"Ding-dong! System 030 is now online. Dear host Su Zhiyi, it's a pleasure to see you again. Welcome to the new world. 030 will accompany you to successfully complete the mission in this world!"
"Zzz—World number SU39 mission has been issued. Please review, host!"
[Background: You are a young lady from a prestigious Beijing family who entered the entertainment industry to experience life, known in the entertainment circle for your beauty and wealthy persona.]
[Unfortunately, your identity as a 'young lady from a prestigious Beijing family who entered the entertainment industry to experience life and will have to return to inherit a hundred billion family fortune if you quit' is a persona crafted by your company.]
[In reality, you are an ordinary person from the countryside. Just after graduating from university, at a naive and impressionable age, you accidentally signed with a shady company, agreeing to an unfair contract. Over the years, all the money you earned in the entertainment industry has been taken by the shady company.]
[Moreover, you are a vase actress with beauty, but when it comes to singing, you only have beauty, and when it comes to acting, you only have beauty. You are a trending little flower entangled with both positive and negative publicity.]
[Mission: Maintain your persona of a young lady from a prestigious Beijing family in the entertainment industry. Do not let anyone discover that your persona is fake. Survive one year of disguise to clear the mission.]
[Mission Reward: Three million.]
#SuZhiyiActsTerribly#
#SuZhiyiNewDramaReleases#
#EntertainmentActorsActingRanking#
All three trending topics feature Su Zhiyi, two of them with her full name. The buzz is moderate, lingering at the tail end of the trending list.
[Xinxin Entertainment Gossip V: #EntertainmentActorsActingRanking# This year's netizen-voted acting ranking is out! Best Actor Pei Yan takes first place again. Check if your favorites made the list!] Most comments are from die-hard fans of hugely popular stars controlling the narrative, with some normal comments mixed in. Su Zhiyi scrolls through and finally finds a few comments about herself.
[Netizen A: Went to watch her new drama for Su Zhiyi's face again. Took one look, so bad, ew—another look, so bad, ew—]
[Netizen B: Can a ghost with decent acting skills please possess this young lady? Her acting really ruins her face. It's a pity her looks have no substitute in domestic entertainment. I thought the supply of beauties replenished fast here?]
[Netizen C: Be grateful. At least her face makes it watchable. Yesterday I watched a male actor with a shoehorn face in a historical fantasy drama, playing a once-in-a-millennium, androgynous beauty. Almost made me puke out last night's dinner.]
[Netizen D: Watched Best Actor Pei's new movie. He's so young, stunningly handsome, and such a great actor. How can there be such a perfect man in the world?]
[Netizen E: Kind of want to see Su Zhiyi and Best Actor Pei in a historical fantasy drama. The combination of a handsome man and a beautiful woman is so pleasing to the eye.]
[Netizen F: Can a no-name with terrible acting stop leeching? A vase actress who bought her way into the cast is worthy of acting with Brother Pei? Brother Pei only does good dramas and movies, not assembly-line idol dramas.]
[Netizen G: But Su Zhiyi is indeed pretty. If only she didn't act and just stayed a vase.]
[Netizen H: Isn't Su Zhiyi the Beijing young lady who entered the entertainment industry because she doesn't want to inherit the family business? Isn't she just playing around? Filming is just a pastime for the young lady.]
Su Zhiyi feels more and more aggrieved reading these comments.
She closes Weibo, opens a video app, searches for a fan-made video of herself, and while admiring her own stunning beauty in the video, questions System 030: "Is my acting really that bad?"
System 030 stares intently at the video on Su Zhiyi's phone.
Most of the dramas Su Zhiyi has acted in are romance-oriented idol dramas full of eye candy. Her co-stars are mostly traffic stars with acting as bad as hers but equally good-looking. Though these dramas are terrible, gathering a bunch of traffic stars and adding some promotion makes them earn more money than normal dramas.
In the video, Su Zhiyi is beautiful, but her acting is truly hard to watch. Her fans tried to edit it to look better, but it still can't hide her atrocious acting. Other professional actors act with their eyes as if they speak. Su Zhiyi acts—shock means wide eyes, sadness means wide eyes, disappointment means wide eyes. Luckily, she is so pretty that even when her eyes are wide like copper bells, her looks don't crack; she remains breathtakingly beautiful, making her male co-star look like a gourd spirit.
Having acted in so many terrible dramas, many people naturally remember the name Su Zhiyi. Plus, domestic entertainment is harsh on female stars—every flaw is amplified. A vase actress with bad acting can attract countless malicious haters even without other scandals. She has many haters.
"Host, don't be so hard on yourself..." System 030 dares not criticize its dear host's acting and can only say euphemistically.
"Sigh..." Su Zhiyi sighs and doesn't force the system to say insincere words.
The fan video on her phone finishes playing. Just then, a call comes in.
The screen reads 'Sister Xie.'
She answers the call.
"Hello, Sister Xie. What's up?"
A capable female voice comes through the phone.
"The company has assigned you two important tasks. Check the files I sent you, and after you read them, I'll explain in detail."
"Okay, Sister Xie. I'll look right now."
Su Zhiyi exits the call interface and opens WeChat to view the two files Xie Mengran sent her.
This is her current agent, Xie Mengran. She was tricked into the company by her previous agent. Within two months of joining, that agent got into debt trouble and went to jail. Xie Mengran is the second agent the company assigned her, a no-nonsense person and one of the few decent people in this shady company.
They don't talk much, only about work. Unlike the company boss and previous agent who constantly gaslighted her—saying 'black-and-red is still red,' 'training you costs money,' 'a good actor shouldn't always think about money,' 'you should improve your acting'—Xie Mengran is fair.
If not for the shady company and her previous agent tricking her into signing an unfair contract, she would have run away long ago. Fortunately, with Xie Mengran, life hasn't been too unbearable since she took over—except that all her money gets swallowed by the shady company and she can't save a cent, but she can get by.
Su Zhiyi quickly browses the files Xie Mengran sent: "I have no problem with the script, but this... uh... a celebrity couple CP with a wealthy brother and sister?"
Xie Mengran sent her a script for a TV drama supporting role she had auditioned for before. The director is a famous director of popular idol dramas, known for many hit idol dramas. The male and female leads are traffic stars inserted by investors, plus other supporting roles... In short, it's another drama gathering traffic stars.
It's perfect for her to contribute some traffic too.
As for the celebrity couple CP... Hmm, why does the name of this male star she's supposed to pair with look familiar?
Xie Mengran says, "About the CP thing? The company weighed the pros and cons, and I figured you probably wouldn't mind a staged CP, so I've already accepted it on your behalf."
Su Zhiyi stares at the familiar name in the file and asks worriedly, "Then does this person... Jiang Yuanheng... agree?"
She asks Xie Mengran, then turns to command System 030: "030, look up Jiang Yuanheng's info."
"Received! Checking immediately!" System 030 responds.
Xie Mengran says, "He and his company certainly agree. Our side accepted because you two know each other, and they also want you to leech off his popularity."
"Jiang Yuanheng is a rising powerhouse singer. Most of his fans are career-focused. As long as the CP doesn't affect his career, his fans won't complain. Of course, some toxic fans will definitely curse you. The company thinks since you're already on a black-red path, you might as well stir up drama and purify the fanbase."
Su Zhiyi feels sorry not only for herself but also for her fans—being cursed and manipulated for fan purification.
"They really don't treat me like a human," Su Zhiyi says, utterly speechless at the shady company.
Hearing the despair in Su Zhiyi's voice, Xie Mengran adds, "You can also choose not to accept. If you don't want to pair with him, I'll go tell them. With me around, they won't force you."
"Mm, wait a moment, Sister Xie. Let me think about it."
Su Zhiyi wants to wait for System 030 to finish checking Jiang Yuanheng's info before deciding.
After telling Xie Mengran, she immediately urges System 030, who is frantically searching: "Got the info yet? Hurry, hurry! Waiting for your reply."
"Oh! Done!"
System 030 organizes the information and reports it to Su Zhiyi in one breath.
"Jiang Yuanheng is the youngest son of the prestigious Jiang family in Beijing. He studied music abroad in high school, then returned to China to participate in a singer talent show, won first place, and debuted. Since then, his career has been smooth sailing."
"He's the most favored youngest son of the wealthy Jiang family, after all. His family fully supports his career, providing resources and paving the way. Plus, he's talented, so now he's incredibly popular in the entertainment industry."
"By the way, host, he studied half a semester at a domestic high school before going abroad. Coincidentally, he went to the same high school as you—he's your junior in this world. You were a senior in your third year, he was a freshman in his first year. You had a few brief interactions back then."
Su Zhiyi suddenly realizes.
No wonder Xie Mengran said she and Jiang Yuanheng knew each other. They really did. She had forgotten.
A former senior and junior, the beloved youngest son of the wealthy Jiang family...
Pairing with Jiang Yuanheng in a 'wealthy brother and sister' CP... doesn't seem bad?
"Zhiyi, have you decided?" Xie Mengran's voice prompts her, noticing she's been silent.
After careful consideration, Su Zhiyi decisively accepts.
"I've decided, Sister Xie. Please send me his contact info. I'll add him and chat first, then you can tell me the detailed arrangements."