Baili Xiao was taken aback by the hostility woven throughout the diary’s entries. He quickly flipped through a few pages, realizing that the entire diary chronicled the original owner’s emotional journey from the time his parents died until just before his soul was transferred. The first entry was from when the original owner was ten years old, a month after his parents’ passing.

—**July 19, 2007**: “They’re all dead. Besides this rundown house, they left me nothing. Other kids get taken around the world by their parents during vacation, while I can’t even afford a meal out. Is this world fair?”

—**March 10, 2012**: “Ugh, I can’t stand those rich kids in my class. So what if their families have money? Anyway, my allowance is running low, and I’d rather not go to school than mix with them.”

—**June 30, 2014**: “Dropped out. I don’t want to be a lackey for those rich kids anymore.”

—**July 15, 2014**: “I met a master who said I have the fate of a star-crossed lone wolf. Though I bring misfortune to my parents, I’m destined for great wealth and honor. That makes sense; otherwise, this world is just too unfair.”

—**September 12, 2014**: “Maybe I should try acting. I’m good-looking, and without family ties, the entertainment industry would be the perfect place for me to shine…”

—**January 19, 2015**: “Damn it, all these managers look down on me. Who wants to act in adult films anyway…”

As he continued reading, he found three years’ worth of entries detailing his attempts to break into the entertainment industry, each entry marked by rejection. Alarmingly, as the rejections piled up, so did his resentment. His mindset became increasingly warped, filled with hatred for anyone richer or luckier than him, and a growing thirst for the chance to become an overnight sensation.

Baili Xiao was shaken by the diary; it was just an ordinary, yellowed notebook, yet in his hands, it felt like the embodiment of humanity’s darkest evils. Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, he immediately tossed the diary into the trash can.

—However, the boy’s deep black eyes stared at the trash can for several seconds before he slowly walked over and picked the diary back up. Baili Xiao didn’t know why he did this; he instinctively felt that it might be useful to keep it. He understood deeply that following his instincts was crucial for surviving in this world, even if the people around him might view instincts as mere illusions or coincidences.

When he first arrived in this world, he had rummaged through the original owner’s phone, trying to understand what kind of person he had replaced. This person had accounts on Weibo and Taobao, earning a little money by reading tarot cards. His WeChat had a large number of contacts, but there were no notes, making it hard to discern their relationships. Initially, Baili Xiao only looked at a few saved chat logs, finding that the original owner had very few friends to talk to, but their conversations seemed normal—discussing sports games and female celebrities—he was just a typical introverted homebody.

He never expected such a soul was hidden beneath that exterior.

Baili Xiao felt a chill run down his spine. Suddenly, he recalled something and rummaged through a drawer to find the old phone he had set aside. He opened the original owner’s WeChat and began clicking through the friend circles of those unfamiliar contacts who had no chat records.

—It turned out they were indeed low-level managers, small-time models and actors on the fringes of the industry, as well as extras in various productions. He hadn’t thought about this aspect at all before.

Baili Xiao was suddenly filled with mixed emotions that he couldn’t quite articulate. Logically, he had taken over this person’s body and should feel some guilt and sense of responsibility towards the original owner. Now that he had unknowingly fulfilled a long-held wish of the original owner, he should feel at peace. Yet, instead, he felt an inexplicable nausea.

He instinctively wanted to cast a horoscope for the original owner but as he tried to calm himself, he realized that the original soul had long departed, leaving behind no means to capture what kind of fate that person had experienced.

A person’s luck and destiny are tied to their soul. Even though he was currently using the boy’s body, Baili Xiao could only divine his own fortune. He had always felt that this body shared a soul contract with him—after all, it was indistinguishable from his previous body, except for a small red birthmark on the left side of the waist. It was a very small round mark, not unattractive or attention-grabbing. Aside from that, this nearly identical body made him feel as though he was another version of himself from a parallel universe. However, this realization left him feeling somewhat sick. How could he have shared a body with such a soul? What connection did the original owner’s soul have with him?

A perfectly fine evening had been disrupted by the sudden discovery of a diary, leaving Baili Xiao restless. He lost the focus to even divine his fortune for the next day, with various speculations swirling in his mind. He hastily posted a daily horoscope on Weibo, then turned off the lights and forced himself to rest.

@Baili Celestial Master: Tomorrow is suitable for: engagement, making a pledge, and marriage; avoid: cooking, setting up a bed, and opening a warehouse. The position of the Ziwei Constellation continues to shift, all signs are favorable. The little shop has finished renovations and will reopen; welcome those with good intentions to come trade.

…

The next morning.

Baili Xiao was awakened by the WeChat notification from his phone; it was a message from his manager, stating: “Your Weibo followers have reached 150,000. The company’s Social department will do an artist image positioning and public relations assessment for you today, which is quite important, so you need to attend. Prepare yourself; I’ll pick you up at 9:30.”

Baili Xiao glanced at the top of his phone: 08:50.

He replied, “Didn’t we only take the main costume for the styling yesterday? Isn’t there a need to go back to the studio to finish the remaining shots?”

“No rush, there are still several roles that haven’t been cast, and the crew isn’t officially established yet. Director Luo has given you a week to read the script.”

Baili Xiao replied with an “oh” and then got up to wash up.

He didn’t tell Mike that he had finished reading the script sent to his email yesterday afternoon in just two hours, memorizing all the lines—both his own and those of others.

While having an extraordinary memory might seem like a legend to many, he was still a descendant of the divine family; even if he had fallen into a mortal body, his talent wouldn’t change.

At 10:20 AM, Baili Xiao arrived at the company. This was his first time entering Oneworld as a signed artist. His manager walked alongside him with a few assistants, and the feeling was indeed different from before. The scheduled meeting was at 10:30 AM in the top-floor conference room. As Baili Xiao and his entourage made their way there, they were surrounded by various second- and third-tier artists and trainees. He observed them but maintained a blank expression.

He had never been distracted by those with mediocre fortune and talent. While everyone in this world claimed to uphold fairness, from the perspective of a descendant of the divine family, the world was inherently divided into different ranks. Those whose fates were destined to never intertwine with his were like plants by the roadside; he would never care about how the flowers and grasses by the road viewed him.

The conference room on the top floor was enormous, with a transparent wall, and as Baili Xiao and his party stepped out of the elevator, they immediately noticed that the room was already filled to capacity. Even though he knew it was rare for a newcomer to have such a grand reception on their first day, Baili Xiao was still surprised by the importance the company placed on him.

However, Mike peeked at the head of the long table and exclaimed, pulling him to quicken his pace, “The president arrived earlier than us, hurry up!”

“President??” Baili Xiao immediately felt something was off. “Yu Jinghao?”

“Your client,” Mike teased him.

“This…” Baili Xiao was instantly taken aback, but Mike held onto his hand tightly, leaving him no chance to break free as he was dragged toward the conference room. As they approached, he saw a man sitting in a leather swivel chair at the head of the table. However, the man had his back to the glass wall, seemingly gazing out the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Baili Xiao felt somewhat annoyed. “Why would he come here for a small newcomer like me?”

His manager raised an eyebrow. “The president is here to see you; what more could you ask for? I forgot to mention that as the company’s top manager, signing a newcomer is enough reason for the president to want to see what kind of talent we have.”

“…” Baili Xiao looked speechlessly at his manager, who wore a smug expression, feeling like he had been set up.

He had thought that even if Yu Jinghao was the company’s president, he wouldn’t have any contact with him in the short term. After all, Yu Jinghao only knew his last name was “Baili,” while he still went by “Li Xiao” in public. Even if Yu Jinghao sent an assistant to look him up after that day, he would surely find no one by that name. By the time he gained some fame and was recognized by Yu Jinghao, the company would probably want to promote him, and the sunk cost would be too high for Yu Jinghao to hold any grudges over his fortune-telling antics.

Baili Xiao had calculated well, but he never anticipated this turn of events. However, with the situation at hand, he couldn’t back out now and had no choice but to steel himself and enter the conference room alongside his beaming manager.

…

As soon as Baili Xiao stepped into the conference room, the staff from the public relations and social media departments, who had been quietly discussing work, gradually stopped their conversations and turned to look at the young man. Today, Baili Xiao was wearing a black shirt and black jeans. His face was free of makeup, clean and fresh, but his dark eyes shone like two priceless black pearls, sparkling with life as they moved.

Everyone present felt a sense of reassurance, thinking that it was no wonder Mike had picked this newcomer; he was truly extraordinary.

Baili Xiao was somewhat uncomfortable being stared at by so many people, so he merely nodded politely to everyone and then took his seat as directed by Mike.

Yu Jinghao, who had been facing away from everyone while dealing with emails, turned his head. He closed his laptop and casually glanced at Baili Xiao—

Baili Xiao felt a bit awkward; he forcefully suppressed the urge to look away and, facing the shocked expression of Yu Jinghao, pretended to be calm as he nodded slightly.

“It’s you?”

The conference room fell even quieter, and people exchanged glances, silently communicating:

— Does this newcomer know the boss? 

— Judging by the boss’s tone, he seems pleasantly surprised, he must have a good impression of him. 

— I don’t think so. He might have offended the boss before.

A few who knew Liu Jie and were aware of how Baili Xiao had been forcibly pushed into the audition as a signed artist shared knowing looks and exchanged smirks, already treating Baili Xiao as Yu Jinghao’s little lover.

Meanwhile, Baili Xiao felt a wave of internal turmoil, he wasn’t sure how to respond to Yu Jinghao’s surprised question and could only manage an awkward smile. To his surprise, Yu Jinghao didn’t press him further but instead picked up the resume that was on the table—after Mike’s careful packaging, it no longer looked as blank as it once did. His manager had added a detailed description below the original resume, summarizing his audition performance that day and including Luo Wei’s evaluation, while also removing the official photo that did not match Baili Xiao’s temperament.

However, Yu Jinghao didn’t spend a second on the artist assessment that Mike had painstakingly prepared; instead, he quickly scanned the upper half of the resume, which contained only a few words.

“Hobbies… stargazing,” Yu Jinghao read slowly, seemingly deep in thought.

“…”

Both Mike and Baili Xiao’s faces darkened in response.