After hearing about the original owner's achievements from the haters, Zhou Paihuai felt a deep sense of admiration. She disliked the Zhou family, but simply ignored them; she lacked the original owner's audacity to take them to court. However, she genuinely felt the Zhou family deserved to be sued. The original owner only wished they would leave her alone, but Zhou Xueyao had repeatedly tried to kill her, and the old lady Zhou had also held her hostage. Not to mention, Zhou Chengli was responsible for her car accident. Logically, they should all be in prison.
"It's alright, I have a way to make them stop bothering me." It turns out that Zhou Paihuai felt guilty for taking over someone else's body since she wasn't the original owner, so she turned a blind eye to the Zhou family's behavior. But now that even the original owner didn't want to return to the Zhou family, she naturally wouldn't indulge them anymore.
Ji Anxi nodded. She knew Zhou Paihuai was full of tricks, and if she said there was a way, there must be a way.
"By the way, you said I had amnesia before. Did I have any strange behavior when I had amnesia?" Just in case, Zhou Paihuai still wanted to confirm, so that the difference between himself and the original owner would not be too great and the little haters would find out the problem.
"Strange?" The hater frowned and thought for a moment. "It is indeed quite strange. You couldn't even play the game back then. You were terrible at it. I couldn't carry you at all."
"..." Zhou Paihuai felt that his lifelong reputation was about to be ruined by the original owner of this body. Everything else was fine, but how could he explain something like this in a game? "Could it be that the car accident I was in affected some nerve in my hand, which is why I didn't perform well?"
"Maybe." Although Zhou Huahuai's words were far-fetched, Ji Anxi wouldn't dwell on such a trivial matter, so she let Zhou Huahuai get away with it.
Should we go back now?
"Are you still feeling unwell?" The smell of alcohol was still strong, and Ji Anxi was worried that she would feel uncomfortable on the way back.
Zhou Paihuai stood up and moved around, saying, "I'm fine now, let's go back."
Ji Anxi shook her head: "You go back first, I have to rush to the film set this afternoon." Zhou Paihuai's scenes have finished filming, but her scenes are still a long way off. The filming period for the female lead is indeed longer than that for the supporting roles.
"What's the point of going back by myself?" Zhou Huaihuai smiled and said, "I'll go to the film set with you and see how you act."
"You want to switch careers and become my assistant?"
"It's not impossible!"
Chapter 95 A Letter to Myself
On the set of "Mountains and Wind," Zhou Paihuai experienced what it's like to be an artist's assistant. Not having to perform on stage, and with the cameras never pointed at her, watching others get into character from the sidelines... it was quite a nice feeling. She genuinely felt that switching careers to become an artist's assistant wasn't entirely out of the question.
After Ji Anxi finished filming a scene, she walked up to Zhou Paihuai and found her wearing headphones, listening to music and drinking milk tea.
"You're living the good life now!"
Zhou Paihuai handed her another cup of milk tea, saying, "I ordered one for you too, extra-large and no sugar, so you won't gain weight." She's finished filming now, so she's no longer anxious about her figure. Before starting her next project, she can finally indulge herself.
"You're a terrible assistant. Anyone would think you're on vacation on set!" Ji Anxi reached out and took the milk tea. "How long are you planning to stay here? All day?"
“Of course.” Zhou Paihuai nodded. “I just realized that watching you act is so much more fun than acting myself.”
Ji Anxi was completely speechless. She had worked so hard filming, and this woman was just watching the spectacle. She took a big gulp of her milk tea and said, "I think you're just bored."
Zhou Paihuai said confidently, "It's not that I'm bored. I'm waiting for you to go home together, and we can even go out for a meal together on the way."
Ji Anxi glanced at her phone. It was four o'clock in the afternoon, and there were still about two hours before she could finish work. So she said, "Okay, then you can see what you want to eat first."
They had made plans for dinner, but Ji Anxi hadn't said what she wanted to eat, which really put Zhou Heihuai in a bind. Besides, she wasn't familiar with the area at all and didn't know which restaurants were good, so she simply took out her phone and started looking up recommendations.
Ji Anxi went back to filming. Lin Nian came up to her and said, "Anxi, you and Zhouzhou are really close. But it's good that way. Zhouzhou is very popular right now, so it's good for our crew to promote our show."
Zhou Paihuai has been in the spotlight lately because of the Zhou family's affairs, but she's unwilling to acknowledge her ancestors. While some think she's brave, many more believe she's forgotten her roots, and her popularity is definitely not positive. Lin Nian, instead of focusing on her own filming, suddenly comes here to chime in. Even a fool would think she's trying to sow discord. Such a simple scheme—does she really think she can't see through it? Ji Anxi suddenly fell into self-doubt; she considered herself quite intelligent.
What are you trying to say?
"It's nothing. I just said that you and Zhouzhou have a good relationship, and she should be able to help you a lot in your career, right?" Lin Nian's lips twitched. She didn't expect that Ji Anxi would not react at all, and even seemed not to understand.
Ji Anxi stepped back, creating some distance between herself and Lin Nian before saying, "Yes, she has helped me a lot. Your relationship must be quite bad, so you're still a supporting character, while I'm already a leading actor."
"you!"
"What do you mean, 'I'? Are you envious? Envy won't help!"
After saying that, Ji Anxi turned and left, leaving Lin Nian standing there, furious. But now that she knew Ji Anxi's identity, she didn't dare to post any more sarcastic or suggestive comments on Weibo like before. If she really angered Ji Anxi, she might be blacklisted.
Thinking of this, Lin Nian glared fiercely at Zhou Paihuai. Zhou Paihuai's reputation was already completely ruined, but Sister Cheng had her back, and now she had Ji Anxi, such a powerful backer. Why was she so lucky? All the resources were poured into her, yet she was still a hopeless case. If all those resources were in her hands, she would definitely be a top-tier star by now.
Zhou Paihuai was truly caught in the crossfire. Seeing Lin Nian's malicious gaze, she suddenly felt that even the milk tea in her hand wasn't so sweet anymore. People in this circle are all driven by fame and fortune; even if you don't follow the crowd, you're bound to block someone's path and incur their jealousy.
However, the little hater is different. She's been in the entertainment industry for so long, and even though I wasn't by her side at times, she's remained true to herself and hasn't changed at all. One original intention is enough.
... ...
After eating out, it was already nine o'clock when she got home. After changing her shoes, Ji Anxi went back to her room. That made sense; several months had passed since Zhou Paihuai last stepped into this room, so the bed in the guest room was definitely not as firm as before, and there was no need for the two of them to switch rooms.
Stepping into the room, the style was surprisingly unchanged. According to the little hater, during the time the original owner was switched back with her, she seemed to have lost her memory due to a car accident. Later, she had to recuperate and film, so naturally she didn't have time to renovate the room.
But that's fine too; she can only sleep soundly in a relatively familiar environment. After washing up, she was about to lie down to sleep, but when she did, Zhou Paihuai felt that the pillow was abnormally hard. When she lifted the pillow, she found another diary, exactly the same as the one she had left in City B.
These diaries were clearly produced a long time ago, and it's quite remarkable that the original owner went to such lengths to find an identical one, showing how deeply she loved this style of diary. Zhou Huaihuai had seen the original owner's diary before, so she didn't feel guilty looking at this one now, and directly opened the diary.
Zhou Paihuai initially thought this diary was the same as the previous one, used by the original owner to record her daily life. However, after opening it and seeing the contents, she realized that it was not a diary at all, but a letter, a letter written to herself.
At some point, the original owner of this body had regained her memories. Although she did not have the dangerous experiences that Zhou Paihuai had, she also did not feel any love from the Zhou family. Having tasted the coldness and warmth of human relationships since childhood, she was far more resolute than Zhou Paihuai. She would not always give in and back down like Zhou Paihuai, but would directly and openly sever ties with the Zhou family, completely extinguishing any hope the Zhou family might have for her.
The original owner of this body also knew of Zhou Paihuai's existence. She believed that Heaven had made the right decision by swapping their identities. She liked the lifestyle of the other world very much and firmly believed that Zhou Paihuai was more suited to the rules of this world. Therefore, she knew that sooner or later they would switch back, so she wrote this letter in advance. She didn't have the chance to personally deliver this letter to Zhou Paihuai, but she knew that Zhou Paihuai would definitely see it.
After reading the letter, Zhou Paihuai's opinion of the original owner changed completely. She was much smarter, more insightful, and more decisive than she had imagined. Just as she said, her own attachments were to this world, and after severing ties with the Zhou family, the original owner no longer needed any entanglements with this world. The two of them lived in different times and spaces, and heaven had given them a chance to exchange lives, allowing them to find a place more suitable for themselves.
Zhou Paihuai tore that page out of her diary, folded it into a paper airplane, and placed it on the table beside her. From then on, she was the only Zhou Paihuai in this time and space.
Chapter 96 Hemiao Entertainment
After returning to this world, aside from going to the film set with her hater on the first day to watch her film, Zhou Youpai spent the rest of her time at home, writing while her hater was away. This life was actually no different from before, and the reason it was so easy was "thanks" to online public opinion. Her reputation was so bad that no reputable production team wanted to cast her, this hot potato, in any film, unless it was a project that relied on controversy for fame.
However, not only would Zhou Paihuai not want to work on such a production, but even Cheng Minxin wouldn't consider it. In short, for various reasons, Zhou Paihuai was indeed quite relaxed. However, her novel was no longer being updated, and after a hiatus of several months, she naturally had to write more to compensate her eagerly awaiting readers.
After she resumed updating, her editor, Qingri, also started contacting her. Since Zhou Paihuai's car accident had made the news, Qingri naturally understood that she wouldn't be able to update in the short term, so she thoughtfully arranged a leave of absence for her.
"You're finally back to update!"
Upon seeing the message from the editor, Zhou Paihuai smiled and then typed a reply: "Yes, thank you for asking for leave for me, which prevented us from losing too many readers."
The worst thing about reading online novels is when the author suddenly abandons the story. Zhou Paihuai was in a car accident, so he obviously couldn't update. Even if he only missed a day or two, people would still wait, but if he missed more than a week without giving readers an explanation, the readership loss rate would be 100%. The editor posted a leave notice for Zhou Paihuai, at least giving these readers some hope. Fortunately, Zhou Paihuai is back now.
"By the way, didn't a copyright holder want to buy the rights to your book before?" Qingri sent another message.
Zhou Paihuai frowned slightly upon seeing this sentence. Hadn't she already refused? And she'd heard that the copyright holder had found a replacement, so what did the editor mean by saying this? She asked bluntly, "What do you mean? Their collaborative book ran into problems, and now they want to go back to the old ways?"
The person on the computer screen smiled. Zhou Paihuai was indeed right; the copyright holder was definitely trying to retaliate again. After all, a novel's plot is easy to copy and integrate, but an author's writing style is very difficult to imitate. The fact that her novel, *Phoenix Rising*, was acquired by the copyright holder after only a few hundred thousand words was mainly due to her unique writing style. When Zhou Paihuai was updating regularly in the early stages, it was very easy for others to quickly copy her work. But after she stopped updating for several months, others naturally didn't know how to continue.
“You’ve misunderstood. Although the person who wanted to buy the copyright to this book came back to ask me again, I knew you wouldn’t agree. This time, I’m telling you that a big client wants to buy the copyright to ‘Phoenix Rising,’ and the price is negotiable.”
Zhou Paihuai was actually quite puzzled. She personally felt that while "Phoenix Rising" was a slight improvement over her previous works, it wasn't good enough to cause such a frenzy among copyright holders. "Is this book really that good?"
Qingri told Zhou Paihuai the truth: "Actually, this big client bought the copyright this time with the intention of getting a film and television contract. I heard it's to promote someone. Besides, the plot of your book is quite logical, and the setting is also very novel."
"So it was all to promote someone," Zhou Paihuai suddenly understood. After all, she had meticulously crafted this novel. Putting everything else aside, the female lead's character was indeed very well-developed. Because she liked it, she wanted to shower Chen Feng with every beautiful word in the world, and to make it logical, she even added many plot points to showcase Chen Feng's strengths. She enjoyed writing it, and if the investors were using it to promote someone, it should be quite effective.
"Could you tell me which agency it is?" After all, I'm also in the entertainment industry, so I'm quite curious about this soon-to-be-promoted protagonist.
Qingri was speechless when she saw Zhou's question. So he really was someone in the entertainment industry, so curious about who the investors were going to promote. However, she didn't really know which company it was, so she asked the person who had contacted her, and finally got a list of agencies she wasn't very familiar with—Hemiao Entertainment.
When Zhou Paihuai saw the message Qingri sent her, she didn't know whether to marvel at how small the world was or how great it was to have a brother. Others might not be familiar with Hemiao Entertainment, but she was! This was clearly an entertainment company that Ji Anbo had opened to protect his sister in the entertainment industry. Apart from a few once-famous big-name artists, there were practically no other artists in the company. Moreover, those big-name artists were currently either retired or semi-retired. Therefore, all the resources of the company were prepared for Ji Anxi, even though Ji Anxi was not an artist in this company.
So, it turns out that Ji Anbo has his eye on the "Phoenix Rising" IP, and his purchase is undoubtedly to promote Ji Anxi. What reason would Zhou Paihuai possibly have to object?
"I'll leave this to you to handle. Help me apply for an online contract later." Zhou Paihuai felt that this matter was likely to succeed. After all, Ji Anbo was a sister-obsessed person. As long as he could get the copyright and have Ji Anxi act in the film, it didn't matter who the original author was.
Having already learned Zhou Paihuai's identity, Qingri naturally understood the reason for her persistence. Knowing that without resolving this issue, there was no hope of selling the copyright, she agreed to help Zhou Paihuai inquire. Qingri had been negotiating with the person in charge of "Hemiao Entertainment," and while the two were talking, she sent over the request for help finding her hometown.
The head of Hemiao Entertainment only wanted the copyrights to promote the people they wanted to promote, unlike some marketing companies that select authors and then market them. Whether the author was Zhang San, Li Si, or Wang Wu was not within their consideration, so the two parties easily reached an agreement and even signed a letter of intent.
Having received a positive reply from Qingri, Zhou Paihuai quickly uploaded his electronic signature to the system and waited for the contract to take effect.
Having fulfilled a dream that took her two worlds to achieve, Zhou Paihuai was in a great mood. If she were still alone, she would definitely have cooked herself a big meal to celebrate. But now she wasn't alone; her friend, Xiao Heifen, had to film a movie, and to make sure she looked beautiful on camera, Zhou Paihuai gave up on that idea and continued cooking boiled cabbage with Xiao Heifen that evening.
"You seem to be in a good mood today?" Ji Anxi sensed that Zhou Paihuai was in a good mood as soon as she got home. Actually, she wasn't usually a very sensitive person, but she could always sense Zhou Paihuai's emotions; perhaps that was their destiny.
This week, Hua Pei couldn't hide the smile on her face. She said, "Something really happened that made me very happy."
"What is it?" Ji Anxi's curiosity was bursting.
"I can't tell you now, I'll tell you later." Zhou Paihuai shook his head, not planning to tell her now. "Sister Cheng said you'll probably wrap up filming by the end of this month. Do you have any other plans after that?"
"That's all. It's almost Chinese New Year anyway, so Sister Cheng told me to take a break for a while!"
"That's great!" Zhou Huaihuai said casually, but he had already planned how to celebrate.
Chapter 97 Retirement
Ever since reading the letter the original owner of this body wrote to her, Zhou Paihuai has completely given up on the idea of continuing in the entertainment industry. The belief that kept her in the entertainment industry was the original owner's dream, and now that even the original owner had let go of that obsession, she naturally had no reason to force herself to continue.
It's fair to say that Zhou Paihuai, upon returning to the public eye, has become increasingly unaccustomed to being an artist. The last time she wasn't filming, she would at least try to conceal her identity when going out to avoid being photographed by paparazzi. But now, she doesn't even bother wearing a mask. However, having not presented any new work to the public for so long, Zhou Paihuai's fame has diminished considerably, greatly reducing her vigilance. Unexpectedly, it was precisely after letting her guard down that she was photographed by paparazzi.
#Former goddess reduced to a rookie assistant: the unspoken rules of the entertainment industry!#
#Let's talk about that obscure actress with terrible character and acting skills#
#A newcomer with a strong background gets his bag carried by a senior colleague!#
#Am I the only one who thinks they're so sweet together?#
… …
Zhou Paihuai, who is known for her tendency to trend on social media, once again topped the list. Several of the top trending topics were related to her, with some saying she was down on her luck and others saying she had an inappropriate relationship with her haters. In short, netizens' imaginations were quite vivid. If Zhou Paihuai wasn't the person involved, she would definitely believe it.
"What on earth is going on?" Cheng Minxin was extremely worried. She was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with her, which was why the artists she was promoting were always embroiled in scandals. Zhou Paihuai was one, and now Ji Anxi was another.
"Sister Cheng, I think this might be my fault. I'm sorry." Zhou Paihuai obediently admitted her mistake. She shouldn't have openly gone to find the haters; now she had implicated Ji Anxi.
Ji Anxi didn't care at all. Although the online opinions were negative, many people believed that she and Zhou Paihuai were dating. Ji Anxi had to admit that she really hoped these rumors were true. She didn't care who commented on her online. Not to mention that same-sex marriage was now legal, it had never been illegal before. If she really was dating Zhou Paihuai, why should she care about some of the comments online?
But she wasn't entirely without fear. She knew Zhou Paihuai always considered her a friend, so she was afraid that such comments would elicit a sense of dislike in Zhou Paihuai's eyes, and if that were the case, she wouldn't be able to bear it. Therefore, Ji Anxi intentionally avoided eye contact with Zhou Paihuai and didn't participate in Cheng Minxin and Zhou Paihuai's conversation.
Zhou Paihuai and Cheng Minxin talked for a long time before belatedly realizing that Ji Anxi had never participated.
“Anxi, don’t worry too much. After all, you don’t have many works yet, and the focus of public opinion won’t be on you.” Cheng Minxin comforted her. “I’ll find some online trolls to suppress the current trending topics.” Even if the company doesn’t reimburse her, she thinks that Young Master Ji will help her out, so Cheng Minxin isn’t worried.
“I’m not worried about that, I’m…” Ji Anxi stopped mid-sentence.
Zhou Paihuai knew, of course, that wasn't what she meant. Seeing her awkwardness, a sudden thought struck her, instantly brightening her mood. Did Anxi's awkwardness mean she wasn't just having a one-sided affair? Realizing her own feelings, Zhou Paihuai didn't dare confess. It wasn't that she wanted to give up, but she wanted to use a gradual, patient approach, letting her little hater get used to her presence and slowly cultivate their relationship. But looking at her now, it didn't seem like she had no feelings for her. And indeed, if it weren't for love, how could her little hater have so easily turned from hater to fan?
"Then what are you worried about?"
Cheng Minxin's sudden words startled Zhou Paihuai. In a moment of impulsiveness, she had forgotten that Cheng Minxin was still there, and she almost confessed her feelings to the little hater directly.