Volume One, Chapter 11: The True and False Heroines—Does Su Nianxi Even Deserve the Title?

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Of course, the reason Xiao Yueqing’s situation went viral was not just because of the popularity of “Cloud Lyrical Mysteries” itself. Rather, the top pinned post in the trending search wasn’t a super flattering praise of Xiao Yueqing, but an account claiming to be the original source of gossip, asserting that the actual female lead of “Cloud Lyrical Mysteries” was Su Nianxi, while the rumored female lead Xiao Yueqing was actually the second lead.

As soon as these words came out, Xiao Yueqing’s fans couldn’t sit still.

Originally, the fans were busy promoting Xiao Yueqing’s upcoming dramas and eagerly awaiting the start of new shoots. But soon, they found the hard-earned trending topic overtaken by another artist’s name, and someone even trying to steal their beloved sister’s lead role—how could anyone tolerate that?

They immediately went into a frenzy, tagging the director and the studio demanding clarification, and in the chaos, they unleashed a torrent of insults at Su Nianxi.

After getting a rough idea of the whole situation, Su Nianxi smiled.

“Nian Nian, don’t fight back blindly. Xiao Yueqing started as a child star, unlike other artists; she has a large number of die-hard fans and a good public reputation. We just can’t win against that,” Xiao Qu knew Su Nianxi’s personality well enough to predict she wouldn’t tolerate baseless insults and had to offer a precaution.

“Oh.” Su Nianxi remained silent, simply liking a few posts.

Two minutes later...

Xiao Qu stared at the flashing “Sister Wang” avatar on the screen and looked at Su Nianxi with utter despair. “Nian Nian, what did I just say?”

“What do you mean?” Su Nianxi blinked and casually grabbed a bag of snacks from behind Xiao Qu.

Xiao Qu sighed heavily, dragging herself over to take a call.

“Is Su Nianxi losing it again?” As soon as the call connected, Wang Linshan’s loud voice thundered through.

Xiao Qu rubbed her ear and whispered, “Um, Sister Wang, we can handle this.”

“Handle? Do you know what she’s doing? She liked a black post against Xiao Yueqing! It’s a black post!” Wang Linshan’s voice cracked. “She’s already riding on this little bit of controversial fame these days, and now this stunt—doesn’t she fear retaliation from the other company? We’re worried enough! Take her phone away immediately, and we’ll say her account was hacked to cool things down.”

“...Okay.” Xiao Qu swallowed nervously, trying to calm her pounding heart.

She never imagined that Su Nianxi would actually go so far as to like someone’s black post.

“Nian Nian, what exactly did you just do?” Xiao Qu hung up and glared at Su Nianxi with clenched teeth.

Su Nianxi: “Chewing, chewing.”

Xiao Qu had had enough and snatched away the newly opened pack of wafer cookies.

“If you’re angry, vent it, but why like a black post?” Xiao Qu sat down beside her, arms folded. “You’d better go on Weibo right now and explain—say your account was hacked.”

“That’s a black post?” Su Nianxi tilted her head. “Isn’t it just the truth?”

No matter how loud Xiao Yueqing’s fanbase was claiming she was the female lead, everyone knew just a week ago they were still demanding Xiao Yueqing reject historical romance roles in favor of serious dramas.

And now, suddenly, they were fighting over the lead role again.

It truly proved how quickly people could change their stance.

Xiao Qu had no time to listen to her rambling and shoved the phone into her hand, urging her to follow the company’s instructions.

Su Nianxi expressionlessly opened Weibo and began typing rapidly.

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[Su Nianxi V: Not a slip of the finger, purely mischief.]

She was ruthless when it came to insulting herself.

After all, she knew exactly what kind of person she was.

However, to the trolls, Su Nianxi’s actions were no less than provocation; her comment section instantly became a carnival for haters.

Meanwhile, some “Xi Fans” who had recently started supporting her left only a cryptic message—“Su the Brave, take the blame yourself”—before mysteriously disappearing.

[User 1: Su the Bitch is crazy. What does it matter to her who takes which role? And liking a black post? So lame.]

[User 2: We all know some actors flop every project—averaging a 4.0 rating. They must be jealous that Xiao Yueqing got to work with Director Liu!]

[User 3: Could the pinned post even be bought? Honestly, how could Su Nianxi land such a big production? Probably bringing investment into the crew.]

[User 4: Haha, Liu Qi using her? Only if she kidnaps the director.]

Neither the haters nor the netizens associated Su Nianxi with the renowned director in the entertainment industry. Most still saw her as the frantic actress from a few days ago, even if some acknowledged her good performance on variety shows.

They simply assumed she was stirring up trouble by paying for hype.

[User 5: Posting about Song Xiao and Xiao Yueqing nonstop, this person is relentless. The drama starts filming next month; once official announcements come, we’ll know who the lead is.]

[User 6: Seriously, “Cloud Lyrical Mysteries” is such a good drama, yet it’s now tainted by Su Nianxi’s presence. So frustrating. Su the Bitch is unworthy—please walk your own path.]

Su Nianxi scrolled through two pages of comments, feeling the troll game here was subpar.

So she started firing back with gusto.

[Su Nianxi V: Whether you know or not, the “loaned-in” female lead isn’t me. [Covering mouth laughing emoji]]

[Su Nianxi V: Fans on the other side, don’t hide. Whether human or dog, come out for a walk. Two days ago, “refused the role,” today, “eye candy,” tomorrow, “director,” day after, is your sister going to be the producer? The contract isn’t even signed yet, don’t rush your heart~]

Heh, didn’t the haters love sarcasm? Conveniently, she used to be the top sarcastic player in the national server.

Once she entered the fray, the fans went even crazier, accusing Su Nianxi of shamelessness, trying to drag Xiao Yueqing down with her.

Xiao Yueqing’s side responded swiftly, but without engaging Su Nianxi directly. Instead, she posted a selfie captioned: “Calm and serene.”

The subtle meaning behind her words immediately won fan sympathy.

They proclaimed Xiao Yueqing a saint for not getting angry when slandered, yet turning around to curse Su Nianxi’s comment section fiercely.

The farce finally ended with Liu Qi posting a statement on Weibo.

[Liu Qi V: Please note, “Cloud Lyrical Mysteries” is still in pre-production. No acting contracts have been signed. All rumors are false.]

This meant that neither Xiao Yueqing nor Su Nianxi was confirmed as the female lead.

Xiao Yueqing’s fans fell silent momentarily, then resumed attacking the studio, insisting that if their idol wasn’t the lead, she shouldn’t accept the drama.

Su Nianxi, seeing Liu Qi step forward, shook her phone and collapsed onto the sofa.

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“Do you think this will affect your joining the new drama?” Xiao Qu pondered the director’s statement anxiously.

“Hm?” Su Nianxi tilted her head. “I’m not the one causing trouble, so why worry?”

*Knock knock.*

Before Xiao Qu could ask more, someone knocked on the dressing room door.

The two turned to hear a staff member calling out loudly: “Trainee Su Nianxi! We have new task cards for you!”

Hearing this, Su Nianxi slowly got up, yawning as she opened the door—and then faced a black camera lens.

She silently raised her hand and pushed the camera back a few centimeters.

“Here is your task card,” the staff member said with a smile.

Su Nianxi took it and read the contents.

“Memorize and rehearse your character’s lines. The mentors will conduct surprise checks in two days. Failure means losing the chance to film the short piece.” Reading this, Su Nianxi felt all her good qualities slipping away.

Who wants to memorize anything during their break time?

“Good luck!” the staff cheerfully said, shoving a thick stack of scripts into her arms.

“What is this?” Su Nianxi stared at the script, as thick as a medical textbook, utterly dumbfounded.

“Your lines,” the staff replied with the same smile.

“Two days to memorize all this?” Su Nianxi narrowed her eyes.

“That’s right~” The staff’s voice ended with a playful rising tone.

*Fwoosh.*

Su Nianxi waved her sleeve and punched away the floating rising intonation.

Well, money is money. She resigned herself to her fate.

*Ding—*

After closing the door, Su Nianxi just tossed the heavy script onto the makeup table when her phone buzzed with a new message.

“Xiao Qu, help me check—probably another debt collector,” Su Nianxi said, collapsing into the boss chair like a puddle of slime.