Chapter 398 - 329: As If It Was Arranged

Jealousy between peers is unavoidable, no matter the profession.

It’s always better to be envied than to be the one envying others.

So you have to work hard, work twice as hard, and strive to get to the top!

This was always Ni Bingyan’s philosophy, which was why she could never understand something.

Why some people, upon realizing they weren’t as good as others, didn’t strive to catch up but instead tried to drag everyone else down to their own miserable level.

As if that would change the fact that they themselves were mediocre.

That night, Ni Bingyan was in high spirits after her little prank. She spent two hours at the gym, returned to her room for a thorough skincare routine, and even completed a Spanish worksheet before drifting off into a deep, satisfied sleep, thinking, ’I made progress again.’

While she was asleep, a certain young starlet, who styled herself as "the greatest beauty in five thousand years," posted a photo of the two of them.

And here’s the kicker: she didn’t tag her.

The post read: "Bingbao has been so busy this year. Thinking back, the last time I saw her was on the plane back from Fashion Week. [2 photos]"

In the photo, a bare-faced Ni Bingyan was wearing a simple white T-shirt and jeans, her hair in a top knot. She was smiling politely and leaning in slightly.

The starlet, on the other hand, had perfectly styled, tea-brown curls and flawless makeup. She tilted her head cutely and flashed a peace sign.

The starlet had used the excuse that Ni Bingyan was taller and had longer arms, handing her the phone and asking her to take the photo. Ni Bingyan had agreed without a second thought.

As a result, Ni Bingyan was front and center in the photo, with the starlet positioned slightly behind her.

Of course, this made Ni Bingyan’s face look a full size larger in comparison.

And now for the next important detail.

The starlet had photoshopped herself but hadn’t touched Ni Bingyan’s side of the picture.

The trip to New York for Fashion Week had been exhausting. With the long travel time and a packed schedule of events upon arrival, Ni Bingyan hadn’t rested well. For the flight back, she had intentionally dressed comfortably and worn no makeup, hoping to catch up on sleep.

Under the harsh airplane lighting, her lips looked pale and her eyes sunken and dark. The starlet beside her, in contrast, looked fresh and dewy.

The moment the photo was posted, the haters had a field day.

[WTF! Who’s this old lady? Oh wait! Isn’t this the so-called ’goddess of beauty’ Ni-somebody? My God! My eyes!]

[Look at those dark circles. She’s obviously worn out! Hehe, we all know you have a boyfriend, but you could show a little restraint, you know~]

[It’s a rare trip abroad, after all. The sweetie in the comment above doesn’t get it? Hehehe~]

[She’s unbearable to look at without lipstick. See, in showbiz, being good at makeup is the real talent~]

[She looks so average. To all her fans, don’t you get embarrassed hyping her up like that all day?]

...

After the first attack, a second one followed as if on cue.

On a singing competition show, a certain has-been singer—the kind who’d just go home and inherit a fortune if his music career failed—suddenly dropped a bombshell:

"If you ask me who the worst singer in the industry is—and I mean *everyone* in the industry—I’d say Ni Bingyan takes the top spot, hahaha!"

Ni Bingyan was incredibly popular at the moment.

Everyone wanted to ride her coattails, but he was the first to do so by attacking one of her known weaknesses.

And he was a singer, no less.

People say everyone should stay in their own lane. For a singer to leech off an actor’s fame—wasn’t that crossing a line?

But he didn’t seem to think so at all.

Because—

"Jiang Sheng and I are good buddies. We were at karaoke one time, and everyone was asking Second Young Master Jiang why he hadn’t brought Ni Bingyan along. He said that Ni Bingyan is a terrible singer, so she doesn’t like places like that."

’Who would have thought that was the source of the rumor?’

People had been skeptical at first, but now they were convinced.

This has-been singer had a reputation for being a loudmouth, but he only spoke the truth. People might not like him, but they believed what he said.

He was currently a judge and an investor on the show, and one of his main tasks was to generate buzz for the production. His motive for bringing this up was self-evident.

The host, who knew what was up, immediately feigned disbelief.

"Do you have any proof? I don’t believe you~"

The has-been singer put on a disdainful expression. "Believe it or not. I heard him say it with my own two ears. How could it be fake?"

And so, before the episode even aired, the story was leaked by an "audience member."

As people buzzed about the goddess’s "newly revealed flaw," the show inevitably gained a ton of attention.

For a moment, it seemed like everyone involved had won.

But it didn’t end there.

A female celebrity was on a late-night radio talk show, discussing "how women can maintain their sense of self in a relationship" with the host, when she suddenly blurted out:

"Of all the people I know, the one most blinded by love has to be Ni Bingyan."

"Blinded by love? What do you mean? Besides Second Young Master Jiang, she’s only dated Little Sang, and their breakup was pretty amicable, wasn’t it? I haven’t heard about her doing anything irrational."

Everyone has to make a living, after all. Even a voice-only radio talk show was incredibly smooth and practiced when it came to chasing clout.

"Sigh! You just don’t know! That silly girl, in her bid to marry Jiang Sheng, would even scrub the toilets in his family’s home. But unfortunately for her, whenever he made a public appearance, the woman by his side was never her. You tell me, isn’t that pathetic?"

"Whoa! That’s beyond pathetic!"

"Tell me about it. Sigh. Anyway, if it were me, I could never lose myself in love to that degree."

"I see she’s doing quite well with Little Sang now, and President Shui is very fond of her. She must have learned her lesson and wised up!"

"Not necessarily! Oh, but I really shouldn’t say too much about other people’s business. Let’s talk about something else!"

...

After spending three days and two nights at sea, Ni Bingyan was looking forward to a good night’s sleep. But she kept dreaming she was falling into the ocean, seawater filling her mouth and nose. She wanted to breathe but couldn’t, wanted to surface but was completely powerless.

When she finally struggled awake, she found herself drenched in sweat, the blanket soaked through.

She took a breath and—great, her nose was stuffed.

Miss Ni, usually as strong as an ox, had managed to catch a cold.

’Sigh, I shouldn’t have gone to that unfamiliar gym.’

She’d worked up a good sweat, but without an assistant around, she hadn’t dared to shower in a strange place. She had waited until she got back to her room, but unexpectedly, the draft she’d caught on the way up had been enough to give her a cold.

She always traveled with a small medicine kit, so she wasn’t worried. She found a packet of powdered cold medicine, drank it down, and then went to soak in a hot bath.

After changing the damp sheets with a spare from her suitcase, she lay back down on the bed.

Before she could fall asleep, she got a call from Sister Wei.

"There’s a change of plans for tomorrow. Don’t go to Hong Kong Island just yet. Stay at the hotel for a couple of days and get some rest."

Ni Bingyan immediately sensed something was wrong. "What happened?"

Wei Shuojie never kept things from her, so she shared the news she had received.

"It’s like you’ve suddenly become everyone’s favorite target. I have no idea who’s trying to mess with you."

Wei Shuojie was already investigating, and it wasn’t Ni Bingyan’s place to go asking around, so she obediently agreed.

"Okay, Sister Wei, don’t worry. I actually have a cold, so we don’t even need an excuse. I’ll just tell Pei Jin and the team. As for the delay, since everyone will be home two days later for the New Year, I’ll be sure to give them all generous red envelopes as compensation."

"Good. Don’t get worked up. Same as always: don’t say a word until I tell you to."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Ni Bingyan immediately went online to see for herself.

Reading through everything, she was left utterly speechless.

’This world is truly bizarre.’

She’d taken one restless nap and woken up as "the tone-deaf, love-brained, plain-looking girl."

’Oh, shit!’