Chapter 114 - 109: The Two Exchanged a Glance
Ni Bingyan barged into the venue. People greeted her, but she was in no state to respond, frantically craning her neck to search for Wei Shuojie.
Wei Shuojie was smiling and chatting with a producer she knew. When she saw Ni Bingyan’s panicked expression, she knew something was wrong. She quickly excused herself and hurried over.
"What’s wrong? You’re in such a panic."
Wei Shuojie knew she wasn’t the type to make a fuss over nothing. An expression like that meant something major had happened. ’But what could possibly go wrong just walking the red carpet?’
’Don’t tell me she fell?’
Wei Shuojie discreetly checked Ni Bingyan’s clothes and shoes. Seeing no scrapes or damage, she breathed a sigh of relief.
’As long as she didn’t fall, anything else is manageable.’
’Falling on the red carpet used to garner sympathy, but nowadays, fans just call it a staged fall. That’s not a good look.’
Ni Bingyan grabbed Wei Shuojie’s hand. Feeling the warmth of her palm, her frantic heart settled slightly, and her eyes immediately welled up.
"S-Sister Wei, someone... someone threw acid at me... I think it was acid... The red carpet turned black and a hole burned through it instantly..."
For a female celebrity, looks are everything. On the red carpet, outfits are thin and revealing. If the acid had hit her face, her career would have been all but over. How could she not be terrified by the close call?
"What? Are you okay?"
Her heart, which had just settled, leaped back into her throat!
Though inwardly shocked, Wei Shuojie’s expression remained as steady as a rock. She immediately looked Ni Bingyan over from head to toe and only breathed a sigh of relief when she confirmed not a single drop had splashed onto her.
"I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m okay."
Ni Bingyan kept repeating, "I’m fine, I’m fine," as if trying to convince Wei Shuojie, but also herself.
Seeing how terrified she was, Wei Shuojie knew the most important thing right now wasn’t to comfort her, but to manage the aftermath.
’Comforting her now will only make her break down more. If I keep her busy, maybe she won’t have time to dwell on it.’
So, Wei Shuojie draped a jacket over her shoulders, took her by the hand, and led her away.
"First, we’re going to get a copy of the security footage and see what happened."
The Huabiao Award was different from other awards. The organizer was a government entity, and because of the event’s large scale, it had been officially registered with the authorities. The local police department was in charge of security. While the security check might have been lax due to being understaffed, allowing someone to smuggle in a small bottle of acid, there was no need to worry about the suspect escaping once an incident occurred.
’For them, the most important thing right now was to secure the evidence as quickly as possible.’
War in the entertainment industry is all about timing. So many people saw Ni Bingyan have acid thrown at her on the red carpet; the internet must be exploding right now.
It’s like when a husband cheats, people always say there must be something wrong with his wife.
Victim-blaming was a truth many people subscribed to. They firmly believed that there’s no smoke without fire. If someone threw acid at Ni Bingyan, she must have done something shameless to make a person break the law just for revenge.
In this situation, having evidence on hand would allow for a faster clarification, saving them from the wild fabrications of keyboard warriors.
"Okay."
Influenced by Wei Shuojie’s calm presence, Ni Bingyan’s emotions began to stabilize.
After all, she had weathered storms before and wasn’t some naive kid fresh out of school. She had just been terrified by the horrific prospect of being disfigured by acid. Now that she was calm, her thoughts began to clear.
"I’m not sure if the organizer’s cameras have the right angle, but people were filming at the front of the red carpet. We can contact some media outlets we know and see if anyone happened to capture it. And Hu Zhenning—that person got in with his fans, so we need his team to investigate his fan club and see if it was one of his toxic stans. Oh, and I don’t know if security caught the person... It’s possible they escaped..."
Seeing her analyze the situation so clearly, Wei Shuojie nodded in satisfaction. Still holding her hand, she opened WeChat with her other hand and started asking her media contacts for video footage as they walked.
The two of them were hurrying out. Before they had taken more than a few steps, Hu Zhenning, his face ashen, caught up to them.
"Sister Bingbing, thank you so much for what you did just now. If you hadn’t pushed me, I would have definitely been hit."
For a female actor, disfigurement meant retirement. Wasn’t it the same for a male actor?
Hu Zhenning was only twenty-two. He’d had an easy life growing up, and his career had been smooth sailing since his debut. He had never encountered anything so terrifying before.
Just thinking about that melted, pitch-black patch on the red carpet made his skin crawl.
When people panic, their first instinct is to seek out the most familiar person they can see. He looked around but couldn’t find his agent. Just then, he spotted Ni Bingyan and immediately ran over.
Ni Bingyan and Wei Shuojie exchanged a glance and stopped walking in unison.
’Don’t touch me, get away from me! Nothing good ever happens when you’re around!’ Ni Bingyan really wanted to say. But then again, this mess wasn’t his fault. He was always so polite that it was impossible to truly dislike him.
Seeing him looking scared out of his wits, Ni Bingyan sighed. "What are you so afraid of? She was aiming for me, not you."
Hu Zhenning didn’t believe her. "I was closer to her."
"Your back was turned to her. What, was she going to pour it on your head to make you go bald?"
Hu Zhenning shuddered. "That’s not impossible."
’For a man, going bald is even more terrifying than having a scar on your face!’
Ni Bingyan, who had always been a straightforward person, was rendered speechless.
"Seriously. I saw the look in her eyes. It was like she wanted to tear me to pieces. Besides, she got in by pretending to be your fan. There’s no way she’d actually try to hurt you, right?"
"If she really wanted to get you, why not pretend to be your fan? Wouldn’t that have gotten her closer to you?"
There was one thing he left unsaid. ’I have a lot of fans, and space at the venue is limited. The fans who got in here were all veteran fans screened by my team. Ni Bingyan has fewer fans, so getting access is easier for them.’
’Anyone with half a brain would know which side is easier to infiltrate.’
Ni Bingyan was almost convinced.
Wei Shuojie, who had been waiting to the side, listened to their conversation, her gaze sweeping over them.
’The suspect has been caught, so the truth will come out soon enough. Until then, I have to protect Ni Bingyan’s reputation.’
’Compared to the story of ’Ni Bingyan is the target of an acid attack,’ isn’t ’Ni Bingyan heroically saves her companion from an attacker’ much better?’
’As for why Hu Zhenning might be targeted, or if he’d done something to deserve it—that wasn’t her problem to consider.’
’Better him than me. Besides, the suspect was most likely one of his own toxic stans.’
Ni Bingyan might not know the rules of the industry, but Wei Shuojie did.
’When a fan does something wrong, the idol takes the heat. That’s just how it is in this business.’
With this in mind, Wei Shuojie smiled faintly. "We were just about to find security to get a copy of the surveillance footage and then contact the organizers to check the suspect’s identity. Do you want to come with us?"
The sudden change in topic left Hu Zhenning a little slow to react.
Wei Shuojie smiled again. "There’s no point in you two arguing. You were standing so close together, it’s impossible to say who the real target was. Instead of debating it here, isn’t it better to use this time to find out the truth? What do you think?"
If Hu Zhenning’s agent had been present, he would never have let his client get mixed up in this. But as it happened, security had caught the culprit and, upon discovering it was one of his fans, had called the agent over for identification. He wasn’t here.
And so, the three of them made their way to the security room without a hitch and successfully obtained the video footage.
Hu Zhenning watched the video again and again, a wave of retrospective fear washing over him. If Ni Bingyan hadn’t pushed him, that stuff really might have ended up on his head!
At that thought, Hu Zhenning pulled out his phone, attached the video, and made a post: [Thank you to @Actress Ni Bingyan for pushing me out of the way and saving me from harm. The matter will be handed over to the police for further action. Please, everyone, remain calm and rational.]
When his agent, Old Luo, came out of the security office and saw the post, his vision went black!