“Are you insane?” Zhao Anya couldn’t control her temper, almost snarling in a low, furious hiss.
On the other end of the line, Yang Qiu wasn’t annoyed. In fact, she sounded rather smug. “Anya, I knew you’d be worried. Relax. I’m not stupid enough to leak the news myself.”
Yang Qiu truly believed she was being clever.
After returning to school, she had sulked for two days before heading out to have fun with friends. Among them were several guys trying to pursue her—away from the film set, she finally felt like the center of attention again, like a moon surrounded by stars.
During the gathering, someone brought up Qin You. After all, there hadn’t been any other major scandals in the entertainment industry lately, and Qin You remained a hot topic for gossip.
At first, Yang Qiu felt irritated. She had finally gotten away from the set and didn’t have to look at Qin You’s face; why were people still talking about her?
She was about to ice them out and tell them to change the subject when their conversation suddenly gave her pause.
“…Has Qin You really quit the entertainment industry? It feels like she hasn’t responded at all.”
“She’s probably playing dead, waiting for everyone to forget before she shows her face again.”
“Haha, how long will that take? Ten years?”
“Hahaha, she might as well just quit for good. People are going to boycott whatever she’s in anyway…”
A thought suddenly flashed through Yang Qiu’s mind.
She pulled aside one of the guys pursuing her for a private chat. She chose him because he had a tight mouth and wasn’t a student at X University. She asked him to do something very simple: spread a rumor online that Qin You had no intention of quitting. Not only that, but someone had even cast her as a lead in a drama called *Sleepless City*.
Yang Qiu’s calculations were precise. She had figured it out: she was just an actress, and Director Wang was the director. Naturally, an arm couldn’t out-wrestle a thigh. However, a director’s ultimate masters were the audience. If the audience collectively boycotted his choice for the lead, wouldn’t he have to obediently change the role back?
She lifted her chin, feeling quite proud of herself.
Zhao Anya took a deep breath.
“I’m not that stupid”—that phrase had nearly given her a heart attack. After hearing that Yang Qiu had found a boy from the neighboring school to help her, Zhao Anya closed her eyes tight. She had a very clear understanding of Yang Qiu’s intelligence. More than Yang Qiu being a fool, what she feared most was Yang Qiu being too clever for her own good!
She slowly exhaled, hung up the phone, and walked out from the corner as if nothing had happened.
***
Qin You had no intention of getting on Director Wang’s bad side.
Strictly speaking, she was a suspect as well, and a major one at that. It was entirely plausible that she or her company had leaked the news to retain fans, letting them know she wasn’t actually quitting.
It was a perfectly logical motivation.
Therefore, she really ought to go and show her loyalty to Director Wang, attempting to prove that she had nothing to do with it.
However, when she had forcefully snatched the role from Director Wang’s hands, she had already stated her stance: she was willing to endure a few months of being cursed at to cooperate with the promotion. This significantly lowered her suspicion.
Besides, investigating this matter wouldn’t be difficult.
Director Wang was no longer roaring in anger. He was standing in a corner of the film set, making a phone call.
The remnants of his rage still lingered on his face. Everyone else on set wanted to see his expression, but they could only pretend to glance at him inadvertently.
Qin You’s finger scrolled across her phone screen.
The news that she had a new role—and as a lead, no less—had caused a public uproar. The screen was filled with terms like “scandalous artist,” “shameless mistress,” and “boycott.” However, even in this massive information stream, finding the original trigger wasn’t hard.
The first Weibo post to break the news was from an alternate account with a clean homepage and only that single post.
It was clear the leaker had tried to be careful.
But Weibo had always been a soft target. As long as Director Wang attempted to sue, Weibo would promptly hand over the information linked to that account.
From there, it would just be a matter of following the clues.
Qin You looked up. Director Wang had finished one call and started another.
When he finally hung up the second call, his expression looked much better, and his breathing had clearly steadied.
Director Wang leisurely walked back to the center of the film set and signaled for everyone to get moving. Qin You stood up, preparing to do her professional duty—acting.
The atmosphere on set remained tense throughout the morning. The error rate of the actors performing alongside Qin You was significantly higher than usual.
Furthermore, after making a mistake and seeing Director Wang’s expressionless face, their already fragile psychological fortitude hit rock bottom. This only made Director Wang’s face look worse, creating a vicious cycle. If it weren’t for Qin You’s consistently stable performance, the set would have inevitably faced another of Director Wang’s explosive outbursts.
After the young actor playing Li Ruixi’s friend and partner hit his fifth NG, Qin You glanced at Director Wang, whose face was as dark as lake water. She beckoned the young actor over to talk.
The young actor looked nervous, but he instinctively followed her. Qin You was usually cold and distant, rarely striking up conversations. Her occasional cool glances were enough to make one’s heart skip a beat. She was very different from the way she appeared in the scandals. Even if the online rumors painted her as a brainless, love-brain little girl, the actors who had spent time on set felt that was just her public persona. It was normal; in the entertainment industry, pretending to be smart was common, but pretending to be a fool was even more so.
The actor followed Qin You to a corner.
He could only see her back. Qin You was wearing a long trench coat for this scene, and images of mafia and old Shanghai plots flashed through his mind. However, when she turned around, her expression was unusually kind.
“You’re supposed to be looking for trouble with me. Why do you keep looking so guilty and short of breath?”
Qin You deliberately put on a gentle smile, even softening her tone.
She looked pleasant and refreshing, like someone bathing in the spring breeze.
The actor felt dazed, thinking that he had probably misunderstood Qin You before. She wasn’t like the rumors, nor was she the aloof person she had been on set these past few days. She was clearly a kind and gentle person!
Seeing the actor’s expression soften, the smile on Qin You’s face became even more sincere.
The other party said rather sheepishly, “With Director Wang watching from the side like a hawk, the pressure was already high enough. Then when I looked up at you, your eyes were so terrifying that I… I couldn’t even manage to act righteous…”
Qin You laughed softly. “Is that so? Then I’ll tone it down a bit later.”
“Huh? Is that okay? Won’t Director Wang get angry?”
Qin You replied, “I’ll just go talk to him.”
Indeed, she could certainly hold back her acting to partner with him and help him pass the scene more easily, but the prerequisite was that everyone had to know she was the one making the concession.
She walked back and said to the director, “Director Wang, Xiao Hong says he’s struggling to keep up with my acting. How about I tone it down for now, and then we can do another shot focusing only on me? Would that work?”
Director Wang looked surprised—not because it was such a brilliant idea, but because he had been considering doing exactly that. He had just been hesitating, worried that Qin You would be dissatisfied. After all, she wasn’t the one making the mistakes, yet she was the one who had to adjust. Anyone else would likely feel a bit unhappy about it.
Normally, Director Wang would never consider an actor’s feelings for such a request; he would just demand it. However, Qin You’s performance had always been so outstanding that he had developed a keen eye for her talent.
Furthermore, since the girl was ambitious, he had decided to take a circuitous approach. He planned to let them try a few more times, and only then would he make the suggestion. By that point, Qin You would likely feel that the proposal was acceptable compared to filming take after take.
He hadn’t expected Qin You to bring it up herself. Director Wang was quite surprised and gave her a look of pity before nodding.
The rest was much simpler. They filmed a couple more times and finished all the necessary shots.
Just as Director Wang called “Cut!”, his phone vibrated.
He pulled it out and took a look. Instead of dismissing it as usual, he stood up from his chair and walked to the side to take the call.
Everyone’s eyes followed him. They knew very well that the results of this morning’s investigation were likely in. Some were incredibly anxious, having spent the day praying that it wasn’t their own loose talk to a friend that had leaked the news. Others had a clear conscience and were simply curious to see who had done it.
After listening for about ten seconds, Director Wang put down his phone and walked back.
From Qin You’s angle, she could see his face clearly—it was gloomy as water, as dark as a profound lake bottom.
Director Wang said nothing and continued directing as if nothing had happened. No one dared to ask. However, by evening, all the actors who had shared scenes with Fang Ziyu in the first episode were notified to board a bus and return to reshoot certain scenes.
With a new “Fang Ziyu.”
Qin You only found out what had happened the next day. Director Wang was still here, but the Assistant Director, several staff members, and some actors were gone.
Qin You didn’t have close relationships with anyone on set, but Wang Hexing and “Xiao Hong,” who had acted with her yesterday, both ran over to gossip with her.
According to Wang Hexing, many actors and staff members had returned to the original filming set—the locations used for the first episode’s scenes. The Assistant Director had been assigned to replicate the original raw footage exactly. It was a task given in a moment of crisis, though the difficulty wasn’t high since the finished product was already in hand.
The actors who had gone back were all those who had scenes with Fang Ziyu. They had realized this the moment they stepped onto the bus. Once they reached the set, their premonition was confirmed: they were reshooting many scenes with the new “Fang Ziyu.”
The new “Fang Ziyu” was said to be working very hard. She had been the second choice for the role. After Director Wang called her last night, she had been out of the province, but she rushed over without stopping. Because she was in such a hurry, she could only get a seating ticket and sat on the high-speed train for an entire night. Despite that, she was energetic and spirited during filming today.
The actors who had originally felt that the extra filming was exhausting didn’t have the heart to complain in front of her. This caused the efficiency of the reshoots to skyrocket.
Qin You was actually a bit surprised. She knew Yang Qiu had a problem with her, but she hadn’t expected her to be bold enough—or rather, stupid enough—to do this.
The character of Fang Ziyu in *Sleepless City* was actually a very brilliant role. Although the audience would realize by the second episode that she wasn’t the “silly sweet” protagonist they expected, her growth and transformation later in the plot were a major highlight of the drama. She was a backbone character in this ensemble drama, and she had a series of exciting and intense scenes with Ling Yu in the later stages.
In her previous life, Yang Qiu had lived off the legacy of this role for at least five years. During those five years, she basically had no other standout performances and even acted in several bad roles, but because the audience had a “Fang Ziyu” filter for her, they were as lenient as could be.
Qin You raised an eyebrow. She guessed that Yang Qiu probably couldn’t handle the stimulus of not being the protagonist and decided to leak the news of her own involvement in this production, hoping to use public opinion to drag Qin You down. The reason she hadn’t done such a stupid thing in the previous life was likely because the person playing Ling Yu back then had been a fresh-faced female college student just like her.
But she had really overthought it. Director Wang was never the type of director to compromise with the audience. Her actions only made Director Wang fly into a rage and replace her.
A slip of the mind, and perhaps Yang Qiu’s fate in the entertainment industry would be completely different this time.
***
Zhao Anya was one of the actors taken back to the original set by the bus.
Since last night, her phone had been jumping with new messages from Yang Qiu.
“Anya! It’s over, it’s all over! Director Wang said he’s terminating my contract and suing me! What do I do!”
“Anya, what do I do, what do I do?”
“Anya, are you asleep?”
“Anya, please help me think of something!”
“Anya…”
“Anya…”
“…”
“Ready, everyone! Get your spirits up!”
The script supervisor shouted, beckoning the large group of extras. Zhao Anya looked up and surveyed the crowd amidst the clinking of cups and plates. This was the very first scene they had filmed on the first day—the coming-of-age ceremony of the young lady she played. It was here that Fang Ziyu caught a glimpse of that decadent and extravagant world, and where the seeds for everything that followed were planted.
Zhao Anya put down her phone, picked up her prop wine glass, and walked to her original position.