Chapter 60, Chapter 60, Kawana
By most people's standards of beauty, Kawana was indeed a stunningly beautiful woman. Her eyes were red, suggesting she had just been crying, though she didn't deliberately emphasize it, which revealed a vulnerability that evoked pity. Upon seeing Yu Shuling approach, she seemed to have found a pillar of support, tightly grasping Yu's hand as if drawing strength from her.
Yu Shuling also lay back with great force. Her grip was strong to begin with, and she squeezed Kawana's hand until it turned red, but it was precisely because of this that Kawana felt a little comforted.
“Sister Ma... called me to her office before. We were still trainees at the time. She called me alone, and I didn’t dare not go. So she had someone take off my clothes and forcibly take pictures of me to threaten me when I disobeyed.”
How much trust must one have to open up to another to reveal their pain and scars, or tell them their blood and tears? At least Yu Shuling had never imagined before that Kawana would trust her enough to confide in her about such things. Even though her expression wasn't very clear and she needed to rely on body language to help her, Yu Shuling still saw a cold and extreme despair in Kawana's eyes, which were gradually welling up with tears.
Kawana is a foreigner with no background. Her parents moved here when she was a teenager and then went off to all corners of the world, forgetting about her and leaving her to fend for herself. Because of this, these people thought she was particularly easy to manipulate. Even towards the original owner of this body, they weren't this ruthless; at most, they would just give Yu Shuling a room key and see what she wanted.
There are quite a few people in the entertainment industry who want to take shortcuts. Some may be willing to use their looks or even their bodies as a means of exchange to obtain more resources. Not everyone can guarantee that they won't take detours when tempted by huge profits.
After understanding what they were saying, Kawana resolutely refused, but she did not expect to be met with endless harassment, threats, humiliation, and psychological manipulation.
Under their threats, Kawana considered giving in and compromising, and even contemplated ending it all in her most desperate moments, but ultimately she persevered thanks to her sheer willpower. She was even asked to secretly take indecent photos of her teammates in exchange for her own actions. Kawana could not bring herself to do such a thing, and she did not want any more people to know or be involved, so she could only arm herself with the coldest demeanor.
Later, by a twist of fate, Li Song discovered it, and the two talked all night. At that time, Li Song was considering breaking the pipe and reporting it, but in the end, Kawana didn't have the courage to stand up.
She knew that her teammates had also been harassed by those people to varying degrees, but reopening old wounds was extremely painful in itself, and girls were always more worried and fearful when faced with such situations.
Rumors online and prejudiced views from those around us can all form a seemingly small but actually powerful sword, killing silently and without drawing blood.
Did Kawana really not want to bring the people who bullied her to justice? In reality, she was afraid. She was afraid that if this matter were made public, she would be ridiculed and mocked, and soaked in the bitterness of rumors. From then on, many people would associate her with dirty and humiliating words, as if she was born inferior. Even if they looked at her with sympathy, who could guarantee that they wouldn't be enveloped by prejudice?
She was terrified and had nowhere to confide in. After that, Li Song's mental state deteriorated, and Kawana felt even more panicked, with guilt and loneliness almost overwhelming her.
At this point, Kawana was already sobbing uncontrollably, and finally she simply buried her face in Yu Shuling's arms and cried her heart out. Li Song later had to see a psychologist, and she always felt that she was also responsible. The mix of emotions made her even more miserable. If it weren't for Yu Shuling's initiative to be kind and close to her, Kawana might have kept these words to herself until Lyer disbanded and everyone went their separate ways.
Yu Shuling had always felt that something was off about the atmosphere within the team. Whenever they were at the company, these glamorous young women dressed in increasingly outdated ways, wearing baggy clothes that concealed their natural beauty. Now, after hearing Kawana's explanation, her doubts finally came together and were resolved, along with a surge of genuine anger.
The unknown cause of death before arriving in this other world, coupled with betrayal and scheming, had left a dormant volcano buried deep within her heart. Now, it finally found an outlet to ignite and erupt, becoming a raging torrent.
She did not blame Kawana for not being brave enough at the time.
She used to live under such discipline as well.
In a male-dominated era, allowing her to attend school and practice martial arts like men was already a great blessing. Women were primarily taught to prioritize their husbands' well-being to avoid violating ethical norms. In this more open era, although gender equality is advocated, public opinion has not completely shifted. There are still too many moral constraints placed on girls, making it impossible to change everyone's mindset overnight.
Yu Shuling was calculating and scheming. She didn't consider herself a particularly helpful person, but she would never turn her sharp blade against an innocent woman. Faced with Kawana sobbing uncontrollably on her body, she simply patted her shoulder gently as a form of comfort. At times like this, Kawana needed an outlet for her emotions, not someone to lecture her on life's lessons.
After Kawana had cried her heart out, Yu Shuling took a tissue to wipe away her tears and said softly:
"It's not too late to step forward now."
It's never too late to step forward.
Having witnessed too much darkness before, Yu Shuling wasn't particularly surprised. Manipulating a young girl was nothing more than using the same old tricks over and over again. If it were her, the worst outcome would be the release of her indecent photos, but Yu Shuling wasn't particularly concerned about that now. She hadn't done anything shameful, and if it could lead to those people being imprisoned, it wouldn't be a loss.
But Kawana wouldn't think that way, and she wouldn't impose her own ideas on Kawana. This matter had to be resolved in a gentler way, not with a violent approach that would lead to mutual destruction.
Two days later, the uproar in the entertainment industry finally calmed down a bit. Jiang Wenxi's agency issued a statement clarifying the rumors of a relationship between Jiang Wenxi and Qi Xiuxiu, and implicitly criticizing Qi Xiuxiu for overstepping boundaries in her interactions with Jiang Wenxi and for taking the initiative to invite her over.
However, before that, Yu Shuling was also approached. In order to prevent her from having other videos, the other party specifically came to her company to give her a warning. Yu Shuling innocently said that she really had nothing left and even handed over her phone for them to check.
An investigation will definitely not reveal anything.
When asked, the answer was no; in reality, it's on the cloud drive, of course.
However, she didn't really have any explosive revelations like kissing. As a considerate and proper male lead, how could he cross the line with the female lead before they had officially established a relationship? At most, their relationship could be understood as ambiguous, and ambiguity could be whitewashed as a lack of awareness of boundaries when they were together.
As the company's most popular idol, Jiang Wenxi certainly couldn't afford to make any mistakes. The company had been in a frenzy over his situation these past two days, buying negative information from other companies to suppress the hype, bribing Yu Shuling in private to keep her quiet, and even trying to get her to change her story.
Yu Shuling wasn't stupid. Although the money offered by the other party was considerable, she politely declined it all, leaving no room for them to make a fuss. However, she also "generously" suggested that both sides could form a good relationship and not offend them too much, and then she stopped making any further revelations.
She's quite the celebrity right now, at the center of the spotlight. Besides variety shows, she's getting a flood of interview invitations. Now that Li Song has returned to the group, the company prefers to have them take on more group activities, so some individual opportunities have been turned down. However, she's getting some interview requests from smaller TV stations.
Jiang Zhou looked at her with intense malice. Ever since Yu Shuling got the room key but didn't do anything about it, causing him to be scolded by his boss and suffer humiliation, Jiang Zhou had harbored resentment towards Yu Shuling.
Furthermore, now that the person in front of him was completely out of his control, Jiang Zhou looked at her as if she were an enemy, feeling extremely displeased.
This solo trip was to another city for an interview. It was nearby, and since there were no flights, she could only take the high-speed rail or drive. Normally, celebrities are given business class seats when traveling, but Yu Shuling was only given a second-class seat, with a flimsy excuse.
"Business class seats were sold out."
Yu Shuling didn't mind his little actions; it was only a three-hour train ride, not much. She didn't do any makeup or styling, just wore a mask and scrolled through her phone on the high-speed train, reading the news and watching some cached practice videos, easily passing the time.
The interview program was a small show, and now that the company realized Yu Shuling wouldn't renew her contract amicably, they were going all out to exploit her, specifically choosing shows that were tiring, thankless, and exhausting for her. Yu Shuling was currently riding high on popularity, and the production team hadn't expected to actually get her on the show. They placed an exquisite fruit platter and pastries in the small dressing room, trying their best to express their sincerity.
Yu Shuling smiled at them, her appearance as bright and beautiful as a lotus emerging from the water.
Although the show's viewership was average, every question was carefully prepared. Once the atmosphere warmed up, the host became more relaxed, asking questions in a somewhat joking tone:
"Recently, the term 'working class' has become popular. What do you think of the atmosphere at work, Lingling? What do your idols do at the company?"
"What do I do? Practice, of course. I spend most of my time in the practice room." Yu Shuling had a bright smile on her face, which made people feel good about her. Her answer was also very proper. She first praised her boss and the company to the skies, and then her smile deepened. "The boss is good in every way, except he is careless. A while ago he said he would change our dorms, but before the dorms were even ready, he gave us hotel room cards instead of dorm room cards."
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