Chapter 67

In mid-March, Leng Xiang finished all her work on the Luxury Goods crew and wrapped up. She returned to her rented house.

Her new rental was in the neighboring complex to her previous apartment. She dragged her suitcase through the door, and the first thing she did was clean.

When she had first moved in, she had dumped her luggage and headed straight to the set, with no time to tidy up at all.

After Leng Xiang had gone back and forth cleaning the entire apartment, she tossed the rag aside and took a thorough, refreshing shower in the bathroom. She emerged in her pajamas and flopped straight onto the sofa.

Her phone chimed with a “ding,” notifying her of a new text message. Leng Xiang lazily groped for the phone, unlocked it, and took a look.

【Your savings account ending in XXXX received a transfer of RMB 3,826,550.00 on March 15 at 19:23. Current balance: RMB 7,342,341.45. [ICBC]】

Leng Xiang shot up from the sofa in an instant, phone in hand, and started counting the digits in her current balance.

She counted once, finished, and found it hard to believe. Thinking she had miscounted, she input it again.

After counting three times, she clutched the phone and fell back, lying flat on the sofa.

It had been years since she had seen so much money. Even at the height of her fame, her savings had never reached a full seven million.

Seven million.

Leng Xiang silently calculated that it should be enough to buy a slightly out-of-the-way house in B City, nothing too spacious.

She rolled over once on the sofa, suddenly feeling like her future was bright.

Money really was a wonderful thing.

Just as she was sighing over it, the doorbell rang.

Leng Xiang went to open the door. She first peeked through the peephole and, seeing Shen Cheng standing outside, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly let her in.

Shen Cheng slipped inside like a thief. Leng Xiang closed the door behind her.

Shen Cheng said, “No problems. I was very careful the whole way—no one followed me.”

Ever since Liu Lingshu had tailed Shen Cheng to find Leng Xiang’s address last time, even Shen Cheng had learned her lesson. She no longer came over during the day but took a cab at night. Once she got out, she had to scan her surroundings to make sure no one was around before entering the complex gate.

Shen Cheng changed into slippers and followed Leng Xiang into the living room. She glanced around, taking a close look at Leng Xiang’s new place.

Shen Cheng said, “This is no different from where you lived before.”

Leng Xiang replied, “Neighboring complex, same layout—yeah, no real difference.”

Shen Cheng asked, “After your mom found you… did she ask you for money?”

Leng Xiang got up to pour her a glass of water in the kitchen and set it on the coffee table. “Of course. What else would she want from me?”

Shen Cheng sucked in a sharp breath. “Sorry. I had no idea she’d follow me.”

Leng Xiang said, “It’s fine. She won’t stop until she gets money from me— it was bound to happen eventually.”

Shen Cheng hesitated, then asked, “How much did you give her?”

Leng Xiang: “Ten thousand a month.”

Shen Cheng let out a breath of relief. “That’s not too bad—not a huge amount.”

Leng Xiang gave a cold laugh. “That won’t satisfy her. She’ll be back for more.”

Shen Cheng said worriedly, “So what are you going to do?”

Leng Xiang replied, “Drag it out as long as I can. We’ll deal with the future when it comes. There’ll be a way.”

Leng Xiang paused, then said, “Anyway, enough about that. What about the variety show you messaged me about yesterday on WeChat? Any updates?”

Shen Cheng: “Right, that’s exactly why I came over.”

Shen Cheng reached for the bag she’d casually tossed on the sofa, rummaged through it, and pulled out a thick stack of documents.

Shen Cheng said, “This variety show was originally set to start recording in early March, but when the production team heard you hadn’t finished your movie yet, they postponed it until now.”

Leng Xiang took the stack of documents, her fingers pausing on the first page.

The first page boldly proclaimed Love Diary in big characters, with a little heart drawn beside it, colored in red pen.

Pretty cute.

Shen Cheng continued, “I had signed the preliminary agreement with them before the New Year, saying you’d definitely wrap up and join by early March. But you only got back mid-March, and I was worried about breaching the contract and having to explain. Worst case, they might replace you and we’d have to pay compensation.”

“But they didn’t say a word—just waited for you to join. Their sincerity is top-notch.”

Leng Xiang was inwardly astonished.

In all her years acting, she had never received treatment like this.

The entire crew waiting for her alone, and they didn’t show even a hint of impatience.

In the end, it was all thanks to Jiang Sisi’s influence. No matter how much dirt an actor had in the past—even an eighteenth-tier one—coming out of Jiang Sisi’s production was enough to catapult them straight to A-list status.

And that recent live press conference incident with Jiang Sisi had blown up across the entire internet.

Shen Cheng said, “This variety show’s getting attention from all the major platforms—they all want to buy the broadcast rights. And guess how much they’re offering for your appearance fee?”

Leng Xiang asked, “How much?”

Shen Cheng: “Guess.”

Leng Xiang rarely saw Shen Cheng being so coy, so she got a bit interested and guessed, “Eight hundred thousand?”

Shen Cheng shook her head. “You haven’t done variety in years—you don’t know the current rates.”

Leng Xiang grew more curious. “One million?”

Shen Cheng said regretfully, “You’re an A-lister now. Know your worth—your market value is high.”

Leng Xiang: “…No way, five million?”

Shen Cheng shook her head again and held up fingers to show the number.

Leng Xiang exclaimed in shock, “Nine million?!”

Shen Cheng confirmed, “Yes, nine million. It could’ve been higher, but there’s policy from above capping artist fees on variety shows at ten million. Otherwise, they might’ve gone straight to ten for you.”

Leng Xiang drew in a sharp breath and didn’t recover for a long moment.

What did nine million even mean?

Aside from the ten million lead role fee from Jiang Sisi, it was the most money Leng Xiang had ever seen since debuting.

Shen Cheng went on, “The company takes thirty percent, you get seventy—as compensation. So that’s six point three million RMB for you.”

Adding that to the over seven million already in her account, she could pick a nicer place in B City.

Leng Xiang snapped out of the overwhelming info and instinctively flipped through the documents.

Love Diary.

This variety show featured three men, three women, and one host living together for three months in a villa called the Love Cottage. The main task: fake dating.

It had two parts. One was live streaming: one full day a week with links on major video sites where viewers could watch the seven people’s dating routines in real time—raw and unedited, archived for replays anytime.

The other was traditional recorded episodes: every Saturday at 8 PM, edited by the post-production team and uploaded online like any regular variety show.

Leng Xiang looked baffled. “What does that mean?”

Shen Cheng explained, “Three guys, three girls pretending to date. You might need to get a little flirty with one of the male actors—it’s all scripted. Just follow it. Easier than acting.”

Leng Xiang: “…People actually watch this stuff?”

Shen Cheng: “Tons do. Dating shows have been around and successful for ages, but this one’s hook is the weekly live day.”

Leng Xiang had zero interest in fake dating, but six point three million? Very interested.

Three months of free food, board, and pay—just follow the script and pretend. Not hard. Easy money.

And once she had it, she’d have her house.

Leng Xiang thought it over and asked, “Who else is on it?”

Shen Cheng said, “I heard Lu Rui’s another female guest. Male side: Yi Jing and Xu Xingche. Don’t know the rest.”

Those names all sounded familiar.

Lu Rui was a newcomer from Excellence Media. Last year, when Leng Xiang had auditioned for a maid role in a harem drama that Shen Cheng had fought hard to get her, Yu Shan had made things difficult. Yu Shan had an inside lock on the second female lead, but Jiang Sisi vetoed it, giving the role to Lu Rui instead—one of Shen Cheng’s other new talents.

Timeline-wise, Lu Rui had probably just wrapped her drama and jumped straight to the Love Diary crew.

Yi Jing owned the KTV next to Black Pool Bar. Handsome guy, originally just running his business seriously until customers snapped pics online and he accidentally went viral. With money already, he smoothly entered entertainment as a trendy little fresh meat—pretty popular.

Xu Xingche was one of the three male supporting roles in Luxury Goods, a newbie who had only done TV dramas before. It was his first film.

He had wrapped before the New Year and, surprisingly, got invited to this variety show too.

Leng Xiang didn’t have much impression of him—just that he was clear-featured and handsome, with a gentle, warm personality.

Leng Xiang asked, “Isn’t it seven people? Who’s the host?”

Shen Cheng said, “Rumor is they invited Jiang Sisi—not sure if she’ll take it.”

Leng Xiang tossed the documents aside. “I’m in.”

Decisive and firm.

Shen Cheng was still a bit worried. “But you know that thing with Jiang Sisi’s live press conference where she spoke up for you… there are still tons of people online saying you two are ambiguously involved. You okay with that?”

Leng Xiang fell silent.

They weren’t entirely wrong.

Leng Xiang: “I can handle it.”

Seeing her resolve, Shen Cheng could only respect it. “Alright, I’ll pass the word along then. It’s a rare chance. You’ve finally reached this level—variety shows boost popularity, and making bank while you can is smart… but still, be careful with everything.”

Leng Xiang: “I know.”

Shen Cheng was already pros at handling PR. The next day, the related topic trended on Weibo.

# Leng Xiang Love Diary #