I Really Like the Male Supporting Character (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 43
“Xin Luo, we’ve secured a spot for you in the variety show you mentioned last time… but I heard Zhou Jiayin will also appear in that show. Are you sure you want to go?”
A woman’s concerned voice came through the phone. Ah Luo took a moment to compose herself, then firmly replied, “Of course, I’ll go.”
How could she possibly not? The original host had specifically requested to join this variety show precisely because she knew Zhou Jiayin would be participating.
The novel that this world revolved around was a light-hearted romance between a film emperor actor and a third-tier actress in the entertainment industry. The storyline was simple, sweet, and relaxed. All in all, it was a classic, nice romance story.
The male lead of the novel was Zhou Jiayin, a celebrated actor renowned for his excellent acting skills, gentlemanly behaviour, and professionalism. He also came from a wealthy, prestigious family background.
The female lead, Wei Yuxin, was a low-profile, third-tier actress who had offended some people in the industry by refusing to conform to unspoken rules, which led to a stagnant career despite years of her hard work.
The two had recently collaborated on a drama. Naturally, Zhou Jiayin played the male lead of the drama, while Wen Yuxin portrayed a devoted supporting character infatuated with him. Wen Yuxin’s performance was exceptional. She embodied genuine love for Zhou Jiayin during filming, but would immediately return to an expressionless demeanour after the cameras stopped rolling. This stark contrast unexpectedly caught Zhou Jiayin’s attention and sparked his admiration for her talent.
Thus, when Zhou Jiayin heard that Wen Yuxin had joined a romance-themed variety show, he inexplicably signed up as well. Things went smoothly for them after that. They already had a good impression of each other, and the romance-themed variety show eventually pushed them towards actually falling in love. It didn’t take long for them to finally become an actual couple.
The two of them showed such palpable chemistry and created moments that were so sweet that it simply made the audiences swoon. This catapulted Wen Yuxin from being a third-tier actress to being a top-tier star. Her newfound fame brought her a surge of opportunities and pushed her to the peak of her career.
The original host, Xin Luo, was Zhou Jiayin’s rumoured ex-girlfriend and a famous great actress in the entertainment industry herself. Earlier this year, she had even won a Best Actress award and was often addressed as a ‘film empress.’ She was the female supporting character with the most scenes in the novel.
The reason why she had been rumoured to be Zhou Jiayin’s ex-girlfriend was because the two of them had co-starred in a drama last year. They played an on-screen couple, and their compelling chemistry, combined with their well-written characters, led to fans shipping them as a real-life couple. Their ‘CP’—couple pairing gained a significant following online.
However, after the variety show aired, Xin Luo and Zhou Jiayin’s shippers were quickly overshadowed by fans of Zhou Jiayin and Wen Yuxin’s on-screen romance.
To be fair, Xin Luo’s acting wasn’t outstanding. She was certainly not on par with Wen Yuxin’s natural talent. What made her performances so captivating to fans was her genuine emotional investment.
That was right. She had developed real feelings for Zhou Jiayin while working together.
Unfortunately, Zhou Jiayin didn’t feel the same way. He even publicly clarified during an interview, while addressing the fans’ shipping, that their relationship was strictly professional. His direct statement effectively dismantled the CP and even caused a heated online feud between their respective fanbases.
Xin Luo was well aware that her feelings for him were inappropriate. Her career was on the rise, and if she had a relationship with him, it might have a negative effect on it. Moreover, her feelings were unrequited.
After finishing filming that drama, she took time to reflect and tried to extinguish her misplaced affection. She shut herself in at home and avoided contact with Zhou Jiayin, but she only found herself obsessively consuming his dramas, interviews, and variety shows every day like an irrational, addicted fangirl.
Eventually, Xin Luo realised this couldn’t continue. Instead of bottling her feelings, she decided to confront them head-on. She sought an opportunity to address her feelings with Zhou Jiayin and hopefully resolve them. That was how she came to join the variety show.
In the original storyline, the female supporting character Xin Luo joined the variety show in the hope of teaming up with Zhou Jiayin and acting as a couple with him for once. If he fell for her, great; if not, she could just treat it as fun and finally let go of her feelings for him after that.
However, things didn’t go as planned.
Because of Zhou Jiayin’s influence, the male and female leads ended up paired together, while Xin Luo was assigned to a different pair with a popular e-sports streamer.
The streamer, Shen Xi, was a young man not even 20 years old. He was formerly a professional player known for his exceptional skills, who had retired due to an injury and transitioned to livestreaming. With his good looks and massive fanbase, he had become a household name.
However, despite Shen Xi’s fame and charm, Xin Luo’s heart was fixated solely on Zhou Jiayin. Throughout the filming process, her unwavering attention to Zhou Jiayin was glaringly obvious and captured clearly by the cameras. The pre-existing fanbase shipping Xin Luo and Zhou Jiayin helped propel the show’s popularity to new heights.
Xin Luo’s obsession only deepened throughout the filming, and witnessing Zhou Jiayin’s tender moments with Wen Yuxin drove her to jealousy. She was blinded by her emotions and repeatedly targeted the female lead. These moments were either caught on camera or noticed by others on set.
By the time most of the show had aired, Xin Luo’s public image was in shambles. Her name became synonymous with jealousy and scheming, and her career slowly faded into obscurity after that.
In the original storyline, Xin Luo’s role as a supporting character was instrumental in advancing the two leads’ relationship and career. Meanwhile, her pair mate Shen Xi played a minor role as a helpful ally—a ‘golden finger’ or a cheat, to the female lead.
Wen Yuxin enjoyed playing the game The Hero Returns in her spare time. Her skill in the game was pretty good.
That game just happened to be Shen Xi’s speciality. He saw her play once during filming. The two of them played a match and formed a friendly bond after that.
When Xin Luo later deliberately targeted Wen Yuxin, Shen Xi often stepped in and discreetly helped Wen Yuxin out of trouble.
Ah Luo task target this time was Shen Xi. This was why she didn’t hesitate to continue with the variety show.
Less than half a month after her agent informed her, Ah Luo received a notice from the production crew. It notified her that the show was about to start filming.
In recent years, audiences had criticised variety shows for being overly scripted and failing to reveal celebrities’ authentic selves. To address this, most shows adopted a live-streaming format and emphasised real-time reactions and genuine emotions.
As Ah Luo settled into her van, her agent—Sister Pei, handed her a folder and said, “Xin Luo, the production crew has sent their outline script. Take a look. It includes information on your partner and the other pairs.”
“Already?”
Although Ah Luo had expected this, she still feigned mild surprise.
Sister Pei replied, “A higher-up probably gave the production crew some instructions.”
At this, Sister Pei frowned and glanced at Ah Luo. Then, she lowered her voice and asked, “Are you feeling better now?”
As Xin Luo’s long-time agent, Sister Pei was well aware of Xin Luo’s history, including her tendency to become overly emotionally invested in her roles.
Ah Luo coughed and nodded under Sister Pei’s concerned gaze. “I’m much better. Really! I don’t like him anymore.”
Indeed, she no longer liked Zhou Jiayin. She had simply redirected her affections to someone else.
Ah Luo didn’t want to dwell on this topic. She opened the folder that Sister Pei had given her and saw that it contained only three pages of A4 paper. The first page displayed the bold title of the show, ‘We’re Living Together!’. The straightforward name left no ambiguity about the show’s premise.
The second page outlined the basic rules. Eight guests would be paired into four pairs and live together in a mansion. They would then simulate a cohabiting couple’s daily interactions.
Each pair would play the role of a couple, complete missions assigned by the production crew, and be judged on their chemistry and how convincingly sweet their relationship appeared.
The third page contained profiles of the other participants.
The first thing that caught her eye was her partner, Shen Xi. She was going to live with him during the filming of this show. A two-inch photo of him was attached on the third page, accompanied by his personal information.
The young man in the photo had a delicate, fair face and looked about 19 years old. He wore a dark blue professional e-sports team jersey with a pair of headphones hanging around his neck. His slightly droopy puppy eyes sparkled as they gazed into the camera, and his smile revealed a hint of small, sharp canines. He exuded an aura of sunshine and boyish charm.
Ah Luo stared at the picture for two seconds, then covered her face, exclaiming, “Oh my god, why does he look so young? Sister Pei, do you think I’ll look like his mom standing next to him?”
Sister Pei rolled her eyes and didn’t dignify the question with a response.
Meanwhile, Ah Luo’s assistant chimed in by saying, “Sis, you need more confidence! You’re a universally acknowledged beauty, remember?”
Ah Luo turned her head to check her reflection in the car window. Indeed, the original host, Xin Luo, was a bona fide beauty.
She was 26 years old. She stood 173 cm tall with a curvaceous, sultry figure. Her facial features fit the ‘strong glam’ aesthetic perfectly. She had almond-shaped, seductive peach blossom eyes that seemed to ripple with allure, a dainty but prominent nose, and full, rosy lips that looked like blooming rose petals even without lipstick.
This breath-taking appearance had earned Xin Luo the title of a ‘peerless beauty’ in the entertainment world. In her previous drama with Zhou Jiayin, she played a stunning, otherworldly temptress, a role the audience claimed was tailor-made for her.
As Ah Luo admired her reflection, another thought crossed her mind. What if Shen Xi didn’t like women like her? She had read enough comments from her haters online. They had called her a ‘vampy seductress’ who seemed ‘promiscuous and cheap.’
“Ugh.”
Falling for someone could really mess with even the most self-assured person’s confidence.
She sighed and continued reading Shen Xi’s personal information. It was pretty much the same as what she’d seen on his fan wiki.
Height: 185 cm…
Wait, what? How could someone so soft and puppy-like be so tall? That couldn’t be real, could it?
Weight: 135 lbs…
Huh. Wasn’t that too skinny?
Hobby: Playing The Hero Returns…
Well, obviously.
Special skills: Playing games…
Ah Luo truly found his profile very perfunctory.
She mentally noted each detail. By the time she finished reading, though, she was mentally grumbling.
She then glanced at the profiles of the other pairs of guests, though she only skimmed through them. Besides the male and female leads, the other couples included a veteran actor paired with a young female singer and a somewhat well-known model paired with a celebrity athlete.
Ah Luo took a short break after reading the files. About half an hour passed after that, and the van arrived at their destination.
Ah Luo stepped out of the vehicle and, guided by staff, entered the mansion where they would be filming.
She was informed that she was the second guest to arrive. The first person to arrive was the veteran actor, Lu Tao. They had no prior connection, so after a brief, polite greeting, she settled onto the couch in the living room to wait for the others to arrive.
At this point, the livestream had already started, and viewers were slowly trickling in.
[Ahhh, the goddess is here!! I can’t believe I get to see her again! Does this mean we’re getting a reunion of the temptress and the tyrant CP!?]
[Dear sisters, I’m also here to see Xin Luo and Zhou Jiayin. Their on-screen chemistry is pure magic!]
[Why aren’t Xin Luo and Lu Tao talking? Do they not get along?]
[They’re probably just not familiar with each other. I don’t think they’ve worked together before.]
The waiting period before filming officially started felt long and drawn out. Ah Luo felt restless, so she took out her phone and decided to play The Hero Returns.
The game was available in both mobile and PC versions. Shen Xi played the more challenging PC version, but as a beginner, Ah Luo decided to start with the mobile version to ease into it.
If she wanted to win someone else’s heart, she needed to align herself with their interests. Wasn’t this exactly how the female lead caught Shen Xi’s attention? If the female lead could do it, so could she!
She had already completed the tutorial on the drive over, and it didn’t seem too hard. She plugged in her headphones, then opened the game and began playing discreetly.
[What is Xin Luo doing? Isn’t it a bit awkward for her to be glued to her phone like that while waiting?]
[Wait, is she gaming? She turned her phone sideways! Could she be playing The Hero Returns?]