Transmigrated as the CEO's Top-Tier Stand-in - Chapter 49

Chapter 49

“Why not?”

Wang Luoshui looked at Meng Rendong with a puzzled expression. She first tried to persuade her by mentioning Ji Yu’s current popularity and how much she would lose by missing this exposure.

Because Ji Yu wasn’t necessarily guaranteed to maintain her first place until debut.

After the first round of voting ended, the gap between her and the second-place Ling Lan wasn’t very large. This underwater shoot would be featured as an Easter egg in the next episode, which could increase the audience’s understanding of Ji Yu. At the same time, this shoot was a rare experience for her, bringing only benefits, not harm, to her future development.

She didn’t understand why Meng Rendong was so alarmed.

The coldness in Meng Rendong’s dark eyes was nearly palpable. If the person in front of her weren’t her friend, and if any other employee of Imperial Entertainment were here, she would never patiently explain over and over again, let alone repeat her instructions.

But she had a contract with Dream Chasing 100 that stipulated she couldn’t interfere with the arrangements arbitrarily. Furthermore, Wang Luoshui was her friend, so exerting pressure through authority was inappropriate right now.

Meng Rendong turned her gaze away, preventing Wang Luoshui from seeing her tightly clenched palms, and repeated dully:

“She… is genuinely afraid of water.”

“She might faint directly at the shooting location.”

Wang Luoshui looked at her with suspicion, as if doubting the truth of her words, but considering Meng Rendong’s character—who never bothered with exaggeration or lies—she continued: “There will be emergency medical personnel there. If Ji Yu’s condition is really that serious, we won’t force her to film. Don’t worry.”

Meng Rendong nodded, then got up from her seat and walked a couple of steps toward the exit. She paused and naturally asked Wang Luoshui: “Where are they shooting?”

Wang Luoshui: “…? Wait, what are you going to do there?”

Meng Rendong stated frankly: “I’m worried.”

Wang Luoshui: “???”

She looked at Meng Rendong, thoroughly confused. “Are you taking this too seriously? Nanxing… is also very afraid of water, you know? But she said she could film—”

Wang Luoshui thought her friend was overly worried and making a fuss.

Meng Rendong recalled the events of that year, and the frost in her expression deepened. She said: “It’s different.”

In the past, Meng Rendong didn’t want to think too much about what happened that year, but for some reason, perhaps because she had been sorting through her past memories in her dreams recently, she was recalling many things she had nearly forgotten.

Especially that nightmare.

Gradually, she would not only dream of arriving too late but also of Chu Nanxing being questioned repeatedly, accompanied by Chu Huaide. However, whether it was due to Chu Huaide’s influence or because she was too young at the time, as the person closest to Chu Jianyu’s death scene, not many people harshly criticized her for not doing something when her sister was nearly killed.

Everyone assumed she was either too scared or hadn’t realized what was happening initially.

Later, due to the Chu family’s influence, she heard that Chu Huaide had even hired a psychological counselor for adolescents for a long time. Over time, when friends around them brought up the matter, they naturally considered Chu Nanxing to be a fellow victim.

But this is different.

Ji Yu was the one who had directly faced the terror of death.

“Yuyu…”

Standing at the edge of the spacious pool, which had been reserved by the production team and professional filming crew, the system noticed Ji Yu staring at the light blue water and quietly called her name in her mind.

When Qi Feng announced this underwater dance shoot, it had sensed Ji Yu’s fear and rigidity, even though Ji Yu hadn’t outwardly shown it. This was the first time the system had felt Ji Yu so resistant to something.

Ji Yu stared at the water, which was clear enough to see the bottom. She kept telling herself “It’s nothing,” “The pool is shallow,” “There are people specifically watching around,” “Don’t be nervous,” and so on. But she found her breathing and heart rate were steadily accelerating.

Only after the system called her several times did Ji Yu react, even involuntarily voicing her reply:

“Huh?”

Ling Lan, who was standing right next to her and also wasn’t a very skilled swimmer, heard her “Huh?” and turned to look at her, replying like they were playing charades: “Huh huh huh?”

Ji Yu subtly took half a step back, distancing herself even further from the pool edge, ensuring that even if someone nudged her from behind or she slipped on wet ground, she wouldn’t fall into the terrifying abyss in front of her. Only then did she have the composure to lightly pat Ling Lan’s arm:

“It’s nothing, I was talking to myself.”

At the same time, she asked the system: “What is it?”

The system asked: “Are you very scared?”

Ji Yu frankly admitted: “Yes. When I was ten or so, I think I fell into the water, and after being rescued and taken to the hospital, I forgot the memories from before that, but the fear of water remained.”

The system was startled by her drowning experience and quickly asked: “Then should we not film it?”

Ji Yu pursed her lips and looked at the pool ahead, obvious resistance in her eyes. However, she was also taking deep breaths, and smiled wryly at the system: “I’m afraid not… this shoot is a reward, I have to come. Sigh, is there any card that can help eliminate fear?”

This was the first time Ji Yu had shown interest in the effects of the system’s flashy cards.

The system immediately said: “Yes! Let me check! Right now, I have ‘You will be fearless for the next three minutes’ x20, and ‘I feel like I’m the most formidable person in the world at this moment’ x13. Both are helpful for temporarily suppressing your negative emotions and maintaining a filming state.”

Ji Yu let out a huge sigh of relief.

She calculated the time frames for both cards and decided to use them sparingly, only deploying them when absolutely necessary to enter the water during the shoot.

This was the safest method she could think of.

The system also searched for the typical duration of this kind of shoot, meticulously planning the number of cards Ji Yu should use. Once confirmed, it whispered to her:

“By the way, Yuyu, after you lost your memory… have you never remembered those things?”

Ji Yu casually thought about the past. In fact, right after she was rescued from the water and taken to the hospital, she had been interested in her past and wanted to investigate.

It was perhaps because she later realized that no one in the world cared about her, and from her surrounding relatives, she discovered that she hadn’t lived with her parents since birth and had grown up in an environment lacking love.

Thus, whether she had amnesia or not, it seemed it wouldn’t make her life any better, nor would it make her sigh, “I guess I could have lived well too.” Since the difference before and after the amnesia seemed minimal, she gradually lost any desire to investigate it.

Except for one time.

She remembered Si Tian seemed to have taken her to a swimming pool, but that time she happened to see a child whose foot cramped or something underwater, and the child slipped out of their float while playing.

At that time, Ji Yu couldn’t control the feeling of her vision going black. When she woke up, her head was throbbing in the emergency room.

In that moment of headache, she seemed to have seen something, which severely worried Si Tian next to her. Si Tian eventually transferred her to a hospital. The cost was a huge sum for the two of them at the time, almost draining all of Si Tian’s savings.

When they came out, Si Tian asked her casually: “Do you remember anything you said when you had the headache?”

Ji Yu looked at her, utterly confused: “What did I say?”

Si Tian stared at her for a moment, then suddenly raised her hand and rubbed her head, answering: “Nothing, I didn’t hear clearly either—It’s all my fault this time. I won’t take you near any body of water next time.”

Ji Yu’s attention was diverted, and she replied with a smile: “It’s okay, I didn’t know I was so afraid of water before. It’s not your fault, and you were just trying to take me out to have fun… and now I’ve made you spend all your money.”

“That’s alright.”

Si Tian smiled and then earnestly told her:

“Don’t be afraid.”

“I won’t take you to any swimming pools again, and I won’t let you encounter this kind of danger anymore.”

Reflecting now, Ji Yu felt that she might have remembered something under extreme stimulation at that time, which prompted Si Tian’s question.

But later, she never encountered any danger again, and Si Tian never brought up the matter in front of her.

So the matter was left unsettled.

Now that the system brought it up, Ji Yu was uncertain: “Maybe it’s because the past events weren’t important, so I never remembered them?”

She seriously recalled the plots of TV dramas Si Tian used to watch and added: “Because in TV shows, those very important memories are always triggered, right? This one has hardly ever surfaced. The first sixteen years are like a blank space. I guess I couldn’t accept it myself, so I never remembered.”

The system responded with a thoughtful “Hmm,” seemingly agreeing.

However, after Ji Yu’s attention was diverted by the people around her, the system noticed something amiss.

Ji Yu was only twenty-three now.

What did it mean for all the memories before the age of sixteen to be blank?

Two-thirds of her life experience was an empty void.

Based on its observation and records of humans, humans are prone to loneliness, thus having social needs. They need to feel their value in life through interactions with others, perhaps by being needed or trusted, etc. And memories and past experiences, to some extent, give a person a sense of belonging, knowing where they came from…

For anyone else, let alone a sixteen-year blank, even missing a part of childhood would have a huge impact on their subsequent behavior, and that person would unconsciously seek the missing memories.

That’s how humans are.

The more they lack something, the more they want it.

Amnesia brings immense trouble to one’s life. Even if many hidden memories of life details remain in the body, often when going to a place, seeing familiar sights, or meeting acquaintances, an anxiety arises: “Huh? I feel like I’ve had this sense of déjà vu somewhere, but where?” This anxiety would force the repressed memories, sealed due to trauma, to resurface.

But the system didn’t see this feeling in Ji Yu.

In fact, if Ji Yu hadn’t mentioned it herself, the system wouldn’t have even realized the impact of that amnesia on Ji Yu.

In this instant.

The system felt a profound sense of incongruity about Ji Yu. It was absolutely certain that Ji Yu’s nerves were not duller than average. Besides being affected by the Si Tian incident, her behavior was otherwise indistinguishable from normal people. But… why was she so nonchalant when talking about her lost memories?

It was as if some strange force was invisibly dulling Ji Yu’s pursuit of the past.

For the first time, the system felt deeply perplexed by the minor character it had selected from another world.

The Underwater Shoot Begins

Ten minutes later.

Ji Yu saw Jiang Lianque gently encouraging Chu Nanxing to enter the water in the distance. Chang Xue was also patting the water below, urging her to get in and adapt. Chu Nanxing pursed her lips, tentatively dipped her toe, then pulled away, looking cautious.

Beside Ji Yu, Ling Lan and she looked like two prisoners heading to the execution ground, both wide-eyed, glaring at the pool edge, as if they could avoid going down to be tormented that way.

The nearby Rong Bai and the remaining three were already playing comfortably underwater, like fish in water.

Ji Yu wrestled with herself for a long time but still couldn’t overcome her fear. It felt as if closing her eyes meant seeing herself sinking. She had no choice but to divert her attention and ask Ling Lan:

“Are you scared too?”

Ling Lan shook her head: “No, I’ve been able to swim since I was little.”

Ji Yu: “Then why aren’t you going in?”

Ling Lan instinctively said: “Because you’re scared, I’ll keep you company!”

Ji Yu couldn’t help but smile. For some reason, perhaps having a friend who was good at swimming like Ling Lan nearby, she felt slightly reassured. But even so, when the director came over to ask if everyone had gotten in to adapt, Ji Yu’s body was still dry.

Over an hour had passed.

Even Chu Nanxing was already standing in the water.

Only Ji Yu remained on the shore.

Ji Yu quickly raised her hand to signal: “I’m afraid of the cold. I’ll get in when the shoot starts. It won’t affect the progress, don’t worry.”

She didn’t want to waste the precious card status on playing in the water.

Indeed, a few minutes before the shoot began, Ji Yu had finished her stretching and warm-up and entered the pool water.

Enveloped by the water ripples, feeling the mild, cool sensation that seemed to lightly cling to her skin, Ji Yu felt frozen by a bone-deep chill.

She seemed to know how powerful water was.

Even its act of consuming a person’s struggle was silent.

There might not even be much of a disturbance.

Even though she no longer felt afraid, Ji Yu found that she still loathed the feeling of being completely submerged in the water, feeling like she could float away at any moment, yet simultaneously having to try hard to sink—a feeling akin to giving up hope.

She had no choice but to close her eyes. After remembering the director’s instructions, she submerged herself as required—

“Gurgle…”

Small strings of bubbles escaped her mouth.

Ji Yu closed her eyes, unable to see the camera’s direction. She reached out and grasped the air around her but touched nothing. She had no choice but to stand upright, letting her head emerge from the water. The water on her hair streamed down, and she closed her eyes, waiting for the feeling to pass.

The director on the shore was about to say the word “Open your eyes,” when a loud splash came from behind: “Plop!”

Everyone was startled.

Ji Yu wiped the water from her eyes and looked back, only to see a dark head with a diving cap emerge from the water. The diver also looked somewhat bewilderedly at the new owner of this swimming and filming venue, who was standing on the shore.

By the poolside, reflected by the shimmering light, stood a tall figure dressed in a snow-white suit, paired with a dark red shirt. Even the jewel-studded cufflinks glinted with the light reflecting off the water.

Her delicate face should have been its usual expressionless state, but perhaps because her skin was too pale, even from this distance, Ji Yu could feel the intensity of her gaze.

As everyone wondered what had happened, the diver gestured to the people on the shore, indicating that nothing was wrong, and then looked at Meng Rendong, smiling:

“I haven’t turned on the constant temperature system yet! Boss, when these people leave, I’ll change and clean the water, and try it again for you with new water?”

Meng Rendong observed Ji Yu’s condition from a distance. Realizing she was fine, she felt slightly embarrassed by her hasty action of pushing the diver in to save someone out of sheer anxiety.

Fortunately.

Her new employee was quick-witted.

She subtly expressed her disdain for the semi-public pool water and politely declined: “No need to trouble yourself.”

After all, she hadn’t bought the place to swim herself.

As she spoke, she noticed Ji Yu was still looking in her direction. Worried about her physical endurance and fearing that Ji Yu wouldn’t dare refuse the production team’s arrangements, Meng Rendong had a thousand words on her tongue, but only two remained:

“Don’t be afraid.”

She moved her lips, silently speaking to Ji Yu across the distance, like a promise, or an assurance.

Don’t be afraid. I’m here.

I said I won’t let you encounter danger again.

I’ll always be watching you.

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