Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The good news: the TV drama I acted in became a hit. Overnight, my market value skyrocketed, and I’d never have to worry about landing roles again.

The bad news: my computer got hacked. The hacker demanded 50 million yuan, or he’d release private photos of me and my ex-boyfriend.

Ever since I was eighteen, I’d been grinding away on drama sets from dawn to dusk. I’d fallen into water, been thrown from horses, and crashed from wire rigs.

I took acting seriously, paid my taxes honestly, and every cent I earned was hard-earned money.

I’d finally managed to make it.

Anyone trying to wring money out of me now could forget it.

A few lines popped up on the blue screen of my computer. The other party’s tone was overbearing:

“If I don’t get your money within 48 hours, I’ll release the photos.

“Send it to this account in Bitcoin. Not one cent less.”

Hah. Bitcoin, really. Haven’t they heard crypto trading is basically banned now?

I called the police right away.

But the other side had covered their tracks well. Even tracing the IP led nowhere.

After thinking it over, I figured I must have accidentally clicked one of those flashing pop-up ads a few days earlier while scrolling videos.

For several days after that, my computer had been acting weird. Strange files kept appearing on the desktop from time to time.

But I hadn’t paid it any attention.

Curiosity killed this actress.

I tossed the old computer aside and immediately ordered a new one on my phone. I even had customer service install the latest antivirus software for me.

Once bitten, twice shy. I was going to eliminate every hidden risk.

The hacker could stew on his own.

After being ignored by me for a few days, he couldn’t sit still anymore and registered an account on an overseas social media platform.

The name practically screamed hacker: Raccoon Burning Incense.

He posted:

“Private photos of Liang, the actress from the recently hit xianxia drama, have been leaked…”

In no time, netizens were spreading the news everywhere.

Plenty of people rushed to cash in. AI-generated censored photos started circulating in all kinds of group chats.

Some people were even selling bundles: twenty pictures for five yuan. Sales were especially good.

I even bought a set. They weren’t as good-looking as the ones I took.

Very quickly, experts stepped in to authenticate them and confirmed that all the photos currently circulating online were fake.

Seeing how things were going, the hacker got a little anxious:

“Hey! The real photos are with me! I haven’t released them yet!”

…

I knew he was trying to stir things up to scare me and increase his leverage in negotiations.

I could practically picture his expression: Don’t think I wouldn’t dare release them, heh heh heh…

After blowing up in popularity, I’d signed quite a few endorsement deals and was making very good money.

Contracts like that have restriction clauses for artists. If your personal issues damage a brand’s image, not only can they terminate the contract, they can also make you pay a huge amount in compensation.

The hacker was obviously trying to use that against me. He thought I’d do anything to suppress the photos.

But my manager and legal team were very experienced.

My contract clearly stated that as long as the negative impact wasn’t caused by me breaking the law or having serious moral failings, then if it resulted from outside circumstances, I wouldn’t have to pay damages.

If the brand insisted on terminating the contract anyway, they would have to pay me a penalty instead.

One of the lawyers from the legal team even came to the company to comfort me:

“This doesn’t count as a moral failing. You’re the victim, so don’t take it to heart!

“If they dare terminate your contract, I’ll go get money from them instead.”

That put my mind at ease.

But the hacker seemed pretty anxious.

He couldn’t reach me anymore through the blue screen on my old computer, and when he discovered I didn’t have an overseas social media account, he had no choice but to send emails to the public work address listed on my Weibo.

My staff normally didn’t check that inbox much. Most business contacts came through our phones. I only saw the hacker’s email three days later.

“Why haven’t you sent the money yet?

“If you still don’t pay, I really am going to release the photos.”

I sneered. I’d been around long enough. Did he really think I’d be scared of him?

I directly posted screenshots of our email exchange on Weibo, even circling his email address, and told the netizens:

“Want to see them? Ask him for them.”

A few minutes later, the hacker started cursing on the overseas platform. His inbox had been flooded by netizens.

Sister Liu came to find me:

“Good grief, please talk less online.

“Isn’t this basically the same as admitting it yourself-that the photos are real?”

But the photos were real.

The hacker had proof, and I had no intention of paying him, so there was no point hiding it.

I told Sister Liu:

“I took those photos in the first place for my own private collection. I never intended to spread them to the public. That’s not illegal.”

Sister Liu looked helpless.

“Are you from another planet?

“More than ten years ago, after that nude photo scandal, those celebrities were so famous, and they still got cursed so badly they had to leave the entertainment industry.

“They weren’t in the wrong either, but they still endured so much abuse and loss.

“What makes you think you’ll be able to avoid that?”

I thought about it.

“Because it’s been more than ten years since then. People’s attitudes should have changed by now, right?”