Chapter 44: How a Heartbreaker Manages Her Suitors (1)

It had been three months since Zhao Keying’s carefully crafted persona collapsed.

Once a wildly popular vlog influencer, Zhao Keying was exposed by her closest assistant for undergoing plastic surgery, having tattoos, smoking, drinking, leading a messy personal life, chasing dirty money, and promoting false ads that misled her fans. Overnight, her image as a serene and harmless girl-next-door shattered completely. Fans who learned the truth swiftly turned on her, and with a few well-known haters and bandwagoning bystanders kicking her while she was down, Zhao Keying instantly became the laughingstock of the influencer world.

Within a single night, advertisers issued statements distancing themselves from her and terminated all business collaborations.

The compensation fees, breach-of-contract penalties, and immense public pressure all came crashing down on Zhao Keying at once. Her studio and team crumbled, everyone scattering like birds and beasts. After a clownish, desperate counterattack, someone anonymously leaked news online that she had attempted suicide.

Yu Liuxue lay on the hospital bed, a sharp pain pulsing from her wrist. She frowned slightly, her lips pale and faint in color, and her face looked completely bloodless.

People bustled past her hospital room in a blur. After taking a slow look around the ward, Yu Liuxue raised her hand to massage her pounding temples and asked, “Why am I in the hospital as soon as I got here?”

Only then did she notice—this hand was strikingly beautiful. The skin was fair and smooth, with elegant bone structure and long, slender fingers. It looked like a meticulously carved piece of art.

The system spoke: 【Host, the world plot will now be transmitted to you.】

Yu Liuxue had become this unlucky soul, Zhao Keying.

Zhao Keying grew up in a warm and loving family—with not just affectionate but downright doting parents, and two pairs of overindulgent grandparents. As a result, she developed a willful, do-as-she-pleased personality from a young age. Starting in middle school, she thought being rebellious was cool, so she hung out with school delinquents, skipped classes to smoke and drink, and hit up clubs to party every night.

After using connections to get into high school, her homeroom teacher finally had enough and directly told her parents to come pick her up and take her home.

That was when Zhao Keying’s parents finally realized their daughter had been spoiled rotten. They scrambled to correct her behavior—sending her to private youth correction facilities, schools specializing in personality rehabilitation, anywhere they could find. As soon as they heard about a new place, they’d throw money at it and send Zhao Keying in.

But Zhao Keying was already a “max-level” troublemaker. Within a month, the staff at the correctional facility were crying on their knees, begging the parents to take her back, shaking their heads and saying she was beyond help. The couple had no choice. Thinking if soft methods didn’t work, they’d try hard ones, they tossed Zhao Keying into an extreme sports camp the very next day, hoping she’d learn to value life and make a turnaround.

Who would’ve guessed—Zhao Keying loved the adrenaline rush. She ended up refusing to leave, even joining an extreme sports club where she spent her days skydiving and racing. The more dangerous, the better.

Her parents nearly died on the spot.

Fortunately, from the moment Zhao Keying fell in love with extreme sports, she stopped causing trouble. Not only that, she gained internet fame by filming and posting vlog videos of her daring adventures.

In her vlogs, Zhao Keying appeared with no makeup, her fair skin flawless and delicate, with exquisite and striking features. Even in loose, drab sportswear, her beauty radiated through the screen. She looked soft and delicate but exuded confidence and bravery. The moment she leapt from great heights, her tea-colored eyes sparkled with a passion for life. That contrast captivated her audience—her beauty and personality hooked them completely.

Once she became popular, sports brands started approaching her for collaborations, offering high fees. Zhao Keying carefully selected a few products she genuinely liked to promote. Later, beauty brands caught wind and rushed in to strike deals, but Zhao Keying only cared about skydiving and couldn’t be bothered with the business side of things. So, she casually hired an assistant—Cheng Yu—with a generous salary.

Cheng Yu was just an ordinary girl from an ordinary university. Right when she could barely afford rent, she happened to meet Zhao Keying and leapt at the opportunity, doing her best to impress. As a rookie, she inevitably made mistakes, but Zhao Keying never blamed her, only casually saying, “Just don’t do it again next time.”

Zhao Keying was never particularly warm to anyone, and to people who didn’t like her, she came off as arrogant. Cheng Yu assumed Zhao Keying was dissatisfied with her, and under this pressure, she pushed herself to improve. Eventually, she excelled in her role and never slipped up again.

Spending so much time with Zhao Keying, Cheng Yu became familiar with industry tricks and built solid relationships with major brands. Before long, she grew tired of being overshadowed—sick of being known as just “Zhao Keying’s nameless assistant.”

She wasn’t any less pretty than Zhao Keying. She believed she was just as capable—if not more.

What else did Zhao Keying know besides bungee jumping?

So Cheng Yu secretly launched her own channel, using the unused makeup from Zhao Keying’s studio to create videos on makeup and fashion. She also filmed unboxings of PR packages meant for Zhao Keying, and vlogs showing off Zhao Keying’s collection of luxury goods. Since fans knew she was Zhao Keying’s assistant, her channel took off riding on that fame. Her first video was popular right out of the gate.

On the day Cheng Yu hit one million followers, she happily posted on Weibo to share her excitement.

Zhao Keying, who happened to be racing cars at the time, casually saw the post and shared it with a simple “Congrats.” She didn’t care how popular Cheng Yu was—so long as she handled work properly, that was all that mattered.

Who would have thought—a fan of Zhao Keying casually left a comment under Cheng Yu’s Weibo post saying: “Keying is amazing! Even her assistant has such great resources.”

That single sentence instantly hit Cheng Yu’s sore spot. She sharply responded by pinning the fan’s comment to the top of her page: “Please don’t deny my hard work, thank you!”

Cheng Yu’s fans swarmed in at once, attacking the commenter: “Please don’t mention unrelated people under Dayu’s (Cheng Yu’s) Weibo, okay?” “Do you have any manners? This is Dayu’s space—why are you bringing up someone else? Then their fans will say we’re clout-chasing.” “Our Dayu got to where she is through her own hard work, alright?”

When Zhao Keying heard about it, she personally messaged the fan to comfort them, sent them a bunch of nice gifts, and even hand-wrote a card: “I’m sorry you were wronged.”

However, Zhao Keying didn’t take Cheng Yu’s behavior to heart. She continued to hand work over to Cheng Yu as usual, while she herself went on skydiving, racing cars, and learning to fly planes—completely unaffected.

After the incident, Zhao Keying’s fanbase immediately split into two camps. A large number of fans were diverted away by Cheng Yu, leaving only a small group of loyal supporters eagerly waiting for Zhao Keying’s updates. Zhao Keying only updated once every ten days or so, and much of her content was recycled—fans had long since lost interest. Meanwhile, Cheng Yu was posting constantly—every couple of days—and with every update, she gave out free gifts: lipsticks, perfumes, handbags—everything you could imagine.

Though at first, most of those promotional gifts were actually Zhao Keying’s PR packages.

Later on, once Cheng Yu quietly snatched Zhao Keying’s brand deals for herself, the gifts she gave away came from her own PR bundles.

Cheng Yu’s career kept growing, and her popularity soon surpassed Zhao Keying’s. At that point, Cheng Yu no longer wanted to stay in Zhao Keying’s shadow. After an entire month of preparation, she posted a cryptic Weibo suggesting Zhao Keying treated her poorly, was jealous of her rising fame, and had a bad temper. At the same time, she arranged for previously gathered dirt on Zhao Keying to be leaked online, one scandal after another.

The evidence wasn’t hard to verify—anyone who’d gone to school with Zhao Keying knew it. Once the dirt was exposed, many people came forward to fill in the gaps, recounting incidents from the past in detail. Things like Zhao Keying’s bad temper, arrogance, skipping classes, and openly talking back to teachers. The revelations left people stunned.

The Zhao Keying seen in videos was so graceful and lovely—who would’ve thought she was like that behind the scenes?

Her fans refused to believe it and flooded her Weibo asking for the truth. But Zhao Keying didn’t think she’d done anything wrong. She boldly replied: “I’ll do whatever I want—what’s the problem?”

She probably meant to say people should chase what they love in life. But Cheng Yu and her fans twisted the words, painting it as Zhao Keying personally confirming the scandals. After a few rounds of embellishment, the public took the rumors as truth. Zhao Keying’s fan count immediately dropped by over a hundred thousand.

It didn’t stop there—Cheng Yu even joined forces with haters, accusing Zhao Keying of selling out, taking shady sponsorships, and promoting products that caused allergic reactions. They posted photos of fans with ruined skin, pinning the blame on Zhao Keying and claiming she’d endorse anything for money.

When Yu Liuxue saw this, she nearly jumped out of bed. Wasn’t it Cheng Yu who used to help Zhao Keying screen those deals?!

Cheng Yu was clever enough to keep her hands clean. Zhao Keying’s fans had tried to defend her, but Cheng Yu’s fans hit back fast: “If Zhao Keying didn’t want the deal, how could Dayu force her? How do we know whether Dayu filtered it or Zhao Keying took it herself?”

Besides, Zhao Keying had been a compulsive liar and a troublemaker since junior high.

Soon, insiders leaked some of Zhao Keying’s ad fees to marketing accounts—some as little as ten thousand, others up to two hundred thousand yuan.

When people saw how much she earned for a single ad, those jealous of the rich jumped up to accuse her of forgetting her roots. Herd mentality kicked in. With enough repetition, lies became truth. Smearing Zhao Keying became politically correct—not hating her felt like failing the socialist cause.

While Zhao Keying was in the thick of crisis, Cheng Yu seized the moment and unilaterally announced her resignation—she would no longer be Zhao Keying’s assistant. When she left, she took all the employees from Zhao Keying’s studio and team and formed a new “Zhao Keying Team” without Zhao Keying.

Zhao Keying, freshly back from flight school, was hit with a sense of deep betrayal. She was just a passionate, hot-blooded girl at heart and despised being betrayed. In a rage, she went on Weibo and publicly confronted Cheng Yu.

Her language was harsh and messy—completely different from her usual sweet and gentle public persona. Cheng Yu’s fans immediately latched onto that, accusing her of finally dropping the act. They claimed her old persona had been entirely fake and joined forces with hungry marketing accounts to drag her name through the mud.

Zhao Keying’s presence had blocked the paths of many other influencers. Now everyone wanted to take a shot—each person kicking her while she was down, hoping to bury her for good.

And it wasn’t over yet.

At the height of her downfall, her boyfriend of just five days, Li Zhen, broke up with her too.

Zhao Keying was young, beautiful, wealthy, and famous—there had never been a shortage of suitors. Besides Li Zhen, she had admirers like flight attendant Mu Lixin, male influencer “Iced Soda” (real name Zuo Xia), and a rich second-generation heir, Liang Chen. All four had chased her for at least a year. But the moment the online hate campaign started, all four vanished from her life overnight, as if they’d never been there at all.

Betrayed by her assistant, her boyfriend, and her suitors, Zhao Keying fell into a deep and oppressive depression.

A few days later, she heard that those four men were spotted eating lamb hotpot at a restaurant—with none other than Jiang Zhixi, one of the most popular influencers online.

Before Zhao Keying got together with Li Zhen, she’d already heard that Jiang Zhixi and Li Zhen were very close—closer than normal friends should be. She had long been displeased with Jiang Zhixi. Later, Jiang Zhixi accidentally gave Cheng Yu’s Weibo post a like. Although she removed it right away, Cheng Yu’s fans took a screenshot and treated it as proof that Jiang Zhixi had taken sides.

Jiang Zhixi was the female lead of this world, from a prominent family—a true wealthy heiress. Being a beauty influencer was just a hobby she picked up while still in school. Li Zhen and the other three male supporting characters had all grown up with her; they were childhood friends and extremely close. But Zhao Keying didn’t know any of this. All she knew was that Jiang Zhixi had sided with Cheng Yu and was ambiguously involved with her boyfriend. Old grudges and new hatred combined, and Zhao Keying immediately added Jiang Zhixi to her list of enemies.

Jiang Zhixi was completely unprepared and nearly got slapped with the “homewrecker” label. But as the female lead, Jiang Zhixi naturally had people around to protect her. Zhao Keying’s ex-boyfriend Li Zhen personally came forward to clear up the rumor and publicly refuted the false accusations, even calling Zhao Keying out by name, saying she was acting like a rabid dog biting people in desperation.

Zhao Keying had never suffered such humiliation. Her career was already in shambles thanks to Cheng Yu, and now her ex-boyfriend betrayed her. After the breakup, he even pointed a finger in her face and called her a crazy woman. The more she thought about it, the harder it was to swallow. She started acting like a buffoon, attacking both Jiang Zhixi and Cheng Yu every day.

Zhao Keying had grown up rough, with the combat power of an entire battalion. Cheng Yu’s fans couldn’t win against her, and Jiang Zhixi’s fans couldn’t handle her either. Eventually, the fans from both sides just started avoiding her altogether, treating her as someone just throwing a tantrum. Still, every time Zhao Keying made a move, everyone would get anxious, just hoping they weren’t her next target.

Not just fans—even Cheng Yu was scared of her. Zhao Keying had disrupted her plans, severely weakening the impact of her anticipated solo career move. But Cheng Yu had no way to deal with her and could only keep up the act of an innocent victim online.

Zhao Keying only got more aggressive. Li Zhen grew more and more disgusted with her. One day, they ran into each other on the street. When Zhao Keying tried to slap Jiang Zhixi, Li Zhen stopped her right then and there and harshly warned her. The other three male supporting characters happened to be there too. Seeing them all stand up to protect Jiang Zhixi, Zhao Keying was completely shattered. After going home, she fell into despair and slit her wrists.

Luckily, the cleaning lady found her in time and called an ambulance. She was rushed to the hospital and barely saved.

After Yu Liuxue finished reading the plot, the system cautiously spoke up: “Host, this time the client has three wishes…”

Yu Liuxue was speechless. She rolled her eyes. “Only three?”

The system replied, “Yes. The client’s first wish is to tear off Cheng Yu’s mask and expose her true self. Take back everything she stole from the client and destroy her reputation, leaving her with no good end.”

Yu Liuxue’s face was blank. “Piece of cake. Next.”

“The second wish: The client believes Jiang Zhixi interfered in her relationship and stole her boyfriend, so she wants you to keep getting revenge until Jiang Zhixi regrets it.”

Yu Liuxue narrowed one eye at the system. “And what counts as regret?”

The system faltered, “Um…”

“Forget it. Next one.”

“The third wish: The client holds deep resentment toward those four men, so she wants you to toy with them in the palm of your hand. When they fall completely in love with you, give them a brutal kick and make them wish they were dead.”

Yu Liuxue: “…” Now that’s a problem. I only know how to seduce women.

There were so many tasks in this world anyway, and there was no rush. Yu Liuxue decided to lie in her hospital bed and get some good sleep first.

Then the system spoke up again. “Host, actually… Jiang Zhixi knows she’s the female lead.”

Yu Liuxue’s eyes snapped open. “How does she know? Did you tell her, huh?”

System: “…” It wasn’t me, don’t accuse me!

System: “Maybe she figured it out by accident after seeing too much.”

Yu Liuxue: “…” Nonsense.

“So, Host, Jiang Zhixi knows you’re going to come for her. She’s probably prepared. Please be careful.”

Yu Liuxue impatiently yanked the blanket over her face. “Got it, got it.”

Yu Liuxue strongly suspected this damned system lady couldn’t stand how everyone was fighting over her in the last world, so this time it deliberately set her up to be completely abandoned—ditched by her assistant, ditched by the expensive team she hired for years, ditched by her ex-boyfriend, ditched by the male supporting characters, even ditched by her fans.

Miserable didn’t even begin to cover it.

What kind of dogshit luck did Zhao Keying have in this life?

Yu Liuxue rolled her eyes angrily, deciding to properly sort out her plan and then rest to recover her energy. And rest she did—for a full half month. One sunny day, the system finally couldn’t hold back anymore. It reminded the woman lounging on the sofa watching videos, “Host, it’s been half a month since you came to this world.”

Yu Liuxue didn’t even lift her head, still engrossed. “I know.”

The system was at a loss. “Then when are you planning to start the mission?”

“I am doing it.” After finishing one video, Yu Liuxue opened another. “This is called preliminary research, okay? You dumped all this mess on me and won’t even let me plan properly?”

System: “…” You just want to slack off and watch videos.

The system couldn’t convince Yu Liuxue and could only sit quietly, waiting to see how long her “preliminary research” would go on. Another three days passed. It had been nearly twenty days since the has-been influencer Zhao Keying attempted suicide. At first, no one believed the gossip, thinking it was just another clout-chasing stunt. But Zhao Keying had been silent for so long that even the skeptics started to believe it.

“No way, did Zhao Keying really try to kill herself? After scamming fans and making dirty money, she still had the nerve to pull this? We didn’t even get a proper apology!”

“There are so many hurdles in life—she messed up and still had the nerve to commit suicide. I’m honestly speechless.”

“Good riddance. Saves resources for the living.”

Zhao Keying’s fans felt as if their hearts were being cut to pieces when they saw comments like these. Keying clearly hadn’t done anything wrong—the ad partnerships had all been screened by Cheng Yu for her. So why was all the blame now falling on her?

Keying just wanted to live her life on her own terms. She hadn’t done anything outrageous or immoral. Why did she have to be cursed like this?

Some gossip and marketing accounts even openly posted on Weibo:

“Rest in peace, Zhao Keying (candle)(candle)(candle). Once a top-tier influencer, Zhao Keying has now taken her life due to guilt. Such a pity. So, did you all finally get the apology you were waiting for…?”

Once the first person started spreading it, others followed. Before long, news of Zhao Keying’s alleged suicide had flooded the internet.

Those who were gloating, those who felt relieved, and those who sympathized all basically assumed Zhao Keying was already dead.

Yu Liuxue had just watched a few videos, and as soon as she went online, she found out she’d apparently “died.” Completely baffled, she posted a Weibo update:

“Who said I’m dead? You’re the one who’s dead. Your horse is dead. Your whole family is dead. I lifted your ancestor’s coffin lid and scattered their ashes.”

Everyone: “…………”

As expected of the queen of savage comebacks, Zhao Keying.

She’d just supposedly committed suicide, and her combat power was still off the charts. Not someone to mess with.

The schadenfreude disappeared from people’s faces, those who’d just breathed a sigh of relief now lived in constant anxiety, and Zhao Keying’s die-hard fans were overjoyed, flooding the comments:

“Keying, I’m so glad you’re okay! Life is still beautiful. You’re so pretty, it’s just not worth it!”

“Keying, I’m a psychological counselor. If you ever need help, please reach out—I’ll do everything I can to support you.”

“Keying, my dad owns a company. Come work for my dad! I’ll make sure he uses all the company’s resources to support you!”

Yu Liuxue replied to fan comments one by one with a smile:

“It really wasn’t worth it. I was just too angry at the time and lost control.”

“No need, sis. My mental state is really stable now, thank you, sending you a heart~”

“Kiddo, I’m not planning to sign with any companies for now. I’ll get back up from where I fell.”

Soon, public opinion shifted—

“Zhao Keying survives suicide attempt; replies to fans suggest she may have recovered from depression.”

“Zhao Keying determined to make a comeback. Ready to rise again. Are you looking forward to her return?”

Cheng Yu’s fans: Nope. Thanks, but no thanks.

The entertainment world had been quiet lately, and with no new drama to gossip about, everyone turned their attention to this internet celebrity named Zhao Keying. Some had heard of her; others hadn’t. But that didn’t stop them from diving into the drama.

This gossip felt addictive, almost toxic. Once you started, you couldn’t stop.

After all, this was a catfight between a former top-tier influencer, another top-tier influencer, and a newly popular one, with countless other content creators involved. It was no wonder people kept eating the melon and suddenly realized the drama involved their own faves too.

“Zhao Keying’s combat power is insane! Was she an AK-47 in her past life?”

“If she weren’t so shady as a person, I’d totally stan her just for her fighting power.”

“She skydives, does extreme bungee jumps, races cars, and learns to fly planes—of course her combat power’s off the charts!”

After replying to some fans, Yu Liuxue asked the system to help her find a reliable video editor. Once she got the contact info, she immediately went to recruit him:

“Twenty thousand a month. Edit my videos. Deal?”

The editor picked by the system was named Zhou Wei. Like Cheng Yu before him, he was a fresh university graduate—someone with dreams, ambition, energy, and talent. Zhou Wei was numbly sending out resumes and prepping for interviews when he stepped out of his dorm and got cornered by Yu Liuxue.

What followed was a masterclass in con artist persuasion.

Zhou Wei was stunned at first and instinctively wanted to refuse. But after a closer look, he realized this scammer looked oddly familiar.

Then his eyes landed on the scar on Yu Liuxue’s wrist, and a spark went off in his mind. He blurted out, “Zhao Keying?”

Yu Liuxue solemnly shook her head. “No. Niohulu·Keying.”

Zhou Wei: “……” Is this chick insane?

Yu Liuxue tried again, throwing him an irresistible offer:

“Edit videos for me—twenty thousand a month. The studio covers full benefits, food, and housing. You get holiday bonuses. But you have to be on call anytime. Deal?”

Twenty thousand a month was already a solid salary. Now that Zhou Wei recognized her, he hesitated for only a moment before agreeing. “Deal.”

Yu Liuxue handed him a business card. “Report in at 5 p.m.”

She walked a few steps, then turned back. “Today.”

Zhou Wei held the business card but felt no joy at having landed a job. Instead, he felt like… he’d boarded a pirate ship. His roommate came running up behind him and asked, “Who was that? What’s this? Let me see.”

Zhou Wei instinctively shoved the card into his pants pocket and brushed it off. “No one.”

No matter how much his roommate pried, Zhou Wei didn’t say a word about Yu Liuxue. Eventually, his roommate gave up and threw an arm around Zhou Wei’s shoulders.

“It’s your dad’s birthday today. You seriously not going home? He’s gonna blow a gasket if you don’t.”

Zhou Wei’s expression stayed flat. “Li Zhen will be there.”

“Li Zhen? He’s not even your dad’s biological kid. Why are you being so stubborn? If this keeps up, your stepmom’s gonna take over the company and pass it to Li Zhen.”

Zhou Wei looked indifferent. “She can have it if she wants.”

He just wanted to be a quiet post-production editor—someone who’d eventually work on films and become a famous visual effects editor. As for inheriting the company? Zero interest.

After tricking the editor, Yu Liuxue immediately returned to the studio and set up cameras all over the room, preparing to shoot her first comeback video. She was currently standing in front of a makeup display rack, which was filled with old PR packages and collaborative products. After double-checking all the camera angles and confirming they were good, she picked up a DSLR camera and faced the lens with a brilliant smile.

“Hello, everyone. You must be disappointed to hear I’m not dead, right? I’ll keep it short today—since Cheng Yu once filmed an unboxing video of my PR packages, then today, I’ll be filming a PR package destruction video.”

The system instantly knew things were going south the moment it heard that line. Before it could stop her, it saw Yu Liuxue casually grab an eyeshadow palette. She squinted at the brand name, then—without hesitation—smashed it to the ground. The powder shattered on impact, splattering across the pristine floor in a riot of color. The system felt like its own heart had been smashed along with it, bleeding from the pain.

Wearing designer heels worth tens of thousands, Yu Liuxue casually ground the shattered palette underfoot. Still smiling, she looked calmly into the camera and said, “This brand was the first to kick me while I was down. I hadn’t said a word yet, and they just unilaterally announced the end of our partnership—and even made me pay them. And I remember this particular palette was touched by Cheng Yu. She used it for her third ‘Meet the Parents’ innocent look video. I hate people touching my things, so—destroyed.”

System: “……” Cheng Yu might actually die of rage because of you.

Yu Liuxue then picked up a blush and a highlighter, hurling them both to the floor and smashing them into pieces. She seemed indifferent to the brands—if she could see it, she destroyed it, hysterically, one after another, all while muttering, “This blush touched Cheng Yu’s face—destroyed. This lipstick was on her mouth—smashed. This mascara was used by her—gone.”

The system, initially horrified, had by now become completely numb. It watched blankly as Yu Liuxue picked up another eyeshadow palette. She squinted at the brand name again. Just as the system braced for impact, Yu Liuxue slowly said, “Let me think…”

“This brand hasn’t officially ended our partnership yet. I’ll spare you.” Then, she gently placed the item back on the shelf.

The system let out a sigh of relief.

But the next second, Yu Liuxue resumed her rampage. Anything Cheng Yu had touched was fair game. The room echoed with the constant sound of crashes. The floor was littered with shattered eyeshadow, blush, and highlighter. Every lipstick and gloss had been snapped or cut apart. The room was covered in chaotic blotches of red, green, and purple—an absolute mess.

The system was in deep, painful distress.

Suddenly, Yu Liuxue plopped into a chair and smiled at the camera. “Sorry, I got tired from all the smashing. Let’s take a break and continue later.”

System: “……” So you do know what exhaustion is.

Only a pitiful three brands survived Yu Liuxue’s fury—some were major names, some were small and obscure. She glanced at the clock on the wall, a glint of mischief flashing in her eyes. “It’s 4:59 now. My new studio partner should be arriving. Let’s go greet him!”

But while she spoke grandly, she didn’t move an inch.

Zhou Wei arrived at the agreed time to his new workplace: a four-story townhouse hidden in the city center. It had a courtyard and a rooftop terrace. The building wasn’t small, though the outer walls looked a bit run-down. But the yard was full of blooming flowers and even had koi swimming in a small pond—vibrant and lively.

He gently pushed open the gate. It was quiet. No one was on the first floor. As he looked at the stairs, he slowly made his way up.

It was too quiet here, and there was a strange fragrance lingering in the air. Zhou Wei couldn’t tell what it was—like a mix of many scents combined into a thick, slightly sweet, somewhat overpowering smell.

He came to a door, and without thinking much, calmly pushed it open.

Yu Liuxue instantly turned her camera toward Zhou Wei. “Everyone, please welcome my new partner—editor Zhou Wei!”

Zhou Wei: “……?”

He stared in stunned silence at the wreckage all over the room. Then, pointing at the mess on the floor, he looked at Yu Liuxue in utter confusion: “……?”

Still holding the camera on him, Yu Liuxue said, “Today, your job isn’t just editing. You’ll also need to find a cleaning crew to come tidy up the studio. Everything on the floor? Toss it. I want this place spotless and dust-free when I come in to work tomorrow.”

Zhou Wei: “……” I really did get on a pirate ship.

“Where’s everyone else?” Zhou Wei frowned.

Yu Liuxue raised an eyebrow. “Oh, forgot to tell you—right now, the studio’s just you.”

Zhou Wei: “?”

Is it too late to quit?

After resting up, Yu Liuxue started smashing things again right in front of Zhou Wei. He watched in shock—what even is this?

He thought about helping but decided against it, and instead quietly sat on a small stool in the corner, hugging his knees. His face was blank, helpless, and numb as he watched Yu Liuxue go crazy.

So small. So pitiful. So helpless. And already wondering how the hell he was going to edit this episode.

Zhao Keying had recived a lot of PR packages, but some were taken by Cheng Yu. After Yu Liuxue finished destroying everything she had, she sighed in disappointment, “If Cheng Yu hadn’t taken some of the stuff, this video could’ve been even more fun.”

System: “……” You call this fun?

Once this gets uploaded, people are just going to think you’ve lost it.

Yu Liuxue looked back at Zhou Wei, DSLR in hand. “You’re going to make this episode really exciting, right?”

“Oh—and don’t delete a single frame of the footage, got it?”

Zhou Wei: What else can I even do?

Resigned to his fate, Zhou Wei started unloading footage from seven or eight cameras, one by one, transferring the data into the massive computer Yu Liuxue had prepared for him. The moment he sat in front of the screen, he suddenly felt like his life had gone dark.

After giving her instructions, Yu Liuxue went home to sleep. Right before bed, she complained to the system, “I did so much manual labor today, I’m exhausted.”

Who exactly forced you to do all that, huh?

Yu Liuxue slept straight through until 6 p.m. the next day. After finishing her “breakfast,” she happily rushed over to the studio. Sure enough, the studio was spotlessly clean—even the tiles in the corners sparkled. She praised the system, “No wonder you picked him—he’s a lucky one!”

The so-called “lucky one” hadn’t slept all night. He stayed up editing and compiling all of Yu Liuxue’s footage, and had just finished adding the final post-production effects when Yu Liuxue pushed open the door. Her outfit today was a stark contrast from her casual video look—she was dressed to the nines, like a walking porcelain doll. Unfortunately, Zhou Wei had already spent a solid 20 hours watching this porcelain doll go berserk on camera, so by now, he had zero thoughts about her.

Zhou Wei stood up and gave her the chair, speaking all business-like, “The video’s done. Take a look.”

Yu Liuxue glanced at him and handed over the breakfast she brought for him. Zhou Wei instinctively accepted it, then heard her ask, “You didn’t sleep?”

He nodded. Yu Liuxue waved him off to eat while she sat down in front of the computer, watching the final product with great interest. The video wasn’t too long, nor too short—Yu Liuxue had gone wild for four or five hours, but Zhou Wei managed to compress it down to exactly one hour.

After watching the preview at the beginning, Yu Liuxue had the expression of an old man watching the subway TV screen: Bro, are we cutting a documentary now?

Seriously though—how did Zhou Wei manage to edit her manic rampage into something so hauntingly beautiful, so cinematic? He even picked a perfect soundtrack. Dim the lights, turn on a projector, and this might as well be a film screening.

In truth, Zhou Wei was feeling pretty nervous too. This was a cut he edited based entirely on his own ideas. He thought the scene of Zhao Keying smashing things looked so beautiful, so cinematic—it felt just right for a documentary. He got excited and ended up editing it this way. It looked like a movie, or maybe a documentary, but definitely not a vlog. So he figured Yu Liuxue might think it was neither here nor there.

Yu Liuxue was nearly moved to tears by her own hysterical self in the video. After watching the final cut, she clapped and said, “Impressive!”

Laughing through tears, and crying through laughter—two grand a month is totally underpaying him. No wonder he’s the lucky goose chosen by the system!

Yu Liuxue looked at Zhou Wei with satisfaction and said, “Save the video and upload it to my account. I’ll send you the login and password. After you’re done, go sleep on the top floor—pick any room you like.”

After that, Yu Liuxue sat on the sofa, pulled out her phone, and logged into Weibo: “Posting a new video tonight. The editing guy is amazing, you all have to see it.”

As soon as everyone heard this, they eagerly opened their video apps, ready to watch Zhao Keying’s long-awaited comeback. Would this video redeem her? Or… redeem her? The haters had already prepared their mocking comments, and the marketing accounts were gearing up to cherry-pick a few of Zhao Keying’s lines to milk the traffic.

But once the video passed review and went live—

Everyone: “…?”

Did I open this wrong?

So everyone hurriedly exited and re-entered, but the footage was still Zhao Keying in a hysterical state, set against hauntingly melancholic music. Even though it kind of had that cinematic something, it was actually… pretty good?

After the title screen played, the video officially started. Zhao Keying’s flawless, stunning face suddenly appeared on screen. “Hey everyone, I bet you’re really disappointed to hear I’m not dead… This brand was the first to kick me when I was down… This eyeshadow palette? Touched by Cheng Yu, smashed it. This lipstick? Cheng Yu used it, smashed it. This gift set? She touched it—threw them all out…”

Such a waste! What a waste! You could’ve just donated it to me!

Everyone went from “Whoa! My heart hurts!” to numbness. Some even started playing guessing games in the comments: “Do you guys think this brand kicked her when she was down? I forgot.” “Oh no, even this one didn’t escape!” “Wait, they didn’t terminate the contract? Never even heard of this brand…”

The focus was completely off-track by now. Meanwhile, Cheng Yu’s fans were absolutely fuming, but had no way to argue. Those products really had appeared in Cheng Yu’s videos. She even joked at the time, “Today I’m borrowing my boss’s makeup to do a look for you all…”

She’d really just shot herself in the foot.

When Cheng Yu got the news, she immediately opened Zhao Keying’s video, but she only lasted less than a minute before she angrily cursed and closed the site.

The video was a full hour long. Even people who disliked Zhao Keying couldn’t help getting infected with that same grievance-laden vibe Yu Liuxue had. Neutral viewers instantly got a bad impression of Cheng Yu—using someone else’s makeup for content, riding on her popularity to get to where she was, only to throw shade at her former boss, betray her, and even take the team to start a new venture?

Even a white lotus wouldn’t be this shameless.

That one-hour video was masterfully edited—vivid, lifelike, and visually stunning like a film. With Zhou Wei as the only person appearing on screen, his expressive reactions instantly gained him a fanbase. People kept commenting: “Hahaha the editor’s soul must be crushed right now.” “This guy must be thinking: Who am I? Where am I? Why am I doing this job?” “Shoutout to the editor guy!” “Am I the only one who thinks he’s kind of hot…”

Cheng Yu, upon hearing this, was even more furious.

So Zhao Keying was planning to go head-to-head with her—and launch another influencer too?!

Getting publicly slapped in the face by Yu Liuxue felt awful. The few partnerships Cheng Yu had been in talks with immediately collapsed after the video dropped. The other parties brushed her off with, “There’s been a change in company strategy. We’re not really sure what’s going on either—we’re waiting for word from higher-ups.”

Cheng Yu rolled her eyes. Oh please, just say you saw Zhao Keying might be making a comeback and now you’re crawling back to her. Don’t make it sound so fancy.

Yu Liuxue’s attack was a direct hit on Cheng Yu. Her fans were left speechless, unable to even offer a rebuttal. Meanwhile, Jiang Zhixi’s fans were getting nervous. That crazy woman Zhao Keying—what if she targets our Zhixi next? How do we prepare?

It wasn’t just the fans—Jiang Zhixi herself was worried too.

But after that video, Yu Liuxue seemed to vanish from the face of the earth. There was no sign of her for a full ten days. Jiang Zhixi and her fans were like people tied to a spit over a fire, agonizing in suspense.

Jiang Zhixi couldn’t help asking her friend, “Why hasn’t Zhao Keying come for me yet?”

Her friend gave her a complicated look and said, “Let’s wait a bit more…”

Jiang Zhixi, however, was thinking: Zhao Keying is the doomed supporting female character, and her sole purpose is to help me meet my male lead. The more aggressively Zhao Keying bullies me, the greater the chance I’ll meet my fated love.

To be honest, Jiang Zhixi was dying to fall in love. She was gorgeous and rich, with plenty of suitors, but something always felt off about them. None of them looked like her male lead. So she was really looking forward to being attacked and framed by Zhao Keying—only then could she finally experience that sweet first romance.

But half a month passed—and still, nothing from Zhao Keying.

Jiang Zhixi: “???”

She never expected Zhao Keying’s patience to be this weak. One scolding from Li Zhen and she just… quit? If she doesn’t come bully me, how am I supposed to fall in love?

———————

—Niohulu (钮祜禄) is a prestigious Manchu clan name from the Qing Dynasty. When attached to a name, it shows the person is from a noble Manchu family.