Chapter 124: Ascending the S Throne and Commanding Ten Million Fans

Even so, Xinghui Company had been unlucky lately. Because of that, they had stayed fairly discreet about Bai Ling’s business before, making no grand moves at all. In fact, they were gradually regaining their strength, preparing to rise once again. But when Bai Ling trended hot this time, it was they who were left battered and bruised.

To rise again?
That would be difficult.

At that thought, Wang Tianhai felt a surge of irritation. The beauty in his arms suddenly felt as dry and flavorless as a white skeleton beside him. He tugged up his trousers and lumbered toward the door.

The woman on the bed sat up.
“Ai-yi, Boss Wang, at this late hour where are you going?”

Wang Tianhai snapped back irritably, “Mind your own business!”

She gave a light, cold laugh. “What a lifeless fat Wang—you don’t even recognize people once you pull up your pants. Damn fool, you should break your neck and die!”

No sooner had she finished than a scream echoed, followed by a dull thud and clattering sounds.

Onstage, Wang Dagang’s evaluation ended there.
He had failed to get any sort of advantage out of Bai Ling.
This time, her performance was just too outstanding—no angle to criticize, nothing to poke at.
What else could he do? Sit down quietly and take it, that’s all.

Still, this was just a run of luck for Bai Ling; he refused to believe she could perform as well in every future scene.
A prodigy? Sorry. Even if everyone else thought so, he did not.
There had to be something odd about it—maybe just pure luck, just perfect casting for this role.

What of it?

After Wang Dagang, the other directors spoke one after another. Clearly, none of them could deny that Bai Ling had truly shone this time.

Bai Ling could not tell if she was overly sensitive, but from their remarks she seemed to sense who truly appreciated her.
Take Director Zhuge Tianguang, for example: his words carried comfort and delight. Even when praising Bai Ling, he was not stingy with praise, and his compliments were genuinely heartening.

But the two directors Zhou Xuan and Zhao Zhenga were visibly restrained. Even while acknowledging Bai Ling’s performance, they were determined not to mention anything about her future. They did not affirm her talent either.

Of course, it might simply be their temperaments that made them so reserved, which was understandable. In any case, Bai Ling could not be sure of anything, so she only nodded in silence.

When everything was over, scoring began.
Without exception, Bai Ling’s marks were either eight or nine; averaged together, she got an 8.5.
Even Wang Dagang did not dare give her a low score, wary of being criticized.

As for the other team members, their scores varied: the highest was seven, and the lowest was only five, for Yang Zichao.

Scoring done, Bai Ling stepped offstage smoothly. The rest of the program had little that was substantial anyway.
All she had to do was sit and watch everyone else perform.

It ended quickly, and all the actors’ scores appeared in order.
Then came the seating arrangements based on those ratings. That was one of the more interesting mechanics of this show.
Each performance, each scene, was key to the market score; different ranking orders ultimately meant different star tiers.

Before, Bai Ling had been merely A-list, a notch below Lin Yubai and others. But now she had undeniably become S-tier.
Before many envious eyes, she took one of the four highest seats.

It was a perspective that looked down on everything around her, sharper and clearer than the usual neat hierarchy of star ranks in show business.

Yet Bai Ling did not get carried away. She knew very well this seating was decided by that single temporary performance.
In the next round, if she performed terribly, she could be knocked all the way down to B- or even C-tier.
That would be deeply humiliating.

So what came next—the choice of script and role—became crucial.

“All right, everyone, now it is time to choose your teammates again,” said the host.

This time, Bai Ling’s situation had improved a lot. At least several people who had sat with her on the S-tier seats extended the olive branch.

Yet to everyone’s surprise, Lin Yubai himself came to her of his own accord.

“Bai Ling, would you like to team up with me? Let’s work together.”

In truth, Lin Yubai had joined this whole show on Wang Dagang’s orders to help the television drama *A Promising Future* gain recognition and raise its buzz.
But to be frank, with Lin Yubai’s present rank, he naturally had some freedom to choose. Even Wang Dagang might not be able to fully direct him.

Through this performance, Lin Yubai had noticed something different about Bai Ling.
He felt a measure of curiosity and wanted to see what was so special about her.
Of course, Bai Ling had already shown many unusual sides before.

Yet at that time, what she displayed was mostly the refinement and talent of a singer, hardly linked to acting at all.
And between them there had been hardly any real contact.

Now it was different.
Still, when he tried to get close, Bai Ling did not want it.

From four or five meters away, she could feel Wenyan’s deadly stare gathering on her at that moment.
Goodness—it was almost enough to melt her.

With a light laugh, Bai Ling said, “Teacher Lin, I’m sorry, but I just promised a few seniors a while ago.”

She extended her hand and pointed; a few veteran actors appeared before Lin Yubai.

Seeing that, he naturally had nothing else to say.
“Fine then. We’ll cooperate next time if there’s a chance.”

After everyone had chosen, Bai Ling drew the script on behalf of her team.
This time, fortune did not treat her so badly.

After a round of draws, she landed one of those foreign originals—the domestic adaptation cast her as a villain.

The role suited Bai Ling and did not demand much in terms of acting, so the challenge was not great.

“From this angle,” she thought, “I can almost afford to slack off.”

Even so, even if the role was not especially brilliant, she could not afford to be too careless.
This time she skipped rehearsal because of system support, not because she truly meant to loaf.

Thus the second episode came to a close. The edited version, most likely, would be uploaded soon.

After the show, Miao Miao came at once with good news.

“Bai-jie, Bai-jie!
Come on, look, look!
Your fan count has surpassed ten million!”

End of chapter.