Chapter 216: The Blonde Was Awesome
As the little queen of the entertainment industry and the future empress of pop, Zhou Silan was young, but her future was bright. No one doubted her current achievements or her future status. The consensus in the industry was that if the old king of pop were to retire, she would undoubtedly be the new representative.
After writing a song for Nangong Ying for free, Zhou Silan found herself devoid of inspiration. She told her assistant and went out. She drove her cool sports car alone from Shanghai to Guangnan, something she often did when she couldn’t think of lyrics to write. People always talked about how bright her future was, how high her status would be, but she herself felt that after nearly a decade of dedication and creation, the number of songs she could write seemed to be dwindling. The Nangong Ying incident had been a rare opportunity.
Most of the time, she couldn’t think of any songs to write. For a creator, this was undoubtedly a painful experience.
She had entered the entertainment industry at sixteen. At that time, she just wanted to be a lyricist, writing songs for others, for her idols. Who knew that no one would read the songs she wrote? She had no choice but to sing them herself, and with one song, she became a hit overnight. Her songs became the soundtrack to a generation’s youth.
Now twenty-five, she was still unmarried. Due to her career, her manager had also told her not to date. This had gone on for many years. It seemed her late marriage was a foregone conclusion.
“Guangnan is quite beautiful…”
Wearing sunglasses, her hair tied up, Zhou Silan looked at this unfamiliar city and felt a wave of emotion. She wanted to write a song in praise of this city.
It was said that Nangong Ying was from Guangnan City, which meant she had come to her hometown.
Although she didn’t have a particularly good impression of Nangong Ying, since she was here, she might as well take a walk.
She occasionally saw advertisements on the street. While walking, Zhou Silan even saw products she endorsed being sold in a store. Many famous celebrities’ endorsed products were also there. These were important sources of income for stars, and she had naturally filmed such commercials.
But what surprised her was that there was even a brand of toothpaste endorsed by a star author from Wenqing being sold on the street. The advertisement board was placed right at the entrance. She could see the girl on the endorsed product, a very beautiful girl, not at all inferior to the stars in the entertainment industry. She was showing off her white teeth, holding the toothpaste. There was even a line of text next to the star’s introduction: “Wenqing Idol Author – Air.”
So she was a novelist.
Business was really getting more and more developed these days. Even novelists were popular enough for endorsements. Of course, the prerequisite was that they had to be good-looking.
She didn’t know much about novels; she rarely read them. She had read some wuxia novels as a child, but later, as she entered the entertainment industry, she had less time for reading.
Thinking that she had nothing to do here anyway, she might as well treat it as a trip and bought a tube of the toothpaste endorsed by Air-Sensei. She couldn’t say why she bought it. Perhaps it was the first time she had encountered a product endorsed by an idol author.
Zhou Silan wandered around Guangnan City for a bit. Because she was alone, she inevitably attracted some strange looks. It was always like this in this era. If you were alone and didn’t fit in with your surroundings, people would think you were a weirdo.
Just then, Zhou Silan saw a girl standing in a bookstore, a blonde girl. At first glance, she thought she was a foreigner, but on closer inspection, she had Asian features. She wasn’t tall, not at the average height of a Westerner. But her face was beautiful. Although she was wearing a mask, you could still tell she was a little beauty. Zhou Silan thought this girl’s looks were much better than the girl on the toothpaste she had bought.
Such a beautiful girl would be very suitable for the entertainment industry.
Zhou Silan brushed aside the strange thought. What was she thinking at a time like this? She was a straight woman.
Just as she was thinking this, she went into the bookstore to buy a few magazines. Suddenly, a few naughty children rushed up, snatched her sunglasses, and made funny faces at her.
“Hey, you little brat.”
Zhou Silan instinctively tried to get her sunglasses back, but it was too late. All eyes in the bookstore turned to her.
First, the crowd was indifferent, then surprised, then they became frantic.
“Zhou Silan!!!!”
“Great God Zhou!”
“Princess Zhou!”
The atmosphere in the bookstore exploded in an instant. Everyone’s attention was drawn to her.
It’s over!
Zhou Silan looked at her exposed face and panicked for a moment. Especially those bratty kids, they had forgotten all about snatching her sunglasses and ran up to hug her, asking for an autograph. No matter what, Zhou Silan was a famous singer in the country. Many people sang her songs. Even if they didn’t know her, they should know her songs. Her popularity was even greater than Nangong Ying’s.
The bookstore erupted in an instant, and the surrounding crowd grew larger and larger. Zhou Silan tried to squeeze her way through, but the crowd’s fervor only increased, not decreased. If this continued, the police would have to be called.
Just as Zhou Silan was getting anxious, a small hand reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her out, leading her away quickly. Looking closely, it was the blonde girl from before.
“Follow me.”
Yu Linna only said that one sentence, then took her hand and led her through the back door of the bookstore, then through the alley behind it, and then into the nearest department store. Then Yu Linna asked for her jacket.
“What do you want my jacket for?”
“Just give it to me. I’ve been harassed by some crazy people before. I know my way around this area.”
Zhou Silan took off her jacket, and Yu Linna took it and put it on. The jacket was a bit big on her, but there was no time to worry about that now. But what was this big star doing wearing a jacket in this hot weather? Did she think this was the north? She would die of heat.
Yu Linna deliberately wore her jacket and went outside for a stroll.
“There! See that jacket!”
“Stupid! That’s not Great God Zhou. Look at her height, it’s not even close! It’s definitely not this place, let’s go!”
Yu Linna just walked around outside for two laps, sweat drenching her forehead. It was so hot wearing a jacket in this weather. She stayed outside for about ten minutes before returning to the department store to give the jacket back.
“Why are you wearing this in this heat? It’s scorching.”
“It’s to avoid the paparazzi. I don’t want to wear something so hot either. By the way, why did you help me?”
“Well… Queen Zhou, your autograph is worth a lot. Can you sign a few for me?”
With that, Yu Linna even took out an autograph book, asking for her signature. Zhou Silan wouldn’t refuse a request for an autograph. With a few quick strokes, she signed about ten of them. The girl had helped her out, after all. It wouldn’t matter if she signed twenty. She had seen all kinds of fans.
“Queen Zhou’s autograph. I’ve hit the jackpot. Jiangning will definitely love this.”
So many autographs should fetch a good price, Yu Linna thought to herself.
Even though she was now a millionaire, she seemed to have never forgotten her frugal ways. She continued to save where she could, and her stingy bad habits still existed, although they were much better than before.
“You said you’ve been harassed before. What did you mean? Were you an actress?”
Zhou Silan sensitively caught her previous words and asked.
“I was an actress, but I didn’t have much success, so I left the industry. It was because I was an internet celebrity for a while. It got to the point where I didn’t even dare to leave my house. People were always trying to follow me. That’s why I made a point of learning the secret paths in this area.”
Speaking of her past on Weibo, it was a story full of bitter tears. All because her exam paper was torn up. Did they have to make her a trending topic? It caused her to not dare to leave her house for two weeks. Now that the heat had died down a lot, she dared to come out. Before, she always wore a mask when she went out.
“Great God Zhou, you should change your outfit. I’ll go to the shop next door to buy you a mask and a hat. Wait for me.”
With that, Yu Linna left her alone and ran to the shop next door to buy things. A few moments later, she returned with a new mask and hat.
The original mask had fallen off in the frenzy of the fans. This one was a new black mask. Yu Linna had also thoughtfully bought her a sun hat and new sunglasses.
“You should take off your jacket. It’s too uncomfortable to wear in this heat.”
“Thanks.”
Zhou Silan took the equipment from her and put it on again. She used the black screen of her phone as a mirror and found that it suited her quite well. This little girl was interesting.
“Little girl, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Give me the money. It’s 250 yuan in total.”
She even held out her hands with a grin.
“…”
Zhou Silan was speechless.
You little girl, you could learn anything else, but you had to learn how to scam people. Do you think I’m stupid? A pair of sunglasses, a hat, and a mask, and you’re charging me 250? These are clearly generic brands, cheap stuff at a glance. Who are you trying to fool?
Although that was the case, Zhou Silan wasn’t short on money, so she still gave her the money. Forget it, a little girl being a little greedy is forgivable. After all, she’s cute. In the face of cuteness, everything is forgivable.
“Great God Zhou, since you’re in Guangnan, why don’t I be your guide? You just have to pay me a little money, and I’ll show you around the whole city.”
With that, Yu Linna tried to squeeze more money out of her.
Zhou Silan fiercely pressed down on her head and ruffled her hair.
“You bad girl, why are you so greedy? How old are you, to be trying to scheme against me?”
“Don’t pinch my face… it hurts so much…”
“You want money, right? Of course, you can have it. But I’m going to pinch your face to my heart’s content. Otherwise, I’ll be at a loss.”
This girl, say what you will, but her face was quite fun to play with. It was comfortable to pinch. She didn’t want to let go. Unfortunately, this little girl was so greedy. Dammit, her parents must not have taught her well.
“You can’t pinch my face for free. I’m going to have to raise my price.”
“Fine, I’ll pinch a little more.”
“Sister, I was wrong! Stop! I’ll lower the price. I’ll give you a thirty percent discount.”
“At least you know what’s good for you.”
Zhou Silan smiled triumphantly.
“Girl, hurry up and show me around. I’ve been looking for inspiration recently.”
She felt that coming to Guangnan City was the right decision.
She suddenly felt very relaxed, something she had never experienced while working. It had probably been many years since she had felt so relaxed. In the nights of high-intensity work and racking her brains, she had long forgotten what a relaxed and comfortable life was like. Thinking back on it now, it seemed quite nice.
Zhou Silan had an idea. She wanted to write a story about a girl in Guangnan. The name wasn’t decided yet, but she would use this blonde girl as the prototype for now.
