CHAPTER 33 (PART 2)

And now, she regretted it.

Regretted it so much that she nearly ground her teeth to dust from jealousy.

So ruthless. Cheng Yue was so ruthless.

This was intentional—he was deliberately rubbing it in.

This villa… Cheng Yue and his parents had once lived there. After Cheng’s grandmother passed away and his grandfather moved into a nursing home, the family relocated, leaving this house vacant.

Dong Jiayu had only visited the main building once, but it had been enough to make her desperately want to live there.

She had dropped hints to Cheng’s mother multiple times, but in the end, she had only been granted permission to stay in the auxiliary building.

Back in the old days, wasn’t the auxiliary building beside the main house meant for servants?

Of course, Dong Jiayu had been frustrated and resentful.

But she couldn’t bear to give up the prestige of living in a Donghao Real Estate property, nor the breathtaking view, so in the end, she had moved in anyway…

And now, Cheng Yue had just casually given the villa to the show for their reality series.

The place she had begged for, for so long, and never been allowed to live in—now it was being used as a mere filming set!

As her body trembled with anger and jealousy, footsteps finally echoed from the other end of the room.

Mrs. Cheng  slowly walked in.

Dong Jiayu looked up.

Mrs. Cheng  was fifty-one this year but was well-maintained. Her face still held a certain naivety that had persisted from youth to adulthood, leaving barely any trace of time’s passage.

And yet… she was different from high society.

Dong Jiayu clenched her teeth hard.

Mrs. Cheng  bought clothes from street stalls. She enjoyed cooking her own meals. She carried an out-of-place innocence, not knowing the worth of luxury brands, not even realizing how powerful the Cheng Corporation truly was.

Because she was a naïve Cinderella who had married into wealth.

It was precisely because of people like Mrs. Cheng that Dong Jiayu firmly believed she could also marry Cheng Yue.

Suppressing the jealousy and unwillingness in her heart, Dong Jiayu slid her finger across the screen, putting her phone on silent. Then, she lifted her head, her face pale and fragile.

But before she could speak, Mrs. Cheng was the first to open her mouth, happily saying, “Cheng Yue called me today. You know, he rarely calls me…”

“I’m really happy.” Mrs. Cheng smiled as she pursed her lips.

Dong Jiayu couldn’t help but ask in a trembling voice, “What… did he say?”

She spoke softly, “Did Mr. Cheng get mad at me? Did he mention it to you?”

Mrs. Cheng wasn’t someone with much scheming in her, so she didn’t even try to hide it. “Yes, but he wasn’t mad. He just said he hates you.”

Dong Jiayu’s throat tightened.

Mrs. Cheng continued, “You should go back. I don’t want Cheng Yue to be unhappy.”

Something felt off to Dong Jiayu.

Hadn’t Mrs. Cheng been very grateful to her before? Why was she suddenly asking her to leave now?

Just then, a servant came over with the phone, calling Mrs. Cheng to take a call. Without hesitation, Mrs. Cheng turned around and left, not even bothering to listen to anything more from her.

Mrs. Cheng had no strong opinions of her own—she was truly fragile. Unlike the facade that Dong Jiayu put on, Mrs. Cheng’s gentleness was genuine. She easily empathized with others.

So in the past, whenever Dong Jiayu told her something, she always believed it.

But because she had no strong opinions of her own…

It only took a few short words from Cheng Yue over the phone to completely change her stance.

Everything that Dong Jiayu had relied on turned out to be nothing more than a fragile illusion.

With just one glance, one sentence from Cheng Yue, everything could be stripped away.

In the past, this side of Cheng Yue had made her heart race with admiration and longing. But now, it only terrified her.

“Miss Dong, please.” A maid frowned. “Our madam is in a good mood. Please don’t upset her.”

If this were an old-school CEO romance novel, Mrs. Cheng would undoubtedly be the perfect female lead.

She was gentle and kind, beloved by everyone except the male lead’s parents.

This entire villa was filled with people who didn’t want to see her troubled or saddened…

Feeling lost, Dong Jiayu got up and was escorted out.

The moment she stepped outside, she received a call from Sister Wang.

“The contracts I negotiated for you have all been put on hold. Now… the investors and brands are all holding you accountable… If you can’t get Mr. Cheng to back you up, forget about making a comeback—you can kiss your entire career goodbye.”

Sister Wang let out a long sigh before finally saying what she had been holding back: “You’re not as good as Jiang Su.”

That sentence struck Dong Jiayu like a curse, burrowing deep into her ears.

In a fit of rage, she kicked the fountain pool and let out a frustrated cry.

That same day, the media released an audio recording of the conversation.

With everything that had already been building up, the hashtag #DongJiayuFansDemandEvidenceAndGetIt# shot up the trending list.

[818 Lies Dong Jiayu Has Told Over the Years]

[Turns out Mr. Cheng never had anything to do with her. Unbelievable.]

[Damn, her whole image is completely shattered…]

[Dong Jiayu’s lawyer letter is the biggest joke of the year…]

[Please, just don’t come back.]

This massive scandal instantly captured the entire internet’s attention.

Meanwhile, FIGARO and GQ were launching their new magazine issues.

FIGARO’s chief editor was closely monitoring both online and offline sales, grumbling, “Did Dong Jiayu’s scandal just get confirmed?”

“Why did this have to happen at this exact moment? All the attention is being stolen away!”

Someone beside her quickly comforted, “Jiang Su’s fans pre-ordered more than 100,000 copies… We’ve basically hit our sales target.”

“She’s been trending so many times—how is 100,000 enough?”

At that moment, it wasn’t just FIGARO’s chief editor keeping an eye on the numbers. Every gossip forum and fandom community was watching too.

Before debuting, no matter how outstanding Jiang Su was, she was still confined within the show. But now that she had debuted, she was a direct competitor to many others—of course, their fans were keeping a close watch.

[How many copies did Yu Xinyan’s magazine sell? Only 30,000.]

[Well, she hasn’t gained mainstream popularity yet, so it makes sense.]

[They’re in the same group, but Jiang Su has already pre-sold over 100,000. That’s incredible.]

[+1. Many third-tier actresses can’t even break 100,000 sales.]

These were the relatively mild comments.

But there were plenty more that weren’t so kind:

[Am I the only one curious if Jiang Su’s final debut vote count was actually real? It seemed ridiculously high to me.]

[Just wait for the magazine sales numbers. If she supposedly got hundreds of thousands of votes but can’t sell enough copies, that would be hilarious…]

While the internet buzzed with discussions, Jiang Su received a script from Xu Dazhi.

“Xianxia dramas are really popular right now…” Xu Dazhi explained, “This one is a big production, directed by Wang Shaojun. You’ve heard of him, right? He’s amazing!”

The script was actually one of the rewards for the top-ranked contestant.

Only the first-place winner got it.

“What role am I auditioning for?” Jiang Su asked.

Xu Dazhi quickly pointed to a name—Feng Huayue.

The character description was brief:

The male lead’s junior disciple, deeply in love with him, dies taking a sword strike for him.

Clearly, it wasn’t a major role.

Afraid she’d be disappointed, Xu Dazhi hurriedly added, “Landing a lead role right away isn’t easy. You need to take on smaller roles too, keep up a steady stream of projects. Since different shows will air at different times, you need to make sure you’re always visible in the audience’s view…”

Jiang Su didn’t care about the size of the role at all. She got straight to the point. “What’s the pay?”

“About ten episodes total, 100,000 per episode, after tax. The production team negotiated for you. Given the platform’s influence, it’s a pretty good rate.”

Jiang Su nodded and agreed without hesitation. That very afternoon, she went with Xu Dazhi to audition.

Meanwhile, Yu Xinyan and the others all had their own schedules lined up—except for Ding Xuan.

Ding Xuan asked incredulously, “I don’t have an assigned role?”

The staff member smiled and said, “That’s right. Just wait patiently.”

She was ranked second… Whether others acknowledged it or not, she was still second place.

So what if she manipulated the votes?

Everyone did it.

Would the production team expose her? Of course not. That would make things difficult for others in the industry as well.

Comforting herself with this thought, Ding Xuan finally relaxed and sat back down.

Meanwhile, Jiang Su arrived at the drama crew’s hotel and found out that the male lead was none other than her mentor, Xuan Wen.

They were just waiting for him to finish filming his current show so they could start shooting immediately.

As for the female lead, Jiang Su didn’t know her.

However, Xu Dazhi greeted her eagerly, “Teacher Feng.”

Jiang Su followed suit and obediently called out, “Teacher Feng.” Whenever she was in a new environment, she would always act obediently before assessing the situation.

But that “Teacher Feng” only glanced at her briefly before walking away. “Old Zhao, where’s my water?”

Several staff members immediately rushed forward.

“She’s ridiculous. A girl group member trying to act?” Feng Jing muttered, annoyed. “Has she even taken acting classes?”

No one else dared to echo her sentiments.

She didn’t care, only scoffing at her manager, “Didn’t you say she was a tough one to deal with? But look, she still had to greet me politely, didn’t she? Girl groups, girl groups… Once their one-year contract is up, who even remembers them?”

“The director’s here,” someone suddenly announced.

Xu Dazhi quickly reassured Jiang Su, “Don’t take it to heart. That’s just how things are. No matter how popular a girl group is, unless you reach the very top, your achievements don’t count in other industries… That’s how it is for those without connections.”

Jiang Su simply replied, “Mm.”

“Come on, let’s go see the director,” Xu Dazhi urged.

But before Jiang Su could even get close, Feng Jing suddenly changed her tone and joked to the director, “Director Wang, are you doing this on purpose? Casting someone so much prettier than me as the third female lead… How am I supposed to act when she’s standing there? I’ll be too embarrassed.”

Director Wang Shaojun was caught off guard.

The contract with the show’s production team had been signed a while ago. After all, it was just a third female lead role—anyone could play it.

But who would’ve thought that this year’s top-ranked contestant from Gleam would turn out to be this stunning?

Wang Shaojun understood the industry rule that supporting roles shouldn’t outshine the leads, so he chuckled and asked, “Are you suggesting something?”

Feng Jing replied, “We should have her disfigured in the drama.”

After saying that, she stole a glance at Wang Shaojun’s expression, clearly testing his reaction.

Xu Dazhi was fuming internally.

Right to her face? Seriously?

Did they not understand that Jiang Su was an idol? And idols had to look good at all times! And now she wanted her disfigured?!

Before Wang Shaojun could respond, Feng Jing laughed again, “I’m joking. There’s no such scene in the script… But still, no matter how pretty a character is, if she turns into a femme fatale, the audience will hate her, right? I think the best way to keep her from stealing my spotlight as the lead actress is to give her more episodes. Don’t let her just die off… Instead, let her fake her death so the audience later realizes she was only pretending, just to gain the male lead’s trust and affection. Wouldn’t that be more interesting?”

Xu Dazhi felt a cold sweat forming.

He gritted his teeth and whispered to Jiang Su, “I underestimated her. Wang Shaojun hates underhanded tricks, but since she’s the female lead and she made her request openly… he might actually agree. And to outsiders, it’ll look like he’s being generous by giving you more screen time. But if you were to die early on, your character would be well-liked. If they add this new plot… won’t the audience end up hating you?”

Xu Dazhi hesitated, debating what to do. “Should we call Young Master Yan and ask him to step in? His influence is definitely bigger than ours.”

“No.” Jiang Su decisively cut him off.

She calmly stated, “A CEO who keeps stepping in for small matters will only lose others’ respect.”

She was counting on Three Gold Entertainment to expand, and she had shares in it.

“So we’re just going to let this happen…” Xu Dazhi hadn’t even finished speaking when—

Wang Shaojun nodded. “Alright. Your suggestion works.”

Xu Dazhi’s throat tightened.

It was over.

“This is your first drama…” Xu Dazhi was so frustrated his hands were shaking.

He hadn’t been this emotionally invested before.

But Jiang Su was different… She was young, and she needed protection.

Maybe they should find her some backing. With her face, she could dominate the industry!

But just as Xu Dazhi was about to say it, he swallowed his words.