The Movie Queen And Her Rival Just Went Public! - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“The originally scheduled official announcement date is May 1st, which is tomorrow. We’ve discussed it and decided not to change it, but the negative emotions from the fans are quite intense right now. We might need the two teachers to offer a little reassurance,” the producer said, scratching his head.

Su Cancan thought about having to download Weibo again and face an overwhelming barrage of insults, feeling a surge of sadness. The light in her eyes dimmed a little: “Okay.”

“I can cooperate too,” Shen Luoyan replied.

The producer was satisfied: “Thank you both for your understanding. Please feel free to communicate with us if you have any needs…”

The brief meeting lasted less than half an hour. Besides discussing how to deal with the day’s unexpected situation, the producer and Minnie also briefly introduced the remaining guest couples. Since it was an observational romance show, there would occasionally be joint filming, so it was good for everyone to have each other’s information beforehand.

As the meeting was drawing to a close, a few more beams of light shone on Su Cancan’s face. She subconsciously looked up and saw that they had arrived at the toll gate exit with the large sign that read “Ning City.” She lowered the car window slightly and was wrapped in the familiar air, feeling utterly refreshed.

Xiao Wu, whose nerves had been tightly strung for several hours of driving, briefly relaxed. He slowed down the car toward the ETC lane. The gentle evening breeze surged in through the window crack, bringing a slight chill and replacing the stale air in the compartment. For a moment, everyone felt energized.

“That’s about it for today’s meeting. Do the two teachers have anything to add?”

Just as the producer’s voice fell, two startled cries came from Su Cancan’s side.

The heavy car body shook violently as if hit by a heavy object. Xiao Wu quickly slammed on the brakes, and the speedometer dropped to zero. The car stopped abruptly, leaving the frightened people inside and their concerned partners on the screen staring blankly at each other.

Shen Luoyan was the first to react. She leaned closer to the screen. Her face took up more than half of the small frame, and her beautiful brows drew slightly closer: “What happened?”

“I think we got rear-ended,” Su Cancan said, dazed after the initial shock. She had been sitting fairly upright, but both sides of her neck ached slightly from the impact.

Xiao Wu looked through the rear-view mirror and saw an old white Volkswagen pressed against the left rear of their car. “It’s probably a minor scrape from someone trying to tail us through the ETC. Sister Cancan, I’m going to take a look and contact the traffic police.” Xiao Wu was the only man in the car and the one who needed to handle the situation. He consciously turned on the hazard lights, shifted to neutral, and opened the door to get out.

Su Cancan nodded. The force of the impact was not as strong as when the accident first happened. She moved her limbs and felt no abnormality, which slightly reassured her.

“Excuse me, everyone, I have a situation here that I need to deal with.” She turned on the interior light. The warm, soft yellow light suddenly illuminated her face. Her moist eyes accidentally met Shen Luoyan’s. Sensing her concern, Su Cancan pursed her lips and added, “It’s just a minor scrape. I’m not hurt, and it won’t affect the subsequent filming.”

There were traffic police patrolling nearby the toll station. Someone lightly knocked on the car door. Su Cancan collected her emotions: “I’ll exit the meeting first. Contact me if there’s anything.”

With that, she exited the meeting room directly, cutting off Shen Luoyan’s unspoken concern.

The traffic police, who frequently dealt with such issues, knew instantly that the white car behind had tried to illegally follow through the free ETC and had not controlled its speed, thus hitting the car in front. Work requirements mandated that he first verify the passenger information, the driver’s license, and the vehicle information of both cars, then take pictures, move the cars, and proceed to the next step.

Liu Yimin got out of the car first. Su Cancan put away the tablet, tucked her long hair behind her ears, and got out with Xiao Ke.

The nanny van had privacy film, so the traffic police had guessed that there might be a celebrity inside. When Su Cancan appeared, he was stunned. He stammered, “Su, Su Cancan?”

“Hello,” Su Cancan didn’t proactively shake hands, nodding to acknowledge her identity, mindful of the gender difference.

Before the traffic police could say another word, the Volkswagen’s driver’s door opened, and out stepped a bald, corpulent man covered in big logos, with thick, short neck wrapped in gold chains.

The man was short, and when he walked, he bounced like an elastic rubber ball. In a few hops, he was in front of Su Cancan and the traffic police. He rolled up his sleeve and started cursing loudly.

“How do you drive? Do you even have a license to be on the highway? Officer, you judge! Parking at the toll gate exit? Are you sick, daring to challenge the law like this? Quickly arrest them and make them pay for my car repairs!”

Xiao Wu saw the fat man rolling toward Su Cancan and rushed in three steps to shield Su Cancan before he could reach her.

The traffic police officer was so amused by the sudden verbal attack that he almost laughed. Who was the “big shot” here? Did the man not look in a mirror?

“Sir, you don’t need to worry. There are many surveillance cameras here. We’ll pull up the video later, and we’ll know who is responsible.” Displeasure was mixed in his words. The fat man’s ears twitched, and he was about to erupt when the officer coldly interrupted him, “Before we check the surveillance, please cooperate and show me your documents.”

The uniform commanded respect. The fat man reached into his pants pocket, muttering, “It’s unfair! Why only look at mine and not theirs? I’m going to report you for differential treatment.”

He meant for everyone present to hear, so his voice was not low. Xiao Wu frowned, not wanting to make things difficult for the young officer. He stepped away from Su Cancan, walked around the car, and went to retrieve his own documents.

The fat man pulled out a tattered driver’s license from a pile of junk. He looked up, saw Su Cancan who was no longer shielded by Xiao Wu, and his hand shook, scattering the contents all over the ground. The slight breeze caught them, sending them fluttering everywhere. He awkwardly squatted down to pick them up, nearly stumbling and falling, and only managed to regain his balance with great effort to avoid embarrassment.

As he stood up, his blood flow was restricted. Swaying slightly, he handed the license to the traffic police. His cloudy eyes, full of lust, stared directly at Su Cancan. Undisguised covetousness filled his vulgar round face, and his black-yellow mouth looked like it might emit a strange odor. His hand reached straight out, stopping in front of Su Cancan.

“So you’re a big star,” he said excitedly, the sagging flesh on his cheeks trembling up and down.

Su Cancan took a step back, avoiding the greasy and naked attempt at contact.

The fat man was annoyed by the rejection. Was this actress from the entertainment industry trying to act pure and aloof in front of him? It must be a joke. He dropped his flippant smile and kept his hand outstretched, taking a step forward as Su Cancan retreated.

“Stop right there,” the young police officer said, holding the fat man’s broken driver’s license and pulling his arm down. “Putting everything else aside, your driver’s license expired over a year ago. You are currently driving without a license.”

The fat man’s attention shifted. His lowered hand shot up again, trying to snatch his document back from the officer. The heavy flesh on his cheeks tensed fiercely. In his excitement, he accidentally punched the officer in the jaw.

“Calm down. Are you trying to assault a police officer?”

The fat man was beyond listening. His hands continued to struggle. After another unsuccessful warning, the officer quickly subdued him with a couple of moves.

Although it was not a holiday peak, Ning City, as the provincial capital, still had considerable daily traffic flow. Many passing vehicles were attracted by the accident. They stopped, took photos, and upon discovering that one of the parties involved was a popular female celebrity, they uploaded the content to the internet, causing considerable controversy.

Due to the fat man’s impulsive behavior, the nature of the simple traffic case changed. Su Cancan’s team, as the other party, was busy for a while. The initial ruling determined that the fat man was driving without a license, was responsible for the rear-end collision, and was liable for the full cost. He was then detained for assaulting a police officer to await a verdict.

The damage to the nanny van was not severe. By the time Xiao Wu drove Su Cancan back to her old family home after leaving the police station, it was past ten o’clock. The elderly family members were asleep. She tiptoed through the living room and returned to her room on the third floor.

Fatigue coursed through every one of her veins. Su Cancan only turned on the bedside lamp and buried herself in the comfortable bedding, her clean face pressed against the cotton sheets, desperately inhaling the scent of the sun.

Liu Yimin, Xiao Wu, and Xiao Ke checked into the five-star hotel she had booked. Before she could rest, her phone notified her of a message from Liu Yimin.

Su Cancan lazily flipped over, closed her eyes, and played the voice message.

“Cancan, Shen Luoyan’s team is being quite aggressive in dealing with the extreme comments. All the malicious comments about you in her comment section have been deleted, and a few long-time fans have been directly blocked…”

Hearing this, Su Cancan lifted her eyelids in disbelief. She was offending her fans this much; wasn’t she afraid of a backlash?

Liu Yimin’s message continued, but Su Cancan wasn’t paying attention. She exited WeChat to check, then remembered she had uninstalled Weibo and had to reinstall it. While waiting for a few dozen seconds, her mind was a mess.

Were the attacks on her still continuing? Were there new negative trending topics? Did she also have to do this and hurt the fans who fought so hard for her?

The moment the Weibo icon showed “download complete,” she suddenly felt that none of this mattered. She was still herself; beneath the praise and the criticism, she was still her.

Su Cancan went back to listen to the voice message that hadn’t finished playing. She had a video discussion with Liu Yimin to strategize, clearly stating that she would not block anyone for the time being, but deleting comments was fine. Liu Yimin then suggested that Su Cancan post a Weibo response to guide her fans toward rational behavior.

Su Cancan lay on the bed, her calves swinging back and forth. The loose trouser legs slid up to her knees, exposing her delicate, fair skin.

“When? Before the FOR U official announcement or after?”

Liu Yimin, wearing a thick moisturizing mask, leaned her head: “Before the official announcement, I think it would be even better if we could post at the same time as Shen Luoyan.”

Su Cancan was silent on the video call. Her leg heavily thumped into the soft bed.

Liu Yimin thought the hotel’s network signal was poor and struggled to open her eyes to check, only to be amused by Su Cancan’s grimacing expression.

“What are you laughing at?” Su Cancan asked seriously. “I’m struggling, and you’re secretly laughing. Is that appropriate?”

“It’s not appropriate, but I still laughed,” Liu Yimin, adept at teasing cats, knew the limits of this “cat princess” and probed intentionally.

Su Cancan frowned: “I can’t even smile. By the way, my neck twisted a bit during the scrape earlier.”

Hearing that Su Cancan was injured, Liu Yimin immediately sat up from her lying position. The thick mud mask dripped onto her clothes, making a mess. She leaned in to look, asking concernedly, “Are you okay? Why didn’t you say anything earlier? It was careless of me not to take you for a full body check-up. Tomorrow morning, can I book you a private hospital visit? If you’re really uncomfortable, we can go out right now.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Su Cancan’s eyes were warm, but she still smiled. “I’m not that fragile!”

Su Cancan looked lively enough to perform a set of military boxing moves. Liu Yimin rolled her eyes: “You’re trying to scare me to death, aren’t you? Fine, I’m done chatting with you. Get some rest. Filming starts on the fifth, and we have to be there on the fourth. Spend these few days at home with your grandparents. Take a short vacation.”

“What short vacation? I still have to deal with the Weibo situation tomorrow,” Su Cancan complained, but Liu Yimin domineeringly took away her chance to protest and hung up the video call.

After ending the call, Su Cancan was indeed exhausted. She didn’t even have the energy for a bath. After a quick rinse, she burrowed into her comfortable quilt.

Before falling asleep, she still wanted to chat a bit with her online friend, 19970615. However, her eyelids grew heavy. She vaguely saw that she had received a friend request and clicked to view the details.

Friend Request: I am Shen Luoyan.

She didn’t remember if she clicked “accept,” but after falling asleep, the big white dog named Xueqiu returned. She was no longer herself but transformed into an odd-eyed, long-haired cat, chasing and fighting with the big dog all night.