Chapter 70: Cease and Desist Warning

"Hello, I'm Yan Danchen. I've heard of your great name for a long time. I'm also your fan, and my favorite song of yours is 'Love Transfer.'"

Yan Danchen said with a beaming smile.

Cheng Chen shook hands with her and said with a smile:

"I've watched your dramas too, especially your performance in 'Carry Dad to School.' It was amazing."

Cheng Chen praised.

This drama was Yan Danchen's debut work. At only 19 years old, she already displayed extraordinary acting skills and won many prestigious awards that year.

"Of course! Our Chenchen not only acts well, she's also beautiful—she was the class beauty of our Beijing Film Academy!"

Chen Shasha praised from the side.

"Stop teasing me, senior sister."

Yan Danchen said shyly.

Speaking of which, Yan Danchen, like Chen Shasha, graduated from Beijing Film Academy. The only difference was that Chen Shasha was from the Class of 94, while Yan Danchen graduated from the Class of 96's Acting Department.

Speaking of which, the Beijing Film Academy Class of 96 was simply dazzling with stars.

Famous artists like Zhao Fantian, Huang Xiaoming, Chen Kun, Guo Xiaodong, Yan Danchen, and Zhao Yali all came from that class.

All 23 students, without exception, had acted in films or TV dramas, and some had even become the backbone of the entertainment industry.

The three took their seats. Cheng Chen and Yan Danchen were meeting for the first time, and neither was very familiar with the other. However, Cheng Chen was the type to warm up quickly with people, especially when facing a beauty.

When Chen Shasha asked how things were going with his audition in Modu, Cheng Chen nodded and said he had landed a second male lead role.

"Not bad! From a supporting role to second male lead, and you're also a king of the music scene—you're walking on two legs, aiming to conquer the entertainment industry!"

Chen Shasha said exaggeratedly.

"Don't say that. I don't have that much power. Conquer the entertainment industry? Let me first survive the keyboards of those online trolls."

Cheng Chen said helplessly.

During this period, someone online had posted photos of Cheng Chen from the "Yi Tian" and "Criminal Police" crews, which immediately drew a barrage of attacks.

They said he wasn't singing properly and had run off to the film and TV industry to join the fun, not doing his proper job.

Of course, with Cheng Heavenly King's current popularity, there were plenty of people cursing him, but there were also many true fans.

His fans fought epic battles with the haters in his blog comments, turning the entire comment section into a complete mess.

Hearing Cheng Chen's words, Chen Shasha said sourly:

"At least you have people defending you. Cheng Heavenly King is really impressive!"

Speaking of this girl Chen Shasha, she had acted in quite a few dramas since her debut, but the shows were popular while she herself wasn't.

Five or six years into her career, when people mentioned her, they would only say, "Isn't that so-and-so from that TV drama?" They couldn't remember her name at all.

So the girl was very discouraged, feeling her name wasn't good and was hard for people to remember.

Hearing this, Cheng Chen laughed and said:

"Then just change your name! 'Chen Zihan' sounds easy to remember and has depth. I guarantee you'll be wildly popular. How about it?"

Cheng Chen was only joking, but Chen Shasha took it seriously and started thinking about it.

She had worked hard in Gang Sheng in her early years, and people there believed that changing one's name could change one's luck.

This notion might seem superstitious to most people, but the stars in the Gang Sheng entertainment circle believed it without a doubt, and many racked their brains to switch to a good name.

Like Hua Zai, one of the Four Heavenly Kings—his school name was Liu Furong. Although the meaning was good, it was a bit tacky. Later, when he got into TVB and embarked on his star path, he resolved to change it to Liu Dehua.

Wu Zhenyu and Ouyang Zhenhua were the same way. Later generations even spread the rumor that "Mountain Chicken Bro" Chen Xiaochun and his wife were planning to change their names too!

So, influenced by this, Chen Shasha didn't reject Cheng Chen's suggestion. Instead, she was thinking about how the name Cheng Chen had picked for her sounded.

"This name sounds really nice—Zihan, beautiful and cultured. I think it works, senior sister."

Yan Danchen said with a smile from the side.

"Alright, I'll go back and discuss it with the company people.

Not bad, Cheng Heavenly King now even does fortune-telling and name-picking for people!"

Chen Shasha looked at Cheng Chen and praised him.

"Oh no, mainly because you're so pretty—it really suits the name."

More than suits it—it'll accompany you for life.

"Pfft, smooth talker!"

The three chatted while eating, and Cheng Chen and Yan Danchen gradually became familiar with each other. The atmosphere was quite pleasant.

Midway through, Yan Danchen took a phone call. After returning to the private room, a hint of gloom hung over her delicate face.

"What's wrong, Chenchen?"

Chen Shasha asked with concern.

Yan Danchen smiled and said:

"It's nothing. I don't know where the entertainment reporters got my contact info—they called me wanting me to talk about plastic surgery. It's really… absurd!"

"Plastic surgery?"

Cheng Chen was a bit puzzled.

Did Yan Danchen's delicate face even need plastic surgery?

From Yan Danchen's explanation, Cheng Chen finally understood.

On the afternoon of September 4th, Yan Danchen's agency in Jingcheng, Zhongbo Futai Culture and Art Co., Ltd., publicly presented her new image to people inside and outside the entertainment industry.

And the image Yan Danchen presented at this appearance shocked everyone.

Yan Danchen had become a household name for her pure image in "Flower Season, Rainy Season."

But when people saw her at the event, they found she was a world apart from before. The mature and gorgeous Yan Danchen gave off a vibe reminiscent of a South Korean beauty.

What's more, rumors spread that she had gone to South Korea for plastic surgery, which the entertainment industry, still relatively conservative in its atmosphere at the time, reported on heavily.

But this was actually a misunderstanding—a beauty salon whose main business was cosmetic surgery had used her photo in a print advertisement without her consent.

In fact, after negotiations the two sides reached an understanding; Yan Danchen did not pursue legal responsibility, and the owner of that beauty salon even took the stage at a press conference to publicly apologize.

But entertainment reporters—how could they possibly let things be resolved so smoothly? They embellished and distorted the story in their reports.

Thus the news "Yan Danchen got plastic surgery for beauty, the pure maiden is no longer pure" spread far and wide.

So much so that Yan Danchen was harassed by the media all day long, fed up with it.

Hearing this, Cheng Chen immediately thought of his own recent being slandered online, and said with a smile:

"Actually, this matter is easy to resolve if you want it resolved."

"How to resolve it?"

Yan Danchen blinked her dewy eyes and looked at Cheng Chen hopefully.

"Call the police, lawyer's letter warning!"

Hearing this, Chen Shasha couldn't help but pat Cheng Chen's shoulder:

"What kind of rotten idea is that? If calling the police and lawyer's letters worked, Chenchen's company would have done it long ago. Weren't you slandered by netizens not long ago, and you didn't solve it by calling the police either!"

Yan Danchen also withdrew her gaze in slight disappointment.

"Let me finish. My situation is different from Danchen's. If I were to pursue those people, how much effort would that take? I don't have that much time.

Danchen's situation is different. With that cosmetic surgery company as witness, and her company backing her up, she can afford to drag it out.

Strike the snake at its seven-inch point—track down the entertainment reporter causing trouble and make them apologize and pay compensation, and the matter will be resolved.

And in the future, when people want to spread rumors and slander Danchen, they'll have to think about the consequences!"

In his past life, it was commonplace for celebrities to respond to rumors with lawyer's letters at the slightest provocation.

But now, celebrities are all very "magnanimous," adopting a cold-handling approach to such rumors and not pursuing them.

Yan Danchen blinked, felt Cheng Chen made sense, and took it to heart, planning to report the matter to her company afterward.

After the three finished their meal, Yan Danchen proactively exchanged contact information with Cheng Chen.

She still had to stay in Modu for a while to film, and said she'd arrange to have a meal with Cheng Chen when she had time.

……