Chapter 290 - 224: Tearing the Fig Leaf to Shreds

The show was a huge hit, but with limited space, entry was by invitation only.

Cheng Man and Chen Daolin were both influential figures in their respective industries, so naturally, they could get invitations.

After parting ways with her, they went to watch the show on their own.

Wei Shuojie had an invitation as well. However, today was Ni Bingyan’s first time attending a show, and Wei Shuojie needed to monitor the domestic news and Weibo trends. She also had to make calls from time to time, which wasn’t convenient at the show’s venue.

Thinking she had already gone over all the necessary reminders—that Ni Bingyan just had to go in, find her seat, watch the show quietly, and then leave—she didn’t go with her.

But who would have thought that even such a sure thing could go so wrong?

While Ni Bingyan was inside, looking lost as she tried to match her seat number, Wei Shuojie had just posted gorgeous photos of her on Weibo.

While raking in a ton of praise, she also casually had the press releases—the ones a rival had bought to claim their star outshone Bingbing—taken down.

With Ni Bingyan’s current popularity, Wei Shuojie hadn’t even planned on buying a trending topic. But just as she was gleefully scrolling through user comments, a friend at the venue sent her a message.

The friend was just sharing some gossip for a laugh, but the moment Wei Shuojie saw the photo, she exploded with rage!

Worried that Ni Bingyan, being a first-timer, wouldn’t know how to find her seat, Wei Shuojie had repeatedly reminded her that morning, ’So-and-so is on your left, and so-and-so is on your right. If you can’t find your seat, look for a familiar face first to get your bearings.’

Who would have guessed? The people on her left and right were there, but a few little harpies had squeezed into the space between them!

And her poor, silly girl could only stand to the side, staring helplessly!

Wei Shuojie was seething.

The seats at the fashion show all had names on them, so there was no possibility of sitting in the wrong one.

There were so many front-row seats. Those hussies didn’t dare steal anyone else’s, so they specifically targeted Ni Bingyan’s. They were just bullying her for being young and for not having her manager by her side. Even if she realized what was happening, she’d be too embarrassed to make a scene.

Wei Shuojie’s protective instincts flared up. She decided to tear their flimsy facade to shreds. Opening Weibo, she crafted a perfectly passive-aggressive post:

[/Crying my eyes out The show is about to start, and I still can’t find my seat! Can you guys help me look? Invitation.JPG]

After publishing the post, she searched for Weibo posts from people at the venue who were treating it as a joke. Then, she remotely instructed her staff back home to use their sock puppet accounts and bless each of them with a "traffic gift package"—a sudden surge of online attention.

Seeing the topic gain traction, she went back to Weibo to read the user comments, wary that rivals might try to stir up trouble again.

Thanks to her series of subtle maneuvers, the story of "five people squeezing into three seats" was trending before the show had even finished.

In a capitalist country, buzz means wealth. Celebrities love attending fashion shows largely because the high level of public attention brings them a great deal of exposure.

In such an environment, sometimes all it took was two celebrities exchanging a glance to set the international internet ablaze for a long time. Now, faced with something this juicy, how could they possibly ignore it?

Back home, with Wei Shuojie fanning the flames, the topic blew up quickly. On the international web, it fermented naturally, so the hype built more slowly.

It only started peeking up from the bottom of the trending lists after the show was completely over.

But that was more than enough to strike a nerve with her fellow countrymen.

The vast majority of Chinese people have a strong sense of national pride. Nowadays, traveling abroad is easy and information isn’t as blocked as it used to be. When something like this happened, it only took two short hours for the three seat-snatchers to be flamed into oblivion.

’A national disgrace! It’s absolutely intolerable!’

Afraid that people would get tired of scolding them and move on, Wei Shuojie directed another sock puppet account to drop a new leak.

[I’m at the scene, here’s some tea. You guys know whose seat that was originally? Hahaha! After @Actress Ni Bingyan found her "seat," I could laugh at this lovable goofball’s confused expression for a whole year. GIF x2]

The accompanying GIFs were brilliant. One showed Ni Bingyan looking down at her invitation, and the other captured her micro-expression right after reading it.

In just two seconds, the seamless transition from confusion to shock and then to conflict made you want to watch it over and over again.

This leak, paired with the post from Ni Bingyan’s official Weibo account frantically looking for her seat, was particularly amusing.

Wei Shuojie’s passive-aggressiveness wasn’t obvious. By deliberately posting first, she had created a time gap. In the eyes of the netizens, Ni Bingyan was truly pitiful.

’Aren’t they just bullying an honest person?’

’Those scheming bitches!’

Ni Bingyan’s fans were not having it.

Two hours of flaming? That was nothing.

They could crack their knuckles and go for another twenty.

With that, the trending topics for the other celebrities, which had just been suppressed, shot back up. Who knows how many people were cursing their mothers.

Wei Shuojie didn’t want to offend too many people at once. Seeing that things had gone far enough, she decided to quit while she was ahead.

So, she directed the PR department to release another "leak":

[Also at the scene, let me spill some tea too. Ni Bingyan’s look today was absolutely stunning. I couldn’t take my eyes off her from the moment she walked in, and I happened to capture something good. I don’t know how to make GIFs, so here’s a video for you.]

Netizens followed the breadcrumbs, clicked on the video, and saw Ni Bingyan entering the venue with grace and ease. Before she could even look for her seat, her attention was drawn to the group of five.

Then, she just stood there and stopped moving.

Her eyes widened slightly, and her upper body involuntarily leaned in their direction, looking for all the world like someone happily watching some drama unfold. That is, until she suddenly realized something, glanced down at her invitation, and her expression changed instantly.

Having just seen the GIFs, now seeing this seamless video prequel, netizens burst out laughing!

[How does she do it? Every time she settles in to watch some drama, it turns out to be her own, and she has no idea! Hahaha!]

There was a certain natural cluelessness about her that was also kind of cute. Passersby found it interesting and gave her a follow on a whim.

After orchestrating all of this, Wei Shuojie watched the follower count steadily rise, smiled faintly, and retreated into the shadows, her good work done.

She let out a breath, twisted open a bottle of water and took a drink. Seeing it was about time for the show to end, she woke the dozing Wang Biao and Duanmu Li, ready to go pick up their charge.

But when they got to the entrance, they waited and waited, but Ni Bingyan was nowhere to be seen. Her calls went unanswered. Just as Wei Shuojie was starting to panic, Ni Bingyan rushed out, beaming from ear to ear.

"Sister Wei! Sister Wei!"

Seeing the three of them waiting, Ni Bingyan rushed over, grabbed Wei Shuojie’s arm, and started jumping on the spot with excitement.

"Victor Modiano is having a suspense novel salon tonight, and he invited me to join! I already said yes! Aaaah! I’m so excited!"

"Who?"

Wei Shuojie had been about to ask about the seat-snatching incident, but this new information didn’t quite register.

It was also true that Chinese people weren’t as sensitive to foreign names. If it had been Wang Dalong, she probably would have caught it immediately.

"He’s a really famous suspense writer, French! So many of his novels have been adapted into movies directed by his good friend, Luke. Like *38 Dark Street*, *Blood Mill*, and *Mist City*!"

Ni Bingyan hadn’t yet come down from the high of meeting her idol. While talking to Wei Shuojie, she was already mentally calculating which questions she should ask Victor that evening.

’I shouldn’t ask anything too ordinary, the kind of stuff you can find online. I have to take this chance to ask about the things only the original author would know, the parts that weren’t clearly explained in the books.’

’He never replied to my emails, and now I’m finally meeting him in person...’

Just as Ni Bingyan was lamenting that she hadn’t brought a couple of her notebooks with her—relying on memory alone felt a bit inadequate—Wei Shuojie grabbed her arm.

"Wait, wait, wait. You’re going to a salon tonight? By yourself?"

Ni Bingyan looked at her as if she were an idiot. "Am I out of my mind? I’m in a strange country where I don’t know anyone, how could I possibly go alone?! I already asked if I could bring a friend, and Mr. Victor agreed. I plan on taking you with me."

’That’s more like it.’

Wei Shuojie let out a sigh of relief and asked, "Where is it?"

’If it’s some suburban villa, then it’s a hard pass.’

Foreigners could be wild; they were often more sexually open, and drug enforcement wasn’t as strict. Attending a random, shady party could easily lead to trouble. Sister Wei, worried that Ni Bingyan’s youthful curiosity might get her into a bad situation, felt she had to keep a tight rein on her.

"Haha, don’t worry. It’s in a small drawing room on the first floor of Mr. Victor’s hotel. It’s scheduled for six in the evening, and there will only be about ten people. Oh, right, they’re providing dinner, so we don’t need to eat beforehand."

It was in a busy part of the city and not too late. Only then did Wei Shuojie nod in agreement.