Chapter 400 - 331: Always Protective of Her Own

Thanks to Sang Yuan’s clever trick, Ni Bingyan had cleanly turned the tables and even come out ahead. But that didn’t mean she was going to forgive the people who had schemed against her.

After so many years in the industry, this was the first time someone had tried to use her looks to climb the ladder.

"The number one beauty in five thousand years"? She had some serious nerve to even try and establish that persona!

A direct response was out of the question. She wouldn’t even give this kind of person the time of day.

If the other party had tagged her in their post, she’d be criticized for ignoring it. But since they hadn’t, she felt no pressure at all.

Her solution was simple, crude, and incredibly effective.

When "Five Thousand Years" had come over to ask for a photo, she had readily agreed.

A passenger saw this and snapped a picture of her own. Seeing that Ni Bingyan had noticed, she came over afterward to mention it and only posted it on her Moments after getting Ni Bingyan’s permission.

After all, running into a celebrity on a plane was one thing, but running into two at once? What an interesting travel story!

As for why she didn’t ask for the "Five Thousand Years" girl’s opinion?

When the passenger had tried to talk to her, "Five Thousand Years" just put on her sunglasses and ignored her completely, all but saying, "Don’t touch me!"

The girl was well-mannered, but she also had a temper. She just shrugged and walked away.

And so, "Five Thousand Years" had no idea that photo even existed.

Absolutely fed up with her pretentious attitude, as soon as she saw the trending topic, the girl found Ni Bingyan’s private messages on Weibo and sent the photo straight over.

[This little bitch has no shame! You have to teach her a lesson! Ugh, it’s so infuriating!]

Ni Bingyan had a lot of downtime at the hotel, and while taking a break from her studies, she inevitably went online to surf the web and happened to see the private message.

After getting the photo, she didn’t post it on Weibo directly. Instead, she gave it to Sister Wei to handle.

Sister Wei, who was always fiercely protective, had already been grinding her teeth in anger.

Messing with someone’s livelihood is like murdering their parents!

As a manager, her income was directly tied to how well the artists under her did.

To come after her cash cow without so much as a warning—what kind of grudge was this?

For someone to be so brazen as to stomp on her toes and then leap up to bash her skull in—how could she possibly stand for that?

Absolutely not!

Once the photo was in her hands, Sister Wei gave a faint smile, immediately found a few burner accounts to post it on Weibo, and slapped on a traffic-boosting package to ensure at least a hundred thousand people saw it.

It was posted in the morning, and before lunch was even over, it was a trending topic.

The photo was taken from the front, clearly showing "Five Thousand Years’" figure and the shoes she was wearing. Beside her, Ni Bingyan was holding up her phone and leaning her upper body to the side, even squatting slightly to accommodate her, which was also plain to see.

[Is that 50/50 body proportion for real? LMAO, first time seeing someone so shamelessly try to prop themselves up by putting someone else down. Does she really think she’s the only person in the world with a camera?]

[Sis, well done, hahaha! A meticulously edited photo versus a candid shot, I’m fucking dying laughing!]

[Whether someone looks good is affected by makeup, their condition, the environment, photography skills, etc. Without seeing them in person, it’s hard to say who’s prettier. But I did see Miss Ni’s ’polite squat.’ Compared to someone else’s solo-edit, the difference in character is obvious.]

That’s right. Netizens had already coined a term for this.

Solo-edit.

When posting a group photo, it’s human nature to subconsciously choose one where you look good. But if you photoshop only yourself and leave the other person unedited, using them as a foil, that’s purely a matter of bad character.

[Just a neutral observer here, let me offer my thoughts. In an unedited, natural, up-close shot, her face is fair and tender, her lips are pink. She just doesn’t look her best and has some dark circles, but you can’t say she’s ugly, can you? Who doesn’t get dark circles when they’re tired? I actually think Ni Bingyan seems more real!]

[Even though she obviously wasn’t well-rested, when someone asked for a photo, she still stood up politely and even squatted to accommodate someone shorter. Her character is impeccable.]

[I remember this was on the flight back from New York, right? "Five Thousand Years" is a real warrior, wearing heavy makeup even on a long-haul flight. And those stilettos! No wonder she’s always tripping! It’s not that her cerebellum is underdeveloped, it’s that her cerebrum never developed at all!]

...

No one could withstand Sister Wei’s toxic combo.

In the blink of an eye, "Five Thousand Years" waved the white flag, had her manager call to apologize, and deleted her Weibo post.

When Sister Wei got the call, she feigned surprise:

"What? An apology? What’s there to apologize for?

"I’m busy over here! The movie starring our Bingyan is about to be released! Who has time to worry about such trivial matters?

"Oh? The role you just got was snatched away? Well, you’ll just have to work harder! Make yourselves irreplaceable, and then it won’t be a problem.

"As far as I know, they rarely replace the female lead in a movie! Our Bingbing seldom has that kind of trouble.

"Oh, am I being harsh? Then how should I put it more pleasantly?

"Perhaps I should say it like this? People with bad character just tend to be a bit more unlucky?

"Or maybe, ’Don’t think that just because you’re coasting on your looks, there are no standards’?"

Hanging up the phone, Sister Wei looked utterly satisfied.

She was also incredibly petty, recording the call and sending a copy to Ni Bingyan.

After listening, Ni Bingyan remarked that she had learned a lot about roasting people! Compared to Sister Wei, she was clearly on a lower level.

As for the over-the-hill singer, before they could even make a move, Second Young Master Jiang directly sued this so-called friend for defamation.

How high-profile was Second Young Master Jiang?

The things he truly cared about, he would subconsciously hide away. The things he didn’t care about, however, he would make sure the whole world knew.

He didn’t just sue the guy; he also posted on Weibo, announcing he was cutting ties with him.

A grown man who gossips about his friend’s ex-girlfriend in public and then throws that same friend under the bus to save his own skin? If you don’t cut off a friend like that, are you saving him for New Year’s dinner?

It had to be said, aside from the minor issue of their incompatible views on marriage and relationships, Ni Bingyan really admired his way of doing things.

The traffic he had just gained from chasing clout vanished in the blink of an eye.

Nowadays, singing competition shows were a dime a dozen. This particular show had nothing special about it, nor did it have any big-name guests. Before it even officially debuted, a judge stooped so low as to chase clout by dissing an actress for being a bad singer. What the hell was there to watch?

The traffic came, the traffic went, and the show bombed into the earth’s core.

Instead of watching a bunch of over-the-hill singers battle it out, wouldn’t it be better to just stare at the Ai Liao app and wait to hear Ni Bingyan sing?

Everyone said her singing was the worst in the entire entertainment industry. Just how bad could it be?

As for the actress who called her love-brained, she had just finished establishing her image as a cool, independent woman when, a few days later, she ran into her husband at the mall, shopping with his mistress.

So much for being cool.

So much for being calm.

It’s easy to talk big when it’s not your problem, but when it happened to her, the blood rushed to her head, and with a roar, she charged right in!

On a weekend, at the mall, she clawed up the mistress’s face, only to get slapped by her husband. Even though she’d been a has-been for a while, she had played a few mother-in-law roles over the years, so people still recognized her in public.

In the end, not only was she endlessly discussed online, but she was also taken to the police station for a lecture. She was incredibly aggrieved and furious, got detained for seven days for assault, and to top it all off, she had to pay the mistress five hundred yuan in compensation.

Well, she might not be love-brained, but it didn’t seem like she was much better off.

These matters involved some less-than-honorable maneuvering, so Wei Shuojie didn’t tell Ni Bingyan about them at all.

So when she heard Ni Bingyan say, "I feel like I’m a Child of Fortune or something. Anyone who offends me ends up having bad luck!" she just nodded seriously.

"Bad luck! They must have bad luck!"

’And if bad luck doesn’t find them, I’ll make sure they don’t get away with it!’