This chapter has been translated by Atlas Studios. All credits belong to them.
"This time I failed to handle it well." Sister Mai Na reflected on herself, something that she did not do often. If she had put in more effort to boot-lick those media companies perhaps they would not have written about Xia Ling in such a way.
Xia Ling shook her head. "It's not your fault."
Imperial Entertainment and Skyart Entertainment were both formidable forces in the entertainment industry. If there was a serious discussion on the topic, most would regard Imperial Entertainment as the bigger player; they have been the dominant force in the entertainment industry for a long time. If Sister Mai Na knew how to boot-lick these media companies, Chu Chen would be aware of how to do that as well. In fact, Chu Chen was likely to be superior to Sister Mai Na when it came to methods of bribery and blackmail. Should both these big guns come to them, the media company would simply choose whichever gave them bigger news to report.
In this case, helping "Ye Xingling" to prove her innocence was a lame story, whereas "Ye Xingling" insulting the Diva Xia Ling and hurting her weak, sickly younger sister, was a big story that was bound to be eye-catching.
These media companies were out to make profits anyway, and the story being reported was inevitable.
Sister Mai Na's forehead was pulled into a deep frown. "This is a problematic situation."
Xia Ling asked, "What should we do?"
Sister Mai Na gave her a glance. "I want to hear your thoughts." In fact, she already had a plan in mind, but it was a radical one. If executed well, Xia Ling would succeed big time. On the other hand, if the plan failed, Xia Ling would be ruined.
Before revealing her plan, Sister Mai Na wanted to be sure how intelligent and gutsy Xia Ling was, and if she was ready to take on this challenge.
Xia Ling did not know what Sister Mai Na was thinking, and she lowered her head to think for a moment. When she raised her head, there was a chilling smile on her face and iciness in her eyes. "I just gave that bitch a slap, right? It isn't a big deal, I'll just admit it."
Sister Mai Na broke into a slow smile. This young lady's attitude was just what she was looking for.
Xia Ling admitted that she hit Xia Yu.
This admission did not mean she admitted to all the allegations, but —
"Yes, I slapped her, and so?"
This sentence was published on "Ye Xingling's" official Weibo channel that afternoon and immediately incited a ruckus. Everyone was shocked at her honesty and arrogance. How could she be so nonchalant after hitting the younger sister of the Diva Xia Ling? How could she be this evil and this shameless?!
The forums and online discussions went crazy.
This Weibo post was reposted tens of thousands of times and was headline news on every big media channel. Even though Xia Yu did not have many fans, but Diva Xia Ling had a whole host of die-hard fans even after her death. These die-hard fans started to express their unhappiness in defense of Diva Xia Ling's "most precious little sister before her death." They came out in droves, and if each person were to spit on her, it was enough to drown "Ye Xingling."
Soon, everyone including onlookers who knew nothing at all about the truth or only had a vague idea of the situation started to criticize "Ye Xingling" after looking at this Weibo post. They said that she was shameless and that she had poor upbringing. They spoke as if they were standing on a moral high ground, and wrote with eloquence as they criticized everything about her.
In just several hours, she was notorious in the industry.
Even her official Weibo channel was full of angry people scolding her. Every update was peppered with the worst insults and profanities.
At first, Xia Ling's fans in this life had weakly retorted, but they were soon drowned in the flood of tirades thrown at her and could hardly create a ripple. What's more, some of the fans felt that she had indeed been too much and became anti-fans, becoming part of the many that were cursing her.
Xia Ling sat in front of the computer, reading these Weibo posts with Sister Mai Na.
Sister Mai Na said, "This is just the start. Are you afraid?"
The luminescent light from the computer screen reflected on Xia Ling's face, making her thick and fine eyelashes look like crow's feathers, creating a light shadow under her eyes. She turned her head slightly, holding a porcelain cup with a cracked ice pattern in her slender and fair fingers, and slowly sipped her tea. "What is there to be afraid of?" Her voice was low. She had been through greater storms and waves than these before, what was this compared to those?
Sister Mai Na smiled and tidied the stray strands on her head. "Then, let's put the next step in the plan into motion."
Xia Ling put down the porcelain cup in her hands and gently typed a sentence on the screen. "I slapped her because she deserved it. As to why she deserved it, she would know in her heart. She would also know whether or not she actually had a heart attack."
She pressed "send."
There was a great commotion in Weibo again. This time, more started to curse at her.
"What do you mean by she deserved it? Ye Xingling, explain yourself clearly if you're truly innocent!"
"Yeah, it was clearly you who had insulted Xia Ling first. Xia Yu was defending her older sister before she was slapped by you!"
"Why aren't you telling us the reason? That's because you have a guilty conscience, you bitch! You're scared and looking for an excuse now that so many of us are scolding you, aren't you?!"
"Exactly! A coward that is trying to push the responsibility to others!"
"Our Xiao Yu had a heart attack all because of you and you are still trying to frame her for faking it! You shameless woman!"
"You're rubbish of a person with poor upbringing!"
"You're so cruel! I regret buying your latest single!"
"Let's boycott Ye Xingling!"
"Get out of the entertainment circle, Ye Xingling!"
"Get out of the entertainment circle, Ye Xingling!"
All the boos culminated in one chant. "Get out of the entertainment circle, Ye Xingling!" This was repeated non-stop in the Weibo thread. Countless reposted this Weibo post together with the chant. The scale of it was massive as if they were not going to stop unless she had been chased out of the entertainment circle.
Xia Ling quietly closed her computer screen.
The next day, her official Weibo channel was filled with posts demanding that she apologize, and filled with posts demanding that she leave the entertainment circle. She got tired of reading all these posts. She boiled herself a cup of flower tea, locked herself in the house and practiced her singing.
Li Lei called her and asked, "Xiao Ling, are you okay?" He had flown to Manhattan for a few days to settle some important business. Tan Ying had not dared to disturb him while he was busy, and had only just updated him about her situation now.
Xia Ling half-leaned on the back of the seat of the swing in front of the glass full-length window, curling up her slender legs, and her fingers trailing the notes on the sheet music in her hands. She said, "I'm pretty good."
Li Lei was put at ease hearing that her tone of voice was normal, but still asked, "Do you need my help?"
Xia Ling's lips curled into a small smile. "Nope, thanks." She realized that she had become more reserved and relaxed than before, like the needles on her back that were upright were retracting slowly on hearing his words of concern. While she was able to bear all the hate that was being thrown at her, to say that she did not feel wronged or upset would be impossible.
You were born to a mother but did not have a mother to teach you...
A bitch like you should be betrayed by everyone including your own family...
Every sentence pricked her in the heart.
Li Lei's call from overseas was like a warm cup of tea in the blazing blizzard, giving her some much-needed consolation. She will win this war, and everything that she had to go through today she would claim back from Xia Yu in the future!
The third day, her official Weibo was being repaired by the technical guys in the company.
There continued to be droves and droves of posts cursing at her and being reposted. The anger from the public did not cease and was even worse than those from two days prior. They were jeering at her for being a coward and a tortoise in its shell hiding away since she had not said anything in response to them.
The number of followers on her official page was increasing day by day, and her popularity appeared to have become more than before just by looking at the numbers.
Some media critics said, "Is Ye Xingling using this to amass more followers? Does she think that you can become famous for picking a fight? Don't be a fool, doing something like that to gain a notorious name for yourself will only make you a clown!"
All sorts of jeers and insults were thrown at her.