transmigrating to become a wealthy lady19.61%

Chapter 10

"A manager?" Mao Mao didn't sense anything off in Zuo Mingran's words and thought she was talking about Shuangxia. Although she didn't know why she was asking this, she thought for a moment and said, "Xia Jie is a very good manager. Although she may seem strict at times, I've been at the company for many years and have seen a lot. I still think Xia Jie is the best manager."

Zuo Mingran looked at her chubby cheeks and helplessly said, "Of course, that's understandable. You've spent the most time with Xia Jie, and you're not familiar with the others, so naturally, you'll think she's the best."

"That's not necessarily true," Mao Mao sat in the chair, shaking her head and refuting, "When people first meet, they will show their good qualities first. But if they spend a long time together, flaws will also be exposed. The good and bad are mixed together, and the initial impression may not be as good as before. It's even possible for things to become worse due to accumulated small matters."

Zuo Mingran was momentarily stunned. Mao Mao's unintentional words suddenly made her understand the reason why Mao Mao betrayed Zuo Mingran in the original plot, and why Zuo Mingran, someone with her temperament, eventually chose to forgive her.

Thinking of this, Zuo Mingran felt a different emotion stirring in her heart.

Mao Mao, unaware, asked, "Ran Jie, why are you suddenly asking about this?"

Zuo Mingran remained silent for a moment, then suddenly raised her hands and pressed Mao Mao's shoulders, staring into her eyes seriously as she asked, "What do you think about becoming a manager?"

"Me? A manager?" Mao Mao widened her eyes in surprise, feeling a bit scared. "Ran... Ran Jie, how is that even possible?"

"Why is it impossible?" Zuo Mingran asked back, "You have rich work experience, familiar with the work procedures, and even if things don't go well, both Xia Jie and I will help you. From every perspective, you are fully capable of doing this job."

Mao Mao opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, the crew members pushed open the door and informed them to proceed with the rehearsal.

Not knowing if it was to avoid this question from Zuo Mingran, Mao Mao, who was usually stable in her work, stood up slightly hurriedly and took the thermos from Zuo Mingran's hand and put it aside. At this time, everyone in the room also started moving. Zuo Mingran sighed softly, unable to bring up the topic for now, and decided to discuss it carefully after the promotional ceremony.

Also in the dressing room were Wen Feifei and Guan Xinrui. Jiang Xuan had gone to the changing room when Zuo Mingran came over and still hadn't returned.

As a contracted artist of the company, Wen Feifei's own room was upstairs. However, in order to take care of gentle and timid Guan Xinrui and prevent her from being bullied by Zuo Mingran, Wen Feifei decided to move downstairs and stay with them.

The group walked out together, with Zuo Mingran in the front and Guan Xinrui and Wen Feifei chatting and laughing behind.

The makeup artist couldn't help but look back and saw Guan Xinrui's makeup.

Zuo Mingran was walking fine when she heard the makeup artist muttering in a strange tone, "Ah, what's wrong with this person? Is she trying to imitate Zuo Mingran?"

Zuo Mingran didn't understand and slowed down, looking back.

Unlike Zuo Mingran's stunning and glamorous appearance, Guan Xinrui had a pure and fair complexion, giving off a feeling of a girl next door. In fact, she had pursued this image after her debut, which generally worked well. However, on the other hand, Guan Xinrui's appearance, although also pure, was not as memorable as Wen Feifei's cute and adorable looks.

In real life, she was considered beautiful, but in the entertainment industry where beautiful people were abundant, Guan Xinrui's appearance seemed somewhat ordinary and lacked a distinctive presence.

For artists, especially young actors, lacking a distinctive presence was a terrifying thing. In the era of popularity and fan effects, investors wanted returns, and choosing a popular star was undoubtedly the best way. This was also why Zuo Mingran, despite lacking in acting skills, could always get acting opportunities.

Guan Xinrui seemed to want to transition, as she had made a noticeable change in her makeup this time, but it seemed a bit too excessive. Instead of achieving the desired effect, it had the opposite result, as the overly bright makeup overwhelmed her and diminished her original temperament.

The makeup artist didn't go out to observe earlier, but he had heard about the general situation from Mao Mao and the costume assistant. Initially, the makeup artist had a good impression of Guan Xinrui, thinking she was a gentle and cheerful girl and seemed like a nice kid. However, his own biased thoughts were immediately slapped in the face, as the young girl had quite a few tricks up her sleeve.

"Tsk," the makeup artist muttered, "If you hadn't changed your makeup on the spot, you would have clashed with her."

Realizing what Guan Xinrui was trying to do, Zuo Mingran turned her head back and said calmly, "Perhaps this is the effect she wanted."

The makeup artist couldn't understand, "What's the benefit of clashing with your look? Isn't it embarrassing for whomever is less attractive? Besides, isn't she afraid of being criticized by fans?"

Zuo Mingran replied, "Being criticized is a good thing. It's better than being forgotten."

"Black means you're famous too," Mao Mao added in a low voice. "After all, once you gain popularity, all you need to do is 'whitewash' a few years later, and you'll transform into an A-list star."

The makeup artist clicked his tongue in disbelief. As they were talking, the group arrived at the red carpet where the rehearsal was set. As the female lead, Zuo Mingran would walk the red carpet with the male lead.

The male lead actor was named Zhang Lizhi. Although he was not yet thirty, he had already won two Best Actor awards and was known as a promising young actor with strong acting skills, much more reliable than the so-called "vase" Zuo Mingran.

Seeing him, Zuo Mingran gasped and grabbed Mao Mao's hand. "Mao Mao, pinch me to see if I'm dreaming."

Mao Mao, thinking something was wrong, asked hastily, "Ran Jie, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Zuo Mingran shook her head, but her eyes remained fixed on Zhang Lizhi.

When she stayed up late reading novels, her favorite male character was not the male lead, but the second male lead. He was not only good-looking, but also had a kind heart and the right values. He liked the female lead, but missed his chance to confess and could only watch the male lead and female lead fall in love. However, he didn't turn evil because of that, and instead chose to let go in the end.

And the most tragic second male lead in the whole book was none other than the current popular actor Zhang Lizhi, who was now standing in front of her.

When she read the book, Zuo Mingran cried for him and even wanted to write a 200,000-word extra story for him. But now that this person stood before her, she inexplicably became nervous.

Following her gaze, Mao Mao said, "Oh, I forgot to mention that Zhang ge came back early. He arrived just ten minutes ago. The assistant director sent a message in our group saying that you and Zhang ge will rehearse together this time."

Seeing the character from the book in person felt completely different from her imagination. While Mao Mao and Shi Shuangxia appeared in the book, their roles were not significant, and with Zuo Mingran's original memories, there wasn't much of a feeling there.

But Zhang Lizhi was completely different. Zuo Mingran didn't have much interaction with him, their memories were limited to the time they spent shooting together on set. However, because of the original plot of the book, Zuo Mingran couldn't really face Zhang Lizhi properly.

The atmosphere became awkward for a while. Mao Mao looked at her and then at Zhang Lizhi, whispering, "Ran jie, you don't still remember what happened before, do you?"

"Before?" Zuo Mingran was shocked. Was there some unclear relationship between her and Zhang Lizhi?

Mao Mao earnestly advised her, "Ran jie, that was just a rumor. Besides, you didn't end up taking that role in the end, and Zhang ge didn't take it either."

Zuo Mingran's memory was triggered, and she choked up a bit. She couldn't say whether she was happy or sad, but it was a bit awkward to say the least. "I wouldn't have remembered if you didn't mention it."

Mao Mao was referring to three years ago when someone handed a good script to Shi Shuangxia, hoping that Zuo Mingran could take on the role of the female lead. The male lead of the drama was rumored to be Zhang Lizhi, who had recently won the Best Actor award. However, before they could make a decision, another news broke out. Because Zhang Lizhi learned that Zuo Mingran was going to play the female lead, he directly chose to quit the project.

Yes, Zhang ge was indeed something else.

Regardless of whether the rumors were true or false, this incident caused quite a stir at the time. Fans on both sides were furious, and the feud lasted for a month or two before both sides realized that they were evenly matched opponents. They finally stopped fighting and the matter didn't escalate further.

But it was because of this incident that neither Zhang Lizhi nor Zuo Mingran ended up taking the role in the drama.

As if sensing Zuo Mingran's gaze, Zhang Lizhi, who was talking to the director, turned his head and locked eyes with her from a few steps away.

The two stared at each other for quite a while. Rarely seeing a living paper character, Zuo Mingran instinctively smiled at him, but Zhang Lizhi acted as if he hadn't seen her and coldly turned his head back.

Zuo Mingran: "...remember this!"

The rehearsal went smoothly, and after it ended, Zuo Mingran took Mao Mao to have lunch. The makeup artist Zuo early due to other engagements, and the costume assistant, fearing that she might cause some "swelling" incident, decided to follow them in the car. As a result, Zuo Mingran only ate a salad consisting of fruits and vegetables.

Before leaving, the costume assistant, enduring Zuo Mingran's resentful gaze, repeatedly instructed Mao Mao to take good care of Zuo Mingran and prevent her from drinking too much water.

There was nothing to do in the afternoon, so Mao Mao took Zuo Mingran for a beauty treatment according to their schedule. By the time they returned home, it was already 8 PM.

No one else was at home, and Zuo Mingran had been hungry all afternoon. She rushed to the refrigerator as soon as she entered the house.

Mao Mao, who had accompanied her back, followed behind, repeatedly saying, "Ran Jie, you really can't eat today."

Zuo Mingran argued with her, "Dieting, dieting! How can I lose weight if I don't eat enough?"

Mao Mao: "..."

The refrigerator door opened, and in the spacious double door refrigerator, there were only a few eggs and bottles of water. Zuo Mingran stood still, unable to believe it, and said in disbelief, "What's the point of having this refrigerator?"

The sound of the door opening came from the entrance, and Zuo Mingran weakly leaned against the refrigerator door to look outside. Yan Yunyang, who had taken off his suit jacket, entered from outside. His slender but not thin figure was eye-catching in the dim light.

Zuo Mingran immediately noticed the shopping bags he was carrying in his hands. They were filled to the brim with groceries, including both meat and vegetables, chicken and duck. The hunger that had been clouding her mind suddenly disappeared, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Are you going to cook dinner?"

Yan Yunyang glanced at her and nodded slowly.

Only then did Zuo Mingran realize her indecent posture, and quickly closed the refrigerator door, walked over, and picked up one of the shopping bags. She subtly asked, "What are you planning to cook?"

"I don't know."

Zuo Mingran gritted her teeth and boldly said, "I think noodles would be great."

Yan Yunyang smiled and said, "Really? I thought you didn't like noodles, so I bought something specifically for you."

Zuo Mingran felt delighted and hurriedly asked, "Really? What did you buy?"

Yan Yunyang placed the shopping bag he was holding on the table and rummaged inside. He took out a bundle of fresh green vegetables and said, "This."

Translation of the conversation into English: