Join a Dating Reality Show with the Aloof, Fishing-Style Richest Man - Chapter 1

“Lu Zhao! Lu Zhao!”

As soon as she reached the office door, Lu Zhao heard Sister Li’s loud voice, which could almost be described as ecstatic.

The office was already small to begin with, and with various filing cabinets crammed inside, the space felt even narrower. When she shouted like that, the entire outer office area could hear her clearly.

The other people glanced in that direction, their looks especially meaningful when they landed on Lu Zhao.

“Sister Li, what’s wrong?” Lu Zhao yawned, closing the door behind her. She was exhausted; she had looked after Ji Zhaoxi until the middle of the night and hadn’t slept long after getting home before being called into the company by a phone call from Sister Li.

“You’re viral!”

Beaming with joy, Sister Li grabbed her and pulled her toward her computer screen, pointing at the trending topics on Weibo. “Lu Zhao, oh Lu Zhao, I didn’t misjudge you! I always said you’d get your big break one day!”

“Look at this heat, so many topics! And we didn’t spend a single cent!”

Lu Zhao squinted slightly and leaned closer to the monitor to take a look.

#AsEveryoneKnowsSimp=DevotedSucker# #LuZhaoSimp# #LearnHowToSimpFromLuZhao# #SimpUntilTheEndAndHaveNothing# #SimpUntilTheEndAndHaveEverything#

Lu Zhao: “…” What is this?

She jolted awake instantly. She quickly clicked on those tags, and there it was: a video of her from last night waiting on Ji Zhaoxi hand and foot. Her face was captured with absolute clarity, and her incredibly sycophantic behavior was also caught in high definition.

Lu Zhao’s gaze went blank for a moment. She had never had this kind of “grand reception” on the trending searches before.

To be known by the public… because she was a simp?!

“Lu Zhao, why didn’t you tell me sooner that you knew President Ji? If you hadn’t been caught on camera, even I wouldn’t have known about your relationship!”

Sister Li took back the mouse to continue browsing the news, looking happier the more she read. “Look at this wave of popularity! Your Weibo followers have jumped straight to a million, and the audience finally has a ‘memory point’ for you!”

Hearing Sister Li’s words, Lu Zhao rolled her eyes inwardly. A “simp” memory point—are you sure that’s a good thing?

However, compared to before when she had no recognition at all, having something was better than nothing.

“But Sister Li, these netizens are being way too disrespectful!” Lu Zhao couldn’t help but protest. “I was clearly a ‘suitor.’ How did it turn into ‘simp’ in their mouths?”

“I refuse to accept this!”

Sister Li glanced at her. “Accept it or not, without this trending simp topic, you wouldn’t have received these scripts.”

“I have a few scripts here with decent production teams. Some supporting female roles want you for an audition. Prepare well over the next few days, and I’ll take you there.”

As she spoke, she slammed several folders into Lu Zhao’s arms.

Holding the folders, Lu Zhao stood frozen on the spot. Once she snapped out of it, she asked in disbelief, “They’re all looking for me?”

When had she ever received the treatment of having multiple scripts dropped in her lap at once?

“Whether you pass the audition or not depends on you!” Sister Li patted her shoulder, her heavily made-up face full of sincerity. “I believe in you, just like I believed you would eventually get famous!”

Lu Zhao’s face was actually very beautiful. Even in an entertainment industry crowded with beauties, her looks remained striking. Unfortunately, she didn’t have that “pure and innocent” look; her features were intensely glamorous. When she turned on the charm, she looked exactly like a vixen.

Thanks to those looks, she had played many “homewreckers” and “Green Tea Bitches” over the years. Everyone was so focused on cursing her characters that they never noticed how outstanding her actual appearance was.

But Sister Li had noticed. She had pinned a sliver of hope on that face, which was why she had signed Lu Zhao under her wing in the first place.

Looking at the scripts, Lu Zhao’s eyes sparkled. “No problem! I’ll definitely prepare well these next few days!”

Once you have scripts, who cares about being called a simp? What’s wrong with being a simp? The netizens weren’t wrong anyway! Constantly chasing after someone—if that’s not simping, what is?

Though, technically, this “simp” was hired by the person she was “simping” for, but at the end of the day, it was still simping!

Lu Zhao happily took the scripts back to her rented apartment. The one-bedroom apartment was dimly lit. After turning on the lights, the interior was so bare it could be described as “four walls and nothing else.” A thief would leave in tears and probably leave a hundred bucks out of pity.

Lu Zhao poured herself a glass of water, but before reading the scripts, she had one very important thing to do.

She couldn’t lose her job as a simp.

After all, it paid tens of thousands a month!

She took out her phone, found her benefactor, Ji Zhaoxi, and sent a very fawning voice message.

“President Ji, I didn’t expect the trending search thing either. I definitely didn’t hire anyone to take those photos. Do you think this incident has caused you any trouble?”

After sending it, Lu Zhao stared intensely at the screen, terrified that Ji Zhaoxi would kick her to the curb because of this trending topic. If she got fired, where else would she find a “gold master” who was both beautiful and wealthy?

The woman hired her monthly to act as a suitor so she could experience the feeling of being pursued. During this time, there wasn’t just the employment fee, but also the various gifts she gave away—which amounted to a significant income.

Ding-dong—

Lu Zhao’s spirit rallied as she stared at the screen.

Ji Zhaoxi: I’m not bothered, but are you? After all, “simp” isn’t exactly a nice word.

Seeing this reply, Lu Zhao immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Zhao: What simp? That is my overflowing love for you! I love you so much I can’t sleep for three days; my head is full of nothing but you!

Ji Zhaoxi: ……

Lu Zhao: Don’t ever say things like that again. My love for you is beyond doubt!

Lu Zhao: [Love You Finger Heart.jpg]

Ji Zhaoxi: ……

Two sets of ellipses were enough to show how speechless Ji Zhaoxi was, but Lu Zhao was in a great mood. As long as she wasn’t fired, everything was fine.

Having settled that matter, Lu Zhao drank some water to calm down and then picked up the scripts to study them seriously. She was 24 now and had been hanging around film sets since she was 6. You could say that acting was completely integrated into her life.

If she wasn’t allowed to act, she wouldn’t even know what else she could do. Furthermore, she truly loved acting; she possessed a sense of conviction for performing that was hard for others to understand.

Unfortunately, for so many years, no good scripts had found her. Even when she got work, they were marginal, “cameo” roles with barely any screen time.

However, Lu Zhao treated every character she received with total seriousness, pondering every possibility for the role.

And the scripts she received this time were actually quite good, but the characters…

One script had a significant amount of screen time—it was the second female lead.

Except this second lead was the “vicious” type common in CEO novels: the one who loves the male lead, goes crazy for him, and ruins her own family’s business just to get his attention.

The other script was for the third female lead. She was a pure, unadulterated simp. She simped for one guy, then another, only to end up with nothing and a miserable death.

Lu Zhao: “…”

Sure enough, when you get famous through unconventional means, the roles you get offered are equally unconventional…

Fortunately, although the other role didn’t have as much screen time, the character image was excellent. Moreover, it was a “soul character” that spanned the entire story.

The male lead’s “White Moonlight” (first love) who died young.

If played well, it could be a role that leaves a lasting impression on the audience.

Since the filming schedules for these three projects didn’t overlap, it meant that, if possible, she could take on all of them!

For supporting roles in such big-budget productions, combined with her sudden burst of popularity, her salary would likely rise accordingly, right?

After finishing all three scripts and writing a short biography for each character, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Remembering the situation online, she logged into Weibo. Good heavens—the heat was only getting higher. Her account, which originally had only about 400,000 followers (most of whom were anti-fans who came to scold her), had now surged to over three million.

Is this the power of trending traffic? No wonder everyone fought tooth and nail to get on the list. The last time she trended was because her portrayal of a “homewrecker” was so realistic that she was cursed into the trending topics and gained hundreds of thousands of anti-fans.

But whether they were haters or not, a follower count is a follower count, and the numbers looked good. Therefore, they were all her “treasures.”

Looking at the comment section, everyone was asking her for advice. Some even wanted to know how she managed to “simp” for Ji Zhaoxi, wanting to try it themselves.

Faced with these people trying to steal her livelihood, Lu Zhao didn’t bother responding to them at all. Isn’t there a saying that “cutting off someone’s path to wealth is like killing their parents”?

If they stole her job, wouldn’t that be the same as killing her parents!

— But to be honest, have you guys noticed? This Lu Zhao is actually quite good-looking.

— To the person above, you need to go to the hospital. You call that ‘quite’ good-looking? That’s ‘drop-dead gorgeous’ level, okay!

— Speaking of which, with looks like that, how come I didn’t know someone like her existed in the industry? And with that face, why go be a simp? What was she thinking!

— Please! She’s simping for Ji Zhaoxi of the Ji Corporation! Do you know how many billions she’s worth!

— Hahaha, don’t overthink it, go look at the other dramas she’s been in that people dug up. I’m going to die laughing.

Seeing this comment, a bad premonition immediately rose in Lu Zhao’s heart. She exited the comments and clicked on the trending searches; sure enough, new tags had appeared.

#LuZhaoImperialJapaneseLook# #LuZhaoWaDied# (Note: Likely referring to a tragic/funny death scene) #LuZhaoWhenSheWasLittle#

As Lu Zhao kept reading, she felt like she didn’t even recognize the name “Lu Zhao” anymore.

She swallowed nervously and with trembling fingers clicked on the “Imperial Japanese” tag. When she saw the photos inside, her eyes rolled back, and she nearly fainted.

There she was, in a scene from a “miraculous” anti-Japanese war drama she had filmed back in the day. She was wearing an Imperial Japanese military uniform, her face was covered in black soot, and her bright white teeth were exceptionally prominent as she grinned widely.

Lu Zhao: “…”

Who hasn’t filmed a few trashy dramas in their youth? Especially a low-visibility actress like her; she had too many bad dramas to count.

The most outrageous part was the netizens. She didn’t know how they managed to capture those fleeting frames and identify her, but they were taking screenshots and turning them into emojis/memes.

Beneath the picture of her grinning like an idiot, netizens had added captions:

• “Baby, have you eaten? I’m eating the cold wind while thinking of you; my heart feels so warm.”
• “Baby, see how white my teeth are? I cleaned them specifically for you.”
• “Baby, I got into a fight with a dog today while picking up trash to support you. Don’t worry, the dog only scratched me.”
• “Baby, why didn’t you talk to me today? Is the mass-send assistant broken? I’m going to the top floor of Tencent HQ to demand an explanation!”

Good grief! Every single one was a classic “simp” line!

With those words printed under her photos, how was this any different from her pooping in front of the whole nation!

Lu Zhao felt her vision go dark. She never imagined that the way her acting work would finally be discovered by the public would be through this method.

Ding-dong—

Lu Zhao clicked the notification; it was a message from Sister Li.

Sister Li: This heat is great! Let’s strike while the iron is hot. A variety show just sent an invitation. They want to invite you and President Ji to a dating show together. Go “simp” a bit and see if she’s willing to go on the show with you.

Lu Zhao felt a lump in her throat.

Lu Zhao: Sister Li, do you know what kind of person is called a “simp”?

Lu Zhao: It’s the kind of person who never actually gets the girl. That’s why they’re called a simp.

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