Chapter 115, Extra 18

The online controversy about Qiao Dai’s solo cover was swept away by the boyfriend style topic. A few days later, CHIC’s latest magazine cover promotion was posted on their official Weibo as promised.

On the cover, the girl wore a clean-cut, structured blazer paired with a sporty crop top underneath. She looked adorable yet carried a hint of handsomeness that was truly eye-catching.

Not just Qiao Dai’s fans, but even casual netizens became instant fans after seeing the cover promotion. CHIC’s official Weibo comment section exploded.

【Ahhhhh so handsome!】

【So this is the kind of boyfriend style – I’m here for it!】

【Wuwuwu miss looks so cool, absolutely gorgeous!】

Those who had previously mocked Qiao Dai for being “low-class” suddenly went silent. But clearly, CHIC’s editor-in-chief wasn’t planning to let them off the hook. Almost simultaneously, she posted her stance on recent discussions about “sophisticated” versus “low-class” appearances on her social media platform, writing a long article titled “Human Beauty Should Not Be Divided by High and Low.”

【There are as many different kinds of beauty in this world as there are people. Simply dividing people’s appearances into “sophisticated” and “low-class” categories seems overly ridiculous. Whether it’s minimalist style, artistic style, or sweet style, they represent merely different aesthetics that relate only to personal preference and have nothing to do with the supposed hierarchy of appearance.】

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Mbkp yvxsprblal kp qwzz sq xyzknl. Plpnakckdt rlsrzl’p yrrlyaydnl yp “psrbkpvknyvle” sa “zso-nzypp” wdeswcvlezu kdvldpkqklp rlsrzl’p ydmklvu, xyjkdt xsal yde xsal rlsrzl zyclzle yp byhkdt “wdpsrbkpvknyvle” zssjp qllz kdqlaksa, wzvkxyvlzu rwvvkdt psnklvu’p ldvkal ylpvblvkn pldpl kd y ekpvsavle pvyvl.

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【Twxyd clywvu byp ds bklayanbu. Bpkdt “psrbkpvknyvle” yde “zso-nzypp” vs elpnakcl rlsrzl kp kdblaldvzu ekpalprlnvqwz】

【Eblvbla kv’p bydepsxl tkazp sa nwvl tkazp, vblu’al yzz zshlzu. Ebu xwpv ol pyu sdl vurl kp psrbkpvknyvle obkzl ydsvbla kp zso-nzypp?】

【Grrlyaydnl ydmklvu kd psnklvu vseyu kp kdelle plhlal, lprlnkyzzu qsa osxld obs qynl yzz jkdep sq pnawvkdu. Rv’p alyzzu wdnsxqsavyczl】

Yspv rlsrzl dsoyeyup yal yqqlnvle cu yrrlyaydnl ydmklvu vs psxl eltall, dsv vs xldvksd nlzlcakvklp sd pnalld obspl lhlau xshl tlvp xytdkqkle kdqkdkvlzu. Oprlnkyzzu yqvla vbl alnldv vsrkn ycswv ynvalpplp’ “psrbkpvknyvle qynlp” vbyv vayxrzle sd ps xydu rlsrzl, xydu qydp yzps qlzv xshle vs nsxxldv.

【I like round-faced stars, you like sharp-faced stars – this is perfectly normal. But if you insist that only sharp-faced stars have “sophisticated faces,” then I can only laugh】

【Honestly, the term “sophisticated face” makes me physically uncomfortable. You can say someone looks elegant or dignified, but using “sophisticated” is subtly putting others down. Before, people would describe stars as either glamorous or elegant, but will it become about who’s “low-class” and who’s “sophisticated” in the future?】

#AppearanceAnxiety#

#HumanBeautyShouldNotBeDividedByHighAndLow#

Several hashtags quickly shot to trending topics. Many netizens also dug up who was behind the marketing of the previous “actresses’ sophisticated faces” topic. The person involved issued an apology statement, claiming she had no intention of putting down other actresses and that her word choice was simply inappropriate, with no intention of creating appearance anxiety.

All the stars who had previously been trampled as “small-minded” and having “low-class” appearances could finally hold their heads high. But netizens didn’t stop their gossip hunt – they were very curious about why the editor-in-chief chose this moment to publish such content.

Combining recent events related to CHIC and stars who had been mocked for having “low-class” appearances, netizens could only think of Qiao Dai, who served as the latest cover model.

A few days ago, after being exposed by marketing accounts, Qiao Dai faced considerable questioning, though this was eventually overshadowed by other entertainment bloggers revealing gossip about Cheng Su picking up Qiao Dai from work. But this incident had indeed caused an impact at the time.

Thinking this through, netizens suddenly felt like they’d discovered some secret, their excitement instantly boiling over.

Could the editor-in-chief be standing up for Qiao Dai?

Precisely because Qiao Dai had been mass-mocked before, the editor-in-chief chose the day of the cover promotion to express her views on “sophisticated” versus “low-class” appearances, speaking out for all women trapped in sophisticated-appearance anxiety.

The more netizens thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed, but this brought up a big question – why would the editor-in-chief speak up for Qiao Dai?

Could it be simply because Qiao Dai’s cover shoot was outstanding, so the editor-in-chief treated her with such special regard?

You have to know, this new editor-in-chief of CHIC was famously strong-willed. She’d seen countless female celebrities, yet never gave anyone such treatment. It didn’t seem like she was someone who would speak up for entertainment industry juniors just out of appreciation.

The only possibility was that she wasn’t just standing up for Qiao Dai, but had other purposes as well.

Following this line of thinking, sharp-eyed netizens keenly discovered that the magazine cover had almost fallen through, and the now highly praised solo cover of Qiao Dai was actually the result of emergency shooting.

Learning this news, everyone was stunned.

【Emergency replacement shooting can produce something this amazing?】

【Too incredible, I’m tired of saying these three words】

【So is CHIC dissing whoever broke the contract?】

Combined with earlier marketing accounts’ overwhelming articles putting down Qiao Dai’s “low-class” appearance, it wasn’t hard to guess that the star who broke the contract was likely marketing herself with a “sophisticated face.”

Soon someone found clues and dug out who the model was that suddenly broke contract with CHIC. This person happened to be the party involved in the “actresses’ sophisticated faces” incident. Her apology statement was still hanging on Weibo, with the four words “inappropriate word choice” written in black and white, looking particularly ironic.

【So this wave was first preventing Qiao Dai from becoming popular, then conveniently putting down other female stars while indirectly sending out beauty-crushing press releases for herself?!】

【What beauty-crushing? This person just looks a bit more sophisticated than all other stars in the entertainment industry. She never said she was prettier than others, so opposing fans shouldn’t accuse them of sending beauty-crushing press releases】

【Disappointed. Your appearance is indeed very clean and comfortable to look at, but this whole operation… hard to put into words】

【Why do you love marketing sophistication so much? Oh, right, you’re selling products – no wonder】

【Speaking of which, doesn’t this person particularly like peddling appearance anxiety? Finally got called out】

【Public figures should stop stirring up trends about women’s appearance. Do you enjoy teaching other women how to be women?】

Seeing these netizen comments, this female star was practically fuming.

She had always relied on her appearance and figure to gain a solid fanbase and had even started her own fashion brand, making millions annually. To maintain steady income, her team had marketed many appearance anxiety topics to keep the brand’s products constantly sought after. Who would have thought she’d crash and burn over this “sophistication” issue.

Affected by this, her reputation took a major hit, and peddling appearance anxiety became an indelible black mark in her history. Even her fashion brand was implicated, with current quarter sales dropping significantly, resulting in a thorough scolding from the company’s board of directors.

Truth be told, how could a celebrity know how to run a company? In reality, she was just a figurehead boss in this so-called fashion brand she “founded” – the real power holders weren’t her. So after damaging the company’s image, the board members naturally weren’t pleasant to her.

Someone, for unknown reasons, recorded her getting screamed at during the board meeting and uploaded it online. Netizens pitied her for getting chewed out for exactly one second, then their attention shifted to the fact that she was just a figurehead brand founder.

【Isn’t this deceiving fans?】

【What happened to being a fashion guru? Turns out she just lent her name?】

【Still marketing herself as China’s Kardashian – the company isn’t even hers, what designer persona is she trying to maintain?】

At this point, the person involved had completely crashed and burned and could no longer cause trouble.

Meanwhile, CHIC’s latest issue sold out rapidly upon release. The final figure of 360,000 copies broke CHIC’s sales record for the year. The magazine specially sent PR gift packages to express their gratitude to Qiao Dai and asked if she could participate in the latest “Beauty in All Forms” project, meaning Qiao Dai had successfully secured a place at CHIC.

The magazine invited twelve stars to participate in the shoot, ultimately creating a fashion spread featuring various styles. Whether it was Hong Kong style, retro, minimalist… everything was included, letting everyone fully experience the different flavors of feminine charm.

“Little Qiao, want to grab dinner together?”

After wrapping up, several stars who participated in the shoot came over to ask if Qiao Dai wanted to join them for dinner, laughing: “Little Qiao wouldn’t refuse to give us face, would you?”

Hearing this, Qiao Dai quickly stood up from her chair. Although the over-twelve-hour shoot had left her physically exhausted, the person asking was Qiao Dai’s senior who had taken good care of her during filming, so of course Qiao Dai had to give her face and agreed.

The group walked outside, and just as they were about to get in the car together, a black sedan stopped beside Qiao Dai. A tall man opened the car door, got out, and grabbed Qiao Dai’s wrist.

Qiao Dai turned around to see Cheng Su and instinctively asked: “How did you get here?”

They’d both been busy with work these days and hadn’t seen each other for quite a while.

Thinking this, Qiao Dai suddenly felt a bit guilty. Recently, because she was busy handling work, she had canceled dates with Cheng Su several times due to last-minute work, and even their video calls had been interrupted multiple times. They hadn’t had a complete conversation in a long time.

Cheng Su’s expression looked somewhat displeased.

Hearing Qiao Dai ask this, the man immediately raised an eyebrow and said in a low voice: “To kidnap you for an elopement.”

Qiao Dai: ?!

Almost instantly, Qiao Dai understood what Cheng Su meant, her face turning bright red. Just then, the people who had already gotten in the car heard the commotion outside and poked their heads out, just in time to hear Cheng Su’s words. They immediately laughed: “So Little Qiao and Mr. Cheng already have plans. We won’t disturb you then.”

The person smiled at Qiao Dai, not wanting to be a third wheel between Qiao Dai and Cheng Su, so they smoothly said their goodbyes and had the driver leave.

“There.”

Only after the others disappeared from view did Cheng Su slowly withdraw his gaze, looking down at Qiao Dai and saying: “Now we can go elope.”