After Transmigrating, I Bent the Female Lead O - Chapter 4
After dealing with Jia Ximei, He Lingxing pulled up her status panel to check.
“Female lead’s friendship value towards me… negative 50? 520, how is this calculated?”
She clearly had never offended Shu Minglan.
[It’s like this, Sister Xing. Female lead Shu Minglan’s impression of you is based on the identity of “He Lingxing,” not on you personally, but on the original owner. Shu Minglan has severe face blindness; she didn’t recognize you as “He Lingxing” at the time, and from her perspective, she doesn’t know you helped her tonight.]
He Lingxing: “Tsk.”
She didn’t have the habit of doing good deeds anonymously. The feeling of silently contributing from behind the scenes was quite annoying.
However, now was clearly not a good time to tell Shu Minglan, because in Shu Minglan’s impression, her CEO He was probably not a good person.
He Lingxing hesitated briefly, then returned to her car and headed towards the company.
She hadn’t lied to Jia Ximei earlier; she had indeed come to discuss something with the director-in-chief, but it had only taken less than half an hour. She finished speaking and left immediately. Although Director Zhu was also an Alpha, it was still impolite for a man and a woman to be alone late at night.
The drive from there to the company was relatively short, taking only twenty minutes with no traffic jams late at night. Gazing at the tall building engulfed in the night, He Lingxing impulsively took a picture and sent it to Shu Minglan via WeChat, adding a caption:
[Working late, most fatal.]
Shu Minglan quickly replied: [Still working overtime?]
[Yeah.]
[By the way, which department are you in? I don’t think I’ve seen you much before.]
To fully commit to the act, He Lingxing recalled departments that might work overtime late at night and vaguely replied “logistics.”
There were many departments in an entertainment company’s logistics, and she couldn’t immediately pinpoint one, so she didn’t elaborate. However, Shu Minglan clearly didn’t press further, sending her a cute cat emoji and then wishing her good night, stating that she had to get up early for filming tomorrow.
The reply speed was fast; it seemed Shu Minglan hadn’t gone there at all.
In the original book’s plot, Shu Minglan was supposed to have reluctantly gone to Jia Ximei’s room. Before anything could happen between them, Jia Ximei was called away by an urgent phone call.
He Lingxing had a decent impression of this female lead and couldn’t bear to see such an innocent girl forced into something like this. He Lingxing had probably timed it right, intending to warn Jia Ximei in advance, but she didn’t expect Shu Minglan to deviate from the plot.
Things would be interesting now.
••••
Shu Minglan slept soundly all night, with no guilt about standing someone up. Her overnight mask made her skin look clear and smooth, with no lingering signs of fatigue, so much so that her assistant couldn’t help but look surprised when she saw her the next day.
The woman adjusted her collar in the mirror, revealing her fair and smooth collarbones. But what surprised the assistant wasn’t Shu Minglan’s enviable complexion, but her unmarked body.
Although Shu Minglan was famously good-tempered in the industry, when the assistant’s meaningful gaze swept over her face for the third time, she couldn’t help but ask. The Omega’s voice, usually soft and gentle, was now tinged with coolness:
“What are you looking at?”
The assistant instinctively denied it, “Nothing,” but her attention was drawn when she caught a glimpse of a message popping up on Shu Minglan’s phone from the corner of her eye. Although Shu Minglan quickly picked up her phone, the assistant was sharp and immediately saw the contact name.
“Xingxing?”
Now the assistant had enough reason to ask. She instinctively tried to snatch Shu Minglan’s phone, but Shu Minglan nimbly dodged, causing the assistant to miss and almost hit the cabinet.
Meeting those beautiful, bewildered eyes, the assistant suddenly felt a surge of anger, her voice slightly louder than usual: “Are you in a relationship?”
Artists sign privacy contracts before joining a company. For young and beautiful artists, regardless of whether they follow the “pretty face” route, companies generally don’t allow them to date. Shu Minglan’s earlier move made the assistant feel thwarted, and now was a prime opportunity to assert control:
“Dating is a breach of contract. I think you want to…”
“You’re fired.”
The assistant thought she misheard: “What did you say?”
“You’re fired. From now on, you don’t need to follow me.”
Shu Minglan repeated each word distinctly, her red lips slightly parted, her gentle voice carrying an undeniable firmness. Looking at the assistant’s startled gaze, she suddenly felt a surge of satisfaction. She truly had been too accommodating before, allowing these people to walk all over her.
Her manager controlled her lifeline, so she couldn’t touch her for now. But after filming, she would resign and say goodbye. Aside from that, changing an insignificant assistant was something Shu Minglan could definitely do.
“Are you sick?!”
Shu Minglan’s temper had always been very good, so good that it even made those around her feel she was somewhat weak. The assistant cursed, her face red and neck bulging with anger, and called Sister Bai. Shu Minglan couldn’t be bothered with her and strode quickly towards the set.
Meanwhile, He Lingxing’s phone vibrated as she ate breakfast and reviewed a new design proposal.
[Shushu]: There’s a breakfast place in the West District. Their corn shrimp porridge and beef egg drop porridge taste especially good, and the portions are just right. If you don’t like meat for breakfast, they have other vegetarian options. I’ll send you the address; you can order delivery.
He Lingxing had sent Shu Minglan a picture a while ago of her breakfast today.
She wasn’t a picky eater herself; she just sent the message to get acquainted. However, seeing Shu Minglan’s enthusiastic reply, her mood brightened, and most of the frustration of having to deal with work so early in the morning disappeared.
So she went along with it and replied: “I’m not used to delivery. We can go together sometime if you’re free.”
She waited for a while, but there was no reply. Shu Minglan was probably starting to film. But He Lingxing didn’t know what new situation had occurred. After finishing a call about a new project, as she typed rapidly on her keyboard, she inexplicably received a message that her favorability had decreased.
[System friendly reminder: The female lead’s current friendship value towards you (He Lingxing) is -60.]
[The female lead’s current friendship value towards you (Xingxing) is 60.]
Still one after the other, one positive, one negative.
The huge discrepancy left He Lingxing quite annoyed, and she had no idea how she had offended this female lead again. 520 had been working with her for a long time and naturally knew He Lingxing’s temper, so it quickly explained to appease her:
[It’s like this: today Shu Minglan went to the set, and Bai Mu scolded her, then brought up your name to try and intimidate her. Shu Minglan probably thought Bai Mu was taking advantage of your authority, and so she redirected her anger towards you.]
The words “redirected her anger” sounded a bit vague and uncertain from 520, making He Lingxing immediately grasp the key point.
Although she could receive the original owner’s memories when she transmigrated, it was twenty-odd years of memories. He Lingxing, as an ordinary person, couldn’t immediately sort out the information she needed. So she took this opportunity to ask the system:
“What did ‘I’ do before?”
The morning passed quickly. In between calls and handling email files, He Lingxing managed to piece together from the system’s narrative the bad things that she—no, the original owner—had done before.
This included, but was not limited to, assigning the most cunning manager like Bai Mu to Shu Minglan, instructing subordinates to give her resources to others, and allowing a young heartthrob to engage in manufactured hype with Shu Minglan, resulting in her being viciously attacked by his fangirls and receiving no public relations support—all childish actions.
In the script, the event of “the male lead marking Shu Minglan” was a turning point. After this major event, the original owner’s dislike for Shu Minglan turned into hatred.
She began to madly target Shu Minglan, even resorting to personal attacks, and finding several Alphas to try and forcibly assault her. He Lingxing transmigrated precisely before Shu Minglan was accidentally marked; the original owner hadn’t reached such a state of madness yet.
He Lingxing let out a long sigh.
Even with just those past actions, if she were Shu Minglan, she probably wouldn’t have any good feelings towards herself either.
[Host intends to…]
He Lingxing raised an eyebrow after understanding the reason. She pulled out a bottle of nail polish from the drawer and meticulously touched up her nails: “We’ll see. Anyway, I’m here to do a mission, not to coax a woman.”
She only needed to bring the two together at the crucial moment to ensure a happy ending for the plot. It wasn’t necessary to use the “He Lingxing” identity; she had been overthinking it before.
••••
She hadn’t expected Jia Ximei’s retaliation to come so quickly.
After dealing with Jia Ximei’s sexual harassment incident that day, He Lingxing was afraid she would retaliate against Shu Minglan, so she specifically warned Director Zhu to help look after her subordinate.
Director Zhu was a person of good character and an old acquaintance of the original owner. He handled people and situations very well, and He Lingxing trusted him. Later, there were indeed no reports of Shu Minglan being retaliated against or bullied; instead, she requested a new assistant.
He Lingxing decisively had Bai Mu reassigned and brought in a few normal people for her, which earned back some favorability. However, a few days later, she received news of her company’s stock declining. Simultaneously, several of the company’s artists’ scandals floated to the top of the hot searches.
The popularity remained high.
It was undoubtedly Jia Ximei’s doing.
It wasn’t necessarily true that Jia Ximei was greatly afraid of He Lingxing. At the time, she was merely instinctively intimidated by He Lingxing’s sudden powerful aura, but that feeling faded once she recovered her wits.
He Lingxing’s company, Yaoxing Entertainment, wasn’t a large company, especially as it had been declining in recent years, not as glamorous as it appeared on the surface. Many talented artists had been poached, and the remaining ones were basically resting on their laurels.
The most popular one was probably an Alpha young starlet, but due to her appearance, her acting range was quite narrow, and she was almost at the end of her road as an actress, barely a low-tier A-lister.
The others were slightly better, like the second-tier Shu Minglan and others. Before He Lingxing transmigrated, the original owner had already planned to recruit trainees to develop a girl group, but she was still completely clueless. Jia Ximei had shares in a large company and was related to the boss. It wasn’t too difficult for her to target He Lingxing.
He Lingxing’s phone was almost ringing off the hook.
Her gaze first fell on the eighteenth trending topic, a little lower down the hot search: “#Shu Minglan, Murong Feng.” Clicking on it, she saw a GIF posted by a marketing account, showing a scene from an awards ceremony.
Shu Minglan already had that kind of comfortable, harmless appearance. The thin air bangs over her forehead made her look even fresher.
The black lace patterned camisole maxi dress and retro Hong Kong-style fiery red lips made her look both pure and seductive. The slender, diamond-studded high heels perfectly compensated for her slight lack of height, though she was still more than half a head shorter than the tall Murong Feng standing beside her.
Murong Feng said something to Shu Minglan, and Shu Minglan smiled, her bright, starry eyes charming and lively, placing her hand on the sleeve of his wrist. But it was this last gesture, combined with the marketing account’s instigation, that caused Murong Feng’s extreme fangirls to unleash a torrent of abuse.
He Lingxing frowned.
This tall, upright man before her, with his handsome and extraordinary appearance, was the male lead of the original novel’s harem genre—Murong Feng—who, after an accidental marking, would torment Shu Minglan to death, making countless women fall for him.
The script described Murong Feng as a self-made man who was humiliated and looked down upon by many when he first started. But later, those who despised him either submitted or suffered ruin, and women knelt before him, serving as a “prime example” of face-slapping literature.
At this point, Murong Feng’s career was already seeing some success. This time, it seemed to be the beginning of his upcoming interaction with Shu Minglan.
[Detecting the imminent appearance of [Male Lead Murong Feng], new plot unlocked!]
The system dutifully announced:
[“Shu Minglan and Murong Feng are reported by the media to be a rumored couple. At this time, Murong Feng still remembers the woman who instantly captivated him and is actually developing feelings for her without realizing it.” Host, please complete the following mission to ignite the male lead’s recognition of his feelings for the female lead.]
[Lead the female lead to the banquet, then subtly make things difficult for her, giving the male lead an opportunity for a heroic rescue, and you can appropriately make the male lead jealous. PS: Do not break character.]
“Make the male lead jealous?” He Lingxing, catching the keywords, paused her action of flipping through her schedule. She clearly didn’t quite understand the meaning of this sentence: “Shu Minglan and I are both women. How can I make him jealous?”
[That depends on your performance, Host. If you need anything, 520 can provide assistance anytime.]
He Lingxing: “…” Alright.
Her schedule happened to have a banquet three days later.
••••
The scandals of the three artists, which were simultaneously trending, were quickly clarified under He Lingxing’s direction. The public relations department reacted faster than usual, and a new wave of marketing accounts engaged in a strong counter-attack against the negative ones.
Buying marketing accounts was one of the most common methods in the industry, used by everyone from top-tier A-listers to eighteenth-tier celebrities. At certain times, it could be a crucial force in turning the tide of public opinion.
To acquire better marketing accounts also incurred a significant expense.
Shu Minglan, who had been in the entertainment industry for several years, wouldn’t be unaware of these intricacies. Especially after learning from others that He Lingxing had visited Jia Ximei, her heart became even more unsettled.
What did He Lingxing want with Jia Ximei?
Were the two of them plotting to entrap her again?
But if that were the case, the situation shouldn’t have developed this way. If Jia Ximei wanted to retaliate against her, she could have used other methods or directly pushed her fabricated scandals onto the hot search. Dragging other artists from the company down with her was equivalent to openly challenging He Lingxing.
Only a fool wouldn’t understand this point.
Unless…
Recalling the sudden transfer of her crazy manager and assistant, an absurd yet seemingly factual thought suddenly occurred in Shu Minglan’s mind, and instantly, it cleared away the fog, clearly connecting all the recent events.
But why would He Lingxing suddenly help her?
The script clearly didn’t say this.
Before Shu Minglan could figure it out, a message popped up on WeChat. Recently, this “Xingxing” had been quite fond of chatting with her, though at a frequency that wasn’t annoying. Shu Minglan would chat with her when she had free time.
“Xingxing” was asking if she was free two nights from now.
The afternoon shoot two days from now would involve a solo scene for the male lead. She had no scenes those two days. Director Zhu wasn’t strict, and the script wasn’t kept entirely confidential, so she could leave anytime she wanted.
However, Shu Minglan had a habit of staying in character. She initially thought the other person was inviting her to dinner and intended to politely decline and go after filming was complete. But as she was typing, she received a business card pushed over by the other party.
The three words she least wanted to see were glaringly obvious.
[Xingxing]: CEO He wants you to add her number. She said she has something to discuss with you.
[Xingxing]: What is it about? It seems to be about some banquet.
Shu Minglan reluctantly added the seemingly professional work account. The other party replied quickly, but every punctuation mark seemed to exude an uncomfortable awkwardness and coldness.
He Lingxing was online on both her phone and computer accounts, seamlessly switching and replying with lightning speed.
[Xingxing]: Huh? I’m not sure about the purpose either.
[Xingxing]: Why “dress beautifully”? Probably…
He Lingxing grit her teeth and typed heavily on the keyboard.
[Xingxing]: Probably she wants to pursue you.