After Pei Liang finished telling Pei’s dad to pull out of the investment, she hung up, but Li Jian and Zhu Wen were the ones who panicked.
Li Jian snapped, “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”
The veins on his forehead bulged, his expression twisted with fury, and he shot up from his chair as if he were about to hit someone.
Pei Liang didn’t react at all, but the other three girls were startled.
Zhu Wen hurriedly stepped in front of Li Jian. “President Li, calm down. Don’t stoop to her level.”
It had taken quite some effort to keep things from escalating into a serious incident. Pei Liang might have been easy to manipulate, but unlike ordinary trainees, she didn’t come from an ordinary background. She had neither come to the city alone to struggle her way up nor put herself in a position where anyone could beat or berate her at will.
After calming Li Jian down, Zhu Wen turned back.
Her tone toward Pei Liang was no longer so aggressive. Instead, she spoke earnestly. “Pei Liang, if you’re unhappy about what happened this time—or even about the way the company has allocated resources to you over the years—you can say so directly.”
“We’re all adults. Let’s discuss the matter at hand and keep separate issues separate.”
“Don’t throw a young lady’s tantrum and then quit over something this important.”
“Pull out of the investment? That sounds easy enough when you say it, but have you ever thought about how many people’s hard work would be wasted by those two careless words?”
“And how much work that’s already halfway done would be forced to stop? Never mind everything else—how many people at the company have been running around preparing for that movie? Then there are the roles that had already been settled. Your junior brothers and sisters, who’ve struggled so hard just to get noticed, thought they’d finally have a chance to appear on-screen. You’ve cut off their hope in one stroke.”
“You, the young lady, may not understand the hardships of ordinary people, but you should at least think about what those working under you are supposed to do.”
As she spoke, her voice grew gentler. “Listen to Sister Zhu. Everything else can be discussed. Call President Pei first and explain properly. Tell him you were only joking just now.”
“Do you know how rare a female lead in a movie is for an actress?”
Pei Liang smiled, wearing an expression that seemed to say she wasn’t being petty.
“It’s precisely because I’ve suddenly come to understand how hard life is and how difficult it is to make money that I feel this investment isn’t necessary.”
“Sister Zhu, you know what kind of person I am. I’m absolutely not stingy or miserly. Just think about how many performance outfits and promotional outfits I’ve paid for out of my own wardrobe since we debuted. My measurements are different from theirs, and those insanely expensive designer pieces had to be altered the moment they reached us.”
“Fine, let’s set that aside. The group’s styling and overall image have depended entirely on me. I was willing to regard that as supporting the team’s development.”
“But this time is different. Fifty million isn’t something you can toss into the water just because you’ve exchanged a few words and appealed to our relationship.”
“The director and screenwriter are supposedly a golden duo whose names are practically thunderous throughout the industry.” Pei Liang continued, “They’ve been as close as brothers since entering the business, and neither can do without the other. Together, they’re supposedly an unstoppable force—a magnificent stroke of color in the film industry in recent years.”
“Between the two of them, they’ve repeatedly set new records for low ratings, making everyone realize that the threshold for entering the film industry is actually so low that having legs is enough to qualify as a director or screenwriter. They’ve greatly increased public participation, encouraging countless people who once backed away from their lofty dreams to bravely take the first step.”
“They’ve also given countless industry outsiders and aspiring small-business owners somewhere to burn all that idle money they had no place to put, while relieving the employment pressures of countless nonprofessionals. Their contribution will surely benefit generations to come. Truly, what remarkable masters of the craft.”
“By rights, considering the contributions these two have made to the industry—and the fact that they’ve independently shouldered all the criticism without regret—I, as someone in the industry, ought to offer them some help.”
“But my family’s finances really aren’t that substantial. My dad works hard to earn his money, and we haven’t reached the point where I can casually throw fifty million into the water for fun.”
Zhu Wen’s expression turned ugly as she listened to Pei Liang’s sarcastic denigration.
She instinctively assumed that someone had spelled everything out to Pei Liang in painstaking detail behind her back. Otherwise, given Pei Liang’s stupidity—and President Pei’s complete lack of understanding of the entertainment industry—it would have been impossible for them to identify the problem so precisely.
Someone as sheltered and naïve as this young lady, paired with a wealthy businessman who had no connections in the industry, was practically the most tempting kind of easy mark.
Zhu Wen smiled. “I don’t know who’s been filling your head with this, but you can’t judge a production team solely by its director and screenwriter. And you can’t judge a movie purely by its reviews, either.”
“Director Liu and Screenwriter Feng are a duo whose names alone generate publicity when placed together. How many critically acclaimed and commercially successful films come out each year? You can count them on one hand and still have fingers left over. Even the industry’s top actors and actresses can’t get enough of those roles. Why should one of your group be entitled to them?”
“People can’t expect to have all the good things in life. You’ve read the script this time. It’s packed with all the popular elements currently trending. As long as the box office performance is decent, and having the lead role boosts your résumé and raises your status, it’ll be a sure step up for all of you.”
Pei Liang smiled. “But the highest box-office record achieved by either of these two directors is only six million.”
“Sister Zhu, you’ve arranged everything for me since I debuted, and I’ve never questioned you because I trusted your ability. But if that’s what you’re saying now, then I have to question your professionalism.”
“Most people have never even heard of the majority of these two directors’ movies, have they? The reason their names became widely known wasn’t because of their films, but because of the content creators in the commentaries and roast sections of various platforms, was it? And because they consistently use sensational subject matter to attract attention, their movies invariably demand that the actresses sell sex appeal or peddle eroticism to make a name for themselves.”
“How many of their films have actually passed censorship and made it into theaters? As far as I know, only one, right?”
“President Li, Sister Zhu, our company has worked hard to build up what little savings it has. And yet you two really dare to gamble it all on these people.”
How could they not know? This movie was never intended to make money. It was plainly meant to fleece investors.
The production team might be terrible, but they had one major advantage: they were cheap. The money saved could bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Once the accounts were handled properly, they could use the movie to lure investments from wealthy coal magnates with more money than sense. Then they could capitalize on the girl group’s fame to raise the film’s profile and trick the ignorant wealthy patrons of kept women into paying to force their lovers into the cast.
By the time the movie was finished, they would have made a fortune. What did the box office matter? A round of hype would be enough to convert the girl group’s popularity into cash.
Besides, Pei Liang was the film’s main star. She already had no prospects for further development within the group, so they could squeeze every last bit of value out of her while she still had some left.
When the movie was released, the blame could be dumped on her. She was the lead actress, after all, and her family had invested in the film. The other three could present themselves as unwilling supporting actresses who had been forced into the background.
They would come away completely unscathed, while even managing to milk the fans’ sympathy in the process.
Li Jian and Zhu Wen knew all of this perfectly well. Of course, so did Pei Liang.
She had once owned an entertainment company herself. Later, because most of the pretty boys she kept dreamed of making it in this industry—and because bartering resources or constantly owing people favors was too troublesome—she had simply opened one of her own.
Although it was only a subsidiary company, Pei Liang naturally knew every twist and turn of the business.
Seeing that Pei Liang’s attitude was unwavering, Li Jian’s eyes filled with malice.
He said darkly, “Pei Liang, don’t speak too soon. In our line of work, you never know when a salted fish might turn around and make a comeback.”
“Never look down on a young man just because he’s poor~” he added meaningfully.
It was impossible to tell whether he was talking about the director and screenwriter or himself.
Pei Liang merely smiled. “We’re all in our forties. We’re already well-seasoned. You can look down on us.”
She did not name anyone, so it was equally impossible to tell whom she meant.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the conference room grew so tense it was suffocating. The other three members shifted uneasily, seeing that neither side was willing to back down.
Just then, the conference room door opened. A round-faced girl wearing glasses came in carrying several cups of coffee.
She placed them in front of everyone. “Sorry to keep you waiting. There was a bit of a line. Here’s the coffee you ordered.”
First Love picked up the cup in front of her and took a sip. She immediately became angry. “I ordered a straight Americano. Why is this so sweet?”
The round-faced girl hurriedly said, “I’m sorry. The server may have given me the wrong one. Should I go buy you another?”
“I already drank some of it. It was so sweet I nearly got sick. Can a female celebrity drink something this sugary? I already have an easy-to-gain-weight body type. How many times have I told you? Can’t you even handle something this simple?”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”
Pei Liang raised a hand, cutting off Fang Yuan’s apology.
She looked at First Love with an ambiguous smile. “Take out your phone.”
Pei Liang had only just finished arguing with President Li and Sister Zhu, and the atmosphere was already at an awkward standstill. First Love was somewhat intimidated by her, so she instinctively took out her phone.
Pei Liang continued, “You have Fang Yuan on WeChat, right?”
“Yes!” First Love answered, completely bewildered.
“Transfer one hundred thousand yuan to her.”
Everyone in the conference room froze. First Love nearly jumped to her feet. “Why should I?”
“One hundred thousand, not ten yuan. Do you think everyone is as much of a pampered young lady as you are, handing out red envelopes to your assistant whenever you feel like it?”
Pei Liang smiled. “Fang Yuan is my personally hired assistant. She has nothing to do with the company. All her salary and benefits are paid for by my dad.”
“In other words, her employer is Pei’s Food Company. She has no employment relationship with our agency—and even less of one with you, First Love.”
“Apart from her connection to me, you two are strangers. Which means you’ve been ordering a stranger around for two whole years, barking commands at her and making her constantly watch your mood.”
Pei Liang set down her coffee and folded her hands over her knees. “Little sister, the image you’re selling is that of an innocent, sheltered girl. Don’t be so foolish that you start believing your own act.”
“If no one is paying her, then everyone here is an equal citizen. Why should she work herself to the bone for you?”
First Love looked aggrieved but stubbornly replied, “What right did I have to order your assistant around? She only helped me from time to time when she was doing things for you. By your logic, why aren’t you asking Zhuo Ya and Yu Wenqing to pay her too? You’re just angry at me and using this as an excuse to make things difficult.”
“Who does that?”
Pei Liang smiled. “Do you think I’m just trying to win an argument? All of Fang Yuan’s expenses while running errands—including these cups of coffee—are regularly submitted to Pei’s accounting department for reimbursement.”
“Every expense has a clear record, with receipts and invoices. After all, the total has accumulated over time and isn’t a small amount. It would be impossible for Fang Yuan to shoulder it herself. But that’s enough to prove that she has been serving you for the past two years.”
“For the sake of being on the same team, I didn’t even include the cost of those items. I’m in a good enough position to look after my teammates; there’s nothing wrong with that. But Fang Yuan is a young woman who supports her family through her own labor. She can’t afford to swallow a loss this large.”
First Love’s face flushed red. “I’ve never met anyone as petty as you. You even keep accounts for every bottle of water! Why don’t you mention how often you use my things?”
“If you have an objection, I can ask my dad to send over a professional accountant. We can calculate everything between us apart from items that were explicitly given as gifts—the things you’ve used or damaged, and the money you’ve spent. We’ll settle our accounts separately and make everything clear.”
First Love naturally didn’t dare accept that challenge. Pei Liang had the best financial circumstances among them. Just the wear and tear on the designer clothes, shoes, and bags they had borrowed from her would be more than First Love could afford. If everything were truly calculated, a few pieces of haute couture from Pei Liang’s closet would be worth a year of First Love’s income.
How could she possibly pay it back?
First Love said resentfully, “We’re all in the same group. So your generosity back then was just a way to have something to hold over us when it mattered?”
Pei Liang was helpless. “You were the one who brought it up first. How is this my fault?”
“I already told you I don’t care about it. But you can’t take advantage of Fang Yuan, can you? I’m even charging you a friend’s rate. For a personal assistant like her, she’s on call all year round. If you call her at three in the morning, she has to get up and run errands for you. Fifty thousand yuan a year is already a bargain.”
Then she delivered her final blow. “Two years’ wages. Transfer them.”
“You don’t want to go through the legal process, do you? If this gets out and your fans see that you take advantage of people and refuse to pay your assistant, it won’t exactly fit the image of the First Love Goddess, will it?”
How could First Love dare do that? Pei Liang’s reputation was already rotten to the core, but she was the untouchable First Love Goddess. She couldn’t afford to get dragged into such an ugly financial dispute.
With red-rimmed eyes, First Love transferred the money with trembling fingers.
Pei Liang stood up and smiled. “Don’t look so upset. It only means buying one or two fewer bags. I haven’t cried over the fact that you’ve damaged more than two of mine.”
Those words made the situation even more humiliating.
But Pei Liang ignored her and turned to Li Jian and Zhu Wen. “As for the topic we discussed, I agree to cooperate. You can decide how to handle it. If you need me to appear in person, we can discuss the details later.”
With that, she took Fang Yuan and left the conference room.
The people remaining inside were all lost in thought. Li Jian and Zhu Wen watched her retreating figure, their eyes turning cold.
“Since she’s shown us no mercy, we won’t be courteous either.”
*
After leaving the conference room, Fang Yuan accepted the one-hundred-thousand-yuan transfer, unable to hide her delight.
She said gratefully, “Sister Liang, thank you. It really was nothing—just things I could do while I was already running errands.”
Pei Liang smiled. “If I give it to you, keep it. From now on, there’s no such thing as ‘it was nothing’ at work. In the workplace, anyone who keeps thinking that way eventually ends up doing work that isn’t theirs.”
Fang Yuan nodded. “Actually, I wanted to refuse at first, but I was worried I’d put you in a difficult position, Sister Liang.”
That was also why Pei Liang had specifically helped Fang Yuan claim the wages she was owed. The original owner’s habit of giving in at every step had indeed contributed to Fang Yuan being ordered around as though it were only natural.
Once she left the company, Pei Liang went straight back to the dormitory.
Their girl group was currently the most prominent act under the company, so their living arrangements were fairly decent.
The dormitory was a well-decorated, four-bedroom apartment in a high-end residential complex not far from the company. Security was tight, and in a city with such exorbitant housing prices, it was considered quite good.
As soon as Pei Liang returned to the dormitory, she went into her room and changed out of her bizarre outfit, then removed her heavy smoky-eye makeup.
The original owner’s taste wasn’t bad. The clothes, shoes, bags, and jewelry in her wardrobe were all stylish. It was just that, since her debut, she had rarely had the chance to wear them herself because of the group’s assigned image.
Instead, the other three members often used many of them, whether for events or as casual clothing.
Pei Liang took a shower and came out wearing a Chanel dress in black and white, with clean, sharply defined lines.
She slicked her half-dry hair back, applied her makeup, painted her lips a vivid red, and draped on a long, pure-white blazer tailored from a luxurious cream-like fabric.
After several decades, she had finally returned to the appearance she had been familiar with in life.
And this body was young too—like getting more than a decade of youth for free. The thought put Pei Liang in an excellent mood.
Fang Yuan, who had helped her get ready, looked at Pei Liang in the mirror and suddenly felt her face grow hot.
She had been with Pei Liang for two years. As an employer, Pei Liang was gentle and amiable, considerate toward those beneath her, and generous with employee benefits. Working for her was actually quite pleasant.
But as a celebrity, Fang Yuan had always felt that Pei Liang lacked a certain aggressiveness.
That was simply how this industry worked. Even if someone looked delicate and pitiful, and projected an image of being detached from worldly concerns, surviving in this arena of fame and profit was, at its core, a process of fighting and clawing over resources. No matter how gentle they appeared on the outside, everyone was competing and taking what they could.
Pei Liang was too mild. She had plenty of dreams, but not the ruthlessness to climb higher at the expense of dragging others down. As a result, the longer she stayed in the group, the less noticeable her presence became.
But today, it was as if she had suddenly figured things out. Her styling was not even as aggressive as her previous looks.
Yet the moment she stood there, she exuded the imposing aura of someone at the top.
Especially when she looked in the mirror and lifted her eyes—that deep, domineering gaze could make a person’s legs go weak.
Thank goodness Fang Yuan was firmly heterosexual. Otherwise, she would already have curled into a coil like a mosquito coil.
Just then, the other three returned as well.
In truth, they each had their own schedules these days and did not spend much time living in the dormitory together. But today’s incident had caused quite a stir, and regardless of the company’s attitude, Zhuo Ya, the captain, felt that they needed to gather and talk for the sake of harmony within the group.
The three of them opened the door and immediately saw Pei Liang in her changed outfit and makeup.
They were startled—not because they had never seen Pei Liang in casual clothes, but because they had never realized how striking an impact she could make.
Pei Liang actually possessed the kind of beauty that was inherently aggressive. Her features were sharply defined and vividly gorgeous, the textbook example of a woman with strong, striking looks.
Yet her temperament did not match her appearance. She was gentle and easygoing, without the arrogance or ostentation of a rich young heiress. If anything, she was too considerate, always putting herself in other people’s shoes.
There was nothing wrong with that temperament, but it diluted the advantages of her natural looks.
Now, however, Pei Liang sat on the living-room sofa, scrolling through some documents on her tablet. Her long legs were crossed, her expression absorbed, and she radiated the aloofness and distance of a polished professional.
She was not even facing them directly, yet for some reason, they suddenly felt as though they had to tread carefully around her.
Zhuo Ya and the other two did their best to shake off this absurd feeling before taking the initiative to greet her.
“Pei Liang, can we talk?”
Pei Liang pointed to the sofa opposite her, signaling for them to sit and wait.
The three of them actually obediently sat down.
First Love had just lost money over a romantic relationship and been harshly humiliated. She was still bursting with resentment toward Pei Liang.
Only after sitting down did she realize how ridiculous that was. Zhuo Ya had lectured her all the way back, so she swallowed her anger and said, “You’re really busy. Even your teammates have to make an appointment to speak with you now?”
Pei Liang did not seem to hear her at all, so First Love raised her voice.
“What are you looking at?”
“Stocks.” Pei Liang set down the tablet. “I just came into fifty million. I don’t have anything to spend it on for the time being, so I can’t exactly leave it in the bank to grow mold.”
The three of them sucked in a breath.
“That fifty million… couldn’t it be—”
“Mm. I pulled it out of the movie investment.” Pei Liang said, “I told my dad that rather than throw the money into a movie, he might as well give it directly to me. So he did.”
Her words made them feel as though someone had poured a whole gallon of freshly squeezed lemon juice down their throats.
First Love’s voice became sharp with anxiety. “You sounded so convincing in the office just now, going on and on about how the movie would lose money. And now you’re saying that investing it in stocks won’t lose money? Do you even understand stocks? At least if we threw the money into the movie, it would give us a chance to break into the film industry. What difference does this make?”
Pei Liang looked at her with a half-smile.
“The difference is whether I feel like doing it.”
“It’s like happily spending a hundred thousand on a handbag, then crying over having to pay your employees’ wages. How can the motives possibly be the same?”
“You—”
“First Love, are you teaching me how to spend my own money?”
First Love nearly choked on her anger. Zhuo Ya pulled her back into her seat. What she had said really was inappropriate.
“All right, both of you, say a little less,” Zhuo Ya said. “Let’s talk this through for the sake of keeping the group harmonious. You don’t want us to end up like certain girl groups—sisters in front of the cameras, tearing each other apart behind the scenes, do you?”
Yu Wenqing chimed in as well. “Exactly. You two have always been closest. How did things get to this point?”
With Zhuo Ya and Yu Wenqing mediating, they tried to repair the relationship within the group.
Pei Liang listened lazily, but her gaze had settled on Yu Wenqing.
Compared with Zhuo Ya, who was responsible and always considered the group’s interests, and First Love, who had attracted the most attention during this incident, the quiet and inconspicuous Yu Wenqing was actually the heroine of this world.
The original Pei Liang had been unable to endure the online abuse surrounding the scandal and had eventually taken her own life. But no one had expected Yu Wenqing to become the greatest beneficiary of the incident.
That’s right—not First Love, and not Cui Ying.
As the saying went, once you were dead, the whole world began to love you.
Even judged according to the deliberately distorted version of events put forward by Cui Ying’s side and the company, the original Pei Liang’s involvement in the scandal had not truly amounted to an unforgivable crime.
But in the end, she had been driven to suicide by online abuse. Once the news came out, Cui Ying, who had allowed his fans to attack someone to death, immediately became the target of public outrage.
The massive population of onlookers found it utterly incomprehensible. Cui Ying’s fans, who had previously taken advantage of their numbers, organized support, and lack of restraint to swarm over others like locusts, suddenly became rats everyone wanted to beat.
Cui Ying himself never offered a positive response throughout the entire incident. Naturally, the consequences of allowing a girl to be cyberbullied by his fans came back to haunt him.
With his competitors fanning the flames, Cui Ying found himself in a difficult position for a time.
But then Yu Wenqing stepped forward and revealed that the person photographed with Cui Ying back then had not been Pei Liang at all, but the youngest member of their group.
The supposedly innocent, naive First Love Goddess.
In other words, Pei Liang had been killed by the two of them in order to conceal their relationship. This time, even the fans who had believed that their idol was innocent—that he had merely been taking the blame for her—could no longer accept it.
Countless girlfriend fans abandoned Cui Ying and turned against him, while First Love’s carefully cultivated image collapsed. Naturally, she was forced to taste the same suffering the original Pei Liang had endured.
And Yu Wenqing?
She became the saintly sister who had shared a deep bond with the original Pei Liang, who had been filming on location when she suddenly received news of Pei Liang’s death and, unable to accept the tragedy, tirelessly investigated the truth until she found the evidence and avenged her teammate.
When Cui Ying and First Love finally received the punishment they deserved, Yu Wenqing said publicly, “You two can go somewhere else and start over. But Pei Liang will never have the chance to start over again.”
In the original novel, this was considered a minor climax. It highlighted Yu Wenqing’s qualities: easygoing yet tenacious, steadfast, and deeply loyal.
But now that she was inside the situation, Pei Liang could see that many things were not as they had seemed.
Yu Wenqing had joined the production after the scandal broke. So how could there have been any truth to the claim that she had been filming deep in the mountains, unaware of the public uproar?
Not to mention that even if Pei Liang had never crossed over, the meeting that morning would still have gone ahead as scheduled. The company had known all along about the public reaction—and the fact that Cui Ying’s date was his First Love.
After the original host died, First Love was forced to leave the entertainment industry, and Zhuo Ya inexplicably announced her retirement not long afterward.
The original host’s death had shocked the entire nation. It even became the catalyst for the government to launch a major crackdown on fan culture. As for the group’s future resources, all the benefits somehow ended up going to Yu Wenqing alone.
In that respect, Yu Wenqing was several levels above Wei Yingshu from the previous world.
They chatted for a little over an hour, with Zhuo Ya and Yu Wenqing doing most of the talking. They reminisced about how difficult it had been when they first debuted and about the way they had supported one another back then.
Pei Liang let the words go in one ear and out the other. She did not take any of it seriously, though she also did not openly rain on their parade.
By the end, at least on the surface, the atmosphere among the four had returned to normal.
First Love and Zhuo Ya had engagements the next day, while Yu Wenqing had to pack up and head into the production team that evening. Once they had finished discussing everything, they went their separate ways.
Pei Liang had no intention of staying there. Even in ancient times, apart from the difficult period when she had first joined the bandit-suppression army, she had always lived in at least a large three-courtyard residence.
This tiny apartment made her feel cramped and awkward, as though she could hardly stretch out her arms.
So she had Fang Yuan pack up her personal belongings and take them straight home.
The Pei family lived in a luxurious private villa in a quiet pocket of the bustling city. There were more than a dozen staff members in the household, including maids, bodyguards, and chefs, and they were all rather surprised to see Pei Liang return.
Pei’s dad was not at home, however. Apparently, he had to go out of town for an impromptu meeting. Pei Liang told the maid what she wanted for dinner, then went straight upstairs to her room.
Once seated, she took out her phone and opened Weibo, only to discover that the company had already posted an update from her account.
It was very simple: “Just friends,” accompanied by a photo of a bowl of dog food.
That was not a response. It was a direct provocation.
Cui Ying’s countless fans could practically smell the smug, obnoxious, holier-than-thou attitude through their screens.
The comment section was instantly overrun. In just half an hour, it had accumulated tens of thousands of comments, and the number was still climbing.
Since fans’ behavior was often seen as reflecting on their idols, the comments section, although a complete disaster, contained few outright insults or profanities. Any that did appear were quickly buried by Cui Ying’s biggest fan accounts through coordinated comment control. Ordinary passersby without much patience would never find them.
Pei Liang’s private messages, however, exploded. Her account had already been under attack before the response was posted, so it was easy to imagine what happened afterward.
That post was practically an open declaration of war against all his girlfriend fans. Those fans had astonishing combat power, and before long they had sent Pei Liang straight onto the trending searches.
Pei Liang did not even mind making the whole situation bigger. If Cui Ying had not already been a top star and the incident had not become the hottest topic across every major platform, she would not have minded spending some money to boost the buzz for them.
As things stood, she had saved herself the expense.
During dinner, Zhu Wen called her.
“I’ve negotiated a variety show for you. You’ll be a guest on this week’s episode, and Cui Ying is a regular on the program. It would be perfect for you two to appear together—”
“I’m not going.”
“Didn’t you say you’d follow the company’s arrangements? Are you going back on your word now?”
“Variety shows like that are too exhausting. You have to rehearse in advance and memorize a script. I can’t be bothered.” Pei Liang said, “It’s all staged anyway. Why waste so much energy on it?”
“Isn’t the annual shopping festival coming up? All the major e-commerce platforms will surely be inviting celebrities to do livestream promotions. Cui Ying seems to have confirmed his slot on JD.com a long time ago.”
“Find me one of Taobao’s biggest livestream hosts and arrange for us to appear at the same time. We can interact remotely.”
“It’s better for Cui Ying this way, too. His variety show has a live audience every week, most of whom come specifically for him. That’s an uncontrollable factor. With a shopping livestream, your appearances will be brief, there’ll be no outsiders interfering, and we can control the pace ourselves.”
Zhu Wen thought it over and realized Pei Liang had a point. More importantly, Pei Liang had suddenly become forceful; she had only withdrawn fifty million that day, and Zhu Wen was no longer sure she could strong-arm her into accepting the first option.
So she contacted Cui Ying’s studio. After thinking it over, they also agreed that a remote appearance would be better. After all, Cui Ying’s attitude would be difficult to control in person.
If he appeared too reluctant, people with ulterior motives could spin it as him being discourteous. But if he acted graciously, his fans might become dissatisfied.
With a remote appearance, none of Pei Liang’s reactions could be pinned on Cui Ying. They could explain everything however they liked afterward.
In the end, it was Cui Ying’s studio that contacted Taobao’s biggest livestream host and forced Pei Liang into the lineup, adjusting the schedule so that she would appear at the same time as Cui Ying.
Before the livestream, the company sent over a script. Since the host would be in charge of the program, Pei Liang was essentially there to draw fire, so she did not have to say much about the products themselves.
On the day of the event, Zhu Wen personally came to pick her up for styling.
Pei Liang refused.
Zhu Wen looked at what Pei Liang was wearing: a new black autumn suit from Dior.
Her formerly unruly curly hair had been straightened, and its color had been restored to its original deep black. She had slicked it back into a powerful, swept-back style. Her makeup was clean and understated—she was not wearing bright red lipstick—but her presence had lost none of its force.
A slender cigarette hung from her lips. When she saw Zhu Wen, she treated her no differently from a junior assistant.
“You’re here? Let’s go.”
Zhu Wen had originally prepared a whole speech for the journey, but now every word got stuck in her throat.
When they arrived at the livestream venue, all she managed to say was, “You memorized the script, right? Don’t say anything unnecessary.”
As a top star, Cui Ying’s livestream slot was bound to be excellent—right at the beginning of the event.
Not long after he went live, Pei Liang appeared on Taobao’s stream as well.
Before she came on, the comments had already begun flooding the screen.
“Just Friends, Bitch Pei!”
“Thanks for the dog food, Green-Tea Pei!”
“We’ve been fighting about this for so long, and I still haven’t even seen what she looks like.”
“Easy. Identify her by her chest.”
“Exactly. Identify her by her chest. You all know what I mean.”
“Get lost. I’m a Pei Liang fan.”
“Can the disgusting idol and her disgusting fans get out of the livestream?”
“What is she here to sell? Her body?”
“I deliberately opened two phones—one to watch my oppa’s livestream and one to curse at you.”
If the platform had not strictly enforced civilized commenting during the festival, the messages would probably have been even more obscene.
But when she appeared, many people’s first reaction was to wonder whether the host had announced the wrong name, because she looked completely different from the Pei Liang they remembered.
“Who is this? Did they announce the wrong person?”
“Is this a livestream mistake? Don’t let us accidentally attack the wrong young lady.”
“It is Pei Liang, right? It’s only a different makeup look. You can still recognize her features, but she looks so different.”
“I don’t believe it unless you let me see her chest.”
“I don’t believe it unless you let me see her chest.”
“I don’t believe it unless you let me see her chest.”
“She’s wearing clothes today, so I didn’t recognize her at first.”
“Her fans are just as disgusting as she is.”
The host looked at the storm of hostility filling the screen, then glanced at Pei Liang. Seeing how calm she was, he found himself feeling embarrassed on her behalf for nothing.
After exchanging greetings, the host brought out the products scheduled for that segment. As he interacted with the celebrity guest and sold the items online, the conversation shifted naturally to Cui Ying.
The host joked with effortless wit: “Honestly, we wanted to invite Cui Ying too. If the company had pushed just a little harder, I’d have Pei Liang sitting on my left and Cui Ying on my right right now. The two biggest trending stars of the week, both in my livestream! Tell me, who in the industry has more pull than me?”
The assistant played along. “Then why didn’t you manage to invite him in the end?”
Host: “Because they wanted more money.”
Assistant: “Then pay up! Cui Ying is worth it—he’s definitely worth it.”
Host: “That’s what I thought too. But the boss grabbed me and said earnestly, ‘Little X, this is all the budget we have. We really can’t pay more. If you insist, why don’t you advance it out of your commission first?’”
“So I thought, I’m still young. I shouldn’t care too much about monetary gain or loss. Taking a little risk for the sake of a good decision is worth it.”
“How could I give up my commission over something as trivial as Cui Ying?”
The assistant hurriedly covered the host’s mouth. “There are seventy million followers watching! Do we still want to make it out of this livestream alive?”
This kind of playful teasing was harmless. Cui Ying’s fans wouldn’t get angry after seeing it; if anything, it would only highlight how magnanimous his enormous fanbase was. Haha.
Next, the host asked Pei Liang, “Speaking of which, are you and Cui Ying pretty close in private?”
Pei Liang smiled cryptically. “You could say I know him fairly well.”
The moment those words came out, Cui Ying’s girlfriend fans exploded. Quite a few of them couldn’t hold back and sent abusive comments, only to be banned.
The host continued, “Everyone knows that over the past two years, quite a lot of fans have been concerned about Cui Ying’s love life.”
Cui Ying wanted to enjoy the benefits of being an idol and therefore didn’t dare announce a relationship. But he wasn’t exactly young anymore, and his studio often slipped out press releases hinting at the matter.
For example, Cui Ying complaining that no girls were interested in him, or Cui Ying being turned away by his parents because he couldn’t bring a girlfriend home for New Year’s.
They had pulled plenty of similar tricks—playing on fans’ sympathy while leaving his girlfriend fans plenty of room for wishful thinking.
So the host asked with a smile, “The New Year is only a little over two months away. If Cui Ying still can’t find a girlfriend, I’m afraid he’ll be kicked out of his own home again.”
“What exactly is his ideal type?”
Here it comes!
The company’s script had specified that, at this point, Pei Liang’s description should resemble her as closely as possible, subtly implying that she herself was Cui Ying’s ideal type.
At the same time, Cui Ying’s livestream had reached the same topic.
Those watching both livestreams on two phones at once saw that when Cui Ying heard the question, he gave a shy, dreamy smile.
There even seemed to be a faint blush on his face, sending the fans in his livestream into such excitement that they nearly fainted.
Cui Ying thought for a moment before answering, “I haven’t thought that far ahead. But as for the type of girl I like…”
“Someone who smiles a lot and is warm and enthusiastic. Ideally, she should like small animals too, since I have a dog at home.”
Anyone professionally familiar with this sort of thing would understand what that answer meant. It was aimed squarely at the majority of his girlfriend fans. Every trait was so ordinary that it gave them ample room to imagine themselves in the role.
Over on Pei Liang’s side, she answered almost the instant his voice fell silent.
“Cui Ying’s ideal type? Rich and beautiful. Having either one is enough.”
The host’s expression briefly twisted. This wasn’t what the script said at all.
But he was, after all, the most popular host in the country, and today’s livestream had attracted nationwide attention. It had only just begun, and even if the livestream had gone off the rails, he had no choice but to smooth things over himself.
So he hastily tried to salvage the situation. “Who doesn’t like a rich and beautiful young lady? I’m asking about the details.”
“For example, someone who smiles a lot—”
“Smiling isn’t the point. What matters is whether she looks good when she smiles,” Pei Liang said. “Cui Ying once said that he gets weak whenever a girl smiles at him.”
“Then what about being warm and enthusiastic?”
“He does like that, actually. After all, fan support, donating money, doing free promotional work—without enthusiasm, who could keep that up?”
“Ha-ha. I think Cui Ying once said he wanted a girl who liked small animals…”
“Of course he does. He’s already managed to let three dogs die. Every time one dies, he has to find another that looks exactly the same. Even when he posts photos, he has to be careful not to let anyone notice the details are different. He should find someone who likes animals and let the poor dogs off the hook.”
The host was even more awkward now and could only laugh loudly. “Are your private jokes always this entertaining?”
Pei Liang looked completely innocent. “I don’t know whether we were joking. I only heard it from his girlfriend.”
The entire internet seemed to fall silent for one second—then exploded.
