Is This How the Entertainment Industry Works? (GL) - Chapter 42

The first news item concerned the recent incidents of female celebrities being attacked with acid. Most of these actresses were widely known to have undergone plastic surgery; after the attacks, their facial disfigurement was severe, making it impossible for them to accept any projects in the near future.

The news anchor listed several names. Listening to this, Li Ping lamented, “Why are they all Tianhua artists?”

“They attract hate, I suppose,” Zhao Baoshang remarked briefly while unwrapping a peppermint candy to chew on.

The broadcast continued. The second item was a major scoop.

The anchor’s tone turned mysterious: “These next two are quite extraordinary. One is a certain talent show champion who keeps clinging to a Movie Queen, and the other is a scandal-ridden Movie Queen who has nothing but money and awkward acting skills. Just two afternoons ago, a photo of these two was secretly taken!”

Anyone with a brain could tell who these keywords referred to. Zhao Baoshang’s hand paused.

The anchor continued loudly, “That’s right! It’s the kiss photo you all imagined—a passionate kiss! In a way, that trending champion finally got her wish.”

Zhao Baoshang took her phone and looked at the dim photo on the screen. The photo captured half of her own back as she pinned Yan Zhen against a wall, kissing her. Half of Yan Zhen’s face was visible; her eyes were closed, her cheeks were flushed, and there seemed to be water droplets on her eyelashes.

So the little fan cried back then, she realized.

Zhao Baoshang reached out her thumb to brush away the tears on Yan Zhen’s lashes in the photo, but she accidentally pressed something, and the screen went black.

Li Ping rushed over. “Did I hear that right?! What did that anchor just say?!”

Zhao Baoshang turned off her phone and said flatly, “I didn’t hear clearly either.”

“You! Just keep pretending!” Li Ping lost her usual composure. Gritting her teeth and cursing Zhao Baoshang’s worsening temper, she opened Weibo to check the trending topics.

High on the list were indeed the names of Zhao Baoshang and Yan Zhen. The images were all photos of their passionate kiss, showing different angles from the same location. Although the scene was dark, it was clear the two were kissing so intensely they didn’t notice they were being photographed.

Li Ping’s vision went dark. Her face turned ashen as she poked the screen. “What is the meaning of this?!”

“It’s nothing,” Zhao Baoshang said indifferently.

“Explain it to me clearly, or I won’t be able to handle this!”

Zhao Baoshang frowned. “If you can’t handle it, then forget it. It’s not a big deal anyway.”

It was just a kiss with her little fan. They had kissed so many times she couldn’t count them on one hand. If she had to explain, it was likely thanks to the Love Gu. However, she had already taken the antidote; she wasn’t supposed to be pining for the little fan anymore.

Yet, once she thought of the little fan, she couldn’t stop. She missed her dearly and wondered how she was doing. Without her, the fan was probably being bullied in some corner again.

Li Ping, nearly suffocating with anger, clicked on a video. It showed a reporter interviewing Yan Zhen. The reporter asked, “Is it true that you and Zhao Baoshang kissed?”

“It’s true,” Yan Zhen said.

The reporter gasped. “Aren’t you going to defend yourself?”

“Why defend myself? Aren’t the photos quite obvious?” Yan Zhen spoke with absolute bluntness.

The surroundings were noisy, and someone seemed to be prompting her. Yan Zhen paused, then continued, “It’s obviously just practicing a scene.”

“Practicing a scene?!” The reporter’s voice distorted in shock.

Yan Zhen nodded calmly. “Correct. These are shots required for Qing Shan Yuan.”

The video crackled and the screen went dark without warning. Li Ping tapped her phone on the table. “What’s going on?”

Yan Zhen’s voice continued to filter through the phone: “Qing Shan Yuan is still filming, but I can responsibly tell everyone that this is a movie with passion scenes.”

Yan Zhen had a righteous face and a voice that was meticulously honest. Even while lying, she sounded like she was telling the sincere truth.

Listening to Yan Zhen’s voice, Zhao Baoshang felt that if she hadn’t been the one doing the kissing, even she might have been fooled. She started to smile, but realizing she was about to laugh out loud, she quickly pulled the corners of her mouth down. Regardless, at least the little fan was okay.

Li Ping tossed the phone onto the sofa and saw Zhao Baoshang’s expression. “Are you sick?”

“I’m fine,” Zhao Baoshang shook her head.

If there was anything wrong, it was just that she missed her fan too much. Her heart was itchy; she wanted to go back and hug her, tell her to stop researching antidotes, and just live a good life with her.

Her thoughts trailed off, and she froze. Wait, it’s so strange. I’ve already taken the antidote, so why do I still have these thoughts? Shouldn’t I be indifferent and desireless now? This is really weird…

Mulling over this strange phenomenon, Zhao Baoshang returned to the Zhao estate. In the mansion, Old Zhao had found other Feng Shui masters to calculate her Death Calamity, but their skills were mediocre, and their results were no different from Master Meng’s.

The conclusion remained: the Death Calamity was approaching.

Old Zhao sighed in disappointment and told the butler to search for more powerful masters—if all else failed, he would post a bounty online. Zhao Baoshang felt this was all futile. Sitting on the sofa, listening to her grandfather talk about famous masters, the image of the little fan popped into her head again.

This is never-ending, she thought, dazed.

Zhao Da happened to be home. Seeing Zhao Baoshang looking preoccupied, he leaned over to pester her: “What, not keeping your little actress anymore?”

Zhao Baoshang closed her eyes and ignored him. Zhao Da asked with a smirk, “Silent? I haven’t seen you go out lately. Are you practicing some kind of ‘celibacy’ kung fu?”

“Leave me alone,” she snapped, opening her eyes.

“You’re the annoying one!” Zhao Da countered, startled by her tone.

“Lunatic,” she muttered.

“Takes one to know one,” he replied.

Zhao Baoshang sneered. “I don’t have time for your nonsense.”

“Fine,” Zhao Da said, “but aren’t you worried something might happen to your little fangirl?”

Zhao Baoshang’s brow furrowed. What could happen? She wanted to ask for details, but having made it clear she had nothing to do with Yan Zhen, she couldn’t ask so affectionately. That would be… truly crazy.

She wanted to ask, yet didn’t dare. She had rarely been this conflicted. After agonizing for a while, she ran upstairs and locked herself in her room. After much deliberation, she called Yan Zhen.

As soon as the call connected, she didn’t wait for Yan Zhen to speak. “The antidote you gave me didn’t work at all!”

“…What?” Yan Zhen was bewildered.

“I haven’t changed at all. I’m exactly the same as before.” Exactly as much in love with you.

Yan Zhen took a moment to process this. “Impossible. Did I mix the medicine wrong?” She was lost. “Let me check the antidote; I’ll call you back.”

Yan Zhen opened the bottle, sniffed the scent, and cross-referenced it with her recipe and the receipts for the ingredients. Everything was detailed; an error was unlikely. She had known the recipe by heart since childhood. There was one pill left in the bottle.

The side effects were minimal—it was essentially a strong dewormer for the human body. Yan Zhen took the remaining pill. The taste was correct. A moment later, she felt a pang of abdominal pain. She drank some hot water, and her body returned to normal shortly after.

Yan Zhen stared at the bottle. This effect was similar to other pills she had formulated; if someone without a Love Gu took it, they would experience temporary abdominal pain. Those with a Love Gu would not.

Recalling that Zhao Baoshang had looked perfectly healthy when she left the dorm, she must have indeed had the Gu. So why was the antidote ineffective?

To be safe, Yan Zhen called her back. “Did your body have any special reactions after taking it?”

Zhao Baoshang’s face flushed. “Can’t you talk without seducing me?!”

“Special reactions like stomach pain, headaches, throat pain, etc.,” Yan Zhen clarified.

“Why are you asking that?” Zhao Baoshang’s face grew even redder.

“Because the medicine can have side effects, but the pain usually subsides in a few hours.”

Zhao Baoshang cooperated for once. “I had a headache.”

Yan Zhen fell silent. Medicine doesn’t lie, and given Zhao Baoshang’s constitution, she wouldn’t have a simple headache if there were still a Gu in her body.

This meant Zhao Baoshang might never have been infected with a Love Gu in the first place. Yan Zhen felt a headache coming on herself. She rubbed her temples.

On the other end, Zhao Baoshang was still lecturing her: “Look at this ‘antidote’ you researched. It’s useless and gave me a headache. Anyway, I think I miss you a bit. Remember to come to the villa later. Do you hear me?”

Yan Zhen was silent for a long time. Hearing Zhao Baoshang narrate her longing, she was suddenly moved. It turned out the Eldest Princess wasn’t heartless toward her after all. Her wish of many years seemed to have come true. Being reborn was a gift, and being favored by the Princess was more than enough.

Yan Zhen organized her thoughts and finally told her the truth: “Zhao Baoshang, you were actually never infected with a Love Gu.”

Silence fell on the other end. After a long pause, Zhao Baoshang’s voice was tense. “What did you just say?”

“I don’t think you ever had the Gu,” Yan Zhen explained. “If you truly had it, there would be no side effects from the antidote. Having a headache means you didn’t have the Gu.”

Zhao Baoshang was quiet, then said stubbornly, “It’s clearly your antidote being useless, and now you’re trying to blame me?”

“Even if you had it,” Yan Zhen added, “I have no trace of the Mother Gu on me. You… being in heat toward me doesn’t make sense regardless.”

Zhao Baoshang slammed the phone onto the floor in a rage. No Love Gu? Impossible. The little fan must be lying.

She buried herself in her quilt and slept. In her hazy dreams, she wondered: If I really didn’t have the Gu, then why do I crave the little fan so much? Do I really like her?

Zhao Baoshang grabbed her pillow and thrashed it against the bed. She didn’t want this to be true. Hateful little fan, she must be lying!

Yan Zhen sneezed after hanging up and walked out of her dorm. She had a major class that afternoon. The lecturer was a cardiology professor, a former chief surgeon who had performed countless clinical cases.

The classroom was noisy. When Yan Zhen walked in, it went silent for a moment, followed by a wave of disorganized whispering. She heard people discussing her.

“That’s the Supernova champion. She looks way worse than her photos.”

“She’s not wearing makeup. Did you hear? She tried to cling to Zhao Baoshang a few nights ago and almost got beaten up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it was pathetic. But she’s shameless, so it’s her own fault.”

“I thought some news outlet said they were close? Must be fake!”

“Duh. If they were close, she’d be famous by now. She’s probably the most pathetic champion ever.”

Yan Zhen sat down and rubbed her forehead. Her relationship with Zhao Baoshang might not be “good” in the traditional sense, but hearing people talk so openly about it made her feel uncomfortable. She tapped her phone, the screen lighting up. Her finger hovered over Zhao Baoshang’s profile picture, but she didn’t click.

“Quiet,” the teaching assistant called. “The professor is here.”

The professor stepped onto the podium. The room went silent. He tapped the blackboard to signal the start of class. The assistant handed out papers with the professor’s contact info and achievements.

“I don’t have many hobbies,” the professor said. “I just like dissecting human bodies and researching hearts. If anyone shares this interest, you’re welcome to talk to me. I’m happy to guide you and take you as a student in your junior year.”

The students were excited. Becoming his disciple would make getting into the master’s program much easier.

“I won’t say much else. I’ve listed my thoughts and recommended reading. We’re having a small quiz today. Whoever takes first place can follow me on clinical rounds tomorrow.”

The room erupted. No one expected this. “A quiz already? Then the spot definitely goes to Wang Huan.”

“Who’s Wang Huan?”

“You don’t know? Her family owns a hospital, and she played a surgeon in a TV drama recently. Her professional knowledge is definitely better than ours.”

Yan Zhen didn’t feel much about exams. The girl sitting next to her asked, “If you stars get bad grades, do you lose fans?”

“Probably,” Yan Zhen thought.

The girl smiled smugly. “Then this exam is probably very important for you.”

The professor began distributing the papers. He walked around, observing the students’ thought processes. In the middle of the room, he saw someone who caught his eye: this student answered quickly and clearly knew her stuff. He checked the name: Wang Huan. He made a mental note.

Continuing to the back, he saw students whispering and secretly checking their phones. He crossed out their papers immediately. He was starting to feel disappointed, thinking there was only one student worth watching.

He reached the last row and gave the papers a casual glance. Amidst almost blank sheets, he saw one that was completely filled out. Probably just scribbling nonsense, he thought. The final questions were difficult; writing a few lines was good, but answering comprehensively was hard even for him.

He looked at the paper with low expectations. His eyes widened in shock. The analysis was methodical, the handwriting clear, and the descriptions were even more brilliant than the standard answers.

The standard answers only covered the surgical causes. This student’s answer not only described surgical causes but also included traditional Chinese medicine diagnoses—and even an array created from rural folk superstitions.

…Where did this cultist come from?

The professor looked at the scientific theory at the beginning of the answer and the “superstitious” nonsense at the end. He felt an urge to hit someone. She’s a good prospect, but her worldview is a bit warped.

The professor sighed.