Chapter 32: Absolutely Not, Absolutely Not – The Delicate Canary
The private room was filled with the smell of lobster. Dong Ling watched Chen Shang Shang diligently picking the lobster meat out of the shell with her tongue, her own tongue aching in sympathy.
She ate some cherries and went to the restroom to wash the juice from her hands.
She adjusted her hair in front of the mirror, and the task system, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly appeared.
[Task: Give the female lead a valuable gem. Time limit: one month. Completing this task will reward 3% progress.]
Hearing this task, Dong Ling was startled. If she didn’t know the task system was unintelligent, she would have thought 021 had secretly updated the system and achieved some kind of task synchronization, after all, she had just been looking at gems, and had that thought in mind.
And this task was also strange, a one-month time limit, and the amount of progress reward was a bit stingy.
021 felt its system integrity was being questioned: [Girl, don’t talk nonsense, how could I do such a thing behind your back? If I could contact headquarters, I would set off fireworks immediately!]
021: [Let me see, this is because in the original novel, the male lead had already planned to buy a gift for the female lead at this time. Coincidentally, it was that gem from tonight, which he would eventually win at the auction for 150 million. He then had someone carve several roses inside it and gave it to the female lead to display at home.]
Dong Ling fell silent, Dong Ling was filled with grief and indignation.
A real domineering CEO: Sees a gem and immediately plans to buy it, doesn’t bat an eye at 150 million, big investments, big productions, extravagant promotion.
A fake domineering CEO: Can’t afford a 70 million gem, relies on crowdfunding to promote her artist, and even uses her own house as the filming location.
Song Mingzhi, this delicate canary, was truly suffering following her.
021 sensed the host’s mood swings and racked its brains to comfort her: [It’s okay, girl, you’re also amazing, at least you’ve completed all the previous tasks very smoothly.]
Dong Ling was slightly distracted by its words, and she suddenly realized that this side quest only rewarded 3% progress, which meant this plot point wasn’t very significant for the development of their relationship. It wasn’t that Song Mingzhi wouldn’t like the gift, but she probably wouldn’t love it.
If even the most beautiful gem was just so-so, would she like the “Eye of Emira” she was planning to give her?
Fortunately, the task didn’t specify that she had to buy that particular gem at the auction, which would be quite challenging. Dong Ling felt that the “Eye of Emira” was more suitable for Song Mingzhi.
The time limit was one month. By then, she would receive some of the movie’s dividends. Dong Ling was confident that the movie wouldn’t do poorly at the box office, but she still had to do a good job with the pre-release publicity.
Dong Ling came out of the restroom. Chen Shang Shang was still practicing diligently, but her tongue was probably numb from all the effort, so after taking off her gloves, she started torturing the cherries.
“Take your time, I’ll be going back now. I’ll keep that Eye of Emira, I’ll buy it.”
Chen Shang Shang mumbled in response, and Dong Ling looked at her not-so-bright friend, shaking her head inwardly.
Dong Ling called her driver to pick her up. As soon as she got home, she received a call from Tang Qianxi, asking if she knew where Chen Shang Shang was.
Dong Ling gave her the address, thinking it was a pity that Tang Qianxi couldn’t see Chen Shang Shang like this.
The next day, Dong Ling started her busy schedule.
With the pressure of the diamond, Dong Ling worked even harder.
The creative team went on roadshows and promotional events, Dong Ling followed whenever she could, and when she couldn’t, she had someone keep an eye on things, ensuring the publicity team created buzz and controlled the hype.
The clip of the kissing scene had already been leaked. When paired with promotional text, the focus was on praising Song Mingzhi’s gentlemanly appearance, along with emphasizing that camera angles were used.
@SleepEarlyBaby: I was shocked when I saw the clip, I thought the woman in the black dress was the main character, wondering what kind of movie this was with such a tone, those red lips kissed my heart, then I found out the other person in the kiss was a girl, even more exciting, I thought it was a yuri film, but then I found out the woman was just a cameo, my heart is broken, but I’ll still watch it for this clip, these ten seconds are enough for me to savor!
@WutongWutongYa: That emphasis on camera angles is so clever 233333. But seriously, the woman is so cool, I just searched and she’s actually a complete newcomer, looking forward to it. (2333333 is like “lol”)
@SongInMyHeart: Already pre-ordered tickets, after reading the review from my favorite film critic, this is my first choice for May Day!
@SongMingzhiMyLove: Aaaaaaaaaa, this woman is killing me, I really like this type of woman, I decided to become her fan the moment I saw the poster. After seeing some behind-the-scenes footage and sneak peeks, she’s so elegant and charming even in GIFs, I’ve become her fan!
Dong Ling was satisfied with this. Song Mingzhi’s newly created Weibo account already had tens of thousands of followers, all real. Dong Ling originally thought about buying some fake followers for appearances, but decided to wait and see.
However, she found that some netizens seemed to be focusing on something else. The movie promotion and personal publicity naturally focused on Song Mingzhi, but also mentioned Tang Nuo and Peng Ke, but what was up with those people looking for her?
@ThunderShattersDarkness: I close my eyes and all I see are her red lips and her face hidden behind the veil, the lighting is perfect, her jawline is perfect, who is this actress? It’s not even listed in the cast, help, I really want to see her face.
@ADreamWithinADream: Her lip shape is so perfect, I compared it with many actresses and couldn’t find a match. She might be a newcomer, after all, there are several new actors in this film. And what’s the lipstick shade? So cold and elegant, with a hint of mature allure that matches her attire.
Dong Ling was filled with question marks. Seeing her image being featured by a popular uploader on a certain website, even drawn in fan art and sparking a short video cosplay trend, she couldn’t understand everyone’s preferences. Why were they looking at her? Look at Song Mingzhi! But she wouldn’t let such good publicity go to waste, and added the relevant tags and keywords.
Song Mingzhi naturally saw these as well. She turned off her phone and frowned slightly. It was good that Dong Ling insisted on not showing her face. If her face was seen, wouldn’t it attract even more attention? She even saw comments calling Dong Ling “wife,” how frivolous were these netizens nowadays?
She recalled that accidental kiss, and her frown gradually eased.
Dong Ling originally thought things would continue to develop in a good direction, but unexpectedly, after waking up from a night’s sleep, Yuki told her something had happened.
Overnight, multiple accounts emerged, exposing Song Mingzhi’s “dark history,” implying that she had a sugar daddy, and that there was no information about her before, so how could she suddenly appear?
There were also so-called classmates of Song Mingzhi coming forward, insinuating that she relied on her body for favors, saying that she came from a poor family but was often seen being picked up by luxury cars.
These posts started fermenting last night, and this morning, someone even posted what seemed to be concrete evidence, along with a photo of Song Mingzhi with a greasy-looking man.
Only half of Song Mingzhi’s face was visible in the photo, Dong Ling could tell at a glance that this wasn’t Song Mingzhi.
“What is this? Find out who did this. Has the PR department released a statement yet? Send a lawyer’s letter to everyone who posted this, every single one of them.”
Dong Ling looked at the picture on her phone with cold eyes, a chilling anger burning in her stomach, making her feel nauseous.
“Boss, should we remove the trending hashtags?”
“We even paid for trending hashtags? Remove them, the sooner the better, and then buy new trending topics.”
Zuo Zhen, being relatively experienced, had already issued a clarification using the company’s official account. The trending topics were just bought, so Zuo Zhen hadn’t had time to act yet.
“I don’t know who is behind this, but it’s definitely premeditated, trying to smear her reputation. I’ve already issued a clarification as quickly as possible, but some people might not believe it.”
Zuo Zhen still felt uncomfortable thinking of that picture. Even though it had been reported and deleted as quickly as possible, it was still circulating everywhere. Even if it was eventually clarified, she was still worried that many people, without knowing the full story, would be swayed by others’ opinions. There were already such comments online.
@Gege: I’m disgusted, the actress and the greasy man, truly indiscriminate, I was planning to watch the movie, but now every time I see Song Mingzhi’s face, I’ll think of that greasy man, ugh, I can’t watch it anymore.
@GoldenWind: Get used to it, everyone knows what the entertainment industry is like, there’s no good stuff there, she’s probably been slept with countless times.
@7456: There have been a lot of celebrity scandals lately, she just appeared and her persona is already collapsing, those comments praising her elegance are laughable, if you’re good-looking, even smelly feet will be praised.
Dong Ling resisted the urge to curse these idiots, and took a deep breath to calm down.
“Where is Mingzhi?”
Zuo Zhen had accompanied Song Mingzhi to the event, she glanced at the door: “At the event venue, she doesn’t know about this yet.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
By the time Dong Ling arrived, the event Song Mingzhi attended was already over.
She was wearing a shirt, standing in the lounge drinking water, and seeing Dong Ling rush in, she helped her calm down.
“Want some water?”
Dong Ling observed her expression and looked at Zuo Zhen, asking: “She doesn’t know yet?”
“She knows.”
Zuo Zhen was also a little apprehensive, Song Mingzhi was definitely the strangest newcomer she had ever managed.
She told Song Mingzhi about the situation when she came out, her mind full of comforting words, but before she could speak, Song Mingzhi simply nodded calmly, looked at her phone for a while, then put it down without any change in expression, as if she wasn’t the one being slandered, excessively calm.
“Don’t worry about it, those comments online are false, and don’t take those malicious rumors to heart.”
Dong Ling looked at Song Mingzhi with concern, not wanting her to be upset over those groundless accusations.
“That picture…”
Song Mingzhi was about to explain, it didn’t matter if others misunderstood, but the girl couldn’t misunderstand.
“It’s okay, I know it’s not you, even though only half of your face is visible, I could tell at a glance.”
Dong Ling was furious when she recalled that picture, who made such a disgusting thing, she wouldn’t let them off the hook if she found them.
Song Mingzhi’s mood brightened slightly because of Dong Ling’s words. She said she could tell at a glance, and was so worried about her, it meant she still cared about her.
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”
Dong Ling gently patted the back of Song Mingzhi’s hand, she wouldn’t let her be hurt.
“Okay.”
Song Mingzhi nodded obediently, looking harmless and docile.
She decided to wait until after Dong Ling made her move before making her own, letting the girl vent her anger first.
Zuo Zhen looked at the suddenly delicate Song Mingzhi, rubbed her eyes, a complex look on her face.
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