Chapter 175: Collision
Ye Cheng did not have to wait long before Ye Xin entered his study. Her fair face and eyes were already red and swollen. He sighed inwardly. His mother valued girls over boys; he had been asked to give in to his sister since he was young, and he had gotten used to it over time. Treating his sister well had also become a habit for him. When he was young, he had told himself over and over again that he loved his sister the most, therefore, he had to give in to her. Over time, it made him believe that he loved her the most. Habits were really scary things.
"Brother, quickly think of a way to deal with this for me!" Ye Xin said as tears flowed down her face again.
Ye Cheng took a cigarette out and lit it up. After taking a puff, he said, "It's not that there's no way to deal with this, but it depends on whether you're willing to cooperate or not..."
Ye Xin's eyes lit up. "What is it? Brother, tell me!"
Ye Cheng glanced at her. "First, you have to keep a low profile. Saying that, although the drama is getting negative reviews, it's not all your fault. Hence, you have to clarify it on your social media account."
"How? By emphasizing that it's not my fault? Moreover, the company won't allow it. I can't even log into my account now; the company has changed the password. The account is now under the company's control; they're afraid I might speak up and make matters worse," Ye Xin said in an aggrieved tone.
Ye Cheng sighed, thinking it really was not easy for his sister's management company. "Go speak to the company and have them release a statement under your name. After that, do more charity work to divert the public's attention..."
"C-charity work?" Ye Xin was clearly hesitant.
"You have to do it even if you're tired. You need to change the public's opinion. Didn't they say you're a wealthy young miss who can't endure hardships? Prove them wrong. In any case, it'll also divert their attention away from Yi Yao."
Ye Xin bit her lips and lowered her head, deep in her thoughts. After a moment, she asked tentatively, "Is there a way to get rid of Song Ning?"
Ye Cheng glanced at her. "Mind your own business for now. We're not in a rush. If anything happens to her now, you'll definitely be the prime suspect. Do you understand?"
Ye Xin's shoulders slumped after she heard Ye Cheng's words. Then, she said, "I'm not willing to be her stepping stone..."
Ye Cheng sighed. "What can you do now? You're at a disadvantage. Moreover, it's not caused by Song Ning. At this time, the slightest mistakes on your side will be magnified by the netizens. Remember to keep a low profile; don't let anyone seize the chance to further criticize you..."
...
In the end, Ye Xin chose to go to a poverty-stricken area to volunteer as a teacher. She brought many supplies to be donated and a team to film her. When the time was ripe, she would post the videos on the Internet.
...
Meanwhile, as the matter regarding Yi Yao continued to brew on the Internet, some extreme fans even camped outside of the hospital, urging Song Ning to return to the entertainment industry. Not only that, but these fans even brought banners asking for her return.
When Song Ning saw the banners, she felt rather helpless.
Strangely, the number of patients at the hospital had increased as well. Nevertheless, the number was not too huge where they would need Professor Li's help. Song Ning and the others were enough to handle the patients.
Later on, through Cheng Che and Jiahui, Song Ning finally discovered the reason behind the increase in patients. As it turned out, the fans had intentionally registered as patients in hopes that it would help Song Ning increase her income as quickly as possible so she could return to the entertainment industry. The fans resorted to this method since they remembered Song Ning's words and did not want to disrupt her work at the hospital.
When Song Ning found out about this, she hurriedly got in touch with the hospital's management department to find out the amount of money generated by the fans in the hospital.
Cheng Che, who was puzzled by Song Ning's actions, asked, "What are you planning to do after finding out the amount of money the fans had spent at the hospital?"
Song Ning replied without any hesitation, "I'll match the amount and donate it to those in need under the fans' names..."
Cheng Che gave Song Ning a thumbs-up and said, "Sister-in-law, you're really amazing!'
Song Ning said helplessly, "What else can I do? It doesn't feel right to have the fans spend money here when they're not sick. It's better to donate the money to those in need..."
Jiahui said, clearly filled with pride, "Our Song Ning is just like an angel that was sent to the mortal world to help people..."
Song Ning swatted Jiahui's arm playfully. "Stop with the flattery!"
Jiahui laughed before she said seriously, "The fans' donations aside, we should make personal donations as well. We should release a statement about what we intend to do with the fans' money, but there's no need to say anything about our personal donations. Perhaps, we can also use this chance to appeal to the fans to act rationally regarding Yi Yao..."
Cheng Che made an 'OK' sign and got to work immediately.
Alas, the timing of when Song Ning released her statement coincided with the release of the videos of Ye Xin doing charity work on the Internet.. With that, another tragic collision between the duo occurred.
Chapter 176: Like a Trainwreck
Song Ning's statement reminded the members of Ning Xia's fan club to spend their money wisely and to focus on their studies, work, and lives.
Under Song Ning's name, the fan club donated money and supplies to various schools in poverty-stricken areas. They hoped the underprivileged children would be able to work hard to realize their dreams just like Yi Yao. Moreover, the fan club also promised to make the donation long-term. Any fans who were interested were encouraged to volunteer.
On the other hand, Cheng Che released a statement that all of Song Ning's academic awards would be donated, and she would work hard for them. Apart from that, Zhuang Ji would also provide financial assistance to the volunteer teams from the fan club so they could further the charity work.
This statement and the disclosure of plans of charity made many of Ning Xia's fans scream in delight.
Due to this matter, Song Ning gained many new fans as well. Moreover, they even received donations and requests from those who were not fans to join the volunteer teams.
The matter gained such huge momentum that Cheng Che even had to assign two assistants to help the official fan club with managing the charity work.
Jiahui was shocked by how much traction this matter gained.
On the other hand, Song Ning was calm. She reminded her fans to take the charity seriously; after all, doing charity was not child's play. In her opinion, there had to be clear guidelines to ensure there would not be mismanagement of the donations. Not only did she feel responsible for her fans, but she felt responsible for those who would be receiving the donations as well.
Once again, Cheng Che and Jiahui were filled with admiration for Song Ning. She was truly meticulous in all her actions.
...
At the same time, all kinds of beautiful photos and videos of Ye Xin teaching children music in a mountain village appeared on the Internet.
Ye Xin was dressed plainly, and there was barely any makeup on her face. In the photos and videos, she looked happy as she interacted with the children.
Apart from that, it was also made known that she had donated many books, stationery, and other supplies to the children. She also promised to come back and teach the children whenever she had free time between filming.
Needless to say, Ye Xin's fan clubs praised her and cheered her on.
Alas, Ye Xin did not expect her carefully planned publicity would coincide with Song Ning's statements and deeds. Song Ning's actions made her pale in comparison.
Ye Xin was so enraged by the matter that she began to crazily break things again and hit the people around her. Some of the members of the staff were even injured by the things she smashed.
This time, even Ye Cheng felt helpless. Who knew there would be such a coincidence? Moreover, based on the timing and the pieces of news that were released, it was rather clear Song Ning's actions were not planned to block Ye Xin. It was just unfortunate that Song Ning's impromptu actions had completely overshadowed Ye Xin's meticulously planned actions.
It was not surprising that Ye Xin lost control of her emotions. After all, it seemed like the heavens really favored Song Ning. Otherwise, how could someone be so lucky?
In fact, Ye Xin's charity work was rather perfunctory. She and her team mostly put on an act just to get content for the filming. They had planned to release the materials slowly once they returned to the city.
However, the place Ye Xin and her team had chosen was located close to the place where Song Ning's fans were volunteering. In order to avoid misunderstanding, Song Ning's fans avoided the place where Ye Xin volunteered, causing some people in the place where Ye Xin volunteered to be unhappy.
During that time, the negative comments about Ye Xin's terrible acting had lessened as well. This was mostly because many people had just given up on watching the drama.
With that and the news of Ye Xin's charity work, her image slowly turned favorable again despite the coincidental timing with Song Ning's charity work.
Ye Xin's fans were also reinvigorated and began to promote her again.
Alas, just a few days after Ye Xin's reputation began to turn favorable, negative comments began to appear. There were people who exposed her charity work as fake.
Ye Xin's fans were furious and accused Song Ning's fans of slandering Ye Xin.
Naturally, Song Ning's fans were no pushover. They were angered by the baseless accusations. They had been busy with charity work; where would they find time to slander Ye Xin? Therefore, they immediately retaliated against Ye Xin's fans.
It had to be said that Song Ning's fans' counterattack was very powerful, rendering Ye Xin's fans powerless.
Due to the proximity between the locations where Song Ning's fans and Ye Xin volunteered, Song Ning's fans easily obtained evidence that Ye Xin was just putting on a show. There were all kinds of evidence that showed Ye Xin and her team's disdain toward the locals, the village's condition, and there was even evidence of Ye Xin and her team's rudeness toward the village's people.
With this, Ye Xin's reputation that had barely recovered collapsed again.
Despite their anger and sorrow, there was nothing Ye Xin's fans could do.
Ye Xin once again appeared on the hot search, overshadowing news of Song Ning's fans' charity work.
Needless to say, this was not the way Ye Xin had imagined she would overshadow Song Ning.