“Bang—”
A dull thud, followed by a burst of pain. Yan Zhen had only just transmigrated[1]In Chinese web fiction, transmigration involves a person’s consciousness or soul entering another body or world. Here, Yan Zhen has entered someone else’s body. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3740787_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3740787_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); into this body, and she was already reeling.
All she had to do was endure a tribulation of love[2]In Chinese fantasy, a tribulation is a supernatural ordeal or test. A tribulation of love concerns romantic attachments, though this story has not yet specified its rules. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3740787_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3740787_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Did it really have to be this miserable?
Her parents had kicked her down to the mortal realm[3]In Chinese fantasy, the world inhabited by ordinary humans, often contrasted with the realms of immortals or other supernatural beings. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3740787_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3740787_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, fine—but did she have to land headfirst, too?
I’m so freaking done!
“Medical team, hurry! Yan Zhen slipped on a banana peel and passed out!”
……
Yan Zhen was jolted awake by her phone’s notification chime. When she picked it up, she saw that she was trending yet again.
#BestActorGuCheatedWithYanZhen#
#YanZhenKnowinglyBecameTheMistress#
#YanZhensExBoyfriendsCouldCircleTheEarthSeveralTimes#
#BoycottYanZhenOnHowOldIsTheLittleCub#
#SRTerminatesYanZhensNewSeasonEndorsement#
【Unbelievable. Why is Yan Zhen on every variety show? Can this clout-chasing freak just go away?】
【Why does a nobody like Yan Zhen, who knowingly gets involved with married men, keep showing up in public?】
【Serves her right! That man-collecting, serial-dating homewrecker doesn’t deserve to endorse a beauty brand like SR, which is all about youthful beauty! Boycott Yan Zhen!】
【I’m not a fan of anyone, but wasn’t the woman in those leaked photos supposed to be that actress surnamed Lin? Why did Yan Zhen suddenly get blasted across the internet as the mistress? That came out of nowhere!】
【To the person above: You’ve got guts, saying that out loud. The fairy’s fans are going to come for you!】
【What’s wrong with you? Go after Yan the Slut all you want, but why drag our Lin Qiang into this?】
【Those trolls outing themselves are hilarious!】
……
Yan Zhen had only skimmed the comments, but she was already beside herself.
The original owner, who shared her name, had had a pretty miserable time of it!
She’d been a complete sucker for good-looking people. There were countless gorgeous people in the world, and half of them seemed to be in show business, so naturally she’d become a fan.
She’d even fallen out with her family and given up her status as the beloved little princess of the capital’s elite circle[4]An informal description of wealthy, influential, or well-connected families in the capital; it is not an official rank or title. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3740787_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3740787_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, entering show business just so she could get closer to the celebrities she liked.
She had plenty of favorites, always cheering on this “gege”[5]Gege means “older brother” in Chinese and is also used affectionately for male celebrities. “Giegie” imitates a playful, cutesy pronunciation. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3740787_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3740787_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); on Weibo[6]A major Chinese social-media platform used for public posts, celebrity news, fan discussions, and trending topics. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3740787_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3740787_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); and crowdfunding an album for that “giegie”…
It was perfectly ordinary fan behavior, but marketing accounts[7]Chinese social-media accounts that promote or amplify topics for publicity, sometimes including celebrity rumors and orchestrated criticism. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3740787_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3740787_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); had twisted it into a story about her being a “player,” a “man-collecting queen,” and a “playgirl.”
And this time, they’d gone even further. The buzz around her “whirlwind romance” with some obscure idol had barely died down when she got dragged into a top actor’s cheating scandal and branded a homewrecker everyone loved to hate.
Even her endorsement deal with SR, the international beauty brand, had been terminated over the scandal. She’d earned it through her own efforts, auditioning and filming to beat out a whole group of up-and-coming actresses.
And on top of all that, she’d been ambushed by the actor’s fans, pelted with eggs, and then slipped on a banana peel and hit the ground face-first!
Yan Zhen: “……”
What kind of rotten luck did the original owner have?
She’d had the trump card of being the adored little princess of the capital’s elite, yet she’d still been smeared as some kind of promiscuous man-eater!?
She was a nine-tailed immortal fox[8]The nine-tailed fox is a supernatural creature found in Chinese folklore and mythology. Its abilities and significance vary between stories. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3740787_1_8').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3740787_1_8', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, for heaven’s sake. Even if she had to undergo a tribulation, she ought to have handsome men begging her to bestow her favor on them!
How had she ended up in the human world as the most hated woman on the internet? Being branded a man-collecting playgirl was bad enough—now they were trying to pin the filthy label of “mistress” on her, too? What kind of hellish battlefield had she landed in? This wasn’t a tribulation of love—it was enough to send her straight to the afterlife!
Yan Zhen touched her forehead. Her head was wrapped in gauze, and she was still dizzy.
I’m really going to lose it!
Her phone rang just then. She glanced at the number. It was unfamiliar.
She hung up, but the caller immediately tried again, refusing to give up.
Yan Zhen answered with a frosty expression. A woman’s voice came through. “Yan Zhen, never thought you’d see this day, did you?”
“Who is this?”
“I can’t believe you’re this shameless. You’ve become a playgirl, a promiscuous man-collector, and you can still stay in this industry? Now everyone hates you as a homewrecker. Let’s see how you manage to bounce back!”
Yan Zhen thought the woman was crazy. She’d asked who she was, and the woman still hadn’t said. She just kept yapping. Frowning, Yan Zhen said, “If you’ve got the guts, tell me your name. What’s the point of playing games behind my back?”
“So what if I’m playing games? It works! Why do you think all those marketing accounts keep targeting a washed-up nobody like you? Your opportunities keep getting snatched away, one after another, and other people get to take them instead. You think that’s all a coincidence?!”
“So who are you, then? What do you want? You just said I’m a nobody. How am I in your way?”
“You should’ve stayed a rich young lady instead of coming here and going after my man! Yan Zhen, you’re not bouncing back this time. I’ll ruin you! I’ll make sure you’re branded a homewrecker for the rest of your life, with no chance of ever getting back on your feet!”
With that, the woman laughed and hung up.
Yan Zhen: “……”
The voice, distorted by a voice changer, was sharp and grating. Yan Zhen frowned.
Was the entertainment industry full of lunatics? What else could this woman be but crazy?
And she’d gone after her man?
Then say who your man is! Even if you’re declaring war on me, the least you could do is tell me who the hell you are!
Psychopath!
No wonder the original owner had been targeted and milked for all she was worth just for following celebrities. Even the most aggressive marketing accounts couldn’t explain why her opportunities kept going to someone else, one after another.
So someone had been sabotaging her behind the scenes!
Her phone rang again. Yan Zhen was about to answer and tear into the caller, but saw that it was her agent, Mu Wen.
“Yan Zhen, I’m on my way to the hospital. You have to keep your cool. Don’t respond to Gu Zhao’s wife’s provocation on Weibo!”
“I—”
“Wait until I get there before we discuss anything!”
Seriously!
Couldn’t she let Yan Zhen get a word in?
Still, from Mu Wen’s hurried words, Yan Zhen managed to pick up a few clues.
She opened Weibo again. The sheer number of @ mentions nearly froze her phone.
Yan Zhen took a moment to steady herself, then realized almost all the mentions came from fans of Gu Zhao and his mistress, Lin Qiang.
And from the people Gu Zhao’s wife—his childhood sweetheart—had rallied to attack her.
The “Yan Zhen knowingly became the mistress” scandal had been trending for half a day. Naturally, the man’s wife wasn’t going to miss out on the drama.
Sure enough, five minutes ago she’d posted this:
【Madam Gu V[9]The “V” indicates a verified Weibo account, rather than being part of the account holder’s name. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3740787_1_9').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3740787_1_9', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });】: Some shameless little tramp is so desperate for a man that she’ll throw herself at my husband and still get rejected! She chased him all the way to a hotel, just to leech off his fame! Have you no shame? Yes, I’m talking about you, you homewrecking slut! Come out and take your punishment! Get out of the entertainment industry! @YanZhenV
The person at the center of the scandal had spoken, directly @-ing Yan Zhen and setting off a storm of abuse.
Yan Zhen was naturally being torn to shreds. Fan groups led by major fan accounts had also started trending hashtags like #YanZhenGetOutOfTheEntertainmentIndustry and #WifeConfirmsYanZhenIsTheMistress.
Yan Zhen looked at the comment section on her Weibo page. It was a cesspool of abuse. Any comment that was even slightly neutral got labeled as coming from one of her fans, or dismissed as a marketing account trying to whitewash her.
The insults were vicious, and some even dragged her family into it.
In just a few minutes, another wave of frenzied abuse and @ mentions came crashing in.
This time, it was because the actual mistress, Lin Qiang, had posted a long statement.
【Lin Qiang V】: Since yesterday, I don’t know which marketing account started this, but they’ve been making insinuations and pushing me into the role of “mistress.” I’ve been abused for a day and a night. Now that the truth has finally come out, I can finally speak up.
It’s true that Actor Gu and I went in and out of that hotel together, but that was half a year ago. They’re using photos taken back when we stayed at a hotel arranged by the crew of the film we worked on together to fabricate baseless rumors and smear me. It’s just too much!
Thankfully, the fans who have always supported me stayed by my side through a difficult night. I love you all! I hope no one ever tries to smear me like this again. Those with truly questionable character should know better than to drag me down and push me out front to take the fall. If you’re going to be a mistress, at least have the guts to admit it.
Lin Qiang’s long post was packed with information.
She admitted that she and Actor Gu had stayed at the hotel, denied being the other woman, promoted her new movie, and took a few pointed shots at Yan Zhen.
The whole performance infuriated Yan Zhen.
First that random woman calling to provoke her, then Madam Gu and Lin Qiang acting out their little duet. What was this supposed to be? Did they really think she was an easy target?
All the original owner had done was follow celebrities, and look what they’d done to her!
Yan Zhen had never been able to stomach the slightest injustice. Now that she’d become this pitiful young woman, brought low by scheming and slander, the injustice felt a hundred—even ten thousand—times more personal. She could no longer sit still.
She’d been gritting her teeth and holding back, following Mu Wen’s advice not to speak up or respond.
But that had been useless. She was willing to take a step back, but the others weren’t about to let her have any peace.
She lowered her head and searched through the photos on her phone.
They wanted a fight, huh?
Fine! Let’s fight!
Yan Zhen kept tapping away at her phone, fingers flying over the screen as she composed a Weibo post.
Before long, Yan Zhen’s own long post was up.
References[+]