#Shu Zi, the other woman# Explosive
#Shize and Shu Zi’s couple ship is over# Explosive
#Shu Zi stole the boyfriend of rising star Fang Yutong!# Explosive
#Shu Zi, get out of the entertainment industry#
“Shu! Zi! Get up! Right now! This instant! Immediately!!”
Like a thunderclap, Shu Zi shot upright in bed, her hair a mess. She stared blankly—
Who am I? Where am I?
“Shu Zi, where are you?! Do you know the rumors are flying everywhere? How can you still be asleep?!”
Oh, right. Today was the second day of being falsely accused of being the other woman.
The furious voice on the phone kept going. Shu Zi hurriedly picked it up and said with a fawning smile, “Good morning, Sister Wen!”
Sister Wen’s full name was Lan Manwen. She was Shu Zi’s top agent, and she was great in every way—except that she was a little loud.
“I’m not doing well at all! Get up right now. I’ll be at your place in ten minutes, and I expect to find you all ready by then.”
“Yes! Mission guaranteed!”
After hanging up, Shu Zi sighed and got up to wash and get ready.
She’d originally wanted to be a laid-back, obscure actress, but her team was just too capable, and she’d successfully made it into the ranks of third-tier stars.
Shu Zi shot to fame in the industry thanks to Beneath the Bright Moon. The female lead she played, Su Yexue, became a sensation with her strong-yet-tragic character, while Yu Shize, who played the male lead, also gained some popularity for his puppy-like character.
The couple’s fans, who called them “Shize and Shu Zi,” kept growing in number. After learning that they were both single, their teams decided to seize the opportunity and promptly signed a confidential contract to fake a relationship. They would play it up in public and keep their distance in private, for a term of one year.
But before the year was even up, something happened on Yu Shize’s end.
Two days ago, rising star Fang Yutong suddenly went live and cried her eyes out, saying that an artist in the industry had stolen her boyfriend.
Then so-called “insiders” revealed that the person in question was Shu Zi.
Fang Yutong’s “Tong Family Army” and netizens who didn’t bother to find out the facts immediately stormed Shu Zi’s Weibo.
As a result, she also lost several endorsement deals.
Shu Zi: ???
She’d been sleeping at home, and somehow the blame had fallen on her from the sky.
She really couldn’t even.
As a 5G surfing expert, Shu Zi promptly started a livestream and invited Fang Yutong to join her.
Then, under Shu Zi’s relentless questioning, Fang Yutong couldn’t say a single word. She only cried even harder, tears streaming down her face, sobbing uncontrollably as she kept saying:
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
She made it look as though Shu Zi had done something terrible to her. Left with no other choice, Shu Zi moved on to Weibo’s comment section and went three hundred rounds with the haters.
In the end, the company took her account away.
Shu Zi: …
“Ding-dong—”
Shu Zi had just put on a face mask when the doorbell rang. She got up and went to answer the door.
“Surprise! Sister Zizi, are you okay?”
Shu Zi gave a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Little Zhizi, if you keep popping out of nowhere like that, your Sister Zizi won’t be okay. You’re going to lose a cute, generous, beautiful, gentle, kind Sister Zizi.”
“Oh, if you can say all that, then I guess you’re fine. You’re still the same old Sister Zizi.”
The speaker was Shu Zi’s assistant, Fang Zhizi.
Shu Zi: …
She really couldn’t even.
“Are you two standing in the doorway to work as doormen?” Lan Manwen called as she came up behind them.
“Sister Wen! You’re here! We were waiting for you!” Shu Zi put on a beaming smile.
“Yes, yes, we were waiting for you!” Fang Zhizi chimed in with a nod.
Lan Manwen couldn’t be bothered to say more. She grabbed them both and hauled them inside.
“Hey, Sister Wen, what’s that?” Shu Zi pointed at the folder in Lan Manwen’s hand.
“Here.” Lan Manwen set it down on the table. “Take a look.”
With a huge question mark hanging over her head, Shu Zi picked up the documents and flipped through a couple of pages before freezing. “Huh? A variety show?”
“At a time like this, I’d be lucky if they didn’t cancel my endorsements. Why would a variety show want me?” Shu Zi looked up at Lan Manwen, incredulous.
Lan Manwen: … Could she try thinking something good about herself for once?
“It’s a dating reality show,” Lan Manwen explained.
Shu Zi flipped further and, sure enough, saw the words Heartbeats for You. Scanning down—
Tentative guest list: Fang Yutong, Yu Shize…
The sky doesn’t just drop free gifts. She knew there had to be a catch.
She snapped the documents shut, tossed them aside, and declared firmly, “I’m not going.”
Lan Manwen smiled without humor. “You’re going whether you want to or not!”
“Sister Wen~” Shu Zi pleaded, swaying Lan Manwen’s arm.
Lan Manwen pushed her away without mercy. “That won’t work on me. I can’t help it; this is the company’s order.”
“Ah!” Fang Zhizi suddenly cried out. “Sister Zizi, your trending searches are gone!”
“What? Let me see.” Lan Manwen immediately took Fang Zhizi’s phone.
Shu Zi wondered to herself: Did Dad pull some strings? No way. Wasn’t he going to disown me? Could it be Grandpa?
She leaned over, and the two words that caught her eye were “Gu Yan”—
#Gu Yan returns to China# Explosive
#Gu Yan spotted at the airport# Explosive
#Top star returns!# Explosive
#God Yan#
Shu Zi: Huh? Why did he suddenly come back? Did he rise from the dead?
Lan Manwen scrolled with her fingertip, her expression gradually easing.
“The buzz around Gu Yan’s return has pushed your negative news down. That’s an unexpected bonus.”
“But what does that have to do with me going on the dating show?”
Shu Zi still wouldn’t give in. Just thinking about appearing alongside the pretentious Fang Yutong and the obnoxious Yu Shize made her scalp tingle.
This wasn’t a dating reality show at all. It was a full-blown love-triangle drama.
Lan Manwen ignored her protests and continued:
“The dating show is livestreamed 24 hours a day, with no script. You can use this opportunity to let the viewers see how you really interact with Fang Yutong and Yu Shize. You might even clear up the rumors. That’s better than being smeared as the other woman.”
Shu Zi said expressionlessly, “Does the company’s public relations team get paid to sit around doing nothing?”
Lan Manwen: “No, but they lean more toward Fang Yutong.”
That’s right: Shu Zi and Fang Yutong belonged to the same entertainment company, Tomato Media.
Besides, Fang Yutong was more popular than Shu Zi. These days, companies backed whoever was popular.
Shu Zi was speechless. Then she thought about it and figured it might not be so bad. “Fine, I’ll go. Who’s afraid of who?”
“All right, take a good look at these materials. One guest is still unconfirmed, but the other six are basically set. Do some research on them. Oh, and filming starts in a week.”
Lan Manwen left the stack of materials behind and took Fang Zhizi with her.
Shu Zi stared at the stack of materials, lost in thought. She picked them up, then put them down again. Forget it. She’d look at them another time!
She took out her phone, scrolled to the bottom of WeChat, and opened the chat with “Some Dog Surnamed Gu.” The last time she’d messaged him was two years ago.
Her fingers quickly tapped across the screen.
Little Zi: 「You’re back?」
Shu Zi waited a while, but when he didn’t reply, she went to take off her face mask and do her skincare.
By the time she came back, the person on the other end had already replied.
Some Dog Surnamed Gu: 「Yeah」
Shu Zi stared at the monosyllabic “Yeah,” and the corner of her mouth twitched.
He was just the same as ever. You’d think saying one more word to her would kill him.
Her fingers flew over the screen as she sent back an exceedingly perfunctory: Oh.
After thinking for a moment, she sent another message: Hmph.jpg