Chapter 12

They chatted for a little while before getting down to business, though as far as Ji Changyin was concerned, the business was already over.

The others were deep in discussion.

Ji Changyin chimed in now and then, without trying to hog the spotlight.

“Teacher Ji, what do you think this girl will do next?”

Ji Changyin blinked. She’d looked into the show before coming.

The girl on the screen had gotten caught in a love triangle with another woman and a man. The man kept wavering between the two of them.

The girl, A, was watching the man invite girl B out.

“She’ll turn around and leave with her dignity intact. That guy’s strange, too. He’s stringing two girls along at once.” Ji Changyin rested her chin on her hand. “But he seems completely at ease in this awkward situation. Clearly, this isn’t the first time he’s done this.”

The other guests paused.

Usually, guests avoided expressing personal likes and dislikes on a show. They stuck to objective observations. Ji Changyin, however, didn’t seem interested in being objective at all.

Ji Changyin took a sip of tea. “What’s the problem? Did I get something wrong?”

The others smiled and quickly moved on to the next topic.

Ji Changyin was starting to get bored.

As expected of a dating show. The whole thing was sweet from start to finish.

By the end, she was on the verge of falling asleep. Still, she made it through all four hours, even if she did yawn twice along the way.

Honestly, she wanted to stay alert. It was just so boring.

When the recording ended, Ji Changyin jolted awake and covered her mouth as she let out a huge yawn.

“Teacher Ji was about to fall asleep.”

“You’re all being way too careful about what you say.” Ji Changyin rubbed her neck.

“Come on, the internet is brutal these days. You can say two words and people will invent all kinds of nonsense. I came here to watch people fall in love, not to get myself into trouble,” one of the guests said.

“True.” Ji Changyin nodded and took another look at the speaker. They seemed like someone with a lot of stories.

But she’d done plenty of “dangerous” things by now. She didn’t need to worry about one more risky comment.

This time around, she was going to live the way she wanted. Whatever made her happy.

By the time she finished getting ready to leave, Zhao Xi was waiting outside in the car.

“Why did you come yourself?”

“Who else would come? I’m thinking of getting you two assistants. Is that okay?” Zhao Xi asked.

Ji Changyin hadn’t had much work before, and she’d never wanted an assistant, so Zhao Xi had never assigned her one.

“Sure.” Ji Changyin nodded. “They need to be nice and easy to work with.”

“Don’t worry. I know what you want. I’ll find someone who fits.”

Ji Changyin acknowledged that with a nod.

“Is Dream Chaser airing this Saturday?”

“Mm.” Zhao Xi nodded. “I’ve watched the preview. It looks fine.”

“Good.” Ji Changyin couldn’t be bothered to watch it herself. Zhao Xi was a capable manager and could handle everything.

After the first team performance, they would only need to film about once every two weeks.

Thinking about it, Ji Changyin realized she was about to have free time again.

“I’ve booked you a magazine cover. Beauty Runs Wild is about to start filming, so you should get ready. You’ve got some time before that, and I’ll see if I can find you something else to do.”

“Okay.” Ji Changyin nodded.

Truthfully, she didn’t want to take on more work, but every time she thought about saying so, Zhao Xi gave her a look.

Ji Changyin had always been confident in her intelligence. She hadn’t acted before, but she figured she’d be fine.

After all, her old job had required some acting skills too, and she’d inherited the original Ji Changyin’s talent for acting. It was strange. It felt like the skill had been etched into her bones.

Ji Changyin watched the first episode of Dream Chaser.

The comments flew by so fast they filled the screen. She could make out a few of the judges’ names. Some viewers mentioned her, but the comments about her were almost all negative.

[If Ji Changyin weren’t on the show, everything would be perfect.]

[I can’t stand seeing Ji Changyin. They should put out a version without her.]

Ji Changyin didn’t change expression. She was perfectly calm.

When the opening dance started, the comments shifted a little.

[Is that Ji Changyin???]

[Holy crap. Sorry, but I think the two of them look kind of good together.]

[I wish I were Ji Changyin’s hand right now.]

[How dare she touch our Mumu!]

[They’re kind of a good match. I ship them!]

[??? Ship who with whom?]

[Why does everyone keep saying Ji Changyin and Xu Chaomu look alike? I don’t see it at all.]

[Ahhh, both sisters are gorgeous.]

…

Ji Changyin’s lips curled. As expected, plenty of people had good taste.

Gorgeous.

She was gorgeous to begin with.

The comments attacking her died down after that. With so many beautiful girls around, Ji Changyin wasn’t enough to draw everyone’s attention.

She really was there to be eye candy. She didn’t get that much screen time, and was mostly shown when Xu Chaomu spoke.

Ji Changyin spent most of her time watching Xu Chaomu. Every now and then, the two of them leaned close to talk. Xu Chaomu looked serious, while Ji Changyin smiled.

[I don’t know why, but I always feel like Ji Changyin is sneaking glances at Xu Chaomu.]

[What is that look on Ji Changyin’s face? Oh my god.]

[Their fans fight all the time, but these two seem to get along pretty well?]

…

After the episode aired, it took over more than ten of the top fifty trending topics. Judges and trainees alike were all over the hot search.

[Ji Changyin Xu Chaomu] was number one.

[Ji Changyin Sneaking Glances at Xu Chaomu] was number two.

Ji Changyin was a little exasperated, so she posted about it on Weibo.

[Ji Changyin V: I was looking at her openly, thank you very much.]

Before long, people from all sides had flooded the comments. Xu Chaomu’s fans took over the top replies, with the kind of sad irony that came from not even being able to outdo your rivals when controlling the comments.

[Mumu’s Little Angel: Please let Ms. Ji stand on her own.]

[Right Beside Xu Chaomu: Why do you have to drag our girl into the hot search every time you trend? Please leave our sister out of it.]

…

Ji Changyin was exasperated. It was normal for guests on a show to interact to keep people interested.

Ten minutes later, Xu Chaomu replied to her post.

[Xu Chaomu V: That’s true.]

Xu Chaomu had already said on Weibo that she and Ji Changyin had gotten along fine before, nothing like what the fans imagined. For some reason, though, all her fans seemed to be under a spell. They were convinced Ji Changyin was going to hurt her.

After replying to Ji Changyin’s post, Xu Chaomu sent her a message on WeChat.

[Xu Chaomu: Don’t listen to the fans. I’ve tried to talk to them before. Next time you post something about me, you can let me know on WeChat. I’ll reply as soon as I can.]