Phoenix A has Gone Viral Across the Entire Internet! - Chapter 30

Jiang Zhiwan was Qi Wan.

Just now, after eating that small piece of bamboo rice cake, Shen Nian realized this with absolute clarity. She had awakened to the truth too late. She should have realized long ago that there could not be two people in this world with so many similarities.

Shen Nian held the small bamboo tube, her gaze dropping suddenly. After all, taste does not lie. In all the world, only Qi Wan used this specific, unique method to make bamboo rice cakes. Having eaten them for so many years, Shen Nian could not possibly mistake them.

But why would Qi Wan appear in this world, just like herself?

Shen Nian’s expression turned weary. She thought about how she was here because of a phoenix’s nirvana; in other words, she was supposed to have died. If that was the case, what about Qi Wan? In their original world, had Qi Wan also died?

How could that be? Had she not always said that “nuisances live for a thousand years”? She should have lived for a hundred—no, thousands of years.

No one knew that on the day of the phoenix’s nirvana, the last bit of lingering regret Shen Nian held was for this rival of hers. She had kept wondering if Qi Wan would actually shed a tear upon learning of her death. Shen Nian was petty like that; since they had been at odds for so long, she really wanted the other woman to cry for her just once.

As the saying goes, a beauty’s tears are the most captivating.

But now, learning that Qi Wan had likely passed away along with her and had been by her side from the very beginning, was this not a cruel joke of fate? Shen Nian quietly tucked the small bamboo tube away, thinking with a touch of dark humor: Fine, I knew my rival could not live without me.

With her mind in a whirl, the remaining schedule of the variety show became trivial. Shen Nian managed to get through the end of the first episode’s recording, though her gaze instinctively drifted toward Jiang Zhiwan throughout the process. She thought her behavior was not that obvious, but she had underestimated the fans. They were watching the show with magnifying glasses, desperate for crumbs of romance, and would not let any trace of evidence slip by.

Consequently, a fresh serving of romantic tension was served up to the public on a silver platter. The recording of the first episode went exceptionally smoothly. As soon as the wrap was announced, various discussion topics flooded the internet, keeping the heat at an all-time high. Netizens began pairing the guests into several couples, with the pairing of Shen Nian and Jiang Zhiwan being the most popular by far.

Shen Nian casually scrolled through social media, finding it filled with embarrassingly sentimental comments like, “Win her heart through her stomach, then make her cry.”

Heh. As a dignified phoenix, how could I cry? At that time, my eyes were simply open for too long and felt a bit sore.

The schedule for Shen Nian and Jiang Zhiwan was tight. Almost as soon as the first episode finished recording, they had to pack their luggage and head to the airport to catch a flight to the next filming location. On the plane, there was nothing to do but play on her phone, which was boring. Social media was just a loop of the same content. Shen Nian scrolled for a while before getting bored, putting her phone away to close her eyes and rest.

Jiang Zhiwan was sitting in the row in front of her. A passing flight attendant kindly asked passengers if they needed blankets for the night; Shen Nian overheard that Jiang Zhiwan took one. When it was Shen Nian’s turn, she did not speak. After all, she was a phoenix with her own internal heat source; a little night chill was nothing to her. It was getting late, and Shen Nian prepared to sleep, but before she drifted off, she had one more important matter to attend to.

With a violent shake of her sea of consciousness, 432, who was in a deep sleep, was forcibly booted up. The system let out a very human-like scream.

[Ah! What happened? What happened? Is there a sudden earthquake?]

After realizing that Shen Nian had done this on purpose, 432 slapped its data segments together in a frantic rhythm.

[Oh, you scared this system to death! Nian, what are you doing?]

432 had been acting relaxed, but Shen Nian’s attitude was different this time. She was here specifically to interrogate it. “Jiang Zhiwan is actually Qi Wan, right?”

“Do not bother trying to stall. I have known Qi Wan for so many years. Even if she changed her identity and appearance, I have ways to recognize her.”

Shen Nian did not intend to give 432 any chance to make excuses. “As for you, if I had not discovered this myself, you would never have told me the truth, would you?”

Sensing 432’s light orb flickering and dimming, a clear sign of evasion, Shen Nian knew her guess was correct. Her voice grew heavy. “Why? Why did you do this? How many things are you still hiding from me? And Qi Wan, why exactly is she here?”

After recognizing Qi Wan, Shen Nian miraculously recovered a segment of blocked memory in her sea of consciousness. She finally remembered what the so-called AZK System Research Project was actually about. 432’s previous talk about “protagonist blackening values” and “collapsing small worlds” were nothing but lies used to deceive her.

Shen Nian had actually been to this book world, constructed by Qi Wan, once before. No wonder she did not feel out of place here earlier. Back then, Shen Nian had just debuted. She had plenty of beauty, but her acting skills were a total mess. Qi Wan had debuted at the same time, and by comparison, she was more than just a little bit better. Refusing to admit defeat, Shen Nian had reluctantly asked her if there was any special method to improve.

That was when Shen Nian learned about the AZK system. It was a virtual plot world personally coded by Qi Wan. After entering, one had to follow a given script until the tasks were completed or the time limit expired. Real knowledge comes from practice, and through this process, one’s acting skills would naturally improve.

At the time, Shen Nian was delighted to have discovered the secret to Qi Wan’s great acting. She treated the virtual scenes like a game, completing tasks step by step. That was until she reached this final world, the world with Jiang Zhiwan. It was the only world where she held a deep bond with the protagonist. In the original setting, Shen Nian was supposed to play a wicked Scum Alpha from beginning to end. She was meant to trick the protagonist into giving her heart, then trample on the protagonist’s dignity, and finally abandon her without hesitation. Only then would the protagonist blacken and personally end Shen Nian’s role.

Following a normal task flow, this final graduation world should not have been difficult for Shen Nian. However, when she was performing this task back then, facing a protagonist who was oblivious to the ending, she occasionally felt a trace of compassion. This led to the plot world nearly collapsing. It was precisely because of Shen Nian’s small amount of tenderness that the protagonist could neither love deeply nor hate thoroughly in the end.

Seeing that she had been almost entirely exposed, 432 decisively chose to confess.

[Back then, the “Jiang Zhiwan” of that time was also personally played by the Master after she granted herself permission.]

Shen Nian’s consciousness flickered upon hearing this. Her gaze shifted, and her tone became complex. “Then what about now? What state is Qi Wan in currently? I should have died at Planet TUQ. Why did I suddenly nirvana in this world?”

This world was supposed to be a virtual generation. What had Qi Wan done to give it its current reality? Shen Nian’s questions came one after another, but 432 went completely silent on the matter, firmly refusing to answer even half a word. Finally, it squeezed out one sentence:

[The answers to these questions might be known to you later, but you can only learn them from the Master. I do not have the permission to tell you.]

After saying that, no matter what else Shen Nian asked, the system only tearfully posted the same meme: Please, do not make things difficult for a working system anymore.jpg.

Since it was just a data bundle created by Qi Wan, Shen Nian ultimately had no way to deal with it. She could only push down her heart full of doubts and let the matter rest for now. After all that tossing and turning, Shen Nian did not sleep well that night. However, when she was about to wake up, she unexpectedly felt a sense of warmth surrounding her. When she opened her eyes, she found a small blanket covering her body. Not only did it hold a lingering warmth, but it also carried a faint scent of roses.

As she folded the blanket, Shen Nian instinctively curved her eyebrows into a smile, feeling that the weather today was quite good. However, as it was the first day of joining the film crew, poor rest was still poor rest; Shen Nian could not stop yawning. She could not entirely blame herself; most of the blame lay with Pei Qiyi. What kind of artist has a schedule so full that they are sent straight to the set after a flight without even two days of rest? After all that travel, Shen Nian was exhausted.

But then again, they had the same itinerary, how was it that Jiang Zhiwan showed no signs of fatigue? Shen Nian felt puzzled. She tried to recall: she had not seen the other woman secretly drinking coffee to stay awake, had she? It did not matter if she yawned a few times, but such a lethargic appearance seen by those with ill intentions was interpreted as a lazy attitude. In other words, they thought she was not taking this shoot seriously at all.

This prejudice was not without origin. Shen Nian’s appearance was highly deceptive: her unruly ink-colored wolf-tail mullet fell over her shoulders, paired with Klein-blue highlights at the ends, perfectly highlighting the Alpha’s free-spirited and casual nature. Additionally, the faint, playful smile in her eyes when she glanced at others made it seem like she was not a stable personality.

Could an actor who was likely just playing around really act well? Many staff members shook their heads in secret, feeling that Director Yu had made a rare error in judgment. But regardless of their private thoughts, the work still had to be done. Yu Wanyu never interfered with the actors’ free expression; she only offered one reminder before Shen Nian’s scenes began: “Shen Nian, remember at all times that you are playing a tyrant.”

The monarch, Juqu, was beautiful on the outside, but in reality, she was already quite mad to the core. Ming Yuan had used the Third Princess, Yuan Luo, to replace the Eldest Princess as a hostage. Juqu had known this from the start but intentionally chose not to expose it, playing a game of pretending to be confused with this abandoned princess. At that time, Yuan Luo never expected that the one thing she should never have done was develop a lingering affection for Juqu. As a result, when Juqu tricked her into revealing Ming Yuan’s defense intelligence and was about to lead troops to attack, Yuan Luo still held a sliver of hope in her heart.

Holding the poisoned wine, Yuan Luo looked at the young monarch who used to appear only as Ah Ling before her and her elder sister. Her question was almost stubborn: “Juqu, have you ever truly loved me for even a moment?”

But the person sitting high on the throne only looked down at her with cold indifference, her voice echoing faintly. “In all my life, I have loved nothing.”

Yuan Luo, standing in the hall, heard these words. Her face instantly turned ash-grey. She closed her eyes, tears falling, and drank the poisoned wine in one gulp.

If meeting you was a mistake, then Juqu, I would rather we had never met.

“Good! Cut!”

With the clapperboard’s reminder, the people on set finally snapped out of it. They realized they were currently at a filming location, rather than facing the heartless monarch Juqu and the despairing Third Princess Yuan Luo.

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