Chapter 53_ Another Scandal

Three days after the premiere was a national holiday, and most people were still enjoying their idle times with their loved ones on these rare holidays when TangoZone, an infamous paparazzi account on Lounge uploaded a post which riled up the young netizens, especially those which were focused on the Entertainment Industry. 

'These days I've been observing the trends that people have been being led to. Selling a fake personality, acting like an aloof person while in truth the person is just rude and ill-mannered. But did you think that you can escape quietly after pulling off such condemnable action? Nobody expects you to be kind, but you have crossed the line this time. Let everyone judge your actions now.'

Attached to the post was a video of two women dressed in ancient attires, standing in the middle of a bridge. One was dressed lavishly in red and bejeweled with golden phoenix crown and other luxurious accessories. While the other was adorned with simple and soft blue robes and little accessories except for the jade hairpin which was keeping her hair in a bun. The video showed the red dressed woman slapping the other girl at the face in three different frames. 

The netizens shared and reposted the video making it viral. And the comment sections were a site to see.

[Lin is a salted fish: What is going on? Why is everyone excited about the video? Isn't it just a behind the scenes scene from some movie?]

[Lyra's Honey Bee: @Lin is a salted fish_ OP lives up to the username. Indeed, knows nothing. The video is behind the scenes from the crew of " Royal Physician" which is yet to complete its shooting. The lavishly dressed woman is Viviana who is taking advantage of the scene and abusing our innocent Lyra.]

(salted fish* (咸鱼, xián yú) refers to someone who is unambitious, lazy, or has no intention of doing anything)

[Early Roster: @ Lyra's Honey Bee_ It's true. Viviana's reputation is well known in the industry. She's not only a villainess in the drama but also in real life. There are multiple scandals about her bullying other female artists on sets and even staffs in her own company]

[Little Plum Blossom: @Early Roster_ And the fact that the PR of her own company didn't release any statements proves that she is really someone of poor character that even the capitalists don't value her as a cash cow.]

[Xiao Ling: @Little Plum Blossom_I would like to disagree with this. Just because the Company doesn't release a statement doesn't mean the artist is of bad character. It only proves the Company's Inability to protect its own artist.]

[Little MoonLight: Agreed. This is Han Entertainment we are talking about. How many artists had they mistreated and ended up bad in their career! Some even ended their own lives because of mindless fans and their abuses.]

[Kil0v3sME: I don't understand how some fans are agitated too quickly without even knowing the context. There is no audio or any other thing explaining what is going on there. Some marketing account posted something with no explanation and all ya rush to abuse someone who might be innocent.] 

[Bake me a Cake: Well said. Since this occurred while shooting 'Royal Physician' it is possible that the actors are giving their best to make it more realistic. And you're all doubting the directors' professionalism for letting these things happen if it is according to what you guys speculated.]

[BeautyVivi: True. Our Vivi may be bad on screen but that doesn't mean she is bad off screen too. Even if she is bad with her words, she has always been genuine and not act like a green tea* bitch like someone.]

(green tea*_ people who appear innocent and pure on the outside but are calculating and cunning on the inside.)

[Little Plum Blossom: Mindless. Your mom! This is not the first video leaked about Viviana from a crew. There were multiple and all clearly showed how she was either abusing someone or being disrespectful. And the fact that the video disappeared soon after without the company releasing a statement means that there is someone backing her. And with such underhand business going on, why should the company defend her misconduct?]

[Early Roster: Let's not forget the incident involving Madeline. And that was even before Viviana debuted. Imagine how overbearing she must be now.]

[Bake me a Cake: @ Little Plum Blossom_ You're pretty naïve. It is only when an artist has no backing that the company doesn't support. Let this be a free lecture. The stronger the backer is the stronger the company will support.]

[Lyra's Honey Bee: Nonsense! Our Lyra is innocent. She had trained for 3 years before finally being able to debut as a girl group. Even after that she had to take multiple classes to get to where she is now.]

[Little Plum Blossom: Yes! If there's anyone who has a backer, it must be Viviana. She was not a trainee or a student of performance arts. She just appeared out of nowhere and acted as a third female lead in a high production drama. To me that's far more suspicious.]

[Early Roster: Facts. With so many talents in the industry, why would the crew choose an untrained person to act an important role if not for being slipped into the crew through the so-called recommendation.]

And so on. The netizens had a lot to say about Viviana. Some who had always been her hater ganged up with Lyra's fan who had been feeling unfair that their idol had been blamed for many things regarding the rumors of Viviana's mistreatment. But Vivi's fans who had been injected with steroids in the past few days were not as easy to bully as before.

Seeing all the mess in the internet, An Mey turned grim as she watched the two silent girls before her.

"Did I not tell you to tell me if there was any other incident I should be aware of? I just asked you yesterday too." 

Here she was worried that this was the possible stroke to end Viviana's career. And her said artist was sitting idle playing with her phone as if the person in the scandal wasn't even her but someone who looked like her. 

Manager An was frustrated at this point. 

"And you." She turned to Viviana's assistant and pointed at her. "You should be with Lyra at that time. Did you know about this or not?"

Elisa looked down on her toes as she squirmed to and for. "That. Sister An. It was…"

"I told her that I'd inform you instead." Viviana who had been quiet spoke up for her assistant.

Manager An held her waist as she once again turned to her artist. 

"And did you?"

"I didn't."

An Mey did not know whether she should applaud or curse at her artist honesty. Well… she did none and chose to ask,

"Why?" 

"I just forgot." 

Then after giving her piece of answer, she went back to her scrolling phone. No other explanation. No excuses. Nothing.

Poor Manager An. She could only clench her fist in anger. This was the most hateful thing she had to tolerate about Vivi. Her uncaring nature. 

Taking a deep breath, the manager calmed herself down and inquired about the incident. Only then could she think of a solution. 

"What really happened?"

"…"

But the actress didn't seem to hear her as she was still stuck on her phone.

"Viviana! Get off your phone and answer me!"

"hhuuu…" Viviana put down her phone.

"What were you even doing on your phone?" Manager An eyes narrowed wanting to know what was so interesting to Viviana that she didn't even care about her own scandal. 

"The comment section. It's pretty interesting."

An Mey could only shake her head. Nothing in this would seem to affect her artist. She grabbed her cup of tea that had turned cold and gulped it down. The uncomfortable taste of the cold tea made her clear her mind. 

"Now. Pay attention to me. Tell me. What is this whole thing about? How did this happen? Why didn't you inform me?"

Viviana adjusted her seat and got comfortable as if she was going to narrate a long story.

"Well… As you see. It happened on the set. About three or four months. It's actually the scene from the… I think it was the 17th episode."

"So. It was just wrong takes that someone used to throw shades on you?"

Viviana bit her lower lip and looked a bit concerned when An Mey asked that. 

"That… it's true that we had to take multiple takes. But that's not the entire truth."

The agent's eyes widened.

"So… You intentionally slapped her in front of hundreds of witnesses using the scene as a cover?" 

"Exactly." Viviana clicked her finger.

She totally ignored the pained look on the manager's face. An Mey felt that her migraine had become worse after she heard the truth. But Vivi had more to say.

"And if you'd like to know, this is the reason why Agent Yan changed all my staff and left me jobless for three months."

An Mey frowned as she heard this. She had always wondered why there was a sudden change of staff around Viviana and the sudden assignment of a manager when previously, Agent Yan had handled everything regarding the girl.

"Tell me what happened." She demanded. "From the beginning."