Where Am I?

[From a promising entertainment industry rising star to dying desolately in a rented room, it only took Si You a short two years, and no matter what he did, Shen Chuan wouldn't love him--]

Huh???

When this plot popped up in his mind, Si You thought his little assistant Bai Tian had been playing too many melodramatic audiobooks, causing him to be influenced, as there was no other way to explain it.

"Si You, get up right now! If you want to die, don't die here!" A man's impatient voice blasted by his ear as the other person forcefully pulled open the curtains, the glaring light making the exhausted person feel instantly uncomfortable.

"You're dead." Si You muttered.

Zheng Hao turned around in astonishment, the disdain on his face not yet dissipating: "What did you say?"

Si You sat up, startled at first, then blankly swept his gaze around, lingering for a moment on Zheng Hao's obviously hormone-imbalanced face before finally uttering a question from the depths of his soul: Where is this? Who is that?

Wasn't he resting at home after finishing three consecutive months of filming? Yet the small apartment before his eyes was utterly unfamiliar, with clothes and trash all over the floor.

As pieces of information frantically flooded into his mind, Si You rubbed his temples with a pale face while forcing himself to slowly accept a reality--he had inexplicably time-traveled.

The owner of this body shared his exact name and was also a member of the entertainment industry, soaring through a rookie audition and garnering a batch of fans. He originally had a bright future, only to sprout a love-struck brain halfway through.

Under the company's arrangement, the original owner participated in a dating reality show called Spring Heartbeat and fell in love at first sight with the popular actor Shen Chuan. Note this: Shen Chuan was a "popular actor" rather than a mere idol celebrity, meaning he had real skill, and the few works he participated in carried high prestige. His fans were proud of this and rarely backed down in fan wars within the circle.

Consequently, the original owner embarked on a series of shameless clinging behaviors.

He really did cling shamelessly, his eyes practically glued to Shen Chuan under the cameras, serving tea and water in an eye-catching manner, and initiating physical contact with Shen Chuan from time to time. Regardless of gender, this kind of boundary-crossing behavior amounted to harassment.

Shen Chuan's fans managed to hold back their anger at first, treating it as an overexcited fanboy seeing his idol. But when the first week of filming ended, at the celebration banquet with the entire director's team and guests, the original owner drunkenly rushed into the dance floor and tried to forcefully kiss Shen Chuan. This was clearly filmed and posted online, and unsurprisingly, Shen Chuan's fans completely exploded.

The original owner's Weibo was overrun overnight.

His dark history from his trainee days was dug up wholesale along with it. In short, his character did not match his position, and all the way through he relied on playing the victim and acting naive, crying in front of the camera and saying, "Because of preparations for this show, I missed my grandfather's funeral"—when in fact his grandfather had been gone for over ten years.

What the fuck...

Si You was baffled by this bizarre operation that shouldn't have happened under any circumstances.

Si You knew very well how deep the entertainment industry was; the original owner's actions could be described as "cutting off his own retreat."

Looking at the nearly carnivorous insults on Weibo, the original owner panicked and wanted to beg the company for help, but the result he got was that the company packaged and sold him to the industry leader New Victory Media.

Such monstrous waves could not be solved by a small company like his former agency.

To be sold was equivalent to being abandoned. Shen Chuan had already announced his withdrawal from recording, making it clear he was breaking ties with the original owner, and the original owner's pathetic amount of fans had all drained away through repeated wearing down. New Victory Media took in the original owner at this juncture precisely for a one-time use, to build momentum for the second season of Spring Heartbeat and make him the outlet for the audience and fans' pent-up hostility.

Si You slowly blinked, making sure he wasn't dreaming.

How absurd...

After his new drama aired, he most likely would have clinched the Dawn Award, becoming the youngest Grand Slam Best Actor in film history. Yet upon opening his eyes, he couldn't even say he was back to square one; he had been cast into the abyss!

"Got a cigarette?" Si You asked. Just waking up, his voice was hoarse and his double eyelids had turned into singles, but his gaze dropped downward, looking cold and indifferent. The previous timidity and melancholy had completely vanished.

Zheng Hao had never seen this kind of expression on Si You's face; he was practically a different person.

Then Zheng Hao reacted, letting out a soft sneer, "A cigarette? You still have the face to smoke? You ruined everything!"

"Fine." Si You suppressed his anger, thinking of his current predicament—the saying goes that one must bow their head under someone else's roof—"You want me to move out, right?"

"What else?" Zheng Hao stared wide-eyed, "You've already terminated your contract with the company, how much longer do you plan to freeload? If you have nowhere to live, ask Xinsheng for it!"

The entertainment industry was best at buttering up the high and trampling the low. Furthermore, because of Si You, the company's Weibo and private messages had all exploded recently, and even the stock price had dropped. Naturally, Zheng Hao wouldn't give him a pleasant expression.

Zheng Hao waited to see Si You's eyes well up with tears, but instead, the person nodded lightly, "By tomorrow at the latest, I'll move out."

"Fine, I'll come check the apartment tomorrow, roll out of here fast!" Zheng Hao said and left. Just as he reached the door, he suddenly heard the person behind him say, "When I get famous in the future, will you regret your attitude today?"

Zheng Hao lost his facial expression control yet again, and he sincerely advised Si You: "Don't go crazy from your anti-fans' insults; take some time to go to the hospital and check your brain."

Si You smiled: "Definitely."

Zheng Hao inexplicably felt his spine tingle and didn't dare stay a moment longer.

After Zheng Hao left, Si You grabbed his phone immediately, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and checked his financial situation. For a few seconds, Si You didn't move.

Thirteen thousand... the total assets of a once moderately popular minor traffic star. Si You hadn't experienced what it felt like to be strapped for cash in a long time. He currently had no income; the money from the original owner's last recording was confiscated by the company, and it seemed they had no intention of giving it back, especially since the current Si You was someone everyone could step on.

Si You had experienced countless rises and falls, and it wasn't like he couldn't start over from scratch, but dropping him straight into the newbie village was a bit too much, right?

Yet the current situation didn't allow him to delay any longer.

Dragging his exhausted body down from bed, he had no idea how long the original owner hadn't slept, and he obviously hadn't eaten properly either. Si You stepped over the trash into the kitchen and opened the fridge: two eggs and a bundle of green vegetables, while the rest of the ingredients had rotted. Finding some dried noodles, he put the water on to boil first, then went to the bathroom to wash up.

The person in the mirror bore a ninety-percent resemblance to himself: pale skin, but delicate facial features, especially the pair of eyebrows and eyes with the outer corners gently upturned. With even a slight smile, it exuded disdain and mockery, an extremely aggressive appearance. However, the original owner hadn't utilized it well; he was used to acting naive in front of the cameras with an oily, greasy look, creating massive dissonance that earned him virtually zero public favor.

"Foolish." Si You shook his head gently and scooped up a handful of clear water to splash on his face.

After washing up, his energy recovered a bit. Si You fried an egg, mixed it into the noodles, and braved the heat to wolf it down in no time. Once his stomach was full, he pulled over a stool to sit down and began browsing for apartments on an app.

It couldn't be too remote, or every trip out would feel like a pilgrimage, but he couldn't afford an expensive one either. After searching for half an hour, Si You finally set his sights on one he liked: a studio with one bathroom. Though small in area, it had convenient transportation, and judging by the photos, it was very clean. A deposit of one month plus three months' rent came out to two thousand yuan a month, which he could afford.