earn from sixty to eighty. Moreover, it doesn’t come with boxed lunches either. Even so, it still couldn’t stop everyone’s dream of becoming famous. 

When she entered the dressing room, Xue Zhixin was eating hot and sour noodles, which was fresh among the female stars. It was just that the entire room smelled of sour bamboo shoots. 

Seeing that she was staring at her, Xue Zhixin immediately put down her chopsticks and explained, “Let me tell you, people should enjoy the present. What’s wrong with getting fat? Isn’t the reason why we are working so hard to earn money so we can eat well? People these days are all trying their best to lose weight to the point of not even daring to eat a steamed bun. What’s the point of living then?”

Su Shen: “…….”

Xiao Zhou, behind her, was biting the straw for her soymilk, and when she heard that, she glanced at her own thick waist and felt that for beauty, she was better off living a meaningless life. 

“You’re right. I won’t deliberately refuse to eat either, I just eat less. If there’s something good, I will definitely eat it,” said Su Shen with a smile, and then sat down on the sofa while drinking her soymilk. 

Her desire for good food was actually not that high. Sometimes, she wouldn’t even think about it even if she had to eat less. However, to be at Xue Zhixin’s mentality was rare. It couldn’t be helped, the industry had standards. Sometimes, one would lose a lot of resources when one was too chubby. It was no wonder that those female artists would only eat cabbage and carrots.  

“You’re still young so this is a must.” Xue Zhixin ate a mouthful of hot and sour noodles and said while chewing, “Look at you—young, beautiful, and have a fab figure, and even a great boyfriend. You’re at the peak of life.”

She didn’t expect that she also knew about her relationship with Xie Yan. Feeling a little embarrassed, Su Shen looked down and continued reading her script without saying anything. 

Xue Zhixin was an outgoing person and became more and more enthusiastic the more she went on. Looking at her with gossipy eyes and with oil covered all over her mouth, she said, “I heard that Xie Yan doesn’t play around and never opens the door whenever an actress would knock on his door in the middle of the night. How did you get him? Did you chase him?” 

In this industry, there were too many unknowns trying to climb into famous celebrities’ beds. Xue Zhixin didn’t think Su Shen was the type to curry favors with others. It could be seen from details that were nurtured from childhood. But if so, why did Xie Yan suddenly fall in love with this girl among all of the beautiful women he has seen?  

If it was someone else, Su Shen would certainly ignore them. But Xue Zhixin was just straightforward and frank, and it was not like something she couldn’t say. 

After pondering for a while, she cleared her throat and said, “He pursued me.” 

Thinking about it now, Xie Yan had put in a lot of effort in pursuing her, to actually go and film an idol drama with her.  

“Ah? How did he pursue you then?” Xue Zhixin was so gossipy that she stopped eating her noodles. This was exclusive news, and also one of the big mysteries in the entertainment industry. 

“I… it’s actually nothing much, nothing special. Don’t think too much.” Su Shen laughed awkwardly. She didn’t want to know, but after thinking about it, she realized that Xie Yan seemed to have hinted to her a long time ago, but she didn’t dare to think that way.

“AH! Su jie, look!” Xiao Zhou suddenly leaned over and handed the phone to her. 

Su Shen put down her script, took over her phone, and looked. But when she saw the contents on the screen, she couldn’t help frowning. 

Entertainment Gossip Auntie Q&A: 

1. Auntie, auntie, I want to ask, with Su Shen’s fame, it’s not enough to be in Director Li’s film, right? Why are her resources so good? Is it true that she snatched Tang Xuan’s role?

Answer: 

Su Shen’s sister is the VP of Tangerine TV, so that’s why she’s a leading actress as soon as she debuted. However, her sister isn’t able to give her many too good of opportunities either. She’s rather ambitious. Before, she latched onto Jiang Yin and even chased after Xie Yan. The reason why she can be in Director Li’s film is because she has an indescribable relationship with a senior executive producer. You know what I mean. Originally, this film had decided on Tang Xuan, but it was changed because of the senior executive. Director Li isn’t very satisfied with her, but he has no choice. 

This was a gossip account that had over five million followers and often posted explosives on some matters. Some were true, some were false. The ones that were true were accurate. The ones that were false, others wouldn’t know. However, it was still rather famous among the gossip accounts. With this sudden explosive, some other news sites began to reshare it. This was from last night and wasn’t anything big at that time. It was still at the bottom of Hot Search after a night of it simmering, but the internet was already crazily cursing at her. 

Netizen A: This kind of woman who climbs into bed with others, I suspect that her Best Newcomer award came from sleeping. [vomit]

Netizen B: Poor Tang Xuan; this kind of woman who climbs in bed with others and has poor acting is simply a tumor in the entertainment industry. [vomit]

Netizen C: I believe in Su Su. Can news from a gossip account even be believable? Those who said my Su Su’s acting is poor, please go and see the optometrist. [smiley face]

Netizen D: So repulsive. I used to think she was quite pretty, but I didn’t expect her to be so depraved.

Netizen E: Are there no costs to spreading a rumor now? At the award ceremony, Tang Xuan personally said that she admired Su Su a lot. If she really stole her role, who would even say that? Gossip dog, karma will hit you back!

Netizen F: Too scary. Miss Su, please stay away from my Xie Yan in the future. He probably hasn’t seen your true colors yet. [smiley face]

Netizen G: I think Xie Yan and Su Shen’s relationship is pretty good. Didn’t they joke with each other before? Besides, if they were not on good terms, Xie Yan wouldn’t act with her, no?

Netizen H: Is it a publicity stunt? After all, Miss Su’s new drama is about to air. Emmmm

Netizen I: Is the OP above stupid? Would you hype like this?

Su Shen didn’t know who was trying to destroy her behind her back again, but it was clear that they had spent a lot of money. With so many water armies and the chain of follow-up reposts, this degree of publicity was usually done for promotions of a play. Moreover, the cost was not low, at least two million. The person behind this was really willing to spend a fortune on it.  

“Su jie, do you want to give Liu jie a call?” Xiao Zhou asked worriedly. 

This kind of news had to be clarified in time or it would easily damage her reputation with the public. Even if it was clarified later, it would still leave a bad impression. 

Su Shen returned the phone to her, but before she could call Liu jie, her sister’s call came in. 

Glancing at Xue Zhixin, Su Shen came to the corridor outside with her phone. Everyone was busy on set and rarely had time to follow the news online closely. 

As soon as the call connected, Su Ruan’s somber voice immediately came through from the other end, “Shen Shen, what’s going on?”

It was not a big deal if it was just a small-scale rumor, but when it came to reputation, her sister placed more importance on it than she did. Especially if her parents saw it, Su Shen couldn’t imagine the consequences. 

After a pause, she said softly, “This is an accident. I’ll deal with it as soon as possible.”

“I know that the entertainment industry is messy, but you also know that mom and dad had always disagreed with you entering. If they see this, how angry will they be? It’s clear that someone’s trying to destroy you. Do you think it will be so easy to calm the aftermath later?” Su Ruan earnestly explained. 

Hearing this, Su Shen also had a headache. She could wait for the company to deal with it, but her parents would not give her time to wait. 

“I’m not putting pressure on you. I know you want to be independent, but at this time, I have to help you. I’ll contact Liu Min and take down the headline on Hot Search before it gets bigger. As for the gossip account, if she doesn’t agree to delete the post, I will have the company’s legal team sue her. However, the person who wants to slander you won’t stop so easily. You have to solve this matter from the root. For example, ask the production team to clarify or have Tang Xuan put in a word for you. Understand?”

Hearing the words from the other end of the line, Su Shen also knew the seriousness of the matter, but even if the production team was to clarify right now, those netizens wouldn’t believe it. They would only think that it was a facade that she bought off the production team.

“I’ll think it over. Thanks, sis,” said Su Shen softly. 

At that, the person on the other end of the line also softened her tone a little. “I know you’re all grown up now, but you must take care of yourself, and don’t let mom and dad worry about you. Also, you can’t hide your relationship with Xie Yan from them always. When are you going to tell them?”