Chapter Forty: Natural Acting, the Essence of Reality Shows

With rewards laid out before her, Bai Ling naturally saw no reason to hesitate. Heart pounding with excitement, she opened the mystery box.

Three swift movements—golden legend!

Just the flash of golden light was enough for Bai Ling to be certain the box held something good.

“Congratulations, host, you have gained +10 to line delivery!”

“Congratulations, host, you have gained +10 to micro-expression ability!”

The first two rewards appeared, and Bai Ling’s excitement was immediately halved.

“Why are these all about acting?”

Though Bai Ling’s career in entertainment was progressing smoothly now, she knew well enough that no matter how things went, it was nearly impossible for her to transition from a singing-dancing idol to a true actress.

Unlike some of her “predecessors,” Bai Ling possessed a clear sense of self-awareness. With her acting skills hardly remarkable, forcing a debut as an actress would only give people more reason to mock her.

She had the money in hand, but it burned hot to the touch.

Still, since these attributes came for free, perhaps her future held possibilities.

Bai Ling’s greatest asset was always her appearance. Her talent as a decorative “flower vase” shouldn’t go to waste, after all.

As for the third mystery box reward, Bai Ling could only await it with faint hope.

“Congratulations, host, you have acquired an acting buff—Absolutely Not Over-the-Top!”

Another acting bonus?

Bai Ling felt a pang of discomfort.

“Come on, system, are you trying to hint something to me?”

She suspected the system was up to something.

“Acting isn’t impossible, but if you give me a few more super bonuses and max out my skill, then maybe I’ll give it a try.”

“If not, it’s out of the question!”

Her gaze flickered, arms crossed, radiating cool aloofness.

Unfortunately, the system gave no response for ages.

“Boring.”

She had hoped the system would take a more proactive approach.

In truth, the system’s third reward was quite impressive.

An acting buff—on par with her previously acquired special skill, Sword Dance. With this buff, Bai Ling’s performances would never be excessively exaggerated.

This, in fact, was the common pitfall of those whose acting skills were poor but who desperately wanted to act. Lacking professional training, they instinctively relied on clichéd, formulaic emotional expressions. The result was all too familiar: wild, frantic facial movements and features contorted out of shape. Sometimes, they’d even mime “thinking,” pressing a finger to their chin and humming aimlessly.

Naturally, when confronted, such people would retort, “Why wouldn’t it count?” But deep down, do they not know their own acting is subpar?

With this buff, Bai Ling no longer had to worry. If she attempted a performance, it would come across as perfectly natural. To achieve that alone already placed her far ahead of most.

Still, it remained true: Bai Ling had no intention of acting in dramas or films any time soon. That, for her, would be a monumental challenge with too high a risk of failure.

Of course, these three rewards were not entirely useless. Even in everyday life, acting skills could be employed. For instance, before Wen Yan, Bai Ling could easily disguise herself.

“That’s enough for now—these rewards are better than nothing,” Bai Ling sighed, then finished washing up and went to bed to preserve her beauty.

Over the next few days, Ge Fenfen did not come looking for Bai Ling. In order to launch the song online, a great deal of preparation was required. Ge Fenfen had to negotiate promotional resources with major platforms and discuss revenue sharing.

This should have been a drawn-out battle, but thanks to the backing of Spring Autumn Company and Bai Ling’s previous hit “Under the Sea,” which had gone viral and made her famous, Ge Fenfen’s work progressed astonishingly smoothly.

Just before Bai Ling was set to depart for the recording of “Come Celebrate New Year at My Home,” Ge Fenfen finally brought good news.

All negotiations were settled.

The song would soon be released online.

Bai Ling was quite looking forward to this. If its performance was outstanding after launch, she could expect a tidy sum of money.

Though lazy and indifferent, Bai Ling never had any quarrel with money.

However, even with everything settled, the song’s release would take a few more days, and revenue distribution would take even longer.

So, Bai Ling’s attention shifted temporarily to the upcoming variety show.

It wasn’t her first time on a variety program. Excluding the previous Girl Group Rally, Bai Ling had participated in three or four such shows.

But all her past appearances had been on girl group–themed programs; in fact, it was through such shows that she was noticed by Starshine and became a signed artist.

Unfortunately, Bai Ling had no real skills back then. Aside from her stunning looks, she was good for nothing—and lacked connections.

So, she could only serve as background decoration in those shows. Not tragic, just dull and tedious.

It was only with Girl Group Rally that she gained more exposure and tasks.

But slow-paced lifestyle variety shows were quite different from girl group programs. Bai Ling knew little about them.

To ensure she wouldn’t be lost and clueless, as she had been before, Miao Miao accompanied Bai Ling on the flight to the city where the show would be recorded, bringing a complete plan to explain things to her.

“Sister Bai, most slow-paced lifestyle shows use both live streaming and recorded segments,” Miao Miao began. “Live streaming helps build hype and generate buzz; meanwhile, the recording sessions are lengthy, sometimes lasting all day or several days.”

“There’s too much content to cram into the hour-long final program.”

“So, live streaming is necessary to distribute part of the content.”

“Do you know what this means?”

Bai Ling shook her head. “What does it mean?”

Miao Miao answered, “Sister Bai, it means you need to maintain your image at all times.”

“No sloppiness, no vulgarity, no breaking character, no—”

“If something goes wrong during the live stream, it can’t be undone.”

Miao Miao rattled off so many don’ts that Bai Ling’s head began to swim.

“Authenticity, right? I get it.”

“But I have nothing to hide. Am I sloppy? Vulgar?”

Miao Miao paused, exchanging a glance with Sister Ge. They weren’t worried about those things, but Bai Ling was simply too laissez-faire.

They were concerned her attitude might cause trouble.