24 – Joint Dеsign
Yеt it hаd bееn disсоvered рrеmаturеlу by Jiang Ning, eхрosing his intimaсy with Jiang Zhi.
Nоw, Jiаng Ning still rеfusеd tо аnswer his саlls—hоw сould she рossibly agreе tо cоореrаte with him?
Nоw, thе situаtion was сlеar: Jiаng Ning remained sсandаl-free, while hе was thе onе fаcing troublе at this criticаl mоmеnt.
Нis phonе kерt ringing with thе speсial ringtоne Jiang Zhi hаd set for him, аnd Ye Chеn felt increаsinglу irritаble.
Вut in thе end, he still answеred thе сall.
“Hеy, Xiаo Zhi, whаt’s wrоng?”
Jiаng Zhi detеcted thе wearinеss in his tоnе, and being skilled at acting coquеttish, hеr voice instantlу tоok on a tеаrful edge: “Brother Chen, what should I do? Everyone online is saying I interfered in your engagement with Sister Jiang Ning. They’re calling me the other woman.”
Ye Chen was already in a foul mood, and hearing her tearful voice only made it harder for him to control his emotions.
To be fair, what the internet was saying wasn’t entirely wrong.
If it came down to it, she really was the other woman.
But Ye Chen wouldn’t go so far as to hurt Jiang Zhi with such words.
He replied impatiently, “Don’t worry, it’s just an issue with the drama. As long as we insist it was just for work, there won’t be a problem. We’ll both post a Weibo update at the same time.”
“What kind of update?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll send you the content.”
Sensing Ye Chen’s reluctance to continue the conversation, Jiang Zhi wisely ended the call. Before hanging up, she thoughtfully added, “Brother Chen, I’m sorry for dragging you into this controversy. Don’t worry, if things continue to worsen, I’ll handle everything.”
Her words, filled with concern and self-blame, stirred a sense of guilt in Ye Chen’s heart. He realized he had been too harsh.
Ye Chen tried calling Jiang Ning again.
Jiang Ning was currently lying in bed, reading scripts.
Yes, she was planning to enter the entertainment industry.
After browsing through them, she suddenly realized that most of the scripts were quite mediocre. The only role that caught her eye was the antagonist in “Hidden.”
Hmm…
Knowing the plot, Jiang Ning understood that Gu Chi was certain to be cast as the male lead in “Hidden.”
So, playing the antagonist alongside him didn’t seem like a bad idea, did it?
Hearing the familiar ringtone, Jiang Ning frowned as she glanced at her phone screen.
Ye Chen’s name flashed repeatedly.
Remembering the follow-up project for “Happy Journey,” Jiang Ning smiled and picked up her phone, changing the ringtone to the unaltered version of “Unchanged”—a song she had originally written for Ye Chen.
She also changed his contact name.
A Husband…
It felt a bit nauseating, and Jiang Ning was already starting to feel sick.
Forget it, forget it. Even if she was planning to set Ye Chen up, she absolutely couldn’t use such a disgusting nickname.
After some thought, Jiang Ning reluctantly settled on another name—still unpleasant but slightly more tolerable.
A Brother Chen.
After making these changes, Ye Chen shamelessly called again.
Jiang Ning simply turned off her phone.
Even hearing his voice disgusted her.
With Jiang Ning refusing to answer, Ye Chen felt helpless, assuming she was heartbroken over him. For a moment, he felt a pang of remorse.
But he didn’t believe he had done anything wrong. After all, there was no love between them. He loved Jiang Zhi, and that wasn’t a mistake.
With the plan of getting Jiang Ning to cooperate in his lie now impossible, Ye Chen had no choice but to pursue another approach.
So, he drafted the Weibo content and sent it to Jiang Zhi, instructing her to post it first.
After reading it and confirming there were no issues, Jiang Zhi posted the content without hesitation.Jiang Zhi V: Thank you all for your support and oversight. Due to the success of “Provocation,” some unpleasant topics have inevitably arisen. Here, I’d like to clarify: the intimate scenes in “Provocation” were initially something Brother Chen firmly refused to agree to. Kiss scenes are part of an actor’s professional responsibility—once we take on a role, we must be prepared to dedicate ourselves to the art. It was only after the director’s repeated persuasion that Brother Chen agreed. Additionally, I’d like to mention that I also really like Sister Jiang Ning and am not a third party. I hope everyone can distinguish between the drama and reality.
Not long after, Ye Chen posted another Weibo update.
Ye Chen V: Before filming the kiss scene, I sought Ningning’s consent.
As always, a simple explanation.
With his statement, most fans felt reassured.
Still, many couldn’t help but marvel at how open-minded celebrities in the entertainment industry could be, agreeing to such things.
Of course, since the person involved had given their consent, netizens had no choice but to back down.
However, netizens’ resistance to Jiang Zhi’s Weibo post was quite evident.
Observant netizens had already identified the issue, and their comments were pushed to the top of the trending discussions.
“So here’s the question: while kiss scenes are indeed part of an actor’s professional responsibility, didn’t Ye Chen understand this before? He used to handle it perfectly—refusing scripts and roles with kiss scenes from the very beginning. That way, he upheld his so-called professional integrity while remaining faithful to Jiang Ning. Hmm… the more you think about it, the more unsettling it becomes…”
Netizens flooded the comments section in support.
Jiang Zhi’s fans were nearly overwhelmed, while Ye Chen’s fans remained steadfast, largely due to the significant gap in their fanbase sizes.
Nevertheless, compared to before, netizens were slightly gentler toward Jiang Zhi this time, with the majority of criticism directed at Ye Chen.
Most rational netizens also pointed out:
At most, this incident suggested that Ye Chen might have changed his feelings. It was unreasonable to label Jiang Zhi as a homewrecker just because of a drama.
Accusations of Jiang Zhi being a third party stemmed from speculation based on clips from “Happy Journey.”
Of course, some people also developed minor grievances toward Jiang Ning because of Ye Chen’s explanation.
Since she had already agreed to Ye Chen filming the kiss scene, why didn’t she step forward to clarify things, especially when everyone was discussing it?
Seeing Ye Chen’s Weibo post, Gu Chi thought he had already communicated with Jiang Ning and asked her to cooperate with the situation. His emotions instantly became complicated and difficult to articulate.
Had she softened toward him again?
The curtains in the room were drawn, casting a dim light. The man lowered his head, his disheveled bangs obscuring the darkness in his eyes.
His fingers slowly reached for his phone, and Gu Chi opened his WeChat chat window with Jiang Ning.
He typed and deleted several times, his knuckles turning white from the force.
Jiang Ning happened to have something to discuss with Gu Chi. As soon as she opened the chat window, she saw the repeated notification: “The other party is typing…” She waited for a few minutes but received no message.
Jiang Ning: “?”
What’s going on?
After waiting a while longer, there was still no message, but the other party continued to show as typing. Unable to wait any longer, Jiang Ning sighed helplessly and took the initiative to ask him.
“What did you want to say?”
A soft “whoosh” sound effect, though not loud, nearly caused Gu Chi’s phone to slip from his hand.
He stared in disbelief at the few short words in the chat window, his heart uncontrollably surging with emotion.
Shijie had reached out to him!
His eyes sparkled brightly, the earlier darkness seeming like nothing more than an illusion.
Overwhelmed with excitement, Gu Chi momentarily found himself at a loss for words.Her fingers trembled several times, but in the end, she followed her heart and asked about Ye Chen.
“Did you agree to cooperate with Ye Chen?”
The current online sentiment was clearly unfavorable toward Ye Chen, but due to his explanation, the tide was beginning to turn.
Jiang Ning was filled with confusion.
“What did I cooperate with him on?”
She had not agreed!
Gu Chi couldn’t hide the joy in his heart, but then, thinking of how Ye Chen had used Jiang Ning, his eyes instantly darkened.