Chapter 240: Star’s Treatment
A new morning, Pei Ningle yawned as she got out of bed, brushed her teeth and washed her face, put on a casual set of sportswear, didn’t even comb her hair, and planned to go downstairs to buy some steamed buns and soy milk for breakfast.
But as soon as she walked out of the apartment building, she saw a man wearing a baseball cap standing behind the green belt, aiming a camera at her.
Without any extra sounds or movements, he took the shot and disappeared.
Pei Ningle froze in place.
For a moment, the young girl didn’t react—what was this situation?
A fan? Or the legendary paparazzi?
Standing there thinking for a while, the young girl shook her head, temporarily ignoring the issue, since breakfast was more important.
At the doorway of the breakfast shop, she took out a five-yuan bill and said to the shop owner: “Two steamed buns and one soy milk.”
The boss packed the steamed buns and soy milk and handed them to her, but didn’t take her five yuan.
“On the house, little star! I watched last night’s competition, you sang really well…”
After listening to the boss’s praise, Pei Ningle turned and walked away in a daze. When she reached the apartment building doorway, she thought for a while and still felt a bit regretful.
“I should have been more firm just now, it’s not like I can’t afford five yuan…”
While feeling melancholy, the young girl vaguely heard some noise, turned her head to look, and saw another strange man about ten meters away aiming a camera at her. After being spotted, the man shrank his neck and disappeared around the corner of the building.
Pei Ningle suddenly felt a chill, and hurried into the apartment building. While climbing the stairs, she took out her mobile phone and called Wang Heng.
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“You mean, you’ve been stalked by more than one person?”
Wang Heng asked as soon as he entered the room. Pei Ningle hadn’t explained clearly on the previous phone call, so he really didn’t know how serious the situation was.
“Really, as soon as I went downstairs I was photographed! And when I bought the steamed buns and came back…”
After listening to Pei Ningle’s explanation, Wang Heng sat on the sofa and smiled: “I thought it was something big, this is obviously entertainment reporters and paparazzi.”
Pei Ningle stood in front of him, eyes wide open: “You think this isn’t a big deal? Hey, they’ve followed me all the way home!”
Wang Heng shrugged: “Since you’re on the hot search, this is very normal treatment.”
Pei Ningle: “Treatment?”
Wang Heng: “Yeah, you need to get accustomed. From now on, be careful with your words and actions, don’t let them catch you doing anything inappropriate. Those who dig for scoops won’t care about your feelings or reputation. Of course, also pay attention to safety, don’t go to remote places alone.”
“Definitely need to pay attention to safety, experiencing kidnapping once is enough…” Pei Ningle tugged at the messy hair by her ear with some melancholy, “But will I be spied on like this from now on?”
Wang Heng nodded, about to speak. But at that moment, Pei Ningle’s mobile phone rang.
Picking up the mobile phone and answering the call, Pei Ningle heard her mother’s voice: “Xiao Le, there are reporters at our house, saying they want to interview us…”
Pei Ningle covered the radio reception hole of her mobile phone, looked at the amateur agent in front of her, and asked in a panic: “Reporters say they want to interview my parents, what do I do?”
Wang Heng said decisively: “Refuse! If they want an interview, have them come to you, or find me or Han Yixuan, don’t approach relatives. Otherwise, whatever they say casually could turn into trouble. The key is, you don’t even know where those reporters come from—entertainment reporters and tabloids have no bottom line.”
Pei Ningle nodded and said into the mobile phone: “Mom, don’t accept the interview, if there’s any problem have them ask me first!”
After hanging up the phone, the young girl plopped down on the sofa and sighed tiredly: “So annoying…”
Wang Heng subtly shifted a bit to the side: “You’d better keep a little distance from me.”
Pei Ningle: “Huh? Why?”
Wang Heng: “What if someone is secretly photographing us right now? If you’re too close to me, it could turn into a scandal.”
“No way!” Pei Ningle slapped her thigh angrily, “Are they crazy? Making something out of nothing can’t go this far!”
Wang Heng said calmly: “Don’t underestimate the action force of entertainment reporters and paparazzi, and don’t overestimate their integrity bottom line.”
Pei Ningle: “……Then I’ll pull the curtains now!”
Wang Heng: “Better not, it would look like there’s no silver here—three hundred taels, and people with ulterior motives would interpret it as you having something shady going on.”
Pei Ningle was stunned for a moment, then said suspiciously: “I am on the hot search, but not to this extent, right? I’m not a big star like Peng Xiaoya, no need to stare at me like this.”
Wang Heng shook his head and explained: “In a few days, once you’re off the hot search, it won’t be this exaggerated. But you’re on the hot search right now, and already in the top ten, which means a lot of people are paying attention to you—it’s no longer just the spot bought by the program group. As long as there’s enough popularity, paparazzi have enough motivation. They rely on people’s attention to survive, of course they’ll chase popularity and dig for gossip.”
Pei Ningle frowned: “This is already invading privacy, right?”
Wang Heng countered: “Are there few things in the world that invade privacy?”
Pei Ningle: “…”
Wang Heng continued: “Of course, think about it, if they caught you alone in a room with a boy right now, and then you pulled the curtains, what story would they make up? With photos and videos right there, they can spin any story.”
Pei Ningle scratched her head: “Then, once I’m off the hot search, no one will spy on me like this anymore, right?”
Wang Heng thought for a moment and summarized: “Not necessarily, if you get even more popular later, there will definitely be more paparazzi chasing you.”
Pei Ningle sat there silently for a good while, then suddenly let out a long sigh: “Kinda regretting going on the program now…”
Wang Heng: “Everything has pros and cons, fame is the same. But obviously, the benefits outweigh. Didn’t you always hope more people would hear your songs? Have you seen the playback volume on Wangyu Music? Dawn has multiplied dozens of times, Lost has also multiplied several times—isn’t this popularity good?”
The young girl thought for a moment, then cheered herself up: “Then I’ll hurry and write the third song, finish it and upload it, surely lots of people will hear it!”
Wang Heng smiled: “Exactly, good luck Xiao Lele.”
Pei Ningle’s little face couldn’t help but blush: “Hey, what did you call me?”
Wang Heng: “Any problem, Xiao Lele?”
The young girl lowered her head and said softly: “No problem…”
Glancing at the young girl with blushing cheeks, Wang Heng suddenly had an impulse to reach out and pat her head. But the next moment, he suppressed that impulse with reason.
On one hand, it really might be caught by paparazzi, on the other hand, if extra actions led Pei Ningle to have extra thoughts, that wouldn’t be good.
Wang Heng cleared his throat and asked: “How’s your third song coming along?”
Pei Ningle patted the notebook beside her and said with great fighting spirit: “Lyrics and music are more than half done, it’ll take less than a week to finish, then record it, and results within two weeks!”
Wang Heng estimated the time.
If the song is released within a month, summer vacation would be coming soon. By then, plenty of music festivals would surely invite Pei Ningle, and he and Han Yixuan could go along.
At the same time, there’s the investment plan… summer vacation is World Cup time.
Even considering the butterfly effect’s influence, where some matches might change, having an accurate pre-evaluation of each team’s strength and details would mean much higher prediction success rate than others. Plus the hamster as a cheat support, Wang Heng couldn’t help but feel some expectation.
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