After Transmigrating into the Role of the Villain Forced to Pamper the Heroine of an Angsty Novel - Chapter 12

From Yu Youqing’s tone, her expression, and the fact that she arrived so suddenly and in such a rush, Gu Ruolan could guess that the news was likely not good.

“What happened?”

Yu Youqing handed her the phone. “See for yourself.”

Related Super Topics were springing up like mushrooms after rain. Although they only started appearing in the afternoon, they had spread across the platform in just a few hours. Like sparks, they were diffusing everywhere. Put one out, and another would flare up.

Yu Youqing had selected a few discussion threads with the highest participation; many other scattered ones had already been dealt with by the company.

“President Xin’s stance is for you to focus on filming. The company will handle these issues, but you still need to be aware of them.”

Yu Youqing had already hired many people to work on this while she was on her way to the set, and messages were still popping up on her phone.

As Gu Ruolan browsed, she could see exaggerated content being blocked or disappearing in real-time, showing that the processing efficiency was quite high.

However, those blurry photos…

This was a fact that Gu Ruolan could not calmly deny. That night, she had indeed entered the bar in a hurry, and she had indeed felt unwell.

She had never had the chance to explain to Meng Qiuran that she hadn’t mistakenly entered the staff restroom due to blurred vision—it was intentional. When she realized paparazzi were tailing her, she was already feeling sick. Having seen enough of the media’s nonsense, she chose a place where not just anyone could enter.

But at that time, she only held a shred of hope; after all, the staff restroom could still be entered if one was determined—just as she had.

However, some things, even if clarified with maximum effort, might not be believed by others—especially by those waiting to watch her fall.

It was impossible to say she wasn’t affected at all, but Gu Ruolan was no longer a newcomer. She handed the phone back to Yu Youqing and didn’t rush to take out her own phone to keep looking.

“What do you need me to do to cooperate?”

“President Xin wants you to be more careful on set. Try to minimize conflicts and keep a low profile for a while.”

Gu Ruolan frowned slightly. She wasn’t the type to cause trouble, nor was she a high-profile person.

Yu Youqing knew exactly what she was thinking and smiled. “She feels that someone is intentionally targeting you and will definitely be watching you. Since the enemy is in the shadows, it will take some time to find them.”

“I understand.”

Yu Youqing hesitated before bringing up another topic. “Regarding Meng Qiuran… do you want to reach out and communicate with her?”

The thought had crossed Gu Ruolan’s mind the moment she saw the photos, but she quickly dismissed it.

“She won’t go around talking.”

“How are you so sure?”

Gu Ruolan shook her head, but her tone held a hint of certainty. “There’s no need for her to drag herself into this mess.”

The implications of the Super Topics were disgraceful. Meng Qiuran’s identity was not ordinary; if she jumped out, she would only draw fire to herself. She also had no obligation to clarify anything for Gu Ruolan. During their last meeting, they had tacitly agreed to act as if nothing had happened.

Yu Youqing always felt the relationship between Gu Ruolan and Meng Qiuran wasn’t a simple chance encounter, but since Gu Ruolan wouldn’t budge, she had no choice but to believe her. An agent, no matter how close, doesn’t need to know every single secret of their artist.

Since Gu Ruolan put it that way, it wouldn’t be appropriate for Yu Youqing to seek out Meng Qiuran on her own. If the other person were still that little bartender in Berlin, Yu Youqing might have looked her up before even coming here. But now she was Miss Meng; it wasn’t even certain she’d be willing to grant an audience, let alone follow instructions.

“As long as you know what you’re doing. The photos should be suppressed within a couple of days. As for the hidden hand, we’ll have to investigate slowly. Just be more vigilant,” Yu Youqing said, packing her bag and standing up to leave. “By the way, your fan club was quite helpful this time.”

Gu Ruolan arched an eyebrow, clearly interested.

Yu Youqing said with relief, “While the company was still meeting to discuss the response plan, your fans had already taken action. When I went to hire people to remove the trending searches, I heard that some of the top entries had already been dealt with by someone else.”

Combined with the subsequent comment control, it had indeed bought the company a lot of processing time to keep the situation within a controllable range.

Yu Yimeng arrived ten minutes early for her appointment, but she didn’t dare knock prematurely. She chose to familiarize herself with the script in the hallway.

Gu Ruolan called it an “exchange and discussion,” but Yu Yimeng knew she had no standing to talk about acting in front of a Silver Glow Movie Queen. She cherished this chance for personal guidance.

Yu Youqing emerged from Gu Ruolan’s room, turning at the door to say, “It’s windy outside. Don’t go out if you’re dressed light. Call me if anything happens.”

As soon as the door closed, Yu Youqing saw Yu Yimeng standing a few steps away.

This was a new face that people in the industry didn’t really recognize yet, but Yu Youqing knew her—she was the newcomer Gu Ruolan had insisted on using. As she passed Yu Yimeng, Yu Youqing smiled and nodded. The girl immediately put down her script and greeted her nervously.

“Hello, Sister Yu.”

“Still looking at the script this late?” Yu Youqing asked casually.

“Yes, my acting isn’t good enough, so I need to study it more.”

Yu Youqing gave a token of encouragement: “Keep at it.”

Once Yu Youqing entered the elevator, Yu Yimeng checked the time: 7:55 PM. Taking a deep breath, she walked to Gu Ruolan’s door and knocked twice.

The door opened quickly—it was Gu Ruolan herself.

Yu Yimeng had been pleasantly surprised several times today, but she hadn’t expected Gu Ruolan to personally answer the door. For a moment, she was tongue-tied.

“T-Teacher Gu… hello.”

Gu Ruolan gave a faint smile, stepped aside to let her in, and told her to sit anywhere on the sofa.

Initially, Yu Yimeng was stiff, and Gu Ruolan wasn’t exactly a conversationalist, but the moment they spoke about the script, both became focused and active.

“Teacher Gu, this part here… I used three different ways to express it today, but the director said none were okay.” Yu Yimeng pointed to the section where she had repeatedly been given a “No Good” (NG).

“You can let yourself go a bit more. Don’t think about ‘acting’ it; try to be her.”

Yu Yimeng was professionally trained and understood the theory, but if it were easy for everyone, acting wouldn’t be such a valuable skill.

Gu Ruolan curled her lips and gave a demonstration: “Are you crazy?! For such a small thing, you’re asking me for money!”

She suddenly turned cold, shedding her gentleness and radiating hostility and annoyance. Her pitch was high, her voice sharp, with an underlying sense of suppressed inferiority.

Yu Yimeng was startled, then quickly realized—this was the exact feeling she hadn’t been able to portray today.

“Teacher Gu, you’re amazing! You just sat there and said one sentence casually, but you brought to life the lines I’ve been practicing for a week.”

Gu Ruolan merely smiled at the praise and pointed to the script. “Do you see what you’re lacking?”

Yu Yimeng recalled Gu Ruolan’s performance. “It’s the emotion.”

Gu Ruolan nodded with satisfaction. “You’re smart; you caught the key instantly.”

Yu Yimeng’s basic skills weren’t bad; she lacked experience. Furthermore, playing the role of a young Gu Ruolan created a psychological burden that made her afraid to perform freely. She was constrained, and all her emotions were locked tight.

With Gu Ruolan’s demonstration and guidance, she found the “feeling.” With Gu Ruolan’s encouragement, she was now confident.

Before leaving, she couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher Gu, why did you go to the set today?”

“Because I need to be in sync with you.”

Yu Yimeng was confused.

“The character in adulthood will definitely have traces of her childhood. I cannot be completely disconnected from your performance.”

Yu Yimeng didn’t fully grasp the depth of that meaning, but she still found the sentence profoundly striking.

Since returning from the office, Meng Qiuran had been following the online information. This was the first time she had followed a “star” with such genuine sincerity. Seeing the previously lively discussion threads disappear and trending topics vanish as soon as they appeared, she knew the people protecting Gu Ruolan had made their move.

But the people trying to smear Gu Ruolan weren’t idling either. If one thread vanished, another appeared; if a trending search was removed, they pushed it back up. It was like a long-distance tug-of-war, with neither side willing to back down.

Meng Qiuran had been watching this play out from a bystander’s perspective, and now she saw the pattern: the enemy only had a few blurry photos, linking her to a bar at most. Alcoholism was a stretch, but drugs? That was pure fabrication.

When Meng Xiayan returned from his social functions, he saw his sister sitting in the dining room drinking sweet soup, staring intently at her phone.

“What are you looking at that’s so engrossing?” Meng Xiayan walked over, the scent of alcohol quite strong.

Meng Qiuran quickly locked her screen and flipped it facedown on the table. “Personal privacy, no comment.”

Meng Xiayan smiled knowingly, pulled out a chair next to her, and loosened his tie. Meng Qiuran ate her soup faster; she didn’t want to be around a drunk—he smelled terrible.

“Did you see the news about Gu Ruolan today?”

Meng Qiuran’s hand paused. She said calmly, “What news?”

Meng Xiayan pressed his temples. “The stuff about her drinking and doing drugs abroad.” He had heard people mention a few things at his dinner party tonight. He hadn’t looked at the details closely, but he remembered it.

Meng Qiuran asked intentionally, “Brother, you’re so busy, yet you have time to care about this?”

Meng Xiayan smiled. “If I want to pursue her, I have to know more about her.”

The smile on Meng Qiuran’s lips faded slightly. It seemed her brother really wasn’t joking in the car that night.

Meng Xiayan suddenly sat up straight and said seriously, “Tell me, should I find someone to help her settle this matter?”