16 – Supрrеssеd Rаgе
Тhе different рlоt dеvеlоpments left Jiаng Ning uttеrly astоnished.
For Jiаng Ning, this wаs ехсеptiоnаllу gоod news.
It mеant that this time, she might vеrу well сhаngе hеr fаte in this wоrld.
Аftеr struggling through nine lifеtimеs of thе same storуline, thеre had finallу beеn a mеаningful shift. How сould Jiang Ning not bе thrillеd?
Nо оne cоuld undеrstаnd thе agonу Jiang Ning hаd endured, fighting аlone thrоugh nine lifetimеs.
Knowing the еnd wаs dеath, еаch time she triеd to сhаnge it, she wаs powеrless, likе а dеspеrate strugglе in vain, plungеd intо uttеr despair with not a glimmer of hoре.
Becausе it wаsn’t a fight against реople—it was a battle against the unseen, intangible World Consciousness. No one knew how lost and helpless she had felt.
The sudden change in the plot left Jiang Ning momentarily stunned. Did this mean she finally had a chance to escape the harm inflicted by the male and female leads?
Jiang Ning’s slightly reddened eyes instinctively turned toward Ye Chen and Jiang Zhi.
Overwhelmed by the immense surprise, tears fell from her eyes without warning. The crystal-clear teardrops didn’t stream down her face but pooled in her eyes before falling from her lashes, hanging in the air with a heartbreaking beauty.
The camera captured this once again.
Gu Chi saw it too.
In the production team, only Gu Chi and Ye Chen witnessed Jiang Ning’s tears.
Gu Chi closed his eyes briefly, a flicker of sorrow passing through them. When he looked at Ye Chen again, his dark eyes resembled an endless abyss, filled with a sinister and ruthless intensity.
Meeting that gaze, Ye Chen felt for a moment that Gu Chi was no ordinary person. But remembering he was just a rookie, Ye Chen scoffed inwardly—how naive.
A small-time rookie who had been blacklisted in the entertainment industry for a year, daring to oppose him?
Even if he didn’t love Jiang Ning, she would never belong to him.
Fans who saw this scene almost thought it was an illusion. Jiang Ning’s tears had fallen too quickly, without warning, and there were no tear stains on her face.
Since the live stream had no rewind function, fans felt heartbroken while also doubting themselves.
“Did our goddess just cry? She did, right?”
“It looked like she cried, but maybe she didn’t.”
Jiang Ning quickly averted her gaze, leaving everyone uncertain whether something had suddenly fallen in front of her eyes or if she had genuinely cried.
For this round of grouping, everyone drew lots together, with yellow and white wooden sticks representing the two groups. Celebrities who drew the same color would be in the same group.
In front of the camera, Ye Chen and Jiang Zhi maintained excellent composure, as if nothing had happened the previous night.
The draw results determined that Jiang Ning, Gu Chi, Jiang Zhi, and Ye Chen would be in one group.
He Ziyu and the married couple Jiang Yunhai and He Juan would be in the other group.
The top celebrity couple could finally share the screen and spread sweetness, delighting some fans who screamed in the comments, begging for romantic moments.
He Ziyu, unable to be in the same group as his idol, wore a pitiful expression.
He Juan and Jiang Yunhai understood that in this show, they were merely supporting players. There was no helping it—they weren’t popular idols, after all.
But the compensation from the production team was generous, so the couple was content to play their part.
Jiang Zhi knew that Ye Chen’s words were never empty promises. If he said Jiang Ning wouldn’t reveal what happened last night, he must have a way to keep her silent.
So she cheerfully exclaimed, “Wow, Sister Ning, we’re in the same group! I’m so happy.”
She ran over and affectionately wrapped her arm around Jiang Ning’s.
Jiang Ning calmly withdrew her arm, her expression indifferent and without a smile.
Before obtaining the recording from last night, Jiang Ning would never have treated Jiang Zhi this way in front of the camera. But with such evidence in hand, she could now act as she pleased.Because only then would Jiang Zhi’s wave rise higher.
And when it did, she would fall even harder.
Sure enough, after Jiang Ning calmly withdrew her hand, Jiang Zhi deliberately put on an awkward, uncomfortable expression, standing aside with an embarrassed look.
Jiang Ning took in every one of her reactions.
The more aggrieved Jiang Zhi appeared now, the happier Jiang Ning felt, because only then would Jiang Zhi have no chance to fight back when she released the video later.
Since group filming hadn’t started yet, there was no split-screen, and all the celebrities’ fans were watching the same feed.
Seeing Jiang Ning’s reaction, Jiang Zhi’s fans immediately protested.
“What does Jiang Ning mean by that? Our Xiao Zhi was being so warm, and she gave her the cold shoulder. How rude! Even if she’s a bigger star, does she have to be so arrogant?”
“Hug Xiao Zhi, no thanks.”
Compared to Jiang Ning’s massive fanbase, Jiang Zhi’s fans were pitifully few.
They barely got a few words out before being swiftly and fiercely attacked by Jiang Ning’s fans.
“Are Jiang Zhi’s fans sick? Why are they so eager to stir up trouble? Our goddess isn’t the type to get overly familiar with strangers. Is there a problem with not being close to someone she barely knows?”
“Exactly! They barely knew each other before this, and they’ve only been filming the same show for a day. Are they supposed to act like sisters already? Our goddess is just being real, okay?”
“Our Ningning didn’t even say anything, right? Is it rude just because she doesn’t like being held onto and pulled her hand away? Laughable, so fragile.”
The result of the fan war was the swift defeat of Jiang Zhi’s fans.
After all, Jiang Zhi was just a small newcomer, having only acted in two TV series so far.
One performed decently, while the other, filmed with Ye Chen, hadn’t aired yet.
Jiang Ning, on the other hand, was a top-tier global music superstar.
And these viewers were just domestic fans.
Once the live broadcast started, phones would be confiscated and only returned after filming ended in the evening.
So Jiang Zhi had no idea about the online reactions and continued to play the victim.
The director couldn’t stand it—what a stupid homewrecker.
He immediately announced today’s task.
Today’s mission was for the celebrities to earn money from pure strangers or even anti-fans. The money they earned would be their meal expenses for the day.
To this end, the production team had contacted many genuine strangers to serve as the show’s judges for this task.
How genuine were these strangers?
Not only did they not like the celebrities invited by the show, they even felt somewhat averse to them.
So earning money from these people wouldn’t be easy.
Jiang Zhi immediately saw this as her chance to shine.
She had always had good public appeal, thanks to her cute and sweet face and highly approachable smile, which made it easy to turn strangers into fans.
The celebrities were divided into two groups for the task, and the live broadcast split into screens again.
He Ziyu’s team had an absurdly low number of viewers.
Since most of He Ziyu’s fans also liked Jiang Ning—with many even considering her their ultimate favorite—once the split-screen happened, everyone went to watch Jiang Ning.
As for the veteran actor couple He Juan and Jiang Yunhai, even fewer fans stayed in their live stream.
But Jiang Ning’s group was another story. She was a top star, Ye Chen was an award-winning actor, Jiang Zhi was a promising newcomer, and Gu Chi, as the former champion of The Strongest Voice, had seen his once-dormant fanbase suddenly revive and skyrocket since his return to the screen.
As a result, the number of viewers for this group’s split-screen live stream exploded.
In the live stream, everyone arrived together at the grand manor arranged by the production team.The director announced, “Right now, all the temporary shops and passersby in this entire estate are specially hired ‘noble passersby’ by the production team. You’ll need to find a way to get the money from them. Let me make it clear upfront—celebrity influence won’t work on them because they actually have a rather negative attitude toward all of you.”
Upon hearing this, the live-stream viewers immediately thought the director was being too harsh.
Reversing the fixed perceptions these “noble passersby” had about celebrities would be incredibly difficult—almost torturous.
Fans began to worry about their own idols.
The director was indeed ruthless. To prevent the passersby from being swayed by charm or looks, he stipulated that female celebrities could only earn money from female passersby, and male celebrities only from male passersby.
Moreover, he had dragged the celebrities out of bed early in the morning. Forget dressing up—they were all still in their pajamas, looking anything but glamorous.
This effectively cut off all shortcuts for the celebrities.
Watching the live stream, fans finally stopped bickering among themselves and began collectively roasting the director.
But these complaints were accompanied by laughter, as everyone was also curious about what embarrassing situations their idols would encounter.
In Jiang Yunhai’s group, He Ziyu tried all sorts of coquettish tactics on a male passerby, who responded with a face full of exasperation before coldly walking away, instantly transforming from a passerby into an anti-fan.
After walking off, the man muttered, “Tsk, are all celebrities these days so effeminate?”
He Ziyu happened to hear it, and his expression instantly cracked.
Seeing their idol in such an awkward situation, fans burst into laughter.
Jiang Yunhai and his wife also found it amusing. In the end, they suggested working honestly for the shopkeepers to earn some hard-earned money.
However… things weren’t as simple as they imagined.
The shopkeepers, being “noble passersby,” weren’t even willing to let them work for money.
＊
The estate had a wide variety of shops. Knowing that Jiang Ning loved desserts, Gu Chi had hired the most famous French pastry chef to personally teach him since he was fifteen.
He suggested making pastries to earn money.
He said this while looking at Jiang Ning.
Because Jiang Ning had said that their relationship should remain hidden for now, to avoid giving anything away to the live-stream viewers, Gu Chi maintained a cold and indifferent expression when he looked at her and made the suggestion, perfectly embodying the aloof boy who seemed uninterested in anyone.
He didn’t realize that his feelings for Jiang Ning had long been exposed, albeit subtly.
It would take a magnifying glass and careful scrutiny to notice, though.
Jiang Zhi didn’t agree with Gu Chi’s suggestion, as making pastries wouldn’t showcase her talents. However, she knew exactly how to avoid getting criticized.
So, even though she rejected Gu Chi’s idea, she did it in an extremely adorable way.
Puffing out her cheeks innocently, she said, “Aw, but we don’t know how to make pastries. The director said everyone has to earn money, or the whole team will be considered a failure. How about this, Gu Chi—you, Sister Ning, and Brother Chen go to the pastry shop, and I’ll go perform on the streets?”
Gu Chi only had eyes for Jiang Ning and wasn’t buying her act at all.
Remembering all the things she had done to Jiang Ning, the utterly ungentlemanly Gu Chi sneered, “Suit yourself.”
Fans watching the live stream immediately thought Gu Chi was rude, but since most of them were female, even those who weren’t his fans were captivated by his looks.
Plus, their attention was quickly diverted by Ye Chen, and they forgot about criticizing Gu Chi.
They heard Ye Chen say, “I don’t know how to make pastries either. Like Jiang Zhi, I’ll find another way to earn money.”
As he said this, he glanced at Jiang Ning. In front of the cameras, Ye Chen wouldn’t give anyone a chance to criticize him.He and Jiang Ning were still engaged, so when mentioning Jiang Zhi, he deliberately put on a cold expression before turning to Jiang Ning with a gentle gaze. “Xiao Ning, whatever you want to do, I’ll do it with you.”
That affectionate and tender expression and tone nearly made Jiang Ning vomit.
She wondered how Ye Chen could speak to her with such deep affection after what had happened yesterday.
Could it be that having a thick skin truly made one invincible?
Before the fans could scream and indulge in the sweetness, they saw Jiang Ning curl her lips into a smile—one that clearly conveyed how forced it was.
“I don’t have anything specific in mind. I’ll just make a cake with Gu Chi.”
Hearing that she wanted to do it with Gu Chi, Ye Chen frowned but then relaxed, thinking Jiang Ning was just trying to provoke him.
Playing hard to get?
He knew how much Jiang Ning loved him.
But thinking about last night, Ye Chen sighed inwardly. It was all his fault for hurting her so deeply.
He spoke in an indulgent, doting tone. “Alright, as long as you’re happy.”
Ye Chen’s fans squealed about how sweet and doting he was, while Jiang Ning’s fans sensed something was off with her and chose to stay quiet for now.
Gu Chi watched Ye Chen coldly. If it weren’t for fear of causing trouble for Jiang Ning, he would have beaten this hypocritical scoundrel until he was crawling on the ground looking for his teeth.