After leaving McDonald’s, Qin You let out a long sigh of relief.
She almost wanted to scream! She wanted to shout at the top of her lungs! She wanted to laugh out loud!
It had been so many years…
This was her first significant role that wasn’t an ugly role. Her first important, pivotal, and stunningly beautiful role.
And it was Ling Yu!
The words she had spoken to Director Wang were seventy percent truth and thirty percent lies, but her claim that she liked the character of Ling Yu was no lie. She had loved this character in her previous life, and now, she was actually going to play her…
Qin You stood in the cool autumn breeze for a long time, suddenly realizing that her eyes felt a bit damp.
She wiped her face, put her mask and sunglasses back on, and hailed a taxi to return to her apartment.
She wasn’t an independent actress; Director Wang’s contract had to go through her management agency. Although this agency usually ignored her—signing her back then had felt more like they were just casting a wide net—the role of Ling Yu was too important. She couldn’t allow even a hint of an accident to occur.
So, after returning to that unfamiliar apartment, Qin You called her agent.
“I got a role in *Sleepless City*.”
“What?! Isn’t the audition already over? How did you get it? And what’s wrong with your voice? Why are you so hoarse? Well, it’s for the best… The character of Fang Ziyu is very likable. Once it airs, you should be able to clear your image.”
“It’s not Fang Ziyu. It’s Ling Yu.”
“Huh? Who’s Ling Yu?”
Ling Yu’s screen time in the first episode was so minimal that even people who had read the script couldn’t remember the name.
“Wait, wait, wait… I found it. Isn’t Ling Yu that vixen who steals Fang Ziyu’s boyfriend?! You went to audition for *that* role?!”
“Are you crazy? That character only has a few seconds of screen time! Besides, you’re still carrying those mistress rumors. If you actually play a mistress, your reputation will only get worse, don’t you know?!”
“Don’t you realize the audience is unable to distinguish between the person and the character?!”
“Hurry up and try to get the female protagonist role again. When the audience starts liking you, you can release a statement saying you didn’t know Chen Ren had a boyfriend back then and that you were just purely infatuated and wanted to pursue him. There are plenty of people obsessed with love these days; one more won’t hurt.”
Qin You’s voice rang out coolly. “The character of Ling Yu isn’t that simple. Besides, Sister Fu, even if others don’t know, don’t you know the true nature of my relationship with Chen Ren?”
“What’s the use of me knowing? Do you have evidence? A lie told a thousand times becomes the truth, and right now, hundreds of thousands of people are saying it hundreds of thousands of times. No matter what the truth is, Chen Ren’s words have already become the truth… Xiao You, listen to Sister Fu’s advice. Don’t do something on an impulse. You’ll regret it.”
“Xiao You, are you resentful because the company didn’t intervene in this matter? You have to understand, the company made the best choice. The best public relations is silence. The public’s memory is much shorter than you imagine. Furthermore, if you really clash with Gu Tianbai, your future prospects will truly be ruined. This temporary grievance is for your long-term development…”
The Original Host indeed harbored a great deal of resentment over this. The Original Host was still too young, at a stage where she truly considered the company her home and her agent her best friend. Aside from Chen Ren’s betrayal, her greatest heartbreak was the company’s complete inaction. They hadn’t formulated any PR plan for her, nor had they attempted to handle or guide the online discourse (though in the face of such global vitriol, any guidance would have looked like a dying struggle). They hadn’t even been willing to spend money to lower the trending topics.
Qin You wasn’t surprised. The Original Host had a good appearance but mediocre acting skills, and her personality was too ordinary, leaving little room to attract fans. Even if they helped her escape this mud pit, her career prospects were limited. For an entity like the company that measured everything by profit, it wasn’t worth exerting great effort to protect her. The most economically efficient approach was to do nothing.
Moreover, any PR attempt would likely offend Gu Tianbai. A small workshop like theirs wouldn’t dare take that risk.
However, while Qin You understood their logic and didn’t have the emotional fluctuations the Original Host did, she had no intention of staying with this company.
It wasn’t because she was neglected or abandoned, but primarily because this company was too much of a small workshop. After she finally “became famous” in her previous life, she had learned about all the various management agencies in the entertainment industry, and she didn’t have a single shred of memory regarding the one the Original Host had signed with. Most likely, it had either gone bankrupt or was barely clinging to life.
This company had no future, and its employees lacked professional competence. She had checked the roles the company’s artists had landed; the Original Host’s idol drama was their top-tier resource—and even that was only because the director had held an open audition. The Original Host had been chosen due to her own decent aptitude, with the company having little to do with it.
She didn’t know what the Original Host was thinking when she got tricked into joining, but she certainly wouldn’t stay.
However, she currently didn’t have the money to pay the termination fee. She would have to wait until *Vanity Fair* aired and other companies came to poach her and pay it for her.
Therefore, she could not allow any mistakes regarding the role of Ling Yu due to this company’s interference.
Qin You took a deep breath and softened her tone. “Sister Fu, I know. I know the company means well, and I also intend to take on a likable role to clear my image. But everyone already has a stereotype of me now. Instead of looking for an innocent character, it’s better to find a likable bad woman role, right? Trust me, Ling Yu has more scenes later on. When the contract arrives, I only hope the company won’t refuse it, okay?”
The female voice on the other end of the line sighed.
“Sigh, Xiao You, I really can’t do anything with you. Fine, fine, since I treat you like a sister.”
This sentence made Qin You roll her eyes, whether for the sake of the Original Host who wanted an elder sister or for herself who didn’t.
“But don’t get your hopes up too high. This character won’t be likable no matter how you look at it. Even if there’s more to the story later, what of it? It’s just going from being vicious cannon fodder to being a vicious villain… Think it over carefully. If you regret it, tell Sister Fu, okay?”
“I will, Sister Fu.”
Qin You breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed onto the bed. After the day’s exertions, she hadn’t felt it while she was holding her breath, but now that the tension had eased, her whole body was sore. Even her scalp throbbed with a dull pain. Combined with the drowsiness, it was incredibly uncomfortable—the feeling of wanting to sleep but being disturbed by the pain was unbearable.
She went into the bathroom to soak in a hot bath, trying her best to calm down.
***
Director Wang worked efficiently. Two days later, the contract reached Qin You’s hands. As she had promised, Yuan Fu did not interfere. Yuan Fu’s superior, the head agent of the company, didn’t make a move either. He didn’t jump out to forbid her from taking the role; perhaps he felt that in her current state, being able to land any role was a stroke of luck, even if it was just vicious cannon fodder in a web drama.
When Qin You signed the contract, her right hand was as firm as a rock, though it trembled slightly after she finished.
She took her copy of the contract home, stopping at a supermarket on the way to buy several large photo frames—she intended to frame this contract.
This would be her starting point.
One of the best starting points an actor could have.
Upon returning to the apartment, she saw that her delivery was already at the door.
She had ordered this online two days ago, right after successfully securing the role of Ling Yu from Director Wang.
Qin You violently tore open the express box, revealing several cameras inside.
She installed these cameras in the living room.
These cameras weren’t for filming others; they were for filming herself.
Once she set up the cameras, images quickly appeared on her computer screen, showing her from various angles: from behind, from the front, from the side, and from an overhead view.
When she went to “audition” for Ling Yu two days ago, the time had been so tight that she had performed entirely on instinct.
Fortunately, her performance had been outstanding, but instinct alone wasn’t enough. Ling Yu wasn’t the kind of role where a newcomer could move the audience with simple “sincere and moving” acting.
Every movement, every expression, every frown and smile, every move and action—all of it had to be meticulously designed and polished.
Over the past two days, Qin You had gathered a large number of videos of actresses from the last century who were famous for their peerless elegance. She marked every small movement she felt was worth learning and also collected videos of supermodels walking to use as reference material.
Actually, she could have gone to the company’s styling room with its mirror walls to practice, but she was more accustomed to using cameras. Mirrors required her to divide her attention constantly, whereas recording her movements and expressions with cameras allowed her to focus entirely on performing.
Moreover, whether it was the human eye’s tendency to beautify one’s reflection in a mirror or the camera’s tendency to make someone look ugly, the final performance she presented would be through a lens, not the human eye. Thus, cameras were the better choice.
Furthermore, recordings could be watched repeatedly, making analysis much easier.
Qin You set the cameras, then walked to a corner of the room.
She lifted her head, and in an instant, it was as if this body had once again been possessed by a different soul. She walked forward with slow, deliberate steps.
After walking from one corner of the room to the other, she returned to the computer to play back the recordings from every angle.
She quickly frowned. The swing of her hands was different from the effect she had imagined; it wasn’t what she wanted.
She searched through the vast collection of scenes of actresses walking that she had gathered and found the one that most closely approximated the effect she desired. She played it repeatedly, carefully studying how the other woman’s hands achieved that specific look.
Then, she started the cameras again, stood up, and walked the path once more.
Then she returned to watch and adjust.
Then again.
And again.
And again…