Chapter 140

Jiang Yinsheng's existence was somewhat special to Jun Zishu.

She had abruptly intruded on her life, told her some things, and left just as suddenly as she appeared.

Although Jun Zishu didn't feel an intense heartache, a sense of powerlessness filled her. It felt as if her body had been drained of strength, and she couldn't muster the energy to do anything.

Even so, Jun Zishu still needed to cheer up in front of others. Nobody knew that Jiang Yinsheng had ever existed in her world. This was a sadness that she needed to confront by herself.

Little Fairy didn't know how to help Jun Zishu out of this gloomy state. The only thing she could do was try her best to make her host laugh.

It was a good thing that Little Fairy was present. At the very least, Jun Zishu could rest assured that she didn't hallucinate the little ghost's existence.

…

The third case was a home invasion and robbery, and Jun Zishu caught the killer without much effort.

After completing her mission, Jun Zishu chose to leave the mission world immediately. This wasn't her original world, and there was no reason for her to stay here.

After exiting the transit space, Jun Zishu chose not to head to the Emotion Separation Division for the first time. She didn't wish to forget about the cute and sweet little ghost that had done her best to accompany her. She didn't wish to forget about the self-discoveries she made, either.

When a beep came from her wristwatch indicating that her pay had been credited into her account, Jun Zishu only glanced at it before throwing herself onto the bed. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep.

Thus, after switching her virtual window to display rainy weather, Jun Zishu fell asleep amidst the sound of falling rain.

Jun Zishu seemed to have experienced a dream, but she couldn't remember what she dreamed about when she opened her eyes again. And despite having slept for many hours, an inexplicable sense of exhaustion enveloped her.

After having a meal and watching a movie at the cinema, though, this empty and unsettling feeling got better. No matter what had happened, life must go on. After all, she had promised the little ghost to live happily.

After spending some days sorting out her mental state, Jun Zishu returned to the transit space once more.

"Host! Host!"

Little Fairy had done almost nothing in the previous mission world. She had also hardly spoken throughout the entire mission, so she couldn't help but feel a little lonely. Thus, after seeing Jun Zishu again, she promptly pounced on her host in excitement.

"Mhm."

Jun Zishu squeezed the little sprite's body and held her in her hands. Little Fairy was quite pretty. The fluttering wings on her back were especially beautiful, and they even radiated a faint glow.

"Let's head to the next world now!" Little Fairy said eagerly.

"What division are we working with this time?"

"The Anti-Stand-in Division."

"Oh?"

Jun Zishu raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat curious.

"In the case of the Stand-in Division, you will play the role of the stand-in and remove the male lead's Juliet, taking their place. In the Anti-Stand-in Division, your job is to send the scummy male lead flying, making sure he doesn't get together with anyone."

"Got it."

Jun Zishu promptly understood the goal of her mission, and she found that it was quite an interesting concept.

Had she been assigned to the Stand-in Division, she would've definitely refused to take the mission. However, the Anti-Stand-in Division sounded like an interesting place to work at.

"Let's go, Host!"

"Okay."

…

A torrent of memories flooded Jun Zishu's mind when she arrived in the new world. Meanwhile, accompanying these memories was the complete version of this world's story.

Previously, in every world Jun Zishu visited, she would either take on the role of cannon fodder or a passerby. This time, though, she would be taking on one of the story's main roles.

Every cheesy stand-in story would have three core components: the stand-in, the scumbag male lead, and the male lead's Juliet.

Of course, by design, the stand-in was the story's protagonist, the scumbag male lead was a man who held a deep affection for the protagonist, and the male lead's Juliet was the homewrecker.

This world's story was similar in this regard.

The original owner of Jun Zishu's current body was an actor. She had terrible acting skills and was labeled as nothing more than eye candy. She was a very hard worker, though.

The original owner's appearance looked very similar to the Film Empress Yu Fanshu, which led her to receive the nickname of "Little Yu Fanshu."

Yu Fanshu was a legend in the entertainment industry. Even though she had only acted in three films and sang one song thus far, her popularity had reached unbelievable levels.

Unfortunately, Yu Fanshu had an unhealthy body, and her time in the entertainment industry was fleeting. After filming her third film, she vanished from the industry, never to be heard from again.

With the original owner's face, she could've capitalized on Yu Fanshu's fame and become popular in no time.

Unfortunately, the similarities between the original owner and Yu Fanshu ended there. In terms of temperament and acting skills, the original owner couldn't hold a candle to the Film Empress at all. As a result, the audience the original owner attracted was hugely disappointed, and many had become anti-fans.

There was a saying in the entertainment industry that there was no such thing as bad publicity. If used properly, one could still make great achievements while harboring great infamy. Unfortunately, the resistance from the audience was too great, so much so that few companies were willing to offer the original owner any jobs. The original owner's production agency was also a blood-sucking vampire, so the original owner had hardly any money to her name despite her "popularity" in the entertainment industry.

To make matters worse, the original owner's mother suddenly collapsed one day, and it was later discovered that she had a tumor in her brain.

The original owner had practically fallen into despair because of this situation. At this time, though, a man had appeared in her life stating that he would become her sponsor.

With her career showing no signs of making a turnabout, the original owner was left with no choice but to accept the man's offer, thus began her life with her sponsor.

After the original owner's mother's condition stabilized, the original owner sought a teacher to hone her acting skills. Then, once she gained her teacher's recognition, her sponsor helped her make a comeback in the entertainment industry.

Afterward, everything was smooth-sailing for the original owner, and her reputation in the entertainment industry rose continuously. Meanwhile, because of all the help she received, the original owner had inevitably fallen in love with her sponsor.

However, before the original owner could win her sponsor's heart, the Film Empress Yu Fanshu suddenly returned one day, which led to the original owner discovering that her sponsor had been using her as a mere substitute all this time.

Jun Zishu briefly skimmed through the emotional entanglements that happened afterward. The general outline of the plot was that the original owner had been hurt very badly, suffering both emotional and physical abuse. Then, after omitting 200,000 words' worth of plot, the original owner's sponsor came to his senses and realized who he really loved(the original owner). Happy End.

Jun Zishu couldn't help but massage her eyebrows after reading the entire story.

This was a really cheesy and ironic story. If they removed the so-called "true love" from the story, the reason why the original owner was able to get "sponsored" in the first place was because of her face. If her face didn't look like Yu Fanshu's, she would've never had any opportunities to come into contact with her sponsor at all.

Jun Zishu didn't like the original owner very much. She felt that the original owner was dumb and overly emotional.

[Host, our mission goal is to leave the scumbag male lead crying in a corner all by himself and adamantly refuse to become a stand-in!]

Little Fairy said with great enthusiasm.

The scumbag male lead's behavior had been disgusting from the very beginning. After all, not only did he treat the original owner as a substitute, but he was also an incredibly self-centered person.

Right now, Jun Zishu could only celebrate the fact that she had arrived before the main plot had begun.

Currently, she was sitting in a hospital ward holding onto her phone. She had just ended a call from her future sponsor, a.k.a. the scumbag male lead.

The scumbag was called Yan Jue, and he was your standard domineering CEO.

Yan Jue had invited her to meet for a face-to-face discussion.

The woman on the hospital bed was still asleep. Although her face held traces of aging, she still looked beautiful nonetheless.

The original owner grew up in a single-parent family, so her mother was very important to her.

After sieving through her memories, Jun Zishu went to the ward's restroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Although the person in the mirror looked beautiful, she had a somewhat haggard look. Her skin was also in bad shape, probably because she hadn't been in the mood to take care of it the past few days.

The original owner's name was Jun Ling. Despite having such a domineering name, the original owner was a very soft and gentle person.[1]

After washing her face, Jun Zishu pulled out her phone and searched for information relating to the original owner.

Netizens had published many clips of the original owner's acting on the internet. After watching a few of these clips, even Jun Zishu couldn't bring herself to continue watching the awkward and spiritless acting. Although the original owner would later reverse her situation by relying on her efforts, her current acting skills were still amateur-level.

Afterward, Jun Zishu changed her search criteria to Yu Fanshu and got many results. Then, she watched a few of Yu Fanshu's iconic clips and finally understood why netizens would lambast the original owner to such an extent.

Despite having a similar face, the original owner lacked the acting skills to match Yu Fanshu.

Yu Fanshu had acted in three films, playing the role of a saint, a demon, and a spirit, respectively. She had played all three roles to utter perfection.

After watching the clips, Jun Zishu couldn't help but admire Yu Fanshu's acting skills. She also had to admit that there were indeed some people who were born to become actors.

The reason for this was because of Yu Fanshu's temperament. Not only did she give off the impression of a lofty and ethereal being, but perhaps because of her sickly body, she also gave off the feeling of someone with an unbending will. Anyone who saw her would find their eyes inadvertently stopping on her.

Whether in terms of acting skills or natural disposition, the original owner was far inferior to Yu Fanshu. The gap between them was akin to the distance between the Mariana Trench and Mount Everest.

In front of a true gem, nobody could bring themselves to look at an ordinary pebble.

At this time, Jun Zishu's personal assistant, Chenzi, walked into the ward and handed Jun Zishu a hot cup of soy milk and said, "Warm up your stomach with this, Big Sis Jun."

Chenzi felt very sorry for her Big Sis Jun. It couldn't be helped that her Big Sis Jun had terrible acting skills. Her Big Sis Jun had been working very hard to develop her skills. Unfortunately, her Big Sis Jun's efforts yielded little results. To make matters worse, her Big Sis Jun even had to deal with the current situation. Her Big Sis Jun was truly pitiful.

"Get my makeup bag for me, Chenzi."

"Did you receive an advertisement job?"

"No."

Chenzi couldn't help but feel a little strange as she took out the makeup bag from the suitcase and handed it to Jun Zishu. She felt that her Big Sis Jun was…a little too calm.

Previously, when Chenzi left to buy soy milk, Jun Zishu was still in tears. Yet, after only a few minutes had passed, Jun Zishu had sorted out her mood.

Adversity truly does make people grow, Chen Zi thought, chalking up Jun Zishu's change to the series of misfortunes she had experienced.

Meanwhile, after receiving the makeup bag, Jun Zishu started giving herself a more spirited look.

In the original storyline, the original owner had worn her haggard face to meet with Yan Jue. It just so happened that this haggard appearance made the original owner look even more like Yu Fanshu. So, upon seeing the original owner, Yan Jue had immediately decided to "sponsor" her.

Jun Zishu did not want that to happen, so she naturally had to make herself look more spirited.

Fortunately, the original owner had learned how to do makeup on her own after suffering a few mishaps before. So, Jun Zishu didn't have any trouble doing her own makeup. By the time she was done, the only signs of her haggardness that remained were her slightly reddened eyes.

Afterward, Jun Zishu packed up the makeup bag and passed it back to Chenzi.

"I'm going out for a bit, so help me take care of my mother, Chenzi."

"Where are you going, Big Sis Jun?"

Chenzi's heart thumped with a bad premonition. Although her Big Sis Jun's acting skills were terrible, she didn't get nicknamed Eye Candy for no reason. Her Big Sis Jun was very beautiful, and there were tons of people trying to turn her into their mistress. Although her Big Sis Jun had always rejected such offers thus far, with her Big Sis Jun's current situation… There was no saying what her Big Sis Jun would do.

"I'm going to go and borrow money," Jun Zishu said, her eyes shifting to her unconscious mother. Then, she looked at Chenzi with a consoling gaze and said, "Don't worry. I won't do anything stupid."

While she refused to become a substitute, she still needed the money.

…

TL Notes:

[1]Jun Ling(君凌): The word 凌(líng) can be interpreted as 'violate' 侵犯. I'm not sure why it is considered a domineering name, but it definitely isn't a gentle name.