Superstar Assistant [GL] - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The entertainment industry is always like this; any issue will be magnified infinitely. The matter of Li Ziyu’s assistant misappropriating living expenses was initially only heavily debated within Li Ziyu’s own fan circle. Later, it slowly fermented and spread beyond the fan circle, with many passersby and netizens joining in to watch the drama.

That night, when Zhou Tiantian’s roommate was taken away, Zhong Ying was not arrested because the police did not have a warrant.

The next day, the film crew immediately halted production. Because the incident happened suddenly and Zhong Ying had self-destructed, the director and screenwriter decided to urgently delete Zhong Ying’s scenes and increase Li Ziyu’s role.

In her room, Zhong Ying’s entire state was somewhat abnormal. Her sugar daddy was ignoring her, her agent had abandoned her, and even her agency was preparing to terminate her contract. She didn’t know who else could help her. She silently thought that perhaps her sugar daddy was just unreachable due to some urgent matter, and once contacted, he would help her out of this predicament.

A knock sounded at the door. After the room door opened, Zhong Ying’s assistant, Yang Yang, walked over to Zhong Ying and said, “Sister Ying, I need to go back to the company. The company has assigned me to another artist.”

This was undoubtedly a huge blow to Zhong Ying. Everyone around her had left her, and now even this assistant was leaving. Anger and fear burned inside her. Her face started to look hateful, even somewhat ferocious!

“Even you are leaving? Even raising a dog teaches you loyalty. You’ve been with me for so long, and now you’re betraying me?” She gritted her teeth, staring at Yang Yang with bloodshot eyes, as if Yang Yang had committed some heinous crime. Yet, he was merely following company arrangements to work for someone else.

Yang Yang wasn’t surprised by Zhong Ying’s abuse because ever since he became her assistant, he had constantly endured her anger. Regardless of the reason for her outburst, he always ended up being the punching bag.

He used to tolerate her unconditionally, but now he watched Zhong Ying with a cold smile and said, “Of course, I’m not a dog you keep around. I am a person. As a person, I must choose a better person to follow. I asked the company to switch to a different artist a long time ago, but they never listened. Now that I see you in trouble, to be honest, I’m genuinely happy. Do you know? The police came to question me today. I answered all their questions honestly, without a single lie. Sister Ying, I think you should understand what I mean. You never leave a way out for others in your conduct, and you actually didn’t leave a way out for yourself either. All of this is what you deserve.”

Zhong Ying initially didn’t understand what he meant, but when she heard the police siren again, she immediately reacted, collapsing and screaming, “What truth? What did you tell the police, you dog!”

Yang Yang walked towards the door, telling her, “I just told the police the facts I knew. I know those funds were stolen by Zhou Tiantian’s roommate because you told her to.”

“You’re lying!” Zhong Ying shrieked fiercely. “I didn’t! I never asked her to do such a thing! You’re lying! Go explain it clearly for me! Go find the police and explain it clearly, or I won’t let you off!”

Yang Yang opened the door and looked back at her coldly, “I won’t lie, and I certainly won’t frame Zhou Tiantian for your sake. In my opinion, Zhou Tiantian is much better than you. At least she has a good heart.”

The moment Yang Yang finished speaking, the police had arrived on Zhong Ying’s floor. Seeing Zhong Ying, they said, “Miss Zhong, this is an arrest warrant. Please come with us and cooperate with our investigation.”

Zhong Ying threw everything around her one by one at the police, the objects crashing onto the floor. She cursed loudly, “What cooperate with the investigation! What arrest warrant! You have no right to arrest me! I have people behind me! I have connections! Do you believe I can make you suffer the consequences!”

The police officer smiled coldly: “No matter what abilities you possess, Miss Zhong, please come to the police station and clarify the situation. Furthermore, I advise Miss Zhong not to throw any more objects to avoid an additional charge of assaulting an officer.”

Countless reporters gathered downstairs at the hotel. When they saw the police forcefully bring Zhong Ying down the stairs in handcuffs, their cameras clicked incessantly.

The police had originally intended to put a hood over her face, but because she was so uncooperative, the hood was not put on, and she was completely exposed to the reporters.

Zhong Ying, currently in a frenzy, looked at those people and screamed, “You are not allowed to film! All of you, g-e-t o-u-t! I won’t let you off! I have people behind me!”

Her words were immediately recorded as a video and posted online. Netizens, seeing her being handcuffed and yet remaining so arrogant and aggressive, started to guess who the person behind her was. At the same time, many people began to investigate her, eventually digging up a financial magnate. However, that financial magnate’s company immediately issued a statement, accusing netizens of slander, stating clearly that they had no relationship with Zhong Ying, and completely distancing themselves from the matter.

Only when Zhong Ying learned about this did she truly begin to calm down. But by this time, no matter how much she showed weakness, admitted her mistake, or apologized, it was useless. Crime is not something that can be solved with an apology.

After the incident concluded, both Li Ziyu and Zhou Tiantian gained a wave of fans. However, the most important thing for the two of them now was not the increase in fans, but the extension of the filming time for the TV series that was originally close to wrapping up.

Since Zhong Ying was arrested, the TV series could no longer have her as the female lead number two. Finding a new actress to play the second female lead would drag out the filming time even further, so the director and screenwriter decided to add more scenes for Li Ziyu. During the gap while searching for the new female lead number two, Li Ziyu would finish filming her additional scenes. Once the new second female lead arrived, the role, which already had reduced screen time, could be finished with Li Ziyu in a shorter amount of time.

The incident finally ended with Zhong Ying and Zhou Tiantian’s roommate being sentenced. When Li Ziyu saw this outcome, she couldn’t help but sigh to Zhou Tiantian, “I never thought I would have such a blind day. I don’t know why I didn’t see her true nature and kept believing she was a good girl.” She only spoke half of her thought, silently sighing that she had actually developed a crush on a person like that before.

“It’s a good thing I have you,” Li Ziyu looked at Zhou Tiantian and said, “If it weren’t for you, I might never have discovered her true face.”

Zhou Tiantian, however, said, “I was useless too, letting my roommate trick me and take all the money from my card.”

Li Ziyu could deeply sense Zhou Tiantian’s change: “You are already very impressive. If this incident had happened in high school, I can only imagine how you would have silently hid and cried all by yourself, then secretly taken on work to make up the money. You definitely wouldn’t have dared to stand up and accuse your roommate like this.”

Zhou Tiantian’s face flushed red because, to her, this was the best compliment. Although she knew that her changes compared to the past were not huge, as long as she slowly became stronger, she believed that one day she would change her fate from the previous life.

Half a month later, Li Ziyu worked countless overtime hours and finally finished filming her scenes. By this time, her new semester had already started for a while.

Zhou Tiantian held her phone, looking at her memo, and said to Li Ziyu, “The company hasn’t taken on any new dramas for you during this period, but there are some endorsements, variety shows, and other notices. However, these announcements won’t take too much time, so you can attend classes at school while taking on the announcements.”

Li Ziyu rolled her eyes, the slightly upturned corners of her eyes carrying a light red tinge due to recent lack of sleep, making her appear even more enchanting. She said to Zhou Tiantian, “After a few years, has my character design in your mind turned into a good girl who loves studying?”

Zhou Tiantian was slightly stunned, only then remembering that Li Ziyu was not very fond of studying in high school. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone to the cafeteria to eat halfway through a class, nor would she have consistently sat in the back row of the classroom dozing off and daydreaming.

However, in both the previous life and this one, Zhou Tiantian never managed to attend university, despite her good grades. Deep down, she still greatly envied people who could attend university.

“So, what are you going to do when you don’t have work?” Zhou Tiantian asked Li Ziyu.

Li Ziyu stated naturally, “Of course, I’m going to rest at home. What else would I do? I could also travel and relax.”

As a very responsible assistant, Zhou Tiantian had already familiarized herself with Li Ziyu’s class schedule. She clearly still had classes this semester, and they were all important professional courses.

Zhou Tiantian blinked, looking at Li Ziyu. Her eyes were moist and dark, soft and cute, like a puppy who hadn’t been weaned yet.

Li Ziyu’s heart softened from her gaze. She frowned with some impatience, and her tone carried a hint of ferocity, “If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t look at me so pitifully, as if I’m withholding your salary.”

Zhou Tiantian immediately shook her head by conditioned reflex, her voice becoming even softer and sweeter, “I have nothing to say.”

Li Ziyu glared at her fiercely, “Nonsense! Do you think I’m blind? Your eyes clearly show you have something to say.”

Zhou Tiantian looked at her, recalling their high school days when Li Ziyu also disliked studying. At that time, Li Ziyu even encouraged her to skip the last class with her to eat early at the cafeteria. How could someone as cowardly as Zhou Tiantian dare to do that? So, she summoned all her courage and refused Li Ziyu. Li Ziyu initially ignored her, but slowly, she became irritated seeing Zhou Tiantian always bullied in the cafeteria line without fighting back.

Once, after Li Ziyu had finished eating, Zhou Tiantian was still queuing. Li Ziyu saw that several people had cut in front of Zhou Tiantian. Zhou Tiantian’s face was beet-red, but she offered no resistance.

Li Ziyu immediately got angry. She walked over to Zhou Tiantian and the other person who was about to cut in line, grabbed the person’s collar, pulled her close, and said fiercely, “Your mom paid your tuition for you to study at school. Did the school teach you to cut in line?”

The girl was originally the kind who was a bit of a bully, but seeing Li Ziyu’s face, she started to tremble. “I, I, I…”

She couldn’t speak a complete sentence after a long time. Li Ziyu grew impatient and said coldly to her, “Didn’t you know that Zhou Tiantian is under my protection? What’s the difference between cutting her line and cutting mine?”

She said this very loudly, and everyone around them immediately fell silent. Li Ziyu still felt it wasn’t enough and looked sharply at the few people who had just cut in line.

Those people quickly scattered and hid in the crowd.

Zhou Tiantian, however, was afraid Li Ziyu would get punished for fighting. She immediately stepped forward and pulled Li Ziyu’s hand, saying, “Don’t hit anyone.”

Li Ziyu released the person and started scolding Zhou Tiantian, “Are you stupid? Someone cuts in front of you, and you don’t fight back. If you can’t beat them yourself, don’t you know to use my name?”

Zhou Tiantian slightly lowered her head, cautiously pulling on Li Ziyu’s sleeve. Her voice was soft and thin, “I’m sorry, I don’t want to get into conflicts with them.” In fact, she was mostly just afraid.

Li Ziyu looked at her like this, feeling angry yet also a little heartbroken. At this moment, Li Ziyu already had a rough idea of Zhou Tiantian’s family situation and how deeply her home environment affected her personality. In the end, she could only sigh deeply, pulling her to the very front of the serving line. While the cafeteria auntie was serving the food, she said to her, “I’ve told you several times, don’t be a coward. Don’t be afraid of everything. The more you’re afraid, the more others will bully you. The less you fear, the fiercer you are, the more others will be afraid of you, and the safer you will be. Why don’t you understand this at all!”

Zhou Tiantian lowered her head in disappointment, also hating this side of herself, but she truly couldn’t find the courage to resist.

From then on, Li Ziyu started eating with Zhou Tiantian. She queued with Zhou Tiantian every day. Although it was annoying, for some reason, she felt a sense of satisfaction.

Although their relationship seemed like Zhou Tiantian completely submitted to Li Ziyu, Li Ziyu was actually silently changing herself for Zhou Tiantian. She started attending classes on time, began doing homework with Zhou Tiantian, and no longer skipped morning reading or evening self-study. By the end of the semester, her grades had improved significantly, surprising even herself.

Recalling these past events now, Zhou Tiantian felt a warmth in her heart. Courage slowly accumulated within her, and she said to Li Ziyu, “Ziyu, you should still go back to school for class. I looked at your schedule, and you have many very important performance classes this semester. Since you want to be an actress in the entertainment industry, it’s better to learn more. This can also improve your acting skills and allow you to go further in the industry, instead of relying on your youth and constantly filming idol dramas, limiting your career path. When you get older and can no longer film them, you’ll completely fade away in the industry.”

Li Ziyu looked at her quietly for a long, long time, and finally sighed, saying, “Alright, alright, you make a valid point. Then, as my assistant, can you accompany me to school?”

Zhou Tiantian shook her head and replied to Li Ziyu, “I asked the company for half a month off. You don’t have any work for the next month, and I want to go home for a visit.”

Zhou Tiantian’s trip home this time was not just a simple visit. She had a very important task to complete, and that was regarding her younger brother—the one who treated her like an ATM in the previous life. Zhou Tiantian secretly decided that no matter what, she would not allow her bottomless pit of a brother to ruin her in this lifetime.