ASFSODS 75

Others didn’t know what had happened and looked at the director with confused expressions, then at Wen Chi.

Wen Chi stood up calmly. As he was about to leave with Ma Chuanbai, someone suddenly grabbed his wrist. Wen Chi looked back in surprise.

Jiang Siheng had risen, his long fingers gripping Wen Chi’s wrist tightly. Facing Wen Chi’s surprised gaze, he smiled at Wen Chi, his smile soothing, “I’m going with you.”

Ma Chuanbai gave Jiang Siheng a complex look but didn’t refuse his decision to follow.

Wen Chi and Jiang Siheng left, leaving the others looking at each other, confused as to why the director suddenly called Wen Chi. From Ma Chuanbai’s expression earlier, it didn’t seem like it was a good thing.

Xu Yuqing lowered his eyes slightly, hiding the malicious smile in his gaze.

I wonder if Jiang Siheng will still like Wen Chi after seeing everything, Xu Yuqing thought.

Zhou Ruoyao kept his eyes on Wen Chi until he disappeared from view, then furrowed his brow tightly and asked, “What happened?”

Tian Yang looked at them and finally sighed helplessly. “Wen Chi is trending.”

Zhou Ruoyao: “Huh?”

As soon as he heard “trending,” the celebrity actors like Zhou Yunbai immediately thought of potential negative gossip or scandals, as sometimes the trending topics weren’t about good news. Hence, they weren’t always happy about being on the trending list.

The hashtag “#WenChiGetOutoftheEntertainmentIndustry#” had gained massive traction. If this had happened in the past, when Wen Chi was still a little-known, low-tier celebrity with no fans and little recognition, it wouldn’t have gained much attention.

Yet now, things were different. Since Wen Chi had taken the role in Heart’s Confession 2 and partnered with Jiang Siheng, who brought a massive fanbase, forming the “Hengwen CP,” and with Wen Chi’s heroic act of saving someone in Country Y, his popularity exploded. His Weibo followers soared, and he was no longer just a nameless artist.

Fans and netizens, who spent more time online than Tian Yang, were quicker to notice the trending topic. In less than half an hour, there were already five entries with the hashtag “Wen Chi.”

Main livestream chat:

[So is it true?]

[Is Wen Chi really like that? I really can’t see it.]

[Unfollowing #Goodbye#]

[Gross, so disgusting…]

[Glad I didn’t eat, or I’d throw up my dinner.]

[The production team should kick Wen Chi out. Does he even deserve to stay here?]

[Poor Actor Jiang, he probably didn’t know Wen Chi was like this, otherwise, how could he agree to do a CP with him?]

[Is it confirmed?]

Most of the comments in the main live stream were filled with hate and even personal attacks. They were completely out of control. In contrast, although Wen Chi’s live stream was also discussing the trending topic, there were more fans trying to maintain order in the comments.

Wen Chi’s livestream chat:

[Girls, let’s not panic. If we don’t believe in Wen Chi, then no one else will.]

[I’ve been a fan of Wen Chi for over a year, and I can tell you responsibly that Wen Chi is not like what’s being said on Weibo.]

[New fans, I know you’re anxious and feel like your admiration has been misplaced, but I hope you’ll give Wen Chi and his company some time. I believe they will clear things up.]

[I saw some of the big fans in the group gathering evidence to fight back against the smear.]

[Really?…]

[But the photos on Weibo don’t look photoshopped at all.]

The assistant director furrowed his brow while looking at the chaotic main live stream. He turned to look at the door; Ma Chuanbai had not returned yet. After thinking for a moment, he instructed the staff to temporarily shut off the live stream and told someone to inform the other guests to turn off their microphones.

“Got it. But Director, should we turn off the cameras as well?”

The assistant director, irritated, waved his hand. “Turn them off too.”

…

As they followed Ma Chuanbai to a quiet place, Wen Chi had not spoken a word and maintained a neutral expression. It wasn’t until his head was ruffled by someone that he paused and looked up.

“What are you thinking?” Jiang Siheng smiled gently, his voice soft as always.

Wen Chi stared at Jiang Siheng for a few seconds, and once he regained his senses, he quickly shook his head, tilting his head to avoid Jiang Siheng’s hand.

Jiang Siheng’s hand remained in midair, his gaze cold and indifferent as he looked at the boy who no longer met his eyes. Without caring whether Ma Chuanbai might turn around, he forcefully took Wen Chi’s hand.

Wen Chi instinctively glanced ahead, his hand trying to break free from Jiang Siheng’s grip, but no matter how hard he struggled, Jiang Siheng didn’t seem to want to let go. In fact, the grip tightened.

“Teacher Jiang, please don’t…!” Wen Chi’s face turned pale. What if Ma Chuanbai saw them?

Jiang Siheng stopped and looked at him. His gaze was cold and unfamiliar, he had never looked at Wen Chi like this before, even when they first met.

Wen Chi, forced to follow, felt his fingers curl slightly, as if uneasy.

“Wen Chi, what are you afraid of?” Jiang Siheng asked, staring silently at Wen Chi for a few seconds.

Wen Chi didn’t speak, lowering his gaze and refusing to look at him.

Jiang Siheng waited for a while but seeing that Wen Chi still didn’t want to speak, he silently sighed in his heart.

Ma Chuanbai stopped, turned around, and was about to ask Wen Chi whether the trending topic was true. However, when he turned around, he was stunned. The two people, who had been following him closely just a moment ago, were now about a hundred meters away, holding hands and seemingly chatting about something.

It seemed that Ma Chuanbai had noticed them looking at each other. Jiang Siheng pretended not to notice, not even retracting his actions under Ma Chuanbai’s gaze. He leaned down and kissed Wen Chi on the lips. After that, he slowly turned his head toward Ma Chuanbai, raising an eyebrow as if asking, Is there something?

Ma Chuanbai: “…”

Ma Chuanbai had already sensed the complicated relationship between Wen Chi and Jiang Siheng, but he never expected them to act so intimately in front of him.

Jiang Siheng looked at Wen Chi, who seemed a bit dazed from the kiss, and softly said, “With me here, what are you afraid of?”

Wen Chi wasn’t really afraid, though. While he still didn’t fully understand what was going on, he didn’t want to drag Jiang Siheng into it. If possible, he didn’t want Jiang Siheng to follow him either.

Wen Chi blinked. He couldn’t deny that Jiang Siheng’s sudden kiss had made him feel a great sense of security. He looked down at the hand that Jiang Siheng was still holding and, after a moment, slowly returned the grip, saying, “…Okay.”

Wen Chi looked up and found Ma Chuanbai staring at them expressionlessly. He paused for a moment, then instinctively tried to release his hand. However, he quickly realized that Ma Chuanbai had probably already seen everything, so there was nothing to hide anymore.

Thinking this, Wen Chi tightened his grip again, which he had loosened earlier.

Ma Chuanbai looked at Wen Chi, who seemed unfazed by the situation, and sneered inwardly. Before this, he had somewhat liked Wen Chi for bringing in a lot of traffic to the show. However, after seeing the trending topic on Weibo, his feelings turned to resentment. If Wen Chi destroyed the program that he had “carefully prepared,” Ma Chuanbai would never let him off the hook.

Ma Chuanbai spoke coldly, “Teacher Wen, have you seen your trending topic?”

Wen Chi replied, “No.”

Ma Chuanbai took out his phone, tapped it a few times, and then handed it to Wen Chi, “Take a look yourself.”

Wen Chi took the phone, lowered his eyes, and saw the top search term: #WenChiGetOutoftheEntertainmentIndustry#.

One glance at the title made it clear just how much hatred was behind it.

The first person to use the hashtag was a blogger with only a few thousand followers, whose ID was “Southern First Love.” Their entire Weibo profile looked like a fake account.

【@SouthernFirstLove: Recently, a certain W-star has been rising in the entertainment industry. As the first person to know him after he entered the industry, I know his character better than anyone. I originally thought no one would care about his bad nature, but I didn’t expect W to be so well-packaged by his company. I didn’t care how he did in the industry, but then someone who used to know us came to talk to me. That’s when I realized W was even worse than I imagined… Disgusting. Well, I know you won’t want to read all of this, so let me just show the pictures.】

Southern First Love posted thirteen photos, mostly taken from a voyeuristic perspective, along with some chat logs.

The photos included:【Wen Chi lying naked on a hotel bed】, 【Wen Chi sitting on the lap of an older man with a mosaic-ed face, in a very intimate position】, 【Wen Chi wearing a hotel bathrobe standing at the door of a room, facing another man with a mosaic-ed face】. The chat logs showed “Wen Chi” constantly flirting with different men.

Normally, if such photos were posted out of nowhere, netizens would doubt them because they seemed too sudden. However, only five or six minutes after Southern First Love’s post, a few “insiders” appeared and provided additional “evidence.” They claimed that while Wen Chi was filming, he had tried to seduce the director and the assistant director for more screen time. They also said Wen Chi had always looked down on and despised the crew and staff. Their statements seemed to directly confirm what Southern First Love had said.

Ma Chuanbai watched Wen Chi’s expression while he looked at the phone. If Wen Chi showed even a hint of panic, Ma Chuanbai could immediately kick him out of the program.

Even if Jiang Siheng was protecting him.

Ma Chuanbai didn’t believe that Jiang Siheng would protect someone like Wen Chi.

Wen Chi didn’t avoid Jiang Siheng while looking at the phone. He read everything calmly, then turned his head and asked Jiang Siheng, “Are you done?”

Ma Chuanbai: “?” Did these two go look at something else on my phone?

Jiang Siheng nodded, his expression calm, “I’m done.”

Wen Chi said “Oh,” and then handed the phone back to Ma Chuanbai, saying, “None of the people in those pictures are me. Oh, except the one standing at the hotel room door—that’s me, but I was wearing a t-shirt and pants, not a bathrobe.”

Ma Chuanbai took the phone back, frowning, “Not you? But the face clearly looks like yours.”

Wen Chi said, “The men in the earlier photos, I don’t know any of them. No matter how desperate I am, I wouldn’t go after middle-aged men. If I wanted someone, it would definitely be a younger, handsome guy… Ugh, I’m just saying, not that I actually want to find one.”

Jiang Siheng turned his gaze away.

Ma Chuanbai was somewhat skeptical, but he couldn’t just remove Wen Chi from the show based on this flimsy evidence. Anyway, there were still a few hours of filming left, so it didn’t matter whether Wen Chi appeared on screen or not. After thinking for a moment, he said, “But for the sake of the other guests, you won’t be participating in the next filming.”

Wen Chi replied, “Okay.”

Ma Chuanbai looked at Jiang Siheng, “Xiao Heng, you…”

Jiang Siheng replied, “Am I here to participate in a singles program?”

“…” Ma Chuanbai immediately understood, gritted his teeth, and said, “Fine, then you won’t participate in the filming either.”

Ma Chuanbai seemed very unhappy with Jiang Siheng’s decision. His face darkened as he left.

With no one else around, Wen Chi’s calm facade finally collapsed. The photo from earlier had dredged up the nightmare from two years ago in his mind.

The boy’s usually bright and clear eyes turned dull, his fingers twitching nervously at his side. He suddenly felt so cold…

“Chichi?” Jiang Siheng furrowed his brows, worried, and cupped Wen Chi’s face. He was startled by the tears that had slid down Wen Chi’s face. Panicking, he quickly pulled him into an embrace and gently patted his back, comforting him, “It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

“Teacher Jiang…”

“Mm, I’m here.” Jiang Siheng immediately responded as soon as Wen Chi finished speaking, afraid that taking even a second longer would cause Wen Chi more harm.

“I’m so scared…”

The boy’s crying voice made Jiang Siheng’s heart ache. He tightened his grip, holding Wen Chi close, placing gentle kisses on his ear and speaking softly between kisses, “Mm, I know, Chichi is scared. It’s okay to be scared, but don’t worry. Teacher Jiang is here, remember you said before, Teacher Jiang is the best.”

Jiang Siheng purposely imitated Wen Chi’s tone and pronunciation from earlier, but it still didn’t calm Wen Chi down, not even a little.

Wen Chi couldn’t shake the image of that photo from his mind, constantly forcing him to remember what had happened at that time.

…

At that time, Wen Chi had just entered the entertainment industry less than half a year. It was his second time working as a temporary actor on a set. One day, the director’s assistant suddenly came to find him and said that a role in the production was a good fit for Wen Chi and suggested he try it. However, he would need to go to the director’s room after finishing the shoot to pick up the script and immediately audition for the role.

Wen Chi didn’t think much of it at the time. After receiving a text from the staff that evening, he went to find the director but he wasn’t alone, Jin Ge was with him. However, after they got off the elevator, Jin Ge went to the smoking area at the end of the hotel corridor.

Later on, Jin Ge heard a scream. He quickly stamped out his cigarette and rushed over, only to find a man, wrapped in only a towel around his lower body, lying on the ground with blood all over his face. He was clutching his lower body, writhing in pain, and wailing in agony.

And standing by, as he had feared, was Wen Chi. His previously neat clothes were now slightly disheveled. The boy held an ashtray in his hand, its contents stained with fresh blood and broken hair. His cold eyes were fixed on the man on the floor, who was squirming around like a worm.