Chapter 21: Blocked

Chapter 21

Song Anti retweeted the promotional video for "Nishang," but it wasn't long before observant Sherlock Holmes fans noticed something was off. In the video, the seductive "Song Anti" was dancing, with a blue butterfly tattoo on her left lower back that seemed... not quite right.

Initially, only a few netizens questioned the proportionality issue, and it didn't cause much of a stir online, with very few replies.

However, just over ten minutes after these comments were posted, the official account deleted them all without a trace. This sudden and fierce action made netizens suspicious that something was amiss.

A Sherlock Holmes fan dug up magazine photos of Song Anti from before and superimposed a dotted grid on her lower back. It was clear that Song Anti's butterfly tattoo covered almost all of the squares.

However, when the same grid was applied to a screenshot from the video, the proportion of the butterfly to the entire lower back was reduced by almost a third.

This comparison directly disproved the fact that Song Anti had used a body double.

"What's going on? This dance wasn't performed by Song Anti, and Bai (the body double) got all excited for nothing."

"After careful observation, it's clear that the editing techniques used a body double, there's no face when dancing, and no dance when showing the face."

"Isn't this deceiving the audience?"

"Song Anti, are you embarrassed?"

"It's normal to use a body double during filming, why is she being criticized?"

"Feeling sorry for Song Anti."

"That's right, which A-list star hasn't used a body double? Don't try to create controversy for the sake of marketing!"

"Using a body double isn't the issue here, the problem is that Song Anti reposted the video and claimed that it was her performing the dance."

"That's right, using a body double isn't a big deal, but lying is... there's really no way to defend yourself."

"This is just shooting yourself in the foot."

Soon, the hashtag #SongAntiBodyDouble surged to the top of the trending searches.

The situation escalated, with online criticism and accusations that Song Anti lacked dancing skills and was lying about using a body double for the dance.

Many people also brought up Song Anti's dark history of stage performances during her days in a girl group, and compared it to the "Nishang" dance.

The comparison was a complete disaster.

"Feeling sorry for the dance double."

"That's right, the body double danced much better than Song Anti."

"Song Anti, do you have any shame?"

Forced to act, Song Anti had to delete the tweet claiming the dance as her own, and then posted another tweet: "Please pay more attention to my acting. [bows] [thank you]"

However, this tweet immediately sparked more questioning and dissatisfaction from viewers.

"Your acting isn't that great either, you know."

"Is it really that hard to admit that you lied?"

"Can you explain why you used a body double and misled netizens?"

"Is it because of your vanity?"

"You don't have many dance scenes, why don't you dance yourself? Isn't it hilarious that a former girl group member can't even dance?"

"Song Anti is now popular and busy with variety shows and endorsements every day, so where's the time to practice dancing? [laughs]"

"Fans of the original work say that the female lead is the greatest dancer in the Tang Dynasty, and they really don't want a star who can't even dance to play the part."

...

The body double incident had grown out of control, and Song Anti was at a loss as to how to handle it. Faced with no other choice, her agency had to issue an apology statement on her Weibo account, stating that they would not use body doubles and that Song Anti would dance the "Ni Chang" dance herself.

"You wretch! You deserve to die!"

"So you want to challenge me? You want to enter the entertainment industry? As long as I'm here, you can forget about it for the rest of your life!"

Such harsh and domineering words, along with the image of a shrew, instantly overturned her "goddess of historical dramas" character.

Netizens' criticisms came like a tidal wave:

"Oh my god, Song Anti's words... so vicious!"

"Compared to her usual pure image on screen, she's like a completely different person."

"I can't believe I've been a fan of this woman for so long."

"Don't ever pursue stars with true feelings. Being disappointed is too painful."

"Song Anti must have had a reason for doing this!"

"Isn't it just because her stand-in was discovered and she got embarrassed?"

"I feel sorry for this backup dancer."

"Did anyone else notice that this backup dancer looks a lot like the fan dancer from a while ago?"

"Oh yeah, it's her!"

"No wonder, only she could perform the Ni Chang dance so beautifully."

"Amazing!"

...

In the top-floor office of the Canxing Group, Chen Huaixiao ended the video call and sat at his desk, carefully reviewing the report on the next quarter's variety show planning that his supervisor had sent him.

Shen Bin walked over and whispered to him, "Master Chen, Song Anti just caused a scene on set."

Chen Huaixiao remained expressionless. "Is this such a big deal that it needs to be reported to me?"

Shen Bin swallowed hard and spoke with difficulty, "I'm worried about Madam being treated unfairly."

“What’s your concern about my woman?” Chen Huaixiao’s voice was calm. “And who dares to mistreat her?”

Shen Bin quickly retreated from the office, realizing he had stepped on a landmine.

At that moment, Chen Huaixiao's phone buzzed with a news alert:

"Song Anti loses her temper on set, ruining her image! Substitute actress slapped!"

Chen Huaixiao furrowed his brows slightly and clicked on the article. Although he had expected Bai Yin's move to be a trick, seeing the slap land on her soft, delicate skin made his heart skip a beat, feeling the pain as if it were his own.

...

A few minutes later, Shen Bin saw the CEO storm out of his office with a scowl and stride purposefully to his desk. His hand was trembling.

“Besides 'Nishang', does Song Anti have other engagements?” Chen Huaixiao asked, his tone cold and commanding.

“Yes,” Shen Bin replied hastily. “She's scheduled to participate in the variety show 'Celebrity Challenge' this weekend, followed by a fashion endorsement shoot next Wednesday and a romance reality show the week after that...”

Before Shen Bin could finish, Chen Huaixiao cut him off curtly. “Cancel them all.”

“What?” Shen Bin was taken aback. “You mean...”

“All of Song Anti’s engagements in the next six months are canceled,” Chen Huaixiao said, suppressing his anger. “I want to blacklist her.”

Shen Bin swallowed hard, secretly impressed.

Chen Huaixiao had been generous with new actors in the past, never holding a grudge for their mistakes. This was the first time he had taken such a drastic step to blacklist an artist!