The Heiress's Game

Li Chunjing drove the car out of Suiyuan, turned onto Wutong Road with one hand on the steering wheel, and glanced at Chen Cui in the passenger seat.

Chen Cui leaned back in her seat, her head slightly turned towards the window, her expression calm.

"Chen Cui," Li Chunjing called out to her.

"Um?"

"You've taken a huge gamble this time."

Li Chunjing stared ahead. In the past year, she had seen too many people climbing the ladder in this industry. Everyone was gambling—gambling on an opportunity, gambling on a trend, gambling on being able to hold on longer than others.

But Chen Cui is the first person to willingly lay bare her most shameful past as a bargaining chip.

"Do you think I don't know?"

"Sister Li, did you see the trailer for Lao Ma's variety show?"

"Shining Life" will be released next month. Do you know who the main character is? Su Wan.

Li Chunjing's eyebrows twitched slightly. She knew Su Wan, the newcomer that Wanyu Culture was heavily promoting this year. She was twenty-four years old and looked seven-tenths like Chen Cui, with the same oval face and the same large features. Even the rhythm of her speech and the curve of her smile had been trained to be exactly the same.

People in the industry are already calling her "Little Chen Cui"—that term itself is the biggest threat.

"When Ma Hongbin left, he took with him the planning documents for the first three episodes, the editing schedule, and even the audience profile data."

Chen Cui's speech quickened, "He understands the formula for the success of 'Walking with Brilliance' better than anyone else."

What he needs to do now is apply the same formula to another person. If he succeeds, if Su Wan becomes famous—”

She stopped, her lips pressed into a thin line, swallowing back what she was about to say.

But Li Chunjing understood. If Su Wan became famous, Chen Cui would no longer be the only one.

Younger, cheaper, and more obedient alternatives are always available.

This industry never talks about first come, first served; it only talks about who can bring the next blockbuster to capital.

"I'm betting big?" Chen Cui smiled.

"Not gambling is tantamount to waiting to die."

"Do you know how much effort it took me to get my family out of that mud pit?"

Li Chunjing's fingers tightened slightly on the steering wheel; she knew what Chen Cui meant by "one family."

—Chen Cui's mother, brother, sisters, and everyone in her original family were all dragged into this reality show by her.

She put her entire family on this journey, and once the wheels started turning, they couldn't be stopped.

"What I have now, Sister Li, is something our family never dared to dream of in our entire lives."

I finally managed to bring them into the spotlight, and I finally managed to get them living like human beings—I can't fail, I can't afford to lose.

Li Chunjing stopped the car at a red light and turned her head to look at Chen Cui.

Chen Cui's profile was exceptionally clear in the backlight—a delicate, beautiful face, favored by heaven.

"So you want to take this gamble," Li Chunjing said, "to drag Gu Mingyue into this, double the discussion, use controversy to gain popularity, and use negative publicity to buy time."

"right,"

Chen Cui turned to look at her, "What does it matter if people laugh at you? What does it matter if people dig up old photos of you or bring up old grievances? These are all trivial matters."

Black and red are still red; as long as I'm red, I won't be eliminated. As long as I stay at the table, I still have a chance to turn things around.

The traffic light turned green, and the car behind honked its horn.

Li Chunjing stepped on the gas, and the car continued to move forward, merging into the dense traffic ahead.

She didn't speak, but her mind was racing.

Where does Chen Cui's popularity stand right now? She mentally reviewed the social media data, play count curves, and audience sentiment analysis from the past few weeks.

After the first three episodes aired, Chen Cui's search index and discussion level remained stable in a good range, but it has begun to slowly decline.

The enthusiasm of reality show viewers is cyclical. The first episode is driven by curiosity, the second episode begins to build an emotional connection, and after the third episode, if no new stimuli are provided, the data will plateau.

A plateau period means a decline.

Old Ma's "Shining Life" will be released next month, with a narrative template that is 90% similar to "Walking with Brilliance", plus WanYu's resource advantages in publicity and distribution channels.

If Chen Cui does nothing, and the other side releases a barrage of press releases, the audience's attention will be diverted, and it will cost at least three times to win them back.

How fast does the entertainment industry change? So fast that someone who was trending last month might be forgotten by the recommendation algorithm this month.

A celebrity who is still being praised by fans as "sister is so beautiful" today may be compared to a newly emerging junior by the same group of people tomorrow.

Chen Cui had only been popular for a few months when people started cultivating her replacement.

Thinking about this, Li Chunjing made a hypothetical assumption in her mind—if she were in Chen Cui's position, what would she do?

He has established seniors controlling his resources, and newcomers eyeing him covetously. He also has a show that has just the right amount of popularity, but is far from stable.

With a large family behind him and an opportunity in front of him that could ignite controversy but offend the First Family.

Gambling might lead to an even bigger fall.

If you don't gamble, you might be slowly replaced.

She thought for about five seconds.

Then she made a mental confession—if it were her, she would have taken the gamble too.

"Sister Li, why aren't you saying anything?" Chen Cui's voice came from the passenger seat.

Li Chunjing followed Chen Cui for three months, from the first episode of filming. Every day she stayed with the crew, monitored the progress, and coordinated with Gu Yunjin's various instructions. The two of them stayed up countless nights together and ate countless cold takeout meals on set.

In Chen Cui's world, Li Chunjing is one of the few people she doesn't need to face while wearing a mask.

"I'm thinking," Li Chunjing said, her voice steady.

"If you don't do this, three months from now, Su Wan might really be on par with you."

Chen Cui was stunned for a moment.

"You think so too, right?"

"That's not what I think," Li Chunjing glanced at her, "that's what the data says."

"So there's only one thing you need to figure out," Li Chunjing said, unbuckling her seatbelt and giving her one last look before opening the car door.

"Once you get on this road, you can forget about getting off. The cost of getting off halfway is much greater than never even sitting at the poker table."

Chen Cui also unbuckled her seatbelt and sniffed in the darkness.

"Sister Li, do you think there will come a day when people stop calling me 'the one who carried Gu Mingyue's bag'?"

Li Chunjing looked at her.

The elevator arrived with a ding, and the doors slid open slowly, letting in the familiar hustle and bustle of the film set—the camera crew was counting down on their walkie-talkies, the lighting technicians were adjusting the lights, and someone was shouting, "Sister Chen Cui has arrived!"

Just a second before the elevator doors fully opened, Chen Cui wiped away the weariness from her face and put on a bright and appropriate smile.

That smile was flawless, as if it had never been broken.

Li Chunjing followed her out of the elevator, watching her figure disappear into the glaring lights of the film set, and answered her question in her mind.

—Maybe. But only if you outlive everyone else.