Chapter 117: Two Women Fight Over a Man—Definitely Front-Page News

North Electric, Multimedia Classroom

Seeing Yan Li had just spent a day alone with Dong Xuan, but the next day, his girlfriend was "taken" away by Guan Yue and her group.

Today was the premiere night of "Snowflake Goddess Dragon" on national television.

As the first student from the Class of 2000 at North Electric to land the female lead in a nationally broadcast drama, Dong Xuan's close classmates strongly insisted on celebrating and cheering with her.

They were now seniors, on the verge of graduation, and many had stopped returning to campus altogether.

This was also an excuse to gather some classmates who still had time.

As an arts school, North Electric encouraged students to appreciate and analyze outstanding films and TV dramas, so it had ready-made multimedia classrooms for viewing, and applying for one was not difficult.

Guan Yue and her classmates booked a classroom, bought snacks and drinks, and chatted while waiting for the drama to air.

As the star of the day, Dong Xuan naturally drew plenty of attention.

A girl with thick bangs sipped her orange juice and winked at Dong Xuan.

"Dong Xuan, is your guy coming today?"

As soon as she spoke, several men and women turned to look.

Seeing Yan Li's name might not have been widely known among other graduating classes at North Electric, but in the Class of 2000, he was unquestionably famous.

In the vocational class, Seeing Yan Li was one of the most charismatic figures—many girls got along with him, and many boys wanted to hang out with him.

This could be seen from how he once led a group to confront Du Chun.

Du Chun, at least two grades above Seeing Yan Li, had been at school longer and knew more people.

Even though Du Chun's star-child personality made him unpopular and he had poor social standing, Seeing Yan Li couldn't have silenced him with just a few guys from his own dorm.

In the undergraduate class, Seeing Yan Li—a vocational student—had stolen their class's most beautiful girl, enough to make the entire class remember him vividly.

A few boys who liked Dong Xuan had even clashed with Seeing Yan Li.

But because of Seeing Yan Li's fame in the Class of 2000, the article in "Southern Metropolis Daily" might have been unknown to many seniors and juniors at North Electric.

Yet nearly everyone in the Class of 2000's Performing Arts department knew about it—even those who hadn't read it had been specifically warned and recommended by classmates.

That "toad" from the vocational class had suddenly become a millionaire, turning into a boss and producer.

This revelation left Dong Xuan's classmates with mixed feelings—and stirred up a few hidden intentions.

Including today's so-called celebration for Dong Xuan, beyond the joy, reunion, and nostalgia, whether there were other motives, only certain people knew.

Another girl with a slightly long face giggled and joined in: "Old Dong, don't hide your big boss from us—call him over, let us butter him up a bit."

Before Dong Xuan could speak, Guan Yue spoke first: "Pu Yanli, Hu Yan, today's a class reunion—why bring up outsiders?"

Yin Xu also chimed in: "Exactly—none of you brought your partners, so why push Dong Xuan to do it?"

Peng Xinyi, another girl close to Dong Xuan, dragged away the long-faced girl, Hu Yan, who had just been speaking.

With Guan Yue and the others blocking the request, the idea of calling Seeing Yan Li over was dropped.

But after this commotion, the classroom atmosphere was no longer as friendly and harmonious as before.

Dong Xuan watched this scene and sighed inwardly—graduation was near, everyone had one foot already in society, and many thoughts and behaviors were no longer as simple as they had been on campus.

Even Dong Xuan herself had changed somewhat since before.

In the past, she might have foolishly called Seeing Yan Li over, proudly showing him off to her classmates.

But now she worried these classmates might ask Seeing Yan Li for resources—given her connection, he'd find it hard to refuse, so she chose to ignore it and avoid trouble.

Besides, there was also a hint of caution.

Dong Xuan knew her classmates fairly well, especially the girls—few of them were truly kind.

Many had never liked her, and now that they knew Seeing Yan Li had risen, envy and resentment were surely widespread.

If she truly introduced them as good friends to Seeing Yan Li, who knew how many might try to steal him away—or if they couldn't steal him, at least spread rumors and stir trouble about her to him.

As previously mentioned, Dong Xuan was jealous and had strong possessiveness.

Not to mention these ordinary classmates—except for Guan Yue, even Yin Xu and the other two roommates, she now subtly avoided letting them interact with Seeing Yan Li.

As for Guan Yue, one reason was their close relationship, and another was that Guan Yue had a boyfriend, and Tong Dawei got along well with Seeing Yan Li.

Although after the Huang Shengyi incident, Dong Xuan had lost some trust in Seeing Yan Li's romantic conduct.

She still respected his character and believed he wouldn't pursue her best friend or her friend's girlfriend.

At prime time, "Snowflake Goddess Dragon" aired on Chongqing Satellite TV's prime-time slot.

The drama hadn't aired in Jingcheng before, but DVDs were available; Dong Xuan, Guan Yue, and a few friends had already watched it, but most classmates hadn't.

Watching the cold, heroic female warrior Dong Xuan on screen, many classmates expressed admiration.

So beautiful!

Of course, even more eye-catching was the Chongqing Satellite TV logo in the top-left corner of the screen.

A nationally broadcast satellite channel, leading female role in a Wu Xia drama—they clearly knew what this meant, far beyond the ivory tower of students.

The Class of 2000's undergraduate class might soon produce its first star.

With this mindset, the classmates finished the two-episode broadcast; they barely remembered the plot, but the image of Dong Xuan with her headband, biting her hair as she fought, remained strikingly vivid.

After the drama ended, many classmates didn't want to leave—they planned to head to the next gathering.

But Dong Xuan didn't want to go—Seeing Yan Li was waiting for her at home.

They'd been apart so long; if not for so many classmates, she wouldn't have come to this gathering at all.

Yet as classmates pressed her with invitations and she struggled to refuse, two sharp car horns sounded.

A BMW a short distance away flashed its lights; Seeing Yan Li rolled down his window and waved.

Dong Xuan seized the chance to escape: "My boyfriend's here to pick me up—I'm leaving."

She grabbed her small bag and dashed to the car; Seeing Yan Li waved again, honked once more as a signal, then turned and drove off.

Watching the BMW slowly disappear, the remaining classmates fell silent; it took half a minute before someone broke the quiet.

"He's driving a BMW now—he really made it big."

"What kind of fate does Dong Xuan have? Her own drama aired on national TV, and she even landed a boyfriend who's rich and capable."

"What fate? That's just Dong Xuan having good taste. Sure, now she's riding in a BMW, but don't forget—she was the one who willingly stood in line with Seeing Yan Li at the school gate, taking the bus."

"…"

On the other side, inside the BMW, Dong Xuan looked curiously at Seeing Yan Li: "Aren't external vehicles forbidden from entering the school buildings? How did you get in?"

"Every time I come, I leave one or two packs of cigarettes. I just park right outside the principal's office—they keep watch for me."

Saying this, Seeing Yan Li adjusted the steering wheel and grinned: "So, how's my entrance today? Cool, right?"

"Cool."

Dong Xuan recalled the faces of her classmates when she got in the car, and secretly felt a surge of satisfaction.

As previously mentioned, Seeing Yan Li was in the vocational class, and when they first started dating, the two had often been whispered about and mocked behind their backs.

So Dong Xuan especially loved these kinds of "shaming" moments—but she'd always held back, too cautious to go all out.

But it didn't matter. As Seeing Yan Li's career grew bigger, her own life would only get better, and there'd be endless chances to show off and gloat.

The more she thought about it, the happier she became. Dong Xuan kissed Seeing Yan Li: "You did well. This is your reward."

"That's it?"

Seeing Yan Li said it wasn't enough. Dong Xuan rolled her eyes and pouted: "You messed with me half the night last night for your birthday—wasn't that enough?"

"What do you mean 'messed with'? That was celebrating your birthday."

Seeing Yan Li said firmly: "When we get home, you have to reward me again."

Dong Xuan pinched him, but didn't refuse. Beihua University was extremely close to Beiying Village; after a quick detour, they were home in minutes.

As soon as they entered, Seeing Yan Li didn't do what Dong Xuan expected—no domineering, rough treatment.

Instead, he turned on the TV and pulled a DVD from a drawer in the entertainment cabinet.

Soon, the screen showed the exact scene she'd just watched: "Snow Goddess Dragon."

"Didn't we already watch this?"

Dong Xuan frowned, then realized something—her pale face instantly flushed red: "You're doing this again?"

"No nonsense. You promised me a reward."

Seeing Yan Li ran to the bedroom, rummaged under the wardrobe, pulled out a small box, and took out a costume identical to the one worn in "Snow Goddess Dragon." He urged:

"Hurry up and change."

Dong Xuan blushed and spat at him, but obediently went to the bedroom to change. She put on the goddess dragon's headband and roughly styled her hair.

Back in the living room, Seeing Yan Li handed her a backscratcher, then brandished a feather duster, executing a sword flourish.

"Shangguan Yan, today I, the Lord, shall subdue the dragon with divine sword!"

Dong Xuan, slightly embarrassed, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, bit her lip, and forced a cold, detached expression.

"Villain, strike first!"

Thus, a monumental battle between righteousness and evil unfolded in Beiying Village…

————

The premiere ratings for "Snow Goddess Dragon" in Chongqing weren't particularly eye-catching, but they weren't bad either—solid, average.

National average viewership: 2.01%, ranking ninth for the time slot.

Compared to the previous drama "Conquest," this was far behind, but relative to other TV dramas and Chongqing Satellite TV's own positioning, it was acceptable.

More encouragingly, in the following days, the ratings steadily rose.

Though the increases were modest, they firmly held its top-ten position, occasionally even climbing a notch.

Seeing Yan Li no longer expected this drama to become a massive hit. If the rerun ratings were decent, he could negotiate another satellite channel for multiple broadcasts—enough to call it a modest success.

For the vast majority of TV dramas, reaching this level was already quite good.

Out of so many dramas released each year, only a handful—barely two hands' worth—could be called true blockbusters.

Dramas like this, modestly successful, with some influence, that let producers earn money and actors gain recognition—these were the true backbone of the TV market.

That said, although "Snow Goddess Dragon" performed averagely, it was better than most at launching careers.

Especially Dong Xuan, the female lead, who received considerable praise and recognition for her excellent looks and compelling character design.

Because Seeing Yan Li had originally been cast as Dong Xuan's agent, his contact details were left behind, and many offers now came directly to him.

These included interviews from print and online media, and even a production team wanting her for a new drama.

Seeing Yan Li accepted two interviews for Dong Xuan, but when he checked out the drama offer, he found it untrustworthy and outright rejected it.

Even if it had been trustworthy, he couldn't have accepted it— "Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies" was about to start filming, and Dong Xuan was still considering staying at school. Before winter break, she needed to impress her professors—she had no free time.

Dong Xuan herself was still confused about whether she'd become famous. Even after being interviewed by media, she had no real sense of it.

It wasn't until she went shopping with Guan Yue and two elementary school students recognized her—and she saw pirated posters and stickers of her character in a stationery shop—that she truly realized she had become known.

Newspaper reports were too sparse, so Dong Xuan went online. On forums like Tianya and Mop, entertainment sections had scattered mentions of her.

Sina's portal site even had a special feature on "Snow Goddess Dragon," and many fans and netizens left comments focused entirely on her.

The reactions split into two waves: one praised her beauty and expressed admiration and fondness.

The other cursed her for being blind, mainly because of the plot—they thought the third male lead, Ouyang Mingri (Qiao Zhenyu), was handsome and devoted, yet she ignored him and fell for the male lead, the "instant noodle guy" (Ren Tianye), as if she had no brain.

Dong Xuan read these comments, feeling happy, hurt, and amused all at once. She even left replies to explain and interact—but few believed or responded to her.

Still, she had a blast.

Every day, like a net-addicted girl, she scoured the internet for news about herself and "Snow Goddess Dragon."

She also read posts and news about Seeing Yan Li, assuming he was now just a supporting actor or behind-the-scenes figure, with little online attention.

But she was shocked to find his name was far more popular than she'd imagined!

After investigating further, she realized this "popularity" was different from what she expected.

Online discussions about Seeing Yan Li, aside from the report in Southern Metropolis Daily and Li Bingbing's gossip, mostly revolved around "Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies."

And Seeing Yan Li's "fire" was also because of this drama.

Many netizens who had participated in the Seven Fairies voting were dissatisfied with Seeing Yan Li's casting, clamoring about casting scandals or criticizing the hype, while nitpicking the choices for the Seven Fairies.

Among them, the loudest were two fan groups—one was Bingbing's fans, the other was also Bingbing's fans.

Regarding Seeing Yan Li pairing the two Bings together, many netizens were happy to see it, but both fan groups were unhappy.

Li Bingbing's fans felt Fan Xiaopang had no right to be mentioned alongside their idol, that it was blatant clout-chasing, that the producer was deliberately hyping it, and that his intentions deserved condemnation.

Fan Xiaopang's fans were annoyed by Li Bingbing's fans' lofty attitude, and also felt Li Bingbing was just average-looking—on what grounds was she playing a fairy? She must have something going on with the producer.

The two fan groups cursed at each other while also cursing the production crew and the producer Seeing Yan Li; the click count on the Tianya post was almost catching up to the Michael Jackson verdict.

Dong Xuan, in a panic, went to find Seeing Yan Li and asked him to think of a way to quickly quell the dispute.

"Quell it? Why quell it? This is a good thing."

Seeing Yan Li wore a puzzled expression—the Bing-vs-Bing feud had sent the attention on *Huan Tian Xi Di Seven Fairies* skyrocketing, and even Li Bingbing and Fan Xiaopang themselves were getting rapidly more exposure.

Quell it? Only a fool would quell it!

If it weren't for the Li Bingbing sisters considering that *Cell Phone* was about to hit theaters and wanting to keep things steady, and Sister Hua also not wanting the two sides to make things too ugly, he would have already persuaded Fan Xiaopang to stir up a romance scandal with him.

Two Bings fighting over one man—that's absolutely front-page headline material!

(End of chapter)