I Heard I’m the Scumbag Alpha of a Top-Tier Leading Actress? - Chapter 28

Gu Xin was currently sitting in the seat of a female Beta, in the same row as the other staff members on duty.

Duty shifts were boring, and with no phones to use, everyone tacitly began chatting. If anything abnormal appeared or a forecast needed to be issued, the system would automatically pop up a notification. They could check it then.

The male Beta beside her glanced at Gu Xin, murmured something with the others, then slid his stool over to Gu Xin’s side. With an enthusiastic smile, he asked, “You came from X City? Your research institute is really famous. It’s super hard to get into.”

Gu Xin made an ah sound. “It is hard to get into.” That was why she had chosen to enter through social recruitment.

The male Beta sounded emotional. “Back then, I tried so hard and still couldn’t get into your institute as a graduate student. But now I’m working together with you people. Life really is unpredictable.”

“That’s true.” Gu Xin answered perfunctorily, always feeling there was something hidden in his words, something very off. But when she was being perfunctory, her expression looked almost the same as when she answered sincerely, so the male Beta did not notice anything wrong and remained full of interest.

“I heard your new system is crazy impressive, and it even has to be paired with the latest foreign instruments, or it won’t run at all. Hey, when you’re not working on the project, can you let me observe a little? I want to see exactly how impressive your system is.”

“You might have to ask our team leader about that. I can’t make that decision.”

The male Beta looked her up and down and could not help saying, “Couldn’t tell. You’re actually the obedient type?”

Gu Xin said, “Do I not look like it?”

The male Beta pointed at the bruises on her face, clearly implying something. “You don’t. You look more like a thorny soldier.”

Without changing expression, Gu Xin said, “An accident. The car sank into the ground yesterday, and I accidentally fell.”

“Then you sure fell pretty neatly.”

Gu Xin shrugged. “A gift from heaven, I guess.”

The male Beta winked at her. “Stop being modest. I heard long ago that your group had an Alpha who fought someone yesterday and even won. The moment you all came in, I looked carefully. Only you were injured. You’re that Alpha, right?”

Gu Xin had not expected the matter to spread this far. The essence of humanity was indeed gossip, but could people really gossip even with no signal?

Gu Xin could not help asking, “How did you know about that?”

The male Beta raised his brows proudly. “Naturally, I have my ways. Your team leader didn’t punish you?”

“She did,” Gu Xin said without thinking. “Isn’t she punishing me by making me come here for duty?”

“That’s true. Duty shift on the first day. You’re pretty unlucky too.” The male Beta sighed repeatedly before finally returning to his original purpose. “So exactly how amazing is your system? I saw Old Chen practically grinning from ear to ear.”

Gu Xin narrowed her eyes and studied him, then said slowly, “You’ll know once it goes into trial use.”

The male Beta was completely unreserved. He leaned closer and bumped Gu Xin with his elbow, lowering his voice. “That’s no fun. It doesn’t involve any confidentiality agreement, right? As someone in the same field, I can’t even learn a little about how far the country has developed?”

“Can I tell the truth?” Gu Xin asked sincerely.

“Go ahead.”

“Actually, I don’t understand this system at all. I didn’t participate in making it.”

“Hey, you!” The male Beta instantly found her boring. “Is there really a need to say something like that to brush me off? You didn’t make it, but you understand so much? Seriously, if you don’t want to say it, just don’t. Why use that kind of excuse?”

His interest in her sharply decreased. In a huff, he slid his stool away. Just as Gu Xin thought he would be quiet for a while, he turned around and began chatting enthusiastically with the others.

Gu Xin had not expected him to be a king of gossip too. At this moment, his image strangely overlapped with Huo Yuanfei.

The same talkativeness, the same gossip, the same cockroach-like inability to be beaten down. Could this be the default setting for male Betas?

Thinking of Hua Ran’s disdain for Huo Yuanfei, Gu Xin could not help feeling a wave of sympathy—Hua Ran had finally escaped the original, only to unexpectedly encounter such a similar substitute meal deep in the mountains and old forests. Worse, this one was not under her, so she could not curse him whenever she wanted. They would also have to work together for several months after this. Who knew how long Hua Ran could endure?

Gu Xin only thought about it briefly before going back to her own work. From time to time, she clicked around on the computer, familiarizing herself with the old system and seeing how it differed from their new one.

But the office was very spacious at this moment. Even if Gu Xin did not want to listen to the voices beside her, the content kept drilling into her ears.

Entertainment in the mountains was limited. Even the smallest thing counted as news, let alone the major incident today of more than twenty people entering the village.

Gu Xin heard them naturally begin chatting about Hua Ran.

“Did you see the project team leader who arrived today? She’s so beautiful. When I first saw her, I was stunned. I thought she was some celebrity.”

“Right, right. She’s probably the prettiest Beta I’ve ever seen. She even beats a lot of idols nowadays.”

“The entertainment industry isn’t good anymore. The downgrade in aesthetics is serious. Look at those new actors and idols coming out now—each one ugly in every direction. Team Leader Hua is still prettier. This faithful woman is willing to eat vegetarian for two weeks in exchange for one day working alone with Team Leader Hua.”

“Dream on! Who are you, and who is Team Leader Hua? Team Leader Hua working alone with you? Xiao Yang, that’s where you’re wrong. It’s not even midnight yet, and you’re already dreaming?”

“Sigh, let’s not talk about empty things. Team Leader Hua coming here actually has downsides too.”

“Mm? How so?”

“After seeing Team Leader Hua, I ate two extra bowls at dinner today. My weight-loss plan is completely bankrupt.”

“What? Only two bowls? I ate four extra.”

“I ate five extra bowls!”

One of the female Betas laughed and stopped them. “Why are you even competing over this? No involution outside of work!”

“You said that wrong. It’s work that shouldn’t involve involution. I’ll just casually eat ten bowls.”

“Hey, such big talk. Then tomorrow, I’ll watch you eat. If you eat even one bowl less, I’ll pour it down your throat.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Gu Xin did not actually have much concept of other people’s appearances. Many people had praised her looks too, saying she did not look like an Alpha and seemed very gentle, but that was all.

Yet when facing Yan Shuangshuang, almost everyone felt that she was especially beautiful. Even now, there was still a sizable group of Yan Shuangshuang’s face fans active online.

The way the people beside her praised Hua Ran’s appearance was somehow similar to Yan Shuangshuang’s face fans.

Gu Xin thought that once they saw what Hua Ran looked like while working, they probably would not truly want to work with her for a day anymore.

Hua Ran’s nickname within the team was King Ran, because not only did she take the lead in grinding herself, she also expressionlessly forced the people under her to grind along with her. Unless she burned you, this piece of firewood, completely clean, she would not stop.

No matter how beautiful someone looked, when they made you work overtime, their face would become hateful—Gu Xin’s words from experience.

However, they were only casually running their mouths. Soon, they changed the topic.

“Have you guys noticed…” The male Beta lowered his voice, but Gu Xin’s ears were sharp and her eyes clear, so she still heard the second half of his sentence. “This Team Leader Hua really does look a little like a celebrity.”

Gu Xin’s movements stopped.

The moment he said that, everyone understood and responded quickly.

“You don’t mean the one halfway down the mountain, do you?”

“Right, right. When Team Leader Hua came over, I thought at first glance that she looked a little like that person. Last time, when I took Uncle Chen’s car out to buy supplies, I saw them filming halfway down the mountain. They made such a huge production of it too.”

“Tsk, so they really are filming.”

“She isn’t trying to make a comeback, is she?”

“So what if she comes back? If her show airs, I’ll be the first to give it one star.”

“One star is too vicious. She should just be blocked. Don’t give her any traffic. A disgraced artist like that doesn’t deserve to be compared with Team Leader Hua, and she doesn’t deserve the public’s attention either.”

“You don’t understand.” The male Beta spoke vividly. “Everyone says the entertainment industry is a huge dye vat. How could anyone climb up without some background? Not to mention, how long has it been since she retired? Yet she already has a role again. Financial backer! Understand? She has a new thigh to hug! When the time comes, the marketing campaign will go whoosh, whoosh. You won’t be able to avoid seeing it even if you want to.”

“Can’t anyone do something about these disgraced artists? How can they just come back when they say they’re coming back? Seriously, stop feeding the audience shit, okay!”

“I think her acting is pretty good. I don’t see how she’s wronged the audience.”

“You’re saying…” The male Beta turned around impatiently, but when he saw Gu Xin calmly twirling a pen while lifting her eyes, he suddenly stopped his chattering mouth. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t know you were her fan.”

“Whether I’m a fan or not can be set aside for now.” Gu Xin spoke unhurriedly. “First of all, Yan Shuangshuang has not wronged the audience. She devoted herself to every role she played, and the pay she took was not high either. Among the television dramas she appeared in, one won Best Actress, and two others won Best Supporting Actress. The other dramas that didn’t win awards also had many highlight moments. Based on this alone, she has not wronged the audience.”

Another person could not help raising their voice. “So according to you, although Sister hid her sex, slept around, and slept with fans, because her acting is good, all of that doesn’t count?”

After two months of high-speed surfing online, Gu Xin had already fought through countless battles. She skillfully sorted this person into the category of “argumentative nitpicker who swaps concepts” and returned tooth for tooth without the slightest politeness. “So you can open your mouth and spread rumors directly, but because you’re standing on the moral high ground, no one can refute you?”

“When did I spread rumors—”

“Which of the things you mentioned has evidence?”

“If a test report written in black and white doesn’t count, then I don’t know what does.”

“Oh, just that? I have the original here. I can prove that she didn’t deliberately conceal anything.”

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock. That person, in particular, opened their mouth wide and stammered “you, you, you” for a long while, unable to say a complete sentence.

Gu Xin said calmly, “So am I qualified to say you were spreading rumors now?”

“Still not fixed?”

“Soon, soon.”

Ying Lu stood on a stool with her hands on her hips, fanning herself.

The weather at the end of May was strange. Yesterday, there had just been a rainstorm so cold it soaked people through, but tonight, it was so hot that they could not sleep without a fan.

When they first rented these buildings, the owners had reminded them that there had been problems when the electrical wires were connected, and sometimes the power would inexplicably go out.

Ying Lu had thought, She was a grand director. She could simply get two generators in one go. Wouldn’t that be perfect?

But who could have expected that heaven would be so helpful? Not only had it soaked her thoroughly, it had also wiped out both her generators. Even worse, there really was something wrong with the electrical wires.

They had lost power.

Hot. It was really hot.

Ying Lu was already furious, and when she saw Zhao Censu, bruised and swollen, holding a light for the prop master, her anger grew even stronger.

“If you can’t hold on, say so early. I know you Alphas have thick skin and tough flesh, but you still have scenes tomorrow. Rest properly. Don’t let your face fail and your acting fail too.”

After being hit by this round of barbed words, Zhao Censu felt stifled but did not dare speak. He could only raise the light a little closer and mutter, “I’m fine.”

Ying Lu rolled her eyes so hard they nearly reached the sky.

She very much wanted to say, Who cares whether you’re fine or not? You useless Alpha who asked for a beating and still didn’t win, you actually dare mess around under my nose. Do you really think my temper has improved now?

When the prop master said “soon,” it meant a minimum of half an hour and a maximum of two hours.

Only the three of them were still fighting in the courtyard. Mainly, it was the prop master fighting, while Ying Lu supervised.

After standing for a while, Ying Lu got tired. She did not mind that she had just been standing on it and directly sat down on the stool. “Engineer Yang, I’ll fan you.”

Engineer Yang shyly glanced at Ying Lu and said dazedly, “Director Ying, I’m not hot. Fan Brother Zhao. I see he’s been sweating the whole time.”

The entertainment industry was a place that cared most about status and seniority. If your position was high, then you were Teacher, Brother, or Sister. But if your position was low and you were an unremarkable logistics worker, then sorry, what awaited you might only be, “Hey, that person.”

In the past, Engineer Yang had been the “hey” in Zhao Censu’s mouth.

Ying Lu said, “He’s fine. I see his temper has been fiery lately. This is a perfect chance to fight poison with poison and let his heart calm down. Let the heat cool him down. As the saying goes, a calm heart naturally feels cool. Hurry up and cool off, or else he might spend his thoughts in places he shouldn’t.”

From yesterday to today, after discovering that Gu Xin’s attacks had still been measured and Zhao Censu had not even suffered any serious injury, Ying Lu had maintained this attitude toward Zhao Censu.

Zhao Censu lowered his head and said nothing. Added to the fact that he was injured, under the dim light, he even looked somewhat pitiful.

Seeing him like this, Engineer Yang felt some compassion. But caught between both sides, he could only tuck his tail between his legs, droop his ears, and pretend he had not heard Ying Lu’s sarcasm.

Zhao Censu did indeed have a background, but once he entered Ying Lu’s crew, Ying Lu was the boss. If she was unhappy, she could make him get lost at any time.

The only thing Engineer Yang could do was hurry up and fix the generator. He could not stay in this tense atmosphere for even one more second.

He Xin had a habit of getting up at night. She opened her hazy eyes and shuffled by in slippers, then noticed the three shadowy figures and barely gathered enough energy to greet them.

“Director Ying, Engineer Yang, you’re still here?”

Ying Lu said, “Still fixing it. You’re up again?”

“Mm, I’ll go back after using the bathroom.” He Xin let out a huge yawn. She rubbed away the tiny tears at the corners of her eyes and said drowsily, “I don’t feel like it’s that hot either. Director Ying, it’s really late today. Why don’t you sleep first and fix it tomorrow?”

Ying Lu fanned herself even faster. “I can’t. My body runs hot. Without an electric fan, it’ll kill me. I really don’t know what kind of constitutions you people have. You can still sleep in weather this hot?”

He Xin chuckled. “Mainly because of Sister Shuang. Her body is so cool, like an air conditioner. Lying beside her feels insanely good.”

Ying Lu let out a heavy sigh. “She really lives up to her name. Why am I not an Omega? I’m so angry.”

He Xin said, “Then Director Ying, are you hot or angry?”

“Both hot and angry!” Ying Lu said irritably. “I know you have Yan Shuangshuang. Hurry up and go back to sleep! If you don’t film well tomorrow, I’ll hold you accountable.”

“Director Ying, you’re heat-stupid. I don’t have scenes tomorrow. Hehe.”

“It’s fine.” Ying Lu bared her teeth in an extremely bright smile. “I’ll have the script supervisor move your scenes up and shoot them first thing tomorrow morning.”

He Xin hurriedly begged for mercy, made a little-person-kneeling gesture, then quickly ran away.

Ying Lu watched He Xin’s back disappear into the distance and thought that this kid had finally become a little more lively. But when she turned her head, she saw Zhao Censu also staring directly at He Xin, some inexplicable emotion churning in his eyes.

Ying Lu slapped the fan and said faintly, “Some thoughts shouldn’t exist. If you shouldn’t have them, don’t. Otherwise, one day you’ll crash into the southern wall without even knowing it.”

Zhao Censu quickly lowered his head again. Whether he had listened or not was unknown.

After using the bathroom and returning to the room, He Xin discovered a pair of eyes staring straight at her in the darkness.

She jumped in fright. “Sister Shuang, you’re not asleep?”

Yan Shuangshuang looked over幽幽. “I was.”

He Xin scratched her head embarrassedly. “Next time I get up at night, I’ll be quieter.”

Yan Shuangshuang sat up, closed her eyes, and rubbed her temples with both hands. “It’s fine. I’ve been sleeping lightly lately.”

He Xin savored that “lately” and tasted out a different meaning.

She had not slept lightly before, but she had been sleeping lightly lately. Recently, aside from the research group briefly staying for one night like an epiphyllum blooming, nothing else had happened.

Before meeting Yan Shuangshuang, He Xin had not had any real sense of what a top star in the entertainment industry was like. After all, whether it was a top star or a bigshot, she had never met one and was not interested.

But Yan Shuangshuang had stunned her at first sight. So it turned out that the reason a top star was a top star was that she must be especially outstanding in some way—and in terms of face, Yan Shuangshuang displayed that to the fullest. He Xin could responsibly say that Yan Shuangshuang was the most beautiful person she had ever seen, regardless of sex.

He Xin did not dare say that back in the car, the reason she had acted so cool was actually because she had not known how to talk to a beautiful woman.

Yan Shuangshuang’s beauty carried aggression. When she looked at you, it was as if a sniper had set up a rifle in the dark and suddenly shot you once. Other than shock, you could think of nothing else.

No matter how deranged haters were, they would not dare say against their conscience that Yan Shuangshuang was not beautiful.

After being shocked by her beauty, once work began, He Xin was shocked again by Yan Shuangshuang’s acting skills.

Ying Lu was famous for grinding people down. If she could not achieve the effect she wanted, she would nitpick again and again, make people redo it again and again, and strike them until they had no confidence left.

In the previous film, He Xin had been tormented terribly by Ying Lu. At most, one shot had been filmed more than fifty times. Back then, He Xin had cried while saying she never wanted to film again.

But when it came to Yan Shuangshuang, not only did she have the fewest NGs, she could even infer from one instance to another and produce more effects. What powerful mental quality that was.

Even if Ying Lu had never praised her, anyone with eyes could see that Ying Lu was very satisfied with Yan Shuangshuang.

At this moment, hearing the usually strong Yan Shuangshuang reveal a rare trace of vulnerability, He Xin felt worried, yet faintly, she also felt as if she had been gently accepted.

She gathered her courage and carefully tested one step forward. “Lately? If you haven’t been sleeping well, why didn’t you tell me?”

Yan Shuangshuang said, “It’s my own problem. It’s fine. I’ll recover after a while.”

“How is it fine?” He Xin gently held Yan Shuangshuang’s wrist. “You’re our soul figure now. If something happens to you, our entire crew will feel guilty. Is it because Director Ying has been squeezing you too hard lately? I said that day she shouldn’t have made you do those two extra takes. Tomorrow, I’ll go curse Director Ying!”

What He Xin was talking about was a life-and-death scene filmed three days ago.

Yan Shuangshuang was a standard experiential actor. She entered character very quickly, but coming out of character was somewhat difficult. That life-and-death scene had drained most of her emotions. Her whole person had sunk into the role, unable to come out for a long time, and her throat had gone hoarse from crying.

But Ying Lu had insisted on pressing Yan Shuangshuang to do four takes, and later added two more.

Just that one scene had taken Yan Shuangshuang an entire day to recover from.

Yan Shuangshuang slowly shook her head, denying the guess that she had not come out of character.

He Xin was silent for a while, then probed, “Then is it related to Zhao Censu? He really is annoying. I’ve already complained to Director Ying. I guarantee he’ll behave a little in the future.”

Actually, by now, a name had already surfaced in He Xin’s heart. In private, she had even made many guesses about the relationship between the two of them. But when it came to privacy, people in the industry were most cautious about taboos. As long as Yan Shuangshuang did not bring it up first, she could not ask first. This was an unspoken social rule everyone understood.

“Him? How could it be.” There was no fluctuation in Yan Shuangshuang’s tone, but He Xin stubbornly heard a trace of hard-to-detect contempt.

OK, He Xin thought. It wasn’t Zhao Censu. Then it was the person she had guessed.

Gu Xin.

At first sight, that person had seemed very quiet, with no strong sense of presence. But when something happened, her methods were forceful, her mind was quick, and she contributed the most by herself. She was a person with great decisiveness.

But when He Xin learned that she was Yan Shuangshuang’s ex-wife, that insignificant favorable impression immediately turned into dislike.

People in the industry understood people in the industry best. For Yan Shuangshuang to fall from the altar so quickly, it was impossible that there was no mole by her side. He Xin carefully eliminated the company and rivals, then connected it to Yan Shuangshuang’s divorce. What was there left not to understand?

The biggest mole had actually been the person beside her pillow. He Xin could not imagine how Yan Shuangshuang had walked out of that at the time.

So when Zhao Censu and Gu Xin fought, He Xin was the happiest. She wished the two of them would both suffer losses and roll far, far away, never again blocking a beauty’s eyes.

Facing Yan Shuangshuang, He Xin used the most honest tone and said seriously, “So do you want to talk to me about it? Some things aren’t good to keep bottled up. Although I can’t do much, I’m very professional at being a trash can. And I’m the kind of trash can where things only go in and never come out. I guarantee I won’t say anything from tonight. If even a single word leaks, then…”

She tried hard to think for a while, then swore to the heavens, “Then let my brother lock me up at home and not let me take a single step outside. For ten years!”

Yan Shuangshuang finally laughed. She said, “For you, this oath really is vicious.”

Even if He Xin had never said who she was, Yan Shuangshuang had more or less guessed. The He family, a famous business giant in the south, had entered the entertainment industry in the past two years. Many people racked their brains trying to curry favor with this great ship, but no one had ever succeeded.

Yan Shuangshuang’s former manager had once advised her to lower herself and throw herself into capital. But perhaps that manager would never have expected that after leaving the company, Yan Shuangshuang would instead come to know the little daughter of the He family—and that the family’s treasured pearl had just boldly declared she wanted to become Yan Shuangshuang’s emotional trash can.

He Xin hurriedly said, “Right, right? You know how much I hate my brother.”

Yan Shuangshuang paused. “Actually, it has nothing to do with anyone. Whether you say it out or not doesn’t matter either.”

After all, her story was so clichéd it was not worth mentioning.

She said, “It’s roughly the story of a fool falling in love with a smart person. The fool couldn’t live without the smart person, and the smart person couldn’t live without the fool either. But unfortunately, they separated. Yet after separating, the fool still couldn’t stop longing for the smart person, and that greatly troubled the smart person.”

He Xin vaguely felt that these words carried another meaning. She asked, “Are you the smart person?”

Yan Shuangshuang smiled. “No. I’m the fool.”

On Gu Xin’s side, she knew nothing about Yan Shuangshuang’s comments regarding “the fool.”

If she knew, she might immediately check whether something had gone wrong with her memory again. Otherwise, how could she hear words that completely contradicted the facts?

In the office, ever since she had refuted them in a firm tone, the atmosphere had once dropped to freezing point. In the end, the male Beta came out to smooth things over, vaguely steering the topic away, and only then did the situation ease a little.

But after that, not a single person spoke to her again, and no one mentioned Yan Shuangshuang either.

Good. This was exactly the effect Gu Xin wanted.

After a night of duty, Gu Xin stretched. Everyone gradually prepared to get off work.

Perhaps because her sleep had been too irregular recently, Gu Xin kept feeling a faint ache at the back of her neck. But when she sensed it carefully, she could not say where exactly felt uncomfortable.

Maybe it would be better after a proper sleep, Gu Xin thought without taking it too seriously.

At this moment, the male Beta brought Gu Xin a cup of coffee, looking completely normal as he casually chatted with her.

This was what the adult workplace was like. You might fight in the morning, but in the afternoon, you still had no choice but to work together.

And this male Beta very clearly loved being the central figure anywhere, but he also did not want to offend either side.

Gu Xin raised her hand and said, “Thanks for the coffee. I didn’t bring anything, so I can’t return the favor for now.”

“Why say that? As long as you don’t mind me running my mouth and talking nonsense for a moment, I’ll be endlessly grateful.” The male Beta’s words were sincere, and he looked very earnest.

Gu Xin smiled faintly, carried the coffee, and said, “Then I’ll head off first. You all continue.”

After saying goodbye, she ran into Hua Ran at the door.

Hua Ran asked, “Did the X System test normally last night?”

“Everything was normal. There wasn’t much difference from the data reports transmitted by their existing system.”

Hua Ran nodded slightly. “You worked hard. Go back and sleep first. Come over at three this afternoon. We’ll discuss the learning direction for the X System.”

Gu Xin was rather surprised.

The X System was a new system used for meteorological forecasting, built single-handedly by Hua Ran. Gu Xin’s contribution to this system was zero; one could say not a single line of code had been written by her.

To put it plainly, the entire project had nothing much to do with Gu Xin.

When Gu Xin joined the research institute, Hua Ran and the others had already finished building the framework. The patent had also been written, and only practical testing remained before application.

It was only natural that Hua Ran was unwilling to let her participate. After all, no one could say for certain whether Gu Xin had come to gild herself and pluck the fruit.

But Gu Xin’s personality determined that her curiosity toward Hua Ran’s sudden change was limited. She nodded as if it did not matter either way and casually handed over the messy handwritten pages in her hand. “Actually, there’s no need to wait until this afternoon. Last night, based on the X System’s data analysis and transmission speed, I already wrote a draft by hand. These are all the areas where I think improvements can be made. If you think it’s useful, you can look through it.”

This time, the surprised one was Hua Ran. She stopped, opened the draft, and skimmed through it roughly. The more she read, the more shocked she became. When she raised her eyes again, her gaze toward Gu Xin was already completely different.

“I didn’t expect your insights to already be this deep. Don’t tell me you finished reading through nearly ten years of technological development and then inferred the new directions from there? I clearly didn’t give you those confidential research progress materials.”

In the scientific world, which bigshot was studying what direction and what stage they had reached was actually not a secret.

More or less, everyone could guess what step others had reached based on the movements of their research institutes. If they were nearing the final stage, everyone in the related field would look forward eagerly, waiting to see what kind of shock the industry would be set into next.

Gu Xin said, “The development of any technology cannot be separated from two things: experience and imagination. Coincidentally, of those two, I can learn the former, and the latter is ridiculously abundant in my mind.”

These words were arrogant, and not polite.

Hua Ran had never seen anyone more arrogant than Gu Xin, but what she held in her hands was the capital behind Gu Xin’s arrogance.

Some people struggled their whole lives toward one goal, but their progress might not compare to a genius’s sudden flash of inspiration.

Pressing down the sourness rising in her heart, Hua Ran took a deep breath, returned the draft to Gu Xin, and looked at her deeply. “Three in the afternoon. It’s settled. I don’t want a draft. I want something more detailed.”

“Mm? I haven’t prepared myself to be exploited by you yet.”

“That’s fine. I’ll make you get used to it. Who told me to be your team leader?”

Gu Xin sighed and said, “Such heavy pressure. I’m suddenly regretting it a little.”

“You’re welcome,” Hua Ran said. “Rest well, then work hard for me. Bye.”

Gu Xin listlessly returned to the dormitory, casually threw the coffee the male Beta had given her into the trash, and lay down on the bed without taking off her clothes.

The god of sleep favored her very quickly today. In her haze, Gu Xin suddenly thought that she seemed to have gone a long time without having a nightmare.

Since—when had that started?

At three in the afternoon, Gu Xin stepped into the meeting room on time. Hua Ran had already been waiting for a long time.

The two of them began discussing the new system, and time passed quickly, as if it jumped straight from afternoon to evening in an instant.

As they neared the end, the phone on the tabletop buzzed twice. Gu Xin swiped it open and saw that it was a heavy rain warning issued by the meteorological station. It had been sent once in the afternoon, and again in the evening.

The sky outside began to grow heavy and stifling. Rolling dark clouds were moving toward them.

Gu Xin pushed open the window, looked at the clouds outside, and frowned. “Didn’t it just rain yesterday? Why is it coming again today?”

“That’s weather for you. Ever-changing.” Hua Ran stretched her hand out the window and felt the humidity and wind direction outside, then suddenly said, “It’s a little damp.”

It had not yet started raining, but the humidity outside was already very high.

This was not a good sign.

Hua Ran turned and pushed open the meeting room door. Gu Xin followed behind her with hurried steps.

The atmosphere inside the meteorological station had completely swept away its earlier ease. Everyone was staring tightly at the cloud map, preparing to issue warnings.

The base station still had not been repaired, and the phone signal was zero. At a time like this, the meteorological station could only send SMS warnings by satellite. As long as the rain had not fallen, the satellite signal could remain stable.

Gu Xin asked, “What’s the situation now?”

“The heavy rain from the past two days has already exceeded expectations. The previous precipitation hasn’t been absorbed yet, and today, new rainfall is probably coming again. The scale is very likely larger than before.” Hua Ran swiftly understood the situation. She also stared tightly at the screen, comparing the differences between the two systems.

All the data and intelligence Gu Xin had read before flashed through her mind. She slowly exhaled a stale breath, and the terrain map of the entire county formed before her eyes.

W City was located on the edge of a basin. It had many mountains and hills, with enormous elevation differences. The county they were in had loose terrain, unstable soil, and extremely rich groundwater resources. It was practically a collection of every danger point.

If they suddenly encountered heavy rain, landslides or flash floods could easily occur.

If the situation became more serious, debris flows were not impossible either.

…This was a little bad.

The leader of the meteorological station was making a satellite phone call, notifying the county to prepare for flash floods and debris flows. The other side replied that they had already notified villagers in dangerous areas to evacuate urgently, and rescue preparations were also ready.

Everyone grew tense.

Half an hour, one hour…

Under the strain of everyone’s nerves, the heavy rain arrived as promised.

The rushing curtain of rain mingled with the night, fiercely pouncing toward humanity. An unimaginable amount of precipitation poured directly onto this land. Rainwater washed and ravaged everything. There was already no need for groundwater to form flash floods. What fell at this moment seemed to be the river itself.

The expression on every person’s face was grave. The rain fell in heavy drops, smashing not only against the earth, but also against everyone’s heart.

If they had still held on to a fluke before, thinking the rain might not be that heavy, then now, everything had become fixed.

The satellite signal became intermittent, but fortunately, they had already made full preparations beforehand, so they were not thrown into passivity.

Now, they could only pray that the heavy rain would fall slower, shorter—not so violently.

Before anyone realized it, it was already eleven at night.

What made everyone’s hearts heavy was that the rain had not lessened. Instead, it was growing heavier and heavier, looking as if it would not stop until it had drowned this place.

The male Beta’s face was pale. He had worked here for five years and had never seen such a scene. Any apocalypse depicted in films could not portray even one-tenth of the terror of this towering rain before his eyes.

No one could resist nature.

Once nature grew angry, Noah’s Ark was only an empty fantasy.

Time seemed frozen at this moment. After an unknown amount of time, a sudden da-da-da roar sounded outside, breaking the deathlike silence.

The leader froze, then immediately rushed to the window and discovered that beneath the torrential rain, a helicopter was actually swaying through the wind and rain toward them.

In that instant, what everyone thought was: Thank goodness there was no thunder. Thank goodness there was no thunder!

“People inside! Come out and lend a hand!”

Someone shouted loudly.

Hua Ran took the lead and directly rushed out into the rain.

Once someone was first, others followed.

The helicopter lowered a ladder, and trembling villagers climbed down step by step.

Elderly people, women, children, even infants. Everyone relayed them along, desperately trying to preserve the hope of life.

The helicopter was still roaring wildly, but the sound of wind and rain was even louder. Communication between people could only rely on gestures and actions.

There were no words, but everyone spontaneously participated in the rescue.

Only after the last civilian came down from the helicopter and the people from the meteorological station brought them into the base did one pilot jump down and say, “Your warning was correct. A debris flow happened. We originally prepared to come pick you up, but on the way, we encountered trapped civilians, so we had no choice but to rescue them first. Fortunately, your base is located well. This place is safe for the time being. Wait a bit. The next helicopter is already on the way and will come pick you up soon.”

In rain like this, the chance of a debris flow not happening was what was small.

Gu Xin actually did not care about anyone. She brought people into the base and looked over them one by one, finally discovering someone among them who looked very familiar, a face she had seen before.

She grabbed that middle-aged Beta and tried hard to keep her voice steady as she asked, “Did I see you in the film crew?”

Engineer Yang was facing a natural disaster head-on for the first time, and his legs were still trembling. In the blink of an eye, someone suddenly rushed in front of him.

He struggled to recognize her for a good while before hesitantly saying, “I think… yes.”

“Did all of you get out? Where is Yan Shuangshuang? Where is Ying Lu?”

“Director Ying, Director Ying, I don’t know!” Engineer Yang said with a tearful face. “We had just wrapped up work today when we heard the notice saying there might be a debris flow. At that point, who could care about anything else? Everyone was running toward the road. As we ran… Director Ying disappeared!”

After that, no matter how he was asked, nothing more could be gotten from him. Gu Xin let go of Engineer Yang, her gaze sweeping through everyone, but no matter which one she looked at, none was the person she wanted to see.

Gu Xin thought, Was fate truly playing tricks on her? Was this truly punishment from heaven?

The person who had smiled yesterday and said she wanted to cut things off cleanly with her had today truly been cut off from her.

She did not want this kind of ending.

She absolutely did not want this kind of ending.

Gu Xin tried hard to breathe. Her vision abruptly blurred. She opened her mouth wide and only felt that the back of her neck, which had been faintly aching all along, suddenly began hurting violently. The pain drilled straight into her marrow, making her unable to resist wanting to scream.

From the crowd, a tall figure suddenly walked out. He stood before Gu Xin and said in a low voice, “I ran with her. I saw it. She was cut off to the other side of the mountain road by the debris flow that came rushing down, but she wasn’t hit by it. She should still be alive.”

Gu Xin suddenly raised her head and looked at him. That face, beaten by her until it was hardly human, was very conspicuous, and a complicated light shone in his eyes.

Gu Xin stared at him for a long time, then pushed him aside and walked out without saying a word. Hua Ran was comforting the civilians. Seeing Gu Xin going against the flow, she shouted at the top of her lungs, “Gu Xin?! Gu Xin! What are you trying to do?”

Gu Xin did not turn back. It was as if she had heard nothing, or as if she had heard and was still stubbornly doing as she wished.

Hua Ran found this scene very familiar. It was completely a reenactment of what had happened that night.

Gritting her teeth, she shouted, “Someone stop her!”

Someone went to block her as instructed.

But it was too late. When Hua Ran looked again, Gu Xin’s thin figure had already quickly vanished into the wind and rain.

That proud, selfish genius walked alone into the boundless night, going by herself toward dangerous nature.

She did not want success and fame anymore. She did not want her life and fortune anymore either.

She only wanted one person to live.

Hua Ran was so angry her lips trembled. Little Ke was anxious. She quickly walked to Hua Ran’s side and said in a low voice, “Team Leader, don’t worry. Just now, I think I heard Teacher Gu say…”

—I never do things I’m not confident in.

This was a genius’s promise.

From here on, it’s pure sweetness—sweeter than honey!

Author’s Note:

On the morning of 6.14, I revised some dialogue details, edited the parts where He Xin’s characterization was OOC, deleted and changed the “following the crowd” section, and replaced it with dialogue. But none of this affects the main plot. I’ll also put the main deleted and revised portion in the author’s note below:

“You don’t understand.” The male Beta spoke vividly. “Everyone says the entertainment industry is a huge dye vat. How could anyone climb up without some background? Not to mention, how long has it been since she retired? Yet she already has a role again. Financial backer! Understand? She has a new thigh to hug! When the time comes, the marketing campaign will go whoosh, whoosh. You won’t be able to avoid seeing it even if you want to.”

“Can’t anyone do something about these disgraced artists? How can they just come back when they say they’re coming back? Seriously, stop feeding the audience shit, okay!”

“I think her acting is pretty good. I don’t see how she’s wronged the audience.”

“You’re saying…” The male Beta turned around impatiently, but when he saw Gu Xin calmly twirling a pen while lifting her eyes, he suddenly stopped his chattering mouth. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t know you were her fan.”

“Whether I’m a fan or not can be set aside for now.” Gu Xin spoke unhurriedly. “First of all, Yan Shuangshuang has not wronged the audience. She devoted herself to every role she played, and the pay she took was not high either. Among the television dramas she appeared in, one won Best Actress, and two others won Best Supporting Actress. The other dramas that didn’t win awards also had many highlight moments. Based on this alone, she has not wronged the audience.”

Another person could not help raising their voice. “So according to you, although Sister hid her sex, slept around, and slept with fans, because her acting is good, all of that doesn’t count?”

After two months of high-speed surfing online, Gu Xin had already fought through countless battles. She skillfully sorted this person into the category of “argumentative nitpicker who swaps concepts” and returned tooth for tooth without the slightest politeness. “So you can open your mouth and spread rumors directly, but because you’re standing on the moral high ground, no one can refute you?”

“When did I spread rumors—”

“Which of the things you mentioned has evidence?”

“If a test report written in black and white doesn’t count, then I don’t know what does.”

“Oh, just that? I have the original here. I can prove that she didn’t deliberately conceal anything.”

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock. That person, in particular, opened their mouth wide and stammered “you, you, you” for a long while, unable to say a complete sentence.

Gu Xin said calmly, “So am I qualified to say you were spreading rumors now?”