After Transmigrating, I Fell in Love with a Top-Tier Movie Queen - Chapter 51.1

Zheng Lanwen watched Lin Xin on the screen. The background was the familiar living room of the house, a place where Zheng Lanwen had lived for many years.

Because she had left with such a strong sense of rejection, there were several times when she had wanted to go back and see Lin Xin but lacked the courage.

Initially, she hadn’t watched the variety show for Lin Xin’s comeback.

Later, she could only catch up by watching reruns on video platforms.

When she heard Lin Xin was going to livestream, she had to constantly tell herself internally that she just wanted to see Lin Xin’s current situation.

If I just know she is doing well, I’ll be at ease.

Zheng Lanwen still hadn’t realized her feelings for Lin Xin, but she was already unconsciously trying to find a way to get close to Lin Xin again.

She thought she was being good, even having divorced, by still being considerate and caring.

Lin Xin was currently hurt, so maybe it wasn’t the right time. But Zheng Lanwen believed that perhaps the two of them could still become friends in the future.

Now, she was capable and could even help Lin Xin…

But all these fantasies shattered the moment she heard that Lin Wan was Lin Xin’s half-sister.

During their five years of marriage, she knew how much Lin Xin detested that father. Even though Zheng Lanwen had never met him, she equally disliked such an irresponsible man.

So, she got together with Lin Wan, the person Lin Xin hated the most, after the divorce?

Would Lin Xin ever forgive her then?

Zheng Lanwen panicked and dropped a cup, realizing with horror that the harm she had caused Lin Xin was much more severe than she had initially thought.

If she had known all along that Lin Wan was that father’s other daughter…

If I had known all along…

Zheng Lanwen’s heart slowly grew confused. So what if I had known all along? Isn’t Lin Wan the one I like? Could I really dislike her just because Lin Xin doesn’t?

Heh.

Lin Xin had no idea about Zheng Lanwen’s inner turmoil.

She was only momentarily dazzled by the screen full of Carnivals (a high-value gift on the platform) and her gaze was drawn to the top avatar. Because ‘Zero’ (零) had sent such a large amount of gifts, their avatar was pinned at the very top, making it easy for Lin Xin to spot.

However, after ‘Zero’ replied to that netizen, they ignored the other users who were loudly begging to be her ‘sidekick’ (a term for a follower/fan).

Lin Xin recognized ‘Zero”s silence as a sign for her to continue.

Temporarily suppressing her curiosity, Lin Xin knew that the person she still needed to deal with was on the other side of the camera: the father with whom she shared a blood relation, who should have been one of the closest family members in the world.

She turned to face the camera. Under the high-definition lens, every strand of Lin Xin’s hair was clearly projected onto the screen. Her makeup concealed the fatigue she’d felt recently.

But that wouldn’t stop her from confronting her deadbeat father and venting the anger she had suppressed for years.

Lin Xin straightened up, adjusting her posture, and spoke with an air of superiority: “You are claiming online that I refuse to provide for your retirement, showing no regard for our father-daughter relationship. You clearly know my special status, and one word from you could potentially ruin my career. Yet you proceeded anyway, which makes it very difficult for me not to suspect your motives.”

Lin Haiqi glanced outside the camera’s view, clearly indicating there was someone there.

Apparently receiving instructions, he replied as a matter of course: “It is only right and proper for children to provide for their parents’ retirement. If you were agreeable, why would I have to take this to the internet?”

Lin Xin gave a faint smile: “I’m not agreeable? What about you? You called my agency to threaten my manager? I understand your meaning: although you and my mother had no legal marriage, you are still my father. If you sue me, I would legally be obligated to support you. Furthermore, suing me would damage my reputation, making me look unfilial. You could easily ruin me, and this is simply because you are my father.”

Lin Haiqi’s refined face twisted slightly at Lin Xin’s words. Even his handsome features couldn’t bear such an expression. Just having his intentions exposed made him reveal a vicious look.

This instantly made the viewers in front of their screens believe Lin Xin and develop a strong dislike for Lin Haiqi.

Fortunately, the person on Lin Haiqi’s side reminded him, and he quickly composed his difficult expression.

Lin Xin leaned back into the sofa, her body sinking slightly into the cushions. Already beautiful, the tragedy of having such a father made her look like a delicate porcelain doll at that moment, seeming fragile and instantly invoking sympathy.

She didn’t become weak due to her father’s cold-hearted actions, but calmly continued: “You will win if you sue me, but I am not your only daughter. Since I’ve brought Lin Wan into this, I presume the judge will also consider her existence. That would mean the alimony won’t be as high!”

Lin Haiqi’s face instantly became awkward. Lin Xin continued: “The issue of retirement is simple; I am not afraid of you suing me. So, you don’t need to try and use this as a threat.” Besides, by bringing Lin Wan up today, she intended to make Lin Haiqi have reservations! Lin Wan has hidden for long enough; it’s time to drag her out for a walk.

If Lin Wan knew Lin Xin was thinking this, she’d surely cough up blood.

[Well done, Xin Bao (Darling Xin).]

[The law that forces you to pay alimony to a parent who never raised you is truly the most sickening thing I’ve ever seen.]

[Speaking of which, the fact that Lin Wan is Lin Xin’s sister has been a very well-kept secret.]

[How can Lin Wan have the nerve?]

[If that’s the case, wasn’t Lin Xin a mentor on ‘Shining Youth,’ which Lin Wan participated in?]

The netizens’ question was perfectly timed. Since Lin Xin had decided to drag Lin Wan out for public scrutiny, she wasn’t planning on protecting her reputation.

After all, Lin Wan was the prime suspect for conspiring with Lin Haiqi to harm her!

Therefore, seeing this question from a netizen, Lin Xin smiled naturally and said: “Yes, the show invited me to be a mentor back then. My father, hearing this, had his daughter participate as well. He originally intended for me to open a back door for her, but I am fair and just, so naturally I refused.”

Lin Haiqi gritted his teeth: “…”

[Hahahahaha]

[What a perfectly fair and just person.]

[I looked it up: Lin Wan only barely made it into the top five after participating in the variety show.]

[Honestly, Lin Wan’s looks are only ‘cute,’ but Lin Xin is truly stunningly gorgeous. What kind of taste did Zheng Lanwen have?]

Lin Xin smiled and said: “She takes after her mother; I take after mine.” Meaning, my mother is prettier than her mother.

Unexpectedly, Lin Haiqi was quite dense and asked indignantly at this moment: “Don’t you look like me?”

Lin Xin’s face froze. She couldn’t help but say to him: “Have some decency.”

[Do you think Xin Bao wants to look like you!!! You dog of a man!!!]

[You, a man who abandoned his wife and daughter, have the audacity to say that?]

Lin Haiqi was scolded into silence again, and the netizens grew curious once more…

[So, did Lin Wan know of Lin Xin’s existence?]

[Or rather, did Lin Wan’s mother know of Lin Xin’s mother’s existence when she legally married Lin Haiqi?]

Lin Xin said calmly: “Of course she knew. When her mother and my father legally married, she already knew we existed.”

Lin Haiqi immediately denied it: “Don’t spread false rumors!”

Lin Xin let out a cold laugh and reminded Lin Haiqi: “I told you I remember things from very early, right? When I was two years old, you brought your legal wife to see my grandfather. I was hiding in the cabinet. You knew my grandmother wouldn’t tolerate such a thing, so you didn’t see her and left after only half an hour.”

Lin Haiqi was stunned, not expecting her to actually remember this. And was she hiding in the cabinet then? Lin Haiqi actually didn’t remember much, as he hadn’t seen Lin Xin in person before bringing Lin Wan’s mother back.

But for something that happened so long ago, if he denied it, who could produce evidence?

So, Lin Haiqi denied it: “I did not bring her back then.”

Lin Xin smiled faintly: “The wind leaves a sound, and geese leave their mark. I believe that the truth will come out one day.”

So, she has no evidence then!

Lin Haiqi was pleased to realize that Lin Xin really had no evidence. Isn’t she just talking nonsense then? She’ll definitely get flamed for this!

Lin Haiqi looked up at the staff in front of him. Sure enough, they gave him an encouraging look, which made Lin Haiqi even happier.

With a daughter like this, money is so easy to earn!

But this smile didn’t last two seconds before he realized that everyone in the live stream was fiercely scolding him and Wan’er.

[Damn, shameless! Xin Bao was only two years old, and he was already fooling around with someone else!]

[To the point of considering bringing her home, this must have been going on for years prior.]

[Does it even matter whether Lin Wan and her mother knew initially? Even if they didn’t at first, how could they not know later?]

[How did Lin Wan have the nerve to participate in ‘Shining Youth’? Anyone with a shred of decency would have withdrawn automatically.]

[Look at this damn man, so pleased with himself. Did not bringing her back make it better? Is that the key point? The key point is that he actually committed marriage fraud!]

[Shameless! And he has the gall to come back and demand retirement money from Xin Bao. Disgusting.]

[As a passerby, I have to say this man is truly awful! Lin Wan was raised by him? I seriously question Lin Wan’s character.]

[The fact that she stole Zheng Lanwen shows she’s not a good person either.]

[A sister’s wife, even if they’re divorced, should not have a close relationship with her. That’s what a normal person does!!!]

[Unfollowing Lin Wan. I absolutely hate homewreckers.]

Lin Haiqi finally realized what was happening. What did evidence matter? This wasn’t a courtroom; it didn’t need irrefutable proof. This was in front of a massive online audience, where what mattered was emotion and impact.

Admitting he hadn’t brought her back then seemed to indirectly admit to his cheating. This was Lin Xin’s trap; the netizens didn’t need evidence! Lin Haiqi was so angry he nearly jumped up, and Lin Xin continued to question him.

“So, why didn’t you legally marry my mother back then?” Lin Xin was genuinely curious: “Was she not pretty?” Lin Xin wasn’t joking when she said she looked like her mother. Madam Lin (Lin Xin’s mother, Lin Qingfen) was also a beautiful woman: sensible, elegant, and refined, with a voice like a clear stream and a smile like a white lotus on a lake.

Lin Haiqi, whose reputation had been completely destroyed by Lin Xin, was already furious. At this moment, Lin Xin was also trying to use public opinion to corner him, so he spoke with uncontrolled anger: “What was so good about your mother besides her looks?”

In that era, to Lin Haiqi, his wife—who possessed nothing but beauty and industrious hands—was indeed unappealing.

Meanwhile, Lin Wan’s mother was pretty in a delicate way, but she had graduated from the same university as Lin Haiqi and was emotionally strong. Moreover, she came from an incredibly wealthy family.

After Lin Haiqi got together with Lin Wan’s mother, he actually started a business. This was something Lin Xin’s mother could never compare to.

Lin Haiqi finished speaking and then realized he had been rash again.

Lin Xin wasn’t upset by the comment and continued to ask him: “Why didn’t you like me either? Why didn’t you pay a single cent in child support?” It’s understandable that a mother who doesn’t love her child might be said to have uncontrollable emotions. But what parent doesn’t love their child? Why was Lin Haiqi so particularly cruel to Lin Xin?

Lin Xin actually knew the answer: there are truly parents who just don’t like their children.

She wasn’t the child Lin Haiqi had wanted to have, so it was normal not to be liked.

Besides, with so many people watching, Lin Haiqi wouldn’t easily admit it.

Having learned his lesson once, Lin Haiqi didn’t admit it and asked: “On what grounds do you say I didn’t pay child support?”

Lin Xin was unfazed: “Can you provide the remittance records? You wouldn’t possibly say you came home by bus every month to give me the money in cash, would you?”

Lin Haiqi: “…” Now she wants evidence?

Lin Xin: “Of course, it doesn’t matter if you have no evidence. We are not in court, and the netizens are not judges. Justice resides in the hearts of the people; what everyone thinks is their own business.”

Although Lin Haiqi had already learned that netizens didn’t care about evidence, a single mouth could bring the dead back to life…

Sure enough…

[Evidence or not, it doesn’t matter. What does it matter whether we believe you or not? But if you truly wanted to provide evidence, I believe child support payments would have remittance records. You can check your mobile banking, right? What’s so difficult about that?]

[Maybe he really did come home by bus every month to deliver the money? So there really are no remittance records?

[When there is convenient online transfer, why go to the trouble of taking a bus to deliver child support? What’s the point? Hahahahahaha, do you even believe yourself?]

[Maybe he still has father-daughter affection for Lin Xin? They are father and daughter after all!!!]

[Sis, do you know that Xin Bao left the village permanently after making her debut at age six?] Come home by bus to see Lin Xin? See thin air?

[Hahahaha, the anti-fan didn’t know that? Awkward!]

All the excuses Lin Haiqi thought of in his mind were shot down one by one by the netizens. He was so angry that his lips trembled slightly, and he finally gave up, slowly closing his eyes.

Ye Linghua watched Lin Xin like this through the screen and smiled faintly. The cold-faced Lin Xin, the aggressive Lin Xin—these were all aspects of Lin Xin she had never seen before.

Lin Haiqi was cornered and didn’t want to talk about family matters anymore. He tried to bring up legal matters, but Lin Xin had already said he was welcome to sue over the retirement issue, and she would pay if she lost.

So there seemed to be nothing left to discuss about retirement. Thinking it over, he realized Lin Xin had blocked every single topic. Not only had he lost face in front of the netizens, but it seemed he also had nothing left to use to threaten her in the future.

Why!

Both of them had abandoned her. Why was her mother, Lin Xin, treated well, but when it came to him, she was full of hatred?

Lin Haiqi was genuinely unwilling to accept this and asked Lin Xin: “Did your mother raise you properly? She remarried and left when you were eight years old! Why are you treating me this way?”

Lin Xin: “Because she never abandoned me.”

That single sentence summarized all the heartache Lin Xin had experienced in her childhood. It also spoke volumes about what Lin Xin truly yearned for.

No one knew what that sentence meant to Lin Xin, but Meng Kelin, standing outside the camera’s view, knew very well.

She had watched Lin Xin grow up. Seeing Lin Xin’s expression at that moment, her heart ached, and her thoughts drifted.

Madam Lin (Lin Qingfen) had said that her actions counted as part of the harm inflicted on Lin Xin. Meng Kelin did not refute this, as she agreed.

Lin Xin’s lack of love was real, and what Zheng Lanwen and Ye Linghua would never know was how much Lin Xin feared being left behind.

Madam Lin’s full name was Lin Qingfen. She and Lin Haiqi were both from Lin Family Village. The two were introduced through an arranged meeting by Grandma Lin (Lin Haiqi’s mother). Lin Qingfen had a high school education and worked at home year-round, earning a little money to supplement the household.

Lin Qingfen was steady, hardworking, nimble, and kind-hearted. Grandma Lin had always liked her. After Lin Haiqi was admitted to a good university, Grandma Lin secretly took him to see Lin Qingfen and expressed her intention to have Lin Qingfen marry into the family.

Lin Qingfen was beautiful, and Lin Haiqi naturally liked her. Being young and not understanding what marriage was, and only seeing that everyone in the village was doing the same, Lin Haiqi readily agreed to the match.

After a simple banquet, Lin Qingfen was shyly welcomed into the house by Lin Haiqi.

Afterward, Lin Haiqi left for college. A year later, Lin Qingfen became pregnant, and a year after that, Lin Xin was born.

That year, Lin Haiqi was twenty years old, a sophomore in college. Having just become a father, he met Shen Yueyue, Lin Wan’s mother, at school. Although Shen Yueyue was not as beautiful as Lin Qingfen, she was young, lively, cute, and shared a common language with Lin Haiqi.

Lin Haiqi experienced love for the first time. He felt his relationship with Lin Qingfen was just youthful ignorance, and that his bond with Shen Yueyue was true love.

Emotional entanglements between adults only hurt the child.

Lin Xin grew up from the day she was born without a father present.

A man who was unwilling to come home even for summer vacation, winter vacation, or the Spring Festival—how would Lin Haiqi know Lin Xin? Of course, he wouldn’t know that Lin