There's Something Wrong With My Little White Flower - Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Obscure Idol X Top Girl Group Member

Life after achieving fame was even busier than Ruan Jiyun had imagined.

Tianxing provided one year of limited resources for the six debut members, and Ruan Jiyun felt like a spinning top, immediately crammed with an overwhelming schedule before she could even react.

There were promotional photoshoots, magazine covers, preparations for a limited single, and long lines of popular variety shows waiting. Every day, the moment she opened her eyes, her calendar was packed with work.

It was during this time of flourishing success that the malice lurking in the shadows finally erupted.

A few days later, the well-known live streaming platform “Xi Lang” broadcast a special live session. During the program, former Huansheng Media artist Mu Qing spoke out publicly, accusing the company of deceiving her into participating under the guise of starting a CP to promote herself, but actually paving the way for Ruan Jiyun.

In the live stream, Mu Qing, wearing a white shirt, sincerely accused Huansheng of various misdeeds: “The company initially lied to me, saying that my style needed to pair up and interact with a teammate to become popular. Although I didn’t want to hype things up, the company said if I didn’t, they wouldn’t give me opportunities…”

She lowered her head gloomily and mentioned Ruan Jiyun’s name.

“The person Huansheng truly wanted to promote was Ruan Jiyun. After using me, they put all their funds into voting for Ruan Jiyun until they created a cash cow.”

As soon as the live broadcast aired, it caused an uproar among netizens.

“Before the first public performance, this Ruan Jiyun was indeed a nobody. I got hooked because of her and Mu Qing’s duet stage… I can’t believe it was naked hype!”

“Poor Mu Qing was completely exploited by a ruthless company in her pursuit of her dream…”

“Ruan Jiyun later even formed a CP with Jiang Peifeng. My god, she really loves selling that CP persona, doesn’t she?”

When Ruan Jiyun learned about the incident, she was shooting promotional photos with the other five finalists. A large group of reporters suddenly swarmed in, vying to get her opinion on the matter.

She was bombarded with questions she didn’t understand, her face full of bewilderment, completely unable to cope. Finally, a Tianxing staff member stepped in to maintain order and announced that the photoshoot was temporarily suspended.

After waiting for several hours, Sister Rong finally rushed over. Without much time to talk, she immediately instructed her assistant to send Ruan Jiyun home to await further news.

Only then did Ruan Jiyun realize that Mu Qing had dropped such a bombshell online.

Mu Qing’s tactic wasn’t particularly sophisticated, but for Ruan Jiyun, getting hit with such malicious negative press right after debuting would undoubtedly severely affect her reputation.

Huansheng’s slow reaction in public relations made the situation even worse.

She had asked Sister Rong if the company could issue a statement as soon as possible, but Sister Rong vaguely told her to wait.

Deleting posts was expensive, and Mu Qing’s side refused to communicate directly, demanding an exorbitant settlement fee. Huansheng naturally refused on the spot. Back and forth, the matter became entangled in wrangling and remained unresolved.

This naturally caused dissatisfaction from the Tianxing side, leading many people to complain about Ruan Jiyun.

“If I were her, I’d hide at home. One person is dragging the whole group down. Yesterday, a troll even asked me if I was maliciously hyping things up. It’s ridiculous…”

“Please, I don’t have a face that big. Remember how sycophantic she was toward Jiang Peifeng before…”

In the dressing room, several girls were chatting, their tone full of disdain. One girl was about to say more but abruptly stopped as the door opened.

The embarrassed makeup artist’s hand was still on the doorknob, and behind her stood Ruan Jiyun, whose expression was calm.

“We need to go on stage soon. Let’s touch up the makeup,” the makeup artist uttered with difficulty, secretly criticizing the girls for not finding a private place to badmouth their teammate.

The girls exchanged glances and stood up one after another, pretending everything was normal.

As Xin Lu passed Ruan Jiyun, she tilted her head and softly spat out a phrase only the two of them could hear: “Troublemaker.” She had been angry about ranking below Ruan Jiyun for a long time. Now, seeing her rival suffer, even though they were in the same group, she couldn’t help but feel a little delighted.

Ruan Jiyun said nothing.

The makeup artist saw everything. Ruan Jiyun was now a hot potato. Those who had been flattering her quickly scattered when they sensed trouble. The entertainment industry is never short on opportunists. The makeup artist wanted to say something but didn’t know how to start.

It must be very difficult for a young girl to endure such a rough patch.

Thinking this, the makeup artist’s movements were gentler. She meticulously reapplied Ruan Jiyun’s lipstick. The girl’s face was a little pale, so she deliberately switched to a more vibrant color, hoping to make her look better.

“Thank you,” Ruan Jiyun looked up at herself in the mirror and gave her a gentle smile.

The makeup artist was almost moved to tears by the smile. She had been working with the production team since the Star Catcher era. Ruan Jiyun was always polite to the staff, always saying “thank you” courteously. Although she never idolized celebrities, being treated with respect made her feel touched.

“That’s just how the entertainment industry is. If you weren’t popular, no one would bother to troll you!” She smiled back at Ruan Jiyun.

Finished getting ready, Ruan Jiyun walked toward the waiting area. Today was the Road to Stardom fan meeting. Sister Rong originally didn’t want her to attend, but Ruan Jiyun insisted on coming.

Her supportive fans would be there, and they would surely be disappointed if she didn’t show up.

The music started, and the area below the stage was already buzzing with excitement. Fans held up their idol’s light-up signs, cheering loudly under the host’s direction. The atmosphere was fervent.

The debut members of Road to Stardom walked onto the stage in succession. The glamorous girls stood tall and smiled, waving at their fans.

“Marketing tool! Get off the stage!”

Suddenly, a harsh shout came from below the stage. A young fan, who didn’t look very old, was yelling.

Although the voice wasn’t loud, it clearly reached Ruan Jiyun’s ears.

The atmosphere paused briefly. Ruan Jiyun’s fans refused to be outdone, immediately raising their light-up signs vigorously and shouting their idol’s name even louder, drowning out the negative voice.

Ruan Jiyun took a deep breath.

The crowd below surged densely. The light-up signs were like a sparkling ocean of light. They gilded her with their gaze, but there were also malicious people trying to tear off her facade piece by piece with their teeth.

A stage so familiar, yet so strange.

The music started. She opened her eyes again, revealing a brilliant and sweet smile that was familiar to her fans.

She couldn’t be defeated. This was her stage, and there were people below waiting for her.

The beat, the drum, the melody. She had to try her best to deliver the most beautiful performance for them.

But her heart ached so much, as if something had sharply stabbed it, over and over again.

She couldn’t cry.

Her performance was ongoing. She had to give it her all.

After the fan meeting performance ended, Sister Rong, who was waiting below the stage, immediately came forward and escorted Ruan Jiyun out of the venue.

“Tianxing is unwilling to issue a joint statement with us,” she delivered bad news. “The company’s position is that the cost to fight the defamation is too high, and everyone has been working overtime on your issue these days. You need to be understanding.”

Ruan Jiyun was silent for a moment: “I clearly didn’t hype things up with her…”

Even if the company initially had that intention, it was meant for her to pave the way for Mu Qing. Just because this fact couldn’t be publicly revealed now, she became the target.

“Sometimes, in the entertainment industry, there’s no right or wrong,” Sister Rong spoke honestly. “The company has done a lot for you, Xiao Ruan. Just weather this period. The important thing now is to earn money while you still have momentum. We’re arranging for you to do a live stream next. Get ready.”

The implication was that she had already caused the company significant losses and must quickly earn the money back to prove her worth.

After returning home, Ruan Jiyun sat alone in the dark for a long time.

When a knock on the door woke her up, she found herself still sitting on the living room floor, her legs numb, barely able to stand up.

The clock emitted a faint light, showing it was 3 AM. Ruan Jiyun groggily stood up, wondering who could be knocking at this hour.

She was afraid to open the door and quietly crept to the peephole to look outside.

What she saw made her almost disbelieve her eyes.

The moment the door opened, Jiang Peifeng sighed in relief and felt a bit scared at the same time.

“You open the door without even asking who it is,” she said as she slipped inside, taking off her baseball cap and mask. “What if it was a bad person? What were you planning to do?”

Ruan Jiyun stared blankly at her, taking a long moment to process it.

“I knew it was you…” she explained softly, unable to control a small sob in her voice. “I recognized you…”

The cry was thin and weak, like the last child at the kindergarten gate who hadn’t been picked up, finally seeing someone arrive. Jiang Peifeng sighed internally, her body reacting before her brain, reaching out and embracing Ruan Jiyun.

Ruan Jiyun’s shoulders tensed for a moment, but she quickly let herself be hugged. Jiang Peifeng’s embrace carried a pleasant scent that made her feel safe. Jiang Peifeng gently stroked Ruan Jiyun’s hair and said softly, “You’ve been wronged.”

This sentence seemed to flip a switch. Ruan Jiyun could no longer hold back, burying her head in the other’s shoulder and crying softly.

For days, everyone had either criticized her or expressed regret and blame. Only this person told her that she had been wronged.

A wronged child deserves a hug.

After all the pent-up frustration flowed out with her tears, Ruan Jiyun finally straightened up, feeling a bit self-conscious, and sniffled: “I messed up your shirt…”

She had cried miserably. Tears and snot were smeared all over Jiang Peifeng’s clothes. The black hoodie was a mess, looking dreadful.

Jiang Peifeng smiled indifferently, grabbing a tissue to wipe herself casually: “It’s fine as long as you feel better after crying.”

“Why are you here?” Ruan Jiyun calmed down momentarily, surprised by Jiang Peifeng’s sudden appearance. “There are reporters outside the apartment. If you were photographed…”

“I’m an artist with rich anti-paparazzi experience, you know,” Jiang Peifeng said. “I came up from the garage. Don’t worry.”

She looked somewhat different from her usual self, dressed in a discreet, heavily covered-up athletic outfit, sitting casually on the sofa without any pretense. Ruan Jiyun had never imagined what it would be like to have Jiang Peifeng in this small room, and she felt it was quite surreal.

She was sitting on her sofa, hugging her cushion, and then she picked up her cup… and took a sip of water.

Wait a minute… Ruan Jiyun snatched the cup away, her face flushing crimson: “That’s my cup… I’ll get you another one…”

She was so rude, forgetting to offer her guest water.

Jiang Peifeng said softly, “I don’t mind.”

Ruan Jiyun paused, but Jiang Peifeng had already stood up with a smile: “I’m not here to tease you. I came to ask a favor of you.”

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