Superstar Assistant [GL] - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Li Ziyu’s Weibo followers, though only 1.5 million, were highly engaged, often leaving comments urging Li Ziyu to post more. So, after Li Ziyu reposted the photo, the fans, after much excitement, followed the link to Zhou Tiantian’s Weibo.

When the fans saw her profile description, they quickly followed Zhou Tiantian and commented on her posts, begging her to share more daily photos and anecdotes about Li Ziyu, especially since Li Ziyu herself rarely posted.

Zhou Tiantian felt somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden influx of followers. She didn’t know how to handle the fan messages. Finally, Zhou Tiantian thought that since fans were leaving comments on her Weibo, if she didn’t reply, it might cause negative publicity for Li Ziyu, making people think Li Ziyu’s assistants were all divas.

So, Zhou Tiantian began to seriously reply to the netizens’ comments. The more she replied, the more people asked her to post more pictures of Li Ziyu. She replied, “That depends on whether Ziyu is willing. If she’s not, I wouldn’t dare post them randomly.”

After several such replies, netizens suddenly discovered that Zhou Tiantian was a very soft and easily teased person. The news spread rapidly, and Li Ziyu’s fan groups started talking about how Li Ziyu’s new assistant, Tiantian Tiantian Tiantian, was super soft and could be easily teased. So, everyone flocked to Zhou Tiantian’s Weibo, begging her to post Li Ziyu’s daily life and pictures. Finally, Zhou Tiantian posted a reply that became a trending comment: “Li Ziyu is really fierce. I’ll ask her later if I can post them. If she says no, then I won’t dare.”

Fans laughed at her heartily, commenting that the assistant sister clearly understood their Ziyu’s “cute” side!

However, this very post was misinterpreted by certain individuals online. An hour later, various marketing accounts published entertainment news accusing Li Ziyu of abusing her assistant. When Li Ziyu and Chong Ying finished filming and discovered this uncontrollable trending topic, Zhou Tiantian, who had been explaining for a long time without success, was on the verge of tears. She looked at Li Ziyu and said, “I explained to them, but no one listened to me.”

From the moment Zhou Tiantian discovered the news, she had been continuously explaining that Li Ziyu did not abuse her, nor was Li Ziyu the kind of person who would abuse her assistant. But why would those marketing accounts listen?

They were stirring up trouble just to gain more buzz, and what kind of news gains buzz? Negative news, of course. So, they heavily promoted the story that Li Ziyu abused her assistant. Zhou Tiantian’s newly created Weibo account had very few followers and virtually no recognition. Except for Li Ziyu’s fans, almost no one knew about the account. Thus, the matter of “Li Ziyu abusing her assistant” spread at a speed and popularity that Zhou Tiantian could not control.

Li Ziyu returned and saw Zhou Tiantian so worried, her initially annoyed mood suddenly felt soothed. She walked over to Zhou Tiantian and said, “It’s okay. The company will handle it.”

Chong Ying, knowing about the situation, walked slowly over to Li Ziyu and said, “Ziyu, do you want me to help you clarify? I can speak up for you on Weibo.”

She then turned to Zhou Tiantian, sighing slightly and shaking her head. “Zhou Tiantian, you, too. As Li Ziyu’s assistant, how can you talk carelessly online? A celebrity’s every word and action is being watched by the public. The slightest misstep can ruin your image. You have severely damaged Ziyu’s image by doing this. If it’s not handled well, she might never get rid of this ‘assistant abuse’ scandal.”

Zhou Tiantian didn’t know why things had turned out this way. She regretted it more than anyone else because she cherished this job. She didn’t want to see such a major mistake in her work. At the same time, she also cherished Li Ziyu, and she didn’t want her existence to bring such bad news to Li Ziyu.

Li Ziyu turned to Chong Ying and said, “Enough, stop scaring her. This isn’t a big deal. A little public relations and marketing will fix it.”

Chong Ying felt a pang of jealousy. She hadn’t expected Li Ziyu to defend Zhou Tiantian so fiercely. Before she could compose herself, she spoke with a touch of exaggeration. “How is this not a big deal? If it’s not handled properly, it will significantly affect your future popularity and even your ability to get roles. You know how high the demands are for celebrities in the entertainment industry now. You should take this seriously, or it will be hard to get by in this industry.”

Seeing Chong Ying exaggerating the consequences, and Zhou Tiantian about to cry from fright, Li Ziyu became even more displeased. She said to Chong Ying, “Stop talking for now. I’ll handle this myself.” Then she led Zhou Tiantian away from the set and back to the hotel.

Chong Ying looked at Li Ziyu and Zhou Tiantian’s retreating backs, her eyes icy. She couldn’t figure out what was so special about the weak Zhou Tiantian. How was she better than herself? Why did Li Ziyu defend her like this?

Back at the hotel, Li Ziyu was genuinely worried about Zhou Tiantian’s state. She said to Zhou Tiantian, “You don’t need to worry so much. I will encounter many things like this as a celebrity; it’s unavoidable. My company and my team will also handle these matters, so you don’t need to dwell on it.”

However, Zhou Tiantian was filled with mixed emotions. She knew she had made a mistake and let Li Ziyu down, but in the end, Li Ziyu was the one who had to comfort her. She hated herself for being so useless. She was the one who made the mistake, so why did the victim have to comfort her? How was this different from her in her previous life? Couldn’t she just stand up, admit her mistake, and solve the problem?

This thought grew stronger, and the desire to step forward and solve the problem became more evident. Finally, Zhou Tiantian looked up at Li Ziyu.

Her eyes still held worry, timidity, and nervousness, but at the same time, there was a stubbornness and indignation that Li Ziyu had never seen before. Her hands were clenched tightly, and her body trembled slightly, but her voice was resolute as she said to Li Ziyu, “I-I want to help you solve this matter.”

Li Ziyu’s eyes flickered, and she slowly showed some interest. She reached up and gently poked Zhou Tiantian’s cheek, her voice relaxed and somewhat teasing. “Oh? Are you trying to get promoted from a personal assistant to a case manager already?”

Zhou Tiantian was startled by her words and quickly explained, “No, I don’t mean to get promoted! I just feel that I caused this issue, so I want to help you resolve it. I don’t want my job to cause trouble for you.”

Li Ziyu nodded, smiling lightly. “Of course, I know, silly. Now, let me ask you, how do you plan to solve this problem?”

Zhou Tiantian lowered her head slightly and said softly, “I don’t know yet. I need to think about it.”

Li Ziyu slowly sat down on a nearby chair and looked at Zhou Tiantian. “It’s alright, take your time.”

She didn’t seem worried at all that the negative news would affect her. Instead, she was more interested in Zhou Tiantian’s reaction. She suddenly felt that the person in front of her might not be the Zhou Tiantian she knew in high school. The high school Zhou Tiantian was soft and adorable but timid. She never fought back no matter who bullied her, and she always apologized immediately for anything she did wrong. But she had never bravely stood up and offered to solve a problem like this, so Li Ziyu was very intrigued.

Zhou Tiantian also sat down and began to ponder deeply. Based on her many years of suffering in her previous life, she knew that when others decided you had done something, they wouldn’t necessarily listen to your explanation. This wasn’t because they couldn’t understand or comprehend, but because your explanation might strip the incident of its entertainment value or, in another way, mock the judgment of the people who misunderstood you. Therefore, to prove that their judgment was correct, they would not believe your explanation.

Just like this situation: even if Li Ziyu and she publicly stated online that Li Ziyu didn’t bully her or abuse her, netizens and those marketing accounts simply wouldn’t believe it. They might even think she was being coerced by Li Ziyu or the company to apologize and whitewash Li Ziyu’s image.

The reason netizens and marketing accounts wouldn’t believe her explanation was that, for the average internet user and marketing account, the “Li Ziyu abuses her assistant” story was more likely to pique their interest, increase attention to the matter, and bring traffic. So, they would subconsciously choose to believe that Li Ziyu was abusing her assistant. In that case, why not do the opposite? Acknowledge the matter. But acknowledging it wouldn’t mean truly admitting that Li Ziyu abused her assistant, but rather…

A light flashed in Zhou Tiantian’s mind. Her eyes lit up slightly. When she looked up at Li Ziyu, her gaze held surprise and joy, as if she herself hadn’t expected to say what came next.

She told Li Ziyu, “We can admit to this matter.”

Li Ziyu raised an eyebrow with great interest and smiled. “Oh? Are you suggesting I go down the ‘love-to-hate’ route?”

Zhou Tiantian shook her head repeatedly and said to Li Ziyu, “We admit to this, but it doesn’t mean we admit you abused me. We can tie it to the drama you are currently filming. Then, netizens will think that the crew is using this to hype up the TV series.”

Li Ziyu was very pleasantly surprised. She really hadn’t expected Zhou Tiantian to come up with such a solution. Doing the opposite can sometimes yield very good results. She nodded and said to Zhou Tiantian, “Then, are you going to talk to the crew’s publicity team about this next, and also communicate with the director?”

Zhou Tiantian habitually started to get nervous again. Should she go talk about this? Could she, a personal assistant, go talk about this?

Li Ziyu seemed to read her mind. She stood up and said to her, “Let’s go. I’ll take you with me. Sister Luo and Yang Ruoyun haven’t called to talk about this yet, so they definitely don’t know. So, let’s go find the director and the crew’s publicity team ourselves and solve this matter.”

In truth, Li Ziyu, since becoming a celebrity, really disliked dealing with these trivial matters. In her view, her manager and assistants should handle such things for her. But since Zhou Tiantian was the one who proposed the solution, she was suddenly very interested in seeing what Zhou Tiantian would be like when executing this plan. She wanted to know if, after a few years apart, Zhou Tiantian’s soft exterior had gradually developed a strong heart.