The men would also have a difficult time but only at the beginning when the height of public criticism was at its peak. Then they would recover almost scot-free. As a matter of fact, some immoral men wore their past scandals like a badge of honour.
In contrast, most women only had one way to goâdown. Those who were resilient enough to rise up could only live with tainted reputations. They had no choice but to change their image into something more provocative if they wanted to continue surviving. Their original clean reputations were gone forever.
Chen Fei understood this but still felt reluctant to accept Jin Chonglinâs idea. âI donât think that our situation is as extreme as a scandal. Itâs only a dating rumour. Thereâs no reason for us pretend to date.â
He sighed. âYou still donât fully understand. Iâm Jin Chonglin! A superstar!â
She rolled her eyes again. âYeah, yeah.â
âBecause of my fame and high status in showbiz, people always care about whatâs going on in my life especially my dating life. Itâs not only my fans who care but also other people. If a woman is rumoured to be involved with me, then everyone would want to know everything about the woman and dissect everything about her life. Even if the rumours are proven to be false, the damage to the woman is already done. I canât control this.
âLike I said, I usually donât care but youâre different. I may not like you because youâre a rude, bossy woman but youâre still my sister-in-lawâs close friend, not to mention that I have to work with you again when my next line of menâs product for Orchidia begins development. I canât just ignore you even if I want to!â
Chen Fei pursed her lips. His description of her angered her but he did make sense.
âSo whatâs the point of me pretending to be your girlfriend?â she asked.
âItâs to give you a status so that the criticism wonât be too harsh on you. If my fans and the people know that I pursued you and made you my girlfriend, then they have no choice but to accept it. Sure, there will still be some who will dislike it but those ones will always dislike any woman who becomes gets romantically linked with me anyway. Those obsessive fans only want me to belong to everyone and not have any real-life lovers.â
She pondered over his reasoning. Although he made sense, she still thought that his idea was ridiculous.
If it were only her, she wouldnât care about the public opinion at all. However, she was now the COO of Orchidia. As one of its highest executives, she had the responsibility to maintain a good image in order to uphold the companyâs reputation. She couldnât taint Orchidia because of her personal issues.
âAh, fuck this.â
Jin Chonglin clicked his tongue when he heard her swearing again. âSo you still donât agree? Fine, then.â He shrugged. âI tried protecting you but you still refuse my goodwill. Whatever happens from here on isnât my problem anymore.â
She glared at him. âHow long do we have to pretend to be in a relationship?â
He raised an eyebrow at her question. It seemed that she was starting to change her mind.
âDepends on the amount of attention we continue to get. My manager suggests that we âdateâ for at least three months. Because if we âbreak upâ too soon, the public will start finding out why. Iâll be okay as always but youâll be the one whoâll have to face another wave of negative public opinion. They might say that I found you inadequate or something like that.â
âPeople donât know shit.â She sneered. âI, Chen Fei, am inadequate? Hah! Unless theyâre certified geniuses like Xiulan, then they have no right to talk crap about me.â
âThatâs true. But what do you expect from haters? Theyâll always gonna hate no matter what you do.â He finished his latte and stood up. âI gotta go now. I still have a taping later. Just think about my offer but donât take too long to make a decision or weâll miss the optimal time.â
She also stood up. âFine, I accept.â
He was startled. âYou what?â
âI said I accept! Are you deaf?â
He ignored her testy attitude. âYou really accept?â
âYes!â
His iconic killer smile spread across his face. Then he stroked his chin. âAdmit it. Youâre just pretending to hate me when in fact, you really like me. You can now finally grab the chance to be my girlfriend even if itâs just pretendââ
âYou hooligan!â She threw a business magazine at him.
All the executive assistants watched their furious COO chasing a laughing Jin Chonglin out of the office. They looked at each other, their eyes filled meaning. Then they smiled and continuing working as if nothing unusual happened just now.
Chen Fei chased the infuriating narcissistic diva man until he disappeared in the elevator. Then she returned to her office, gasping slightly from all the running. When saw her reflection in the mirror, she slapped both of her cheeks.
âWhat the hell are you doing? No, this is not blushing. This is just a normal physiological effect after a workout. Yes, thatâs right. My red face has nothing to do with that womanizer.â
She tapped her cheeks again before forcing her attention back to the work piled up on her desk.
Just as Jin Chonglin predicted, there were many people who started criticizing Chen Fei. Most of them were his obsessive fans. It became worse later than night when most of the night owls were active.
Inside her own home, Chen Fei felt furious after reading some of the mean and unreasonable comments about her. There were those who called her ugly.
She couldnât help but look at herself in the mirror.
âWhich part of me is ugly? I may not be as gorgeous as Xiulan but I donât think Iâm at the level to be called ugly. Iâm pretty enough.â
Other comments called her a gold digger and social climber.
She scoffed.
âMe, a gold digger and social climber? I may not come from a high-society family but my parents are veritable high-income professionals just like me. Thereâs no need for me to target that diva manâs wealth and status.â
She tossed her hair over her shoulder.
âDo people think that Iâm using Jin Chonglin as a sugar daddy? I donât need a sugar daddy. Iâm my own sugar mama! Hmph!â
Finally, she stopped looking at all the bashing directed at her online. It was too toxic. Even if she didnât care much, she still felt offended and hurt by some of the meanest ones. Continuing to look at them was not worth her mental health.
She was about to call it a night and head to bed when her phone rang.
âWhat now?â
âTsk tsk, rude as always,â Jin Chonglinâs voice replied. âBut I was raised to be a gentlemen so hello to you.â
Chen Fei wanted to retort but all the mean comments about her popped up inside her mind again. She sighed and felt deflated.
âOh, whatâs this? Youâre not retorting?â
âItâs late. Iâm tired. What do you want?â
Thankfully, Jin Chonglin didnât continue teasing her anymore.
âI plan to make an official announcement about our ârelationshipâ first thing tomorrow. You also have to coordinate with me and make your own confirmation.â
âTomorrow? So soon?â
âWhat so soon? Do you want to continue being attacked online for longer?â
She was unable to retort. Her mood fell even further. Being attacked online by a bunch of strangers was no fun at all.
Then she remembered that Iris went through the same thing with Jin Chonglin before. No, what Iris experienced was so much worse than what Chen Fei was experiencing right now.
Iris even almost lost her life back then. It was because of the nonstop rumours about her chasing Jin Chonglin that made his ex-fiancĂ©e Fan Luo go crazy from jealousy and attempt to murder Iris. If Iris had been unlucky and died, nobody would have known about Fan Luoâs evil scheme.
Even when Iris miraculously woke up from a year-long coma, made an almost complete recovery, and then successfully returned to the showbiz limelight, people still continued to criticize her because of Jin Chonglin.
Chen Fei hated Iris before but not anymore. It was because Iris kept on bullying Long Jinjing back then.
Now, however, Iris was one of their closest friends.
Chen Fei felt furious on behalf of Iris. She couldnât help but blame Jin Chonglin. âEverything is your fault!â
Jin Chonglin had no idea about the extent of her thoughts. He thought that she was only blaming him about their current situation.
âAlright, alright. Itâs my fault. Happy?â
She was unhappy but didnât want to argue with him anymore. Everything that happened today made her exhausted in a way that she had never felt before. She almost found it hard to breathe.
âXiulan is amazing to survive all that,â she thought.
Then she said, âFine, letâs follow your plan for tomorrow.â
The next morning, Jin Chonglin once again visited Orchidia. Like yesterday, he was inside Chen Feiâs office.
âNo, delete that photo,â she said while trying to grab his phone. âThis angle makes my jaw look wider. Letâs take another photo.â
Jin Chonglin sighed and took another hundred photos of them together before she was satisfied with just one.
âCan I post it now?â he asked, already feeling tired when it was still very early in the morning.
She nodded. âYes. Donât forget to tag me.â
âI know, I know. Jeez, youâre so bossy!â