Chapter 9

The marriage certificates in this world looked no different from those in Wei Xia’s original world.

They were small red booklets with the words Marriage Certificate stamped in gold across the cover.

Inside were both of their personal details.

Xiao Qi took both certificates and explained, “The variety show will begin filming soon. We need to submit these.”

Wei Xia didn’t question it.

She had never had any contact with the entertainment industry in her original world, so she had no idea what a variety show might require.

Still, thinking of Xiao Qi’s promise, she felt slightly uneasy and said, “It’s all right if terminating my contract doesn’t go smoothly. You don’t need to make things too difficult for yourself.”

“The income from this variety show alone will be enough to repay all my debts. I’m already extremely grateful for that.”

“If necessary, I can continue dragging things out with Hongfeng afterward.”

Xiao Qi merely smiled.

“If the contract termination fails, the income from this show won’t be enough to clear your debts.”

Wei Xia paused.

That was true.

The contract that gave her only ten percent of her earnings still had her by the throat. Even if she earned eight million yuan, she would receive only eight hundred thousand.

“But don’t worry,” Xiao Qi continued, turning to look at her with raised brows. “Since I dared to make that promise, I naturally have some confidence.”

Wei Xia was moved all over again.

The two of them slipped out through the back entrance.

Shi Ye was waiting outside in an inconspicuous minivan.

Once they were inside, Xiao Qi began explaining the variety show.

“We’re Already Married will use a combination of prerecorded footage and livestreaming.”

“There will be four married couples living together in the countryside for one month. The overall style is relaxed and pastoral, but the production team hasn’t told us whether there will be any additional activities.”

Technology in this world was slightly more advanced than in Wei Xia’s original one, making it entirely possible to record footage during the day and broadcast it that same night.

The daytime livestreams were mostly aimed at viewers who were at home, while the edited evening episodes were generally for people who had missed the live broadcast.

Since the prerecorded episodes selected only the most interesting moments, they usually produced a stronger entertainment effect.

This wasn’t the first variety show to use such a format, and the results had always been excellent.

However, being livestreamed throughout the day made it extremely difficult for celebrities to conceal their true personalities.

Programs using this format also tended to provoke conflict deliberately.

Several celebrities had already ruined their careers on livestreams. It was far from an easy job.

As a result, most artists had begun refusing such offers.

That created a vicious cycle, and programs using this format had gradually become less common.

Wei Xia nodded while calculating inwardly.

One month meant thirty episodes.

That would be twenty-four million yuan!

After paying taxes and clearing her debts, she could still achieve financial freedom.

“The program releases one episode every three days,” Xiao Qi added.

Wei Xia clicked her tongue.

Her imagined income instantly plummeted from twenty-four million to eight million.

Xiao Qi cleared her throat.

“Many things become exaggerated in front of livestream cameras.”

“To avoid affecting the program, we need to become familiar with each other as quickly as possible.”

“Filming could also begin unexpectedly at any point during this period.”

“So no matter how you look at it, I need you to move into my villa as soon as possible.”

Wei Xia’s nodding stopped.

She turned toward Xiao Qi, confusion written all over her face.

“?”

Xiao Qi frowned.

“Is there a problem?”

Wei Xia hurriedly shook her head.

Xiao Qi smiled.

“Then I hope to see you by tomorrow at the latest.”

Wei Xia: “…”

Tomorrow…

---

By the time Wei Xia returned to the apartment, Jiang Yiran was already there.

Wei Xia repeated everything Xiao Qi had told her.

Jiang Yiran frowned worriedly.

“Livestreaming isn’t easy work. Do you understand? Even top celebrities have destroyed their careers during livestreams.”

It had happened more than once.

If even the biggest stars could fall, who would dare accept this kind of job?

Livestream variety shows had once been extremely popular.

Yet over the past two years, there had been almost none.

Programs using livestreaming also loved surprise attacks. They gave the artists absolutely no time to prepare.

The viewers loved it, though.

After hearing this, Wei Xia no longer dared take the matter lightly.

Jiang Yiran remained deeply worried.

“Based on previous livestream shows, the higher the popularity, the fiercer the fighting becomes.”

“You don’t have any fans. I’m afraid they’ll sacrifice you first.”

It would have been one thing if the marriage were real.

But this was a fake marriage.

How could they possibly conceal it under constant livestreaming?

Once they were exposed…

Jiang Yiran shuddered.

She didn’t even dare imagine the consequences.

Wei Xia fell silent for a while before saying uncertainly, “Someone of Xiao Qi’s status dares to do this, so she must have a way to handle it.”

“She’s confident in her acting,” Jiang Yiran replied. “What about you?”

Wei Xia: “…”

The room instantly fell silent.

After a long moment, Jiang Yiran finally became more accepting.

“…Your reputation is already terrible anyway. If you’re exposed, just treat it as borrowing some attention.”

Wei Xia laughed in anger.

“So we’re abandoning all sense of shame now?”

Jiang Yiran was quiet for a moment.

“You used to play the clown on variety shows. That was more humiliating than this.”

Seeing Wei Xia’s face turn green, she hurriedly changed the subject.

“Let’s talk about the contract.”

At the mention of the contract, Wei Xia immediately became nervous.

Jiang Yiran didn’t look relieved.

Wei Xia’s heart tightened.

Was there really a trap?

“My friend said the contract is favorable to you,” Jiang Yiran said.

Then she paused, appearing confused herself before continuing, “Actually, she said it’s completely favorable to you.”

Wei Xia: “…”

That made her even more worried.

It felt as though there had to be a trap somewhere, yet she couldn’t find it.

“Don’t worry too much,” Jiang Yiran comforted her. “Considering how useless you are right now, you should be happy if there’s anything about you worth exploiting.”

Wei Xia was struck speechless.

She couldn’t decide whether Jiang Yiran had comforted her or made everything worse.

“…Thank you for the encouragement. Please don’t do that again.”

After exchanging a few insults, the two began preparing for Wei Xia’s move.

Recently, her rumored relationship with Xiao Qi [unauthorized copy]had caused such an enormous uproar that paparazzi and anti-fans had constantly camped outside.

The residents of the apartment complex were also growing increasingly resentful.

This was a good opportunity to terminate the lease.

Before the variety show finished filming, Wei Xia could secretly find another apartment that the fans didn’t know about.

Otherwise, with people permanently stationed outside her door, she would never be able to live normally.

The address Xiao Qi had given her wasn’t even in the same city.

Wei Xia and Jiang Yiran planned to leave for the villa the following day.

In the meantime, Jiang Yiran arranged for someone to move everything from Wei Xia’s apartment into her own home for temporary storage.

She prepared only two changes of clothing for Wei Xia to take along.

By the time everything was finished, it was already noon the next day.

Because Wei Xia attracted so much hatred and her pairing with Xiao Qi was currently so popular, they didn’t dare use public transportation.

Jiang Yiran and Wei Xia drove an old minivan as quickly as possible and didn’t reach the villa until nine that night.

Shi Ye personally came out to meet them.

The moment she saw the battered minivan Hongfeng had assigned to Jiang Yiran, disgust crossed her face.

She muttered that Hongfeng’s president had profited so much from Wei Xia, yet even the minivan he arranged was old and falling apart.

It was embarrassingly shabby.

Shi Ye climbed into the passenger seat to guide them.

Wei Xia couldn’t help looking outside.

Ancient trees with powerful, twisting trunks lined both sides of the road.

Moonlight filtered through the overlapping branches, scattering mottled patches of light across the ground.

After the car traveled for roughly a kilometer, the view suddenly opened.

The first thing they saw was an artificial lake lying quietly before the villa, faintly reflecting the magnificent golden silhouette of the building in the distance.

Behind the villa stood a green mountain hidden within the night.

The darkness concealed most of it, making it impossible to see its full shape.

Wei Xia and Jiang Yiran both stared in amazement at this hidden landscape tucked away within the bustling city.

Shi Ye was used to the sight and casually asked, “Did your company president say anything?”

“No. He only told me to bring Wei Xia here first,” Jiang Yiran replied.

She didn’t know what Xiao Qi had said [stolen content]to Ke Ren, but he truly hadn’t made things difficult for Wei Xia.

Judging by the current situation, terminating the contract probably wouldn’t be difficult either.

Shi Ye nodded.

Then, as though remembering something, she turned a sharp gaze toward Wei Xia.

“Be mindful of boundaries while you’re living together.”

Wei Xia quickly nodded.

“Don’t worry. I’m not interested in women.”

The car instantly fell silent.

Shi Ye frowned at her and asked incredulously, “Are you completely straight?”

Wei Xia: “…”

Did people now need to add completely before straight?

When Wei Xia didn’t deny it, Shi Ye took that as confirmation.

For a moment, she felt both relieved and worried.

Relieved that her precious artist wouldn’t be taken advantage of.

Worried because, if Wei Xia were completely straight, how were the two of them supposed to behave in front of the cameras?

“This isn’t really about orientation,” Wei Xia explained.

“The main issue is that Miss Xiao and I have only met twice.”

“Feelings take time to develop. Right now, Miss Xiao and I are still practically strangers.”

“I understand what boundaries I should maintain.”

Wei Xia had never been in a relationship before.

As an extreme-sports enthusiast, her usual activities had already consumed nearly all of her energy.

She had never paid much attention to romance.

Moreover, extreme sports demanded careful career planning and an intensely disciplined lifestyle.

They required peak physical condition and fast reflexes.

A chaotic personal life could affect her performance and increase the risk of injury.

So Wei Xia had always held herself to professional standards, even though she wasn’t technically a professional athlete.

The minivan soon circled the artificial lake and arrived before the villa.

The walls were ivory white, with carved pillars [bailiantales.com]and layers of glazed tiles forming an intricate roofline.

Under the night sky, warm golden lights traced the elegant outline of the building like a flowing border of gold.

Together with the garden lamps, the entire scene looked as though it had stepped out of a fairy tale.

Wei Xia had brought only a few changes of clothing, her necessary identification documents, and a laptop.

Standing before the carved solid-wood doors with so little luggage, she looked strangely lonely and pitiful.

Shi Ye walked up to the entrance.

Before she could knock, the heavy wooden door slowly opened from within.

An elderly woman with a full head of silver hair appeared.

She wore a discreet traditional Chinese jacket and stood there with a kindly expression.

Wei Xia paused.

The old woman’s gaze settled on her, her eyes filling with warmth.

“You must be Miss Wei?”

Wei Xia nodded politely.

“Hello. I’m Wei Xia.”

Xiao Qi had probably informed her in advance, because the elderly woman asked no difficult questions.

Instead, she said warmly, “My surname is Lin. You may call me Aunt Lin from now on.”

“Please come inside. From now on, this will be your home as well.”

Her voice carried the calm weight of age, soothing some of Wei Xia’s unease.

“Thank you.”

Even so, Wei Xia couldn’t help thinking that treating this place as her own home would be taking herself far too seriously.

Aunt Lin saw her expression and couldn’t help smiling.

Then she turned and guided Wei Xia inside.

Shi Ye, standing nearby, was completely shocked.

She had worked beside Xiao Qi for so many years, yet Housekeeper Lin had rarely given her a pleasant look.

What had Wei Xia done to deserve such treatment?

Shi Ye was beginning to realize that Xiao Qi wasn’t the only person who seemed to like Wei Xia.

There was Owner Ruan from One Cup, and now Aunt Lin as well.

Did Wei Xia truly possess some hidden charm that Shi Ye had failed to notice?

Shi Ye looked at her suspiciously.

No matter how hard she tried, she still couldn’t see it.