Wen Li was initially lost in thought due to Song Yan's words, but the witty remarks from her two mischievous assistants promptly interrupted her thoughts.
There didn't seem to be any serious people in this car.
Having spent most of the day under the spotlight, Wen Li had been restless throughout the night. After returning home, all she wanted was to quickly lie down on her bed.
Before going to sleep, when she was turning off the camera, Wen Li suddenly thought that if Zheng Xue exposed Lu Ming's affair, the 'Ming-Zheng CP' would probably not be able to continue filming for the reality show.
The 'Ming-Zheng CP' would be broken up just like that.
The ones who would suffer the most were probably the CP fans. They had genuinely loved the CP for two years, only to witness such an ending.
With this in mind, Wen Li surprisingly felt that she and Song Yan were quite honest. They didn't have any feelings and they never pretended to be a loving couple. There were many rumors online about their contractual marriage, but they never thought of clarifying them.
She had initially planned to wait until the contract expired and then smoothly get a divorce. However, due to some unexpected turn of events, her opponents provoked her and caused her to participate in the reality show. It was the first time they genuinely acted without a script. And in the midst of it, her opponents unexpectedly were defeated.
They won effortlessly.
Since the outcome between Zheng Xue and Lu Ming was already determined, did she and Song Yan... need to continue this act?
In the blink of an eye, [In This World with You] had already filmed three episodes, and the script for the fourth episode had been sent to them in advance. It would be a collective trip involving all the guests. When Wen Li first saw the script, she was still thinking about how to perform in front of her opponents. But now that her opponents were out of the picture, her fighting spirit was gone too.
That Republican-era film that Song Yan mentioned — Lu Dan replied that the investors favored another actress, so they were still negotiating.
Wen Li's filmography was indeed not impressive and many viewers questioned her acting skills on the big screen. It was normal for the investors to hesitate.
But she didn't have time to think about this non-definite film resource because she had received numerous new offers lately: new game endorsements, reality show recordings, and several TV drama scripts that Lu Dan was helping her screen. Once they were finalized, she would have to join the filming crew.
Due to the huge buzz around [In This World with You] recently, many TV stations' popular variety shows contacted her and Song Yan, wanting to invite them as temporary guests to participate in their recordings.
Wen Li mentally went through all the upcoming schedules for the next six months and let out a deep sigh.
"Ah..."
"What's wrong?"
Song Yan finished his shower and returned to the bedroom. He found Wen Li sitting cross-legged on the bed, frowning, and sighing as if she were an old lady.
Wen Li shook her head, "Nothing, I was just thinking that my schedule for this year has been packed to the end. It's a bit mentally exhausting."
"If you don't want to be that tired, you can decline some unnecessary offers."
Song Yan was right. As artists who didn't lack offers, they needed to weigh the pros and cons and turn down some irrelevant engagements, especially now that Zheng Xue and Lu Ming were definitely quitting [In This World with You]. The significance of Wen Li participating in it would diminish, making those offers irrelevant.
If they quit [In This World with You], the invitations to other variety shows would also disappear.
Their schedules would be freed up.
They could each go their separate ways and wouldn't have to pretend to be a couple in public anymore. Once the public's enthusiasm for the Salt Grain CP waned, they could smoothly release their divorce statement when the contract expired.
This was originally her plan.
The more Wen Li thought, the more confused her mind became, and her expression became increasingly dazed.
She seemed to regret it.
Even if Zheng Xue and Lu Ming were no longer in the picture, she didn't seem to mind continuing to film with Song Yan, even if it meant pretending. It was still better than being paired up with male artists whose intentions were unknown. At least Song Yan would never deceive her like Lu Ming did.
Yes, it was tiring, but it was also profitable.
As Wen Li realized this, she couldn't help but deeply despise herself. She was truly too greedy for money. Two years ago, she had sworn not to capitalize on CP relationships for personal gain again. Yet, here she was, repeating the same mistake and even enjoying it. She even had the audacity to extend the duration of the agreement with Song Yan, trying to bind herself to him for a while longer.
Wen Li's inner struggle lasted for a good seven to eight minutes, her facial expressions were a marvel to behold. Song Yan watched her silently, observing how her brows furrowed like a knot. Finally, he spoke up, "If you can't decide, you can discuss it with your manager."
"Huh?" Wen Li snapped back to reality, feeling uneasy, "I've decided. Even if it's tiring, I'll bear with it and won't quit."
Song Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her response, "Can you handle being that busy?"
"I can handle it. Making money makes me happy."
Wen Li didn't want to discuss the topic of schedules with Song Yan anymore, afraid that he would discover her hidden intentions. She quickly changed the subject and started talking to him about what happened today.
As an outsider, Wen Li couldn't help but sigh at the mention of infidelity.
Song Yan wasn't one to pass judgment on others' lives. He simply smiled faintly and continued listening to her elderly-like lamentations.
"And do you know how disgusting that guy Lu Ming is? He already has a wife but still... Anyway, I have no regrets. Let's just say I'm too charming for him."
As she spoke, Wen Li even arrogantly snorted.
"And you know what disgusted me the most? He actually found a woman who looks somewhat like me to have an affair with. I mean, seriously, I almost threw up," Wen Li wrinkled her nose in disgust, venting her anger at Song Yan, "Who is he disrespecting? Using a body double? The worst part is that the woman willingly played the substitute. She has no dignity. It's just plain disgusting for me to have the knowledge that she somewhat resembles!"
Listening to her complaints, Song Yan asked, "Do you want some water?"
"No, I haven't finished yet," Wen Li cleared her throat and continued, "Although she falls far short of me, she still has some of my facial features. Among female artists, she's considered attractive, right? There must be many people who like her. But she insists on getting involved with that scumbag. I'm so angry, really... What do you think?"
She stared at Song Yan with wide eyes, seeking some validation from him.
Song Yan nodded in agreement, "Yes."
Wen Li solemnly nodded, "Exactly."
As Wen Li's focus slowly shifted from Lu Ming to the female artist who resembled her to some extent, Song Yan realized that her anger stemmed not from defending Zheng Xue or being disappointed in Lu Ming, but from feeling humiliated and disgusted by that female artist.
Wen Li had always been a proud and self-absorbed girl, she couldn't bear such humiliation.
After venting her grievances to Song Yan, Wen Li's mood improved considerably. She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, and finally felt thirsty.
"Teacher Song."
"What is it?"
"I'm thirsty."
Song Yan poured her a glass of water.
Wen Li took a big sip and handed it back to him, then started talking again, "Today, not only did I teach that scumbag a lesson and woke up Zheng Xue, but I also spoke up for you."
"Is that so?" Song Yan took the glass and placed it aside, his tone flat, "Thank you."
"Don't you believe me?" Wen Li sat up and grabbed Song Yan's pajamas, saying, "Zheng Xue said I might not react so calmly if you cheated on me. I immediately retorted, saying that you are definitely not that kind of person. I said it in the car, and you heard it too."
"You trust me that much?" Song Yan raised an eyebrow, "What if I really cheated?"
Wen Li blinked and hesitated, "If you really cheated, well, we're in a contract marriage, so as long as I don't find out, I guess I have no reason to lecture you..."
Song Yan sighed, "Just go to sleep. It's already past three."
"Oh."
She hadn't realized it was already three o'clock. She sure could talk.
After turning off the light, Wen Li pondered for a while, turning and tossing in bed for a long time. She realized that she had misspoken.
Essentially, she had told him that it was okay for him to cheat, considering they were in a contract marriage and she had no authority over him.
But what if he took her words seriously and actually cheated?
The more Wen Li thought about it, the more anxious she became. In the end, she turned the bedside lamp back on. Song Yan instinctively furrowed his brows before she gently slapped her own face.
She really enjoys waking people up during their sleep.
Song Yan's voice was deep, "Wen Li, do you want to sleep or not?"
"I'll sleep after I finish talking." Wen Li bit her lip, suppressing the urge to slap herself, and said firmly, "Although we're just in a contract marriage, you still can't be with someone else before the contract ends... Well, I'm not trying to control you, of course, it doesn't matter to me who you like. I just think that since we're still husband and wife, we should at least maintain each other's dignity. We shouldn't end up in an ugly situation when we separate, do you understand what I mean?"
"..."
Song Yan didn't speak for a while and Wen Li hurriedly patched up her words, "Of course, when we get divorced, you can be with whoever you want. I mean, at least during this time, you can't—"
Before she could finish her sentence, she was pressed into his embrace.
"Why are you talking so much without even taking a break?" Song Yan patted the back of her head, "Just say that I'm not allowed to cheat, isn't that enough?"
Wen Li pouted and continued to be stubborn, "I'm not demanding that you can't cheat. I'm just thinking about our working relationship. Don't think of me as being so petty, okay?"
"Alright, alright, you're very understanding."
Wen Li couldn't stand his teasing and clicked her tongue, "Well, that's obvious. Do you really think I'm afraid of you cheating?"
Song Yan sighed and chuckled.
Wen Li's ears turned red as she pounded him, "Hey, can you just agree with me... Why are you laughing?"
"I promise you, I won't be with anyone else."
Wen Li nodded in satisfaction.
Song Yan asked her in return, "What about you? Shouldn't we talk about fairness?"
Wen Li confidently said, "Me? You don't have to worry about me, right? My standards are high, I'm not interested in ordinary men."
"Who knows," Song Yan muttered.
Wen Li chuckled and raised an eyebrow to mock him, "Hey, Teacher Song, are you a girl? Should I write you a guarantee letter?"
But she didn't expect Song Yan to agree, "Sure, go ahead and write it."
Wen Li clicked her tongue, unwilling to back down, "If I write it, you have to write one too."
"Okay."
"Childish."
She was met with his low laughter.
Wen Li sniffed and smelled the refreshing and clean scent of Song Yan's body in his embrace.
"When the news of the affair breaks out, Zheng Xue and Lu Ming will definitely no longer participate in the TV program. Technically, we don't need to continue filming, but I want to earn more money," She spoke softly, with a faint expectation in her tone, "What about you?"
Song Yan responded, "Then let's earn more money."
Wen Li smirked secretly.
"By the way, as a warning for you not to cheat on me during the contract period, I feel it's necessary to remind you, Teacher Song, that I told Zheng Xue if you dare to cheat, I'll castrate you."
"..."
Song Yan fell silent for a moment and then smiled, "Alright."
He actually laughed when she threatened to castrate him?
Wen Li felt Song Yan was a bit silly, but she realized that after chatting with him all night, she seemed even sillier.
——
As expected, a few days later, Weibo crashed, just as Wen Li had anticipated.
No matter how the technical staff improved and refined the software code, they couldn't stop the explosive revelations from these artists. Every time a big scandal broke out, Weibo's crash seemed to become a test of an artist's popularity.
And Lu Ming and Zheng Xue fully proved their status as top-tier artists.
At 8 o'clock in the morning, Zheng Xue posted a timed Weibo, writing a long essay about her and Lu Ming's journey since their high school days, and the ups and downs they had experienced in the past seven to eight years. She concluded it with a sentence, "Unfortunately, he and I can only walk this far", and in the final paragraph, she directly revealed Lu Ming's extramarital affair, announcing her decision to divorce.
It was a very standard divorce announcement. Just two minutes after she posted it, the hot topic on Weibo exploded.
As a result, the comments, likes, and reposts under that Weibo post couldn't be displayed. The system prompted that the network was stuck, asking to refresh later.
Ten minutes later, the Weibo interface couldn't be accessed either, displaying a network error.
Fortunately, Zheng Xue's Weibo was posted during the day, so by this time, the technical staff had already woken up and were preparing to go to work. Some of them received urgent notifications from their superiors while on the subway or bus, instructing them to quickly return to the company to fix the system.
The system was repaired quickly. When everyone logged back into Weibo, the top three trending topics were firmly occupied by Zheng Xue's divorce announcement.
Zheng Xue left some dignity for Lu Ming and didn't expose any videos. She only mentioned Lu Ming's affair in her lengthy Weibo post, stating that she had decided to divorce him.
Perhaps because she still couldn't bear to hurt him.
Even though she had made up her mind to divorce, she still couldn't bear to push him into a corner.
Wen Li could understand Zheng Xue's actions, but Lu Dan said, "By doing this, she's giving Lu Ming's side an opportunity to counterattack."
Her manager guessed right. Lu Ming's team quickly responded.
Wen Li laughed after reading their response.
Compared to Zheng Xue's lengthy Weibo post, Lu Ming's post was clearly the result of careful consideration and word choice by his PR team.
First, he followed the usual pattern of apologizing to everyone for occupying public resources.
Then, he stated that since marrying Zheng Xue, he had been living under her surveillance for the past two years, without any personal privacy. Even normal interactions with the opposite sex would be questioned by Zheng Xue in a harsh manner. The two years of marriage had put a heavy psychological burden on him. It was only when he participated in variety shows in recent months and encountered his former co-star that Zheng Xue's emotions became increasingly sensitive and irritable, making Lu Ming reflect on whether this marriage had been wrong from the beginning. However, because he deeply loved Zheng Xue, he had been unwilling to utter the word "divorce".
And in the final paragraph:
"As for the accusation of infidelity, I don't want to say much, but I am still grateful that Ms. Zheng Xue has spared me and spared herself. I only wish that from now on, we each find peace and happiness."
「I knew Brother Ming was innocent. 」
「I believe in Brother Ming. 」
「Wuwuwu, my baby, I feel so sorry for you.」
As soon as this lengthy post was released, Lu Ming's fans and a few people who were biased towards Lu Ming immediately shifted their attention to Zheng Xue's Weibo.
Lu Ming's post also mentioned his former co-star. There was no need to guess, it was undoubtedly Wen Li.
It was because of encountering Wen Li that Zheng Xue's emotions began to erupt, causing Lu Ming to be trapped in an endless state of psychological pressure.
As soon as the lengthy posts were released, both Zheng Xue's and Wen Li's Weibo accounts were flooded with comments.
「You're looking for a husband, not a pet. I hope you know that.」
「It's terrifying how controlling women can be. My heart aches for my Brother Ming.」
「The seven or eight years of feelings are being defamed as an affair just because he didn't want to be controlled by you. It disgusts me.」
Wen Li's Weibo comments were slightly better, but there were still quite a few insults.
「If it weren't for you, they wouldn't have become a 'BE'1. You'll face consequences.」
「Mistress, mistress, mistress, mistress, mistress.」
「Come out and apologize to my OTP!2」
The rest of the comments that involved severe personal attacks were reported and deleted by fans and PR teams, leaving only a few mildly insulting remarks.
Many people redirected their anger towards Wen Li, blaming her for the situation between Lu Ming and Zheng Xue. They then shifted their anger towards Song Yan and started sending private messages to his Weibo account, indiscriminately attacking and insulting him, accusing him of being blind to marry a mistress.
Wen Li called Zheng Xue and immediately began scolding her.
"What dignity did you leave him? Can you see the consequences now? He thinks you don't have substantial evidence to prove his affair, so he started retaliating against you, you foolish woman!"
"If you leave a way out for a scumbag today, he will crawl back along that path tomorrow and stab you in the back!"
Zheng Xue cried her heart out on the other end of the phone.
In that sorrowful and heartbreaking lengthy Weibo post, she was trying to convince herself.
The scumbag wouldn't repent because of this; he would only think that she had become soft-hearted. He had no evidence, so he seized every loophole in her heartfelt words, slandering her, retaliating against her, and whitewashing himself.
However, it was fortunate that Lu Ming handled things so decisively. Within an hour of his statement being released, Zheng Xue posted a new Weibo.
「Things have come to this point. I solemnly apologize to Miss Wen Li and thank her. If it weren't for her calmly capturing the evidence at that time, I might now be unable to defend myself, covered in dirty water. [Video]」
The video was quickly blocked after being released for less than two minutes, but some netizens had already saved it in time.
Wen Li immediately reposted the video and had her PR team work overnight to recover the data. She shared the WeChat screenshots of her conversations with Lu Ming from back then.
In those WeChat screenshots, there were conversations between Lu Ming and Wen Li late at night, with Wen Li consistently responding coldly. The last chat ended with Wen Li questioning Lu Ming why he was promoting their relationship when he had a girlfriend, to which Lu Ming responded, "I admit that we were indeed in a romantic relationship, but I also genuinely liked you."
Then Wen Li replied with a simple "Get lost".
She didn't say anything else, just adding a line in her Weibo repost:「Did you really think we had no evidence?」
Public opinion quickly reversed. No one had expected that these two female artists, who seemed to have no relationship at all, would one day stand on the same side to confront a man.
The evidence presented by Zheng Xue and Wen Li was too strong. Even if Lu Ming's team attempted to prove that the screenshots and the video were doctored, the direction of public opinion continued to shift irreversibly in the opposite direction.
On that day, the topics on the trending list kept changing, but amidst the changes, the names of the three artists remained.
「So, the truth of the matter was that two years ago, Lu Ming developed feelings for Wen Li due to their CP publicity, which made Zheng Xue jealous. Zheng Xue forced Lu Ming to publicly announce their relationship, which resulted in Wen Li getting abused online. Since then, Wen Li has avoided Lu Ming, but Lu Ming couldn't forget her, so he found another female artist who was nicknamed 'Little Wen Li' and had an affair. They were caught in the act by Zheng Xue and Wen Li, who recorded a video. Oh my, Wen Li is truly miserable.」
「Can Lu Ming's fans stop barking? Instead of desperately whitewashing your brother, why not form a team and officially apologize to Wen Li? At least it can salvage some IQ for you fans.」
RECENTLY UPDATES
