Zhu Wanyin

"Sister Qing, it's been some time since I last saw you." The beautiful yet haughty-looking young woman slowly stirred the coffee in the delicate porcelain cup and glanced at the lovely Liu Qing seated opposite her. "How is brother Siming? Is he ok?" She sounded indifferent, yet the hopeful tone of her voice when she asked this betrayed an eagerness that was at odds with the prideful demeanor she tried to project.

Liu Qing smiled, the expression on her face as gentle as ever as she took a sip of her drink before answering. "He's good. So, is Ah'Jian and everyone." Then she put down the cup before directly looking at Zhu Wanyin, her eyes full of mirth. "Also, he made a new friend. A cute little sister actually. She's not only beautiful and talented but quite fun too."

The hand stirring the drink in the cup paused slightly as the proud beauty slowly set down the dainty spoon in her hand. "Oh, a girl?"

This particular hand that maneuvered the delicate metal spoon appeared fair and graceful, each motion carrying a charm of easy elegance that was enchanting and oppressive at the same time; it gave off an aura of wealth and nobility.

Song Yue nearly dazed out once again but was able to stop herself on time. She had already NG'ed this scene three times and couldn't afford to mess it up once again. Fortunately, she was able to come to her senses and play out the rest of the scene and it wrapped up successfully.

Later, as she sat by the side watching how the rest of the filming was going on after changing costumes, Song Yue couldn't help but lament in her heart. 'Beauty really is a bane.'

***

Yang Jingshen pretended not to notice the surprise of his cousin as he politely answered the director who looked quite pleased with the successful shot of the scene before he finally moved towards the dressing room. Yet, it was only when he finished changing back to his warmer and more efficient everyday wear that he was finally able to heave a sigh of relief.

There were two reasons that prompted him to select this character to act when he first received the script. The major one of course was that at that time he was quite determined to leave this profession once the initial three years on his contract were up -which was not an option anymore- with the other reason being the way how the character of Zhu Wanyin was portrayed in the script.

Being a spoiled only child from a rich family, it had been mentioned a few times in the script how good-looking she was and how well she dressed every time she appeared.

In other words, even if he was determined to leave this career, Yang Jingshen had still wanted to leave a deep impression of beauty and glamour in the hearts of those who would watch his works. Nothing less than this would work for someone like him! ≡◡≡⟡

But dressing up to be beautiful and glamorous in this type of cold weather requires a hefty price to be paid… In other words, flimsy, short dresses can make any man hot and bothered, but it can't be denied that they can freeze you up to your bones!

Even so, Yang Jingshen was glad that he decided to act in this drama because, despite its outward cliche appearance, 'My forever spring' had quite a number of refreshing points to it.

And despite being a small villainess and a punching bag for the main leads as well as the main antagonist, Zhu Wanyin at least had the added advantage of looking gorgeous in addition to possessing a fashionable wardrobe ah! This drama might not reach heights of popularity, but it was quite fine in its own way.

And, as for the rotten reputation of his negatively affecting the drama… Heh! What Yang Jingshen knew more clearly than anything else was that whoever harmed the original Feng Xi had much better things to do than dig around some old garbage. Not to mention, the netizens were also famous for having pretty short memories as well.

***

That night, Yang Jingshen sat on a chair in his hotel room after chasing away an inquisitive Feng Xue– whom he managed to fool with an 'I watched a lot of related videos and practiced a lot in front of the mirror and somehow it just came naturally' excuse. It was not exactly believable, but the other will just have to accept it as the only plausible explanation for his sudden increase in acting skills.

He finally summoned the panel after some hesitation and seeing the familiar interface, sighed despondently. It can be said that this thing nearly screwed him up with the shit it pulled over him today at the set. If not for his quick reflexes, he'd have ended up with bigger trouble than just this damned panel.

But then again, it can be said that it had been troubling him for quite a few days now– no, not exactly this panel. It was the original Feng Xi. Or, more like the satisfaction value related to Feng Xi.

It was because, after accepting that mission from the soul guardian, he had found the original satisfaction value kept dropping once he return to reality. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement.

Even though the soul guardian didn't explicitly state it, didn't the satisfaction index dropping mean that this damned dead girl was turning even eviler or darker or whatever, right? Then doesn't that mean that he was getting way too closer to getting his soul obliterated?

'...' Fuck!

And, it didn't help that the only time this damned value increased -just by 13 points at that- was when he first saw Feng Xue after returning to reality. From that moment onwards, no matter what he did, wherever he went or whoever he met, it was simply a downhill ride. To hell with it all! Sometimes, he even didn't have to do a single fucking thing and just had to stand still in place for the damned numbers to go down all by themselves. T_T

There could only be two reasons for this– either that this shitty panel was broken. Or… this benefactor of his, this Feng Xi, was a female that was quite hard to please. She was petty, prone to finding faults with everything, was never satisfied, and seemed to possess a heart narrower than his little finger.

Of course, Yang Jingshen had tried everything he could to convince her otherwise at first. Locked up in his room, he had raged on for hours– Talked until his throat went parched and his eyes were bloodshot. He talked about how he got her body back on its feet, how he accepted to get revenge on her behalf and fulfill her dreams -whatever they were- and how well he treated her cousin.

Once, he even went so far as to act close with Feng Xue so that this shitty ghost realized that her cousin was doing fine and was quite close with him– but that sadly backfired making the value drop by nearly three thousand something all at once.

'.... Yeah– it is one fucking shitty, snotty, jealous ghost!' ⎺⩘⎺o

In the end, the result he got was a satisfaction value that currently sported a whopping number of -261,013 from the initial -247,362. A decrease of 13,651! And, it had barely been three weeks!

'For fucks sake… It's her own fault that she is in this situation in the first place and even I also got dragged into this mess! How did it end up becoming my fault, eh? This bitch– she got what she deserved!'

In the end, Yang Jingshen had simply given up as he realized that nothing was working. Let the silly chit do whatever she wanted… he was too mature and intelligent to play this game with her. Anyway, it didn't seem like he was facing any imminent danger of having his soul obliterated, and as for the future… he'd deal with it when the time comes.

But, the most unsettling part of all of this was that by now, it becoming clear to him that the soul or whatever remained of the original Feng Xi seemed to be attached to him! Or else, how was this index thingie changing its numbers whenever he does something(or not) or meet someone?

It can't be that she was even watching him taking a dump or a piss, right? Even though it was her own body in the first place…

'Fuck! That's creepy! That shitty soul guardian better give me a good explanation the next time I meet it. Or I'll fucking rip it a new one on the very first chance I get!' # `⦀′