Filming was already over for the day so the crew members were having dinner. Seeing the man who walked in through the hotel door, a few young ladies couldn’t help but give low gasps.
“Ah Mo.” Xia Xuan looked back upon hearing the voice as a look of pleasant surprise made its way to her face. She got up to welcome him. “How come you’re here?”
“I came here to discuss something and heard you were here so I popped by to check on you.” Xi Mo answered in a neutral tone, his gaze landing on Shi Sheng. That cowardly and timid girl in his memories seemed to have undergone a complete metamorphosis.
She wasn’t wearing any fancy clothing, exquisite makeup, or any expensive accessories. All she wore was a normal workout outfit. However, all she had to do was sit there and a noble aura could be felt.
But in that nobility was a trace of roguishness…
Shi Sheng didn’t like looking at Xi Mo and got up to leave. However, to leave, she would have to bypass these two. After a moment’s pondering, Shi Sheng sat back down. Xi Mo’s gaze hardened before speaking a bit with Xia Xuan and leaving. Xia Xuan returned to Shi Sheng’s tableside and spoke in a suppressed voice, “Jiang Wan, I’ll make sure you’re chased out of the entertainment circle.”
“What a coincidence, as it just so happens, my goal is quite similar.” Shi Sheng leaned backwards. “Why don’t we see who’s the one chasing out whom first?”
Xia Xuan gave a light snort in disdain. “Chase me out of the entertainment circle? Jiang Wan, do you really think that just because you and Xia Man founded a company, you can match up to me? You’re just a 3rd ranked celebrity right now. You haven’t even reached the 1st rank so how are you going to get me to scram?”
Shi Sheng propped up her jaw as she spoke with a smile, “But I have a backer now!”
‘I’ve got Youjian Entertainment as my backing. Youjian Entertainment has more status in the capital than Dongfang Entertainment.’
She heard that Dongfang Entertainment had recently been planning on an expansion into the capital. Xi Mo was probably here for this reason.
“Backing?” Xia Xuan furrowed her brows for a bit before they evened out and disdain appeared in her eyes. “Ha, Jiang Wan do you think men would offend a Top Actress and two influential families for the sake of a 3rd ranked celebrity?”
She was just a tiny 3rd ranked celebrity. How big of a backing could she get by selling that body of hers?
“Won’t we know once we test it out?”
“You asked for this.”
……
“Today’s quest has already been sent to your phones. Now we’ll decide on the pairings. Those who draw the same colour will be partners.” The director raised his voice and shouted. A crew member brought a sealed box over.
Shi Sheng and Fang Liqiu were standing next to each other. Fang Liqiu drew a blue lot while Shi Sheng drew a green one.
“Ah, we’re not in a team!” Fang Liqiu’s expression collapsed. “Little Meatball, why aren’t we in a team ah!!!”
‘There’s plenty of meat to eat and soup to drink[1] whenever I follow Little Meatball. My life was so much better when following her…
But now we’re not on the same team. *sobs* I’m so heartbroken…’
“Because you’re too noisy.”
“Am I? I’m not ah! Little Meatball, how can you say that about me? I’m heartbroken, you’ve injured my fragile heart.”
The director got those who drew the same coloured lots to stand together. No matter how much Fang Liqiu cried, it wouldn’t change anything and she could only reluctantly go stand next to a male artist.
Shi Sheng was currently looking at the small, green ball in Xia Xuan’s hand. Her lips twitched. ‘This was on purpose, right? It’s definitely on purpose!’
The theme for this episode was ‘Elf Kingdom’. And today’s quest was to find the ‘Water Elves’ and retrieve some ‘Water of Life’.
The eight were grouped up into four pairs. Every pair got a hint and they were to use that hint to search for the next clue. The team that found the Water Elves first could obtain a ‘Water Elf Pearl’ which was a tool for later.
And the hint Shi Sheng got pointed her in the direction of a viewing platform in the mountain village. The two walked one in front of the other, neither speaking a word. The cameraman was already feeling awkward on their behalves.
He was more willing to see Shi Sheng cause some trouble. At least that way, they’d get ratings! While the cameraman was distracted by awkwardness, the situation changed drastically. By the time he reacted, all he saw was Xia Xuan rolling down the slope.
Xia Xuan had been sent to the hospital. The reporters caught onto this and they rushed to report this.
“Big Miss[2] Jiang! Can you tell me what you’ve done this time?!” Tang Yin suppressed his anger as he roared in a low voice.
“I didn’t do anything.” Shi Sheng spoke innocently. “She fell down by herself. I didn’t even touch her with a single pinky.”
Back then, she had been standing slightly behind Xia Xuan. She hadn’t expected Xia Xuan to suddenly reach out to pull on her. As they were enemies, she naturally flung her hand off as fast as she could.
However, who had expected that Xia Xuan wasn’t afraid of death? She fell downhill all on her own. ‘Tsk, why didn’t she die from that fall?’
“Right now Xia Xuan is saying you’re the one who pushed her! Public opinion on the internet is against you and the matter from back then has been brought up again…” Tang Yin was roaring irritably on the other side.
Shi Sheng finally managed to hang up after a long lecture. ‘How annoying! Since you’re so anxious in courting death then I shan’t hold back anymore.’
……
The second day of Xia Xuan’s stay in the hospital, a few scandalous pictures appeared on the internet. The girl in the picture was rather young. Though there weren’t any full-blown bed-scenes, there were still kissing scenes.
These pictures featured a young woman and as one moved further along, one would notice, the woman in the picture getting older and more mature.
Towards the end, the scenes got more and more censor worthy. The final few pictures actually looked like a group of people inhaling drugs together. At first, people didn’t notice. But as more and more were released, people who still couldn’t see it would be blind.
In the VIP room of a hospital, Xia Xuan wildly flipped through these photos while muttering, “Why is it like this, how can it be like this… Weren’t these destroyed long ago? Why did they still appear? Impossible…”
“Someone has clearly planned this in advance.” Xia Xuan’s agent furrowed her brow and looked at her before exhorting, “Don’t panic. As long as we don’t admit it and say these pictures are fake, it’ll be fine. This matter is already so old. To investigate would require time and by that time, most of the heat would have faded.”
“It must be Jiang Wan! It’s definitely Jiang Wan!” Xia Xuan ferociously smashed the computer to the floor. “It’s that slut! She wants to destroy me!”
‘It had to be her, she told me she’d chase me out of the entertainment circle. But where did she get those pictures? Those people back then had clearly already been…’
Xia Xuan fought a cold shiver as she turned around to press her agent’s shoulders and spoke with a ferocious face, “I want Jiang Wan’s reputation destroyed! Straight away, immediately, right now!!!”
“Calm down!” ‘It was only a few pictures.’ Xia Xuan’s agent didn’t understand why it frightened her so much.
There wasn’t even a bed scene anywhere so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Just a little bit of work and this matter would be resolved.
“How can I calm down? Just how am I supposed to calm down?! Ahhhh-” Xia Xuan hugged her head and shrieked. ‘Why does Jiang Wan have those pictures?! How did she know about that matter?!
No! I can’t let her reveal it, otherwise I’m done for!
Calm down, calm down, there’s got to be a way to deal with her.’
[1] This is an idiom for doing well/having rewards/etc. I left it because I thought it sounded hilarious with her nickname.
[2] Used in this context, he’s pretty much saying this through gritted teeth by now. See also: Footnote 2 of Chapter 35.