Chapter 2

I glanced through it; not a single comment was defending me.

My manager called me.

The moment I picked up, her shrill voice came through.

“What is wrong with you, huh? How many times have I told you to watch what you say and do? Just look at what you said! Everyone on this show is either a top traffic star or a big director. Are you trying to get scolded to death?”

“I know, Sister Jiang. I will definitely watch my words later.”

I agreed with her, and without waiting for Sister Jiang to reply, I hung up immediately.

Then, I turned around and posted a Weibo.

“I really don’t know how Jiang Yingying won the Best Actress award. She couldn’t even squeeze out a single tear while fake crying. No wonder us washed-up actresses can still keep acting.”

In just a few seconds, my likes and comments started to skyrocket.

As expected, they were all still cursing me out.

Without a trace of sadness, I actually burst out laughing.

Because a “ding” sounded by my ear, “Congratulations to the host for obtaining five million yuan.”

My name is Qin Xiang’er, a 34-year-old washed-up actress.

Relying on a few classic TV dramas and a couple of awards, I was invited to be a mentor on a show called *The Growth of an Actor*.

The other mentors included Director Chen, Best Actor Zhang Cheng, and Grand Slam Best Actress Xu Ying.

The twenty contestants were the current top trending young actresses and actors.

Not a single one of them had less than ten million fans.

The show was broadcast live, focusing on the word “real.”

Contestants chose the scripts they wanted to perform, and then rehearsed.

Three days later, they would compete in an acting contest through a public performance.

The blessing of massive traffic made this variety show a hit before it even aired.

My manager had prepared the persona of a “kind senior” for me in advance.

All I had to do was blow rainbow farts to every contestant.

However, a few days before the show started recording, I accidentally bound to a system.

Its very first sentence was, “Being hated gives you money to spend; going crazy is the way to get rich.”

Me: ?

There’s actually such a good thing?

I agreed without a second thought.

On the day of recording, the contestants first needed to perform a segment for the mentors to evaluate.

After Jiang Yingying finished performing, before we could even evaluate her, she started crying.

“I’m sorry, mentors. I was too nervous just now and forgot some of my lines.”

Director Chen immediately picked up his microphone, “It’s fine, it’s fine. You’re used to filming on set, so it’s normal to be unaccustomed to this all of a sudden. It’s nothing, just keep up the good work next time.”

Xu Ying also nodded and comforted her, “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Zhang Cheng didn’t speak, just frowned slightly.

It was a common sight.

No one wanted to be the evil senior.

Looking for a scolding for no reason.

When it was my turn, I smiled faintly, picked up the mic, and said, “No way, Actress Xiao Jiang, your crying is way too fake.”

The entire venue instantly fell silent, and Jiang Yingying froze in place, forgetting to sob.

The cameraman seemed to have received some sort of command; he snapped out of it and aimed the camera right at me.

I smiled politely. “You couldn’t even memorize a few lines. Could it be that Actress Xiao Jiang suffers from early-onset dementia? If you have a hidden illness, you must tell us. We will definitely understand.”

The incident fermented for a few days and reached an uncontrollable point.

It also pushed the show’s popularity up by a huge margin.

Unprecedentedly, the director didn’t kick me out.

Instead, he reassigned me to a dedicated actors’ lounge.

Sure enough, having traffic was a good thing.

An hour after I posted my Weibo, Jiang Yingying also hypocritically posted one.

On the surface, it was a reflection, but in reality, she was playing the victim to rile up her fans.

She even said she would definitely train hard and improve every day.

Telling me to wait and see.

I spit on that.

Just a moment ago, I saw Jiang Yingying acting like a diva, making her assistant hold her milk tea while she drank and played video games.

I wanted to go on Weibo to act crazy again, only to find my password had been changed.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Sister Jiang couldn’t handle the heat.

Jiang Yingying seemed to spot me, and a trace of mockery curled the corner of her mouth.

“Oh, look who it is. Isn’t this our washed-up Mentor Qin? I heard you’ve been scolded miserably lately. I’m really sorry. I might not have much else, but I do have a *billion* more fans.”

As she spoke, she picked up her milk tea and splashed it all over me.

“So sorry, my hand slipped.”

The people around us lowered their heads and stayed quiet, pretending to be busy with their own things.

As if nothing had happened.

I wiped the milk tea off my cuff and gave a light chuckle.

I grabbed the orange juice next to me and poured it right over Jiang Yingying’s head.

The orange juice dripped down her hair, ruining her freshly done makeup.

Various colors mixed together, making her look exceptionally ridiculous.

I smiled politely. “It’s nothing, I accept your apology.”

Jiang Yingying screamed in anger, “Qin Xiang’er, who do you think you are?! Just a washed-up actress! Chen Jie, hurry up and wipe this off me, ahhhh!”

I blinked innocently. “That’s right, I’m just a washed-up actress who happens to have won a few awards.”

“You… you…”

Jiang Yingying pointed at my nose, so angry she couldn’t formulate a single curse for a long time.

And another sound chimed by my ear, “Congratulations to the host for obtaining 500,000 yuan.”

The second episode started recording.

The remaining ten contestants were to take the stage and perform.

It seemed that due to my previous performance…

The cameraman kept aiming the camera at me.

As if trying to find something else from me to detonate another trending topic.

And push the show’s popularity up another level.

But I just smiled and nodded, completely flawless.

Hilarious, I have professional ethics.

It wasn’t my turn to go crazy yet, so I kept my mic off and watched quietly.

However, after watching for only a minute, the smile on my face collapsed.

Gu Yan on stage was an idol-turned-actor. He had acted in many idol dramas and had a huge crowd of fangirls.

And living up to expectations, he picked another domineering CEO script.

It was so awkward and greasy, successfully making me physically uncomfortable.

I held back and didn’t say anything.

After he finished his performance, Director Chen asked him with a smile, “How do you think you did?”

He was full of confidence. “I think my performance was pretty good. Very handsome.”

I tolerated it again and again, held it in and held it in, but I couldn’t hold it back anymore.

I grabbed the mic. “No way, bro, playing it this badly, has really no audience ever crushed your confidence?”

As soon as my words fell, the entire audience gasped.

Then, they broke out into heated discussions.

“Holy crap, she really dares to say anything, doesn’t she?”

“Look at Gu Yan’s face, hurry!”

“Why is she acting crazy again?”

“Damn, damn, this is too dramatic. Is it scripted?”