After Punching Her Way Through The Entertainment Industry [Ancient-to-Modern] - Chapter 1

In her previous life, Meng Shi was the youngest imperial daughter of the Kingdom of Liang. Since childhood, she had obeyed her mother’s teachings, kept to her place, and stayed far away from every struggle for power.

However, her mother passed away before she came of age. After that, Meng Shi spent most of her time in the army, following her elders on campaigns across the north and south and growing up in the military camp.

Aside from returning to the Liang capital once after coming of age to receive her title, she never went back again—not even before her death.

In the army, she met a group of comrades who would entrust their lives to one another. She also found the woman she loved. Meng Shi had thought she would be able to spend the rest of her life that way, but the King of Liang suddenly passed away, and his final edict unexpectedly named Meng Shi as his successor!

…

When the silver spear pierced her chest, Meng Shi looked at the woman who had shared every waking moment with her, the woman with whom she had once been so intimately entwined—and smiled.

As a member of the royal bloodline, Meng Shi had never fought or competed for anything. She had no ambitions and desired nothing. She had even been forced into a self-imposed exile, asking only for a few quiet days in which she could live in peace.

Unfortunately, Heaven always seemed to enjoy playing cruel jokes on her.

She looked at Yan Qing’s frost-cold face and remembered how clumsy Yan Qing had been when she first entered the army.

Back then, Yan Qing could not even hold a spear steady. Meng Shi had personally stood behind her and guided her hands around the weapon.

It had been the first time Meng Shi had ever stood so close to another person.

Yan Qing’s body had been exceptionally soft, almost as though she had no bones at all. She had not seemed suited to martial arts in the slightest.

Yet among all the recruits in her batch, she had been the most outstanding—whether in combat ability, intelligence, or appearance.

Afterward, Yan Qing became Meng Shi’s deputy general and took care of every aspect of her daily life. During Meng Shi’s most dangerous moments, Yan Qing stood shoulder to shoulder with her. When Meng Shi felt most helpless, Yan Qing gave her the strength to continue forward.

Eventually, they became the closest people in each other’s lives.

Aside from Meng Shi’s mother, Yan Qing was the only person who had ever touched her body.

Meng Shi had spent her entire life merely trying to stay alive. She had never sought anything for herself.

The only thing she had ever willingly given away was her sincere heart.

Yet the woman she gave it to had pierced it with a spear and thrust it right back at her.

The agony in both her body and heart left her without the strength to struggle any longer. She closed her eyes, but those bright, clear eyes seemed carved into her mind, impossible to forget.

All she could do was tell herself that it had been false.

Everything had been false.

Yan Qing had merely been a pawn sent by those people to infiltrate her side, all for the sake of this day—for this exact moment…

Once she thought of it that way, her heart no longer hurt.

It went numb.

Then it even stopped beating.

If there is a next life, I will definitely… take back everything that belongs to me…

Everything…

…

Meng Shi was still immersed in the agony of death when she vaguely heard someone shouting loudly beside her and shoving her body.

Could she not even have peace after death?

“Meng Shi! Can’t you show a little of the energy a young person should have? Can you stop acting half-dead every time you suffer a setback? How old are you already? Do you have to make your family worry about you every single day?”

The voice rose in pitch and became somewhat piercing.

Meng Shi’s head hurt from the noise. She raised a hand and rubbed her forehead.

The moment she moved, she froze.

Wasn’t I dead?

The curtains were suddenly pulled open, allowing a dazzling beam of light to flood the room.

The instant the sunlight fell across her body, Meng Shi felt as though she had been given a new life. Warmth spread through her from head to toe, bringing an indescribable sense of comfort.

She slowly opened her eyes.

Before she could determine where she was, she immediately saw the person standing beside the bed.

Meng Shi’s heart jolted, and her entire body instantly turned cold.

The gaze she directed at Meng Jiu carried a chilling sharpness.

“You’re awake? Then hurry up and get out of bed.”

The moment Meng Jiu met her eyes, she inexplicably looked away. She grabbed the corner of the blanket and yanked it off Meng Shi.

“What is Ninth Imperial Sister doing?” Meng Shi asked coldly.

Meng Jiu’s face filled with question marks.

She glanced at Meng Shi and saw that her younger sister was still staring at her as though she were prey. For some reason, guilt and unease rose in her heart. She felt as though Meng Shi might suddenly leap up and attack her at any moment.

“What kind of… madness are you acting out now?”

“That is what I should be asking Ninth Imperial Sister. Oh, no. I suppose I should now respectfully address you as Her Majesty, the King of Liang…” Meng Shi sneered, the corner of her mouth twitching.

Seeing Meng Shi sneer at her, Meng Jiu immediately raised an eyebrow and threw the blanket back onto her.

“You’ve read too many transmigration novels, haven’t you? ‘Ninth Imperial Sister’? ‘Your Majesty’? Why don’t you start calling yourself ‘this sovereign’ while you’re at it? Why don’t you accuse me, this unruly commoner, of trying to harm you?”

“You admitted it.”

“I—ptui!”

Meng Jiu resisted the urge to slap this idiot’s head clean off her shoulders.

“Get out of bed! Go outside and find yourself a proper job. Stop dreaming about becoming a celebrity all day long!”

Meng Shi did not fully understand what she was saying, but she had already realized that the woman in front of her did not seem to be the same ruthless Ninth Imperial Sister who had harmed her own siblings for the throne.

Even stranger was the fact that the walls of this room were covered in peculiar pictures.

And the person in those pictures was…

Yan Qing!

Looking at the many different images of Yan Qing covering the room felt like countless needles stabbing into Meng Shi’s heart.

She abruptly rose from the bed and tore down the largest poster of Yan Qing from the ceiling. Half of the face ripped away, leaving behind only a pair of eyes.

Meng Jiu was shocked by her younger sister’s actions, but she felt even more relieved.

Had this wretched girl finally listened to reason?

“All right. You can deal with the rest after breakfast. Mom will get impatient if we keep her waiting.”

Mom?

Still confused, Meng Shi followed Meng Jiu into the living room.

When she saw the beautifully prepared side dishes on the table, along with a basin of winter melon and pork rib soup larger than her face, her appetite was immediately stirred.

During military campaigns in the past, it had been rare for her to enjoy such rich food.

Meng Shi licked her lips but did not dare make any reckless movements. She carefully observed her surroundings.

Before long, a slightly plump middle-aged woman emerged from a small room nearby.

Xie Ping carried a bowl of white rice and placed it in front of Meng Shi. She raised a hand, intending to tuck her daughter’s hair behind her ear, but Meng Shi straightened her back and subtly avoided her touch.

Xie Ping did not pay much attention to it.

With a kind smile on her face, she picked up the ladle, filled another bowl with soup, and pushed it toward Meng Shi.

“Shi, eat. Eat a little more. Look at you—you’ve lost so much weight over the past few days,” she said with heartache.

No one had ever spoken to Meng Shi so gently before.

Her only memory of such tenderness came from childhood, when her mother would hold her and affectionately call her, “Little Ah Shi, Little Ah Shi.”

For a moment, Meng Shi fell into a daze.

“Mom, you’re the perfect example of how an overly loving mother spoils her child. Had you disciplined her even a little, would she have turned out like this? She has no ambition, spends every day in a daze, accomplishes nothing, eats without working, and waits around to die! All she knows how to do is daydream. She even gave up on taking the university entrance examination!”

Meng Shi understood that sentence.

Meng Jiu was scolding her!

This woman truly opposed her at every turn.

Meng Shi remained silent.

At present, she understood nothing about the situation. Keeping her mouth shut was the best choice.

However, she had already realized that this Meng Jiu was not truly her Ninth Imperial Sister. The two merely happened to look astonishingly similar.

As for this kind-looking middle-aged woman, the way she gazed at Meng Shi was remarkably similar to the way her mother once had…

“All right, that’s enough. Let’s eat first.”

Meng Jiu continued muttering under her breath, but Meng Shi paid her no attention. Her entire focus was on the pot of soup.

The broth was very light. The winter melon was soft and melted as soon as it entered her mouth. The meat had been stewed until tender and required almost no effort to chew.

There was even a faint sweetness in the soup.

Delicious!

…

Meng Shi did not speak another word for the rest of the day.

Her mother, Xie Ping, assumed that Meng Shi was still upset over what had happened earlier. She took her hand and comforted her at length.

Meng Shi did not understand what she was talking about, but Xie Ping’s large hand was exceptionally warm.

Meng Shi could not bear to be the first to let go.

That night, Meng Shi lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

The poster of Yan Qing she had torn earlier was still there, with only half of the face remaining.

Those eyes were still as bright and clear as ever.

Meng Shi had torn down every poster in the room, yet she had deliberately left that pair of eyes untouched.

She stared into them until midnight, only then beginning to feel sleepy.

The instant she closed her eyes, a violent roar exploded inside her head.

It felt as though countless things were pouring into her mind. Her head swelled with pain, nearly bursting apart!

Scenes related to this body replayed one after another inside her mind.

Only then did Meng Shi gradually come to understand everything before her.

It turned out that she truly had died.

By a strange coincidence, however, she had been reborn in a more advanced, enlightened, and civilized world.

The original owner of this body had also been named Meng Shi.

Since childhood, she had depended on her mother and older sister for survival. It had not been easy for her mother, Xie Ping, to raise two children alone, and the years of hardship had left her with numerous illnesses.

Even now, her legs were not very agile. She could only stay at home and earn a little money through embroidery to help support the family.

Meng Jiu was twenty-seven this year, exactly eight years older than Meng Shi. She had learned to stand on her own at an early age.

Meng Shi’s high school tuition over the past few years had also been paid with the money Meng Jiu earned from working.

Originally, once Meng Shi entered university, her grades would have allowed her to obtain scholarships and support herself without any problem.

But that little bastard had taken a leave of absence during the final semester of her senior year!

She had insisted on chasing some ridiculous, intangible dream of becoming a celebrity!

Meng Jiu had been so furious that she had nearly broken Meng Shi’s legs.

Over the past year, Meng Shi had possessed neither connections nor resources. She could only search for odd jobs near the film and television studios.

However, she was hardworking and ambitious. She quietly studied, practiced, and researched acting.

Furthermore, she had an attractive appearance and a good figure. She was tall, with curves in all the right places. She had talent and was willing to learn.

Her efforts had truly earned her an excellent opportunity.

Better still, it was for a new production personally directed by her favorite director, Yan Qing.

Yan Qing was a famous director within the entertainment industry.

She had once been a Best Actress winner whose popularity swept across the entire country. Yet while her career was still at its peak, she stepped away from acting and co-founded an entertainment company with a friend.

Yan Qing herself then changed careers and became a director.

She enjoyed casting newcomers. She did not care about their experience, qualifications, or family backgrounds. She only cared whether they possessed passion and respect for acting.

The films she directed were of high quality, earned excellent reputations, and consistently performed well at the box office.

Meng Shi truly had been given such an opportunity.

She received a notice inviting her to audition for the role of the female lead in her younger years.

She had been excited for an entire week. She prepared meticulously and repeatedly analyzed the character.

Yet one day before the audition, the production team suddenly informed her that the role had already been cast and that she no longer needed to come.

The abrupt plunge from heaven into hell had been too much for her to accept.

She became depressed and muddleheaded, unable to regain her motivation.

When she later learned that the role she had dreamed of had been casually handed to someone backed by an investor, she became even more disheartened.

She felt that no matter how hard she worked, she could never compete with those born with golden spoons in their mouths.

Sigh…

Meng Shi let out a sigh.

This child truly had not known how to cherish herself.

She had actually considered ending her own life because of a temporary setback.

Had Meng Shi not coincidentally been reborn into her body, her kind mother would surely have been devastated.