Chapter 10: Becoming a fan suddenly
Translator: Aafkee
Proofreader: ChaiTea
“I’m sorry, Ms Mei. It’s due to my carelessness that others have a chance to take advantage of me. I’ll have to trouble you to come up with some ideas.”
Shen Yu forced himself to calm down after his initial shock and began reflecting on his own mistakes immediately. Pleased by his words, Mei Fei’s tone softened.
“You can’t really be blamed for this, there are many people’s interests involved and it’s too complicated. You have never been popular before so it’s natural that you weren’t mindful now that you’re suddenly trending.” Mei Fei spared a few words of consolation for Shen Yu before she changed her topic abruptly.
“I have asked around about this Wan Sheng just now. How should I put it, she does not have a good reputation among the rich people's social circle although it was never exposed to the public. Thinking from the long term perspective, I suggest you do not get too involved with her.”
A temporary scandal was usually beneficial for both the male and female parties but if their public images were bound in the public’s eyes, the other party would also be dragged into it if one party was to get into any kind of trouble. It could also be said that the merits and drawbacks of both parties would be tied together. It was due to Mei Fei’s sincere consideration for Shen Yu that she decided to be blunt. Shen Yu was, after all, a celebrity that had been under her care for a few years. Even though he did not end up being popular, Shen Yu had always been sensible and had never given her any unnecessary troubles so at the very least, she did feel affection for him.
“You should know me by now, Ms Mei.” Shen Yu was quite astonished by Wan Sheng’s true colours but he did not ask any further. When he heard Mei Fei’s words, he could only let out a bitter laugh, “There wouldn’t be any need to trouble you for so many years if I had such intentions.”
“I know you don’t like getting involved in such things but I still have to remind you. It’s fine as long as you understand. Be mindful in the future not to get involved with Wan Sheng. I’ll try my best to suppress the scandal so you don’t have to show any response to it. The public won’t remember this for long as long as there is no continuation of this.”
“Thank you, Ms Mei.” Shen Yu put his phone on the side after the other side had hung up and let out a sigh. He was in no mood to continue the movie after such an incident had happened.
Too many things had happened in the short half a day, it was quite difficult to manage even for a grown man like Shen Yu.
He had yet to become popular and yet, he had already experienced the troubles a little popularity could bring. Shen Yu sat still quietly for a while before he could not control himself and opened his Weibo app.
As the search terms were entered into the search bar, the comments there were no longer as harmonious and affectionate as they had been in the morning. Shen Yu’s sudden and temporary popularity had resulted in several marketing account’s howling in grief in their articles.
“Stay calm. No matter what, Brother Yu is already 27 years old. Isn’t it normal for him to have a girlfriend? Although it doesn’t make me feel good inside.” There were people who were pretty optimistic as they tried to console others.
“Wake up, guys. Brother Yu himself hasn’t even said anything yet. Why are y’all rushing to help him recognise his girlfriend?” Someone actually got the point.
“Stop making excuses for him, there’s even a video. Didn’t you see them drinking from each other’s bottles? Even their smiles were filled with affection for each other. I’ll punish myself by copying and writing out the whole “Pursuit of the Wind” novel.” Someone countered.
“I don’t care. Do you think we don’t know what Brother Yu’s personality is? He’s literally like a normal middle-aged uncle. He would even serve you water courteously. That video didn’t even capture Brother Yu’s face, only that influencer was smiling throughout the video. Who knows what that influencer’s intention is?”
“You Yu-fans* sure are vulgar, what’s wrong with our Wan Sheng being an influencer? Ho, why don’t you confirm who is actually more popular?” It seemed like Wan Sheng’s fans got mixed in as well.
(T/N*: Just a way of referring to Shen Yu’s fans.)
“Look at how Wan Sheng’s fans are involved now. This is what I call the pot calling the kettle black. You guys are saying that as if she was some top star. The main person involved has not even said a single word yet, who are you to say this and that in another’s territory? Brother Yu can get into a relationship, but his taste shouldn’t be this bad. I’ll put it out there first, if Brother Yu and Wan Sheng are really dating, I’ll immediately stop being his fan and become Wan Sheng’s anti-fan for the whole of my life.”
It was known that the fans’ temperaments generally followed their idol’s. Shen Yu’s fans were usually as calm and tranquil as he was but the situation was not that common, causing storms in the little fan circle of his. There was also a small part of Wan Sheng fans who took advantage of the situation and made the atmosphere even worse. However, standing in their shoes, regardless of sister-fans or girlfriend-fans*, it must have been unpleasant for them when they suddenly got to know that the idol that they had always loved had been attached to someone else.
(T/N*: As in fans who treat themselves as the idol’s sisters or girlfriend. It is a common way for fans to describe themselves. There are even mama-fans, they are fans who look at their idol with caring and tender eyes as if the idol is their son/daughter. If you get what I mean LOL.)
Shen Yu felt slightly ashamed after looking through Weibo for a while. He had always thought that it was a very magical thing to have a group of people, whom he had never met before, show him affection so willingly. He was extremely grateful for such affection but he never wished to affect his fans’ lives excessively. He only hoped that he was able to bring them happiness during their free time.
They should not have to worry about such a hideous mess.
Shen Yu really wanted to tell his fans personally not to worry, that he was not dating Wan Sheng. But this statement should never come from him no matter what. In a scandal that involves the relationship between a male and a female, the male party would definitely be penalised if he was to act overly cold and heartless, regardless of who was wrong in the first place. The young lady had yet to say anything yet, so why would you, a grown man, rush in to emphasise your innocence in this scandal?
In the end, it all boiled down to how he did not have enough popularity or status. Shen Yu gripped his phone tightly. He had never felt as helpless as he was feeling at that moment, not even when his acting role and resources were stolen from him. This industry was too interconnected with capital, fame, and profit. It was almost impossible to focus on only acting in such an environment.
Shen Yu received another call before he could think of a solution. This time, it was a call from the investor cum original author cum screenwriter of the “Pursuit of the Wind”, He Caicai.
“Hello, Brother Shen, are you free right now?”
He Caicai went straight to the point the moment the call connected, her voice loud and clear.
Shen Yu had a pretty good impression of He Caicai. This young lady was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and was doted on by her family and yet, she did not act like a spoiled brat nor would she bully others with her power. She would occasionally let her imagination run wild and make something happen but she never went overboard. When the “Pursuit of the Wind” held their audition for casting, she immediately decided that Shen Yu would be cast as He Qi, calling him the in-real-life version of He Qi so the filming crew had always been extra attentive to him.
“The male lead belongs to the female lead, and the second male lead is the author’s true love, don’t you understand?” He Caicai’s logic sounded absolutely illogical and yet, no one could find any fault in it.
“Miss He, I’m at my hotel. What’s the matter?” Shen Yu answered. Although they had exchanged contacts, they had never contacted each other before. Shen Yu wondered what it might be.
“I just saw a bunch of marketing social media accounts hyping up the scandal between you and Wan Sheng. Is that real?” He Caicai probably had never beaten around the bush before as she asked straightforwardly.
“No, Wan Sheng came to me and gave me a bottle of water in the afternoon. She even asked me to help open the bottle cap for her and I left right away after that. I’m not sure why such news would spread.” Shen Yu did not conceal anything, clearly describing what happened in the afternoon in a few concise sentences while not mentioning any suspicions that were not backed up by any evidence.
“What the hell? How dare she create trouble in my team?” Clearly, this bright lady understood the situation completely. She already had some suspicions of her own, now that she had heard Shen Yu’s side of the story, she could almost confirm her suspicions and became even angrier.
“I’m only letting her into the cast because of my cousin. Who gave her the courage to make such a hideous mess in my film and even bullied my actors?! This won’t do. I’ll tell my cousin and get rid of her right away!”
He Caicai raised her voice and spitted out those words. Shen Yu could almost see her stomping her foot as she was saying those words on the other side of the line.
“Miss He, it’s alright. Such things are probably extremely common in this circle. It was my fault for being careless too.” Shen Yu tried to convince her gently after He Caicai had calmed down a little, “I think it’s best we don’t change actresses, especially since we don’t have enough investment to begin with. You’ll have to pay for breaking the contract if you’re changing the actress. It’ll be extra effort looking for a new one, too. It’s best we don’t make this more complicated.”
Of course Shen Yu hated what Wan Sheng had done. However, he was no longer the clueless kid that had just stepped into society, nor did he have the capital to stir up anything. He had no choice but to be considerate of the bigger picture even if it was unpleasant for him. And that was the helpless reality he was in.
He Caicai calmed down quite a bit after listening to Shen Yu’s analysis. She did not receive much support from her family for shooting this film. All the money she had spent on the film was from her own pocket and the kind sponsors from the friends of her few brothers. It was not easy for her to support her film financially. If she was to swap Wan Sheng out for another actress, it would indeed be difficult for her to deal with the aftermath.
However, He Caicai remained adamant about not letting this incident pass just like that.
“Brother Shen, you really are calm. I’m amazed at how you can still speak up for Wan Sheng even after she has made such a scandal out of you.”
“I’m not speaking up for her, I’m merely being considerate to the production crew.” Shen Yu replied with a bitter smile. In order to divert He Caicai’s attention to another topic, he asked, ”How about you? Why are you so affected by my scandal?”
“I’m now your fan, why can’t I be concerned?” He Caicai responded righteously to Shen Yu’s words.
“You must be joking. Since when have you become my fan?” Shen Yu was rendered speechless by He Caicai’s unexpected response.
“Five minutes ago.” He Caicai responded deadpan, “I was browsing through Weibo just now and I’m absolutely disgusted by Wan Sheng and her fans. I have decided to become your fan officially and counter the evil forces against you. You can do this, Mr Yu. My previous idol was Feng Tianwang and you’re definitely not worse than him.”
Speechless, Shen Yu thought that he must be getting old. It seemed like he could not understand these youngsters’ thoughts, “As long as you’re happy.”
Shen Yu’s thoughts were more or less diverted from the scandal by the sudden interruption by He Caicai. His mentality had also stabilised quite a bit. He hung up the call after chatting a bit more and continued with his preparations for the audition.
Yet, He Caicai, who was sitting alone in a break room about ten plus kilometres away from the film set, had trouble letting it go. She continued to browse Weibo, the crease on her brows deepening by the second. A few minutes later, as if she recalled something, He Caicai quickly found a number from her contact list and dialled it.
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