Chapter 51: Preheat
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5821232
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
Qin Shiyue and Zhou Man are both the glamorous type, their style overlaps, and the two are rivals. Zhou Man’s looks are actually very high, but still a bit worse compared to Qin Shiyue. Zhou Man’s persona is fake, built up by hard work, and compared to Qin Shiyue’s real rich and beautiful Vase persona, it falls short. Her popularity and status, of course, can’t beat Qin Shiyue. And many of Zhou Man’s resources are Qin Shiyue’s leftovers, basically scavenging what’s left.
Previously, Zhou Man released the negative information that Qin Shiyue acts like a top star, she thought she really grabbed the M Channel variety show resource from Qin Shiyue’s hands. After tasting the sweetness, she wanted to use the same trick again, planning to throw dirty water before Qin Shiyue came back as a guest star.
“Don’t put your mind on this first. For now just keep your image steady. If you can’t crush them to death, maybe you’re only adding hype for them.” Zhou Man’s manager Li Meng was clearly not an easy one to deal with. Zhou Man’s current traffic also had much to do with Li Meng’s effort. Li Meng thought that cheating in marriage was indeed a good excuse to throw dirty water. But since the two never spent the night together, it still felt like something was missing.
Qin Shiyue and Lin Qingyi are both top-tier stars, especially Lin Qingyi, this kind of strong actress is very rare in the entertainment circle. A female actress with both looks and strength, not only does she have very loyal fans, even passersby like her in a surprising way. As shown by her recent perfume commercial Since Lin Qingyi didn’t avoid the paparazzi at all, she seemed totally not afraid of being exposed. So Li Meng was very worried. If they couldn’t crush them, it might backfire and instead give Qin Shiyue hype.
The paparazzi probably thought the same, they are strangely quiet, no related dirt came out, as if they were waiting for a big scoop that could nail them for cheating in marriage.
“But…” Zhou Man was so anxious because she lacks confidence. As long as she appeared with Qin Shiyue, Qin Shiyue could always take away the spotlight that should have been hers with ease. Once they joined the same variety show, she worried she would again be dimmed in comparison.
“Think carefully. Qin Shilan behind Qin Shiyue isn’t easy to mess with. Right now she’s only a guest star for two episodes, after two episodes she’ll leave.” Li Meng warned. In fact, she knew well why Zhou Man was so anxious. Because once Qin Shiyue returned, if the ratings rose sharply, then it was hard to say if Zhou Man could still stay as a regular guest next season. But Qin Shilan behind Qin Shiyue must still be feared. Last time they blackened her once, if they did it again now, it would be too obvious. Last time Qin Shiyue acted like a top star was solid proof, she didn’t come out to explain, she just admitted it.
But this time was different, it also involved Lin Qingyi. Never mind Qin Shilan behind Qin Shiyue, Lin Qingyi’s background was unknown. If they couldn’t hammer them to death this time, and the other side found out they were behind it, they could very likely get revenge. After weighing the pros and cons, Li Meng decided it was better not to act rashly.
Zhou Man felt unwilling, but still had to consider Qin Shilan behind Qin Shiyue. She thought in anger and resentment, she wasn’t worse than Qin Shiyue, the only thing Qin Shiyue had over her was a stronger background.
Qin Shiyue had a bit of a silly personality, naturally giving variety show effect. After she returned to M Channel as a guest star for one episode, M’s ratings clearly rose. Now she had only returned for one episode, but her discussion rose fast, the momentum was too strong, vaguely catching up to Zhou Man who had been a regular guest for almost a season.
Could Zhou Man not be anxious? She had thought she became the red flower, but once Qin Shiyue came back, Zhou Man felt she seemed to become Qin Shiyue’s foil. The hosts, including popular male stars, seemed more willing to curry favor with Qin Shiyue.
“Should I just watch her popularity rise past mine again?” Zhou Man saw Qin Shiyue’s discussion climb fast and angrily threw her phone.
Li Meng glanced at Zhou Man’s face, twisted and almost deformed by jealousy, thinking, how can a fake persona compete with a real one? It was probably unlikely for Zhou Man to surpass Qin Shiyue’s popularity, but Li Meng didn’t want Zhou Man to lose this M Channel resource. This show had indeed brought Zhou Man a lot of popularity, and even her recent business endorsements had improved, raising her value.
“Since Qin Shiyue brings her own popularity, you ride on it. She isn't straight, right? Then you make a CP with her. With your levels, bundled together, the popularity will definitely be high. As long as the popularity is high enough, next season M Channel won’t want to replace you.” Li Meng was really sharp, quickly coming up with the best plan. Since Zhou Man couldn’t replace Qin Shiyue, she could ride Qin Shiyue’s momentum. If Zhou Man and Qin Shiyue bundled successfully, however popular Qin Shiyue was, Zhou Man would get popular too. Li Meng thought more and more, making a CP with Qin Shiyue only had benefits, no drawbacks.
“You’re crazy. I’m straight. Making me make a CP with that damn lesbian, isn’t that disgusting me?” Zhou Man said with disdain and disgust when Li Meng suggested she make a CP with Qin Shiyue.
“Do you have any other way? Your popularity just can’t beat hers. Recently, she was busy filming, her exposure dropped a lot, that’s why you got a temporary chance to shine. Now she’s back on screen, ratings rise obviously. Who do you think M Channel will invite next season?” Li Meng sneered and asked back. The best ones exist, who wants to settle for a substitute, this is very realistic. She knew Zhou Man also understood, otherwise she wouldn’t be raging here so helplessly.
Zhou Man ran out of words. Compared to making a CP with Qin Shiyue, the person she hated, she cared more about benefits.
Qin Shiyue knew Zhou Man was her rival. The other side didn’t like her, she could feel it. Anyway, she doesn't care about Zhou Man, she just needs to keep being polite on the surface.
But when Qin Shiyue and Zhou Man recorded M Channel’s [Hi] variety show together, that was Qin Shiyue’s second episode as a guest star. Qin Shiyue felt Zhou Man was possessed by some evil ghost, her attitude unusually strange, not as polite as before, acting extra close. Zhou Man’s abnormal attitude made Qin Shiyue very uncomfortable.
Not only was Zhou Man’s attitude too abnormal, she also liked to touch, either grabbing wrists or putting her hand on her leg, body pressing very close.
Zhou Man’s sudden change made Qin Shiyue uneasy. Instinctively, she felt disgusted by the contact, as if Zhou Man’s evil ghost would crawl onto her. She tried hard to suppress the urge to push Zhou Man away. But they are filming, if she pushed her on camera, she could already imagine a huge negative hot search waiting. Not that she had low EQ or acted like a top star, it would look like she didn’t get along with Zhou Man.
Obviously Qin Shiyue didn't want to be on such a hot search, thinking that it was only one episode, she could just endure it.
But who knew, halfway through filming, Zhou Man suddenly went crazy for some reason, couldn’t even walk properly, and actually threw herself into Qin Shiyue’s arms. She was already in her arms, Qin Shiyue couldn’t push this woman possessed by an evil ghost away on camera.
Then, she didn’t know who was so clueless, couldn’t see it was a setup, and even said, “They look good together.”
Qin Shiyue was extremely speechless.
This episode of the variety show was especially uncomfortable for Qin Shiyue. She felt uneasy everywhere, like being stuck to a wriggling caterpillar, her whole body bothered, and she had to hold back the urge to crush it. She even admired her own professionalism.
After this miserable episode was done, Qin Shiyue immediately put distance between herself and Zhou Man.
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5821232
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
“Sister Fang, why did Zhou Man go crazy? How did she suddenly change like a different person, it’s really scary.” Qin Shiyue didn’t understand why someone could change so much.
Fang Xinhua was also surprised at first, but she quickly figured it out. Baby Qin’er’s popularity is still very high, and her variety sense was better than Zhou Man’s. As long as M Channel’s higher-ups weren’t brainless, next season’s regular female guest would still be Baby Qin’er. Li Meng had some skill in the circle. To prevent Zhou Man from losing this good resource, she chose to bundle Baby Qin’er for a CP. Riding Baby Qin’er’s popularity was a sure win. The other side really played a perfect scheme.
Two popular female stars making a CP would definitely be 1+1>2 in popularity. Fang Xinhua already expected that when the next episode aired, Baby Qin’er and Zhou Man would appear together on the hot search, which was exactly what the production team wanted.
This was just variety show effect. Clarifying it alone would be overdoing it, obviously unnecessary. Fang Xinhua thought about the next plan, to prevent Baby Qin’er from being stuck with this piece of crap Zhou Man, or even bundled successfully. Being used for popularity was secondary, it was just that this piece of crap was smelly and disgusting.
Sure enough, once the variety show aired, Qin Shiyue and Zhou Man both appeared on the hot search. Soon, a super topic for their CP appeared, and the popularity was high. But compared to the previous hype when Qin Shiyue and Lin Qingyi appeared on the hot search together, there was still a gap. The CP fans were clearly fewer.
Qin Shiyue and Lin Qingyi as a CP, Lin Qingyi’s fans felt Qin Shiyue was riding Lin Qingyi’s popularity.
Qin Shiyue and Zhou Man as a CP, Qin Shiyue’s fans felt Zhou Man was riding their flower vase’s popularity.
Qin Shiyue’s fans generally felt there was already the most beautiful flower vase, no need for another. A flower vase goes better with flowers. But Qin Lin’s CP fans had been much quieter recently. Before, they felt their Little Boss Qin and Movie Queen Lin weren’t that different. Little Boss Qin had popularity, Movie Queen Lin had skill, very matching. Since Movie Queen Lin took the perfume commercial, everyone realized she was the hidden star with the most traffic. So their Little Boss Qin really didn’t match Movie Queen Lin. Movie Queen Lin had no shortage of popularity.
Qin Shiyue didn’t like this hot search, but Zhou Man felt this one lasted longer than any of her previous ones. Riding Qin Shiyue’s popularity, tasting the sweetness, she actively interacted with Qin Shiyue on Weibo.
Qin Shiyue’s official Weibo responded coldly.
At this time, Qin Shiyue had just finished filming the idol drama “My Princess Girlfriend,” which passed review in record time and entered the promotion period. Soon, it would be exclusively streamed on AX Video.
Qin Shiyue and Fang Xinhua expected “My Princess Girlfriend” might be popular, but didn’t expect it to be this popular, pushing Qin Shiyue’s popularity and heat to the peak.
Although Qin Shiyue was the one cooling herself off, Lin Qingyi was unhappy. Qin Shiyue hadn’t messaged her in a long time. On top of that, she saw the hot search of Qin Shiyue and Zhou Man making a CP, and the screenshot of Zhou Man throwing herself into Qin Shiyue’s arms made Lin Qingyi’s face almost match her name, turning green with jealousy.
Author's Note:
Qin Shiyue: Baby is seriously working on her career, do not disturb.
Lin Qingyi: Seriously working on career, or making a CP?
Qin Shiyue: Mind your own business! Baby has a temper too.
Riding Baby Qin’er’s popularity, I want some hot reviews.
