After Wen Nianshen and A-Xin disguised themselves, they sneaked into the cinema. Thanks to her superb makeup skills, no one recognized the two of them. A-Xin was fine either way—she was a director who rarely appeared in public, and anyone who didn't follow her wouldn't recognize her.
Wen Nianshen was a famously well-known actress; the title "The Drama Demolisher" alone had made her known nationwide.
Last time the netizens had clamored to boycott films Wen Nianshen took part in, and from the number of people sitting in the cinema today, you really could see that it had had some effect.
There was another reason: another film had been released at the same time as this one, also featuring a famous big-name film star, with Yuan Ye and Jing Songyuan as its investors. It wasn't hard to guess—with the netizens stirring things up so fiercely, these two surely had a hand in it. And they'd deliberately scheduled their release for the exact same time. The intent behind it was self-evident.
Wen Nianshen and A-Xin sat in an inconspicuous spot, talking in low voices. "Director Ruan, there really aren't many people. I remember your earlier films—once they came out, the premiere and the several days after were always sold out."
"Director Ruan, you're about to flop."
A-Xin glanced over—at Wen Nianshen, who was utterly delighted that the film she'd acted in might flop—then moved her gaze to the screen. "Let's keep watching." From that tone of voice, Wen Nianshen understood: her wife was confident, certain that this film wouldn't flop. Truthfully, she was a little curious herself about where the film would go later. If A-Xin really did care, she'd buy out the theater. But thinking of A-Xin's character, she didn't believe A-Xin would mind such things.
The people around them were all whispering. From their words, you could tell that some were there for Wen Nianshen's looks—these were Wen Nianshen's face-fans. Others were Director Ruan's old fans; no matter what, a director they'd once loved, they had to come and show support for.
If the quality wasn't good, then at the actual release, there'd probably be even fewer people than today. And even today's preview screening had only drawn half a house.
Wen Nianshen observed A-Xin's expression—still as composed as ever. Truthfully, she did hold some expectations for this film. Because it was different from the roles she'd played before; you could say this character's final ending was the real highlight. By the end, combining it with some of the small details from earlier, most people who watched it would consider this a very fine suspense film.
Of course, by then, many people would say again that if not for Wen Nianshen, they'd surely love this film even more, like it even more, and the box office might have been even better.
Bad was Wen Nianshen's fault; good was not Wen Nianshen's credit; without Wen Nianshen, it would only be better. This was how everyone in this world judged her. In truth, she didn't care.
The film began, and the low discussions ceased. Wen Nianshen, too, focused on watching the character she'd played—even she found her own performance detestable. The character setup was simply too off-putting: a conglomerate heiress who, relying on a few stinking dollars, loved to throw tantrums and bully people by force. In the plot, those victims had all, in fact, been infuriated by her—their leaving the conglomerate had more or less to do with being driven off by her temper.
The reason the conglomerate magnate let this young miss drive those people away was, perhaps, that he didn't want them to stay either—after all, the profits they'd taken back then really had been too great. Because of his attitude, the others all grew wary, afraid that staying too long would lead to trouble, and simply took a sum of money and left. After all, each side held something on the other; cutting ties clean like this was for the best.
So when these people were murdered one after another, everyone assumed it was the conglomerate magnate's doing. Who could have guessed it was that arrogant, domineering, busty-but-brainless young miss?
At first, the people in the cinema, seeing this young miss's behavior, also found her thoroughly detestable—they nearly hurled whatever was at hand right at the screen. But the reversal in the latter half truly left people stunned. Recalling that young miss's conduct and certain details, they wished they could watch it again from the start and dig out every last clue.
When it ended, Wen Nianshen heard many voices.
"As expected of a Director Ruan film—never lets us down."
"Nianshen really has reached new heights of beauty. Even though that character setup is genuinely annoying, looking at that flower-like face, I choose to forgive her."
These words made Wen Nianshen snort with laughter. She shot A-Xin a smug glance and murmured, "See, I do have fans. They're a bit shallow—they only like my face—but I'm still happy. I'm my own face-fan, after all."
A-Xin naturally took Wen Nianshen's hand, afraid the crowd would separate them. Wen Nianshen stopped talking and walked out together with A-Xin amid the press of the crowd, savoring this wonderful time. Many times, she nearly confessed to A-Xin outright—but thinking of how it was always her who had to do it, her heart felt especially uncomfortable, and she forcibly swallowed the words back down, which left her terribly frustrated.
"I plan to watch this film a second time. I think there are some details earlier I need to re-watch. A Director Ruan film is never that simple—there must be a lot we didn't notice earlier."
"Come to think of it, Wen Nianshen's last part was actually quite well acted."
The people who could come watch the film today were basically not Wen Nianshen's anti-fans. Right now the anti-fans were waiting for this film to flop so they could have a good time mocking Wen Nianshen. Why would they go watch a film she was in?
"I think a second watch is warranted too. I actually quite like this genre. And I think the role Wen Nianshen played this time was a real success. Let me say up front—I'm not her face-fan, just giving an objective evaluation. For obsessive film lovers like us, who acts in it doesn't matter; as long as it's good, that's all that counts."
Listening to all the various discussions—with basically no one cursing—Wen Nianshen felt rather happy in her heart. Especially now that her wife was holding her hand, holding it tightly, as if afraid she'd be lost. How nice. A life like this—so what if she was cursed by countless people? If this was the price of her wife coming to find her, she hoped the people of every world would curse her viciously and despise her.
Once a good film earns word of mouth, it spreads from mouth to mouth, and with today's developed online information, all the more so. The film A-Xin and Wen Nianshen collaborated on earned excellent word of mouth after its preview screening. Some bystanders who'd been on the fence, hearing that it was good, went to watch it without the slightest hesitation. Anti-fans and fans, in this world, after all made up only a small portion; most people were bystanders who cared only whether a film was good and whether it was worth spending money to see.
With a first batch of people going to watch, there'd be a second batch. The film next door, whose tickets had originally been selling well, lasted only a day before countless people gave up watching it and instead chose to watch the one A-Xin and Wen Nianshen made together.
In just two or three days, the anti-fans couldn't hold up either—everyone around them was discussing this film that had exploded, and even saying that Wen Nianshen had acting skill. They couldn't stand to hear such talk. How could Wen Nianshen possibly have acting skill? Apart from being a little good-looking and having a few stinking dollars, that woman could only fight with netizens.
What was infuriating was that all of them put together still couldn't out-argue her—it really made them seethe.
In Wen Nianshen's anti-fan group, they were all discussing it:
"That woman actually has a reputation for good acting now? Are their eyes blind?"
"I think it's probably that they love Director Ruan's films, so by extension they're praising Wen Nianshen too or whatever."
"No, I can't swallow this. I'm going to watch the film tomorrow and dissect it frame by frame to see where exactly Wen Nianshen's 'acting' is. No—I'll dissect it on a livestream and let the masses open their eyes wide and see that Wen Nianshen is nothing but a vase."
"Also, those people might just be water army hired by Wen Nianshen. Across a screen, who knows what kind of monsters and demons they really are."
"Right, it must be Wen Nianshen buying up water army."
In just one night, the internet was once again flooded with people cursing Wen Nianshen. If a random bystander said one good word for Wen Nianshen, they'd be labeled water army, and might even be chased into their DMs and cursed at—every kind of vile thing imaginable.
But no matter how they cursed, the film's box office kept climbing.
"President Jing, it seems to be no use. Director Ruan has always produced quality, well-reviewed films. This time it looks like we've lost. With this Director Ruan involved, no matter how bad Wen Nianshen's acting is, she has ways to make up for it."
Jing Songyuan was rather unwilling to accept it. He raised his head and glanced at the idle Yuan Ye to one side. "Young Master Yuan, your idea failed."
"It's just that the woman Ruan Shen has some ability. Once this momentum passes, Wen Nianshen needn't think she can turn things around with one film. With me here, she'll never be able to turn things around." Yuan Ye stood up and gave a small laugh. "Actually, President Jing ought to do some self-reflection. The reason we couldn't beat the other side this time isn't only because of Ruan Shen—it's also that President Jing's eye seems to have gotten a bit poor. That film of yours—how could it possibly be a match for Ruan Shen?"
"What a waste of my time," Yuan Ye said, his tone thoroughly arrogant, with a hint of looking down on everyone. "If it weren't that I couldn't take down the Wen family on my own, I wouldn't have come to work with President Jing—after all, our goals are too aligned: we both fancy that little white rabbit. I'd thought President Jing would be a worthy opponent, but I never expected you to be so easily defeated. Truly disappointing, this young master must say."
"Wen Nianshen can't be dealt with for now. I have to fly off to see my little Wei-Wei. President Jing still has his messes to clean up, so I won't keep him company."
Needling his rival in love made Yuan Ye quite happy—his own heart had been thoroughly depressed, after all. He'd never once come out the loser, yet time and again he'd lost out to a woman named Wen Nianshen. And with no way to strike back, just thinking about it filled him with unbearable frustration.
Wen Nianshen got a boost in fame from this film, but of course, just as she'd predicted, her reputation didn't change—on the contrary, more and more people online were cursing her.
Just as Wen Nianshen was paying it no mind, a shocking piece of news barged into view. This news spread across the entire web overnight; even when the trending topic was taken down, it couldn't stop the netizens' discussion.
The heir of the Yuan family, Yuan Ye, was dead.
Cause of death: murdered. At present, the investigation was still ongoing.
"Dead?" Wen Nianshen was a little surprised. "And actually murdered, no less. This guy should have bodyguards around him. Most importantly—he was killed in his own villa?" Looking at this news, even she found it hard to believe.
Just then, there was a knock at her door. She opened it to find several officers in uniform standing before her. "Ms. Wen, we suspect you are connected to a murder case. Please come with us to the station to assist with the investigation."
...
Following Yuan Ye's murder, another trending topic shot rapidly to number one.
#WenNianshenIsTheTrueKillerOfTheYuanFamilyHeir#
The vast throng of melon-eating netizens was thrown into shock—even Wen Nianshen's haters didn't believe this. But inside word had already emerged that Yuan Ye's villa had surveillance installed, and the footage recorded the entire process of Wen Nianshen murdering Yuan Ye.
A-Xin was watching that video. In it, Yuan Ye had indeed been killed by Wen Nianshen—that face, that figure, that bearing, every detail done with utter perfection. So perfect it didn't look like the work of a human.