This is a two-in-one chapter update, but I’m too lazy to split it in two, so enjoy the extra long chapter.
Liu Xiaoyu was an ordinary office worker who enjoyed nothing more after getting off work than browsing Weibo and catching up on celebrity gossip.
One of the rare pieces of gossip that really got her riled up was the news that broke last night about a backstage actor verbally abusing another actor on set. Seeing the updates when she woke up this morning made her so angry that she couldn’t help but curse out loud, which made her feel depressed all day long. It threw her off so much that she nearly made several mistakes in her work data. So as soon as she got off work today, she eagerly opened her phone, wanting to follow up on the aftermath and see if that arrogant, domineering rich second-generation brat had been exposed yet.
However, when she opened Weibo, the sudden shift in public opinion caught her completely off guard. She hurriedly tapped to read more about what was going on, only to be stunned by the shocking reversal revealed inside.
What?! The incident that had nearly made her spit blood with rage just this morning turned out to be fake?!
And the victim she had sympathized with this morning was actually the real mastermind behind the scenes?!
Even the black materials1Black materials (黑料): the information or historical records (which can be either true or not) that will have a negative impact on a celebrity or a project. leaked was something they had planned in advance?!
Wave after wave of evidence left her eyes dizzy. Especially those exposed pieces of evidence and the firsthand account videos from those involved were simply mind-blowing.
Liu Xiaoyu felt like her brain could hardly keep up.
Just as she was still struggling to digest the new evidence while filled with rage over the sinister schemes of those behind-the-scenes villains, Weibo suddenly notified her that one of the people she followed had posted something new. She reflexively tried to slide past and ignore it but accidentally tapped in.
Seeing it was a news bulletin from the local police, she skimmed through it.
XX Police Department V: #Police Bulletin on Zhang XX and Others Suspected of Deliberately Hiring Assailants to Injure# Recently, we received a report from a member of the public claiming to have been maliciously surrounded and threatened with harm to their life and safety by Zhang XX and others, resulting in severe physical and mental trauma. Given the extremely harmful nature of this incident, the police have now stepped in to investigate. [Photos 123 attached]
The police released notices like this almost every day, and normally Liu Xiaoyu wouldn’t pay much attention. But when she casually tapped through the attached photos, she couldn’t help but freeze up a little.
Wait a second! Weren’t those some of the same thugs she had just seen in the videos?!
Liu Xiaoyu looked again uncertainly, then exited and opened up the videos she had just watched to compare them carefully. She realized they really were the same people.
Sensing she had stumbled upon a shocking piece of gossip, Liu Xiaoyu immediately lost her cool.
But just to be sure she wasn’t mistaken, she quickly made a link to the news bulletin and posted it in the comments under the original video, inviting other netizens to come compare them as well.
Gossip involving the police always became extremely sensitive, especially at such a climactic moment. Predictably, quite a few netizens were drawn in to check out her link and were similarly shocked by what they found inside.
“Holy crap! It really is the same guys! Those colorful hair are way too eye-catching!”
“The police are investigating? So, all that evidence Jing Li exposed earlier was real?!”
“Case closed! Let’s see how that despicable Xiaosan tries to squirm his way out of this now!”
“What’s there to squirm about? Soliciting assault is a criminal case now. I bet the scumbag boyfriend will be next to get a police summons!”
“Hahahaha, karma always catches up in the end!”
“If only those two had laid low after getting caught cheating, they wouldn’t have ended up in this mess now!”
…
This police notice completely validated the incriminating evidence against Zhong Liangchen. Countless netizens frantically @’ed the two and flooded their Weibo posts asking if they had been brought in for questioning yet. The scene was spectacular for a time.
Sitting in front of their computers, Lin Xiao and Zhong Liangchen had both collapsed limply into their chairs ever since seeing Jing Li’s Weibo post. Especially Zhong Liangchen – when he saw the familiar faces of those gangsters in the video, he was so horrified that his whole body went weak and numb.
He never could have imagined that Jing Li had long ago known about the truth of his involvement in the incident in the alley that day. When Jing Li had accused him of having evidence during their confrontation at the hotel, it gave him a fright, but when nothing came of it afterward, he assumed it was just an intimidation tactic. So, he hadn’t taken it seriously.
He never expected that Jing Li actually held evidence from back then, and would directly publicize it online.
Only when the evidence was laid out before his eyes did he belatedly realize he had truly angered Jing Li. In a daze, he finally understood that Jing Li had been too lazy to bother with him before, and only now that his actions had provoked the other did Jing Li retaliate ruthlessly, intending to put him to certain ruin.
But regretting it now was clearly too late. Forget Jing Li, just Jing Yu alone seeing the mess he had caused would certainly not let him off.
Remembering Jing Yu’s previous methods against him, Zhong Liangchen finally couldn’t help but shudder, panicking completely.
Wang Junwen! That’s right, Wang Junwen!
He shook as he grabbed his phone to call Wang Junwen and ask him to think of something. But before he could dial, there was a knock at his door. Thinking it was Wang Junwen coming over after seeing the news, he didn’t hesitate to rush over and open the door. But the instant he did, his whole body locked up at the sight.
Outside, two men dressed as policemen were staring at him sharply.
“You’re Zhong Liangchen, right?” The younger policeman immediately recognized him. “We’re from the XX Police Department. Here are our badges. We received a report you were involved in a case of soliciting assault to harm someone. Please come down to the station with us for investigation.”
Hearing their words, Zhong Liangchen only felt a buzzing in his head as his face drained pale.
The two policemen didn’t bother with more talk, simply stepping forward to pull him out the door and take him away.
Zhong Liangchen walked along mechanically, his mind filled with just one thought: It’s over! I’m finished!
And if he had looked back just then, he would have noticed that during the entire process of the police taking him away, Lin Xiao, who had heard the commotion inside, didn’t make a single sound – he didn’t even glance outside.
*
Online public opinion continued to ferment, now transformed into outrage at Lin Xiao and Zhong Liangchen. After that, the reclusive rich second generation Wang Junwen, who had used threats of blacklisting against others, was also exposed.
Moreover, because Wang Junwen had always recklessly vented his emotions on Weibo, his unspeakable feelings toward Zhong Liangchen were also made public.
Seeing that he had been posting ambiguous things about Zhong Liangchen since over a year ago, people’s disgust toward him sank to new lows.
“He actually had the gall to call himself Jing Li’s best friend? What thick skin!”
“Looking at his Weibo, it seems Jing Li was still dating the scumbag a year ago? He was already lusting after the guy’s boyfriend back then?”
“Birds of a feather flock together. They’re all nasty pieces of work2“果然蛇鼠一窝，都不是什么好东西！” Lit. “Sure enough, a nest of snakes and rats is not a good thing!”!”
“The police uncles should investigate him too. A person with such a low moral character must have a lot of illegal and criminal records!”
…
Now, the three people who had been shouting like crazy before had become complete objects of scorn, with abusive comments coming at them from all sides.
Just as public sentiment was raging, countless gossip sites hurriedly published new information, claiming there were updates in the assault case – the police had already arrested the perpetrator Zhong XX, and he was very likely to face prison time. At the end of the Weibo post were photos of the arrested man being put into a police car.
Zhong Liangchen’s face was still quite recognizable online, so this news instantly riled people up even more. Countless cheered jubilantly, while the more audacious ran to Lin Xiao and Wang Junwen’s Weibo posts to gloatingly ask their opinion on the news and if they were afraid they’d be next.
Of course, countless fans who truly cared about Jing Li also flooded his Weibo to share the good news and frantically @ and DM him.
But no matter how people tried to get his attention, he didn’t react at all.
Just when his indifferent attitude was dampening everyone’s enthusiasm, Jing Li finally updated with a new post. Everyone instantly swarmed in to see what he said, then collectively fell silent.
Jing Li V: Personally, I still think Spicy Chicken is the most soulful @Wang Lele [Photos 123456 attached]
The attached pictures were all sorts of mouthwatering dishes, elegant tableware, and colorful, aromatic food that looked especially tempting, especially at this late hour – even through the screen, it was as if you could smell the fragrance. But it had nothing to do with the boiling online discourse.
Perhaps because the silence in the comments stretched on a bit too long, Wang Lele, who Jing Li had @’ed, was the first to reply:
Wang Lele V: Is it because of your sexy red mouth?
Seeing this comment, the previously silent netizens instantly erupted again.
“Ahhhhhhhh! So we eagerly clicked in, and this is what you show us?!”
“I strongly suspect Jing Shao is doing a late-night snack!”
“The above commenter – have more confidence. You can directly remove the first five words!”
“Hahahaha, I’d love to see the expressions of that troubled trio when they see this post! It must be priceless!”
“Scumbag Team: Jing Li must be waiting to laugh at us! Jing Shao: Enjoying good food with friends, don’t call me!”
“So Jing Li is a secret foodie?! I suddenly feel a sense of kinship.”
“@Wang Lele, if you have the guts, post the photos!”
“One person’s blood oath asking to see Jing Li’s sexy red mouth!”
“+1 blood oath asking to see it!”
…
“A ten thousand people blood oath!!”
…
The late-night lure of good food was probably irresistible to almost everyone. Swayed by Jing Li’s post, the mood in the comments quickly went off track. Before long, new hashtags like #JingLi’sSexyRedMouth# and #JingLiEnjoyingGoodFoodWithFriends# appeared high in the hot searches.
The person who caused such huge popularity went silent again after posting this Weibo post, much to the frustration of countless netizens who scratched their heads and some who even went straight to Wang Lele’s Weibo to loudly demand he hand over Jing Li’s photos.
At that moment, the online world was abuzz again. Names like Lin Xiao and Zhong Liang Chen were instantly forgotten and tossed aside like unimportant gravel.
Seeing the shifting tides of public opinion online, Lin Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he couldn’t help feeling stifled, as if no matter how much of a stir he caused, he couldn’t elicit any reaction from Jing Li. A simple dinner photo posted nonchalantly by Jing Li could immediately eclipse all the attention Lin Xiao had garnered.
This realization made Lin Xiao even more resentful of Jing Li while also feeling utterly powerless. He knew that some people were simply born favored – beyond his reach, no matter how hard he tried.
He even regretted plotting against Jing Li with Zhong Liangchen. If he had simply taken advantage of Jing Li’s wariness and guilt to gain more for himself, he could be enjoying the limelight with Jing Li now instead of alone.
But regret was pointless since there was no antidote. No matter how much he agonized over it, it was useless. In fact, he now had to figure out how to deal with the consequences of offending not just Jing Li, but the entire Jing family.
Thinking of all this, Lin Xiao collapsed limply into his seat, completely drained of even the last bit of strength.
Jing Li didn’t have such complicated thoughts. After enjoying a delicious dinner, he contentedly sprawled out on the sofa with a satisfied sigh.
No wonder people said there was nothing a good meal couldn’t solve. Right now, he felt that as long as he could spend every day with his brother and eat all kinds of delicious food in this world, it would be a very nice thing.
Just as he was thinking this, Jing Li suddenly noticed another large cluster of white specks floating in through the window. There were several times more than he had seen before, passing through his busy little assistant and heading straight for him.
Jing Li raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise, quietly watching as the white specks approached him little by little before gradually dissolving into his body and disappearing. Although he still didn’t feel any difference in his body, he could confirm that these things would not harm him. Like other specks representing fortune and merit, they were likely generated and accumulated slowly because of something. So, he did not resist.
However, just as he was about to get up to wash and prepare for bed, the window suddenly lit up with a huge strip of light surging towards him. Looking closely, it was a large group of white specks. So numerous they clung together densely like a cloud of light points slowly moving closer.
Jing Li was a little dumbfounded seeing such a quantity for the first time. He watched as the cloud of light points once again gradually entered his body bit by bit.
Perhaps because of the sheer magnitude, Jing Li vaguely felt a warm, sunny sensation this time, as if even the stagnant channels in his body had become exceptionally smooth, giving him a nostalgic feeling of comfort from when he first gained consciousness and experienced the outside world.
But this inexplicable increase in light spots was clearly abnormal. Jing Li couldn’t help but frown. Just as he was about to sort out his thoughts on the whole matter, he heard the assistant on the other end suddenly exclaim, “Er Shao, Director Li posted a new Weibo!”
Jing Li was jolted out of his thoughts and was about to ask what had excited him so much when the other said excitedly, “Director Li released your character stills for Immortal Road, Er Shao. You look so good it’s not human!”
Jing Li: “…”
Although he really wasn’t human, those words somehow felt like an insult.
The assistant seemed to realize his slip of the tongue and quickly explained, “No, no, I didn’t mean you’re not human, Er Shao! I meant you look so good in the photo, it’s inhuman!”
Jing Li: “…”
“I mean, you just look too handsome, like an immortal who transcends the mundane world!” The assistant babbled incoherently, then apparently still finding his description lacking, came over to show Jing Li his phone screen. “See for yourself, Er Shao. Director Li posted the stills, and the internet is going crazy.”
Jing Li took his phone and glanced at the Weibo post. It was indeed Director Li’s latest post:
Li Yi V: You are the most perfect young master in my mind! @Jing Li, looking forward to working with you! 【Photos 123456】
The attached images were the ancient costume shots taken on set that day. Jing Li wore light purple robes and a jade crown over ink-black hair. His features were exquisitely refined yet masculine. He gave off an ethereal, otherworldly air like an exiled immortal temporarily descended to the mortal realm.
In the first image, his clear, bright eyes gazing into the camera were like a pool of the purest water, untainted by the slightest speck of worldly filth. Yet he did not seem completely unaware of mortal affairs like a naive child, but rather more like an enlightened immortal who still kept to his own path after experiencing the mundane world.
In the second image, the corners of his lips curved up slightly, almost smiling but not quite, a hint of playfulness in his eyes – an expression completely different from the first, yet instantly bridging the distance with others. It seemed he had finally taken on some of the mundane world’s secular air, matching his expression in the audition video perfectly.
Flipping to the third image, his dazzling smile burst forth, instantly capturing the viewers’ eyes. The smiling face without a trace of haze in front of the camera seemed to illuminate people’s hearts, bringing an unconscious upturn to the lips of all who see it.
At this point, almost everyone was stunned by Jing Li’s beauty, minds filled only with his stunning appearance. But when they swiped to the next two images, the style was completely different again.
In the fourth photo, he wore the same costume, head slightly lowered, tightly gripping a white sword. His raised eyes seemed to hold the coldest frost in the world, expressionlessly meeting the camera in a way that made people’s hearts jump. They instinctively wiped the smiles from their faces, solemnly returning his gaze through the screen.
When they tapped to reveal the next image, everyone froze. The cold, dense killing intent abruptly revealed in those eyes made the unprepared gasp sharply.
Almost no one could meet those eyes for over three seconds before hastily looking away, not daring to look again.
But even with their gaze lingering elsewhere, the detached chill he exuded still sent shivers down their spines. Though separated by a screen, it gave the illusion of having broken through that barrier to directly meet his eyes, instantly accelerating heartbeats, as if they would drown by his hand the next second.
Yet such an aggressive expression was paired with a peerless face, frightening them while also unable to resist his allure, left only to repeatedly torment their nerves, willingly becoming his vassal.
After the suffocation, all were swiftly pulled from the flames by the gif in the final image. Watching him leisurely emerge from the mist in the gif, faintly smiling as he lifted his head to meet the camera with that exquisite face, they sank once more into the gentle abyss he created.
Though there were only six images in total, the fans felt as if they had experienced the young master’s whole, fleeting life, leaving profoundly deep impressions.
In the comments, everyone really did go crazy as the assistant said.
“Ahhhh Jing Shao’s eyes are killing me!”
“I was already shocked by the audition video, but I didn’t expect that the makeup photos would give me even more shock.”
“Jing Shao, what kind of heavenly looks are these?! I’m so dead!”
“I won’t say anything else, this is the most perfect young master in my heart!”
“After seeing the final makeup photos, I can’t wait to watch the TV series. What should I do!!!”
“I declare from today on I am Jing Shao’s most loyal fan…no, stan!”
“Mom asked why I’m drooling madly at my computer screen!”
“Jing Shao’s eyes in the last two photos seemed to emit killing intent, I was so unprepared I almost got sent away!”
…
Most of the comments were similarly praising, with countless people madly licking their screens shouting “husband”. It was clear everyone was truly driven crazy by Jing Li’s looks.
Jing Li casually scrolled through, then couldn’t help letting out an amused chuckle. Though he didn’t quite understand why these netizens were reacting so crazily to his photos, it didn’t prevent him from finding these fans adorable.
No wonder so many desperately tried to break into showbiz, having such lovely fans really was an honor.
As he was reading, his ears suddenly caught several “ka-cha” sounds. Jing Li looked up to see his little assistant furiously snapping photos of him, face clearly flushed with excitement.
“?” Jing Li looked at him, confused, “What are you doing?”
“Taking pictures!” The assistant said matter-of-factly. “Er Shao, your smile just now was really charming. If I post it on Weibo, it’ll definitely set off a frenzy of screams from fans.” Candid, unguarded moments like this were especially captivating!
He hesitated, then cautiously asked, “Can I post the photos on Weibo? … Wang-jie said your popularity is really high right now, so posting some casual daily life photos will help connect with fans more.”
Wang-jie was the manager sister whom Jing Yu had hired for him, supposedly a famous top manager in the industry. Thinking she would be more experienced in these matters, Jing Li nodded in agreement almost without thinking, then instructed the assistant, “Remember to let Wang-jie review it before uploading it.”
Hearing this, the assistant excitedly acknowledged and hurried off to contact the manager.
Seeing his excited expression, Jing Li shook his head amusedly but didn’t say anything more. After the other left, he thought for a moment before opening his own Weibo on his phone, looking at the madly soaring follower count nearing one million. His eyes gradually took on a thoughtful look.
He already had a rough guess about the large number of white specks that suddenly appeared but needed further testing to confirm. Although he had learned about the general situation of this world, he didn’t seem to have heard of any celebrities experiencing anything particularly special. But it was also possible the person involved had concealed it.
So, there was no rush on this matter. The priority was still to increase his own strength, to thoroughly fulfill his original’s wish first.
Just as he was thinking this, his phone suddenly rang. Jing Li glanced down and raised his brows slightly in surprise.
Gu Tingshen was calling him again.
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