The crew's hotel.
Zhou Wei was sitting on the sofa holding an iPad, watching a variety show broadcast with great interest.
Jiang Qiong walked over carrying takeout and said, "What are you watching? Dinner time."
Zhou Wei let out an "oh" and slowly got up from the sofa, but her eyes never left the screen.
"Wait a minute, it's almost over," she said.
Jiang Qiong leaned over to take a look. It turned out to be the hot variety show on air, "Our Dearest."
At this point, the live broadcast was nearing its end and finished shortly after.
"OK, done," Zhou Wei tossed the iPad onto the sofa and looked at Jiang Qiong eagerly, "What's for dinner tonight?"
Jiang Qiong gave her a look and replied, "Vegetable salad."
Zhou Wei let out an "ah" sound, with a disappointed look on her face, "Salad again?"
Jiang Qiong laughed in exasperation, "What do you mean again? Did you eat it yesterday or the day before?"
How dare she say that! She had only been away for a few days, and this girl was already running wild like an unleashed horse, gaining over 4 pounds in weight.
Does she still have any sense of being an artist!
Zhou Wei knew she was in the wrong and scratched her nose awkwardly. She tactfully said, "What I mean is, salad is good, healthy. I love eating it."
Jiang Qiong knew her artist's true nature all too well, and was too lazy to expose her lies.
A foodie claiming to love eating a bland salad, who was she kidding?
After Zhou Wei unpacked the takeout, she did see a vegetable salad, all green, with a few sad looking pieces of chicken breast.
Jiang Qiong followed behind and opened her takeout box, the overpowering aroma bursting forth.
It turned out to be her favorite ma la spicy hot pot from that restaurant!
Zhou Wei glared at Jiang Qiong.
She must have done this on purpose to punish her.
Jiang Qiong raised her eyebrows, "What are you looking at? Still craving hotpot from a few days ago? Eat your salad."
When she mentioned the hotpot from a few days ago, Zhou Wei knew she was at fault and didn't dare retort. She could only sneak glances at Jiang Qiong's takeout box.
Eating tasteless grass in her mouth while the aroma of ma la hotpot filled her nose.
She was like a real life version of whetting the appetite. Zhou Wei thought.
Seeing her pitiful state, Jiang Qiong couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Endure for now, we have a busy schedule ahead. You really can't gain weight."
Zhou Wei of course knew this too, "Don't worry Jiang jie, this concerns my livelihood, I won't be careless."
In fact, after letting loose for two days, she did feel guilty, even if Jiang Qiong hadn't returned today, she was already planning to control herself.
Jiang Qiong nodded.
She had been Zhou Wei's manager for years, and understood her personality and temperament very well.
To be honest, Zhou Wei was one of the more well-behaved artists.
No messy scandals, decent acting skills, strong work ethic, and as for her looks, not to brag, but she was definitely top tier among current female stars.
With everything going for her except not being popular.
She had been in this industry for years, almost 25 now, but was still barely hanging on to her D-list status.
But then again, nothing could be done, Zhou Wei was beautiful, but the entertainment industry never lacked for beauties.
With no background or connections, and unwilling to accept those so-called unspoken rules, it was already not easy for her to get to where she was one step at a time.
To be honest, Jiang Qiong felt impatient for her at times, but Zhou Wei didn't seem anxious at all. As long as she had acting gigs, even just supporting roles, she was always very content.
This was also why Jiang Qiong admired Zhou Wei, to maintain this mentality while in the extravagant and materialistic entertainment industry, it was indeed rare.
"Which guest livestream were you watching just now?" Jiang Qiong asked casually.
Zhou Wei had just stuffed some salad in her mouth and had trouble speaking clearly, she mumbled, "The aunt-niece duo."
Jiang Qiong nodded, having seen the show herself, she knew who Zhou Wei was referring to.
Song Linchuan and Song Anan's aunt and niece.
Speaking of Song Linchuan, Jiang Qiong couldn't help but sigh.
Being in the same circle, they shared a lot of inside information. Top stars like Song Linchuan were often hot topics of discussion privately.
Come to think of it, Song Linchuan's situation was quite similar to Zhou Wei's. No family background in the industry, no connections, also refused to accept the unspoken rules.
But the difference was, he was destined to make it big.
Back in his band days, even when he had attitude issues and a bad temper, fans still ate it up. After going solo, even more so.
However, as Song Linchuan became more popular over the years, negative news about him also increased. Idols could get away with it, but for an actor at his level, too much negative press would definitely impact his public reputation.
So many in the circle were watching to see how he would handle this issue, as Song Linchuan was at the point where he needed to transition into more serious acting.
Who could have expected that going on a show with his little aunt would wash away most of the negativity surrounding him in such a short time, and his popularity with the public rose exponentially.
This was the luck of those destined to make it big.
Zhou Wei of course didn't know what her manager was thinking. Otherwise she would have said, Song Linchuan was not the same as her.
He may not have family background, but that didn't mean his family didn't have connections!
There was a big difference.
As for how she knew about Song Linchuan's family circumstances, that was a long story.
Jiang Qiong seemed to recall something and suddenly said, "That reminds me, I saw online that Song Linchuan is also an alumnus of S University No. 1 High School. You two are around the same age, should be same grade. Did you happen to know each other?"
The more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed. Although she didn't expect to ride Song Linchuan's popularity, if the two were old classmates, there was some connection.
Zhou Wei paused, then said evenly, "Yeah, we were in the same grade, but didn't know each other."
She then added lightly, "Back then each grade had over 20 classes, how could we possibly get to know each other that easily."
Jiang Qiong realized this made sense. With so many students in school, if not in the same class, it would be quite difficult to get acquainted.
After all, in high school the focus was on academics, not like university where there was more free time after classes.
But she happened to overlook one thing - whether the two could have been in the same class.
After dinner, Jiang Qiong discussed some work matters with Zhou Wei.
Before leaving, she suddenly recalled something. "You can go directly to City C after wrapping up in a couple days. That variety show we got you booked for starts shooting earlier."
Zhou Wei was confused for a moment, "What variety show?"
Seeing her blank look, Jiang Qiong couldn't help but smack her forehead. "The only variety show we booked for you, which one do you think?"
It took Zhou Wei several seconds before she finally remembered.
Oh, that extreme challenges show called "Challenge Yourself."
Speaking of this, Jiang Qiong sighed.
Their show was no match for Song Linchuan's in popularity, after all it was an extreme reality show, just the name indicated how grueling filming would be.
But it couldn't be helped, this was the best opportunity Zhou Wei could get at her level, it was something Jiang Qiong fought to secure for her from the company.
The original plan was to let Zhou Wei rest for a few days after wrapping up filming, but that was out now.
However, seeing her artist show no objection, Jiang Qiong felt reassured.
-
The day Zhou Wei wrapped up filming, she headed directly to start shooting the variety show.
The show certainly lived up to its reputation, after just one day of filming, Zhou Wei was completely exhausted.
And the show title "Challenge Yourself" was no exaggeration, the cast really challenged their limits in every way.
Non-stop action from start, either running or on the run, her legs were dead.
She also had to complete all kinds of terrifying tasks, scared to death.
After finishing the first episode, Zhou Wei who normally treasured every opportunity, even had thoughts of quitting.
But in the end that was just a thought, quitting was impossible. Putting aside other factors, she couldn't afford the penalty fee.
No choice, a nobody couldn't afford to be picky.
In the hotel room, seeing Zhou Wei sprawled limply on the sofa, Jiang Qiong felt some pity.
"Hang in there, I'll find you a good masseuse when we get back tomorrow."
Zhou Wei kept nodding her head. She really needed it now.
Even when she hung on wires all day filming, she had never felt this tired before. She felt like all her bones were coming apart.
Jiang Qiong didn't know what else to do but try to divert her attention: "The director said there would be a heavyweight celebrity guest next episode. Who do you think it will be?"
Zhou Wei stared blankly at the ceiling, thinking, how would I know something that even you as my agent don't know?
But she could guess Jiang Qiong's intention, so she played along, "I don't know. But they must be really popular, otherwise the director and crew wouldn't have reacted like that."
Jiang Qiong seemed to remember something, her eyes lighting up, "What if it's Song Linchuan?"
Zhou Wei gave her a look that said 'what nonsense are you talking about'.
Firstly, whether Song Linchuan was available or not. And why would he come suffer here when he's already a regular on that lifestyle variety show and doing well there?
She's being silly.
Jiang Qiong also felt it was unlikely after saying it, but still tried to save face under Zhou Wei's idiotic stare.
"Why is it impossible? I heard he's friends with the director of this show. It's not impossible he could guest for one episode." She said.
"And there were rumors before saying they wanted to invite Song Linchuan as a regular cast member."
Zhou Wei dismissively said, "Well what happened in the end? He still didn't come."
Jiang Qiong was left speechless.
Alright, she admitted she was just wishful thinking.
No matter how you looked at it, Song Linchuan had no reason to come on this show.
"Fine, can't I dream a little? I was just thinking, if Song Linchuan really came, the popularity of your show would definitely increase a lot too. Maybe you'd become popular."
Since they still had to suffer through filming, of course she hoped for good results.
Zhou Wei waved her hand tiredly, "I'm not that lucky, just give up on it."
Jiang Qiong: "..."
Yup, her girl was still a wet blanket as usual.
After filming the first episode of "Challenge Yourself", the guests went back to rest for a week before it was time to film the second episode.
Without exception, all the guests looked unenthusiastic.
It couldn't be helped, the intensity of the first episode was too much, everyone was still traumatized.
At least Zhou Wei had mentally prepared herself now, it was better that everyone was bad at it together rather than just her.
Compared to the low morale among the guests, the director and crew were clearly much more excited.
The theme this episode was horror, and it was filmed at an abandoned factory in the suburbs of C City.
Zhou Wei looked back at the huge factory behind her, which had been decorated by the staff to look creepy and ominous. She subconsciously shrank her neck back.
What if she got scared?
She looked at the other guests, nevermind, she would just stick close to everyone later.
In any case, she definitely could not be left alone in this situation, or she'd be scared to death.
Zhou Wei made a good plan, but when the staff read out the rules, she was completely confused.
What?
It was individual play this time, and all the guests would be blindfolded and led to different places later!
"Director, you said there would be a celebrity guest this episode, where are they?" one of the guests asked.
The director smiled and replied, "The celebrity guest is of course here, but you can't meet them yet. You'll naturally encounter them once you go in."
Seeing the director's mysterious reaction, the guests' curiosity was instantly piqued.
They started whispering and discussing among themselves.
The female artist next to Zhou Wei nudged her arm and asked softly, "Weiwei, who do you think they invited?"
Zhou Wei reacted a bit slowly and replied, "No idea, but judging by the director's reaction, they must be quite popular."
Compared to guessing who the celebrity was, she was much more worried about what would happen after they went in.
Ahhh, help, she really couldn't handle horror themes alone.
The female artist nodded seriously.
She thought so too, and was secretly hoping she could be the first to encounter the celebrity guest inside.
That way, she would definitely get more camera time. And if it really was a hot celebrity, she might be able to ride on their popularity.
Many of the guests had similar thoughts, or rather, most had such expectations except Zhou Wei.
Filming officially started soon, and after the guests were blindfolded, they were led inside the factory by staff in black.
Zhou Wei kept clutching the staff's clothes the whole way, extremely nervous, and all sorts of scary scenarios involuntarily flashed through her mind.
They hadn't even properly started yet she had already scared herself silly.
Before long, the staff in black suddenly stopped and yanked his clothes out of Zhou Wei's grasp.
As her hand grasped at nothing, Zhou Wei instantly panicked, "What's going on? Where is this? Hey, say something, don't scare me!"
She spat out this string of words so quickly it left the directors and crew stunned.
Hang on, they didn't notice her talking so much in the previous episode.
But then again, it wasn't surprising they were shocked. Zhou Wei was usually the quiet type, she had almost no presence on variety shows, rarely played off jokes, and never made jokes.
So Jiang Qiong rarely got her on shows, that time was better spent focusing on acting, which suited her steady acting-focused path.
"You think Zhou Wei got scared?" the assistant director asked uncertainly.
The others were puzzled for a moment, then felt it was unlikely.
When something was out of the ordinary, there must be a reason.
The director looked over the camera feeds. The other guests also showed some fear, but none reacted as extremely as Zhou Wei.
Based on his many years of experience making variety shows, his instinct told him Zhou Wei had good potential this episode.
After all, with a horror theme, there were two situations that easily drew attention. One was people who were extremely brave and cold, even counter attacking the NPCs.
The other was people who were extremely cowardly, panicking and screaming from the slightest sound. Zhou Wei right now was the latter.
Most importantly, Zhou Wei had always had an image in the industry of being a cool beauty, seeming to react calmly no matter what happened, yet had a shockingly stunning appearance.
This contrast was very attractive.
So just imagine, if the usually unflappable Zhou Wei suddenly acted totally out of character, screaming and yelling in fear on a variety show, becoming a motormouth, wouldn't that be very entertaining?
The answer was obviously yes. Not only entertaining, it was highly likely to become the biggest highlight of the episode!
After realizing this point, the director decisively decided to make things harder for Zhou Wei!
Send more groups of NPCs to herd her towards areas with more tasks.
"Alright, director, it's all arranged, the NPCs are moving towards Zhou Wei now." the assistant director said.
The director nodded, and suddenly recalled something important.
That's right, the most crucial thing was to set the drop-in point for the celebrity guest near her too!
"How are things going with Song Linchuan?" the director asked.
The female assistant beside quickly replied, "Mr. Song is ready, can enter anytime."
The director gently nodded, "Good, adjust the celebrity guest's entry point to be near Zhou Wei too."
Hearing this, the staff were confused for a moment.
Where the celebrity guest entered meant who they would encounter first.
If it was changed now, it was directly binding Zhou Wei and the celebrity guest together.
After all, the first people to meet had the highest chance of teaming up.
And their celebrity guest this episode was top star Song Linchuan!
It had to be said, Zhou Wei's luck was just too good to be able to partner with a top star. The attention and popularity would also increase. If she performed well, she might be able to gain popularity from this opportunity.
Of course, having worked on shows for years, everyone naturally understood the director's intention with this arrangement.
Without a doubt, Song Linchuan was the biggest highlight of their show this episode. Then the previous setup of herding all the NPCs towards Zhou Wei meant the focus of the show had shifted somewhat.
Song Linchuan's side would naturally also need adjustment, or it would be neglected.
They had gone through so much trouble to invite such a heavyweight guest, but then didn't give him any camera time. Were they out of their minds?
Zhou Wei hadn't expected her casual mistake to somehow prompt the director to change plans.
Even more unexpected was that she would run into Song Linchuan afterwards.
The person who would disturb her dreams on occasion during these midnight reminiscing moments.
Of course, right now Zhou Wei didn't have time to think about any of that. Her most pressing task was to find a living person!
Waa waa waa, it was too scary.
Where had the filming crew left her? She had nearly been frightened to death when taking off her blindfold earlier. The pitch black room didn't have any light at all, only the camera guy's equipment giving off a faint glow.
Furthermore, the cameraman was also wearing some kind of headgear, so not only could she not see his face, but he also didn't speak, like a wooden doll following her around.
It made things even more frightening.
Zhou Wei shivered and hugged herself tightly, then shakily headed out. Right now, the most urgent thing was to find the other guests. She really couldn't make it on her own!
After leaving, Zhou Wei realized that she had just been inside a warehouse. No wonder it was so big!
After exiting the warehouse, she quickly surveyed her surroundings. It was an old-style factory, giving a strong sense of history.
If this was for filming, it would probably be for some period piece drama. The ambiance was quite good.
But because it was night time, and with all the modifications and arrangements done by the show's crew, there was an inexplicable creepy feeling.
The horror atmosphere was turned up to the max.
Zhou Wei didn't dare tarry. She quickly located a position on the map provided by the production team, and resolutely headed towards the destination.
She didn't want to stay in this ghostly place a second longer.
Zhou Wei moved as swift as the wind, walking faster and faster. The camera guy following her almost couldn't keep up.
"Slow down, slow down!" The camera guy was forced to speak out.
Seeing the camera guy lugging such heavy equipment, huffing and puffing, Zhou Wei instantly felt a little bad.
"Sorry, I'll try to go slower."
Mainly because she couldn't guarantee it herself. When scared, she really couldn't control her actions.
For the long stretch of road afterwards, Zhou Wei did slow down somewhat, keeping pace with the camera guy. But after they turned into a creepy alley, she could no longer restrain herself, her feet flying as she ran.
As she ran, she shouted back, "Sorry cameraman, this place is too scary..."
The cameraman behind her stared blankly at the disappearing celebrity, a bit stunned.
By the time he reacted, Zhou Wei had already gotten quite far. He had no other choice but to chase after her.
In this kind of environment, Zhou Wei was already extremely nervous. Hearing the sudden rushed heavy footsteps behind her, she reflexively ran even faster.
Cameraman: "..."
After running for a stretch, Zhou Wei's stamina gradually depleted, and she started to slow down.
The cameraman finally caught up to her after rushing to keep pace.
After getting through the creepiest part of the road, Zhou Wei visibly calmed down as well, her emotions gradually stabilizing.
But just as they turned a corner, she collided head-on into a dark shadow.
"Ahhhhh..."
Zhou Wei screamed as she jumped back, eyes closed tight with both hands waving in midair.
The dark shadow she had pushed back was none other than Song Linchuan, the flying guest for this episode.
Song Linchuan had just entered not long ago, also finding this place from the clues given by the production team.
He had been in the building next door earlier, and upon hearing the commotion here, wanted to come take a look. He never expected such a coincidence, directly running into the approaching person at the turn.
With such poor lighting, he also hadn't gotten a good look at who it was, and was directly pushed back. Fortunately he quickly grabbed onto something nearby to steady himself.
Judging by the sounds, it should be one of the show's guests without a doubt. Song Linchuan walked over, just about to greet them, when he happened to catch sight of her profile.
"Zhou Wei?"
Zhou Wei was currently covering her eyes with both hands, standing angled away from Song Linchuan's direction.
Hearing the person call out her name, she was also surprised for a moment.
The voice sounded a bit familiar, but she was certain it didn't belong to any of the other male guests, much less dare to put her hands down now.
Zhou Wei wasn't sure if this was an NPC arranged by the show. She was afraid of being frightened by their costumes and makeup, since this was a horror theme after all. Who knew what ghastly appearance they were made up to look like.
"Are you human?" she weakly asked.
Song Linchuan's mouth twitched. "What do you think?"
Zhou Wei: "..."
What was she saying? If she knew she wouldn't have asked!
Seeing her fear, Song Linchuan spoke up to reassure her, "Don't be scared, it's me."
As soon as he said this, the production team watching from off-set realized something was off.
Hold on, the more they listened to Song Linchuan's line, the more strange it sounded.
It was understandable that he wanted to comfort the female guest in this situation, but why did 'it's me' seem increasingly odd the more they thought about it?
Those unaware would have thought the two knew each other already!
Right now, Zhou Wei also realized this possibility. Could it be someone she knew?
Moreover, it did seem increasingly familiar the more she listened to the voice.
Thinking of this possibility, she slowly turned around and lowered her hands, looking towards the person.
Under the dim yellow lighting, Zhou Wei saw a face both familiar yet unfamiliar.
Song Linchuan!
She reflexively rubbed her eyes, feeling she must be seeing things. How could Song Linchuan possibly show up here?
Her vision must be blurred! Definitely blurred!
Seeing Zhou Wei's reaction, a trace of cryptic emotion flashed through Song Linchuan's eyes.
"Long time no see, old classmate."
