After being reborn, Duocai discovers that she's the male lead's tragically short-lived, idealized first love in a romance reality-show novel.
What? When people are speechless, they really do laugh. So after ten years in the industry, just as she was about to become a top-tier star, she turned down an unwritten-rule deal and got blacklisted, then quit in a fit of rage and was hit by a car and killed. And that was all because of this?!
She also inexplicably got bound to a living-person System:
[Go on a dating show and rack up Living Person Points to change your fate~]
[Who says Living Person Points are hard to earn? They're so easy! Host tells the truth, and the other person responds with the truth too. Living Person Points are yours in no time~]
Duocai: ...Tell the truth in the entertainment industry? Got it. Let the hunt begin!
The celebrity dating show Love in the Peach Blossom Spring began airing. Viewers figured it would be no more than a bunch of 208s trying to take a shortcut to fame by faking couples, but who knew they'd be playing for real?
They went all out on day one!
Rising star: Duocai, I saw a post saying you slapped Director Li and got blacklisted. Is it true?
Duocai: No, it was two slaps. I heard gossip about you too: you date one person for every show you film, and you like to hit and berate your staff behind the scenes. Is that true?
Rising star: It is. (covers mouth, eyes wide with shock) (What did I just say?)
That evening, former employees who had been hit and berated came forward with the story, leaving the rising star's reputation in tatters.
A fresh-faced junior from the same agency insinuated that Duocai got heart-fluttering messages from three male guests, was dating all three at once, and was a seasoned playboy behind the scenes.
Duocai: I've been single since birth. But you... how many times have you filmed those late-night scripts with your company's, some executive?
Fresh-faced junior: Nineteen times! Once he came to his senses, it was too late.
A socially anxious musical prodigy kissed a female guest passionately in the restroom, then turned around and flirted with Duocai, shamelessly declaring, “I'm possessive about relationships. I can't accept you filming kissing scenes or bed scenes with other men.”
Duocai: Heh. You may be possessive about relationships, but you sleep with men and women, have an exhibitionism fetish, athlete's foot, and use drugs, right?
Musical prodigy: Right.
The drug test results came back, and his career was over.
Viewers: Holy crap! Is this the dating show where everyone tells the truth and gets exposed?! This is wild!
After several celebrities' careers came crashing down, the director took leave citing illness. A mysterious new director stepped in to clean up the mess, bringing on Director Li, who was rumored to have been slapped twice by Duocai, as well as the novel's male and female leads, who had been brought in as the show's curveballs...
By the end of filming
Standing amid the ruins of all those collapsed careers, Duocai proved that real gold fears no fire. With her beauty and acting skills, she became a bona fide top-tier star!
Netizens also noticed that Duocai seemed to have some kind of supernatural power. One celebrity guest after another faced off with her and became a real person: some had their careers destroyed, while those who survived dropped their perfect-celebrity masks and became genuine and vivid.
Fans: Thank you, Teacher Duocai. I got to see my favorite brother/sister's lively, adorable side.
Celebrities: Sis, you're my real sister. Please, please don't come near me! (terrified) (clutching a tiny blanket) But you're welcome to go after my rival (not really).
Directors: Teacher Duocai, I've got a script I'd love to work with you on!
Viewers: What a madhouse. Love it. And the Duocai-and-the-new-director ship is so good!
Duocai: You're shipping me with the new director? That's a crack ship!
-
After Duocai's truth-telling mystique, Love in the Peach Blossom Spring has another great mystery to solve! The new director shows up and is mistaken for a male contestant. He dresses in luxury brands every day and looks like a supermodel walking the runway. He's a student who became famous overseas for making web series. So why did he suddenly return to China to take over a dating show where everyone's careers are in ruins?
He deliberately invited Director Li, who had clashed with Duocai, onto the show to create a rivalry. He wasn't exactly kind to Duocai, but judging by everything that happened afterward... oh, he was definitely there for her!
My next entertainment-industry novel: Don't Jump, the Mom Fan Is Here [Entertainment Industry]. Here's the blurb. Please add it to your reading list:
As a mom fan of rising top-tier star Pei Jiang, Lu Zhao can't stand Lu Yuansheng, the male celebrity who piggybacked on Pei Jiang's popularity by pretending they were a couple, then betrayed and framed him.
After her hundredth rant about Lu Yuansheng and the author of the novel
she transmigrates into the book as Lu Yuansheng's younger sister, the very one he tricked into infiltrating Pei Jiang's small agency.
On her first day at work, Lu Zhao is called in by Pei Jiang himself and told to quit.
Pei Jiang: Sorry, you're not cut out for this job.
Lu Zhao: Baby, you're so cute when you're being serious. Give Mommy one more chance.
Pei Jiang: ???
Three months into the job, Lu Zhao's undercover identity is exposed, her identity as the rival's younger sister is exposed, and so is her status as a mom fan.
Pei Jiang: Are you a good guy or a bad guy?
Lu Zhao: Lu Yuansheng's company goes bankrupt, and Lu Yuansheng dies!
Pei Jiang: ...There's really no need to make a fandom oath like that.
Pei Jiang grew up poor. He was chosen to act in a show solely because he was good-looking, and his very first show became a hit. He thought his good days were finally here, but he was dropped from his next project because his parents had offended someone, ending his career before it could begin.
At eighteen, he made a comeback by joining a talent competition. Everyone expected him to debut as the group's visual, but the agency gave the spot to someone else, and he was eliminated in a shocking upset.
At nineteen, he sued his agency to terminate his contract, ended up a million yuan in debt, was blacklisted by his former agency, and became an ordinary nobody, working three jobs a day to pay off his debts...
At twenty-one, his luck finally turned. He signed with a small agency and landed a role in a web series after failing three auditions.
At twenty-two, the series aired and became a hit. He became a top-tier star.
Up and down, up and down, up again. He thought he'd finally turned his fate around this time, but fate told him: the ultimate victory doesn't come so easily.
Pei Jiang: The wind's so strong up here on the rooftop.
But this time, someone told him: Don't jump. I'm here.
And there's no need to pay back love.
Theme: Stay optimistic. We will all have a bright future.
I finished reading it in a few minutes, please update soon.