Li Linlin filmed until dawn that day before going home. Fortunately, she didn’t have any scenes during the day, so the director let her come back.

As soon as Li Linlin got home, she collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. She had to work so hard for a supporting role, she was really in awe of the main leads!

However, the audience did not appreciate the hard work of the main leads. Three weeks after the show started airing, there have been more and more discussions on the Internet. If it were not for the fact that the two leads were both popular idol before transitioning and had fans to protect them, the public opinion might be even more one-sided.

The plot showed the male and female lead confirming their feelings, proposing to break off the engagement with Ou Jiaxu, and asking Ou Jiaxu to tell her parents. The netizens called the leads scumbags. In the end, the male lead had to confess to the parents of both families that he like someone else and wanted to break off his engagement with Ou Jiaxu, however, the netizens continued to call him scumbag.

Li Linlin: “……”

The male lead was a bit miserable.

In the fifth week, the plot entered its first climax as Zhou Rongrong returned to the Ou family.

The male and female lead had been in a bitter love story for eight episodes, experiencing various obstacles and inner entanglements, and finally managed to see a silver lining. Because Zhou Rongrong regained her identity as the youngest daughter of the Ou family, both parents, who had been fiercely opposed to their relationship, suddenly loosened up and instead began to work on Ou Jiaxu’s thoughts.

For example, “You grew up with no worries about food or clothing, but your sister has lived outside, so you should give in to your sister a bit more. It’s just a man. You’re so excellent, you will definitely find someone better.” Even the shares of the Ou family’s company were allocated more to Zhou Rongrong. The reason was that Ou Jiaxu was so capable and could live well without relying on the Ou family. However, her sister couldn’t do anything, so of course they had to leave more money for her.

There was also a small detail written in the drama. Because Zhou Rongrong was allergic to cat hair, the Ou family’s parents gave away the cat that Ou Jiaxu had raised for several years.

At this point, the netizens completely blew up. #OuJiaxuIsSoMiserable# became a hot search topic.

【Isn’t this a typical case of ‘you’re weak so you’re justified’? Ou Jiaxu is more capable so she deserves to be bullied?】

【I’m pissed, I’m pissed! The last straw for me is when the cat is sent away! They only see that Zhou Rongrong is allergic to cat hair, but they can’t see Ou Jiaxu shedding tears for the cat!】

【Although the company belongs to the Ou family’s parents and they can give it to whomever they want, Ou Jiaxu has been helping to manage it these past few years. They can’t be so partial.】

【They have no heart at all! I won’t mention the dog man, but why did they give that much share to Zhou Rongrong and continue to tie Ou Jiaxu and let her work for her sister???】

【I really liked this novel when I was younger [Facepalm]. Now I feel completely different [Facepalm]. This time, I stand with Ou Jiaxu.】

【When we’re young, we’re all pretending to be Zhou Rongrong, so of course we didn’t feel anything wrong. But now that everyone has grown up and experienced the beatings of life, we know how difficult it is for Ou Jiaxu!】

Li Linlin: “……”

Is…… that so?

Because the discussion on the Internet remained high, #I’mOuJiaxuAnd IAlsoBlackened# has also been sent on the hot search topic.

“Aaahhhh, you probably made the right bet this time!” Wu Hui looked at Ou Jiaxu’s increasing popularity and her hand holding the phone shook a little. “Linlin, you may be right, the character Ou Jiaxu is about to explode!”

Li Linlin: “……”

No! Shut up!

She had just thought of this when Chen Xi made a call. Because Chen Yiran had previously agreed to secretly treat them to a housewarming dinner, Li Linlin guessed that Chen Xi wanted to discuss this matter, so she took the phone and hid in the toilet to answer it. “Xixi, what’s the matter? Is it about the dinner?”

“……Is it inconvenient for you to talk over there?” Chen Xi heard Li Linlin’s voice sounding like a thief, so she also asked softly.

Li Linlin said, “I avoided Wu Hui and picked up your call in the toilet.”

Chen Xi: “……”

Linlin was really putting in a lot of effort for this meal.

“I just want to tell you that my brother has gone on another business trip and may not come back for a while.” Chen Xi said on the other end of the phone, “We’ll eat together when he comes back.”

“……Ah, okay.” Li Linlin didn’t say anything, but her voice clearly sounded disappointed.

Chen Xi comforted her, “It’s alright, it’s not like my brother won’t come back. Besides, he’s inside the country this time so it’ll be quicker.”

“Alright, I’ll contact you later.” Li Linlin hung up the phone and walked out of the toilet looking wilted.

Wu Hui saw that she was feeling a bit down, so she asked her, “What’s wrong with you? Is someone smearing you again online? That shouldn’t be. I saw that everyone feels sorry for your character. Even your Weibo followers have gone up by a million!”

Li Linlin: “……”

Is this the reason why Brother Yiran went away on a business trip?

Thank you netizens. 🙂

Li Linlin sat back in front of the computer and saw Ou Jiaxu’s name on two hot searches. She couldn’t help but feel sad. “Can’t traffic star fans fight nowadays? Don’t Zheng Yang and Lin Zhen both have many fans? How come they can’t beat netizens?”

Wu Hui said while eating snacks, “No matter how many fans there are, they can’t be more than passersby. Their current slogan now is ‘roles don’t elevate actors’.”

Li Linlin: “……”

“The ratings of last night’s two episodes reached a new high. Didn’t you notice that the director was friendlier than before on the set today?”

“……” Li Linlin closed her eyes in despair. Forget it, wait another week. The episode where Ou Jiaxu killed someone would air. Right now was the darkest moment before the light comes!

A torturous week had passed and 《Fatal Heartbeat》 aired its latest two episodes on time. Last week set a new high record, and this week everyone was holding their breath, waiting to see Ou Jiaxu’s dark side unfold.

Good heavens, who would have thought, this downward spiral was really something. She started stabbing someone with a knife!

Ou Jiaxu originally wanted to abduct Zhou Rongrong so that she wouldn’t be able to attend the engagement party with the male lead— yes, that’s right, the two families held another engagement party— but she didn’t expect to encounter a little mishap on the way.

She was followed by a man, a serial killer who specifically targeted women. He carried drugs on his person and knocked the victim unconscious before putting them in a woven bag and throwing them into the sea to drown.

The police had been trying to catch him but there had been no breakthrough in the case. This time, he picked Ou Jiaxu to attack. Under the terrifying atmosphere, the barrage trembled. No one expected that Ou Jiaxu would outright kill the man instead.

【Barrage: ……】

【Barrage: Ahhhhhhhh, sister is so cool!!! Sister is responsible for being fatal, we’re responsible for the heartbeat!】

What Li Linlin considered to be the biggest stain became Ou Jiaxu’s highlight moment, on which public opinion completely exploded.

The entire Internet was passionately discussing how satisfying Ou Jiaxu’s counterattack was, and some netizens even made a GIF of her with the caption ‘Every cause must have its effect. I will be your retribution’.

Ou Jiaxu’s pictures spread all over the Internet. Beauty bloggers begun to imitate Ou Jiaxu’s dark makeup, hairstyle bloggers taught everyone how to tie Ou Jiaxu’s high ponytail, fashion bloggers recommended same clothing as Ou Jiaxu to everyone, while law bloggers told everyone that what Ou Jiaxu did counted as self-defense.

Overnight, Ou Jiaxu was like a new type of virus, invading the entire Internet.

……

Li Linlin felt that she completely lost.

“Aaahhh, Lin Lin! We made a fortune this time!” Wu Hui sat in front of the computer, dancing with excitement. “You don’t know how many brands have contacted me for endorsement in just a few hours!”

“……” Li Linlin looked at Wu Hui expressionlessly.

Wu Hui misunderstood her meaning and patted her chest to assure Li Linlin, “Don’t worry, I will definitely not pick indiscriminately. For your long-term development, I will choose a few of the highest quality. Leave it to me!”

“Oh, and also, I may be very busy and won’t be able to accompany you to the set, so let Xiao Xi and Xiaoxiao go with you.”

Xiao Xi and Xiaoxiao were the two assistants Chen Yiran got for Li Linlin. Both of them were very experienced and with them taking care of Li Linlin, Wu Hui can rest assured.

“Linlin, I was wrong, I shouldn’t have questioned you! Students from our Imperial University are indeed smart!”

Li Linlin: “……”

If despair had a facial expression, it would be the look on Li Linlin’s face right now.

“Wu Hui’er.” She called faintly.

“Hmm?” Wu Hui was busy replying to various messages from gold master’s that she didn’t even lift her eyes.

Li Linlin asked her, “What’s wrong with the audience these days? Can a murderer be touted?”

“It’s mainly because the one she killed is a lot worse, plus she’s also just fighting back.” Wu Hui continued, “It’s a bit like a superhero kind of thing, eliminating harm for the people.”

Li Linlin: “……”

It was her carelessness!

“Wu Hui’er, I feel like I’m not feeling well. I won’t go to the set tomorrow.”

“Wait a minute!” Wu Hui quickly stopped her. “You’re just starting to become popular but you’re already acting like a big star?”

“I’m not, I just feel uncomfortable.”

“Where are you uncomfortable?”

Li Linlin covered her injured heart. “Here.”

“……” Wu Hui said, “I think you just have too little work.”

Wu Hui thought she would have to personally escort Li Linlin to the set, but something happened before that the next day.

Lin Zhen, who plays Zhou Rongrong, sent out a long Weibo post, accusing Screenwriter Wang Xin of changing the script and sacrificing the male and female lead for Ou Jiaxu. It was clear that she was furious when she posted, using strong words and implying that Wang Xin was a fan of Li Linlin and had impure intentions when writing the script.

Her finishing remarks was, 【There’s something wrong with the script from the very beginning. It made people assume a supporting role instead of the leading role.】

After Lin Zhen’s long post was sent out, she quickly received support from her fans. The fans of the male lead, Zheng Yang, also came together to support her, targeting Wang Xin and Li Linlin. After the incident escalated, Li Linlin’s fans as well as the drama fans began to refute their views. Both sides naturally tore each other.

In one night, several people involved took turns on the hot search, and Screenwriter Wang Xin also wrote a long Weibo post overnight in response to Lin Zhen’s questioning.

She explained her reasons for changing the script in this way, and also released some chat records of discussions between several screenwriters, which were strong evidence. She also denied that she had any personal agenda when writing the script, but added at the end, 【Since you think I’m a fan of Li Linlin, then from today onwards I am also a little honeypot^[1]Li Linlin’s fandom name.】

It was followed by a cute but sarcastic emoticon.

Wang Xin’s response quickly became a hot topic on Weibo. Although Lin Zhen and Zheng Yang have many fans, the drama 《Fatal Heartbeat》 was now very popular and had more fans, gradually placing them at a disadvantage.

It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that Lin Zhen made another Weibo update, saying that she no longer trusted Screenwriter Wang Xin and would be bringing her own screenwriter with her from tomorrow onwards.

There were quite a few people in the entertainment industry who bring their screenwriters to the set. If they were dissatisfied with something, they would ask their screenwriters to change the script on the spot. But there weren’t many like Lin Zhen who would say it in a big way like this. She’s probably thinking that since things have already reached this point, she wasn’t afraid of showing her real face.

When Lin Zhen was on the hot search again in the middle of the night, Li Linlin was still awake. Although many netizens, including Xixi and Wu Hui, were scolding Lin Zhen, Li Linlin felt that Lin Zhen was really a good person.

She always brings a ray of light to Linlin’s darkest moments. T^T

Wu Hui followed Li Linlin to the set the next day. Things turned out like that yesterday, so she wasn’t assured leaving Li Linlin alone. If Wu Hui was there, she could take action and at least have more fighting power on their side.

Probably due to yesterday’s big fight, the atmosphere on set was very subtle and even the director didn’t speak as arrogantly as usual. The producer also came to the scene in person, smiling all the time. It seemed he was afraid that something would happen, so he specially came over to regulate.

Lin Zhen brought a screenwriter as she said, but Wu Hui discovered that not only did she bring a screenwriter, Zheng Yang also brought a screenwriter, and Shang Ci also brought a screenwriter!

What’s this situation? There were so many screenwriters on set. Whose script would be followed? Would everyone have to fight before filming?

The director was also having a headache about this matter. During lunch, he told the producer that he would bring a screenwriter tomorrow as well.

“……Linlin, do you think we should also bring a screenwriter?” Wu Hui sat next to Li Linlin and asked her in a low voice, “Now that they all have screenwriters, the script changes will be on their favor. Won’t you suffer a loss if you don’t have one?”

Li Linlin thought to herself that suffering a loss was a blessing, she would just eat more.

“Say something.” Wu Hui bumped her with an elbow. “Although we don’t have many people in our studio, if you want a screenwriter, I will try my best to find one for you today!”

“Don’t, don’t, don’t, it will be too much.” Li Linlin quickly held her down. “Look, the crew is already in enough chaos, let’s not add to it.”

“But……”

“No need to worry, isn’t Screenwriter Wang Xin still here? With her in charge, we can just act according to what she wrote.”

Wu Hui sighed. Linlin simply didn’t understand how complicated the situation on the set was right now!

“Linlin, look, Lin Zhen has been looking at us.” Assistant Xiao Xi whispered.

Wu Hui and Li Linlin looked over in Lin Zhen’s direction and saw that the other party was indeed looking at them. When everyone’s eyes met, the other party didn’t avoid. Instead, she sneered, not even trying to hide the hostility in her eyes.

Wu Hui clicked her tongue and whispered to Li Linlin, “Lin Zhen seems to hate you so much. I think the one who revealed online that you picked up Ou Jiaxu, took the lead in discrediting you, and said that you’re using Li Shen for popularity must be her.”

“Ah……?” Li Linlin was astonished for a moment, then looked in the direction of Lin Zhen. “No way, she has so much hair, she doesn’t look like a bad person.”

Wu Hui: “……”

Forget it. She’d better not discuss these matters with Linlin in the future, she didn’t understand anything at all. 🙂

After all, Wu Hui was still the one who needs to combat everything!

“Linlin.” The director came over with a boxed lunch and said to Li Linlin, “The crew’s schedule has been adjusted. You and Shang Ci will go to H City first to shoot the scenes over there.”

It was unknown if it was to avoid conflict between everyone, but the director temporarily adjusted the schedule. The parts in question were supposed to be Li Linlin’s last few scenes, but now it was suddenly brought forward.

“Okay.” Li Linlin didn’t ask any more questions. She would just do whatever the director arranged.

“I’ll have someone print out the itinerary for you later. You should get ready when you get back today.”

“All right.”

———

Returning to Yinwan in the evening, Chen Xi saw Li Linlin packing her luggage, so she walked up to her and asked, “Linlin, where are you going?”

Li Linlin explained to her while folding clothes, “I have to go out of town for a few days to shoot. Wu Hui is going with me so why don’t you go home and stay there for a while?”

“Oh……” Chen Xi nodded thoughtfully. “Where are you going?”

Li Linlin said, “H City. We will be back after three days.”

When she said this, Wu Hui at the door couldn’t help but interject, “You still know you’re only going there for three days? Why are you bringing so many things?”

Li Linlin glanced at her. “You always let Xiao Xi and Xiaoxiao bring things. Who are you to talk?”

Chen Xi took Li Linlin’s hand and blinked twice. “You’re going to H City? Brother Yiran is there on a business trip.”