Chapter 334 - False Accusations
Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
December, the final month of the year, marked the time when people looked back and took stock of what happened in the year. It was also time to reflect on the movies and TV shows that have aired in the year.
For the celebrities in showbiz, it also meant that it was time to walk on the red carpets.
The red carpet was a place for female celebrities to show off their full potential. The gowns they wore had to be outstanding for them to capture the eyes of the media. This often resulted in instances where some celebrities wore gowns that were over the top or wore gowns that were very similar to what their fellow celebrities were wearing.
Normally, people who needed gowns would typically rent the latest gowns from luxury brands as it was more cost-efficient, and they would still get to wear the latest gowns. However, this would, more often than not, result in people wearing similar outfits, as designs that were available for rent were usually not very exclusive. Thus, some celebrities would instead approach certain workshops to customize their gowns. It would be fine if these workshops were reliable. However, unreliable workshops might copy designs from foreign luxury brands, thus creating imitation gowns.
Of course, for Sheng Jiaoyang, all these problems were non-existent.
Sheng Jiaoyang’s gowns had already been air-flown over. The gowns were specifically customized for her by Paul, and a total of five different designs were prepared. This would be enough for her to attend the various award ceremonies happening in December.
Paul was an exceptionally talented designer. Each of his gowns had a unique style, and he even made adjustments to his outfits to account for geographical conditions. As he knew that Sheng Jiaoyang would be going on the red carpet in China, he researched about Chinese culture and specifically included Chinese elements in each of the five designs.
On the day of one of the award shows, a fleet of Alphards brought the celebrities to the award ceremony. When the vehicles arrived, the surrounding photographers immediately pointed their cameras at the doors of the vehicles, their fingers primed on the shutter release button. Soon, celebrities dressed to their nines alighted from the vehicles and stepped onto the red carpet. Some were accompanied by their partners, while others walked down the red carpet alone.
Sheng Jiaoyang had appeared in two TV dramas this year, once as the main lead, and the other as a supporting role. Both shows were nominated, and she chose to be impartial by walking down the red carpet alone.
At this time last year, she was still an unaccomplished person. She had only managed to walk the runway for an international fashion show. Thus, she had no qualifications to attend award ceremonies or the opening and closing ceremonies of festivals. However, , she had acted in two shows this year, and both roles were nominated based on her own capability.
No one could ever say that she was a celebrity who only relied on hype and had no experience in any productions anymore.
One’s talent speaks for itself!
“Jiaojiao, I’ll wait for you in the car. Call me if you need anything,” Xu Ping told Sheng Jiaoyang before she alighted.
Sheng Jiaoyang nodded lightly and alighted when the security guard opened the door.
“Jiaojiao!!!” Screams rang through the crowd.
Sheng Jiaoyang looked toward the direction the screams came from, and saw her fans excitedly holding up her placards. Many of her male fans that were present looked scarier than the female fans when they went crazy.
The fans of other celebrities looked at the group of Jiao fans as if they were crazy, and the security guards who stood before the fans nervously clenched their fists, as they were afraid that they would break in impulsively.
But, Jiao fans were notorious for being disciplined. Even if they were crazily screaming, they still acted rationally, unlike other fans who rushed up and squeezed into the crowd just to get closer to their favorite celebrities. If one were to go up and interview that group of Jiao fans, they would obtain an extremely tsundere answer: “We are Er Jiao’s proudest fans, so of course we wouldn’t act like normal fans.”
Sheng Jiaoyang waved to her fans first before looking at the photographers. She walked along the red carpet at a slower speed than her usual walking pace, but she was still faster than the actress in front, who was busy making various poses. Soon, she arrived right behind her.
The actress who was making various poses suddenly found that the photographers had all turned their attention to the person behind her. Additionally, she could hear shrill screams echoing from some distance away. Hence, she turned around, only to see that Jiaojiao was only about a meter away from her. When she saw that Jiaojiao was donned in such a flamboyant outfit, she immediately sized her up critically, only to feel annoyed. This junior is too unruly. How dare she walk up so close to me when I am still being photographed? Is she trying to freeload off my popularity?
This actress was Ren Jiayin, a young actress who had debuted six years ago. Having debuted at a young age, she was now in her early twenties. Due to heavy promotion by her current agency, she had managed to take the leading role in various productions. However, due to certain issues such as her awkward acting, she had attended these award ceremonies multiple times, but had never won anything before. Of course, her works were naturally only nominated through the backdoor. This year, she was nominated for the Best Female Lead category, and she was representing a period fantasy drama. Her CEO told her that the award would most likely be hers, as the main sponsor for this year’s ceremony was one of the sponsors she was endorsing.
With that in mind, she walked the red carpet with more spirit than ever, unlike in the past, when she was always paired with a popular actor from the same company.
Of course, she recognised Xu Jiaojiao. Xu Jiaojiao was the one who always hired people to get her own name onto the top searches list, or at least that was what she’d always thought. She had just debuted for a year, so to her, she’s still a junior!
Ren Jiayin drew in a deep breath and reminded herself not to stoop to the same level as her unruly junior. After all, she was her senior, and she had to act like one; thus she put on a smile, and was about to strike up a conversation since Xu Jiaojiao had walked up to her side.
In the next moment, the smile on her face froze.
Because…
Xu Jiaojiao had practically walked past her!!!
Without even hesitating or looking at her, Xu Jiaojiao walked past her, as if she were a backdrop!
The photographers were all tracing Xu Jiaojiao with their cameras, and none of them bothered with Ren Jiayin.
Ren Jiayin could no longer maintain her elegant composure as anger boiled within her. She stared at the photographers around her and walked up the stage furiously. In her rage, she accidentally stepped on the hem of her dress and fell face-first on the floor. Now, she looked like she was worshipping Xu Jiaojiao.
After she fell, the photographers immediately pointed their cameras at her and started snapping.
Sheng Jiaoyang heard a thud behind her, and she turned around, only to see an actress lying motionless on the stairs in an embarrassing position.
Since Sheng Jiaoyang saw her and had no reason to ignore her, she walked down the steps and offered the actress a helping hand.
Ren Jiayin was now in a state of mental breakdown, and her body was aching all over. She looked up when someone offered to help her up, but when she realized that it was the person who offered to help was the same person who had caused her to fall, she shoved her hand away and stood up by herself with clenched teeth.
Then, some of the ground staff hurried over to help and show concern for Ren Jiayin’s condition.
“I, I’m alright!” It was such an important day for Ren Jiayin that even if she was in pain, she had to endure it.
Since she claimed that she was alright, the others naturally left her alone.
Sheng Jiaoyang stood by the side as a spectator after her helping hand was pushed away by Ren Jiayin. When she heard that Ren Jiayin was fine, she walked away without bothering about the situation.
Ren Jiayin started angrily at Sheng Jiaoyang. When she was ready to walk up the steps again, she nearly fell and got her foot sprained. It was only then that she looked down and realised that one of her heels were broken. Truly, it never rains but it pours. Ren Jiayin felt that her bad luck was brought upon by Xu Jiaojiao.
Xu Jiaojiao, I’m not done with you!
Ren Jiayin harboured her hatred in her heart. She took off her heels and walked up bare-footed. Since she had fallen down in public and embarrassed herself, what else was there to be afraid of? It all wouldn’t matter when she gets the award tonight anyway!
Of course, Sheng Jiaoyang was unaware that someone hated her now. Sometimes, you could unknowingly become a thorn in the eyes of others in situations that you were not even aware of.
However, even if she was aware, she also wouldn’t care at all.
The scene of Ren Jiayin’s accident had quickly spread on the net. Nowadays, most media outlets strive to be the fastest and most timely, so they had already reported about the incident within a few minutes.
Although Ren Jiayin had no acting skills, her looks were popular with the otakus and she had even endorsed the games they liked. She had gained quite a huge number of die-hard otaku fans. When they saw her fall, they hated the heavens and earth that caused her to fall. They also hated the TV channels that reported on the event, and eventually, they grew to hate Xu Jiaojiao, who had abandoned their goddess and walked away by herself.
However, Jiao fans were not easy targets as well. They uploaded gifs of Xu Jiaojiao offering to help Ren Jiayin but getting rejected by the former. They also added captions to diss Ren Jiayin.
In this meaningless fan war, Ren Jiayin’s fans were shut down immediately.
Jiao fans also compared both actresses' talents, standards, and acting skills. They came to the conclusion that Jiaojiao was simply better in every aspect!
Even netizens could see that, in this whole situation, Xu Jiaojiao had no fault at all and even offered a helping hand. Instead, it was Ren Jiayin who did not appreciate her help. What’s more, her fans even falsely accused Xu Jiaojiao. Truly, her fans behaved in the same way as her.
Ren Jiayin’s public relations team was deeply troubled by the online situation as well. Her manager expressed gratitude on her behalf and explained that Ren Jiayin did not purposely push Xu Jiaojiao away. Rather, it was simply an act of defence.
Since Ren Jiayin had suffered such a bad fall, and on account of the fact that her manager had taken the initiative to express their stand, the netizens showed some mercy to them. However, Ren Jiayin’s fans were quite brainless, and in comparison, the IQ of Xu Jiaojiao’s fans stood out in comparison.
Whilst the fans were occupied by the appearance of the golden couple, Imperial Consort Wu and her beloved emperor, who'd reunited after being separated across time and space, Ren Jiayin personally came out to stir up trouble.
She uploaded a picture of her injured knee and attached the following caption: What has the showbiz industry become? Some people only know how to create scandals, and before their seniors, they don’t show any manners. What a pity, the atmosphere has truly been ruined by them! I had such a rough start today, I hope I can get some comfort here!
Although she did not mention any names, the public were not fools. By mentioning her fall and the junior, it was clear to everyone who she was referring to.
The Jiao fans, who were originally admiring the beautiful photos of Jiaojiao, immediately exploded.