Is This How the Entertainment Industry Works? (GL) - Chapter 2

After delivering the food to a young assistant, Yan Zhen went to the restaurant to collect her daily wages. She returned home to feed the chickens and, immediately after finishing, bolted into the inner room.

Seeing this, Yan Zhen’s mother asked, “Where have you been?”

Yan Zhen thought for a moment and replied, “I went to the town library to read.”

“What kind of books?” her mother pressed.

Yan Zhen blurted out, “…The Tui Bei Tu (The Back-Pushing Diagrams)?”

The air went silent for half a second before Yan Zhen’s mother charged at her with a broom. “What diagrams? Why aren’t you looking at your textbooks? Do you realize the College Entrance Exam is coming up?!”

Yan Zhen scurried around the room to avoid the blows. “Ow, ow, ow! I said it wrong! It was a math book! I was reading math!”

Her mother stopped, leaning on the broom as she looked at Yan Zhen, whose eyes were welling up. Her heart softened with guilt.

“Our village is struggling, but no matter how poor we are, we can’t skimp on education, understand?”

Yan Zhen nodded vigorously.

Her mother sighed. “Don’t worry about anything else. Just focus on getting into a university. Your father and I will find a way to handle the rest.”

Yan Zhen’s heart felt heavy with emotion. “Mom…” she called out softly.

The original owner of this body had come from a truly destitute family. It was because they couldn’t afford medical treatment that the original Yan Zhen had died on that small cot. Before her soul dissipated, she had left a message for Yan Zhen: I only hope my parents stay healthy and no longer have to live such a bitter life.

Determined to fulfill that wish, Yan Zhen had performed a divination for herself and chose the food delivery job to earn money. She lived in a small village with poor educational facilities, and her mother was desperate for her to make it in the big city. But getting to the city was easier said than done.

Yan Zhen fiddled with a yellow talisman she had casually drawn, feeling a bit lost.

The night wind picked up.

Watching the swaying shadows of the trees, she sprinted up to the hilltop, clasping her hands behind her back to observe the stars. In the Great Feng Empire, astrology was highly revered. In her past life, Yan Zhen was the Master of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets; she only needed to look up at the stars to glimpse the secrets of the universe.

Unfortunately, in this era, the stars were dim. The clear “Great Fortune of the Heavenly Dao” that had been so visible thousands of years ago was long gone.

Dispirited, Yan Zhen began to walk back down. Halfway down the mountain, she heard the standard Mandarin of city dwellers coming from a small grove.

“Is it okay to leave her here? She’s a big star, after all. What if she’s recognized?”

“It’s better if she’s recognized! We want her reputation ruined!”

“Hurry up, stop talking. Drop her and let’s go.”

As the voices faded, Yan Zhen jumped down from a dirt mound and saw several figures retreating into the distance. She looked down and saw a person collapsed in the dirt.

The person’s clothes were torn and matted with soil and dry grass; she looked incredibly disheveled. Yan Zhen stepped forward and shook her. “Are you awake?”

There was no response. Yan Zhen pinched the person’s Renzhong point (the groove above the upper lip) and checked her breath. She realized the woman had been drugged and wouldn’t wake up anytime soon.

Yan Zhen straightened her out. In the process, the woman’s hair fell away, revealing her face.

Yan Zhen froze.

Due to the drug, the woman’s face and neck were flushed a deep crimson, as vibrant as peach blossoms. Though her eyes were closed, the upward tilt of her eyes suggested a peerless, breathtaking beauty.

But what shocked Yan Zhen most was that this woman looked exactly like the Princess of Great Feng.

Could the Eldest Princess have transmigrated here as well?

Yan Zhen’s heart raced. She had thought that after a thousand years, she had lost all connection to her past. Seeing this face that resembled the Princess brought back memories of a golden age—and the smoke and bones of the war that ended it.

She suddenly felt the urge to kneel.

The unconscious woman remained unresponsive. Her wretched state pained Yan Zhen. Shaking the thoughts from her head, Yan Zhen quickly hoisted the “Princess” onto her back and carried her to the small clinic on the west side of the village.

The clinic’s night light was on. The doctor sitting on the stool took the woman’s pulse and said, “This person… is unconscious!”

Yan Zhen: “…I can see that.”

“It was caused by drugs!” the doctor added.

“I know that too!” Yan Zhen urged. “Hurry, hurry, give her some medicine.”

The doctor shook his head in confusion. “I don’t know what to give her. With drugging cases, if you don’t know the source, you can’t just prescribe things blindly.”

Yan Zhen thought for a moment and said, “Get me half an ounce of Yuanzhi (Polygala) and peppermint.”

It clearly wasn’t the first time the doctor had been bossed around by Yan Zhen. He immediately went to the cabinet and pulled out the two herbs. “If this goes wrong, don’t blame me,” he warned.

“Don’t worry,” Yan Zhen said.

She took the “Princess” to a small local inn, brewed the herbs into a tea, and poured it down her throat. About half an hour later, the person on the bed stirred.

Yan Zhen sat cross-legged on the floor, looking up at the woman. “You’re awake?”

Zhao Baoshang opened her eyes, dazed for a moment, then asked hesitantly, “Sister Xu?”

“No,” Yan Zhen said. “My last name is Yan.”

Zhao Baoshang slowly sat up. Seeing Yan Zhen, she asked, “Why are you sitting on the floor?”

“It’s comfortable,” Yan Zhen explained.

Zhao Baoshang looked disgusted. “Dirty.”

She looked at the grimy floor and the yellowed, washed-out bedsheets, feeling almost nauseous. “Where is this?”

“The Zhongzhong Inn,” Yan Zhen said, grabbing Zhao Baoshang’s wrist to check her pulse. “Qi and blood are flowing smoothly. Looks like there are no more problems.”

Zhao Baoshang rubbed her forehead. Yan Zhen explained, “You were knocked out by bad people. I carried you here.”

“Thank you.”

Zhao Baoshang said the words, but inwardly, she was repulsed. Even if you were going to carry me somewhere, you could have picked a better place. This place was messy and cheap; it made her skin crawl. Moreover, in her eyes, Yan Zhen was just a malnourished young girl. When she smiled with her eyes squinted, she didn’t exactly look like a “good” person.

Zhao Baoshang stood up, wanting to use the restroom. She walked toward a dilapidated wooden door, her face darkening further.

Yan Zhen pushed the door open, explaining from the side, “Though the Zhongzhong Inn is old, most things still work.”

As if on cue, the faucet in the bathroom malfunctioned, shooting out a brownish-red stream of water with a loud beep-hiss.

The water splashed Yan Zhen’s arm. She let out a startled, pig-like squeal.

…How disgusting.

Zhao Baoshang returned to the bedside with a cold expression. Once the water flow calmed down, Yan Zhen washed her hands and brewed a cup of refreshing tea, handing it to Zhao Baoshang.

Looking at the tea-stained yellow cup, Zhao Baoshang refused to drink it.

“Take a sip,” Yan Zhen coaxed. “Otherwise, the drug residue might remain.”

Zhao Baoshang turned her head away.

“Just one small sip. I promise it’s not poisonous.”

Zhao Baoshang frowned and refused. “I’m not drinking it.”

This stubbornness was also exactly like the Eldest Princess. Yan Zhen remembered how, in the past, the Princess feared bitterness. Coaxing alone never worked, even if you promised candied fruit afterward.

In the entire palace, only Yan Zhen had a solution.

“Do you have any coins?” Yan Zhen asked.

“How many?”

“Six.”

“What for?” Zhao Baoshang asked.

“You can make six wishes, and I’ll tell you how to make them come true,” Yan Zhen said with a smile.

Curious, Zhao Baoshang reached into her pocket. By chance, she actually had six coins. She tossed them to Yan Zhen.

“Did you make your wishes?” Yan Zhen asked.

Zhao Baoshang nodded, then added, “None of your business.”

Knowing Zhao Baoshang had finished her thoughts, Yan Zhen tossed the six coins into the air. The coins landed in a specific pattern: Heads, Tails, Heads, Heads, Heads, Tails.

Yan Zhen studied them for a moment, then smiled at Zhao Baoshang. “Congratulations. You are destined for a life of wealth. You just need to survive a ‘Death Calamity.’ After that, most of your heart’s desires will come true. There is no need to worry.”

Doubt flashed in Zhao Baoshang’s phoenix-like eyes, followed by a sneer. “That’s all you have to say? Everyone knows my family is rich. Of course my wishes come true. Do I really need you to tell me that?”