CHAPTER 33 (PART 3)

It wasn’t necessary.

She was still young.

“Director Wang, she’s here,” an assistant reminded.

Wang Shaojun looked up, his eyes flashing with a fleeting hint of amazement. He thought to himself, She really does need to be toned down.

“Go get her into makeup and take some character photos first,” Wang Shaojun instructed.

Someone immediately stepped forward to lead Jiang Su away.

Feng Jing had gained popularity over the past two years, whereas Jiang Su was an absolute newcomer in the acting industry with no connections.

Since Feng Jing had already put her down publicly, the rest of the crew treated Jiang Su rather coldly.

After all, most people just followed the lead of those in power.

Some even secretly took pleasure in it. So what if a talent show contestant was wildly popular? Once you step into this industry, you’re just a nobody.

“They didn’t even give her a glass of water. Damn,” Xu Dazhi swore under his breath.

Jiang Su, however, merely lifted her head slightly and asked, “What time is it?”

Xu Dazhi glanced at his watch. “Three in the afternoon. Why?”

Jiang Su closed her eyes as the makeup artist applied her eyeliner.

She parted her lips slightly and murmured, “…Give it a little while, and things will change.”

What did she mean by things will change in a little while?

Xu Dazhi was utterly confused.

After chatting with Wang Shaojun, Feng Jing turned around, taking in the reactions of the staff. She then glanced at her manager and said, “See? Didn’t I tell you?”

“I’ve been saying—there’s no need to beat around the bush. Just put it out in the open, and it’ll only make things more humiliating for her. She can’t do anything to me…”

Before she could finish, someone nearby blurted out, “Holy sh*t.”

“What’s going on now?” Feng Jing asked.

Over on the other side, Jiang Su had just finished her styling session and stepped out.

Her hair was tied into two adorable looped buns, with no extra accessories—just a single purple ribbon hanging down on each side.

She wore a flowing robe with wide sleeves as she slowly approached.

Feng Jing muttered, “…She does look pretty stunning.”

The next second, a staff member handed Jiang Su a cup of water, complete with a straw to avoid smudging her lip makeup.

“Miss Jiang, the director is waiting for you over there.”

Feng Jing frowned. “Why are they treating her so differently all of a sudden?”

“Because ten minutes ago, her magazine sold out and started trending.” Xuan Wen, who had also finished styling, walked over coldly.

After all, he had been her mentor—he had to show a little support in public.

This was a tangible achievement.

The stronger your fan base’s purchasing power, the more appealing you became to investors. And once you had their favor, was there anywhere you couldn’t dominate?

The car commercial Jiang Su had shot earlier involved high-end products, and the sales figures hadn’t been disclosed yet. So, until now, no one had seen any hard data.

But with this magazine sale, the results were undeniable.

Feng Jing was momentarily stunned. Once Xuan Wen walked away, she immediately pulled out her phone to check the news alerts.

#Jiang Su’s Magazine Sells Out#

Clicking in, she was met with cold, hard numbers:

• FIGARO: 370,298 copies
  
• GQ: 221,210 copies

“Sells out” wasn’t an exaggeration.

Combined, the two magazines had generated over ten million yuan in sales.

Female celebrities’ magazine sales were generally weaker than their male counterparts’. Male stars had large female fan bases, and those fans were notorious for their spending power.

Last year’s top contestant from a popular survival show had only sold 230,000 copies of their magazine.

Feng Jing understood this all too well.

Two years ago, her own magazine had only sold 50,000 copies—and that was with a hit drama backing her up.

Taking a deep breath, she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy.

“No wonder more and more people are jumping into survival shows…”

Her manager, equally stunned, quickly reassured her, “But actor fans and idol fans are different—you know that. Actor fans are chill; they only care about the work. Idol fans? They’re hardcore. They’ve been voting like crazy for their faves all along, of course, they’re willing to spend.”

A flicker of resentment crossed Feng Jing’s face. “So, am I just supposed to let her trample over me in the production?”

—

Standing in front of the director, Jiang Su said, “I accept the character modifications.”

While the director was looking at her finalized styling photos, Jiang Su’s phone kept ringing—one congratulatory call after another.

Magazines needed prestige, but they also needed money.

With these sales figures, both FIGARO and GQ’s editors had suddenly become much warmer and more accommodating toward her.

The director assumed she was dissatisfied.

She was young, already decorated with achievements, and had proven her marketability. Who would want to be treated unfairly?

But when she finally spoke, her words were completely unexpected.

Pressing her lips together briefly, Jiang Su said, “If this character is going to be bad, she might as well be really bad, right? If she can deceive the male lead, then she should also be able to toy with the female lead at will—bullying her again and again, making the audience so furious they wish they could kill off my character on the spot… right?”

Wang Shaojun: ?
Xu Dazhi: ?

Holy crap.

You seriously want to play an ultra-mega villain?!

Wang Shaojun exclaimed, “…Brilliant! I love it! Let’s do it!”

Jiang Su walked out.

From a distance, Feng Jing caught a glimpse of her relaxed expression and muttered, “She looks so carefree—guess she smoothed things over…”

In the corner, Xuan Wen was sitting under a sun umbrella, reading his script while typing in the mentor group chat:

[Jiang Su and Feng Jing just clashed.]

Yelena: […FJ is so petty.]

On the other end of the phone screen, Zhao Qiuying’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

…Right eye twitching? Bad omen.

His gut tightened, and he started racking his brain for an excuse to drop by the set.

—

The next day, before Zhao Qiuying even arrived at the set, the actors had already received the first revised character outlines.

The female lead’s struggles had been dialed up to eleven.

Every single episode, she’d be slapped, dunked in a lake, have her bones broken, and—thanks to Jiang Su’s character—get repeatedly misunderstood and mistreated by the male lead…

Feng Jing’s face twitched.

For some reason, she had the distinct feeling that she had dug her own grave.

Meanwhile, Jiang Su lounged lazily in a deck chair, flipping through her script. Resting on top of it was a new contract.

Since her role had been expanded, so had her paycheck.

Perfect.

I love playing villains.

Jiang Su happily popped a grape into her mouth.

—

Cheng Yue never bothered asking what Ding Jiayu had done.

The fact that he had condescended to show up at the survival show finale was already more than enough.

He simply tightened his grip, quietly squeezing Ding Jiayu’s space further and further.

Sooner or later, she’d come crawling back to beg for forgiveness on her own.

That was far more entertaining than confronting her outright.

Besides, Cheng Yue had a packed schedule. Once he got busy, he completely forgot about that backstabbing little brat Jiang Su.

That day, Zhao Bo’ang’s father personally invited him to a meeting. As the elevator doors chimed open, Cheng Yue stepped into the conference room.

“Mr. Cheng.”

The other party greeted him politely—there was no condescension due to age or seniority.

Cheng Yue nodded slightly.

But the next moment, his gaze unexpectedly locked onto something.

In the meeting room, there was a magazine rack.

One magazine stood out prominently. Its cover featured a young girl in a V-neck silver gown, sitting inside a silver-gray car. She had her face slightly turned to the side, with the wide skirt of her dress spread out across the seat.

She wore transparent wind goggles on her head, and long dangling chains hung beside her ears. The chains carried three letters—WIN.

She extended her hand slightly, beckoning toward the viewer.

A perfect blend of delicate beauty and sharp intensity, so stunning that one dared not look directly at her.

Cheng Yue withdrew his gaze and took his seat without a word.

After the discussion ended, he got up to leave.

Mr. Zhao suddenly spoke in a low voice, “President Cheng seems to like this magazine? Why not take it as a gift?”

Is he crazy?

Cheng Yue replied, “I don’t like it.”

With long strides, he walked away.

Once inside the car, Cheng Yue suddenly asked, “Jiang Su shot a magazine cover?”

The secretary had watched the group debut finale and now recognized Jiang Su. He quickly replied, “Yes, I think it was some kind of competition reward…”

Passing by a newsstand, Cheng Yue said, “Hold on.”

He focused his gaze.

There was another magazine there, also featuring the girl.

But this time, it was a completely different look—

The girl had her eyes closed, immersed in a bathtub.

She had a pair of eerily realistic blue ear fins, creating gentle ripples in the water. She curled up slightly, her long mermaid tail flicking against the surface.

It was as if she had been separated from her kind,
Trapped in a tank by greedy humans.

She was beautiful, cold, yet fragile.

How many copies had sold?

Cheng Yue couldn’t help but take out his phone and search for keywords.

The screen was filled with praise.

[Oh my god, is this the ‘not even human’ cover my girl mentioned? I’m dead!]

[Can I keep this fishy as a pet?]

[She really is too beautiful to be human…]

Cheng Yue let out a quiet scoff and closed the webpage.

For some reason, his fingertips itched slightly.

Unconsciously rubbing his fingers together, he said, “…Buy a copy of the magazine.”

She really was beautiful.

A completely different kind of beauty than before.

But Cheng Yue knew, this mermaid—
If she opened her eyes and opened her mouth, she would start cursing.

If I really kept a fish like this…

…It would probably be quite amusing.