The summer in Hengdian was always unbearably hot and stuffy. Lin Xiaoyu stood in a corner of the set for Phoenix Dancing through Nine Heavens, fanning herself with her hand. As a background actor in the crew, she had only filmed a single shot of her back for the past three days, with no lines at all. Her phone buzzed: it was a rent reminder from her landlord.

“If I don’t get paid soon, I’ll be sleeping on the streets…” Lin Xiaoyu bit her lip and shoved the phone back into her pocket. Just then, her peripheral vision caught a familiar figure sneaking out from the lead actor’s exclusive dressing room, wearing a baseball cap and a mask, heading toward the back door of the set.

“Zhou Ziyu?” Lin Xiaoyu’s eyes widened. Shouldn’t this popular top star be filming in Group A? Out of curiosity, she quietly followed.

After passing through several narrow alleys, Zhou Ziyu stopped beside a black sedan. The car window rolled down, revealing the face of a woman with exquisite makeup. Lin Xiaoyu quickly hid behind a tree and put her phone on silent mode.

“Are you crazy? Coming to see me at this hour!” Zhou Ziyu lowered her voice, but Lin Xiaoyu still heard it.

“I can’t take it anymore. You need to give me an explanation!” The woman’s voice trembled with tears. “I’m pregnant. It’s been three months!”

Lin Xiaoyu’s hand shook, nearly dropping her phone. She held her breath and quickly took more than ten pictures. Just then, Zhou Ziyu suddenly turned her head, her sharp gaze landing directly on Lin Xiaoyu’s hiding spot.

“Who’s there?”

Lin Xiaoyu’s heart almost stopped. She immediately turned and ran, her breath coming in quick gasps, with footsteps echoing behind her. After turning two corners, she slipped into a prop storage room, huddling behind a pile of ancient costume outfits, not daring to make a sound.

Her phone buzzed again—this time it was a group notification from the crew, announcing that the lead actor’s shooting was suspended due to “health reasons.” Lin Xiaoyu looked at the photos she’d taken—though a bit blurry, Zhou Ziyu’s face and the car’s license plate were clearly visible. Her trembling finger hovered over the send button, her contact list stopping at Entertainment Frontline reporter Wang’s number.

“Send it out, maybe I’ll get a nice tip…” The thought crossed her mind but was immediately squashed. Lin Xiaoyu remembered the words of a senior when she first entered the industry: “In this circle, there are some lines that you can’t cross.”

Back at her rented apartment, Lin Xiaoyu backed up the photos on her computer and USB drive before collapsing on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, making her jump in shock.

“Miss Lin, I’m Chen Ming, Zhou Ziyu’s manager. Can we talk?”

Lin Xiaoyu looked through the peephole and saw a neatly dressed middle-aged man standing outside, with two bodyguard-like individuals behind him. Sweat broke out on her palms, and she instinctively glanced at the drawer where her USB drive was hidden.

“I—I don’t know anyone named Zhou Ziyu…” Her voice was as thin as a mosquito’s buzz.

“Miss Lin, let’s not beat around the bush.” Chen Ming’s voice came through the door. “This afternoon in the back alley of the set, you took some photos you shouldn’t have. Name your price.”

Lin Xiaoyu’s legs began to tremble. She didn’t expect them to find her so quickly. Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door, but left the security chain in place.

Chen Ming flashed a professional smile: “Mr. Zhou is willing to offer you the role of the third female lead in Song of the Clouds in exchange for the photos on your phone. The payment is 200,000. Or…” He took out a brown paper envelope from his briefcase, “Here’s 100,000 in cash. You can take it right now.”

Lin Xiaoyu’s throat went dry. Song of the Clouds was a major production for next year, and the third female lead was a role even low-tier actresses like her could only dream of.

“I… I need to think about it.”

Chen Ming’s smile faded slightly. “Miss Lin, a smart person knows what to choose. Mr. Zhou values his reputation highly and doesn’t want these photos appearing anywhere.” He paused meaningfully, “Especially the owner of that license plate, you really can’t afford to offend him.”

After Chen Ming left, Lin Xiaoyu immediately called her best friend, Su Man. Su Man was a script supervisor on another set and knew all the gossip in the industry.

“Oh my god! You took pictures of Zhou Ziyu and Xu Ya?” Su Man screamed on the other end of the phone. “Xu Ya is the wife of the chairman of Xingyao Media! If this gets out, it’ll shake the whole entertainment industry!”

Lin Xiaoyu finally understood the threat in Chen Ming’s words. She bit her nails and asked, “Manman, what should I do? Should I sell the photos to them, or…?”

“Are you crazy?” Su Man interrupted her. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If it were me, I’d not only take the role but demand a hush money payout too. Zhou Ziyu gets tens of millions per movie—100,000 is nothing to him!”

After hanging up, Lin Xiaoyu searched for “Xu Ya” on her computer. The screen displayed an elegant, intellectual woman, always seen attending charity galas with Xu Shichang, the chairman of Xingyao Media. Scrolling down, Lin Xiaoyu found that Xu Ya had once been an actress, but after marrying Xu Shichang, who was 30 years older than her, five years ago, she had retired from acting.

It was late into the night, but Lin Xiaoyu couldn’t sleep. She pulled out some photos from her university theater days. Back then, her eyes had been full of light, dreaming of becoming a true actress, not one who relied on scandals to climb to fame. Suddenly, her phone lit up with a text from an unknown number:

“Miss Lin, I’m the person from the car today. Meet me at the Peninsula Café tomorrow at 10 AM. I have more important things to tell you about Ziyu. — Xu Ya”

Lin Xiaoyu stared at the message, her heart racing. She had a vague sense that she was standing on the edge of a huge whirlpool, and one wrong move would pull her under, leaving nothing but ruin in its wake.

The next morning, Lin Xiaoyu, wearing a mask and sunglasses, arrived at the agreed-upon café. In the corner, a woman in a beige trench coat waved at her. As Lin Xiaoyu got closer, she recognized Xu Ya—despite wearing no makeup today, she had dark circles under her eyes.

“Thank you for coming,” Xu Ya’s voice was soft. “First, the child is not Ziyu’s.”

Lin Xiaoyu almost knocked over her coffee cup. “What?”

“I’m a cousin to Ziyu,” Xu Ya gave a bitter smile. “Our mothers are biological sisters. This secret hasn’t even reached Xu Shichang.”

Lin Xiaoyu’s brain whirred. “Then why…?”

“I need Ziyu’s help to leave Xu Shichang.” Xu Ya’s eyes suddenly became sharp. “Over the years, I’ve gathered a lot of evidence of his illegal activities, including money laundering and sexually abusing underage trainees… but no one dares to report it. I need a big enough scandal to divert public attention so I can escape safely.”

Lin Xiaoyu’s back chilled. “Why are you telling me all this?”

Xu Ya took out a USB drive from her bag and pushed it toward Lin Xiaoyu. “Because I’ve seen your university play A Doll’s House. You’re an actress with a conscience. This contains some of Xu Shichang’s criminal evidence. If anything happens to me… please give it to reporter Li from Legal Weekly.”

Before Lin Xiaoyu could respond, Xu Ya had already stood up and left. Lin Xiaoyu looked down at the silver USB drive, feeling it weight as if it was a thousand pounds.

Back at her apartment, Lin Xiaoyu found that the door lock had been tampered with. She trembled as she opened the door—her drawers were rummaged through, the computer case was open, and the hard drive was missing. Only the backup USB drive she had hidden in the bathroom was still there.

Her phone rang, it was Chen Ming: “Miss Lin, have you thought it over? Mr. Zhou is getting impatient.”

Lin Xiaoyu clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palm. She suddenly realized, from the moment she took that photo, she had already been pulled into a dangerous game.