[Lu Zhuosong?]
[What does Yu Xingsi have to do with you getting blacklisted? You went after the wrong person entirely.]
The crowd, who could hear her thoughts but did not know the truth, froze. The wrong person?
What was going on?
[Although Lu Zhuosong is still an A-lister, he's already considered washed-up compared to today's A-listers. Unwilling to be outshone by newcomers, and even less willing to fade into obscurity, Lu Zhuosong discussed it with his manager and took an unconventional path. To his surprise, he really did meet a big shot who was very interested in him.]
An unconventional path?
A big shot?
Interested in him?
Good heavens, was it what they were thinking?
[Last month, Lu Zhuosong used the big shot's connections to land the male lead in an S-tier production. Yu Xingsi was directing the drama. Lu Zhuosong noticed that after he joined the cast, the big shot grew colder and colder toward him. Then, two days ago, she announced that she had a new lover and was tired of playing with Lu Zhuosong. After that, he was blacklisted.]
[Lu Zhuosong thought this new lover was Yu Xingsi. Yu Xingsi is an up-and-coming director, proud and untamed, and he was extremely unhappy about having Lu Zhuosong forced into his cast. After filming began, the two clashed dozens of times over matters big and small. Yu Xingsi must have complained to the big shot, causing her to blacklist him. So Lu Zhuosong found out that Yu Xingsi was coming here with his girlfriend for a meal today and meticulously planned this whole performance.]
Everyone who had spoken up against the injustice done to Lu Zhuosong froze. They did not know whether it was all in their heads, but when they looked at him again, even his face seemed to have changed.
It had only been a few minutes.
[Unfortunately, though, Yu Xingsi isn't the big shot's new lover.]
Huh???
Then had Lu Zhuosong been going after the wrong person all along?
[The big shot doesn't actually have a new lover. Besides, even if she did, she wouldn't go so far as to blacklist Lu Zhuosong. All of this happened because Lu Zhuosong already had a girlfriend long before he approached the big shot.]
[He kept telling his girlfriend that he was at a crucial stage in his rising career, and his agency wouldn't let him date. Lu Zhuosong is already in his thirties. At that age, his agency wouldn't say anything even if he got married...]
[Once, when Lu Zhuosong was on a date with the big shot,]
[his girlfriend saw them. His girlfriend wouldn't let the matter drop, so Lu Zhuosong...]
Had he wanted to kill her?
Someone in the crowd cried out in shock. Lu Zhuosong mistakenly thought he had achieved his goal. He had prepared thoroughly this time and even invited reporters to livestream the whole thing. Yu Xingsi, just you wait! You're going to hell!!!
A trace of hatred flashed across Lu Zhuosong's face. When he looked up again, he looked every inch a man driven into a corner. "I'm begging you, Director Yu. Please give me a way to survive."
Strangely, this time, none of the people around him spoke up for him.
It's fine. As long as people online speak up for me.
Just as Lu Zhuosong expected, the viewers who saw this were furious.
[Ahhhh, Yu Xingsi, are you trying to drive him to his death?]
[How can anyone be so cold and heartless?]
[He just wants a way to survive. What did he do wrong? Acting is his lifelong passion!!!]
Lin Tingyue kept shaking her head.
[Lu Zhuosong is begging Yu Xingsi to give him a way to survive now, but why didn't he give his girlfriend one back then? His girlfriend developed depression after he steered people into cyberbullying her, and Lu Zhuosong kept telling her to go die. In the end... sigh.]
What???
[His girlfriend's older sister works at this aquarium. If someone could find her...]
That was right!
As long as they found his girlfriend's older sister, they could expose Lu Zhuosong's true colors!
An aquarium employee was among those present. The more she heard, the more this story sounded like what had happened to her friend's younger sister.
Could it really be...
Wu Manrong looked at Lu Zhuosong, who was still putting on an act nearby, clenched her fists, and quietly left the crowd.
A few minutes later, Zhan Xiuxin, who had just finished playing a mermaid and changed her clothes, stormed over, grabbed the still-acting Lu Zhuosong by the collar, and delivered two resounding slaps.
The slaps not only left Lu Zhuosong dazed but also stunned the livestream's viewers.
*[???]*
[So what's happening now?]
[I told you to let the bullets fly a little longer. You were all in such a hurry. See? There's the twist.]
"You scum! You bastard! You piece of trash! Give me back my sister! Give her back! If it weren't for you, why would my sister have attempted suicide? Why would she still be lying in a hospital? Aren't you afraid of retribution?"
At the thought of her sister, Zhan Xiuxin broke into anguished sobs as she spoke.
[I saw that news story about an ordinary woman who attempted suicide because her celebrity boyfriend refused to acknowledge her and his fans mocked her...]
[I remember now. I saw it too.]
[So it really was Lu Zhuosong?]
Lu Zhuosong had never expected retribution to come so quickly. He was the one going to hell!
Lin Tingyue and Ying An walked out of the ocean restaurant and stood in the sunlight.
Lin Tingyue glanced at Ying An. For some reason, she thought he looked a little upset. She asked with concern, "Mr. Ying, what's wrong?"
Ying An coughed. "Nothing."
Nothing?
Lin Tingyue did not believe that.
[It seems like Mr. Ying started looking upset when Lu Zhuosong showed up. Could it be...]
[Oh my god, Lu Zhuosong actually tried to drag my second brother and Mr. Ying into promoting a CP with him?]
[Neither of them agreed, so he flew into a humiliated rage and hired a bunch of paid trolls to smear them.]
Lin Tingyue turned around, her expression solemn. Ying An asked, "Miss Lin, what are you going to do?"
Lin Tingyue bristled with fury. "I'm going to give that Lu Zhuosong a couple of slaps."
Ying An laughed in amusement. He held Lin Tingyue back and said, "Miss Lin, let it go. The law will punish him. No matter how angry you are, you shouldn't get yourself into trouble over him."
Lin Tingyue asked, "Aren't you angry at all?"
"I've already been angry, so my emotions are very stable now."
Lin Tingyue laughed.
After returning home, Lin Tingyue decided that caring for her second brother started with her.
Lin Shengyan was scrolling through news of Lu Zhuosong's complete downfall, savoring the satisfaction of having the whole world finally see someone he hated for what he was.
He looked up to see Lin Tingyue smiling eagerly at him.
Lin Shengyan: "?"
Lin Tingyue said, "Second Brother, you might have a love brain, but that doesn't mean just anyone can hurt you."
Lin Shengyan said, "...Lin Tingyue, you're hurting me right now."
Lin Tingyue: "..."
[Forget it!]
Lin Tingyue walked away, and Lin Shengyan actually breathed a sigh of relief.
Dinner was especially lavish. It had been prepared specially for Lin Shengyan because he would soon be joining the cast to film his drama.
Everyone chatted at the dinner table.
Bai Yaxin asked, "Who are you acting with this time?"
Lin Shengyan thought for a moment. "The more famous one would be Mu Nanzhe."
[Huh? Is that the Mu Nanzhe who knows perfectly well that his wife is cheating on him but particularly enjoys listening to the sounds of his wife and her lover... together?]
Huh?
Lin Shengyan certainly knew nothing about any of that.
Chapter 42
[Mu Nanzhe secretly installed a camera in the bedroom, so his wife thinks he doesn't know she's cheating. But in reality, every time she has a tryst with her lover, Mu Nanzhe is watching them in secret.]
[Later, Mu Nanzhe was no longer satisfied with just peeping through a camera. He started deliberately telling his wife he was going out, but actually hid under the bed or in the wardrobe, listening to the live broadcast...]
[One day, his wife finally discovered what he was doing. She cursed Mu Nanzhe out for being a pervert and demanded a divorce, but Mu Nanzhe refused. He used the videos to threaten his wife and her lover, insisting that they keep doing it at home... Otherwise, he would expose them and spread the videos everywhere.]
[Mu Nanzhe's wife refused at first, but after doing it once or twice, she found it thrilling, like a threesome. Her lover, though, couldn't bear having a pair of eyes secretly watching him while he did that. At the end of his rope, he planned to expose this perverted couple... In a way, Mu Nanzhe and his wife really are a perfect match.]
[But once Mu Nanzhe's scandal breaks, will there be any saving Second Brother's production?]
With a clatter, the chopsticks in Lin Shengyan's hand fell, and Lin Tingyue's inner voice stopped.
Only then did she notice that no one in the family was eating. Instead, they were staring at her, dumbfounded.
Lin Tingyue: "?"
She touched her face self-consciously and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lin Shengyan stood up. "I'm going to make a call."
The other women, who had been engrossed in eating melon, also came to their senses then and began putting food on Lin Tingyue's plate.
They successfully piled her plate as high as a little mountain.
Lin Tingyue: "..."
[Why do I feel like I'm a pig?]
Bai Yaxin burst out laughing. She patted the head of Lin Tingyue, who was still completely out of the loop. "Eat more."
Lin Tingyue could only nod.
When Lin Shengyan returned, although everyone knew full well that his production might have to recast a role and would not start filming so soon, they still raised their glasses in unison and wished him a successful start to filming.
A little after nine that evening, Lin Tingyue opened her bedroom door and unexpectedly found Lin Shengyan lingering outside.
Lin Tingyue asked, "Second Brother, why are you here?"
Lin Shengyan was still choosing his words and had not expected Lin Tingyue to suddenly open the door. Startled, he shoved a card into her arms with a stony expression.
Lin Tingyue asked a question she already knew the answer to. "What's this?"
Lin Shengyan said in a tsundere manner, "Just take it. There isn't much money in it, only a few million. Once I get paid for filming, I'll transfer some more into it."