Chapter 94
Supermodel Compet.i.tion (Arc 7.16)
Dilumo held a press conference three days later. He had a bandage around his head, a bruise on his face, and a cast on his arm. He sat in the middle of a long table, ready to be interviewed by the reporters.
Dilumo hadn’t even started speaking when tears started flowing down his face. He held his forehead with his uninjured hand and said, “I just want to say to my fans, I am really, really sorry. Those words I said in the video weren’t meant to insult you, my brain just goes out of control when I’m under too much pressure from work, to vent the pain and stress in my heart. I actually really love my fans, without their support, I wouldn’t be able to receive so much work. I really didn’t mean to say those words, because my pressure is too great, I will sometimes say some words I don’t mean when my spirit goes out of control to vent my own difficulties and unfair treatment at work.”
“Then excuse us for asking, but about the matter of you being with Chenilu in exchange for news exposure, what do you have to say?” A reporter asked.
“First, I have to admit that this matter was true, but I really was forced to do it due to difficulties. When Arthur Yang broke up with Conley, he accused me of having an affair with Conley and kicked me and Conley out of his studio. Conley and I instantly became helpless, even wanting to get a job was hard. Models need to receive good jobs, and need many fans, and even need higher popularity. At that point I had barely entered the modeling world and didn’t have many fans, so I could only rely on increasing my popularity in the news in order to receive jobs.” Dilumo’s tears kept falling down, his eyes had already turned red, he really looked pathetic.
He seemed to recall some painful memories, his expression was incredibly sad, and he wiped his tears with a tissue, then said, “That period of time was truly really difficult, we had no money, no one to rely on, and could only eat the simplest sustenance to avoid starving. In order to survive, in order to live better, we decided to go to Chenilu and ask him to help increase my exposure, but Chenilu actually proposed…” Dilumo covered his mouth, as if he had turned speechless from the pain of the memory, “He, he said to let me…, I really had no other way and could only agree to his request. Or else, who would be willing to have s.e.x with someone who could be his father?”
“That time was so painful, so full of suffering, and I felt that I was so dirty. But I had no other way…” Dilumo shook his head in tears. “If I had the choice, even if I had to suffer a bit I wouldn’t make that kind of decision, but I did not. At that time my spirit was on the verge of collapse, I even felt that I couldn’t live any longer like this, I really did not want to live such a dirty lifestyle. It was also from that time that I often couldn’t control my emotions, unconsciously doing some inexplicable things. I really love my fans in my heart, but I was in too much pain, as if I had produced another evil personality, which would always say some inexplicable words.”
“At that time, it was Conley who had always accompanied me, comforting me and encouraging me. I thought that our lives were connected, that we would support each other, and there would always be a day when we could live well. I thought that he was the only person in the world who wouldn’t betray me, but I really couldn’t imagine! In order to control me, he would use those critical times to threaten me, and secretly recorded all of the times when my mind had run out of control!”
Dilumo propped himself up on the table and wanted to stand, but sat back down before he could stand up stably. Then he stood back up with his a.s.sistant’s help and walked slowly to the end of the long table, where he suddenly knelt down. “I know, no matter for what reason, I shouldn’t insult or abuse my fans, even though every time after I returned to normal, I really regretted it, but I still want to apologize to my fans, I’m sorry! I won’t ask for your forgiveness, as long as you can release your anger, I can do whatever you want. Even if you beat me to death, I am willing, and will not complain in the least.”
Dilumo kowtowed to the camera, and the moment his forehead hit the ground, he collapsed to the ground and fainted.
The men Dilumo invited immediately stopped the reporters from coming forward, and several people picked up the unconscious Dilumo and carried him away. The scene fell into chaos, and was only slowly restored after Dilumo and his men had all left.
Dilumo was carried into the car by his men. After the car started moving, he immediately opened his eyes. Even though his complexion wasn’t very good, his facial expression was very different from just now at the press conference. He just deliberately made it so that after he had said everything he wanted to say, he would pretend to faint to avoid all of the reporters’ pointed questions, lest he couldn’t answer or they took advantage of a loophole in his words.
~
After the netizens saw his press conference, even though some people still satirized his hypocrisy, there were much fewer people scolding him. Dilumo’s words indeed were very able to instigate their sympathy, even though those brainless fans of his wouldn’t just forgive him like this, they also weren’t as agitated as before. They felt that if what Dilumo said was true, his experience was quite pitiful. So it had to be said that Dilumo’s acting skills were quite good.
Dilumo’s injuries were not as serious as they looked, but in order to better gain people’s sympathy, he deliberately made it seem as if they were very serious. For three days in a row, he live streamed from the hospital in apology, that appearance couldn’t have been more pitiful, and the number of people who caved also increased.
When Dilumo thought that as long as he persisted like this for a while he could let this matter pa.s.s by, the last and largest round of shots finally fired.
The media companies reported that the robber who had absconded for two years, Kirby Scott, had turned himself in to the police. This wouldn’t have been big news, but when he had confessed to the police, he mentioned one thing, and this thing just happened to be related to Dilumo, who was the current hot topic.
Kirby confessed that more than three years ago, he had taken a video of Dilumo and Conley together, but he hadn’t immediately released the news. He wanted to wait until he had caught some more explosive footage, and would then threaten them with the evidence so that they would buy it with money.
He followed them silently for several months and finally found the opportunity he was waiting for. He not only caught Dilumo and Conley, but also captured Arthur Yang finding them.
Kirby was extremely excited after taking these pictures. He offered Conley and Arthur Yang the evidence at a high price at the same time, and they were both willing to pay for the evidence. Because he had quite liked Arthur Yang for a long time, and had salivated after his body, he put forward a condition for Arthur Yang, which was to sleep with him once.
Arthur Yang refused him without hesitation, and no matter how he intimidated him with the evidence, he still refused. Kirby was very angry, and in his fury, he raised the price for Conley, and after Conley agreed, he immediately sold the evidence to him. But he actually kept a piece of evidence as a last resort, to be taken out later as another threat for Conley.
After Kirby confessed to the police, he gave all the evidence he had taken to the media.
In the evidence, besides some blurry images taken from a distance, there were some videos that were not only very clear, but even the dialogue was very clear. And these were all taken before Arthur Yang had broken up with Conley.
Of all of the content, there were three that were the most telling.
The first shot was a little wobbly but it could still be determined that it was Dilumo and Conley, who were hugging and kissing.
In the second shot, it was very difficult to see clearly the people, it was just a blurry picture shaking back and forth, which could approximately be identified as Dilumo and Conley. The lens was not moving, only the people, so it should be that the camera was secretly recording from a place very close to them, so the sound was very clear. The two voices were clearly Dilumo and Conley, and the content of their conversation was how to transfer the a.s.sets of the studio and defame and shift the blame to Arthur.
The content of the third shot was more exciting, it was when Arthur Yang had caught Conley and Dilumo having an affair, and then gotten into an argument with Conley. Both the video and the sound were very clear. Arthur said that he had long been aware of Conley’s betrayal, and had silently observed the two of them, but didn’t expect that he would actually catch them together. Arthur extremely angrily asked Conley why he had betrayed him, and if he wanted to break up he could directly mention it, he wouldn’t try to cling to him. At first Conley still wanted to defend himself, but because Arthur Yang was too worked up and said everything with finality, he also simply exposed everything, and said everything that he should or shouldn’t say.
Because they were afraid that some people might not understand the content in the shots, the media also especially wrote up an explanation. After contacting Jing Yang, they understood the entire situation, and then restored the whole process in the form of a series of graphics.
After the netizens understood the truth of the matter, they all felt incomparably sad for Arthur Yang, especially those fans who liked him now. After knowing what had happened, many couldn’t help crying. This person clearly did nothing wrong, but was betrayed by his lover and framed, and then blamed by the entire world, how did he survive.
Those netizens who once scolded Arthur Yang all felt extremely regretful now. They felt that they really were idiots that could be casually used like Dilumo had insulted them. They were Conley and Dilumo’s accomplices in the fight against Jing Yang, clearly they didn’t know anything about the truth, and just followed the trend to insult and accuse one person. Which, in retrospect, was something that simply couldn’t be any more stupid.
Those who could reflect on their actions showed that they still had a conscience, but they were just too easily used. And there were some people who even if they knew the truth wouldn’t reflect on their behavior, because they felt that they were just making some statements on the internet, and didn’t have to take any responsibility or pay any price. When some things don’t happen to themselves, some people will never understand the suffering of others.
The netizens now really hated Conley and Dilumo. With their shameless behavior and black hearts, they simply should go to h.e.l.l.
Those who were soft-hearted because Dilumo cried and pretended to be pathetic for sympathy found that they had actually been repeatedly deceived by this man, and couldn’t wait to rush to the hospital to beat him up. No matter what Dilumo said afterward, they wouldn’t believe him anymore. Such a hateful person, no matter how miserable his ending was, it was not worth the least bit of sympathy.
After Dilumo saw the news, he immediately returned home from the hospital. He knew that this time he was really finished, he already had no hope of fixing the situation.
Many netizens began to send letters of apology to Jing Yang, very sincerely repenting for their previous behavior. They said that in the future, when they lacked any evidence, they would never again just follow the trend and attack anyone. They no longer wanted to be puppets that some people could use at will, nor did they want to be accomplices to tragedy.
Those brainless fans who loved Dilumo now hated him as much as they had loved him before. They had given him so much love and affection, but all they got in return was deception and exploitation, and being insulted and despised. So they spontaneously made the decision to get revenge against Dilumo, and no matter where they saw him, they wouldn’t let him go.
Translator Notes:
[1] words I don’t mean – 言不由衷, idiom, means to say something without meaning it
[2] Scott – 斯基特, pinyin si ji te, didn’t get his last name last chapter so we’ll go with this
[3] graphics – 图文, combination of graphics and text
Random Notes:
A little less than an hour: 2:45 pm – 3:30 pm, for 3.6k characters to 2.3k words