“I’ve heard a lot about you. Let’s collaborate when there’s an opportunity.”
“Be quick! That over there is Director Jin. Go and introduce yourself.”
“President Lin, this is our project proposal. Do you have a moment? This project has great potential…”
…
Liang Xiao, holding his phone, stepped aside to make way for the producer chasing after someone with the proposal in hand.
It was an industry salon, a banquet hosted by Xingguan Entertainment.
There weren’t many top-tier entertainment companies in the industry, but Xingguan Entertainment was deeply established, wealthy, and well-connected. With a lineup of prominent actors and a few blockbuster productions that had garnered both acclaim and profits, their banquet looked like the backstage of a star-studded gala.
People moved back and forth. Liang Xiao, standing in the way earlier, got bumped on the arm, causing the character he was controlling in the game to get headshotted. Another round lost.
Exiting the game, Liang Xiao was about to step aside when a hand suddenly appeared in front of him and snatched his phone away.
Liang Xiao looked up. “Brother Duan.”
Duan Ming frowned in frustration, clenching his teeth. He scolded quietly, “You’re just going to stand here like this?”
“I looked,” Liang Xiao replied helplessly, glancing around. “It’s crowded, and there’s nowhere to sit…”
“I told you to go greet the screenwriters, directors, and investors! Make yourself known!”
Duan Ming was exasperated. “Where’s your ambition? Don’t you want to make money? If you don’t, let’s just split up—”
Quickly, Liang Xiao grabbed two cookies and stuffed them into Duan Ming’s mouth. “Make money.”
Duan Ming was the manager assigned to him by the company.
The two had been working together since Liang Xiao’s debut, struggling for five years on the fringes of the industry. He’d taken on plenty of roles, but most didn’t leave any lasting resources. Even now, he hadn’t managed to climb past the 17th tier.
Dragging Duan Ming to a corner, Liang Xiao retrieved his phone and handed it over after opening Xianyu. •a secondhand trading app•
Duan Ming nearly choked. “What’s this?”
“Bath amenities, samples from a five-star hotel,” Liang Xiao explained. “I just made two sales, and there are three more orders waiting to be shipped.”
Duan Ming: “…”
A buyer happened to message him about the price. Liang Xiao swiftly took back the phone, replying efficiently: We guarantee the quality but not the quantity, slight discounts, no returns, shipping not included.
Xingguan Entertainment had spared no expense, accommodating the banquet guests in five-star hotels with excellent treatment.
The complimentary disposable toiletries were resold to cover the cost of his plane ticket.
Duan Ming took a deep breath, mentally repeating killing is a crime three times: “Is this all you can do?”
Liang Xiao blinked.
“This is a rare opportunity!” Duan Ming lowered his voice. “Look at all these people. Can’t you take the initiative? Go introduce yourself to a director—”
“I can,” Liang Xiao raised his hand and began in a flat tone, “Director, hello. My name is Liang Xiao. I’ve been in the industry for five years and have extensive experience. I’ve worked as a stand-in double for dialogue, action, lighting, back shots, and even horseback riding. My representative roles include the 16th male lead in The Twenty-Seven Magicians and the 4th male lead in Three’s Company. Aside from briefly trending at No. 1 on the hot search a few days ago, my highest record is trending at No. 49…”
“…” Duan Ming felt his chest tighten. “That’s enough. Shut up.”
Liang Xiao grabbed another cookie, stuffed it into his mouth, and sneakily retrieved his phone. He quickly processed the remaining orders for the toiletries and marked them as shipped.
His presence here, in fact, was a matter of pure coincidence.
Although he was formally trained and signed with a decent company, Liang Xiao lacked any connections or backing. Early in his career, he’d enjoyed a brief period of attention due to his good looks. But when resources didn’t follow, he swiftly and predictably faded into obscurity.
In the five years since his debut, Liang Xiao had taken on numerous roles and visited countless sets. His career had only advanced from playing the 3rd, 4th, or 5th male leads in moderately successful web dramas, crawling from the 18th tier to the 17th tier of fame.
The attendees of this event, however, were all notable names in the industry. Directors, screenwriters, producers, and even the lowest-ranking actors here had starred in at least two or three hit dramas. It was likely none of them had even heard of the shows Liang Xiao had acted in.
…
Until three days ago.
Late at night, he was photographed leaving the villa of the president of Xingguan Entertainment.
His clothes were disheveled, his steps unsteady, and he was wearing a coat two sizes too big. Paparazzi captured several grainy street photos, and by morning, they were everywhere online.
Overnight, he became a trending topic.
Perhaps the event organizers sent him an invitation based purely on the hot search, or maybe they genuinely thought he looked good—his features were sharp, his physique refined, and his presence stood out. Given his rumored “connection” to the president, they decided to include him.
“I knew I shouldn’t have come,” Liang Xiao muttered.
The disparity was too glaring, and Duan Ming was all too aware. He glanced around the room, letting out a heavy sigh. “Who knows what their intentions were when they invited you.”
Liang Xiao’s career had burned out as quickly as it had started, but he was still young and in his prime. His looks were strikingly refined even among omega actors, standing out as rare and eye-catching.
His pale skin and slender, delicate build, paired with his neat short hair and thick lashes, gave him a polished, boyish charm.
Even without the company’s support, his outstanding appearance ensured he couldn’t go unnoticed at a star-studded banquet like this.
Until now, no one had approached him. On the contrary, many people seemed to avoid him intentionally or unintentionally. It was obvious that this was because of the overly suggestive trending topic from a few days ago.
Such incidents weren’t uncommon in the industry, but for one to blow up so publicly was rare. Especially with someone like Liang Xiao, whose refined omega appearance didn’t even need a classification test to be obvious. Pair that with the image of a top-tier elite alpha president—admired by countless young men and women—and it was inevitable for people to let their imaginations run wild.
In recent days, they had constantly been met with passive-aggressive remarks. While the attendees at such banquets prided themselves on their status and wouldn’t confront them outright, their attitudes still leaked through.
Duan Ming, simmering with anger, pulled Liang Xiao out of the room, irritated by the condescending and disdainful looks directed their way.
“If you’re upright, you don’t need to fear shadows. It’s fine.”
Liang Xiao took it in stride, starting another round of his game. Instead, he consoled Duan Ming with a cheerful tone: “President Huo and I are completely innocent. Gossip cycles quickly. Once I join a production and spend three months shooting in the mountains, no one will even remember this.”
“There’s no production anymore.” Duan Ming sighed. “The company just told me. Your role has been given to someone else.”
Liang Xiao paused, distracted enough that his in-game character got headshotted again. “Is trending on a hot topic really this serious?”
Having been busy cleaning up the aftermath, Duan Ming sighed again and patted Liang Xiao, who still hadn’t grasped the gravity of the situation.
“The real issue isn’t just that you were on the trending topic,” Duan Ming said. “Nor is it that you were publicly rumored to be unspoken-rules’d by the dashing, elite businessman and Xingguan Entertainment’s president, Huo Lan.”
Liang Xiao asked curiously, “Then what is it?”
Duan Ming replied expressionlessly, “It’s that we’re not part of Xingguan Entertainment.”
Liang Xiao: “…”
Duan Ming added, “Xingguan has been our company’s sworn enemy for years.”
Liang Xiao: “…”
“They just cost our company fifty million.”
Even as washed-up as he was, Liang Xiao wasn’t so out of touch that he didn’t know his own company’s name.
But since his debut, he’d only met the higher-ups of Longtao Entertainment three times in total and had barely received any decent resources. Naturally, he wasn’t well-versed in the specifics.
For instance, he hadn’t realized that Longtao Entertainment and Xingguan had been rivals for years, competing for talent, roles, and platform resources. Recently, Xingguan had even stolen a fifty-million-yuan endorsement deal from Longtao.
These matters, of course, couldn’t be brought to light. Liang Xiao had spent years in mediocrity, and Duan Ming, as his agent, was practically working solo. It took several trips back to the company and hitting multiple dead ends before he learned about this whole situation.
“Our President Zhao gets furious just at the sight of Huo Lan,” Duan Ming sighed. “A week ago, at a charity gala, he even told President Huo that if Xingguan gets the upper hand one more time, Longtao Entertainment would rewrite its name backward.”
…
And just four days later, an actor from Longtao Entertainment had already trended for being “unspoken-rules’d” by their rival.
To be fair, even Liang Xiao felt it wasn’t entirely unjustified that he was being sidelined.
“Alright, let’s look at this from a different perspective.”
Liang Xiao opened a group chat full of bit-part casting calls and began filtering for opportunities with the best value-for-effort ratio. “I’ll print a few more copies of my resume and check out the ongoing productions, whether it’s historical, modern, or surreal. I’m available for omega-specific stand-ins, including action, horse-riding, back shots, or leg doubles.”
Duan Ming watched him, exasperated. “You’re really this optimistic?”
“Necessity drives practicality,” Liang Xiao replied, quickly saving a few promising listings while munching on a few more vanilla butter cookies. “Brother Duan, eat more.”
“Eat? How can I have an appetite?” Duan Ming sighed deeply. “The company froze all activity funds, and we still have to scramble for resources. We’re barely scraping by. While the assistant and I still have our salaries, you need money too, and now the marketing department are asking us for hush money…”
“I know.” Liang Xiao patted his shoulder, his tone full of sage wisdom. “Eat more. You’ll realize we have saved another dinner money.”
For the 372nd time, Duan Ming’s demand to quit was skillfully deflected by the has-been star.
Stuffing another handful of cookies into Duan Ming’s hands, Liang Xiao pulled out his phone and called for a ride.
The banquet was nearing its end, but the networking was just hitting its peak. Many attendees were taking this time to connect, especially the lesser-known ones, who were going all out to make an impression in front of famous directors and producers. Those of equal standing chatted politely, seizing the rare opportunity to expand their network.
If they didn’t leave now, once the event dispersed, the traffic jams could easily last half an hour.
Amid the bustling crowd, Liang Xiao fiddled with his phone and pulled Duan Ming over to a less conspicuous spot.
The average status of the people here was around the 2.5th tier, and none of them would be foolish enough to confront him openly. Still, there was bound to be plenty of whispering behind his back.
Especially since the host of the event was Xingguan Entertainment.
Having just trended on the hot search and now appearing here, it was inevitable that some people would overthink the situation.
President Huo and Liang Xiao were entirely innocent, with the extent of their “relationship” being little more than a professional side gig. But since the trending topic hadn’t yet died down, there was no reason to court further embarrassment.
Overhearing the occasional hushed whispers of phrases like “sugar baby,” “of course it’s an omega,” and “so President Huo likes this type,” Liang Xiao decided to spare his already-fraying-at-the-edges manager further mental stress. He tugged Duan Ming out of the room just in time.
Once they made it to the hallway, Duan Ming, unable to hold back his anger, yanked his arm free. “What does it have to do with them? This never ends! If I’d known, we wouldn’t have come…”
“It’s fine.”
Having grown accustomed to such attention over the past few days, Liang Xiao patted Duan Ming on the arm reassuringly. “A clear conscience fears no accusations.”
As he spoke, his phone buzzed twice.
It was probably the driver sending his location. Liang Xiao, unfamiliar with the area, turned on the screen and pulled Duan Ming over to check. “Don’t you know? I’m absolutely innocent with President Huo—”
Before he could finish, the messages appeared on the screen, unusually concise:
[Huo Lan: 8103.]
[Huo Lan: Wash up and come to my room.]
