Don't Lie to Your Therapist—She Already Knows Your Fate

The roar of Xie Fu Yao’s manager echoed from the phone, so loud that even without speakerphone, everyone around heard it crystal clear.

Xie Fu Yao stood frozen, unsure if what he felt was anger, sorrow, or dread.

"Xie Fu Yao, you’re done with this show. Pack your things and come back."

Hearing those words, Xie Fu Yao was utterly terrified!

’What had I been working so hard for all these years?’

’I don’t want it to end like this.’

The line went dead with a BEEP BEEP BEEP. Xie Fu Yao looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him with what seemed to be pity.

Xie Fu Yao lowered his head, took a deep breath, then looked up. "Director, my company has made other arrangements for me. I have to leave today. I’m truly sorry, Director."

Director Wen knew exactly what was going on, of course.

After Xie Fu Yao left, the crew started buzzing with discussion.

"Director, do you think our show has bad feng shui? We’ve only been filming for two days, and we’ve already lost three cast members."

"Director, should we hire someone to check the feng shui? Maybe it’s the location that has bad vibes."

"Director, what’s the plan for tomorrow? We’re down three cast members. Won’t that affect the shoot? And I don’t think splitting Song Jiayan or Xu Jiali from Doctor Wen would work."

Director Wen chuckled. "Don’t worry. New cast members will be here soon. We’ll still be one short, though. I didn’t expect Xie Fu Yao to not even last the day. I’ll lock in another cast member tonight. If that falls through, we’ll just change the rules. We can have Doctor Wen lead them on a survival challenge."

Seeing that the director had a plan, the crew members stopped worrying.

Zhao Qi, feeling a little bored, pulled out his phone.

The first thing he saw was a trending topic about Xie Fu Yao.

’So this kid is trending now?’

’So why was his manager’s attitude so awful?’

’Looks like his career is over, then?’

Zhao Qi tapped on the trending topic. Plenty of other people were doing the exact same thing.

[Is Xie Fu Yao an idiot? You can think that way, but to actually do it? On camera, no less!]

[This just goes to show what these celebrities are really like in private! They act all high-and-mighty, like they’re a class above, but in reality, their character is just trash!]

[I wonder if his fans will still be so crazy about him after seeing what their precious idol is really like.]

[I think he was set up by the others! He only did that because he was having a breakdown! How can you guys talk trash about him like that?]

[It’s because of these people and this trashy show! Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so upset!]

[If anything happens to him, it’s all your fault! I will get my revenge!]

[This definitely has something to do with that Doctor Wen! It’s all because of her! He wouldn’t have had a breakdown otherwise!]

Some fans were leaving the fandom, while others desperately defended him, believing in their idol no matter what.

This was the entertainment world in a nutshell.

Zhao Qi watched the video and looked at the pictures. He also hadn’t expected Xie Fu Yao to suddenly have a complete meltdown.

He’d well and truly lost his mind. Otherwise, he’d never have done something so monumentally stupid.

He could tell the guy had character flaws, but he’d never imagined he was this much of a moron.

Tailing the trending topics was a new one about Meng Xiaoyi. This time, it wasn’t about her usual manipulative, "green tea" act, but about her fractured tailbone.

Zhao Qi was a little surprised to see this.

’Wow... is she that committed?’

’Did she really get herself into this state just to complete a task?’

Meng Xiaoyi wasn’t that kind of person. In the past two days, Zhao Qi felt he’d seen her true colors.

She would let others get hurt before she ever let herself get hurt.

Even though she had been sucking up to Jiang Beibei at the start, if there was real danger, she would never have taken a hit for her.

He tapped on the trending topic. After reading the details, Zhao Qi was speechless.

’She really brought this on herself. A classic case of reaping what you sow.’

He’d seen his share of people trying to be clever, but someone as dim-witted as Meng Xiaoyi, who was convinced she was a genius, was a rare sight indeed.

She got what she deserved.

Zhao Qi sat off to the side. After scrolling through the trending topics, he didn’t look for anyone to talk to.

He just sat there by himself until Director Wen came over.

"Little Zhao, what do you think of our show?"

Faced with Director Wen’s out-of-the-blue question, Zhao Qi thought for a moment, then nodded. "It’s great. I like it a lot."

Director Wen beamed. "See! I knew I picked the right person! I just knew you’d like it."

Zhao Qi was speechless. ’What does that have to do with his casting choices?’ he wondered.

"Everyone’s been saying our show has bad feng shui. What do you think?" the director continued.

"Feng shui?" Zhao Qi asked, surprised. "How could the feng shui be bad? With Doctor Wen, Xu Jiali, Little Song, and me on the show, you could say the feng shui is incredible!"

This was exactly what Director Wen loved to hear.

He felt as if Zhao Qi had become a different person. Even though it had only been two days, Zhao Qi was completely different from when he’d first arrived.

The Zhao Qi from the first day had been arrogant and aloof, ignoring everyone with an infuriating "I’m the greatest" attitude.

But the Zhao Qi of today... Director Wen credited it all to Doctor Wen!

The single greatest success of his show was getting Doctor Wen to join!

His KPIs for trending topics were through the roof!

He’d hit a year’s worth of KPIs in a single day!

Life was sweet!

"Zhao Qi! What are you doing here?" Xu Jiali’s voice rang out. Song Jiayan was trailing behind her.

As were two monkeys.

Zhao Qi looked at Xu Jiali. "Didn’t the director tell you filming was over for the day?"

"You’re done, too?" Xu Jiali asked, confused.

Zhao Qi nodded. Director Wen gave an awkward chuckle. "Well, you were all wrapped up, and we’re just waiting for Doctor Wen to return, so I figured I didn’t need to send out a notice."

"Then what about the monkeys?" Song Jiayan asked, glancing at the animals behind them.

Zhao Qi shot to his feet. "Are these the monkeys you found for me? How could I have forgotten? I’m so sorry, Jiali, Little Song!"

"Director, how about starting up my stream again? See? I can complete my task now, right?"

At a signal from the lead monkey, one of them came to stand beside Zhao Qi.

Zhao Qi looked proudly at the others, then turned to the director.

He was bursting with pride.

’I can’t believe I actually completed the task!’

’I was so busy enjoying the drama, I completely forgot about this.’

Director Wen rolled his eyes at Zhao Qi. "No more livestreams today. If you really want one—"

"No more? But Doctor Wen helped me find these monkeys," Zhao Qi said, sounding aggrieved. "I feel like I’m wasting her efforts."

"Alright, how about this: tomorrow! During tomorrow’s livestream, you can interact with them. How does that sound?"

Zhao Qi knew that starting a new stream now was impossible, so he agreed. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

’Anyway, everyone will see it eventually,’ he thought. ’They’ll see I can complete my tasks. I’m not a useless—like Xie Fu Yao...’

’Whatever. The guy’s already gone, no need to twist the knife.’

"So where are Xie Fu Yao and Meng Xiaoyi? Off plotting something new?"

Zhao Qi didn’t know how to respond for a moment. "It’s a long story. You should just check the trending topics."