Dating Show Side Character, Getting Rich by Roasting People

CHAPTER 61: Is Your Nickname ¹Ochumelov?

　　Chu Ling froze for a moment.

　　She had seen so much malice in her life. Intentional or accidental, overwhelming or petty, from one person or a crowd, she had spent years trudging through the vast ill will the world had for her and had long ago gotten used to it.

　　So facing such blunt kindness now felt strangely unfamiliar.

　　Sheng Yi spoke as if it were nothing, with a teasing edge to it. But Chu Ling knew that before she cleared her name, most people had already assumed the dirt was true. Those rumors had been circulating for years and had long since become accepted as fact.

　　Sheng Yi stepping up for her was almost like betting his entire reputation. He was not an ordinary bystander. He was in the industry too. If she failed to disprove the accusations, his name would be dragged into the mud as well and become another joke people pointed at.

　　He could not be naive enough not to understand that. He was not an impulsive hothead. Otherwise he would never have agreed to come on a show to hype a fake relationship just to get his band more exposure.

　　And yet he still did it.

　　Faced with such a heavy show of support, Chu Ling felt momentarily at a loss. She thought she should say thank you or ask why he was so kind after only knowing each other a month. What actually came out was, “...Do you rockers always act so reckless?”

　　Even she flinched at her own words.

　　The system was speechless. “.....”

　　It had warned her long ago. Chu Ling had a natural talent for offending people.

　　He had just helped you, and this is your response?

　　Having been soaked in malice for so long, Chu Ling’s instinct was to snap back. It was her defense mechanism. That reflex kicked in even when she received genuine goodwill.

　　She paused, trying to find something better to say, when Sheng Yi looked at her and laughed. “That's rock 'n' roll.”

　　“Weighing pros and cons is sensible, sure, but who says you always have to do the sensible thing?”

　　Even after being insulted, he smiled. “I only consider whether I want to do it.”

　　“At the time, I knew I would regret not helping you, so I did. Consequences or no consequences, so what. And even if there are consequences, I can handle them. I’m not going to die over it. Not a big deal.”

　　Chu Ling watched his smile and, out of nowhere, heard those drumbeats again.　　

　　Dum dum dum dum.

　　It felt like drumsticks striking her heart.

　　“All right, go get some rest.”

　　Sheng Yi put his phone away and slipped his hands into his pockets. “You must be exhausted. Fortunately things turned out okay. Get a good night’s sleep.”

　　He was about to leave when she called from behind, “Thank you.”

　　Sheng Yi had not expected any gratitude. Hearing it so suddenly, he was briefly stunned and nearly tripped.

　　“…You’re welcome.”

　　He rubbed his nose. “If you ever need anything again—no, I’m not saying you’ll get into more trouble. I mean if anything else comes up, you can come find me. If I can help, I will.”

　　Chu Ling smiled. “Pray I don’t run into it again. One more time and I’ll either be exhausted or dead from all the insults.”

　　The system chimed in, “What about the twenty million you just earned?”

　　Chu Ling immediately changed her tune. “Well, in that case… maybe it’s not so bad.”

　　She and Sheng Yi were about to head back when they ran into Wen Shu and the others coming down.

　　Wen Shu had just been with Ye Weiyang and Gao Yan. Taking advantage of the timing right after Chu Ling’s livestream, each of them posted on Weibo to show their support. It was a small gesture, but it helped.

　　“Thank goodness.”

　　Wen Shu rushed over, her eyes still red as if she had just cried. “I knew you’d find a way to handle it. You’re definitely not that kind of person.”

　　She had been on edge for Chu Ling the whole day.

　　Wen Shu trusted her completely, but when it came to clearing her name, she still couldn’t help feeling nervous. After all, these kinds of scandals were almost impossible to prove false.

　　Slandering a female celebrity was as easy as typing a few words and tossing in a casual “I heard it from someone.” No one cared how much damage that could do to her.

　　Thankfully, Chu Ling handled it beautifully. Clean, sharp, and straight to the point, she all but shattered every rumor that had been festering for years.

　　Ye Weiyang and Gao Yan came forward as well, taking her hand.

　　“Thank goodness it turned out fine. That’s all that matters.”

　　“You were amazing, Chu Ling. I didn’t expect you to be so brave.”

　　They had wanted to speak up earlier, but as people half-rooted in the entertainment circle, they weighed the risks. Unlike Wen Shu, who was just a regular person free to speak her mind, they didn’t dare step in too recklessly.

　　Chu Ling understood. After all, there weren’t many fools like Sheng Yi around.

　　“Jiejie, I knew those rumors were all fake.”

　　Out of nowhere, Zhou Yu squeezed in, flashing her a smile. “I’m so glad you’re fine. Those online rumors are all nonsense. Good thing you cleared it up quickly and slapped those netizens in the face.”

　　Sheng Yi rolled his eyes at him without holding back.

　　Never seen someone so shameless.

　　Even Wen Shu, usually mild-tempered, looked annoyed.

　　It would have been one thing if Zhou Yu had simply stayed silent. Choosing to protect himself under that kind of storm was understandable.

　　But instead of staying quiet, he had jumped at the chance to hint that Chu Ling was two-faced, desperate to cut ties with their past CP, and even used her downfall to polish his own “clear-headed” image.

　　That was disgusting.

　　Wen Shu pulled Chu Ling closer to her side, trying to shield her from Zhou Yu. She was about to snap at him when Chu Ling tilted her head, looked straight at Zhou Yu, and smiled. “Is your nickname Ochumelov”

　　Zhou Yu blinked. “What?”

　　Sheng Yi burst out laughing.

　　Chu Ling shook her head with a sigh. “Even a chameleon doesn’t change colors as fast as you.”

　　She pretended to think back. “I remember someone once said, ‘She’s let down so many people who liked her…’”

　　Her eyes slid toward Zhou Yu. “Tell me, what exactly did I let you down on?”

　　Zhou Yu was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected her to bring it back up.

　　“Did I let you down by skipping a few breakfasts with you? By brushing off your shameless attempts at physical contact? Or maybe by not managing to spark the CP hype you so desperately wanted?”

　　Chu Ling clicked her tongue. “Do you think I was too busy to pay attention to what everyone said about me? Or that I’m just stupid enough to be coaxed with a half-baked excuse about how you ‘didn’t mean it’ and ‘never really disliked me’?”

　　Zhou Yu: “…”

　　She had nailed him with every word.

　　Chu Ling gave a short, scornful laugh.

　　Sorry, but she was petty. And she held grudges.

　　If Zhou Yu had only slipped away quietly, Chu Ling could have understood. People wanting to protect themselves was normal.

　　But he had chosen to kick her when she was down. With behavior that low, if she didn’t roast him, she might as well change her last name.

　　“Still, you did get one thing right. Some people are completely different on and off stage. I can’t even tell which version is the real you.”

　　Chu Ling threw his own words back at him, her voice dripping with irony. “It must have been exhausting, right? Playing nice with me for clout even though you couldn’t stand me. Pretending to flatter me while secretly hoping I’d crash and burn so I’d quit the show. You couldn’t wait, could you?”

　　Zhou Yu opened his mouth, scrambling for an excuse. His guilty tone betrayed him, even his voice cracking. “Jiejie… how could you think of me that way? I was only—”

　　“Don’t.”

　　Chu Ling cut him off. “We’re barely a few years apart. Don’t call me jiejie. I don’t need such an ungrateful little brother.”

　　Zhou Yu’s face went pale, then flushed, before he finally muttered something about how things weren’t the way she thought and slunk off in defeat.

　　“What a piece of work,” Ye Weiyang said, exasperated. “It’s bad enough he kicked you when you were down, but now he comes crawling back like you’d actually fall for it? Does he take you for a fool?”

　　Wen Shu spat out a sharp “Tch.”

　　“He’s the real fool if you ask me.”

　　Chu Ling wasn’t surprised. She only said, “I already expected it. Nobody truly likes me anyway. I just didn’t think he’d show his hand so quickly.”

　　She had thought he’d at least keep up the act a little longer. But the moment things turned sour, he bolted.

　　Good thing she never had expectations. She had seen through people long ago, so now there was nothing left to hurt her.

　　“There will be.”

　　The sudden words came from Sheng Yi.

　　Everyone turned to look at him.

　　He repeated himself, firmer this time. “There will be someone who truly likes you.”

　　Chu Ling froze. For a second, she thought he was just feeding her some kind of consolation cliché. Then she laughed. “You don’t actually think I’m the type to wait around for a ‘someday, someone will show up and save me’ fairy tale, do you?”

　　Sheng Yi chuckled too. “You don’t need saving.”

　　With Chu Ling’s strength, no matter how dire things got, she could always save herself.

　　Meeting her gaze, he said slowly, “I just think you’re someone who deserves to be loved for real.”

　　—

　　Sheng Yi returned to his room and glanced at his phone.

　　Sure enough, dozens of unread messages and missed calls from his manager were piled up, and their band’s group chat had completely blown up.

　　He scrolled through quickly. At first, they had been freaking out, asking why he had suddenly done something so reckless. But after the shock wore off, the screen was filled with lines of【Sheng Yi is badass】and【Sheng Yi’s a real man】.

　　He paused, then chuckled.

　　Not quite the reaction he had imagined.

　　But he hadn’t been wrong. This really was rock and roll.

　　Another call came through from his manager. This time, Sheng Yi answered.

　　The voice on the other end instantly exploded. “You little brat, do you have any idea how impulsive that was? Do you not care about your career at all?”

　　Sheng Yi replied lazily, “Didn’t it all work out fine?”

　　“You’re lucky it did! And lucky you bet on the right horse. If the backlash hadn’t flipped in your favor and the buzz didn’t stick, I don’t even want to think about the mess we’d be in!”

　　Sheng Yi only hummed in response, a soft “Mm?”

　　His manager took it as confirmation. In his eyes, this was just another gamble. Risky, yes, but with high returns. Chu Ling cleared her name and came out on top, and Sheng Yi reaped the side benefit of positive publicity.

　　Sheng Yi lowered his lashes, saying nothing.

　　To call it a gamble felt like an insult to what he really felt.

　　But what else could he say?

　　That he liked Chu Ling?

　　The thought made him laugh at himself in silence.

　　If he ever said that out loud, then he really would sound insane.

　　—

　　That night, Chu Ling slept soundly and peacefully.

　　The next morning, when she checked the trending searches, all the smear campaigns were gone. Only the clarification hot search the program team had bought for her was still pinned. Underneath, countless people who had once believed the rumors were now apologizing.

　　Some were even lining up just to apologize to her.

　　【I’m sorry, I admit I was the one who spoke too loudly back then! This part is true!】

　　【Chu Ling, please don’t quit the industry. You’re my daily dose of joy! Watching you clap back at people is the best thing ever. I’m even learning from you word for word!!】

　　So, overnight, she had made a decent profit too.

　　Satisfied, Chu Ling happily reviewed her earnings before getting up to wash.

　　Since she had scolded Zhou Yu yesterday, he finally stopped trying to cook her breakfast today. Chu Ling felt so much more at ease.

　　She made herself two slices of toast with a fried egg, finished it quickly, then headed upstairs to find Qin Shuo.

　　Qin Shuo lived in the most luxurious single room on the second floor.

　　When Chu Ling suddenly barged in, she startled him so much that he almost jumped. “Who said you could come in?”

　　Chu Ling twisted the doorknob innocently. “Well, you didn’t lock it.”

　　Qin Shuo: “…”

　　That was because no one ever dared to come in without knocking.

　　“If you don’t leave, I’ll call someone.”

　　Chu Ling blinked her wide eyes at him. “Don’t, Teacher Qin, I really do have something urgent. You’re a senior and have been in this industry for a long time. I wanted to ask for your advice.”

　　“…..”

　　He could already tell she was up to no good.

　　Qin Shuo’s face darkened, his tone cautious. “What is it?”

　　“You probably heard about how I was suddenly being dragged online a couple days ago, right?”

　　Chu Ling continued, “I thought about it later. That kind of massive smear campaign, with all those trending searches and paid trolls, had to be orchestrated by someone. There’s no way it all happened just because of random netizens.”

　　Qin Shuo’s expression turned even darker. After a moment of silence, he asked, “What are you trying to say?”

　　“I just wanted to ask Teacher Qin to help me figure out who hates me this much.”

　　She tilted her head slightly. “I’ve offended plenty of people, sure, but if we’re talking about someone I’ve recently offended, who also happens to have connections in the entertainment circle, there’s really only one person.”

　　Chu Ling narrowed her eyes, still smiling. “I never expected Teacher Qin to be such a petty man.”

　　Qin Shuo: “…..”

　　Expressionless, he said, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

　　“The one who started stirring things up in the middle of the night, digging up those old rumors, splashing me with dirty water, then hiring trolls to amplify it all… that should be someone from your studio, right?”

　　Chu Ling glanced at his face.

　　As expected of a Film Emperor, even now he remained calm and unfazed.

　　“No worries. It doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it. I’ll sue him anyway.”

　　Her smile widened. “Once the case goes to court, he won’t be able to hide behind an account anymore. He can face me directly and explain why he did all this.”

________________

Glossary:　

The line “你别名叫奥楚蔑洛夫吗？” literally means:

“Isn’t your other name Ochumelov?”/ “Is Your Nickname Ochumelov?”

👉 奥楚蔑洛夫 (Ào chǔ miè luò fū) is the Chinese transliteration of the Russian surname Ochumelov. He’s a character in Anton Chekhov’s short story The Chameleon.

So Chu Ling is basically calling Zhou Yu “Ochumelov”, which is shorthand for calling him a chameleon, i.e., someone two-faced or flip-flopping depending on the situation.

…..

T/N: Shoutout to all the readers who took the time to vote and leave comments for this novel on NU. Thank you so much! Special thanks to strangeirdo, marianaLopez, Mher_bhem, cosmicpeach, Smarty, nikreadss, and Meatshield for your lovely reviews and comments there. I really appreciate it. Hehe~ 💖

 

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