The Movie Queen's Demon Sect Leader [Transmigration] GL - Chapter 18
Meng Xiaomeng felt some inner conflict, but after a while, she let it go. She decided to dutifully listen to Luo Xuange and hide three-tenths of her skill. Just as her sister had told her before, don’t trust your instincts too much; often, people deceive themselves.
After Meng Xiaomeng made up her mind, she began discussing her plan with Zhang Manman. Although she only revealed seven-tenths of her skill, Meng Xiaomeng’s suggestions were still considered a good plan by some professionals in the live stream.
Zhang Manman had already looked down on Meng Xiaomeng. Now, seeing that Meng Xiaomeng’s plan was decent, she simply assumed Meng Xiaomeng was doing her best and felt much more at ease. However, she didn’t intend to put in her full effort to style Meng Xiaomeng; in fact, she only used fifty percent of her ability.
Consequently, Meng Xiaomeng’s final styling looked very ordinary, even worse than her casual clothes at home. Meng Xiaomeng remained outwardly calm, with her usual smile, but a hint of coldness entered her gaze towards Zhang Manman. It turned out her feeling before the live stream wasn’t wrong; Zhang Manman was indeed not a good person. Luckily, she had listened to Luo Xuange and held back three-tenths of her skill, otherwise, she would have become the laughingstock of everyone in this round.
After Zhang Manman successfully styled herself according to Meng Xiaomeng’s plan, she was very satisfied with her appearance. Upon seeing the plainly dressed Meng Xiaomeng in the crowd, Zhang Manman’s lips curled slightly: Idiot!
Xu Xiu, who was watching the live stream, had a very serious expression. When she saw Zhang Manman interacting with Meng Xiaomeng, she was stunned for a long time. She had always felt that Zhang Manman looked familiar but couldn’t recall who she was. Finally, she found Anshi Entertainment’s promotional material on Weibo and then remembered: Zhang Manman was a new actress recently signed by Anshi Entertainment. She was also one of the new talents Anshi planned to promote.
Xu Xiu began to worry about Meng Xiaomeng and Luo Xuange. Before the audition started, she was afraid Luo Xuange would act recklessly relying on her looks, so she had warned Luo Xuange that this audition had inside information: the ultimate goal of this audition was to promote Anshi’s new talents. Therefore, out of respect for Anshi, others absolutely couldn’t steal the new talents’ opportunity to shine.
But Luo Xuange didn’t act recklessly based on her looks; she achieved an astonishing number of votes with her incredibly superb skills. And although Meng Xiaomeng seemed unremarkable, who would have thought that she was a dark horse? While not as unbelievable as Luo Xuange, her ranking was still hovering in the top five. In contrast, several of Anshi’s new talents were currently only between fifteenth and tenth place.
Xu Xiu began to worry whether Anshi would clear the way for their new talents. If Anshi truly decided to deal with Luo Xuange and Meng Xiaomeng, then these two new talents, without strong backing or connections, might only be able to stop here.
Unfortunately, if Luo Xuange were just an ordinary new actress, even if she achieved great success, she would probably have been stifled in the cradle by Anshi, just as Xu Xiu had guessed. However, Luo Xuange was An Ruoshui’s legal wife, the “brother-in-law” of Anshi Group’s CEO. In a competition hosted by Anshi, even if she seemed unremarkable, if she wanted to, what would stop An Junfeng from giving her first place?
At this moment, An Junfeng was watching the competition video in his spacious office. He observed Luo Xuange and Jiang Yihan mutually testing each other, and then saw Meng Xiaomeng and Zhang Manman’s interaction. As CEO, he already had some calculations in mind.
Zhang Manman was the illegitimate daughter of a company shareholder. That shareholder held a crucial position in the company. An Junfeng, under pressure from him in the company, could only sign his illegitimate daughter, and even found a good team to package her. But now, seeing her performance on the live stream, An Junfeng couldn’t help but feel a headache. Anshi needed talent and elites, not a useless “flower vase,” especially one that wasn’t as good-looking as his “brother-in-law.”
An Junfeng rubbed his temples. Although he was the company’s CEO, some stubborn old veterans in the company still held significant power. And those people were incredibly vigilant; he couldn’t find any flaws in them.
An Junfeng sighed and continued watching the live stream. He wasn’t just there to understand the progress of the company’s audition activities, but also to clearly understand what kind of person his “brother-in-law” truly was.
Meanwhile, An Ruoshui, who had just finished filming and was resting, was also watching the live stream.
Previously, An Ruoshui had a prejudice against Luo Xuange, so every time she saw Luo Xuange, she would adopt a cold and indifferent attitude. But now that she had decided to be good friends with Luo Xuange, she used the pretext of caring for and understanding a friend to openly “stalk” Luo Xuange in the live stream.
Competition Venue
Luo Xuange didn’t know that at this very moment, many people were observing her with different intentions and purposes. She sat beside Jiang Yihan, writing and drawing with paper and pen, eventually concocting a clothing design plan.
Jiang Yihan’s costume sketch was also mostly complete. After exchanging with Luo Xuange, Jiang Yihan was very satisfied. This costume, paired with her flute, truly made her look like a wandering martial arts heroine.
Luo Xuange, upon receiving Jiang Yihan’s sketch, found that it was also an ancient-style outfit. However, since Jiang Yihan wasn’t truly an ancient person, some of the detailed aspects weren’t as meticulously handled as Luo Xuange’s.
Jiang Yihan didn’t hide any of her skills, because she knew that if she did, the cunning Luo Xuange would certainly not put in her full effort to help her plan. So, Jiang Yihan gave her all. Luo Xuange, however, had actually held back most of her skill, but her ancient-style design plan was still a level above Jiang Yihan’s. In the eyes of outsiders, Luo Xuange was giving her all, but in the eyes of some discerning costume designers, Luo Xuange had truly overperformed.
While Jiang Yihan was satisfied with Luo Xuange, her goodwill towards Luo Xuange naturally rose to another level.
So, upon seeing Luo Xuange’s surprised look as she stared at the costume design sketch in her hand, Jiang Yihan proactively offered an explanation.
“Although you used a ocarina in the first round of the competition, I know you originally intended to use a flute. And you possess a kind of temperament that is very difficult for ordinary people to cultivate, like an unrestrained and arrogant demoness. You’re very casual and free-spirited, with a feeling of looking down on all living beings,” Jiang Yihan said.
If this were in the past, Jiang Yihan’s words would likely have provoked laughter in the live stream. Who would praise a newcomer like that? But after Luo Xuange’s exquisite performances over the past few days, very few people in the live stream refuted her words; in fact, many agreed with Jiang Yihan.
As for Jiang Yihan’s words, Luo Xuange could only smile.
She was the Sect Leader, the Demon Sect Leader who had been taught since childhood by the eighteen Altar Masters, four Great Elders, and two Protectors! If she didn’t possess demonic aura, how could she command respect? If she didn’t possess demonic aura, how could she become the target of encirclement and assassination by the martial arts world and the imperial court?
As for Jiang Yihan’s description of “casual and free-spirited,” that was something all disciples of the Demon Sect could achieve, and it was the jianghu life they yearned for the most.
Author’s Note:
Xu Xiu: I’m so worried about these two new talents with no strength, no background, and no connections!
Sect Leader Luo: No strength? As the Demon Sect Leader, should I refute my agent?
Foolish Xiaomeng: No background? As a third-generation celebrity, should I refute my agent?
CEO An: No backing? I’ll just smile and say nothing, lest I scare the little agent.
…My dear readers, this foolish author only just learned from the editor that “third-generation red” cannot appear, so I changed it to “third-generation celebrity.” Don’t worry, even without a background, foolish Xiaomeng can still charm her enemies to death with her cuteness!
Since I’ve changed foolish Xiaomeng’s character setting, I will also adjust some of the later plot points.
The beginning of this chapter, “Just as my sister said before, don’t trust your instincts too much; often, people deceive themselves,” pay attention to the sister mentioned here. She is now an influential figure in the entertainment industry.