My College Teacher is My Children's Mom-Chapter 800: Does Your Face Hurt?

Today’s scene was "The Young Lady’s Punishment," in which Xiaobao’s character had to lie face down on a stool while biting a cotton cloth. The director called "cut" twice. The performance had the right elements, but it was missing something. Since she was just a child, they were only faking it, but the difference between real and simulated pain is immense.

Everyone knew what the problem was but pretended not to. After all, the tycoon’s precious daughter had likely never been hit in her entire life.

Xiaobao got up, looked at the footage, and steeled her resolve.

"Director, let’s do it for real," she said, gesturing. "Don’t hit too hard, just enough for me to feel the pain."

The director glanced at Lin Feng, who was on his phone in the corner. "Are... are you sure you can take it? Won’t your father object?"

Xiaobao patted her chest. "He won’t. Dad never interferes with my acting. Besides, he’s a layman; he wouldn’t understand. Come on, let’s do it for real..."

She’d also felt her expression was a bit fake, that it pulled people out of the scene.

Since they were now doing it for real, the first strike made Xiaobao cry out in pain, the veins in her neck bulging. Lin Feng noticed something was wrong, and his brow furrowed as he looked up.

A staff member hurried over to explain. "This wasn’t our idea! Your little girl wasn’t satisfied with the effect, so she insisted on doing it for real."

Lin Feng’s heart ached for his daughter. He’d never so much as laid a finger on her, yet here she was, getting hit while filming. Fortunately, the scene was short and was over after just four strikes.

With the staff’s help, Xiaobao got up and waved a hand. "I’m fine. Director, how was that take?"

The director smiled. "The effect was excellent! But you must be in pain. Go and rest. I’ll have someone get you some medicinal balm."

Xiaobao laughed. "That’s great. My dad has some cream for bruises and circulation. It’s probably better than yours."

Only then did the director recall that the tycoon owned a pharmaceutical company and had his own supply of medicine.

Lin Feng said nothing, his face unreadable. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

"It’s alright, not too painful!"

Xiaobao had no more scenes for the day, so she could return to the hotel to rest.

It wasn’t until dinner that Xiaobao learned Shang Xiaotian had quit. The official reason given was that another production had invited her for a role, so she was resigning from this one.

Whether this was true remained to be seen. What was certain, however, was that the director was delighted, as a replacement for the maid’s role had already been found.

Soon, one of Shang Xiaotian’s fans exposed the "affair" on Weibo. The post claimed the "Young Lady" bullied the "Maid," causing the director to scold the "Maid" and ostracize her on set. Meanwhile, the "Young Lady" was supposedly having a grand time, using her connections to sail through filming.

That wasn’t all. It also alleged that the "Young Lady" used her power to force the "Maid" to quit. By using the titles "Young Lady" and "Maid" instead of names, anyone in the know understood exactly who they were referring to: Xiaobao and Shang Xiaotian.

Soon enough, Shang Xiaotian’s fans began flooding the comments on Xiaobao’s Weibo with insults. Xiaobao, however, was oblivious. She was busy with her winter homework while Lin Feng was on the phone with Zhang Yuxi. When she was working, Xiaobao generally avoided going online so as not to get distracted.

Only after Lin Feng hung up did he discover the issue, which had already hit the trending topics. He’d heard before that Shang Xiaotian’s fans were obnoxious, acting like a brainless mob who did nothing but sing her praises. Her growing arrogance was largely thanks to these fans, in addition to her own team.

"I’m heading out for a bit."

"Oh, can you bring me back a late-night snack?"

"What do you want to eat?"

"Whatever’s fine."

Lin Feng found the director. The online post had "pictures and facts," including video evidence. The video was clearly edited, showing the clip of the director scolding Shang Xiaotian, followed immediately by his change in attitude toward Xiaobao.

This video perfectly backs up the fan’s claims, doesn’t it?

The director was a big name in the country, and he was furious when he saw it. He already felt guilty that the girl had taken real hits for the sake of professionalism, especially when the scene was already passable. He knew Xiaobao’s insistence was her own silent commentary. On top of that, Shang Xiaotian and her team had played him for a fool, something he had been planning to let slide.

"Leave this to me!" The director was a straightforward man, known for speaking his mind on Weibo.

He threw up a picture and a video, tagged the fan who made the post, and asked, "Does your face hurt?"

The image was a long screenshot of a chat log between the director and Shang Xiaotian’s agent.

The timestamp was 2:35 PM.

Shang Xiaotian’s Agent: Director, my apologies. The kid wasn’t in the right mindset for acting today and caused trouble for you and the crew.

Director: It’s fine. A child’s acting needs a lot of polishing. If you don’t have the innate talent, you have to make up for it with hard work.

Shang Xiaotian’s Agent: You’re right, Director. I’ll have a good talk with her when we get back. Teenagers can be difficult to manage.

Director: I think it depends on the person. Look at Lin Xiaobao—she’s doing great. She took real hits for the scene and didn’t make a peep.

Shang Xiaotian’s agent didn’t reply.

Later, at 6:10 PM.

Director: Where are you? Old Zhao told me you packed up and left.

Shang Xiaotian’s Agent: Director, about that... Xiaotian wasn’t feeling well today, so I let her get some rest first.

Director: And you just left? Without a word to anyone?

Shang Xiaotian’s Agent: Another production team invited Xiaotian to audition. They’ve already decided to cast her, so I took her over there.

Director: What production?

Shang Xiaotian’s Agent: It’s still in the early planning stages, so they can’t disclose the details yet.

Director: Are you coming back?

Shang Xiaotian’s Agent: That’s actually what I needed to tell you. Xiaotian isn’t in a good state to continue, so we have to withdraw from the role.

After that, the conversation ended.

The second piece of evidence was another video. It showed Shang Xiaotian filming a scene while Xiaobao was lying on a bench nearby, doing her winter homework. The two were minding their own business, but when contrasted with the veteran actors in the scene, Shang Xiaotian’s performance was excruciatingly bad.

These two posts were a solid slap in the face to her accusers, and the comments section was filled with people mocking Shang Xiaotian. Of course, some of her fans still came out to defend her, insisting they were right no matter what.

Er Bao reposted the Weibo with the comment: "Ah, our little Princess at home! So dedicated to her craft. My heart aches for her!" At the same time, he posted a picture of Xiaobao’s report card, which showed her ranked second in her entire grade, only ten points behind first place.

Everyone knew Shang Xiaotian wasn’t good at school, regardless of whether they were her fan. She was in the same grade as Xiaobao, but her academic performance was abysmal, something she always excused by claiming she had no time to study because of acting.

But was Er Bao finished? Not even close. He then posted a statement from Lin Feng’s private law firm: "The internet is not a lawless land. Watch what you say and do."

When Xiaobao was younger, she faced little competition. Now that she was older, the rivals had appeared, and with them, the drama. Everyone assumed Er Bao’s post was just a warning. But then, the accounts of several people who had hurled the worst abuse at Xiaobao were publicly exposed.

The move was swift and decisive, catching everyone completely off guard.