[Breaking News! First Love Couple's Relationship in Disharmony, Suspected of Separation and Each Living Their Own Lives]
Early on a weekend morning, everyone saw this news circulating online. Although everyone already knew that the "first love couple" weren't as loving and sweet as they claimed, they had still cultivated a deeply affectionate image, so seeing that they had actually broken up was quite intriguing.
The Weibo post included two photos: one of Lin Yan whispering a wine glass in a beautiful woman's ear, and the other of Liu Jie smiling shyly at a handsome man. Both looked rather ambiguous, certainly not fitting their public personas. Fans on both sides had a long-standing grudge, and the photos immediately sparked a heated argument. Those who remain staunchly fans are generally younger and less mature; they lose all reason when arguing, not only failing to defend their idols but also attracting a lot of negative attention.
Lin Yan and Liu Jie's phones were ringing off the hook with calls from their agent, while the two were arguing at home. Liu Jie threw a stack of photos at his face, angrily saying, "What did I do? I just went to a party with Lina and came home on time every day. And you? How many women have you been involved with? You even kissed this wild model, and you have the nerve to come and scold me?"
Lin Yan stared in shock at the photos scattered on the floor. There were at least ten different women in them, and the crucial point was that, apart from that wild model, he had been completely innocent with the others! He glared fiercely at Liu Jie, "You had someone follow me? What are you trying to do?!"
"Divorce!" Liu Jie sat on the sofa, her face cold as she took out a divorce agreement from her bag. "I'll just consider these past few years of sincerity wasted. Sign it! From now on, we'll go our separate ways."
Lin Yan glanced at the agreement and saw that each party would keep their own property, with no joint assets, which relieved him. He earned significantly more than Liu Jie; if Liu Jie wanted a share of his assets, he would have to consider it, but if she left like this, it didn't really matter. His image as a devoted lover had long since crumbled; it was better to divorce, remain single for life, and cultivate a charming playboy persona—someone would still be interested, which was better than being so constrained. The company also agreed, so he readily signed the divorce papers.
To his surprise, Liu Jie left with her suitcase, and he realized his card was unusable! He called Liu Jie, who only said that if he dared to pursue the matter, she would release his photos. She said that flirting and cheating are not the same, and cheating on one person is different from cheating on several. If he was branded a scumbag, his career would be ruined, and he would never be able to clear his name. Lin Yan had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept it.
Liu Jie wanted to wait until the hype died down before revealing Lin Yan's infidelity. By then, even if Lin Yan wanted to claim that she had transferred his assets, he wouldn't have any evidence. Meanwhile, she could maintain the hype and become the victim in this divorce, perhaps even getting one or two good opportunities.
But Xu Zifan didn't give her a chance to manipulate public opinion, directly having intimate photos of Lin Yan and the model leaked. The model's face was blurred, but judging from her skin tone and figure, she wasn't Liu Jie. People who were initially just lamenting the breakup of the first love couple immediately changed their tune, calling Lin Yan a cheating scumbag.
Lin Yan was furious and immediately confronted Liu Jie, but it wasn't Liu Jie who had posted it. Liu Jie was even more anxious than him, because she didn't know what else the person behind it had in mind. What was originally a sure thing had completely slipped out of her control, and Liu Jie dared not express any further opinion.
Xingchen finally couldn't stand Lin Yan's mess anymore. He gave all the good resources to others, leaving him only with minor roles in movies or low-budget TV dramas with unpopular IPs. Lin Yan was unwilling to accept this, so he hired online trolls to smear Liu Jie, claiming that she was being kept, had been with multiple men, was still unfaithful after marriage, secretly transferred all of Lin Yan's assets, and had premeditatedly taken photos, etc. After waiting for a few days and seeing that no one revealed any real dirt on her, Liu Jie assumed that the mastermind was only targeting Lin Yan, and finally felt relieved and stood up to plead her innocence, gaining a lot of sympathy.
But then, Xu Zifan played the recording of her conversation with the private investigator. In the recording, Liu Jie said, "As long as he gets close to a woman, you should use a camera angle to make it look real. I taught you this when I filmed Qiao Zixin last time, and you filmed it very well, making it look real. This time, you need to make it even more ambiguous."
Xu Zifan spent a lot of money and effort to obtain this recording. It was made by the private investigator himself, just to find something on Liu Jie to prevent being tricked by this woman. Xu Zifan paid ten times more than Liu Jie, so he naturally sold her out without hesitation.
Once this recording came out, all those photos of Qiao Zixin that were used to attack her online for her messy private life were dug up again. After careful analysis by tech enthusiasts, it turned out that they were all photoshopped! Some of them, when zoomed in, showed that Qiao Zixin wasn't even looking at the man opposite her, but just at the TV behind him, yet they were captured as if the two were gazing deeply into each other's eyes; in other photos, Qiao Zixin was just tilting her head and smoothing her hair, yet they were captured as if she was kissing the man next to her. This technique is simply terrifying; it was definitely the work of a scheming and despicable person!
This angered Qiao Zixin's fans, who immediately joined the fray to tear Liu Jie apart. Under Xu Zifan's management, they were remarkably organized and disciplined, avoiding verbal sparring and instead presenting a list of evidence to demonstrate just how many disgusting things Liu Jie had done. Many other fans, possessing considerable knowledge, wrote eloquent and poetic insults, but a closer look reveals that they utterly degraded Liu Jie to the lowest level.
Xu Zifan then released the details of Liu Jie's transfer of assets. Although it wasn't enough to serve as legal evidence, anyone with a brain could tell that Liu Jie had absconded with all the family's assets, leaving Lin Yan penniless! However, Lin Yan's infidelity was undeniable, and no one would sympathize with him no matter how bad Liu Jie was. On the contrary, it was a pity that they got divorced. Clearly, a scumbag and a bitch should have been a perfect match.
After that, Xu Zifan released all sorts of scandalous information, including his chance encounters with rich second-generation heirs, his seduction of movie stars, his diva-like behavior on set, and his beatings and verbal abuse of his assistant. He had bought out the two small companies that had previously sued for operating marketing accounts, and now all the information was being released by them, so no one would associate it with him.
No one knew that he was the real boss behind the scenes. On the contrary, because these marketing accounts released solid evidence this time, people said that they had reformed and finally dared not spread rumors anymore, and they trusted these marketing accounts a little more.
Lin Yan and Liu Jie were both burdened with a mountain of scandals, equally badly targeted. Lin Yan's plan to rebuild his image and reach new heights was shattered, and Liu Jie's dream of remarrying a wealthy man was also shattered. The two went to court over their assets, but by then no one cared who won or lost; all they wanted was for them to get out of the entertainment industry.
[Butterfly Orchid: Lin Yan and Liu Jie, get out of the entertainment industry! What kind of "first love couple" is this? Don't insult such a beautiful word as "first love," just call them the "Fuyanjie Couple"!]
[Xiaoqiao: Fuyanjie and her husband are a match made in heaven; I will never watch anything they act in again!]
[Baby is unhappy: My Zixin was wronged by the Fuyanjie couple back then, and now I've finally gotten my revenge!]
[tj-kikyo: The Fuyanjie couple should be banned. What kind of celebrities are they to have such a terrible influence?!]
The proprietress of Xingchen Boss Club never expected Lin Yan, their cash cow, to be ruined like this. She immediately terminated his contract, just like she had with Qiao Zixin, and demanded a huge penalty for breach of contract. Although Qiao Zixin's comeback was unexpected, she knew Lin Yan was doomed, so she terminated the contract without hesitation.
Many people ridiculed the boss's wife of Star Entertainment for being snobbish, only currying favor with those who are popular, and being a typical example of someone who can only share in wealth but not in hardship. She even kicked her artists when they were at their lowest point. They suggested that Star Entertainment should just be renamed Scam Entertainment instead.
Lin Yan just won his lawsuit and got half of his assets back from Liu Jie, which he then gave to the company. He even sold the house he was living in, losing everything. Now, people on the street call him a scumbag. He's homeless, just like Qiao Zixin was in before, but he doesn't have a single fan who genuinely wants to help him. He can only use the little money he has left to rent a small apartment temporarily and call everyone he knows, hoping they can help him find a new company or some work.
He discovered he'd been blocked by many people, and even when someone answered his calls, they made excuses and refused to help. For the first time, he realized his popularity was all fake, like a bubble that would burst at any moment. How many people fawned over him when he was famous? How many fans vowed to never abandon him? Now that he was in trouble, they all vanished without a trace, not a single one willing to lend a helping hand. It was all Liu Jie's fault! He went to confront Liu Jie, only to find her gone, her place nowhere to be found. He could only return to his rented room, gloomy and depressed, drinking himself into a stupor every day.
Liu Jie also hid in her new home, afraid to leave. She was terrified of the online abuse, especially from her fans. She had always maintained a pure and innocent image, but now she realized that her real self was completely different from her public persona, and the backlash from her fans was the most terrifying thing. Her fans were already unreasonable, so the insults they hurled at her were naturally the most vicious. She didn't want to see what they were saying, but she couldn't control herself; like she had obsessive-compulsive disorder, she would refresh the page every few minutes to see if anyone was saying anything about her.
She regretted it. In her previous life, she was never famous, and she had never been insulted like this. How could she be living a worse life in this second life? She opened Xu Zifan's Baidu Baike page and saw his introduction and achievements. Although there were few, they were highly praised. Why didn't she have a fan like Xu Zifan? She researched Xu Zifan for several months but found nothing unusual. She finally believed that Xu Zifan was indeed a genius in this field and had entered the entertainment industry to help Qiao Zixin when she was down on her luck.
The more information she researched, the more she felt Xu Zifan was a thousand times better than Lin Yan. Lin Yan needed Qiao Zixin to become famous, while Xu Zifan managed to elevate Qiao Zixin, who was universally disliked online, back to the top! Xu Zifan was so much more handsome and talented than Lin Yan, owned his own company and wasn't controlled by anyone, was worth billions, and had no scandals whatsoever—he was a truly good man! How could she have been so blind not to discover Xu Zifan sooner? Otherwise, if she had stood by him through thick and thin when he was unknown, wouldn't she be the one enjoying immense success now?
Liu Jie managed to get her hands on a bottle of sleeping pills, her hands trembling as she clutched them tightly. If she died and could start over, could she marry Xu Zifan and become a top star? But could she really start over after death? Liu Jie hesitated for a long time, then released her grip, letting the sleeping pills spill onto the floor, and collapsed onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. Why did she choose the wrong person? Why did things come to this? What was the meaning of her second chance at life?