Chapter 28

Spending someone else’s money feels way better than spending your own. That little twist had already gotten many viewers hyped.

It was like a show—the stage had warmed up, and this was the highlight!

The theater actress looked clearly displeased. Her whole face soured and stretched long, but she had already said the words herself, bragging about wanting baristas to come to her in person. With the staff standing there waiting for payment, the actress had no choice but to pinch her nose and pay up begrudgingly.

And the instigator, Shi Jian, shamelessly asked from the side, “Would you like to order again tomorrow?” Still want another cup, sweetie?

Genuine and professional.

Shi Jian proved with her actions that not only could she be a superstar—she could absolutely handle being an assistant too!

The actress: …Order your damn self!

At the same time, Shi Jian was grumbling internally: No wonder she’s stuck at Z-list. Forget everything else—just this face she pulls whenever something goes wrong is enough to keep her from getting famous.

The chat burst into laughter, though some viewers were starting to worry.

【She cleared this round, sure, but didn’t she also kind of offend the actress? She’s the direct superior—it’s probably better to stay on her good side.】

...

Soon, Shi Jian would learn another reason the actress wasn’t famous.

After drinking the expensive coffee, the actress finally stopped flirting on the phone and looked like she was about to work. She picked up the script and called for Shi Jian.

“You—come over and run lines with me.”

Shi Jian adopted her assistant mode, pulled over a chair and sat down. “Alright.” Running lines? That was something Shi Jian was very familiar with.

But what she didn’t expect was—the actress’s way of “running lines” was literally just shouting “one two three four five six seven” out loud.

Shi Jian nearly lost it on the spot. What’s the point of this?

She’d encountered this kind of thing before—usually with celebrities, not actual actors. Shi Jian didn’t even consider them actors. A real actor wouldn’t be too lazy to even memorize their lines.

After reciting the numbers, the actress yawned dramatically like she’d just finished a major task. “That’s it, I’m tired.”

Then the so-called “tired” actress turned around and started gaming.

Thud—thud—

“How’s it going in there?”

A knock came from outside the door, followed by a man’s voice. Of course, the actress wasn’t going to open the door—that job fell to Shi Jian.

Shi Jian opened it without thinking.

And the moment she saw what was outside, if not for her strong sense of purpose, she absolutely would’ve slammed that door shut immediately.

What the hell is that?!

Since entering the PK instance, everyone she’d seen looked normal—even the baristas hadn’t flinched at the exposed wiring, but at least they weren’t distorted.

Shi Jian had even thought this PK instance was different from the usual ones.

But now she realized—she’d been way too naive.

Standing at the door was a humanoid figure, drenched in blood. It had been the one knocking. She called it “humanoid” only because it still had a human shape—but it had no skin.No—after seeing the full picture, Shi Jian felt the need to add a detail: the thing was holding its own skin in its hands, and part of it was dragging on the floor.

Shi Jian stood there, but her soul had already left the building, screaming: What the hell—what the hell—aaaaaahhh!

Her sanity stat was plummeting.

And yet, behind her, the actress who saw the thing at the door didn’t show the slightest fear. Instead, she greeted it familiarly, “Director, what brings you here? Come in.” Which proved Shi Jian had done the right thing by not shutting the door.

Shi Jian quickly stepped back as the skinless director, holding his own skin, walked past her into the room.

He grumbled as he walked, “The weather’s been so humid lately. My skin keeps wrinkling. Gotta take it off to air it out often…”

Then, to Shi Jian’s horror, in the blink of an eye, he slipped the skin on like a jacket. Just like that, he now looked like an average middle-aged man. But after witnessing that, there was no way Shi Jian could ever think of him as “normal.”

The director ignored Shi Jian completely—he was here for the actress. After exchanging a few pleasantries with her, he got straight to the point. “There’s a performance tonight. How’s your prep? Got your lines memorized?”

Of course she didn’t. Shi Jian could answer that for her.

The director seemed to already know what kind of person the actress was and looked visibly displeased.

“What’s going on with you? You still haven’t memorized your lines?”

“The audience won’t be happy. Our theater’s revenue has been dropping lately.”

The actress pouted, clearly unhappy about being scolded. “They’re just coming for me anyway. A bunch of bumpkins who don’t understand art. I did memorize my lines—it took a lot of time, but now my head hurts…” Complete and utter nonsense.

The director stood firm and demanded she recite her lines on the spot.

Out of options, the actress said, “…One two three four five six seven.”

As the director fell silent, a clear and expressive female voice rang out, articulate and emotional: “My fate is like a withered leaf on the sea, beyond my control. I often envy the little sparrows outside—for at least they are free…”

Both the director and the actress turned toward the source of the voice.

【Whoa whoa whoa! It’s the streamer!】

【Did she just recite it from memory? Incredible.】

It was Shi Jian, who’d been quietly pretending to be a statue in the corner. When she spoke, she directly recited the lines the actress had failed to learn. She’d memorized them earlier while doing that ridiculous “number line-read” with her.

The actress’s eyes lit up like she’d found a lifeline.

“Director, this is my assistant, Xiao Shi. Even though I didn’t memorize the lines, she can dub for me!”

“I’ll act on stage, and Xiao Shi can stand nearby and provide the voiceover—right, Xiao Shi?”

Shi Jian nodded sweetly. She was just a little assistant, after all. She’d do whatever the boss said.

Doing post-dubbing for TV dramas was one thing—but needing a live voiceover during a stage play? Anyone who came up with that idea had to be at least a little unhinged.

But the director had no better option. After a moment of thought, he figured… it might just work.

And just like that, Shi Jian not only had to be the assistant—she now had to be the actress’s voice, too.

With a dub actor on hand, the actress got even more relaxed. She gamed, binge-watched shows… while Shi Jian quietly studied the script beside her. Perhaps because the actress saw her as useful now, her attitude toward Shi Jian also softened a bit.

The audience felt this was finally the right strategy—a method of winning favor.

【Didn’t expect the streamer to memorize lines so fast. Seems like she’s got some acting chops. With this, she probably won’t get fired, right?】“Xiao Shi, you have my performance outfit with you, right? Make sure you take good care of it, absolutely no mistakes,”

Shi Jian was still diligently flipping through the script when the actress, who had just been playing games, suddenly threw that line out.

Shi Jian did recall there was a package by her side. She opened it and found a crescent-white dress inside. “It’s here.”

The actress smiled meaningfully. “As long as it’s with you, that’s fine. Just don’t let anything happen to it.”

“Don’t let anything happen to it” was said twice in a row.

Even if Shi Jian didn’t have a brain, she could tell—

There was a trap ahead. This dress was a big trap!

What she held in her hands suddenly became a problem.

…

Shi Jian overheard the actress’s plan by accident in a public restroom. The actress was standing in the corridor talking to her boyfriend on the phone.

“I don’t want to go on stage at all. I just want to snuggle with you, darling.”

“…So I’ll just find someone to take the fall, hehe. I’ve picked my assistant. If something goes wrong with the costume because of her mistake, then I won’t have to perform. The theater won’t do anything to me, and I’ll just fire her.”

“Do you have anything to say to me?”

Whatever the boyfriend wanted to say, Shi Jian didn’t know. But what Shi Jian wanted to do was flip the actress off—

What a freaking b*tch.

How could she come up with something so underhanded?

So you never planned to perform properly in the first place? If you didn’t want to, then just quit—why drag others down with you?

Shi Jian, the soon-to-be scapegoat, was beyond speechless.

【! This actress is way too wicked!】

【So all we have to do is keep the costume safe? Make sure nothing happens to it? Sorry, my brain’s not braining.】

【It’s useless, right? Judging by her tone, she’ll definitely find some way to sabotage it.】

【I was just happy the streamer managed to win her favor, turns out the actress never planned to go on stage at all?】

【But this doesn’t seem like the most urgent issue right now—I feel like the actress just glanced in the streamer’s direction!】

!!! The livestream viewers weren’t imagining it.

Shi Jian swore she hadn’t made a sound.

She hadn’t stepped on anything, hadn’t sneezed—she was just planning to quietly slip out of the stall after the actress finished her call and left.

But the actress didn’t play by the rules. She stared toward Shi Jian’s direction and slowly said into the phone, “I think there’s a little bug hiding over here.”

Then she hung up and began to wander.

There was an unnatural smile on her face as she called out, “Are you here?”

“How much did you hear? Come out—don’t hide from me. Otherwise, if I catch you, it’ll be even worse for you.”

Her voice echoed sharply in the enclosed public restroom, piercing and disturbing.There was no way out.

Shi Jian’s heart leapt into her throat. She couldn’t escape—even if she tried, the moment she opened the stall door, she’d run right into the actress. Behind her was a window that let in air, but it was so small only a cat could squeeze through, and it was far from the ground.

“Where are you?”

“Come out now—”

“I said come out!”

The actress’s voice, which started out sounding somewhat normal, grew increasingly distorted with time—like an outburst from someone with a rage disorder, her voice wavering between crying and not.

Shi Jian heard stall doors being slammed open one after another.

There were quite a few stalls in the public restroom, some broken and locked. But at the pace the actress was going, she’d find Shi Jian sooner or later.

She was getting closer!

Shi Jian clenched her teeth to keep from making a sound. Slowly, the sounds of doors opening and footsteps disappeared. Because of her limited field of view, Shi Jian couldn’t see where the actress was.

Did she leave?

No!

The livestream comment section exploded with screams.

Because a terrifying scene straight out of a horror film appeared—

At the bottom of the stall door where Shi Jian was hiding, a pair of bloodshot eyes stretched wide, almost bursting from their sockets, appeared in the gap beneath the door, along with part of a deathly pale face.

The actress’s face was upside down, pressed into the narrow space under the door to peer in. Which meant—her head was against the ground, feet up, body straight like a pole.

Shi Jian’s heart stopped. Good thing she had clenched her teeth—now she understood why she hadn’t heard any footsteps.

The actress hadn’t used her feet at all!

She was checking for people by looking for legs under the stalls through the gaps.

“Not here?”

The bloodshot eyes flickered with confusion as the actress muttered to herself. She didn’t see Shi Jian. After waiting a bit, she angrily moved on.

Shi Jian: You don’t have feet, and I don’t have feet either—surprise! (Not serious)

Shi Jian hadn’t been discovered because she had hoisted herself up onto the wall hook, curled up and suspended in mid-air.

Luckily, she kept in good shape and had strong core control—otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to hold herself up.

But even in that short time, Shi Jian was almost at her limit.

After the actress disappeared from the door gap, Shi Jian cautiously stretched one foot down.

Meanwhile, the actress seemed to catch something in a reflection. She saw a strand of hair dangling in one of the stalls.

The actress was thrilled.

“I caught you! Let’s see where you run off to this time!”

She violently yanked open the stall door in just a few moves—only to grab…

A wig.

The actress: ???The audience: Hahaha.

This wig was a hairpiece gifted to Shi Jian by Xiao Hua. When the actress began her full-scale search, Shi Jian had thrown the wig piece into another toilet stall—so just now, the actress had charged toward the wrong one.

Shi Jian hadn’t expected the hairpiece to be so useful at a moment like this.

The actress threw the wig aside and let out a string of vulgar curses—likely because she came up empty-handed, and after thinking she had finally caught Shi Jian only to end up grabbing a fistful of wig, she was furious. Someone outside called her, and the actress finally left the restroom stalls.

Shi Jian only came out after she was sure everything had quieted down.

But Shi Jian didn’t feel safe just yet.

After all, that metaphorical bomb—the costume—could explode at any time.

Shi Jian took the performance costume out of the safe. After hearing the actress's real intentions, she realized the carefully prepared safe was now useless.

【I’m new here. The streamer actually prepared a safe for the costume?!】

【If not for the certainty that something would happen to it, the safe might’ve actually worked.】

Shi Jian, the scapegoat-to-be, wandered backstage with the costume, wondering how to handle it.

So difficult!

“Xiao Shi?”

Shi Jian was called out—it was the manager, the one who liked to peel off his own skin and hang it up to dry.

The manager had a good impression of Shi Jian, especially since her lines were actually stage-worthy. Bumping into her now, he casually asked,

“What are you doing?”

Shi Jian shook her head. “Nothing.” She gave the manager a couple of extra glances and noticed… he had a broad, thick back…

“That back… would be perfect for taking the fall.”

Shi Jian muttered silently. The manager didn’t hear, but the livestream viewers understood immediately.

Now that she had an idea, Shi Jian’s gloom was swept away. She wasn’t even afraid of the manager anymore—in fact, she felt a little fondness toward him.

Seeing the manager adjusting a few strands of hair in the mirror, Shi Jian casually chatted him up. “Your eyebrows seem a bit sparse—ever thought about getting them microbladed? It’s actually pretty trendy among men now.”

The manager didn’t like his skin getting wrinkled, and even cared deeply about the few strands of hair on his scalp—clearly, he was a ghost who cared about appearances.

And sure enough, Shi Jian had hit the right spot. The manager responded with genuine interest.

“Right? I think so too. Your eyebrows look great, Xiao Shi. Did you get them done too?”

Shi Jian: Excuse me?! Are you kidding me? She needs microblading? These are natural, okay?!

But to reach her goal, Shi Jian still smiled and nodded. “Yep. Pretty natural, right?”

The manager looked envious. “Mind telling me where you got it done?”

Sure—she got them done at the Born-Beautiful Beauty Salon.

Shi Jian said, “Actually, I have a bit of experience with microblading. If you don’t mind, I could help you out—though we’d have to go outside, since there are no materials here.”

The manager immediately replied, “Really? But I have to watch the theater… unless, what if you take my skin out with you?”As soon as he finished speaking, he peeled off the skin from his face.

Shi Jian was deeply shocked—this skin could actually be removed at will, either completely or in parts.

In any case, the scapegoat had taken the bait.

But Shi Jian still wore a troubled expression. “Wouldn’t it be a bit inappropriate… I still have to look after the artist, and there’s work to do.”

The manager, eager for beauty, reassured her, “That’s not a problem. Your artist isn’t doing anything serious anyway. If she looks for you, I’ll say I sent you out to run an errand for me. You can go without worry.”

Shi Jian: Okay, even the manager knows the actress has no real work.

Still, she didn’t agree right away. “I’m also responsible for keeping an eye on the performance costume. It’s very important.”

The manager immediately said, “I’ll watch it for you!”

Shi Jian hadn’t even finished her sentence before the scapegoat enthusiastically took on the burden.

Seeing Shi Jian still hesitant, the manager even reached out to grab the costume. Shi Jian shouted with a pained expression and righteous tone, “Manager, I don’t think it’s appropriate—how can I let you hold it?!”

The costume was instantly in the manager’s arms.

The manager: It didn’t feel like I grabbed it that hard? But she was holding on so tightly?

The audience in the livestream room, with their godlike perspective, clearly saw Shi Jian saying it was inappropriate—while stuffing the costume right into the manager’s arms.

The manager didn’t think too much: it must be because he’s strong!

Either way, he got the costume, and Xiao Shi would give him pretty eyebrows—how wonderful!

Shi Jian was delighted too! Free of burdens, light as a feather.

Scapegoat identity successfully transferred. √