After Sharing Senses with the Paranoid CEO, the Infamous Starlet was Forced into Pampering Chapter 24
Chapter 24: Not Romantic in the Slightest
Xia Mu took the phone. In truth, the things Xu Wenyi said were nothing extraordinary, but with Zhu Yunhong as a previous contrast, even such a small gesture left Xia Mu incredibly moved.
Xu Wenyi watched Xia Mu turn on his phone, still feeling a bit apprehensive inside. After all, none of the trending search tags about Xia Mu had been removed. What if he saw them…
However, Xia Mu was an artist. If he couldn’t even withstand this much, then she had misjudged him.
“Next, I need you to provide Ting-jie’s contact information. I’ll communicate with her regarding the follow-up matters. Though, since you are close with her, you can contact her yourself if you prefer.”
“We need to get in touch with her as soon as possible. I’ll write the post draft for her to publish and send it over.”
“EK’s new products will be launched at 8 PM tomorrow. The company has already bought a trending search for the same time. Couple that with the fact that the heat surrounding your escape with a cat during the earthquake hasn’t died down—we need this pet hospital to clarify Xiatian’s origins.”
“When the time comes, in coordination with EK, the company will proactively reach out to marketing accounts to confirm and release all positive news regarding you.”
“There’s one more thing. This afternoon, we’re going to the nearest beach to recreate the drowning incident you experienced during the EK poster shoot, and film an educational piece explaining rip currents.”
“Dr. Ren specifically instructed me to keep a close watch on your mental health. He was worried that going back into the water might trigger psychological trauma.”
After all, many people who had experienced drowning were left with varying degrees of psychological trauma, and severe cases even required trauma therapy.
“So, this part of the schedule requires your confirmation. If you cannot accept it, I completely respect your opinion, and we can cancel it.”
Hearing Xu Wenyi say so much, especially about the final beach shoot, Xia Mu wasn’t sure if he had any psychological trauma himself. But the moment he thought of being underwater, the first image that surfaced in his mind was of Li Yan holding him in an embrace, kissing him.
Xia Mu felt he must have filmed too many dramas; this was exactly like the most clichéd plot device in historical idol dramas. Who would have thought he’d experience it himself?
Although the memory wasn’t a pleasant one, and the kiss was solely to pass air—not romantic in the slightest.
“I’m fine. We can proceed as normal.”
“Good. After you eat, rest for a while. We leave at 3 PM. The journey is about two hours, and we’ll start shooting at 5:30.”
Xu Wenyi gave Xia Mu a few more instructions. Seeing him prepare to leave, she hesitated for a moment before offering an extra reminder:
“Xia Mu… don’t take the things about you on the internet to heart. Rest assured, since I’m managing you now, I’ll resolve those rumors and gossip as quickly as possible.”
Unexpectedly, Xia Mu just smiled:
“Yi-jie, you said yourself that it’s just rumors and gossip, so why should I care? Besides, I know exactly what I have and haven’t done. The innocent will always be proven innocent.”
Watching Xia Mu leave, Xu Wenyi couldn’t help but sigh in admiration, “This mindset is truly not bad.”
The several members of the legal department also nodded in agreement. Normally, if an artist encountered malicious trending searches that bordered on cyberbullying, they would have long since gone crazy and broken down, demanding the company fix it immediately. Who would have expected Xia Mu to be this calm?
But the moment Xia Mu returned to his dorm, the very first thing he did was open Weibo. He was inwardly praying that his name wouldn’t be on the trending searches, only to see the top spot on the entertainment list hanging right there:
#Xia Mu Playing the Diva When He Has No Status#
When did he ever play the diva?
Xia Mu clicked in to read. It turned out to be related to the hit drama he had starred in. Someone claiming to be a crew member had made an exposé on Xiao Jinshu, alleging that he was late to the set, making the male lead, female lead, director, and all the other actors and crew wait for him alone. Moreover, it claimed he put on massive airs upon arriving, even requiring an escort of two rows of bodyguards just to get out of his car.
Xia Mu was dumbfounded just reading the post, completely oblivious as to how they could write such things about something he had never done. Xia Mu’s prediction was right on the money; the comment section was a one-sided barrage of abuse:
[? Where did this N-tier artist come from? Never even heard his name. He just played a fox spirit and he’s already acting like a diva.]
[Speechless. The male lead only brought 7 people including his makeup and styling team. This guy? He had over a dozen people just for bodyguards.]
[I don’t get it, was this some kind of welcome formation?]
[So if he doesn’t show up, everyone has to work overtime with him? Is he addicted to acting like a diva?]
[Shengyi’s artists: Xia Mu, XXX… Seeing this list explains it all, right? Don’t recognize a single one. Since he’s the only one with lots of fans in the company, of course they have to worship him like a revered ancestor.]
[Have I been offline for too long? Even Xia Mu has the right to act like a diva now? Domestic showbiz is truly doomed.]
[Is this the Xia Mu you all call a diva and unprofessional? Not a single person from the same crew has said a bad word about him. Could someone please tell me what he actually did wrong? Wave after wave of dirty water is being splashed on him. The truth will eventually come to light; it’s only a matter of time. Long_Image.jpg]
[A guy like this actually has fans? And they’re still trying to wash him clean?]
[…]
Xia Mu stared at the comment speaking up for him. The ID looked very familiar—it was his fansite manager, one of the girls who had picked him up at the airport that morning.
Her comment had already been attacked; anti-fans had replied nearly five hundred times. He clicked into the fansite manager’s homepage and saw that just a moment ago, she had posted the vlog and photos of him exiting the airport.
However, when Xia Mu clicked into it, he found she had turned on comment filtering. So, he sent her a few private messages, hoping her mood hadn’t been negatively affected by him.
Scrolling further down, Xia Mu unexpectedly saw a post titled:
[Timeline of the Xia Mu Earthquake Incident Controversy]. Clicking into it revealed a complete breakdown, detailed down to the exact month, day, and hour of every single trending search tag related to him.
After reading through it all, Xia Mu finally understood why Li Yan had said it was better not to look at his phone.
Even if Shengyi was leaving him to fend for himself, there shouldn’t have been this many malicious trending searches popping up out of nowhere, right?
The only possibility was that he had offended someone, and these were paid smear campaigns.
However, Xia Mu had never liked dwelling on things he couldn’t figure out. Whatever. No matter how much they cursed him, it was only on the internet. And now that Zhu Yunhong had been taken away by the police, there probably wouldn’t be as many sasaengs tailing his car anymore.
At the thought that his current manager was Xu Wenyi, Xia Mu was so excited he couldn’t even take his afternoon nap. At 3 PM sharp, he boarded the company van. The makeup and styling team also tagged along.
This kind of entourage was usually reserved for when he attended major events. He hadn’t expected that with Xu Wenyi’s arrival, let alone anything else, even the number of people accompanying him had increased.
“We still haven’t finalized the candidate for your assistant, so you’ll have to endure it for the next two days.”
“It’s fine, Yi-jie. The number of people following me now is already more than enough.” Xia Mu smiled, but before the smile could fade, Xu Wenyi shoved a rather thick stack of documents into his hands.
“Use the two hours in the car to memorize the commentary on rip currents. I’ve selected two proposals: the first is a pure explanation, and the second is a personal demonstration. Either one is fine, it depends on which you choose. What I want is efficiency. Regardless of which one you pick, you must have it memorized before you get out of the car.”
“Understood.”
Xia Mu roughly flipped through them. It wasn’t a lot; he could definitely finish memorizing it.
Seeing Xia Mu’s expression as he quickly immersed himself in the work, Xu Wenyi propped her chin on her hand and smiled from the side:
“Following me might mean a reduction in your rest time, you know.”
Translator’s Note: Welcome to the reality of C-entertainment fandoms! A Fansite Manager (Zhanjie / 站姐) is someone who runs dedicated fan accounts, taking high-quality photos at airports and events to support their idol. Sasaengs (私生), on the other hand, are the toxic stalker fans who cross boundaries.