Deeply in Love [Showbiz] - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sweltering heat of summer permeated the city, shrouding it in a suffocating, dry blaze. A relentless heatwave ravaged Jingping City; it was mid-day, and the streets were nearly deserted.

Yet, outside the gates of Chuangyi Entertainment Media, a crowd of reporters and paparazzi had gathered. Despite being drenched in sweat, they stood under the scorching sun, waiting to capture first-hand material.

And the person they were waiting for—

“I’m talking to you! Did you hear me?!”

“…”

“Nan Zhiyao!”

Ah. The sun outside the window was so bright.

But fortunately, the Chuangyi building was tall. She was currently in a prime location in Jingping City, where land was worth its weight in gold, and the view was excellent.

The scenery wasn’t bad; it made her trip here at noon worth it. Oh, and that pudding she had yesterday tasted pretty good, too. Maybe she should go get her nails done with Jiaye tonight?

Nan Zhiyao stood by the window with a lazy expression, squinting as she turned to look at the scenery outside. The stern-faced woman in front of her was about thirty-five or thirty-six. Seeing Nan Zhiyao’s “couldn’t-care-less” attitude made her blood boil.

Artists these days! As soon as they get a little traction, they act like this!

She had worked so hard to get this resource for Nan Zhiyao, yet the girl didn’t take it seriously at all.

Suppressing her irritation, Geng Pan called out to Nan Zhiyao again.

“Sister Geng, sorry, I didn’t hear you just now.” Nan Zhiyao finally turned around. She apologized quite decisively and smiled, her lips curling upward. “What were you saying?”

Geng Pan was originally furious, but the moment Nan Zhiyao turned and smiled, the light from outside happened to hit her hair.

This face… truly made one sigh with admiration every time they saw it.

“Young and beautiful” wasn’t enough to describe Nan Zhiyao. She wasn’t wearing any makeup right now; her face was clean and translucent, without a single pore or blemish. Her skin was fair and delicate, appearing exceptionally vibrant against her jet-black, straight long hair. Beyond that, the most captivating feature was her eyes.

Her pupils were a clear, bright black, possessing a purity rarely seen in people her age. Her eyelids drooped slightly, but the corners of her eyes curved upward. Her eyelashes were distinct, long, and curled. Near her brow bone was a tiny mole, which made her look incredibly vivid when she smiled, making it impossible for anyone to stay angry at her.

She had a “palm-sized” face, without a hint of excess fat, perfectly complementing her exquisite features. It was a face that remained flawless from 360 degrees, even under a high-definition lens.

In this era where “looks are everything,” Nan Zhiyao should have had a smooth path to fame and fortune.

She was famous, actually. Just… not that kind of “famous.”

Geng Pan thought about the task she had to explain to Nan Zhiyao, and her tone softened slightly: “You just need to go on this variety show to fight for exposure, do you hear me? Stay close to Bai Lian so we can release press releases later.”

Bai Lian. Those two words seemed to carry their own light.

“Fight for exposure on someone else’s group show?” Nan Zhiyao looked at her with amusement. “The company has certainly mapped out my ‘black-marketing’ path clearly.”

As an 18th-tier starlet, the only reason she was this famous was because of Bai Lian. By riding the coattails of scandals involving Bai Lian, the more Nan Zhiyao was hated, the more popular she became.

Bai Lian— The leader of the popular girl group N.A.E. Since her debut, she had been an overnight sensation and was now a top-tier idol.

Who wouldn’t want to chase clout with Bai Lian? Everyone did. But no one did it as shamelessly as Nan Zhiyao.

“When you first signed, the company set this path for you. Don’t forget that. Going from having no background to this level of recognition in just six months—hasn’t the company been good enough to you?”

Nan Zhiyao suddenly recalled what Shen Jiaye had told her:

“My dear eldest miss, your family is clearly so powerful… why do you insist on making it on your own? Look at what’s happened. Look at the plan your company set for you—shoving all those messy resources your way. If Bai Lian goes out for a meal, your company orders the exact same dish for you just to put out a press release. They only give you roles as the ‘vicious female supporting character,’ totally wasting that face of yours. If your brother knew what you were actually after, wouldn’t he just kidnap the person and tie her up in front of you to look at every day?”

What was she after? Ha, she really couldn’t say.

Nan Zhiyao couldn’t exactly tell her family that she was just a shameless “face-con” (looks-obsessed) fan of Bai Lian, and that she joined the entertainment industry in a moment of impulse just to be closer to her idol, right?

No one would believe it, especially in the current situation.

When she signed with Chuangyi, Nan Zhiyao purely had a “just for fun” mindset, thinking that by entering the circle, she’d get a chance to see Bai Lian from a closer distance. The consequence of hiding her background was that Chuangyi viewed her as a nameless nobody with an exceptionally good face.

Since Bai Lian was at the peak of her popularity and had zero scandals, Chuangyi first arranged for Nan Zhiyao to attend the same event as Bai Lian, and then began a flood of press releases, officially binding the two together.

Every time Chuangyi manufactured a scandal, Bai Lian’s agency, Huanan Entertainment, would issue a clarification. After a while, netizens caught on. Even though Bai Lian herself never commented, the fans’ anger was dialed to the maximum.

Last night, as soon as Geng Pan leaked the news that Nan Zhiyao was joining the N.A.E. group variety show, Bai Lian’s fans exploded. The trending topic #GetNanZhiyaoOutOfTheIndustryToday# remained at the number one spot overnight.

And Nan Zhiyao only found out today that she was participating in this show. It was their group’s show—their final group show. Shoving her in right before filming was clearly a thankless, grueling task.

“I’m talking to you! Did you hear me?!” Geng Pan saw Nan Zhiyao spacing out again, and her anger flared up.

“I haven’t decided if I’m taking it yet.” Nan Zhiyao had an appointment for a beauty treatment with Shen Jiaye; the car she called was already downstairs. “Let’s leave it at that for today. Bye, Sister Geng.”

“It’s not up to you to refuse!” Geng Pan scowled at Nan Zhiyao’s retreating back. “The company gives you resources; you have to be obedient. Otherwise, you know exactly how much those liquidated damages are—”

How much? Nan Zhiyao let out a short laugh and didn’t even pause her steps as she walked straight out.

She muffled herself up tightly and exited through the back door. Just as she stepped into the car, Shen Jiaye’s call came through.

“Eldest Miss Nan, have you arrived? The usual place? Are there paparazzi chasing you?” As soon as the call connected, Shen Jiaye bombarded her with questions. “Your brother is worried sick. Do we need to suppress this? I’m telling you, stop staying at Chuangyi. They clearly treat you like a little white rabbit they can manipulate. If Bai Lian’s fans see you now, they’ll throw eggs at you, believe it or not?”

Nan Zhiyao gave a casual hum through her earphones and opened Weibo. Her private messages were already 999+. No need to look; they were all insults.

“You’ve really provoked Bai Lian’s fans this time. This is their last group show before they go solo. Do you know how much the fans value this? Your company putting you in there is a deliberate move to manufacture a scandal with Bai Lian. Yao-yao, if you wanted to, your sis-con brother could buy Huanan Entertainment for you with just one word. Why are you making things so hard for yourself?” Shen Jiaye sighed over the phone. “Now look at you. You’ve been in the circle for so long—besides being cursed at, have you even spoken to Bai Lian?”

As she listened, Nan Zhiyao switched to her secondary “alt” account. Her feed had just updated with a 9-grid gallery of Bai Lian’s photos. They were raw, unedited shots, and they were lethally beautiful.

Nan Zhiyao quickly hit “Like” and even paid for a “Fan Headline” boost. Such a beautiful face! It shouldn’t be kept to myself! I must let the whole world marvel at Bai Lian’s beauty!

“Are you listening, Miss Nan? Where are you?” Shen Jiaye was nagging constantly. “It’s so hard to meet you… I even saw your company promoting Jiang Yingjia today, praising her to high heaven. They got her another ‘strong female lead’ role. She’s treated like Chuangyi’s own daughter. All the resources she doesn’t want are just thrown to you!”

“Well, she is more famous than me, and she has a background,” Nan Zhiyao scoffed. She scrolled down and opened the comments. As expected, everyone was “screaming like a marmot.”

“Lian-lian’s ‘Mom’ is truly capable! AAAAAAH!! Seeing Lian-lian’s face, I feel like my fatigue from the whole day has been healed!”

“The blogger who took this photo, please keep producing more! I’m about to lick my screen to pieces.”

“If I don’t get to sleep with Bai Lian in this lifetime, what’s the difference between me and a salted fish? Say no more, I’m going to bed first, sisters. QAQ”

“What kind of suffocating beauty are these photos of Lian-lian? Floor above, you only want to sleep with Lian-lian? I’m different. I’m the woman who’s going to marry Lian-lian. Lian-lian, look at me!”

Nan Zhiyao liked the comments all the way down. She shared the one about marrying Lian-lian and replied: Good sister, then I’m willing to share half of my and Lian-lian’s bed with you!!!

Tsk. Love found on the internet—as long as she kept her alt account hidden, no matter how “thirsty” her comments were, Bai Lian would never find her.

“You have the nerve to talk about backgrounds. You’re the one who deliberately didn’t say anything. Otherwise, your boss would be kneeling before you…” Shen Jiaye almost coughed up blood. “Speaking of which, your families aren’t without personal ties. How did you grow up and never have anything happen with Bai Lian? It’s so unscientific.”

“Like what?” Nan Zhiyao had also been depressed about this.

In her first twenty-three years, it felt like there was an invisible barrier between her and Bai Lian. She never felt like anything was supposed to happen. It wasn’t until after Bai Lian debuted that Nan Zhiyao saw a video of her performing live upon returning to the country.

At that moment, Nan Zhiyao felt like her “energy vessels” had been cleared. She was completely mesmerized by the radiant Bai Lian on stage. What was this? An idol! This was the power of an idol! It was too damn addictive.

Shen Jiaye: “For example, a family marriage alliance, or you wake up and the two of you are actually getting married. Or maybe the elders in the family insist on you two marrying and tie you together—you know, a romantic plot like that.”

“You think we’re in a novel? Life isn’t that dramatic.” Nan Zhiyao was amused, but then she sighed. “I haven’t even touched Bai Lian’s hand yet.”

Nan Zhiyao was focused on scrolling through Weibo and didn’t notice her surroundings. Just as she finished that sentence, there was a sudden screech of brakes. All she could hear was a deafening “Boom!” and the sound of shattering glass. Massive inertia flung her directly out of the car window—

It’s over. In Nan Zhiyao’s head, there was a clear realization that she was going to die.

She had only three thoughts.

1. She was actually dying without ever having touched Bai Lian’s hand.

2. She hadn’t logged out of her alt account. If Bai Lian’s fans saw her shamelessly “licking the screen,” she was doomed. She was dying as both a “clumsy” and “starstruck” person.

3. Lastly, she hadn’t even had her dream tonight about marrying and sleeping with Bai Lian yet!

Sob. Regrets. So many regrets.

Support Deeply in Love [Showbiz]