Diao Zhiyu's posture class was even more rigorous than his acting class. One entire white wall in Hu Xiu's home had been covered with movie posters as a backdrop, where Hu Xiu stood against the wall balancing a book on her head, required to maintain this position for ten minutes without letting the book fall.
This was supposedly to straighten her back, correct her uneven shoulders, and help her find better angles for the camera. In Diao Zhiyu's words, this was the first step toward cultivating poise.
His lessons felt more like confidence-building exercises.
"Even content creators have personas—just treat it as playing a character the audience wants to see.
Awkward mannerisms and shifty eyes are essentially failures in expression. It'd be a shame if stage fright hinders your performance."
"I can't do it with you here. You make me nervous."
"Hey, come on. It's time to step out of the simultaneous interpretation booth. Just treat it as a role and relax."
Hu Xiu spoke with clear enunciation in her videos, her British accent impeccably standard. She could smoothly greet viewers at the beginning and bid farewell at the end of each video—provided Diao Zhiyu hid in the next room.
A stool beside her was piled with reference materials she'd pull out when needed for explanations. After arranging everything, Diao Zhiyu actually went to the kitchen to read, occasionally peeking out to remind her to keep smiling.
The goal was to produce three forty-minute videos. The first one alone took the entire afternoon, from editing to uploading.
While waiting for the lengthy video export process, Diao Zhiyu casually asked if she wanted to try something fun.
"What?"
"Live-dub a TV drama scene. I'll help you sync the audio later."
"Oh?"
Diao Zhiyu pulled up clips from Princess Pearl and Romance in the Rain, selecting a dialogue segment: "Come on, translate this emotionally into English with that dramatic soap opera tone."
It was the scene where Ziwei gets pricked with needles by the Empress and Rong Momo. Hu Xiu looked puzzled: "How does a guy born in 1996 know about Princess Pearl?"
"Sis, it's on loop every summer and winter break," Diao Zhiyu urged impatiently. "Just translate! I'm dying to hear this."
This fell squarely within Hu Xiu's professional expertise. Clearing her throat, she delivered a fluent dub: "-Raise your head. I heard you can sing, play chess, and write poems. Is that so? -Just a little, Your Majesty. -Your 'little' has already driven the Emperor crazy. What's your 'a lot' supposed to do? Kill him?"
Diao Zhiyu burst into uncontrollable laughter. Hu Xiu paused to look at him: "Is it that funny?"
"You're genuinely hilarious. I thought you were messing with me back on the Snowpiercer, but now I see you're naturally funny—both physically and verbally."Growing somewhat immune to his praise, Hu Xiu pursed her lips. "It's nothing, just interpreting."
"What a waste for you to work as an interpreter at the hospital when you don't understand medical terminology."
"Oh?"
"I've always believed work should involve challenges and learning, but honestly, giving 100% to what you're best at is far better than struggling to achieve 70-80% in something you're not cut out for."
Hu Xiu's heart raced—he was absolutely right. As Diao Zhiyu stood up to set up the tripod for the second video, she asked, "How do you see things so clearly?"
"Not really, it's just a feeling. Like something's been holding you back, though I can't pinpoint what."
Unwilling to admit it, Hu Xiu joked, "I never took you for a fortune-teller."
"Men have intuition too."
Diao Zhiyu avoided looking at her while changing the camera lens. Waves of emotion surged in Hu Xiu's chest—perhaps phrasing things differently when asking a clever guy wasn't such a bad idea.
"Master, let me ask you... I have a friend whose very important person keeps putting her down. What should she do?"
Diao Zhiyu listened while continuously adjusting the gimbal. "How important...?"
"Like... her birth parents."
He glanced at Hu Xiu briefly, pretending nonchalance. "How are they putting her down?"
"They've always seen their child as a burden since she was little. If she doesn't achieve great things, they treat her like a failed project they never want to see again..."
"At her age now, nobody cares about her. They just want her to marry at the most convenient opportunity while she's still young—after all, she's just a grown mediocrity."
"Both parents feel this way?"
"Her mother disappeared. When my friend was eighteen, her mother was driven out of the house."
His hands stilled mid-lens adjustment. The long-lashed camel paused for a few seconds as if thinking, then resumed tightening the lens with slight irritation when the screw wouldn't align. "Emotional manipulation disguises suppression as 'for your own good.' If you take it seriously, you've already lost. The most effective way is to counter-suppress them instead."
"Sounds somewhat unfilial, but when reasoning is impossible, making them doubt themselves isn't so bad."
"If I knew your friend, I could help play the thug and beat up her parents—the kind where we use burlap sacks."
Hu Xiu laughed. "What era is this? Young and Dangerous? Parents still raised us, after all."
"Not everyone deserves to be parents. Know how Northeasterners raise dogs? They feed them leftovers, make them guard the house—no baths or playtime."
"If the dog dies, they toss it in a ditch for 'sky burial' or stew it for meat. Heartless parents raise children similarly."
Diao Zhiyu finally secured the camera and gave Hu Xiu an awkward smile. "Let's begin..."
During work breaks, Hu Xiu secretly checked her video views, delighted even by gaining one follower.
Returning from the convenience store after lunch, she ran into her father—was he still at the hospital?
He seemed to be looking for her too. Anticipating what he might say, she approached him only to hear: "Xiao Pei went abroad? Are you two dating?"
"No..."
"Are you out of your mind? A man this good—you couldn't find another like him if you searched with a lantern."
"Are you determined to follow your mother's example and find some pretty boy? Those young guys will just play around and dump you. Who'd want you at thirty? Don't you know you're already hard to marry off?"
"Why am I hard to marry off...""Just like your mother—useless, confused, and even got your engagement called off. Don’t you know your own worth?"
"And what about you? You’ve been taking care of your teacher in the hospital all this time. The only thing you ever bring up with me is marriage. Am I not your daughter? What about Mom? Just because she cheated once, you’re never going to see her again for the rest of your life?"
"He’s my teacher. I can’t just stand by and do nothing."
"A bedridden teacher is more important to you than we are…"
"Your mother was thrown out and didn’t even have the dignity to stay in Nanjing. You’re alive and well—what is there for me to care about? You’re so thoughtless, even the doctor gave up on you. I pity your misfortune but resent your lack of ambition."She chased after him, watching his hurried figure, and suddenly shouted, 'Dad!""
The man carrying a briefcase turned around, visibly impatient.
"Do you hate women or something?"
Her father stared at her in shock—it was the first time his daughter had ever talked back to him. An electric scooter brushed past him from behind, startling him and adding to his panic.
Hu Xiu mustered her courage: "From today on, I won’t care about you anymore either. I won’t listen to a single word you say—after all, you’re not a good father either!"
The moment she turned to leave, Hu Xiu felt as if a stubborn rock in her chest had shattered—it felt incredibly liberating!
That evening, it was pouring rain. Just as Hu Xiu was about to head to the rehearsal studio with Diao Zhiyu, she received a call from Li Ai—Zhao Xiaorou had gone missing.
Hu Xiu found it a bit strange at first—why was Li Ai suddenly looking for Zhao Xiaorou? She checked the time and remembered: tonight was the Mercedes-Benz event.
At 5 p.m., amid the torrential rain outside, she had vanished.
A sense of unease settled in Hu Xiu’s heart.
The incident started when Zhao Xiaorou and Gong Huaicong dined at a French restaurant in a hotel in Jing’an District—originally as part of a sponsored collaboration. However, out of carelessness, Zhao Xiaorou had casually posted a selfie at noon before the scheduled article release.
Netizens reposted it, questioning its authenticity. Soon after, Zhao Xiaorou’s former assistant, who had recently resigned, published an exposé online, mixing half-truths with fabrications, instantly turning Zhao Xiaorou into a vain, manipulative, and opportunistic Internet celebrity.
Most of the accusations were misinterpretations by former employees—Zhao Xiaorou had always treated her assistant well.
But it was hard to assign blame clearly. Netizens eagerly devoured the gossip: divorce, buying fake followers, falsifying collaborations, exploiting staff… Zhao Xiaorou quickly became infamous.
Zhao Xiaorou had been in the middle of a shoot when Li Ai called, and they ended up arguing on the spot.
Li Ai urged her to return and discuss a strategy—to quickly hire lawyers and PR experts. But Zhao Xiaorou insisted she had done nothing wrong and tried to explain publicly, only fueling the controversy further.
With just ten employees, the team was now in disarray, and some were already looking for an excuse to quit.
Whether Zhao Xiaorou attended the evening event or not, she was bound to face criticism. Li Ai said their first priority was to find her.
"We’ll come right away. If she calls, don’t lose your temper."
"Of course I fucking know that," Li Ai snapped, still on the phone. "I don’t care who she’s dating, but I built this team—I can’t just watch it fall apart."
When they arrived, the office was eerily quiet. Rented in a WeWork space in Changning, close to Minhang, all ten employees looked anxious and unsettled.Some people were on phone calls, while others were arguing with others in the public conference room. Li Ai immediately contacted his lawyer, asking Hu Xiu to gather evidence to refute the false statements and have them notarized. Meanwhile, he went out on crutches to reassure everyone. Dealing with legal provisions daily, he was well-versed in the procedures.
Hu Xiu sat in front of the computer, watching the online insults and curses, feeling as if she were being stabbed repeatedly in the heart.
Zhao Xiaorou had a bad temper, that was true; but she would go to great lengths for her friends, never delayed employees' salaries, and distributed PR gifts to the staff. Occasionally, she might have been harsh at work, but she was never as profit-obsessed as the internet made her out to be.
Gong Huaicong had also become a new target for attacks. The suffering she endured in her marriage had now twisted into the stereotype of a "vicious woman." Even if she returned home glamorous, she was still seen as unwanted and cheap—fortunately, Wang Guangming had divorced her...
Hu Xiu worked silently and diligently, collecting evidence and drafting PR posts. She also took note of any posts with over 20,000 views for potential legal action later.
Such incidents were common in advertising agencies. Although she didn't work in the office, she had heard about them many times in group chats. She had written PR posts before—few copywriters didn't know how to draft press releases.
With fast typing and a clear mind, Hu Xiu never dropped the ball in emergencies.
Li Ai emerged from the conference room, his expression terrifyingly angry: "Any news from her?"
"Not yet."
"The Mercedes event starts at 7:30. I previously took away all her social media passwords. Keep an eye on them—don't let her post anything rash. If she does, delete it immediately." He then ducked back into the conference room.
She wouldn't do that. In fact, she might just want to hide away now. Diao Zhiyu brought over the clothes sent by the stylist: "Where could she be? At this point, the event should be canceled, right?"
In his hands was a little black dress, knee-length and made of satin with a strong drape, adorned with lace around the shoulders.
There was a Korean movie called My Black Mini Dress a while back. Back then, Zhao Xiaorou had just met Hu Xiu and two other Lee Donghae fans, and they vowed to be sisters for life, pushing each other's wheelchairs in the nursing home. Now, only two of them remained.
Hu Xiu thought for a moment and said quietly, "Please take these clothes and the makeup bag to a location. The makeup artist can't go now. I'll call Zhao Xiaorou—she'll definitely answer."
The address was a hotel next to the Mercedes-Benz Arena. She would definitely go to this event because Super Junior held a concert here in 2015, and she had always been loyal.
Zhao Xiaorou had a private number. She wouldn't answer Li Ai's calls, but she would answer Hu Xiu's—a tacit understanding born of their ten-year friendship: they would never abandon each other.
"Hello?"
"Zhao Xiaorou, are you at the Mercedes-Benz Arena?"
"Yes. But don't come over. I don't want to see anyone."
"Annoyed, huh? The life of an Internet celebrity."
"I don't know what to do. I can't feel happiness anymore. But that's not the important part—Gong Huaicong just posted on Weibo saying he broke up with me. Throwing stones when I'm down, typical of him."
"Go to the event, Zhao Xiaorou."
"Are you kidding? I just got dumped, and now I have to see Wang Guangming?""Don't hide. If you don't step forward to explain now, you'll be chased with criticism. The optimal PR window is four to eight hours. You personally appearing will have the best effect. We'll arrange follow-up press releases - you just need to show up."
"I don't know what to say."
"Don't admit guilt. Maintain that you're innocent and that you've been good to everyone. Apologize about the photos since they leaked collaboration timing. But express your happy cooperation with the hotel in good faith, saying the deception was unintentional.
About relationship matters - no comment, but confirm you were dumped and are heartbroken, that's it. I'll draft specific talking points for you. If necessary, memorize them."
"I didn't bring clothes."
"Diao Zhiyu is on his way. Do your own makeup - no makeup artists available at this critical moment."
"Hu Xiu..."
"Yes?"
"How can you stay so clear-headed at times like this?"
"Because I'm used to it. My life has been all low points." Hu Xiu actually laughed at this point - acting classes proved useful as she played the part of a media professional who, though new to the industry, could withstand pressure.
"Superhero Ms. Hu, what would I do without you?"
"Probably grow old alone. Heartbreak and criticism are small matters - endure them. You still need to make my oatmeal at the nursing home someday."
"Alright, I'll go. But I won't bring this phone, only my work one. After this, I need to go to Gong Huaicong's place - this matter can't end like this.
As for the team... leave it to Li Ai. I don't know what to say to him now, no standing to apologize."
Before Hu Xiu could persuade her otherwise, she hurriedly hung up.
An hour and a half later, Zhao Xiaorou appeared at the Mercedes event despite being late. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, unconcealable by concealer and foundation - perhaps for the best, since heartbreak should be visible.
At this car brand event themed around women, all present were female leads, with men appearing as occasional decorations.
Wang Guangming, dragged into this online storm, preserved their former marital courtesy by smiling and declining interviews when questioned at the event.
From Diao Zhiyu's frontline WeChat updates: temporarily all peaceful, though Zhao Xiaorou faced countless camera shutters and stares with no time for touch-ups.
Hu Xiu worked nonstop in the office, drafting a Weibo post and publishing it through Zhao's account: "Since becoming a public figure, I've always demanded myself to present the best version - well-dressed with flawless makeup, busy yet fulfilling business trips and events. My best condition is my reward to audiences and readers.
But truthfully, this is a relatively cruel profession where pressure remains with oneself. Most communications can't happen face-to-face, leading to many misunderstandings and occasional information misinterpretations.
Being an internet influencer brings me joy alongside exhaustion, but regarding my staff, I have a clear conscience.
As for relationships, I might just be someone not very bright, prone to blind devotion. Yet in every relationship, I've given my most sincere heart.
Goodbye Gong Huaicong. Though you ended things first, I remain grateful for our happy time together.
Please don't overly criticize women who've married and divorced. Marriage involves two people - don't redefine me as villainous based on one-sided narratives. Thank you all for your understanding."After sending it, Li Ai stormed out of the meeting room in frustration: "I told her not to speak!"
"I was the one who sent it..."
Li Ai furrowed his brows, opened the notification and read it carefully before putting away his anger: "Good thing it was you. I always said you're someone who rises to the occasion in a crisis, and I was right."
On Hu Xiu's phone was a photo of Diao Zhiyu sent by Zhao Xiaorou. After delivering the evening gown, Diao Zhiyu had stayed behind, worried that Zhao Xiaorou might be cornered. He was captured by Mercedes' camera and even had a business card pressed into his hand by an art film director present at the scene.
In the photo, he was completely drenched, his hair slicked back to reveal a well-shaped skull and hairline—flawless and photogenic from every angle.
Sitting in her office, she felt her brilliant mind and this handsome, long-legged guy were a perfect match.
Limited Edition Acting Masterclass, Lesson Two:
Once you have faith in your Role, use your persona to convince everyone;
PUA is about suppressing you under the guise of caring—if you take it seriously, you lose. The most effective way is to turn the tables and suppress the other party instead. Though not advisable, it works; the golden window for emergency PR is four to eight hours. Explaining things personally is more useful than anything else. The so-called backup means promptly helping friends clean up the battlefield; heroine means girls can be someone's superhero too...
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