After The Top Actress Was Smeared And Trended On Social Media - Chapter 3

The WeChat message pop-up hadn’t stayed for long; by the time Wen Xi blinked again, the message had already disappeared, leaving behind only the WeChat icon in the top left corner of her screen.

Looking at her chat page with Tan Lan, she let out a barely perceptible sigh and tried her best to ignore that icon.

[T.: It’s alright, Sister Tan. I’m really sorry to trouble you so much.]

Yu Qiao watched Wen Xi finish sending the message before opening her mouth to say, “Do you want to see her?”

Wen Xi’s movements stiffened. She kept her head down and didn’t utter a word.

Yu Qiao added, “Shen Yu will definitely make some kind of move on her end. If you don’t want to see her, don’t go to the studio for the next few days, and don’t stay here either. How about coming to my place?”

Wen Xi thought about it for a moment, then shook her head: “If she really wants to find me, I won’t be able to hide from her.”

Wen Xi knew Shen Yu as a person all too well; she would never give up until she achieved her goal.

It was precisely because of this that Shen Yu worked extraordinarily hard in her job, allowing her to attain such fame at the age of twenty-eight.

Back when they were preparing for the art entrance exams, Shen Yu would always set a goal for herself every so often, insisting on practicing until she was satisfied.

When she practiced, she would frequently lose track of time. After realization struck that Shen Yu wouldn’t listen no matter what she said, Wen Xi simply started preparing lunch boxes for Shen Yu every now and then.

Back then, Shen Yu would eat her dinner while looking at her with a smile, “Good thing I have you, or else I’d be going hungry again today.”

Holding her phone in her hands, Wen Xi couldn’t help but start thinking about her again.

Looking at Wen Xi’s zoned-out gaze, Yu Qiao knew that her mind was wandering once more.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Yu Qiao said with her eyes lowered. “She’s joining the production crew in a few days and will be staying inside for over two months.”

“…Is that so?” Wen Xi blinked and said in a low voice.

Yu Qiao felt that she had explained almost everything she needed to, so she didn’t stay any longer.

Besides, the main reason she had come looking for Wen Xi was that Wen Xi hadn’t been answering her calls, which made her a little worried.

Before leaving, Yu Qiao emphasized to Wen Xi once more not to go outdoors over the next few days.

The security in Wen Xi’s apartment complex was exceptionally good. Facial recognition systems were installed at both the complex entrance and downstairs of the apartment building. The elevator went directly to one household per floor; if the owner didn’t find it too troublesome, they could also choose to set up a digital passcode lock for it.

So rather than worrying about Wen Xi going outside, Yu Qiao was not concerned that Shen Yu would sneak into the apartment to find her.

Shen Yu was a public figure; if things blew up into a big scene, it wouldn’t look good.

Even if Shen Yu possessed no small amount of capability, she was joining a production crew in a few days anyway. Yu Qiao guessed she wouldn’t have that much time to make a fuss.

Yu Qiao didn’t want to ask Wen Xi any more about Shen Yu either. Wen Xi wasn’t a child anymore; she knew what she was doing.

Not to mention that matters regarding this aspect were a thorn in all of their hearts.

After Yu Qiao left, Wen Xi lay sideways on the sofa, staring at her phone without blinking.

Her phone interface had already switched to the WeChat friend request from Shen Yu in her secondary account app.

Wen Xi still couldn’t resist tapping open this page.

That WeChat account of Shen Yu’s was a personal one. The avatar was a plush toy lying on the ground, and there was no status quote. Her Moments were set to be visible for three days, the background was a stretch of the ocean, and the entire page was squeaky clean.

As for why Wen Xi was so certain this was a personal account…

It had been ten years, and Shen Yu’s WeChat had never changed.

Wen Xi had once memorized that string of WeChat ID digits firmly in her heart, and whenever she missed Shen Yu, she had secretly searched for it.

Wen Xi knew she couldn’t hide forever, but for a moment, she truly didn’t know how to face Shen Yu.

They hadn’t seen each other in ten years. Even if those mess-ups from back then had passed, when Wen Xi took the initiative to bring up breaking up, she had genuinely hurt Shen Yu.

She couldn’t possibly be the one to go and take the initiative to say: I’m sorry, back then there was a reason for it, I didn’t break up with you on purpose, shall we get back together?

…How could there be such logic?

Forget it.

With a swipe of her hand, Wen Xi exited WeChat from the background tasks.

Because Shen Yu had become wildly popular over these past few years, Wen Xi could see the two words “Shen Yu” on many social platforms.

Yet, when those two words appeared in the WeChat friend request column, her heart still began to beat wildly out of control.

This feeling hadn’t appeared in a very long time.

She switched screens back to Weibo. Earlier, while Yu Qiao was here, she hadn’t looked too closely.

Now looking at it again, she discovered that the likes on that Weibo post of hers were already close to one million.

The speed of her follower count growth on Weibo hadn’t stopped either, though most of them were probably just here to join in on the commotion.

Wen Xi thought to herself that she was indeed riding on Shen Yu’s clout this time.

Direct messages weren’t that many; most of them were words of comfort from her fans who saw her being cursed at severely and ran over to comfort her.

Wen Xi hadn’t been cursed at any less over these years, producers shifting the blame, dissatisfaction from co-starring celebrities’ fans, jealous peers…

Having gone through this for so long, she was no longer afraid of being cursed at.

Wen Xi pursed her lips and randomly picked a few fans to reply to their direct messages.

She knew her fans were well-intentioned.

Wen Xi continued scrolling through the direct messages.

Direct messages from accounts she didn’t follow were all integrated by Weibo into a message board, requiring a tap to view.

Messages from accounts she followed and fans she had replied to were much more noticeable, though the quantity was still quite large.

…Wait, that wasn’t right.

The hand with which Wen Xi was sliding her phone paused.

Wen Xi slightly widened her eyes and suddenly sat up straight, discovering a familiar avatar appearing in her direct messages.

That was an avatar Wen Xi looked at every single day, let alone the fact that next to the avatar, there was a certified Gold V badge.

It turned out that last night, Shen Yu had already sent her a direct message on Weibo.

However, because there were quite a lot of direct messages coming from Wen Xi’s Weibo mutual friends and fans she had replied to, Shen Yu’s message had drifted down, and she hadn’t been able to discover it right away.

[Shen Yu V: Wen Xi?]

Wen Xi suddenly felt a bit warm.

She tapped on Shen Yu’s avatar, and the page jumped directly to Shen Yu’s homepage. The moment she entered, she saw their two Weibo avatars gently bump into each other.

[Congratulations on becoming mutual followers]

Wen Xi stood up straight from the sofa.

What? Mutual followers?!

How could she, at this specific juncture…

Before Wen Xi had time to overthink it, Shen Yu sent another message over.

[Shen Yu V: I saw that you’re online. May I ask when Teacher T plans to accept my friend request?]

Generally, big bloggers had their own Super Topics, and after that Super Topic was bound to a specific user, the blogger’s online and offline status could be seen.

Wen Xi closed her eyes slightly; how could she have forgotten about this detail?

It was obvious at a glance that Shen Yu was staring at her Super Topic to see when she would come online.

For a moment, Wen Xi felt a surge of deflated helplessness.

Ten years had passed. She considered what she did back then to be overboard enough, so why was Shen Yu still acting as if nothing had happened?

Shen Yu ought to hate her very much.

Yet why did she now seem as if she were talking to a friend with whom she had lost touch for many years?

Wen Xi decided to pretend she hadn’t seen the message sent by Shen Yu.

Not even a few minutes later, Pu Tao’s phone call came in.

Wen Xi: “…”

So exhausting. How come so many things were piling up at once?

Even though Wen Xi thought this way, she still couldn’t refrain from answering her assistant’s call.

“Boss! You’re awake! How are you feeling now? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?” Pu Tao’s concerned voice came through. “Also, don’t pay attention to the trending searches; that group of keyboard warriors just loves to go crazy on the internet.”

Pu Tao asked the first half of the question because last night, Wen Xi’s state was not quite right.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Wen Xi paused for a few seconds, but still asked the thought in her heart, “Did Teacher Shen Yu’s side… contact you?”

Pu Tao said: “Yes, Teacher Shen Yu’s manager contacted me.”

“Mm,” Wen Xi had guessed as much. Since she hadn’t been accepting Shen Yu’s WeChat request on her end, Shen Yu wouldn’t just hold back without making a move. “What did they say over there?”

“Oh, her manager also told you not to worry about the trending searches. It’s not a big deal, just leave it to them.”

Hearing up to this point, Wen Xi felt an inexplicable sense of unease in her heart, but she had no choice either. After casually exchanging a few words with Pu Tao, she hung up the phone.

However, before hanging up the call, Wen Xi seemed to hear Pu Tao wanting to say something else, but her hand was one step faster than her brain, directly cutting the connection.

Seeing that Pu Tao didn’t dial back afterward, Wen Xi figured it wasn’t any major matter either, so she simply didn’t bother with it.

When Yu Qiao left earlier, she had helped her clean up the empty wine bottles on the table and carried them out.

Looking at the empty coffee table, only then did Wen Xi realize her stomach was also quite empty. Feeling slightly agitated, she tossed her phone aside, intending to go wash up and conveniently grab something to pad her stomach.

When she wasn’t working, her three daily meals were easily solved: breakfast consisted of some bread and milk or coffee; for lunch and dinner, she would either order takeout herself, or Pu Tao would bring some packaged food over for her from restaurants outside.

The kitchen had already become a mere display piece in her home.

Wen Xi’s head still felt a little dizzy, so she made a glass of honey water to eat alongside dry bread.

Not long after, a knocking sound rang out without warning.

The bread in Wen Xi’s hand was frightened by this sudden noise and dropped onto the plate.

Wen Xi’s heart gave a sudden, violent thud as well.

A thought quietly arose.

It couldn’t be Shen Yu, right? How could she come so fast?

It wasn’t to be blamed on Wen Xi overthinking it; it was mainly because Shen Yu had just sent her a message, and she had always known how strong Shen Yu’s execution power was.

Her heart was beating too strangely, affecting her ability to think, making her temporarily forget that outsiders couldn’t easily enter the apartment complex she lived in.

When Wen Xi got up in a panic, she didn’t pay attention, and the chair dragged against the floorboards, making an unpleasant screeching sound.

The knocking sound paused for a moment, and in the next second, Pu Tao’s voice abruptly sounded out.

“Boss! What was that sound? Boss, are you okay?!”

Wen Xi’s heart instantly fell back into place. She raised her hand helplessly to support her forehead, unable to describe what kind of mood she was in. “I’m fine, give me a moment.”

Wen Xi walked over to open the door for Pu Tao and saw Pu Tao carrying a few bags as she came in.

Pu Tao: “Seeing that you weren’t feeling well yesterday, I thought about coming over early. Seeing that it was still early, I bought some breakfast that you like.”

As she spoke, Pu Tao saw the bread placed on the table, took it away directly, and said, “What’s so good about eating this bread? You still have to eat a warm breakfast.”

Wen Xi sat back down on the chair in a huff. Once Pu Tao pulled out two new sets of bowls and chopsticks, she picked up a meat bun with her chopsticks and said, “Why did you come over without saying a word? Didn’t we just have a phone call?”

Only then did Pu Tao react. She raised her hand in annoyance and patted her own head. “Did I scare you just now? I’m sorry, Boss! I wanted to say it, but the call was hung up too fast.”

Amused by Pu Tao’s action, Wen Xi waved her hand, “It’s fine, it’s no big deal.”

She pulled out the chair on the other side, “You sit down quickly, too.”

Pu Tao hurriedly nodded, sat down, and also took a meat bun to start munching on.

“These trending searches… why hasn’t there been any move from Teacher Shen Yu’s side yet?” Wen Xi asked as if casually, and after thinking about it, added another sentence, “After all, she was also cursed at because of me.”

Pu Tao swallowed the bun in her mouth, thought for a moment, and said, “There should be a move coming soon, right?”

And indeed it was fast. In any case, by the time the two of them finished eating breakfast, they had already seen the “outcome of the handling.”

The trending searches related to Shen Yu not only hadn’t dropped, but several more hashtags had been added, firmly dominating the top spots of the trending searches.

Except this time was different; Wen Xi’s name was also added to those hashtags.

#ShenYuSaysSheIsVerySatisfiedWithTwilight#

#ShenYuTalksAboutTwilight#

#ShenYuHighProfileConfessesToTwilightExpectingToCooperateAgain#

Wen Xi closed her eyes and closed her phone very nimbly.

Shen Yu had always been very low-key for so many years; when had her fans ever seen such a scene? They were probably all blowing their tops off.

She had never felt that Shen Yu had a high-profile personality before either, but now, after a few of Shen Yu’s operations, the trending searches directly bound both of their names together, making it impossible for her not to respond.

This meant forcing her to respond.

Thinking about those few hashtags, without even needing to look closely, Wen Xi could guess what Shen Yu had done.

Pu Tao’s gasps of surprise, on the other hand, hadn’t stopped: “Boss! You really succeeded in chasing your star! Look quickly, Teacher Shen is complimenting you in your comment section!”

Pu Tao was somewhat excited and didn’t quite notice the abnormality in Wen Xi’s emotions, hurriedly handing her phone in front of Wen Xi.

Unable to control herself, Wen Xi subconsciously shifted her gaze onto Pu Tao’s phone screen.

Now, the top comment on her Weibo post had already turned into Shen Yu.

[Shen Yu: Thank you to Teacher Twilight for the shoot; it looks very good. I haven’t tried this kind of style much before, but it actually gave me a lot of inspiration. Looking forward to the next cooperation?]

“Look! Shen Yu even said she wants to look for you to cooperate!!” Pu Tao shrieked with excitement.

Wen Xi fell silent for a moment.

Yet in her heart, she was thinking: Shen Yu, this liar… a photoshoot of this style… as if she had never shot one before.