Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Chapter 45: Chapter 41: When a Wall Falls, Everyone Pushes

[Just a minute ago you were all swearing your favorite award-winning actor was a good guy. Does your face sting? Huh? I’m asking you! Does it! Or doesn’t it?! screenshot/screenshot/screenshot]

[Waaah~ My face is already swollen, don’t @ me~]

The people who had previously defended Wei Hang were now shamefully deleting their posts. The more hot-tempered ones even came back to viciously attack him.

Seeing the tables had turned, Ni Bingyan, who finally noticed she was hungry, returned home. She had just made herself a sandwich and was eating it when she saw this new item shoot up the trending charts.

Even though she felt Wei Hang got his Deserved Punishment, seeing him get brutally cyberbullied still made her feel a pang of empathy.

’This is what they mean by kicking a man when he’s down!’

’Since I’ve entered this industry, I have to be constantly mindful of my words and actions. Otherwise, his today could be my tomorrow.’

If an ordinary person made this kind of mistake, it would just be a private moral failing. They could brazen it out and still live well. But as a public figure, making this kind of mistake means you’ll likely spend the rest of your life being judged by others.

The good things that fame brought you in the past become the burdens you must bear in the future.

Unless you leave your home and country for a foreign land, it’s difficult to even live a normal life.

’Is this what they call love turning to hate?’

She had understood from a young age that the more tempting something seemed, the greater the price to obtain it. That’s why she never took shortcuts. She would rather toil day and night, rain or shine, to ensure every step she took was solid and steady.

[If even this dream couple is fake, what else is real? I don’t believe in love anymore. /crying/crying/crying]

[Daily dose of discouragement, HAHAHAHA. They were talking about a third kid? Hell, I’m scared to even get married! You want me to have three kids? Not in this lifetime! HAHAHA! Don’t try to talk me down, I’m not crazy!]

With the incident causing such a negative social impact, there was no way the government authorities could ignore it.

Especially since Wei Hang was the Liu Family’s son-in-law.

Once Liu Yi decided on a divorce, her family was naturally not going to tolerate him as they had before.

Soon, state-run media outlets weighed in, their wording increasingly severe. They directly labeled Wei Hang a "tainted artist." From now on, he could forget about ever working in front of the camera again.

Besides the fact that Wei Hang had married the pampered daughter of a ruthless family, his downfall was so catastrophic in no small part due to Wei Shuojie.

An artist and their team are a community of shared interests. Perhaps he was in the hospital and not involved in this matter, but if his team acts unscrupulously, he has to bear the consequences with them.

This is how battles are fought in the entertainment industry: bloodless assassinations.

’Your artist is your cash cow, so isn’t mine?’

’Ruining someone’s career is like murdering their parents—a fight to the death.’

’It’s either you take me down, or I take you down.’

’When two foes meet on a narrow path, the bolder one wins.’

It was as simple as that.

The other mistresses—from the third and fourth to Xiao Wu and Little Six—were all identified as other people. As the "good Samaritan" in all this, Ni Bingyan was completely exonerated. While people feasted on the gossip, they didn’t forget to come and comfort this victim.

Ultimately, the world is full of mostly good people. The more viciously they had cursed her before, the more guilt they felt now.

Apologizing when you’ve done something wrong is something even a three-year-old knows.

So they found their way to Ni Bingyan’s official Weibo account, saw the countless "lick-the-screen-worthy" photos, and found themselves completely hooked.

[Whoa! When did the industry get a beauty like this? How did I not know! I’ve been missing out! Lick, lick, lick, lick, lick~~~]

[I can get behind this big sis’s looks!]

[Wow, that lipstick is so pretty. Can I get the shade name?]

While a crowd of fans, won over by her looks, celebrated wildly, Ni Bingyan was no longer paying attention.

Now, this matter had nothing to do with her anymore.

A light rain began to fall outside. Her fishing gear was still by the lake, so Ni Bingyan changed into a waterproof jacket, filled a thermos with hot tea, grabbed another sandwich, and set off, shouldering a large all-weather umbrella.

After such an emotional rollercoaster, she had to have a good fishing session to mend her damaged spirit.

If she could catch something, whether she stewed it or grilled it, a hearty meal tonight would fill her with energy for whatever tomorrow brought!

A pitiful commoner like her was just that easy to please!

When she arrived at the lake, the other fishermen had already gone home.

Raindrops pattered onto the lake, sending out circles of ripples. The sky was gloomy, and though it was only mid-afternoon, the shadows of the surrounding trees were pitch-black, as if a ring of demons stood watching.

Ni Bingyan had seen too much of the world’s ugliness to be afraid of such things.

She quickly opened her umbrella, took out her phone to snap a picture, and, in a great mood, posted on Weibo to document her life.

Even though it was late September and the weather was awful, she captioned it with the line, "A good rain knows its season."

Wasn’t it, though?

This was a good rain, falling precisely when she was in a good mood.

Even though just a short while ago, she had been complaining that the gloomy sky matched her gloomy mood.

When you’re in a good mood, everything looks good.

It was all a matter of perspective.

Before logging out of Weibo, she noticed that aside from the bot followers provided by the system, she had actually gained a real, live follower. In her good mood, she clicked on their profile to take a look.

They seemed to be a low-key person who also enjoyed documenting their life. The profile was full of photos in a style similar to hers, with no personal information, but if you looked closely, you could feel the owner’s mood at the time they were taken.

Sometimes it was just a dilapidated wooden fence, other times it was a blooming flower, or the blue, blue sky.

At first, Ni Bingyan thought they were just generic pictures from the internet, but they all had timestamps.

The feeling was like meeting another version of herself in a vast sea of people.

It felt a little strange.

After giving the person a couple of likes, Ni Bingyan put down her phone, took out her folding canvas chair, and sat down. She expertly baited her hook, cast her line, and then quietly stared at the lake’s surface, silently savoring a moment of tranquility in this noisy world.

Rain fell on the trees, slid down the leaves, and landed on her umbrella—TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP...

It had a unique kind of romance to it.

According to her neighbors, the local fishing club stocked the lake with fry every year. So even though people often came from far and wide to fish here, the little lake was still teeming with fish.

On a rainy day in early autumn, if you found the right spot, it was actually quite easy to get a bite.

Ni Bingyan was particularly craving crucian carp soup today, so she switched her bait to specifically target them. To do this, she even used a large bag of fermented rice as groundbait.

Half an hour later, the fish started biting.

One after another, she reeled in small, palm-sized crucian carp. When that was no longer exciting enough, she changed her rig and started catching two at a time.

The fish only started biting less frequently when the rain began to subside and the sky slowly cleared.

By the time she lifted her fish basket, there were already several dozen inside.

Another great day with a bountiful harvest.

Ni Bingyan felt refreshed and content. She stood up and stretched, and seeing that it was still early and she lived nearby, she wasn’t in a hurry to go home.

It wasn’t cold yet. A light breeze blew after the rain, and before long the dripping wet leaves stopped dripping. Finding the large umbrella cumbersome, Ni Bingyan folded it up.

She had caught too many crucian carp; she’d probably wiped out the entire local population. Thinking that just having fish soup wasn’t satisfying enough, she switched to a larger hook, wanting to catch a carp to braise.

Because the target fish’s mouth size was very different, changing the rig made casting feel more powerful. Emboldened by the fact that no one was around after the rain and there were no high-voltage power lines overhead, Ni Bingyan stood up and swung the fishing rod with force.

As a seasoned angler, it wasn’t that she didn’t know how to cast properly. She just couldn’t contain her joy and found the WHOOSH of the rod cutting through the air exhilarating, so she decided to be a little mischievous.

She never expected that one cast would cause a problem.

The bait flew off, and when she reeled the line in, a black hat was caught on the hook!

A thin, soft, black hat—the kind you could cut a few holes in, pull over your head, and go rob a bank with!

’It just rained, and I thought no one was around. I can’t believe I hooked someone’s hat!!!’

’Good thing I didn’t hook their ear or eye or something! How could I ever compensate them for that?!’

’See? You just can’t get too carried away. Eighty percent of all accidents happen this way.’

Ni Bingyan’s heart pounded, but she reached into her pocket and gripped her anti-pervert stun gun. Holding the fishing rod, she turned and looked up toward the cobblestone path behind the bushes.

There stood a tall young man wearing a transparent raincoat. He had slightly curly chestnut hair, thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a high-bridged nose. He was holding a phone in one hand and touching his head with the other, a dazed look on his face.

Just as she turned, he looked over at her.