23 – Prоud Whitе Swаn
Whеn thе аgеnt recеivеd Jiаng Zhi’s саll, her facе lit uр with a smile.
“Хiao Zhi, whаt’s uр?”
Jiаng Zhi sроkе in a соquеttish, sugаry tonе: “Sister Minmin, can уоu do mе а fаvоr?”
Тhe соmрany Jiаng Zhi wаs signed tо was essentiаlly а small workshoр. Nonе of thе аrtists under Sister Мin’s managemеnt hаd еvеr reallу tаkеn оff. Now that оne оf her artists wаs finally mаking it big, Sister Min nаturally had tо trеаt her with kid glоvеs.
She immediatеly rерlied with a сheerful lаugh: “Whatеvеr it is, just tеll me. If Sistеr Min cаn do it, I’ll definitеlу hеlp you.”
Hearing this, a smile сurlеd at the cornеr оf Jiang Zhi’s lips.
She dеlibеrately checked her surroundings to make sure no one was nearby, then lowered her voice to explain her intentions to Sister Min.
The other end didn’t respond immediately.
Jiang Zhi grew impatient: “Can’t you do it?”
Sister Min hesitated: “Xiao Zhi, look, it’s not that Sister Min doesn’t want to help you. You know Jiang Ning’s status in the entertainment industry, and besides, that girl has deep connections. We’re just a small workshop. Even though you’re popular now, picking a fight with a wealthy heiress like that isn’t very wise.”
Sister Min might as well have outright said Jiang Zhi was no match for Jiang Ning.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhi’s eyes turned cold.
“Alright, I understand.” She hung up the phone expressionlessly.
Xu Min was no fool either. Pretending not to notice Jiang Zhi’s impatience, she rolled her eyes in exasperation after the call ended: “Hah, a small-time celebrity with no background, just starting to make a splash, and she dares to provoke a top-tier star in the industry. How delusional.”
Furious that Xu Min wouldn’t listen to her, Jiang Zhi threw her phone to the ground.
The phone bounced a few times before landing face-up.
Just then, Ye Chen called.
Instantly shedding her earlier gloomy expression, Jiang Zhi quickly picked up the phone and answered with a blissful look on her face.
“Provocative” aired from Monday to Friday.
Three episodes aired on Monday, with two episodes each on the remaining days.
It was only Friday, but Jiang Zhi’s fan count had already surged from ten million to fifteen million—an explosive growth in popularity.
As everyone knew, among less popular celebrities, out of ten million fans, perhaps nine million were bought, not genuine followers.
In less than a week, her fan count had skyrocketed by over five million. Such a frenzied pace made others both envious and jealous.
And the drama hadn’t even finished airing yet.
What would happen once it did?
For a time, Jiang Zhi’s star was on the rise. Film offers poured in, and fans quickly organized support teams.
The top trending searches were all about Jiang Zhi.
Looking at her rapidly growing fan count, Jiang Zhi smiled smugly.
She believed it wouldn’t be long before she surpassed Jiang Ning’s status in the entertainment industry.
The most familiar scenario in the entertainment industry was undoubtedly the exposure of scandals when someone became wildly popular.
There were plenty of people jealous of Jiang Zhi.
So, for a time, scandals about Jiang Zhi began to spread everywhere.
Trolls seized on previous topics, using Jiang Ning’s performance in “Happy Journey” to criticize Jiang Zhi, accusing her of being a suspected homewrecker who had sabotaged Ye Chen and Jiang Ning’s relationship.
Although there was no evidence, people couldn’t help but scrutinize everything under a magnifying glass.
The situation exploded completely on Friday night.
The reason was that in the first half of “Provocative,” the male and female leads were still in the ambiguous stage, with few intimate scenes.
In the final episode aired on Friday, the intimate scenes arrived all at once.In the plot, Jiang Zhi was pushed into the swimming pool, leaving her completely soaked. Ye Chen, the award-winning actor known for his integrity and for refusing kissing scenes for Jiang Ning’s sake, actually contributed his on-screen first kiss in this drama.
Having been in the industry for seven or eight years, he had boldly rejected kissing scenes even as a newcomer, which limited his acting opportunities. Now, after achieving fame and no longer needing to cater to anyone, huh? He actually accepted a kissing scene.
How could this not make people ponder?
And it was such an intimate, passionate kissing scene at that.
In short, the audience was thrilled.
Previously, many people had boldly shipped Jiang Zhi and Ye Chen because it was all fake—just for fun.
But after sensing something off, they could no longer in good conscience continue shipping them, as their principles and moral compass remained intact.
The key was that this episode didn’t just have one kissing scene.
There were two in total.
One by the pool, and one on the bed, which was just…
For a moment, everyone was speechless…
Coupled with various analyses from marketing accounts, viewers began to suspect that Jiang Ning had truly been cheated on.
“Happy Journey” had previously adopted a full live-streaming format.
With live streams lasting over ten hours, only die-hard fans with nothing better to do had the patience to watch the entire thing.
Thus, everyone eagerly awaited the edited version highlighting the most exciting moments.
The director of “Happy Journey” was adept at riding the wave of popularity. Just as the online debate was heating up, the official account seized the opportunity to promote the show again. Tomorrow was Saturday, and the episode would premiere at 8 p.m.
Now, Jiang Zhi’s fans were already clashing with Jiang Ning’s fans.
However, due to Jiang Ning’s public relations management, her fans generally behaved properly, not provoking conflicts unless the other side crossed the line, in which case they would respond with a few words.
For a while, casual observers had adopted a detached attitude, enjoying the drama from the sidelines. But due to the aggressive behavior of some fans, whatever goodwill they had toward Jiang Zhi quickly vanished.
Jiang Zhi’s Weibo followers had been skyrocketing daily, and she was overjoyed. However, when she opened Weibo today, the seventh trending topic actually accused her of being a third party, meddling in someone else’s relationship!
Meddling?
Jiang Zhi’s face twisted in anger. How was she meddling?
She and Ye Chen were the real deal. Ye Chen didn’t love Jiang Ning at all—Jiang Ning was the third party.
If it weren’t for Jiang Ning occupying the position of Ye Chen’s fiancée, she wouldn’t have had to sneak around with Brother Chen.
Clicking into the trending topic and seeing those harsh comments, Jiang Zhi couldn’t hold back. She switched to her alternate account, logged in, and quickly replied to those calling her a third party: “Jiang Ning is the third party. Jiang Zhi and Ye Chen are true love.”
Jiang Zhi just wanted to vent her anger, but her confident, explosive tone inadvertently stirred up a storm. The comment was immediately pushed to the top, frightening her into logging off.
Panicked, Jiang Zhi immediately contacted Ye Chen.
When Ye Chen received Jiang Zhi’s call, he wasn’t as happy as before. Online, he was being criticized and condemned for his overly intimate scenes with Jiang Zhi.
It’s normal for actors to do kissing scenes—it’s part of the job.
The problem was that he already had a fiancée.
Moreover, from the start of his career until now, he had always maintained the persona of doting on his fiancée, refusing kissing scenes for Jiang Ning’s sake—a statement he had made during a journalist interview.
That was the first issue.
The second was that Jiang Ning held too high a status in the industry, and she had more fans than he did.Moreover, for his sake, Jiang Ning had always maintained her integrity. A significant portion of his fanbase consisted of fans who shipped him with Jiang Ning, constantly moving between both sides.
When he took on this drama, he hadn’t thought too much about it.
Because he loved Jiang Zhi, he had also prepared for the possibility of backlash. He planned to discuss it with Jiang Ning, saying they had broken up a year ago.
He understood Jiang Ning—a proud white swan, the epitome of an elegant lady. As long as he made it clear that he had fallen for Jiang Zhi, she wouldn’t cling stubbornly. She would end things gracefully.