The event began with a Q&A session, and the fans who were called upon took the microphones.
"Ruru, I heard this movie is based on your true story?"
The room fell silent as she asked the question that most people wanted to know.
Wang Ru fell silent.
A fan commented, "If you don't want to talk about it—"
"It's okay, I was just thinking about some things from the past."
Wang Ru smiled gently, “I went to a private school in another city for high school. There were many rich people there. Actually, I’m a little embarrassed to say that my family is very ordinary and I’m not very sociable.”
I remember... one year in my second year of high school, the class organized a spring outing, and we collected over 20,000 yuan in class fees, but I don't know why it disappeared. Someone reported me to the homeroom teacher that I stole it.
"Wang Ru and the others said you stole it?" the homeroom teacher asked Meng Jiuyi.
"no!"
“The class funds were only collected in the afternoon and put in the drawer. They all went out to have PE class, and you were the only one in the classroom. Wang Ru testified that she saw you steal it with her own eyes.”
Meng Jiuyi is introverted and doesn't like making eye contact with others, but at this moment he looked into his homeroom teacher's eyes and said.
"I didn't steal it."
Someone has to be held accountable for stealing class funds.
"The teacher knows that your family situation is special. Girls of this age like to be pretty and dress up. If your family doesn't support you, you shouldn't have such crooked ideas about spending this money."
Meng Jiuyi said, "It really wasn't me, teacher. You keep saying that I stole it, but besides someone else seeing it, what evidence do you have?"
The homeroom teacher choked up: "If you're so stubborn, I'll have to call your parents."
...
Some fans were moved to tears upon hearing about Wang Ru's experiences in her youth.
Wang Ru paused for a moment, then said, "Actually, when I look back on this experience after many years, I've come to terms with it. They were the cowards in spirit, which is why they bullied me, spread rumors, and framed me. And I've come this far—"
A metallic static came from the receiver. A glance was exchanged between the people backstage, and someone went on stage to hand a new microphone to Wang Ru.
"Thanks."
Wang Ru took the microphone and glanced at the other person, but that one glance made her freeze.
Meng Jiuyi had already taken off her mask. Under the baseball cap, her face had only lost some of its baby fat, and she looked exactly the same as she did in high school. She smiled at her with pursed lips.
"Miss Wang, please take this."
Wang Ru looked as if she had seen a ghost.
The headset kept reminding and urging her. Wang Ru picked up the microphone, wanting to say something, but her mind went blank, and she just stared blankly at Meng Jiuyi below the stage.
Fans had already noticed something amiss, and the host stepped in to save the day, saying that the casting of the female lead, Xiaojun, had gone through some twists and turns, and that Ruru's ability to take on the role was inseparable from producer Wu's discerning eye.
"Next, let's invite Mr. Wu to the stage to share the story behind the film's casting."
Wu Bin went on stage, took the microphone, and praised her, saying that when he saw Wang Ru for the first time, he knew that no one was more suitable for the role of Xiao Jun than her, and she lived up to expectations and performed very well.
"Thank you, Mr. Wu. We all know that this movie was filmed in the remote border region, when it was freezing cold."
The host asked cryptically, "Would our fans like to see some interesting behind-the-scenes footage?"
"Yes!" The fans roared.
The enthusiastic calls extinguished Wang Ru's panic. Apart from those few seconds of eye contact with Meng Jiuyi, he hadn't paid any attention to her since. She comforted herself that it was just a coincidence, just a coincidence.
So many years have passed. She's a big star now, while Meng Jiuyi was just a support staff member.
What can she do?
Wang Ru's smile regained its brightness, pride, and poise.
A video clip popped up on the LED screen behind them, and many fans were recording it with their cameras.
However, Wang Ru did not receive applause. After a half-second of dead silence, the room erupted into a huge uproar. Reporters frantically pressed their shutters. As her assistant cried out to stop her, Wang Ru turned around and her face turned deathly pale.
In the scene, she is barely clothed and buried between Wu Bin's legs, roughly asking him for the lead role in his next movie. The few lines of censorship only fuel the imagination.
The director immediately switched the camera, but it was too late; the segment had already finished airing.
It’s over!
Everyone was thinking, "It's over!"
After the thunderous commotion subsided, reporters swarmed around Wang Ru and Wu Bin, demanding confirmation, and even their assistants and agents couldn't stop them.
"Make way—make way! We are refusing all interviews at this time."
However, it was no use. This revelation was a million times more explosive than movie promotion. Reporters swarmed around her like poisonous mosquitoes that had smelled blood, cornering Wang Ru and forcing her to burst into tears.
Meng Jiuyi watched from afar, his expression as calm as ever.
Amidst the frantic shoving and screaming inside, and the incessant clicking of camera lenses, she turned against the flow of people and walked outside, taking off her work badge and baseball cap.
The sunlight that had never sheltered her six years ago now shines through the bright roof of the Zhengjia Building, illuminating her eyelashes and shoulders, making every strand of her hair glow with gold.
That night, Wang Ru's trending topics exploded on major platforms, causing them to crash. The entertainment industry is known for its tendency to fawn over the powerful and belittle the weak, and Wu Bin's team sacrificed Wang Ru to divert the audience's attention.
Her scandals of acting like a diva and sleeping with film crew members have been exposed one after another, leading to the termination of contracts by major endorsement partners and brands. Some media outlets have estimated that she will have to pay hundreds of millions of yuan in breach of contract fees.
Meng Jiuyi paid the hacker, turned off his phone, and opened the wardrobe's hidden compartment.
The full-length mirror was covered with a dense collection of photos—about Wang Ru over the years.
She tore them off one by one, cut them into pieces, and threw them into the trash can.
The incandescent light illuminated her small face, and she looked up at the lonely photo in the full-length mirror.
There's only one left.
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