Chapter 81

My Leading Lady, Has Always Been Only You

“There are a few types of paid voters. Normal votes cost about 40 cents each, but if it’s for Douyin or live-stream data, a package deal is 500 comments for 200 yuan.

The more votes, the better the price. I know a team who can handle it. How many votes do you need? I can find someone for you.”

“Does Shanghai Windstorms really need that many votes?”

Hu Xiu handed the screen over, and Zhao Xiaoru almost rolled her eyes out of their sockets: “This? Send it to my WeChat friends, and I’ll get it done in no time.”

“Really!”

“Don’t...”

“If I send it to my WeChat, the doctors and translators will think I’ve lost my mind, and I won’t even get a few votes...”

“Grandma, what did I tell you? You can’t get through to your brain with a torpedo.

If you didn’t finish your conversation with Diao Zhi Yu, just grab him, send WeChat messages, call him, chase him to his building—just dump everything on him.

I don’t believe it. If you tell him to come and talk to you tonight or you’ll jump off a building, he’ll definitely come. Why waste money on murder mystery? Just give him the money directly!”

“He probably enjoys playing with me in the show, and there are some things that can’t be said outside of the script. When we’re in character, it feels more real, and there’s something to talk about.”

“Then why not buy some props and costumes and role-play at home? Why give the middlemen the profit?”

Zhao Xiaoru really didn’t want to spend the money: “Do you know why you don’t have any savings? It’s because you always spend money in the wrong places.”

Sister, wait for the right moment. If others are buying votes, I’ll help you do the same. But for now, it seems unnecessary. Who would really get as obsessed as you do?

“I even think… I could act with him for a lifetime.”

Zhao Xiaoru closed her eyes in disgust.

The script was released on Shanghai Windstorms’ official Weibo. There were three scenes with a counterpart, and the rest were improvised.

This was Hu Xiu’s first time seeing the script for a scripted murder. The first lines were in red for Han Yi Qiu, blue for Du Ming Quan, and yellow for Shen Ling. After marking it with a highlighter, the lines were just a few sentences; the rest was left for the actors to improvise.

So all those actions and details from Shen Ling were added by the actor herself.

With the camera and lights set up, Hu Xiu rehearsed in front of the camera twice. She was shy and stiff, and after watching it, she wanted to slap herself.

Now she understood the agony of NPCs who have to hold back their laughter while still acting along. The wages were all mental compensation.

Not only must one not be stage-frightened or forget their lines, but they must also bring their own uniqueness—talent and training, both are essential.

How did Diao Zhi Yu face her when she was shy, stuttering, and excited to the point of being uncontrollable?

She flipped through Diao Zhi Yu’s limited master acting class notes, absorbing the lessons on understanding characters and perfecting roles.

She imagined the lines Shen Ling would say based on her character’s personality. If the setting was lacking, she would refer to materials and use her intuition to feel her way through it.

Hu Xiu thought about it for a moment. Shen Ling was like Wang Qi Yao—a girl who became a movie star and changed her social standing.

But in a turbulent era, she couldn’t even protect herself. Du Ming Quan cherished her while relying on Du Ruo Sheng, a pillar of strength. The most dangerous place was the safest one. As an underground party member exchanging intelligence with Han Yi Qiu, being pursued by him was dangerous. Du Ming Quan, upon careful reflection, would realize that the person beside her had actually betrayed her.

She was a glamorous movie star on the outside, but secretly a female spy with a hidden identity.

Hu Xiu went even deeper in her thinking. Du Ming Quan walked on a knife’s edge, trading intelligence for her life. How painful would it be if she were betrayed? Or perhaps, despite knowing they were on opposing sides, Han Yi Qiu would still love her…

The love and hate in chaotic times were so captivating.

She carefully designed a monologue for herself, recorded it, and sent it out. No makeup, no lights, just the lines she had written.

Three days later, she received the selection notice. Excited, she sent a voice message to Zhao Xiaoru: “Are the bots ready? I passed the first round!”

There were ten players selected in total, and of course, Shen Ling’s role was among them. The previous Shen Ling was a girl who was 172 cm tall, looking like a beauty queen, but now, the selected candidates had personal videos posted in the public WeChat account—each one a public execution.

Some professional players had also signed up, and their acting far surpassed Hu Xiu’s. But Hu Xiu’s lines weren’t given by the script; with her monologue, she should still have a chance.

The votes quickly poured in, cooling her down. After practicing listening skills in the morning, she picked up her phone to find two female players already had over a thousand votes.

Upon closer inspection, one of them was Green Gem—someone who was active in parent groups, business groups, and micro-business groups, a master of voting tricks.

Of course, Hu Xiu couldn’t lose. She transferred a thousand yuan to Zhao Xiaoru: “Buy two thousand votes first!”

When she woke up, Green Gem’s votes had reached five thousand, and the other player had three thousand.

Hu Xiu was stunned. Was this really happening? Only one night, and this was the result?

She took a screenshot and sent it to Zhao Xiaoru. Zhao Xiaoru replied with a voice message: “Don’t think it’s just me, I’ve been sending them in batches to make it look real. This voting system is pretty sly. Each person can only vote five times a day.”

“Don’t underestimate those parent groups and micro-business groups. There are dozens of sales groups for face masks, and housewives rely on these for a sense of presence every day.”

Hu Xiu’s face fell: “I can’t afford it anymore. My money was earned with brain cells.”

“Underestimating me, Zhao Xiaoru? If you, Hu Xiu, want to be the lead, I, Zhao Xiaoru, the number one fan, will spend whatever it takes to get you there!”

Watching her votes soar, Hu Xiu never imagined that Zhao Xiaoru would take it this far.

Probably because of her connections with the bots, Zhao Xiaoru posted a screenshot in the group showing her WeChat conversation with the bot team, saying they were watching out for the players with high vote counts and fighting back against them.

As a result, the rankings were as follows: others had votes in the tens or hundreds, but Hu Xiu and the other two stood far ahead.

Li Ai raised a question in the group: “Can’t we just use a hack? Why spend so much money?”

“I, Zhao Xiaoru, am not short on money. I just want to win this!”

In her lifetime, Hu Xiu never imagined she would be this obsessed with a scripted murder. She thought, even the wealthy sponsors who spend money to get their favorite women into a role wouldn’t work this hard.

A small WeChat post was inflated to 100k+ views thanks to the bot votes. As Zhao Xiaoru kept voting, she cursed in real-time: “Hu Xiu, if you don’t let me play the female lead, I’ll send someone to blow up their filming base!”

But that wasn’t all. Shanghai Windstorms called her and invited her to a workshop for acting training.

Professional teachers and actors were there, and a group gathered to free their natural instincts.

Hu Xiu searched everywhere but didn’t see Diao Zhi Yu. One of the actors joked, “Looking for Du Ming Quan? The main character doesn’t attend regular rehearsals, they have their own stage plays and commercial shoots.”

That afternoon, though Diao Zhi Yu wasn’t there, Hu Xiu had an unexpectedly enjoyable time. She suddenly understood why actors choose immersive theater.

While movies rely on editing, and TV dramas depend on pacing, both create a barrier between the audience and the actors.

Theater touches the fourth wall, and even actors can’t receive immediate feedback while performing.

Immersive theater allows the audience to participate, improvising in real time. Sometimes, simply having a book in a player’s hand is enough to spark inspiration for the actor…

A player mentioned how Diao Zhi Yu had once played a small police officer. The director still talked about him with great fondness.

“Diao Zhi Yu played a really bad cop. The director said he gave off such a strong sense of crisis that it made him want to come up with better lines to act against him—having a good opponent is way more important than having a good teammate.”

She was lost in thought, listening intently.

After the rehearsal, the fun was just beginning. She went with the group to have dinner, met some professional actors, and added them on WeChat. She also heard a lot of gossip about the actors: a luxury car brand had rented a venue for a team-building event, but it turned out the whole department was gay; during the second half of the night event, it was chaos; half a year ago, Du Mingquan had gotten drunk and stepped in to help someone in trouble on the street, only to end up in a police station. 

The next day, they couldn’t find her for the performance, so they replaced her, and she ended up playing a gangster heir, completely in her element; Dai Li’s acting skills weren’t great, but she was particularly good at charming female players, and before Diao Zhiyu came, she was the most popular, so the two of them didn’t get along well; the most interesting was the police chief, who was surrounded by infatuated female players at every performance, but behind the scenes, he was gay, a fact that came out during the luxury car team-building event...

The life of actors was full of colorful stories. In contrast, Diao Zhiyu was indeed a legend in Shanghai Windstorm. According to the actors, he was a true theater fanatic with no interest in women and possibly even gay.

The man playing the casino boss whispered to her, “There are so many people competing for the lead female role this time. Everyone’s betting on you because that piece of dialogue was amazing. They’d even choose you if they want to make a splash on Weibo.”

When the final results were announced, they were shocking. The person chosen was a student from Shanghai Theatre Academy with a ponytail, not many votes, and not resembling Shen Ling at all.

Shanghai Windstorm specifically contacted Hu Xiu: “Could we use that line of dialogue? It really adds depth to the storyline between Shen Ling and Han Yiqiu...”

Before Hu Xiu could respond, Zhao Xiaorou grabbed the phone: “Who are you trying to fool? Using this chance to promote a new actor? Are you making fun of us who’ve been voting every day?”

She continued, “You organizers and bosses better listen up, I have eight million real followers on Weibo, and I’m Gong Huaicong’s ex-girlfriend. If I post on Weibo about your shady practices, you’ll definitely trend.”

“But do you think I’ll help you for nothing? If you don’t believe me, I can make sure people flood your phones with complaints...”

The boss really contacted Zhao Xiaorou and agreed to let Hu Xiu perform as Shen Ling in another session that same day.

Hu Xiu was stunned when she heard the news. Was she really going to act? That yellow cheongsam and white cape would be on her!

The best part was being able to hear Han Yiqiu’s heartfelt confession in the play—”Shen Ling, I love you!”

Just thinking about it made her feel like her limbs were tingling!

During the last week of Qixi, Hu Xiu’s main task was to seriously perform as the lead female role, Shen Ling, and get Diao Zhiyu to stamp Han Yiqiu’s marriage certificate. This victory was something she was determined to achieve.

She went to Zhao Xiaorou’s place, carefully had her makeup and styling done, more seriously than preparing for a wedding, leaving half an hour earlier than planned.

The two of them predicted that Diao Zhiyu would definitely be shocked when they arrived.

When they got off the expressway, the traffic in Songjiang city was clogged. Hu Xiu had a bad premonition in her heart.

Zhao Xiaorou took a series of sharp turns, but couldn’t manage to get ahead. Even when trying to change lanes to go around, another car cut them off and they ended up in a sudden collision.

Looking at the raised hood, Zhao Xiaorou told Hu Xiu, “Hurry up and take a taxi. I’ll deal with the accident.”

“That’s not possible…” Hu Xiu protested.

“Hurry up! Do you know how hard I worked to get this spot for you? Even the king of the world couldn’t stop you from playing the lead. Hu Xiu, you have to act today! So much money and energy have been invested, you have to make it count!”

There were still fifteen minutes left to reach Shanghai Windstorm’s venue. Hu Xiu stood by the side of the road in high heels trying to hail a taxi. No luck with the app or on the street. Was Songjiang this congested?

It would take 40 minutes to walk there. Gritting her teeth, Hu Xiu decided she would walk, no matter what!

Her heels clicked loudly on the pavement, and after ten minutes, the shoes became unbearable. She stood at the entrance of a shopping mall, the temperature a scorching 40°C. She ordered an iced fruit tea. By the time the delivery rider arrived, she grabbed the tea and hopped into the backseat of the car, “Hey, this fruit tea’s for you. Please hurry up and get me to Songjiang Film City.”

There’s always a way if you’re determined!

The 40°C heat made Hu Xiu feel like she was a chicken in a steamer.

She rushed, sweating under her makeup that was held in place with setting spray. Sitting on the electric bike, sweat was dripping down her face. What was happening?

Why was every day so chaotic since she got involved with Diao Zhiyu and the immersive murder mystery game? The last 200 meters felt like riding over railroad tracks with a tractor. The bumps almost made her eyes pop out.

By the time she reached Shanghai Windstorm, the first half of the evening session had already started. The crew saw Hu Xiu, drenched in sweat, and asked her why she was late: “Actors without a professional background need to prepare at least an hour ahead for earphones and practice with their co-actors.”

Shen Ling was already set to be a player, and now she had to act... “How can you be so unprofessional? You can’t even seize an opportunity, how are you going to be an actor?”

Hu Xiu couldn’t reply.

It was too late to join the first half. She washed her face in the restroom, and most of her makeup had already melted off. She sat in the rest area, waiting for the second half.

During the intermission, Diao Zhiyu came out and saw Hu Xiu. “Why are you only here now?”

Hu Xiu just shook her head. The outcome was already set, and explaining the earlier mishaps seemed pointless.

If she had truly cared, she would have arrived in the morning. This accident could’ve been avoided.

Zhao Xiaorou burst in, “Damn it, the BMW owner has no manners, trying to scam me. Whatever, I’ll go through insurance, I’m not taking full responsibility. So, did you perform?”

Diao Zhiyu saw through everything and turned to go upstairs.

Hu Xiu stood in the crowd, watching Han Yiqiu and Shen Ling perform their scene. Zhao Xiaorou tightly held her hand.

The story didn’t break any new ground, and her lines weren’t used. Han Yiqiu still held the same rose and looked at her with sincere eyes, not letting Hu Xiu affect the scene.

Shen Ling seemed to perform even more passionately because of Hu Xiu’s presence. Quietly, Hu Xiu wiped a tear from her eye. There was only one chance. She had tried her best. Not landing the lead role felt like a breakup in a relationship—perhaps it was just a matter of fate.

After the performance ended, Diao Zhi Yu suddenly grabbed Hu Xiu: “Wait a moment...”

What was he going to do?

As the crowd dispersed, the actor playing the forensic expert turned around: “Zhi Yu, aren’t you leaving?”

“You guys go ahead, I have something to take care of.”

Zhao Xiao Rou also knew when to leave. The staff began cleaning up, and Diao Zhi Yu pulled Hu Xiu to stand by the ballroom door and said, “Perform your first female lead lines for me.”

He was waiting for her to act! She had been desperately trying to get the role, and he knew it!

At this moment, she was wearing a black long robe, her makeup had worn off, and she looked dejected.

The lights dimmed, and the atmosphere became intimate, tension building to its peak. Looking into Diao Zhi Yu’s eyes, they were bright yet calm, filled with a watery depth.

The days they spent in the rehearsal room returned to her mind. She stood on top of a high table, Diao Zhi Yu with his arms open said, “Don’t be afraid, trust me, fall if you must.”

The sunlight at that moment poured into the room, just like how Diao Zhi Yu had barged into her dull life.

He spoke the first line — “Shen Ling, I like you. Why won’t you be with me?”

Holding back her tears, Hu Xiu finally spoke: “What do you think the meaning of life is? I came from the alley, became a Shanghai lady overnight, fame poured into me, wrapping me up. I’m no longer the old Shen Ling.”

“Just like you’ve experienced killing since childhood, never lived a life. You used to survive for money, but now you take lives for the country. You’re no longer the old Han Yi Qiu.”

“Du Ming Quan truly loves me. Even knowing I betrayed him, he wouldn’t hurt me.”

“On the other hand, you and I have no fate together. The only intersection was at the station, those dozen hours we spent traveling together from Beiping to Shanghai.”

“Han Yi Qiu, besides passing on intelligence, I’ve never loved you, not even a little — we have no future.”

“You’re lying...”

“Just go, before Du Ming Quan finds out. He’s almost here.”

Nearby, staff members had stopped to watch. Diao Zhi Yu’s eyes reddened, biting his lip, he nodded and took a few steps back, leaving the venue.

One line she had prepared earlier, “I loved you,” she had changed in these few hours.

Chasing the game’s plot like this was time to stop. Looking at the empty ballroom and the nearby train station, it was the newest memory of the past two months.

She had thought she was sustaining herself through the memories of love to ease the pain of heartbreak. But because of Qin Xiao Yi and Han Yi Qiu, she had experienced different kinds of love, with Diao Zhi Yu as the protagonist in every one.

To a certain extent, she had already played the role of the first female lead for a long time. She should be satisfied.

She left the venue and went to the dressing room. Some players were whispering about her, and she could hear them while changing: “She finally got the Valentine’s Day benefit but was late and couldn’t play Shen Ling. Why didn’t she come earlier?”

Another voice said, “Exactly, I wasn’t interested in seeing Han Yi Qiu flirting with other female players.”

After changing, she waited for Zhao Xiao Rou. The car had been towed to the 4S store, and they were figuring out how to get home. Many players were waiting for their cars, and when Diao Zhi Yu came downstairs, they screamed.

Diao Zhi Yu stood in front of Hu Xiu, still in his white shirt, as though waiting for this moment.

Hu Xiu thought to herself that she would never come to Shanghai Windstorm again, the last Valentine’s task was done.

She smiled and said, “Just stamp the marriage certificate for me. My OCD is acting up, and don’t treat it like a real marriage certificate. Just think of it as letting me collect your Valentine’s Day stamps.”

He took the folded marriage certificate from his pocket and tore it to pieces, scattering it into the air. Hu Xiu was confused: “Diao Zhi Yu, going to this extent, isn’t this too much?”

“You came here to play the first female lead, right?”

“Yes...”

“Then why the stamp?”

Everyone around them was watching the scene. Han Yi Qiu, the cold and indifferent number one, didn’t take off his makeup or change his costume. He kept questioning the late female player; the frail player in front of him had her game props torn up and refused to let it go. Some people took out their phones, recording the video, and Han Yi Qiu didn’t dodge, even more invested than in the play.

Hu Xiu asked, puzzled: “Do you need a reason? I came to find you, wanted to talk to you. You’ve been avoiding me, like an iceberg, impossible to break through...

“Diao Zhi Yu, if you want to torment me, find another way. Right now, I just want to know, you agreed to break up, but you kept pulling me back here again and again.”

“Why? Because I teased you in the murder mystery, slowly trapped you, and now you want to get back at me by trapping me?”

She froze. Diao Zhi Yu’s smile carried a mischievous tone. She had once been defeated by Qin Xiao Yi’s smile, and she had gladly accepted it.

“Yes. To trap you. And not just now. Since the day I said I’d pursue you, when you were with Pei Zhen on the Snowpiercer, I set the trap. It wasn’t just you playing tricks on me.”

“You’re always wavering, finding excuses to avoid me. I don’t know how long this will last, many times I almost gave up.”

“Now listen carefully, I’ll say this only once — my leading lady, there’s only you.”

After saying that, Diao Zhi Yu pulled Hu Xiu into his arms, kissed her fiercely in front of the players, his arms tightening around her. The late-arriving female player, with her hair fluttering in the summer evening breeze, love lingered in the heat, as screams echoed around them. Hu Xiu understood now — this gesture was to “trap” her.

She admitted defeat, fully and willingly.