Lu Zhe had never paid attention to the entertainment industry, nor did he usually watch variety shows. Seeing the insults in the live comments, his dark eyes sank.

He casually skimmed a few messages. They said Su Ci went on a food program, held herself too high, scolded her for being ungrateful and not accepting Qin Shiyan’s goodwill, or accused her of having plastic surgery.

Lu Zhe noticed that all the dishes placed in front of Su Ci were rabbit meat. She hadn’t touched any of the rabbit meat, and instead ate the other small side dishes.

Meanwhile, the guests around her were eating with big bites, looking like they were enjoying it.

She had become the target of all criticism.

Lu Zhe’s eyes were very cold. He knew better than anyone why Su Ci refused to eat rabbit meat.

But he didn’t understand why not eating rabbit meat would make her attacked. As for the netizens accusing Su Ci of plastic surgery, it was even more incomprehensible. Were their eyes testing instruments? Just looking through a screen, they could determine whether someone had plastic surgery?

“Young Master.” Old Cao was waiting outside the building.

Lu Zhe got into the car. “Uncle Cao, I want to go to the film studios on Lurong Road.”

Old Cao immediately responded, “Yes, Young Master.”

Sensing the oppressive air inside the car, Old Cao couldn’t hold back. He glanced in the rearview mirror and found that the Young Master’s expression didn’t look very good.

Still recording the program, Su Ci had tasted every small dish, but hadn’t touched even one bite of the rabbit meat. She had no idea about the comments on the live feed, but even if she knew, she still wouldn’t eat rabbit meat.

The director had a phone in his hand and kept an eye on the online comments. Seeing so many netizens attacking Su Ci, he couldn’t bear it. He reminded her, “Su Ci, spicy rabbit head is really delicious. Why don’t you try a little?”

Su Ci refused again. “Director, I’m very sorry, I don’t eat rabbit meat.”

“Where did this Su Ci come from? A newcomer who doesn’t even listen to the director? Not professional at all.”

“I’m dying laughing. Why does she act like she’s more important than our Xiao Yan?”

“Are the ones attacking the newcomer all Qin Shiyan’s fans?”

“Is it a crime to not want to eat rabbit meat? Can you stop spamming about Su Ci? Focus on Nan Yi, isn’t he great? He’s eating so much, truly a foodie…”

“Watching Xiao Yan eat really boosts my appetite. Unlike that certain someone next to her who’s just posing.”

The livestream lasted only forty minutes. When it ended, Su Ci noticed that the Nan Yi across from her had already finished all the rabbit meat in front of him. The Guan Jing beside him had also eaten all hers.

Xie Yumin had eaten quite a bit as well. Although Qin Shiyan kept eating, every bite she took was chewed very slowly, and she chewed each piece more than ten times before swallowing, so her speed wasn’t fast. In reality, she hadn’t eaten much of the rabbit meat placed before her, but she gave the illusion of continuously eating, making it seem like she had eaten a lot.

As for Su Ci, there was nothing to say. The small dishes were gone, and the rabbit meat hadn’t been touched at all.

As soon as the recording ended, Qin Shiyan immediately had her assistant bring her digestion tablets, while Guan Jing across from them needed someone to support her to the restroom to induce vomiting.

The male guest Nan Yi didn’t look too well either. He leaned uncomfortably against the back of his chair, hand pressed over his stomach. His already fair face grew even paler.

At that moment, his assistant quickly brought him a cup of hot water. “Nan-ge, hurry and take some medicine.”

When Nan Yi debuted, the company created a “foodie” persona for him. Fans loved watching him eat. As long as he was on camera or in front of fans, he always maintained the image of a foodie.

Just now, he had finished all that rabbit meat. He had already stuffed himself full. On top of that, Nan Yi originally had stomach problems — eating so much at once, how could his stomach endure it?

“Cici, the entertainment industry is this exhausting. Although we look glamorous on the surface, in reality, everyone works themselves to the limit just to get the audience and fans to look at them a little more, like them a little more.” Qin Shiyan advised Su Ci, “Cici, you’re this delicate. There’s really no need for you to come here and suffer.”

“Oh.” Su Ci responded casually, her attention nowhere near Qin Shiyan’s words. She was focused on Xie Yumin on her right.

Qin Shiyan felt a bit awkward. “Cici, I still have another schedule later, so I’ll go first. If you need anything from me, just contact me anytime.”

Su Ci couldn’t be bothered to respond. She asked Xie Yumin, “Can I have your contact information?”

Qin Shiyan’s expression control was getting better and better. She brushed her hair back and stood up to leave.

Being asked for her contact information, Xie Yumin was a little surprised. After recording an entire show together, she and Su Ci had spoken no more than five sentences. “Sure.”

Su Ci added her as a friend, then continued asking, “Are you free on Friday?”

Xie Yumin wondered whether this overly beautiful girl was being too enthusiastic.

She asked Su Ci, “Do you need something?”

Su Ci thought for a moment and said, “Friday is my birthday. I don’t have any friends, and I want to invite you to my birthday party.”

Today was Tuesday. Xie Yumin died on Friday, which happened to be her birthday. Su Ci couldn’t keep an eye on her constantly, so she had no choice but to keep her under her watch. And surely Xie Yumin wouldn’t commit suicide at her birthday banquet.

Xie Yumin didn’t expect Su Ci to actually invite her to a birthday party. “I’m sorry, I…”

“I really hope you can come.” Su Ci looked at her with those big, glistening eyes, watching her pitifully. “When I first saw you just now, I felt you were really familiar and warm. I want to be friends with you.”

Su Ci was beautiful to begin with, naturally easy to like. She intentionally softened her voice, her dark eyes wet and bright. Anyone being looked at that way would have their heart soften.

Xie Yumin was someone with a cold, aloof appearance, giving people a sense of distance. Everyone thought she was hard to get along with. It was her first time encountering a girl this beautiful who wanted to be friends with her.

“I don’t have any friends at all, so I really hope you can come to my birthday party.” Su Ci wasn’t lying. She truly didn’t have a single friend here.

At that moment, Xie Yumin’s agent came over to tell her the car was ready and she needed to rush to her next schedule.

Xie Yumin stood up. She lowered her head and glanced at Su Ci. “Send me the time and place.”

Su Ci’s eyes bent in a smile. “No problem.”

It seemed no one could resist her charm, except that rock Lu Zhe!

Su Ci also stood up, ready to leave, when Xu Duo hurried over holding her phone.

“Something wrong?” Su Ci felt her eyes blinded by all the green on Xu Duo. She thought Xu Duo looked like a walking tree.

Xu Duo stopped in front of Su Ci. “You’re trending.”

Su Ci wasn’t overly surprised. In the past, just with her face alone, she practically lived on the trending list — calling her the “annual subscription” of trending searches wouldn’t be wrong. Now that she looked even prettier than before, being on the trending list was only normal. “What are the netizens praising me for?”

Xu Duo looked at her with a conflicted expression. “They’re not praising you. Look for yourself, they’re all scolding you.”

Su Ci took the phone. The trending title said: Qin Shiyan’s first variety show appearance, her goodwill in offering food gets rejected.

“That’s Qin Shiyan’s trending topic. What does it have to do with me?” Su Ci was speechless. Even the title had only Qin Shiyan’s name.

“Click inside.” Xu Duo hadn’t expected Su Ci to trend on her very first recording, and in this way. It was one thing to hitchhike on someone else’s trending topic, but to be trending because of scolding…

Su Ci tapped into the topic. Inside was a video from Qin Shiyan’s food livestream — not only clips of Qin Shiyan eating, but also the part where she handed Su Ci food and Su Ci refused.

The comments below were almost all from Qin Shiyan’s fans.

“Qin Shiyan is so beautiful, her skin is amazing.”

“Xiao Yan is too skinny, eat a little more.”

“Watching Xiao Yan eat so deliciously is making me hungry too.”

“Who is that random female guest beside her? Why did she reject the food our Xiao Yan offered her?”

“I also want Yanyanzi to give me food, wuwuwu, that female guest beside her is so ungrateful.”

“I watched the livestream. That female guest is so pretentious. Everyone was eating rabbit meat, but she acted all high and mighty saying she doesn’t eat rabbit meat. So annoying. Xiao Yan is so popular but still has no idol baggage at all. That’s my idol!”

“Not a fan of anyone, but judging by the video alone, that female guest is really pretty.”

“Replying to upstairs: the female guest bought her way into the show. Whenever the camera goes to her face, it’s glowing white. Her skin looks even better than Qin Shiyan’s. Too fake.”

“I really hate this female guest Su Ci. She actually copied our Xiao Yan by dotting a small tear mole under the corner of her eye. That’s Xiao Yan’s signature!!!”

The more Su Ci read, the more speechless she became. Were Qin Shiyan’s fans all brainless? So what if Qin Shiyan served her food and she didn’t eat it? Which law stated that she had to eat food someone else put on her plate? And she didn’t eat rabbit meat, so that’s a crime now?

Fine, whatever. But accusing her of plastic surgery, that was something Su Ci absolutely couldn’t tolerate. They could question anything, but they could not question her peerless beauty!

And saying that the tear mole under her eye was copied from Qin Shiyan? That completely crossed her bottom line.

She had seen Qin Shiyan’s older photos, Qin Shiyan only had that tear mole for a few months. How did it suddenly become Qin Shiyan’s “exclusive”?!

Xu Duo saw Su Ci’s expression turning bad, and comforted her, “This is your first time recording a show. Getting on the trending list can still be considered a good thing. Being hated is also a kind of fame. And the other side is popular, backed by a company with a full team hyping her up. You have no company and no background. This time you can only suffer in silence.”

Su Ci handed the phone back to him. “The thing I hate most is suffering losses.” She didn’t intend to let this go.

“What are you planning to do?” Xu Duo was a little surprised. After all, he knew Su Ci was just a girl with no money and no background.

“I’ll take care of it.” Su Ci didn’t say more. At that moment, she received a message from Lu Zhe.

Outside the entrance, a black car was parked.

Su Ci opened the door and got in, immediately seeing Lu Zhe seated inside.

He was wearing a white shirt today. The fabric was crisp and clean, the quality excellent. The buttons were fastened all the way up to the collar. The youth’s expression was cold, carrying an indescribable ascetic aura.

Usually, Lu Zhe wore the school’s white-and-blue uniform or simple black T-shirts. This was the first time Su Ci saw him in a white shirt.

For a moment, she couldn’t look away.

“How was the recording today?” Lu Zhe took a bottle of mineral water beside him, twisted open the cap, and handed it to her.

Su Ci drank two small sips. Her lips were damp, glossier than before. She shook her head and looked at Lu Zhe pitifully. “Not fun at all.”

“Did you watch my livestream?” Su Ci told him, aggrieved, “I don’t know if the director has a grudge against rabbits or something, but he made a full-rabbit feast. I didn’t eat a single bite and then I got scolded onto the trending list.”

Lu Zhe said, “It’s not your fault.”

“Of course it’s not my fault.” Su Ci was very annoyed.

The girl was puffed up with anger. Thinking of all the insults online, Lu Zhe spoke. “I’ll stand up for you.”

“Mm?”

Right now Lu Zhe was staying at the Lu household, but the apartment he rented had not been returned yet.

In that residence, Lu Zhe sat in front of the computer, his fingers flying rapidly across the keyboard.

Su Ci had been wondering how Lu Zhe planned to vent her anger for her. At this moment, she saw the youth deleting the live-comments that insulted her one by one, even banning the offending accounts from speaking. Her heart warmed.

She remembered when she first entered the entertainment industry and was deliberately attacked. Back then she fought alone, using a burner account to argue back at every comment, even gritting her teeth to spend money hiring internet trolls.

But now, things were different.