Chapter 21

The original owner of this body was called Jiang Wan. She lived in a second-tier[1] city. When she was ten, her parents passed away in an accident and she had to go live with her paternal uncle. Because her parents had died in an accident, there was quite a bit in insurance pay-outs. That money should have been enough for her to finish studying University. However, her uncle’s family didn’t treat her well. The money was taken by them and she was treated like a servant by the family. They didn’t even pay her University fees.

Jiang Wan worked as she studied in high school. However, in her third year of high school, her uncle planned on marrying her off to a man in his forties. Jiang Wan didn’t wish for her life to be ruined just like that so she ran away from home.

Afraid of her uncle’s family finding her, Jiang Wan steeled her heart and went to a first-tier city, Qing City. When she reached the city, she managed to enter the entertainment industry through a series of coincidences. At first, she was just playing the part of disposable mob characters but because she looked pretty good and had fairly good luck, she managed to snag characters such as maidservants which got more screen time.

Afterwards she managed to land a second supporting female lead[2] role. Because that character was likeable and the fact that it was a young adult TV drama, when it aired, Jiang Wan managed to earn herself some fame. This allowed her to sign a contract with a company in the entertainment industry, Dongfang Entertainment.

And it was also because of this that Jiang Wan met the reason why her life turned into a tragedy – Dongfang Entertainment’s President, Xi Mo.

He was this world’s male lead.

Jiang Wan was really just caught in the crossfire. She was merely a shield for the female lead.

The female lead was called Xia Man. Xia Man had known Xi Mo since they were kids. However, Xia Man went abroad after graduating from senior middle school. Xi Mo felt that Xia Man had betrayed the promise between them and so his personality changed from a warm man[3] into a domineering CEO whose moods were unpredictable. Yet at around the time Jiang Wan entered Dongfang Entertainment, Xia Man returned and entered the entertainment industry.

The first time the leads met since Xia Man came back, Jiang Wan just so happened to be passing by. She was grabbed by Xi Mo who told Xia Man she was his girlfriend. Xia Man left in anger and Xi Mo just left Jiang Wan there while he stalked off.

The next day, Xi Mo’s assistant came to her and arranged the best agent and support team for her. It appeared like Xi Mo was planning on bringing her to the peak of fame. Xi Mo’s request, was that in return, she would pretend to be his girlfriend whenever he required her to do so.

Jiang Wan was a penniless 18^th ranked actress[4] with no backing, had a timid personality due to living under someone else’s roof for so long and was used to listening to others. Xi Mo was the big boss, so of course she didn’t dare to disobey him.

She carefully remained by Xi Mo’s side, not daring to have any extravagant wishes about liking Xi Mo.

Yes, you heard that right. In Jiang Wan’s heart, Xi Mo was like a god who she could never measure up to. So much so that her own likes were as lowly as dust. Liking Xi Mo was simply ludicrous luxury.

Under Xi Mo’s ‘protection’ her career in that period of time was the smoothest it had ever been. However, it was followed by exclusion, sneers and people making things difficult for her on purpose…

She had received a lot of torment wherever Xi Mo’s eyes couldn’t reach. Xi Mo’s motive was to let Jiang Wan attract the attention of the biggest female antagonist of this story. Which she succeeded in doing.

Under the cover Jiang Wan provided, Xi Mo and Xia Man got back together again. When people finally started to notice something, Xia Man was already famous.

While Xia Man became famous, Jiang Wan had to deal with nude pictures of herself, rumours about her doing drugs and participating in orgies circulating. All sorts of false accusations were planted on her head and her personal information was revealed online. Countless people were shouting at her to get out of the entertainment circle and scram from Earth.

Jiang Wan hid at home and didn’t dare to come out. However, she hadn’t expected her uncle’s family to show up on her doorstep and attempt to extort her for money.

Jiang Wan didn’t really have much in the way of savings. When she was being ‘protected’ by Xi Mo, although she looked very glamorous, the contract she signed with the company was the lowest level one where most of the money she earned was taken as commission. She also needed to spend her own money to attend all sorts of acting classes. All her make-up and outfits were also paid for with her own money. With all these, it was no surprise she wasn’t able to take out any spare money.

Jiang Wan didn’t give them any money so her uncle’s family began defaming her on the internet and saying that she did stuff which she hadn’t done. This forced Jiang Wan over the edge.

Perhaps the only time in her life that she had been decisive was at the time of her death. She collapsed in front of reporters and left behind this sentence, “The most malicious thing in the world is the human heart. It can send you to Heaven yet at the same time can also knock you into Hell in a single night.”

Jiang Wan only had three wishes. One was that her uncle’s family get their comeuppance. The second was that she wanted the villain responsible for her plight {antagonist in this novel} to experience all that she had. Lastly, she wanted to stand at the peak of the entertainment circle.

There wasn’t anything to do with this world’s protagonists in her last wishes.

When Shi Sheng processed all this information, her chest felt stuffy. It took a while for her to feel better.

‘This person… was a bit dumb.’ This was Shi Sheng’s first reaction. Following that, she felt that the author probably broke the character she was trying to write when she wrote Jiang Wan.

As a supporting female character, this person didn’t have any of the usual maluses that came with a usual one. She was just a bit lacking in self-confidence, had a group of terrible relatives while holding a dream in her heart. This setting was more like that of the female lead’s best friend. A proper storyline would go like this: The female lead helps her resolve her group of terrible relatives and helps her to change into a more confident person. They then lived happily ever after.

But for the sake of emphasizing how much the male lead loved and doted on the female lead, the author forcefully did this to the character, causing it to feel very jarring!

‘This is why authors who are their protagonist’s biological mothers are terrifying.’

Shi Sheng cleaned up before leaving the restroom. The members of the filming crew had already started returning from the break as they returned to their positions.

She had come a bit late though not too late. It was at the time when she had just received Xi Mo’s ‘protection’. Today she was on the filming set of a TV drama the agent who Xi Mo had arranged for her picked out. Her role was the supporting female lead.

This TV drama was adapted from a novel. After it aired, the response was pretty abysmal compared to other drama. This was because the plot was rather badly constructed and had no shining points. And because people on the set deliberately made things difficult for her, Jiang Wan hadn’t performed too well. This TV drama became a dark spot on Jiang Wan’s history and people said it was because of her that this TV drama was ruined.

Shi Sheng ignored the director’s infuriated roars as she let the makeup artist help her to put on makeup to cover up the swelling on her face.

“Sluts are such pussies[5].”

Shi Sheng looked up at the speaker, the woman who slapped her: Lin Shanshan.

This woman was a pretty important character. Of this book which consisted of around a million {1,000,000} or so words, she managed to last for around 500,000 words in. This woman bravely undertook the responsibility of being the villain in the early parts of the story, making countless sacrifices for the sake of cannon fodder and villains everywhere.

She was also under Dongfang Entertainment and was the one currently being promoted by the company in this period. She had been planning on recommending someone else for this role but the company arranged for Jiang Wan to take it instead. That was where the enmity between Lin Shanshan and Jiang Wan began.

“Lin Shanshan, I have marked down this slap for you.” Shi Sheng pointed at the makeup-covered swelling on her face as a ruthless glint flashed in her eyes.

For some reason, Lin Shanshan felt shivers run down her spine. Those eyes which had previously been full of insecurities and weaknesses were now as dark and threatening as a wolf’s, deterring others from meeting that gaze.

When Lin Shanshan finally awoke from her daze, Shi Sheng had already walked off.

Lin Shanshan rubbed her chest. “Why did that little slut’s gaze suddenly turn scary? Hmph, she thinks she can scare me with just a look, does she take me for a vegetarian[6]!”

The makeup artist pretended not to hear what Lin Shanshan said as she packed up and left.

[1] Cities are tiered in China. It goes in descending order: Capital (Beijing)>First-tier>Second-tier>Third-tier. The difference is in the relative wealth of its inhabitants and its population size. Correct me if I’m wrong.

[2] In the raws, it says ‘女三’, which is the third most important female lead. It goes in descending order of importance: Lead->Supporting lead->Second supporting lead

[3] ‘暖男’ or ‘nuan3nan2’ literally means warm man. It’s used to describe men who are warm, kind and caring.

[4] Celebrities are arranged into ranks based on their fame and popularity. I think 18 is the lowest. The one rank higher than rank 1 is one that has won the ‘Best Actor’/’影帝’ or ‘Best Actress’/’影后’ Award. I think anyone more interested in this should go check out I Really Am A Superstar. I think they explain better?

[5] The raws said ‘矫情’ which is like delicate/prissy/unable to put up with hardship. But none of those really… fit? So… we got this which I think fits best.

[6] Usually, /carnivore = brave/ while vegetarian = coward

Author’s note:

There were some little angels who had doubts about why my protagonist was so amazing. *cough* There is a reason for that and it’ll be written later on. Just take it that it’s her cheat.

And because she’s already OP, I didn’t let System give her any more hacks (I won’t admit it’s for the sake of allowing her to dominate System later on.)

Do not doubt that Chu Tang is the male lead. Of course, his name will be different later on. Just look for the key words ‘Hidden Quest’.

(This is actually the story of the rehabilitation plan of two scumbags. Let’s see who can be scummier. Of course, scumbags take a lot of time to fall in love so of course it isn’t going to be love at first sight. It’s not a tragedy, I swear it’s not. The scumbag protagonists are just currently in the ‘hate’ phase of their love-hate relationship~)

It’s my birthday today, more updates coming up later~

Translator’s Corner:

‘…bravely undertook the responsibility of being the villain in the early parts of the story, making countless sacrifices for the sake of cannon fodder and villains everywhere.’

Was it just me who found this hilarious?