As Zhou wandered off towards the park, she suddenly heard a slight noise behind her, one she wouldn't have heard if her hearing hadn't been so sharp. She turned around abruptly and called out, "Who's there?"
As she turned around, she only saw a glimmer of light behind the bushes. Zhou Paihuai immediately understood; she knew she had been secretly photographed by paparazzi. She hadn't expected these guys to be so ubiquitous and so dedicated—still on duty at this hour! However, this paparazzi wasn't very bold. Her shout had seemingly scared them away, but they had left behind their tools.
Zhou Paihuai took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and slowly crawled into the bushes, where he found a lightweight camera among a clump of weeds.
"Tsk, dedicated but unprofessional, throwing away something like this, she might get fired when she gets back, how pathetic!" She said pitifully, but picked up the camera without hesitation, and it was unclear what she had photographed inside.
Zhou was about to take the camera home when, in a flash, it dawned on her that she couldn't take it home. What if the paparazzi turned around and claimed she had it? If there wasn't anything of value in it, fine, but if there was something, she'd be in deep trouble. But there were photos of herself in it, and if she didn't delete them now, she wouldn't be able to explain it to Sister Cheng.
After hesitating for a long time, Zhou Paihuai remembered that there was a police station not far from here. One of the principles she had learned since childhood was to ask the police for help if she needed it. Since this thing was lost by the paparazzi, the lost item should naturally be handed over to the police for processing.
She picked up her camera and swaggered into the police station. The officer on duty was a kind-looking young woman. When she saw Zhou Paihuai come in late at night wearing a mask and carrying a camera, she instinctively assumed he was there to cause trouble and adopted a defensive posture.
Zhou Paihuai was both amused and exasperated to be treated like a monster one after another today. She quickly took off her mask and said, "Police officer, I'm not a bad person. I'm here to ask for help."
"You are... you are that celebrity?" The policewoman clearly wasn't someone who watched dramas much, but she recognized her as someone who had been frequently trending on social media lately. She visibly relaxed, took out her notebook, and began registering her. "Please have a seat."
Zhou Paihuai placed the camera on the table, recounted the whole story, and then stated his request: "Sister, I can't take this camera back, and I can't look at the photos inside, so I can give it to you."
"Haven't you seen this before? Aren't you curious?" There's nothing wrong with handing this over, but it's the first time she's ever seen a celebrity hand over a paparazzi camera. It's really novel!
Zhou Huai smiled and said, "I'm not that curious. Besides, even if I were curious, I wouldn't dare to look, as that would be an invasion of privacy. Also, I'm leaving my photos to you."
"Don't worry, I guarantee that nothing in here will be leaked."
Zhou Paihuai got home around eleven o'clock. It was a very tiring day, but she wasn't sleepy at all. In the past, this would have been the time when she was writing with great inspiration, but now that she was in a different body, she didn't know why her mind was blank. She had finished the outline a long time ago, but she still couldn't write even three thousand words of the main text.
While drying her hair after showering, Zhou Paihuai wondered what she could do later, but even after her hair was completely dry, she still couldn't think of anything. It was a pity that Xiao Heifen hadn't replied to her messages; otherwise, chatting with her would have been so much fun.
Zhou Paihuai's phone suddenly vibrated slightly. When she picked it up, she was surprised to find that her friend had replied to her message: "Now I'm starting to doubt your identity again. Do you really have that much free time?" She actually replied to every single message.
Wow, what a perfect understanding! I had just thought of her when the message came in. She replied: "You are my confidante. I have to take a break from my busy schedule to reply to your messages!"
The entertainment industry is no match for Zhou Huaipai: ... ...Turning haters into confidants, is everyone in the entertainment industry this shameless? Are you really not afraid I'll post this record online?
I love Zhouzhouzhou: How could that be? My judgment of people is so accurate. You little hater, you have a lot of principles.
When Ji Anxi saw the message, she immediately slammed her phone face down on the bed. What? Haters are haters, why add the word "small"? Is it mocking her? Although she tried to stay angry, she couldn't help but blush. "I'm not talking anymore, it's late, I need to go to sleep!"
After waiting for more than ten minutes without receiving a reply, Zhou Paihuai knew that Xiao Heifen was unwilling to talk to him again; she was really quite arrogant. However, it was indeed very late now, and Xiao Heifen was not very old, perhaps still a student. Although it was still the holidays, she should still develop a normal sleep schedule of going to bed early and waking up early.
I love Zhouzhouzhou: Little hater, are you going to sleep? Goodnight, I hope you don't dream of me!
Ji Anxi hadn't gone to sleep yet. Although she didn't reply, she still glanced at the message when her phone vibrated slightly. What did he mean by saying she wasn't in his dreams? This person was far too narcissistic! Tragically, after Ji Anxi fell asleep, she actually dreamed of Zhou Paihuai. In her dream, Zhou Paihuai was as annoying as ever, making her grit her teeth in hatred. She didn't sleep well all night.
Chapter 15 Feeling Extremely Good About Myself
Early in the morning, Zhou Huaihuai was awakened from her sleep by a barrage of urgent phone calls. She answered the phone while her mind was still not fully clear.
"Zhou Paihuai, did you run into paparazzi last night?"
"Puppies?" Zhou Paihuai repeated with his eyes closed. "I haven't encountered any puppies. Where can you just run into puppies these days?"
"..." Cheng Minxin remained silent for a long time, and only her heavy breathing could be heard from the phone. She was probably trying to suppress her anger, but finally she shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about? Who told you about paparazzi? I was talking about paparazzi! You even took their camera, and now you're playing dumb with me?"
Zhou Paihuai's sleepiness was instantly dispelled by that shout. She sat bolt upright in bed, immediately remembering what had happened the night before. She said apologetically, "Sister Cheng, I didn't realize what was happening. Please don't be angry. Last night, someone was taking pictures of me..."
"Then why didn't you call me and Xiaole?" Before she could finish speaking, Cheng Minxin interrupted her excitedly, "Don't wander around at home now, Xiaole and I are coming to find you right away." Then she hung up the phone.
Hearing the dial tone from her phone, Zhou Paihuai was speechless. This guy was too short-tempered. It wasn't a big deal, why was he so agitated? She glanced at the time; it was only 8:30. She had said there was still plenty of time. Why was he calling so early? Was he trying to kill her?
Despite her inner complaints, Zhou Paihuai quickly got up and started washing up. There was no other way; the company was too close to where she lived, and Sister Cheng and her assistant were efficient and punctual, so they might be there in a few minutes. She couldn't possibly go out looking so disheveled.
Sure enough, the two of them entered her apartment while Zhou was brushing her teeth. She didn't even bother to wash her face, just grabbed a wet towel and wiped it off before leaving.
Seeing Zhou Paihuai's carefree attitude, Cheng Minxin really didn't know what to say to her. Since she couldn't talk about the small things, she could only bring up the big ones: "The paparazzi who photographed you yesterday were from Shangfeng Entertainment. Their editor-in-chief called me early this morning, saying you picked up one of their staff members' cameras?"
"I did find a camera, but as for whether it belongs to Shangfeng Entertainment, I have no idea," Zhou Huaihuai readily admitted.
"Oh dear—" Cheng Minxin's face changed instantly. "Why did you insist on picking up that camera? Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? Do you know what's inside that camera...?"
“I don’t know, I didn’t look at what was in the camera,” Zhou said. “I don’t have the kind of fetish for snooping on other people’s privacy. What if there’s some dirt on other people in there? Would I still be able to work in this industry?”
Cheng Minxin looked at her in surprise and said, "It seems you understand this principle well, so why are you still bringing things home? Don't you even know the meaning of 'falling into a compromising situation'?"
“I didn’t bring the camera home.” Zhou Huaihuai grinned and said, “Sister Cheng, you said I found this camera. How can I keep something I found? So I handed it over to the police station last night. The police will post the lost and found information online, and they can go and get it back themselves.”
"Police...police...police station?" Even the usually confident Cheng Minxin started stammering. Zhou Paihuai had actually delivered the items to the police station. "How...how could this be, delivering the items to the police station?"
Tang Xiaole was also puzzled by her thought process and said, "Yeah, Zhouzhou, why did you suddenly think of going to the police station?" As a celebrity, you should avoid trouble as much as possible. Most people wouldn't go to the police station.
“If you have a problem, you should call the police. It’s such a simple principle.” Zhou Huaihuai found their doubts very strange. “Besides, I had no choice but to call the police.
“That’s still not okay…” Cheng Minxin wanted to say something, but she felt that what she said actually made some sense. “Now you’ve really offended the people at Shangfeng Entertainment. You’ll have to be more careful in the future, so that they don’t find any fault with you.”
"Don't worry!" Zhou Paihuai was confident in his own conduct and wasn't afraid of being photographed. "By the way, Sister Cheng, Xiaole, you two came so early, haven't you had breakfast yet? Since we're free today, how about I show you what I can do?"
Normally, Cheng Minxin wouldn't even have time to talk to her, let alone have breakfast with her. But today, they rushed over early in the morning, clearly making time to deal with her affairs. Now that the matter no longer needs to be dealt with, the time can't be wasted.
"Really?" The assistant's eyes lit up. Before she became Zhou Zhou's assistant, Sister Cheng had said that Zhou Zhou's cooking skills were superb. Unfortunately, she had been by Zhou Zhou's side for so long, but she had never seen her cook even once.
Looking at the assistant's bright eyes, Zhou Paihuai felt that her expectations were a bit too high. She could cook some simple meals, but the taste was only average. Wait a minute, was the original owner's cooking exceptionally good, which was why Tang Xiaole reacted this way? Then wasn't she digging a hole for herself?
Cheng Minxin took out her phone, glanced at her schedule, nodded, and said, "I do have time, and it's been a long time since I've had your cooking. We'll gladly accept your offer!"
Even if it means burying yourself alive, you have to jump into the hole you dug yourself. So Zhou Huaihuai forced a smile and said, "Sister Cheng, Xiaole, what would you like to eat? I'll make it." He figured he should just listen to their menu first, lest he end up doing something he shouldn't have done instead of what he was supposed to.
"Ah, I've never tried any of these. Sister Cheng, what do you think Zhou Zhou makes the best?" Tang Xiaole asked Cheng Minxin without hesitation.
Cheng Minxin thought for a moment and said, "Zhou Zhou, you don't need to make anything special for this early morning. I remember the multigrain porridge and wontons you made last time were pretty good, so why don't you just make those two?"
Thankfully, Zhou Paihuai knew how to make both dishes. The original owner of this body was skilled at cooking, so the apartment had a good supply of ingredients. Zhou Paihuai took out the ingredients for making multigrain porridge and wontons, sent the two people who were eager to help out of the kitchen, and then took out her phone to search for the quantities of the ingredients. After all, she had always lived a self-sufficient life, only needing to feed herself, and had never cooked for anyone else before.
Zhou Paihuai hurriedly prepared multigrain porridge and wontons, then called the two girls over to take his food out.
"Try it, I haven't cooked in a long time, I wonder how it tastes."
Zhou Paihuai lowered his head to drink his porridge, but his eyes were fixed on Tang Xiaole and Cheng Minxin out of the corner of his eye, watching to see if they had any reaction after drinking the porridge.
"It tastes so good!"
These words were spoken by Tang Xiaole. Since she had never tasted the original owner's cooking, her opinion could be disregarded. Zhou Paihuai was truly concerned about Cheng Minxin's opinion. However, compared to Tang Xiaole's exaggerated reaction, Cheng Minxin's reaction was much calmer. She almost finished her bowl of porridge before looking up and saying, "The taste is very good, just as delicious as before. It seems that although you haven't had time to cook lately, your skills haven't declined!"
It seemed he had passed the test. Zhou Paihuai secretly breathed a sigh of relief and began to focus on picking out his favorite wontons to eat.
Zhou Paihuai's phone vibrated slightly. Thinking it was a message from his hater, he immediately picked it up to check, only to find it was from Yuan Yuan. Seriously, such a young kid can play on his phone all day long...
"Are you waiting for a message from someone?" Cheng Minxin asked, frowning as she saw her expression. "It seems the person who messaged you isn't the one you're waiting for?"
Tang Xiaole finally found someone who shared her interests. She quickly swallowed the wonton in her mouth and said, "Right, right? I told you Zhouzhou seemed really eager to be in a relationship lately, but she wouldn't admit it."
"..." The pretty girl was speechless.
Cheng Minxin looked very serious and said, "Zhou Paihuai, I'm not joking with you about this. If anything happens, you must report it to me so I can make arrangements in advance."
"Really, no." To prove his innocence, Zhou Paihuai handed over his phone. "The reason I've been chatting so frequently lately is to complete the task you gave me, Sister Cheng. You can check my phone if you don't believe me."
"What mission?" Cheng Minxin herself had completely forgotten.
"I'm trying to reform the haters!" Zhou Paihuai was enjoying herself immensely, and she believed that her progress was rapid. "I originally thought this task was impossible to complete, but I didn't expect that I was so capable."
Zhou's narcissistic little act made the two of them blush with embarrassment. Fortunately, she was doing this in a private space. If it had been posted online, her few fans would probably have abandoned her.
"Since it's about that matter, I trust you. You don't need to show me your phone. Just be careful and rest for a few more days, then you should be able to join the crew!"
Chapter 16 Login verification failed.
Having not checked her Weibo private messages in a long time, Ji Anxi decided to organize all the messages she received. Those who criticized her blocked her, while those who praised her followed her back... Hmm, seeing so many unread messages, Ji Anxi couldn't help but sigh that she was probably more famous than some actors.
While feeling smug, she opened the private messages. She initially thought most were requests for video authorization, but instead, they were all urging her to update. Seeing these messages, Ji Anxi realized that she hadn't posted any videos exposing Zhou Paihuai's misdeeds for over two weeks. This was the first time this had happened since she became a hater of Zhou Paihuai. What was going on?
Ji Anxi ruffled her hair and opened her chat window with "I love Zhou Zhouzhou." They'd chatted for ages without realizing it; each conversation only involved two or three sentences, sometimes more, but because it'd been going on for a while, it seemed like a lot of content. It was ridiculous. She, a staunch hater of Zhou Paihuai, was calmly chatting with him about so much, and she wasn't even sure if the person on the other end was actually Zhou Paihuai himself. If she remembered correctly, this person's initial goal was to convert her from hater to fan. It felt like if this continued, her stance would become unwavering. What a cunning fellow.
I love Zhouzhouzhou: Little hater, how about we find another place to connect?
Before Ji Anxi could figure out how to reply, another message came in.
I love Zhouzhouzhou: Let me be honest with you, this is indeed not my account. I might not be so free in a while, and this account might be taken back by my agent. Then you won't be able to contact me anymore.
"Who wants to contact you!" Ji Anxi thought to herself, blaming her for constantly bothering her and wasting so much of her time. She started typing a reply: "I don't want to contact you, don't bother me..."
Before I could even finish typing this message, the other party sent another one.
I love Zhouzhouzhou: Okay, I admit it, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to contact you.
Ji Anxi deleted the words she had written but hadn't sent yet, and replied: Where should I change it to?
Zhou Paihuai sent three messages in a row because he was afraid of seeing his hater reject him. Although his typing speed couldn't guarantee that his hater would agree, it would at least buy him some time—she would have to read what he said, right? But he didn't expect his hater to actually give in.
Weibo and WeChat are both owned by the company, and the company can take them back whenever it wants. Fortunately, she applied for a Tencent account these past two days. Young people like Xiaohaifen should be more used to using Tencent accounts!
I love Zhouzhouzhou: How about switching to QQ? I haven't applied yet, but I'm planning to apply soon. What's your QQ number? Send it to me.
The entertainment industry is no match for Zhou Hualing: ... ...**********, okay, add it.
After sending the message, Ji Anxi buried herself in her pillow, realizing she must have been out of her mind to actually send her the QQ number.
My favorite is Zhouzhouzhou: It really sounds smooth. Everyone else just generates a random string of numbers, so why is yours so amazing?
My favorite Zhouzhouzhou: You're ignoring me again? By the way, have you been busy lately? I haven't seen you update your Weibo as often! And have you been posting less on forums lately? I remember you were the main account holder on a particularly famous forum.
It would have been better if she hadn't mentioned the forum, because mentioning it made Ji Anxi furious. Wasn't it because of her own forum account that it was banned? She sneered and started sending messages.
The entertainment industry is no match for Zhou Hualing: TOEFL, my forum account was banned for several months, proud, right? Happy, right?
It's unbelievable that even a hater's account got banned. She has such a bad temper; she must have been furious when she found out her account was banned.
My favorite Zhouzhouzhou: That's none of my business. In fact, I'm a victim too. Although saying this sounds like I'm getting away with something and then complaining, I'm also pitiful. I originally wanted to prove my innocence, but these trending topics suddenly disappeared. Although the discussion is gone, doesn't that mean I'm admitting that this really happened? You don't know that there are some cowardly artists in the same company now. They're so scared that they want to jump out of the elevator when they're in the same one as me... I feel like my image in the company has become that of a bully, even though I'm clearly someone everyone loves and admires.
Ji Anxi saw that Zhou Paihuai's reply was so long, filled with grievance and a gnashing hatred for the mastermind behind it all. Could it be that everyone had mistaken her reply? Did she really not have any sugar daddy? What was the purpose of the person manipulating this? Everything about it seemed strange.
The entertainment industry is no match for Zhou Hualing: He speaks as if it's the truth, but where are there such timid artists?
Zhou Paihuai didn't like hearing this. How could there be no timid artists? As far as she knew, the original owner of this body was a very timid artist, and she had also seen Lin Nian, who was as timid as a rabbit.
I love Zhouzhouzhou: Of course! I'll add you on QQ and give you an example!
Zhou Paihuai decided to give her a proper rebuttal, but private messages on Weibo were pointless. She registered a QQ account, searched for the QQ account sent by the hater, and saw that the profile picture was a black mist. She exclaimed, "How unique!" and clicked to add her as a friend. The request was delayed. Even though the hater had been chatting with her the whole time and her phone was definitely always at hand, it was incredibly arrogant of her not to accept her friend request.
At this moment, Ji Anxi couldn't care less about being arrogant. She had just downloaded QQ and, relying on her strong memory, tried to match her QQ number and password together, but she couldn't log in no matter what she tried. Her account had entered a self-protection period due to prolonged inactivity, and despite trying all the suggested verification methods, it still didn't work; she needed to continue waiting.