The next day, Nan Chen was busy right from the morning. He finally managed to take a breather in the afternoon and was prepared to head for lunch.
He was not a fan of deliveries. As long as his schedule for the day was fixed, someone from the Nan family would send his lunch over to the office.
Upon taking a few bites, he placed the utensils back down. Surprisingly, he did not have much of an appetite.
For some reason, he missed the woman’s soup noodles.
I wonder what she is doing now.
Upon fishing out his phone, he hesitated. Forget it.
I can’t praise her too much. Otherwise, she’ll become too arrogant!
Hence, he turned and asked Jiang Zhe, “What’s going on with Star Entertainment now?”
Although he sounded as if he was asking about Star Entertainment, Jiang Zhe knew that he wanted to know about Ning Ran.
Star Entertainment was merely one of Nanshi Corporation’s subsidiaries and it had its own management team. Previously, Nan Chen seldom bothered with the company.
Nowadays, he would ask about the company’s situation on a daily basis. It was all because of a certain artist who was working there.
“Mr. Chen, there’s a slight problem…”
“What is it?”
Nan Chen knew that it was not as minor as it sounded. If it were such, Jiang Zhe would not even be aware of it.
Since his assistant knew about it, it had to be something serious.
“There’s a video online…”
“Just get straight to the point. Who did you learn your stuttering from?” Nan Chen chided.
“Oh, well–”
Instead of continuing, Jiang Zhe took out his phone and showed Nan Chen the news.
The headlines looked terrifying: Upcoming celebrity stops at nothing to get rich! Forces children to work for money!
The news accused Ning Ran of being someone who would stop at nothing to get money, stating that she forced her children to star in advertisements that required overnight shoots.
The reporters further stated that if her children had refused to cooperate or performed poorly, Ning Ran would burn their bottoms with cigarette butts, making them obey her, out of fear of the excruciating pain.
There were even photos of children’s burnt bottoms attached at the bottom. Some even showed that they were hospitalized after the abuse.
Most of the pictures were fake. There was only one authentic picture that showed the children’s faces. It was from an advertisement for kid’s computers.
Chaos ensued once more.
Shortly before that, the netizens had sung praises of Ning Ran. Now that there were pictures of her allegedly abused children, they began raining down criticism on her again.
Some even accused her of acting cute and innocent. She already has a child and she still acts like a young, pure lady? What a liar!
However, Ning Ran never once behaved as the netizens had claimed, and not once did she intentionally hide the fact that she had children.
However, she did not allow them to appear in front of the camera often, so as to protect them. As a mother, she refused to allow them to be the subject of those keyboard warriors, as well as the victims of the violent abuse prevalent on the net.
The only time they appeared in an advertisement was when the children had requested for it on their own accord. In addition to that, it was Cheng Xiangyun who had secretly brought them to the shoot without informing Ning Ran.
The brand was not very popular and the advertisement was shot a long time ago. She thought that everyone had forgotten about it.
To her surprise, her haters really made the effort to dig into her past.
Nan Chen looked very concerned.
“When did they shoot this advertisement?”
“A few months ago.”
“Take it down from all the available channels. I don’t want to see it again.”
“I’ve done that already. The company wasn’t aware of the relations between the children and the Nan family then. They were equally as shocked when I contacted them and informed them about it. They have guaranteed that they shall cease in publicizing the photos.”
Nan Chen raised a brow in question as he heard this. “They’d paid for the children to be in the advertisement. Why would they agree to your request so readily?”
“I’d threatened to force them into bankruptcy had they continued to advertise those pictures,” Jiang Zhe relayed forth.
Nan Chen nodded.
He knew that Jiang Zhe never bragged. As long as he got the job done, he was not interested in knowing what methods he had used. Who cares if he used a threat or a bribe?
He never had to worry about Jiang Zhe’s competency.
“Mr. Chen, are we going to respond to this?”
He furrowed his brows and remained silent.
It was hard to explain the matter as it concerned Ning Ran’s children. Furthermore, it was a fact that they appeared in the advertisement and they could not deny it.
It was impossible to allow the children to speak for themselves, admitting that they had taken the photos without their mother’s knowledge.
Nobody would believe that. In fact, it would invite more criticism and netizens might even speculate that the adults had used the children to make themselves look innocent.
On the other hand, the adults could not step in to clear up the matter either.
Any explanations given now would merely be seen as excuses.
At that moment, Nan Chen’s phone rang.
“Mr. Chen, it is a call from Old Master,” Jiang Zhe informed.
“Oh, no. Someone must have leaked the news to Grandpa. He is going to be very angry, given how much he dotes on his two great-grandchildren,” Nan Chen lamented.
The atmosphere in the air turned tense once more.
Although he was placed in a difficult position, Nan Chen had no choice but to pick up the call.
There was no way that he could reject a call from his grandfather.
The old man did not say much, as he merely requested for him to bring Ning Ran home for a visit.
…
At the Commoner Residence.
Bai Hua’s eyes were red as she wiped the tears from her face.
“They’re so young! How can Ning Ran have forced them to be in an advertisement just for money? Poor little things! How can Ning Ran be so ruthless?”
Nan Zhengde’s face darkened as he listened on.
Meanwhile, Bai Hua continued to exaggerate the story. She knew that Nan Zhengde was furious and she had to grab the opportunity to make him angrier at Ning Ran.
“Alright, that’s enough now,” Nan Zhiyuan uttered, in an attempt to stop his wife.
“Why should I stop? Have I said anything wrong? I’ve heard that she’s even forced her children to become young models, advertising electrical products! On a busy day, they have to change into more than ten attires to stand in front of the camera for long hours. I know that these brands don’t charge by the hour! Rather, they charge by the day. They would definitely try to make their money’s worth by taking as many photos as possible, in a day! I’ve even heard that the shoots would often last till the wee hours of the morning. She wouldn’t even allow her children to sleep even though they were tired! That’s how the little ones got the cigarette burns…”
“Shut up!” Nan Zhengde slammed his fist on the coffee table.
Bai Hua immediately zipped her lips. She only wanted to add to the chaos. She did not want to invite trouble for herself. To do as such would merely make her efforts be for naught.
“What you’ve said are all rumors. Can we really believe what’s on the Internet? All mothers love their children. I believe that Ning Ran would not have done this.”
The person who spoke was Feng Wan, who was a calm-headed person.
She knew what sort of person Bai Hua was. Clearly, something was amiss about the entire situation.
“Mom, you might be right in some cases, but there are many evil women in this world! There are some who will do anything just to earn a little bit of extra cash. If you don’t want me to speak the truth, then I guess that I don’t have a choice either,” Bai Hua retorted.
“How can you prove that your words are the truth? Were you one of the people who were directly involved in the matter? If you were neither involved, nor at the scene of the incident, how do you know that it’s the truth? Ning Ran is in showbiz. It’s natural that she has haters who will stop at nothing to create scandals for her. What’s the big deal about that?” Feng Wan furrowed her brows.
“Well, she shouldn’t be in showbiz then! How can such a woman marry into the Nan family?” Bai Hua took the opportunity to make her point.
“Has she married your son yet? If not, then what right do you have to stop her from doing what she wants? Are you going to support her financially?” Feng Wan retaliated.
“I…”
