Chapter 31: World Two [1] Part 2

【One of the lunch dishes used mushrooms, but they were not poisonous, just ordinary mushrooms. You only ate a bite of the greens inside and didn’t eat the mushrooms.】

“You even know that? Are you really a Higher-Dimensional Being?” Shao Qing asked.

【Yes, you can understand it that way. If you form a Contract with me, I can help you change your current predicament and reclaim the Fortune that originally belonged to you.】

“The Fortune that originally belonged to me? What do you mean by that? My Fortune has been lost?” Shao Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly, unable to help whispering aloud.

【Yes, your Fortune was stolen and transferred to another person.】Jing Ke was as candid as ever.

【Although it was an arrangement of the rules, I must tell you a truth. The theft of your Fortune is related to me. Before I developed Self-Awareness, I was guided by the rules to choose and trade with another person. That person stole your Fortune through me.】

【I am very sorry. I apologize to you for my past actions.】

Jing Ke didn’t speak in extremely long paragraphs this time, but after she finished speaking these one hundred and seven words, Shao Qing’s eyes darkened. She neither spoke nor communicated with Jing Ke in her consciousness anymore.

Within those short one hundred and seven words, the information Shao Qing directly heard and could indirectly deduce was too much.

Her initially small sense of absurdity grew exponentially, almost threatening to engulf her completely.

So, the reason she had been unlucky and her career had been declining was because her Fortune had been stolen, and the thing that stole her Fortune had now proactively sought her out, apologized to her, and said it would help her?

What did this mean? Was this Jing Ke deliberately toying with her?

“An apology can’t just be lip service. I’d rather see something tangible.” Shao Qing closed her eyes, let out a slow breath, and then reopened them.

The extraneous thoughts in her mind were expelled by Shao Qing; within her originally emotional dark eyes, only extreme calm remained.

【I can do that. But before that, I need to sign a Contract with you.】

【After the Contract is signed, I will do my best to help you reclaim your Fortune and gain even more Fortune. And you only need to pay me half of the additional Fortune you acquire.】

Shao Qing looked at her calmly resolute reflection in the mirror and mentally placed a large question mark on this deal that seemed to only benefit her.

A High-Dimensional Being that needed Fortune, calling itself a System, named Jing Ke?

No, this kind of thing was too absurd. No matter how she thought about it, it was utterly preposterous.

In Shao Qing’s view, this thing that had suddenly appeared in her consciousness was more like a Ghost with some special abilities.

After all, the entertainment industry was messy enough; there was no shortage of stars who raised little ghost effigies hoping for instant fame.

And the ability to steal others’ Fortune didn’t sound like a skill a decent entity would possess – it seemed more like an ability belonging to a malevolent ghost.

Not to mention, this thing calling itself Jing Ke needed to form a Contract with her to obtain her Fortune.

Parasitism plus feeding on Fortune – weren’t these typical abilities of a minor ghost?

Maybe this ghost named Jing Ke sought her out merely because it wanted to break free from its original master’s control.

Jing Ke, having already learned to respect future Traders, did not read Shao Qing’s thoughts. Seeing her not respond, she thought Shao Qing was weighing the pros and cons, so she considerately left the other party with ample time to think.

Knock knock—

“Teacher Shao, it’s almost time to depart. The other teachers are already getting ready to board the car to the destination.” The voice of the Little Assistant sounded from outside, urging Shao Qing, who was still in the restroom.

“Okay, I hear you. Coming right away.” Shao Qing replied. After one last deep look at her reflection in the mirror, she turned on the faucet and washed her hands once more.

–

Shao Qing, whose Fortune had been stolen for nearly three years, had seen a noticeable decline in her public reputation and image compared to three years ago. However, because people kept tying themselves to her for publicity hype, her traffic and popularity weren’t low.

It was just that over time, certain negative labels became attached to her, and her so-called popularity was generated by fights between her fans and Anti-fans.

Maintaining popularity through Notorious Fame meant Shao Qing was destined not to receive any good scripts, let alone get anywhere near a mainstream blockbuster film.

Initially, Zongheng Entertainment had hired Paid Trolls to intervene. Clarification announcements and legal letters were issued, but they had absolutely no effect and instead added fuel to the fire, causing Shao Qing’s Public Appeal to decline as well.

After about a year of effort, Zongheng Entertainment gradually gave up on Shao Qing and opted to arrange for her to take the Notorious Fame route.

If she couldn’t get good scripts or endorsements, she would just mix into variety shows, or guest star in some idol dramas with minor roles.

Shao Qing had considered changing things and worked hard for it, but every time she would fail right at the very last step, only to fall into an even deeper pit.

However, Shao Qing hadn’t thought of giving up. She worked very hard to grasp every opportunity to clear her tarnished name, just like the live-broadcast reality show she was now participating in – an opportunity Shao Qing had fought to secure for herself.

The theme of this reality show was the currently very popular Wilderness Survival, with the Production Team selling authenticity as its main attraction.

There were a total of four Regular Guests and two Flight Guests. They had to survive for seven days on a deserted island without other people, carrying only basic supplies and a small amount of food.

A live broadcast was different from other variety shows that were recorded and edited later; there was almost no room for fakery. Therefore, during these seven days, every person would have a dedicated Cameraman following them, and live broadcasts would be initiated at irregular intervals, the main selling point being to highlight authenticity.

Since her debut, Shao Qing had never participated in this type of variety show. In her view, this Wilderness Survival show was an excellent chance for a comeback.

As long as Shao Qing was given an opportunity to show her true self to the audience, she was confident she could turn the tables and turn the situation around.

–

After leaving the restroom, Shao Qing greeted the staff and was then ushered into a commercial van, seated together with Xu Yin, who was also a Flight Guest.

“Teacher Shao, are you feeling unwell somewhere? You seemed to be away for quite a while,” Xu Yin asked, with an air of feigned concern.

To Shao Qing’s eyes, this was almost instantly perceived as perfunctory. The seemingly caring look in his eyes seemed to conceal something else too.

“I’m not unwell. I was just in the restroom studying my makeup a bit more closely for today,” Shao Qing replied with a smile, offering a similarly seemingly normal but actually perfunctory answer.

Shao Qing’s features were very bright and striking. Many male stars would involuntarily blush when making eye contact with her, and younger ones would even shyly lower their heads.

So, even though Shao Qing’s polite smile was just a formality, it still managed to make Xu Yin lose his focus for a moment, his response delayed by a beat.

“That’s good,” Xu Yin replied with a hint of embarrassment.

The black commercial van drove smoothly on the road. According to the Production Team’s arrangement, the show would officially begin when the vehicles arrived at the dock.

The timing of the live broadcast was entirely the responsibility of the Chief Director of the Production Team. The accompanying cameramen would only remind the guests right before turning on the live broadcast, and regardless of the guests’ willingness, it couldn’t change the fact that the live broadcast would start.

Shao Qing and Xu Yin were both Flight Guests this time, invited because they both had considerable topicality and popularity.

The former, Shao Qing, needed no more explanation. Her popularity was basically contributed by fan infighting; she lacked no controversial topics wherever she went.

The latter’s popularity stemmed from him participating in three consecutive hit productions over three years. The first year was a minor role with barely a name, the second year was the Second Male Lead, and the third year was the absolute Male Lead of a film that earned two billion at the box office.

Xu Yin’s fan count had also grown from just over three million to over thirty million in three years, making him a first-tier star directly. It was rumored that he had already been internally selected as the unit Male Lead for a mainstream New Year’s blockbuster film planned to start pre-production by the end of the year.

Apart from a few polite exchanges during the initial greeting, Shao Qing and Xu Yin seemed to have no intention of chatting further, both resting with their eyes closed in the van.

It wasn’t until half an hour later, after the Production Team’s vehicle arrived at the destination, that they exchanged a few more pleasantries in front of the cameras.

They were Flight Guests, so they arrived at the dock about five minutes later than the four Regular Guests, waiting until the latter had bantered a bit in front of the cameras before disembarking from the vehicle.

At this time, the live broadcast hadn’t started yet. The group, who had met beforehand, just followed the usual procedure and introduced themselves.

The four Regular Guests were three men and one woman. The three men were: Liu Chang, an internet famous survival expert; Li Liming, who frequently played tough-guy roles on screen; and Zheng Xingxing, the idol who won first place in last year’s talent show with excellent singing and dancing.

As for the sole Regular Female Guest, she was even more remarkable – a veteran star excelling in film, television, and music, the highly popular Yu Hongjun.

After exchanging greetings one by one, the group boarded the speedboat in order and headed towards the destination.

The original dock was quickly left behind by the speedboat. The accompanying cameramen gave a simple heads-up, then directly activated the live broadcast mode.

Fans who had received advance notice rushed into the Live Stream Room, soon filling the screen with Barrage Comments.

【The live broadcast has started. If you form a Contract with me, I can give you feedback on some real-time Barrage Comments that will be useful to you.】Jing Ke, who had been quiet the entire journey, suddenly spoke up.

Shao Qing’s eyebrow twitched slightly. Her expression management skills in front of the camera were excellent; even with a close-up face shot, she didn’t reveal any flaws.

“Words are cheap. If you don’t first prove you can help me, I cannot bring myself to trust your words, let alone sign any Contract with you.”

Shao Qing didn’t deny that she needed help right now, but she wasn’t the type to blindly grasp at straws in desperation. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to persevere until now after her Fortune was stolen.

【Fine. In the next three hours, you can tell me any need you have, and I will help you depending on the circumstances.】After brief consideration, Jing Ke made a concession.