Chapter 693 Better
“What’s this? Why did you even go to a place like that? Since when did you like partying?” Cheng Xiangyun asked. “I don’t like partying. I was there with Lu Jingyuan to look for someone. I didn’t expect people to capture that on camera.”
“Were you there to look for that prick? Did Lu Jingyuan bring you to see him?” “Yeah. We went to settle some stuff, not to have fun.”
Cheng Xiangyun was worried sick. “What should we do now? They have it on camera that you were with them and are even saying you’re seeing that guy.”
Ning Ran was equally anxious, but she could do nothing because she did not foresee that someone would tail her and take photos.
Suddenly, Cheng Xiangyun’s phone rang, adding to her anxiousness. “It’s Wang Xiaoou.” Ning Ran was also aware that the call meant the company had found out about that news.
After talking to Wang Xiaoou, Cheng Xiangyun informed Ning Ran, “Ou asked you to go straight home after you finish shooting and refrain from answering any questions if the reporters get to you. We don’t know the real situation now, so don’t make any statement.”
“Noted.” The rest of the day continued as usual with the shooting for Ning Ran, but for the first time in her career, Ning Ran had to do a few retakes because she was disturbed by the news that morning.
It was not until she forced herself to calm down that she could get herself to perform as usual.
During lunchtime, Cheng Xiangyun went over to inform Ning Ran that the news about her had become a trending topic online, but on the bright side, it was just the sixth most heated topic discussed domestically.
The news appeared simultaneously across numerous gossip columns with catchy headlines that read: Breaking news! A star has the hots for a roughie!
Jarring news. Ning Ran bullies her way to the top.
You won’t believe where Ning Ran is getting her support from…
The last headline ended in an ellipsis, just as most clickbait headlines did.
Apparently, those headlines’ priority was to attract attention and traffic instead of producing good content.
Ning Ran’s heart was a mess as she read the news.
“Seriously? Those people are making up lies about you. I can’t—”
“It’s okay. Let’s not talk about this. I should’ve known better. I should’ve seen this coming. Now that I think about it, it must not have been easy to spot me given how dark the setting was, so someone must have followed me to the disco and snapped that picture, but the question is: who was it? Why did that person follow me?” Ning Ran asked, shaking her head in distress.
“I have a feeling that someone is trying to sabotage you. Look at those news outlets. They are all public accounts where writers write about and hype up anything for a fee. They have also left scathing comments about you in the comments section, so I’m sure someone must have hired professional keyboard warriors to target you online,” Cheng Xiangyun explained.
“Did I offend anyone lately, though? Why do they keep targeting me?”
“Well, I don’t know. But, now that you said it, someone came to my mind,” Cheng Xiangyun replied.
“Who?”
Cheng Xiangyun shot Ning Ran a mysterious gaze and leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “Ms. Lu.”
“Lu Jingyuan?”
Cheng Xiangyun nodded and lowered her voice. “Yeah. You said she was the one who brought you there. So this might well be a trap she set.”
“This cannot be. She’s not like that,” Ning Ran negated the conjecture outright, but Cheng Xiangyun begged to differ.
“Hey, it’s not like you know her that well. Do you even know what kind of a person she is like? Don’t forget that she is the one who solved your problem the last time you ran into one.”
Ning Ran was unperturbed. “You’re right, but what about that? She solved my problem, but that doesn’t mean she would create one for me after that. How does that logic even work?”
“What if all this is bait to bring you closer to her and ensnare you?” Cheng Xiangyun suggested, suddenly feeling like she was a wise strategist who could see through every plot.
“Enough with your conspiracy theories. Don’t speak ill of Lu Jingyuan. I don’t think she would do something like that,” Ning Ran said.
Cheng Xiangyun shook her head, sighing. “I knew it. You must have fallen for her lies. Tell me, then. Who can it be if it is not her?”
“I have no idea, but I believe she would not do something like that—she would never,” Ning Ran replied firmly.
Seeing that there was no possibility of convincing Ning Ran, Cheng Xiangyun shook her head and sighed again.
“You know what—you should still watch out for her. I might not have any proof that she is bad, but neither have you any proof that she is a good person.”
Ning Ran did not answer, for her mind was elsewhere, devising a plan to circumvent the issue.
Meanwhile, over at Nan Chen’s office in Flower City, Jiang Zhe stood beside the desk as he waited for his boss to finish reading the news online.
The assistant had braced himself to catch the phone in case Nan Chen threw it away in a fit of anger after reading the news, but unlike what he expected, not only did Nan Chen not do that, but he also returned the phone to him calmly.
“It must be the ghostwriters.”
“It is. These are all public accounts.”
“Investigate and see which company they belong to. Tell them I want all these taken down in an hour,” Nan Chen ordered.
“I did some digging. These accounts belong to Wave Technology, a social media company. They have as many as a hundred Weibo and WeChat accounts. Once they have a topic they want to blow up, they will mobilize all these public accounts to harp on it to make a big fuss out of it,” Jiang Zhe described.
Nan Chen was pleased with Jiang Zhe’s efficiency since the assistant had done all the research before Nan Chen even gave him explicit instructions.
“Is this the only company involved?”
“No. There are other companies as well. They are all major players within the ghostwriting industry.”
Nan Chen nodded at the information. “So, someone is spending tonnes of money to tarnish Ning Ran’s reputation.”
“Or they might just want some negative publicity for ‘I Am You,’ but at the moment, it seems like they are targeting both the film and Ning Ran.”
“Then just let it slide for now,” Nan Chen suddenly said.
“Let it slide?” Jiang Zhe was not following.
“Just let them do their thing for now,” Nan Chen replied, waving his hand.
“This might snowball into something more consequential if we let them be, though. It would be too late to deny anything by then,” Jiang Zhe reminded.
“I know,” Nan Chen answered coldly.
On second thought, Jiang Zhe felt he might have said too much, for Nan Chen would definitely have thought about that if even an assistant like him could figure that out.
“Then do you mean to say that negative publicity is also a form of publicity?” Jiang Zhe inquired humbly.
“I think online discussions about an unreleased film during its shooting can really leave an impression on netizens. Besides, there is no point in clearing the air now that everyone is hellbent on shaming Ning Ran, so we might as well just go with the flow for now.”
