CH 3

Zhou Jia was extremely low-key with his actions and was a man who gave off a scholarly, refined air while remaining proud and aloof. Few people managed to catch him eye and he had little friends within the entertainment circle. However, all of them were close old companions he’d known for years and currently famous directors, choreographers, or famous artists who’d won awards as film emperors and empresses themselves. Not many could dream of reaching his high status.

More importantly, Zhou Jia’s family was rumored to have an excellent background. During his early days in showbiz, his handsome looks had attracted a certain high-level figure who wanted to foster him as a sugar daddy. When Zhou Jia refused, the man was so humiliated he broke off all avenues and resources for the young actor, determined to cut him off. Unfortunately, the orders had hardly gone out when he was reported for embezzling public funds and escorted to the police station. He was still in prison even now.

That incident cemented Zhou Jia’s origins as even more mysterious and unfathomable.1

Despite everything, this self-important, arrogant man paid special attention to a newbie actress in the field. Currently, he was sitting by her bedside and personally peeling her an apple! He’d even refused offers to help from his assistant. His movements were clumsy as he carved off the apple skin like peeling bark, studious and concentrated. Wang Ruoyan could only grin at the sight. She said she’d take over instead, but accidentally cut herself and was now hissing in pain at the injury.

Zhou Jia was both anxious and distressed. “Don’t move, you can just lie down.”

“I’m fine. A little cut like that won’t stop me,” Wang Ruoyan tried to sit up, her smile dazzling despite her pale complexion. Her lively airs made one’s heart ache.

“Be good and just lie down, don’t move,” Zhou Jia finally convinced Wang Ruoyan to lie back on the bed.

“Alright,” Wang Ruoyan relented, but stuck out her tongue at him.

Sheng Zhiming sat on the side with pursed lips. His dark pupils kept darting between Wang Ruoyan and Zhou Jia. Sensing this, Zhou Jia glanced back and said, “Isn’t President Sheng busy with other affairs?”

“How could I be busy if Superstar Zhou is so free?” Sheng Zhiming replied.

Zhou Jia smiled and declined to comment. Sheng Zhiming smiled back. Sparks flew into life between the two men while Wang Ruoyan looked between them and sighed with a helpless shake of her head.

Liu Jia saw everything and almost bit through one of her silver dental fillings. She’s nothing but a little newbie, so why does she deserve Zhou Jia and Sheng Zhiming’s good graces? 

Ye Wei had to have been thinking the same way. She observed the incompatible yet harmonious trio by the bed and recalled how this scene had provoked the original host so much that it’d plummeted her low IQ into the negatives. At this point in the novel, she had actually sauntered up to Sheng Zhiming and acted out against the female lead, making him dislike her and the supporting male disgusted. In the end, the male lead had simply kicked her out of the room.

Unwilling to accept the fact, Ye Wei had sought out Wang Ruoyan to threaten and humiliate her. She shouldn’t think she could fly up the branch and become a phoenix just because she blocked a knife for Sheng Zhiming! Sheng Zhiming was hers alone, so Wang Ruoyan could keep dreaming! But the scene was witnessed by the male lead’s friend and filmed by the female lead’s agent before it was posted all over the Internet. A wave of curses and boycotts followed in its wake, forcing Ye Wei onto a dead end.

As expected of the villainous supporting female. She had to live up to her low IQ by doing something stupid eventually. But the logic behind it was simple: it was hard to get someone to like you, but plenty easy to make them hate you.

Ye Wei shook aside Liu Jia’s hand. I’m going to court death.

Liu Jia gazed after her. Go on! You can do it!2

Ye Wei plastered a smile on her face as she approached Sheng Zhiming and leaned intimately into his side. In a simpering voice, she said, “Teacher Zhou,3 Zhiming, you two shouldn’t be too nervous. I even saw Little Wang walking outside this morning, so her body should be doing fine. Don’t worry.”

Liu Jia inwardly nodded. That’s right! You’re doing great!

Zhou Jia creased his brows as his distaste for Ye Wei grew. “Ruoyan was stabbed and needs a long time to recover. Even if she looks fine, the body can’t recover so quickly from an injury like that. It’s different than your case.”

Sheng Zhiming looked at Ye Wei before immediately banishing her. “Get out.”

Zhou Jia glanced at him. “President Sheng is being rather cold to your girlfriend.”

Wang Ruoyan grew embarrassed. “Teacher Ye is right, I’m really okay. You two shouldn’t be too anxious. Teacher Zhou, Zhiming, please don’t say such things. I’m sorry, Teacher Ye, they don’t have any ill will…”

Ye Wei bit her lip and didn’t answer, forcing herself to endure. Seeing this, Liu Jia grew anxious as well. Ye Wei blinked at her. Come on, let’s court death together.

Liu Jia thought, Yes! She stepped forward and said, “Weiwei’s words make sense too, ah. I heard the doctor say Little Wang’s recovered splendidly and can even leave the hospital to recover now…” she soon shut up under Sheng Zhiming’s cold glare.

By chance, Sheng Zhiming happened to catch Ye Wei’s expression at his side as well and saw that she was giving Liu Jia a sympathetic look. It was almost as if she was thinking, It’s no wonder low IQ people deserve being told off for their remarks.

???, thought Sheng Zhiming. But in a flash, Ye Wei’s expression shifted to her gritting her teeth and looking unsatisfied. Sheng Zhiming massaged his forehead and wondered if he’d hit his head too hard. Why else would he see such expressions on Ye Wei’s face?

Impatient, he said, “Enough, you two get out.”

Ye Wei replied, “Zhiming, I–”

“Get out,” Sheng Zhiming interrupted.

“…..” said Ye Wei. Okies. She made sure to give Wang Ruoyan a parting glare before pulling Liu Jia after her to walk out the door without a single look back.

Taptaptap taptaptap.

Sheng Zhiming could clearly hear the quick tempo of her footsteps. Why did they sound so light and happy? As if she had just finished a task and was ready to collect her salary? The sensation was so strong…but no, I must have hit my head too hard after all.

Wang Ruoyan said, “Zhiming, there’s no need to do that for my sake. Don’t let me affect the feelings between you and Teacher Ye.”

“What kind of feelings could I share with her?” Sheng Zhiming said. He had no idea what he was thinking but stood up and said, “You rest well.”

Then he walked out of the sickroom too. Wang Ruoyan knitted her brows after his retreating back. Zhou Jia was quite satisfied by this turn of events and took out a script after the male eyesore left. “The choreographer’s scheduled all your scenes back, so I’m afraid you’ll have lots of work when you return to set. Let’s review the lines together so you’ll have an easier time.”

Wang Ruoyan immediately broke into a bright smile. “Mhm, thank you Teacher Zhou!”



Liu Jia burst into tears again after Ye Wei brought them to her sickroom, worried about her dim prospects. Ye Wei was rather gratified as she patted Liu Jia’s back. As expected, her stupidity as the supporting female’s agent didn’t disappoint me.

To claim Wang Ruoyan was fine while Zhou Jia and Sheng Zhiming were both fretting over her, to imply they were overreacting and blowing things out of proportion, was only asked to be despised. Liu Jia was so depressed that she didn’t even eat dinner beyond a few bites. By contrast, Ye Wei was in a great mood and polished off a big bowl of rice before checking her weight. The scale showed that she had gained 10 pounds!4 Her ordinary days were passing by almost too beautifully.

She was previously pretty but fragile, the pitiful type of beauty that seemed delicate and weak. Now that she’d filled out, her beauty turned sexier. The roundest part of her body were her b00bs5 and her figure was beyond reproach. Compared to her shriveled limbs and stick-like body in the real world stuck in a two-year coma, this was…

Forget it, forget it. After I get the traditional Chinese medicine system, I’ll recover straight away.

No matter what, she had to go back.

Outside the restroom, Liu Jia was pounding on the door. “Ye Wei! What are you doing still hiding in the bathroom? Hurry and come out!”

After a good cry, Liu Jia had revived on the spot and resumed her role as a never-endingly persistent cannon fodder character.

Ye Wei opened the door and walked out. “What’s up?”

Although she had made a full recovery, she hadn’t left the hospital yet. First, neither Wang Ruoyan nor Sheng Zhiming had checked out; secondly, she couldn’t very well leave as one of the kidnapped trio. Wouldn’t that just tell the world that she had very minor injuries and had healed quickly? The media and the rest of world already had a bad impression of her, so she’d lose her pity card just from that. Thirdly, it was easier to find Sheng Zhiming if she stayed in the hospital. Furthermore, she could observe the progress of his relationship with Wang Ruoyan and sabotage them when convenient.

“Do you know what I just heard? This afternoon, Zhou Jia actually practiced his lines with that little vixen Wang Ruoyan! Everyone recognizes Zhou Jia’s acting skills, so his help will further strengthen Wang Ruoyan. You’ll be pushed out of your spot in the production for sure! I never thought that little vixen was so powerful. She even managed to bewitch Zhou Jia, and he never shows interest in any woman.”

Although the production staff didn’t say they’d remove Ye Wei from her female lead role, Wang Ruoyan had an excellent aura for an actress, outstanding acting skills, and such a great role in the second female lead she’d eclipse Ye Wei without doubt once the drama went live. In the end, she would only end up as Wang Ruoyan’s stepping stone!

Ye Wei thought it was some actual big deal, but this was only a false alarm. “Is Zhou Jia still with Little Wang?”

“He left ages ago,” Liu Jia replied.

Ye Wei checked the skies outside. It was getting late, so it was natural to get off work and go home.

“I have no idea what these men are thinking liking that little fox. I saw Zhou Jia look like he even wanted to keep going! He couldn’t have fallen for Wang Ruoyan, right?” Liu Jia asked indignantly.

“…..” So you noticed that too? But Ye Wei only screeched, “What did you say? How could Zhou Jia like that vixen Wang Ruoyan?!”

“….” Liu Jia rubbed her aching ears. “Don’t get excited, I’m just making remarks. I don’t think Zhou Jia would like her either. At most, he just admires her. You know he likes guiding talented juniors,”

“That’s still impossible. How could Wang Ruoyan be more talented than me?”

“…..” Liu Jia was speechless. “….you’re talented? Where?”

“I’ve already assimilated acting into my everyday life,” Ye Wei declared.

“….???” Liu Jia was clueless. She had never met anyone so devoid of self-awareness and wanted to say more, but saw that Ye Wei was turning to leave the room. With a start, she cried, “Where are you going?”

Where else? I’m working overtime. However, as soon as Ye Wei entered the hallway, she crossed paths with Sheng Zhiming. Luckily, she managed to spread out her legs and steady herself before weakly falling against him with a cry of surprise. “Zhiming! Were you looking for me?”

Sheng Zhiming stepped back expressionlessly.

“Who do you think you are that Sheng Jr. would come looking for you? When danger came, all you did was think of yourself. Now you want play the good girl since it’s safe? Too late, there’s nothing so convenient in this world!” The man who spoke from behind Sheng Zhiming was wearing an expression of derision.

“You still have enough shame to pester Sheng Jr.? Get a clue and get lost! It’ll stop you from making a fool of yourself.”

Ye Wei recognized the voice as Sun Yibo (孙义博),6 one of Sheng Jr.’s assistants. He had full disdain for Ye Wei and saw her as a greedy woman after Sheng Zhiming’s money. By contrast, he was very fond of Wang Ruoyan who had risked her life for his boss. He was more or less Wang Ruoyan’s faithful follower and often told the rest of the world about her kindness and gentle ways. Of course, he took the chance to spread news of the original host’s sham and hypocritical personality too. In fact, he’d even interfered with her auditions when she was at her lowest point, causing her plenty of difficulties.

Sun Yibo wanted to vent for Sheng Jr.’s sake since Ye Wei had only wanted to run away when his boss’s life was in danger. To him, she was the textbook definition of cruel and unscrupulous, a woman with the heart of a wolf and lungs of a dog. Hadn’t she made it this far all because of Sheng Zhiming? He was simply dealing with her in Sheng Jr.’s place.

Liu Jia had followed Ye Wei out and grew anxious at the scene before her. She quickly ran up to explain. “It’s all a misunderstanding. Weiwei’s been telling me these past few day that she was too afraid of those vicious evildoers to think straight. She never intended to abandon Sheng Jr.!”

As she spoke, she pinched Ye Wei’s waist so she could hurry up and do something too!

Ye Wei said, “I really was scared to death back then. I was worried that they’d silence me with murder and I didn’t want to die.”

“Tch!” Sun Yibo said. “You’re finally telling the truth.”

“Have I ever lied in the past?” Ye Wei was confused.

“You said you cared about Sheng Jr.!”

“Of course I care.”

Sun Yibo had never seen such a shameless woman. “You can still say things like that? Who’re you trying to fool?! Enough already, Ruoyan’s the one who really cares about Sheng Jr. She can even throw away her life for him, but what about you? What have you ever done? All you could do was cower in a corner and beg for your life. Ruoyan showed Sheng Jr. true care. You’re not even worth a single hair on her head!”

Ye Wei was too lazy to argue with him and looked towards Sheng Zhiming instead. “I really don’t want you to die, truly. Believe me.”

Sheng Zhiming stared at Ye Wei’s eyes–it was true, her pupils showed sincerity without a hint of hypocrisy. They were so honest that he almost felt bewitched.

Ye Wei didn’t even have to pretend or act. Give me a break. The consequences would be far more serious if the male lead died instead of me. Why would I wish him dead? And give up all the outstanding work I’ve done so far?