Clouds and Mud [Entertainment Industry]

"I hope her box office numbers flop and her career goes nowhere."

"I hope she falls from her pedestal and rots in the mud."

"I'll expose her darkest side and show everyone how fake, fragile, and despicable she is."

On red carpet night, a Weibo post maliciously targeting Yu Shao, the entertainment industry's pure-hearted goddess, was dug up. The scandal quickly exploded online.

At the same time, at the event, Yu Shao, completely unaware of what was going on, bent down to wipe the face of Chen Chuan, who had been injured in a collision.

She had no idea that the reporter standing in front of her was the one who had been behind countless scandals about her since her debut.

*

Chen Chuan grew up with Yu Shao.

As the daughter of the driver employed by the young lady of the Yu family, Chen Chuan was Yu Shao's shadow from childhood. When Yu Shao was bullied at her elite academy, Chen Chuan would climb over the dormitory wall in the middle of the night to defend her. And when Yu Shao debuted as a star, Chen Chuan became her stepping stone, playing the villain so Yu Shao could rile up her fans.

She hated Yu Shao's fake innocence, hated how sheltered she was, and hated that she was adored by everyone.

Through countless intimate nights, she and Yu Shao played their parts, while Chen Chuan swore she'd make the fans see Yu Shao for who she really was.

*

A gossip story set the trending topics ablaze: renowned entertainment reporter Chen Chuan had spent the night at Yu Shao's home multiple times, and their behavior together was suggestive.

Yu Shao and her manager urgently discussed their PR response before she agreed to an interview.

But the person holding the microphone out to her was Chen Chuan.

"Miss Yu, is your pure and innocent image a lie?"

"I heard you went abroad to pursue your dream and missed your mother's final moments. Is that true?"

Chen Chuan would never forget Yu Shao's stricken face that night.

With her most cutting questions, she put an end to the rumors between them.

And shattered all the trust they'd built.

*

On the night of the film festival, Berlin's rain was cold and relentless.

Chen Chuan spent the whole night chasing Yu Shao's car, hoping to get an exclusive story.

The window slowly rolled down, revealing a feast carefully prepared just for her.

The once pure-hearted goddess was nestled in another woman's arms, looking alluring and seductive. The sight drove a knife straight into Chen Chuan's heart.

Yu Shao looked up at her, her eyes full of cold mockery.

"Didn't you come here for gossip about me?"

"Go ahead. You can announce my new relationship to the whole world right now."

*

"She was by my side through every painful night, only to leave me cruelly when I needed her most. I never knew she hated me this much." - Yu Shao

"I'm the person who hates you most in this world. And I'm the only one who has ever truly seen you." - Chen Chuan

*

A cool, sharp-tongued entertainment reporter x a pure-hearted, emotionally unstable goddess.

Both are each other's first and only. A blazing groveling arc later on.

Theme: Love and hate spring from the same root.