Chapter 166: What's Under the Cloak and Very Silly, Very Naive

January 26, 2008, was originally a very ordinary day, but because of the actions of one netizen, it became anything but ordinary.

On a certain forum in Hong Kong, the adult section—as the name suggests—was a secret base for "adding color."

Usually, netizens mostly hung out here to shoot the breeze, complain, gossip, and discuss TV dramas; and truth be told, the forum's traffic was extremely impressive.

That night, a netizen with the ID "Qina" posted to brag that his hard drive contained private photos of Chen Laoshi and several top-tier female stars.

Naturally, the netizens didn't believe him and mocked him in the comments section for bragging. Angry, Qina finally couldn't resist posting a photo—a suspected private photo of Chen Laoshi and BOBO Chen Wenyuan.

Chen Wenyuan was a third-tier Hong Kong actress who debuted as a singer; she didn't have much fame, and having already retired from the circle, not many people knew her.

Netizens mocked him one after another: "That's it? Bobo is called a top-tier female star? You must be a fool."

However, netizens' bodies were always honest; even if she wasn't a big star, wasn't a naked third-tier star more enticing than a clothed big star?

Consequently, a large number of netizens rushed over upon hearing the news. For a time, the thread's popularity exploded, and everyone was discussing it, speculating on the authenticity of the photos.

On the 27th, Qina logged on right on time and uploaded a second photo—a photo of Ajiao—which directly pushed this massive "melon-eating" incident to a climax.

At this moment, if it were possible, Qina would have loved to transform into Feng Dapao and roar, "Who else!"

With this, Chen Laoshi's photography exhibition completely detonated, immediately triggering a massive earthquake in the Hong Kong Circle. —— Beijing, Central Academy of Drama student dormitory.

Wei Daxun, who had just started his freshman year this year, wasn't in a rush to go home for the holiday; he was still waiting for news from that mature older sister.

Though he called her a mature older sister, she was actually nearly two cycles older than him. However, she had money and resources, and under the filter, Wei Daxun could only comfort himself this way.

At this moment, he was in his dorm room, excitedly browsing the forum; Tianya Shequ had already exploded by now.

Wei Daxun was like a marmot in a melon field, looking at the explosive photos. A glimmer of light flashed in his squinty eyes from time to time, and the corners of his mouth revealed a yearning arc.

Besides admiring the photos, he also envied the photography teacher very much. He had even made up his mind that one day, when his status reached that level, he would definitely play even harder than Chen Laoshi.

Immediately, Wei Daxun seemed to react and immediately began downloading the photos on his computer. These things wouldn't last long in the world; they needed to be saved and savored slowly.

Quick-witted and fast-handed, he couldn't help but secretly rejoice; truly, just a few minutes later, and they would have been gone.

At this time, QQ groups were flashing constantly; many netizens who were a step too slow were asking for resources in the groups.

Sitting on the full set of photos, Wei Daxun lightly dropped a "I have the full set," instantly becoming the coolest kid in the group.

For a time, the group was full of "Brother Xun, Master Wei" titles, which greatly satisfied his vanity; he was, after all, a young man of eighteen or nineteen.

Casually clicking a few groups to send them, Wei Daxun received a flood of praise. Before he could even look through them carefully, his phone rang: "Daxun, you're f***ing awesome. You actually sent this in the class group. Teacher Ceng is already blowing her top; you're on your own."

Hanging up the phone, Wei Daxun inexplicably broke out in a cold sweat. Did his hand actually slip? —— "I'm so mad. Let's see how I deal with him when school starts."

"Li Jie, calm down. It's just a photo; maybe he sent it by mistake."

Wei Jin was gently stroking Ceng Li's back, speaking to comfort her, while inwardly sighing: Li Jie is a responsible, good teacher.

Last May, Ceng Li had already joined the Central Academy of Drama. The school didn't want to waste such a great talent, so they arranged for her to become the head teacher of the 07 Class of the acting department.

Ceng Li was indeed a very good teacher. Hearing that Wei Jin had a project about to start, she planned to recommend students from her class to show their faces or something.

Who would have thought that while she was flipping through the class group introductions one by one, a single photo would cause Ceng Li to suffer social death on the spot.

She had even guaranteed to Wei Jin that her students were all of good character and scholarship; this slap in the face came too quickly. The beautiful teacher was currently sulking.

"Xiao Jin, is this matter true?"

After composing her emotions, Ceng Li also began to gossip. She didn't go online much, so her information was a bit slow.

"Yeah, the Hong Kong Circle has already exploded by now."

Speaking of this, Wei Jin felt a bit lucky. A few days ago, Shi Nansheng sent word that "Bodyguards and Assassins" was ready to be greenlit and the roles had been roughly set for some people, but he had temporarily called a halt to it. The memory of this incident was still very clear, and he didn't want to have just announced the roles and then have to clean up the mess. "Then these people..."

"Basically, their star paths are cut off; it'll be hard for them to turn things around. The Hong Kong Circle has declined because of this."

Wei Jin was telling the truth. The younger generation in the Hong Kong Circle was already lacking successors, and there were only so many sprouts among those born in the 80s.

Now that the photography exhibition was out, the development momentum of Twins was directly interrupted. The youngest Hong Kong Film Awards Golden Horse Best Actress in history, Zhang Baizhi, saw her image plummet, Little Heavenly King Xie Feng also suffered reputation damage, and Chen Laoshi was directly blacklisted by capital.

The few people with the most potential in the younger generation were directly crippled, and the Hong Kong Circle had no one left to take over. Later generations claimed that this photography exhibition broke the spine of the Hong Kong Circle and created its decline.

Regarding this, Wei Jin was noncommittal. In fact, whether there was a photography exhibition or not, the Hong Kong Circle was declining; it just accelerated the process.

"You men are really something. If it's just love, fine, but to have these strange fetishes—it harms others and yourself."

As a woman, Ceng Li naturally sided with the victimized female stars, but she also asked herself: if Wei Jin were to make such a request after they had been intimate, could she refuse? "Li Jie, don't paint everyone with the same brush. I'm a good student; I never do these things."

Saying this, Wei Jin was still looking at the photos in the Central Academy of Drama QQ group. This time, he finally knew what was worn under the cloak.

"You're still looking? You are not allowed to have such thoughts."

Ever since Li Jie became a teacher, her dignity had grown, and she really had a certain flair.

"Alright, Teacher Ceng, the student was wrong. Please, Teacher, punish me."

Wei Jin's hands began to act up. The plot design of those Japanese films was really f***ing exciting. —— The impact of this incident was indeed too great. "CJ7" had already been released, but during promotion, reporters didn't care about the movie; they kept pestering Zhou Xingxing, asking him, as the talent scout for the core figure of the incident, if he knew beforehand.

Zhou Xingxing was very annoyed and could only say some polite words to get by, then held up a Qizai doll and said: "Let's talk about the movie."

The new Star Girl was also annoyed. "I'm so beautiful and have such a great figure, yet you care about a former Star Girl and don't even interview me?" Several of the parties involved also received media attention, but Ajiao's PR was absolutely disastrous.

The first direct response was chosen to be at a birthday party; the scene was very awkward. Many fans even supported her, but fans couldn't decide her star path; instead, it made her look very guilty.

The apology statement was too simple and slightly hasty, leaving behind only the classic meme: "Very silly, very naive."

The second public appearance was on a variety show; although she shed tears several times, the audience could clearly feel the performative nature of it.

By comparison, Zhang Baizhi had a son and accepted an interview as a mother, earning enough sympathy points from the audience. —— Ning Hao also had some free time and chatted with Wei Jin about this wave of turmoil, but he evaluated it from the perspective of a photographer: "From a professional point of view, the shooting technique was a bit rough, and the director's skill was lacking, but the expressions of the actresses were spot on—very real. The flush on their faces, the blurriness in their eyes—it's definitely the Experience School."

"Senior brother, you're a pro. If you opened a photography exhibition, I'm afraid 'Teacher Ning' would be a title you couldn't escape, haha."

"Don't talk nonsense. Your sister and I are a harmonious couple, happy and peaceful."

"Who knows? Senior brother is a big director after all; I'm afraid there are quite a few actresses who want to experience your photography skills."

Wei Jin's words weren't false; among domestic directors, Ning Hao was considered upright, and crucially, he was young.

"Get lost. Is everyone like you? By the way, how about putting 'Crazy Racer' at the end of March?"

Ning Hao was too lazy to pay attention to Wei Jin's teasing; he knew his own situation, so he turned to talk about the release slot issue.

"Hmm, that works. Bookending 'The Forbidden Kingdom' to form a dominance; it might not be any worse than the National Day Slot."

Ning Hao wasn't a small fry anymore; his films had drawing power, so he didn't need to obsessively pursue a specific slot.

"Haha, I think so too; let's strive for a big one this time."

Ning Hao walked over step by step, his self-confidence growing heavier with each stride.

"Alright then, I'll congratulate you in advance, Senior Brother, on entering the 200 Million Director Club, haha."

"It's a must."

The third update for today, eight thousand words delivered. I earnestly request all readers to reward me with subscriptions, follow-up reads, and bookmarks. You must flip to the very last page for the follow-up read, thank you everyone! (End of chapter)