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Chapter 12: Even If It Was A Performance

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Chapter 12: Even If It Was A Performance

Microphones immediately swarmed them and a barrage of camera flashes went off, while a black sea made entirely of reporters formed beneath them.

The camera flashes continued endlessly, and came from as far out as she could see. As Ruan Yesheng sat there, she realized that she couldn’t remember how long it’d been since she’d been desired like this—chased by both fans and reporters alike.

However, it was Xi Mo whom they were chasing after.

Even though she’d also been the subject of so many people’s love beneath the glimmering light, she was nothing but a substitute now.

Nevertheless, she should still have the professionalism of a substitute actor.

Hence, she adjusted her hand posture before facing the camera with a dignified look. Smiling lightly, she said, “Thank you everyone, I’m doing well. I would like to express my gratitude for everyone’s concern and continuous support.”

Even though wasn’t by Xi Mo’s side, Ruan Yesheng understood Xi Mo very well. As such, she was able to accurately portray her personality in front of the camera.

Whenever Xi Mo had appeared before the media in the past, she never appeared cold, arrogant, or unreasonable like she did in private. Instead, she maintained a reasonably elegant, noble, dignified, and gentle image, and occasionally a reasonably cute image. In the entertainment circle, having an overly condescending attitude would show that one had a negative EQ, in-turn causing their popularity to plummet. There were some celebrities who had climbed the ranks only to get carried away, becoming arrogant and sarcastic, even choosing to speak rudely and offensively to both reporters and their fans. When the news of them doing so came out, the image that they’d built up after so long had been instantly destroyed. Their fans had cried and shouted at them one after another, turning on them and becoming haters.

Xi Mo had always added a tinge of coldness to her elegant and noble image. Yet at the same time, she spoke and behaved with a reasonable amount of affection, thus seizing the hearts of many fans. This was her specialty, but was a hard one to maintain. If she was too cold, she’d scare people away as if she was an unapproachable flower. Many haters would also reproach her for trying to act superior. However, if she was too amiable, she would stray too far from her original image. Xi Mo had entered the scene atop the tightrope between these two sides excellently, and had perfectly maintained her balance to this point.

…And she continued onwards very diligently today.

A reporter asked, “After that major incident, there have been numerous rumors saying that you were disfigured because of the fire. Xi Mo, can you tell us how you felt after seeing these rumors? Were you angry at these baseless rumors?”

Even though she was thinking ‘Hoho, wasn’t it you guys who wrote this?’ in her heart, Ruan Yesheng smiled and said, “Not really. It’s normal for people to think this way. After experiencing such an incident, I’m currently quite happy to be able to be able to sit here right now. As long as I’m fine now, everything is good.”

Xi Mo’s face remained expressionless as she watched the live stream, unwilling to miss even a second. As she watched, she thought to herself, At least she knows how to properly imitate my speech and didn’t embarrass me.

As she scrolled through the comments, she saw a never-ending number of new comments. A bunch of fans were screaming, “The Goddess has such a good temper! The Goddess is so patient! Goddess memeda!^[1]”

The reporters continued to ask questions one after another. When they finally got around to asking about her work and new show, Ruan Yesheng said, “I’m currently waiting for my new show. This time around, it will be a television drama. Once the final preparations are complete, we will begin filming. More details will be made available to all of you soon.”

“In the past, you only chose to take part in movies. Why did you suddenly choose to appear in a television drama?”

Ruan Yesheng replied, “I’d like to head in a new direction and try something new. After this television drama, there are a few movies coming up. I will work hard so that I can be proud of myself; I hope that everyone will enjoy it.

“Does that mean that we can expect to see more of your work, be it on the large screen or the television screen?”

Ruan Yesheng slightly lowered her brows and replied with a smile, “You could say so.”

The news that Xi Mo would be acting in a television drama had been well hidden until this point, and only the staff knew. Now that the news had been publicized, the web instantly exploded.

Most of the fans were pleasantly surprised. They expressed that they’d watch it no matter what, and started trying to guess what type of drama it would be. From genres such as historical to modern to spy to war, they made several guesses.

Many fans were simply shouting, “I’ll watch any show that the Goddess acts in!”

“I hope that the show is awesome doesn’t my Goddess’ image. It should be worthy of my Goddess’ acting skills and beauty!”

Naturally, there also fans who were worried. “I hope that it’s not a ghost tearing^[2]] show! Nowadays, there are many shows with exaggerated scenes. Even SARFT made it a must! Ahhhhhhh, I don’t want my goddess to go ghost tearing!”

The haters also used it as a chance to bash on her. “Hoho, perhaps the Goddess wasn’t able to stay in the movie circle anymore, and moved to the television drama circle. She was only high up for a moment, yet now she’s fallen as low as the earth’s core.”

“That’s weird, when was the goddess ever high up?”

Such stereotypes were normal in the entertainment world. It was as if acting in a movie was something incomparably better than acting in a television drama.

Once the fans and the haters began to argue in the comments, old wounds were opened. They argued from left to right, even bringing their ancestors into the fight. Finally, they even began to attack each other personally.

Xi Mo continued to watch the live stream for a moment, but stopped to briefly comb through the comments before returning to the live stream.

As Xi Mo continued to watch, she noticed something odd about Ruan Yesheng on the screen. Ignoring the fact that Ruan Yesheng was in her body, her every move was dazzling. It was like she was a diamond that was being continuously polished by the numerous flashing lights around her. All of her expressions, smiles, and moves were similar to Xi Mo’s previous habits.

What was I like when I was in front of the media?

Ruan Yesheng was currently acting perfectly like her without any slip-ups.

It was as if Ruan Yesheng had studied all of her interviews very carefully, and watched her closely from behind for a very long time. Else, it wouldn’t have been possible for Ruan Yesheng to imitate her so well.

Xi Mo was scared by this thought.

However, this thought only lasted for a short while. Ruan Yesheng’s portion of the conference came to a temporary end, and it was now Lu Qingming answering questions in place of Ruan Yesheng. Meanwhile, Ruan Yesheng sat to the side to rest.

The camera chased after Ruan Yesheng and appeared before her. Perhaps because she was more relaxed due to being free from the reporters’ question, Ruan Yesheng’s original temperament had slipped out at this moment.

Brought upon by Ruan Yesheng’s coquettish nature, Xi Mo’s eyes looked like rippling water as they wandered. As she rested, she opened a bottle of water and took a drink. Her wet and thin lips moved lightly while her slender neck tilted. Meanwhile, her elegant throat moved slightly as she drank the water.

There was a point where she was drinking the water where her eyes quietly glanced to the side. They seemed gentle and charming, yet a little bored, as if they didn’t know where to look.

Xi Mo was speechless when she saw this scene.

What the hell.

Even when she was acting, Xi Mo had never acted so coquettishly in her entire life.

This scene might have been too enchanting, as there were people online who actually clipped this scene and made it into a GIF and posted it on Weibo.

Written on the GIF was, “I got this by accident. During the conference today, the female Goddess actually drank water this way. My heart is already drunk. [Byebye]”

This GIF of Ruan Yesheng drinking water proceeded to go viral on the internet. The framing was adjusted, and various filters were used. As Xi Mo’s foundation was already extremely good in the first place, with the addition of slow motion and some other adjustments, her beauty shot past the horizon.

What was more important was the action in the GIF, as well as her eyes, which seemed to be saying something more. A lot of fans were screaming that were going to go crazy.

“Is this really my Goddess? Oh my god! Isn’t she just drinking water? Why is she so charming!”

“This provocative fairy! Quickly come into my embrace!”

“Isn’t this how the Goddess acted in “Fallen City”? Oh my god, I thought that was just for the movie. I never expected the Goddess to also this way in reality!”

“Hello everyone! I’m the bottle of the water that the goddess drank!”

“Hello everyone! I’m the bottle cap!”

“I immediately went downstairs to buy a box of water!”

As Xi Mo continued to scroll down Weibo, she was close to choking. In an instant, the chastity that she’d been protecting for years had been shattered into pieces by Ruan Yesheng.

You can cover up your coquettish actions, but you can’t cover up your coquettish nature.

Xi Mo was pulling a long face, when the photographer Matt suddenly stuck his head over. He asked in surprise, “You’re also a fan of Goddess Xi, Miss Ruan?”

On Xi Mo’s phone screen, the account name that was displayed was her Weibo’s nickname: Xi Mo memeda.

Xi Mo was speechless.

Don’t you know that it’s not morally right to peep at other’s phones! Where has your Confucian Morals and Five Stresses and Four Points of Beauty gone!

The makeup artist also joined in and laughed happily. “Miss Ruan, you’re watching the Goddess’ conference as well? We’re watching too! Have you seen the Goddess’ GIF? How I wish I could marry her!”

Xi Mo was speechless.

I don’t want you!

Casually waving her phone, Xi Mo bent her lips gently like a spring breeze. With a somewhat cute smile, she said, “That’s right. I’m ‘Xi Mo’s’ fan. A super fan even. I really like her.”

I’m a fan alright! Every minute, I’m suffocating Ruan Yesheng with my fan blades!

With every word she said, the photographer and makeup artist liked her more and more. Moving over, they said, “Comrade, oh comrade. Miss Ruan, let’s follow each other on Weibo.”

Xi Mo casually glanced over at their Weibo’s. The photographer’s Weibo was ‘Xi Mo be fortunate and safe’ while the makeup artist’s Weibo was ‘Xi Mo feed me soup.’

Xi Mo was left speechless.

I bet there’s Arsenic Trioxide in that soup!

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Footnotes:

[1]Memeda (么么哒) – is an internet slang version of “Love you!” “Kiss and huggies” and cute things like that.

[2]Tearing ghost – This is a reference to a Chinese show called “Kang Ri Qi Xia”. In the show there was a scene where the people tore a ghost in two using their hands. People found this scene to be too exaggerated and were thus unhappy with it. Subsequently, people used the phrase ‘tearing ghost’ to describe shows with exaggerated scenes.

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