“Film Emperor Lu,” “Rumors,” “Lover”
The online criticism and abusive rhetoric grew increasingly intense, with all sorts of baseless rumors emerging one after another.
Some claimed that Lin Shen, as someone who couldn’t even touch the edge of the eighteenth tier, had secured the role of the third male lead in Director Jiang’s production through improper means. Others said Lin Shen engaged in various publicity stunts and hype-chasing to become famous. The matter of the Chi Yun endorsement had already been twisted from white to black, with netizens accusing Lin Shen of resorting to any means necessary to attract attention and self-promote.
Consumers who had purchased from Chiyun because of Lin Shen’s endorsement were now either tagging him or leaving comments under his and Chiyun’s official posts, angrily demanding compensation.
The opportunity for Lin Shen to endorse Chiyun had been rare in the first place. Now, with such an incident occurring, Chiyun would inevitably contact Lin Shen to demand compensation for the damage to their brand’s reputation.
If things escalated further, no endorsement deals would come Lin Shen’s way in the future, and good scripts would never reach him.
His acting career would suffer a significant blow and impact.
As the situation spiraled further out of control, Lin Shen forced himself to stay calm. Gripping his phone, he said to Lu Jing, “I’ll call Brother Huang to discuss how to handle this.”
Lu Jing seemed lost in thought. After a pause, he replied, “Alright.”
Lin Shen walked to the side with his phone and dialed Brother Huang’s number.
Brother Huang’s voice came through the receiver: “Lin Shen, things are getting more complicated. Someone is fabricating rumors and deliberately releasing some baseless ‘scandals’ about you.”
Lin Shen hadn’t been constantly monitoring the online comments and wasn’t entirely clear about the current direction of events. “What are they saying?”
Brother Huang: “They’re saying you’ve never been popular and wanted to take shortcuts by cozying up to Lu Jing. Someone leaked a photo of you shaking hands with Lu Jing on set, claiming you walked up to him to introduce yourself just to get his attention.”
Brother Huang’s voice softened slightly: “…What’s going on? Why were you so close to Lu Jing?”
Lin Shen offered no further explanation, simply saying, “It’s not like what’s being said online. I didn’t deliberately approach Lu Jing.”
There wasn’t even a second of hesitation on the other end of the line: “I knew it! They start with a single photo and make up the rest!”
Lin Shen was deeply grateful for Brother Huang’s unconditional trust. Since his debut, Brother Huang had consistently helped and encouraged him.
But now wasn’t the time for such sentiments. Lin Shen asked, “Can we find out who’s behind this?”
After a moment of silence, Brother Huang’s slightly weary voice came through: “We can’t trace it.”
Lin Shen was stunned. As a minor actor who had gone unnoticed since his debut, although he had recently had some luck landing a decent endorsement and role, the popularity from the endorsement was only within a normal range—far from making him an overnight sensation. As for his supporting role, filming hadn’t even finished yet, and no one could predict its reception after airing.
His existence hardly posed a threat to anyone, so why would someone go to such lengths to tarnish his public image?
Brother Huang’s voice interrupted Lin Shen’s thoughts: “Lin Shen, think carefully. Have you offended any influential figures recently?”
Brother Huang had clearly guessed that the mastermind behind this wasn’t some small fry.
Lin Shen recalled everything since joining the crew. The person he had clashed with the most was Wang Yilin, but Wang Yilin didn’t seem like a major figure. Could someone be backing him?
Even so, releasing such widespread “scandals” about Lin Shen over such minor conflicts, even dragging Lu Jing into it, seemed like a massive overreaction no matter how you looked at it.
Lin Shen racked his brain, carefully reviewing every day from when he woke up in bed after losing his memory to his time on set. He truly couldn’t recall offending any influential figures.
Could it have happened before he lost his memory?
It’s not impossible, but Lin Shen couldn’t directly tell Brother Huang about his amnesia. In the end, he could only say, “I’m not sure either, but from the time of shooting the Chiyun advertisement until now, I probably haven’t offended anyone.”
Brother Huang was puzzled, “Why start from the day of the advertisement shoot? What about before that?”
Lin Shen sighed. Of course, it was because that day was the first day he remembered after losing his memory.
But he certainly couldn’t answer Brother Huang like that.
“I’ve met fewer people since that day, so I remember things more clearly.”
Brother Huang: ??
Brother Huang: What kind of ridiculous reason is that?
Fortunately, Brother Huang was already used to Lin Shen’s evasions. He figured Lin Shen had been too busy lately and genuinely couldn’t recall things from earlier.
“Alright then, just be more careful recently. Focus on your work for now and avoid reading online comments so you don’t get affected.”
Lin Shen replied, “Okay.”
After hanging up, Lin Shen returned to sit beside Lu Jing.
Lu Jing asked, “How did it go?”
Lin Shen shook his head, “The company can’t do much for now. They can’t figure out who’s spreading the rumors, and the PR efforts have had minimal effect.”
A cloud of doubt weighed on Lin Shen’s mind. Unable to make sense of it, he couldn’t help but voice his question to Lu Jing, “I’m such a small-time actor, hardly anyone even knows my name. Why would someone go to such lengths to target me…?”
The light in the lounge fell on Lu Jing’s long lashes, casting a shadow beneath his eyes.
After a moment of silence, Lu Jing frowned slightly, his voice low, “The person they’re really trying to target might be me.”
It felt as if a silent glacier had suddenly cracked open.
Lin Shen was astonished, “How could it be you?”
If someone was using Lin Shen to get at Lu Jing, didn’t that mean…
They knew about Lin Shen’s relationship with Lu Jing.
“There are many things you’re unaware of since losing your memory. It’s a long story, but don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”
Before Lin Shen could ask more, the lounge door was knocked, and Xiao Xu poked half his head in, “Brother, filming is about to start. We need to head over to the set now.”
Lu Jing ruffled Lin Shen’s hair, “Go ahead. Focus on filming and don’t pay too much attention to what others say.”
Lin Shen nodded and got up to leave the lounge.
When he returned to the set, many people stole glances at him, trying to glean something from his demeanor.
Lin Shen pretended not to notice and walked calmly to his waiting spot, rehearsing with the actor he was sharing a scene with.
The filming process was no different from usual. Lin Shen set aside the impact of the online rumors and worked hard to maintain a good state of mind. In the end, the director praised the results of the shoot repeatedly.
Director Jiang had always held Lin Shen in high regard. As one of the few people who knew the truth about the online rumors surrounding Lin Shen, his opinion of him differed greatly from others’.
Lin Shen possessed a resilience and composure that many lacked. Within him stood an indestructible barrier, separating his outward appearance from his inner self.
The atmosphere on set today was different from usual. Whether it was the crew or the actors, though no one openly voiced it, everyone harbored their own thoughts.
Until Lin Shen’s scenes were finished shooting, Lu Jing had not appeared. The looks directed at Lin Shen grew increasingly filled with either gossipy amusement or mocking scorn.
Lin Shen bypassed these gazes, pretending not to see them just as he had when he arrived.
Just as he was about to leave, the surroundings suddenly grew noisy. Everyone pulled out their phones, swiping through their screens with expressions of astonishment.
Amid the clamor, Lin Shen intermittently caught words like “Actor Lu,” “rumors,” and “lover.”
His footsteps halted. Lin Shen took out his phone and unlocked it, but Xiao Xu’s voice rang out before he could check it himself.
“Brother, Actor Lu posted a clarification on Weibo, and he even mentioned your relationship!”