Zhou Huai frowned slightly and said, "It's not that I can't say. The reason I can memorize these lines quickly is because I like watching dramas. Basically, these lines are all similar, so I might be more familiar with them. Also, my agent is quite strict with me. I basically have to memorize all the lines before joining the crew."
"..." Zheng Xinyu didn't believe this explanation at all. He and Zhou Paihuai were the same agent, and he had never heard of having to memorize all the lines before joining a production. If it were really that strict, how many artists would Sister Cheng have left? Just as Zheng Xinyu was about to confirm, he suddenly remembered that Sister Cheng's favorite artist was Zhou Paihuai, so it was possible that she was strict with her in private.
Zhou Paihuai didn't know whether others believed him or not, but judging from Yang Anqi's expression, she seemed to really believe him. The way she looked at Zhou Paihuai now was with admiration, which was obviously different from her previous annoyance.
"Is it... really that amazing?" Yang Anqi's tone was like that of a little fangirl.
"..." Zhou hesitated, speechless, and could only give her an awkward smile.
Chapter 39 A Cliff-like Drop in Acting Skills
In the past, after a day of filming, Yang Anqi would leave surrounded by a group of assistants, but today was different. She sent all her assistants away and went to Zhou Paihuai's side, casually putting her arm around her.
Zhou Paihuai stiffened. Although she didn't have any skin allergies, she was still a little uncomfortable being touched by a stranger. And while she and Yang Anqi were colleagues, they were definitely not acquaintances.
"Is there something you need?" Zhou asked as he spoke to her, subtly pulling his arm away and quietly moving to the side, distancing himself from Yang Anqi.
Although Yang Anqi is not young, she's still a little princess at home. Now that she's joined her own agency and is used to being pampered by everyone, she's clearly immature and acts like a child. If it were anyone else, they would definitely keep their distance from Zhou Paihuai, but not her. She wasn't afraid of losing face and said directly in a pitiful voice, "You look down on me?"
"I didn't!" In fact, she didn't. They were colleagues; there was no need for envy. Zhou Paihuai simply didn't like having too much contact with others. Even with Sister Cheng and Tang Xiaole, it took her a long time to adjust.
Yang Anqi pressed further, "Then why are you avoiding me? Did I target you before and make you angry?"
"... ..." Do you have to be so honest? You even dare to say things that are directed at others.
"I'm not angry. I'm not that idle. If I got angry over such a small thing, I would have died of anger long ago." Zhou Paihuai shook her head to deny it. She didn't like to dwell on these things, and besides, she had long since figured out that Yang Anqi wasn't a good person, but she wasn't particularly malicious either. At most, she was opportunistic and liked to curry favor with powerful people. "But as for memorizing lines, I really can't help you. If you really want to memorize the lines, then go home and put in some effort tonight, just like memorizing a text. The more you memorize, the more you'll naturally memorize them."
"Don't worry, I'll definitely memorize all my lines by tomorrow. I'll try my best!" Yang Anqi seemed completely oblivious to her unspoken meaning.
Zhou Paihuai looked up at the sky speechlessly. With this ability to grasp the key points, she thought she could memorize all the lines? In her next life! She looked down at Yang Anqi's hand clutching her clothes and asked, "It's not about the lines. What exactly do you want? I'm in a hurry to go home!" The thing that working people want to do most is go home after get off work, right? Why is even that happiness being taken away from her?
Actually, Yang Anqi didn't know what she wanted to do by grabbing her, but she immediately said, "I'll take you home, otherwise it'll be too much trouble for you to take a taxi yourself."
Unsolicited kindness is always suspicious, but waiting for a car fully armed is indeed troublesome, so Zhou hesitated and seized the opportunity: "Thank you, where is your car?"
Yang Anqi had no idea where her car was parked; she had a personal driver who drove it for her every day. However, the two eventually found Yang Anqi's car by phone and got in together.
The two sat side by side in the back. Yang Anqi took out her phone and said, "Zhouzhou, let's add each other on WeChat so we can keep in touch."
“Okay!” Zhou Huapai smiled professionally and took out her phone. “I’ll scan your QR code.” Actually, she did this to turn off her WeChat Moments. Although there was nothing she couldn’t see on her Moments, she didn’t want to share her daily life with Yang Anqi.
... ...
Ji Anxi habitually browsed Weibo, and while browsing, she searched for Zhou Paihuai's entry. The two hadn't been in contact for a long time, and she didn't know if Zhou Paihuai was still angry, so she suppressed her urge to chat with her on QQ and decided to do it herself.
There hasn't been much news about Zhou Huapai lately. The search results are either daily bashing from haters or daily declarations of love from fans. There's nothing of value to them.
For some reason, without Zhou Paihuai's company, she lacked the motivation to even play games. If they hadn't never even met, Ji Anxi would have suspected Zhou Paihuai had cursed her. But what's wrong with Zhou Paihuai lately? She hasn't even logged into the game recently. Or has she created another account and found a new gaming partner? Maybe she realized she couldn't win her over and didn't want to waste any more time, so she turned to attacking other haters instead.
The thought of this situation made Ji Anxi feel inexplicably irritated. She knew Zhou Paihuai was an indecisive person, and she had almost been swayed by him and planned to give up on criticizing him. Now it seemed that she had made a fuss over nothing.
So Ji Anxi turned on her computer again. She wanted to edit a video; she wouldn't be happy if she didn't complain about Zhou Paihuai.
Zhou Paihuai has been making far fewer videos lately, and most of them are cameo roles, with no leading roles. Even though there are fewer videos, the amount of footage hasn't decreased, because Zhou Paihuai's acting seems to have declined; her scenes are always awkward.
Ji Anxi was editing the video when she suddenly couldn't help but laugh. Seriously, had Zhou Paihuai turned her acting career into her e-sports career? How could her acting skills get worse with age? It's one thing that her acting skills haven't improved at all over the years, but recently they've plummeted. She's even lost the most basic awareness of finding the camera.
This time, the video editing went more and more smoothly, and she enjoyed it more and more. As she edited, Ji Anxi lost track of time. Only after finishing and posting it in one go did she realize it was already past 2 AM. She hadn't expected it to be so late. However, Ji Anxi wasn't editing this video for the sake of gaining views or anything like that; she was just editing for her own enjoyment, regardless of how late it was.
Just as she was about to shut down the computer, there was a knock on the door. Who else in her house would be up so late? Filled with doubt, Ji Anxi opened the door and saw Ji Anbo, dressed neatly.
"Second Brother, you're only getting back now?" Ji Anxi asked in surprise. "What were you doing there?"
"Shh—" Ji Anbo gestured for her to keep her voice down, "I had a meeting at the company today, so I came back a little late. Don't tell Mom and Dad!"
"A meeting going on until now? Don't your employees have any complaints?" Ji Anxi expressed her doubts. Her second brother had always been good-for-nothing. It was normal for him to have been out partying at nightclubs and come back now, but to say he'd been working all this time was something she simply couldn't believe. "What exactly were you doing?"
"My little darling, please don't raise your voice. Okay, I'll tell you the truth. I really wasn't at the company. I was hiding from someone." Ji Anbo was afraid that Ji Anxi would wake everyone else up, so he told her the truth. "Aren't my parents worried about my marriage lately? They're forcing me to go on blind dates. I've been hiding at a friend's place for several days. I came back so late today to pick up some things."
"Oh, then what do you want from me?" Ji Anxi still values freedom in love. Although her second brother is not young, there is no need for him to go on blind dates. "Hurry up and grab your things and leave."
If he could just grab the things and leave, Ji Anbo wouldn't have wasted any time. The problem is, his door is locked, and he can't get in at all. "If I could get in, I would have already. My parents have locked my room door, and I haven't seen my Dudu for days."
Dudu is an inanimate doll, but it is an indispensable companion in Ji Anbo's life. As her sister, Ji Anxi knows very well how much of a blow it is to Ji Anbo if he doesn't see Dudu for a few days. No wonder he looks like he has dark circles under his eyes. He probably hasn't slept much these past few days.
Ji Anxi said sympathetically, "Then you go first, and I'll try to think of a solution for you tomorrow?"
Ji Anbo had been waiting for her to say that. He held both of her hands and said, "Anxi, my lifelong happiness depends on you. You absolutely have to help me get Dudu!"
"Of course, I know where Mom and Dad hide things, so don't worry!"
Chapter 40: A Regular Guest on the Trending Search List
Because Ji Anxi was still thinking about Ji Anbo, she didn't get up late the next morning, even though she went to bed late. She just happened to catch up with her workaholic family members having breakfast.
"Why is Anxi up so early today?" Ji Chengyi, a former soldier, was always very strict with the younger generation in his family, but he doted on Ji Anxi, his daughter who was born late in life. He didn't restrict her daily life and hoped that she could sleep a little longer.
"The teacher is urging me to submit my paper, so I got up early to work on it!" Ji Anxi was telling the truth. She had chosen an elective course, and the teacher was very strict. Even though it was still the holidays, the teacher kept urging them to submit their papers. "By the way, Dad, are you and Mom going out today?" She wanted to get some information first. If the two of them weren't going out, then she couldn't help her second brother with his affairs.
"We have to go out in a bit. Today we're going to see Mom's friend, your Aunt Zhu. She used to hold you when you were little!" Lin Shuya chimed in. "Do you want to come along? Your Aunt Zhu said she missed you a few days ago!"
"No, I... I still have to finish my thesis!" Ji Anxi refused repeatedly. She had to help her second brother with such a good opportunity.
An hour later, Ji Chengyi and Lin Shuya went out together, while Ji Anxi slipped into the study while Aunt Wen was tidying up in the kitchen. She was very familiar with this place; whenever her parents confiscated something from her since she was a child, she could always find it in this study.
This time was no different. From the corner of the drawer with Ji Anbo's name on it, Ji Anxi successfully obtained the key to Ji Anbo's room. She then smoothly sneaked into Ji Anbo's room and successfully got her hands on the Dudu toy that Ji Anbo had been longing for. However, before leaving, she saw a photo of Zhou Paihuai on Ji Anbo's desk.
"What the hell?" Ji Anxi exclaimed in shock. She picked up the photo and looked at it. It was indeed Zhou Paihuai. She had been criticizing Zhou Paihuai for so many years, there was no way she could be mistaken. But why was Zhou Paihuai's photo in her second brother's room? Could it be that one of Zhou Paihuai's fans was her second brother? It was really unexpected that her second brother would be a fan of celebrities, and Zhou Paihuai no less. This was really too strange.
Just then, Ji Anbo called. Ji Anxi answered the phone and said directly, "Mom and Dad are both out of the house. I got the things. Come back quickly!"
After making the call, Ji Anxi put Zhou Paihuai's photo back in the distance, not intending to mention it to her second brother, as it would be too awkward.
Ji Anxi returned to her room and opened her Weibo account. Although the timing of the video post was inappropriate, she knew that there would be quite a few replies and likes. This was because there would be Zhou Paihuai's haters coming to support her, as well as a few people defending Zhou Paihuai and criticizing her. There would also be some casual viewers who clicked on the recommendation and found the video interesting, so they would watch it, leave a like, or a comment.
But she never expected this video to be so popular, even trending on social media. Was it because Zhou Paihuai is so famous, or was her video editing just that good?
"Brainless haters, do you know how hard Zhou Zhou works?" This was the top comment. It wouldn't be a problem if this came from a true fan of Zhou Paihuai, but it didn't. The person who posted this comment was a popular young actress who was just as famous as Zhou Paihuai, so there was no possibility that she was trying to ride on her popularity.
So where did this Yang Anqi come from? What is her connection with Zhou Paihuai? Why did she suddenly appear under her video, pretending to be a die-hard fan of Zhou Paihuai? Ji Anxi was puzzled. Ji Anxi was very puzzled. If possible, she would even like to pull Yang Anqi over across the internet to ask her.
In fact, Ji Anxi wasn't the only one puzzled by this; Yang Anqi's fans were also baffled. They had set Yang Anqi's Weibo account to special follow, and they were quick to report any updates from her, but they never expected her to post something like this. It's worth noting that while both actresses' acting skills are equally terrible, Yang Anqi has a much better public image than Zhou Paihuai. Many of her fans dislike Zhou Paihuai and often subtly criticize him when he's trending for negative reasons.
Yang Anqi's sudden statement is not only a slap in the face to Zhou Paihuai's haters, but also a burning pain to her own fans.
... ...
Soon, Zhou Paihuai found herself trending on social media again. She could swear to God that she hadn't done anything wrong and didn't want to be a regular on the trending topics, but it was as if the trending topics were watching her, and everything she did could make it to the top of the trending list.
Putting aside the fact that her haters are still targeting her, what's wrong with Yang Anqi? Why is she getting involved like this? What's she trying to gain? What benefits does she get from this? Which powerful figure did she offend that she needs to be punished like this? Does she really not belong in this world?
Zhou Paihuai was so angry he didn't know what to do. He watched the video that Xiaohaifen had posted on Weibo again. To be honest, if the protagonist were different, Xiaohaifen was quite talented; this episode of his吐槽 (tu cao, a type of online commentary/roasting) video was really quite interesting.
As Zhou Paihuai watched, she realized the video was actually quite useful. While she knew her acting was bad, she hadn't realized it was this bad. After watching the video, she had a concrete understanding of her poor acting skills; she could indeed be expressionless, and even her smiles felt awkward.
Zhou Paihuai found a small mirror and started laughing in front of it. She imitated laughing out loud, faking it, genuinely laughing, crying tears of joy, and experiencing extreme happiness followed by sorrow... She felt she imitated them all very well, but why did her face freeze when facing the camera? The original owner of this body could make expressions before; she wasn't expressionless. If this continues, will people suspect that her stiff face is due to plastic surgery?
Yang Anqi called, and Zhou hesitated for a few seconds before answering.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm sorry, Zhou Zhou. When I saw that troll post that video, I got angry and replied with that comment, but now it seems like I've made things even worse." Yang Anqi's apologetic voice came through the microphone. Her intention was definitely for Zhou Paihuai's good, but she didn't expect to send Zhou Paihuai to the top of the trending searches and get a lot of people to criticize her.
"..." What else could Zhou Paihuai say? He even had to comfort her in return, "It's not your fault. I'm used to it. Don't take it to heart. This trending topic will soon be overtaken by other news, and it won't affect me at all."
"But Zhouzhou, you're getting so many insults! I can't stand it, do you want me to create a new account to fight back against those haters for you?"
Given Yang Anqi's incredibly sweet and coquettish tone, it's hard to find another person like her in the world. If she were to actually create a fake account to confront her haters, her identity would be exposed in no time. Yang Anqi herself wouldn't be affected, but considering her previous experience of having her trending topics removed, it's likely that her network of backers will grow considerably.
"Forget it. If you really want to help me, then don't do anything else!"
Yang Anqi had a new idea and said, "How about this, I'll quickly post a Weibo saying that my account has been hacked, that should take down the hype!"
"... ..." Yang Anqi really isn't very capable, but her methods are quite unconventional. If she really does that, isn't she just shifting the blame onto her fans? She doesn't have many fans to begin with, and after these few moves, even fewer will remain. She still wants to retain a few true fans. "Really, there's no need. Just listen to me. It's a rare day off today, so just rest well. Doing a good job filming tomorrow and getting off work early will be the biggest help you can give me."
"Oh well... ..."
Chapter 41 Fanatical Fan Throws Paint
Although she had been trending on social media for a day, it didn't affect Zhou Huaipai's filming at all; she still had to go to the set. However, when she arrived, she noticed that the male lead, the second male lead, and the director were all looking at her with a hint of pity.
It seems that everyone in the crew is a good gossipmonger and a rare kind of insightful person. Perhaps because they have been together for so long, they all know Yang Anqi's character quite well. She may have had good intentions, but she ended up doing something bad.
The director said, "Zhou Zhou seems to be in pretty good shape today. We'll film your scenes first, and if there aren't any major problems, I'll give you half a day off this afternoon."
Although she didn't say it directly, Zhou Paihuai knew very well that this was a special treatment the director was giving her. She hadn't been thinking about asking for this special treatment, but since the director had kindly offered it, she wouldn't refuse.
"Thank you, Director. I'll definitely do my best and make sure I don't hold everyone back!"
After saying this, Zhou Paihuai threw herself into filming, and the shoot went very smoothly. However, just as Zhou Paihuai's scenes were about to be completed, a commotion suddenly broke out on set, immediately drawing her attention.
Seeing a group of people standing at the entrance of the film set holding flowers and gifts, Zhou Paihuai realized that someone had come to visit the set. A few days ago, the director said that fans could be invited to visit the set, so Yang Anqi and the others' assistants had started arranging fan visits to increase fan engagement.
Zhou Paihuai didn't have an assistant, and she didn't like this kind of thing at all, so she wasn't sad about it and forgot that today was the day Yang Anqi's fans came to visit the set.
Yang Anqi's fans were all very excited. Regardless of whether Yang Anqi could see them or not, they waved their arms vigorously from a distance, hoping to get a response from her. If it were before the birthday party, Zhou Paihuai would have been very envious of Yang Anqi, but now she wasn't at all, because she also had true fans willing to help her out, even though the number of her true fans couldn't compare to the size of Yang Anqi's fanbase.
"What are you laughing at?" Zheng Xinyu, who was acting opposite Zhou Huaihuai, suddenly asked.
Because of the arrival of visiting fans, Zhou Paihuai and Zheng Xinyu, who were originally acting opposite each other, had their attention diverted, and filming was temporarily suspended. Therefore, Zhou Paihuai did not realize that Zheng Xinyu's attention was actually entirely on her, and at this moment he even caught her unconscious smile.
Seeing Zhou hesitate without answering, Zheng Xinyu said again, "Are you envious?"
Zhou Paihuai glanced at him speechlessly. Why was Zheng Xinyu so annoying? He had to meddle in everything, even the slightest smile from someone else.
"Zheng Xinyu, have you seen a doctor?"
"Why do you need to see a doctor?" Zheng Xinyu asked, puzzled. Zhou Paihuai's thoughts changed so quickly that he couldn't keep up.
Zhou Huahuai said with love and care, "Because if you want to live to ninety-nine like Xiaoming's grandfather, you probably can't do it without seeing a doctor."
Although he still couldn't understand what it meant, Zheng Xinyu was still sensitive enough to realize that Zhou Paihuai was mocking him. He immediately turned away from Zhou Paihuai with a sour face and headed to the lounge.
Zhou Paihuai didn't care whether he was angry or not. Anyway, she wasn't the one who was angry to death. He was the one who was on strike now, so the director couldn't blame her.
"You must be exhausted from filming all morning. Have a cup of milk tea to warm yourself up!" The male lead's voice suddenly came from behind her. She turned around and saw that the male lead was holding a cup of milk tea and was now smiling as he handed it to her.