Reborn, I Became a Male God - Chapter 58

#Popular Young Actor Jing Ling Slams Media for False Reporting#

Late at night around ten o’clock, Jing Ling had Yunshu post a Weibo on his behalf. By the next day, the topic had already shot to the trending list. His fans were highly loyal, so the comments under the post were manageable, with fans helping to control the narrative. However, once the topic was clicked into, the hot comments were almost entirely sarcastic.

sweet: So celebrities have the face to accuse the media of false reporting, huh? Why didn’t they say that when they paid for press releases to praise themselves and trample others?

qiqiqi July: Even something like this has to be used for clout—your desire for fame is practically jumping off the screen!

Little Bunny: Didn’t someone’s team used to brag about being indifferent to fame and living in seclusion? Not even a full year has passed and the persona’s already collapsing—impressive!

Vivian: @sweet Some unethical media will do anything for attention, that’s not news. Why shouldn’t they be called out? That incident at Hualian Plaza—wasn’t it the father holding the child? Yet the news blatantly claimed it was the mother, and the comment section was flooded with insults toward her. Even though it was clarified later, who knows how many people were already misled? Society is already unfriendly to women—these garbage media outlets repeatedly smear the entire gender. What exactly are they up to?

Perfume Water Isn’t Water, It’s Soup: Since when can a D-list internet celeb be called a top-tier star? I feel like I don’t even understand the word “popular” anymore. Heh.

Pretty much every time there’s a fan war on the forums, Jing Ling gets mocked as a D-list internet celeb. For an actor, that’s obviously not a compliment—but he can’t refute it. Because even though he debuted and rose to fame with The Song of Eternal Joy, which received good reviews online, it was still essentially a web drama. His popularity only really existed online. Gaining ten million fans from a single drama sounds impressive, but afterward, he didn’t go on variety shows or take endorsements. He didn’t hire PR or release press statements, and he even wore a human-skin mask when he went out. Even entertainment paparazzi who wanted to boost his popularity couldn’t find him. Under such circumstances, he was no different from those influencers with millions of followers—once out of their home turf, it’s like they don’t exist.

This time, with the hit film Island, he finally gained some real-world buzz as one of the lead actors, stepping out of the “internet celeb” category. But coincidentally, the Hualian Plaza news surfaced at this exact moment, and he just happened to speak out—so it was inevitable that some people would speculate maliciously.

The media outlets he called out had long been notorious in the industry, and incidents of exploiting tragedies weren’t a one-time thing. After Jing Ling named them, the Hualian Plaza official account also issued a statement clarifying that the person holding the child was indeed the father, not the mother. Even so, some outlets like Capital Weekend didn’t just refuse to apologize—they didn’t even delete the original posts, and continued reporting the latest news. Saying “a dead pig isn’t afraid of boiling water” couldn’t be more accurate.

One could say the incident had zero impact on those media outlets. Instead, it left Jing Ling in a messy situation.

Shen Ze had already predicted this outcome but didn’t stop Jing Ling from posting the Weibo. Even he didn’t know what his reasons were.

Maybe it was sympathy.

Celebrities are different from regular people. Besides having a glamorous appearance, they also need a strong body—because acting is truly grueling. Wearing short sleeves in winter and padded coats in summer is normal. A scene might get NG’d countless times for all sorts of reasons. For physically demanding scenes, exhaustion is routine. In the early years when special effects weren’t advanced, every major star had a body full of injuries.

But now it’s different. Every year, new people enter the industry like fish in a river, but few survive the waves. Jing Ling had the right timing, location, and people to get his first break. Even though he didn’t have as much exposure as others, he got cast by a renowned director. He could’ve taken a different route—starring in one quality film or drama a year, landing high-end endorsements, building a solid reputation.

But now he was seriously injured—both arms fractured, with the right one shattered. As the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to heal bones and tendons. His injuries would require at least a year of recovery. Audiences are forgetful. A year out of the spotlight, and people will move on. For many, that could mark the end of their stardom. Even if audiences remember him, directors might be hesitant to cast him—his injuries could leave lasting issues. It’s an unstable factor.

Shen Ze glanced again at Tan Yunshu, sitting by the bedside. Beautiful, with a graceful figure, a top student from Imperial Capital University—she and Jing Ling were quite a match. Maybe it’s not a bad thing for him to leave stardom. He could have a proper relationship, get married, have children…

Jing Ling noticed Shen Ze looking at him strangely. How to describe it? Like a parent gazing at a child, or an elder at a younger generation—resigned but tolerant… What the hell?! He was shocked by his own interpretation and frowned, “Ah Ze, what are you thinking about?”

“Thinking about what your future child’s name should be…” Shen Ze replied instinctively.

Jing Ling deadpanned, “You’re really overthinking!” He wasn’t even at the legal marriage age yet—four years to go!

“Didn’t you used to strongly recommend not going public with my relationship? How are we suddenly skipping ahead to marriage and kids?”

“That was for the sake of your career.”

“And now you’re not worried anymore? … Wait, you’re not seriously thinking I can’t act again just because of a little injury, are you?” Jing Ling immediately hit the mark.

Shen Ze didn’t respond, but his expression said it all.

If it weren’t for his immobile arms, Jing Ling would’ve facepalmed. “Didn’t I already tell you guys? This really isn’t a big deal. Two months at most, and I’ll be fine. What, don’t believe me? Look at this bedframe—can an ordinary person kick it like that? I know my own body best.”

With this reminder, both of them remembered what had happened last night—the Weibo drama had completely distracted them. He hadn’t seemed to exert much force, and he’d still been lying down. Yet with a light stomp, the metal frame welded together had bent. A regular person couldn’t possibly do that. Yunshu also recalled the call she got from Jing Ling on her birthday. Compared to gunfire and bullets, a fracture really wasn’t a big deal.

Shen Ze and Yunshu exchanged a look, then both turned to Jing Ling—and almost simultaneously yelled:

“Jing Ling, you jerk!”

“Bastard! Made me worry for nothing!”

Jing Ling: “…”

The atmosphere in the hospital room finally lightened. Yunshu smiled for the first time in a while and casually peeled an apple for Jing Ling. Shen Ze dove back into work, but still found time to tease them. “Island is doing really well. Industry insiders predict it’ll break 1 billion in box office. You’ve regained visibility and should get more scripts. Stick to the principle of quality over quantity—just film one movie or drama this year. Keep it going like this, build your reputation, and then aim for the big three film festivals. With some luck, win a Best Actor award. Then you can go public with your relationship and get married—career and family, both secured!”

Jing Ling rolled his eyes at him. Yunshu handed him an apple slice.

As for the Hualian Plaza incident—since there were no relevant laws in the country, Jing Ling, though unwilling to let it go, couldn’t do anything about the media spreading false news. Still, he had made his stance clear. As a public figure, he at least had influence. If he kept at it, more people would start to recognize the issue and pay attention.

He thought that was the end of it—but unexpectedly, the story wasn’t over. That afternoon, he was watching a classic film Shen Ze had recommended—both to pass the time and study acting. Halfway through the movie, the phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number. Yunshu answered and held the phone to his ear. A man’s voice came through—it was Xu Shaohuai, who had seen through his disguise the previous day.

“Got a surprise for you. Make sure to turn on the TV at seven.”

A completely out-of-context sentence. Then he hung up immediately.

“Who was that?” Yunshu asked casually.

Jing Ling repeated Xu Shaohuai’s words. Yunshu and Shen Ze discussed it and figured the “surprise” probably meant he was going to be on TV.

“Could it be for the heroic deed?” Shen Ze guessed.

Jing Ling doubted it. He had clearly told Xu Shaohuai he didn’t want it publicized, and the latter had agreed to help handle the surveillance footage.

“Maybe it’s about the false reporting thing. That’s been a problem for a long time—maybe I just got lucky and someone higher up wants to clean it up.”

“That’s possible. But he didn’t say which channel?” Shen Ze asked.

“Nope. Just said turn on the TV at seven.” Jing Ling shook his head.

“What’s on at seven… Wait, no way—is it what I’m thinking??”

Turned out, it was what Shen Ze was thinking. The most-watched TV program globally, broadcast simultaneously on all national channels (except paid ones)—Evening News on Channel 1 at exactly seven o’clock!

The news covered the previous day’s incident at Hualian Plaza and showed an 8-second surveillance video. The host pointed out that the heroic individual was none other than the popular young actor Jing Ling, who had suffered severe fractures in both arms while saving someone and was currently receiving treatment. The report concluded by saying that society today needed more positive role models like him.

Shen Ze clutched his chest, barely breathing, and asked the other two in the room, “Am I dreaming?”

Truthfully, it wasn’t just him. A lot of people were wondering the same.