Chapter 12: Disguise

Inside the Huangtao Broadcasting Building’s central control room for Undercover Profession, the production team watched Ruan Yu’s shameless melodramatic performance in stunned silence.

“…She’s quick on her feet, huh? While He Changyuan is doing everything he can to stay away from the camera, she’s trying to bum a ride?”

“Is that really Ruan Yu? I barely recognized her just now!”

Eventually, Director Guan Hai called the cameraman and gritted his teeth: “No. If she won’t take the subway, let her walk! I dare her.”

So Ruan Yu walked.

She walked eight kilometers—nearly two full hours on foot. By the time she arrived at her destination, her legs were practically jelly.

The production team: “……”

The address on her business card led to the SOHO district—one of the capital’s high-end commercial areas. With her heavy makeup and striking outfit, Ruan Yu’s presence on the street was impossible to miss. Heads turned with every step. She was even approached by several talent scouts hoping to make her the next internet influencer.

Ruan Yu panicked, staring at one of the scouts rambling on. Her face screamed “DOA mission failure” and “14 days of hard labor ahead.”

But to her surprise, the makeover worked so well that the scouts couldn’t recognize her. They named every celebrity she “resembled,” completely unaware they were looking at the Ruan Yu herself.

Panting and holding her knees outside the SOHO tower, Ruan Yu gave herself a half-hearted pat on the back.

“A rising star in the makeup world… is that me?”

Then, two seconds later, she muttered to herself: “Ugh, no—just because I’m irrelevant.”

Though her voice was low, her state-of-the-art, thousand-yuan hidden mic picked it up loud and clear.

The director’s team: “…………” What kind of drama queen did we hire, exactly?

The studio was on the 27th floor.

The company the show had arranged for her was “Chen Dexuan Styling Studio.”

She had heard of Chen Dexuan—an acclaimed celebrity stylist in the film and TV world, known for working with top-tier directors and A-listers. He had a shelf full of makeup awards and had recently started his own studio after leaving his agency. The place had signed several top-level stylists.

And this was the very place she now stood.

Ruan Yu was led inside by an assistant. She glanced back.

Not a single camera in sight—seemed like they weren’t filming here.

Assistant: “Feels quiet, doesn’t it? Oh, our studio’s usually like this—most of the stylists are out on assignments. They’re either working with celebrities or running around with film crews. Only Teacher Shen is in today. He’s in that room—you’ll be working under him from now on. Go on in.”

Inside, a man was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, speaking on the phone. His shoulder-length hair had been bleached a golden blonde, and his appearance was quite androgynous.

Once he finished the call, Ruan Yu took off her backpack and handed over her resume. “Mr. Shen, I’m the new makeup assistant.”

“I know, I know. Teacher Chen personally assigned you to me. Got it,” Shen Fangfei glanced through the resume and then sized her up. “You’re Liu Daxiong, right? I’ll just call you Daxiong from now on.”

Every time Ruan Yu heard that name, she wanted to stab her ears.

Who on earth gave her such a ridiculous name?!

But it seemed Shen Fangfei knew she was part of a show? Ruan Yu asked, “So you know?”

“Of course.”

Ruan Yu let out a breath of relief. “Good, I thought—”

“You’re related to Teacher Chen, right? Or maybe a friend? From the looks of it—” Shen Fangfei gave her a knowing glance, “Tomboy?”

What was this—Despair Triple Combo?

Ruan Yu was stunned. “W-What’s a Tomboy?”

Shen Fangfei: “T, you know? In our industry, guy-type girls or girl-type guys—it’s all normal. I figured as much just from your name.”

He didn’t know a damn thing!

So it turned out Shen Fangfei didn’t know she was filming a show. He thought she was some inside connection that Chen Dexuan had arranged. That meant the one who coordinated with the production team was Chen Dexuan, and Shen Fangfei was completely out of the loop.

Which also meant—Ruan Yu had to make sure Shen Fangfei never found out her true identity.

Shen Fangfei ran through a bunch of job details and future arrangements: “Tomorrow, you’ll come with me to Zhejiang. We’ve got a film crew to work with at a studio there. I’ll brief you more when we get there. That’s it for today—any questions?”

Ruan Yu asked solemnly, “Teacher, about the flight and lodging… can the studio reimburse on the spot?”

Shen Fangfei paused. “…Sure!”

As they were talking, there was a knock at the door. Shen Fangfei suddenly remembered, “Oh right, we have another person joining us this time.”

Ruan Yu turned around—only to feel as if lightning had struck her on the spot. She nearly had a heart attack.

Wasn’t that the cameraman she’d been desperately searching for all day and failed to find?!!

The cameraman was holding a small camera, already recording. The look on Ruan Yu’s face was practically cracking through the lens.

“Don’t be nervous,” Shen Fangfei said, introducing him casually. “This is Zheng Yi, our photographer, hired by Teacher Chen. Our studio’s shooting a documentary for promotional purposes—he’ll be filming us for a while, capturing our day-to-day work.”

《Undercover Profession》… Bravo. Even the staff has infiltrated the operation.

After a quick intro, Shen Fangfei suddenly stared at Ruan Yu’s neck. “Hey…”

Did he notice the mic clipped under her collar?!

Ruan Yu mustered the best acting of her life and looked calmly back. “Yes?”

Shen Fangfei tapped her sweater collar. “Tomboy, your makeup’s smudging.”

Ruan Yu looked down—it was just the honey-toned foundation smearing the white collar of her sweater.

She let out a silent, massive sigh of relief.

After that, Shen Fangfei wrapped up the briefing, told her the flight time for the next morning, and let her off for the day.

Ruan Yu didn’t bother checking where the cameraman had gone. She went back to the luggage storage shop, picked up her suitcase, spent ten yuan on a cup of instant noodles and a bottle of water, and began calculating how long her remaining 430 yuan could last her.

Evening was settling in.

Ruan Yu sighed, “Where to sleep tonight… still a big problem. Director, are you watching this? Can you really bear to watch a fragile, helpless young girl sleep on the streets?”

Naturally, no one responded.

Out of options, Ruan Yu pulled out her phone, ready to look for a capsule hotel or hostel—but suddenly had an idea.

The group chat had exploded.

After scrolling through the backlog, she saw that everyone else had also had a rough day—tons of drama, lots of mishaps, great for ratings. Equally tragic all around.

Lu Han sent a voice message: “I took a client to view a villa today. I swear, even back when I did my first stand-up set in Beijing, I wasn’t this nervous. Then, when the client wanted to sign the contract… I realized I was in the wrong neighborhood!”

Lu Han: “The girl even said, ‘No wonder you wore sunglasses—you’re blind!’ Tell me that’s not tragic!”

It was tragic. Completely.

The group chat was now flooded with “hahahaha.”

Ruan Yu kept reading. He Changyuan had spent the day in a clown outfit, full makeup, performing magic on a crowded pedestrian street. Not only did he mess up several times, but he also got publicly challenged by a real street magician. Jiang Xingchun and Qiu Xi fared a bit better—wrapped head to toe in their respective work gear, they completed a full shift and even made some money.

Ruan Yu: [@Qiu Xi, Qiu Xi, where are you sleeping tonight?]

Qiu Xi: [I found a budget hotel, 200 a night. I’ll send you the link.]

Ruan Yu: [Not staying at a hotel—too expensive!!]

The moment Guan Hai the director saw that message, he had a bad feeling. His eye twitched—sure enough, Ruan Yu had another move ready.

Ruan Yu: [If you’re not driving tonight, can I borrow your car to sleep in?]

Qiu Xi: [The production team might not allow that…]

Ruan Yu, confidently clutching her phone: [The director said we can’t host each other overnight, but we’re not technically staying together.]

Lu Han: [Wait, we can do that?]

Jiang Xingchun: [Wait, we can do that?]

The production team, watching everything unfold in real time: “……”

Wait, they can DO that?!

In truth, the production team didn’t actually want to make things too difficult. They would never really let any guest sleep on the street. If Ruan Yu had absolutely nowhere to go, they had plans to release a special mission. Completing it would grant the contestant extra money.

No one expected it—Ruan Yu was essentially a walking loophole detector for the show’s rules.

She found a workaround, promised Qiu Xi she wouldn’t expose her, and the two reached an understanding. Ruan Yu then crossed half the city and successfully borrowed Qiu Xi’s car for the night.

The production team was dumbfounded!

The car was parked by the roadside. Ruan Yu used the restroom at a nearby mall to hurriedly remove her makeup and freshen up, then curled up inside the car.

A cameraman followed her the whole way and now sat slack-jawed in a nearby vehicle, reporting in via phone:
“Director, she’s actually sleeping in the car tonight?”

“If she dares to, then let her. As long as it makes for good TV.”

Guan Hai felt relieved.

Thankfully Ruan Yu wasn’t very famous. If one of those ultra-popular starlets had been treated like this for a reality show, their die-hard fans would have already stormed the TV station.

After lowering the seat and dozing for a bit, Ruan Yu suddenly sat up. She reached for the mini microphone at her collar and took it off. Then, searching around the car, she finally spotted the hidden camera next to the rearview mirror. Her bare, delicate face slowly moved closer to it.

The production team: …What is this girl trying to pull now?!

Next second, the screen went black.

Production team: “…”

Ruan Yu had turned off all the equipment and let out a long breath.
“It’s only day one, but I feel like I’ve died and come back to life eight thousand times already—”

The phone provided by the production crew was practically empty, but thankfully it still had data. Ruan Yu downloaded a few apps in one go and started looping Ji Linhao’s new album, scrolling through Weibo at the same time.

Ji Linhao had just returned from shooting a new music video in Seattle and immediately attended a fan meet for a brand endorsement. The fan photos looked stunning—even the candid shots were flawless. One particular photo of him glancing back as the event ended looked straight out of a love story.

Ruan Yu finished consuming all the new content and burst into quiet tears.

Wuwuwu, as expected, Haohao is her red potion of life!

—

Early the next morning, Ruan Yu left Beijing with Shen Fangfei, heading to Xiangshan Film and Television City.

She hadn’t slept well, cramped up in the car all night. At airport security, she guarded her ID like a secret agent, trying to keep Shen Fangfei from seeing her real name. It was a mental chess match all the way to the film set. Exhausted, she finally fell fast asleep on the bus ride to the set. By the time they arrived at the hotel in the afternoon, a new text had popped up on her phone.

[Lu Han’s disguise failed. His original profession has been revoked, and he has been issued a “manual labor” card. Remaining contestants will continue to compete.]

The group chat was already in chaos.

They were all in a group call. As soon as Ruan Yu joined, she heard Lu Han pleading.

“How are we supposed to play this? I’m really being sent to a construction site to haul bricks?! Twelve straight days of labor? Are you serious, Director—Oh hey, Ruan Yu’s here. Perfect, everyone’s here. How about we write a joint petition in blood to protest this?”

Ruan Yu’s voice was solemn:
“Thanks for the invite. Just landed. Lu Han, care to share how you got eliminated? Let me enjoy it a bit.”

Lu Han: “…Director! Can I still use my one-time exposure card?! I want to take Ruan Yu down with me!”

Having eavesdropped long enough, Guan Hai finally spoke:
“Once a contestant is eliminated, their exposure card becomes invalid. So everyone, please use your cards in time.”

With that, the call went quiet. Everyone simultaneously felt the pressure ramp up.

Jiang Xingchun explained to Ruan Yu:
“Yesterday he wore sunglasses to meet a client and got reported. Today he didn’t prep anything and got recognized instantly.”

Lu Han: “How is that called unprepared?! I wore a full-length wig—how did they still recognize me?”

Jiang Xingchun chuckled quietly:
“Lu-ge, you have too many fans. It’s not surprising someone recognized you.”

Hearing his voice, Ruan Yu melted a little and couldn’t help but break into a doting smile.

So soft! No wonder he’s the main vocalist of a top boy band—his voice alone could melt ears.

He Changyuan suddenly remembered:
“Ruan Yu, did you really sleep in Qiu Xi’s car last night?”

Ruan Yu, clearly in a great mood:
“Yep! A luxury car motel, totally free. I saved a fortune.”

Qiu Xi laughed:
“You’re so convincing, I almost believed you.”

Ruan Yu’s voice was light and cheerful, her tone lifted at the ends like willow branches brushing a spring lake in March. Somewhere on a Beijing street, Jiang Xingchun absentmindedly touched the back of his neck, looked down, and a small smile involuntarily curled at his lips.

She was… kind of cute.

---

Author’s note:
Ruan Yu, cute and broke.