Chapter 1

At 5:30 in the morning, Lin Zao was sleeping soundly when her blanket was suddenly yanked off.
She grumbled and twisted around, rolling over to continue sleeping, one long, fair leg curled up in a rather ungraceful manner.
Qin Lu stood by the bedside. Although she had been stuck with Lin Zao every day for the past two months, seeing her cousin’s lazy yet alluring sleeping posture once again filled her with both envy and jealousy.
Why was it that between the two cousins, she, the older cousin, was only 1.55 meters tall, average-looking, prone to gaining weight no matter what she ate, and had somewhat dark skin? Yet Lin Zao, the younger cousin, was ten centimeters taller, stunningly beautiful, could eat anything without gaining weight, and had skin so fair it practically glowed? Just look at that dewy face and those slender, straight long legs—how did they possibly belong to some silly girl raised by an elderly couple selling breakfast in a small county town?
“Get up! There’s a role today!” Qin Lu placed her hands on her hips and shouted at the sleeping beauty on the bed.
Hearing there was a role, Lin Zao, though extremely sleepy, obediently sat up.
Her cousin was good in every way except for being overly obsessed with acting. As long as it involved anything related to performances, Lin Zao had to obey; otherwise, she would have to endure Qin Lu’s relentless nagging.
“What kind of role?” Lin Zao yawned and slowly climbed out of bed.
“Hurry up.” Qin Lu looked at her with disdain, resembling a driving instructor.
Lin Zao quickly perked up and rushed into the bathroom to take care of her business.
They rented a one-bedroom apartment. The master bedroom wasn’t large. Standing in front of the wardrobe, Qin Lu helped Lin Zao choose clothes while loudly explaining, “I told you that The Three Kingdoms is also filming here recently, right? One of the assistant directors in the crew is my friend. When I brought you here, I sent him your video. Now their crew urgently needs an extra female supporting character. The only requirement is beauty. He asked me to bring you over immediately.”
Sitting on the toilet, Lin Zao asked drowsily, “How much is the pay?”
Her cousin talked so much every day that Lin Zao had long forgotten about The Three Kingdoms. She only cared about the money.
It wasn’t that she was greedy, but she had to earn money.
Two months ago, Lin Zao had failed the college entrance exam again. Her grandparents were worried, and she felt too guilty to even look at them. In truth, she had studied incredibly hard, spending weekends cooped up in the study doing practice problems, all to get into a key university, find a well-paying job after graduation, and allow her grandparents, who had worked hard all their lives, to enjoy their old age in comfort.
But perhaps she simply wasn’t cut out for studying. After repeating a year, her score was actually several dozen points lower than her first attempt. Even her grandfather, who had always encouraged her, couldn’t muster any more encouragement.
Just as Lin Zao decided not to repeat the year again and instead help her grandparents at their breakfast shop, her cousin Qin Lu appeared.
Qin Lu said she had talent for acting and would surely make a name for herself if given the opportunity.
Qin Lu also said that playing corpses or minor extras could earn five hundred yuan a day, easily making over ten thousand yuan a month.
Lin Zao was tempted.
Indeed, her cousin hadn’t lied. In just two months at the film base, Lin Zao had already earned thirty thousand yuan. After deducting Qin Lu’s share and their shared rent and living expenses, it amounted to exactly over ten thousand yuan per month.
Knowing her silly cousin cared most about the pay, Qin Lu walked to the bathroom door and said, “One thousand.”
Lin Zao: …
Last time, her cousin had found her a job paying five thousand yuan, playing a minor rich young lady role in an eighty-episode TV series who threw an embroidered ball to the male lead, causing the female lead to become jealous. After filming, Qin Lu had confidently guaranteed that Lin Zao would probably gain some minor fame once the show aired. So why, after resting for a few days, had her pay decreased instead of increased?
“So little…” Lin Zao muttered softly.
Recalling how her cousin had grinned from ear to ear when she first arrived and took a five-hundred-yuan extra role, Qin Lu snorted, “I’ve told you many times: when accepting roles, you can’t just look at the pay; you also have to consider the production’s potential. I’ve taken you to Huanyu Building, haven’t I? The Three Kingdoms is a major historical drama invested in by Huanyu Group. It will definitely be a huge hit once it airs. If this extra role were released publicly, countless women would fight tooth and nail for it. It’s only because your cousin has extensive connections that I secured this opportunity for you.”
Hearing this, Lin Zao immediately stopped minding the low pay. While flushing the toilet, she sincerely exclaimed, “Cousin, you’re amazing!”
Outside the door, Qin Lu sighed.
Amazing? What was so amazing about her? At eighteen, she had come to the film base to work as an extra, dreaming of becoming a star and earning big money through acting. But she lacked beauty, education, and professional training. After struggling for so many years, she barely managed to make ends meet. Her only small achievement was becoming somewhat familiar to certain assistant directors who cast extras.
Three months ago, an approachable assistant director named Brother Li had praised her for being resourceful and suggested she switch careers to become an agent. Qin Lu had been tempted and was preparing to send resumes to various agencies when her mother told her that her cousin Lin Zao had failed the college entrance exam again. Her mother had angrily remarked that over the years, Lin Zao had only grown prettier without gaining an ounce of intelligence.
In Qin Lu’s memory, her little cousin had been a chubby girl. But when she opened the photo her mother sent, Qin Lu’s eyes lit up like light bulbs. The next day, she bought a ticket home and used her silver tongue to coax her little cousin over.
Lin Zao was a promising talent. Qin Lu vowed to make her cousin famous, allowing Lin Zao to fulfill the beautiful dreams she herself had been unable to achieve. Then, she would be the woman standing behind her cousin’s success.
——
At 6:30 in the morning, the two cousins, having skipped breakfast, arrived准时 at the The Three Kingdoms crew.
Qin Lu immediately spotted Assistant Director Li, who was busy running around.
Brother Li was in his thirties, slightly chubby, and enthusiastic. In terms of capability, he ranked first on Qin Lu’s list of assistant directors.
“Brother Li!” Qin Lu pulled Lin Zao and squeezed through the crowd toward him.
Li turned around, recognized Qin Lu, and immediately looked at the young girl beside her.
Two months ago, Qin Lu had sent him a bare-faced video of her cousin. The girl in the video was indeed very pretty, fresh and delicate. However, since contemporary actresses often wore nude makeup, Li had been highly skeptical that Lin Zao’s beauty might have been exaggerated. It wasn’t until he saw the two of them from afar on the street a few days ago that Li confirmed Lin Zao was indeed a little beauty.
Coincidentally, an extra who needed to appear on camera today had suffered heatstroke and couldn’t film. Li immediately thought of Qin Lu.
Qin Lu had had a difficult time over the years, and now she wanted to promote her cousin. Li wanted to help her out.
Seeing that Lin Zao’s face was smooth without even a single pimple, Li called an assistant to take Lin Zao for styling. At the same time, he told Qin Lu, “Her scene will start filming around ten o’clock. You still have more than three hours. Prepare her well.”
“Thank you, Brother Li.” Knowing he was busy, Qin Lu thanked him and quickly hurried after Lin Zao.
The extras’ dressing room was extremely chaotic. Qin Lu held the script given to her by the assistant and waited outside. About half an hour later, a cheerful “Cousin!” came from behind her.
Qin Lu turned around with the script in hand and saw that her little cousin had already changed into her costume. A large red Liuxian skirt was intricate and conservative, exposing only a section of her slender, fair neck. As an extra with merely a few additional shots, Lin Zao’s hairstyle was also simple: her black, waterfall-like long hair hung down her back, adorned with only a single glittering gold hairpin.
Even so, Lin Zao managed to wear the outfit with a bewitching allure.
Seeing her cousin staring at her, Lin Zao glanced at her long dress and felt very satisfied.
Previously, she had played an extra in a brothel scene. The costume had been particularly daring, even exposing her navel. If it hadn’t been for the thousand-yuan pay and the fact that she only needed to stand there, Lin Zao would never have agreed to film it.
Lin Zao had figured out the pattern: the roles her cousin found for her were always beauty-centric. Seven out of ten times required sacrificing a bit of modesty. Therefore, every time she accepted a role, Lin Zao worried. When she went to change just now and discovered that this costume was so conservative, she had smiled.
One look at her cousin’s big eyes told Qin Lu exactly what the young girl was happy about.
This child could endure hardship and hard work, but she was too conservative and reserved. Merely exposing her navel made her face turn as red as a monkey’s bottom.
Qin Lu was a decent person and would never coax her cousin into filming indecent scenes. However, her cousin was beautiful. Playing beautiful extras was easy, paid well, and offered opportunities to stand out. She was truly thinking of her cousin’s best interests.
Clearing her throat, Qin Lu handed the script to Lin Zao.
The script contained only a few lines: [Dong Zhuo holds a songstress in his arms. The songstress’s shoulders are partially exposed. Seeing Dong Zhuo watching only Diao Chan dance, the songstress strokes Dong Zhuo’s chest and softly calls out, “Prime Minister.” Dong Zhuo grabs her hand and throws her to the ground. She exits unwillingly.]
Lin Zao: …
Qin Lu held up one finger toward her. “One thousand yuan. Just showing your shoulders earns one thousand yuan!”
Lin Zao gritted her teeth and obediently followed Qin Lu to the side to rehearse.
Practice makes perfect, and acting is no exception. Having played extras for many years, Qin Lu had long gained experience and was more than qualified to guide Lin Zao.
To let Lin Zao play Dong Zhuo, Qin Lu first acted out the role of the songstress.
Leaning against Lin Zao’s embrace, she moved her small hand upward from Lin Zao’s lower abdomen, finger by finger. Finally, circling her hand on Lin Zao’s chest, she spoke with seductive eyes, “Prime Minister…”
Lin Zao blushed.
Qin Lu glared at her. “Useless!”
——
They rehearsed until 9:30, when Brother Li came to call them to the set for preparations.
Lin Zao was the actress, and Qin Lu served as her agent and assistant, so she was allowed to enter as well.
On set, the director was filming the scene where Situ Wang Yun and Diao Chan conspired to seduce Dong Zhuo.
The actor playing Wang Yun was a veteran performer with exquisite acting skills and solid line delivery, perfectly embodying the image of an important ancient minister.
The actress playing Diao Chan was the popular young star Xu Jingjing. Lin Zao had only seen her on television before. Now seeing her in person, Lin Zao was somewhat surprised. Although the real Xu Jingjing was also very pretty, she didn’t seem as stunning as she appeared on screen.
“Act well. In a few years, you can be the female lead too,” Qin Lu whispered behind her.
Lin Zao was about to advise her cousin to stop daydreaming when she tilted her head and saw two figures approaching from a distance. The man leading them wore a black suit. Tall and slender, his features were handsome—so handsome that once you looked, you couldn’t tear your eyes away. However, his sharp brow ridge and cold black eyes made him quite intimidating.
As the man drew nearer, his cold and fierce aura grew increasingly dominant.
Lin Zao shrank her neck and continued watching the performance. Then, she saw that man walk over to the director’s side.
An exaggerated gasp sounded in her ear. Lin Zao turned her head in confusion.
“Oh my god, Meng Huai’an!” Qin Lu excitedly grabbed Lin Zao’s arm, her eyes fixed tightly on the opposite side.
Lin Zao asked quietly, “Who is Meng Huai’an?”
Qin Lu directly threw out the keyword her cousin would understand best: “Remember Huanyu Building? He’s from the Meng family!”
Lin Zao’s mind immediately conjured the image of the five-hundred-meter-tall skyscraper in S City.
So, this was a very wealthy man.
But Lin Zao was more curious about what a rich person was doing here. The film set was so chaotic. Whether it was Meng Huai’an’s suit or the aura he exuded, everything about him seemed completely out of place.
Qin Lu’s eyes sparkled. “Three years ago, Huanyu Group established its film division. The person in charge is Meng Huai’an!”