The Entire Entertainment Industry Knows the Best Actor Has a Crush on Me - Chapter 14

The livestream was over.

When Pei Yuan picked up his phone just now, Qiao Zhiyu caught a glimpse of the stats. 180 million viewers online… That number was truly terrifying.

The other man had gone out to take a call likely to be “disciplined” by his manager.

Qiao Zhiyu lay in bed, his face burning as he took out his phone to secretly monitor the situation online.

[Zhiyu, what’s with the info online? Did you make the Movie Star unhappy?] [Stars of that caliber have a lot of baggage; you should usually pay more attention.] [I really didn’t expect the Movie Star to play the second male lead.]

Messages popped up one by one. After seeing the name in the notification, Qiao Zhiyu’s emotions instantly cooled down.

It was Song Yuanjia.

To be honest, in this life, Qiao Zhiyu only wanted to remain strangers with him until the day they died. He disliked the man and had felt resentful toward him, but he wasn’t going to target or retaliate against him based on the events of his past life.

He couldn’t quite explain his inner thoughts. Song Yuanjia had wronged him, but in the end, it mostly felt like Qiao Zhiyu’s own choices led to his downfall.

When did they start growing distant? It seemed to be the spring of their fourth year together. By then, Song Yuanjia was incredibly famous, while Qiao Zhiyu was slightly less so. Song Yuanjia was signed to a small company with an unfair contract. Even after becoming wildly popular, he only managed to gain a tiny bit of breathing room.

His manager wasn’t as dedicated as Gu Jiao, so Qiao Zhiyu spent a lot of time plotting and planning for him. The company always found ways to drain Song Yuanjia’s blood, and Qiao Zhiyu always found ways to help him breathe. He shared his resources and recommended Song whenever he had a chance. Eventually, it became too much to handle.

Gradually, Qiao Zhiyu had to put his own affairs aside to help handle Song’s problems. This lasted until the spring of their fourth year.

At that time, a very popular novel was being adapted into a drama. Competition for roles was fierce, especially for the lead characters. Song Yuanjia was desperate to terminate his contract with his company and needed the boost this drama would provide, but he lacked the ability to secure the role.

His social engagements increased, and staying out all night became a regular occurrence.

Qiao Zhiyu remembered it clearly: rumors were circulating that the male lead would be played by Pei Yuan. Song Yuanjia was anxious because he knew he couldn’t compete with him—even though Pei Yuan never acted in television dramas.

When he was drunk, Song would often complain to Qiao Zhiyu: Why am I so unlucky? Why was my starting point so poor? Why are some people born in Rome? He wanted Qiao Zhiyu to ask Gu Jiao to use her connections for him, but Qiao Zhiyu was powerless…

While Song Yuanjia was out socialising, Qiao Zhiyu was also trying his best to contact people, but with little effect. Their arguments grew more frequent, and Song would go days without coming home.

Then one day, Song Yuanjia suddenly returned in the early morning, stinking of alcohol. He was ecstatic, telling Qiao Zhiyu that he had secured the male lead role. The smell of alcohol on him was heavy, but it seemed mixed with the scent of roses.

In truth, Qiao Zhiyu didn’t know how many times the man had betrayed him, but he should have realized it then.

He suddenly remembered that one day, while organizing a pile of old emails, he found one from a long time ago. It said they felt he was very suitable for the role of “Liu Jia.” If he wanted to try, they could recommend him for an audition. But by then, Song Yuanjia had already taken the role, and with Qiao Zhiyu’s status at the time, playing that character would have been seen as “undeserved.”

He didn’t reply, nor did he delete the record; it just stayed in his list. Qiao Zhiyu suddenly wondered: Who was the person who emailed me back then? Unfortunately, he hadn’t paid attention to the address, and after so much time, he no longer remembered.

“…”

Pei Yuan returned after hanging up the phone. Qiao Zhiyu looked up from the covers and shifted inward, gesturing for him to sit.

“Are you looking at the news online?”

“Mhm… I saw it. Some people said my acting was so bad it drove you away. Thank you for clarifying just now…” Qiao Zhiyu’s words from noon had come true; someone really did leak that his acting was poor. “Did your manager scold you?”

Pei Yuan shook his head. “No. He just said it was risky. But you don’t need to feel burdened.” Looking at Qiao Zhiyu’s flushed face, he asked with a smile, “Isn’t it hot, huddled under the covers like that?”

“It’s not… I was just startled. So many people were watching…”

“They were just there for the gossip; there aren’t usually that many people.”

Qiao Zhiyu had livestreamed in his past life, but he had never seen such numbers. He asked curiously, “How many people are there usually?”

“I don’t stream often, so I’ve forgotten.”

Fair enough.

“So when were the scenes moved to?”

Pei Yuan wasn’t sure; the director hadn’t told him. He said, “I’ll have the director change them back tomorrow.”

“Won’t that mean the twenty million went down the drain…?” Qiao Zhiyu asked with a look of heartache.

“It won’t be wasted.” Pei Yuan reached out to brush away a few damp strands of hair from the man on the bed. “I told you, consider it a food allowance. Eating well makes it harder to get sick.”

Qiao Zhiyu shrank his neck slightly, silently accepting the touch with lowered eyes. His face was very red, as were his lips. His eyes were misty and bright.

Pei Yuan’s voice was very soft and his tone gentle. “Do you want to dry your hair?”

The person on the bed shook his head. “It’ll be dry in a bit…”

“…”

Bei Qianqing had seen all the news online, and her blood pressure spiked so high she nearly exploded. She was currently on the phone with her manager.

When she first learned she had to share a room with someone else, Bei Qianqing was vehemently opposed. The director was a tough nut to crack, and the two had a falling out over it. Eventually, her manager paid out of pocket to book her a single room to end the dispute.

She had a facial mask on, making her speech somewhat muffled.

“What’s wrong with those antis? They’ve all flipped to help Qiao Zhiyu just because he’s good-looking?!”

A male voice came from the other end of the phone. “It’s normal. Some of the antis aren’t our paid shills; it’s not strange for them to defect. Besides, those malicious rumors are actually easy to clarify we just didn’t expect Pei Yuan to step in…”

Their original plan was to leak false rumors to smear Qiao Zhiyu. Although easy to debunk, such things are like a criminal record; even if you clarify them, people will still bring them up. But with Pei Yuan stepping in, it was different. His actions had actually helped Qiao Zhiyu gain a wave of fans.

The man continued, “We were just testing the waters. The most important thing now is to make netizens like you, so they’ll be attracted to you and become your fans.”

Attracted to her? Bei Qianqing rolled her eyes hard. “I haven’t had any resources come my way for a long time. I got this role through my own audition. Without work, who can I attract? The air?”

“Then start working hard from now on! I’ve already found shills to cooperate with your social media presence, and I’ll have them edit clips from your previous dramas to post online. After today, there will likely be more leaks from the set; make sure you don’t throw any tantrums.”

“Me? Throwing tantrums?!” Bei Qianqing said indignantly. “It’s clearly because they didn’t give me the treatment I deserve! As an award-winning senior, I have to be on the same level as those juniors on what grounds?!”

Her tone was agitated, and her mask nearly fell off.

The man also grew angry, his tone turning sour. “Can that award feed you for a lifetime? If someone catches you acting like a diva, do you still want to stay in this industry?!”

“Just do as I say! It won’t hurt you! I have things to do, so I’m hanging up.”

Beep. The call was disconnected.

Bei Qianqing ripped off her mask in a rage and threw it forcefully into the nearby trash can. Why should I yield to others?! Qiao Zhiyu only got Pei Yuan to speak up for him because he flattered him! That dead ladyboy! What’s so great about him!!!