Although punishing Zhang Lingyu had allowed her to vent some anger, the issue of the Weibo hot search still needed to be addressed.
While logging into her account to change the password, Yun Ni pondered her options and realized she was virtually helpless except for letting things take their course.
Delete the Weibo post? Hours had already passed; deleting it now would not only be useless but would more likely provide people with more ammunition against her.
Remove the trending topic? Yun Ni, who only half-understood these digital mechanics, didn’t even know whom to contact.
Returning to the set, she eventually came to a realization. As the saying goes, “blessings and misfortunes are intertwined.” The worse she was blacklisted now, the greater the recognition she would receive once the drama aired. Those currently attacking her would eventually be the ones forced to eat their words.
As soon as she returned, Tao Ningchu spotted her. Glancing around to ensure the manager wasn’t nearby, she whispered, “Sister Yun, how did it go?”
“She resigned,” Yun Ni joked, finding humor in the hardship. “I suppose I’ll have to prepare my own hot water from now on.”
“Resigned?” Tao Ningchu was shocked, then shook her head. “But what about Weibo? Do you need to contact someone at the company to handle it?”
Just as Yun Ni was about to speak, Sister Jin walked over and joined the conversation. “The hot search has been removed.”
Yun Ni and Tao Ningchu looked at each other and then lowered their heads to check their phones. Indeed, the third-ranked trending topic was gone.
“Could it be your PR team?” Tao Ningchu asked.
Yun Ni recalled her situation and shook her head. “I don’t think so.” The team previously assigned to her had long since moved on to other artists; why would they suddenly reappear for no reason?
Suddenly, a figure flashed through Yun Ni’s mind, but she quickly dismissed it. Armed with the original owner’s memories, she knew their relationship wasn’t as good as rumors suggested—it was strictly superior and subordinate. Most importantly, that person disliked her so much; why would she lend a helping hand?
Seeing her distress, Tao Ningchu comforted her: “Maybe it was the company’s PR. After all, Sister Yun, you are a signed artist. You represent the company’s image. If you are insulted, it reflects poorly on them, so they stepped in.”
This reason wasn’t very convincing—even Tao Ningchu didn’t quite believe it—but for now, Yun Ni couldn’t think of any other explanation, so she simply nodded.
Tao Ningchu’s eyes darted around before she pulled Yun Ni down to sit. “It’s late, let’s just eat.”
Yun Ni agreed.
But just as she picked up her chopsticks, her phone rang from an unknown number. After a thought, she didn’t answer and declined the call.
When it rang a second time, Yun Ni hesitated, but by the time she decided to pick up, the call disconnected.
The caller was clearly petty. They proceeded to call several times in a row, each time hanging up after barely two seconds, then calling again and hanging up again.
Seeing her staring at her phone, Tao Ningchu asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”
“Encountered someone who is either bored or has a problem in the head.” Yun Ni simply set her phone to silent and tucked it away, letting the person play their game alone.
Once she finished eating, she checked her phone and found a total of twenty missed calls.
Yun Ni: “…”
Tao Ningchu was right beside her. Seeing her expression, she leaned over to look and let out a surprised “Eh?” “That number looks familiar.”
Yun Ni tilted her head. “Do you know who it belongs to?”
“Let me search.” Tao Ningchu opened her contact list, muttering as she typed in the first few digits. “I mainly remember the last four digits, 4567, but I forgot exactly who it is.”
After she entered the numbers, a name quickly appeared.
Seeing the name, both of them fell into a stunned silence.
“No way.”
Tao Ningchu deleted the digits and re-entered the full eleven-digit number, but the result remained the same—Lin Zijin.
Yun Ni’s calm expression gradually froze.
If those calls really were from Lin Zijin, then the removal of the Weibo topic was almost certainly her doing.
But… she had declined the CEO’s calls and seemingly provoked her to the point where she made twenty calls just to vent her anger?
Just then, her screen lit up again. Looking down, it was another unfamiliar number.
This time, Yun Ni answered. She tilted her head and gave a soft “Hello?”, but the other side remained as silent as a grave.
Just as she suspected it was a prank call and was about to hang up, a thought occurred to her. She asked tentatively, “President Lin?”
“Mm, it’s me.” The voice was cold and indifferent, deep with a hint of hoarseness, sounding a bit muffled as if something was blocking her throat.
Those three words successfully stopped Yun Ni from hanging up.
“President Lin,” she greeted, then asked, “Was that number 15*****4567 yours just now?”
The phone fell into silence again.
After a long pause, the other end spoke: “It wasn’t me. You’re mistaken. I wouldn’t do something so childish.”
Yun Ni laughed silently, making sure the person on the other end didn’t hear a sound.
If it wasn’t her, how did she know the caller had been “childish” enough to call twenty times?
To save her boss’s pride, she didn’t point out the glaring flaw in the statement and changed the subject: “President Lin, did you need something?”
She was met with another stretch of dead silence.
Yun Ni had to speak up: “Thank you for your help, President Lin.”
“Mm.” This time, the reply was quick. “But don’t overthink it. I didn’t do it for you. It was for the sake of the drama and the company’s image.”
“I understand.” Yun Ni naturally wouldn’t let herself be narcissistic, but regardless, the woman had indirectly helped her, and she noted the favor in her heart.
The moment she finished speaking, she heard the “beep-beep-beep” of a disconnected line.
Removing the phone from her ear, Yun Ni vaguely sensed a deeper meaning behind the way the call was ended.
From their brief interactions, this person, while a bit narcissistic, wasn’t a petty individual. She wouldn’t hang up so rudely without a reason.
Could it be—she was dissatisfied with the answer? But she told Yun Ni not to overthink it, and Yun Ni said she understood. Wasn’t that exactly what she wanted?
A spark of insight hit Yun Ni—Could it be she wanted me to disagree?
“Sister Yun, what happened?” Tao Ningchu asked softly, seeing her brow furrowed as if contemplating a grave matter. “Did President Lin scold you?”
“No, she just said the hot search was removed to save the company’s face.” Yun Ni smiled and put away her phone. “Let’s get back to eating.”
Tao Ningchu still found it strange. Even to notify Yun Ni, there was no need for Lin Zijin to call personally; any employee would have sufficed. But seeing that Yun Ni appeared normal, she suppressed the doubt.
On the other side, after hanging up, Lin Zijin exited to her home screen. Seeing the wallpaper, she frowned again and tossed the phone onto the desk. Her lips were pressed tight, projecting an aura of “I’m extremely annoyed” and “Do not disturb.”
“That’s my phone, cousin. Could you be a bit more careful?”
There was another person in the office—Lin Huaihan, whom Yun Ni had met recently. She carefully picked up her phone and grumbled softly, “Cousin, why didn’t you mention it was my credit?”
“What credit? Didn’t you just run in here to tell me about it and then sit there playing games all morning?” Lin Zijin tapped the mountain of folders next to her. The more she thought about it, the more she regretted wasting time on someone irrelevant. “I still have all these files to review. That is indeed your ‘credit’.”
Lin Huaihan rubbed her nose sheepishly. “She’s your artist anyway. Helping her out isn’t too much to ask, right?” She stepped forward to massage Lin Zijin’s shoulders playfully. “My cousin is the best person in the world.”
Lin Zijin brushed off the hands that felt like they could crush bone. “Flattery won’t work. You must go home for Grandmother’s birthday this weekend.”
Lin Huaihan’s face instantly collapsed into a grimace.
“You’re an adult. Threatening to run away because your parents are divorcing is tedious.” Lin Zijin waved her off and lowered her head to the documents.
Seeing the dismissal, Lin Huaihan tapped the desk. “Cousin, let’s make a deal.”
“No deals.” Lin Zijin didn’t look up. “If you don’t go home this weekend, I will personally have you bound and delivered to our grandparents.”
Lin Huaihan didn’t doubt her for a second. When a younger cousin had tried to run away before, Lin Zijin had done exactly that. In the Lin family, the children didn’t fear their parents as much as they feared Lin Zijin—the cousin who had been brilliant since childhood but possessed an eccentric and cold temperament.
Even Lin Huaihan’s current “escape” had only succeeded because Lin Zijin allowed it.
She smiled and said, “I’m definitely going back for the birthday. But whether I stay is another matter.”
Lin Zijin caught her drift. “What’s the request?”
“Isn’t Sister Yun Ni your artist? Why don’t you introduce us?” Lin Huaihan grinned. “I want to treat her to dinner, and—” Before she could finish, she saw Lin Zijin’s expression turn ice-cold, more terrifying than her usual emotionless face. She instinctively fell silent.
“She’s off-limits.” Lin Zijin set down her files and crossed her arms. “I forgot to ask, why did you suddenly come here to tell me to handle this?”
“Because I fell in love with Sister Yun Ni at first sight!” Lin Huaihan swiped her phone screen to reveal her wallpaper—a photo of her and Yun Ni. In the photo, Yun Ni had a slight curve to her lips, and perhaps due to the heat, a drop of sweat was sliding down near her eye. Her “peach blossom” eyes looked almost as if they were glistening with tears, making one’s heart ache and be mesmerized at the same time.
Lin Zijin hadn’t looked closely before. Now, looking at the photo, she felt that smile overlapped with a smile tucked deep in her own memory. A strange flicker crossed her eyes.
Lin Huaihan tucked her phone away, her smile deepening. “Who wouldn’t love someone so beautiful?”
Hearing this, Lin Zijin’s brow twitched, and she blurted out without thinking: “Her acting is terrible.”
Lin Huaihan countered: “But she’s beautiful.”
Lin Zijin: “She—”
“Being beautiful is enough,” Lin Huaihan interrupted. “Cousin, I am a superficial person who only cares about looks.”
Lin Zijin: “…”
After a long pause, Lin Zijin finally spoke: “She’s an artist. She isn’t allowed to date.”
Lin Huaihan gave her a strange look. “Cousin, don’t you like Sister Yun Ni?”
“I don’t.” Lin Zijin frowned imperceptibly. “I already have someone I like.”
Before Lin Huaihan could ask more, she waved her hand. “Get out. I need to get back to work.”
Lin Huaihan nodded, thanked her, and left.