Chapter Eighty-Eight: A Shoddy Money-Grabbing Work?

Although something about it still felt a little off, this was already the best possible outcome.

Even Bai Ling had not expected her life to soar to the clouds one moment and plunge into the abyss the next.

“The entertainment world really is a perilous place.”

“Even the hottest star can suddenly go cold.”

“Then again, other people go cold because their image collapses. My foundation is rock solid, and I can still go cold? That is honestly a bit excessive.”

She had already done all the promotional work she could.

From here on, all she could do was wait for the storm to break.

She even went into the fan group herself, lurking and chiming in from time to time.

Her whole approach was simply to keep her fans company.

Two days passed like this.

What left Bai Ling quite helpless was that, while filming, the system gave her a blind box every day.

The reason was that she was finishing her scenes too quickly and had not been trying hard enough, so she could only receive blind-box rewards.

Bai Ling did not care much about that.

She had long since grown used to the system’s twisted nature. It called them blind boxes, but every time they turned out to be a big surprise.

Unfortunately, this time her hopes came to nothing.

By some strange law of fortune and misfortune, the blind-box rewards accumulated over those days of filming all yielded the same thing: an acting ability plus one bonus, which was practically useless.

By the later days, Bai Ling could not even be bothered to open the blind boxes anymore.

And now, her situation had become increasingly awkward. It was not exactly a ban, but it was little different from being left to die by slow degrees.

Yet the system still only gave her two blind boxes.

The reason was: the host had not struggled against fate with enough effort, so only blind-box rewards were available.

Bai Ling was almost amused into anger.

“This doesn’t count as struggling against fate? What am I supposed to do, stand in the middle of the road shouting that I’m wronged and innocent before it counts?”

She complained bitterly about the heartless system, then opened the two blind boxes.

“Congratulations, host. You have obtained one Classic Song Selection Card!”

“Congratulations, host. You have obtained one Perfect Live Performance Card!”

In an instant, two beams of golden light nearly blinded Bai Ling’s eyes.

At once, Bai Ling said without the slightest hesitation, “I’m sorry. Calling you a dog system just now was my mistake. I was wrong.”

“Though I’d still dare to do it next time, this time you really are my dearest, most darling, most precious good little system. Mwah!”

Compared with the earlier acting ability plus one, this reward was downright luxurious.

First was the Classic Song Selection Card. This reward was practically a veteran; Bai Ling had used it twice already.

It had brought her two highly famous signature works.

Even now that her reputation and public appeal had collapsed, they were still continuously generating copyright fees for her.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that these two songs alone could support her in old age.

Just this reward had already made Bai Ling very happy.

Even if she were blacklisted in the future, she could still create a good song and sell it to singers. How could that not be appealing?

When it came to her little wallet, Bai Ling was always very serious.

Naturally, the “dog system” became her “good little treasure.”

As for the Perfect Live Performance Card, it was a universal item that could be used either for a live stage performance or for ordinary acting and filming.

Once activated, no matter what Bai Ling’s condition was, she could deliver an almost flawless performance.

It was useful, certainly, but for Bai Ling, it was not as cost-effective as the previous reward.

Still, to obtain such a reward in a situation where she could hardly do anything at all, Bai Ling was already very satisfied.

That night, Ouyang called to say that all of the Crown Princess’s scenes had been filmed, and only a bit of post-production and editing remained.

Roughly three days later, the drama could be released on streaming platforms.

When Bai Ling heard this, she froze.

“So much raw footage, and you’re going to finish editing it in three days? Are you insane? Don’t you want to live?”

Ouyang laughed. “I’ve already prepared two crates of Red Bull. Don’t worry, no problem!”

“Bai Ling, relax. In the end, this industry still speaks with strength. I believe in your ability, and I believe this drama can help you turn things around.”

“I won’t say more—I’ve got to get back to work. You can start promoting it now. In three days, it will definitely be online!”

With that, Ouyang hung up.

And Bai Ling fell silent.

To be honest, she still held some misgivings about Ouyang Ruofeng and Zhuge Ming.

After all, they were devoted sycophants of Wen Yan in Embroidered Splendor.

Bai Ling had always felt that maintaining some sort of connection with them was quite necessary.

But as the saying went, adversity reveals the true heart.

Ouyang was still pretty decent.

Since he was working so hard, Bai Ling naturally had to promote properly as well.

So over the next few days, she kept up the publicity effort, coordinating with the materials the production team provided and posting them together with the official account of the Crown Princess.

The release date was set for three days later.

Of course, the result was entirely predictable. Both Bai Ling’s personal account and the official account were hit hard.

The enthusiasm of ordinary onlookers had already begun to fade, yet the paid trolls remained tireless.

It looked as though they would not stop until they drove Bai Ling out of the industry.

From this situation, Bai Ling could almost confirm that it was very likely that the mastermind was Wen Yan’s so-called good father, who had not yet reunited with his daughter but was determined to become a doting father to her.

In Embroidered Splendor, he was a towering figure, rich and powerful, with formidable backing.

Though he had never given the heroine fatherly love in the past, after recognizing her he had quietly cleared away obstacles for her behind the scenes.

If nothing unexpected happened, Bai Ling had probably already been placed on this “obstacle” list by that good father.

But Bai Ling could not do anything about such a big shot. She could only focus on her own little patch of land.

Her personal account had almost completely fallen under siege; apart from trolls, there was nothing but trolls.

Even her real fans were only active inside the fan groups.

However, under the official account of the Crown Princess, things were much more mixed, and far livelier.

“The Crown Princess is obviously cheap and shoddy.”

“Exactly. The costumes, props, makeup, and set design all feel really awkward.”

“Has filming even been going on for a month? And it’s already coming out?”

“Maybe they think Bai Ling is about to go cold, so they’re rushing to release it while there’s still time, trying to squeeze one last wave of fan money.”

“That seems very possible!”

“So insincere. What a garbage production team. Filming for only one month?”

“I heard it’s a drama with more than thirty episodes, too. One episode filmed per day?”

“Ouyang Ruofeng, to be able to run with Bai Ling, he clearly isn’t any good either.”

“Damn, it’s fine for you to attack Bai Ling, but why are you attacking our Brother Feng now?”

“Fans of Ouyang Ruofeng, huh? Don’t tell me you’re as blind as Bai Ling’s fans, hahaha!”

“What’s wrong with criticizing Ouyang Ruofeng? Isn’t he the director of this show? Without his help, how could Bai Ling act?”

“Boycott it, firmly. Don’t bring this trash to insult our eyes.”

“Heh, calling it a cash-grab project made for fans over and over, and now suddenly it’s insulting your eyes? Are you even a fan? Are you worthy of being one?”