“You’d better be joking.”
Xi Ruqian’s gloomy gaze fixed on Gu Nanci.
“I’m being serious,” Gu Nanci replied calmly.
But in Xi Ruqian’s eyes, those beautiful dark pupils now spelled out four big words:
Utterly foolish!
Xi Ruqian took a deep breath, unable to hold back a cold tone. “Continue on stage? You? What can you even do up there? Stand there like a wooden post again? Don’t you know your own limits?”
“This matter isn’t up for discussion. If you want to stay in the entertainment industry, listen to my arrangements and withdraw from the competition!”
“And if I say no?” Gu Nanci lifted her gaze lazily, her tone playful.
“…Gu Nanci, I’m not trying to harm you.” Xi Ruqian’s face completely darkened, the usual gentle and refined mask stripped away to reveal his true cold and indifferent face.
“You’ve gotten this far because of my planning. Though lazy and foolish, you were obedient, so I was willing to invest effort in shaping you, giving you fame comparable to top-tier stars.”
But if one day, this creation stopped obeying…
A rose full of risks, no matter how vibrant, he wouldn’t dare cultivate.
This was his life creed that had taken him from a zero-failure-rate golden agent to the top public relations director in an industry rife with scandals and collapses.
Gu Nanci raised an eyebrow, speaking dismissively, “Seems we can’t reach an agreement.”
Xi Ruqian said gravely, “…I thought our goals were aligned.”
Hearing this, Gu Nanci almost understood—this Xi Ruqian was the “mastermind” behind pushing the original owner into becoming the target of widespread online hate.
“Well, I’m truly sorry. If your idea of alignment is being an emotionless commodity for you to manipulate, I can’t agree,” Gu Nanci scoffed coldly.
The original owner, with no other choice, might have seen Xi Ruqian as a lifeline to escape, only to walk further down the wrong path.
But she wasn’t like that!
She, Gu Nanci, would never be a packaged puppet on stage!
Xi Ruqian laughed in anger. “Fine! Very good! Manipulated by me? For two years, you’ve at least had the decency to put in some effort, giving me something to hype!”
With that, Xi Ruqian was completely disillusioned.
Expressionless, he coldly announced, “Since you insist on walking a dead-end path, there’s no need for me to stop you. From now on, I won’t interfere in your affairs.”
“But since we’ve worked together once, as the one who discovered you, I’ll give you a reminder: don’t forget that performance-based contract. You have less than a year left!”
After speaking, he turned away, his eyes filled with disgust, as if staying another second would taint him.
“…”
Gu Nanci froze in place.
…What the heck is this???
A performance-based contract?!
Having experienced the life of a penniless person with only a couple hundred to her name, Gu Nanci panicked for a second.
She quickly searched her memory for any information about the contract.
Absolutely nothing.
It probably wasn’t the original owner but the brother who replaced her before.
Gu Nanci’s face remained expressionless, but her mind was in turmoil.
She couldn’t understand—in her past life, she had been diligent, hardworking, and serious, pouring her utmost passion into every performance for her fans regardless of the circumstances, unquestionably the industry’s hardest worker…
What sin had she committed to end up cleaning up someone else’s mess like this!
Her head throbbed with pain. Gu Nanci pressed her forehead, deciding to set aside investigating the performance-based contract for now, as the upcoming public performance loomed before her.
Crunch—
The practice room door was pushed open.
“You’re here so early?” Cheng Yang’s voice was clearly surprised.
“Gu Nanci, you’re back!” Behind him, Wen Jiuyi, who had followed him in, exclaimed with delight.
As he spoke, he ran forward, slinging an arm over Gu Nanci’s shoulder. Lowering his voice to avoid Cheng Yang, he asked with concern:
“How are you? Is your injury any better?”
Then, he added a complaint, “Man, Cheng Yang is so annoying, constantly nagging and asking about your whereabouts. If you don’t recover soon, I really won’t be able to keep covering for you…”
“But seriously, why hide it if you’re injured?” Wen Jiuyi didn’t understand.
However, the things that happened to Gu Nanci were so bizarre to a certain extent that after seeing it so often, Wen Jiuyi had gone from accepting it as normal to rationalizing it himself.
He sighed, unable to help but feel heartache, not understanding why Gu Nanci would even hide basic injuries and then endure a bunch of unwarranted ridicule and criticism for no reason.
Unaware that Wen Jiuyi had already played out a whole tragic drama in his mind.
Gu Nanci brushed it off casually.
Ha! This is definitely not something to talk about!
Otherwise, it would drag in Gu Xiao, Gu Zhaofeng, and a whole series of other matters! By then, her identity would be exposed, leading to another pile of sky-high debts!
…Oh right, plus that ridiculous bet agreement from the original body’s brother with some unknown terms!
Gu Nanci sighed inwardly with melancholy.
How did this mess of debts keep growing!
Wen. Overthinking and getting carried away. Jiu. Immersed in his own world. Yi: …Tragic! So tragic!
The three of them sat down in a circle.
Cheng Yang handed Gu Nanci the lyrics, with one section marked in red pen and the character “Gu” written at the top. “This is your part. Wen Jiuyi and I have already practiced most of it together. You can start practicing it now, and if there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask me.”
“Oh, and did you watch the dance video I sent you earlier? You should be able to roughly pick it up…”
As he spoke, Cheng Yang slowly paused.
He facepalmed, unsurprised to see Gu Nanci’s frozen, bewildered gaze.
Cheng Yang said with a headache, “Forget it, I’ll teach you later. I didn’t assign you many moves, just remember your positions. It should only take about an hour.”
“No problem! If there’s anything you don’t know, just come to me anytime! Brother Wen will teach you!” Wen Jiuyi, still immersed in his role as the savior of the tragic little victim, said enthusiastically.
“Alright, I’ll practice it a couple of times first and see how it goes.” Gu Nanci rubbed her temples, having been completely overwhelmed the past few days.
Fortunately, she had taken advantage of the gaps to practice some basics, so she had a basic familiarity with her body. Combined with the muscle memory from her past life, which was ingrained to the bone, picking it back up shouldn’t be too difficult.
Cheng Yang didn’t push further, only giving a final deadline: “Since time is tight, I can only wait for you until tonight at the latest. We have to rehearse together tonight to see how it looks. Tomorrow, we’ll record the accompaniment, and tomorrow night is the deadline for submitting it. The day after tomorrow is the dress rehearsal and the actual performance.”
He paused for a second, then added a reminder: “Oh, and don’t forget to submit the accompaniment for your solo performance…”
Suddenly, he sensed the atmosphere wasn’t quite right.
Cheng Yang’s gaze turned intense: “Don’t tell me you haven’t prepared your solo performance yet!”