Qin Yu was finally too lazy to tease her anymore. Even without asking he knew why she had come, so he said casually, "It's your sister's best friend. That girl called Shi'an. She was the first one from our circle to enter film school and also the first to graduate."
Ruan Tian was stupefied for a moment, but then she sincerely said thank you to him before turning and leaving.
When she finally made it out of Qin Yu's building, Ruan Tian looked up at the starry sky blankly. In this situation, she had only one thought it mind: "It's the ****ing female lead again!"
Of course, with the female lead's powerful golden finger, her best friend was also sheltered under its halo. Ruan Tian even remembered this person. She was a rare acting genius who also had a good family background.
It seemed that the haze of Zhou Xiaoqiao was still following her around like a shadow.
In the novel, Zhou Xiaoqiao established a relationship with Cheng Sui'an through Qin An and then quietly introduced her best friend Shi'an to him.
And, as expected, the glory of the female lead's halo would also shine on the head of her best friend.
Everything was just so perfect for her.
Ruan Tian was really scared this time.
After all, there were only a few days left before everything would be settled and Ruan Tian would have no choice but to admit defeat.
She called Cheng Sui'an many times, but each time it was his assistant who answered the phone. In the end, she directly went to Cheng Sui'an's studio to block him in person.
Cheng Sui'an hadn't expected that Ruan Tian would be so persistent. Of course, honestly speaking, he had some good feelings about Ruan Tian and was very optimistic about her future.
She seemed very pure and was able to immerse herself in a role, which could really attract an audience.
However, it was also because she was so pure that he felt she wasn't suitable for the role of a tragic heroine.
Meanwhile, while Shi'an's audition hadn't been amazing, he felt it was good enough, so Director Cheng decided to settle on her for the role.
Outside the studio, Ruan Tian's two black eyes were fixed on Cheng Sui'an's. She said, "Director Cheng, please give me a chance." After a long pause, she continued, "I can do better than her."
…
Ruan Tian wasn't shy and looked directly into Cheng Sui'an's eyes with her two clear and bright black orbs.
However, Cheng Sui'an generally wasn't a person that was easy to persuade. Perhaps, if he hadn't found any candidate that he felt was right for the role, he wouldn't mind giving Ruan Tian an audition but, unfortunately, after seeing Shi'an's performance with his own eyes the day before Director Cheng had immediately felt that the role must belong to her.
In fact, Director Cheng had not originally had much expectation for the people that those films schools sent to audition. He felt that many companies in the industry these days were very impetuous and liked to pull seedlings up by the roots to "make them grow", resulting in a culture where students who were still in school would sign contracts with companies very early without ever really devoting themselves to their studies or properly honing their basic skills.
Moreover, before recently Director Cheng had never even met this Shi'an person. He only bumped into her when Qin An led her and another beautiful girl over to his house one day and bragged about her achievements.
Of course, when he heard the kid praising the girl to the high heavens Director Cheng had understood his nephew's intentions and, seeing that the girl called Shi'an had a pretty enough face and a decent foundation, he had decided to just go with the flow and let her audition to give Qin An face.
Now, facing Ruan Tian, Director Cheng rubbed his brow with a sour expression. Finally, he sighed and said, "There will be other chances in the future."
If these words had been said to someone with a weaker mentality they might directly give up.
But Ruan Tian wasn't that kind of person.
Ruan Tian pursed her lips and said: "Director Cheng, this is your only day for auditions, right? Why not let me try as well? I won't keep you long." After a moment of hesitation, she continued, "You can just take it as having one extra choice, okay?"
(tl note: why not mention his freaking PROMISE TO LET YOU AUDITION?!)
Director Cheng's brows furrowed tightly and he didn't speak for a long time.
He looked into Ruan Tian's eyes and saw her firm determination and, after a long while, he slowly nodded, "OK, come up with me."
He decided to just give her a chance and let her give up that way.
Once the two got up to Director Cheng's studio, Ruan Tian finally saw the legendary future top star, Shi'an, for the first time.
She was very beautiful, with an expression that seemed to speak to her purity and naivety, but which also held a bit of anxiousness and caution.
Her black hair was long and straight, her face, her cheeks, her chin, were all fair and well-defined, her skin was tender and delicate, basically, it was hard to pick out even a single flaw in her appearance. Even her figure was extremely outstanding.
She was definitely worthy of being the female lead's best friend. Indeed an indisputable top beauty.
Ruan Tian wasn't vain, but she knew she was also very beautiful. However, she had to admit that she was no match for the other party purely in terms of physical condition.
In the studio, Zhou Xiaoqiao was also standing there and holding Shi'an's arm. Her face looked a little thin, as if she had lost a lot of weight recently, and her eyes were trembling wetly. When she spotted Ruan Tian, she pasted on a surprised and joyful expression, as if she were so happy she might burst into tears. She immediately cried out in a low voice, "TianTian, how come you're here? It's been so long since I've seen you."
Zhou Xiaoqiao lowered her head and her face turned slightly aggrieved. "Last time, I was just so angry. I lost my mind a little and said those unkind words. Let me apologize to you now. I'm so sorry. Will you forgive me, sister? I really miss you."
Ruan Tian almost wanted to throw up.
Zhou Xiaoqiao was as disgusting as ever.
With a cold and expressionless face, she replied, "I'm here to audition."
Zhou Xiaoqiao was secretly startled, and her hand on Shi'an's arm unconsciously tightened and clenched on her friend's clothes. After she managed to calm herself down, she smiled and said, "Really? I thought the matter of the role was already settled? Well, work hard!"
Zhou Xiaoqiao's smile had changed slightly. It now seemed to hide something sharp, as well as a bit of complacency, and her eyes were full of a sense of certainty that her friend definitely wouldn't lose.
In the past, Zhou Xiaoqiao really had never regarded Ruan Tian as a threat, but now things were different.
Ruan Tian was a thorn in her eye, and she was determined to stop this "sister" of hers from rising up any higher and further blotting out her own light.
And Zhou Xiaoqiao had known from long ago that Ruan Tian wanted to win this role, which was why she had arranged things so that Ruan Tian wouldn't even get an audition.
Even now, with Ruan Tian brazenly coming to audition uninvited, Zhou Xiaoqiao still wasn't worried. After all, Shi'an had already gotten Director Cheng's approval. There was no way she could so easily be replaced now that things were all but settled.
So Zhou Xiaoqiao decided to just watch quietly and let Ruan Tian do her little audition and make a fool of herself.
Shi'an flashed a smile and said to Zhou Xiaoqiao, "I've seen your little sister's movie before, it's all right." …but Ruan Tian wasn't anything irreplaceable in that movie.
Shi'an left the second half of her thought unsaid.
Truthfully, Shi'an didn't even regard Ruan Tian as an opponent. Moreover, a big director wouldn't easily go back on their words and change the person in a role after already selecting a candidate and informing them.
Moreover, Shi'an's family was rich and she herself was beautiful, so she was confident.
With her excellent grades, skills, and beautiful appearance, many film and television companies had offered her olive branches during the years she had been in school.
However, she hadn't agreed to any of them, because she had always been waiting for a perfect opportunity.
She was an ambitious person, and she was confident that she was destined to stand above the heads of the multitudes, so she had always felt that she was beyond the reach of those small companies who first set their eyes on her.
And now that perfect chance had finally appeared. Cheng Sui'an's film wasn't only a springboard for her, it was a key step in her plans for stardom. So long as she could secure this role, the fame and awards would find their way into her hands even if she didn't want them.
Meanwhile, Ruan Tian didn't bother paying any attention to Zhou Xiaoqiao and her friend, she just went to the corner and sat down with her script and tried to immerse herself in the role. Half an hour later, she would put on an explosive performance for these people to see.
Qin An looked over at her guiltily. Eventually, like there was a fire under his butt, he couldn't sit still and wandered over to sit next to her. He said, "Ruan Tian, my brother is really right, you're a good woman, but this role…"
Ruan Tian tilted her face so she could give him a frosty look from the corner of her eyes.
She really should have known that men were more unreliable than dogs.
And this Qin An was a true dog of dogs, a king of double standards.
"You think I can't do it, but this newcomer who has never acted in anything before can?"
Qin An pondered for a moment before replying "I also didn't expect for her to be so awesome before she auditioned. Anyway, isn't it only because I saw Sister Xiaoqiao was worried and wanted to help her?"
Zhou Xiaoqiao had been the goddess in Qin An's heart for many years. Her status in his eyes wasn't something easy to shake in such a short amount of time.
Qin An finally just muttered, "Now that it's like this, don't blame me. Just… whoever wins will be decided by their own strength."
Ruan Tian hasn't felt such a piercing headache for a long time.
Qin An was actually kind of amazing, with how he could say so few words yet cause her to feel so irritated.
It seemed that still, in all of these people's eyes, Zhou Xiaoqiao could never do wrong.
Meanwhile, Ruan Tian was worthless except for her pretty face.
To them, she was impolite, uneducated, poor, and even when she accomplished something, they would just think she relied on someone else to accomplish it.
Whatever she did or said she could never be as good as Zhou Xiaoqiao, nor even as good as her best friend.
Ruan Tian managed to calm down eventually. She slowly raised her eyes and stared directly back into Qin An's eyes before saying emotionlessly: "You're right, it will really only be decided by our own strength."
She would definitely use her own strength to stomp Zhou Xiaoqiao and her little group of BFFs under the soles of her feet before this was all over.
In addition to crushing Zhou Xiaoqiao and her friends, Ruan Tian also wanted to make Qin An realize clearly that his dog eyes were blinded by love and causing him to hold ridiculous double standards.
Qin An was rattled by Ruan Tian's serious gaze, and he could only lower his head, not daring to look her in the eye.
When the audition finally began, aside from the few of them, there was only one cameraman and no other crew.
Cheng Suian leaned back in his chair and put up his legs.
"Let's start." He said faintly.
Ruan Tian was instructed to act out the scene where the female lead finally fully lost control and killed someone.
【 The female lead's brother was stabbed to death and his body fell right in front of her eyes. Before dying, he struggled to grab his sister's sleeve as if to run away with her as they had done in the past.
The female lead looked blankly at the body on the ground. Trembling, she dropped to her knees and tried to staunch the bleeding. There were no tears in her eyes and her expression was calm, not ferocious at all. She just looked down at him quietly and murmured, "Jiang Yi, get up, let's go."
"Get up, let's go."
Her tone of voice was the same as usual, gentle and placid.
The person on the ground didn't respond.
Unconsciously, tears began to track down her cheeks. The girl reached up and wiped her face with the back of her hand. Her hand came away wet, and she realized that she was crying.
Belatedly, a wave of grief overwhelmed her.
She clenched her teeth and wept silently, wet tears falling from her eyes one by one.
After realizing, she just fell back, sat on the ground, and began to cry, "Jiang Yi, wake up…" She murmured between sobs.
Meanwhile, she was distantly aware that the people around her were laughing and mocking her.
The shrill voices all around gradually seemed to become clear in her ears and overlap with voices from her past.
She suddenly remembered back when those people had locked her in the restroom after stripping off her school uniform, they had laughed the same way.
Or when someone had inexplicably grabbed her by her hair and dragged her into the corridor to be abused before the eyes of the whole school, they had laughed the same way.
Her mind flash and whirled and recalled all of those malicious pairs of eyes. Then and now overlapped blurrily in her mind.
The girl stopped crying, her eyes turned numb, and her fingers slowly wrapped around the dagger's handle. Then, in a frenzy, she jumped up and stabbed those blurry figures one after another.
Only once each and every one of them had fallen before her did she finally stop and kneel down. Then she raised her head and turned her face in the direction of the camera to let out a laugh. 】
Ruan Tian really squeezed out everything she had for this scene. From her frigid tears, to her numb and empty eyes amidst her "frenzy", there was no shadow of a pure and innocent girl. She was more like a demon who had just crawled up from the gates of hell.
Cheng Sui'an was shocked by the rawness of Ruan Tian's performance. Pretty much all of the girls who had auditioned before this had acted the character hysterically and with great emotional intensity, but now he realized that these over-acted hysterics wouldn't be able to cause a stir in an audience's hearts the same way Ruan Tian's more blank and numb interpretation of the character would.
The look on her face just now was so distressing that even he was feeling heartbroken.
And her last smile was so creepy, but also left a feeling of emptiness and sadness in his mind even after the scene had ended.
Director Cheng didn't know from when, but his eyes were wet. He felt that while acting just now Ruan Tian had really completely disassembled her own self and become Jiang Xing.
The desperate, crazy, Jiang Xing.
She performed naturally, without a trace of fakeness. No one else acted like her, like a lunatic that would completely abandon themselves and become the character.
Before now, Director Cheng really hadn't thought there could be anyone more suitable to play Jiang Xing than Shi'an.
However, with Ruan Tian for comparison, he knew he was wrong. Although Shi'an's performance had been impeccable from a technical perspective, it didn't have the same ability to stir the audience's heart to sympathy the way Ruan Tian's performance did.
After her performance was done, Ruan Tian just sat on the ground with a dazed expression on her face. She was slowly adjusting herself back to her normal mindset.
Director Cheng's mind was still full of that last look Ruan Tian had given the camera. After a while, he gathered himself and turned to Shi'an. He said, "You're pretty good, I'm sure you'll go far in this circle in the future. But for now, go back."
Without using any sharp words, he directly told her the result.
Zhou Xiaoqiao and Shi'an were still in a daze and couldn't catch up the what was happening. When Shi'an finally processed what Director Cheng was saying, she could hardly believe it. She blurted out, "Director Cheng, didn't you ask me here to sign the contract today?"
Cheng Sui'an replied bluntly: "Have you signed anything?"
Shi'an was speechless. She clenched her fists, and she could barely hold back the feelings of incredulous rage in her heart from appearing on her face.
Wasn't this supposed to be the scene where she finally secured the resource that would let her soar to the top! ? She really couldn't stand this feeling of suddenly having her road blocked and her plans disrupted at the last possible moment.
Shi'an's teeth were about to be broken from how tightly she was clenching them, and she said in a hoarse voice, "Director, think about it again, I …"
Cheng Sui'an only said two words: "Go back."
Director Cheng had always been a very decisive person. In his life, he never hesitated or became afraid when it was time to make a choice. Clearly, Shi'an and Ruan Tian had two very different styles, and they were completely incomparable.
Shi'an relied on her talent and technical skill but, unfortunately, with her style there was no way she would be able to get an audience fully engaged.
Even until they were riding the car back, Zhou Xiaoqiao was still in shock. At the same time, the resentment in her heart was no lower than that of Shi'an.
Zhou Xiaoqiao knew that Ruan Tian mustn't be allowed to fly any higher. Her wings needed to be clipped, and immediately, or else it would all be over.
Today, she had been so full of confidence. She had been ready to watch from the side while Ruan Tian made a fool of herself and took a huge plunge, but why did the situation suddenly reverse? !
Zhou Xiaoqiao clenched her fists tightly, and her fingernails drover deep into her palm. In the end, she used too much force and caused a few small cuts, causing her body to tremble with pain.
She forced a smile on her face and turned to Qin An, who was driving, and asked, "Do TianTian and your uncle have a very good relationship? If not, how could this thing that was almost settled suddenly change at the last minute?"
The words "good relationship" could easily be misinterpreted to mean something dirty.
Hearing this, Qin An felt very uncomfortable. He replied: "Ruan Tian acted the part better, so it's not surprising she got the role."
For instance, Ruan Tian's eyes when she was frenziedly stabbing with the knife were definitely enough to scare him to death!
At that moment, he had felt very cold, as if she might come and pluck off his dog head at any second.
Qin An was surprised to find that Ruan Tian was able to believably act out more roles than he had previously imagined.
She could easily play the part of a pitiful little girl one day, and then a tragic character driven to madness the next.
Since she had so much commitment to her roles, it seemed she really regarded acting as her life.
He had never seen anyone strive for a role harder than her.
Zhou Xiaoqiao knew that she shouldn't say anything more right now, but somehow she couldn't help herself. She muttered: "But AnAn obviously wanted that role, it's no good for her to come and rob it away like that."
Qin An felt even more uncomfortable when he heard Zhou Xiaoqiao say that.
For this kind of thing, there was no need to talk about robbing or not robbing. Everyone just did their best and strove to win.
Qin An fell silent. Somehow, the magical filter over the "goddess of his heart" seemed to have cracked and slipped away.
These days he still occasionally did her some little favors, but that feeling of always urgently wanting to see her had long faded away.
To him, it wasn't clear whether he had changed or Zhou Xiaoqiao had changed.
—–
It took Ruan Tian more than half an hour to finally adjust her mind back to a normal state. Once she composed herself, she took out some tissues to wipe her face and then slowly got up from the ground.
Cheng Sui'an immediately appeared and handed her a contract. At the same time, he said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have underestimated you."
He shouldn't have used his biases and preconceived judgments to make a decision this time. He almost made a mistake.
Ruan Tian accepted the contract but said, "I want to take it back to my lawyer and have him look over everything before I sign it, do you mind?"
Of course, in reality, she didn't have any lawyer. She just planned to take it back and have Jiang Lili look over it for her.
Cheng Sui'an shook his head. "I don't mind. Filming won't start until June, so there's no hurry."
He looked at Ruan Tian's delicate, somewhat pale, face and suddenly said, "Ruan Tian, you have more potential than I thought."
Whether it was desperation or stubbornness, she was willing to completely break herself down for a role.
Moreover, she was tough, upright, calm, and able to make decisive moves to try to reverse the situation when things were going wrong.
Ruan Tian replied shamelessly, "Well, I've realized that I'm an acting genius since long ago."
Cheng Sui'an was amused by her boasting. He chuckled and said, "You go back and have a good rest this time." After a few seconds of silence, he added: "Some advice: sometimes you don't have to work so hard."
Ai.
Ruan Tian almost wanted to roll her eyes.
If she didn't work this hard, she would definitely be pinned down under the radiance of the female lead's halo with no chances to make a comeback.
In this world, it was hard to be a woman, but it was even harder to be a vicious female supporting character.
Ruan Tian had only one New Year's resolution this year, and that was to pray that Zhou Xiaoqiao could leave her happy little life as soon as possible.
Ruan Tian took the contract downstairs and wanted to find a taxi, but a sleek black car suddenly stopped steadily in front of her. The window rolled down, and the man in the back seat smiled at her and greeted, "TianTian."
It was Huai Mo.
Huai Mo hadn't contacted her ever since Qin Yu exposed him in the hospital that day.
He also seemed to have finally completely put away his scruples this time. Now he was traveling in a huge car, with another two cars of bodyguards in front and back, a completely ostentatious display.
Before Ruan Tian could say anything, Huai Mo said, "Do you need a ride? I'll take you there."
Ruan Tian didn't move.
Huai Mo asked in a sad voice, "Are you afraid of me too?"
Ruan Tian nodded. "Indeed."
Anyone would find it scary to be stalked.
Hearing her telling the truth unreservedly, Huai Mo only felt she was even cuter.
"Don't worry, I won't bully you. Get in the car."
Ruan Tian sighed. It seemed she had no choice.
However, it seemed that Huai Mo really only wanted to give her a ride. When they finally arrived at her building, he obediently stayed in his car and didn't try to come upstairs with her.
Unfortunately, he also still liked to hug her and lean his head again her shoulder. Before she could get out of the car, he hugged her said, "I didn't dare to come to see you until now, because I was afraid that you were still angry with me."
He pressed his lips against the scattered bit of her hair on her shoulder and murmured, "TianTian, don't exhaust yourself. It's okay to be afraid of me, just don't be angry, okay?"
Ruan Tian made a noncommittal sound.
After getting out of the car, she didn't immediately go upstairs. Instead, she turned a corner and went to a nearby convenience store to buy some ice cream to comfort herself.
When she made it home, Ruan Tian directly tossed the contract Director Cheng had passed her to Jiang Lili. When Jiang Lili saw what it was, her mouth fell open so wide she could swallow an egg whole.
"Tian, tell me, did the script change and you were reborn or something? It's okay, you can tell me." Jiang Lili grabbed the contract eagerly and refused to let go. She continued babbling, "Oh my god, this is the female lead role in a big-time director's movie! You were even able to convince Cheng Sui'an, that super difficult director, twice! I really admire you. Now you're really on track to be the next Movie Queen wuwuwu…"
Ruan Tian laughed happily and then proceeded to narrate how she had unexpectedly managed to slap Zhou Xiaoqiao's face while taking the audition today.
At the end of the story, she recalled with relish: "You didn't get to see how wonderful Zhou Xiaoqiao's face was at that time, what a pity for you."
"Don't worry, I can imagine." Jiang Lili laughed along. However, she didn't forget her identity as an agent just because she was happy, she quickly changed the topic "I picked a variety show for you, it will be recorded during May, so there won't be any schedule conflicts. Once you finish the variety show you can immediately join Director Cheng's crew in June."
Ruan Tian plopped down on the sofa and hugged a pillow. Her head drooped and she murmured, "I want to just rest until June so I can prepare myself for the movie."
Jiang Lili smiled and said, "The variety show is paying 2 million."
Ruan Tian immediately perked up and made an "ok" gesture with her fingers, "Rest or whatever, I think it's totally unnecessary."
For Ruan Tian, only money was truly energizing.
—-
Meanwhile, Zhou Xiaoqiao was fully putting her talents as a white lotus on display as she "apologized" to Shi'an after they got back. All of her words, both overtly and in subtext, seemed to be saying: "I'm sorry, I can't control my sister either." "That's just the kind of person she is." "Usually, I'm the one she beats and bullies, I'm helpless too."
Of course, even without Zhou Xiaoqiao's provocations, Shi'an was already thoroughly resentful of Ruan Tian, this person who had suddenly appeared to stand in her way, and had no plans of letting her off easily.
Especially since Ruan Tian had appeared at the most critical moment, as if she were deliberately targeting her and trying to prevent her from soaring up. From this incident, Shi'an hated Ruan Tian so much that she almost wanted to eat her alive.
Shi'an asked, "Shen Shu doesn't have any old feelings for this ex-wife of his, does he?"
Zhou Xiaoqiao's delicate brows furrowed and she responded, "You should know, Shen Shu has always… to me…"
In the middle of her words she deliberately trailed off and spoke vaguely.
Getting her friend's "confirmation" Shi'an immediately returned home and prepared an extremely comprehensive smear campaign with a focus on the ins and outs of Ruan Tian's marriage and family life.
This was different from the times Ruan Tian had been smeared online before. This time, Shi'an had found the most expensive PR team in the circle and spent a lot of money to let them take off a layer of Ruan Tian's skin.
Anyway, since Shen Shu didn't have any feelings for his ex-wife, and since Ruan Tian's company had never shown any care for this rebellious star who had a bad relationship with her boss, Shi'an felt that even if she played some little tricks and let Ruan Tian be smeared until she was ruined, there shouldn't be anyone to jump out and protect her.
What's more, Ruan Tian had just become very popular, so she had many opponents who wanted nothing more than to step all over her. These people were all just hiding in the dark and waiting for any opportunity to present itself.
Thus, under Shi'an's direction, various entertainment news sites began "exposing" Ruan Tian. They posted about how she had tricked her ex-husband into marriage so she could use him to climb up in the entertainment industry, and also about how Ruan Tian was always employing "soft violence" tactics as well as various forms of psychological abuse against her parents because she was dissatisfied with how they planned to distribute the family fortune.
Under the leadership of a professional team, the labels "forced her ex-husband to marry her" and " psychologically abuses her own parents" were directly pasted onto Ruan Tian.
Immediately, there was public outcry, and all the righteous passers-by who had no idea of the causes, consequences, or evidence all got worked up and angry just from reading the headlines.
They were all deeply shocked. They really didn't expect Ruan Tian to be such a person!
"What did your parents do wrong? Should you psychologically abuse them?"
"Even white-eyed wolves aren't as good at biting the hand that feeds them as this Ruan Tian."
"If I were her parents, I wouldn't acknowledge such a daughter. Unfortunately, I liked her when she played the little junior martial sister recently, too bad she's so evil once she gets off stage."
"There's no good excuse for Ruan Tian to psychologically abuse her own parents, it's no wonder her parents didn't want to give her even a penny."
"I can't believe junior martial sister is such a person off-camera."
When Ruan Tian first saw these headlines, she immediately thought they were from The Onion, or one of those other ironic "news" sites.
However, when she clicked and took a closer look, she found that it was a real news site and the whole article seemed to be cursing and blaming her? ? ?
The same afternoon on the day the news broke, Shen Shu, this usually aloof and distant figure, unexpectedly released a clarification: 【There was no trick to force me into marriage. We fell in love with each other and got married because we were mutually in love. 】
Really, Ruan Tian somewhat admired his ability to tell lies with his eyes wide open, it was a bit amazing.
However, the issue of her psychologically abusing her parents wasn't so easily dismissed. This kind of thing was a sure-fire trigger that would touch a nerve with all decent people, and the ordinary passers-by who didn't know anything about the situation were easily swayed against Ruan Tian.
Of course, Ruan Tian was very self-aware about this issue. If she really wanted to sit around and wait for Mother Zhou to clarify anything for her, she might as well just get out of the entertainment industry immediately because that would definitely never happen.
Meanwhile, Qin Yu seemed to be even angrier about this issue than she was. He directly found the people from the PR department and forced them all to work overtime deleting all the slanderous posts and shutting down the threads discussing the topic.
Ruan Tian didn't feel it was necessary at all.
Qin Yu just mocked her for pretending so much and acting as if she were too noble to stoop to their level.
Hearing his words, Ruan Tian thought for a moment and then said, "En, you're right, I really am pretending to be noble."
Then, she raised her "noble" head and said in a serious tone, "In fact, every time you help me, I only feel that you are insulting me." She paused for two seconds and then met Qin Yu's frosty eyes like a warrior who was unafraid of death, and continued: "Just like when Shen Shu said today that we got married because we both loved each other, I also thought he was insulting me."
Qin Yu: "…"
He let out a laugh choked with anger and somehow felt so blocked that he couldn't retort.
This person really didn't know how to say any nice words!
Of course, it wasn't like it was impossible for Ruan Tian to solve the matter herself.
It was just that… she really didn't want to post anything to clarify. And it was completely impossible for her to apologize.
After all, she was the victim who ended up lost and trafficked because of her parents.
Therefore, even if she really did psychologically abuse them, it would be considered a reasonable response!
Besides, she hadn't even done such a thing in the first place.
A little later, at a press conference that was held after the end of a celebration banquet held for the cast and crew of 'Destined Immortals', a reporter confronted her with a microphone and asked her face-to-face about the rumors online and if they were true or false.
Ruan Tian decided to be non-confrontational and merely replied: "It's a misunderstanding…"
Just when the reporter thought Ruan Tian was going to try to explain and clarify things, he heard Ruan Tian's next words: "…I'm actually an orphan."
"…"
The reporter was dumbfounded.
Was it okay to lie so ****ing obviously once you were famous?
Still, what a scoop!
The reporter had expected that Ruan Tian would attempt to offer some sort of explanation or clarification but, surprisingly, she did neither. Instead, it was as if Ruan Tian didn't care about the rumors circulating around outside at all. Further, the word "orphan" could be considered to be a little overly vicious.
After all, wasn't saying that equivalent to saying that her parents were dead?
And, sure enough, once this interview was uploaded online, the rage of the netizens soared and multiplied by hundreds of times.
"Is she crazy? Is she cursing her own parents? Aren't her parents perfectly alive? Does she even have a heart? Does she have any idea what she's saying?"
"Wow, Ruan Tian became a bit famous and now thinks she's really awesome, huh? I'm speechless. This clearly shows her lack of moral character. This kind of woman ought to be blocked from the industry."
"My thought was that if she apologized and explained things, I could still forgive her, but now, forget it! I'll be her anti-fan no matter what kind of excuse she tries to make up in the future."
"Did that Ruan Tian just think she was being 'frank and honest' by saying such a thing? It's ridiculous. How is such a vicious person still able to dominate within the entertainment industry? It turns out it's true what they say: Good people really aren't rewarded."
Of course, there were all sorts of people in the world, including people who had similar circumstances with Ruan Tian and who had biological parents that were endlessly greedy and unreasonable. After all, in this world there were plenty of people who really didn't deserve to be parents but who had children anyway.
So the people from families like that also tried to speak up:
"Perhaps Ruan Tian's parents really did something bad to her and went too far. I know that in my family, my parents were very biased to sons over daughters and only ever showed kindness to my little brother. Back when I was still in junior high school, they had me drop out of school and made me go out and work just to support my brother. They made me give him money to help him buy his house and wanted me to use my connections from entering the workforce earlier to help him find a job."
Unfortunately, these faint sounds of discord were soon rudely drowned out by the crowd of incensed netizens:
"People trying to make up excuses for this evil woman should scram away. Ruan Tian isn't even worthy to be called a human!"
Meanwhile, Zhou Xiaoqiao was secretly keeping an eye on which way the wind was blowing online. She knew that she needed to maintain her usual "pure and kind-hearted sister" facade, but she had to say that she felt an indescribable pleasure when she saw Ruan Tian being scolded into a sieve online and could barely restrain herself from jumping out to throw a few stones herself.
Indeed, this was how things were supposed to be.
Ruan Tian should always be the dirty little beggar destined to scram somewhere far away back to the countryside and who couldn't even dare to look into her eyes whenever they met. How could Ruan Tian ever shine brighter than her, Zhou Xiaoqiao?
Therefore, Zhou Xiaoqiao was very pleased with Shi'an's decisive and ruthless actions. And, as Ruan Tian's reputation slowly fell down to the bottom, her depressed mood also gradually improved.
—–
At the same time, Ruan Tian didn't have any regrets after saying those words.
After the brief interview, Ruan Tian took a taxi and headed over to the Zhou residence. The Lunar New Year was approaching, so there were festive red lanterns hung up all over the place, both in and out of the courtyard.
Ruan Tian stood quietly in front of the large iron gate for a long moment, just looking inside through the gaps in the fence. She could see that there seemed to be a lot of people inside today, all chatting and laughing together.
Suddenly she recalled something: It turned out that today should be Mother Zhou's birthday.
She could still remember very clearly what had happened back in the first year when she had returned to the Zhou family. Ruan Tian had studiously scrimped and saved the money she earned and bought a cake for Mother Zhou, which she had brought home nervously and given to her on her birthday.
At that time, Mother Zhou had just smiled and told her to put it in the refrigerator so that she could "eat it tomorrow".
After that, who knew how many "tomorrows" went by, but eventually the cake went bad in the fridge and was tossed into the trash by the auntie who worked in the Zhou residence.
Ruan Tian had actually come here today with a purpose. She wanted to finally change her registered permanent residence away from this Zhou residence. Otherwise commonly known as: Moving away from home and setting up her own residence outside.
Ruan Tian touched her nose and felt slightly awkward. She really hadn't planned to handle this matter in the midst of such a grand occasion deliberately. She finally had some free time to come over, but it just so happened to be on Mother Zhou's birthday.
Who knew that there would be such a coincidence! ! !
As soon as Ruan Tian walked into the living room, the sounds of the party suddenly ground to an immediate halt.
All eyes turned and were cast in her direction.
Mother Zhou was wearing an elegant cheongsam, and Zhou Xiaoqiao had just finished putting a pretty jade bracelet on her wrist for her. The moment Mother Zhou saw Ruan Tian, the smile at the corners of her lips gradually faded away and her eyes turned cold. She stared at Ruan Tian and said in frosty tone: "What are you doing back here?"
Ruan Tian straightened her back and, despite the many eyes looking at her, replied without the slightest hint of nervousness, "I'm looking for you for something."
Someone had already told Mother Zhou about what was happening online since long ago and, naturally, she had also seen the video of Ruan Tian's recent interview.
Mother Zhou assumed that Ruan Tian's "something" should be that she wanted her, Mother Zhou, to speak up and clarify things for her. Mother Zhou sneered and said, "I thought you, who is so proud and who has so much backbone, would certainly never come and beg me for help, but it turns out this is all you amount to."
Ruan Tian's eyes went round. This was a big misunderstanding, ah.
Ruan Tian replied smoothly, "Don't worry, even if I fall to the point where I need to beg for help from a dog, I still would never come to beg for help from you."
When she heard Ruan Tian's words, Mother Zhou's face changed from green to white and back again multiple times. Right now, she was surrounded by all of her relatives and friends and even her own daughter, but this Ruan Tian really left her no place to put her face.
Finally, a relative spoke up and said, "Ruan Tian, is this how you're supposed to speak? That's your mother you're talking to."
"Yeah, don't you know today is your mother's birthday? You shouldn't come and make things difficult for her."
"Why can't you learn properly and behave yourself? Even half as well as your sister would do."
Mother Zhou was very angry, but she still slowly walked over to Ruan Tian and asked, "If not that, then what did you come here for?"
Ruan Tian said bluntly: "I want to change my registered permanent residence."
Mother Zhou felt her vision going dark for a moment and her whole body staggered unsteadily. Unexpectedly, this daughter of hers was actually so rebellious! Fortunately, Zhou Xiaoqiao appeared at her side and supported her, so Mother Zhou didn't end up fainting directly. Mother Zhou finally managed to gasp out: "Do you really plan to be completely separated from this family?"
Ruan Tian blinked. Did this woman really still have to ask? Was it not already very obvious by this point! ! !
Still, she nodded and replied, "Yes."
Then, as if adding fuel to the fire, she continued: "It's still early, so the government office shouldn't be closed yet. Please go get your permanent residence registration booklet and your ID card and come finish all the procedures with me."
Ruan Tian sensed that if Mother Zhou's eyes could spit fire, she would probably have already been burned to cinders. The older woman's hands were shaking crazily like a Parkinson's patient as she stared at Ruan Tian with burning eyes.
Ruan Tian carefully continued in a tempting tone: "You can take it as my birthday present to you? Happy birthday?"
Secretly, Ruan Tian couldn't believe that she was actually so kind-hearted. In fact, she might really be the kindest daughter in the world! !
Mother Zhou was so angered by Ruan Tian's words that her eyes rolled up and she directly fainted.
Only after being prodded a few times did she finally manage to wake up again.
When she came to, her chest was filled with turbid air, and her whole body felt weak.
Zhou Xiaoqiao was still helping to support her mother, and now she spoke up to pretend to be a good person, "Sister, our mother is still the one who gave birth to you and raised you. Even if you're dissatisfied with how the family properties were distributed, you shouldn't come and force her life this. If it will make you happy, I can transfer all of my shares to your name."
Ruan Tian's eyes stared at Zhou Xiaoqiao. She had thoroughly seen through this sister of hers. Other than acting like a white lotus, Zhou Xiaoqiao only knew how to act even more like a white lotus.
"All right, then transfer them over."
Zhou Xiaoqiao's face turned white, then green, and the next words she had prepared seemed to choke in her throat.
Ruan Tian's lips curled into an amused smile, "You always speak so well but never honestly. Who exactly are you pretending for?"
Qin An, who had been sent by his mother to celebrate Mother Zhou's birthday today, really hadn't expected that he would stumble across such an interesting and dramatic scene amidst the festivities.
However, when he saw Zhou Xiaoqiao being attacked like this, for some reason he had no desire to step out and play the hero that saves the beauty.
Mother Zhou finally gathered herself and gave Ruan Tian a cold stare. She pointed toward the door and said: "You get out of here."
Of course, it was impossible that Ruan Tian would scram away so easily just like that. She had come here for a reason after all!
Zhou Xiaoqiao helped Mother Zhou over to the sofa let her sit down. Then she walked over to Ruan Tian and, in a voice that only the two of them could hear, she murmured: "The more you act like this, the more I will gain. You should understand your own place. You will never be able to compete with me in this lifetime!"
Then, Zhou Xiaoqiao took a few steps backward and, with tears in her eyes, she said loudly in an aggrieved tone: "Ever since childhood you've always liked to rob me and take my things and, until now, I've always been giving in to you and letting you do what you like. This time too, I really thought about giving you my shares, but you've let me down too many times. I realize that I should not and cannot continue to indulge you anymore."
The guests on the sides all began to mutter and comment to one another, mostly agreeing with Zhou Xiaoqiao's words and reproaching Ruan Tian.
Ruan Tian was suddenly forced to recall various scenes from throughout her childhood. After all, wasn't this how things had always gone every single time? No matter whether she made a mistake or not, everyone would always just end up blaming her. They would say that she wasn't obedient and sensible enough and couldn't be compared to her sister and, in the end, she would always be the one to be punished.
In the past, she had felt that… as long as she didn't mess with Zhou Xiaoqiao…
Perhaps the two of them could be like river water and well water, never mixing or interfering with one another's lives and staying somewhat at peace with one another.
But today, as Ruan Tian stared at Zhou Xiaoqiao's smug face, she suddenly remembered that time when Jiang Lili had angrily slapped this same smug face. In fact, she had actually been very happy when Jiang Lili had done that, even if she hadn't shown it.
Ruan Tian's fingers slowly clenched into a fist and then slowly spread out again. Then, she rushed forward and viciously grabbed Zhou Xiaoqian by her hair. It was over before anyone could react, and they only heard a low "Ahhh!", a woman's scream, and then Zhou Xiaoqian was in Ruan Tian's hands.
Ruan Tian's grip was so strong that it was almost tearing Zhou Xiaoqiao's scalp. In one smooth motion, she put strength in her arm to force Zhou Xiaoqiao's head up and then ruthlessly slapped her across the face with her other hand. At the same time, she said, "You shut your mouth!"
Zhou Xiaoqiao, whose face had just been slapped, could only feel a stinging pain in her cheek and taste the coppery taste of blood in her mouth.
She looked up at the expressionless Ruan Tian with disbelief. She opened her mouth and was about to start to cry as usual, but then Ruan Tian raised her hand and slapped across again.
Now both sides of her face were burning with pain, and her tears were unconsciously streaking from her eyes due to the pain.
"You gave in to me? Gave in my ass. Ever since that day I came to this family at the age of 17, I've always had to donate blood to you constantly. I was practically just your mobile blood bank." Ruan Tian fiercely pulled her up by her hair. "And have you ever once stopped doing terrible things to me in secret all of these years? Only someone like Qin An and his group of blind idiots would ever take a fancy to a duplicitous white lotus bitch like you."
Zhou Xiaoqiao subconsciously wanted to retort, but then she saw that Ruan Tian had coldly raised an eyebrow, as if to tell her that as long as she dared to open her mouth, she would dare to continue to slap.
The surrounding guests were all dumbfounded by this twist. Some of them immediately stepped forward and wanted to pull Ruan Tian away.
Ruan Tian swept a glance around the room and said, "Don't move. I'm just chatting with my sister right now."
Mother Zhou's lungs seemed to lose all of their air, and she didn't even have the strength to pick herself up from the sofa. Seeing those two slaps caused her to feel more pain then if it were her own face being hit, and her chest felt choked and breathless.
Ruan Tian suddenly felt that perhaps she had gotten too immersed in the role of her character in Director Cheng's film. She felt that maybe her behavior was being influenced, even off set.
But she soon cast off that thought and turned back to the situation at hand. She continued: "In the past, there have been many occasions when you tore up my homework, took credit for my accomplishments, and encouraged our classmates to isolate and bully me. Really, I'd like to sincerely advise you to stop acting like a template white lotus bitch. Isn't it good enough to just honestly show yourself as a scheming person? If you were more honest, Shen Shu might even take one or two more looks at you."
Zhou Xiaoqiao was feeling very frightened at this moment. She really wasn't a person who could stand pain. She looked around spotted Shen Shu standing on the side, so she quickly cried out for help with moist and teary eyes, "Brother Shen Shu, save me, I'm in so much pain…"
But Shen Shu just smiled faintly and said, "It's not convenient for me to interfere in your family affairs."
Zhou Xiaoqiao's eyes surged with a fresh wave of tears, but inside her heart was sinking down and down.
She was well aware of how Shen Shu had acted toward Ruan Tian when he hadn't liked her at all before, and now it seemed she herself was receiving the same treatment.
Mother Zhou's whole body was trembling, and finally she said, "What do you want?"
Ruan Tian blinked innocently and said, "I said from the start, right? To transfer my permanent residence registration."
Mother Zhou had been forced to this point and didn't see any other way, so she replied, "OK, I'll go upstairs to get my documents right now. You let go of your sister first!"
"When you come here with the documents, I will naturally let her go."
Mother Zhou quickly found one of the workers to help her up the stairs.
Ruan Tian was finally in a good mood and spoke to Zhou Xiaoqiao jovially, "I've somehow found that for people like you, no matter how many words I say, it's all just a waste of saliva. But, you know, if you didn't stick your neck out to try to scheme against me, wouldn't you be able to live in peace?"
Ruan Tian was very happy. This sort of "beating up the female lead" game, she could do it n number of times! However many times it took!
Zhou Xiaoqiao's mouth was filled with blood and her usual delicate face had two large red slap prints on it and was swelling up to the point that it was difficult to look at.
Ruan Tian grinned widely, exposing her teeth. "From now on, each time I see you will be each time I beat you."
Somehow she just felt like being violent now, what was Zhou Xiaoqiao going to do about it! ! !
Her fists were bigger, so she was in charge! ! !
Qin An saw all this from the side and began to feel a bit anxious. He secretly moved and hid behind Shen Shu, "Wuwuwu… Shen Shu, Ruan Tian is too ****ing fierce."
Meanwhile, Shen Shu was just feeling a little distressed. He was really unhappy to see that Ruan Tian had been forced to this point by that family of hers.
—–
After that, Mother Zhou had really followed Ruan Tian to the government office and was forced to help her transfer her permanent residence registration away. It only took a little while before all of the formalities were completed and the deed was done.
At the same time, Ruan Tian's loyal fans had somehow dug up the post made by that certain fan with some technical skills that had been made a few months ago.
The post included a series of pictures, starting from when Ruan Tian had been sold as a child bride at three years old and then continuing on with photos of after she had been taken away and delivered to the orphanage.
That certain fan's Weibo had only been updated that one time and then never again, so this time it was almost by accident that the netizens finally discovered it.
The very first picture was of a little girl who was dressed in ill-fitting clothes. Her eyes were numb and hollow and didn't seem to match her small age. The photo was of a family of four all sitting in front of a farmhouse. The parents were holding their precious son in their arms, while the little girl was standing on her own feet but was also being held firmly in place by a large hand on her small shoulder.
After that, the photos were of Ruan Tian after she arrived at the orphanage. In this new set of photos, her clothes never looked very new, but at least they fit her body.
Moreover, in these photos, the expression on the little girl's face looked much happier than before. Her face was still dull, but her eyes were sparkling and beautiful.
These latter photos were all group photos, with Ruan Tian surrounded by a group of other orphan children like her.
During this period of time, that certain fan with technical skills had been busy preparing for his final exams. These days he was very busy and spent all of his free time reviewing and studying. During his very occasional moments of free time, he would only play a game or two and then quickly go offline again, so he never bothered to read the news online and his Weibo had long been forgotten and discarded to the corner of his mind.
The day finally came when the exams were over, and that exhausted fan was laying around in bed inside his dormitory relaxing. He took out his phone and was ready to go to Weibo to find some new pictures of his favorite goddess to lick…
But the second he logged into his account, he was immediately disconnected for some reason.
The fan finally managed to log back in, but he was confused and frightened by the notifications showing tens of thousands of comments and people who had him that appeared for some reason.
He cursed loudly and sat up from his bed with confusion in his eyes.
His sudden movement startled his other three roommates and one said, "God Cheng, what's the matter with you?"
"God Cheng" was the nickname that his fellow students had given him. They called him that because he was considered number one within their Institute of Information Technology. He had won various science and technology competitions, his academic performance was excellent and after three years on campus, with his pure "schoolyard hunk" appearance, the number of girls chasing him could form a line stretching all the way from the door of the dormitory downstairs to the campus canteen. Unfortunately for them though, the only things that could enter his eyes were games and a certain star called Ruan Tian.
These days, his roommate hadn't taken the initiative to tell him about the scandals surrounding Ruan Tian. After all, they all knew about God Cheng's fanaticism when it came to chasing stars, but it had recently been exam time so they felt it would be better to let him focus on his studies.
"What's going on? Why are so many people commenting on my Weibo? ! Did someone discover that I anonymously reported our teacher for spurious reasons last time?"
However, after clicking through and looking at some of the comments, the man heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed that secret was still safe.
Following that though, he cursed again and said, "Wait, what's happened to my goddess? It's all over. Should I not have uploaded all those photos of my goddess when she was younger last time? Maybe it's not good for her. "
His roommate spoke up, "God Cheng, didn't you hear? Your goddess' dirty laundry has all been exposed."
"What kind of dirty laundry?"
"Supposedly she psychologically abuses her parents."
The fan immediately retorted: "What parents? Did a mother somehow materialize out of nothing for her?"
If Ruan Tian was here she would definitely give him a thumbs-up!
Roommate: "…"
After roughly understanding the causes and consequences of this matter, the usually gentle fan started cursing wildly in front of his roommates, "This is bullshit!"
"With this keyboard in my hands, let's see if I can't scold these dogs today!"
"God Cheng, calm down!" His roommate cried.
But he couldn't calm down at all.
The man immediately re-launched Weibo.
WhenWillIBeAbleToLickRuanTian: 【I really didn't expect the post I made here on Weibo a few months ago would suddenly receive so much attention today. I'm just a simple fan who likes Ruan Tian a lot, but I can say that these photos were all discovered by me, and they are all absolutely real. 】
【Our Sister Tian was in an orphanage until she was seventeen years old. She really didn't lie during that interview. She is no different from an orphan. 】
【For those who want to use her parents to try to smear her, it's your parents who are really dead! You all need to get out of here and stay away from my goddess! 】
The photos were soon spread widely all over Weibo. Moreover, it was very easy to investigate the orphanage where Ruan Tian had lived back then. With just a few clicks of their finger, anyone would know that the fan wasn't lying and that the photos were real.
On top of that, the date that this fan had first uploaded these photos to his Weibo was far earlier than the date when the current scandal had broken out online, so it was impossible that Ruan Tian had somehow set it up herself in advance.
At this point, the netizens began to realize that Ruan Tian was actually the one who had been wronged this time.