Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

"Please forgive me, audience and reporters, but Bingbing is feeling a bit tired from the non-stop roadshow. Would you please let her go and rest for a while?"

Reporters and viewers alike felt deeply sorry for Fan Bingbing, who was pale-faced but still managed a forced smile.

Besides expressions of concern, various criticisms arose one after another, after all, these were the sharp-tongued and stubborn viewers of Jiangcheng!

"Damn it, are you guys crazy for money, making a young girl run around from city to city!"

"Gao Yaosi... Gao Yaosi"

"......"

Faced with the harsh criticism from his fellow villagers, even the usually stoic Cheng Er broke out in a cold sweat.

Just as they were about to reach the door, Fan Bingbing, supported by Li Yue, stopped, turned around, and bowed deeply to the audience. When she looked up, her face was already covered in tears.

Huang Haibo ran over in one stride, but Fan Bingbing took the microphone from his hand and said, her voice trembling with emotion:

"Thank you, thank you everyone for your concern. I feel so warm and touched. It has nothing to do with the distributor, the cinema, or anyone else. I just had a stomach ache. I'm so sorry, so sorry. I will always remember today and the people of Jiangcheng who cared about me."

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from both the stage and the audience. People were deeply moved, and some female audience members even shed tears.

Seeing a female celebrity moved to tears by their concern, how could one not be touched?

Many people have decided that Fan Bingbing will be their idol from now on.

I'll watch any show starring Fan Bingbing, and I'll buy any product she endorses...

Fan Bingbing went out, wiped her face, and then her face fell again.

Her tears were not from emotion, but from sadness.

Although the 19-year-old couldn't control her emotions and expressions, she was naturally sensitive to maintaining her public image and knew how to handle the situation just now.

Zhou Liren, who was standing guard nearby, thought to himself: This young proprietress is as clever as she is in her mind.

The quick-witted Fan Bingbing looked at Li Yue with a strained voice: "Xiao Yue, go to the internet cafe and see if it's really as the reporter said, then call me."

"Hey, Bingbing, don't rush. Brother Che said that the media in Hong Kong are all about clickbait. Yes, clickbait. They start with a picture and then make up all the content."

Fan Bingbing forced a smile and said, "Okay, go ahead."

Afterwards, Fan Bingbing returned to the hotel accompanied by Zhou Liren. The hotel receptionist and guests greeted Fan Bingbing one after another. Some called her Bingbing, some called her Xingxing, and no one called her Suo anymore... Moreover, everyone had a smile on their face, as if seeing her would make them smile from the bottom of their hearts.

This made Fan Bingbing happy, genuinely happy, and she thoroughly enjoyed the moment.

So she responded warmly and enthusiastically to everyone's affection, taking photos and signing autographs for everyone.

This kind of scene is not unique to Jiangcheng; it's the same in every city in the mainland. Fan Bingbing will never get tired of it or find it annoying.

Zhou Liren, who could occasionally be recognized in Beijing, was completely invisible here; he was a "bodyguard."

Before entering the hotel room, Zhou Liren spoke up: "Bingbing, when Brother Che was talking about marketing at the Tower Academy, he mentioned that creating scandals is a marketing tactic with extremely low investment and extremely high returns, so..."

Fan Bingbing laughed and said, "I know, Brother Zhou, go get something to eat and get some rest. You have to fly to Hong Kong early tomorrow morning."

"Okay, sure."

Back inside, Fan Bingbing, now alone, became expressionless. He had genuinely been happy interacting with people earlier, but now his heart was pounding and he even had a vague sense of unease.

She sat on the sofa, gripping her phone tightly.

About two minutes later, the bell rang, and it was Li Yue.

Li Yue spoke with great difficulty: "Bingbing, just like the reporter said...Bingbing!"

"I'm fine, you can come back now."

After Fan Bingbing finished speaking, she hung up. Then she put on her hat and mask, and called Zhou Liren over, saying that she was going to the internet cafe herself.

It was half an hour later when Fan Bingbing returned to the hotel. This time, she didn't look up, remove her armor, or greet people. Instead, she quickly went back to her room.

She was still sitting alone on the sofa, still clutching her phone tightly, still with a vacant look in her eyes.

Suddenly she came to her senses and dialed a phone number saved as "Pig Hum".

After ringing twice, the call was answered, and Gao Yuanyuan's soft and magnetic voice rang out.

"Hello, who is this?"

Fan Bingbing was taken aback and asked in confusion, "You didn't save my number?"

"Who? Oh my god..."

Hearing Gao Yuanyuan's instantly impatient tone, Fan Bingbing interrupted coldly:

"Stop swearing... Fine, fine, I'm too lazy to talk nonsense with you. Go find a computer and go on Tianya.com to see what he's been up to in Hong Kong lately."

Gao Yuanyuan paused, as if just realizing what she had done: "What did I do?"

"Go see for yourself!"

Fan Bingbing hung up as soon as she finished speaking, because she didn't know why she started crying while talking, and she didn't want Gao Yuanyuan to hear it.

But Gao Yuanyuan heard her voice trembling with tears, as if she were complaining aggrievedly...

Gao Yuanyuan quickly shook her head after putting down her phone, as if trying to shake off the idea.

While reading in her study, she reached out and turned on the computer, skillfully dialing up to access the internet and logging into Tianya.

As soon as the homepage refreshed, Gao Yuanyuan's hand holding the mouse paused. Then, she slid the mouse pointer, which was shaking incessantly on the screen, and clicked on the pinned post titled "Hong Kong media reports: Wang Fei's new boyfriend is screenwriter Yang Che, and the two are already living together!"

From being photographed together outside the bar, Wang Fei laughed and talked about how she avoided the topic during the "Celebrity Trio" interview, to singing a song for free, renting out the venue to support them, and finally to a happy hug when they met and patting each other's butts when they left.

Gao Yuanyuan copied the links to the pictures in the post one by one, opened them one by one, and looked at them one by one.

Suddenly, she recalled the scene of her boyfriend walking towards Wang Fei outside the GG studio, and her heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.

This hurt much more than when she first saw Fan Bingbing in the hallway; the pain made it hard for her to breathe.

After a while, Gao Yuanyuan picked up her phone to call him, but then she saw the unfamiliar number that had just called her. She hesitated for a moment and then dialed back.

"Now that you've finished reading, what's your comment?"

Hearing Gao Yuanyuan's voice become hoarse instead of soft and sweet, Fan Bingbing felt much more at ease.

"Let's make it clear first, no arguing today."

Gao Yuanyuan said in a deep voice, "When have you ever been the one to act like a jerk first!"

"You...you're right."

Fan Bingbing thought to herself: I'll endure it.

Hearing her reaction, Gao Yuanyuan was stunned for a moment, then exhaled a breath of stale air.

"Go ahead and say it."

Fan Bingbing paused for a moment: "Do you want to break up?"

Gao Yuanyuan was taken aback, then slowly said, "I don't know, what about you?"

"I don't know either."

As Fan Bingbing spoke, her voice began to tremble with emotion.

At this, Gao Yuanyuan's nose tingled, and she burst into tears as well.

Then the two women influenced each other and started crying over their phones.