The building where the audition took place was quite old and didn’t have any security cameras.

If someone wanted to play dirty, there would be no evidence to prove it.

After several days of maneuvering, the official Weibo for My School Bully Girlfriend announced Ning Qiuxiu as the female lead.

This unexpected result caused a huge stir in the comments.

【Ahhh, it’s Ning Qiuxiu! I recently became a fan after watching her reality show and red carpet events. She and Ming Ge are so similar in their charm—this is amazing!】

【Isn’t Ning Qiuxiu from the MiZi girl group? Is she going to ruin the drama now?】

【As a fan of the book, I’m crying. What is Ning Qiuxiu doing here ruining my Ming Ge? My pure white moonlight Ming Ge is going to be ruined!】

【I don’t know Ning Qiuxiu. What has she done before? I need info.】

【I’m late, ahhh, Autumn Queen is amazing, Ming Ge is amazing】

…

The comments on the official Weibo were mostly from book fans, and the main controversy was about her acting skills.

Although her charm seemed to fit the role of Ming Ge, her background as a girl group member without much acting experience became a point of criticism.

Just as people were deeply skeptical about Ning Qiuxiu’s acting and fans of the book were in distress, Ning Qiuxiu retweeted the announcement.

Ning Qiuxiu: “I’m very happy with the recognition from the crew and Director Xiao Sheng. However, on the day of the audition, my agent waiting outside was verbally attacked and insulted by one of the actors from this drama, who refused to apologize. While I’m thrilled to be cast as Ming Ge, I can’t act alongside an actor who attacks and insults people around me. I’m sorry for disappointing everyone.”

Ning Qiuxiu’s tweet created a massive stir. Onlookers were excited—was a public feud about to unfold?

Qu Hua nearly fainted when he saw the tweet.

He wasn’t angry anymore but didn’t expect Ning Qiuxiu to make such a big move.

When he asked her about it, she said, “There’s more than one way to become famous. If it means acting with someone like Zhen Paohui for a role, I’d rather not take it.”

Ning Qiuxiu’s Weibo post was quite bold, and the onlookers had already dug up every detail about the announced actors.

People were eagerly urging for more drama, saying things like “Fight, fight!”

But neither the production team nor the director had made a statement.

Since Ning Qiuxiu’s post wasn’t deleted, it was clear that there would be further developments.

Ning Qiuxiu wasn’t in a hurry.

The production staff had only asked who was involved but hadn’t provided any results.

She wasn’t concerned; if she couldn’t get justice, she would just refuse to work with someone with such poor character.

Meanwhile, after a long period of rehabilitation, Zhan Qingyue, who could barely stand against the wall before, had started to walk a few steps with support, like a child learning to walk.

Ning Qiuxiu was excited to see him walk. She cheered him on, saying, “You’re doing great!”

Zhan Qingyue, now sitting down and catching his breath, humbly replied, “It’s all thanks to Mrs. Zhan.”

Ning Qiuxiu proudly said, “What can I say? I’m just that powerful.”

Jingjing, who was watching, had a look of “I’m so jealous” on her face.

With Zhan Qingyue’s health improving, he began planning for the entertainment company.

Ning Qiuxiu, seeing that he was managing both their family affairs and his entrepreneurial efforts, gently reminded him, “You can start the entertainment company in the spring. There’s no need to exhaust yourself now.”

The most important thing was that she still hadn’t saved enough money!

“I can’t wait.”

“Huh? Is there an opportunity now?” Ning Qiuxiu knew that timing was crucial for entrepreneurship.

Sometimes good timing could make things much easier.

“I think…” Zhan Qingyue looked at her and said, “Qiuxiu, you’re becoming more outstanding. If I don’t work hard, I won’t be able to keep up.”

Ning Qiuxiu: “…”

“Oh, your sweet talk is really something today.”

“I can’t die in comfort,” added Zhang Qingyue.

In the previous confession incident with Song Chu, Zhang Qingyue seemed to have won a beautiful victory, claiming Ning Qiuxiu and enjoying a bit of advantage.

However, this incident had a significant impact on Zhang Qingyue.

Despite his young and handsome appearance, Song Chu’s bold and passionate nature made Zhang Qingyue feel a strong sense of crisis.

He realized that his threshold for Ning Qiuxiu was not as high as he had thought.

It was just that there had been no competition or pressure before.

Now he understood that Ning Qiuxiu was also a charming beauty who was adored by many outside.

If he didn’t work hard to keep her, someone else might steal her away.

Ning Qiuxiu, of course, was unaware of Zhang Qingyue’s complex thoughts.

She thought, “What’s there to worry about? I don’t mind you coming in.”

“Coming in?” Zhang Qingyue found the term intriguing.

After all, he had always been so outstanding that no one had ever used such a term with him before.

The reason was simple—no one could.

“Sure,” Zhang Qingyue said with a light laugh, “But Quixiu, you need to prepare a dowry.”

“… Never mind, don’t come in. I can’t afford the dowry.”

Zhang Qingyue: “……”

“That’s very realistic,” Ning Qiuxiu said.

“So,” Zhan Qingyue summarized, “I still need to work harder and earn enough to support my wife.”

Regarding the incident where a certain actor from School Bully insulted Ning Qiuxiu’s manager, Ning Qiuxiu’s Weibo post had made the situation very public.

The public reaction to Ning Qiuxiu’s announcement post had quickly changed:

【Wow, Ning Qiuxiu is so tough! Defending her manager like this is just like Ming Ge defending his wife, Song Lian!】

【I was furious when the announcement was made, thinking Ning Qiuxiu was ruining Ming Ge’s career, but now, emmm… this is great. Please don’t replace her!】

【Reject actors with poor character from playing our goddess’s book. Reject, reject, reject! Did you hear that, production team? This book’s fans reject it!】

【The production team has a tough job. Replacing someone means publicly revealing who has a bad character, ruining their career. Replacing Ning Qiuxiu would lead to public outrage. Honestly, Ning Qiuxiu’s actions were a bit excessive and had nothing to do with the production team.】

【She could have solved this privately but chose to make it public, deliberately blowing it up. The production team must hate her now. Ning Qiuxiu is really scheming. Let’s see who dares to work with her in the future.】

…

Ning Qiuxiu found these comments under the official Weibo account amusing.

If she hadn’t acted, the issue would have been forgotten.

Though she came from a wealthy family, her father’s mismanagement had led to their business decline, and she had no connection to the entertainment industry.

In reality, she was just an ordinary small star.

Her chance to play the female lead was due to her father’s financial influence.

Zhen Paohui himself wasn’t exceptional, but his agency was one of the top in the country, so Ning Qiuxiu had no way to protect herself against them.

In the end, the production team stated their position: they needed Ning Qiuxiu to provide evidence; otherwise, they could also be sued by the other party.

The meaning was already quite clear, so Ning Qiuxiu chose to withdraw quietly.

However, Xiao Sheng later invited her out for a meal and explained many things to her.

In short, he said that there would always be troublemakers, and being bitten by a mad dog didn’t mean she should bite back. Sometimes, enduring a moment of discomfort could lead to peace later.

He sincerely hoped Ning Qiuxiu would play Ming Ge and advised her not to act impulsively, but to think it over carefully.

The situation took a turn when a video of Ning Qiuxiu’s audition day was leaked by a passerby.

The video showed Zhen Paohui, another lead actor from My School Bully Girlfriend, and his agent quickly entering the audition building, despite wearing a mask and coat. His striking silver-gray hair made him easily recognizable.

Zhen Paohui had always maintained a positive public image as the school prince and top student, which made many young fans adore him.

He perfectly matched their fantasies of a school idol.

As soon as the video was released, regardless of its authenticity, his fans attacked Ning Qiuxiu, accusing her of being disgusting and trying to ride on his fame, tarnishing their idol’s reputation.

Although their fanbase was not as powerful as Fang Jinran’s, their fighting power was impressive.

Zhen Paohui’s studio quickly released a statement, declaring that they would take the online defamation and slander seriously.

They demanded that the video uploader and initial accusers publicly apologize on Weibo if they couldn’t provide evidence.

“Damn, Zhen Paohui is so shameless. Don’t stop me; I’m going to go after her!” Xiao Chi was furious when she saw the studio’s statement.

Qu Hua was anxious and worried since this incident was caused by him.

Without evidence, he was pacing back and forth, saying, “If there’s truly no way out, I’ll step forward and take the blame. Qiuxiu was only influenced by my words; she had nothing to do with it.”

Xiao Chi was startled, “But if you do that, you’ll lose your job, Qu Ge.”

Qu Hua sighed, “Actually, I’ve been thinking that Qiuxiu is so talented, and my abilities as an agent are limited. I’m close to being unable to support her. She needs a better agent to help her explore a broader future.”

Xiao Chi didn’t know how to respond to that.

She looked at Ning Qiuxiu and saw that she was chatting with someone, smiling happily.

It seemed like she was talking to her mysterious boyfriend—she only had that expression when talking to him.

This was too much.

While they were all anxiously running around, Ning Qiuxiu was chatting away romantically.

Ning Qiuxiu was indeed talking to Zhan Qingyue, who had just been released from her “little black room.”

【Black-hearted Onion: (Video file)】

【Black-hearted Onion: I’ve had someone edit it for you. It’s ready to use.】

Ning Qiuxiu quickly reviewed the video. Zhan Qingyue had done a great job; the editing met all her requirements.

With the evidence she had, it was solid enough to make a strong case against Zhen Paohui.

【Ning Qiuxiu: (Starry eyes) It’s perfect, thank you, Mr. Zhan. You’re brighter than the moon in the sky.】

【Black-hearted Onion: As you instructed, Miss Ning, I didn’t dare be careless.】

Ning Qiuxiu thought, “…”

Recently, Zhan Qingyue seemed to be sweeter with his words.

She recalled that he hadn’t been teasing or challenging her lately.

Had he changed his ways?

No, Zhan Qingyue’s bad temper was hard to change.

As Lin Xitian said, he was only rude to those close to him and still maintained a gentlemanly demeanor in public.

Given his recent attitude…

Was she now being treated as an outsider?

【Ning Qiuxiu: Oh.】

【Black-hearted Onion: The meaning of “oh” in chat: 1. A common chat habit, 2. Indicates you don’t care or are being dismissive.】

Ning Qiuxiu was confused, wondering what this meant.

【Black-hearted Onion: Since Qiuxiu doesn’t have habit 1, it must be 2?】

“…” Ning Qiuxiu understood that Zhan Qingyue was unhappy because she responded with an “oh.”

Was this how highly intelligent people communicated—so indirect?

【Ning Qiuxiu: I’m not being dismissive. I just… am not used to you not teasing me.】

“…” Zhan Qingyue, who was trying to win her favor, choked on his own blood.

But it seemed his approach was… not quite right?