What to Do When Pretending to Be an Alpha Gets Exhausting [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 2

Pei Yanchen’s gaze was so cold it could practically crush out shards of ice.

Everyone around them shivered from the chill.

Ye Xingyuan heard the sound of his own heart breaking.

He questioned the system, “Why does he look different from the memories in my mind?”

System 001 explained, “The original owner hated him, so in his memories, he uglified Pei Yanchen. When you received the original owner’s memories, you remembered the ugly version of Pei Yanchen.”

Ye Xingyuan: “At this moment, I have something to say…”

System 001: “Then you shouldn’t say it.”

The male artist quickly stood up and said ingratiatingly, “Brother Chen, are you here to get your makeup done? I’m already finished on my side. Please sit here.”

Pei Yanchen’s indifferent gaze paused on Ye Xingyuan’s face. His tone carried a faint trace of disdain. “No need.”

The assistant behind him quickly said, “Brother Chen, then let’s go to the dressing room next door. It’s empty.”

From Pei Yanchen’s appearance to his departure, no more than two minutes had passed.

Ye Xingyuan, who clearly felt that he had been disliked, looked annoyed and asked the system, “11, was I disliked?”

System 001: “Be bold. Remove the ‘was I’ and the question mark.”

Ye Xingyuan: “…Didn’t the original owner just imitate him a few times? Wasn’t it just wearing the same outfit? Is there any need to be this angry?”

System 001: “A few times? Just? Do you need me to search the memories and summarize it for you? It’ll probably take forty minutes, because there’s a bit too much data.”

Ye Xingyuan’s face turned red, then white. “Shut up.”

“Ye Xingyuan, don’t tell me you can’t catch up with Su Luoqing, so you changed your mind and want to chase Pei Yanchen instead?”

Ye Xingyuan lifted his head and saw someone walking up to him, looking at him with contempt.

He glanced at the other person’s hairstyle and recognized him as the other male artist who had been getting his makeup done earlier.

This person happened to be someone he knew.

Gu Mingyu, a Beta artist who had once filmed the same flop web drama, Your Majesty, This Minister Refuses, with him. By sparing no effort to blacken him, he had climbed into the first tier.

When Ye Xingyuan was popular, Gu Mingyu crazily imitated him. When Ye Xingyuan became the target of the entire internet’s hatred, Gu Mingyu crazily led public opinion and worked with the director of Your Majesty, This Minister Refuses in a coordinated act. They used behind-the-scenes footage from filming to fabricate a lot of false information, causing Ye Xingyuan’s reputation to plummet and darkening his image even further.

They ruined his passerby popularity completely.

Ye Xingyuan narrowed his eyes.

Instead of getting angry, he smiled.

“Gu Mingyu, how has your sugar daddy’s health been lately? Do you want me to tell my dad to send him some deer antler or something to nourish him?”

“You—” Gu Mingyu quickly glanced at the makeup artist, his eyes flickering. “Ye Xingyuan, you won’t be smug for long. Even if you were born a rich second-generation heir, you still can’t compare to Pei Yanchen’s family background. By offending Su Luoqing, you’ve offended all the suitors behind Su Luoqing. Now even Pei Yanchen sees you as trash. Just wait to be shelved by Xingyao Media.”

Gu Mingyu was afraid Ye Xingyuan would continue exposing his dirt, so after cursing a few more times, he ran off first.

What kind of person was that?

Ye Xingyuan rubbed his brow bone with his fingers. “Little Fatty, where’s my phone?”

Little Fatty quickly handed it to him.

Ye Xingyuan opened Weibo and searched #YeXingyuan#.

A pile of related tags appeared.

#YeXingyuanHarassedSuLuoqing#

#SuLuoqingTellsYeXingyuanToGetLost#

#YeXingyuanImitatesPeiYanchen#

#FansBoycottYeXingyuan#

#PresidentZhouCallsForYeXingyuanToBeBlacklisted#

Below those were a bunch of other Presidents this and Presidents that, all of them Su Luoqing’s suitors.

He was truly like a rat crossing the street, hated by everyone.

Ye Xingyuan scrolled for less than half an hour before throwing the phone aside. Any Weibo post that mentioned him was filled with one-sided curses underneath. His own Weibo had been cursed to a miserable state.

“Little Fatty, how much longer until it’s our turn to shoot?”

Xu Xiaopan said, “The photography team said the people before us were delayed, so it might be two hours later before it’s our turn.”

Three hours later.

Ye Xingyuan had sat there so long he was about to fall asleep.

He picked up the coffee cup, wanting to take a sip to wake himself up, only to find that the coffee was gone too.

He glanced at the time, frowned, and pushed Little Fatty, who had fallen asleep beside him. “Little Fatty, go take a look. Why still isn’t it our turn?”

Xu Xiaopan stood up in a panic and picked up the things that had fallen onto the floor.

“I’m sorry, Brother Xing. I’ll go ask right now.”

A dozen minutes later.

Xu Xiaopan walked back with a dejected expression. When he met Ye Xingyuan’s gaze, he looked like he wanted to say something but stopped. There was also some fear on his face.

Ye Xingyuan had already guessed most of it, but he still asked, “You found out?”

Xu Xiaopan first shook his head, then nodded. He looked like he was about to cry. “Brother Xing, th-they said the magazine suddenly notified them that the cover model was changed.”

“Changed to who?”

“G-Gu Mingyu.”

“Gu Mingyu?”

Xu Xiaopan nodded hard, his eyes red from holding back tears. The flesh on his chubby face trembled. “Brother Xing, they’re bullying us too much. Gu Mingyu came here to prepare even earlier than us. How could this have been a last-minute change? They must have changed it long ago, but deliberately didn’t tell us and made us wait here for half a day.”

Of course Ye Xingyuan could think of what he could think of.

But so what?

When a dragon swims in shallow waters, it is teased by shrimp. When a tiger leaves the mountains, it is bullied by dogs.

This industry was just that realistic.

The original owner’s traffic had now fallen sharply, and his popularity was no longer what it had been. Who did not want to step on him to vent their anger?

“Pack up. We’re leaving.”

Just as they reached the studio entrance, they ran into Gu Mingyu, who had finished shooting and come out.

“Isn’t this Ye Xingyuan? You haven’t left yet?” Gu Mingyu asked despite knowing the answer, walking up to Ye Xingyuan smugly and arrogantly. “I’m really sorry. When we were in the dressing room today, I didn’t know you had come for the cover shoot of Real Men magazine. Otherwise, I should have told you earlier so you wouldn’t have waited so long for nothing.”

Ye Xingyuan crossed his arms and looked sideways at him. “Do you need something? If not, stop blocking the way.”

Gu Mingyu had already finished shooting long ago. He had deliberately waited here for Ye Xingyuan.

He intentionally said things that would easily anger Ye Xingyuan. “The magazine really is too much. Since they’d already changed the cover to me in advance, they should have told you earlier. They even deliberately made you come here and wait. That’s really unreasonable.”

As Gu Mingyu spoke, he moved a few steps closer to Ye Xingyuan.

“The second season of the variety show Only Care About You—the director is also looking for me now to replace you. Tell me, should I agree?”

Gu Mingyu’s words were cheap, and his tone was also full of mockery.

It was obvious he was deliberately provoking Ye Xingyuan.

In this situation, if it had been the original owner, he definitely would not have said another word and would have started beating him first.

But Gu Mingyu did not know that Ye Xingyuan was no longer the fool who could be led around by the nose.

Ye Xingyuan’s gaze passed over Gu Mingyu’s shoulder and saw the paparazzi hiding not far away, as well as the black long-lens camera revealed through the gaps between the leaves.

Had they been lying in wait ahead of time?

Were they planning to send him onto the hot search?

Ye Xingyuan, angered out of humiliation because his cover was stolen, beat up Gu Mingyu?

Ye Xingyuan’s eyes turned a little colder.

This Gu guy really was cheap enough.

He did not let go of any chance to leech off his popularity.

Ye Xingyuan put away his coldness, smiled, and opened his arms to warmly hug Gu Mingyu. “That’s great. Congratulations. I wish your magazine great sales in advance, and your variety show soaring ratings. I still have something to do, so I’ll leave first. Bye-bye.”

After saying that, he left, leaving Gu Mingyu standing there with a confused expression.

The paparazzo ran out and walked up to Gu Mingyu.

His expression was very displeased.

“Didn’t you say you were going to give me headline news? This is the headline you were talking about? Damn it, you wasted half my day making me squat here. Don’t contact me again in the future. Fuck.” Since the paparazzo had not gotten the news he wanted, he cursed and left.

Gu Mingyu hurriedly chased after him.

Liu Xiaojun stood beside Pei Yanchen and witnessed everything, including Ye Xingyuan’s change.

He was shocked beyond words. “B-Brother Chen, was that person just now really Ye Xingyuan? I thought he would start fighting like before the moment there was a disagreement.”

Pei Yanchen’s eyes darkened slightly, his expression unreadable.

Ye Xingyuan walked to the car and had just been about to get in.

Xu Xiaopan chased after him with the phone. “Brother Xing, wait. Sister Lu is calling.”

Ye Xingyuan took the phone. “Hello, Sister Lu.”

Zhao Lu was his manager. Originally, she only managed him alone, but as the original owner grew more and more troublesome and his resources became fewer and fewer, Zhao Lu started managing two other newcomers as well.

“Ye Xingyuan, what do you mean? Do you really want to be shelved? Of all the people you could offend, you went and offended Pei Yanchen? And you even wanted Pei Yanchen’s personal information? Don’t tell me that because you can’t chase Su Luoqing, you’ve gone crazy and want to chase Pei Yanchen instead?”

He did want to chase him.

Unfortunately, there was no chance.

Ye Xingyuan held back and did not say what was in his heart.

“Sister Lu, I didn’t. I was just practicing lines.”

“What kind of lines were you practicing? Who in the industry doesn’t know that you, Ye Xingyuan, haven’t gotten a script in half a year? Last year, you could still get some supporting roles in trashy web dramas. This half year, the moment people heard your name, they ran away in fright. And you still want to act? Why don’t you ascend to heaven?”

Zhao Lu, furious that he had failed to live up to expectations, fired off words at him for more than ten minutes. Then she took a deep breath and calmed down somewhat.

“Say it, Ye Xingyuan. I’ll give you one last chance. Do you actually want to become popular? Do you want to properly act? If you don’t, then from now on, I won’t waste any more effort on you. I’ll just take it as me having misjudged you.”

Zhao Lu had always wanted to make Ye Xingyuan famous.

Her eye had always been sharp. She knew Ye Xingyuan’s face was one that heaven had bestowed a livelihood upon. As long as he worked hard to polish his acting skills, becoming popular was not some wild fantasy.

Unfortunately, the original owner had not understood.

He chased after Su Luoqing, ruined his career, and even brought a devastating disaster upon his family.

As the heartthrob Omega, Su Luoqing’s Alpha suitors stretched all the way overseas.

Among them were countless powerful Alphas. There were plenty of Presidents this and Presidents that, as well as elite talents from every field and industry.

These people were obsessed with Su Luoqing, so naturally, they could not stand Ye Xingyuan, who forced himself onto Su Luoqing and disgusted others. Not only did they block all of Ye Xingyuan’s resources, they even took out their anger on the Ye family.

“Sister Lu, I’ve thought it through clearly. I want to act. I want to become popular.”

Zhao Lu had been waiting for him to say these words all along. Now that she suddenly heard them, she actually found it a little hard to believe. “Really? Don’t fool me.”

Ye Xingyuan laughed softly. “Sister Lu, how would I dare fool you? I really have thought it through. The way I am now, I can only be looked down upon by others. It’s even less possible for Su Luoqing to spare me another glance. I might as well focus on my career, stand high above everyone, and let others envy me and be jealous of me.”

“That’s the right way to think.”

“Thank you, Sister Lu.”

“You really do have to thank me. Finding resources for you isn’t easy, but don’t worry. I’ve been in this industry for so many years. I still have some face, more or less. I’ll find resources for you, but you are not allowed to throw tantrums anymore.”

“I guarantee I won’t.”

After hanging up, Ye Xingyuan rubbed his ears. “Sister Lu really can talk. My ears are about to grow calluses.”

Xu Xiaopan looked at Ye Xingyuan with red-rimmed eyes and choked out, “Brother Xing, was what you just said true? Are you really going to act properly?”

Ye Xingyuan raised a brow. “Of course. I’ve always done what I said I would.”

Xu Xiaopan muttered softly, “Last time you said you’d give me a game console, but you didn’t give it to me.”

Ye Xingyuan: “Is Ye Xingyuan that stingy? Ah no, I mean, am I that stingy? Of course I’ll give it to you. I’ll give it to you when it’s your birthday.”

Damn it.

The original owner’s mess, and now I have to take the blame.

“Really? Thank you, Brother Xing.”

Xu Xiaopan was not very old, around the same age as Ye Xingyuan, even two months younger.

Because the original owner had once, in a rare good mood, advanced him half a year’s salary so he could pay off his father’s surgery fees, Xu Xiaopan had always been utterly devoted to Ye Xingyuan.

He could be counted as one of the few people in the whole story who sincerely hoped the original owner would do well.

Ye Xingyuan smiled and said nothing, then opened the car door, preparing to get in.

Behind him, Xu Xiaopan suddenly asked, “Brother Xing, then do you really want to chase Pei Yanchen?”

Ye Xingyuan stepped on empty air and almost fell onto the step by the car door.

He steadied himself by holding the car door, turned around, and smacked Xu Xiaopan’s forehead. “What nonsense are you saying? With thousands upon thousands of Omegas out there, why would I chase an Alpha even stronger than me? Have I gone crazy?”

Xu Xiaopan belatedly realized, “Right. Brother Xing is an Alpha, so you should like Omega pheromones more.”

“Mm. Get in.” Ye Xingyuan jumped into the car first.

He sat by the window, pulled open the curtain, and pushed open the window, intending to feel the cold wind.

The moment the window was pushed open, he caught sight of the black Maybach parked opposite them. Pei Yanchen was sitting in the back seat, his entire body radiating a strong abstinent aura.

Their gazes accidentally met through the window. Ye Xingyuan felt guilty and, with a bang, pulled the window shut, then tugged the dark blue curtain over to block the space between them.

His cheeks felt hot.

Fuck.

Why was Pei Yanchen’s car parked right beside his?

Then the things he had said just now—

He couldn’t have heard all of it, right?

“Brother Xing, where are we going now?” Little Fatty asked.

Ye Xingyuan rested his head against the window and said in a muffled voice, “Home.”

The car slowly drove away, revealing the imported car with the license plate number 8888.

Inside that car, Liu Xiaojun was dumbfounded. He pushed his chin up with his hand to close his mouth and could not help asking, “B-Brother Chenchen, Ye Xingyuan isn’t trying to chase you, is he?”