Shift! The Side-Character Heroine

Zhao Youyue did not know what to make of the situation. Is she in a self-help book now? Self-help books don’t have plotlines! Without a plotline, how was she going to create a character?

Moreover, most self-help books were agonizingly boring and dull. Few to no readers would read it patiently. How does it sell, if iconic characters were not going to appear, and there would be no readers to recognize them?

To be honest, when Zhao Youyue saw the name of the new literary world, she did a jig in her heart and almost wanted to cry out, “At last! I’ve won.” – “I really was born under the lucky star!” – “I am the female main character in this new world!”

Judging by the title alone, it should have been something related to actors and celebrities. As long as the entertainment factor is adequately executed, iconic characters would be a reasonable goal, much less highly popular characters that only required minimal effort. As long as this acting character card is kept active until the filming of ‘Beautiful April’ concludes, wouldn’t it be a success?

However, when she read the summary of this work, the arrogant smile that would have belonged to a female main character in a new literary world disappeared slowly – You have got to be kidding. This was not a novel or comic; it was a self-help book. Did anyone even read these?

As expected, the ‘Two Dimensional Gate’ had ripped her off, as usual. How does one win at being random?

However, when Zhao Youyue saw the list of female main characters inside, her shock was heightened once again. These female characters’ names were either China-sounding or foreign-sounding. One thing was sure, they all seemed to be famous legendary actresses!

In this self-help book, the author loved using examples to illustrate his views. Some cases included the portrayal of a particular character by a particular actress in a particular section of a plot. A majority of the plot would be based on actual events, while a small part of the plot was a blank canvas where just about anyone could make something up.

This was like the website ‘Zhihu,’ with the name of ‘Bihu’ [1]. Initially, many people would believe the contents of the legendary comments in Zhihu without a doubt. They would then reflect within themselves, in awe of how masters actually lived in the world among them. The legends in Zhihu were truly knowledgeable, and it seemed as if there was nothing that they did not know in this world. Of course, they would soon discover that a majority of the comments had been fabricated. They were experts at fabricating stories…

How do you make a lie believable? Well, make it 70% true, 30% false. This was why the legends in Zhi Hu could fabricate so many realistic-sounding stories.

Zhao Youyue suddenly understood how to operate in the self-help books’ literary world. She could shape a character by making up a plot using those so-called ‘real examples.’ If any plots related to this character was exciting and fascinating, it might leave a profound impression on the readers!

At the same time, this character must not arouse the suspicions of the readers into thinking that the events had been fabricated. If not, this self-help book about acting would never gain any recognition from the readers. We might as well give up on creating any icons from this.

As always, Zhao Youyue did not rush to possess a female character at random. It was true that no matter which legendary actress she possesses, there would be much to learn. There was nothing to lose from such a learning experience. However, she would settle for nothing less than a character card!

She decided to temporarily retreat from the ‘Two Dimensional Gate’ and purchased the ‘Perfect Acting’ self-help book. It was a fresh release in the market. The book’s author was Zeng Qinqin, a has-been actress. She was once argued to have the best acting skills in China. However, as age got to her, she slowly retreated behind the scenes. Throughout the course of her career, Zeng Qinqin soon earned the ‘Queen of Literature and Arts Film’ title. Of course, a Queen of Literature could write such a self-help book series.

Not only did she share her own experiences; she had listed out others who she considered to be legendary. She wanted to show the readers how the actresses dealt with particular scenes in movies.

It could not be denied that Zeng Qinqin, who was once very popular in her youth, had the right to back her statements up. Many actors published books, but they did not write those books. Instead, ghostwriters would write them. In this case, Zeng Qinqin had done the writing herself.

Unfortunately, her self-help books did not sell very well. The sales were just average. Only fans who had supported her in her youth would buy the book. They might not even read them – they were just adding the book to a collection of her works…

Current gen celebrities in their prime would not have the time to read such self-help books to improve their acting skills. If they had the time, they would rather think of getting on the next headlines of the newspaper, or throwing a party to unwind.

Very few actors would focus on their performance. This was the era of ‘amusing ourselves to death’ [2]. More celebrities were extremely popular with a vast following. To them, they would always bring a large part of themselves in their roles. They would not be playing the roles, the roles would be a part of them. Fans would only see them, not their roles.

Zhao Youyue really wanted to act as ‘Chu Luoxun,’ herself – and she wanted to do it with skill. She wanted to present her Goddess image in its perfect form to the viewers. She read ‘Perfect Acting’ book in earnest. As she went, she took note of each legendary actresses that had been listed in the book. She intended to find the perfect actress for her to possess…

First, she ruled out the highly popular legendary actresses that even laymen would be able to identify by name. She would not be able to fabricate stories about them. She was here to play up her possessee’s acting skills.

She had to choose an extra who had a moment of fame in the presence of a legendary actress. If they died young, all the better. She would have all the room to create the wildest of stories about them!

A similar case would be Guo Jia in the ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms.’ At some point, he became the ‘God of War of the Universe.’ He then became the ‘Big Three Boasters’ online, together with the Tibetan Mastiff [3] and Nikola Tesla [4]. That’s how a historical character became a fictionalized icon!

Zhao Youyue’s target was to ensure that her possessee would end up like ‘Guo Jia,’ the ‘God of War of the Universe.’ Her acting skills would be unparalleled!

She dove into action and finally found a suitable possessee. This actress had died mysteriously when she was 26 years old. There were many rumors concerning the cause of her death. Some people said she suffered from depression; others said she was persecuted by the rich and powerful because she was just too beautiful. Others said that she lost herself in method acting and took things too far…

This legendary female character’s name was Zhang Guorong. She died on the first of April. Back then, many thought that it was an April Fool’s joke.

Translation note:

[1] “Bihu” (逼乎) is a pun on the website “Zhihu. It is used to mock pretentious people on Zhihu who acted like know-it-alls.

[2] “amusing ourselves to death” (娱乐至死的时代) is a book by educator Neil Postman. The book’s origins lay in a talk Postman gave to the Frankfurt Book Fair in 1984.

[3] “Tibetan Mastiff” (藏獒) is a large Tibetan dog breed. Originating with the nomadic cultures of Tibet, China, India, Mongolia, and Nepal, it is used by local tribes of Tibetans to protect sheep from wolves, leopards, bears, large mustelids, and tigers.

[4] “Nikola Tesla” (特斯拉) was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist who is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system.