Chapter 2: The Second Female Lead

In the first month after arriving in A City, although people often treated her to meals, her wallet was still tight.

In the second month, she stayed in the shared rental playing games and binge-watching dramas. The transfers she received weren’t large amounts; they got spent as soon as they came in, and her balance stayed below one hundred for a long time.

She had also encountered people who wanted her to pay them back. Gu Liuguang blocked them right away, thinking that way no one could find her.

It was only just now that she remembered she had come to A City to work but hadn’t sent money home yet. She casually transferred five thousand out of the five thousand two hundred she had just received.

She told her mom to accept it, then exited the chat window and opened Lin Zhenshuang’s private messages. She sent a voice message, her voice sweet and coquettish: “Sister, I’m broke, only two hundred left.”

The message had just gone out when Lin Zhenshuang transferred ten thousand to her.

【Lin Zhenshuang: What do you want to buy? I can pay for it. How much more do you need?】

Gu Liuguang tapped to accept, her eyes squinting happily. Lin Zhenshuang was the most generous person she had met in these two months, and she suddenly felt like sharing: “I hadn’t sent money home since coming here. I just transferred some over.”

She didn’t feel there was anything wrong with borrowing flowers to offer to Buddha and telling the person involved about it. Vaguely, there was even a hint of wanting praise.

Sure enough, Lin Zhenshuang sent a voice message. Her voice was a bit hoarse from just finishing a meeting, but her tone was gentle and lingering: “Baby is so great.”

Gu Liuguang was satisfied.

She felt that such a good version of herself deserved a reward. She picked out items online, added them to her cart, checked out together, and sent the payment link straight to Lin Zhenshuang. The page refreshed to paid almost immediately.

Lin Zhenshuang messaged that she had also bought some clothes for Gu Liuguang, which would arrive tomorrow.

Because Gu Liuguang had mentioned that the company required them to prepare their own clothes—though they could rent them—Gu Liuguang disliked ones worn by too many people, so Lin Zhenshuang offered to buy them.

The car soon arrived downstairs at the company.

Gu Liuguang messaged Lin Zhenshuang: “I’ve arrived at the company.”

After sending it, she unilaterally ended the chat.

Gu Liuguang sighed inwardly. The System couldn’t help but curiously ask what was wrong.

Gu Liuguang said with some regret: 【If it weren’t for the tasks, Lin Zhenshuang would make a pretty good girlfriend.】

The System went quiet for a moment before tentatively saying: 【Maybe she’s not as perfect as you imagine?】

【This isn’t perfect?】 Gu Liuguang asked doubtfully. She didn’t take the System’s words too seriously; she only needed to focus on what the System provided related to the plot.

A City was only a second- or third-tier city. The live-streaming industry was just emerging, and tons of people and organizations desperate to make money flooded the market. A City had become a hub incubating many such young men and women.

Along the beautiful scenery, one could see all sorts of somewhat attractive people in trendy clothes—men and women—thrusting their hips and twisting their waists in front of cameras.

From massive crowds at first, to taking it for granted, all in just a month.

Until it started affecting the cityscape, gradually shifting to other areas or indoor streaming.

Companies registering here and young people coming for interviews sprouted up like bamboo shoots after rain.

The company Gu Liuguang signed with was one of them, and she herself was one of the interviewees.

The company wasn’t large, but it had rented three floors: a lobby on the first, live-streaming rooms, dance practice rooms, and office areas on the second and third.

Smaller companies used office spaces after hours, and some even more frugal ones streamed outdoors.

Gu Liuguang had come twice before: once for the interview, once to handle onboarding.

As soon as she pushed open the door, the noisy lobby quieted down because of her arrival. Some people dropped their files on the floor before snapping out of it. By the time they looked back, Gu Liuguang had already entered the elevator.

Once the elevator doors fully closed, the interviewees couldn’t help asking the company employees.

“Was that girl just now a senior in the company? So pretty…”

“No way? Someone who looks like a model, prettier than celebrities, doing live streaming?”

“Isn’t this a live-streaming company? Lower your standards; why not?”

The girl said it, then turned to the interviewer with a coquettish plea: “Sis, just tell me who that girl was. Please…”

…

The people in the elevator almost held their breath, staring dazedly at the girl standing in front. They had long heard the company signed a stunning beauty, with her photo even posted in the internal group.

The group exploded as soon as it was sent. She was so pretty it was excessive—like a model from a game or animation rather than a real person.

Besides, who didn’t use filters and beautification for live streaming these days?

Even photos could be one-click beautified, painless plastic surgery wherever dissatisfied. Posted online, everyone became top-tier beauties.

Especially in their line of work, exposed to streamers and influencers the most—all stunning online, but ordinary in reality, roadside level without makeup.

Everyone knew it deep down, but it didn’t stop that onboarding photo from becoming legendary in the group. Knowing it was filters and beautification, they still couldn’t help being curious about the newly signed streamer Gu Liuguang.

Until they saw her in person.

She was even more vivid and bright than the photo. Clearly real, yet she didn’t fit in beside them, as if from another dimension.

More like a life-sized exquisite doll, or some legendary soul-sucking seductive ghost that slipped out of God’s masterpiece.

The elevator arrived, and Gu Liuguang stepped out quickly.

As she left, the others followed behind, as if they could still smell the lingering seductive fragrance on her.

There were many dance practice rooms on the third floor. Gu Liuguang found the one per Zhang Ze’s message, pushed the door open, and the music blasted into her ears.

Seeing her enter, Zhang Ze immediately paused the music and hurried over enthusiastically: “Liuguang, you’re here.”

There were a few other girls in the practice room, their gazes also landing on Gu Liuguang.

They had probably been practicing for a while. With the AC on, their clothes were still soaked with sweat.

They wore fitted tops and short skirts, hair tied or loose, self-made makeup giving them a young, green look.

Their gazes had been on the mirror opposite, but with the music stopping, they stopped too, straightened up, and looked toward Gu Liuguang. Their sweat-dampened eyes were full of amazement, looking a bit stunned.

Gu Liuguang had no impression of these people and followed Zhang Ze’s words: “Something came up at home, so I was late.”

By now, she knew not to say she had stayed up late gaming and hadn’t wanted to get up.

Zhang Ze seemed completely unbothered by her lateness, nervous like a green boy. He went to pull a stool over, fumbling awkwardly: “You just got here—want to rest first? Eaten yet? I brought some snacks from a famous A City influencer check-in spot…”

Gu Liuguang had no appetite and directly said she had eaten.

Zhang Ze persisted: “I specially queued to buy these for you. Save them for lunch… Want me to drive you back this afternoon?”

Gu Liuguang frowned. Impatience filled her pretty face, but it didn’t detract from her beauty at all—more like a delicate doll come to life, every move captivating souls.

Zhang Ze’s voice naturally trailed off, almost forgetting to breathe.

Gu Liuguang couldn’t be bothered with even a polite smile. Just as she was about to ask when they would start practicing, a door-push sounded behind her.

Gu Liuguang turned to look. A tall, aloof woman stood at the door, wearing a tight tank top and loose black long pants. Seeing Gu Liuguang, she paused, then walked coldly toward the items stacked by the mirror.

As they brushed shoulders, Gu Liuguang seemed to smell a clear, cool hair fragrance on her.

The woman had her hair tied up, bare-faced, very much like the cool danfeng-eyed ice mountain beauties Gu Liuguang often scrolled on short videos: faint brows and lips, cold white skin, beauty aggressively striking.

Gu Liuguang had been around here a while; good-looking people weren’t rare, but few met her aesthetic standards.

Her fox-like, enchanting eyes stared straight at the girl. With one blink, her gaze turned watery. She lightly bit her red lip, then released it, asking the System in her mind: 【Does this girl have anything to do with me?】

System: 【…Yes.】

Afraid Gu Liuguang might get ideas, the System hurriedly added: 【You’re just clean colleagues. Don’t do anything rash.】

Gu Liuguang smiled without speaking, still curiously looking at the girl.

Her gaze was direct and scorching; it was hard to ignore.

That was how Zhang Xibai felt. Even accustomed to being the center of attention, she couldn’t ignore Gu Liuguang’s gaze.

In truth, from the moment she entered, Gu Liuguang’s face kept popping into her mind—a face so pretty it didn’t seem real.

Passing by her, she smelled the intense, bewitching fragrance on Gu Liuguang. She should have hated such an overpowering scent invading her territory, but Zhang Xibai, with absolute control over her body, felt rigid all over. She nearly forgot how to move her limbs, even forgetting how she reached the cabinet.

She lingered in front of her backpack for a long while before remembering to grab her phone. Noticing Gu Liuguang staring, she frowned, her cheeks faintly heating. She turned to Gu Liuguang, eyes cold: “Late, and now waiting for others to teach you? Don’t think scraping by on base salary means you learn nothing.”

Zhang Ze snapped back and hurriedly smoothed things over. Knowing Zhang Xibai came through connections, he didn’t dare offend her, only cautiously saying: “Liuguang was late because of family matters. We’ll start now, start now.”

Gu Liuguang said nothing. She withdrew her gaze from Zhang Xibai, took off her bag. Zhang Ze eagerly put it away for her, whispering comfort: “Teacher Zhang is like that. She’s not targeting you specifically. Don’t take it to heart.”

He had just said two sentences when Zhang Xibai coldly called him: “If you’re free, go downstairs and get some water.”

At that, Gu Liuguang glanced at Zhang Xibai again. Zhang Xibai’s voice cut off.

But before she could say anything, Gu Liuguang looked away and casually took a spot.

Seeing no one paying him attention, Zhang Ze muttered he was going downstairs for water and left.

As Gu Liuguang stood there, a girl nearby quietly greeted her: “You’re so pretty. Can we add WeChat later?”

Gu Liuguang’s pretty face showed no expression as she nodded and said okay.

The other didn’t mind, just kept sniffing.

Seeing Gu Liuguang uninterested in Zhang Xibai, the System relaxed and dutifully began introducing the character background.

【Zhang Xibai is the second female lead who secretly crushes on the female protagonist. Don’t think she’s ordinary; she’s actually a super rich second-gen. This is her friend’s company, short on dance teachers, so they called her to “play” for a couple days. She hasn’t told anyone her identity.】

【You offended Zhang Xibai here in the company. Out of ugly jealousy and hatred of the rich, you kept opposing her. She ignored you until you met again later and exploded, directly “selling” you to another company.】

Gu Liuguang raised a brow. She actually thought Zhang Xibai seemed happy to pay her attention. In her time in A City, people with attitudes like Zhang Xibai’s weren’t absent.

She didn’t refute the System, just teased the one in her mind with a playful tone:

【Iceberg beauty procuress? Interesting.】