Premonition

Early in the morning, Shen Tong and Chen Xiaoyong arrived at the company, only to receive a rejection from a crew member of the period drama production that Chen Xiaoyong and Xie Sangyan had both auditioned for previously.

"I'm sorry, Miss Chen. We feel that your aura doesn't match the period role you auditioned for last time, so we're afraid we can't offer you the part," the staff member politely rejected Chen Xiaoyong.

Chen Xiaoyong's expression darkened, feeling very upset. With a haughty and cold demeanor, she glared at the person before her and said sarcastically, "Is that so?"

"Yes, thank you for coming to the audition," the staff member replied.

Shen Tong tried to smooth things over, saying sweetly, "Thank you for coming to inform us. It must have been troublesome for you." Chen Xiaoyong snorted and prepared to leave in her high heels.

"It's no trouble," the staff member sighed and smiled, "I also need to inform Xie Sangyan from your company about a role in this TV series. Our director originally didn't plan to cast her, but later changed his mind for some reason and gave her a minor role."

Chen Xiaoyong's back stiffened, and a look of disbelief flashed across her alluring face. She whirled around and glared at the staff member hatefully, asking through gritted teeth, "What did you say? Say it again!"

"I'm here to inform Miss Xie Sangyan from your company about her role in the period drama," the staff member repeated.

Shen Tong was alarmed. This was bad - Chen Xiaoyong was sure to explode now. She had to stop her.

This was a huge insult to Chen Xiaoyong. They had both auditioned for the same period drama, yet Xie Sangyan was chosen and not her! It was an absolute insult! How was she inferior to Xie Sangyan? She had looks too - how was she not as good? Thinking of this, Chen Xiaoyong was burning with rage, jealousy tightly coiling around her as she angrily rushed towards Xie Sangyan's studio.

Shen Tong hurriedly followed Chen Xiaoyong, trying to persuade her, "Miss Chen, the staff said it's because your aura doesn't match the role, not because you're inferior to her."

"I'm inferior to her? How am I not as good as her?" Chen Xiaoyong sneered resentfully, not slowing her pace.

"You two have different styles," Shen Tong patiently explained, not wanting to cause any more trouble.

"Why does she get the role?" Chen Xiaoyong said viciously, then suddenly realized, "She must have slept with that man surnamed Lu again!"

By now they had reached Xie Sangyan's studio door. Chen Xiaoyong shouted, "Xie Sangyan, open the door!"

Xie Sangyan calmly walked out and asked, "What's wrong?"

"You know what you've done! Why did you get the role in that drama and I didn't?" Chen Xiaoyong asked self-righteously, as if there was nothing wrong with her question.

Shen Tong was exasperated. This woman was truly self-centered, always trying to compete with Xie Sangyan over everything. She said, "Everyone's watching!" Colleagues around had gathered, drawn by the commotion, looking eager for drama.

"Today I must get to the bottom of this. How exactly am I inferior to her? In pleasing men?" Chen Xiaoyong said contemptuously, her face full of disdain.

"If you're here about this, I'm sorry but I have no explanation," Xie Sangyan, tired of such days, didn't want to say more to Chen Xiaoyong. She resignedly finished speaking and closed the door.

"Xie Sangyan, I'm telling you, one day I'll expose all your secrets! Let everyone see what kind of person you really are!" Chen Xiaoyong glared hatefully at the closed door, as if trying to bore a hole through it with her eyes. She vowed that one day she would trample Xie Sangyan underfoot! Just wait! With a cold snort, she left.

Shen Tong had a bad feeling. She gently knocked on the studio door and said softly, "Miss Xie, it's me. Could you please open the door?"

The door slowly opened, revealing Xie Sangyan's gentle face.

"I apologize on behalf of Miss Chen for what just happened. I'm really sorry, and I hope you won't take it to heart," Shen Tong said sincerely and peacefully.

"It's alright, I'm used to this sort of thing," Xie Sangyan said understandingly.

Shen Tong said, "I'm also sorry about the previous incidents. As her manager, I didn't handle things well. It was my fault."

Xie Sangyan smiled, "It's fine. Go take care of your business, don't waste time on these matters. Otherwise, she'll get angry again if she can't find you."

After bidding farewell, Shen Tong returned to her own studio. She found Chen Xiaoyong sitting in a chair, her face full of resentment as she stared coldly at the wall. She was so angry she was hurting inside, unable to understand how she could be inferior to Xie Sangyan in any way. Moreover, without Yang Ge as her star manager, she felt nothing was going smoothly, which made her even more dissatisfied.

"Miss Chen, we should go to the set now. This drama is almost finished filming, I hope you won't be late," Shen Tong kindly reminded the sulking Chen Xiaoyong.

At the thought of her manager, Chen Xiaoyong became even more dissatisfied, "You jinx, if it weren't for you, how could I have fallen to such a state?"

"Why don't you consider your own reasons?" Shen Tong said bluntly, "I think if Miss Chen could change her personality a bit and be friendlier to others, things would be better."

Chen Xiaoyong was almost exploding with anger at her words, "You're all so capable, so kind, you all look down on me, right?"

"We don't look down on you, we just think Miss Chen's personality should change, otherwise it's not good for anyone!" Shen Tong continued matter-of-factly, thinking to herself, 'With this personality, you still want to be famous? You even drove away a star manager.'

Chen Xiaoyong's face was contorted with anger. She wanted to turn on Shen Tong, but realizing she still needed to rely on her in the future, she suppressed her anger and said through gritted teeth, "Let's go! We still have scenes to shoot today!"

On set, Shen Tong watched her artist's every scene carefully, frequently asking the director, "Director, how was Su Xiao's scene?" "Director, Miss Chen didn't perform well just now, can we reshoot?"

Sometimes she would buy water and milk tea for the crew, and even carefully buy cold medicine for anyone who caught a cold. The crew had a good impression of this kind and diligent girl, and were quite satisfied with her, naturally giving her some conveniences at times.

Today's scene was between Chen Xiaoyong and Sister Linda, two equally arrogant women. Shen Tong rubbed her temples. Whether it was because of the Xie Sangyan incident or not, Chen Xiaoyong kept messing up this scene, either with wrong expressions or mistaken lines. Shen Tong kept apologizing.

"CUT!" The director couldn't stand it anymore, "Chen Xiaoyong, what do you want? You can't even act out such a simple scene! Can you act at all?"

Shen Tong quickly apologized before Chen Xiaoyong could speak, "Director, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. She's in a bad mood today because of some personal matters. Please don't be angry, I'm sorry."

"Little Shen, I'm only telling you this because you're a good person. If she continues like this, I'm warning you now, I can replace her at any time!" the director said haughtily.

Shen Tong kept apologizing until the director finally agreed to shoot other scenes first.

"Hmph, if you can't act, don't come. You're not even as good as some others!" Linda walked past Chen Xiaoyong, proud as a victorious rooster.

Chen Xiaoyong was shaking with anger. She couldn't take it anymore. It seemed like everyone in the world was talking about Xie Sangyan, saying she wasn't as good as Xie Sangyan. At this thought, Chen Xiaoyong could no longer contain herself. She suddenly stood up and left, leaving a mess for Shen Tong to deal with.

Shen Tong kept chasing after her, "Chen Xiaoyong, Chen Xiaoyong, you still have scenes to finish!"

Chen Xiaoyong ignored her, got into a taxi and left. She couldn't take it anymore!

The director was furious on set. Shen Tong kept apologizing, begging the director to give another chance. Chen Xiaoyong already had a bad reputation, if she messed up this drama too, she would never be able to become famous! When it's time to bow your head, you have to bow your head. Only then can you give yourself a chance!

Surprisingly, Su Xiao spoke up for her today, "Director, give her one more chance. If we replace her now, it will surely cause a lot of losses."

Seeing this, Sister Linda also said, "Let it go, Director."

The director reluctantly accepted, but said angrily as he left, "Don't let it happen again!"

Shen Tong finally relaxed. She felt she couldn't control Chen Xiaoyong, but remembering this was a task assigned by Xia Zixuan to test her abilities, she knew she had to make Chen Xiaoyong famous if she wanted to succeed. She gritted her teeth, knowing she had to persevere. Giving up halfway was not an option!

Now she spent almost all day on set, sometimes chatting with Liang Xiaoyuan via text when free. When busy, she couldn't even eat. Shen Tong left the set feeling dizzy. Today's events had really been tough. It had taken days to win over the director, and now he was back to being cold and stern. She touched her empty stomach, realizing all the food she ate in the evening had been digested.

"That's a wrap!" the director shouted from his diaphragm.

Everyone on set breathed a sigh of relief and started packing up their things. Shen Tong composed herself and packed up Su Xiao and Chen Xiaoyong's things. Su Xiao stood motionless nearby with his arms folded, staring into space, lost in thought.

Shen Tong suddenly remembered something and turned to the cold and aloof Su Xiao, saying cheerfully, "Su Xiao, thank you for today!"

Su Xiao turned his gaze to Shen Tong and after a long while said, "If we changed actors, I'd have to reshoot. Too troublesome."

Shen Tong was embarrassed. Such a concise answer was hard to interpret! After thinking carefully, she understood Su Xiao's meaning - if they changed actors, his scenes with Chen Xiaoyong would have to be deleted, and he'd have to reshoot with another actor. Too troublesome. Shen Tong was speechless, realizing she had to use her brain even when talking to him. "Anyway, thank you."

Su Xiao said nothing more, accepting the thanks.

Shen Tong straightened up, stretched, and happily exclaimed, "Finally all cleaned up!" However, this shout came with its own sound effect - the rumbling of Shen Tong's stomach.