Rong Meili sat alone, enveloped in a deafening silence, as she watched some dramas on her TV. The only sound was the faint murmurs of the actors on screen. Suddenly, she heard a blood-curdling scream coming from her neighbor's apartment. Her heart skipped a beat, and she felt a chill run down her spine. She knitted her brows, but she didn't get up to investigate the noise. She knew it wasn't her problem, and she didn't want to get involved.
She sank deeper into the couch, her long legs stretched out in front of her. Her hair was messily tied up in a bun, and her face was devoid of any makeup. Rong Meili was dressed in a baggy t-shirt and shorts, making her look like she had just rolled out of bed. She felt a deep sense of sadness and emptiness that she could not shake off.
As she lay there on the sofa, Rong Meili couldn't help but think about the upcoming movie shoot she had scheduled for today. She had been dreading it all week, and the thought of having to work with the director who had been causing her so much stress made her stomach turn. She felt trapped, like a bird in a cage, with no way out.
She thought about all the times he had criticized her performance, and the way he had spoken to her in front of the rest of the crew. It was humiliating, and she couldn't stand the thought of having to go through it all again. She felt like a failure, like she wasn't good enough, and that she would never be able to meet his expectations.
She reached for her phone and scrolled through her messages, hoping to find a way out of the shoot. But there was nothing there, no excuse she could use that wouldn't sound suspicious or unprofessional. She felt hopeless, like there was no escape from the agony of her life.
She let out a heavy sigh and leaned her head back against the cushion. Maybe she could just call in sick, or pretend to have an emergency. But she knew that wouldn't solve anything in the long run. She was trapped in this endless cycle of pain and despair, with no end in sight.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she barely noticed when the commotion outside her apartment stopped. It was only when her phone rang that she jolted back to reality, startled by the sudden noise. Her heart sank as she answered the call, knowing that it was just another reminder of the bleak reality of her life.
Rong Meili answered the call, and it was her agent on the other end. The agent's voice was grating, and her words felt like a slap in the face. She listened to her tonight's arrangement, her heart sinking with each passing moment. The agent ended the call with a sickeningly sweet tone, leaving Rong Meili with an ugly expression on her face.
She felt like a puppet, controlled by the fat pig of a director who had been hounding her for weeks. He had demanded her presence at a hotel, sending her the address as if she was nothing more than his plaything. Rong Meili had worked hard to get where she was, coming from a small town and working her way up to some casual dramas and shows. But soon, she had been met with the vicious plot of the entertainment industry.
These bastards would let you shine, enjoy the stardom, get addicted to it, and right when you were starting to enjoy the life, they would stop giving you roles. It was a cruel world, where fame and fortune came at a steep price. Most civilians lived in an illusion of celebrities being independent, but that was true only for a very small sub stratum of that population. A large part of it still had to be affiliated with the media and production housing companies to get roles.
Rong Meili felt trapped, like a bird with clipped wings. She knew that if she didn't show up to the hotel today she would be blacklisted from the industry. But if she did go, she would be at the mercy of the fat pig. It was a lose-lose situation, and she felt like there was no way out. She was just another pawn in their game, a means to an end, and nothing more. The thought of it all made her feel sick to her stomach, and she couldn't shake off the overwhelming feeling of despair.
Until few months ago, everything was going on fine, until Rong Meili's life had taken a turn for the worse. All of a sudden, she had stopped getting any roles, and her celebrity status had dwindled to nothing. She had always known that to be a celebrity, one must look wealthy, so she had bought all kinds of luxuries to maintain her status. However, in the end, she found herself drowning in debt. She was able to pay it off as long as she got roles, but when they stopped coming, she found herself one step closer to being declared insolvent.
Trapped in this vicious ploy, Rong Meili had to surrender to fate and accommodate her media house's demands a few months ago. She thought sleeping with just one director would end the game, but it was only the beginning. From that day on, she was randomly called to serve rich guests, and she was paid handsomely for it. But the money was never enough to compensate for what she had to go through on a daily basis.
Just like tonight, she had a shoot for a new drama, but right in the noon, she had to go and get fucked by God knows whom. Maybe it would be another fat pig? Maybe it would be a rich young master? Maybe it would be another business owner? She didn't know, and she didn't care anymore. She had lost all sense of dignity and self-worth.
Right after going through such torment, she wouldn't get any rest and had to give her best during the filming of the drama. But even there, she would get scolded for committing mistakes from the director. Her life had turned into a never-ending cycle of pain and humiliation.
This had been her life for the past few months, and she felt like it was better if she had never stepped into this circle. She was nothing more than a pawn, used and abused by those in power. She had lost all hope of ever escaping this hellish existence, and the only thing that kept her going was the thought of the money she made, which was the only thing that made her feel like she had some control over her life.
Rong Meili was trapped in a never-ending cycle of debt and despair. She had bought an expensive apartment and car, and now she was drowning in debt. She couldn't leave her job, no matter how much she hated it, because she needed the money to pay off her debts. She was exposed to a lavish lifestyle, and she had become reluctant to part with it.
The other crew members had started taking drugs to cope with the stress, and to act normally during filming. Rong Meili had even started considering doing the same. But she knew that there was no coming back from that path. She had seen what it had done to her colleagues, and she didn't want to end up like them.
Faced with such a web of things, she couldn't help but laugh at her naive self of the past. She had been a wannabe rich city girl who had dreamt of appearing on the big screen. But now, she had become a shell of her former self. She had lost all hope of ever escaping this hellish existence, and the only thing that kept her going was the thought that maybe, just maybe, she could one day pay off her debts and start anew. But deep down, she knew that was just wishful thinking. She was stuck in this endless cycle of pain and suffering, with no way out.
She felt like a prisoner, trapped in her own life. She had lost all sense of purpose and meaning, and she didn't know how to get it back. She had become numb to the world around her, and she felt like a ghost, haunting the halls of the film sets she was forced to work on. She wondered if this was all there was to life, if this was all she was meant to be. A broken, shattered soul, barely holding on to the threads of sanity.
Rong Meili knew that she may become a popular celebrity in the future, but by the time she got there, she would be fully trained and numb to the feeling of being a white prostitute. The only reason she was feeling depressed now was because she was new to this industry.
Right then, someone knocked on her door.
*Knock... Knock...*
Rong Meili snapped out of her thoughts and moved to open the door.
The moment she opened it, she spotted a young girl with foreign features. Rong Meili felt that she was quite cute, but seeing the worried look on her face, she became anxious.
"What's wrong?" Rong Meili asked with a frown, but the girl caught her hand and pulled her towards the neighbor's apartment straight in front of her.
"Please help me wake up my brother!" Feng Xinyue said while dragging Rong Meili along with her.
The latter was surprised at how she was being dragged by a smaller person than her, but after listening to Feng Xinyue's words, her expression turned serious, and she followed after her.
Rong Meili was neither a good nor a bad person; she was just a normal everyday girl who wanted to achieve her dreams. So, when faced with an emergency situation, she panicked but was ready to help.
As they entered the neighbor's apartment, a sense of dread washed over Rong Meili. She could sense that something was terribly wrong.
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A/N:
A wee lad waltzed up to a fortune teller and inquired about his destiny. "So, what's the scoop, oh wise and wrinkly one?"
The seer cackled and retorted, "Well, let's just say the author who wrote this chapter is going to be hexed in the future!"
The little tyke was gobsmacked. "Wait, what author? I asked about my future, not some random scribbler's misfortune!"