When the Side Character Gets a System and Travels through Difference Worlds

Tan You toyed with her teacup. "I do have a script on hand, but if we were to film it, I wouldn’t want to shoot it here. This place can’t capture the atmosphere I’m looking for. In T Province, I’m only going to focus on music."

Cheng Ming heard the subtext in her words. "Teacher Wen, do you mean you want to handle your film and television projects on the mainland?"

"I’m from the mainland originally," Tan You said softly. "No matter how well I do here, my roots are there. Besides, this place is very exclusionary. They’d never let me become the sole dominant player."

"You don’t have to make a decision right away. You can look at the script first, and we’ll talk about it later."

’If you want to catch a fish, you have to be willing to use heavy bait.’ Tan You wasn’t in a hurry. She was confident that Cheng Ming would be tempted after reading the script.

"Teacher Wen, you’re finally back! You’ve been in T Province all these years and haven’t come back once." Wen Ming had just walked out of the airport when Cheng Ming took her suitcase.

Pushing Wen Ming’s suitcase, he wore a brilliant smile. "I already had a cleaning service tidy up your place. Do you want to go to the company first, or head home?"

Wen Ming took off her glasses. "Let’s go to the company first. It must have been hard on you guys these past few years, always having to fly to T Province to see me."

Cheng Ming chuckled. "Hard? What’s so hard about it? It was just a flight. Now that you’re back, does this mean you don’t plan on going back to T Province?"

Wen Ming said, "The mainland is developing so fast now, there’s not much point in me staying over there anymore. So I thought I’d come back and test the waters."

Cheng Ming said, "This is more than just testing the waters. Do you have any idea how nervous your return has made everyone?"

Wen Ming smiled. "I have a pretty good idea. I can’t stay in T Province forever, can I? I had to come home eventually."

Cheng Ming glanced at the tall, long-legged Wen Ming. "Teacher Wen, are you really sure you don’t want to act?"

Wen Ming refused. "Forget it. I’m not cut out for it. It’s already hard enough to succeed as a singer. There’s no need for me to venture into a field I’m not familiar with."

Cheng Ming wasn’t disappointed. "It’s fine if you don’t act. Once you actually become an actor, you realize you’re not that free anyway."

Wen Ming was curious. "Why? Did something happen to you recently?"

Cheng Ming said, "We’ve been putting out one TV series a year for the past three years, which you could say was just small-time stuff. But a while ago, you gave us that new script, right? Things in the industry are getting restless. Everyone wants a piece of the pie."

Wen Ming asked, "What do you mean? We have a business dinner tonight, don’t we?"

Cheng Ming nodded. "I knew I couldn’t hide it from you. Let’s go, the car is here."

Cheng Ming was quite popular now himself, but Wen Ming was obviously much more famous. In the past three years, Wen Ming had become a household name all across the country, releasing album after album and putting out script after script.

And yet, she herself was incredibly low-key. She didn’t accept interviews, hold concerts, and usually stayed out of the public eye. She was also completely free of any scandals. The only places reporters could ever see her were at major music award ceremonies.

Wen Ming was now a great beauty. After she woke up, Tan You had increased her appearance score to ninety. As for the change in her looks, everyone around her just explained it away as the "glow of success."

After all, it was nearly impossible to find old photos of Wen Ming anymore. Who wouldn’t be dazzled upon seeing her now?

Even walking through the airport completely bare-faced, she still made passersby turn their heads again and again. An appearance score of ninety was truly formidable.

Wen Ming’s lips curved into a slight smile. ’No one dislikes being beautiful.’ Especially for someone who was once an "ugly woman," Wen Ming was incredibly grateful for such a change.

Cheng Ming, still not giving up, said, "Teacher Wen, you really don’t want to act? Your looks, seriously, you’re just too beautiful. And you’re getting more beautiful all the time."

Wen Ming said, "I’m really not cut out for acting, so I won’t go and torture any directors. Who’s going to be at the dinner tonight? President Li? President Wang? Who else?"

Cheng Ming replied, "President Li and President Wang will both be there, along with two producers from the industry, President Zhou and President Chu. Also, didn’t Old Liu retire this year? His son, Little Liu, took over. Little Liu and President Zhou... they’re two of a kind."

Wen Ming understood. "That’s not exactly a compliment."

Just as she got in the car, Tan You sent over files on Little Liu and this President Zhou. After scanning through them, Wen Ming fell into thought. "If a conflict breaks out at dinner later, don’t try to stop me."

Cheng Ming’s back straightened involuntarily. "Teacher Wen, what... are you planning to do?"

This Teacher Wen really had a wild streak. Cheng Ming remembered the summer two years ago, during a celebration party, an investor had tried to grope her. Tan You ended up cracking his head open, and the whole incident blew up.

And the result? Tan You got off completely scot-free. The investor even had to come groveling to her door to apologize. Afterward, he would take a detour just to avoid her.

But that was in T Province. Now Wen Ming had just returned, and Cheng Ming didn’t even dare to imagine it. She wasn’t familiar with the scene here. If she did something, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle the fallout.

Wen Ming already had a plan. ’Tan You was the one who cracked the guy’s head open, but that doesn’t mean I’m weak, okay?’ She had been navigating the industry for over twenty years, after all; she knew exactly what it was like.

Especially this President Zhou. In the future, he would become a man of every vice imaginable. Wen Ming certainly had her ways of dealing with someone like him. Besides, no matter how big a scene she made, Tan You could clean it up for her, which made Wen Ming even more fearless.

"President Liu, thank you for introducing me to Wen Ming today. Let’s have a good drink in a bit."

"Don’t mention it. Teacher Wen is a shareholder in our company too. Since you wanted to meet her, President Zhou, of course I had to do my best to arrange it."

"President Liu, I hear Wen Ming is gorgeous. Is it true?"

"Of course it’s true. When I say beautiful, I mean *really* beautiful. It’s a shame, though. She’s been divorced twice."

"Who cares how many times she’s been divorced? The important thing is that she’s beautiful! You have to introduce me in a bit..."

Wen Ming and Cheng Ming heard this very conversation coming from inside as they reached the door of the private room. Wen Ming raised an eyebrow slightly. Looking inside, she saw that besides the presidents Cheng Ming had mentioned, there were also four young, beautiful girls.

A half-smile played on Wen Ming’s lips. "Is this a company or a brothel? Does the company moonlight as a pimping service?"

Cheng Ming wiped sweat from his brow. "This has nothing to do with me! I don’t usually attend dinners like this. How was I supposed to know they get this wild?"

Wen Ming looked skeptical. She didn’t say anything else, simply pushing the door open and walking in. The men, who were busy fondling the girls’ hands, all looked up. Wen Ming took off her sunglasses and, taking the lead, sat down in an empty seat.

Cheng Ming smiled and quickly made the introductions. "President Li, President Wang, President Zhou, President Chu, good evening. This is Teacher Wen Ming."

President Zhou retracted the arm he had around a young girl, his eyes fixed on Wen Ming for several long moments. "Teacher Wen Ming? A pleasure to meet you. I’m Zhou Zheng."

Wen Ming arched an eyebrow. "Zhou Zheng? A fine, upstanding name. A pity your words and actions are anything but. What was that about ’as long as she’s beautiful’?"