Su Wanyang joined a Korean idol group at eighteen. After five years of hard work, she had become a senior, only for the group to disband and her career to go cold. Back in China, she signed with a small agency and finally landed a promising script, only to lose the role after she lashed out at a director who demanded sexual favors. Her bold declaration, “I’ll sell my talent, not my body,” earned her nothing but a career freeze.
Xia Xingchen shot to fame at twenty through a web series. An academic ace who had aced his arts college entrance exams, he was determined to enter show business. His rise was swift, but his fall came even faster. A biting remark aimed at a nepotism hire was taken out of context, turning him into a pawn in a battle between powerful interests. His well-educated parents cut off his financial support, and now, at twenty-five, the once-promising star can only take bit parts, attend acting classes, and chew on bread while filming trashy movies.
When two “survivors” battered by the entertainment industry end up on a low-budget variety show so obscure it has practically fallen through the floor, one is a sharp-tongued former girl-group ace, and the other is a stubborn, struggling actor. In front of the cameras, they put on a show of getting along; behind the scenes, tensions simmer.
No one expected this much-maligned show to become the starting point for their fight to tear apart the web spun by capital. After all, when you’ve already been ground into the mud, what is there to fear about starting over?
This book is actually quite good. A group of people who are confused and can't be confused get together because of a confusing variety show. No one is optimistic about this variety show, including themselves. But for the one-thousandth chance, they are also trying their best to express hope that there will be a turn for the better. Because the variety show is too poor, it unexpectedly attracted the audience. Their show became popular, and so did they. The price of becoming famous is to gather less and separate more, and to be cautious. Fortunately, their background is persistence and sincerity.
It's a nice, nice, interesting book. I recommend it. If you love the realistic background of entertainment industry novels, love the thrill of watching two "losers" come back against the odds, and even love the kind of love that is rooted in suffering but grows toward the sun, this book will definitely hit your mark! It made me see that in the mud of the entertainment industry, the hottest flowers can really bloom.