Chapter 11

After taking a bath, Zuo Mingran, who was hungry, lay in bed playing with his phone.

The events of the day caused quite a sensation online, even occupying the top headlines on the hot search list in just half an hour. Although later, Shuangxia's involvement caused the position in the hot search to drop slightly, it still remained in the top ten and the discussion volume remained high.

Zuo Mingran had been married for a year, and apart from the viral wedding at the beginning, although there were various marketing articles arranged by the company, the couple rarely appeared together, which made many people raise suspicions.

In general, female celebrities who married into wealthy families usually gradually faded out of the entertainment industry after marriage. However, Zuo Mingran was completely different. Shortly after getting married, she continued to work, filming when she needed to and appearing on shows when necessary, showing no intention of retiring from the industry just because she married into a wealthy family.

Given these signs, many people speculated that Zuo Mingran had already divorced long ago, but kept it a secret. As they say, where there's smoke, there's fire. The rumors grew more and more, almost becoming a fact.

As a top-tier female star, Zuo Mingran had many fans. At first, when people said such things about her, she would argue back, but without any solid evidence, she was constantly suppressed. Now that she finally managed to get a glimpse of her own CP (couple pairing) content, she couldn't help but want to jump up and cheer, wanting to jump on those people's heads and slap them in the face.

Experiencing being on the hot search for the first time in her life, and being the main focus of the topic, Zuo Mingran hugged a pillow and clicked into it with curiosity.

The first trending post was two candid photos. The first photo was taken in a car, with a smiling girl using her index finger to hook the man's glasses, and the two were extremely close, as if they were about to kiss the next second. The second photo was taken after the girl got out of the car, leaning down to talk to the man sitting in the driver's seat.

It was a very novel feeling to see oneself from the perspective of a third party. When she did it, she didn't think much of it, but now that she saw the photos, even Zuo Mingran couldn't help but blush and feel her heart race.

She enlarged the photos and looked at them for a while, unable to help but whisper, "Oh my god, why do I look so good!"

There were already tens of thousands of comments under the Weibo post, and since she couldn't sleep due to hunger, Zuo Mingran decided to read them one by one.

"What kind of fairy tale romance is this? I'm so jealous."

"Lemons on the lemon tree, you and me beneath the lemon tree."

"Is my natural sister so aggressive? I'm all for it! [shaking voice]"

"Sister can do it, so can little sister!"

"Why is her husband so handsome? What happened to the saying that you can't have both money and looks?"

"I'll just smile and not say anything. Can people really believe these staged photos?"

"The signs of posing are too obvious."

"The people who are jealous can just shut up. They are a legally married couple with a marriage certificate."

"If anyone talks about divorce, they should just get out and get beaten!"

...

Most of the comments were still dominated by fans. After reading for a while, Zuo Mingran exited and prepared to play a game before going to sleep, as she wouldn't feel hungry when she falls asleep.

After selecting a hero, Zuo Mingran sat up against the headboard as the game was loading. Suddenly, there were two knocks on the door.

Mao Mao had already left, so now there were only Zuo Mingran and Yan Yunyang in the room. The game had entered the loading screen, so Zuo Mingran quickly flipped off the bed and ran barefoot to open the door, saying, "I'm coming, I'm coming."

The door opened, and Zuo Mingran held onto it, poking her head out to ask, "What's up?"

Yan Yunyang handed her a porcelain bowl, saying, "Aren't you hungry? Eat this before you go to sleep."

"Huh?" Zuo Mingran froze, holding the bowl that had been handed to her, unsure of what to do. "Is this for me?"

Yan Yunyang nodded. "No sugar added. Don't worry."

The bowl contained warm oatmeal with milk. Zuo Mingran was instantly moved and sincerely said, "You're really a good person."

Feeling inexplicably labeled as a good person, Yan Yunyang smiled and was about to turn around. But Zuo Mingran suddenly remembered something and quickly stopped him, "Oh, the bracelet."

She ran into the room and took out the sapphire bracelet, saying, "I asked my assistant, and this bracelet is indeed not mine."

This answer made Yan Yunyang furrow his brows, but he still extended his hand to take the bracelet, lightly acknowledging her words, and then turned and went downstairs.

Zuo Mingran watched his figure, feeling a bit confused. Before she could figure it out, she heard the sound of a game kill behind her. Zuo Mingran suddenly slapped her forehead, exclaiming, "Oh no, my game!"

...

In the dim room, Tang Wenbin sat on the bed in disbelief, his face full of shock. The screen of his phone was still lit up, displaying the frozen frames of those two GIFs from the trending list.

"How is this possible?" Tang Wenbin muttered to himself, "They clearly had a fake marriage, how could they be together?"

The recent conversation with Zuo Mingran was still vivid in Tang Wenbin's mind. He couldn't understand how the person who had told him the day before that they would divorce and be together suddenly seemed like a different person. Not only did their attitude towards him make a complete 180-degree turn, but they were also flaunting their affection now.

His phone buzzed again, and seeing the caller ID, Tang Wenbin frowned impatiently. But considering the caller's identity and his current situation, despite being extremely reluctant, he had no choice but to answer the call.

"Finally decided to pick up, huh?" On the other end of the phone, Guan Xinrui sneered, "Tang Wenbin, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

Tang Wenbin was completely clueless about what had happened and could only vaguely say, "Xinrui, I was deceived by her too. I really didn't expect her to do this."

Guan Xinrui cursed angrily, "Don't bullshit and evade responsibility, Tang Wenbin. Listen to me carefully, I can't do anything to Zuo Mingran, but I have more than enough capability to handle you."

Tang Wenbin was overwhelmed by the situation. He had known Guan Xinrui since their time on set and had initially thought she was a decent girl. But now, she had turned into a vicious and malevolent person.

In the past, Tang Wenbin wouldn't have been afraid of Guan Xinrui. But now that he had severed ties with Zuo Mingran and Guan Xinrui was, at the very least, a celebrity, if she held a grudge against him, it would be difficult for him to enter the entertainment industry again.

Driven by a strong survival instinct, Tang Wenbin spoke without thinking, "I swear everything I said is true. Zuo Mingran and that person had a fake marriage, and Zuo Mingran is even planning to file for divorce."

"You dare to lie to me?"

"I have evidence!" Tang Wenbin remembered that his chat records had been deleted. In desperation, he came up with another plan. Swallowing his saliva, Tang Wenbin cautiously said, "Zuo Mingran herself told me all those things. I have chat records."

*

The publicity ceremony was scheduled for 3 p.m., lasting for a total of three hours, followed by a dinner.

Although it was set to begin in the afternoon, the preparations needed to start in the morning. Zuo Mingran once again experienced the pain of being a celebrity. However, this time she had a plan and had eaten breakfast before Mao Mao arrived, leaving no evidence behind.

To avoid any unforeseen complications during the official event, Shi Shuangxia would be accompanying her throughout.

In the private dressing room, Shi Shuangxia sat on a chair and said, "This time it was my carelessness. The brand's clothes this quarter are focused on the color blue, and Guan Xinrui probably guessed that you would be wearing the brand's clothes, so she chose a similar color scheme."

Although she wasn't there for the trial fitting the day before, Shi Shuangxia still learned about Rui's situation as soon as possible. Changing outfits and makeup wasn't difficult at this point, but time was tight and it would be troublesome to make changes. It also made them appear vulnerable, so they decided to stick with the originally planned style.

Luo Mingran didn't mind at all. Looking at herself in the mirror, she casually said, "Who cares? It's not scary to clash outfits. Whoever looks ugly will be embarrassed. Since she's not afraid, why should I be?"

Shi Shuangxia was surprised by her thick-skinned response. "When did you become so narcissistic?"

Luo Mingran smirked confidently. "I realized it when I looked in the mirror. After all, with the face that heaven gave me, it would be a waste not to be confident."

Shi Shuangxia looked at her speechlessly. Luo Mingran thought for a moment and noticed that Mao Mao wasn't around, so she waved at her and whispered, "Shuangxia, I want to discuss something with you."

Shi Shuangxia leaned over, puzzled. "What's the matter? Why so secretive?"

Luo Mingran whispered, "I want to change my assistant."

"Change assistants?" Shi Shuangxia was genuinely shocked this time. "What's wrong with Mao Mao? Hasn't she been with you for seven years?"

"Mao Mao is great," Luo Mingran said. "I just think she can do even better."

"Why do you say that?"

Luo Mingran answered seriously, "I think she can become a talent manager and handle her own artists. She has been working by my side for so long, she has both work experience and knowledge of the ins and outs of the industry. She will definitely excel."

Shi Shuangxia didn't understand. She furrowed her brows and asked, "Why the sudden change? According to what you're saying, wouldn't it be better for Mao Mao to continue as your assistant?"

Luo Mingran thought that might not be the case, but she certainly couldn't tell Shi Shuangxia that. She brought up the reason she had prepared earlier. "Shuangxia, my contract with the company is almost up, right?"

Shi Shuangxia vaguely understood what she was getting at and quickly said, "I know, you don't have to say it."

Luo Mingran nodded and continued, "Since you know my thoughts, having Mao Mao as a talent manager would actually be a good thing for me."

Shi Shuangxia nodded, but still had some hesitation. "Training an assistant is not a simple matter."

Seeing Shi Shuangxia starting to waver, Luo Mingran smiled and said, "But we have you, don't we? Our Shuangxia is capable of anything."

Shi Shuangxia rolled her eyes at her. "Fine, I'll consider it."

The promotion ceremony and rehearsal in the afternoon were the same in terms of process, except that the location was changed and there were numerous media present.

Zuo Mingran was blinded by the flashing lights and was overwhelmed by various interviews. Due to the trending topic from the previous day, the media inevitably brought up her marital status. Both Shixia had anticipated this, so they had prepared official responses in the morning. With Zuo Mingran's ability to make up stories as a screenwriter in her previous life, everything went smoothly.

After the ceremony, there would be a banquet attended by some of the crew members, actors, and a few investors.

Zuo Mingran had attended many such events since her debut, and without exception, Shixia would always be with her throughout. After all, Zuo Mingran's face brought her both glory and trouble.

After dealing with several scenes, Zuo Mingran finally had a chance to catch her breath and grabbed a soda water before hiding in a corner.

Shixia was talking to a director not far away, leaving Zuo Mingran bored. She took out her phone and started scrolling through Weibo.

The photos from the red carpet in the afternoon had been posted online immediately. As expected, the discussion was buzzing about Zuo Mingran and Guanxin Rui's outfits. Zuo Mingran had a huge fan base, and with the excitement from the previous day, their fighting spirit was strong. They immediately overwhelmed Guanxin Rui's fans.

Seeing the intense battle between the two fan groups, Zuo Mingran was dizzy from the various fan terms and abbreviations. After watching for a while, she closed her phone.

"Ran Jie." Guanxin Rui appeared in front of her, with a gentle smile on her face. "I was in the wrong yesterday. I offer you a toast."

Zuo Mingran truly admired this kind of person who could act like nothing happened. No matter what happened, they could treat themselves like goldfish with a seven-second memory.

Looking at the wine glass handed to her, Zuo Mingran curled her lips, took the glass, and without waiting for Guanxin Rui's reaction, poured it directly into the nearby trash bin.

"I have to say, you really like picking up other people's unwanted things, huh?" Zuo Mingran raised an eyebrow. "Are you a garbage collector?"