After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows
Chapter 265: This Circle Does Not Allow for Indifference to the World

Chapter 265: Chapter 265: This Circle Does Not Allow for Indifference to the World

Now whenever she hears the words "Qingcheng Legend," Yu Si just wants to cover her ears, "Oh come on, we came out to eat happily, can we not talk about disappointing things?"

This made the person in front of her snort coldly, "I thought you didn’t care at all. I told you a long time ago to sign with a company; although it wouldn’t be as free as now, at least the company would have your back in situations like this."

"Even if I had a company backing me up this time, it wouldn’t help." Yu Si mumbled quietly, taking a sip of the lemon tea Xu Miao handed her irritably. The icy drink jolted her mind, "Wait a minute, did you just say the person who stole my role was Jiang Xiyu?"

"You didn’t possibly miss today’s trending searches, did you?" Xu Miao’s eyes widened, looking at her friend who seemed cut off from the world once she left the set. "The official account of ’Qingcheng Legend’ just posted an update today. Although they didn’t release the costume photos, they tagged Jiang Xiyu."

At this point, she felt sorry for her friend, "I think your acting is much better than Jiang Xiyu’s. You lost out because you don’t have a company backing you to grab resources. And now, that wheelchair you bought was for nothing!"

"I’ve already put it on a second-hand site to sell." Yu Si said, taking out her phone, opening the trending list, and quickly finding a rising hot topic.

#QingchengLegendJiangXiyu#

Clicking it opened the update from the official account of "Qingcheng Legend." After reading it, Yu Si couldn’t help but press her lips tightly.

She was called to the leading actress Xu Qingmei’s dressing room when the schedule for Yu Xin’s role was already set.

By then, she had memorized all of Yu Xin’s lines and thought being called by Xu Qingmei’s assistant was because Xu Qingmei wanted to run lines ahead of time, as Yu Xin, being the apprentice of the female lead, predominantly shares scenes with her.

But once she reached Xu Qingmei’s dressing room, she didn’t even see Xu Qingmei herself, only being persuaded and threatened by her so-called gold-medal assistant, finally nodding to give up the role of Yu Xin and leave the crew.

No matter how unwilling she was inside, what could she do?

During her time with the crew, she had watched as Xu Qingmei brought in actor after actor, and although Director Lin initially disagreed, he eventually pinched his nose and accepted.

This made her realize that in the "Qingcheng Legend" crew, the director didn’t hold the greatest power. It was practically Xu Qingmei’s domain.

Even if she resisted the incentives and threats this time, as long as she stayed in this crew, Xu Qingmei would find a way to force her out, perhaps just wasting more time and effort.

She was just a barely third-tier actress without the power to confront someone as internationally renowned as Xu Qingmei, so she wisely accepted the incentives and threats this time.

But she originally thought the role would go to an actress from Xu Qingmei’s studio; she didn’t expect it to be Jiang Xiyu.

The actress who debuted as "Little Jiang Lingxi."

She indeed had more fame than Yu Si, but why would Xu Qingmei push her out for Jiang Xiyu?

Yu Si had been in the industry for some time and didn’t expect these two seemingly unrelated figures to have connections!

"See?" Xu Miao sighed, sincerely patting her friend on the shoulder, "I saw some of your fans sticking up for you in the comments while browsing. They got suppressed, though. I think this trending topic was probably bought, with a lot of the praise for Jiang Xiyu being from hired hands, not real fans, but the hype indeed became real."

"Sigh, the world these days is messed up. Those serious about acting have no acting jobs, while those focused on marketing mint money. Who can you reason with?"

Hearing that fans were standing up for her made Yu Si’s eyes soften a bit.

Her actor account was registered when she debuted, and since she never signed with a company, she managed it herself.

She mostly shared bits of her daily life there, and apart from having an actor’s verification, the account content was similar to an ordinary person’s. Simply put, very relatable!

However, six or seven years into her career, she had floated among various crews and played numerous roles, some of which took her to popular variety shows alongside other main actors.

Over a few years, she built a fan base, albeit incomparable to those of mega stars, but stable, as they mostly followed her based on her roles.

Normally she didn’t interact much with her fans, only posting reminders when her dramas were about to premiere, occasionally responding to some comments herself.

She didn’t ask fans to organize groups or boost her data, and fans didn’t press her to hustle harder in her career.

If there was a word to describe her relationship with her fans, Yu Si thought "peaceful times" was quite fitting.

So she hadn’t expected her usually low-profile fans to speak out for her under the trending headlines.

"Miao Miao, do you think I lack ambition?"

"It’s beyond lacking ambition; you’re almost disengaged from worldly affairs." Xu Miao corrected her righteously, "Sometimes I wonder how you got into acting. I remember someone saying, if you don’t like fame and wealth, why join the entertainment industry? Do you think that applies to you?"

Yu Si frowned and lightly retorted, "I just like acting; the rest feels tiring and troublesome."

"But the premise is we need the ability to secure roles, like this time. Don’t blame me for being blunt," Xu Miao said seriously, "You’re not some heiress dabbling in the entertainment world; if you find it exhausting and troublesome and don’t act, then you’ll just watch as your role is taken. Sure, it might not be exhausting or troublesome, but you’d still feel dissatisfied, right?"

Yu Si, rendered silent by the words, finally nodded honestly, "It does feel somewhat begrudging."

"Looks like you got my point," Xu Miao said, satisfied, "Anyway, think it over."

Before sitting back down, she inadvertently glanced at Yu Si’s phone screen, "Hey, someone sent you a private message! Probably a fan trying to comfort you, quickly open it!"

"It’s unlikely; there’s a mutual understanding between my fans and me. They usually don’t private message me." That said, Yu Si opened the private messages anyway, only to be taken aback by its content.

Xu Miao also read the message, exclaiming, "I remember you never publicly stated you were playing Yu Xin in ’Qingcheng Legend.’ They guessed it right; definitely a veteran fan. Maybe they spoke for you in the trending comments. Quick, respond to them; don’t dampen this passionate fan’s enthusiasm."

Following the advice, Yu Si opened the reply box, hesitated while typing.

What should she say?

She couldn’t very well say she was forced out by the actress playing the lead in the crew!