Eldest Senior Sister Goes Down The Mountain To Become An Idol - Chapter 2

After Xiao Ye accompanied Gu Yueyue through lunch, the company’s manager, Old Yao, called again.

She told Gu Yueyue to come to the company that afternoon. There was a new work arrangement.

Sitting on the sofa, Xiao Ye was so angry she could not speak. She stomped her feet hard several times. “Sister, they’re bullying you too much. You were only just frightened by a stalker fan yesterday. If security hadn’t protected you in time, the consequences would have been unimaginable.”

Hongsheng wanted to squeeze every bit of remaining value out of Gu Yueyue while her contract was still active, so it recklessly arranged all sorts of money-making commercial performances for her. Yet it was so stingy that it would not even assign bodyguards to her.

Yesterday, after her performance ended, she had run into a few stalker fans carrying knives. They had almost slashed Gu Yueyue’s face. Because of that, Gu Yueyue had been in a poor mood today and had curled up at home to rest.

“Sister, why don’t we just not go? It definitely won’t be anything good.” Xiao Ye was furious. Last time Gu Yueyue went, the company had shoved an underwear endorsement at her. It was produced by some small factory, and the scale was so extreme it was almost impossible to pass review. Luckily, something had happened to the factory in the end, and the commercial had not been filmed. Who knew what messy job they would push onto her this time?

Gu Yueyue did not speak. She began putting on makeup in front of the mirror.

Seeing that she remained silent, Xiao Ye had no choice but to run to the guest room and change clothes herself. “Sister, I’ll go with you.”

Xiao Ye was hired by Gu Yueyue and had no real conflict of interest with the company, so when she stood up for Gu Yueyue, she did not have to worry about losing her own job.

Gu Yueyue had debuted at sixteen. Her contract had been arranged by her guardian, and it was signed for ten whole years. The terms of the contract were extremely harsh, which meant her development had been restricted at every turn. She dreamed of becoming an actress, but the company had shaped her into a traffic star instead. Last year, by good fortune, she had acted in a television drama and won Best Actress for it. Her fans all felt she should develop toward the big screen after that, but in the end, her negotiations with the company fell apart. The company then started accepting web dramas, variety shows, and low-budget horror films for her.

Because Gu Yueyue had been frequently taking on terrible dramas and commercial performances, many fans scolded her for going crazy over money, saying she could no longer even hold on to an actress’s bottom line. Many fans stopped following her and turned around to trample her instead.

Old Yao was a woman in her forties. She was slightly plump, and when she smiled, her eyes were full of calculating shrewdness. Her name was Yao Qian—Yao Qian, “wanting money.” She really did live up to her name. She was a woman who had fallen straight into the eye of money.

She was not only Gu Yueyue’s manager but also a minor shareholder of Hongsheng. Every sum Gu Yueyue earned included a share for her, so when it came to squeezing Gu Yueyue dry, she was even more practiced.

“You’re here. I heard you almost got into trouble at Haibin yesterday?” Old Yao and Gu Yueyue both knew perfectly well where their interests stood. But while Gu Yueyue could follow her temperament and show a cold face to people she disliked, Old Yao was a smiling fox. Even after tearing off all pretense, she could still speak with a smile.

However, her concern for Gu Yueyue at this moment was real. After all, the newcomers had not yet been promoted successfully. Although Gu Yueyue was disobedient, she was far too good at earning money. The company still needed her.

Old Yao stared at Gu Yueyue’s face. The more she looked, the more she liked it. She only hated that the face was not on her own body. Online comments calling Gu Yueyue a “divine beauty” were not exaggerated at all. The newcomer the company planned to promote truly could not compare to Gu Yueyue’s grand, stunning beauty, so they could only package the newcomer as a fresh and sweet little sweetheart type.

“Manager Yao, what arrangements do you have?” Gu Yueyue did not like being stared at like merchandise. Although she was an actress, what she mainly sold were her acting skills and her works.

Old Yao handed her a planning proposal. “Of course. You also know the company has been promoting newcomers lately. The company hopes you can contribute too.”

Gu Yueyue accepted the proposal. Written on it was the publicity plan for stirring up CP hype between her and Qiao Yuanbin.

“I don’t agree!” Gu Yueyue refused. Since her debut, she had never hyped a CP before, and she did not like doing these things. At that point, with truth and lies all mixed together, the fans would not know the reasons behind it, and even if she wanted to explain, she would have no way to begin. When the relationship was unequal, the one being tied down would always suffer in CP hype. Besides, in this kind of pairing, the woman usually suffered even more.

Old Yao sneered. “That’s not up to you. I’m informing you on behalf of the company, not asking for your permission. Do you understand?”

Gu Yueyue was furious. Already poor with words to begin with, she was so angry that she could not speak at all.

Xiao Ye pulled Gu Yueyue back. Casually, she stepped to Gu Yueyue’s side and smiled at Old Yao. “Sister Yao, don’t get angry. Our Yueyue never said she wouldn’t obey the company’s arrangements. It’s just that hyping a CP right now isn’t suitable for Qiao Yuanbin.”

Old Yao froze for an instant. Soon, her eyes shifted, and she narrowed them. Her tone was not very pleasant as she asked, “How is it unsuitable?”

“Of course it’s unsuitable. If I remember correctly, Qiao Yuanbin’s next drama has already been decided. It’s an urban romance web variety drama. Rather than hyping a CP with our Sister Yueyue, wouldn’t it be better to directly hype a romance CP inside the production crew? When the time comes, there will be viewers following along too. It’ll definitely feel more real than creating CP rumors out of thin air with our Sister Yueyue.”

Old Yao sneered. “You think you’re the only smart one? You think we don’t know that? His co-star is Lin Shizhi from Jingxuan. What status does Lin Shizhi have? Can she hype with our Binbin?”

“But I heard Lin Shizhi debuted as an internet celebrity. She’s relied on hype and traffic all the way up, and she doesn’t have much acting skill either. She’s been debuted for two or three years now, and hasn’t she just been maintaining her popularity by hyping CPs with other people? Brother Bin is outstanding in every aspect, and he’s the top male artist Hongsheng is strongly promoting. What right does Lin Shizhi have to refuse? Maybe if you send an olive branch over, Lin Shizhi will be more than happy to accept.”

“And Lin Shizhi has more than forty million fans. Our Sister Yueyue doesn’t even have half that. Besides, Brother Bin and Lin Shizhi are already partners in the drama. When the time comes, the company won’t even need to deliberately stir up hype. As long as Brother Bin gets a little closer to her, we can’t control what the media says anyway, right? Whether they’re a CP or whether they’re in love, isn’t that all up to the fans to decide?”

Both openly and secretly, Xiao Ye’s words were all spoken for Qiao Yuanbin’s sake, and her suggestion was even logical and well-founded.

Old Yao was somewhat tempted. But there were rumors in the industry that Lin Shizhi had someone powerful backing her. It was precisely because the company was wary of that point that it had not dared to set its sights on her.

Seeing that she was tempted, Xiao Ye was about to continue persuading her, but Gu Yueyue pulled her back. Gu Yueyue shook her head slightly at her. She truly did not like Xiao Ye’s method of diverting disaster onto someone else.

Xiao Ye smiled at her and secretly patted her hand in comfort.

“Sister Yao, a production CP is something the director has to worry about in the first place. Don’t web dramas rely on romance CPs to attract fans? When the time comes, you can communicate directly with the director. Wouldn’t that be the right timing, the right place, and a natural result? Besides, Lin Shizhi is already a traffic star. Brother Bin doesn’t even have to worry about fans objecting if he’s with her. Forty million fans—how many CP fans would there be among them? Would Brother Bin still need to worry about having no traffic?”

Following the vision she painted, the more Yao Qian imagined it, the more excited she became. She wished she could immediately put it into practice.

Looking at her expression, Xiao Ye secretly sneered. Short-sighted fool. Her head was full of thoughts of making quick money. Once they had made Sister Yueyue popular, would they still have trouble carrying Hongsheng forward? Yet they had thrown away a pearl to pick up a fish eye instead.

Old Yao wanted to find people for a meeting and properly discuss this matter. Back then, it was because they had been afraid of the power behind Lin Shizhi that they had not dared to act recklessly. But now, after hearing Xiao Ye’s words, Lin Shizhi had debuted as an internet celebrity to begin with and had used hype and traffic. She might not necessarily reject this sort of thing. It would be better to try approaching her. Even if Lin Shizhi disagreed, they could still communicate with the director and have the director help operate things. As long as they controlled the degree well and did not anger Lin Shizhi, this would be a wonderful matter of mutual benefit.

“I’ll reconsider this matter.” Old Yao impatiently waved for them to leave, then stopped Gu Yueyue just before they went. “Right, you should rest properly at home during this period. On the fourth of next month, the fourth season of Stars Idol will begin recording. You’ll be a mentor. Our company’s Zheng Wan will also be participating, so remember to take good care of her.”

“Mm, I understand. Is there anything else?” Gu Yueyue only wanted to hurry back. Being at the company made her feel suffocated.

They left the company very smoothly.

On the way back, Gu Yueyue was in low spirits. Xiao Ye wanted to talk to her, but Gu Yueyue let out a long sigh and asked, “Why did you do that?”

“Sister, better my fellow Daoist than this poor Daoist. This circle is just like that.” Xiao Ye sent a message to an entertainment reporter she often contacted, asking him to help leak the matter to Lin Shizhi’s side so they could prepare in advance.

Throughout Gu Yueyue’s journey, many things had been thanks to Xiao Ye’s help. But when it came to some matters, the two of them always disagreed. She also knew Xiao Ye was thinking of her, but this kind of thing made her conscience uneasy. She was always too sentimental to accept it.

“Sister, trust me. Nothing will happen to Lin Shizhi’s side. Hongsheng isn’t enough to go head-to-head with Lin Shizhi. I heard the power behind Lin Shizhi is Best Actress Yu. In the past, Lin Shizhi hyped things up and Best Actress Yu spoiled her, but recently, the two of them are almost going public. Lin Shizhi has already restrained herself. Look at the past half year—where have there been any gossip scandals about her online? Her romance rumors were cleaned up a year ago. Only Yao Qian would be blinded by that tiny bit of profit. If they insist on courting death and crashing into this, even if Lin Shizhi doesn’t care, Best Actress Yu won’t let them climb all the way to the moon just to touch porcelain and leech clout. Just watch. As long as Qiao Yuanbin dares to make a move, his days afterward definitely won’t be easy.”

The more Xiao Ye thought about it, the more relieved she felt. Unfortunately, they had no power backing them, so they could only borrow strength to fight strength. The method could not really be brought into the light, but as long as it worked, that was enough.

Xiao Ye had already said everything she needed to say, so the company was definitely already planning how to stir up the hype. It was too late to blame Xiao Ye now, so Gu Yueyue began to worry instead.

“Didn’t you say Qiao Yuanbin has a backer behind him? Lin Shizhi and the others won’t get into trouble, will they?” Gu Yueyue only knew that the backers behind people were all very powerful, but as for who was more powerful than whom, she could not tell. All these years, her whole heart had been thrown into acting.

Xiao Ye laughed. “Sister, you don’t need to worry about that. The one behind Qiao Yuanbin is just a nouveau riche. How could he compare to them? Sigh, what a pity for these young, beautiful sisters—falling into early romance in the prime of their lives!”

Gu Yueyue relaxed slightly. On the way back, her advertising endorsements could be seen everywhere. The heart she had set down for others rose up again for herself. During this period, she had been frequently accepting endorsements, and she still did not know how the company would arrange things for her afterward.

“We’re home! Sister, you go up first. I’ll go park the car.” Xiao Ye was always full of energy, as if nothing could ever stump her.

Inside the elevator, Gu Yueyue’s brow throbbed. A flustered, uneasy feeling wrapped around her heart. She still did not know that there was already an intruder in her home.

Gu Yueyue stood at the door and looked at the apartment entrance, feeling that something was not quite right. There seemed to be something on the doorknob, like snot, glue, or something of that sort had been smeared onto it.

Her eyesight was very good, and she saw it immediately. Because of that, she did not reach out to open the door.

Perhaps people really did have some magical sixth sense when it came to unknown danger. Gu Yueyue slowly took two steps back. Only she lived on this floor. In the past, she had enjoyed the quiet here, but today, the silence felt terrifying.

A sound suddenly came from inside the door. Gu Yueyue nearly suffocated. Suddenly, the door opened, and a strange man came out, naked except for a bath towel draped around him. His face was full of smiles. When he saw Gu Yueyue standing at the door, his eyes were filled with madness. His voice abruptly rose. “Wife! You’re back? I’ve been waiting for you for so long. Hurry and come in! Hurry home, hurry…”

He reached out to grab Gu Yueyue.

Gu Yueyue’s breathing stopped. The string in her mind snapped completely.

Author’s Note:

Miss Gu: Why haven’t you come looking for me yet?

Xu Yi: Soon, soon. I’m on the way.