Chapter 42: World Two [6] Part 1

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“Fruits from Lin Qingxu? She’s pretty good at sucking up.” After finishing her own scenes, Chu Xiao returned to the rest area and spotted the two boxes of cut fruit that Yu Zhe had brought over. “It’s just a pity it’s too late now.”

Chu Xiao opened the lid, disdainfully poked at the fruit with her finger, then tossed it into the trash can on the other side.

“What’s the deal with that Miss Lu by her side? Why are there so many irrelevant people on set all of a sudden? Can’t security do anything about it?” Chu Xiao frowned and asked.

Yu Zhe touched his nose. “Those are Miss Lu’s bodyguards. Starting tomorrow, two bodyguards will accompany Teacher Lin to the set every day.”

“Bodyguards? She needs bodyguards just to shoot a drama? Does Lin Qingxu think she’s a quasi-top-tier star or something?” Chu Xiao’s frown deepened into a scowl as she grumbled in dissatisfaction. “She doesn’t have the fate of a top-tier star but sure has the attitude. I don’t even bring bodyguards with me.”

“Little Zhu, go take a few photos, then have the marketing accounts hype up news about Lin Qingxu acting like a big shot on set,” Chu Xiao instructed. “While you’re at it, guide the netizens to say she’s been adding her own scenes, which dragged down… Teacher Yu Zhe’s performance.”

“Teacher Yu Zhe, you know what to post on Weibo when the time comes, right?” Chu Xiao suddenly smiled slyly at Yu Zhe.

She couldn’t just borrow a knife to kill someone and walk away unscathed. Since he had chosen to side with her and curry favor, the two of them were now in the same boat.

Yu Zhe’s expression stiffened for a moment, but he quickly covered it with a forced smile. “Don’t worry, Teacher Xiao Chu. I’ll have my agent quietly leak the info to the big fans.”

Yu Zhe, who had trained professionally, had been in a similar position to Lin Qingxu before. His acting skills and looks were decent, but without capital backing him, he just couldn’t break through.

Unlike Lin Qingxu’s passion for her career, Yu Zhe had persisted for two years before being assimilated by the industry. He started bowing to capital, cozying up to those with connections, and slowly climbed from an obscure fifth- or sixth-tier actor to his current supporting male lead role.

–

“Xiao Qi, I’m off to shoot. Wait for me a bit—twenty minutes tops,” Lin Qingxu said. She ate some cut fruit while changing into another outfit. With the makeup artist’s help, her bare face now had some grimy marks added.

“Okay.” Lu Wuqi acknowledged, watching her girlfriend head off to film before sitting obediently in her chair.

If one ignored the bodyguards standing at different positions behind her, she looked very approachable and easygoing.

Lu Wuqi had no intention of working. She beckoned Xiao Yang over to hand her the tablet, then began sketching her girlfriend with simple lines.

When it came to painting, Lu Wuqi was professionally trained too. She had studied at the Florence Academy of Art abroad and even held an exhibition upon graduation.

But some arts required barriers to entry, and Lu Wuqi disliked those barriers. She also hated using commercial tactics to inflate her value. So she returned home to draw comics, pursuing freedom and whimsy instead of lofty artistic realms.

In just ten minutes, a chibi version of Lin Qingxu appeared on the canvas. After simple coloring, a cute little figure in a 1960s-70s army green coat, sloppily wearing an old-style hat, was complete.

As usual, Lu Wuqi added the date and her name in the bottom right corner of the canvas before exporting the image.

“Excuse me, is it okay if I post this picture?” Lu Wuqi asked the Little Assistant for her opinion before publishing.

“Huh? Miss Lu, you’re the artist Qiqi Fu Qiqi?” The Little Assistant froze for a second, her eyes lighting up instantly.

“Mm-hmm.” Lu Wuqi didn’t deny it. Her original name had been Xiao Qi, but when her webcomic got published, the editor suggested a more unique pen name, so she changed it to Qiqi Fu Qiqi.

“It’s fine! This outfit is similar to the one Sister Qingxu wore in her official announcement, and the crew has been releasing some behind-the-scenes clips too. This doesn’t count as a spoiler!” the Little Assistant said, her fondness for Lu Wuqi skyrocketing.

No wonder Sister Jin had immediately told her to send Miss Lu’s business card after hearing she wanted her contact info! So Miss Lu was the artist Qiqi Fu Qiqi!

At that moment, Sister Jin, whom the Little Assistant was thinking about, suddenly sneezed. She wiped her nose with a tissue, then once again opened the chat where Lu Wuqi had only sent a friend request with no greeting.

Sister Jin actually didn’t know Lu Wuqi was Qiqi Fu Qiqi. She only knew Miss Lu was her artist’s partner.

What was going on? After accepting her friend request, Lu Wuqi hadn’t even said hello. Why had she asked for her contact info then? Was she just bored?

Sister Jin couldn’t figure it out. Sister Jin frowned in thought, but then she received a call from one of her newer artists and rushed off to clean up their mess.

After cropping the image a bit more, Lu Wuqi posted it on her Weibo account.

Qiqi Fu Qiqi: [Heart] [Image]

Less than three minutes after posting, the notification red dot in her backend hit 99+.

Lu Wuqi tapped into the comments. Thanks to the personal tag for Lin Qingxu, everyone knew who this chibi cutie was, and they started showering it with praise.

[Dream Fantasy Maniac: Hehe, it’s the cute Qingxu. Sneak in a couple kisses!]

[Midnight: Here we go! Qiqi loves drawing Lin Qingxu so much.]

[Yun Qing Who Refuses Abusive Stories: So cute! Is this my goddess’s new drama?]

[Qiqi Fu Qiqi: Yes, I’m visiting the set.]

[Nan Du: Master, ball! Capturing a Wife!]

[Jin Mi: Quick education for everyone—Qiqi and our sister are great friends who’ve known each other for ages!]

[A Ming: Artist and female celeb? I’m shipping it! Feels shippable!]

[Moon Sirius: Stop shipping everything! Wife and Lin Qingxu are just good friends!]

[Acting God’s Will: Doesn’t matter, shipping everything keeps my diet balanced!]

–

The four tall, burly bodyguards were quite intimidating. At least Chu Xiao only dared steal a few extra glances and secretly instructed someone to look into Lu Wuqi’s background. She didn’t dare send anyone to cause trouble.

Chu Xiao had a bad temper and poor popularity, but she was backed by capital. Lu Wuqi and the Little Assistant hadn’t kept their voices down while talking, so the news that Lu Wuqi was the artist Qiqi Fu Qiqi quickly reached her ears.

“I thought she was some big shot. Turns out she’s just a small-time artist with a few hundred thousand fans,” Chu Xiao said with disdain. “I want to see the press releases and hot search tonight. Go arrange it now, and dig up some dirt on this artist while you’re at it.”

Chu Xiao’s assistant showed a hint of hesitation upon hearing this. She wanted to point out that Qiqi Fu Qiqi’s few hundred thousand fans were all active ones. Offending her could drag in the entire artist community.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Chu Xiao frowned unhappily.

“Got it, I’ll arrange it right away.” The assistant let out a soft breath. She was just an assistant and had no duty to warn Chu Xiao. Her agent should understand the reasoning too.

Upon hearing her artist’s unreasonable demands, the agent’s first reaction was to ignore it.

The drama wasn’t finished filming yet, and spreading dirt on Lin Qingxu could affect the crew to some extent. Plus, the agent knew full well who was really acting like a big shot. If there was a reversal, all their efforts would just pave the way for someone else.

The assistant and agent both understood this, but Chu Xiao didn’t. She was used to being domineering and had used public opinion to punish plenty of people she disliked. If she listened to reason, she wouldn’t be Chu Xiao.

And so, just as Lu Wuqi and Lin Qingxu finished showering, lay in bed, and were about to whisper sweet nothings, Sister Jin’s call came in.

“Hello, Sister Jin? Why are you calling me at this hour?” Lin Qingxu sat up in bed, a few strands of her freshly blow-dried hair sticking up rebelliously.

“What? I’m on a hot search? I had no idea. I just showered and was about to rest.”

“I know, I want to check it out. I’ll step in to clarify.”

Lin Qingxu hung up after a few sentences, then quickly opened Weibo to check the entertainment hot searches.

LinQingxuActingLikeABigShot was sitting at tenth place. Though it was just a bunch of marketing account posts, the views had already topped three million.

“Xuxu, is someone smearing you?” Lu Wuqi propped herself up with one hand, leaning over to look at Lin Qingxu’s phone screen.

“Probably because my acting was too good, so someone got jealous,” Lin Qingxu said with a smile. She seemed completely unfazed, casually clearing out 999+ unread DMs.

Lu Wuqi’s brows furrowed slightly. She grabbed her phone from the side, opened Weibo, and directly reposted the top-liked marketing account.

[Qiqi Fu Qiqi: Forwarded over five hundred times. I’ll have someone send a lawyer’s letter.]

[Chugui: Sitting up straight—what’s going on?]

[Cheese Cat Cat: OMG, someone’s smearing my goddess?]

[Bai Ling: Didn’t Wife visit the set today? This is face-to-face slander?]

[I Love Studying: Wife is so fierce! I sense paid trolls incoming—protect our Wife!]

After Lu Wuqi posted, Lin Qingxu followed up with a clarification statement. Under Sister Jin’s instructions, Lin Qingxu’s fans jumped in to clarify and control the narrative, preventing clueless passersby from being swayed by the marketing accounts and trolls.

“Xiao Qi, leave this to me and Sister Jin next time. You don’t need to speak out so quickly—they’ll send trolls,” Lin Qingxu said worriedly upon seeing the notification from her special follows.

Across the internet, some people grew bold and unrestrained. They didn’t care about the truth; they just vented their frustrations with vicious words.

Lin Qingxu had experienced this shortly after debuting. Back then, she’d just posted a selfie as an extra, and nearly a hundred people pointed fingers in the comments and DMs. Some even said following him would lead to stardom or whatever.

She didn’t want Lu Wuqi to go through such an unpleasant experience, especially right after her parents had left.

“Okay, I’ll listen to you.” Lu Wuqi didn’t argue. She just sent a message to the head of Dahai Entertainment, then set her phone aside. “It’s eleven already. Shall we sleep?”

“Mm, let’s sleep.” Lin Qingxu put her phone down too.