11 Prestige

"You did that on purpose!" # `⦀′

"Hmmm?" Feng Xue woke up from her pleasant reverie and turned to her baby cousin after hearing this accusation. "What did I do?"

"You know what I mean! This…" Feng Xi uncomfortably pulled at one of her ears and angrily huffed out a breath. "You tricked me." (╯^╰)

"Oh." Feng Xue coughed to hide the laughter in her voice before answering in a serious manner. "As a celebrity, how can you dress like that, eh? You should always keep tabs on what you wear and how you behave. Who knows when a camera will be filming you?"

She tried to appear stern while saying this but judging from the now puffed-up cheeks of her younger sister, it was evident that the amusement she tried so hard to hide hadn't gone unnoticed.

"You're laughing." A firm angry statement, accompanied by increasingly puffed-cheeks and pouty lips.

"No I'm not–" Feng Xue tried to appear sincere, but she wasn't sure she was successful at all because, in her head, she was all like 'So cute, so cute… how can this baby be so cute?'.

And, despite being a talent-scout agent, acting had never been her strong forte.

But, Feng Xue knew that her fun had gone too far when she saw the younger girl look out of the window and proceed to ignore her. 'Uh oh- she's mad for real this time.'

And, let's just face it, she had to admit that she had greatly enjoyed teasing her unsuspecting little cousin this morning. Not only that, she had even felt the downtrodden mood that had prevailed after hearing the doctor's diagnosis about Feng Xi's leg slowly disappearing during their banter.

But then again, that outfit had been really too plain and she had been dead serious when it came to her opinion that it needed to be changed.

'This little thing– she actually learned to act smarter.' Feng Xue mused while silently observing the mutinous side profile of her young cousin. After waking up from her coma, many of the other's habits had changed, like how she seemed to not like eating spicy food as much as she did earlier- though she tried to hide those little quirks well.

'Probably a side effect of the trauma? Or the meds? But then again, her actions now– they feel more like back when we were home and when mom and dad were still…' She sighed lightly. The death of her parents had been like the straw that broke the camel's back and little Xi had never been the same since.

But this amnesia– it seemed to drag up that cousin she once knew and dearly missed.

'....'

'And I should be hacked to death for thinking that this amnesia happening to her is kinda good… But then again, who can blame me? She was way cuter back then than she had been these past few years.'

Back then, Feng Xi had been trickier and funnier, with a sense of dry, serious humor, even with everything she had had to face– she had been the baby and the light of their family. And now, though not exactly the same, the girl in front of her eyes was somewhat similar to the one she knew from the past.

For that matter, how could Feng Xue, who had a good seven years on her younger cousin not know what was going inside her head? Feng Xi hadn't really shown any dislike towards what was supposed to be her career, but how could Feng Xue not see that she wasn't actually interested in it?

She seemed to have grown to dislike flashy outfits after waking up from her coma and that would have been fine -she never used to like them before in the first place-, but Feng Xue couldn't let her pull off the same stunt when going to the company for the first time after waking up.

To sum it up, Feng Xi's little thoughts– her older cousin scented them a mile away, so who can blame the younger girl for caving in front of the other's well-planned counterattack?

'Well… it's fine if she doesn't want to act anymore, but the contract still has time and I don't have enough money to dissolve it. So, these three years, she gotta learn to play it by the ear.'

"Little Xi" Feng Xue decided to address her sister seriously after deliberating for a while. "I know that it's difficult to adjust to this kind of lifestyle, especially because you don't remember anything about it. But the thing is… there's no other way. I don't have enough money to pay the penalty fee if we want to terminate that contract."

Her cousin still didn't speak, but she didn't look that angry anymore either. At least she looked like she was willing to listen. Feng Xue breathed out in relief before continuing to speak.

"You accident too– You know about it so I won't go into details, but the entertainment circle is very deep. You have to watch each and every one of your actions and be careful when you are dealing with others. And, for actors, well….what you wear is how you represent yourself. So, please bear with it until these three years are over, ok? Once the contract period is up, I'll let you do anything you like."

Then she closed her mouth and waited with bated breath while the younger woman mulled this over.

And, Feng Xi took her sweet time before finally speaking hesitantly. "Do you mean– I don't need to continue acting after these three years if I don't want to?"

"Of course, you're free to decide. You don't remember now, but you started wanting to act only after I landed this job ne." Feng Xue then smiled and continued in a joking manner. "I even thought you wanted to be my little tail or something."

"Eeeh? Such a thing?" ◐_◐

"Hahaha… Anyway, before the three years are up, even your memory might return. So you have plenty of time to make a choice. Just play safely and have fun for now, ok?"

Seeing her cousin nodding her head obediently, Feng Xue felt various emotions raging within her heart. 'Finally, she won't be obsessed with becoming a popular actress without any rhyme or reason. This circle is really too nasty and I won't make myself guilty over persuading her to give up. It's for her own good and it's not like I forced her either.'

For the past two years, Feng Xue had tried persuading her little sister to leave her acting career and do something else, but it had been to no avail. She had finally given up, feeling disappointed, and had even started feeling dislike towards her beloved job.

Had she not pursued a career of wanting to become an agent in 'Star dreams', would little Xi not have started coveting the fame and wealth one gained by becoming an actress? But, now seeing her sister being so agreeable to her suggestion, she felt so much mixed emotion– satisfaction, guilt, and possibly even hope.

Her cousin was too young and straightforward to survive in this dog-eat-dog world in showbiz.

And, so immersed was Feng Xue in this complex array of emotions that she totally missed out on the dark, obscure look that flashed in the large, doe eyes of the younger girl sitting by her side.

***

It was nearly eleven in the morning by the time they arrived at their destination, even though they had set off nearly two hours before. Navigating the traffic, especially during morning rush hours in the capital can be especially daunting.

The car finally stopped in front of a tall skyscraper designed in a high-tech architecture style, the unconventional and modernized look of the building perfectly blending with the surrounding buildings demonstrating equally artful and elegant outlooks.

The name 'Star dreams entertainment' was etched out in bold, dark red lettering at the front of the building, the color nicely contrasting with the metallic-gray hue of the rest of the building.

'It really looks impressive– more than enough for a trendsetting talent agency, even in this world.'

Because, by now, Yang Jingshen had realized another important aspect of this world– that it had a certain, no, a considerable amount of prestige and reverence accorded to its practices of art.

Whether they be actors, singers, novelists, painters, comic artists, voice actors, or anything else that dabbled with any form of art… as long as they were good enough and had enough talent and drive, it could be said that this world was more tolerant to them. At least, it was better than the situation back on the 'earth' he came from.

Oh no, one shouldn't mistake this with something like artists having absolute glory, and every single human on the planet was fighting to become one or some such shit, because, you know– they were so powerful and unreachable, like what happens in some novels. No, this was different.

Because, this leniency extended towards you, only if you were talented enough to vie for it. It didn't mean that artists had it any less easy.

For a beginner, and even up until you manage to get a firm foothold in your field of expertise, you were bound to suffer and work like a dog. But, once you surpass that invisible and undefinable threshold, you'd find that you have access to much fame and glory and respect and wealth than what was accorded to you in the past.

But that was it. You needed to be extremely talented and possess a certain bit of luck as well as a good dose of common sense to earn this kind of privilege.

Because, you know, unlike in books, a world really can't depend on art- it doesn't provide food, healthcare, safety, or any other basic need. Heck! It does nothing except entertain people and nothing but entertain people.

And, even in this new world as well, this principle holds firm. Art doesn't do shit– and if you wanna earn all that honor and power and wealth and fame it promised to offer, you gotta work yourself to the bone to have all of that or more.