Aside from the money, Ruan Tian had also already looked over all the advertising material very carefully, and she had even been planning to record a video to post to her personal channel, but it was all for naught now that things had taken this unexpected twist.
Jiang Lili was fuming and lashing out, "Even a second-tier brand still dares to play these kinds of tricks? ! And that Zhao Meng'er, she really does whatever she wants."
"I'll just wait for their sales to tank!"
Ruan Tian muttered: "I want to eat some cake to calm my mood."
On usual days, Jiang Lili would never agree to let Ruan Tian eat cake. In her mind, if a female star gained even a little weight it would definitely be obvious on camera.
But today she was very generous, "Go ahead and eat. Eat a big piece!"
Thus, after eating dinner, Ruan Tian listlessly went downstairs to the nearby cake shop to buy herself some cake. She looked around and picked out four or five small cakes with different flavors and had the staff member pack them up for her.
But when she pushed open the glass shop door and stepped outside, she saw Huai Mo standing quietly under a sycamore tree just a few steps down the street. He was wearing a white shirt and light-colored slacks that were carefully tucked in at his ankles.
Looking at him in the dim evening light, Ruan Tian fell into a trance.
The slightly naive yet dazzling appearance of the young man before her reminded her a bit of Shen Shu from back then.
Ruan Tian had once been obsessed with Shen Shu's appearance in his school uniform in those days. The image of that boy who, after class, could be found leaning lazily against the railing of the corridor and smiling gently while talking with their other classmates was firmly engraved into her mind even until now.
After a moment she recovered, and Huai Mo had already walked up in front of her.
The young man spoke bluntly and sweetly, "I've missed you."
Ruan Tian found she really couldn't stand him, especially in this pure schoolboy style.
Huai Mo's eyes were focused on her, looking at her profile and the slender curve of her white neck. He could even smell a faint fragrance drifting from her body. He blinked and said, "I've been sick for these past few days and didn't dare to come and see you for fear of spreading my infection to you."
"But once I got well again, the person I most wanted to see is you."
Ruan Tian, a girl who never talked about love, was really feeling flushed thanks to this aggressive little brother.
However, at the same time, she had truly only ever regarded Huai Mo as a younger brother who needed someone to take care of him.
Ruan Tian barely managed to calm down and then slowly raised her head, "Huai Mo…"
She scratched her head and pondered her next words. Finally, she said, "Don't waste your time on me."
Huai Mo reached out and hugged her waist. Distantly, Ruan Tian mused that he really seemed to like hugging her, but then his voice snapped her out of her idle thoughts: "Don't overthink, TianTian. You can also just think of me as your little brother."
Leaving those words, he released her and stepped back.
He knew he couldn't force things too strongly.
Otherwise, it would be no good to force someone to death like his father had done.
Ruan Tian was the only person in this world who brought him any sense of warmth.
Huai Mo liked her scent and liked seeing her smile.
He really just wanted to hide her away from the world.
However, if that wasn't an option, it was also good to just protect her.
Ruan Tian relaxed a bit. It seemed that Huai Mo might not actually be interested in her the way a man was interested in a woman, but rather he just saw her as a warm elder sister.
This news relieved her.
After that, Huai Mo once more followed Ruan Tian home and even swindled a meal out of her. While he ate, the exhaustion and irritability of the past days all seemed to be washed away.
Of course, he was careful not to overstep his bounds, and he took the initiative to leave on his own before it was even seven o'clock.
Just before he left, he hugged Ruan Tian again and whispered in her ear: "No one can bully you."
Ruan Tian sighed. Huai Mo was probably the only handsome man that she knew who could speak human language.
She really felt relieved!
—–
Later, Ruan Tian ate her five small cakes in one breath, and her depressed mood finally improved a little. Then, resigned to her fate, she headed downstairs to the basketball court and ran 20 laps.
As usual, her moods came and went like the wind.
Before long, she was once more filled with determination. She had never been someone to concede to fate. She had always been someone to do everything she could, to never admit defeat, never compromise, and always strive to seize every opportunity she could.
She firmly believed that it was always her turn to soar in the sky.
After running laps until she was drenched with sweat, Ruan Tian went back home, took a shower, and changed into her pajamas. Then she sat down on her bed and closed her eyes to silently meditate for a while.
However, despite meditating for a while, it was still useless.
She found that she was still very angry.
Ruan Tian glanced at the comments on Weibo that were mocking her trying to drum up hype, and suddenly wondered: 'Why the **** should I obediently bear this cross? ! Is there any reason? !'
Ruan Tian mulled this over for a moment, and then she pulled out her phone to consult a free lawyer online.
Half an hour later, Ruan Tian bluntly released a statement. She was going to directly sue the second-tier beauty company for breach of contract. She demanded for them to give her an apology, and at the same time, she announced that she would never have any further cooperation with this company or its parent company in the future.
Ruan Tian, who was on the cusp of being really famous, felt there was no need to reign in her temper anymore.
Sue! She would just ****ing sue!
In fact, this practice of a brand swapping in another star for an endorsement when they offered a lower price wasn't all that uncommon in the industry. Ruan Tian was probably one of the only people who would dare to play hardball with the brand after being undercut like this.
Of course, when Jiang Lili saw Ruan Tian's statement online she felt her vision going dark. After all, her star's decision to completely burn bridges with the brand was tantamount to declaring war, and it would definitely make finding more endorsement deals in the future much more difficult.
In this industry, the general rule was that if a star could bear it, then they ought to just shut up and do so.
Jiang Lili felt like tearing her hair out. She had no idea how she was going to explain this situation to her colleagues in the public relations department.
After Ruan Tian released her statement, the leader who had been in charge of the brand's decision this time was also dumbfounded. However, that confused feeling very quickly made way for a sea of burning anger.
Because they had found Ruan Tian for the job, did she imagine that they thought very highly of her? Now she even had the courage to point at their noses and say that she would never cooperate with them again in the future? She was dreaming! Ruan Tian, a small spokesperson their head office decided not to use, really dared to pick a fight with their brand? She really had the ambitions of a princess but not the life of one.
Thus, in a fit of rage and humiliation, the person in charge responded forcefully: 【No business cooperation agreement was ever negotiated between our two parties. I would thank Ms. Ruan Tian not to spread nonsense online. P.S. At present, our company has no intentions to cooperate with Ms. Ruan Tian, and we anticipate that there will be no such intentions in the future. 】
He really dared to say anything, and even went on to accuse Ruan Tian of spreading nonsense. He was fully betting that she wouldn't dare to release the contract she had signed with them because that wasn't how things were done in this industry.
Meanwhile, Ruan Tian found this a real eye-opener.
How to say it? It had been a long time since she had come across such a shameless person.
She thought he was probably even worse than that little boss who had lorded over her when she had been a small stand-in actress that had constantly delayed paying her salary!
On the side, Zhao Meng'er felt that the world still wasn't chaotic enough, so she happily added a 'like' to the response from the brand.
The situation quickly turned ugly. The two parties had both released completely incompatible statements, so the netizens were stirred, and Ruan Tian found herself on the receiving end of a lot of cruel ridicule.
【Just like her heart, Ruan Tian's face is quite ugly. Many people want to sign endorsement deals with this brand, but is it possible for the brand to sign them all? Maybe this actress managed to make a tiny splash, but she still needs to sign a contract before she can claim she secured an endorsement, OK? 】
【This sister is really funny. Does she know that there are other first-tier beauty brands owned by the same parent company of the one she's arguing with? She's really destroying her own road to success and ensuring she'll never get famous with her own hands. 】
【Just wondering, how is the TianTian Group feeling? You guys don't need to be too stubborn, just lie down and laugh with the rest of us.】
Ruan Tian didn't bother to fight any empty battles on the internet. Instead, she found a lawyer to take on the case at her own expense and contacted Jiang Lili to get her to send her pictures of the contract she had signed previously. Once she had the photos, she really dared to go directly to the brand's Weibo response and upload them there.
She was quick and decisive, and immediately all of the netizens who had been arguing were stunned.
After all, as soon as the contract was posted, the brand's position that "No business cooperation agreement was ever negotiated…" immediately became untenable. The person from the brand who had been arguing with Ruan Tian was furious. Did this woman still want to mix around in this industry in the future! ? Did she have to be so aggressive? !
At the same time, Qin Pictures and Huanshi Entertainment announced almost simultaneously that the artists under their respective companies would no longer cooperate with this brand, and also that any previous contracts their artists had with the brand were terminated effective immediately.
These two big companies occupied a large portion of the market and boasted many famous stars that drew large amounts of traffic. Seeing them jump out all of the sudden, the person from the brand was shocked and couldn't help but go to re-read all the background information they had gathered on Ruan Tian.
Wasn't she supposed to be just a small young actress who was just emerging! ? Did she actually have some amazing identity? The way these two big companies seemed to be showing an attitude of valuing her even more than those big-time Movie Queens left the person from the brand feeling very confused.
Meanwhile, the netizens could still somewhat understand the reaction from Qin Pictures. After all, Ruan Tian was an artist from their company, so it seemed natural for them to jump out and defend her.
But why had Huanshi Entertainment also jumped in on the fun? ! Was the treatment for the boss's ex-wife still so good?
That picture of Ruan Tian being driven out by the front desk staff at Huanshi Entertainment's headquarters was still fresh in people's memories, okay?
【To say it straight, it seems that this second-tier brand is really quite capable. They try to substitute out an artist after the contract is already signed, and when the person they replaced dares to complain they have thick enough skin to blatantly lie and slander her. 】
【Poor TianTian is so wronged in this matter. She doesn't have a strong enough backing so she can only be bullied. 】
【I can see that Zhao Meng'er and Ruan Tian have been clashing again and again. Who will come with me to knock that white lotus dead! 】
【Poster above, scram! ! ! 】
【The case is solved! Shen Shu has put down his face to chase his ex-wife and Qin Yu is throwing money to coax his lover. Conclusion: Ruan Tian has a good life. 】
Meanwhile, Zhao Meng'er who was hiding on the other side of the network cable was so full of anger she felt like dying.
However, she was still unyielding. She was determined to move forward down this road even if it meant becoming a demon. She vowed to herself that she would trample Ruan Tian beneath her feet on her road to stardom and let her be so shamed that the other woman's company would bury her forever.
—–
After she heard that Huanshi Entertainment had stepped out to stand on her side, Ruan Tian didn't feel touched at all.
This many years late show of goodwill already had no meaning to her.
Ruan Tian immersed herself in her new crew and continued to work diligently as usual. It seemed that Shen Shu had some connections with the show's investors, which meant that he would occasionally come to the set and watch the crew work. Thankfully, he never disturbed her or made trouble.
However, he seemed to have an intimate understanding of her schedule and when she was working or had time off.
Whenever he showed up he would wear pure white T-shirts and simple pairs of slacks, with his hair trimmed in a short and neat style.
As always, his body was excellent. He had a flat waist, wide shoulders, and a pair of eye-catching long legs. When he stood out in the sun he was dazzling to look at, and when Ruan Tian saw him she would sometimes be briefly stunned, as if the person in front of her was that same beautiful yet aloof and difficult to approach young man that she often saw in his school uniform all those years ago. Somehow it was as if the past and the present had gradually overlapped.
Ruan Tian was really a little irritated by Shen Shu's antics, but he would only appear occasionally, and he never took the initiative to speak with her, let alone disturb her work, so she had no reason to ask him to stay away.
When Valentine's Day rolled around, Ruan Tian happened to have the day off. In the end, she headed over to the amusement park alone. After putting on a mask, she looked like any other ordinary person. No one around her recognized her, and no crowds appeared to cluster around her and ask for her autograph.
Ruan Tian felt very free.
She even decided to spend a huge sum of money and buy herself a ten-yuan ice cream cone. As she was sitting in front of the merry-go-round and enjoying her frozen treat, her cell phone suddenly buzzed. She looked down and found that the ever-patient Shen Shu had called her again.
After glancing over the name, Ruan Tian's eyes darkened minutely and she snapped the phone shut.
This was actually the second time Ruan Tian had come to this amusement park. She had even ridden merry-go-round before and, in fact, with her small courage, the merry-go-round was the only attraction she really dared to ride.
After she finished eating her ice cream cone, Ruan Tian stood up with plans to go buy a ticket, but she found Shen Shu blocking her way.
Ruan Tian didn't know how he had found her.
He really had some abilities.
Shen Shu's breath was a bit uneven and the hair on his forehead was damp with sweat. He faced her and gulped before saying, "I'll go buy tickets."
As he turned to buy the tickets, Ruan Tian spoke to his thin back. "Shen Shu, I used to chase you to the point of begging and it would only enrage you. You should just go back to being that cold and unfeeling man, okay?"
Sigh. Now that he was pestering her…
She was also feeling very distressed, okay! ?
A lonely man and a widow going around together! It really wouldn't sound any good if it were to spread!
If she were to be stuck with this sort of bad reputation then how could she find her five boyfriends in the future!
Shen Shu stopped walking and turned back to face her. His lips were pressed into a thin line and he didn't say anything.
Ruan Tian had never been the type to mince words. Rather, she was the type to say things so directly that someone slightly faint-of-heart might have a heart attack and die on the spot.
Thus, facing the cold and handsome Shen Shu, she just scratched her head and said, "Actually, thinking about it now, I remember back when I was really gutless and humble you had once deigned to do me the favor of accompanying me to this amusement park."
She paused and looked around before continuing, "It seemed to have been on Christmas, right? I remember I had to donate blood to Zhou Xiaoqiao before you agreed to come and play with me."
"Actually, I wasn't very much in the mood to play at the time. After all, those hospital needles are quite painful."
And yet no one ever seemed to think of that.
Rather, all the people she knew would just dismiss it with 'You've only lost a bit of blood, but for her, it's her life!'
In fact, Ruan Tian had never really allowed herself to be morally kidnapped with the excuse of Zhou Xiaoqiao's life or health. She had only compromised due to her love for Shen Shu.
Those words caused a dull pain to fill Shen Shu's chest. With each breath, it was as if cotton was being stuffed down his throat, itchy, stuffy, and painful.
His face gradually paled, and before long he had lost much of his usual cold and domineering aura.
Shen Shu's fingers curled into fists and only after taking a few deep breaths did he find the strength to turn back and continue toward the ticket box.
In the end, he only bought a single ticket. With his pale and slender fingers, he passed it to Ruan Tian and said, "Here, go and play."
Ruan Tian accepted the ticket, then looked up at him and replied, "I will transfer the money for the ticket to you later."
These words, that were even more distant than the words a person might give a complete stranger, slammed harshly into Shen Shu's heart.
Shen Shu slowly closed his eyes, and his expression gradually tensed up. He was already on the verge of exploding. Suddenly, he lunged forward and fiercely grabbed her arm, and his bloodshot eyes shone with seven points of coldness.
Ruan Tian was taken aback. She looked up at him and wondered if he was going to strangle her.
Shen Shu looked down into her ethereal eyes and found them wooden, completely devoid of his presence, and he suddenly found that he couldn't say a word.
Shen Shu gradually released her arm with trembling hands and murmured, "Forget it."
Ruan Tian felt that she was still a very kind person, after all, she waited until he had turned his back and was looking away from her to tear up the ticket he had bought.
After that, she had lost her mood. She didn't get on any of the rides, she just wandered around for a while before heading home.
As she was going up to her apartment she noticed that the sensor that turned the lights on in the fifth floor corridor was broken.
And yet, no one had come by to fix it.
This was a fairly high-end apartment complex, so it stood to reason that there should be someone to handle this sort of thing.
Thus, when Ruan Tian passed the security kiosk she found a piece of paper and noted down the place where she had spotted the broken sensor before heading the rest of the way upstairs.
Unexpectedly, Qin Yu was lazily leaning against her door, seemingly waiting for her there.
When Ruan Tian looked up and saw his fierce glare, she felt a bit panicked. She was honestly kind of terrified of Qin Yu.
On usual days she would sometimes dare to quarrel with him, but that was only when she could see he was in a good mood.
But whenever this person was in a bad mood, Ruan Tian was only anxious to scram far away as fast a possible.
From her experience, Qin Yu was a genuine lunatic.
For instance, back when she had gone to the amusement park with Shen Shu that time, Shen Shu had, of course, refused to board any of the rides with her. Also, after Ruan Tian had gotten off the pirate ship ride she had looked around and found that he had disappeared.
All she could do was sadly collapse on a bench and cry for a while before heading home with tears in her eyes.
However, when she had neared home, she had run into a strangely agitated Qin Yu.
The normally sickly young child Qin Yu was as powerful as an ox that day. He had seemed completely crazy and intent on biting her like a mad dog. He has caught up to her and pressed her up against a brick alley wall where no street lights reached, then pinched her chin, forced her to open her mouth, and kissed her.
Seeing her choking on her tears, Qin Yu had burst into crazy laughter. His lips had hooked up slightly and he had looked at her face with his deep black eyes before asking casually: "Did you have fun on your date?"
And now, Ruan Tian felt that Qin Yu's current eyes were very similar to his eyes from that night back then.
Presumably, he was once again having one of his fits of insanity.
She clenched her fists and said stiffly: "Pardon me, I need to get through."
Qin Yu stood in front of her door, motionless, and replied, "Where did you go?"
Ruan Tian pretended to act shy, "I went on a date with my little boyfriend."
Qin Yu snorted. He didn't believe that at all.
He beckoned with his arm, "Come over here."
Ruan Tian firmly ignored him.
However, before Ruan Tian could even react, Qin Yu had already taken the initiative to walk over to her. In two steps he was in front of her, and his cold fingers landed on her neck.
"Don't move." He said.
Ruan Tian's eyes widened. Was he about to break her neck! ?
Since he was so crazy couldn't he just please go to the lunatic asylum? Why did he come out to harm innocents? It really made people speechless.
However, unexpectedly, Qin Yu suddenly took out a necklace seemingly from nowhere and unscrupulously used his hands to put it around her neck.
His furrowed brows loosened and his eyes looked happy, "Happy Valentine's Day."
Ruan Tian was frightened.
She fell silent for a moment, then replied, "En, my little boyfriend is young and healthy, so I am indeed very happy."
…do you get it? ! I am someone who has a boyfriend! Quickly take your necklace away! She wanted to shout at him!
The light in Qin Yu's eyes became gloomy again.
Ruan Tian suddenly reached up and pointed to the necklace on her neck, then started to talk nonsense: "Mr. Qin, could it be you're pursuing me now?"
She then put on a regretful expression and said, "Unfortunately, I'm just too good, you don't deserve me."
So get out!
Get lost!
Scram away!
After Ruan Tian finished speaking, she pushed Qin Yu away with a flourish and then shut him out of her house with a resounding bang.
—–
In the end, Valentine's Day ended up being a chaotic mess.
However, afterwards, Ruan Tian's luck strangely seemed to have improved. These days Jiang Lili had completely put away any expectations for endorsement resources, but there was a sudden change.
A big pie suddenly fell down from the sky and stunned them both speechless.
The famous UES Group unexpectedly found Ruan Tian and initiated a conversation inviting her to be their global spokesperson.
UES Group was a huge conglomerate with countless luxury items under their umbrella, including watches, bags, jewelry, etc… Even their cheapest styles of watches cost over 500,000 yuan.
Originally they had been a large foreign company, but a few years ago they had been acquired by a domestic company.
Normally winning an endorsement deal for any one of their small branches was a task as difficult as climbing the heavens, so the position of global spokesperson was something that was aimed for by countless stars, many of whom were many times more popular than Ruan Tian.
After receiving the call, Ruan Tian had to confirm… did they really call the right person?
Her little heart couldn't take it if she were to be swapped out again!
But who would have thought that after hearing the question the other party would directly transfer the eight-figure endorsement fee to her account, and then tell her sincerely: "We truly want to cooperate with Miss Ruan. The contract period is two years."
Actually, UES was a company owned by the Huai family. Moreover, it was a company that the Huai family didn't value all that much.
Jiang Lili was aware of this connection, but she didn't tell Ruan Tian about it for now. She just let her TianBaby be a happy little fool for the time being.
In reality, they were truly unworthy of such a huge resource.
Having a big background to rely on was too amazing!
Of course, it stood to reason that it was impossible for a huge and professional company like UES to leak its own corporate secrets in advance.
But Huai Mo deliberately wanted to create a luxurious sedan chair for Ruan Tian, so he secretly had the news leaked out ahead of time.
Thus, on the night when Ruan Tian signed the contract, a massive thread with over 10,000 replies appeared on one of the more popular entertainment gossip forums to discuss the topic.
【I've been eating melons from the sidelines for many years, so today I will give back to my all sisters here. Let's play a guessing game. An actress with a two-character name, UES global spokesperson, with an eight figure endorsement fee of 50 million yuan… the official announcement will be made at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning! 】
The first twenty replies only contained three words: "****, so fake!"
Then in the first five hundred responses after that, no one guessed Ruan Tian's name.
The curious netizens had almost searched through all the female stars in the entertainment circle, but they still couldn't figure out who it was with so few clues.
504L: Can you tell us who it is more specifically?
505L: If you offer up fake melons, your family will definitely be hit by a car when they go out.
506L: Don't be another bitch trying to act chaste. We all know you're just bursting to share! Just directly say the name! ! !
OP: Okay, here's some more hints. This person recently lost an endorsement deal, also they were recently divorced and won a best actress award for her role in a TV series. With this it should be obvious enough, right?
The people who were still playing the guessing game before immediately lost their interest after this post.
After all, in the entire entertainment industry, there was only Ruan Tian who met all the stated conditions. Anyone could think of it.
1029L: I don't believe it. This is the UES Group we're talking about, not miniso (Not that working with miniso is embarrassing or anything). (tl note: miniso is a brand of supermarkets in China. I think UES is a fictional creation from the author.)
1030L: The OP clearly invented this melon from nothing to play around.
Would such a high-profile brand actually invite a fledgling actress to be their global spokesperson? Even if they used their toes to think the netizens knew it was impossible!
The idea of Ruan Tian becoming the spokesperson for UES was crazy. It was even more shocking than the time she had beaten Wang Baiyuan up on set.
This sort of endorsement deal, an eight-figure deal at that, would be difficult even for those Movie Queens to secure, not to mention a small actress like Ruan Tian. No matter how a person thought about it, the spokesperson just couldn't be Ruan Tian.
Ruan Tian was still a small actress who had never even starred in any popular drams or TV shows, so who would believe it? Even fools would have more realistic dreams.
Thus, when the OP of the thread finally revealed that the mystery person was actually Ruan Tian, all of the onlookers became relentless realists and "golden sentences" flowed out one after another.
3457L: Just look back at Li Dong for reference. At that time she had just become an internationally recognized Movie Queen but, even after a long period of negotiations, she still failed to secure the spot as a global spokesperson for UES and could only settle for the title of regional spokesperson.
3458L: Hmph. Comparing Li Dong to Ruan Tian is just humiliating Li Dong…
3459L: I can't believe there are still people here talking about this nonsense. Doesn't everyone already know that there is no real information online? One by one they foolishly keep chatting about this topic, isn't it obvious that it's just Ruan Tian trying to create hype for herself?
3460L: I advise and Ruan Tian fans not to think this is real. This cake is too big for your small idol, you should just go back to wash and sleep.
Meanwhile, the members of the TianTian Group were really a bit jittery about taking any news as real after the last blow they had suffered.
Thus, when the fan club saw screenshots of the "revelation", the upper members directly refuted it within the group, "False! Everyone, do not believe these messy news sources from outside, just concentrate on waiting for our TianBaby to make a move."
In the face of these refutations, the fans didn't feel particularly disheartened because they hadn't even believed it in the first place.
But then, at 10:00 the next morning, the UES Group's official Weibo made an announcement: RuanTian, Let's all explore the world of jewelry together with UES Group's new global spokesperson.
This twist was magical enough for the onlookers to suspect that they were still dreaming.
It was like the clouds had opened up and sent down a deafening roar of thunder and lightning, smashing their heads until they were muddled and confused.
However, after reading it over several times to double and triple check, the netizens discovered that this announcement did indeed come from the official Weibo account of the luxury brand UES. That same luxury brand that was rumored to always thoroughly and rigorously examine any prospective spokespeople for a long time before signing any endorsement deals.
This slot, which any number of aloof and distant stars hadn't managed to secure was unexpectedly quietly won away by Ruan Tian?
The TianTian Group was so shocked by the news that they even forget to control the comments.
The comment section was instantly plunged into turmoil.
"? ? ?"
"Am I still sleeping right now?"
"The slot really went to Ms. Ruan Tian, some Chinese actress?"
"Getting this resource is like taking one step and ascending directly to heaven, right? Without any actual achievements, she was still able to win such a big endorsement deal? I smell something fishy. No wonder her popularity has been exploding recently."
At the same time, Ruan Tian Weibo's account also came online because Jiang Lili had instructed her to follow, comment on, and repost UES's announcement a few moments before.
Ruan Tian thought hard about it, but in the end, she couldn't think of any appropriate words, so she simply sent a "yay" emoji.
The TianTian Group immediately began to rejoice and shower her with praises in the comment section:
"Our Sister Ruan has done well."
"TianBaby will be making a lot of money this time! I feel so relieved! "
"Sister Ruan continues to rush forward regardless of those sour chickens in the background!"
Meanwhile, Ruan Tian could still only feel that it was all unreal.
That was an endorsement fee of 50 million yuan! It was the first time Ruan Tian realized that her endorsement was actually so valuable?
But then she remembered, back when she signed her contract with Qin Pictures that year, it had stipulated a 50-50 cut.
In other words…
This 50 million would be divided into two, and 25 million would need to be given to that dog-thief, Qin Yu!
Ruan Tian suddenly felt like she was going to have a heart attack.
The announcement sent shockwaves through all corners of the entertainment circle and caused a lot of people to feel shocked. After all, it was commonly understood that the resources from the UES Group were really difficult to get.
In addition to all the ordinary things like having a certain amount of fame and having a good relationship with the brand, candidates also needed to undergo a long period of contact and observation. There was no one else like Ruan Tian who had been able to directly ascend to the sky with a single step like this.
Various insiders asked around, but very few people knew the inside story, so their queries were fruitless. In the end, they could only conclude that it must be Qin Yu forcibly directing all the best resources in his company to Ruan Tian.
Thus, with this precedent of Qin Yu's "doting", people began betting in advance that 'Destined Immortals', which would be airing over the winter break, would definitely explode in popularity.
As usual, after Huai Mo gave the order it only took a few days for the people below to get it done for him.
Huai Mo found that he really liked Ruan Tian.
Rather, he loved her so much that he couldn't help himself.
However, he was aware that when he fell in love with someone, it would not proceed in the normal manner.
It would definitely become something more violent and unreasonable than a "normal love".
Thus, he had spent a lot of time trying to learn what kind of person Ruan Tian liked.
His plan was to get close to her, make her let her guard down, and then finally eat her up.
At the same time, Huai Mo's grandfather was very worried about the way his grandson had been behaving these days. After all, he knew that the more normal this grandson of his behaved, the more sick and twisted he was on the inside.
Huai Mo hadn't really bothered to conceal his pursuit either, thus Qin Yu was aware that Huai Mo was probably targeting Ruan Tian, and that he had even probably privately done a lot of things for her.
However, to Qin Yu's annoyance, Ruan Tian didn't seem to resent the little bastard at all!
In Qin Yu's opinion, he and Huai Mo were basically the same types of people.
The crows under the sky were each as black as another. None of them had clean hands, and none of them were good things.
So he really didn't understand why Ruan Tian always seemed so agreeable when she met Huai Mo, but whenever she saw him she was like a mouse seeing a cat.
And today, the atmosphere in Qin Yu's high-rise office building was heavy and full of oppression.
The top boss was obviously in a terrible mood, and whenever his cold glare swept over his workers would find their foreheads drenched in cold sweat.
The atmosphere in the office was so oppressive that the workers found it hard to even breathe.
This low atmosphere had first appeared when Qin Yu happened to see Ruan Tian on the front page of Entertainment Weekly.
The whole front page was taken up by a picture of Ruan Tian and Shen Shu in an amusement park.
The angle the picture had been taken from made the scene seem very ambiguous. In the picture, both people were bowing their heads, Shen Shu's hand was wrapped around Ruan Tian's wrist, and it looked as if they were kissing.
Qin Yu looked at the magazine with a thin smile, but the smile didn't reach his cold eyes, and his face was somehow terrifying.
A secretary suddenly knocked on the door and came in. She carefully walked forward and handed over the documents in her hands. "These documents all require your signature, Mr. President."
Qin Yu didn't even look at the documents. Instead, he rumbled in a low voice: "Prepare a car. I'm going to the outskirts of the capital."
The secretary replied hesitantly, "What do you need to do at the outskirts of the capital? These files…"
Qin Yu looked at her coldly and said, "Didn't I say to prepare a car? Do you not understand human language?"
The secretary shut up immediately and turned to begin making arrangements.
—–
Ruan Tian didn't have to do any filming this morning, so she was taking it slow. She woke up around seven or eight and wanted to head to the nearby supermarket to buy herself some ingredients so she could cook a delicious meal for herself at lunchtime.
However, she suddenly encountered Qin Yu and her whole plan was disrupted.
Today there were two rows of expressionless bodyguards spread out along the edges of the corridor, as if to grandly announce Qin Yu's presence, and also to block her way forward.
Qin Yu stared at her face for a long moment before asking in a half-mocking tone, "Did you go to an amusement park with Shen Shu on Valentine's Day?"
Ruan Tian's eyes were calm. "Qin Yu, what's it to do with you? What are you so angry about?"
"I just don't understand. Why are you so committed to him? Haven't you had enough of his disgust for you? If you're unhappy following him, why don't you just put someone else in your eyes?" Qin Yu's brows were twisted. He grabbed her arm and pushed her back against the wall as he spoke.
Ruan Tian's back was suddenly pressed to the wall, and she distantly thought that it was a little cold. At the same time, she fearlessly looked back into Qin Yu's eyes and replied, "'Someone else'? Are you talking about yourself?"
Ruan Tian had always been reluctant to have a direct conflict with Qin Yu, but that didn't mean that she didn't have any thoughts about him.
As soon as she realized that she was actually just a small villainess in this novel, she had begun to suspect that the role Qin Yu played should be the lovestruck second wheel who went around cleaning up the villains behind the female lead's back.
Ruan Tian tilted her head and quietly looked up into Qin Yu's eyes.
His eyes, his brows, his face.… they were actually all very beautiful.
However, Ruan Tian truly felt that she would rather see a dog than see Qin Yu.
She opened her mouth. "Back when I first transferred into our high school, you were the one who took the lead in bullying me."
"Maybe you don't think much of it, but you are undeniably the one most responsible for my miserable days back then. You were the one who took my love letters and read them aloud, you were the one who announced my poor math grades to everyone, and you were the one who picked on me everywhere, all the time. It wasn't something cute like a boy trying to attract a girl's attention, you really just took bullying me as your pastime and leisure."
"At first, I didn't hate you that much, but over time you really, really went too far."
Ruan Tian was suddenly determined to give Qin Yu some treatment for all the water in his head today.
His three views were just too twisted for her to let be.
With this new determination in her heart, Ruan Tian pushed Qin Yu's hand off her arm and continued speaking: "I remember back in high school you once gave me a jar of sweets. I like sweets, so I was actually very happy at the time, but as soon as I opened the jar, unpeeled the wrapper, and ate one…"
"You turned to Shen Shu and said that I was like a little beggar, eager to accept anything from anyone."
"So, you disgust me."
"Qin Yu, I only find you disgusting."
After saying these words that had been long weighing on her mind, Ruan Tian heaved a subtle sigh of relief.
How musical those words sounded.
She had really managed to scold him! Scolded the son of a bitch good!
Qin Yu didn't want to keep listening. Hearing that word, "disgusting", almost left him unable to stand.
These things she listed out one by one were all things he had done.
Back then, he hadn't thought much and hadn't cared much, but now he found that it had all been recorded down and he needed to pay it back.
In those days, Ruan Tian had always stubbornly refused to bow her head no matter what he did. It was as if he had been bewitched, and before he knew it he was using all of his means, trying to force her to look at him instead of Shen Shu, trying to force her to give up!
He suddenly lost it. "I disgust you? Okay, then you can retaliate! You can come and find me! You can beat me, scold me, humiliate me all you like if it makes you happy, but why do you have to go back to Shen Shu? Will you die if that man isn't in your life?"
With this, Ruan Tian was convinced.
Sure enough, it was impossible to communicate with a lunatic!
She wanted to shout: **** you! **** your mother! You and I will never reconcile under this sky!
Period!
Qin Yu suddenly shook off her hand and then turned his bloodshot eyes to stare at one of the bodyguards on the side. "Give me your nightstick." He said.
A long moment went by, but the bodyguard didn't budge.
Qin Yu's voice suddenly became severe, "Give it to me!"
The bodyguard finally relented and pulled out his nightstick and delivered it to his boss's hand.
Qin Yu readily accepted it and then shoved it over to Ruan Tian. Then he called in a loud voice, "Go on! Hit me in the face if you like! However unhappy you were back then, whatever humiliation you suffered, you can vent it out on me now! Do it!"
Ruan Tian silently swore.
Five big words flashed across her mind: Qin Yu really went crazy!
However, this was Qin Yun's own request and, as a kind-hearted person, Ruan Tian felt that she should respond to everything he asks for!
Thus, Ruan Tian really kicked out at him with all the ruthlessness in her heart and shouted, "Scram!"
Qin Yu's thigh was in a lot of pain after being kicked by Ruan Tian, but at the same time, he suddenly seemed to calm down. The corners of his mouth smoothed out and he said hoarsely, "If you and Shen Shu really get back together, I will kill him."
Ruan Tian wanted to roll her eyes. Who was Shen Shu to her? He wasn't worthy of her concern.
However, this Qin Yu had better be true to his word! If he didn't kill that Shen Shu for her, he wasn't a man!
But in real life, the only answer to Qin Yu's words was the slamming sound as her door swung shut.
As soon as she got inside, Ruan Tian sent a message to Qin An: 【 Your brother has lost his mind. Quickly come and pick him up, or else I'll call the police. 】
Qin An replied in the next second: 【 Call the police then. 】
Ruan Tian: 【? 】
What a joke! Qin An's fear of his brother hadn't been developed in a single day.
His brother was really scary, okay? Who would dare go over to pick him up when he was acting crazy?
—–
After the events of that day, Qin Yu became even more overboard, and his methods were quite arrogant and tough.
The next afternoon, a certain staff member from a popular video-sharing website jumped out and revealed: 【Breaking news! Actually, Qin Pictures have personally made a move and asked us to remove all of Ruan Tian's fan's CP videos on our website, including the ones featuring Ruan Tian and Shen Shu, probably we will have no choice but to comply. 】
【Also, my good sister told me that it's not the case that Ruan Tian is the noble imperial concubine of Qin Pictures! The actual story is that young master Qin refused to let Ruan Tian go, and even sent his legal team to battle her when she tried to terminate her contract with his company, twice! 】
…
In fact, this was real. The lawsuit to attempt to terminate the contract between Ruan Tian and Qin Yu really had been fought more than once. Back then, Ruan Tian's first lawsuit had ended in complete disaster, with the courts outright rejecting all of her demands.
However, Ruan Tian was a stubborn and bullheaded person. Even though she was still poor and lowly person back then, she determinedly used all of her savings to hire another lawyer. She absolutely refused to accept the outcome of her first lawsuit and went on to file another one. Of course, she only lost again after going to court a second time and, in the end, she could only give up when she finally lost so much money that she couldn't afford to continue.
Ruan Tian obviously hadn't been able to afford a good lawyer back then and, in the end, she had reluctantly hired a cute new lawyer who had just gotten her certificates. Thus, it wasn't much of a surprise when the two of them were completely overpowered by Qin Yu's elite legal team.
The secrets revealed by the staff member from the video-sharing website were verified around six p.m. that night, when suddenly all of the CP videos featuring the ShenxRuan CP mysteriously disappeared.
The ShenxRuan CP fans all cried sadly. Their home was gone!
Everything had been destroyed! There was absolutely nothing left.
How could a man's jealousy be so terrible?
Thus, they could only retreat to their small chatroom, and the chat was full of nothing but insults targeting Qin Yu:
"Qin Yu, you're not even a man!"
"Qin Yu, for tearing down a perfectly good CP, the heavens will definitely strike you with lightning!"
"Qin Yu, you'll never get a wife with such a petty and narrow-minded heart."
"However, it makes me feel good whenever I think about how our Sister Ruan won't even take a second glance at that Qin Yu. I believe that ShenxRuan will be the CP that will win in the end."
In the minds of people with bad intentions, Ruan Tian was clearly the usual type of female starlet who had flirted around with the president of her company to get ahead. And now that Qin Yu had made such a strong move to kill all discussion from the CP fans, it made some of the onlookers feel convinced. However, they couldn't help but wonder if these rich young masters lacked eyes or lacked brains? Why did so many of them seem to take a fancy to this Ruan Tian?!
Although Ruan Tian could be said to have some skills as an actress, it seemed that her ability to attract men might be her true talent, maybe the best in the entertainment industry! It was as if she had some special physique to attract a new CP pairing everywhere she went.
After all, there had already been several men who had been drawn into her orbit.
DidTianTianReplyToMeToday: "I've found that our TianBaby is a strange woman who made her debut after marriage and then continued to work after her divorce."
"One by one different men have been fascinated by her charms, but I just want to tell those smelly men that Sister Ruan would never settle for any of them."
"She's like a real-life fox spirit."
"Look at the way they all fight to the death for Sister Ruan! Although I don't want to admit it, it really feels good to see. However, I hope that Sister Ruan will continue to stay aloof from the world and only immerse herself in earning money to buy a house."
—–
As usual, once Ruan Tian buried herself in working with a film crew, she didn't show up outside much, even with the all news about her circulating online.
In a bit less than a month, 'The Story of Xie Wan' should be finished filming.
It was October, and the scorching sun hung up above them every day. All the people on the crew were working in ancient costumes which were stuffy and hot, so the sun above often caused them to overheat and feel dizzy.
Ruan Tian asked her assistant to buy everyone water and other drinks and invited the whole crew to drink from time to time to avoid heatstroke.
She was a friendly person who didn't put on any airs, so the crew liked her from top to bottom and even her fellow performers all had a good impression of her.
Wang Baiyuan was the only exception. He wasn't at all accustomed to Ruan Tian's style of doing things. However, of course, he didn't drink the water Ruan Tian sent over, nor did he want it in the first place.
Secretly, Wang Baiyuan felt really speechless in his heart. Why was Ruan Tian going around pretending to be a good person? Who was she trying to show off to by buying a bunch of water and other drinks? Probably, she just wanted to please everyone and then secretly send out a press release to trample on him and paint him as a man who didn't do anything when the crew was suffering, right?
In order to avoid the hot midday sun, the crew had put off the start of filming until three p.m. because they were shooting another fight scene today.
Wang Baiyuan set up a reclining chair in front of the air conditioner and lay down comfortably under the cold air. On his left-hand side was an ice-cold peach-flavored drink that his assistant had bought for him. He leisurely watched videos on his phone and, whenever he felt thirsty, he would send his assistant a look and immediately someone would deliver the straw to his mouth so he could take a sip.
When Ruan Tian sat down nearby, Wang Baiyuan raised his eyelids lazily and snorted, "Heh, I think you are addicted to pretending to be a good person."
Ruan Tian just quietly sipped her lukewarm water. She didn't understand what stimulated Wang Baiyuan and caused him to inexplicably want to speak to her.
She sent him a sidelong glance and then said, "Wang Baiyuan, do you know what you look like now?"
Wang Baiyuan looked up from his phone's screen and, without shifting his posture, asked suspiciously, "What?"
Ruan Tian smiled, "Like a disabled person with high paraplegia. Someone who can only lie in bed and who is unable to take care of himself at all."
Some of the surrounding people couldn't help but snicker. Ruan Tian's description was really too vivid.
In a fit of rage, Wang Baiyuan immediately sat up and pointed at Ruan Tian's face. "Scram away, don't talk to me!"
He was pissed off.
He couldn't beat this woman, and he also couldn't scold her!
He had never expected that he, someone who always relied on his backing to act domineering and arrogant on set, would unexpectedly one day be left passive and forced to swallow his anger. He felt very aggrieved about this situation, ah!
After this little interlude, Ruan Tian snorted and didn't bother speaking to Wang Baiyuan any further. After a little while, Ruan Tian put down her script casually.
The director looked over and asked, "You have a lot of lines today, have you memorized them all?"
Ruan Tian nodded and replied, "I've memorized them."
The director nodded. He knew that Ruan Tian had a nimble mind and a good memory, so it wasn't difficult for her to memorize her lines. Unlike certain a certain male actor from the same cast who could barely remember more than five sentences at a time.
Hearing her affirmation, the director smiled until his eyes squinted up, "Not bad. Ruan Tian, you are really the best actress that I've ever met. Break a leg today."
In the past this director had mostly worked on shoddy projects with dog-blood storylines, so he was more accustomed to the flow where the actors on his casts weren't very professional at all.
Some of those over-rated stars wouldn't even bother to memorize their lines. Instead, they would just go on set and blabber nonsense for a while and force the crew to dub over them later.
Thus…
The director really didn't have any aspiration for this drama at first. When he first came to set he had the mentality of "I'll just shoot it casually", "I'm here to earn money to support my family," and "Whether the end product is good or not has nothing to do with me."
And then, on the very first day of shooting, his male and female leads even had a big fight with each other, so he had become even less invested in the project.
After all, of all the sets he had worked on, none had been so ****ing magical as to have the actors physically fighting each other.
But who would have guessed that, over the past two months, Ruan Tian had only ever been diligent and serious about her work? She was even more professional than him, the director.
After working with Ruan Tian for a while, the director felt an unprecedented sense of shame.
His actors and actresses were already working so hard, so why wasn't he also working hard?
Therefore, thanks to the stimulation of working alongside Ruan Tian, the director also gradually fell in love with the script and worked seriously.
As for the male lead Wang Baiyuan…
He didn't matter!
He was just a loser from beginning to end. It would be fine for him to retire quietly. Anyway, he didn't have too many scenes according to the script, so it was fine.
His overall impact on the story was small and could be solved with some tricks.
Right now they were shooting one of Wang Baiyuan's few scenes. For this scene, he needed to be suspended from wires.
As he allowed the crew to put on his wire harness, he was feeling a little impatient. He had very thin skin and tender flesh, okay? What was he going to do if he got sunburned? Did this crew deserve that kind of sacrifice from someone like him?
Just as Wang Baiyuan's temper was about to explode, the director finally called out, "All departments, make your final checks. We will begin shooting as soon as you're ready."
This scene was a pivotal moment in the script where the conflict between male and female leads finally broke out. In order to keep the female lead, who aspired to walk the path of immortal cultivation, by his side, the male lead was determined to block her way and abolish her cultivation base.
When Ruan Tian first saw this scene in the script, she turned speechless on the spot.
Ugh… it turned out to be the overbearing prince forcing his love trope being played completely straight. Was this cliche really so popular! ?
Personally, she just felt it was ****ing ridiculous.
Wang Baiyuan looked over at Ruan Tian, who was also suffering under the sun, and suddenly felt a little better. He said proudly, "I'll let you play for a while first. I hope you won't be so outshone by me that you start to cry."
Ruan Tian looked up and sneered, "I still need you to let me? Don't flatter yourself."
Wang Baiyuan couldn't wait to get started.
The director spoke into his megaphone and called out for them to start.
Wang Baiyuan stood high on the top of the eaves of the building, his face pale like a ghost. He looked down at the frail woman below and began his line: "This prince told you last time that if you ever tried to run again then this price would directly destroy your cultivation so that you can never leave this prince's side for the rest of your life. "
He stopped speaking and then flew down from the rooftop, sweeping straight towards her like the wind.
However, at the final critical moment, when it was already impossible to stop, Wang Baiyuan's frosty face suddenly turned frightened! He knocked into Ruan Tian and then tumbled to the ground and ate dirt.
On the side, the director called "cut", and Wang Baiyuan grimaced in pain. He cried out, "What the hell! Are you trying to kill me? My arm, my legs, my face, my waist!"
The crew members all swarmed forward, especially the four or five assistants that Wang Baiyuan brought along with him. One by one they all tried to comfort him, "Brother Wang, is everything all right? Does it hurt? Why don't you try to stand up? "
Wang Baiyuan flew into a rage. "I'm almost dying here, and you're asking me to stand up? !"
His voice was shrill and noisy.
The assistant he screamed at had a good temper and didn't retaliate at all, he just turned around and shouted to the others, "Call an ambulance quickly. Don't you see how Brother Wang is suffering? If anything happens to him, none of you will be able to escape!"