Zhan Qingyuan cleared the obstacles in her path, and suddenly, Ning Qiuxiu’s future looked bright.

Although she was heavily criticized online for a while, in this fast-paced internet era, people quickly forget things.

As long as she has new works and does some marketing to clean up her image, she’ll become a beloved star once again.

Ning Qiuxiu, who understood the rules well, wasn’t worried at all.

After things settled down, Ning Qiuxiu, who had been quiet for a while, timely posted on Weibo: “Forget the darkness behind and embrace the light ahead. Keep going!”

Although it was a bit cliché, it was very positive, and no one could find fault with it.

After posting the Weibo, Ning Qiuxiu didn’t bother with the hundreds of instant comments.

Just as she was about to exit Weibo, she accidentally clicked on the trending page.

When she saw the top trending topic, her eyes suddenly widened!

She immediately exited the Weibo interface and called her manager, Qu Hua.

The call was answered after two rings, and her manager’s characteristic high-pitched voice came through: “Oh, my dear Qiuxiu, did you miss me?”

“…” Ning Qiuqiu ignored his unique greeting style and said, “Brother Qu, I want to play the second female lead in the drama ‘Floating’. Can you help me get in touch? The director’s last name is Sun.”

“That drama? I know it, but they’ve already cast the actors and are about to start filming. Trying to snatch someone else’s role openly—whether we succeed or not—is bound to attract criticism. We shouldn’t rush. Be patient, and I’ll find you a leading role in a bit.”

“No, I just saw on the trending page that the second female lead in that drama was caught in a scandal. They’ll definitely need to recast. Brother Qu, just get me an audition. I’ll handle the rest.”

“But…”

“No buts,” Ning Qiuxiu interrupted his impending long speech, and said earnestly, “Brother Qu, I just need an audition.”

“Fine,” Qu Hua sighed, then continued in his dramatic tone, “How can I deny Qiuxiu what she wants? Seriously~”

Ning Qiuxiu: “…Hanging up.”

Before Qu Hua could respond, Ning Qiuxiu decisively ended the call.

‘Floating’ is a historical drama and also the work that made the female lead famous.

In the novel, the recasting event was described in detail.

Ning Qiuxiu remembered it clearly.

The second female lead, Yang Mei, secretly defamed the female lead, Ji Weiliang, by implying she was kept by a rich benefactor and climbed her way to the top through improper means.

Yang Mei hoped to push Ji Weiliang out and take her place as the main lead.

As a result, Ji Weilang was unharmed but ended up offending the overprotective Zhan Qingyuan.

Zhan Qingyuan had her evidence of being a mistress exposed, which unexpectedly gave her a hot search on social media.

This scandal ruined her reputation, and the director no longer dared to cast her. The role of the second female lead was left vacant.

In the book, the second female lead was replaced by a highly skilled actress.

Since the drama was designed to boost the main female lead’s popularity and was extremely popular, the ratings were high.

The new second female lead was charming and successfully rose to fame thanks to the drama.

Ning Qiuxiu couldn’t miss such a great opportunity.

With the scandal about the previous second female lead just breaking, the production team would definitely be scrambling to find a replacement.

Given her current level of discussion and if her acting skills satisfied the director, the chance of landing the role was significant.

Her acting skills had been improving in recent times.

Having worked in the entertainment industry for years, Ning Qiuxiu knew well that newcomers without strong backgrounds often relied on accumulating experience and playing notable supporting roles to gain popularity.

Few people had the luck of being chosen as the female lead with a powerful male lead backing them.

Her chances of becoming a chosen one were slim, so she needed to seize this opportunity.

Moreover, she was quite excited about the prospect of acting alongside the female lead.

Ning Qiuxiu was very interested in this role.

Qu Hua soon received a response from Director Sun, which was very disappointing: the second female lead had already been selected.

“So soon?” This was impossible.

Qu Hua said, “It seems like someone from the funding side made the choice. With the scandal about the second female lead breaking out at this timing, it’s highly likely that they were clearing the way for someone else.”

A favored connection?

Ning Qiuxiu wondered, as the book didn’t mention the second female lead being chosen due to connections.

She asked, “Who is the investor for this drama?”

“It’s a newly established investment company. But I found out who the shareholders are… don’t be too surprised, it’s related to the Zhan family.”

Ning Qiuxiu: “……”

Of course, it’s Zhan Qingyuan.

But thinking it through like this makes sense.

The competition for the female lead in this drama was fierce, with various popular actresses vying for the role.

It was surprising that an unknown actress ended up getting it.

The novel mentioned that the female lead’s acting skills impressed the director.

However, it seems implausible that the director would choose an unknown over popular stars, especially when the drama isn’t based on a popular IP or a film requiring high precision.

Without popular stars, isn’t the director worried about low ratings?

If Zhan Qingyuan was secretly behind the scenes pushing for this, it all makes sense.

As the financial backer, he could dictate who gets cast in major roles.

Now, Zhan Qingyuan, in order to protect his girlfriend from being bullied, controlled the casting for the second female lead to ensure that no troublemaker got the role, thereby preventing anyone from bullying the female lead.

Zhan Qingyuan sure knows how to play his cards well.

“Qiuxiu, Qiuxiu, are you still there~” Seeing that Ning Qiuxiu hadn’t responded, Qu Hua called out.

“Mm.” Ning Qiuqiu responded absently, her mind racing on how to secure the role.

Asking Zhan Qingyuan directly would be like begging, which would undermine her position, making her seem like she’s relying on his charity.

But if she doesn’t go through Zhan Qingyuan, and the director doesn’t cooperate, she’s stuck.

“It’s just a second female lead. We don’t need it. I’ll find you a better script where you can play the lead role instead, which is much better than this second female lead, okay?”

“No,” Ning Qiuxiu firmly refused, then thought for a moment and said, “Brother Qu, have Director Sun be informed that I’m the second female lead arranged by the financial backer.”

“???” Qu Hua was shocked and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Literally that. If he doesn’t believe it, he can call Zhan Qingyuan.”

Qu Hua: “…You’re asking Zhan Qingyuan again?”

Ask? Ning Qiuqiu chuckled lightly: “I don’t even need to speak to Zhan Qingyuan directly. He wouldn’t refuse.”

He wouldn’t dare refuse, considering she’s his sister-in-law and someone the elder Zhan specifically asked him to take care of.

Even if he didn’t want her for the role, he wouldn’t dare say so.

Ning Qiuxiu thought she might be a bit devious.

…

With this matter settled, Ning Qiuxiu felt a lot more relaxed and happy.

Today, the talismans she had been nurturing beside Zhan Qingyue were also ready.

After the caregiver fed Zhan Qingyue lunch, Ning Qiuxiu sneaked into his room to retrieve the talismans.

She had collected more than twenty talismans, and after checking, she found that only two of them hadn’t turned into scrap paper, which meant they had succeeded.

Ning Qiuxiu held those two talismans, feeling as happy as if she had cultivated two top-tier magical runes.

This was the best news she had received recently.

Her purpose in marrying Zhan Qingyue was precisely for this reason.

If talismans were useful in this world, it meant she had an incredibly powerful cheat.

“Better to marry well than to dress well,” Ning Qiuxiu snapped her fingers. “Even the supporting actress can have her springtime.”

Thinking of this, Ning Qiuxiu looked at the man lying on the bed, completely indifferent to the world, and found him increasingly pleasant to look at, almost wanting to kiss him.

Of course, that was just a thought.

Ning Qiuxiu had always been more daring in her intentions than in her actions.

Otherwise, with her extensive experience traveling through different worlds, she’d already have enough children to form a football team.

Among the talismans she had cultivated, one was a “Foundation Reinforcement Talisman” specifically designed for Zhan Qingyue.

She had remembered the drawing method of this obscure little talisman after a long time.

In the cultivation world, there were more talismans for nourishing energy and focusing the spirit, but since this world wasn’t about cultivation, and medicine was more advanced than superstition, she couldn’t use advanced medical technology to wake Zhan Qingyue.

Instead, she had to rely on repairing his physical functions to achieve the goal of healing him.

Since she had married Zhan Qingyue with the goal of waking him up, she was determined to try her best to help him.

As for the outcome, it would be left to fate.

Ning Qiuxiu burned the Foundation Reinforcement Talisman and dissolved it in water.

In the cultivation world, people would absorb talismans by using magic to embed them into the body or directly absorb them like a star-absorbing spell.

Since she no longer had those abilities and Zhan Qingyue obviously didn’t, she could only hope he might absorb it through his stomach.

— Ning Qiuxiu thought that if Zhan Qingyue had consciousness, the first thing he would do upon waking would be to drag her out and execute her for feeding him strange water while he was unconscious.

As a comatose patient, Zhan Qingyue was not easy to feed with talisman water.

Ning Qiuxiu initially thought about using a nasal feeding tube.

She checked the tutorial, but in practice, the tube was so long that it might accidentally poke a hole in Zhan Qingyue’s head.

Ning Qiuxiu abandoned this advanced method.

Instead, Zhan Qingyue could manage simple swallowing.

When the caregiver fed him soup and water, it was directly given to his mouth, and he would drink it himself.

Since she was no longer pretending to take care of Zhan Qingyue after being forced to clean him up last time, she only had theoretical knowledge but no practical experience in feeding.

She propped up two pillows behind Zhan Qingyue and used a spoon to feed him the talisman water.

However, as soon as the spoon entered his mouth, his teeth blocked the way.

— He didn’t have the consciousness to open his mouth.

Ning Qiuxiu thought for a moment, then extended her other hand to support his head, pinching his chin to force his mouth open while quickly pouring the talisman water into his mouth with her other hand.

However, he was unappreciative, and the water spilled out of the corners of his mouth, making Ning Qiuxui’s hands covered in water.

“……” This was so difficult.

It seemed so easy when the caregiver did it!

Ning Qiuxiu even suspected that Zhan Qingyue knew she was feeding him something bad and therefore refused to swallow!

After several failed attempts, with water all over her hands and Zhan Qingyue’s neck, Ning Qiuhou wiped up the water with a tissue, giving the person on the bed a fierce glare.

The person on the bed remained indifferent.

So frustrating.

Ning Qiuxiu thought for a moment and then took out her phone to send a message to the caregiver, Jingjing.

[Ning Qiuxiu: Jingjing, how do you usually feed Mr. Zhan water? What if he doesn’t swallow? Can you share any tips?]

[Jingjing: Oh, does Mr. Zhan need water? I can come up and feed him.]

[Ning Qiuxiu: No need! I just want to feed him a couple of sips myself. You know what I mean~]

[Jingjing: Got it!!!]

[Jingjing: This is how to do it (picture)]

Ning Qiuqiu opened the picture Jingjing sent, which was a still from a TV drama.

The female lead was leaning over and giving water to the unconscious male lead… mouth-to-mouth.

Ning Qiuqiu: “……”