LWDC Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Taking the Blame

Chapter 31: Taking the Blame

Chapter 31: Taking the Blame

Ning Fei pushed himself forward to shield Su Cenxi from the negative press.

It just so happened that his relationship with Su Cenxi hadn’t been great for a while, and later, it was true that Su Cenxi missed a bunch of work due to Ning Fei’s abandonment. So, pinning the blame for ditching the haute couture runway show on Ning Fei was very easy for Chen Xi Studio to do.

As for Ning Fei’s own feelings? He was the one who came up with the idea, so he naturally didn’t care.

However, compared to the outside world’s doubts, the ones who criticized Ning Fei the most were Su Cenxi’s fans. They expressed pity for Su Cenxi and simultaneously cyberbullied Ning Fei. Some of the particularly crazy ones even photoshopped Ning Fei’s obituary and funeral wreath photos, cursing him to die early and even threatening his life. Even though these kinds of comments were quickly deleted, they still occasionally popped up in the fan community. Even if Ning Fei saw them, he acted like he didn’t.

This wasn’t the first time he had experienced this, and these online trolls and verbal criticisms were really child’s play to him. He ate and drank as usual, and went on set when he needed to. At most, another wave of media outlets tried to interview him, pressing him for details about the “runway show no-show incident,” asking him if he would apologize to Su Cenxi, and also asking him if he would leave Chen Xi Studio, etc. Ning Fei brushed them all off with, “Those things are in the past, and Su Cenxi, the studio, and I have all reached a consensus and are starting over.”

In short, the wave of negative reviews for Su Cenxi was thus transferred to Ning Fei—at least most of it was diverted. And Su Cenxi’s image returned to a positive one, even gaining a “victim of a despicable manager” image. Even though the industry was very clear about what was really going on, no one was free enough to jump out and reveal the truth at this time. There was no benefit to it, so why offend Gu, the big boss, behind Su Cenxi?

“So, this is your solution? You’re going to act as Su Cenxi’s shield yourself?”

During another “overnight trip to the spa,” Duan Yunhong looked at Ning Fei, who was sitting next to him enjoying the spa tub, and couldn’t help but ask, “You’re so capable, you must have more than one plan to deal with public opinion, why did you choose this one?”

“It’s convenient to operate, and the effect is the best,” Ning Fei replied lazily, leaning back with his eyes closed. “Why complicate things when there’s a simple way?”

Duan Yunhong said, “The votes that were demanding Su Cenxi withdraw from the competition in the fan community have now all turned into demands for you to resign. You haven’t seen how nasty the insults are? Isn’t your studio doing anything about it?”

“What, are you feeling sorry for me?” Ning Fei finally opened his eyes and glanced at him. “President Duan, if you hadn’t been so ruthless, would I have had to ‘sacrifice’ myself like this?”

“I’m using normal promotional tactics, and you can also use normal tactics to deal with it,” Duan Yunhong said coldly. “Why drag a manager into the news hype between entertainers?”

“You said it yourself, I’m just a manager, and I don’t have much exposure,” Ning Fei replied casually. “Internet hot topics change so quickly these days, the discussions about me will be over soon. What’s the point of wasting energy to deal with it?”

Duan Yunhong narrowed his eyes slightly. “So you’re just going to let those comments that are scolding you flood the screen?”

Ning Fei shrugged. “Let them scold, it won’t take away a piece of my flesh. If they say things that are too outrageous, the platform will automatically regulate them, and there’s not much I can do about the rest. I can’t lower the topic’s heat, otherwise the competition’s topic will drop as well, then President Duan will definitely hate me.”

After a pause, Ning Fei remembered something else. “Oh right, I also have to thank President Duan for not exposing our ‘bait and switch’ story. If you had another ‘reverse,’ I would have had to keep making things up, which is quite annoying.”

Duan Yunhong looked at him with a cold face. “I’m not interested in exposing the conflict between your model and manager.”

Ning Fei smiled. “Yes, yes, yes, you’re doing it for the competition’s heat, I know that whole spiel by heart.”

Duan Yunhong looked at his nonchalant appearance, and the words he originally wanted to say suddenly wouldn’t come out. The man was silent for a few seconds, then asked in a casual tone, “So, you’re acting as Su Cenxi’s shield like this, what has he given you in return?”

“Return?”

“Shouldn’t he give you some extra reward?” Duan Yunhong maintained a cold tone. “Although you are his manager, and it is your duty to deal with negative public opinion, if you’re taking the blame for no reason, shouldn’t Su Cenxi show some kind of gratitude? Is he just going to enjoy all of this with peace of mind?”

Ning Fei thought: Him quickly rising to the Top 10 is my reward.

But he naturally couldn’t say that out loud.

“President Duan, you’re saying all this, you don’t want to promote ST’s benefits again, do you?” Ning Fei turned around and moved closer to the man, grabbing his knee. “Stop trying to poach people for your company at every opportunity, are we going to do business? If not, I’m going down for a massage.”

“I’m not promoting…” Duan Yunhong originally wanted to deny it, but the man had already come close, and his attention was immediately diverted. Even so, Director Duan had to keep a straight face and say, “Didn’t you want to soak in the tub first? If you want a massage, then go get a massage first.”

Ning Fei could tell that he was getting turned on too. He smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

“Don’t pretend to be polite with me, you horndog.”

*

While the public discussion about the work ethic of models and the manager’s obstruction continued to escalate, Su Cenxi signed on as the global spokesperson for Y Brand’s perfume.

Outsiders watch the excitement, insiders watch the details. While fans and passersby were still lamenting that Su Cenxi had benefited from the misfortune and wasn’t affected by the negative public opinion, those in the industry knew that it was the continuous heat that brought him the commercial endorsement. More precisely, the competition created a topic for him, and Ning Fei kept Su Cenxi’s name high on the trending list through continuous topic creation. In addition, Su Cenxi’s foreign social media platform has been interacting with K-sister, combining domestic and foreign topics, and it is normal for Y brand’s global endorsement to be obtained.

The clothing line endorsement was not obtained, but for this kind of high-end brand, the clothing line often does not have any specific spokespersons. Ning Fei is still in talks with them about next year’s main clothing line global model. If this can be negotiated, it can add a lot of points to the MDC ranking. After all, once this hard photo is taken, not only will the photos be accompanied by brand stores all over the world, but even the brand launch will have limited quotas.

In short, as long as there are no major problems next, Su Cenxi’s MDC ranking this year can be guaranteed 20 and compete for 10. Ning Fei was calculating the work at hand, walking with a triumphant spring in his step, and everything looked pleasing to the eye. Even though the fans were still scolding him, he still showed up at every one of Su Cenxi’s work sites as usual.

By the time Su Cenxi went to the competition as a guest for the third time, it was already the penultimate stage of the competition.

The hard photo segment of this competition was to shoot Chinese-style clothing, with the background in a historical and cultural attraction. Although the production team had rented the attraction for a day, the public areas outside were still surrounded by a lot of onlookers and some fan groups. The parking place was a bit far from the entrance of the scenic spot. Although this section of the road was surrounded by police tape, the onlookers could still see the celebrities or players at a very close distance. The guests also knew what was expected of them, and most of them would wave and interact with the onlookers as they walked past. Su Cenxi even signed autographs for two people. If Ning Fei hadn’t pulled him away, he would have been pulled out of the police tape by the fans.

“Sorry, we’re going to be late, see you again later,” Ning Fei said the lines to appease the fans, and unceremoniously put his arm around Su Cenxi’s shoulder, turned him around, and took him to the entrance of the scenic spot. As soon as he turned around and took two steps, a loud shout came from the fan group behind him: “Ning Fei, why haven’t you resigned yet? You’re so shameless!”

All the surrounding fans, staff, and even the artists walking behind them heard it clearly. Su Cenxi’s steps also stiffened, but Ning Fei acted as if nothing had happened, pushing him to continue walking with a calm and nonchalant expression: “Don’t pay attention to it.”

“But…”

“No buts.” Ning Fei didn’t even bother to turn around and look, and took Su Cenxi into the gate of the scenic spot without looking sideways.

Even after Su Cenxi was about to officially start working, Ning Fei didn’t take any action on the “face-to-face questioning” incident just now.

Before going on stage, Su Cenxi couldn’t help but say to him in a low voice, “This was definitely not instructed by me or A-Chen.”

“You were hesitant just now to clarify this?” Ning Fei sneered, “I’m not so stupid that I can’t see if it was your behind-the-scenes command. Go do your job and stop thinking about useless things.”

Only then did Su Cenxi nod and go on stage.

Duan Yunhong also stood in the starting position. Before the filming started, he deliberately looked around at the staff behind the camera, and then fixed his gaze on Ning Fei.

Ning Fei didn’t pay attention at first, thinking that the other party was just scanning around casually. When he realized that Duan Yunhong was deliberately staring at him, he winked at the other party, and only then did Duan Yunhong look away.

The hard photo work lasted for most of the day, and the pace was very tight. In the afternoon, the group came out of the scenic spot and went directly to the performance center to prepare for the evening’s runway show. This time, Su Cenxi, surrounded by his assistants, walked quickly across the road from the gate to the RV, only taking the time to smile and wave to the fans who called his name before quickly getting into the car. Ning Fei talked to the head of the national brand’s promotion for a while longer in the scenic spot, and came out later. He walked out of the scenic spot gate alone, carrying a water bottle in one hand and looking at his phone as he walked. Without Su Cenxi, he didn’t have to pay attention to the fans outside the police tape.

As he was walking quickly, he suddenly heard a voice nearby: “Ning Fei!!”

Ning Fei subconsciously slowed down and turned his head, and immediately saw a girl wearing a mask less than two meters away from him, raising her hand high, and instantly throwing something at him!

“! “Ning Fei subconsciously raised the mineral water bottle to meet it. He could have hit it accurately, but at the critical moment, an arm suddenly wrapped around him and turned him around, and his vision was suddenly completely blocked.

*Clap!*

——————–

Not a typo, you know~