After Appearing On A Marriage Reality Show, The Top Star Cried and Says She Doesn't Want a Divorce - Chapter 48

A former auction house employee, with a keen eye for detail, insisted against popular opinion that Yan Mengyi’s bracelet was invaluable. Li Tang had acquired it at an auction years ago, sparing no expense.

[If she didn’t like her, why go to such lengths to please her?]

Others argued that Li Tang was a powerhouse actress who didn’t care about public opinion.

[If she truly disliked someone, she wouldn’t even give them a friendly look.]

[Buying stars and naming them after her and giving her a new one every year—isn’t that love?]

[Exactly! Li Tang doesn’t pander to anyone. If she didn’t like her, she would have divorced her long ago.]

******

Qin Biham glanced at the shift in public opinion, feeling a headache coming on.

Indeed, Goddess Tang was truly formidable. Trying to sway her with public opinion wasn’t going to be easy.

This was precisely why Qin Biham had always treated this “cheap daughter” with such courteous respect over the years.

******

Li Tang’s whereabouts had somehow leaked to the sharp-nosed paparazzi, who swarmed around her like a pack of hunting dogs.

Being cornered in the underground parking garage made Li Tang distinctly uncomfortable. Though her sunglasses hid her expression, the icy aura radiating from her body said it all.

Facing the relentless cameras and flashing lights, Li Tang maintained her impatient demeanor, her slightly furrowed brow silently expressing her displeasure.

However, amid the barrage of questions, when the name “Yan Mengyi” was mentioned, a fleeting hint of tenderness flickered in Li Tang’s eyes.

Under the relentless questioning, Li Tang finally gave a direct response for the first time.

“I don’t bring Xiao Yi home to meet my parents because that place isn’t home.”

The paparazzi, who had spent years chasing Li Tang, never expected to hear an answer from her lips. Li Tang’s sudden speaking startled them all.

“While traveling in South America, we adopted a big tree as our father and another as our mother. Are you satisfied? Do you have any more questions?”

The paparazzi were used to Li Tang’s sharp retorts and hadn’t expected her to ever answer their questions directly. Moreover, the usually aloof and unapproachable Li Tang, who seemed like a fortress, had gone and done something as absurd yet romantic as adopting two trees as her parents, a gesture that bordered on the absurd yet carried a hint of unwavering devotion.

Seeing the reporters exchange bewildered glances, speechless, Li Tang seized a reporter’s microphone.

“What else do you want to know about Xiao Yi and me?”

Her arrogant posture and scornful expression carried a captivating allure. Leaning slightly forward, she exerted an invisible pressure on everyone present, like a top-tier Alpha from a novel.

Finally, a reporter mustered the courage to ask timidly, “Miss Hua Jingyan, your rumored romantic partner, is the guest on the second episode of Pillowside Lovers. How does your wife feel about this?”

The reporter looked at Li Tang expectantly.

Li Tang’s lips curled into a faint smirk at the clumsily phrased question. “Miss Reporter, what would you like my wife to think?”

Though clearly reproachful, her tone somehow made hearts skip a beat.

The way Li Tang’s fingertips brushed against the microphone became a viral meme among short-video bloggers, though no one could quite capture the raw sexual tension she exuded effortlessly.

******

In the minivan, Wan Cuirong scolded Li Tang, who was sitting beside her with her eyes closed, resting.

“Are you really asleep, or just pretending?”

“I’m really asleep.”

“Listen to me, I’m serious!” Wan Cuirong said, exasperated. “You scared me half to death back there. I thought you were going to do something reckless.”

“I just exchanged a few words with them. Why are you so nervous?” Li Tang pushed her sunglasses up onto her head. As if struck by a thought, she pulled out her phone and discovered Yan Mengyi had commented on the Weibo hashtag “Li Tang, Love Scammer” with her usual minimalist style:

[She’s not that kind of person.]

Li Tang’s lips curled into a smile.

“What are you laughing at? It’s ridiculous,” Wan Cuirong asked. “Have you heard about the IGP incident?”

“I used to hate them, but lately I haven’t felt that way. What happened?”

Wan Cuirong explained, “It just blew up on Korean forums, and it’ll probably spread here soon. The moment I met Pei Nalian, I knew she was ambitious. I was surprised she picked Jin Youshu as her lover from the trainees, but now it looks like just a calculated choice. This could jeopardize a second season of Pillowside Lovers.”

Quan Enmin, a name that had faded from public view, was now back in the spotlight, armed with explosive insider information.

After leaving the trainee life, she became a borderline streamer on a subscription-based website, raking in the cash.

But recently, people had noticed her frequent visits to casinos, leading to speculation that she was in financial trouble, which explained her eagerness to leak explosive details about her former company.

Quan Enmin didn’t have many fans in Korea, so normally, no matter what she did, she wouldn’t cause much of a stir.

But then she saw a fan-made video compilation of what happened to the other trainees from her batch.

******

In the Korean entertainment industry, the chances of a trainee making it as a star are actually quite slim. Some of her peers went to work in factories, others became baristas, some continued their education, and a few became freelance models. They didn’t make much money, but at least they had respectable jobs. Quan Enmin, on the other hand, made a lot of money, but she became someone people looked down on.

Especially when people compared her to Pei Nalian and Jin Youshu.

Suddenly, Quan Enmin became a pariah.

Countless netizens flooded Quan Enmin’s live stream, leaving a barrage of harsh comments.

Enraged by the backlash and fueled by the global buzz surrounding Pillowside Lovers, Quan Enmin took to her live stream last night. While downing shots, she viciously berated the trolls, shattering their idealized illusions of Pei Nalian and Jin Youshu.

“It’s all about the money. My job might not be glamorous, but is Pei Nalian’s any more respectable?” Quan Enmin’s eyes burned crimson as she ranted hysterically into the camera.

“Pei Nalian has never been genuine with Jin Youshu,” Quan Enmin’s words cut like a knife, striking at the heart’s tenderest spot.

She revealed that Pei Nalian had approached Jin Youshu out of calculated knowledge about the Jin family’s circumstances, intending to manipulate them. The company’s original plan, wary of the trouble Pei Nalian might cause, was to pair her with less talented members to debut, sparing Jin Youshu’s career.

But after weighing her options, Pei Nalian chose to take a bold gamble. She bewitched Jin Youshu into breaking her contract and returning to Korea to pursue their careers independently. This decision was both a defiant rejection of the company’s plans and a reckless bet on their future.

[This is a madwoman! She’s just jealous and saying all this out of spite!]

[She drinks and gambles. How could anyone believe a word she says?]

[Seeing her former peer become a big star must be driving her crazy with jealousy. She’s probably crying herself to sleep every night, which is why she’s resorting to slander.]

*****

Quan Enmin scrolled through the live stream comments, rolling her eyes at the venom. She then pulled up a video on her phone.

The shaky, candid footage, shot in a bar, clearly showed Pei Nalian. She held a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

Someone nearby mentioned Jin Youshu.

Pei Nalian said, “She… her family’s decent… and she’s naive… There’s no future for me at the company… Getting her is my only shot…”

The noisy environment made it hard to hear everything clearly, but that was enough to shatter fans’ illusions of a fairy-tale romance between the IGP duo. The video laid bare Pei Nalian’s true nature.

Public opinion was in an uproar. Shocked, people waited for more truths to surface.

Today was a small anniversary for them. In previous years, Jin Youshu would always post celebratory updates around this time, expressing her appreciation and gratitude for their relationship.

But this year, everything had changed.

Fans flooded Jin Youshu’s social media feed with comments, desperate for the truth.

Everyone was curious: Why hadn’t Jin Youshu posted anything yet?

Could it be that everything Quan Enmin said was true?

No one could know for sure.

Jin Youshu and Pei Nalian’s social media accounts remained eerily silent.

The silence itself was suffocating.

At midnight, Jin Youshu finally posted a photo of a rainbow.

But there were no words accompanying it.

This was completely out of character for her.

The official Pillowside Lovers account announced that filming for the second episode was about to begin.

Mo Zhenyi, having finished checking everything, sat in her room, staring at the overwhelming chaos before her: three couples, two of whose marriages were teetering on the brink.

Tomorrow… will tomorrow be better?

Would Jin Youshu keep her appointment?

The filming location for the second episode was Changsha, Nalian’s hometown.

Although she rarely spoke of it, in past shows, people had asked Nalian about her hometown.

But she always brushed the topic aside, saying she left home so early that she didn’t have any clear memories of it.

******

Hua Jingyan was preparing to depart for Changsha.

She’s a reserved person, and at the airport, she wore a baseball cap with the brim pulled down low, making it hard to see her expression.

Even so, the enthusiasm of her fans who came to see her off remained high.

They shouted her name, their voices nearly lifting the terminal roof.

Before boarding, she turned and bowed, expressing her heartfelt gratitude to the fans who have always supported her.

The fans shouted, asking about her feelings before leaving.

“Excited.”

On the plane,

Hua Jingyan quietly stared at her phone screen, her gaze soft and focused, as if admiring a precious work of art. She didn’t notice the fervent gaze behind her.

A crazed stalker sat in the seat behind her, his eyes filled with possessiveness and obsession, as if trying to get infinitely closer to his idol through this gaze alone.

On Hua Jingyan’s screen was the hairpin Yan Mengyi had crafted.

Were the headphones in her ears playing Li Tang’s latest single?

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