While filming a reality show, an actress and her crew ignored the "Do Not Pick" sign in my yard. They broke through the fence and ate the hybrid tomatoes I had spent two years researching. Afterward, she cried and played the victim, and the production team encouraged her fans to attack me for making a fuss over nothing. That is, until I tagged her using my official National Academy of Sciences account, and the internet exploded. 1 The moment I heard the alarm go off, I immediately shut my laptop and walked out into the yard. What met my eyes was a bustling crowd of people surrounding my planting base. The fence, which had been standing perfectly fine, had been violently broken in half. The once-pristine grove was now a mess, with fruit from the trees thrown everywhere. Several burly men carried cameras, filming a delicate young girl from every angle. She looked innocently at the unripe tomato in her hand and sighed: "These fruits are so small, they look sour. Aren't there any bigger ones?" She smiled ruefully at the camera, her dimples faintly visible. I recognized her as Mia, an actress who had recently become popular from a sweet romance drama. I usually know nothing about the entertainment industry. But during my classes, I often saw students secretly watching her shows. They said Mia was a rare beauty, kind-hearted, and polite. Looking at what was in her hand, those were experimental seedlings that could delay the onset of cancer. After years of hard work, I finally found out that the soil here was the most suitable for these small tomatoes to survive. Carrying my suitcase, I worked day and night in this dusty little village, conducting experiments, collecting specimens, and recording data. It wasn't easy to get this single surviving seedling. I took a deep breath, afraid I might pass out from anger: "Didn't you see the sign I put up? Do not pick!" My tone was harsh. Mia was clearly stunned for a moment. Used to being pampered and praised, tears immediately welled up in her eyes. She pouted and said angrily: "It's just a tomato, isn't it? "You're just a yard keeper, how dare you scold me like that!" Mia glanced down at my dusty, worn clothes and muttered a quiet retort. The crew around her immediately noticed what was going on. They ran over to shoo me away. The director, holding a megaphone, said: "This is a filming set, no unauthorized personnel allowed." I was so angry I almost laughed. They break into someone's home, make a mess, and then try to kick the owner out. Where is the logic in that? 2 While I was arguing with the director, Mia, throwing a tantrum, had been coaxed to rest on the other side. Just then, two male celebrities walked over. One had a baby face and carried a bamboo basket filled with some wild greens. The other was a cold-looking man, carrying nothing. He had an assistant holding a heavy black umbrella over him. When he looked at me, he instinctively frowned. Seeing that I wasn't very old, he probably assumed I was an obsessive fan: "Are you a stalker fan? You people really are everywhere, it makes me sick just looking at you." As soon as he finished speaking, the baby-faced guy tried to smooth things over: "Julian, there must be some misunderstanding. She doesn't even look like an adult." Julian snorted coldly, noticing Mia in the shade in the distance. He walked straight over there. The baby-faced guy hopped over to me: "Little girl, is this your house?" I was busy trying to save the broken tomato seedlings and didn't have time to answer him. Seeing I wasn't speaking, the baby-faced guy crouched down to help me organize them. After learning that the production crew had broken into my house, he looked apologetic. The baby-faced guy told me this was a reality show about country life. They had invited guests to gather food in the village and divided them into two teams for a competition. The losing team had to cook dinner. Mia was their teammate. They had agreed to go together, but the moment the director said start, she ran off. The baby-faced guy's apology was sincere, and he even promised to compensate me for the loss privately. Seeing that there was still a chance to save the tomato seedlings, although the results would be delayed by a year or two, my mood improved slightly. The baby-faced guy working diligently beside me had mud on his white shirt, and his perfect makeup was ruined by sweat. Not only did he not have a celebrity's arrogance, but he also had the rustic charm of a farmer. Seeing me looking at him, the baby-faced guy wiped his sweat: "It's okay, I'm free so I might as well help you. I'm not famous anyway, the director won't come looking for me." I found him much more agreeable: "The wild greens in your basket shouldn't be eaten together. That weed that looks like okra is called Jimsonweed, it's poisonous." He looked terrified and threw the wild greens away: "Thanks, I thought it was okra I had eaten before, almost ended up in the hospital." 3 When the production crew left, a cold-faced staff member came over. He was Mia's assistant. Expressionless, he threw two thousand dollars in cash at me: "Consider this compensation. It can buy dozens of pounds of your broken tomatoes. Don't talk nonsense about what happened on the show, or just wait for a lawyer's letter." I remembered what the baby-faced guy had just explained to me. "Be careful of Mia, her fans are crazy. A normal person was cyberbullied into suicide just for saying Mia's acting was bad. "You know that guy just now? His family is very powerful, and he's just one of Mia's suitors. "She has a huge financial backer, Marcus Sterling. It's said that if he stomps his foot, the whole entertainment industry trembles." I smiled and ignored the staff member's threat: "I'll be waiting for your lawyer's letter." 4 After everyone had left. I opened my phone and scrolled to the family section. I clicked on Marcus Sterling's number: "Hey, brother, I need to ask you about someone..." Before the dial tone even finished, the call was picked up instantly. A deep male voice sounded, carrying a hint of grievance. "Maya, you finally decided to call me. Do you know I've turned over every nook and cranny in the country looking for you? "How's your stomach? Did you skip meals again for your experiments? I'm telling you, don't stay up all night. You're young now, but when you're older you'll know..." I quietly moved the phone further away. Who would have thought the man acting like a nagging mother on the other end was the cold-faced CEO, dressed in a sharp suit and gold-rimmed glasses in the financial magazines? Years ago, I developed stomach issues because of my research. My brother specifically got a nutritionist certification. When working from home, he would be on a ten-million-dollar phone call while cooking. Wearing a pink frilly apron, looking extremely serious as he used a digital scale to accurately measure the grams of salt. This time, I had gone into isolation for a few years to extract an anti-cancer element from small tomatoes. Except for reporting my safety to my brother, I basically had no time to chat. Originally, we could have proceeded to clinical trials, but now we can only postpone it. Those patients waiting hopefully for my research results will have to wait a long time again. Marcus and I have depended on each other for decades. He clearly heard the exhaustion and sadness in my tone. When I asked about Mia, he immediately noticed something was wrong. I heard him quietly asking the secretary next to him who Mia was. The next second, my brother asked casually: "You don't like her?" I looked at the fruit scattered on the ground that hadn't been picked up yet, and sighed: "I don't have a good impression of people who waste food." 5 An hour after I hung up the phone. The entertainment news app on my phone pushed the latest news about the Sterling Group. I opened Twitter, which my brother had downloaded for me. On the trending list, the topic of the Sterling Group deleting the announcement of Mia as the spokesperson for the next season exploded. The Sterling Group, rich and powerful, changing spokespersons like changing clothes, always offered high endorsement fees. They only chose top-tier celebrities. For Mia, who had been in the industry for years and wasn't yet a top star, this was a premium resource. Faced with bystanders who were eager to watch the drama unfold. A group of her fans were aggressively defending her: 【It's just a bug with the official account that hid it. What are you haters barking about?】 【Who doesn't know the relationship between Mia and the Sterling Group? Being a wealthy heiress is no joke!】 Some people even tagged Marcus Sterling, 【Why aren't you doing anything! This is your own sister! What kind of brother are you!】 I was completely confused reading this. Fortunately, there were hardcore Mia fans to explain. It turned out that on the day Mia won the Best Newcomer award, she landed on the number one trending spot. The second trending topic was Marcus Sterling using his official account to congratulate his sister on achieving her wish. He generously gave away hundreds of red envelopes worth over a hundred thousand dollars on the platform. Mia grabbed the largest one, ten thousand dollars. She posted: 【Thank you, brother, love you】. The comment got tens of thousands of likes. Because Marcus didn't name his sister, and Mia's comment was pushed to the top. Many uninformed people assumed they were siblings. Someone asked why the brother and sister had different last names. They were brainwashed by hardcore fans, "The sister took the mother's last name, the brother took the father's. Doesn't this just show how much their parents love each other? It means the family is harmonious." I facepalmed. My parents were indeed very loving. When my mom gave birth to us, it was almost a difficult labor because we were twins. My dad was scared to death. To show gratitude, he let us both take our mom's last name. Unfortunately, they later died in a plane crash. My brother protected me, heartbroken. Amidst a pack of predatory relatives, he guarded our parents' legacy. He grew the company to what it is today. He protected me even more carefully, wishing he could keep me tied to him at all times. He kept my information well hidden on the internet. To this day, no one knows I am Marcus Sterling's twin sister. As a known sis-con, when I became the youngest professor at A University, his pride had nowhere to vent. He wanted to order a giant red celebratory banner and hang it on the front of the company's headquarters in the bustling city center. I, having some sense of shame, refused him. I could tell with my eyes closed that my brother didn't read the comments. Or rather, he read them but didn't care. In his world, besides his beloved mom, dad, and sister, no one else mattered. However, Mia's fans made a fuss for a long time. Some couldn't sit still and went to curse at the official account: 【Why hasn't the bug been fixed yet? The staff in charge of Sterling's operations should come out and apologize!】 【Offending the CEO's sister and still expecting good things? Keep dreaming.】 The next second, the official account responded. 【From now on, all subsidiaries and related fields under the Sterling Group will completely cut off all cooperation with Mia.】 Well, there you go. Be careful what you wish for. I chuckled, my mood improving slightly. 6 The negative impact of the endorsement cancellation was too great. Mia's studio immediately released behind-the-scenes footage of the rural reality show. Under the sunlight, in a fenced yard far from the city's hustle and bustle, a girl in a floral dress played with water by a small stream. Paired with sweet BGM. When Mia's signature dimples appeared, the comments were filled with: 【Corporate slave cured, sweet girls are forever the best!】 【Mia is having so much fun, I want to go there too.】 The next second, the cozy vibe took a sharp turn. It was Mia holding a green tomato, facing off against a woman whose face couldn't be clearly seen. My face was blurred out. My pant legs were rolled up, covered in mud, and my tone was fierce, scolding her for what she was doing. I looked like someone hard to get along with. On the contrary, Mia had red eyes, looking like she had been scared to tears. Her pitiful little bunny look made the fans explode: 【Who is this rural auntie? So classless. Seeing our Mia alone, she's bullying her, right!】 【I'm so angry. Mia is crying so pitifully. Where did the staff go? Hurry up and drive this idiot away!】 My eyebrows twitched. This footage was taken out of context. It didn't show at all how she let people destroy my fence or how she wreaked havoc in my yard. Netizens only saw me bullying a little girl. Even at the end of the footage, there was a shot of a staff member handing me two thousand dollars. 【This production crew is so useless, giving her money. How many pounds of tomatoes can two thousand dollars buy?】 【No choice, Mia is just too kind. Luckily there are mom fans. My cousin lives in a village nearby, wait for my news, everyone.】 The comments below were all in agreement. 【Waiting for you. Mia's fans are not to be messed with. We'll protect our baby!】 The internet was in an uproar, and it hung on the trending list for a long time. The production team comfortably enjoyed the heat and added fuel to the fire. They re-posted the studio's behind-the-scenes video on their own account. The views exceeded ten million. They completely ignored the fact that I was an ordinary person with nothing to do with the entertainment industry. I put down my phone. I sent an email to my pharmaceutical company, and in the afternoon, an expert team arrived from out of town. To assess my losses. The cost of drug development is always high, from research to clinical trials to hitting the market. The funds invested range from millions to hundreds of millions. Especially for anti-cancer drugs. A day later, I received a lawsuit for an amount exceeding ten million. The lawyer told me the lawsuit could begin at any time. The director of the program suddenly showed up at my door. 7 That day, I had just had the tomato seedlings sent back to the lab by professionals. Their roots were damaged, so they couldn't be planted in soil for the time being. I finished packing and was just about to leave. The director suddenly barged in very rudely. He looked at my empty room and was stunned for a moment: "Hey, why are you moving away? Good thing I got here fast." The director came over in the hot sun, sweating profusely, the fat on his face gleaming with oil. He reached out to pull me. I dodged him. I frowned and said: "I'm a germaphobe." The director was a bit angry, "What kind of country bumpkin has germaphobia? Hurry up and come with me." He explained impatiently. "Your interaction with Mia last time had a great effect for the show. Go again today, maintain the previous style, the more unreasonable the better." After he finished speaking, he gestured: "I'll give you two hundred a day, fair enough? You wouldn't make that much farming for a month." I understood. The director felt that the previous program's popularity had been hyped up, and wanted to strike while the iron was hot, calling me over to help set up a persona for Mia. To highlight her purity and innocence. It could also manipulate her fans' emotions and increase attention. I was just about to refuse. The director suddenly received a call. "What? Marcus Sterling is coming to our show to find his sister? In this middle of nowhere, what sister could there be?" He paused: "Could it be Mia? Quick, send someone to the airport to pick up Mr. Sterling! This is a massive stroke of luck, the show's ratings will skyrocket!" The wrinkles on the director's face bunched together in a smile, revealing only a pair of sleazy, squinty eyes. I got goosebumps. I hope he smiles this happily when he receives the court summons.
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