The Secret Realm of Time, His and Her Life Through the Changes

It was already three in the morning, but Shang Yibo was still wide awake. He sat at his desk with the script for his next drama, "The Legend of Huizhou Merchants," spread out on the table. His laptop was also on, with only a few lines of text on the screen: "Character Analysis and Behavioral Logic of Ling Shaojing."

Ling Shaojing is the male lead in Shang Yibo's new drama. This is also the first time Shang Yibo has played the lead role in a TV series. He likes the story very much and attaches great importance to this opportunity.

"The Legend of Huizhou Merchants" tells the dramatic and legendary life of the protagonist, Ling Shaojing. The head of the prestigious Ling family, known for its powerful merchants, raises his illegitimate son, Ling Shaojing, in a separate household in order to marry a princess. Ling Shaojing is exceptionally intelligent from a young age, possessing an innate talent for business. When the Ling family suffers a calamity and is executed, Ling Shaojing returns to his ancestral home and rebuilds the family business…

Shang Yibo has been preparing diligently these days, and the next two days will include makeup tests and photo shoots.

Tonight, after finishing his live stream and returning home, he sat at his desk, typed only a few words, and then began to drift off. When the screen saver went out, he would press the spacebar, the computer screen would light up again, but after a while, it would go back to normal, and he would randomly tap the keyboard again, mechanically repeating this action.

Shang Yibo kept recalling the events that had occurred since his reunion with Zhou Yanruo over the past few days.

Zhou Yanruo was clearly his Ruoruo, and he had always thought he understood her very well. However, what had she gone through in all these years of separation? Why had her attitude towards life become so mature and sophisticated? What he found most unacceptable was that she was willing to sacrifice her principles for personal gain. He gradually realized that he was finding it increasingly difficult to understand her.

"Should I tell her that I am Wang Jie?" This question kept lingering in Shang Yibo's mind. He didn't know if Zhou Yanruo still remembered Wang Jie, or if she had already chosen to forget. Unsure of Zhou Yanruo's true feelings, he dared not take the risk.

In fact, he didn't know how to explain this complicated identity issue to Zhou Yanruo. Why was he Wang Jie? This was the key question he needed to figure out.

I need to go to sleep. I won't be in good shape tomorrow, and I won't be able to achieve the best results during the makeup trial. I'd feel so bad for 'Ling Shao Jing'.

Just as Shang Yibo lay down, his phone suddenly beeped with a message notification.

Who could have sent this so late?

He quickly opened his phone and saw a WeChat message from Zhou Yanruo: "Shang Yibo, don't look at Weibo, don't respond. Ding Jiajia and I will pick you up tomorrow morning, and then we'll go back to Yihua Entertainment before going to the makeup test."

Shang Yibo was momentarily confused, not understanding what this meant. Usually, when Qi Qingnan asked Ding Jiajia to remind him not to look at Weibo, it meant that negative news had appeared. This was to avoid affecting his mood and also to ensure a unified message for external responses.

But now, in the middle of the night, Zhou Yanruo suddenly sent him this message. Was she trying to stop him from looking at Weibo? Or was she reminding him that there was negative news about her?

Shang Yibo replied to the message casually: "I know, what happened?"

Zhou Yanruo replied instantly: "You're still awake? Oh no."

Shang Yibo was holding his phone, his screen showing his chat with Zhou Yanruo. He saw Zhou Yanruo's reply and was about to reply with a message asking, "What's over?"

She had already retracted the message.

Then Zhou Yanruo sent another message: "Get some rest, we can talk about it tomorrow."

What kind of logic is this? They said it but then stopped, how are people supposed to sleep?

Shang Yibo: "I'm not asleep yet. What happened? Tell me."

Zhou Yanruo sent a voice message directly: "It's my fault. I thought you were already resting and wouldn't be checking your phone. I was afraid I'd be too busy tomorrow morning and forget to remind you, so I thought I'd send it to you now. You can see it when you turn on your phone tomorrow morning."

Shang Yibo laughed, thinking to himself, "Silly boy, still the same scatterbrain, hasn't changed even as he's gotten older."

Just as he was about to reply to the message, Zhou Yanruo called him directly via WeChat.

"Hey, Ruo, Xiao, Zhou Yanruo, what's up?"

"Anyway, you're not asleep, and I can't sleep either, so let's just talk on the phone." Zhou Yanruo's hurried voice came from the phone.

"Don't be nervous, speak slowly." Shang Yibo was in a good mood.

"Yeah, Yibo, we still made a mistake."

It turns out that during the live stream and in the immediate period after it ended, all the public opinion surrounding Shang Yibo was positive. Both Shang Yibo's personal data and the broadcast data of "Swordsman's Journey" showed excellent performance.

However, public opinion shifted later. First, solo fans of Shang Yibo and Xu Nuolai clashed with CP (couple) fans online. Then, fans of the original novel joined the fray, criticizing the CP fans. Weibo was in chaos. Although these fan disputes usually only increase popularity without causing substantial harm, this time was different.

The turning point came from a blog post.

This blog post targets a Weibo post from the drama's official Weibo account, pointing out that the promotional focus is clearly biased towards Shang Yibo. The post, with its obvious rhetoric, raises the questions of "Who is the male lead? Who is the lead actor?" This immediately drew attacks from Xu Nuolai's solo fans, book fans, and fans of the CP (couple pairing) who favor Xu Nuolai, all of whom launched an attack on the drama's official Weibo account, escalating into defamation and boycotts of "The Swordsman's Journey."

Shang Yibo's fans went to defend the drama, but instead attracted criticism and were attacked by fans from all sides.

The current coordinated smear campaign clearly indicates that an organized online troll army has begun to engage in this effort.

Whose interests did Shang Yibo threaten? Those people actually went so far as to use the media and public opinion to stifle a rising star.

After listening to Zhou Yanruo's story, Shang Yibo just smiled faintly and said, "I thought it was something serious, but it's just a fan war. Their focus will shift soon, and they'll find other fun things to do. It'll be fine tomorrow."

Zhou Yanruo: "Will it? I hope so."

Shang Yibo: "Listen to me, go to sleep now."

Zhou Yanruo: "But Qi Qingnan just sent me a message, reminding me and Ding Jiajia to be careful of paparazzi when we pick you up tomorrow. Judging from her tone, it seems like things aren't that simple."

"The pink and black stuff is nothing to worry about. They'll handle it. The company's crisis management is also very effective. Don't worry. Besides, even if you worry, it won't do any good. You can't help anyway," Shang Yibo reassured him, sounding experienced.

"Okay, I'm going to sleep now, bye-bye."

"Hey, hey, don't hang up yet. What time are you coming to pick me up tomorrow?"

"8 a.m.? What's wrong? Wasn't the time set a long time ago?"

"I... I have no food left in the refrigerator."

"Should I bring you breakfast tomorrow? What would you like to eat, whole wheat bread?"

"Um, well, how about the wontons?"

“No problem, I’ll come over early tomorrow and cook it for you.” Zhou Yanruo readily agreed, and then added, “Send me your address.”

"Building B, Rushang Garden, North Second Ring Road East." Shang Yibo sent his location. "I've sent it to you."

"See you tomorrow."

"Ah."

Shang Yibo hung up the phone, jumped out of bed, threw a series of punches at the air, and then clenched his fists and made a "Yay!" gesture.

Then, he muttered to himself, "Go to sleep."