She spoke tremulously, "Mom, I'm not embarrassed, everything I said is true, diet pills don't work, I need to exercise."
After repeated persuasion, her mom finally believed her and added, "Do you have enough living expenses? I can send you more."
He Jinxia gently shook her head, "Mom, you don't have to worry about me, I have enough money."
Her mom fell silent again for a while before speaking cautiously, "Jinxia, I've seen the news, I know you were kicked out of the girl group. Don't you need to sing and dance to make money? Now that you can't go out to sing and dance, where is your money coming from?"
Maybe because her daughter was especially agreeable today, her mom couldn't help but share her own thoughts:
"Jinxia, you're only twenty, life is just beginning. Do you really need to stick with the entertainment circle? Why don't you come back? Mom still has some connections, I can get you a decent job."
Upon hearing this, Jinxia's thoughts drifted.
In her previous life, she was a glorified Oiran from the Red Building, used to being in the spotlight with thousands sending her off during her travels. Coming to the modern world, being in the entertainment circle was actually quite similar to her career in her previous life.
More importantly, she vaguely sensed this body's obsession—to become a top superstar!
Although the original host had left, and He Jinxia had full control of this body, there wouldn't be any issue even if she left the entertainment circle, but still, it's... difficult to overcome her own hurdle.
Since she had taken over the original host's body and received this gift from heaven, she decided to fulfill the original host's wish!
Jinxia snapped back to reality, smiled confidently, and said, "Mom, don't worry about me, I'm transforming myself, I won't be singing and dancing outside anymore, I want to become an actress."
Seeing her daughter's determination, her mom didn't insist but encouraged her, "Being an actress is great, I'll be able to watch you on TV every day."
Jinxia felt warmth in her heart. This was the original host's mom, and from now on, she would also be her mom, the only family she had in this world. Encouraged by a loved one, she felt a surge of strength throughout her body.
"Mom, don't underestimate me, I'm really good at acting. I performed a play today; I had my agent record it. I'll send a copy to you later. By the way, mom, I'll come visit you in a few days..."
The mother-daughter duo seemed to have endless things to talk about, chatting for who knows how long, until the door to the practice room was suddenly knocked, forcing He Jinxia to reluctantly end the call.
Upon opening the door, she saw Luo You's stunned expression. Beside him stood a tall, thin young man who also paused in surprise before bowing politely and greeting her as "senior."
He Jinxia nodded at him. After the trainee entered the practice room, Luo You immediately pulled her aside, his brows deeply furrowed, and asked in a low voice, "Why have you been crying?"
This caught Jinxia off-guard, "Is it that obvious?"
She thought she had managed her emotions quite well when she came out.
Luo You tugged at the corner of his mouth and lifted his hand, pointing forward, "You've got a complete mess on your face."
Looking up, the smooth metal door of the practice room mirrored an image akin to a panda with eyes smudged into a black mess.
A twitch formed at Jinxia's mouth as her initial thought was—didn't they say the mascara and eyeliner were waterproof?
So unreliable!
The next day, before Jinxia had even gotten out of bed, she was woken up by Luo You's relentless early calls.
She had received her first booking since she had arrived.
Luo You's excited voice came through the phone, like he had won a million-dollar lottery, "He Jinxia, you're going to hit big, yesterday's performance really worked, you've been noticed by upper management. They've given you a chance, an invitation to a second-tier variety show!"
"'Letter to Future Self' has officially invited you. This opportunity was directly provided by the top executives. Although it's only a second-tier variety show, sometimes its popularity can rival top-tier shows, and many well-known semi-stars don't even make it onto there. Participate in one episode, and if handled well, you might just make a small splash!"
While Luo You was still excitedly talking about his future fantasies, He Jinxia had already calmly gotten out of bed, closed her eyes, and skillfully turned on the computer, searching for news about the variety show.
After he had finished his rattling talk, He Jinxia finally spoke faintly, exuding an air of indifference that made her seem more like an agent compared to him.
"Brother Luo, I'm unfortunate to tell you two things. First, my position is as an actor, but this variety show doesn't seem to offer any showcase for acting skills. It won't score me any points unless I want to develop into a variety performer."
"Second, 'Letter to Future Self' cannot become a top-tier variety show because it's too hyped. The program also reveals a lot of negative gossip about celebrities, which makes it vulgar and obviously reliant on buying trends to hit the headlines."
He Jinxia paused in her speech and slowly continued, "Do you think they would buy a trending search for me?"
Luo You was suddenly speechless, and his excited mood was doused like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him.
He coughed a few times, trying to save face, "Jinxia, I know these things too; I just wanted to make you happy and give you a bit of encouragement."
He Jinxia made an "Oh" sound, pulling at the corner of her mouth as she gave a sarcastic laugh: "Heh."
Luo You thought for a moment that he had misheard.
Not receiving any response from Luo You, He Jinxia again let out: "Heh heh heh."
Luo You frowned, "What are you laughing at?"
He Jinxia: "I'm just being happy, heh."
Luo You: "... No, you should just go back to being normal."
Damn, that's definitely a sarcastic "heh," isn't it?!
After talking a bit more, He Jinxia hung up the phone and quickly started to freshen up.
Half an hour later, He Jinxia rushed to the company and discussed matters in the agent's office.
"The segment in 'Letter to Future Self' where celebrities appear the most is when they individually recite a letter written to themselves, but the part that interests the audience the most is the squabbling that occurs between the guests after reading the letter, usually involving questions and then answers from the celebrities."
"A clever response with a hot topic will get you pushed by the production team to the trending searches. Of course, if you answer too terribly, it will also land you on trending searches, but those scandalous trends are not something I'd recommend you try for."
Luo You started to analyze the pros and cons.
He Jinxia listened intently, nodding occasionally.
Luo You, as her agent, was quite capable. He had learned about the notification this very morning, not much faster than He Jinxia, but he gathered much more information compared to what He Jinxia understood from the internet, and he was very sincere in his advice.
Luo You spoke on and off, and feeling his throat dry, he paused to drink some water. Looking up and seeing He Jinxia in deep thought, he felt somewhat relieved.
"Jinxia, you don't need to worry too much. Just play it safe and blend in for one episode, and your popularity will rise. Besides, you were kicked out of the girl group not too long ago which is good for creating buzz."
He Jinxia came back to her senses and smiled at him: "Then it's all up to you, Brother Luo, from here on."
"Perform well in next week's stage show, give it your best. Look at others, a good performance got them into a second-tier variety show. Following this, a surge in popularity and reaching top-tier status won't be far off."
Suddenly, a sarcastic voice echoed in the office.
He Jinxia turned to look and saw Li Jing standing in front of a celebrity who muttered, "Who knows if they got this opportunity by selling their looks?"