Nachdem ich als Kanonenfutter wiedergeboren wurde, wünsche ich mir nichts sehnlicher als die Scheidung

Kapitel 1

Chapter 1 I Can't Be Acting

Zhou Paihuai is a person with mild social anxiety. After graduating from university, he was unable to find a suitable job because he was not good at speaking. So he started submitting articles on websites and became a third-rate writer who stayed at home. He barely made a living by working hard to update his blog every day.

It's 11:52 PM on July 31st, and there are only 8 minutes left until next month. Zhou Paihuai is still working hard in front of her computer because she is 376 words short of achieving the 10,000-word attendance target for this month. On average, she needs to type at least 47 words per minute to realize her plan to buy skins and follow her idol next month.

In a life-or-death race against time, Zhou Peihuai unleashed her full potential. The plot flashed through her mind at lightning speed, and her fingers moved across the keyboard like she was in battle. Finally, at 11:59, she had written a full 10,000 words. But when she pressed the send button, she collapsed directly in front of her computer desk.

When Zhou Paihuai woke up, she was being held in the arms of a handsome man with long hair and delicate features. The man had a gloomy face but a cold smile on his lips. He said, "Ah Xin, if you die, I will make the gods, demons and immortals pay for your death." He was so handsome and dashing that if Zhou Paihuai hadn't been a woman who liked women, she would have been mesmerized by his gaze.

Wait a minute, why does this sentence sound so damn familiar? Before Zhou Huai could figure out where the sentence came from, he heard an angry "click" sound in his ear, and the next second he was thrown out by the handsome man.

Good heavens! Is this some kind of murder plot? Poor thing, her old back just snapped with a crack. Could it really be broken?

"Zhou Paihuai, who told you to open your eyes? Do you even want to act anymore?" Before Zhou Paihuai could complain, the person who had just yelled "Cut!" immediately started spiking, "If you don't want to act, then get lost! There are plenty of people who want to act!"

Zhou Paihuai got up from the ground, completely bewildered. What was this hot-tempered guy talking about? Who acted, and what did he act?

Wait, that name, A-Xin, sounds familiar. And what the handsome man just said—wasn't that from one of her novels? Because the dialogue was so melodramatic, she'd been teased by both new and old readers for a long time, which is why she could still remember it after all this time. Was this a dream? But she felt immense pain when she was thrown down; this couldn't be a dream. Could it be that she'd unlucky enough to transmigrate into her own novel and become the tragic heroine?

This doesn't make sense. If this really happened in her own novel, then who was this person cursing? How could a male lead, in the midst of a "wife-chasing-after-the-cremation" phase, curse the female lead and still be alive? What kind of bizarre plot is this? Even more terrifying is that he just shouted "Zhou Paihuai himself!" To figure out what was going on, Zhou Paihuai ignored the handsome man in front of her and started looking around. Hmm? Why are there cameras and tripods all around her, and a green fluorescent backdrop very close to her...? Good heavens, is she filming a movie?

"Director Xie, please don't be angry. Sister Paihuai is probably not feeling well, that's why she's not in good condition." A sweet female voice rang out, directly confirming Zhou Paihuai's guess.

However, the woman spoke in a sarcastic tone, seemingly pleading for her, but actually only enraging a serious director. Sure enough, Director Xie became even angrier after hearing this, yelling, "Unwell, unwell! Filming has only been going on for half a month, and she's been unwell for ten days, wasting so many people's time... ...Is she the reincarnation of Lin Daiyu?"

"... ..." Zhou Paihuai: Should I thank you for praising my looks?

The handsome man finally stepped forward to ease the tense atmosphere on set: "Director, how about we take a break and continue later?"

Director Xie's anger subsided after a while. After all, she was the female lead he had promised, and her appearance did indeed match the original character very well. So he accepted the offer: "Okay, then..."

"No need to continue, I'm not acting anymore!" Director Xie was interrupted by Zhou Paihuai before he could finish speaking. Although she still didn't understand what was going on, Zhou Paihuai refused to act. Whether she was dreaming or had really gone to another world and become a different person, she couldn't act no matter what.

With just one sentence, all eyes were drawn to her. Some of the extras were so surprised that their jaws almost dropped. They had been in the film studio for so long and had seen many big stars, but this was the first time they had ever seen an actor who would twist her neck and tell the director that she wouldn't act. And this one wasn't even that famous, was she?

Director Xie's gaze was almost murderous. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Say it again, you're not going to act?"

This director is really fierce. Zhou Paihuai was terrified, but this only strengthened her resolve—she vowed never to be a wage earner, especially not when faced with a boss who seemed to have a manic personality, and having to do things she was completely bad at. In fact, besides being socially anxious, she was also expressionless. The more nervous she was, the less her facial expressions could switch with her mood. Asking her to act was a disaster. She was doing this for the good of the director and the crew.

"Hmm!" Zhou Huaihuai had a rich inner monologue, but when it came to the words, he could only utter this one word crisply.

Assistant Tang Xiaole was almost in tears. Today was the first time she had accompanied Zhou Paihuai to the set alone. How could this happen? Zhou Paihuai had begged and pleaded with her agent, Cheng Minxin, for this role. Who would have thought that after only half a month of acting, she would want to quit? How was she going to explain this to Sister Cheng?

Cheng Minxin is a top agent, and it's impossible for her to only have Zhou Paihuai, a hopeless case, under her management. In fact, the reason Cheng Minxin sent the two of them alone today was to accompany a popular celebrity to his birthday party, which is why Tang Xiaole made several calls but no one answered.

Left with no other option, Cheng Minxin had to step forward and apologize to Director Xie: "Director, Zhouzhou had a high fever last night and might still be a little confused. How about I take her home first, and then Sister Cheng will bring her over to apologize to you in person?" By bringing up Cheng Minxin, she hoped that Director Xie would give her some face, since they were all in the same industry and would run into each other frequently.

"An apology? I don't think it's necessary!" Surprisingly, Director Xie wasn't as angry as before. After all, the actor now was Zhou Paihuai herself, not him. Although filming had already started for half a month, changing the actor would indeed delay the schedule considerably. However, this way, he could give an explanation to the producer who specifically requested Zhou Paihuai. Getting rid of Zhou Paihuai and replacing him with an obedient and easy-going actor might allow them to make up for the lost half a month. "I've already given Minxin face once. If she were here, she definitely wouldn't ask me to give her face a second time. Our crew is too small to accommodate Miss Zhou's greatness."

"Director Xie—" The assistant wanted to say something more, but Zhou Paihuai had already started looking for the door to leave the set, and cheerfully added, "Hurry up and go!"

... ...

The birthday party of popular celebrity Shen Yiduo was drawing to a close, and everything went smoothly. Cheng Minxin instructed her assistant to take more photos so that she could buy a trending topic later to maintain the buzz for a while. She then took out her phone, assuring her assistant that she wouldn't have to keep an eye on things anymore.

When Cheng Minxin turned on her phone, she saw a lot of unanswered calls, all from Tang Xiaole. Could it be that Zhou Paihuai was up to something again? Before she could even call back, a trending topic popped up on Weibo.

#Zhou Paihuai walks off set to strike#

#Zhou Paihuai Xie Dao#

#Zhou Huahuai Get Out of the Entertainment Industry#

#Unprofessional actor Zhou Paihuai#

... ...

There are one trending topic after another about Zhou Paihuai. If you click on any of them, the top ones are all insults directed at her. Zhou Paihuai debuted with a face that could be called divine in the entertainment industry, but over the years, instead of attracting fans based on her looks as she and her management company had predicted, she has attracted a bunch of haters that she can't shake off. They would go to her super topic to curse her when she didn't have any work, let alone now.

Cheng Minxin didn't have time to look at it any further and immediately called Tang Xiaole.

"Sister Cheng—"

Tang Xiaole's soft voice came through the microphone. Cheng Minxin didn't waste any more words with her and asked directly, "Are you with Zhou Heihuai now? Where are you?"

"At home."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Cheng Minxin asked where the two were now, and didn't say anything more.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Tang Xiaole went to open the door with a tearful face. It wasn't that she was afraid of being scolded; after such a big blunder, she deserved to be scolded. It was just that she had been trying to persuade Zhou Paihuai for so long, but Zhou Paihuai was completely unresponsive and even thought about quitting the entertainment industry. How was she going to explain this to Sister Cheng?

The door opened, and Cheng Minxin saw that only Tang Xiaole was there. She almost laughed in anger: "Has she been looking at her phone lately? How is she now?"

"She..." Tang Xiaole said, forcing herself to speak, "Sister Cheng, Zhou Zhou... she said she wants to retire from the entertainment industry!"

"What?"

--------------------

Author's Note:

My new story is out; it's about the entertainment industry. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 2 "Exorbitant" Penalties for Breach of Contract

"Where is she?" Cheng Minxin felt that things were a bit beyond her expectations. Zhou Paihuai was indeed a bit willful, but she really wanted to stay in the entertainment industry and make a name for herself. Could there be something else behind her walkout on set that made her say she was leaving the industry?

Tang Xiaole glanced at the study and said, "He's in the study."

As Cheng Minxin walked towards the study, she asked, "What grievances did she suffer on set today?" She trusted Director Xie's character, but it was inevitable that some people would visit the set. Since she wasn't there at the time, Tang Xiaole couldn't handle it.

Tang Xiaole shook her head. Although she was Zhou Paihuai's assistant, she couldn't lie through her teeth. What happened on set today was purely her artist's problem, and no one had bullied her. However, Zhou Paihuai's behavior was really strange, so she said, "Sister Cheng, you really have to talk to Zhou Zhou. She's acting really strange today."

Cheng Minxin pushed open the study door. Zhou Paihuai was staring at the computer screen, which was open on Weibo—she was looking at her trending topics, all of them negative. This was purely Tang Xiaole's negligence as an assistant; how could she let Zhou Paihuai look at social media at a time like this? She glared at Tang Xiaole, then quickly went over and unplugged the power cord.

"Ah—!" Zhou Huai let out a short cry. She was really scared to death when the computer screen suddenly went black.

Turning around, Zhou Paihuai's first sight was of the assistant, but the aura of the mature woman next to her was so powerful that it was impossible to ignore her. If he wasn't mistaken, this should be Cheng Minxin, the original owner's manager; she was indeed a strong woman.

"How long have you been watching the trending topics?" Before Zhou Paihuai could speak, Cheng Minxin pulled up a chair and sat down opposite her. "So, what are your thoughts after seeing all this?"

Zhou Paihuai did have some thoughts. She hadn't expected the original owner of this body to have so many haters. She scrolled through hundreds of comments on almost every trending topic, but couldn't find a single person speaking up for her. Curiosity led her to search for the original owner on forums, where almost all the comments were insults and calls for her to leave the entertainment industry. Tsk, Zhou Paihuai really hadn't expected the original owner to be in such a bad situation. But this should make it easy for her to leave the industry, since she didn't bring much profit to the company, and the company still had to pay her a salary and find her resources.

Thinking this through, Zhou Paihuai grabbed Cheng Minxin's hands and said, "Sister Cheng, I've finally figured it out. This industry really isn't for me. I think I should leave it."

Cheng Minxin originally wanted to hear her "explanation" and then give her some advice, but now that she saw that she was not joking, she instantly put away her smile: "Leaving the entertainment industry is not impossible, but are you sure you can bear the consequences?"

"What... consequences?" Zhou Paihuai felt a little guilty. He didn't know how long the original owner had signed the "contract of servitude." However, the original owner wasn't a top-tier celebrity, so the penalty for breach of contract shouldn't be too much, right?

"Three years ago you joined 'Genesis.' There were plenty of talented people better than you. To show your sincerity, you proactively offered a ten-year contract. Now it's only the third year, and even the lowest possible penalty for breach of contract would be at least seven figures. Besides the penalty with 'Genesis,' you currently have about three acting contracts—two TV series and one movie. If you were to retire from the industry, that would also be considered a breach of contract, and the specific penalty would need to be negotiated, but it would be no less than the company's. In addition, although you don't have many endorsements, the contract lengths are all quite long..."

"Wait... wait a minute—" Zhou Paihuai finally couldn't help but interrupt Cheng Minxin, "How much money do I have now?" Since the penalty for breach of contract is so high, the original owner should have had quite a bit of savings after three years in the industry, right? Even if she loses all her wealth, she doesn't want to act.

"Heh." Cheng Minxin sneered twice. "As your manager, I can tell you with certainty that you have practically no money in your account. Even this apartment was rented for you by the company. If you want to retire from the entertainment industry and terminate your contract with the company, you'll be homeless in no time!"

"No way?" Zhou Huaihuai's eyes widened suddenly. "I'm a celebrity, after all." Aren't celebrities supposed to be paid a lot? Or did she transmigrate in the wrong way? She doesn't have any wealth at all.

"Yes, you're a celebrity, but after three years in the industry, you've only attracted a bunch of haters you can't shake off, and you don't have a correspondingly large fanbase to handle them, so your commercial value is practically zero." Cheng Minxin opened her phone's memo app and slammed it in front of her. "Even though the company doesn't believe in you, and the market doesn't believe in you, I've secured so many resources for you over the years. Now you want to retire from the industry just like that? Is this how you treat me?" Cheng Minxin grew angrier the more she thought about it. She still remembered Zhou Paihuai three years ago, her eyes filled with ambition and sparkle. A long time had passed, and her acting career hadn't been particularly smooth, but the sparkle and ambition in her eyes had never disappeared, so Cheng Minxin was willing to continue investing in her. But today, when she said she wanted to retire, it was definitely not a joke, because the ambition to continue had vanished from her eyes.

Zhou Paihuai remained silent, head bowed. She could hear the disappointment in Cheng Minxin's tone. She wasn't ungrateful; she could sense the kindness in Cheng's disappointment. But even so, she couldn't, or perhaps dared not, stay in this industry. She didn't know what kind of person the original owner was, but she imagined she must have been incredibly strong. After all, she endured so much abuse every day, receiving no encouragement from the outside world, yet she still managed to persevere. But she was different. Zhou Paihuai knew very well that she was sensitive and fragile. Although she hadn't looked for a job after graduation because of social anxiety, it was more because she was afraid of facing setbacks. She didn't have the original owner's courage.

Cheng Minxin quickly calmed down. Knowing she couldn't push him too hard, she said, "I'll give you three days to think it over. I'll hold off Director Xie for now. I hope to see you on set in three days."

"I... ..."

“Don’t even think about refusing. ‘Genesis’ has never been a philanthropist. If you can raise the penalty for breach of contract in these three days, it’s not too late to leave the industry.” Seeing that she still wanted to refuse, Cheng Minxin didn’t give her the chance. “Xiaole, change all her social media account passwords and come back to the company with me.”

“...Okay!” Tang Xiaole immediately took out her phone and started operating. In order to deal with emergencies, the company had almost every artist’s social media account linked to the company’s mobile phone, so changing the password was easy.

Zhou hesitated, speechless. Was it really necessary to be so wary of her? She was an adult, and she wasn't completely ignorant of the law. A negotiated withdrawal from the entertainment industry with the company was completely different from a hasty withdrawal on her own. At the very least, the amount of the breach of contract penalty was different. She wasn't incapable of doing the math.

After seeing Cheng Minxin and Tang Xiaole off, Zhou Paihuai finally had a chance to catch her breath. Although she had acted normally earlier, it was all an act. The original owner of this body was an orphan, but she had spent the most time with this manager surnamed Cheng, and Zhou Paihuai was afraid of giving herself away in front of Cheng Minxin. Fortunately, Cheng Minxin didn't notice anything wrong, so she had passed this hurdle, and no one should suspect her anymore. However, she still turned on her computer, intending to look at more information about the original owner of this body.

As for the penalty for breach of contract, even if she were incredibly capable, she couldn't possibly earn that much money in just three days. Besides, she's not particularly good at making money, so she can only put it off for now and see if things take a turn for the better in the next few days.

Chapter 3 The Hater Leader

The internet was still flooded with insults directed at her, but since Zhou Paihuai wasn't the original owner of the body, she wasn't too affected. She even considered herself an outsider and enjoyed watching the drama unfold.

Among so many haters, Zhou Paihuai even recognized one with the ID "Entertainment Circle is not worthy of Zhou Paihuai". This person openly used this ID on Weibo, forums, groups, and Baidu Tieba, sparing no effort to spread dirt on the original person.

It's rare to encounter such a genuinely passionate hater. Zhou Paihuai wondered what the original owner had done to this little hater. Out of curiosity, Zhou Paihuai created a new account on Weibo and went directly to the hater's profile. The hater's hatred for the original owner ran deep; even the profile cover was an unflattering photo of the original owner that showed her offending her stylist. Just how unflattering? Zhou Paihuai recalled the original owner's appearance. Well, to put it simply, most people seeing her face would never imagine she could be so ugly.

As Zhou Paihuai watched, the hater was quite dedicated. She wasn't just hating for the sake of hating; she had watched every single drama the original owner had acted in over the years, some more than once, singled out and mercilessly criticized the original owner's awkward acting, making her criticisms well-founded. Zhou Paihuai watched these edited videos with great interest, and couldn't agree more. After all, the original owner's acting was indeed incredibly awkward, especially distracting... She had no idea that she had now become the original owner, and if she couldn't figure out how to raise the breach of contract fee within three days, she would be the one acting in the drama.

Time always flies when you're in front of the computer. Zhou Paihuai glanced at the time and realized she'd been reading about the original owner's dirty laundry for over two hours without even realizing it; her neck was aching. She stood up, rubbed her neck, and took out the original owner's phone. She could trust the agent's words, but not entirely. The original owner had been in the entertainment industry for so many years; she couldn't possibly have no savings. She decided to calculate how much money she had left.

Only after turning on her phone did Zhou Paihuai realize that her agent hadn't lied to her; her Taobao and WeChat balances were only a few cents each. She had linked several bank cards, but when she tried to transfer more than three digits, each card would immediately show insufficient funds. This guy's account was even cleaner than when she was at her lowest point. How did he manage that?

"Ah, the heavens are against me!" Zhou Paihuai sighed to the sky, then lay flat on the bed. She was so tired, both physically and mentally. Others who transmigrate, even if they don't have any cheat codes, can at least become rich second-generation or official second-generation. But she was already in debt. She wondered if sleeping would make it all a dream. She was already starting to miss her keyboard.

... ...

Zhou was still asleep and had no idea that Cheng Minxin had called an emergency meeting after returning because of her, even though only she and her assistant Tang Xiaole were present.

"Now tell me exactly what happened on set, without missing a single detail."

"At first it was fine, the crew was just filming normally, but later Zhou Zhou suddenly opened her eyes during filming, so she was scolded by the director, and then... and then Yu Wanwan added fuel to the fire, so Zhou Zhou just said she wouldn't act anymore." Tang Xiaole recounted the whole story. Yu Wanwan was the woman with the sweet voice. She was also an artist under Chuangshi, but her relationship with Zhou Huipai had never been good.

"Yu Wanwan?" Cheng Minxin frowned. "Why is it her again? Did Zhou Paihuai directly confront Director Xie?"

Tang Xiaole shook her head and said, "No, that's not the case."

"That's good!" Cheng Minxin breathed a sigh of relief. "Here's what we'll do: I'll call Director Xie first, and you can contact the other staff on set. Also, find some people to control the online comments, and make sure no one can definitively say that she's quitting."

"good!"

The news is spreading like wildfire online, trending on social media one after another, but all of it is based on "insider information," and no one has come forward with concrete evidence against her. In the internet age, things are a mix of truth and falsehood, and as long as there's no solid proof, things can still be salvaged.

"Director Xie, it's me, Xiao Cheng." Cheng Minxin had already gotten through to Director Xie. "I know about Zhouzhou's incident. She was really too willful today. I've already given her a good talking-to. When do you have time to come out for a meal? It's on me! ... ...Yes, yeah... ...How could that be? Zhouzhou has been filming with you all this time. Don't you know her? She respects you very much! ... ...Okay, I'll definitely make her apologize to you properly then!"

Cheng Minxin's expression wasn't good after hanging up the phone. During the call, Director Xie seemed to have given her plenty of face, never explicitly refusing her, but he hadn't followed through on her points. When she offered to treat him to a meal, Director Xie declined, saying they could do it another time. It seemed unlikely that Zhou Paihuai would be able to return to the film crew this time.

Cheng Minxin was in a terrible state because of her phone call with Director Xie, and Tang Xiaole was in no better shape. Chuangshi Entertainment had many artists and was also an investor in many film and television productions, so keeping quiet from the production crew wouldn't be difficult, just a bit of a hassle. However, online public opinion was something a mere assistant like her couldn't control. Zhou Paihuai had too many haters, and unlike fans, they didn't consider the impact on their idol before making statements. They dared to say whatever came to mind, and the greater the impact on Zhou Paihuai, the happier they were.

For example, this person, "The entertainment industry is no match for Zhou Paihuai," seems to have no idea what she does, but she's obviously very free. In just the past two hours, she's already posted three blog entries analyzing Zhou Paihuai's personality, firmly believing that given his bad temper, it's entirely possible he'd act like a diva and refuse to perform. Furthermore, despite so many people stirring up trouble, Zhou Paihuai's side hasn't dared to directly confront her, which can only mean this is true. This hater is quite popular, and the general public isn't stupid. If this continues, Zhou Paihuai's already poor public image will only worsen.

"Sister Cheng, how about I contact this hater privately and see if I can get him to delete the post using other methods?" Tang Xiaole thought it over and over and decided to try anything as a last resort.

But Cheng Minxin shook her head and said, "You can try if you want, but this trick usually won't work on this person. You haven't been with Zhou Paihuai for very long, but this hater has been attacking her for three years. You could say this hater was there when Zhou Paihuai debuted. She's quite influential among Zhou Paihuai's haters, so I thought about contacting her, but she's very stubborn and said that unless Zhou Paihuai leaves the entertainment industry, she'll attack her for the rest of her life."