Caught in Affairs with Superstar

Chapter 195: Chapter 163: The Beginning of the Scandal

Attacking, there’s no such thing as moderation.

Once you show your stance, it’s a signal for an offense.

Zhou Yun had accumulated a fanbase from ”After the Scandal,” they genuinely fell in love with the Zhou Yun from the reality show and felt indignant and wronged for the rumored Zhou Yun who had her scenes stolen.

Online rumors stated that Zhou Yun was initially chosen as the actress for ”Luoyan,” and Lew Qingqing was the one who emerged mid-way to snatch the role.

Once Zhou Yun was aware of the situation, things had already spiraled out of control.

Zhou Yun’s fans and Lew Qingqing’s fans had several rounds of fierce online battles.

After all, Lew Qingqing was a longstanding top-tier celebrity with far more fans than Zhou Yun.

The fight between the two was not equal; Zhou Yun’s fans were being suppressed by Lew Qingqing’s fans, but they fought back tenaciously, their fighting spirit commendable.

Zhou Yun felt a frustration akin to a mute person who had ingested bitter herbs—she was aggrieved but unable to articulate it.

How did things suddenly turn out like this?

An emergency meeting was called.

”I’ll make a Weibo post to clarify,” Zhou Yun suggested.

During the teleconference, the public relations officer, Hong Chen, immediately vetoed the idea, saying: ”Your fans are all backing you online right now. If you come forward to clarify now—saying that Lew Qingqing didn’t take your role, and you never reached an agreement with ’Luoyan’—your fans will only be attacked more viciously, as they are fully convinced that you’ve been bullied.”

Zhou Lan asked, ”Do you have any better suggestions?”

”Don’t respond, let the matter cool down naturally,” Hong Chen said. ”We’ll communicate with Lew Qingqing’s team and come to a consensus.”

”Would Lew Qingqing agree?” asked Zhou Lan. ”The current direction of public opinion doesn’t favor her.”

Hong Chen replied, ”Lew Qingqing needs to work with Chengqian on ’Luoyan’; she’ll give us some face.”

At this stage, Chengqian Entertainment would certainly not allow Zhou Yun to fall into a public opinion crisis.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhou Yun suddenly asked: ”How did these online discussions start? Has it been investigated? How did the news about ’Luoyan’ leak online?”

”The marketing accounts that spread the news refuse to divulge their sources,” said Hong Chen.

But Zhou Yun thought of someone.

There weren’t many who knew of the matter, yet there had been someone trying to use the incident to form an alliance with her lately.

Considering the content of the message, it matched that person’s motives.

After pondering for a while, Zhou Yun said, ”Minister Hong, please help me spread another message.”

Upon hearing this, Hong Chen couldn’t help but ask, ”What message?”

...

”Sister Qingqing, have you decided how to respond to this?” Lew Qingqing’s agent asked. ”The internet is in an uproar now. Zhou Yun is shameless, blatantly lying. She obviously lacks attention recently and wants to create a spectacle. We need to give her a taste of her own medicine!”

Lew Qingqing shook her head, saying, ”Don’t rush. After all, we must eventually collaborate with Chengqian. Have you been in touch with Chengqian’s representatives? What did they say?”

The agent answered, ”What else can they say? It’s not related to them; it wasn’t them who spread the rumors.”

While speaking, the agent sneered, ”If it wasn’t spread by them, then who else could it have been? Only a few people were privy to the incident.”

Lew Qingqing pondered with her head down: ”I’ve only dealt with Zhou Yun a few times, and based on our interactions, she doesn’t strike me as someone who would resort to such publicity stunts. Let’s get to the bottom of this first and not fall for someone else’s ploys.”

The agent retorted, ”Even if Zhou Yun doesn’t want to hype it up, it doesn’t mean her team doesn’t. She’s been busy filming on set recently and hasn’t been in the news much. Having risen to fame through trending searches, she’s a low-tier celebrity and would naturally want to stir up trouble to keep herself in the limelight.”

Lew Qingqing asked, ”Have you made contact with the marketing account that spread the news? Where did they get their information?”

”There’s no persuading them to reveal anything, what can I do?” the agent responded helplessly. ”I’m not a hacker.”

Lew Qingqing said, ”Then we’ll sue them. Tell them if they refuse to reveal their source, based on that piece of explosive news, I’ll sue them for libel.”

The agent was startled.

”Really?”

”Sister Qingqing!” suddenly, Lew Qingqing’s assistant exclaimed. ”There’s a new leak online claiming someone is jealous of you taking the role in ’Luoyan’ and wanted to bring down Zhou Yun in your stead, contending that Zhou Yun had already signed another drama and couldn’t possibly compete with you for ’Luoyan.’”

Lew Qingqing was startled and took over the phone.

This leaked information came from a forum and was quickly shared on Weibo.

This leak went on to claim that Zhou Yun was merely a pawn used by a behind-the-scenes figure—who actually intended to smear Lew Qingqing.

Lew Qingqing logged into the forum to check out the user who posted the leak, only to find that the account had been deleted.

A familiar tactic.

It was clearly an industry-insider maneuver.

Whether the leak was true or not was unknown, but it was vital to ascertain who was fanning the flames in this direction.

Lew Qingqing told her agent, ”I guess we won’t have to wait long before Zhou Yun’s agent calls you.”

Half an hour later, when the new leak had been disseminated across the internet by marketing accounts, Zhou Lan called.

”After hanging up the phone, Zhou Lan told Zhou Yun, ”Lew Qingqing thinks the same as you, suspecting that Su Yan is behind this.”

Zhou Yun sneered, ”So, Su Yan, failing to win me over, has now used my name to smear Lew Qingqing directly.”

”Later Lew Qingqing will make a Weibo post, and you’ll interact with her as we previously discussed,” said Zhou Lan. ”This way, combined with the message we spread earlier, the focus will shift away from you, and our side will redirect the public’s attention to the real person trying to tarnish Lew Qingqing. Over the years, Su Yan and Lew Qingqing have fought openly and covertly. The fans of both sides are well aware; with just a slight hint, nothing further is needed from us.”

Zhou Yun nodded.

About an hour later, Lew Qingqing’s Weibo post arrived as expected: Looking forward to my good friend @Zhou Yun’s new drama ”Heart Inquiry.”

Ten minutes later, Zhou Yun responded: And I’m waiting for your ”Luoyan”!

This friendly interaction sent out a signal, prompting both public relations teams to field and guide public opinion.

Apologies were made where necessary, and the focus was shifted when appropriate.

Soon, another fierce battle erupted between the fans of Lew Qingqing and Su Yan.

Zhou Yun took a glance and thought: This is what you call an evenly matched battle.

In the afternoon, when Su Yan arrived on the set, for the first time in days, she ignored Zhou Yun and treated her coldly.

With a forced smile, Zhou Yun said in front of everyone, ”It’s too much what those people are saying online. How could they say such things about you! It’s definitely not you, right, Sister Su Yan?”