The Entertainment Industry in Turmoil: Young Actresses All Want to Rise to the Top

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The recent filming intensity of the "Ode to Joy" crew can be described as "inhumane".

Director Wang Jun seemed determined to catch up on all the missed progress, starting work before dawn every day and finishing when the moon was high in the sky.

Bai Lu, Tian Xiwei, and Li Lin would go straight to bed after filming each day, not even having the energy to check their phones.

But today, Tian Xiwei still managed to sneak out. She pleaded with the director for twenty minutes, promised the executive producer that she would be the first to arrive on set tomorrow, and finally signed an unequal contract for "three more night scenes to be filmed tomorrow" in exchange for a day off tonight.

"Goodbye, Director Wang! Thank you for your hard work, Director Wang! See you tomorrow, Director Wang!"

She ran outside shouting as she went, afraid that the director would change his mind.

Behind him came Wang Jun's helpless laugh and scolding: "That girl..."

At 7 p.m., Shen Mo and Li Yitong arrived first in the private room of the hot pot restaurant.

The two ordered a hot pot with two broths, one side bubbling away and the other side covered with a thick layer of chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns. After all, there were northerners who couldn't handle spicy food, and people from Chongqing who couldn't live without it.

Li Yitong was staring blankly at the pot of red soup when the door to the private room was pushed open.

"Sister Tong!!!"

Wang Churan rushed in, followed slowly by Liu Haocun. Both of them were carrying gift bags and had smiles on their faces.

Wang Churan placed the gift on the empty seat and plopped down next to Li Yitong, her eyes sparkling: "Happy birthday, Sister Tong!"

Liu Haocun also came over, put the gift down, and said in a soft voice, "Happy birthday, Sister Tong."

Li Yitong smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescents: "Thank you, Chu Ran, thank you, Cunzi. Please sit down, please sit down. We just ordered the food. What else would you like to eat?"

Wang Churan didn't stand on ceremony and picked up the menu to add dishes. Liu Haocun leaned over next to her, and the two women whispered as they chose their food.

Before they could finish making their selections, the door to the private room was pushed open again.

When Tian Xiwei rushed in, she was covered in sweat, her bangs were plastered to her forehead, and her face was flushed from running.

"Phew...phew...I'm not late, am I?"

She plopped down in the empty chair, grabbed the water glass on the table, and took a big gulp.

Seeing her disheveled appearance, Li Yitong couldn't help but laugh: "You're not late, I've been waiting for you."

Tian Xiwei put down her water glass, let out a long breath, then took out a gift box from her bag and handed it to Li Yitong with both hands.

Happy birthday, Sister Tong!

Li Yitong accepted the gift and said with a smile, "Thank you, Xiaotian."

"It's alright!" Tian Xi waved her hand slightly, then suddenly turned to look at Shen Mo, "Anyway, it's not as good as the gift Brother Mo gave you, so please don't mind, Sister Tong!"

"Huh?..." Li Yitong was stunned for a second before realizing that the girl had probably seen the picture she posted on her WeChat Moments.

She immediately covered her mouth and burst into laughter, "Of course I don't mind, this is all from your kind hearts, I love it so much."

Tian Xi's lips curled up slightly, and she shook her head, humming softly, looking just like an adorable little dog.

"Brother Mo, you're amazing!"

Shen Mo raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong? Haven't I always been very capable?"

"That one!" Tian Xiwei gestured towards the name, "The one Tong-jie posted on her WeChat Moments, that star! Li Yitong Star!"

Wang Churan and Liu Haocun raised their heads at the same time, their eyes fixed on Shen Mo.

Shen Mo paused for a moment, then smiled: "You saw it?"

"Of course I saw it!" Tian Xi pouted slightly. "Brother Mo, you're so thoughtful! Giving Sister Tong a planet as a birthday present! We're all so envious!"

Wang Churan whispered from the side, "It's really blown up! Sister Meng and Sister Mengyan are practically going crazy in the group chat!"

Liu Haocun didn't speak, but his eyes were bright and sparkling, filled with the words "I want it too."

Tian Xi chuckled, "Brother Mo, do you have any more? Like that planet? Can you get one for us too?"

She blinked her eyes expectantly. Wang Churan didn't say anything, but his ears were perked up. Liu Haocun also leaned forward quietly.

Shen Mo looked at the three pairs of eyes, feeling both amused and exasperated. "What do you mean by sending stars? That's naming rights for planets."

Tian Xi pouted and snorted, "I don't care! It's just stars anyway."

For Shen Mo, giving this gift was fine, but after all, it was Li Yitong's birthday today, so how could he give the gift he gave to her to someone else?

He shrugged, pursed his lips, and was about to say something to brush it off when...

Li Yitong spoke up, "Alright, stop making things difficult for him."

All four looked at her at the same time. Li Yitong smiled and said, "That star was specially found for me by your brother Mo, so I definitely can't give it to you. But..."

She paused, then looked at Shen Mo: "Your brother Mo can keep looking. If he finds another one, he'll give it to you. But there definitely won't be any today. If he does find one, consider it your birthday present for that year."

The three girls' eyes lit up instantly.

"Really, Sister Tong?!" Tian Xiwei was the first to exclaim.

Li Yitong nodded: "Really."

"Ahhhhhh!" Tian Xiwei rushed over and hugged Li Yitong tightly. "Sister Tong, you're the best!"

Wang Churan's lips curled into a smile. "Thank you, Sister Tong."

Liu Haocun chuckled along, "Thank you, Sister Tong."

Li Yitong was almost suffocating from Tian Xiwei's tight grip, and laughed as she patted her hand: "Alright, alright, let go quickly, are you trying to harm your sister Tong?"

Tian Xiwei then let go of her hand and sat back down in her seat with a satisfied look on her face.

Shen Mo looked at Li Yitong helplessly, his eyes saying: You just keep spoiling them. A lot of your troubles are caused by your spoiling!

Li Yitong raised an eyebrow and gave him a look: What's wrong? Is it not allowed?

Shen Mo chuckled, shook his head, and picked up his chopsticks.

The hot pot began to boil, and plates of mutton, beef, tripe, beef aorta, duck intestines... were added to the pot one after another, filling the entire private room with a steaming aroma.

Tian Xiwei ate meat as quickly as ever, Wang Churan ate slowly but never stopped eating, while Liu Haocun ate in small bites and was the most ladylike person present.

"Sister Tong, try this!"

Tian Xiwei suddenly picked up a piece of tripe that had been cooked in the red soup and put it into Li Yitong's bowl.

"This tripe is especially delicious!"

Li Yitong smiled, picked it up, dipped it in the sauce, and put it in her mouth.

The next second, "Hiss—!!!"

She froze, her delicate face instantly contorting into a grimace.

"So spicy!"

Her eyes were half-closed from the spiciness, her mouth was slightly open and red from the heat, and she made a "hissing" sound.

Just as she stuck out her tongue and fanned herself with her hand.

Upon hearing those two words, Tian Xiwei suddenly put down her chopsticks and looked up.

She glanced at Li Yitong's expression, which seemed to be spicier than usual, her eyes darting around, and a mischievous smile slowly crept onto her lips.

"It's so spicy?"

She repeated it, a hint of slyness in her voice. Li Yitong was still hissing and hadn't reacted yet.

Tian Xiwei suddenly leaned closer, her mischievous smile becoming increasingly obvious.

"Are you hotter than me, Li Yitong?"

The private room fell silent instantly.

Wang Churan had just picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks when she heard this, her hand trembled, and the meat fell into the bowl. She froze for a second, then suddenly coughed, choking on the chili oil in her throat, her face turning red.

Liu Haocun was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably, and tears almost welling up in his eyes.

Li Yitong's hand, which was fanning herself, froze instantly. She stared at Tian Xiwei's smiling face, her mind seemingly stuck, and it took her several turns to react.

"Ah—!!!" A scream echoed throughout the private room, "Tian! Xi! Wei!"

Li Yitong jumped up from her chair and reached out to grab Tian Xiwei.

Tian Xiwei was prepared; she shrank back and laughed even louder: "Hahahaha! Sister Tong, come and get me!"

Li Yitong chased after him after him, running around the hot pot table several times in the private room.

Wang Churan was still coughing, Liu Haocun was still laughing, only Shen Mo sat in his seat, staring blankly.

Then he smiled helplessly, a smile tinged with complexity.

"Are you hotter than me, Li Yitong?" He knew that phrase all too well.

In their past life, when Li Yitong and Tian Xiwei appeared on a variety show together, Li Yitong ate a piece of candy and got a sore throat from the spiciness. Tian Xiwei, who was standing next to her, asked the same question.

That scene went viral online; even though he wasn't there in person, he had seen the video countless times.

Now, this scene is vividly unfolding before his eyes once again.

When Tian Xiwei said those words, her teasing tone and sly expression were exactly the same as in the video from her previous life.

Shen Mo looked at the two people who were still chasing and fighting, and his eyes became complicated.

Old Tian'er's memories seem to be increasing, and the things she dreams about are gradually seeping into her words and actions.

He didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Brother Mo! Help me!"

Tian Xiwei's shout brought him back to reality.

He looked up and saw Tian Xiwei hiding behind Wang Churan, while Li Yitong stood opposite her, the two of them facing off across Wang Churan.

Wang Churan looked utterly dejected: "If you're going to fight, don't put me in the middle of it..."

Liu Haocun, standing nearby, laughed so hard he slapped the table.

Shen Mo smiled, got up and walked over, grabbing Li Yitong who was still rushing forward.

"Alright, alright, the food's getting cold."

Li Yitong was pulled back by him, and didn't forget to glare at Tian Xiwei: "Who taught you all this?!"

Tian Xiwei peeked out from behind Wang Churan, her smile impossible to suppress, and then made a face: "Hehehe!"

Wang Churan breathed a sigh of relief, "Fine! Fine! Fine! Tong Xinwei, right? Next time you two fight, I'll stay far away."

Liu Haocun laughed until tears streamed down his face. While laughing, he served food to Wang Churan, saying, "Churan, you've worked hard. Eat more."

Wang Churan glared angrily at Liu Haocun, "Next time Tong Xinwei and Min get into a fight, I'll push you into the middle!"

……

An hour later, the group parted ways at the door. The summer night breeze carried away the smell of hot pot.

Tian Xi stretched and said, "I have to go back now. I have to film an early scene tomorrow."

Wang Churan and Liu Haocun linked arms. "We're going back too."

Li Yitong looked at them, smiled and waved, "Be careful on the road, text me when you arrive."

Tian Xi nodded slightly, then suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Shen Mo, "Brother Mo, don't forget about the planet!"

Shen Mo chuckled and waved his hand. "Got it."

Tian Xiwei smiled contentedly as she got into the car, leaned back in her seat, and watched the scenery outside the window slowly recede.

The phrase "Are you hot? Li Yitong!" she had vaguely remembered seeing in her dream before. Li Yitong's "So hot!" instantly brought that scene back to life.

She had actually dreamt of many similar scenes, such as when Li Yitong asked her, "What is this?" and she replied, "This is the price of trusting you!"

For example, in a karaoke room, Li Yitong sang and danced in front of her: "My heart only has you, not him." Then she cupped her hands in front of her and added: "You have to believe that my feelings are genuine."

For example, she said she loved watching fireworks the most, and Li Yitong reached out and gave her a high five, then said that she also loved watching fireworks the most.

Countless dream images have been surfacing in her mind lately, as if they were real scenes, but Tian Xiwei knows clearly that she has not experienced these images.

The Tong Jie in my dream is not much different from the Tong Jie in real life, but the Tong Jie in my dream is clearly more mature than the Tong Jie in real life.

Sometimes she wonders if that's a fragment of the future.

Is this some kind of cheat code in life? A cheat code from a novel?

But why are my dreams all fragments of daily life?

Why don't some movies or TV series become wildly popular, so that Mo Ge and Tong Jie can make plans in advance?

Or, to put it another way, NBA scores or World Cup champions can at least make you money!

She sometimes wondered if it was because she didn't pay much attention to the future in her dreams that she had no impression of it.

As a result, she has recently started paying attention to various ball games and financial news every day. However, it seems that there have been no changes in her dreams, and she still hasn't dreamed of what she wants.

What a terrible cheat! I can't even control it myself!

Fortunately, what makes her feel that the cheat is getting more and more powerful is that in the past few years, she only occasionally had a dream about the future, but this year the frequency has been increasing, and recently she has been dreaming about the future almost every day.

However, there was one unusual aspect of the dream that piqued her curiosity.

That is, in the dream, it seemed that I was closer to Brother Mo, while Sister Tong and Brother Mo were not so close, at least that's how it was in the scenes I saw.

Could it be that I'll snatch Mo Ge away from Tong Jie in the future?!

Thinking of this, the corners of her mouth involuntarily curved into a smile, but then it drooped again.

After all, if that were really the case, I would be such a terrible person!

Brother Mo and Sister Tong are so good to me, how could I do such a thing?

Maybe that's not the case!

Maybe it's just that I've gotten closer to Brother Mo, and Sister Tong's relationship with Brother Mo shouldn't have changed at all!

However! It seems we're getting a little too close; I've even dreamt about Mo Ge's abs...

Thinking of this, Tian Xiwei chuckled to herself.

Sister Tong, I'm so sorry, but Brother Mo's abs smell so good!