Everyone Spends Money to Make Me Debut as Center (GL) - Chapter 5

“Chi Ling… did you really retire from the entertainment industry? Will you never make a comeback? Actually, I still really want to see you on screen. The haters say your skills aren’t good, but that’s just jealousy. Please don’t take it to heart. I get so happy every time I hear you sing! Please don’t give up…”

Chi Ling thought about it for a moment. Since her participation in the talent show wasn’t something to hide, she decided to tell You Xiaotao.

“Ah! Really?! You’re going to be on ‘Nation’s Girls’!”

“Shh, you’re a little loud,” Chi Ling said, making a silencing gesture and winking at her.

You Xiaotao immediately covered her mouth. Chi Ling talking to her in a low voice like this felt like they were sharing a secret. And up close, her face was so perfect! Oh my God, was she dreaming? She felt like she was about to faint!

“I’ll definitely vote for you!”

Chi Ling thought it was just a small moment, but when she was taking a shower that night, the system, which had been intermittently silent, suddenly popped up again.

[Detected that target object You Xiaotao’s pay-to-win index has risen by 5236. Congratulations, host, please keep up the good work!]

“What did you say?” Chi Ling almost choked on the shower water.

Hadn’t she specifically told the girl this afternoon not to waste money? Why had over five thousand yuan suddenly been spent on her again?

At that moment, You Xiaotao, who had just ordered fifty physical albums, thought to herself, Paying for my idol makes me happy! Ahhhhh! I absolutely will not leave this amazing Chi Ling! When the client pays me the final balance, I’ll buy another hundred albums!

Of course, Chi Ling didn’t know that her words this afternoon had the opposite effect on You Xiaotao. She quickly asked the system to list all of You Xiaotao’s detailed information.

Chi Ling: “Remember to remove things like measurements.”

System: “Understood!”

Because You Xiaotao was an A-rank target, the system was able to list very detailed information about her.

Just by reading the dense text, Chi Ling could imagine the girl’s unconditional love for the original owner. Buying albums and concert tickets was just a routine operation. The bulk of You Xiaotao’s free time was spent on things like streaming data, controlling comments on Weibo, and fighting haters.

Perhaps because Chi Ling was a bit older, she couldn’t quite understand this passionate, unprovoked enthusiasm. The biggest question was: did her current self deserve You Xiaotao’s dedication?

Chi Ling was curious to understand You Xiaotao’s thoughts, so she looked through her information in even more detail. As she read, Chi Ling was suddenly reminded of her own past experience as a fan, although it was a completely different way of being a fan than You Xiaotao’s.

Volunteers, mostly college students, would occasionally come to the welfare home. They would help with cleaning and cooking, and some with more resources would even donate supplies. These were things Chi Ling was used to. But one weekend, the head of the home suddenly gathered all the children and had them put on clean, matching uniforms. Chicken drumsticks and fish soup, which were rarely seen on the cafeteria menu, appeared, and someone was arranging to hang a welcome banner at the entrance—something that usually only happened during the New Year.

Young Chi Ling was curious about the volunteers that day. During her lunch break, she secretly ran out of the cafeteria and hid in a pile of grass by the entrance to observe.

She heard that a very famous celebrity was coming that day. A luxurious car, a beautiful long-haired woman, and the fawning smile on the head of the home’s face—these were all things that were unfamiliar to her.

“Little one, aren’t you going to eat?” Even now, after all these years, Chi Ling could still remember the warmth of that person’s palm on her cheek.

Looking at a face she had only ever seen on a screen, little Chi Ling felt a sense of unreality. Strangely, she rarely showed affection or spoke to anyone other than the head of the home, but that day was an exception with this woman.

As the woman was leaving, Chi Ling, who was standing in the queue, ran out, darted past the tall bodyguards in black suits, and tugged on her skirt. “Sister, will I see you again?”

The answer, logically, would have been “no,” but Chi Ling at that age was determined to get the answer she wanted. She ignored the head of the home trying to pull her away and stared intently at the smiling woman.

“Yes, you will,” the woman said. She didn’t get angry, but smiled, squatted down, and ruffled Chi Ling’s head. “As long as you want to.”

That woman was the first and only celebrity Chi Ling ever followed, the light in her life.

Many years later, when she was all grown up, she was lucky enough to get a ticket to a film festival from a senior at her company and was able to watch the woman’s awards ceremony in person.

Chi Ling finally sat in the audience, watching the person on stage accept the trophy and smile with confidence and grace. She then clapped with genuine excitement and applause. When the woman said, “Thank you to my fans for always being with me and encouraging me,” she seemed to lock eyes with Chi Ling in the audience. That unspoken joy made them feel less like an idol and a fan and more like two old friends who understood each other.

She is excellent, so I choose to follow her, not the other way around. That was a thought that always stayed with Chi Ling. That was why she ignored all advice and never stopped training, waiting for the day she could fulfill that promise: “As long as I want to, I can see you.”

But times were changing. The way information was delivered and its speed were also changing. The internet could amplify happiness and praise, but it could also double the malice and slander.

The games played between capitalists were always bloody without a single sword. Overnight sensations from backroom deals were everywhere, and bad money driving out good was no longer a rare occurrence. This trend had also infected the fan community. Being a “free rider” became a “sin,” and your love for an idol was measured by money.

System: Host, a quick reminder: You Xiaotao is a freelance illustrator, a former employee of a well-known animation company, with an annual income of over two million yuan. And on top of that, it’s her money; she can spend it however she wants. Perhaps you should… be worried about yourself instead?

Chi Ling got to the point: What’s my annual salary?

System: Have you forgotten that you’re currently unemployed?

This was a solid stab right into Chi Ling’s chest. Even as strong as she was, she felt a little watery-eyed at that moment.

Just as Chi Ling was frantically thinking of a comeback to the system, the bathroom light suddenly went out. Chi Ling noticed there was no light coming from under the door, either. That meant… a power outage?

The power was out, but the water was still on. In the pitch-black environment, the warm water from the shower head washed over her smooth skin, from the top of her head to her ankles. It gave Chi Ling the illusion of being submerged in a lake, surrounded by water currents. The fear that followed brought with it a slight sense of suffocation.

She quickly turned off the water, wiped the water from her face, and despite her stinging, watery eyes, she tried hard to keep them open. She had inexplicably remembered a ghost story from her childhood, about a ghost staring at you when you closed your eyes in the bathroom late at night.

Because she didn’t have a habit of bringing her phone into the bathroom, Chi Ling had no light source. She could only use her memory to grab a towel from the shelf to cover herself, and tiptoe slowly toward the door.

She remembered there were emergency items like a flashlight and candles in a cabinet next to the shoe rack.

Just as she was fumbling in the dark, moving at a snail’s pace toward the door, the lock clicked crisply, and someone opened the door from the outside.

“Who’s there!” Chi Ling’s voice was tight.

It was impossible not to be scared in this situation. It was the middle of the night, the house was dark, and she was in an extremely vulnerable state, barely covered. A stranger had suddenly entered the room.

But then she thought, the security in this community was so good. You had to register your license plate to get in and out, and there was a fingerprint lock on the first floor. Even delivery drivers couldn’t get in without her opening the door. What kind of thief was this skilled?

“It’s me.” Bai Chang probably didn’t expect to be questioned like a thief just for coming home to get something she’d left behind. When she noticed the house was dark, she instinctively asked, “Power outage?”

Chi Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, I don’t know if it’s a tripped circuit.”

Bai Chang nodded, acknowledging her words, and took out her phone to use its flashlight as she changed her shoes.

But she froze the moment the light turned on. Her first thought was, When did Chi Ling dye her hair red? It actually suits her. Only then did she realize that the person in front of her was not in a state to be seen.

Although the two had been in a relationship, they had never been so intimately honest with each other. Running into Chi Ling like this, even the composed Bai Chang had her ears turn red.

“Why are you out here without clothes? Aren’t you cold?”

“It was dark in there. I came out to look for a flashlight.”

Chi Ling had grown up in a communal dormitory in the welfare home, where a dozen girls would wash each other’s backs in a large bathhouse. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with being like this in front of another woman. Besides, she had brought a towel to cover herself. The phone’s light wasn’t too bright, so in the dimness, she didn’t notice Bai Chang’s flushed face.

Seeing the other person standing there motionless with her head down, Chi Ling urged her, “Since you’re standing right there, can you help me get the flashlight from the cabinet?”

“Huh?” Bai Chang responded softly, a little slow to react. “The… the flashlight?”

It was strange. This woman, who in her fans’ eyes was an otherworldly figure with few emotions, was now almost a stammering mess around Chi Ling.

Fortunately, Bai Chang reacted quickly. Before Chi Ling could say anything sarcastic, she quickly pulled open the cabinet door, felt around for the item, and handed it over. “Here.”

Chi Ling squinted as she took the item. “Ms. Bai, did you forget your glasses? If you changed your mind and handed me a candle, you might as well have given me a lighter, too.”

Only then did Bai Chang realize she had given her a candle. She quickly found the flashlight again, licked her dry lips, and handed it over with her head turned away.

Chi Ling noticed her series of awkward movements and was a little confused. When did this plague become so bashful?

It wasn’t until she went back to the bathroom with the flashlight and saw her body in the mirror that she understood. There wasn’t much to say, except that little Princess Chi, despite her young age, was very well-developed. She had a slender waist and long legs, and while she looked thin, she was not lacking in all the right places.

By the time Chi Ling was fully dressed and came out, the power was back on, and Bai Chang’s high heels were nowhere to be found.

It seemed she had truly just come to get something and left, with no intention of catching up with her soon-to-be ex-wife.

Chi Ling didn’t mind. After locking the door from the inside, she lay down on the bed, stretching her legs out into a horizontal split. She was stretching while resting.

After the system had been activated during the day, the so-called database had appeared, containing hundreds of thousands of individual profiles. They were all arranged by rank. The grayed-out ones indicated fans who had left the fandom.

Chi Ling scrolled through them. Wow, a sea of gray. Of the remaining fans, nine out of ten were just fans of her looks… It seemed that little Princess Chi had truly played hard and fast, and had successfully lost all her fans.

The system took the opportunity to chime in: All the hosts I’ve had could walk two steps on the street and see at least one B-rank fan. That’s the kind of popularity a top star should have. You’re really not that popular.

Chi Ling admitted the point. Yeah, how could I be popular? It took a whole month and a commercial event to finally meet a You Xiaotao and get the system activated. That’s a struggle.

Chi Ling: Help me filter out the ones who haven’t left the fandom.

She planned to read through these fans’ profiles before she went to sleep. Reading hundreds of thousands of profiles was unrealistic, so she might as well pick and choose. Since the others had already left, the chance of interacting with them in the future was small, so she could temporarily ignore them.

System: You don’t need to do all this prep work. Just like this afternoon, when you meet a target object, I’ll automatically transfer their information to you.

Chi Ling: It’s fine. I just want to understand them.

The truth was, the group training was about to begin, and Chi Ling was a little nervous.

She could get by at commercial events using her past stage experience, but she had never faced the cameras of a reality show before.

She just wanted to read these fans’ profiles, to understand their journey with the original owner and their unconditional love. By looking at those numbers and feeling the weight of the hope on her shoulders, she felt like she wasn’t fighting alone.

She had a piggy bank next to her. Chi Ling put a coin in it every time she finished a profile. By the end, she had saved a total of 108 yuan.

She picked up the jar, shook it, and listened to the crisp clinking. This was her alarm bell. Every day from now on, she had to work harder than the last, so that the coins in this jar would be worth it.

••••

That night, You Xiaotao immediately logged into her long-abandoned fan account and posted the edited photo and the signed picture.

Peach Loves Ling Beauty: Ahhhhh! My luck was off the charts today. I went to a live event and got a photo and a personalized autograph with Ling Ling, and she even encouraged me! She actually remembered every gift I’ve ever given her, and she knew the contents of my letters by heart! And a sneak peek: Ling Ling’s beautiful fancam from this afternoon is uploading now. Her professional skills are insane! She sang and danced with a handheld mic the whole time and didn’t even get out of breath! Wuwuwu, I’m so touched that our Ling Ling has been practicing so hard! [Image] [Image] [Image]

You Xiaotao’s account had around 80,000 fans, and even though she hadn’t updated for a long time, the post still got a lot of comments.

[Didn’t Ling Ling not like taking photos with fans? How did you get the chance, Peach?]

[Red-haired Ling is amazing! My mom asked me why I’m drooling at my phone! My fan-of-her-looks heart is so happy!]

[Did Rui Bao really go to a commercial event obediently?]

Of course, some haters also came to argue, and because of their sheer number, they quickly drowned out the few positive comments.

[She’s already retired, and the big fan is still trying to get her attention? Besides, everyone knows Chi Ling is a terrible dancer who can’t even remember her choreography. And you’re talking about her professional skills? Do you think the internet has no memory?]

[Remembering fan letters? Chi Ling? Are you kidding me? Suddenly trying to create such an exaggerated “loves her fans” persona… is she trying to make a comeback? She was so proud when she retired, and now that she’s ruined herself, she wants to come back and beg for a living?]

Soon, You Xiaotao’s fancam video finished uploading. The thumbnail, which was a shot of Chi Ling flipping her hair, was so captivating that even non-fans couldn’t help but click on it to see what the fuss was about.

And after opening the video, not only the haters but also her old fans were so shocked they couldn’t close their mouths. Had Chi Ling been in seclusion for the past year? How could she have improved her skills so much!

All they could think was: Beautiful woman, who are you?