A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

“Who are our current competitors?” Li Lei asked.

Lin Yunan said, “Two female celebrities have been confirmed. They’re Imperial Entertainment’s Luo Luo and Pegasus Media’s Zhou Yanxue.”

Luo Luo? Xia Ling was rather surprised. “Luo Luo? Do you mean the one who lives with me?” These few days, Luo Luo was very busy and was always outside, so they did not have the time to talk recently, and Xia Ling did not even know that she was going to be on this variety show.

“Yes, she is the Luo Luo who lives with you.” Lin Yunan said. Before he proposed this project to Xia Ling, he did his homework. “Luo Luo is lively and cute. She is also humble and not easily affected by others. She is able to tolerate any strange acts. You know, those that many women refuse to shoot in order to maintain their image.”

“Yes.” Xia Ling agreed. Luo Luo had no problems in that area. She was very personable like a girl-next-door who was seen frequently on the streets. She was fine with doing weird things and did not complain when she was met with female celebrities that were hard to please.

Choosing Luo Luo was very suitable.

“What about Zhou Yanxue?” She asked.

Lin Yunan said, “Zhou Yanxue is a new famous TV actress that just recently received the Best Newcomer Actress Award. Her style is a bit like yours — a cold temperament and independent personality. Although she is cold and charming while you are cold and arrogant, the overall difference is not very big. The difficult thing is that since the show has already chosen her, the producers may not be willing to choose you as it is not good for two female celebrities with the same personality to be on the show.”

Well, the coincidence rate was too high.

If she were part of the producers, she would also not make this choice.

“Do you need me to solve this problem?” Li Lei suggested. In this industry, behind-the-scenes selections were not only based on ability but also depended on connections.

Lin Yunan looked at him. “Zhou Yanxue has weak backing. If you do something, it is easy to succeed. However, that would be wasting your talent on a petty job. Also, walls have years. If something like this frequently happens, Xiao Ling’s reputation would be negatively affected.” Li Lei should use this weapon at the crucial point during an unexpected situation. It is not worth it to use his trump card for these small matters.

“So, you decided to settle this yourself?” Li Lei asked.

“I will settle it with Xiao Ling.” Lin Yunan corrected him and looked at Xia Ling. “After you are done filming, attend a dinner party with me. I will introduce the producers of Extraordinary Risks to you.”

“Is this counted as an audition?” Xia Ling asked.

Lin Yunan smiled. “Yes. There is no real audition for this show. After the producers have seen you and feel that you are suitable, everything should be ok. Now, what you have to do is to make sure they feel that you are worthy and make you the third participant. Otherwise, in the worst case, let Li Lei squeeze out Zhou Yanxue for you so you can replace Zhou Yanxue.”

“Don’t they serve the same purpose?” Xia Ling asked.

“Wrong.” Unexpectedly, Lin Yunan scoffed again, and his sense of superiority was showing. “These two cases are completely different. If you get the third spot, it will be because you relied on your own strength, but if you squeeze out Zhou Yanxue, it may not be good for your reputation in the future as it will lead to hate and enmity, understand?”

Many artistes who had relentlessly worked hard already treated her differently because of her love affair with Li Lei. What right did she have to advance in career so easily while the others had to work themselves to death?

Actually, Xia Ling did not think that her life was easy, but the other artistes definitely did not think this way.

This was why people hated her in her past life. The other artistes were just not on par with her. Her backing made them disillusioned and caused them to channel all their dissatisfaction and resentment towards her.

Lin Yunan was thinking about her future reputation.

This seemed useless, but it may decide her fate sometime in the future.

Xia Ling was very grateful and felt fortunate that she found such a reliable manager. She trusted Feng Kun’s eye for talent even more.

“That’s decided then.” Lin Yunan said, “After you finish work tonight, you will come with me to meet the producer. Li Lei, you have to go home alone. And just to let you know, you can’t visit in the future, and you can’t frequently meet Xiao Ling anymore. Before the filming of Extraordinary Risks, Xiao Ling needs to have a clean slate for a period of time without any love affairs. Understand?”

Li Lei understood. Only after a clean break was the news of a new romance more natural.

Otherwise, if a reporter took a picture of her with a man today and there was another man beside her the next day, what would it mean?

However, Big Boss Li was very unwilling. He was her true boyfriend, no true pursuer. How could he lose to a fake scandal partner? “I will be careful.” He tried to bargain with Lin Yunan. “I won’t visit, but I will still pick up Xiao Ling and go on dates with her. If even these are forbidden, then don’t think of creating a fake scandal with Rong Ping.”

This was his limit.

Lin Yunan frowned and looked at Xia Ling.

Xia Ling also felt that Li Lei was being a little dictatorial and could not help but say, “This is not something you can decide for yourself.” This was essential her business, and she could completely decide for herself.

Li Lei became a little dejected.

Xia Ling’s heart softened and thought about it. “Alright, you can pick me and eat with me. However, you can’t do it as frequently, and you have to be careful not to be photographed by the media representatives, ok?” She did not want to lose him and was trying to find ways to sustain their relationship which required both of them to work together.

After hearing what she said, he was no longer downcast.

“Ok.” He smiled and agreed.

After this situation was successfully settled, that night, Lin Yunan brought Xia Ling to have a meal with the producer of Extraordinary Risks.

The producer was a very professional middle-aged man who was very satisfied with all aspects of Xia Ling. He heard that this girl was very co-operative and the staff who had worked with her all praised her, so there would never be conflict. This was very important for a show that was working with top tier celebrities as it would reduce a sixth of the trouble during filming.

What was even better was that she was acquainted with all three of the male stars who were participating in the show. She was in the same team as Zheng Chenhao in the Nebula Music Festival, she was in the same movie as Rong Ping, and she had trained at Skyart Entertainment which Bai Murong was from… There were many topics to link them together.

However, there was really a problem with Zhou Yanxue as both of them had cold personalities, and it would be too boring if both of them appeared in the same show.

“Let me think about it again,” the producer said.