Chapter 5: Beautiful Woman – Kidnapped, Humiliated, Persecuted…

“What?” Xu Youyou paused mid-sentence, face full of confusion.

Zhong Yang struggled to speak. “Tonight, I totally cursed him out. I called him a narcissist… and a psycho. I even told him to apologize to me.”

“I also said he was superficial, judged people by their looks, and even if he chased me, I wouldn’t be interested.”

“And then… I rolled my eyes at him. A huge one.”

Xu Youyou slammed the brakes and parked by the roadside, staring at Zhong Yang in disbelief. “Aren’t you supposed to be ‘peace and love’?!”

“Oh right, that weirdo from the bar last night—it turns out he was that Pei Yunzhe! And then today, he showed up again and started acting crazy in front of me. I couldn’t hold back…”

……

A moment of deathly silence passed between them.

Finally, Zhong Yang said, “There are three possible outcomes. First, Pei Yunzhe goes back and tells Yin Qi in anger that I cursed him out. Word spreads in the circle, I get blacklisted, and I can never step foot on a film set again.”

Xu Youyou: “Yeah… very likely.”

“Second, Pei Yunzhe is so pissed he kidnaps me, humiliates me, persecutes me…”

Xu Youyou: “What?!”

“Missy, what kind of dirty scene are you imagining? I mean maybe he’ll beat me up… or even… kill me?” Zhong Yang’s voice trailed off.

“If he really wanted to, you could disappear from this world without a trace…” Xu Youyou replied, then quickly changed tone with an eye roll. “Come on. You think this is a drama? This is Huaguo—anything that breaks the law is a huge hassle. Pei Yunzhe wouldn’t bother. Too much trouble. Not worth it. What’s the third option?”

“The third possibility is… he was in a really good mood today and just forgot the whole thing!”

“……”

Xu Youyou: “Do you believe that yourself?”

Zhong Yang: “Heh. Not at all.”

They spent the entire night wondering what to do, and in the end, came to one helpless conclusion: Survive first. Find a job.

Just yesterday she said maybe in a few years she could act again, and today she might have ruined it all because she couldn’t control her temper.

But life had to go on. Now that her dreams were crushed, reality still needed to be dealt with. She couldn’t let herself starve.

Zhong Yang figured: maybe making Pei Yunzhe angry would have one upside—Yuntian might worry about their image and send her a contract termination. That way, she wouldn’t have to sell her house! Honestly, she’d take a beating if that meant keeping it.

Since the worst was probably already done, she decided to just go all in.

Early in the morning, Zhong Yang started browsing job apps and sending out résumés, waiting for Zhang Yue to come after her for yesterday’s disaster.

By noon, like her casting submissions, it was all rejections or radio silence.

The endless job listings were making her irritable. She tossed her phone on the coffee table and went to the kitchen to make instant noodles.

Soon she was back in the living room, bowl in hand, sitting cross-legged on the carpet. Her phone pinged with a pop-up:

[Hey there! Come check out this job! Lake bar urgently hiring! Quiet bar waitress, salary starts at ¥6,000/month, commission unlimited!]

She could barely afford to eat—what long robes was she clinging to? It was a decent transitional job. Low bar, fast to start.

Zhong Yang didn’t hesitate and applied immediately.

The response came fast. Seemed like they were in a rush. The boss scheduled an interview for the evening and said if all went well, she could start work that very night.

…

7 PM, at Lake.

It looked like the bar had just opened—fresh decor, not many people inside. Through the glass, Zhong Yang could see into the space.

Walking in, she was greeted by massive plant-wall dividers at the entrance. She was instantly impressed and kept walking deeper in.

Unlike most bars that went for dark minimalism or flashy opulence, this place felt like… a candlelit forest cabin at night.

It fit the name “Lake” quite well. Zhong Yang thought—even if she didn’t get hired, she’d probably come here as a customer.

“Hello, welcome to Lake. What would you like to order?” A young man behind the bar smiled as he approached her.

“Hi, I’m here for the job interview. My name is Zhong Yang.”

Since there was a chance she’d work that night, she wore no makeup, had her hair in a ponytail, and wore a simple printed T-shirt with jeans.

Even so, she stood out—naturally striking.

The young man paused a beat, then smiled again. “Alright.”

He led her to a small lounge area at the back.

“Have a seat. I’m the owner of Lake, Chen Qingyue.” He smiled warmly as he sat across from her. “Let’s leave the door open—just in case we get a walk-in.”

“Here’s the situation: the bar just opened. The job’s pretty straightforward—I make the drinks, you greet guests, take orders, and deliver drinks. Cleaning’s handled by someone else. I also run a few other bars. Once this place runs smoothly, I won’t be here much, so you may need to handle some operations.”

“As for pay—base salary is ¥6,000, 10% commission on drinks. Is that okay?”

Zhong Yang nodded—no problem. But she felt obligated to be transparent.

“Boss, I should tell you my current situation. I used to be a small-time actress, but for certain reasons, I’ve been blacklisted. There are still some negative rumors about me online.”

Chen Qingyue looked a bit surprised. He raised an eyebrow. “Are the rumors true?”

“They’re false,” Zhong Yang clarified. “I’m just worried someone might recognize me and it might affect the bar.”

Chen Qingyue asked, curious, “So were you actually kind of famous?”

“Uh… let’s put it this way…” Zhong Yang looked awkward. “The most famous I’ve ever been was the day I got flamed into the trending searches.”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” he said, handing her a drink. “To the starlet—cheers. Welcome aboard.”

The work was easy, customers were few, and Zhong Yang quickly mastered the art of low-effort productivity. She chatted behind the bar with the boss.

“Customers used to always stare at me,” Chen Qingyue sighed, resting his chin in his hand. “Now that you’re here, nobody even looks at me anymore.”

Zhong Yang laughed and smugly teased, “Can’t help it—I was born this way.”

“Miss Celebrity, aren’t you a little full of yourself?”

“Boss, this is called being beautiful and knowing it.”

Ding ding.