Chapter 8

After nearly twenty years, Qin Ran could no longer clearly remember exactly how the novel’s plot had developed in detail. The fact that she could still remember some vague events was already the result of considerable effort. She knew that even the best memory was no match for a bad pen, so after seeing Ling Miaohan today, she returned to the dorm and worked hard to recall the novel’s plot.

She truly could not remember it very clearly anymore. That was why, back in high school, when she heard the name “Yu Shuman” and saw what was happening to her, she had still failed to remember anything about the novel. It was only when she saw the documents and realized that the name Ling Miaohan and her information were far too familiar that her memories finally returned, allowing her to discover what kind of world this truly was.

Now that she was looking back and organizing everything, she did indeed remember more.

Combining the information in the documents with what she recalled, Qin Ran wrote densely across three sheets of paper. Ling Miaohan’s success in the entertainment industry was not accidental, nor was it entirely due to the female lead halo. Her brothers and childhood sweetheart had played a huge role. First of all, the story’s male lead, her childhood sweetheart, was the CEO of an entertainment company. This company held a very high position in the industry. With him supporting her, she already had the innate conditions needed to become popular.

Second, she herself was the precious eldest daughter of a wealthy family. Above her, she had three older brothers working in different industries, all protecting and escorting her along the way. Even without the male lead, she still had a very high chance of becoming famous.

It was not that Qin Ran was being too realistic. It was simply that no matter which world one was in, people were used to fawning over those above and trampling those below. Many rich second-generation heirs who entered the entertainment industry were naturally labeled with higher-value tags from the start. Labels like rich, fair-skinned beauty and tall, rich, handsome man would definitely be stamped directly onto these people’s heads.

And because of their rich second-generation backgrounds, things like unspoken rules would not be associated with them either. Once someone said that they had climbed up by relying on those kinds of hidden arrangements, press releases would write things like, “Hidden arrangements? Who even has the qualifications to make those kinds of arrangements with them?” It was very easy to wash away that sort of scandal.

Moreover, human nature was born with a tendency to admire strength. Having money at home also counted as being superior to others in one aspect.

The pitiful one was her senior. Because Yu Shuman came from a lowly background and had a bad company, [stolen content]did that mean she deserved to be trampled into the mud?

In her previous life, Qin Ran had long been used to struggling and maneuvering among so-called capital, wealthy families, and rich people. Naturally, she knew exactly what those so-called upper-class people were like. Some were as noble as pure white snow, while others were the filthiest existences in the world.

Not to mention the entertainment industry, where fish and dragons were mixed together. That place would only be even muddier.

That was why, at first, she had not planned to bind herself to the system. Qin Ran had always felt that as long as she had enough money to get by, that was fine. She did not want to step into a circle full of demons and monsters again. Later, after binding herself to Yu Shuman, she had not planned to use the system recklessly without restraint either. She was content with modest wealth and peace.

If helping Yu Shuman could also make her own living conditions a little better, Qin Ran did not object. She had even imagined that if one day her senior wanted to start a business, she would support her financially while living a relaxed rich life behind the scenes. That would be pretty good too.

But the sudden truth made Qin Ran choose to return to the ranks of capital.

Money itself was not wrong. The ones at fault were only the people who used it.

She could not allow the plot from the novel to happen to Yu Shuman, so the only thing Qin Ran could do was use capital to fight capital.

Qin Ran finished writing down all the plot she knew. In total, she filled four sheets of paper, and two of them were information related to Ling Miaohan. She circled Ling Miaohan’s hidden identities several times with heavy strokes. Back when she had read the novel, she had already wanted to complain: where exactly did Ling Miaohan get so much time to do all these things?

Ling Miaohan was the same age as Qin Ran this year and had just graduated from her third year of high school. At first, her family had planned to send her overseas to study, but Ling Miaohan had earned high scores and still resolutely chose to plunge headfirst into the entertainment industry. She told her parents that she planned to play around in the entertainment industry for two years, then go back and study later.

She was the female lead of a story where everyone doted on her. Whatever she said, her family agreed to it. Besides, they also felt that it was not as though Ling Miaohan lacked the ability to get into a top university two years later. So her brothers waved their hands grandly and made the arrangements, letting her play boldly and without worry.

When the domineering CEO male lead next door, her childhood sweetheart, heard Ling Miaohan’s words, he was even more excited.

In this type of doting-group novel, the male lead was always disliked by the female lead’s family. Especially since this domineering male lead was five years older than Ling Miaohan, her family guarded against him even more, unwilling to let an old cow eat tender grass.

Now that the opportunity had come, he naturally supported Ling Miaohan happily. His attitude toward her was the same as Qin Ran’s attitude toward Yu Shuman: as long as Ling Miaohan had fun, that was enough.

Ling Miaohan’s goal in entering the entertainment industry was also very clear. She wanted to become a top celebrity and make everyone know her name. Just as she had done in other fields, if she was going to do something, she had to become the most outstanding person in it.

But she had crossed into far too many fields…

Being a big shot in the traditional-style music circle was still understandable. But fashion design, the fashion industry, and traditional Chinese medicine—no matter how one looked at them, none of those fields would take little time.

Fashion design required a foundation in art, as well as a great deal of time to accumulate experience. She was only nineteen… Of course, geniuses existed. But the clothing designs released under her hidden identity came out very frequently. Even during her third year of high school, she had still been continuously producing work.

Then there was traditional Chinese medicine. This field had no shortcuts and no so-called genius path. Looking, listening, asking, and pulse-taking required a huge foundation of experience. How exactly had she made a name [bailiantales.com]for herself in this field at nineteen? Even if she had become the disciple of a famous master, Qin Ran still could not understand it.

“The female lead halo is way too overpowered…” Qin Ran muttered under her breath.

She knew she had to be cautious about these hidden identities of the female lead. Otherwise, it was very likely that when Ling Miaohan fell into crisis, one of her hidden identities would suddenly be revealed, turning public opinion around and allowing the female lead to slap everyone in the face instead.

This was a plot device that often appeared in novels. Otherwise, why arrange so many hidden identities? They were all there for face-slapping.

Qin Ran tore the records about Ling Miaohan and her background, friends, and family into tiny pieces, flushed them down the toilet pipes, and made sure they would never see the light of day.

As for why—keeping them on a computer was not safe either. After all, one of the female lead’s three older brothers was a super hacker. Qin Ran curled her lip. Ling Miaohan’s hacker brother had better not provoke her, or she would immediately turn around and report him, sending him off to become a patriotic state hacker.

After dealing with these things, Qin Ran still had other matters to handle. She had hired a specialized manager to run the company, but that did not mean she could comfortably become a hands-off boss. If she did not restrain the general manager, the other party might very well grow ambitions of their own like a wild horse slipping its reins.

In her previous life, although neither of Qin Ran’s parents could be said to have had any parental affection for her, they had not failed to teach her what needed to be taught.

Qin Ran did not need to possess heaven-shaking business talent, nor did she need to study for a master’s degree in business administration. She only needed to firmly grasp the reins in her hand and make those under her businesses restrain their ambitions and serve her.

These were the things she had learned since childhood: discovering people, using people. If the other party developed unusual thoughts, stolen contentshe would swing her sword and sever every claw they dared to extend, then make them regret ever having disloyal intentions.

The current Qin Ran was the same. She had not forgotten what she had spent so long learning in her previous life. Although she was still somewhat unfamiliar with these new reins, controlling the general manager she had recruited was not a difficult matter. She could remotely command everything through her computer and phone, handling the few tasks that required her attention.

In truth, if Yu Shuman used corporate information apps to take even a brief look, she would notice something strange. For example, the actual controlling shareholder of Ninety-Nine Interactive Entertainment was named Qin Ran.

But even if she saw it, Yu Shuman would probably only think it was someone with the same name and surname as Qin Ran. She would not think of her little junior at all.

After finishing work, Qin Ran clicked into her chat with Sister Li. Sister Li had sent a file. After Qin Ran received it, she could see the daily report Sister Li had written about Yu Shuman.

The report Sister Li wrote was very different from her own glamorous style. It was extremely rigid and proper: what time Yu Shuman woke up, what time she trained, what time she filmed. Although Qin Ran had gone to the recording venue today too, Sister Li still honestly sent the report.

It was clearly cold text, as dry as a class schedule. Yet just by seeing these fragment-like pieces of information, Yu Shuman’s figure could not help appearing in Qin Ran’s mind.

She often wondered how Yu Shuman looked when she was sweating in the dance practice room.

Yu Shuman was an extremely serious person. Since she had joined the talent survival competition, she absolutely would not treat it perfunctorily.

Yu Shuman had never learned dance, but her athletic performance was quite good. During bailiantales.com the physical education exam for the college entrance examination, her long-distance running had even ranked among the top few in the school.

Qin Ran was different. She already looked like a shut-in, and her physical fitness also leaned firmly toward the rookie side. After running eight hundred meters, she would be panting heavily, her little face deathly pale, as though half her life had been taken away.

When Qin Ran was in her first year of high school, Yu Shuman had not graduated yet. Sometimes, their physical education classes would overlap, and Yu Shuman would even accompany Qin Ran on runs.

The first time Yu Shuman saw Qin Ran in that state, she was terrified and almost carried Qin Ran on her back to the infirmary. Qin Ran waved her hand and admitted that she was simply useless, only then avoiding the achievement of entering the infirmary less than two months after the start of school.

Yu Shuman simply could not understand why Qin Ran’s physical fitness was so poor. Qin Ran often worked part-time while studying, so logically speaking, her stamina should have been decent. But immediately afterward, Yu Shuman thought that Qin Ran had never been adopted from childhood to adulthood, so perhaps there were also physical reasons behind it.

And so, Yu Shuman felt even more affection and pity for Qin Ran.

After Yu Shuman promoted Qin Ran’s situation among her other third-year classmates, the seniors all pitied Qin Ran even more. But no one dared to openly pity her, afraid they might wound Qin Ran’s self-esteem.

However, Qin Ran’s two lifetimes added together made her twice the age of those high school students. There was no way she would feel her self-esteem hurt over such a small matter.

She only found it somewhat funny that everyone clearly looked like they pitied her very much, yet still pretended as though nothing was going on.

What was even funnier was that Yu Shuman used the living expenses Qin Ran had sponsored unauthorized copy her with, then turned around at noon to eat with Qin Ran and even put food into her bowl.

Qin Ran swore that at the beginning, she truly had not intended to freeload off Yu Shuman’s lunches. But Yu Shuman sat beside her every day and kept picking up food for her, making Qin Ran increasingly unable to refuse.

Only after Yu Shuman graduated, when there was no longer anyone who would actively sit beside her at noon and chat with her, did Qin Ran feel a faint sense of loss.

Before Yu Shuman appeared in her life, she had never felt lonely.

But after Yu Shuman left, she felt it.