Chapter 18: What the Hell Have I Been Doing These Six Years
Why did Meng Yi target him? When had he ever offended Meng Yi? Hadn’t their relationship always been pretty good?
Jiang Yu was stunned three times over, feeling like his entire worldview had shattered.
He had always thought this wave of cyber-bullying was Ji Xu’s doing—and he’d even quietly reported it to Han Cheng.
Han Cheng always said that there was no friendship in the entertainment industry—only benefit. Jiang Yu scoffed at that, always thinking Han Cheng was just sinister himself and therefore assumed everyone else was just as sinister.
Who would’ve thought reality would really teach him a lesson.
It wasn’t until Aunt Chen returned, arms full of bags, that Jiang Yu finally snapped out of his shock. Even the shrimp wontons didn’t taste as good anymore.
No matter how much he thought about it, Jiang Yu couldn’t understand why Meng Yi would target him. The more he thought, the more stifled he felt. He looked up at Aunt Chen and asked, “Aunt Chen, do you think I’m a bad person?”
“Of course not, Mr. Jiang. Why would you ask that?” Aunt Chen was chopping minced meat, preparing to steam xiaolongbao for Jiang Yu the next morning.
Jiang Yu’s private VIP ward was fully equipped—refrigerator, TV, washing machine. The kitchen and bathroom were both spacious. At over thirty square meters, it cost a thousand a day. Han Cheng had paid for it, and Jiang Yu didn’t feel any heartache spending the money.
“Then is my personality really that annoying? Am I sharp-tongued, or someone who takes advantage of others, or looks down on people?”
“Absolutely not. Mr. Jiang is gentle and considerate, and you’ve never made things difficult for me. You’re also very generous—you often give me extra bonuses and even buy gifts for my grandson. The transforming robot you gave him last time—he loves it so much he even sleeps hugging it.”
“That was a Transformer, not a robot,” Jiang Yu said stubbornly, clinging to his passion. “It’s an alien—much more advanced. Not some silly robot.”
“Right, right, an alien. Look at my memory.” Aunt Chen corrected herself like she was coaxing a child. “My grandson reminds me all the time too. He says they’re heroes who save humanity.”
“Then is it because I’m ugly? Is my face the kind that makes people want to punch me the moment they see it?” Jiang Yu just couldn’t figure out where he’d offended Meng Yi.
“Mr. Jiang, you’re a celebrity—how could you be ugly? What’s wrong today? Why are you nitpicking yourself like this?” Aunt Chen looked at him worriedly, walked over, and touched his forehead. Not hot. Why was he saying such nonsense?
Feeling Aunt Chen’s concern, Jiang Yu suddenly felt a little aggrieved and asked, “Aunt Chen, if your friend suddenly set you up, what do you think it would be for?”
He’d been in this world for six years now. In the first two, relying on Earth’s resources, he’d charged through the entertainment industry recklessly, refusing to bow to anyone. He’d offended quite a few people and made not a single friend.
In the following four years, after being suppressed by Han Cheng for a while and going through some things, he lost all interest in hustling in showbiz and spent his days leisurely at a small seaside villa.
Occasionally, Han Cheng would stuff a few films or variety shows his way. Jiang Yu would just complete them casually, with no intention of forming close relationships with other artists.
In the entertainment industry—and even in life—the only people he could really call friends were Meng Yi and Sister Bai.
Now, being stabbed in the back by someone he’d considered a friend, Jiang Yu was both angry and upset. He’d gone down a rabbit hole, desperate to understand why.
“Mr. Jiang, you’re thinking about Meng Yi, aren’t you? I can’t guess what he was thinking. If you want to know, you might as well just ask him directly.
Anyway, the truth is already out in the open. You’ve basically fallen out. If you ask him, I don’t think he’d hide it from you. No matter what the truth is, someone who hurts you like that doesn’t need to stay your friend.
I always thought that kid Meng Yi had a lot on his mind. Every time he came to see you, his eyes would dart around. He never looked like an honest one.” Aunt Chen’s face was full of disdain, not bothering to hide her dislike of Meng Yi.
“Let’s forget about asking him face to face. I don’t want to see him right now—and he probably doesn’t want to see me either.” Jiang Yu sighed, lay back on the bed, and felt completely listless.
After sleeping all day and finishing dinner, Jiang Yu couldn’t fall asleep. He picked up his phone, wanting to see if there was still any gossip about him.
Thanks to Meng Yi’s clarification, the people cursing him online seemed to vanish overnight, and all topics about him suddenly disappeared.
Obviously, the damn company had stepped in and suppressed everything related to him.
But the trending list was still dominated by Meng Yi.
Trending #1: Insiders reveal the reason Meng Yi was cut by Director Wang.
Trending #2: Meng Yi throws his weight around on set.
Trending #3: Director Wang responds: Meng Yi’s acting is too poor.
Trending #4: Can Meng Yi’s acting career truly begin?”
Trending #5: Han Entertainment announces Meng Yi will focus on singing from now on and will no longer act.
Jiang Yu opened each one and read them through, connecting all the dots and sorting out the general sequence of events.
Meng Yi was rejected by Wang Hao due to poor acting. Unwilling to accept it, Meng Yi threw a tantrum on set and acted like a diva, after which Han Cheng dragged him away. Han Entertainment then shut down Meng Yi’s acting career.
Combined with what Sister Bai had told him, Meng Yi’s singing career likely wouldn’t go smoothly either.
Seeing Meng Yi in such a miserable state, Jiang Yu did feel a bit schadenfreude and satisfaction. But that feeling didn’t last long before he sighed again.
The only person he could really call a friend had turned out to be fake. His interpersonal relationships here were truly abysmal.
Other transmigrators became superstars, surrounded by friends, flying off with their beloveds, harvesting success in career, love, and friendship alike.
Why was it that when it was his turn to transmigrate, he ended up with nothing at all?
Thinking back on what he’d done over the past six years: after becoming famous with a single song, he’d caught Han Cheng’s eye.
The two of them were passionately involved for over a year. With the top-tier resources Han Cheng provided, Jiang Yu didn’t even need to plagiarize Earth—he rose smoothly to become the top star of that era.
Then Han Cheng grew tired of him and became sweetly involved with another lover. Feeling deceived, Jiang Yu had a huge falling-out with Han Cheng.
He swore not to rely on Han Cheng anymore and began plagiarizing songs from Earth.
But whenever he released a song, Han Cheng sued him for plagiarism—and won every single time. Jiang Yu even suspected the judge might be a transmigrator too, knowing full well his songs were copied from Earth.
When he tried to make films, he couldn’t even find a cameraman. Everyone avoided him like the plague, terrified of retaliation from Han Cheng.
When he did variety shows, he spent a day and a night writing a proposal, only for Han Cheng to snatch it away and have another director produce it instead. It became a massive hit across China and was even sold overseas.
Han Cheng had robbed him several times, making a fortune, while Jiang Yu didn’t earn a single cent and still had to pay fines for plagiarism—nearly bankrupting himself into negative assets.
Only after suffering a huge loss did Jiang Yu finally arrive at a truth: in a rotten environment like the entertainment industry, where capital runs amok, even talent won’t get you anywhere. You might even be treated like a blood bank, drained dry by capital until there’s nothing left but broken bones and a battered body.
After that, Jiang Yu had an epiphany and stopped creating altogether. He squandered Han Cheng’s money, treating it as compensation for the resources Han Cheng had stolen from him.
The thought of saving up and leaving Han Cheng took shape a year ago, when Han Cheng’s lover at the time came looking for him. Jiang Yu got his head cracked open and nearly went to meet the Buddha.
Lying in the hospital with his head aching and his waist hurting, Jiang Yu decided that for the sake of his own life, he absolutely had to leave Han Cheng.
After he recovered, Jiang Yu sold off some of the luxury items he’d bought back when he was splurging Han Cheng’s money. Even secondhand, they fetched over ten million.
When the money came in, Jiang Yu startled himself—he hadn’t expected he’d blown that much. If the secondhand goods alone sold for over ten million, they must have been even more expensive when he bought them new.
That dog of a man, Han Cheng—at least when it came to spending money, he really didn’t hold back.
