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Ou Xiangchen carried a cool, aloof air. His neatly cut black hair accentuated his pale skin, and his pitch-black eyes, devoid of emotion, looked straight at you—like a young wolf lying in wait.
In Internet lingo, he was the very definition of a “provocative little wolf pup.”
The VCR segment featured Ou Xiangchen portraying a supporting male character hopelessly in love—a role filled with unspoken longing.
As his sole mentor, Fang Yimeng was the first to comment.
Her gaze softened as she looked at Ou Xiangchen.
“Choosing a piece that suits your own style is a conservative approach. I’m pleased you didn’t take any unnecessary risks in your self-performance round. However…”
With a slight pause and shift in tone, she continued,
“In the world of acting, you can’t always stay in your comfort zone. I hope to see you break boundaries and challenge yourself in future rounds, Xiangchen.”
Liao Ran hadn’t planned to critique this student, but she couldn’t hold back after hearing Fang Yimeng’s words.
With a frown, she interrupted,
“Ms. Fang, I don’t think that’s quite right. Choosing roles that align with your strengths allows you to explore greater detail in your performance. Forcing a breakthrough might mean chasing small gains and losing bigger opportunities.”
Fang Yimeng’s gentle expression instantly sharpened as she turned toward Liao Ran, eyes cold and piercing.
These two had deep-seated animosity. Fang Yimeng had tolerated Liao Ran for most of the recording, but now that Liao had started it, she wasn’t going to hold back.
“Liao Ran, you usually play delicate, demure female leads, right? But here you are playing the antagonist—isn’t that your own breakthrough? Maybe don’t twist my words just to be contrary.”
A direct jab—mocking Liao Ran for nitpicking like an internet troll.
For a moment, everyone on set had a different expression. The same young judge who’d laughed at the host earlier now clapped, breaking the tense atmosphere.
Bai Lechi grinned and said,
“Sister Yimeng might be blunt, but she’s not wrong. In the end, it’s up to the contestants to choose what suits them.”
Fang Yimeng glanced at the peacemaker, Bai Lechi, and gave him a small nod with a faint smile.
Liao Ran, however, wasn’t nearly as composed. She opened her mouth as if to argue further, but Bai Lechi had already moved the topic along, leaving her no opportunity to return to the previous spat.
Fang Yimeng’s rebuttal had been sharp yet justified, and with nothing more to say, Liao Ran didn’t engage her again.
Fang Yimeng finished recording the rest of the program in a businesslike manner. She was preparing to leave the studio and was politely thanking the crew when Li Ke squeezed through the crowd to find her.
“Ms. Fang,” Li Ke said, “Mr. Lu looked into it. The woman who threw coffee at you works nearby. She saw all the stuff about you trending online and, paired with some personal work frustrations, she just… snapped.”
She trailed off, clearly afraid to finish the sentence.
But Fang Yimeng didn’t care about minor incidents like that. These things only happened to move the plot forward. Everyone was, in her mind, just a puppet being pulled by the strings of a storyline. She was too magnanimous to pursue it.
“Where’s Lu Jingshan?”
“Mr. Lu took the woman to the police station. The authorities detained her for three days for disrupting public order.”
Fang Yimeng paused, surprised.
This sweet, innocent male lead was a bit more persistent than she’d expected.
“Later, Mr. Lu came back again and left a phone number,” Li Ke added, handing her a small slip of paper.
Only then did Fang Yimeng remember: she and Lu Jingshan had gone through twenty story cycles together, yet in real life, they’d barely interacted at all.
She entered the number into her phone and called.
“Hello,” came a man’s voice on the other end.
His voice was already low, but over the phone, it took on a deeper, almost flirtatious timbre. It made Fang Yimeng’s ear tingle.
“Is this Lu Jingshan?”
“It’s me. You done filming?”
There was a slight rustling before his voice grew clearer.
Fang Yimeng walked toward her nanny van, tossing the keys to her red Ferrari to Li Ke as she climbed in.
“Just finished. Li Ke told me what happened with the coffee thrower. What made you take her to the police?”
She kicked off her high heels and said to the driver, “Take me to the Fang residence.”
There was a short silence on the line. Then Lu Jingshan answered in a dry tone,
“We live in a lawful society. That was standard procedure.”
Eight simple words—and Fang Yimeng couldn’t help bursting out laughing.
Before she could reply, Lu Jingshan changed the subject.
“Sorry I couldn’t pick you up. I got called into the company unexpectedly.”
“It’s fine. We’re in a contractual relationship anyway—you don’t have to pick me up. Besides, I already tore into Liao Ran during the second half of the shoot. She’s too upset to care about our relationship right now, so we can stop pretending for the time being.”
She hadn’t caught the underlying meaning in his words and was trying to keep things professional.
On the other end, Lu Jingshan sighed, his laughter tinged with helplessness.
“Anything else? If not, I’m hanging up,” Fang Yimeng said.
She had to go home and deal with her parents again, probably because they saw more bad press on Weibo. The thought made her rub her temples in exhaustion.
Lu Jingshan didn’t get a chance to say anything else. Before he could even say goodnight, she hung up.
He stared at her number for a few seconds, then saved it in his contacts.
Before he could unpack the strange feeling of reluctance lingering in his chest, his hand automatically opened the “Big Eye” gossip app and pulled up the trending topics.
…
“Fang Yimeng spotted entering hotel with wealthy heir, stayed overnight [Explosive]”
It was the top trending post from a gossip account, featuring a photo taken that morning at the Anlan Hotel reception desk. It showed Fang Yimeng and Lu Jingshan standing close together, looking at a phone. The next image followed them into a red Ferrari, where the video ended.
User: LoveLaugh123:
“Fang Yimeng is really shameless. One minute she’s publicly chasing CEO Li Jincheng of Qingyue Culture, the next she’s spending the night with some other rich guy. Gross.”
User: GoodVibesOnly:
“Not gonna lie, this photo seems staged. She’s even posing. Did she hire the paparazzi herself to stir hype?”
Reading the comments, clearly influenced by paid trolls stirring trouble, Lu Jingshan’s eyes darkened.
He closed Weibo, opened his phone, and made a call.
“Find out who’s behind the trending smear campaign about that actress. I want the full story. Send everything to my WeChat once you’ve got it.”