Amusing Ourselves to Death Arc
Agent 22
“Say it again, who’s the female lead?”
Shen Yun struggled to restrain herself from throwing her phone away. She clutched the back of the phone tightly, her fingertips turning white, and gritted her teeth as she questioned, her face contorted in anger.
“It’s Lan Rui. Don’t worry too much, Shen Yun. If we miss this opportunity, we’ll have another chance.”
Xin Lan, wanting to provoke Shen Yun even further, casually added a sentence.
How could Shen Yun not be concerned? She was on the verge of bursting into anger.
She raised her hand and threw the phone against the wall, cursing, “You bitch.”
Of course, she was cursing Lan Rui. Shattering the phone wasn’t enough; she let out a few sharp screams to vent her frustration.
In response to Xin Lan, there was only the sound of the phone being hung up.
Xin Lan smiled, in a good mood, and drove leisurely towards Shen Yun’s home.
Zero Nine: Hahaha, Shen Yun is about to go crazy, hahaha.
Zero Nine was monitoring in real-time and couldn’t help but burst into laughter upon seeing Shen Yun’s reaction.
This person truly was the source of her happiness. When this person wasn’t happy, she was ecstatic.
As Shen Yun’s senior undercover agent, she immediately posted a tweet to express her delight.
When Xin Lan arrived at Shen Yun’s house, the scene was a mess.
Shen Yun was indeed on the verge of collapse. After all the hard work she had put into preparing for this, she was told she had failed?
How could she possibly fail!
When she heard that the female lead was Lan Rui, she had already gone on a furious rant in her heart.
Lan Rui, who didn’t look as good as her, didn’t have her body, and didn’t have her acting skills, how could she possibly get the female lead role? Just thinking about it, she knew it must have involved some shady connections.
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Wasn’t it just being better in bed than her? Why! It’s unfair! Clearly, she should have been the female lead!
Lan Rui must have done it on purpose, knowing she would audition and deliberately stealing her role!
Bitch!
In this state of emotional breakdown, Shen Yun threw everything she could in her house and smashed anything that could be smashed. She sat on the sofa when she got tired.
She was so angry that she wanted to cry, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to do so.
The sound of the door opening snapped her out of that state, and when she saw that it was Xin Lan, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Why is Lan Rui the lead actress?”
She almost demanded.
“Can’t you guess the answer? I’m not the director or the producer. Putting on that expression won’t change anything,” Xin Lan glanced around and furrowed her brows. “You shouldn’t lose your composure like this.”
“Lose my composure? You know how long I’ve been preparing for this! There’s no way I can swallow this. I don’t care; I’m going to take it back.”
Shen Yun’s voice was almost sharp, and Xin Lan smirked.
“Who do you think you are? You think you can just snatch it away?”
Shen Yun had always had it easy, sailing smoothly through life without experiencing much hardship. In the past, everything had been handed to her on a silver platter, and her previous psychological preparation had been well done.
Xin Lan was not someone who would coddle her; she was determined to provoke her to the extreme.
Shen Yun saw the mockery in Xin Lan’s expression and widened her eyes.
“It’s you, isn’t it? You did it on purpose, didn’t you!”
Shen Yun stood up, seething with anger.
“You’re just retaliating against me! You knew I couldn’t get this role, didn’t you!”
“What benefit would I gain from doing that? Despite your flaws and being a scumbag, we’re still on the same side when it comes to interests. I don’t need to waste your time.”
Xin Lan shrugged, pretending to be completely unaware.
When you dig a pit, you have to keep digging, why stop at just one?
Plus, Shen Yun knows how to play along, doesn’t she? So can I.
“No, no…” Shen Yun shook her head, looking at Xin Lan with suspicion. “You’ve been waiting for me here. You hate me, you hate that I strayed, you’ve been holding a grudge, and that’s why you didn’t give me the female lead!”
Shen Yun’s mind was racing quickly. This had to be Xin Lan’s revenge. The roles Xin Lan had given her in the past had never been wrong.
Xin Lan couldn’t help but laugh at Shen Yun’s logic. Even though she had guessed right by accident, she hadn’t done anything to assist her from start to finish. She had just teased Shen Yun a bit. The role wasn’t something she had secured for Shen Yun; it was given by the director, and the one from the investors was purely an exception. She didn’t know if Lan Rui had ill intentions or not, but the way Shen Yun was acting was undoubtedly a waste of the original host’s goodwill.
“Holding a grudge?” Xin Lan scoffed. “You, too?”
“I originally wanted to give you some face. But you, a scumbag like you, to me, you’re like trash on the roadside. Do you think I have any reason to waste my time on you? Do you have an inflated sense of self-worth?”
“I told you before, I’m not the investor or the director. If I were, not only would I not let you be the female lead, I would also make you play a supporting role for Lan Rui. Do you believe me?”
Apart from planning and taking action, she really didn’t care much about Shen Yun.
Shen Yun’s face turned from green to white as Xin Lan spoke, looking extremely unattractive.
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“How can you be like this? You weren’t like this before. What benefit is there for you to harm me?”
“Harming you doesn’t benefit my interests, that’s true. But seeing you unhappy really makes me happy.”
Xin Lan looked sincere.
“You!”
Shen Yun pinched her own palm to calm herself down.
Arguing with Xin Lan right now was undoubtedly very unwise. It seemed like Xin Lan was prepared to retaliate against her. No, she couldn’t stay under her control any longer.
“What are you thinking? Don’t you think I’m well aware of your scheming? If you want to change your agent, you still need my approval, you know?”
Xin Lan leaned against the armrest of the sofa and said calmly,
“This shouldn’t be your decision to make, right?”
Shen Yun wasn’t foolish. The choice of an agent was undoubtedly determined by higher-ups. Xin Lan had no authority to decide her stay or departure. If she wanted to go to someone else, it could be anyone, and switching agents was always an option.
One had to admit that this scumbag had a rather keen sense. She wasn’t naive enough to believe in an idyllic world where everything remained fine after a breakup, nor was she foolishly self-absorbed enough to think that someone would still like her after a breakup.
But the more sober the pain, the more excruciating it felt. Struggling with awareness and ultimately realizing it was all in vain was more despairing than watching oneself sink into oblivion, unaware.
“How about you give it a try? Whether I decide or not, how did that slap from Mrs. Chen feel a few days ago?”
Xin Lan said with a sly smile, completely unfazed.
Shen Yun had long been restless, and it wasn’t just because of this role that she wanted to change agents. She had never trusted Xin Lan and believed she would seek revenge sooner or later.
That’s why she had attended a dinner a few days ago, sitting there to serve alcohol and attempting to seduce one of the bosses inside.
When Zero Nine informed her of this, she immediately had Zero Nine investigate this Mr. Chen. She found out he was married, and his wife was quite fierce. She promptly obtained a number and called Mrs. Chen, informing her of the location.
As expected, Mrs. Chen immediately rushed over to the scene, but she was a high-class lady, not a shrew. She waited until the dinner was over, and everyone was leaving before pretending to coincidentally encounter her husband and Shen Yun, who was holding her husband’s arm.
Mr. Chen promptly distanced himself and told Mrs. Chen that Shen Yun was just a low-class entertainer, a hostess, and he had let her support him because he had drunk too much.
Shen Yun had never been spoken of in such a way before and couldn’t maintain her composure on the spot. However, she couldn’t just walk away either, so she decided to endure it and agreed that she had merely provided some support.
Mrs. Chen seemed to believe, nodded, had her husband escorted away by his people, and then coldly slapped Shen Yun while making some sarcastic remarks.
Shen Yun had never experienced such injustice before and cried her heart out when she returned.
“Was it you behind this?!”
Shen Yun was somewhat incredulous, and apart from anger, she felt a chilling fear that Xin Lan could track her movements.
She had clearly avoided her assistants, so how did Xin Lan know?
Did someone see and inform her?
“It was indeed me. What’s the matter? Isn’t straying enough for you? Do you need to advertise it openly?”
“That’s none of your business,” Shen Yun clenched her fists tightly. “I can be with whoever I want, it’s none of your concern.”
“Is Lan Rui better than me? She’s not even worthy of carrying my shoes. It’s just that she’s better at sleeping around, anyone can do that.”
“I thought you had some self-respect, but it seems I overestimated you.”
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Where did Shen Yun get any sense of dignity or pride? She had clearly overestimated her. She thought Shen Yun wouldn’t be so quick to sell herself out.
Some people aim to lead an honest life, while others eagerly strive to dive into the mire.
“Don’t look at me like that. What, didn’t you know I was this kind of person a long time ago? What’s the difference between sleeping with you and sleeping with someone else? It’s all the same, isn’t it?”
Shen Yun sneered, adopting an attitude of recklessness.
Xin Lan stared at Shen Yun steadily, her gaze as cold as an icy abyss.
Not worth it, really not worth it.
Giving her genuine feelings to such a scumbag, it’s truly not worth it.
The original host’s perception of love not only didn’t yield a good result, but in the eyes of another person, it was merely a transaction.
It was Shen Yun who initiated it, Shen Yun who pursued it, and Shen Yun who pushed the other person into an abyss.
If it were the original host standing here, she would probably want to cut this person’s heart out to see why she could be so heartless.
Shen Yun felt a bit uneasy under Xin Lan’s gaze, and she took a step back in fear. Then, realizing her reaction, she took a step forward, a hint of annoyance in her demeanor.
What she said wasn’t wrong. What was the difference between being with Xin Lan and being with those others? The incident with Lan Rui had already taught her a lesson. If she couldn’t find a strong enough backing, she would always be at the mercy of others.
Furthermore, she had come this far relying on her own efforts. Xin Lan had merely helped her find resources, and once she found them, she delivered her performances excellently.
Xin Lan had not gone unrewarded either. So, why did she always wear that expression as if Shen Yun owed her something?
Moreover, she admitted her wrongdoing when it came to her infidelity. But now that they had already broken up, did Xin Lan intentionally keep bringing it up repeatedly?
People were bound to make mistakes. She had made a small mistake, that’s all. The entertainment industry was inherently chaotic, and she hadn’t been involved with anyone else before, which was already commendable.
Seeing Shen Yun’s expression, Xin Lan could probably guess what she was thinking.
Xin Lan let out a cold laugh and took a step closer to Shen Yun.
“You should be thankful I don’t hit women.”
“What do you want?”
Shen Yun looked at Xin Lan warily, but the next moment, she was grabbed by her clothes and pulled to her knees on the ground.