AITAMITB Chapter 63

Having been to Shen Zhifei’s residence, Luo Ziwei felt she had grasped the core philosophy of Zhao Xiaokui’s career – as long as she was happy.

If she likes singing, she just wants to sing. She doesn’t pick popular variety shows; she only chooses the fun ones. President Shen has no intention of pushing her to become a big star; she treats her like a child.

As a manager, Luo Ziwei had no choice but to accept this philosophy.

After Luo Ziwei left, Zhao Xiaokui reported the invitation from G House to the Night Walkers.

There is no hatred and love without reason. She considered that, except for the recent destruction of the evil god’s base in S City, she had no contact with foreign superpowers. The invitation from G House was obviously sent before she offended the evil god. She wanted to know what their real purpose was and what they saw in her.

The Night Walkers’ response came quickly, and the answer was quite difficult to express.

Zhao Xiaokui thought the invitation was related to V House, and she wasn’t entirely wrong. The key figure was the photographer Therese, who shot the promotional video for her that day—the woman Zhao Xiaokui smelled of vampires and werewolves.

“The information we received indicates that she strongly recommended you to the higher-ups.”

Zhao Xiaokui: “…”

What kind of grudge is this?

She’s just a weak, pitiful, and helpless mermaid. Is it okay to expose herself to the eyes of these people from the Dark Council so early?

She told Shen Zhifei about this matter and complained to her about how despicable that foreigner named Therese was.

Shen Zhifei looked at her for a while, then suddenly covered her face and chuckled.

Her Xiaokui…

“Baby, did your emotional intelligence dissolve in water?” she playfully teased.

Zhao Xiaokui pretended to contemplate for a moment, then lifted her head, looking at her with deep affection. “Maybe because my mind is filled with you, there’s no room for anything else.”

Meeting her sincere gaze, Shen Zhifei awkwardly averted her eyes, reaching out to pinch the soft flesh on Zhao Xiaokui’s cheek.

“Sweet words.” Swearing under her breath, Shen Zhifei wore a smile on her face. She nonchalantly recounted the scene she witnessed on the set that day.

Zhao Xiaokui: “…”

“Are you implying that she likes me?”

“…”

“No, no, no. I can’t handle that kind of liking. She’s still a baby.”

While they were talking, the familiar vibration of a message reached them again. Zhao Xiaokui lowered her head to glance at her phone.

This time, the message was from Lin Bai.

He put forward a speculation about Therese’s identity.

“I think she’s onto something.” Zhao Xiaokui turned the phone screen towards Shen Zhifei.

Therese had taken many photos over the years. She excelled in capturing beautiful women. She even traveled globally for this purpose, aiming to document beauty from different parts of the world.

These photos received widespread acclaim on the internet and were crucial to Therese’s fame. However, Lin Bai, after comparing the beauties in the photos, discovered that nearly a hundred of them had unexpectedly died or disappeared after the shoot. These individuals were ordinary people from different parts of the world, with different languages and cultures. If Lin Bai hadn’t deliberately investigated, no one would likely have noticed this astonishing coincidence.

Werewolves and vampires happen to be the two major races within the Dark Council. Lin Bai believes that Therese is likely a spokesperson for the Dark Council. Operating openly as a human, she selects different prey to offer to her master.

Why care so much about appearance…

The reason is simple: the more beautiful a face, the more symmetrical. It indicates a higher quality of both soul and body. Whether for vampires or werewolves, a beautiful face suggests excellent food.

As someone who secretly analyzed Zhao Xiaokui’s facial proportions, Lin Bai believes that after learning about her situation, G House will not easily let her go. There will be another time after this refusal, so he advises Zhao Xiaokui not to provoke them for now. When refusing, she should try to do it gracefully. Who knows, maybe someday their coveting of Zhao Xiaokui will come in handy.

Zhao Xiaokui：“……”

“Little Ox Charges Forward” is an outdoor program, with a format similar to parkour, involving climbing walls, leaping over obstacles, and facing various challenges set up by the production team to obstruct participants from completing the course.

Two years ago, when the show first aired, it gained tremendous popularity. At least four out of ten TV stations were broadcasting it simultaneously. Even without celebrity participants, watching ordinary people continuously fall into the water and make mistakes in various stages brought joy to the audience. However, after using the same formula for two years, the show gradually lost its appeal and faded from the public’s view.

Zhao Xiaokui’s willingness to participate was completely unexpected by the production team.

The show had become unpopular due to its challenging obstacles. Not many contestants could successfully reach the final stage to win the grand prize. Inviting celebrities was mainly a strategy to attract more participants. Those willing to join were generally lesser-known actors and actresses, ranging from the eighteenth tier to the thirty-sixth tier.

On the day of the shooting, Zhao Xiaokui arrived at the venue early. The host briefed her on the competition format.

“We’ve invited a total of four guests, divided into two teams: red and blue. You’ll be selecting amateur participants for your respective teams. The team with the highest cumulative score in completing the obstacles wins.”

Zhao Xiaokui nodded to show her understanding and accepted the information about the amateur participants handed to her by the production team. She found a place to sit and read through the materials.

After about fifteen minutes, the other three guests arrived.

The first two were male guests, older than Zhao Xiaokui but with lower celebrity status. They respectfully addressed her as a senior.

Zhao Xiaokui, who hadn’t mingled in celebrity circles for a long time, felt a bit uncomfortable for a moment.

However, considering the age difference wasn’t that significant, after chatting for a while, they quickly became acquainted.

Zhao Xiaokui was mainly there for fun, and “Little Ox Charges Forward” hadn’t stirred any negative rumors before. After all, the celebrity guests mostly just cheered for their amateur team members, with little room for scandal. After chatting with the two guests for a while, she asked, “By the way, do you guys know who the other guest is?”

One said they didn’t know, while the other raised their hand and said, “I know, it’s Tao Zijin.”

Zhao Xiaokui was momentarily stunned, “Tao… what?”

“Tao Zijin, like the one from the Book of Songs, Zijin.”

Zhao Xiaokui clicked her tongue, feeling a bit awkward.

Tao Zijin, Zhao Zijin…

Although having the same name wasn’t uncommon in the entertainment industry, hearing the combination of these two characters gave her a strange feeling.

She discreetly searched for the name Tao Zijin on her phone.

To her surprise, she found that although Tao Zijin had recently debuted, she had a considerable online following. With millions of followers on Weibo, while not surpassing Zhao Xiaokui, she certainly fared much better than the two somewhat pitiful individuals sitting next to her. Why would such a popular actress decide to participate in this show? That puzzled her.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long before seeing Tao Zijin, the namesake.

Tao Zijin was dressed in sportswear, carrying a small bag, and approaching gracefully. With a sweet smile, she bowed in apology upon reaching the production team, “I’m sorry for being late. I brought some drinks for everyone as an apology.”

Zhao Xiaokui raised her head.

Zhao Xiaokui was stunned.

She had been pondering whether there were others in the world who, like herself, had their bodies taken over. Unexpectedly, she encountered one today.

As for plastic surgery… she didn’t think modern technology could transform a melon-seed face into an oval one, let alone reshape bones. Feeling surprised internally, she kept a calm expression on her face.

As long as the person involved doesn’t bring harm to the country or commit outrageous acts, Zhao Xiaokui has no right to intervene in their body-switching affairs.

She greeted everyone politely, wearing a business-like smile on her face. Whether it was her misconception or not, she felt that Tao Zijin seemed to be paying special attention to her.

Suppressing her internal doubts, she heard the host outside start to announce the names of the guests. Zhao Xiaokui straightened her clothes, adjusted her expression, opened the curtain, and stepped out.

The appearance of Zhao Xiaokui and Tao Zijin stirred up a wave of screams in the audience.

As the show was being filmed outdoors, there were many onlookers from the general public and fans nearby. Even from a distance, Zhao Xiaokui could hear someone shouting, “Xiaokui, Mommy loves you.”

She felt a bit awkward and didn’t know what to say.

But when she shifted her gaze to the competition area, her eyes lit up again, eager to participate.

When “Little Ox Charge Forward” was first released, she was only in the first year of high school. Back then, her grandmother was still around, and the two of them often sat in front of the television, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle of contestants falling into the water. At that time, Zhao Xiaokui had thought, “One day, I’ll sign up and try. I’ll win the home appliance grand prize.”

Although she doesn’t lack that money now, she still wants to fulfill the unfinished business from back then.

“… Thanks to the strong support of the xxx brand for this program, our participating contestants, just like successfully passing through a level, will receive a set of home appliances provided by the xxx brand…”

With four guests, two men and two women, the grouping conveniently resulted in one pair of male and female for each team.

Zhao Xiaokui drew the blue team, and Tao Zijin was assigned to the red team.

First was the trash talk segment, where Zhao Xiaokui pushed her teammates forward and dryly spoke a few lines about the strength and excellence of the blue team.

For the red team, Tao Zijin stepped forward.

She spoke earnestly at first, but suddenly changed her tone at the end, saying, “… What’s mine is mine. No one can take it away.”

The host cheerfully commented on Tao Zijin’s confidence, and only Zhao Xiaokui noticed that when she uttered those words, Tao Zijin’s gaze fell upon her, as if holding some hidden meaning.

Did she offend her in some way? Zhao Xiaokui couldn’t help but wonder, but no matter how she thought about it, she felt that they had only just met.

She decided to investigate when she returned. She’ll use Nightwalker’s system to check, claiming that she had encountered someone who seemed to be a follower of a cult.

When Zhao Xiaokui was thinking about this, the program quickly began.

Although she joined the show for her enjoyment, she felt nervous and excited when she saw the amateur contestants come on stage and start their challenges.

In the past, she could restrain herself, maintaining the composure of an actress.

As the show progressed, she turned into a fervent fan, shouting and jumping like an unleashed husky, completely abandoning any semblance of elegance.

“Ah, go, go, go!”

“With legs as long as yours, you can definitely make it!”

“Lower your head, lower your head, you’re about to crash!”

While “Little Ox Charges Forward” was not a live broadcast, being an outdoor show with a crowd around made it almost indistinguishable from live television.

Upon discovering that Zhao Xiaokui was participating in this variety show, fans were quick to set up live broadcasts on the periphery.

As Zhao Xiaokui was about to flip off the platform where the guests were located, there was a brief blank in the barrage.

A fan in front of the screen covered their face, “Can someone remind our Xiaokui to pay attention to her image?”

Mom fans were full of filtered admiration, “Our Xiaokui is so cute!”

Passersby, labeled A, B, C: “…”

They all felt a sense of fear.

Is this how much someone changes after losing their memory?

If they remember correctly, the previous Zhao Zijin used to follow the route of an artistic and gentle young woman, right?

Zhao Xiaokui didn’t have much of a persona to begin with and didn’t care about sticking to one. She was excited and even cheered louder for her teammates than the home audience.

Tao Zijin couldn’t hide her embarrassment. Occasionally, she shouted a few words of encouragement gently, unlike Zhao Xiaokui, who was always lively. As a result, the atmosphere between the red and blue teams was vastly different.

Tao Zijin noticed that the camera, which should have been evenly distributed, gave Zhao Xiaokui more screen time several times.

She looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar person across from her, slightly biting her lip, and asked in her mind, “Have you figured something out?”

Although the livestream fans were Zhao Xiaokui’s, the camera didn’t focus solely on her throughout the show. Occasionally, when a contestant performed exceptionally well, the camera would shift to them. At such times, the two captains of the red team on the other side would inevitably be captured on screen.

While working, Shen Zhifei, wearing wireless earphones, heard Zhao Xiaokui’s enthusiastic voice. She raised her head and glanced at the video. Her lips curled slightly.

At this moment, a face flashed by.

Shen Zhifei clicked the rewind button, recognizing the owner of the face.

Tao Zijin.

She was the female star that Shen Zhifei had discussed with Zhao Xiaokui just a couple of days ago, the one who had captivated Rong Zhen’s heart.

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