After I Gave Up/Let Things Slide, I Became Famous Across The Entire Internet - Chapter 9

The video sound was playing extremely loudly.

The people present, especially the staff members near Mu Yingying, heard every word clearly. They keenly grasped the keywords in the sentence: “old man,” “got pregnant,” “kept mistress,” “innocent woman persona,” etc. This sentence revealed far too much information.

“Holy cow, that voice sounds so familiar.”

“I think I’ve heard it somewhere before. It sounds like… Teacher Mu’s husband’s voice. I remember his voice is quite distinctive.”

“Who could the person who got pregnant be?”

“Wow.”

“Everyone quickly look at a social media account called ‘Gossip_Little_Account,’ there’s a huge exposé!”

Just five minutes prior, a Weibo account named ‘Gossip_Little_Account’ had uploaded a recording, with a title that was concise yet extremely attention grabbing. “Follow-up to Tang Shuxia’s Mistress Incident, Here’s the Reversal You Wanted,” paired with this exposé recording, which was undeniably ironic.

Tang Shuxia had recently gained notoriety anything related to her quickly garnered massive attention. Initially, some people thought this ‘Gossip_Little_Account’ was just trying to gain public attention, so they clicked on it expecting a show. However, after listening to those two sentences, they immediately realized something was wrong; the material exposed in this recording was just too explosive.

“She won’t reveal that we are only in a sham marriage, right? So she plans to use this as leverage to threaten you and me into changing our story?”

“Please, don’t act like this has nothing to do with you. If my secret gets out, you won’t escape unscathed either. Don’t forget, who cleaned up your mess when you were gotten pregnant by that old man? If your fans knew you were kept by an ugly, old man, could your innocent woman persona possibly survive?”

A snippet of audio, without beginning or end, and perhaps even lacking context, but the content of the recording caused an uproar.

[Cheng Zeyu and Mu Yingying are in a sham marriage.] [The Three-Time Golden Actress was kept by an ugly and fat old man and was once pregnant with his child.]

These two massive pieces of gossip spread like wildfire ten times faster than a hundred times outpacing the initial spread of the news about Tang Shuxia being a mistress. After all, Tang Shuxia was an obscure, 18th-tier celebrity before this, while Mu Yingying and Cheng Zeyu were well known figures in the entertainment industry.

[What does this have to do with the Tang Mistress incident? I’m suddenly a bit confused.]

[LS (Last Poster), of course, it’s related. If Cheng Zeyu and Mu Yingying are in a sham marriage, haha, regardless of whether Tang the Mistress ahem, Tang Shuxia interfered in their relationship, I don’t think she could really be considered a mistress.]

[Tang Shuxia’s attitude yesterday already made everything clear; she even looked down on Cheng Zeyu. Fine, I admit it, I was blind.]

[Holy crap, I watched Tang Shuxia’s live stream. Actually, I didn’t believe a single word she said back then. She even mocked us for being blind. Back then, I thought, ‘Yeah, right!’ I used to envy the beautiful love between Cheng Zeyu and Mu Yingying, wanting a good man like Cheng Zeyu. But today, I’m hit with such a huge piece of gossip. Damn, my face hurts.]

[Sham marriage!]

[Could it be a misunderstanding? Sob sob, I’ve been a fan of Teacher Mu for ten years, watching her struggle her way up. I don’t believe it.]

[ (crying laughing out loud), Mu Fan (Mu Yingying fan), wake up. This is a piece of gossip personally hammered out by Cheng Zeyu. How could it be false?]

“Wow, this is exciting.” “So you guys have a sham marriage.” “And you were kept by someone else.”

Tang Shuxia’s very pointed three sentences pulled the attention of everyone present the gossip enthusiasts back to the pale faced woman on set, who looked like she could collapse at any moment. Gossiping online was nothing compared to witnessing it firsthand. If she could, Mu Yingying wished she could tear that person’s mouth apart. She never imagined that the secret she had guarded for years would be revealed publicly like this, and by someone she thought was the least likely to betray her.

Cheng Zeyu, that bastard.

“Teacher Mu, what exactly is going on?” “Could everything said in the recording be true?” “You and Teacher Cheng have a sham marriage. Doesn’t that mean you’ve been deceiving the public all these years?”

Mu Yingying felt the way these people looked at her had changed; it was like looking at something dirty. Moreover, every questioning sentence was like a knife aimed directly at her. For a moment, she didn’t know how to answer. She pinched herself hard, trying to maintain a composed appearance, “I apologize, I’m feeling unwell today. I probably can’t continue filming the program. Please convey my apologies to Director Chu, thank you.”

Director Chu was right behind her. Before he could even invite Tang Shuxia over, he was hit with Mu Yingying’s scandal. “No need. You don’t need to film this program for the time being. If you feel unwell, rest well at home and recover first.”

This statement was tantamount to directly tearing up the contract.

Mu Yingying’s face cycled through white and green, but she knew this was no time to argue. With a stiff smile, she nodded at the Director and turned to leave quickly.

Tang Shuxia smiled at her interestedly, and as Mu Yingying passed by her, she reminded her in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, “The paparazzi squad waiting to surround me will arrive on set in ten seconds.”

Mu Yingying trembled, looking at the person before her in disbelief.

Tang Shuxia began counting, “Nine, eight, seven…”

Xie Jinzhi witnessed Mu Yingying’s lips trembling with rage from up close. She recalled once setting a goal for herself: to one day promote an artist with the prestige of Mu Yingying high value, a Three Time Golden winner. Who would have thought this filter would shatter so quickly?

“How boring.”

Mu Yingying’s chest rose and fell in anger. Before she could even curse out loud, she saw a group of people rushing towards the television station entrance. Each of them was either holding up a phone or a camera, and they had forgotten to turn off their flashes, aiming them directly at her eyes and face.

“Mu Yingying, netizens have exposed that you and Cheng Zeyu have a sham marriage. Do you have any clarification on this?” “We heard that early in your career, you were kept by an old man and even had a child for him. Is this true?” “What kind of agreement did you reach with Cheng Zeyu that he would help you conceal this for so long?” “So the outside world rumored that Cheng Zeyu retired at the peak of his career just to marry you. Since you have a sham marriage, it means there must be another hidden story behind that; do you know what his hidden story is?”

These people truly resembled a swarm of inescapable bees, buzzing relentlessly. The moment they charged forward, Tang Shuxia, holding Xie Jinzhi close, stepped aside, leaving Mu Yingying and her assistant momentarily stunned and completely surrounded. Tang Shuxia was now leaning against the glass window, arms crossed, watching the show. Hearing the rapid fire questions from the reporters, which struck Mu Yingying like endless knives, she found the scene utterly amusing.

She remembered when she first arrived in this world, a crowd had surrounded her too; those gazes were unforgettable.

Xie Jinzhi tugged at her sleeve, “I think we should slip away.”

Tang Shuxia said, “No rush.”

The assistant, realizing the situation, tried to shield Mu Yingying from some of the entertainment reporters: “Sorry, we are not accepting any interviews today.”

Mu Yingying’s smile was about to shatter.

“Mu Yingying, don’t you think you owe the public an explanation for deceiving them?” “We liked you for so many years, and it turns out everything was fake. You are a complete fraud!” “You and Cheng Zeyu are truly disgusting, deceiving the public for so many years. Isn’t pretending exhausting?” “Could it be that your Three Golden award was also secured by that old man for you? I never thought you were such a phony, and I liked you for years.”

Hearing this, Mu Yingying finally couldn’t hold back, “You’re the phony!”

The curse slipped out. As soon as it did, Mu Yingying squeezed her eyes shut, knowing she was finished.

Assistant Gao knew it was over the moment Mu Yingying exploded in anger. As expected, the cameras, with their flashes flashing on and off, were pointed directly at their faces, capturing every frame. Without needing to be told, she knew that the clip of Mu Yingying cursing would be endlessly replayed and scrutinized online for a long time.

Tang Shuxia clicked her tongue, “Not worth it.”

Xie Jinzhi asked, “Huh? What’s not worth it?”

Tang Shuxia beckoned to her. Just as she was about to find a back exit, a short, stout, well rounded no, a middle aged man blocked her path. Director Chu, his eyes gleaming, looked at Tang Shuxia. He had quickly assessed the situation from the apparent love triangle involving Tang Shuxia, Cheng Zeyu, and Mu Yingying, realizing that the person before him was about to become the biggest winner. Rubbing his hands together, he asked, “Interested in giving an interview?”

Tang Shuxia looked bewildered, “???”

Xie Jinzhi’s eyes lit up. While others might not recognize him, she clearly knew who the man was one of the biggest pillars of the television station.

Tang Shuxia, however, was completely uninterested, “Not interested.”

Xie Jinzhi urged, “Don’t be like that, consider it.”

Tang Shuxia replied, “You consider it if you want.”

In any case, with this incident, she planned to quit her job. Acting was the original owner’s hobby, not hers. And looking at Mu Yingying’s fate, she could tell that in this industry, new figures rapidly replaced the old ones.

Iron clad fans, revolving artists.

Tang Shuxia turned and walked away as she said it, leaving Xie Jinzhi in a dilemma. On one hand, she felt it was a real shame for Tang Shuxia to pass up such a great opportunity; on the other hand, she didn’t know how to negotiate with the director. Fortunately, Director Chu was very considerate: “Here is my card. If she changes her mind, feel free to contact me anytime.”

In all her years in the industry, Xie Jinzhi had never encountered such a considerate director and was nearly moved to tears. She took the card excitedly and repeatedly assured Director Chu, “Don’t worry, Director Chu. Shuxia is just in a bad mood recently. Maybe in a few days, she’ll have thought things through.”

When she turned around, Tang Shuxia was already far ahead.

Xie Jinzhi didn’t have time to worry about anything else she quickly waved goodbye to the Director and hurried to catch up, beginning her persistent brainwashing talk.

Tang Shuxia ignored her and threw her a phone, “Send Cheng Zeyu’s screen recording to the Gossip_Little_Account. The money is ready.”

Xie Jinzhi was stunned, “What money? Isn’t that Gossip_Little_Account your registered secondary account?”

Tang Shuxia asked, “Why would you think that?”

Such trivial matters were obviously meant to be handled by subordinates.

Tang Shuxia gave her slightly slow agent an affectionate glance. “Don’t worry, you contributed significantly to this. You won’t miss out on your share. We’ll divide the spoils when we get back.”