Chen Die truly had no idea how her relationship with Wen Liang, when viewed through her fans’ eyes, could transform like this, with that dog Wen Liang somehow becoming the image of some unrequited, devoted lover.

There were many cameras in the venue, some directly connected to live stream feeds.

Chen Die didn’t dare look anymore. She darkened her phone screen and flipped it over.

Qi Cheng noticed her reaction and leaned over to ask, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

After seeing that trending topic, Chen Die not only didn’t know how to interact with Qi Cheng anymore, but she also didn’t know where to look. Even glancing in Wen Liang’s direction one more time might trigger further interpretations.

But she couldn’t help looking over from the corner of her eye and saw that Wen Liang seemed to be looking back at her again.

Chen Die couldn’t resist taking out her phone again, furtively opening her chat with Wen Liang to send a message.

[Chen Die: Stop looking at me!!]

[Wen Liang: ?]

See, this was the man’s true nature, getting by with one cold question mark.

Where was this unrequited love, this pitiful humility? These words applied to Wen Liang were like something out of a horror movie.

Chen Die looked up at the cameras around her, making sure none were scanning in her direction, before forwarding the Weibo post she had just seen to Wen Liang.

[Chen Die: If you keep looking at me like this, my fans will go crazy with sympathy for you.]

[Wen Liang: There are several men behind you looking at you.]

Chen Die paused, maintaining her composure while pretending to brush her hair as she looked back.

From Wen Liang’s message, she had thought they would be men around his age, but turning around she discovered it was a recently debuted boy group. They were all fresh young faces, some even born after 2000, who had quickly gained fame after appearing on a popular variety show and now had numerous fans.

When the boys saw her looking back, their eyes met, and they politely nodded and greeted her with “Sister Chen Die.”

Chen Die smiled back at them.

After turning back, she picked up her phone again and explained to Wen Liang about the boy group’s situation—they had both looks and talent.

[Wen Liang: What kind of clothes are you wearing? Your back is completely exposed. Sit up straight.]

“…”

So that was it.

Chen Die couldn’t be bothered to waste words with this person anymore and put her phone back in her handbag.

This Film and TV Night also included an award ceremony. Shortly after, both Qi Cheng and the boy group behind Chen Die went on stage to receive awards for Most Commercially Valuable Male Actor and Most Popular Group, respectively.

There were many stars attending this ceremony, and Chen Die didn’t think that she, as a newcomer, would win any awards, so she sat rather casually.

Until the host began to say: “For the next award, Most Promising Actress, the winner shone brilliantly in a film earlier this year, with her acting receiving praise and acclaim from many people, leading the film to the top ten in box office history.”

Chen Die paused.

This seemed to be talking about her…

Beside her, Qi Cheng leaned over, half covering his mouth, and said to her, “Congratulations.”

At the same time, the camera moved along its track, zooming in on her.

The host called out her name.

Chen Die practically walked onto the stage in a daze. Earlier, Fang Ruan had reminded her that she might win an award and should prepare an acceptance speech, but she had only thought about it briefly.

Because she felt the possibility of winning was too small, she hadn’t seriously considered how to write a complete acceptance speech from beginning to end, which led to some stumbling during her speech.

Fortunately, as this was her first award, it was understandable.

The cameraman controlling the livestream switches was probably also an enthusiastic gossip follower. During Chen Die’s acceptance speech, he switched the camera several times to the audience and to close-ups of stars who had worked with Chen Die and finally fixed the camera on Wen Liang multiple times.

The fans in the live stream went crazy.

The way Wen CEO looks at our Die-mei receiving her award is so tender!!!

Why am I suddenly shipping a big CEO x little star development love story??

…

Chen Die finally completed her acceptance speech with trepidation, not even knowing what she had said. Holding the trophy, she finally bowed to the camera and went off stage.

Winning an award was very exciting.

After returning to her seat, Chen Die took out her phone to take a picture of the trophy, and at this moment, Qi Cheng leaned over and placed his trophy in her frame as well.

“Perfect, let’s take a picture together. I haven’t posted an original Weibo in a long time,” Qi Cheng smiled, “I’ve only been posting advertisements, and my fans have been nagging me to death.”

“Sure.” Chen Die also didn’t post on Weibo frequently.

So the two took a photo of the trophies, followed by several photos together, each selecting one to post on Weibo.

Originally, in such occasions, it was completely normal for stars to take photos with circle acquaintances they got along with, especially since both had won awards for the same movie “Flower Hairpin”—winning awards together was only natural.

Plus, after “Flower Hairpin” finished its run, Chen Die and Qi Cheng had almost no CP fans left. Those who shipped them had all switched to WenDie, while the solo fans stuck to the principle that no one was worthy of their idol.

So after posting this Weibo, Chen Die expected the comments to all be praising the “Flower Hairpin” team’s camaraderie.

However, probably because of Wen Liang’s pitiful trending topic stirring things up, and then Chen Die posting a photo with Qi Cheng, it practically sealed the WenDie bad ending.

How could this happen? I’ve accepted this ship, but this year is so hard to bear.

Although I respect Die-mei’s choice, I’m sad…

There were even fans who sincerely posted lengthy essays—

I’ve been shipping WenDie since those videos of Die-mei at the beginning of the year, it’s been almost half a year. I who used to only ship celebrities never thought I would one day ship such a couple, where even seeing them in the same frame is difficult, let alone the fact that there are more angst moments than sweet ones. But WenDie seems to have some magic, they match so well, made for each other, and even in this current situation, I probably can’t leave this ship.

Chen Die: “…”

There was no need to be so sad.

She and Wen Liang were quite stable now.

Soon, under this influence, people in the WenDie super topic began posting lengthy essays about their emotional journeys, and some fans even started reposting giveaways.

Chen Die read for a while, growing increasingly bewildered, not understanding how she and Wen Liang could appear so painful to others.

It made her almost want to publicly announce their relationship to comfort these fans…

After the award ceremony ended, it was time for the After Party, a party for all those invited to the ceremony, where all cameras would be turned off.

Though called an After Party, it was an occasion provided for these stars to build bridges with financial backers, with intense open and hidden struggles surging beneath the surface.

Ye Chuqing, as the chairperson of the film industry, naturally also attended this event, though she arrived late, and Chen Die hadn’t seen her before.

After the ceremony, Ye Chuqing came over to find her and handed her a glass of champagne.

With a light clink of glasses, Ye Chuqing congratulated her: “Not bad, attending once and taking a trophy home.”

Chen Die smiled and asked, “When did you arrive?”

“Not long ago, just snuck in.” Ye Chuqing leaned lazily against the side, scanning the surroundings, and raised her chin toward Chen Die, “Hey, have you heard anything about Chen Shuyuan lately?”

“No, what’s up?”

“I attended a costume party a while back.”

Chen Die laughed as soon as she heard this: “You go to such parties?”

Ye Chuqing waved her hand with an indescribable expression: “Don’t mention it. My mom complained that I was not feminine enough. She introduced me to some young gentlemen, but I wasn’t interested in any of them, so she pushed me to attend this annoying party, all for the sake of encountering my ‘destined one.’ Just think about it, what seriously destined one would attend such a costume party?”

Chen Die nodded and asked with genuine curiosity: “So what was your costume that day?”

“Is that the point!?” Ye Chuqing glared at her, “I’m telling you about Chen Shuyuan!”

“Fine, what about her?”

“Nothing much. That day I heard some other rich young ladies saying that she doesn’t seem to be favored by Old Man Chen anymore. In the socialite circle, if nothing else, a group of women with nothing better to do are the best at understanding tycoon gossip.”

“After that video of you hitting her for plagiarism was uploaded online, and Chen Shao clearly stated that Chen Shuyuan isn’t the true Chen family daughter, plus there had been some rumors before, people specifically went to investigate this matter.”

Chen Die was quite surprised: “People specifically went to investigate?”

“Some people have nothing better to do, while others do it for their interests. Otherwise, if one accidentally lets their son marry into the Chen family, only to bring home a fake who can’t do anything, wouldn’t that be a huge loss?”

“What did they find out?”

“I heard that when the Chen family suspected Chen Shuyuan wasn’t their biological daughter, they secretly did DNA testing at the hospital. Somehow this was dug up now. There were also vague rumors a few years ago, but you didn’t go back then, so everyone thought it was just a rumor. Now, everyone believes you are the true Chen family daughter.”

Chen Die remained silent.

Since returning from Wuxi, she seemed to care less about this matter.

She took a sip of wine and asked lightly, “Didn’t Chen Shuyuan defend herself?”

“She did, but no one listened to her. Just at the last party, several people who used to be on good terms with her didn’t want to talk to her anymore. Even I thought she was pitiful.”

“…”

Ye Chuqing clicked her tongue: “Those princesses are actually all very realistic. And now Chen Shuyuan is seen as an imposter who has usurped someone else’s position. Imagine if they put themselves in her shoes—they’d hate her.”

Chen Die looked around.

She was now in the most common place of fame and fortune.

In the entertainment circle, although this award was earned through her abilities, the fact that she hadn’t experienced any ridicule or differential treatment from anyone was indeed due to what the outside world knew—Chen Shao was her brother, Wen Liang had some unclear relationship with her, and Ye Chuqing was her friend.

The entertainment circle was a place of fame and fortune, and everyone was very realistic.

She had gone from nothing to something. At the beginning, when she first joined the crew, Wang Yunxi dared to bully her during filming over trivial matters, but now no one would dare do so.

And Chen Shuyuan had probably gone from something to nothing.

“Now that I’m calm, sometimes I think Chen Shuyuan is quite pitiful,” Chen Die said. “All these years she’s been guarding against me, scheming, afraid of being driven out of the family.”

Ye Chuqing raised her eyebrows: “Sister, do you know what you sound like right now?”

Chen Die had a bad feeling: “…What?”

“A deep, dark, villain.”

“…” Chen Die glanced at her.

Before she could speak, Ye Chuqing quickly bumped her shoulder and raised her eyebrows, gesturing toward the front.

Chen Die looked in that direction.

She saw that a woman had appeared beside Wen Liang, who had been sitting on the other side all along.

Deep V gown, surrounded by sheer fabric, a thin waist and full chest, very sexy, perfectly fitting what Wen Liang had called “a piece of rag.”

A pair of wet eyes looked up at Wen Liang coquettishly, partly flirtatious, partly timid, with two glasses of champagne in her hands.

The distance was too far to hear what she was saying, only the opening and closing of her red lips could be seen.

Wen Liang sat in his seat unmoved, exhaling a breath of smoke.

Ye Chuqing: “Who is that?”

“Don’t know, never seen her before,” Chen Die said.

“You can tolerate this?” Ye Chuqing pushed her back, “Go, Pikachu!”

Chen Die: “???”

What the hell, Pikachu?

Pei Xingyu had just turned 20 this year. She had signed with a small company as a print model for minor magazines. The company didn’t provide training and just put her and several other girls of similar age into a small girl group. It was very low-tier, and their daily activities were limited to performing dance routines at mall openings.

Pei Xingyu had the best looks and figure in the small group. She would regularly post some of her photo shoots on Weibo, amassing over a hundred thousand fans, mostly male nerds.

Her eyes were very beautiful, and later some fans discovered that her eyes somewhat resembled Chen Die’s, so they called her “Little Chen Die” in the comments.

Pei Xingyu was young and proud. Deep down she didn’t like being called this, but she was happy to accept an opportunity to be linked with a popular young actress.

Today’s event required fan voting to secure an invitation, and Pei Xingyu certainly didn’t qualify.

But her small, struggling company valued her and thought she was resourceful, so they pulled strings to get her an invitation. If she could use this opportunity to connect with capital, it would benefit both parties.

She chose Wen Liang because of the trending topic she had just seen.

Wen Liang’s gaze toward Chen Die clearly showed feelings, and combined with previous rumors, Pei Xingyu remembered fans praising her as “Little Chen Die” and decided to try her luck after the award ceremony. Even if she could just leave an impression, that would be good.

Pei Xingyu didn’t know anyone here. She took two glasses from the champagne tower and nervously walked toward Wen Liang. The closer she got, the more she could feel his aura, and when she spoke, her voice trembled.

“CEO Wen, may I have a drink with you?”

She was too young after all, and her words were too direct, making her seem foolish.

Several young gentlemen around Wen Liang also looked over, their gazes mocking, then assessing Wen Liang.

They had all seen Wen Liang’s previous Moments post and knew about his relationship with Chen Die. Coincidentally, Chen Die was also here today. This woman was practically walking into gunfire.

The group watched the spectacle, egging it on with a few shouts.

Wen Liang looked up, his eyelids pressed into narrow slits, sharp yet casual under the lights.

Pei Xingyu felt his gaze linger on her for three seconds.

Today she had deliberately done her makeup like Chen Die’s, especially the eyes, using eyeliner to make the outer corners long and narrow, making her look more like Chen Die.

But even though Wen Liang’s expression was calm, she somehow felt that his gaze was like a knife with substance, and her heart beat faster and faster.

He didn’t respond, so Pei Xingyu took the initiative to bend down and offer the wine glass to Wen Liang. Her clothes were thin and transparent, and bending down revealed quite a lot.

Wen Liang didn’t take it. Pei Xingyu pressed her lips together tightly and gently placed the champagne glass on his table.

“CEO Wen doesn’t drink?” she asked timidly.

Wen Liang smiled faintly for an instant: “If you want to imitate Chen Die, you should have some backbone. Chen Die wouldn’t cautiously ask me such things.”

Pei Xingyu was stunned, never expecting that even though Wen Liang had noticed she was imitating Chen Die, he would say it out loud in front of so many people.

Her face immediately turned red with shame.

She had nothing to say and forgot her initial purpose for coming over. She could only look down and defend herself: “I didn’t…”

“If you didn’t, then wipe off that makeup,” Wen Liang’s patience had run out. “Someone like you isn’t worthy of imitating Chen Die.”

Pei Xingyu stood there at a loss, until finally Xiao Shi, who was sitting next to Wen Liang, waved at her, chasing her away: “What are you still standing there for? Didn’t you hear what he said? Do you want to make him angry?”

Pei Xingyu didn’t know why, but she had only slightly made her eye corners resemble Chen Die’s when doing her makeup, and yet he had directly and unreasonably scolded her like this.

She had never encountered such a situation before, and it had attracted quite a few people to look their way. She finally covered her mouth and ran away sobbing.

Wen Liang drained the red wine in his hand, his Adam’s apple moving up and down as he turned to look at Chen Die.

He was used to being unrestrained, and even in such a setting, he looked at her openly and blatantly.

Others’ gazes also followed toward Chen Die.

She wore a black spaghetti strap gown with an off-shoulder neckline. Unlike Pei Xingyu, she wasn’t showing much, but just wearing this she stood out brilliantly in the entire hall, catching the eye at first glance.

At the moment, she was holding a champagne glass, leaning lazily against the table, her gaze calmly meeting Wen Liang’s.

Everyone could see that no matter how well Pei Xingyu imitated, she could never capture Chen Die’s natural, innate pride.

And it was precisely this pride that especially aroused one’s desire to conquer.

Wen Liang had one arm draped over the chair back, his shirt unbuttoned by two buttons, his gaze piercing through the fantastic lights to fall on Chen Die. Then he suddenly laughed, looking quite roguish.

Chen Die remained motionless, expressionless, calmly accepting his gaze.

Beside her, Ye Chuqing inexplicably sensed the tense atmosphere and patted Chen Die’s shoulder before slipping away.

After three seconds, Wen Liang stood up, his long legs stepping out from beside his seat, walking toward Chen Die under everyone’s watchful eyes.

“Ready to go home?” he asked in a lowered voice when he reached Chen Die.

Chen Die glanced up: “Go to hell. You go home with someone else.”

Wen Liang, showing absolutely no survival instinct, laughed again and raised his hand to pinch her face, but Chen Die quickly slapped his hand away.

“What are you angry about? I already sent her away.”

Chen Die had been standing here and hadn’t heard what they were talking about, only saw Wen Liang smile at the person, which immediately angered her.

“You seem quite happy, smiling at her like that. I never knew you were so fond of smiling before?”

Wen Liang had previously been tricked by Jiang Xian a few times because of Chen Die, but he never expected that now it was his turn to explain.

“I smiled because that woman did her makeup to look like you. Otherwise, what would I have to smile about with her?”

Chen Die laughed coldly: “So you think she looks like me?”

Shouldn’t a normal boyfriend think his girlfriend is irreplaceable, with eyes that can’t accommodate anyone else?

This guy was good, directly skipping to “looks like.”

Chen Die thought to herself, my beauty is irreplaceable.

Wen Liang paused: “Just the eyes looked a bit similar, not attractive.”

Chen Die narrowed her eyes: “She looks like me, yet not attractive?”

“…”

Wen Liang was completely out of patience with her questions.

Originally when Pei Xingyu approached, Wen Liang had wanted to wait for Chen Die to explode and rush over to chase the woman away.

After all, he had been forcibly cast as a pitiful lover all evening, while his girlfriend was laughing and chatting with another man and even posting photos together. Wen Liang was quite frustrated.

But after standing there with Pei Xingyu for a long time, he didn’t see Chen Die coming over, and in the end, he had to go to her and coax her back.

“Alright, let’s go home first, okay? You can scold me however you want.”

“I already said I’m not going home with you.” Chen Die shook off his hand and turned to leave.

Wen Liang clicked his tongue and had no choice but to follow.

All others present, though they couldn’t hear clearly what the two were discussing, could see from their postures who was dominant.

Some stars who didn’t know the inside story looked at this situation and became more convinced of the online speculation about CEO Wen’s unrequited love for CP.

He practically stuck his face up to her, yet Chen Die just turned and left. Indeed, she had the backing of being Chen Shao’s sister.

And those young nouveau riche gentlemen sitting on the left who knew the inside story were even more astonished seeing this scene.

The image of Wen Liang in their minds completely collapsed, and they also understood what Wen Liang meant earlier by “If you want to imitate Chen Die, you should have some backbone.”

Chen Die, an even more terrifying existence than Wen Liang.

Respect.

Chen Die walked straight through a dark corridor.

Wen Liang followed behind her but didn’t catch up, amusingly maintaining a distance of three steps from her.

He was tall with long legs and walked leisurely, making it seem as if Chen Die was hurrying in front of him.

After walking for a while, he finally smiled, quickened his pace, caught her wrist, and pulled her into his arms. Then he placed both hands on her lower back, intertwining his fingers, completely locking her in.

Chen Die struggled and grew angrier as she thought about it: “Let me go!”

“No.” Wen Liang smiled and lowered his head to kiss the corner of her mouth, “If I let you go today, you’ll run away from home again, and I’ll lose all the business I’ve built over the past six or seven years.”

“Wait—!”

Chen Die leaned back repeatedly, avoiding his kisses, “Why are you so annoying! Who told you to kiss me here!”

“Be good, no one will come by,” Wen Liang coaxed, pushing her against the wall and lowering his head to kiss her again.

The man had been drinking, and his lips and teeth carried the taste of alcohol, mixed with the rich aroma of red wine, intertwining with the champagne flavor in Chen Die’s mouth, creating a strange taste.

The intermingling breaths made one feel intoxicated.

Wen Liang kissed her while murmuring: “Your mouth is only this defiant with me. You chatted with someone for so long and even posted photos together, and I haven’t settled accounts with you yet.”

He kissed her while speaking, his kisses falling gently on her lips one after another, his voice hoarse and magnetic, making one’s eardrums itch.

Chen Die only felt her lips going numb, and the earlier aggressive anger had completely dissipated. His kisses made her lips increasingly crimson and moist.

Wen Liang looked at her, his eyes darkening: “Still angry?”

Chen Die was a bit dazed, with both types of alcohol mixed between her teeth, feeling somewhat tipsy with every breath. Looking at him, her reaction was delayed, and she tilted her head, making an “mm” sound.

Wen Liang smiled: “You like me kissing you that much?”

“…”

“One kiss and you’re not angry anymore.”

Chen Die was speechless: “…Have some dignity.”

“It’s getting late, Zhu Qicong is already outside. Shall we go home?”

Chen Die felt it would be somewhat embarrassing to just go home with him like this, so she deliberately picked a fight and punched him: “I haven’t forgiven you yet.”

“Let’s go home first anyway.” Wen Liang kissed her again, bent down to be at her eye level, “Once we’re home, I’m at your command.”

“…”

How could this person make even these four words sound so suggestive?