Chapter 75: Chapter 75 - Seventy-Five: Avoiding Suspicion

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

‘I think that’s a great idea! Why not? Yun Liu thought, and her eyes brightened.

Miss Ding knew she understood. She tidied Yun Liu’s hair and said, “We can get the hairstylist to trim your hair and style it like the photo. Then, we’ll have someone take a few photos of you from similar angles and spread the news with those pictures within the next two days. We’ll openly imply the woman is you instead of playing hide-and-seek like Yun Nan. Hmph! She won’t be able to refute the rumors even if she shouts the facts until she’s blue in the face. But Yun Liu, you have to remember not to confirm anything. Change the topic if the media reporters ask about it. Don’t respond or clarify things; you just have to muddy the waters.”

Yun Liu’s eyes shone brighter as she listened. Miss Ding was delighted when she saw that Yun Liu approved of her strategy. Now that she had a plan, Yun Liu slowly calmed down. “Miss Ding, count the small hiccup just now as overtime work and give those three girls an additional 1,000 dollars each,” she commanded, fiddling with her phone.

Miss Ding’s phone pinged with a notification, and Yun Liu informed her, “I’ve transferred another 20,000 dollars to you. Help me buy some desserts for everyone.”

Miss Ding grinned widely and replied, “Thanks, sweetie! Then, I’ll call the hairstylist right now!” Yun Liu nodded slightly in approval.

Fang Xi sat in the large conference room, monitoring various public opinions online while listening to their studio’s different teams’ meetings. Meanwhile, Yun Nan sat across the table, reading her movie script.

“*Pfft*!” Fang Xi suddenly spluttered and spat out her coffee. Opposite her, Yun Nan quickly reacted and blocked the sudden ‘coffee attack’ with her script folder.

Fang Xi started coughing violently. Yun Nan, having been caught in the crossfire, stood up and patted her back. She handed her a tissue and teased, “My, my, I know the word ‘Xi’ in your name means stream, but did you have to act the part, too?”

Everyone looked over and laughed nonstop. Fang Xi stopped coughing and poked Yun Nan’s shoulder. “Here I am, worried about my best friend, and this is the thanks I get?” she grumbled. “Who do you think I did this for, hmm? See for yourself. Look how many women showed up overnight, claiming to be your husband’s—the distinguished Second Young Master Shi—rumored girlfriend.

Do you still feel like laughing?”

“What does that have to do with me?” Yun Nan retorted, but she still took a look at the tabloid. The headlines read: ‘Female celebrities changed looks overnight!’

‘Huh,’ was Yun Nan’s reaction. At first, Yun Nan had thought there was some new plastic surgery technology, but it turned out that more than ten female celebrities had suddenly changed their hairstyles.

The media released the before and after photos of these celebrities, including pictures of them from the front and back. The strange thing was: photos of these women’s side profiles were combined together, side by side. It was like viewing characters in a mobile game; the women’s images were dizzying and confusing!

“What is the meaning of this? Is this some kind of event?” Yun Nan asked, puzzled.

“Nope, no event. Take a closer look. Don’t these women look familiar?” Fang Xi hedged as she cleaned up the coffee stains. Curious, some of their colleagues also came over.

One of them commented, “Yeah, they do seem familiar!”

Yun Nan recognized Yun Liu at a glance. As for the others… A few of them were familiar, but she couldn’t remember their names, so they definitely weren’t good actors. Otherwise, she would have remembered them.

“Oh, I get it! These people are imitating Yun Nan!” Miss An hit the nail on the head with that answer.

“Why would they imitate me?” Yun Nan said, more puzzled than before. She read through the tabloid again but still didn’t get it.

Fang Xi rolled her eyes at her and told her, “I’ve never seen someone so dense.” She then reached out and stroked Yun Nan’s hair. “See, they’re imitating your hairstyle. They all want to be identified as the woman who took that photo with Shi Nian in the wedding ring ad! You can’t see her face in the photo, so if a reporter asks—Iwas it you who took the photo with Mr. Shi?’— these women only need to smile, stay silent and let the media make their own assumptions!”

“And without a doubt, the media would lap it up. Add a little embellishment here and there, and they’ll have quite the story for their readers and audience. These celebrities’ fangirls and boys will all think their idols are the real deal, and the others are clout-chasers! Take a look; people are arguing everywhere online. If you don’t support their idols—scratch that; if you support someone other than their idols, these fans would immediately gang up on you. *Tsk* It’s crazy, I tell you.”

Fang Xi’s years of experience in the entertainment industry showed through; she managed to explain the crux of the matter in a couple of sentences. Yun Nan held the celebrities’ combined photo up and stared at it. Then, she took a small round mirror lying on the side, studied her reflection, and said, “Miss An, get me a wig, will you? I don’t want to be involved in this mess.”

‘*Sigh* All these irrelevant fakes are fighting to be recognized, but the real deal chooses to avoid suspicion,’ was what Yun Nan’s friends and colleagues thought.

“Wait, how did that photo get published in the first place? Isn’t that magazine afraid Shi Nian might sue them for violating his image rights?” Yun Nan asked, her mind clear and logical.

“Strictly speaking, even if Shi Nian wishes to pursue the matter through legal means, he couldn’t do much. After all, the photo only showed a side profile,”

Fang Xi explained..