Chapter 321: Chapter 321: Don’t Have Regrets About Another Mouth to Feed

“Mhm, bye.” The director on the other side of the screen exchanged a few pleasantries before cutting off the call abruptly.

Chen Ling looked at the ended call screen, her face unable to hide her joy, “Sister Qiao, the drama’s viewership numbers are not bad, the exact data is still being calculated.”

“Great, that’s impressive, it’s only going to get better,” Sang Qiao’s lips curved up slightly.

Chen Ling’s anxious heart these past few days finally settled, she looked up at Sang Qiao with a smile, “Sister Qiao, I’m going to rest then, you should rest early too.”

“Sure, good night.”

“Good night, Sister Qiao.”

–

–

The next day

Chen Ling’s new drama’s premiere viewership blasted past a hundred million, charging into the hot search. For a small web drama with not such a high production cost, this was undoubtedly a strong figure.

It became the strongest web series broadcast so far, even contending with some of the big-budget dramas.

“Is this a case of buying views? Bot farms make me sick, Rose Entertainment used to be fair and just, and though their artists weren’t very popular, they were at least earnest and hardworking. Look at them now, truly disappointed.”

“I don’t believe Chen Ling’s drama could attract so many viewers. Didn’t everyone agree to boycott it in the beginning? Why are there still so many ratings on certain websites, and they are all five stars?”

“Chen Ling might be hateful, but the drama is innocent. I hate Chen Ling too, but I can’t deny that Chen Yueling, played by Chen Ling, really hits a nerve for me.”

“+1 I was only watching for my favorite actor and planned to skip Chen Ling’s scenes, but her beauty really holds up, and her on-screen presence is compelling. In that moment, I truly felt that Chen Ling was Chen Yueling.”

“6, looks like they have started to hire internet trolls, how much money was spent to clean this up?”

Although a large number of netizens were still unconvinced, thinking that the viewership was either bot-driven or brought by anti-fans, they firmly refused to watch and didn’t want to contribute to the drama’s views.

But more and more comments distinguishing Chen Ling from Chen Yueling emerged online, which stirred curiosity among the dissenters.

They refused to believe that Chen Ling’s performance was that good, and their intention was to look for awkward acting clips to expose the propped-up support.

As a result, a horde of anti-fans surged in, boosting the drama’s popularity even further–they couldn’t find any cringy scenes, as Chen Ling’s acting was simply too explosive!

Some hesitant anti-fans started following Chen Ling but stayed mute, commenting under her previous Weibo posts, under the pretense of easily gathering her negative news.

Chen Ling, watching her followers count soar, felt an unreal sensation; she was happier than when she gained fans during her boy group days because these people were following the real her.

“Meng Jiahe, you are awesome,” Meng Jiahe patted Chen Ling on the shoulder and praised aloud.

“It’s all thanks to Sister Ah He and Sister Qiao’s grooming. I’ll make sure to work even harder!” Chen Ling scratched her head, her face breaking into a smile.

This was her first achievement in the entertainment industry after so long. Initially, she just hoped the drama wouldn’t be too bad; she never expected such a pleasant surprise.

“Mm-hmm, go for it.”

“Sister Qiao, Sister Ah He, I won’t disturb you then, I still have filming preparations in the afternoon.”

“Off you go.”

As soon as Chen Ling left, Meng Jiahe moved to sit beside Sang Qiao, her face tinted with shyness, “Qiaoqiao, I and Shangguan Yuan got our marriage certificate.”

Sang Qiao’s fingers paused on her pen, she looked up in disbelief, “Didn’t you just meet the parents a few days ago?”

“Yeah, Shangguan’s parents are really nice, they treated me so well, and L, who almost never takes a day off the whole year, specially took a day off to come back for it.”

Meng Jiahe recounted these sweet moments as if she felt truly cherished.

Shangguan’s parents took care of every detail, and L, who usually never took a day off, took one day off for her.

She held her face, feeling a sense of unreality, “And just when I was considering moving out of the Meng family register, I simply moved into Shangguan Yuan’s household register.”

“Congratulations, what about the wedding? When do you plan to start planning?”

“When do you and Boss Si plan to? We’ll just follow your lead,” Meng Jiahe propped her hands on the table, leaving the decision to Sang Qiao.

After all, Sang Qiao had already been waiting for her for so long.

“Let’s plan together and pick a date. Do you want to have it here or at Shangguan Yuan’s parents’ place?” Sang Qiao nodded lightly. She was relatively laid-back about it.

The Si family was easygoing, and the wedding location was open for discussion.

“Let’s do it here. It’s more convenient,” Meng Jiahe thought of her father, her hand tightening unconsciously under the table.

She didn’t know whether she should invite that man she detested so much in her youth.

She recalled the times when she had a complete family; her mother was busy with work, and her father used his week’s pocket money to buy her a little skirt.

Her heart softened for a moment if there were no stepmother, no half-brother; would her father still be a good dad?

“Alright,” Sang Qiao twirled a pen between her fingers, thinking about the last wedding…

Meng Jiahe pulled out a smile and started creating a group for them, “I’ll make a group for the four of us, and we can discuss things there.”

Sang Qiao picked up her phone from the table and saw the message “Ah He invites you to join the ‘Four Flowers’ Group Chat.”

She looked up blankly at Ah He, slowly voicing her question, “?”

“Hahaha, it’s four of us, so ‘Four Flowers’ sounds nicer,” Meng Jiahe laughed awkwardly.

“Makes sense,” Sang Qiao could not help but laugh, but she accepted the group chat name ‘Four Flowers’ too.

The group’s Shangguan Yuan, however, did not accept it so easily.

Shangguan Yuan: [Have you considered Si Chenli and me regarding this group name?]

Ah He: [Cough cough, discussing the wedding is important! A big man shouldn’t mind these little details.]

Shangguan Yuan: [OK, I have no objections. Si Chenli, what about you?]

Si Chenli: [If Qiaoqiao likes it, I like it.]

Shangguan Yuan: […]

Meng Jiahe couldn’t help but laugh, “Shangguan Yuan is just too petty! Boss Si is much better.”

“They’re both good,” Sang Qiao laughed lightly, their true intent was to indulge; it’s just that their personalities were different, so their ways of expressing it were different too.

“Right!” Meng Jiahe’s spirits lifted, but then she remembered her concerns and lowered her eyes, sighing deeply, “Sang Qiao, do you plan to invite your dad to your wedding?”

Sang Qiao raised an eyebrow slightly, clearly hearing that this question was not about her but about seeking advice from her answer.

“There will be so many people invited to the wedding. One or two more eating doesn’t make much difference. If he can’t behave, get someone to keep an eye on him beforehand. If he’s not eating quietly, having security escort him out won’t be a problem. At that moment when you thought of him, your heart was leaning towards letting him show up. If you don’t invite him, you’ll always have regrets.”

“Qiaoqiao, you’re right. It’s just the matter of an extra bowl of rice; I was overcomplicating it.”

Meng Jiahe had an epiphany, realizing that she had hesitated over such a simple issue.

People always find it difficult to make choices when it comes to their own problems.