Chen Beini was also very upset. She and Gu Chengyu had just confirmed their relationship and had initially planned to use âSmoke Beautyâ to hype up their status as the National Couple to take their careers to new heights. However, an An Lan was constantly wedged between them.
Now, with the new script not yet released, Chen Beini couldnât publicly complain. Thus, she could only vent to her close friends in the industry.
Little did she know that one of her friends couldnât keep a secret and posted three Weibo posts in one morning, spilling the beans.
@Edith: âHereâs something interesting. A friend of mine just became official with her boyfriend. The two are sweetly co-starring in a big production, only to have the team invite a bootlicker into the mix.â
@Edith: âThis bootlicking drama, I wonder where she got the cheek to make the scriptwriter change her character design and add more romantic scenes with the male lead.â
@Edith: âThe male party has it even worse, suffering in silence because after all, a bootlicker has no heart.â
This friend wasnât an actor but a well-known makeup artist. Although her following wasnât as large as an actorâs, it was enough to spark a whirlwind of gossip.
Moreover, the term âbootlickerâ was particularly evocative, along with the other information known.
Netizens quickly identified the three main characters involved in the incident: Gu Chengyu, Chen Beini, and the so-called bootlicker, An Lan.
Gu Chengyuâs fans were amused and irritated by the shenanigans of the âSmokeâ production team.
The fervent fans of the traffic-celebrity started eagerly tagging the support club to confirm the authenticity of the event and hoped the official âSmokeâ account would make a statement.
Chen Beiniâs friend, who hadnât expected the issue to blow up so much, quickly deleted those three Weibo posts, but Gu Chengyuâs fans had already pushed the matter to trend on the hot search.
âCan âSmokeâ production please respect the leads and scriptwriter? What right does a bootlicker have to add scenes?â
âCan Tianwang Media not tame their dog? @An Lan havenât you made my brother suffer enough already?â
âIâm furious! An Lan deserves eternal blacklisting. If âSmokeâ production doesnât deal with this, Iâll keep boycotting âSmokeâ until they kick the bootlicker out of the galaxy.â
The fans took matters into their own hands, boycotting âSmoke Beautyâ and flocking to An Lanâs last Weibo post to unleash a storm of curses, controlling the comments and dominating the space with a full-service campaign to brainwash passersby about just how disgusting the bootlicker An Lan wasâessentially launching a new round of cyberbullying against An Lan.
â¦@@novelbin@@
The production team quickly got wind of the developments, and Huahai executed its first round of public relations. After receiving the call, Director Tang pulled the National Couple aside and scolded them: âChen Beini, canât you control your mouth?â
âDirector Tang, weâre all clear about whoâs right and whoâs wrong here. Chengyu and I are the leads, what has it become now? Are we playing supporting roles to An Lan?â Chen Beini was preemptive, taking the offensive with Director Tang.
âDirector Tang, we have great respect for you and this production team, but I simply cannot accept the script changes,â Gu Chengyu chimed in, seizing the opportunity. âJust as President Yan said yesterday, he hoped the production team would remain pure and clean, and now I return his exact words to him.â
This time, it was Director Tang who was amused to the point of laughter, unable to help but ask, âGu Chengyu, arenât you a bit too self-absorbed? Do you dare say youâre not letting personal feelings affect your opinion of An Lan? Who are you trying to be professional for? Iâve said it before, the changes to An Lanâs part are not additions to the script, nor will they impact your love storyline. The production is merely considering fleshing out the character Fan Yan. The script isnât even out yet, and youâve already stirred up this mess; do you still want to continue collaborating?â
âJust because youâre popular, do you think you can do whatever you want? If I hadnât just spoken in your favor to President Yan, do you think this would blow over so easily?â
âNow that your fans are going around cyberbullying An Lan, do you think youâre in the right?â
But the truth was, both of them inwardly cursed: She had it coming!