"Sister Qin Yun, something bad has happened! You're being attacked on social media again!"
Assistant Yuanyuan burst into the room, phone in hand, looking panicked, only to find her artist lying in bed, deeply asleep.
"Sis! Stop sleeping! Wake up! The crisis is here!" Yuanyuan struggled to turn Tang Yun over, shaking her vigorously.
Tang Yun was dizzy from the shaking, and only one thought crossed her mind: Who! Who dares to shake me like this! Believe it or not, I'll swallow him whole!
As soon as she opened her eyes, something shiny was thrust in front of her.
Tang Yun: ???
What is this?
Where's the manners?
"Sis, how can you still sleep! Your Weibo's been flooded by Emperor Pei's fans! Just because you fell into Emperor Pei's arms at the airport earlier today and the photos went online, his fans are accusing you of doing it intentionally and are demanding you leave the entertainment industry. The news has already hit number one! Though you've faced scandals before, this is about Pei Yan, Emperor Pei! He's a double award-winning actor and the young master of the Pei Group, worth billions at such a young age! His fanbase is massive; they could drown you with their saliva. What are we going to do?" Yuanyuan was almost in tears as Qin Yun showed no reaction.
"Emperor Pei? Who's that?" Tang Yun blinked her beautiful, peach blossom eyes in confusion.
Suddenly, she remembered she had been punished by the Heavenly Emperor because she had emptied her little treasury and, feeling unbearably hungry, drank too much at a banquet and foolishly targeted Pei Yan, the Pixiu, intending to pluck a few hairs to eat some tasty food.
But she was caught, got into a fight with him, and was sent down to undergo trials by the Jade Emperor for disrupting the banquet.
Some unfamiliar memories flooded her mind, and she realized she had been sent into a book.
The owner of this body was named Qin Yun, a minor antagonist in the story, meant to give the heroine more scenes to shine.
The original owner was 21 years old, with a father known for being a gambler who owed a five-million gambling debt and 'signed' the original owner to Emperor Entertainment for ten years.
But the contract was very unfair, with a 1:9 income split between the artist and the company, meaning that if the original owner made a million from a movie, she would only get 100,000, and that's only if she became famous.
And this 100,000 had to be used to pay off her gambler father's debts!
If she wanted to break the contract, she'd have to pay the company a ten-million penalty.
Thus, the company exploited the original owner to the fullest, forcing her to accept any script, advertisement, or variety show without regard for quality,; to build fame relying on the heat of scandals and rivalries, resulting in countless online haters against the original owner.
However, in Emperor Entertainment's eyes, any publicity was good as long as it made money.
Today, the company arranged for her to participate in a variety show to bring attention to a newcomer, since this particular show didn't have any big-name celebrities to attract viewership.
She never expected to encounter actor Pei Yan at the airport and have a 'romantic encounter.'
The show hadn't even started filming, and she was already a hot topic due to negative publicity.
As a result, she faced a boycott, had no acting gigs left, and was finally dropped by Emperor Entertainment after being drained of all value, hounded by her father's loan sharks, and sold off in a rural area, leading a miserable life.
After reviewing all this, Tang Yun didn't care about any of it as long as there was food.
Thinking about food, she quickly took out her phone to check her Alipay balance, which was zero.
She opened her WeChat balance, seeing 0.49 yuan, and her bank card balance was 180…
She felt as if struck by lightning!
Is this amount even enough for one meal…
As the last Taotie in existence, she didn't want to starve to death in the end…
Curse you, Pei Yan! If it weren't for him being stingy and never parting with a penny, she, a dignified last Taotie, wouldn't have ended up in this situation!
When she returns to the Heavenly Court, if she doesn't pluck every hair off him to buy meat, she'll change her surname from Tang!
Oh, right, she's now surnamed Qin, not Tang.
"Sister Qin Yun! How can you not be worried at all!" Yuanyuan paced the room anxiously.
"Worried about what?"
Qin Yun, unfazed, picked up her phone to take a look, seeing the top trending topic: #QinYunGetOutOfTheEntertainmentIndustry#
She clicked in, scrolling through calmly.
The most liked comment was:
"We don't care if you like to tie yourself to others for clout, but don't involve our brother! This lowly tactic has been used so many times, just leave the entertainment circle already! Bring peace back to the industry!"
"Are you that desperate for fame? Conning anyone, do you deserve it?!!"
"Waah… Poor brother, being used by such a woman."
"Qin Yun? Who's that? Some D-list celebrity?"
Heh, so many people in the Heavenly Court chased after her, and she wasn't interested, let alone some unknown mortal daring to claim she, the last Taotie in existence, was longing to be embraced by someone?
Though, to be fair, those chasing her usually wanted her to vomit out all the things she'd eaten…
As a Taotie, she'd eat anything when hungry, possibly the only thing in the Heavenly Court other than Pei Yan… that she hadn't 'messed with'…
Every time she tried to pluck Pei Yan's hair, she failed and got punished instead.
Did she say anything about that?
Absolutely not! She'd try again next time!
Despite not being able to win…
But, what could she do, Pei Yan was the richest.
This?
Not worth worrying about.
Let them talk, it's not like she'll lose a chunk of meat.
Qin Yun threw her phone aside, rubbing her empty stomach, eyes blank as she lay limp on the bed, "I'm starving, find me something to eat first."
Nothing could deter her determination to eat right now.
In her memories, the original owner ate very little to maintain her figure, leaving her feeling weak and light-headed now.
"At a time like this, all you can think about is food! I still can't reach Sister Li by phone, and if this keeps getting worse, the investors might replace you to avoid offending Emperor Pei's fans. We signed a contract, and it states that if an artist is terminated due to negative news during this period, they'll have to pay a five-million penalty!"
"Five million?! That's not acceptable! I have no money! The penalty is so much higher than the signing bonus, it's robbery!" Initially not too concerned, Qin Yun immediately sat up when she heard about the penalty.
No way to pay!
She still owed the company four million, and if another penalty was added, how was she supposed to live?
She didn't even have enough for food.
Just then, her phone rang.
Feeling irritated, Qin Yun answered with some annoyance in her tone, "Who is it?"
"Are you the celebrity Qin Yun? Your dad owes us three million; cough up the money to save him or I'll chop off his hand!"
Qin Yun paused for two seconds, recalling who the caller was talking about, then nonchalantly rubbed her thumb against her palm, lazily saying, "Oh, then just chop it off. His hand isn't good for anything besides gambling. Right, thirty thousand per finger is pretty reasonable, go ahead, if that's not enough, you can take his feet too, no need to ask, I don't mind."
Suddenly recalling something else, she asked, "By the way, the extra money from chopping more, can I have that? I need money for food."
"What do you mean? You're not going to help him pay? And you want me to give you money? Are you still dreaming?" The caller was dumbfounded, obviously not expecting Qin Yun to respond in such an unconventional manner, and raised his voice in anger.
"Fine, if you won't, whatever, at least your voice is strong, so you're not ill. Since you're so spirited, let me tell you something, you might not know this but he already sold me off for five million debts ages ago, so I have no ties with him. Don't come to me for money; I don't have any. He owes so much anyway, one more won't make a difference."
She politely added, "Anything else? Oh, if there is, don't look for me."
"Yunyun, my daughter, you— you can't leave me to die! They really will chop my fingers off."
Ignoring the wailing from the other end, she mercilessly hung up the phone.
Just before hanging up, she vaguely heard something being hit and an angry shout: "Didn't you say she would definitely help you pay?"
After hanging up, Qin Yun calmly cleaned her ears with her slender, pale fingers, flicking her fingertips as if shaking off the pollution to her ears.