Jealousy twisted Li Baorui's face into a knot.
In front of so many people, she wouldn't dare to lash out; she had to maintain her image.
"Congratulations, Zhao Yan. You'll be famous all over the country now," Li Baorui said to Zhao Yan with a smile.
Seeing the expressions of so many people, Zhao Yan naturally knew who was genuinely smiling and who was faking it.
As women, she knew how strong jealousy could be in a woman's heart.
"Thank you," Zhao Yan replied.
After saying this, she suddenly noticed something wrong with Li Baorui's forehead. A dark lump had appeared on Li Baorui's forehead, indicating a disruption in her fortune and that she was about to experience great misfortune.
Upon closer inspection, this misfortune seemed related to movement.
Since they were recording the program together, they were colleagues, so a friendly reminder was in order.
"Baobao, I just noticed that the fortune on your forehead doesn't look right. There's a dark cloud pressing down on your forehead."
"The way to resolve this lies in the word 'movement.' If you remain still, it will pass in a few days. Movement will worsen the trend of your fortune, which will be disadvantageous to you."
Li Baorui's smile froze. This bitch, getting carried away with her success, wasn't she?
She was deliberately showing off in front of her and had even deliberately said her fortune was bad to disgust her.
The jealousy in her heart completely prevented her from realizing that Zhao Yan was offering a friendly reminder, not cursing her.
With so many people watching, Li Baorui forced a smile and said, "Okay, thank you, Zhao Yan."
After speaking, Li Baorui turned to Director Zhang and said, "Director, I'm not feeling well. Now that this program is finished recording, can I go home?"
Director Zhang asked with concern, "Are you not feeling well? Do you need to see a doctor?"
Li Baorui shook her head. "I'll be fine after a good rest at home."
"Oh, alright. Then go back and rest. If you feel better, let us know. We're planning a dinner party to celebrate breaking the record," Zhang Dan said.
Li Baorui nodded, not saying much more.
At this dinner party, she wasn't the main guest. Going would not only mean being ignored but would likely make her feel as miserable as if she had eaten something disgusting.
Back in the car, Li Baorui completely dropped her good-natured persona, her brows furrowed. She glared at her assistant beside her and said, "What are you staring at blankly for? Haven't you seen how tired my legs are after walking for so long?"
The assistant beside her flinched and immediately began to massage Li Baorui's legs.
Li Baorui's persona was that of a highly educated individual who had studied in the United States and earned a full scholarship through her own efforts.
In reality, Li Baorui had only attended high school. She had dropped out before graduating and went to Hengdian to hustle. By chance, she met an actor.
She schemed and schemed to get together with this actor. As soon as she gained some fame, she kicked the actor aside, joined a company, and transformed into an intellectual.
Thinking of Zhao Yan's reminder made her feel sick.
She opened a group chat and sent a message.
"Zhao Yan was able to join [Chasing the Killer Today] because she was being kept by a program executive."
"She became someone's mistress."
"Spread this message, and you'll get fifty cents per post."
"If a post gets over a hundred likes, you get five yuan!"
"The more you post, the more I'll pay."
Her previous idol drama had been terrible, yet it had received surprisingly good reviews. The reason was that she had hired many internet trolls.
Seeing Zhao Yan's momentum, she immediately deployed her internet trolls to ruin Zhao Yan's reputation first.
Then, she would step in and steal all of Zhao Yan's popularity.
The leader of the troll group received the message and immediately copied and forwarded her words to other troll groups.
"Forward these messages, and you'll get twenty-five cents per post. If a post gets over a hundred likes, you'll get two yuan and fifty cents."
Seeing many people starting to spread the messages, Li Baorui's face broke into a smile.
She had used this method before to smear a competitor. Once that competitor's reputation was ruined, no one would compete with her.
She looked at how much Zhang Dan liked Zhao Yan and feared that Zhao Yan would go from being a guest star to a regular cast member.
If she became a regular, how much screen time would she have?
She was unwilling to be a mere supporting act.
The assistant beside her whispered, "Sister Bao, Zhao Yan said it's not suitable for you to move around these few days. How about we postpone our schedule for the next few days?"
The little assistant actually believed in Zhao Yan's abilities.
After all, being able to identify the killer at a glance was a skill she had never seen before.
"You little bitch, are you in cahoots with her? You believe everything she says?"
"Drive faster! Since [Chasing the Killer Today] wrapped up early, we still have time to film another TV drama."
"Sister Bao, please look at the script first."
"Look at what? Just say one, two, three, four, five, six, seven when it's time to speak. I'm so annoyed, why did the company assign such an idiot to be my assistant!"
The little assistant started crying from being scolded.
Upon arriving at the TV drama set, Li Baorui's expression changed again as soon as she got out of the car. She greeted the actors very gently.
"Director Zhou, I apologize. My schedule is really tight. To film your TV drama, I almost fell out with Director Zhang and said a few harsh words before she would let me come over."
Director Zhou, who had been angry, softened his expression slightly.
He really didn't know what benefits the film investors had received to insist on casting Li Baorui in their crew.
Although he was the director, the investors were the ones in charge. If the investors didn't provide the money, he couldn't shoot anything.
"Baobao, next time, please speak with Director Zhang and see if you can stagger the timings. Your variety show always overlaps with the TV drama schedule, making everyone in the crew wait for you."
"I'm truly sorry, Director Zhou. I'll talk to Director Zhang properly next time."
After saying this, Li Baorui let out an uncomfortable "tsk."
"Director Zhou, I'm ready. Which scene is next?"
Director Zhou rolled his eyes speechlessly. Ready for what?
If she were truly ready, she wouldn't even know what the next scene was.
He felt like a piece of shit encountering a fly, utterly disgusted.
"Baobao, our next scene is a big one. We need to use wirework."
"Wirework? Can't my stunt double do it?"
Director Zhou gave a wry smile. "The stunt double is feeling unwell today, and for this scene to be good, you need to do it yourself."
"Alright, then let's hurry."
Director Zhou nodded and quickly said, "Okay, prepare the wirework."
The assistant beside her still tried to persuade her, "Sister Bao, today we..."
"Shut up!"
The little assistant, tears welling up, said nothing more.
As the wirework was set up, Li Baorui took a deep breath. As the wire slowly lifted her, she was filming a martial arts TV drama. Holding a prop sword, she shouted, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, seven, eight, nine, three, two, one."
"Where are the lines? Say the lines! Why are you shouting all this nonsense?"
Suddenly, with a crack, Li Baorui looked upwards. The wirework machine had broken, and she plummeted from mid-air.
"Ah! Help!"