The chief director of Battle on the Stone Path did not disappoint Shi Yusheng. He edited the preview cleverly, turning the undercurrents between Jiang Sicheng, Xuan Wen, and Shi Yusheng into a heart-pounding spectacle.
Before the episode aired, the online spectators were saying:
“Am I seeing this right? All three are on the same show?!”
“Guan Qi taking drugs really… I bet fifty cents tonight’s episode will be a full-blown palace intrigue!”
“Uh, who gave Shi the Homewrecker the courage to appear on a show with Xuan Wen? Isn’t she afraid of being torn apart?”
“Honestly, I think that story was deliberately pushing a narrative. My cousin was in the next class at their university. Everyone said Jiang Sicheng pursued Shi Yusheng back then. How did it turn into Shi Yusheng pursuing Jiang Sicheng just a few years later? These romantic entanglements could rival an idol drama. [doge][doge][doge]”
“…Friend above, please tell us your cousin’s story.”
…
In short, there were opinions of every kind, though most netizens were merely watching to see what happened. Only a group of couple fans seemed to have gone mad, flooding the internet with insults against Shi Yusheng.
Whenever anyone opened the trending searches, the most-liked comments beneath every news item were aggressive remarks from fans.
Then, after the episode aired, the spectators said:
“666.”1
“66666.”
“66666666.”
“My little fairy is so fucking awesome. She went straight for the throat with those two lines, without a moment’s hesitation. That scene was so awkward and so satisfying!”
“Hahahaha, fuck, I was mixing chili-oil noodles while watching Stone Path, and the moment I heard ‘other woman,’ I dumped in the entire packet of chili. Holy shit, can variety shows really go this far now?!”
“I’ve gone from a casual viewer to a fan. Completely. I always thought Shi Yusheng was the kind of fairy untouched by earthly concerns. Now I know this girl is practically Lucifer!”
“Hahahahaha, ‘If I call you a cheating scumbag, do you dare answer?’ Hahahahaha! Do people take games this seriously now? Shi Yusheng is unbelievably awesome!”
…
After the episode aired, apart from a few diehard fans, most reasonable fans and casual viewers began doubting the claims made by the account that posted the slap video.
After all, once the three appeared on the show together, Shi Yusheng’s frank questions came one after another without hesitation. Nothing about her looked like a girl with an unrequited crush trying to force her way between a couple.
The other two, by contrast, looked distinctly uncomfortable. Xuan Wen was still smiling, but compared with her expression at the beginning, her smile had clearly become strained.
Put that together with Shi Yusheng’s two questions, and the truth began to emerge.
Could Xuan Wen really have interfered in her relationship with Jiang Sicheng, prompting Shi Yusheng to slap her?
…That did seem to make more sense than the unrequited-love rumor.
If it really were a one-sided crush, why would she slap his actual girlfriend with such righteous confidence, while Jiang Sicheng stood beside them with his head lowered like a criminal suspect, even looking ashamed and conflicted as he tried to pull them apart?
Then all those damaging stories about Shi Yusheng lately…
Tsk, the entertainment industry really was murky. Xuan Wen looked so carefree, but apparently she was playing the tomboy bitch. You really could not judge a book by its cover, or know someone’s heart from their face, or measure the sea with a bucket2.
…
Spectators were different from fans. Once they began mocking someone en masse, they could set any narrative in motion.
Within a single night, Xuan Wen’s looks, hairstyle, and various “famous sayings” from variety shows had all become jokes and memes.
And, to be fair, some were quite pointed.
So, as the internet buzzed and public opinion swung overwhelmingly in the opposite direction, Xuan Wen had already smashed a phone in fury.
“System, didn’t you say nothing would go wrong? Why did the director suddenly switch sides? Explain!”
A translucent, circular machine appeared before her, like a projection. Its voice was rigid and utterly cold.
“My assurance depended on you securing Huo Xingchao first. You failed to do that and let Shi Yusheng get there ahead of you instead. That is your own problem.”
Secure Huo Xingchao?
“Do you think winning over Huo Xingchao is as simple as eating a meal?”
Xuan Wen was furious. “Do you know what level he’s at? I was a penniless university student with nothing. Maintaining even this much of a connection has been hard enough! And what did you give me? Some lousy variety shows. If not for you, how would I have ended up like this?”
“Do not forget that those lousy variety shows I gave you are precisely how you reached this point.”
The machine turned before her, glowing red. Its voice was flat and emotionless.
“Without me, you would still be an ordinary nobody, watching your old enemy without any way to fight back.”
…
At university, Xuan Wen had indeed been entirely unremarkable.
She had no family influence, no connections, and no beauty. Even the tuition for her years of arts training and film school had placed a heavy burden on her family.
Honestly, her face really was the angular sort described as “high-fashion.” Without makeup, most people would not consider her particularly attractive.
But with the right makeup, she could leave a striking impression on the big screen.
Unfortunately, back then, Xuan Wen had no access to film roles. She could only play supporting characters in television dramas and help out around the set for extra money.
At that time, Shi Yusheng was the most famous student at their school.
Beautiful and popular, she had played the female lead in every project after her first film. She was the sort of girl born with luck on her side in show business.
Once, a palace drama she was starring in came to their school to cast roles. Xuan Wen finally secured an audition and prepared extensively. During the audition, she even earned praise from the director.
She was certain the role would be hers. But when the news came out, it had gone to Lin Suyu from the next class.
Only later did she learn that Lin Suyu and Shi Yusheng were close friends. The director had been torn between Lin Suyu and her, and Shi Yusheng had directly recommended Lin Suyu.
Xuan Wen felt like killing someone.
Her mother had been gravely ill, and because of that audition, she had failed to return home in time to see her one last time. To keep her schedule free for the drama, she had even turned down the lead in the school’s graduation performance.
She had prepared so much and given up so many opportunities, only for one simple sentence from someone else to destroy all her hopes.
From that day on, Shi Yusheng was no longer her aspiration or dream.
She was an enemy Xuan Wen hated.
It was on that very day that she obtained a system.
The system could subtly adjust her appearance at no cost, help her obtain acting opportunities, let her steal Shi Yusheng’s boyfriend, and then knock her into the abyss.
Never to recover.
All she had to do was charge it on time.
Once every ten days. Each charge cost one day of her lifespan.
That was fine.
By the time she reached the top and defeated Shi Yusheng, it would cost only about a year of her life at most.
Worth it.
Later, with the system’s help, she successfully became the Huo family’s youngest daughter’s tutor. As the little girl’s closest older-sister figure, she got to know Huo Xingchao. Sometimes, when she helped promote Xing Pictures, she would even earn a rare like or comment from Young Master Huo.
This ambiguous connection made her path through the entertainment industry a hundred times easier.
She understood that someone so important would not concern himself with these petty maneuvers as long as she did not go too far.
Then she gained a place on a variety show.
Then, step by step, she won over the audience and Jiang Sicheng, stealing Shi Yusheng’s boyfriend.
Next, she would push Shi Yusheng into the abyss and rise to the top herself.
Then destroy the system.
But just then, things suddenly stopped following her plan.
She could not understand why. When she first invoked Huo Xingchao’s name, the director had clearly been inclined to compromise. Why had he suddenly turned against her?
And what did the system mean when it said Shi Yusheng had won Huo Xingchao over before she could?
…No. With such a powerful trump card, she could not let Shi Yusheng ruin everything in one stroke.
Xuan Wen took a deep breath, removed the SIM card from her broken phone, put it in a new one, and called her manager.
“Hello, Sister Yi. Is there still any way to handle this through PR?”
Her manager really wanted to curse her out. Stealing someone’s boyfriend was one thing, but what had possessed her to provoke and smear Shi Yusheng without consulting the company? Of course Shi Yusheng would explode!
So she sneered. “What, your Young Master Huo won’t help you this time?”
“Sister Yi, I know I was wrong, but this isn’t the time to scold me.”
Xuan Wen fell silent for a while. “Is Shi Yusheng willing to back down?”
“She is. As long as you can afford it, of course she is!”
“How much does she want?”
“Sixteen million eight hundred thousand to keep quiet. If you want her cooperation with PR too, that costs extra.”
…
Had Shi Yusheng gone mad?
Such an astronomical price, and such a specific figure at that. Had she worked it out on a calculator?
- In Chinese internet slang, 666 means impressive or skillful. It plays on liu, meaning slick or skillful. More sixes intensify the praise. ↩︎
- “The sea cannot be measured with a bucket” means that a person’s character or abilities cannot be judged by outward appearances. ↩︎
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