Chapter 10 Exposé

Chapter 10: The Scoop

"Ahem—"

A light cough came from the direction of the door. Su Mi turned to look and saw Ms. Zhou standing there with a strange expression, her eyes wide with shock.

Su Mi promptly released He Qiao's hair, then turned to wash her hands. Under the other's murderous glare, she walked out of the restroom without hurry.

"Ding! Host Luck +30!"

"How did you..." Sister Zhou trailed off, keeping pace beside her.

She had originally followed her out, worried Su Mi might be bullied by He Qiao. She never expected to see something like this.

It was the first time she'd had to completely revise her opinion of this young lady.

In the entertainment circle, even those with deep-seated grudges keep up a polite facade. Hair-pulling fights aren't unheard of, but they're still rare—getting caught on camera just becomes damaging dirt. She never imagined this young lady would be so direct.

"Get rid of her," Su Mi said, unwilling to explain further.

Hearing this, Sister Zhou frowned instead. "She's already signed a contract with the production company. It would be hard to kick her out now."

Although she didn't know how this young lady had clashed with He Qiao, a month ago they could have replaced her. Now that the contract was signed, it was tricky.

"Then have her quit voluntarily. Compared to a second female lead role and future film resources, she should know which to choose," Su Mi said, her expression unchanging.

Seeing her determination to replace He Qiao, Sister Zhou had little more to say. She could only nod, indicating she would communicate with the production team.

The chairman had specifically instructed her a few days ago to always pay attention to the young lady's state of mind. Give her whatever she wants, and don't let her be slighted in the slightest.

In contrast, he'd only asked a few simple questions about the second daughter. The patriarch, however, had given the second daughter many instructions, showing his greater fondness for her. If she couldn't keep both sides happy, it would be difficult for her too.

After returning to the private room, Su Mi smiled and nodded at everyone. She didn't engage in conversation, focusing solely on eating. Gradually, no one tried to talk to her.

When He Qiao returned, her demeanor was once again calm and composed, completely different from the ferocious, contorted expression from before. Facing the investors, she eagerly stepped forward to toast, working the room with ease and laughter.

This just shows everyone in the entertainment industry is a consummate performer—some in front of the curtain, others behind it.

After the dinner ended, she returned to the hotel with Sister Zhou. The acting coach had already been waiting.

For this reason, she specifically added her recent luck points to her acting talent. Actually, she hadn't expected He Qiao to be one of the original host's emotional hang-ups either.

But thinking about the original host's personality, it wasn't surprising. The insults He Qiao hurled were undoubtedly wounds that never healed from her humble days, constantly reminding her she was once just a faceless stand-in.

Although the original host never spoke of it, she never truly let go of these humiliating past events. They became thorns in her heart, and she battled with herself daily. While suffering, she gradually developed an inferiority complex.

This is the mark of a person prone to overthinking. Even if a passerby snaps at them, they'll spin out, repeatedly recalling the unpleasantness. Such people either become depressed or develop a paranoid personality.

That's why the female lead can become the group's favorite. After all, who doesn't like a sunny, positive little sun?

However, in life, there's no need to care about everyone's opinion. As long as you are strong enough yourself, what does it matter if others don't like you? You don't need their approval to put food on the table.

When you are strong enough, others will need to read your mood instead. This is society's reality. So, making money is the top priority.

After increasing her acting talent, the teacher's explanations formed vivid images. When reading the script, she also had clearer ways to express emotions. She immediately spent a long time writing detailed notes on the script.

The next day at the rehearsal space rented by the crew, all main actors were present, including the male lead who had just arrived that morning.

Cheng Yu isn't a top-tier star, but he is a popular actor in the second tier. He accepted this female-led project entirely out of respect for the production company. Otherwise, popular actors generally would never accept such a supporting male lead role.

The production side also needs Cheng Yu's popularity to draw an audience. If both leads were unknown, it would require much more promotional investment.

The male second lead, the female third lead, and others were basically all there. Only He Qiao was absent, showing Sister Zhou didn't waste any time.

Although He Qiao has capital backing her, it involves complex interests. They wouldn't antagonize Yuxing Entertainment just for her. If He Qiao didn't want to become a pawn abandoned by capital, voluntarily leaving was her best choice.

The entertainment industry is just this realistic. But in fact, any circle is. Her magnanimity is for people of high quality, not for two-faced schemers.

"We didn't greet each other properly last night. How about I treat everyone to dinner tonight? Let's go have a good time?" the male second lead proactively tried to liven things up.

The space was small, and everyone else nodded. They were all young, and finally decided on barbecue.

Su Mi didn't voice an opinion. Instead, she followed the action director's guidance to practice swordplay. The female lead has the most fight scenes. The director banned stand-ins for the whole crew, except for dangerous shots, to ensure the most realistic effect.

"Your movements are good. Have you practiced before?" the action director rarely offered praise.

Others also glanced over. Everyone knew Su Mi was a connection inserted by the investors, but her fight scenes were smooth and flowing, not like a beginner's.

"I usually practice things like Muay Thai or Wing Chun, but it's barely scratching the surface," Su Mi said modestly.

Hearing this, the action director nodded curiously. No wonder Su Mi's force application was different. Others were soft, while her movements were fast, fierce, and precise. This created the best visual effect, but risked accidental injury.

Sure enough, when practicing with Cheng Yu, Su Mi lost control and kicked his ear. His assistant screamed and rushed over.

"Oh my god! Brother Yu, are you okay? Your ear is so red! I'll call 120 right now!"

All the staff came over to check. A real accident would delay the training schedule. Moreover, Cheng Yu was the guarantee for attracting investment.

Only the person involved awkwardly pushed his assistant away. "I'm fine."

"Your ear is that red, how can you be fine! What if you go deaf!?" the assistant anxiously picked up his phone.

Cheng Yu frowned and glanced at him. "Is it my ear or yours? If you're idle, keep your mouth shut."

"..."

The assistant stood to the side, wronged, not daring to say more. He was just concerned. What if something went wrong?

The others didn't know what to say either. The person involved said he was fine, so they couldn't force him to the hospital. It was just a kick; probably not a big problem.

"Sorry, I accidentally didn't hold back," Su Mi tossed him a bottle of water.

No wonder her coach said hitting the target isn't hard; effortlessly controlling your strength marks truly entering the threshold.

Cheng Yu took the water and shook his head indifferently. "It's nothing. Let's go again."

Before coming, he'd heard the female lead was an investor's connection. But the contract was signed, so he'd do his best. Unlike the imagined "connection," she was young but could endure hardship.

He was tired after two hours of training, but Su Mi was still full of energy practicing on the wire. Her diligence was the greatest he'd seen among female artists.

If a newcomer was this serious, how could he, a grown man, rest so easily? Failing to achieve the best visual effect would be a regret.

"Have your assistant get an egg to massage it with. Don't let it become a real problem. We can practice this afternoon," Su Mi said, walking to the side to sit and rest.

The female assistant Sister Zhou had arranged immediately brought a towel to wipe her sweat.

After drinking some water, Su Mi scrolled through her phone and came across a piece of gossip.

It was a scoop posted by a marketing account, and the content was highly suggestive.

Entertainment Insider: Celebrity C has already joined the crew for training. That wuxia project was originally favored by a certain A-list actress, but an investor-backed connection muscled in, leaving the top-tier actress no choice.

This newcomer's backing is serious capital. Afraid of being outshone by Actress H's acting skills, they had the crew replace Actress H. Now the crew is scrambling to find a replacement, likely targeting a certain post-00s web drama actress.

Momocai: I don’t understand why Cheng Yu’s agent accepted this script for him. It’s clearly a female-led story with little benefit for the male lead.

DiningOut: Hahaha just saw Cheng Yu's fans tearing into his studio online [laugh-cry]

MainMicDuringPeak: He Qiao and the second female lead were so perfectly cast, and they actually got replaced!!!! Director, you have no heart!!!!!

Tutu: Was actually looking forward to it, since the plot seemed quite interesting, but now the crew's shady moves are making me want to puke [vomit]

RemindMeAboutClass: Cheng Yu, run away!!!!

HereWeGo: Can feel the fans' despair even through the screen hahaha

This gossip was just breaking, so it was still only spreading in small circles. But if there was someone pushing it behind the scenes, it meant someone was deliberately planting landmines for her. Later, when the drama aired, it would turn into her bringing funding to get on the show, snatching the role from a top-tier actress, and even bullying the second female lead in the same production.

Su Mi immediately took a screenshot and sent it to Sister Zhou. Knowing she was a nepotism hire, most gossip accounts wouldn't dare offend her. So, it could only mean someone was deliberately spreading dirt targeting her.

It seemed like it could be He Qiao, but she probably wasn't that foolish, unless she hadn't learned her lesson yet.

Cheng Yu sat down nearby with a towel. "Are you going out for dinner tonight?"

Su Mi looked up at him. "I've got class tonight. You all go ahead; I'll pay."

It wasn't that she didn't want to get along with others, but time was tight. She had too many classes and couldn't afford to cram at the last minute when filming started.

Cheng Yu didn't say anything else and instead went back to training with the action director, making the most of his time.

It wasn't until evening that Su Mi received a message from Sister Zhou. She said they hadn't found out who was behind it, but they had already done PR to suppress that piece of gossip and released some other news to divert attention.

Not being able to trace it was quite telling. After careful thought, Su Mi felt it could only have been done by the second male lead. In the original story, he often caused trouble for the original character because of the female lead, believing that if the female lead was unhappy, it must be because of the female supporting role.

But he didn't know that the female lead was unhappy because his older brother was dragging his feet about breaking off the engagement with the third female lead, so she was jealous.

Only he was still looking forward to the engagement banquet next month. So, what a fucking idiot really has problems with his brains. He couldn't even tell that the female lead didn't like him; no wonder he got cheated on by his own woman.

The next time she ran into that dumbass, she was determined to trigger a mission and smear shit all over his face. The female lead didn't like him, so he came after her—what kind of brain-dead move was that? As if the female lead would ever fancy him.

After finishing her acting class, it was already 9 p.m. She went to the hotel gym to train for another half hour, then started a video call to ask her coach about controlling her strength.

If she couldn't control her strength, it was easy to accidentally hurt others. After all, acting was acting, not real combat.

"You seem to be in a hurry?" The person in the video sat at a desk, quietly watching her kick the sandbag.

Compared to a few days ago, her form had become much more standard, and her progress was remarkably fast.

After training all day, attending classes for so long, and still practicing late at night, it was clear she was very eager for quick results.

But if she wanted to gain a say in the Su family, she should be studying finance and management, not combat.

"There's someone I really dislike. I've always wanted to beat him up. Rather than letting someone else do it, it's more satisfying to do it myself," she said, kicking the sandbag again and again.

Time waited for no one. She had to achieve something before the female lead's engagement next month, or it would disrupt her entire plan.

What could be crazier than publicly beating up the second male lead? The luck points would definitely skyrocket then.

But if she couldn't beat him, that would be awkward.

"Violence doesn't solve problems," Lin Yue's eyes flickered slightly.

Su Mi executed a side kick, sending the sandbag flying, then glanced sideways. "Violence doesn't solve problems, but since ancient times, men have relied on violence to oppress women. I'm just giving them a taste of their own medicine."