Everything was clearly planned, but Su Jishi’s heart was flooded with an inexplicable anxiety.
She hated everything.
She hated that every step she took was watched by countless people; she hated that everything she did (whether good or bad) was infinitely magnified; she hated that being in the entertainment industry, even falling in love and getting married were subject to manipulation.
What made her feel most anxious was that…
…Until now, Mu Xiulun still did not know that she was not ‘Su Jin’.
What was the point of having a ‘fake relationship’ with a ‘fake person’?
*
The last dress rehearsal for the New Year’s Eve gala on Channel B was on Christmas night.
Su Jishi was present this time, and when she walked into the backstage, she could clearly perceive countless pairs of eyes falling on her. They were glued to her body, observing her every move.
Xiao Xia tried to use her small frame to block those probing eyes that wanted to watch the fun, but Su Jishi tapped her shoulder and said indifferently, “Let them look if they want. I won’t lose a piece of flesh, letting them take a few more glances.”
Su Jin’s dressing room was with the other three Little Flowers. Except Xu Yadan, who had never dealt with her, the other two Little Flowers greeted her with a smile. They feigned being good sisters and came to take a selfie with her.
The entertainment industry was filled with such human interest. In particular, the higher you climb, the more you should know how to deal with people. They didn’t care about the relationship between Su Jin and the young President Mu. There was no need for them to draw a line with her for a little scandal.
But Xu Yadan’s persona was too similar to Su Jin. When she first debuted, she was an innocent little flower, and had always beaten her brains out to fight over resources. In the last six months, in particular, Su Jin began to gradually shift course to a higher-end direction and took a step forward. Compared to Xu Yadan, who made no headway, she looked extra pathetic.
Xu Yadan spoke, her voice dripping with acid, “Su Jin, ah, I heard the program screenwriter say that your pipa solo has been changed to a soundtrack. Is it true?”
“Yeah.” Su Jishi frankly raised her left hand, showing a thick bandage that was wrapped around her left wrist, emitting a strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine. “I accidentally hurt my wrist. It’s swollen and couldn’t be moved. My agent has communicated with the Chief Director. When the time comes, they’ll play the soundtrack directly instead of a close shot view.”
Su Jishi wasn’t feigning illness. When she slipped the little boy down from her horse that day, she accidentally sprained her wrist because she pulled the kid with one hand. At that time, she just felt a dull pain, but by the next day, her wrist was swollen into a small bun. Her injury was so severe that she could no longer play the pipa. Since she was worried that she’d have no excuse to save her from the fear of ‘playing cotton((a colloquial term relating to monotonous and repetitive musical instrument performance))’, so she hurriedly took this opportunity to change her pipa solo to a pipa accompaniment.
By then, she only needed to feign playing the pipa. Regardless of whether she was playing Happy Birthday, Little Star, or Two Tigers, the audience would hear the《Zhaojun Goes Out of the Frontier》.
It was a blessing in disguise.
The costume assistant brought in four sets of clothes, all of which were long, satin, fairy-like dresses. The four Little Flowers changed in turn, and with the tinkling of the rings and pendants, they turned into the delicate women in ancient picture books in the blink of an eye.
Xu Yadan was playing Xi Shi. She was going to dance a song 《Huansha Dance》((literally Washing Silk Dance, you can watch an example here)) today. A long aqua blue dress was wrapped around her waist, and the stylist gave her a falling-off-the-horse bun, adding a languid beauty to her appearance. She originally took the innocent route, so when she depicted it, even the staff quietly took out their phones to secretly photograph her.
Xu Yadan was inwardly pleased, but she didn’t betray a trace of it. She even said modestly, “I hope I won’t disappoint my fans.”
Sadly, this complacency only lasted for three minutes. When Su Jishi, who was holding a pipa, stepped out from the dressing room, it was as if all the lights on the stage instantly focused on her.
Wang Zhaojun’s most classic dress as a cape inlaid with white fur on the edges. The fluffy white fur surrounded Su Jin’s neck, accentuating her exquisite appearance and outstanding temperament. In history, Wang Zhaojun was no ordinary weak woman. She married far away into the Xiongnu((an ancient nationality in China)) and lived in the borders for nearly twenty years, so she had a decisive and resolute nature. And Wang Zhaojun’s beauty was aptly expressed by Su Jishi, whose eyes were full of the desolation and expansiveness of the desert instead of tenderness and love.
Su Jishi’s eyes swept over the crowd, and those little girls who accompanied her in the dance blushed under her gaze and hung their heads in shyness.
Seeing that Su Jishi once again took away the crowd’s attention, Xu Yadan gritted her teeth in hatred. But in front of the staff on the scene, she couldn’t show her inner jealousy, and instead falsely praised her, “Miss Su, you’re so beautiful.”
In conformity with the rules of ‘courtesy’, Su Jishi should reasonably also praise her dress. However, Su Jishi didn’t heed the common rules and calmly said: “Yeah, I also think I am quite beautiful.”
…This topic was instantly terminated.
Fortunately, the rehearsals proceeded smoothly. It was just that they encountered some unexpected situations during the actual rehearsal of the show. The Chief Screenwriter and the Chief Scheduler discussed the situation and decided to let several artists go backstage to rest and wait until all the shows were rehearsed once, and then finally go through with them in detail.
It was just that this would definitely keep everyone up until the latter part of the night.
However, they sure had to work seriously since they had taken payment from others. The four Little Flowers raised no objection and returned to the lounge to catch some shut-eye.
After leaving the sight of the staff, Xu Yadan’s original form surfaced. She directly occupied the most comfortable sofa in the lounge and dominantly set up a row of live streaming equipment on the coffee table. She commanded her assistant to set up her phone while pretending to ask: “Sorry, I have a live event tonight that I promised my fans a long time ago. I really can’t delay any longer. Do you guys mind?”
She signed a sky-high promotion contract with a fashion app not long ago, and she entered the app as a ‘fashion star’. For the first six months of the contract, she had to live-stream at least twice a month to interact with her fans. The promotion contract was also handed to Su Jishi before, but Su Jishi was not interested in this kind of thing at all, so she let Fang Xie push it off for her.
Live streaming sounded glamorous, but it was actually extraordinarily tiring, as you have to talk to the camera all the time. The live stream would last at least thirty minutes, which meant that Xu Yadan had to chatter in front of the camera for at least half an hour.
The other two girls said they didn’t mind, but Su Jishi responded bluntly, “Can you not live stream in the public lounge?”
Peek-Aboo 
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