Fragments of memories crowded into her mind, gradually becoming clearer.
In the first half of the original work, the male lead and female lead, along with a female supporting character engaged in their usual chaotic interactions, which could be summarized as the female supporting character’s attempts to sabotage the female lead at a social gathering, only to be rescued by the male lead, resulting in the cliché story of them teaming up against each other.
For her, this was nothing new, but what she didn’t expect was that the second half of the plot would revolve around Yan Chi.
This revelation caught Gu Qingtong off guard, and she eagerly continued reading.
In the original story, Yan Chi had no scandals despite being in the entertainment industry for a long time. She didn’t have any relationships with male celebrities either, leading to speculations that she was gay.
Other companies took advantage of this and used their own female stars to create hype around Yan Chi. They even managed to bribe paparazzi to capture “intimate photos” of the two during this event. Although Yan Chi’s team quickly shut down the rumors, the next day, news of her same-sex scandal spread rapidly online.
Upon reading this event description, Gu Qingtong couldn’t help but tense up. It seemed like this was the plot that was about to unfold today?!
The memories that awakened when she had the car accident was like an outline of a book, without lacking any specific details.
It turned out that these details need specific scenes and characters to gradually activate through fragmented memories.
The silhouette of the girl she just saw seemed to be the female protagonist, Xia Yao. It’s not surprising for two people in the entertainment industry to meet here.
Gu Qingtong is not interested in the scandals of the male and female leads, but she can’t ignore the rumors about Yan Chi’s sexuality.
Which company’s artist would stoop so low as to engage in such publicity stunts? Clearly, the plot in her memory didn’t reveal this information.
However, allowing Yan Chi to be manipulated for publicity was clearly not an option.
After finishing her makeup, Gu Qingtong snuck out of her dressing room and decided to keep an eye on Yan Chi from the shadows throughout today’s event.
As a highly acclaimed actress, Yan Chi had reached the same status and experience as a group of veteran actors by the age of thirty. That’s why she was invited by the official organizers to be the “initiator” of this Youth Actor Development Program.
Yan Chi’s dressing room was meant for one person only, unlike Gu Qingtong’s room where many people crowded together to rush through makeup and wardrobe changes.
The door was slightly ajar, so Gu Qingtong discreetly held the black dress arranged by her alma mater and approached the gap to take a peek inside.
“Teacher Yan, I’m about to join the ‘Startled Magpie’ film crew. This is my first time as a lead in a movie, and I don’t have much confidence. I heard that you were involved with this film in the beginning, so I came to seek advice from a senior.”
The moment Gu Qingtong heard the voice, her face showed a look of sudden realization. What a coincidence! Wasn’t this her old acquaintance, Yun Mingxuan?
Yun Mingxuan was Gu Qingtong’s classmate in high school.
Initially, they were inseparable friends. At that time, Gu Shuyu owned an entertainment company, and Yun Mingxuan managed to enter the company as an artist through her relationship with Gu Qingtong.
However, Gu Shuyu’s company started suffering losses year after year and lacked good resources. Yun Mingxuan wanted to leave the company but never told anyone. Instead, she terminated her contract by participating in a talent show as a trainee.
And that’s when the familiar plot unfolded, known to internet users.
With rumors spreading like wildfire, denials were futile, let alone clearing up the bullying and blacklisting. How could they even begin to clarify the situation?
At that time, no one believed Gu Shuyu’s statements and legal letters.
It was the first time Miss Gu had encountered such a setback, and she was so infuriated that she created an official Weibo account under her real name and directly confronted the online trolls.
It was precisely because of this that Gu Qingtong suddenly switched to studying acting during her senior year of high school.
They said her acting skills were terrible, right? Well, she was determined to get into the Central Academy of Drama, ranked first in the country, and give these detractors a big slap in the face.
Gu Shuyu won the lawsuit against Yun Mingxuan for defamation and breach of contract. Gu Qingtong successfully entered the Central Academy of Drama. These delayed pieces of evidence and rebuttals faded away over the past two years, and no one, whether it was the online trolls or the bystanders, cared anymore.
Although Gu Qingtong didn’t pay attention to Yun Mingxuan’s news, she was constantly bombarded by Yun Mingxuan’s promotion and endorsements on her homepage. She often saw Yun Mingxuan being linked to Yan Chi on various shows.
If it was indeed Yun Mingxuan and her company, they were capable of pulling off such a mind-boggling publicity stunt…
After all, the two victims of the Gu family, including Gu Qingtong, had never anticipated to be subjected to the spread of rumors. Furthermore, Yun Mingxuan’s company had strong PR1Public Relation skills and knew how to manipulate public opinion.
“So what?”
Yan Chi’s tone remained indifferent, showing no sign of reciprocating Yun Mingxuan’s attentiveness.
Yun Mingxuan’s smile froze on her face. She didn’t expect Yan Chi to be even colder in private than when they were in public together. She didn’t even maintain the most basic courtesy.
Her manager had arranged for the paparazzi on the opposite building. As long as she and Yan Chi acted out an intimate scene from the script they were rehearsing, the paparazzi would capture it, fueling the same-sex scandal. They would then use the excuse of “acting for the script” to clarify the situation. The whole script of this self-directed drama had been meticulously planned.
Whether it’s Yun Mingxuan herself or this upcoming slightly provocative yuri film, they will both benefit from the hype generated by Yan Chi’s same-sex scandal.
They accurately predicted that Yan Chi’s calm and indifferent personality would not react strongly to this, which is why they dared to act so recklessly.
After all, the attempts made by Yun Mingxuan’s team before to create a forced CP2Couple between them and exploit every possible connection were only deleted from the press releases.
“I would like to ask my senior to rehearse with me. You know, I’ve always wanted to become an actress like you. If I imagine the other person as you, I will have a better sense of immersion.”
Yun Mingxuan spoke softly, showcasing her innocent and harmless image to the extreme.
Yan Chi calmly shifted her gaze onto Yun Mingxuan, her light-colored eyes devoid of any offended emotions. Everything was calm and serene as she simply asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”
Beside her, Yun Mingxuan inexplicably felt a chill running through her body under that gaze. She even had a faint feeling that the other party had already seen through everything. Suddenly, her heart raced, and she started to feel a bit afraid.
From Gu Qingtong’s perspective, she could only see that Yun Mingxuan had pushed Yan Chi to the point where she couldn’t bear it any longer.
She pushed open the door, pretending to come and find Yan Chi, saying, “Teacher Yan… Ah, do you have a guest?”
The look Yun Mingxuan gave Gu Qingtong could almost kill, but she still maintained her innocent image in front of Yan Chi. “Gu Qingtong? Why are you here?”
“Only you can come, huh?” Gu Qingtong took a few steps forward and discreetly created some distance between the two, raising her chin to counter.
Her reputation was already that of an unreasonable troublemaking young miss, and her favorite thing to do was to infuriate others when they were pretending to be someone they were not.
Obviously, Yun Mingxuan’s plan was no longer possible, but she was very curious as to why Gu Qingtong would appear here. So she decided to stay and feigned surprise, saying, “I just didn’t expect that you would also know Teacher Yan. After all, you… Well, it’s unlikely for you to cross paths with her.”
As she spoke, she looked expectantly at Yan Chi, hoping that her indifference would be amplified when directed at Gu Qingtong.
Yun Mingxuan naturally regarded Gu Qingtong as someone who came to take advantage of Yan Chi, just like herself.
As she expected, the moment Yan Chi saw Gu Qingtong, there was a hint of surprise in her eyes. Her eyes scanned Gu Qingtong from top to bottom, and her eyebrows furrowed slightly for a moment.
That’s right, this was more like it!
Seeing that Gu Qingtong was about to suffer, Yun Mingxuan suddenly felt that the indifference she had just experienced was nothing compared to this.
However, in the next moment, she wore an expression as if she had seen a ghost.
“Weren’t you supposed to go to the dressing room? Why are you here?”
Yan Chi stood up and picked up a shawl from the wardrobe, naturally draping it over Gu Qingtong’s thin and slender shoulders, wrapping her up tightly, covering the large expanse of exposed fair skin due to her evening gown.
“It’s easy to catch a cold when dressed so lightly.”
Yun Mingxuan felt like a clown because the slap in the face came too quickly.
But she had never seen Yan Chi be so gentle and affectionate with anyone before. When did Gu Qingtong become a close friend of the actress?!
Angry and anxious, Yun Mingxuan’s gaze toward Gu Qingtong became increasingly undisguised.
Not to mention Yun Mingxuan, even Gu Qingtong didn’t expect Yan Chi’s immediate reaction to be to casually drape a shawl over her as if no one else was around.
No, there are paparazzi across the street! If she and Yan Chi are caught together, it would be disastrous…
“I’m sorry, I also have a personal matter to discuss with Teacher Yan. Since Miss Yun has finished asking her questions, can you please leave?”
Gu Qingtong met Yun Mingxuan’s incredulous gaze head-on, displaying her arrogant and domineering demeanor, leaving no doubt about her spoiled temperament.
Although Yun Mingxuan was unwilling, it was evident that she didn’t have the audacity to stay any longer after being told to leave. She could only leave with a belly full of questions.
Watching her leave, Gu Qingtong didn’t forget to close the door and draw the curtains. Only after doing all this did she breathe a sigh of relief.
She turned to Yan Chi, completely devoid of her previous spoiled attitude.
“Just now, I offended her in order to help you get rid of her. You should have guessed that Yun Mingxuan’s company plays dirty tricks. Maybe they called the paparazzi on you just now.”
“Then why did you suddenly come to find me?” Yan Chi’s gaze shifted, interestedly staring at Gu Qingtong.
This was also the topic that Gu Qingtong had been trying to avoid because they weren’t even in the same building!
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed suspicious.
Seeing Gu Qingtong’s stammering inability to explain, Yan Chi just chuckled lightly. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say it. But I might misunderstand and think that you care about me.”
Upon hearing these words, Gu Qingtong felt her face quickly heating up. After a while, she managed to squeeze out a sentence, “It’s not what you think! Oh, well… I’ll just go first!”
She hurriedly fled before her face turned red and collided with Xiao Jun when she rushed out.
“Hey, isn’t this Teacher Gu? Teacher Yan… What’s going on with you two?” Xiao Jun didn’t even finish her sentence before Gu Qingtong disappeared.
“Just teasing the little kid.”
Yan Chi withdrew her gaze that had been fixated on Gu Qingtong earlier.
“Just now, Yun Mingxuan came. She probably found a spot in advance and wanted to take photos for publicity.”
“Ah?!” Xiao Jun widened her eyes in response to Yan Chi’s calmly narrated explanation.
“Why did the little kid get so worked up about this?” Yan Chi seemed lost in thought, as if she was questioning someone.
Xiao Jun, after a moment of contemplation, confidently replied, “Isn’t it obvious? She’s definitely jealous. After all, Teacher Yan belongs to Gu Qingtong alone. When others try to get close to Teacher Yan, she naturally gets aggressive.”
“Is that so?”
Yan Chi’s eyes flickered slightly. She wanted to give Gu Qingtong some more time to adjust.
If she continued being this obedient, Yan Chi would not be able to resist the urge to eat her.
