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

Pei Yanchen’s gaze was so cold it felt like it could grind out shards of ice.

Everyone around him shivered involuntarily.

Ye Xingyuan, however, heard the sound of his own heart shattering.

He questioned the system:

“Why does he look different from the memory in my mind?”

System 001 explained:

“The original host hated him, so he deliberately made Pei Yanchen look worse in his memories. When you inherited those memories, you also inherited that distorted image.”

Ye Xingyuan: “At this moment I have something to—”

System 001: “Not allowed to say.”

The male actor immediately stood up and flattered him:

“Brother Chen, are you here for makeup? I’m done here, you can sit here.”

Pei Yanchen’s indifferent gaze landed on Ye Xingyuan’s face, his tone faintly disdainful:

“No need.”

His assistant behind him quickly said:

“Brother Chen, let’s go to the next makeup room. The one next door is empty.”

Pei Yanchen came and left in less than two minutes.

Clearly feeling he had been disliked, Ye Xingyuan’s expression darkened. He asked the system:

“001, was I just disliked?”

System 001:

“Be bolder. Remove the ‘was I’ and the question mark.”

Ye Xingyuan: “……”

“Isn’t it just that the original body copied him a few times? Just a couple of outfit clashes—was that really so serious?”

System 001:

“A few times? Just that? Do you want me to search the memory and summarize it for you? It’ll take about forty minutes, since the data is quite large.”

Ye Xingyuan’s face turned red and white in turn.

“Shut up.”

“You, Ye Xingyuan, don’t tell me you couldn’t get Su Luoqing and now you’ve changed targets to Pei Yanchen?”

Ye Xingyuan looked up.

A man stood in front of him, looking at him with obvious disdain.

He glanced at the man’s hairstyle and recognized him as another actor from earlier.

This person was someone he knew.

Gu Mingyu.

They had once filmed the same flop web drama “Your Majesty, I Refuse”. Gu Mingyu, a Beta actor who climbed to top-tier popularity by relentlessly dragging him down.

When Ye Xingyuan was popular, he copied him.

When he fell, Gu Mingyu pushed the hate wave even harder, working with the director to release behind-the-scenes clips that fabricated negative rumors, completely destroying his reputation.

Ye Xingyuan narrowed his eyes.

Then suddenly smiled.

“Gu Mingyu, how is your godfather’s health lately? Should I ask my dad to send him some deer antler to nourish him?”

“You—”

Gu Mingyu quickly glanced at the makeup artist, his expression flickering.

“Ye Xingyuan, don’t get cocky. Even if you’re from a rich family, you still can’t compare to Pei Yanchen. Offending Su Luoqing means offending all his powerful admirers. Now even Pei Yanchen looks at you like trash. Just wait until Starshine Media freezes you out.”

Afraid Ye Xingyuan would expose more of his secrets, Gu Mingyu cursed under his breath and left quickly.

What kind of person is this?

Ye Xingyuan rubbed his brow.

“Xiaopang, where’s my phone?”

Xiaopang quickly handed it over.

Ye Xingyuan opened Weibo and searched #YeXingyuan.

A flood of trending topics appeared.

#YeXingyuan harassing Su Luoqing
#Su Luoqing tells Ye Xingyuan to get lost
#YeXingyuan copying Pei Yanchen
#Netizens boycott YeXingyuan
#President Zhou calls to ban YeXingyuan

Below were even more posts from various “presidents” and “bosses”—all admirers of Su Luoqing.

He was basically a public enemy of the internet.

After less than half an hour, Ye Xingyuan threw the phone away.

Every post mentioning him was filled with overwhelming insults, and even his own Weibo was a disaster zone.

“Xiaopang, how much longer until our shoot?”

Xiao Xiapin replied:

“The photography team said the people before us are delayed. We might have to wait two more hours.”

Three hours later.

Ye Xingyuan was almost falling asleep sitting there.

He picked up his coffee cup to refresh himself—but it was already empty.

He glanced at the time, frowned, and nudged the sleeping Xiaopang.

“Go check. Why haven’t we been called yet?”

Xiao Xiapin quickly stood up, clumsily picking up items he dropped.

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

Ten minutes later, he came back looking dejected, hesitating, clearly afraid.

Ye Xingyuan already guessed what happened, but still asked:

“So?”

Xiao Xiapin shook his head, then nodded, almost crying:

“They said… the magazine temporarily changed the cover model.”

“Changed to who?”

“Gu… Gu Mingyu.”

“Gu Mingyu?”

Xiao Xiapin nodded hard, eyes red:

“Brother Xing, they’re bullying us too much. He arrived earlier than us anyway—there’s no way this was a last-minute change. They must have decided long ago and just didn’t tell us, making us wait here for nothing.”

Ye Xingyuan thought the same.

But so what?

When a dragon falls into shallow water, even shrimp dare to toy with it.

That’s how this industry works.

Now that the original body had fallen in popularity, everyone wanted to step on him.

“Pack up. We’re leaving.”

Just as they reached the studio exit, they ran into Gu Mingyu coming out.

“Oh? Isn’t this Ye Xingyuan? Still here?”

Gu Mingyu walked up deliberately, feigning surprise.

“Sorry about earlier. I didn’t know you were here for the True Man magazine shoot, otherwise I would’ve told you sooner so you wouldn’t have waited so long.”

Ye Xingyuan crossed his arms and glanced at him sideways.

“Got something to say? If not, move.”

Gu Mingyu clearly had been waiting for him on purpose.

He continued provocatively:

“The magazine should’ve informed you earlier since they already replaced you with me. Making you wait here really wasn’t appropriate.”

He leaned closer.

“The second season of Only Care About You—the director has also contacted me to replace your spot. Should I accept it?”

His tone was sarcastic, deliberately provoking.

If it were the original Ye Xingyuan, he would have already punched him without hesitation.

But Gu Mingyu didn’t know—this Ye Xingyuan was no longer so easily provoked.

Ye Xingyuan’s gaze passed over his shoulder.

He noticed hidden paparazzi nearby, and a black camera lens peeking through the leaves.

Setting him up for a headline?

“Angry Ye Xingyuan assaults Gu Mingyu after losing cover shoot”?

His eyes turned colder.

This guy really was shameless—using every chance to ride his popularity.

Instead of reacting angrily, Ye Xingyuan suddenly smiled and opened his arms, giving Gu Mingyu a warm hug.

“That’s great then. Congratulations. Wishing your magazine a huge success and your show great ratings. I’ve got something to do, so I’ll leave first. Bye.”

He turned and left.

Gu Mingyu stood there completely stunned.

The paparazzi rushed out, clearly dissatisfied.

“You said you were giving me a headline? THIS is your headline? Damn it, I wasted half a day here. Don’t contact me again!”

The paparazzi stormed off.

Gu Mingyu hurried after him.

Liu Xiaojun, standing beside Pei Yanchen, witnessed everything—including Ye Xingyuan’s change.

He was shocked beyond belief.

“B-Brother Chen… was that really Ye Xingyuan? I thought he would definitely start a fight like before.”

Pei Yanchen’s eyes darkened slightly, unreadable.

Ye Xingyuan reached the car and was about to get in when Xiaopang caught up holding his phone.

“Brother Xing, wait! Sister Lu is calling!”

“Hello, Sister Lu.”

Zhao Lu was his agent.

“Ye Xingyuan, what do you mean? Do you really want to be blacklisted? Who did you offend this time—Pei Yanchen? And now you’re asking for his personal information? Don’t tell me you failed to chase Su Luoqing and now want to go after Pei Yanchen instead?!”

…He did want to.

Too bad he didn’t get the chance.

He swallowed the truth.

“I didn’t. I was just rehearsing lines.”

“What lines? Everyone knows you haven’t gotten a script in half a year! You’re still thinking about acting? Why don’t you just fly to the sky?”

After venting for more than ten minutes, Zhao Lu finally calmed down.

“Tell me honestly—do you still want to become popular or not?”

Ye Xingyuan paused.

Then replied seriously:

“I do. I want to act. I want to become famous.”

Zhao Lu froze.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“I won’t waste my potential anymore.”

After hanging up, Xiaopang asked cautiously:

“Brother Xing… do you really want to act seriously now?”

“Yes.”

Then Xiaopang whispered:

“Then… about what you said earlier—about chasing Pei Yanchen…”

Ye Xingyuan almost stumbled getting into the car.

He smacked Xiaopang’s head.

“Are you crazy? Why would I chase a stronger Alpha than myself? I’m not insane.”

Inside the car, he pulled the curtain open slightly.

Across the street, a black Maybach was parked.

Inside, Pei Yanchen sat in the back seat, aura cold and restrained.

Their eyes accidentally met through the window.

Ye Xingyuan immediately panicked and pulled the curtain shut.

His face burned.

Damn it.

Why was his car parked right next to his?

And those things he just said—

Did he hear everything?

“Brother Xing, where are we going now?”

“Home.”

The car slowly drove off.

Inside the opposite vehicle, Liu Xiaojun stared in shock.

“B-Brother Chen… does Ye Xingyuan want to pursue you?”