Translator: Sy
Editor: SipsTea
Chapter 23: The First Backfire
Zhang Yiming calmly sent out a post through his Interstellar account. With 90 million followers, the sort of fire this account could fan was no mere flame. In an instant, the online gale changed was changing courses in circles.
Lin Ning lay on his sofa at home, munching away at a piece of watermelon with gusto. The latest post the Film King made on his Interstellar account said:
[ZhangYiMing]: @SpySearchEntertainment, the picture’s real, but please don’t stalk me day and night like this anymore. And please don’t add groundless captions to your pictures for attention’s sake. I ran into an issue while on the road the other day and Mr. Lin helped me since he happened to be there. That’s all there is to it.
Those four sentences dripped with information.
Firstly, this was evidence that the picture was real since he didn’t deny that it wasn’t. Secondly, he outed Spy Search Entertainment as a tabloid that’s been stalking him for a long time, which was a threat to his privacy. He also pointed out that they were concocting fake news for the sake of views. And lastly… that line he wrote so nonchalantly… that was the bit that caught everyone’s attention!
‘Mr. Lin helped me since he happened to be there’???
So that means Lin Ning didn’t want to leverage the Film King for a comeback like Spy Search Entertainment claimed?
!!!
The topic ‘Zhang Yiming defends Lin Ning’ soared onto the trending page as if it grew wings, securing the first spot.
This was huge news! The Film King had been in the industry for so many years, and throughout it all, he kept his image as an ethereal prince. He was gentle and never said anything remotely bad about anybody on his account. Everyone wanted to tear Lin Ning to shreds the moment they learned about him clinging onto the celebrity, each going down to his account to rip him apart — but now the Film King himself came online to say that none of that was true, and even seemed to hint that the two were kind of getting along??!
Oh, shit! So when the hell did the Film King and Lin Ning get to know each other?! More shockingly, the entertainment industry always lifted the highs and squashed the lows. Nobody would care enough to defend a has-been and risk hate splashing onto them, never mind someone with a reputation as dirty as Lin Ning’s!
This puzzled the Film King and Jiang Feng fans most. Lin Ning was a whole other story, though –the 8 million people on his account were just there to send hate messages and see what crap he was up to next. He definitely didn’t have to worry about his fans — that was for sure.
The Film King’s fans were reputed to be a rather civilized, mild-mannered fanbase. They tended to criticize Zhang Yiming’s adversaries – if any – more calmly, or maybe sockpuppet someone to send hate instead. But this time, they were at a complete loss. How did the Film King know Lin Ning? This ought to ruin the King’s good reputation! But then again, with the way their leader framed the situation, going after Lin Ning now seemed like something that could backfire against them.
What do they do? The fans were at a loss. Jiang Feng’s fans were losing their minds, saying that Zhang Yiming had bad intentions if he was willing to interact with and even defend a bad-rep artist with no proper explanation, that the two might have an affair, blah blah blah… For a moment, the trending tags were filled with comments on the Film King and Lin Ning’s dirty relationship, one piling on top of the other. Even those who weren’t interested in the fandoms were getting invested in the drama.
The Film King fans were cracking their knuckles. Jiang Feng’s fans were younger and much more unhinged, making them a bunch of war freaks. They loved taking over other feeds and trending tags, which got annoying to other fans. Fans of Zhang Yiming loved him for his acting skills, so they were a slightly more mature crowd. The Film King also had a mature, serene, crystal-warm image, so it would’ve been blasphemy to tarnish that image. At most, if they couldn’t take the heat, they’d just create fake non-fan accounts to criticize haters.
Before them now lay a group of Jiang Feng fans hinting at their man and Lin Ning’s relationship. What were they playing at?! The Film King fans anxiously huddled in their fan groups anxiously, waiting for someone to make the next move.
At this time, a high-ranking fan who had ties to Zhang Yiming’s agency spoke up.
[MingscriptionShards]: Here’s the latest news: the people at the office say that if we want to fight back, we can use the following steps in the picture below… The point is that he was stalked, then he met Lin Ning coincidentally, and was helped. So even if Lin Ning has all these rumours surrounding him, we can’t deny that he helped our Yiming. If Lin Ning really wants to turn over a new leaf, then we should thank him. That’s all! Don’t do anything unbecoming, think wisely and comment rationally.
The fans got the memo, then jumped happily into the raging pit of comments with Jiang Feng’s fans.
[MingMingQuota]: It’s been so long since the Lin Ning stuff happened, so we Mingscriptions admit that Lin Ning has a bad history, but from the way things stand now, it is factual that he helped the Film King. The Film King only came to tell the truth. Do you people really think that just because someone has a dark past he should live the rest of his life hated?! Do you guys think he isn’t allowed to turn over a new leaf?
[Fengclouds]: What, if you let someone like him back into the public, do you know how many kids are going to get influenced by him?! Back then when he made the decision to do those things with the director, did he think about the consequences? This is something he’s plotting, and the way I see it, Zhang Yiming’s in on it too! They’re working together!
[Baby_Mingscription]: Looks like some fans from a certain fandom are taking things too far. Your leader may be famous now with his drama shows, but he’s nothing compared to our Film King. Don’t rush yourselves trying to come up with a conclusion or you’ll fall on your poor little faces.
[BlooMingInMyHeart]: Damn, among us fans who don’t know about that certain fandom that wants their leader on the Film King’s throne? Girls want him bagging both Idol and King.
[our_prince_charMing]: The Jiang Feng fans not only swiped all the music awards, they even tried to swipe some of the ones that belong to the Film King during award ceremonies. Now that I think about it, your Jiang Feng hasn’t released a song in a while, hasn’t he? Idols should stay idols. Stop treating album releases like a game. Is our little Shakespeare drying out?
[Its_Feng_Feng]: What are you trying to say? No one can guarantee that every single song they release is godly. Our Jiang Feng’s got so many songs that have taken over the galaxy, and his career today only keeps rising, and his company’s arranging so many things for him because of it. You can’t expect him to be writing songs in between everything!
[our_prince_charMing]: I remember Jiang Feng promising to write the theme song for some movie, but he kept dragging it on and never handed in anything worth listening to. Then some of the old-gen artists criticised him, and he only handed in his work after forever, but the lyrics and tune were so crappy they scrapped it anyway and made an entirely new one from scratch… Everyone in the circle knows about this.
[Its_Feng_Feng]: Fuck off. Someone pulled the strings behind this incident. After all, no one actually knows how that song turned out. If you give me money, I’ll pick out all the faults with the current one too!
[FengFengsForeverFan]: Yeah. When this incident was at its peak, Jiang Feng even went live to explain himself and clear his name. Isn’t that enough for you guys?
[our_prince_charMing]: How tf was that explaining himself? Why don’t I go out now and “explain myself” to everyone that I’m the marshal’s wife? Bet you’d believe in that crap!
[BlooMingInMyHeart]: lololololol is my sis up there okay? You should be calling yourself the Film King’s wife lmaooooo sis just jumped ship with her Mingscription username still out there.
[Fairy]: I knew this argument was going to get juicy. Being an outsider’s great.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA——” Lin Ning laughed so hard he toppled over, making Xizai do a double-take.
“HAHAHAHA XIZAI!!! Look at this Zhang Yiming fan — she said she’s the marshal’s wife!!! OH! HAHAHAHA,” tears fell out Lin Ning’s eyes. “If Zhang Yiming ever goes through these comments and sees his fan in such crisis — I’d love to see the look on his face… Someone upvoted this HAHAHA!”
The cat’s ears twitched, unimpressed. It walked around in a circle expressionlessly, scratched its claws, paused, and finally slipped out to the bathroom amidst Lin Ning’s cackles. It closed the bathroom door with its little cat paws and dug out a photon tablet. The cat nudged the tablet’s screen coldly. Once it located Liu Yue’s contact, its paws flew across the screen. It squinted, tail curling stiffly. They’d contacted Zhang Yiming before. Things became a lot simpler once they’d agreed to post that video publicly.
A reply came quickly.
Liu Yue: Have you recalled something, sir? Or do you have a task for me? Don’t worry, I swear I’m on it!
The cat continued: Go to the main planet’s Traffic Unit and get the night security footage from the date, time, and street I’ve attached to you. Make sure the unit keeps their mouth shut. Find the footage with Zhang Yiming and Lin Ning in it and get it uploaded publicly. Keep me censored.
Liu Yue had been keeping an eye on Lin Ning for some time now, so it was only natural that he knew about the ongoing drama, too. But this? This was the ‘big mission’ he’d been hyping himself up for so long??
It was disappointing, but there was no denying that Lin Ning was too much of an enigma. So, even if the thought of the mission made him pout, he still had to be as sharp as ever in finishing the job.
A minute later, in the meeting room of the main planet’s Traffic Unit, the team leader’s phone rang. The others present turned towards him, waiting for their stern leader to decline the call.
But they watched as the team leader’s — who never allowed phone calls in meetings — face pale as he answered the call…
???
A few minutes later, the Main Planet Traffic Unit’s official Interstellar account posted a video that spread like wildfire across the internet. The footage was clear as day — a luxury sports car cruised on a road, suddenly swerving as if it lost control. It moved along for a moment before coming to a stop by the roadside. The car owner stumbled out of the car, curling into a ball on the ground as if in intolerable pain, jerking as if he was having a seizure. A moment later, a young man and his pet ran over to check on him. The pet’s image was pixelated, though. The young man looked as if he was serious about taking care of the car owner. Then the young man pulled out some food for the car owner to eat, and those dog ears and tails on the car owner…
Everyone knew the Film King had animal-based powers, and those dog ears and tail of the car owner were identical to the Film King’s. It was easy to tell, even with those sunglasses. Then the both of them took off their sunglasses, revealing their faces that were too easily identifiable. And the way the Film King looked as he ate… Oh, it was like they could smell the food from the footage… It smelled so good…
The viewers’ attention shifted toward the milk cakes and the roasted chicken leg. Lemon Kitchen fans were starting to connect the dots:
Wait a second, those milk cakes and chicken… Why do I feel like I’ve seen this before?
The video the Main Planet Traffic Unit shared went trending as well in seconds, going shoulder to shoulder with the first-place tag.
[Aah aah aah aah aah you ask for evidence, you get evidence! But my heart’s breaking for the Film King! But if you think about it, it shouldn’t be weird for celebrities to run into each other on the main planet’s capital. After all, you can’t swing a cat over here without hitting a celebrity.]
[The official Traffic Unit’s account themselves shared this video as evidence. Ahem, thank you for the food. Better savour it carefully, you guys…]
[Aaaaa my Film King!!! My heart’s breaking, our Yiming’s sick!! He must be overworked, poor baby!]
[Poor Yiming. I know he’s had gastropathy for a while without any way to heal it. Every time he eats, he throws up…]
[My god, so Lin Ning and the Film King weren’t lying… Lin Ning’s reaction’s kinda touching…]
[AAAAA Lemon Kitchen fan over here. Why does Lin Ning have Lemon Kitchen’s food AAAAAAA I’m jealous!!! Is he one of those lucky fans?!!]
[Sisters, can anyone tell me why I’m seeing Lemon Kitchen’s food on Lin Ning’s trending tag???? I’m so confused. And what kind of pet do you need to have to get it censored? I think I’m smelling something big about to go down…]
[I’ve cracked it. So is this why the Film King kept Rewarding Lemon Kitchen on his livestreams??? It was so good that he went from suffering to satisfied…? Okay, I’ll take that. But now I want to know how you can buy the food. How did Lin Ning get his hands on it, when it was never for sale?]
[It’s like you can almost see Lin Ning advertising: Hey, my brother in pain, Lemon Kitchen’s food’s so finger-licking good you’ll want to swallow your fingers too!]
[Didn’t think Lin Ning would be generous enough to give out food this expensive to other people just like that. You could buy a car with that! Now Lemon Kitchen has secondhand food sellers, and those are reaching some hundred-thousand Stars… Now I feel bad not only for the Film King’s illness but Lin Ning’s wallet, too… In the end, Lemon Kitchen really struck gold. First he got the Film King as a fan, then he got his Rewards, and now he’s getting free advertising…]
[Hahahaha now I’m curious, did the FIlm King ever pay Lin Ning back? I feel like Lin Ning got the short end of the stick over here…]
Lin Ning panicked as he watched the tables begin to turn.
??? The Traffic Unit sent out the footage! Was the spectacle that big? He hurriedly scrolled down the comments, but found that most of the commenters hadn’t put two and two together. Xizai even got censored. Only then did he start to relax a little.
Maybe the original owner’s image was just really that horrible. Almost nobody considered the possibility of him knowing how to cook… Besides, he had never shown his face on camera before.
But… It’s only a matter of time. Something bad’s bound to happen, Lin Ning thought.
The author has something to say:
[A little play]
The Traffic Unit team leader wanted to decline the call at first, but once he saw whose number it was…
Oh shit. The Traffic Unit’s general headquarters, the marshals’ office… that specific line number…
His hands turned to jelly, but he answered the call with a straight face, waiting for the order from his higher-ups…
