From the time Scumbag No. 1 and Qin Chuchu got together, Jasmine found herself busier than ever. Besides being comforted by the entire crew every day, she also had to endure the rich kids ranting about the plot on Facebook.
Every now and then, Sister Chen would bring her new work. It was either preparing for an interview or picking out a few variety show scripts.
"Seeking Immortality" was in full swing, and Jasmine didn't want to be distracted, but Sister Chen insisted she take on another project. Whether it was being a guest on a talk show or participating in a reality show, it was best to take on another project as "Girls" would conclude in mid-July, while "Seeking Immortality" wouldn't air until January next year. She couldn't afford to be idle during this half-year gap.
With two dramas in a year, Jasmine was the newest rising star in the entertainment industry. Now, both variety shows and scripts were being rushed to her for consideration.
Sister Chen sifted through them one by one, advising against those unsuitable for her, leaving three variety shows on the table for Jasmine.
One was called "Actors, Please get ready," a show where actors of all ages would perform and compete in acting skills.
Another was "Our Restaurant," a show about running a restaurant, with profits being donated to those in need under the name of the guest of that episode.
The third was a male group talent show looking for her to be a guest star.
Jasmine thought the restaurant show could be crossed off the list. Harvesting crops in "Field of Kings" was alright, but running a restaurant was not her thing.
The other two involved acting and singing.
Singing? ...
That's not about supporting the contestants; it's about messing with their heads.
After a careful consideration, only "Actors, Please get ready" seemed suitable for her status. Jasmine pondered for a moment. She had a sixty percent acting skill, and after filming three movies in a row, she had gained some insights. It might not be exceptional, but at least not embarrassing. She didn't aim for high praise in these variety shows, just not to make a fool of herself.
Jasmine told her agent, Sister Chen: "I think this 'Actors, Please get ready' is not bad."
"'Actors, Please get ready'?"
Sister Chen looked quite surprised, and Jasmine asked her, "Wasn't it your pick for me to choose from? You're surprised that I picked her?"
"I thought you would choose the boy group talent show, which actually has the highest topic degree. Although you have some problems with singing, only knowing how to act in a stylized way, right? As long as we communicate well with the program team and have them arrange a traditional Chinese song for you to perform as a guest appearance, adding a bit of stylized acting... "
Jasmine suddenly realized, can it be done this way?
She was just about to say that she hadn't considered it, but Sister Chen continued, "However, as an actress going to a boy group talent show to show your face, there are risks. If you perform poorly, they will ask you why you went; if you perform too well, you will steal the spotlight from the brother. It's more secure for an actress to participate in a variety show to improve acting skills. So, it's settled."
...
...
"All the other sisters who could be promoted have pushed me to quietly finish filming this drama."
Sister Chen made an OK gesture and said that the variety show contract would be signed in a couple of days. Before the recording, she would remind Jasmine not to worry.
She wasn't worried at all, and she didn't even have time to worry, OK?
In the drama "Girls," after Sweet cried her heart out and broke up with the scumbag number one, that night, not only Yu Yang but all the audience watching this drama showed relieved smiles, thinking it was finally over, sweetie's suffering was over, and there should be a reliable person to love and cherish her in the future.
After breaking up with scumbag number one, Sweet did attract the attention of another cheerful boy in a very short time. This new character looked particularly sunny and cheerful, quickly helping Sweet emerge from the haze of the breakup.
Audiences on Facebook praised this second male lead enthusiastically, showering him with compliments for two days in a row.
They had no idea how much pressure their actions were putting on the actors.
Looking at the compliments from fans in the group chat, the male actor who played scumbag number two felt like he was in an ice cellar, feeling a chill from head to toe. Seeing the support he received from the audience and thinking about the future plot development, he felt like his end was not far off.
This male actor plucked up the courage to post on Facebook, saying he wasn't that outstanding, asking everyone to tone down the praise.
Without giving away too many spoilers, he tried his best.
Most likely, eighty percent of the audience still didn't get it and thought he was just being modest. Only a few people realized that there were still many episodes to come, and was it too early to assume happiness now?
The sunny boy and sweetie confirmed their relationship, but after one sweet episode, they were interrupted by the hardworking sister seeing her with another girl.
It turned out that this guy was the type to fall in and out of love quickly. After winning her over, he would disappear within half a year at most. The one he was entangled with was his ex, who had conceived and aborted his child.
For the prepared audience, it was okay, but for those who weren't, they were left dumbfounded all of a sudden.
-- Another harmful scumbag???
-- I said if he were really sweetie's official partner, why be so modest? Turns out he's not being modest, he's being guilty.
-- Ordered pizza to eat while watching, now too angry to eat. I praised him for two days, genuinely praised him for two days, hoping he would treat my sweetie well, and this is what he does?
-- How come the other girls just argue with their boyfriends and face a bit of difficulty at work, but my baby has to encounter scumbags over and over again? Screenwriter, give me an explanation!
The screenwriter acted as if he is blind hadn't seen anything.
The actor who was bombarded opened a live broadcast, saying he had felt when on set that it was inhumane to let down such a good girl; he had applied for it at the time and wanted to be with Sweet, but the director played matchmaker.
In any case, if you have any issues, go find the director.
Director Lang Jun once again knelt before the audience, saying this was another setback on the road to growth, and the lessons from before were not profound enough.
He said a lot, but still couldn't appease the sweet powder represented by Yu Yang. Yu Yang couldn't be bothered to conceal it anymore, directly saying on Facebook that he won't watch it, absolutely won't watch it, this drama is too annoying.
Fans laughed at him for being silly in chasing the drama with true feelings, while they themselves felt like puffer-fish encountering the second scumbag with Sweet.
Although many people on Facebook shouted that they won't watch, this did not scare Director Lang Jun, as the ratings were still rising that night.
Two days later, scumbag No.2 went offline as well. This time, Sweet learned from the experience and didn't choose another seemingly unreliable young man, but instead found a social elite-looking man, with good temperament, witty conversation, respectful towards women - a good man at first sight.
The audience, who had been deceived once, decided not to easily believe him and decided to observe more.
Damn, this is indeed another scumbag.
This was the worst scam that deceived Sweet, the first one was a playboy playing two sides, the second one was irresponsible and fickle, and the third one was cunning, engaging in both financial and romantic deception.
In order to gain trust, he didn't hesitate to make initial investments, making Sweet think he was a true elite, indeed, because of temporary financial difficulties and the need for funds... like this, Sweet Sweet lent him money, do you think this boyfriend would just disappear from the face of the earth? He didn't! He thought this woman was foolish, kept his composure and deceived her twice before finally running away.
Upon realizing it was a scam from the beginning, Sweet almost didn't want to live anymore.
Yu Yang, looking at the sulking little peach, was so angry he nearly had a heart attack. He paused the TV screen on the face of the third scumbag, took a picture, filled it with trash emojis, and @ Director Lang Jun, asking how many more were to come?!!!
-- Hahaha
-- Weren't you the one who said you won't watch it anymore? How come you're still sneakily watching?
-- Saying the harshest words but doing the most cowardly things.
-- That's right, that's our dear brother.
...
Yu Yang called out to Lang Jun, Lang Jun would definitely come out to respond.
He confidently said there's no next one, only three scumbags in total.
Yu Yang V: Only three...? Do you think that's quite a few?
Jasmine saw him earnestly confronting the director online and couldn't help but cry and laugh, "You are an actor yourself, yet you are so invested in watching dramas?"
"Shut up, I'll talk to Lang Jun first before I deal with you."
Jasmine: ?
"Talk about me? What do you want to say about me?"
This is a good question, Yu Yang, feeling displeased, stared at her, "You promised me last time that you wouldn't make this mistake again, but you fell into two traps as soon as you turned around. Are you living up to my advice?"
"...Brother, can we discuss this rationally? My play was finished long ago, in February this year, what's the use of mentioning it at the end of June?"
"Sophistry."
"Okay, let's say I kept my promise last time, didn't I do well? After my first boyfriend cheated, I learned to guard against infidelity, theft, and best friends. I didn't introduce the next two to my friends, isn't that progress?"
Yu Yang: ...
"You might as well be standing still."
Later, Jasmine had something to attend to and left, the assistant finally seized the opportunity and murmured to his artist in a low voice, "Brother, maybe don't criticize those scumbags too harshly."
"What? Are you a fan of them?"
Judging by the situation, as long as the assistant dared to nod, he would leave with the money today. Despite the pressure, he still analyzed with Yu Yang, "I remembered our plot, it doesn't seem better than theirs. Those three scumbags are just deceiving for money and romance, but you sent the little sister to heaven with a hammer, and in the last episode, you even took the female lead to the little sister's grave. Can the audience endure this broadcast? Don't let the audience bury you two, okay?"
Yu Yang felt a bit confused.
He didn't realize it when filming, only after the assistant's reminder did he somewhat come to his senses, indeed.
The assistant guy still felt he hadn't said enough: "Bro, think about it, when you and the leading lady's feelings were budding, people were breaking barriers for you; when you and the leading lady sealed it with a kiss, someone was deceived into falling off a cliff, when you and the leading lady were looking at stars and talking about ideals and life, someone was lonely and pitiful. You two were relying on each other like siblings, and you went off to fall in love, leaving your sister to be a single dog forever, she even sacrificed herself for you..."
Yu Yang finally forgot about the three times Little Peach was deceived, thinking about not being scolded by the audience when "Seeking Immortality" airs early next year, Ma-bey will make it to the trending topics after being scolded?
The top star was caught up in such worries.
As for Jasmine, as a supporting actress, she couldn't go be a third wheel with the elder brother. After a few days of intensive filming, her scenes were done, and the director gave her a short break.
As soon as she had some free time, she was immediately taken by Sister Chen for an interview.
By this time, the average viewership of "Girls" had already surpassed her previous drama, and there was another good news: Jasmine was nominated for the Golden Eagle Award for Most Popular Actress with the character Gu Pan.
Although Gu Pan's popularity had dropped long ago, now with Sweet's support, her votes were rapidly increasing, leaving others far behind.
Which actor doesn't want to be loved by the audience? Who doesn't want to win awards?
Even Jasmine was said to be happy about this.
After feeling happy, Sister Chen asked her, "Have you been getting too close to Yu Yang recently? Be careful, don't attract his fans."
Jasmine thought about it and realized it might be true.
The two of them did trend together a few times, but it was Yu Yang causing the commotion.
Sister Chen's point was that for a newcomer without a foundation, getting entangled with a top star could quickly gain attention, but with Jasmine's talent, it wasn't necessary.
"I understand, I will handle this."
So Jasmine turned around and arranged to meet her toolman, Ben, thinking as long as she had enough gossip, she wouldn't be connected to Yu Yang!
Wasn't it a coincidence? Ben happened to want to see her too.
He had recently invested in a big project in the film industry and wanted to take Jasmine to see it.
He kept it a secret all the way, and finally the car stopped in front of a small villa. Just as Jasmine was about to get out, he held her back, "Wait, let me tell you first, do you know the most famous detective in our country?"
"Andrew Yan? I read his book 'Witness' before, it was very exciting."
"Exactly, that's him. He has a work to turn into a movie and is selecting the male lead. After a round of auditions, only three are left. Because each has their own strengths, it's hard to choose. So, Professor Yan brought them here and gave them a task."
Listening with interest, Jasmine didn't understand, "What does this have to do with me?"
"Let me tell you. Professor Yan believes that whoever is qualified to play the male lead in his work should at least be a fan of detective stories. He brought them here to an empty house, gave them the task of figuring out who lived here before, his or her job, specialties, hobbies, family relationships, life experiences, etc., and the one who comes closest to the truth will be chosen."
"Are you saying...?"
Ben smirked and whispered to her, "Professor Yan gave them a whole day, and those three are still inside. I went in earlier and saw an old-fashioned telephone. It's now out of service, but there's a note under the receiver with the phone number. I wrote it down... You get my point, sis?
Basically, I think the owner of the house must have passed away, so call that number and ask who he or she was and what he or she liked to do when they were alive. Once we figure that out, we can go in and impress them. If Professor Yan sees how outstanding you are, he might even let you play the female lead, right?"
"...Aren't the female leads in his detective dramas usually hostages or survivors? Those roles involve crying, being nervous, scared, dependent on the male lead, do you really need brains for that?"
"There are other characters too, Andrew Yan is a very stubborn person. He insists on overseeing the casting for anyone who wants to film his works, believing that actors who don't fit the roles shouldn't be used. If it weren't for this, I would have arranged for you to be involved long ago. This is a great project, definitely award-worthy."
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Ben: I am truly a little trickster ~ OvO