Chapter 15
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Late last night, the tangled affair between Cen Meng and Ning Yuxuan dominated several trending searches, even reaching the top spot on one of them.
A love of watching the drama unfold is human nature. Besides, Cen Meng herself had a certain level of fame, while Ning Yuxuan had both an award-winning actress for a mother and a hugely popular younger brother.
Nearly the entire internet was watching this emotional spectacle from the entertainment world.
In the space of a single night, netizens had feasted on gossip to their hearts’ content.
Yet the most maddening mystery remained unresolved: who, exactly, was the man involved?
All sorts of theories were circulating online. People had listed every possible candidate, but no conclusion had emerged that everyone could agree on.
Halfway through the feast, everyone was still hungry for more. So the moment the livestream began, they all flooded in.
[Cen Meng still has the nerve to smile? Is this what it looks like when a petty person gets her way?]
[The first thing I see when I open the livestream is that face. What terrible luck!]
[I heard Ning Yuxuan didn’t show Cen Meng any kindness on yesterday’s program. I hope Sister Xuan keeps standing strong today and vents our anger for us!]
Of course, some fans came to Cen Meng’s defense and fought back against the netizens.
[How have you decided that Cen Meng is the third party? Are you all internet judges, handing down verdicts the moment you show up?]
[There’s still no conclusion to the matter. What are you all cursing blindly for? You really think you’re paragons of justice, don’t you?]
Others tried to muddy the waters by turning their attacks on Ning Yuxuan instead.
[Why are there so many people in this world who believe every rumor they hear? You were the ones cursing Ning Yuxuan for being the mistress before, and now you’re the ones cursing Cen Meng. I think you just want somewhere to vent!]
[Ning Yuxuan herself never said Cen Meng was the mistress. Are netizens really clearer about the truth than the two women involved?]
After last night’s news broke, only a small number of Cen Meng’s fans wavered or left the fandom. Most of them firmly declared that they did not believe it.
In their eyes, neither the man’s words in the video nor Ning Yuxuan’s remarks could be considered irrefutable evidence.
On Cen Meng’s fan forum, everyone insisted that she absolutely was not that kind of person and that they would wait for her to explain matters herself.
The senior fans in the group also called on everyone who had the time to enter the livestream the next morning, support Cen Meng, and guide public opinion as much as possible.
As a result, many of Cen Meng’s fans staked out the livestream, trading blows with the gossip-hungry spectators.
Seeing the livestream figures climb steadily from the moment the broadcast began, the director was overcome with excitement.
Dear Mom was the first variety show he had ever been in charge of. Since it centered on the relatively uncommon theme of family affection, the guests they had managed to invite were only moderately well known, and the network had not paid much attention to the program at first.
Unexpectedly, the first season performed extremely well. Through word of mouth, it gradually stood out from every other show airing at the time, and the staff had developed a strong bond forged through battle.
With the foundation laid by the first season, the network attached great importance to the second and provided ample funding and manpower.
But the program also faced a crisis—
After seeing Dear Mom succeed, a rival network immediately copied it and launched a similar family-themed variety show. It was scheduled to air almost simultaneously with Dear Mom, and its cast was also remarkably strong.
This time, the entire production team, including the director himself, was determined to give it everything they had. They had to hold their ground and make Dear Mom the only program of its kind in the country.
Thus, after the incident involving Ning Yuxuan and Cen Meng came to light, everyone on the production team unanimously agreed during their meeting to proceed with the next day’s filming as scheduled.
They absolutely had to seize this heaven-sent surge in popularity.
Inside the livestream, the moderators were busy banning accounts that posted obscene or abusive language.
However, they did not remove comments that engaged in ordinary discussion of the incident or criticized Cen Meng.
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It was tantamount to encouragement. More and more people joined the discussion, and the livestream’s popularity continued to soar.
Cen Meng, however, knew nothing about it.
Since the broadcast began, she had maintained an impeccable, gentle smile.
The staff first asked everyone how well they had slept the night before.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cen Meng looked at Ning Yuxuan with concern. “Yuxuan, did you not sleep well last night?”
Ning Yuxuan glanced at her and countered lightly, “Were you hoping I hadn’t?”
Cen Meng’s eyes widened slightly. “Yuxuan, why would you think that of me? I was only worried that you might be in a bad mood and wanted to show you a little more concern.”
On the surface, her face was filled with confusion and surprise. In reality, she was secretly delighted.
This exchange happened to confirm how hostile Ning Yuxuan was toward her, further supporting the claim that Ning Yuxuan had stolen her boyfriend.
The worse Ning Yuxuan’s attitude toward her became, the more the netizens would hate Ning Yuxuan—and the more sympathy they would feel for her.
Cen Meng never could have imagined that her behavior would produce the exact opposite result.
At first, after the passersby had streamed in to condemn Cen Meng for a while, they noticed that neither Cen Meng nor Ning Yuxuan seemed to know about the trending searches online. Finding the situation uninteresting, they prepared to leave.
They were only there for the gossip, after all—not professional haters. They had no intention of wasting their precious weekend cursing Cen Meng.
But then Cen Meng suddenly said those words to Ning Yuxuan, instantly keeping the netizens who had been about to leave in the livestream.
[Good grief, Cen Meng is way too arrogant! Was she deliberately provoking Ning Yuxuan?]
[Today has really opened my eyes. There have been plenty of cases in the entertainment industry where someone stole another person’s boyfriend, but I’ve never seen anyone as shameless as Cen Meng.]
[What does Cen Meng mean by that? Why ask whether Ning Yuxuan slept well? Was that a provocation?]
[Of course it was. Cen Meng has become the mistress and is now swaggering in front of the rightful girlfriend!]
[The third party is actually feeling proud of herself? Is stealing someone else’s boyfriend something to be proud of?]
On top of that, barrages of filthy abuse kept appearing. Several moderators were busy deleting rule-breaking comments and banning users, clicking their mice so frantically that sparks practically flew from them.
Cen Meng’s fans could not suppress public opinion in the livestream at all. Every comment they posted in her defense was quickly drowned beneath a flood of curses.
The livestream descended into chaos, and its popularity climbed higher with every passing moment.
At the filming location, however, everything remained as calm as the silence before a storm. The guests had no idea what was happening.
Today’s livestream was scheduled for a promotional photo shoot for the program.
The morning would be spent having professional makeup artists do everyone’s makeup and select their outfits.
The afternoon would be handed over to the photographers, who would take promotional photos of the guests in groups.
This segment had been decided upon long ago, with the primary purpose of encouraging interaction between each mother-and-daughter pair.
Originally, the director had hoped to use the segment to explore the dynamic between each mother and daughter while also producing promotional material for the show.
After the sudden incident, however, someone had suggested during the emergency meeting the previous night that they consider changing the segment—
They could replace it with something more interactive, such as having the three daughters act together. That would give Cen Meng and Ning Yuxuan more opportunities to interact.
In the end, however, the director rejected the proposal.
The incident involving Ning Yuxuan and Cen Meng was already attracting tremendous attention—more than enough to keep the livestream’s figures at a respectable level.
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If they deliberately increased the amount of contact between Ning Yuxuan and Cen Meng and the public opinion got out of control, a vicious verbal battle might erupt in the livestream and drag the entire program into the mess.
In the end, everyone agreed to proceed with the program according to the original plan: seize the surge in attention while responding to changing circumstances by remaining unchanged.
Once the promotional photo segment began, all the guests started having their makeup done.
Cen Meng tried several times to strike up a conversation with Ning Yuxuan, but both Ning Yuxuan and Ning Fei gave her the cold shoulder and ignored her.
Quite a few netizens who had come specifically to watch the drama saw no sign of a clash between the two women and left the livestream.
The gossip-hungry passersby gradually dwindled, and the popularity figures dipped slightly before eventually stabilizing at a relatively high level.
The director was fairly satisfied with the situation. Everything remained under his control.
However, the decline in the livestream audience did not mean that interest in the incident had waned.
On the contrary, more and more people online were following the affair, and other celebrities were becoming entangled in it as well.
The first to be dragged in was Guan Cheng, who had previously been paired with Cen Meng in a publicity-driven romantic pairing.
Guan Cheng was attending an event elsewhere that morning. After it ended, he accepted an interview with the media, and one particularly bold reporter brought up Cen Meng.
“Last night, some rather troubling rumors about Miss Cen Meng came to light. Have you heard about them? What are your thoughts?”
Once one reporter had opened the subject, the others joined in.
“Mr. Guan Cheng, could you respond to the matter?”
“That’s right, Mr. Guan Cheng. Miss Cen was your former colleague, and I’ve heard that the two of you were once very close. In light of what has happened, is there anything you would like to say in her defense?”
The scene immediately descended into chaos, and the event staff hurried to restore order.
His assistant was also preparing to help Guan Cheng decline to comment. “I’m sorry, everyone, but this question—”
Before the assistant could finish, Guan Cheng took over.
He raised a hand. “It’s all right. I can say a few words about this.”
At that, the reporters crowding around him all brightened, eager to hear Guan Cheng respond to the latest online controversy.
Guan Cheng cleared his throat. “The truth is, Miss Cen Meng and I were simply colleagues. It has been a long time since we had any contact after our previous collaboration ended. I’ve heard about this incident as well. I can say that I’m just as shocked as everyone else. I never expected Cen Meng to become involved in such a tangled situation.”
“In other words, you’re also very surprised by the allegations that Cen Meng is the third party—is that what you mean?”
Guan Cheng smiled and nodded. “I don’t know the specific circumstances myself. But if the rumors that she was the third party are true, all I can say is that I’m deeply saddened. I hope she realizes her mistake.”
Before last night, Guan Cheng probably would not have chosen to wade into this mess.
But during the previous evening’s livestream, Cen Meng had humiliated him far too many times.
Back when the two of them had joined forces to promote their pairing, it had been mutually beneficial. Neither was a well-known actor, and both needed the attention brought by fans of their supposed romance.
Yet yesterday, Cen Meng had turned on him without warning and embarrassed him in public, making him look like a pathetic sycophant throwing himself at her.
Guan Cheng could not swallow the insult, so he deliberately made things unpleasant for Cen Meng in front of the reporters.
Naturally, he had chosen his words carefully. He implied that Cen Meng might indeed be the third party, distanced himself from her, and still stopped short of making a definitive accusation.
If the situation reversed again later, he could retreat unscathed by claiming that he had known nothing about it.
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