Chapter 109: Because of Dreams
She used to have dreams, dreams of flying far away, to higher and farther places. But her wings were ruthlessly clipped before their feathers were fully grown. The places she yearned to reach, before she could even take off, her journey ended at the starting point.
She would never forget the pain of Nangong Ying’s betrayal that day.
For her, even being cut by a knife, being driven out, starving for two days and nights, sleeping on a park bench – none of it compared to the pain of betrayal. That agony, she would never forget for a lifetime.
“So you’ve also been in the entertainment industry. Are you still in it now?”
“No, I’m not in the entertainment industry anymore.”
After the Orange River incident, she couldn’t possibly return to the entertainment industry, not anymore.
That experience made her clearly see how complex the adult world was. That place was filled with schemes and insidiousness; for a novice like her entering there, she could only be prey.
Especially that Orange River executive. If her reaction had been any slower then, she truly wouldn’t have escaped.
“The entertainment industry really isn’t suitable for you. The waters are too deep there.”
Tang Yumeng looked at Yu Linna. Although she was smiling, her smile was filled with bitterness. As someone who was in the entertainment industry, how could she not know the situation there? There, just having strength wasn’t enough; one also needed backing. Without backing, one could only go through the back door. Those who truly became famous through strength were too few.
People like Tang Yumeng, who didn’t use connections and had no backing in the entertainment industry, relying completely on her own efforts to secure supporting roles, were very rare. But she did it, using her own hard work to earn recognition.
That dyeing vat, filled with the stench of transactions everywhere, was a battlefield for men, a hell for women. But if one crossed this hell, what awaited was the heaven of boundless brilliance.
Tang Yumeng disliked the ways of the entertainment industry, but she carried a dream in her heart, so she endured. She had to persevere.
“Senior Tang, you know, that place…”
“Yes, I understand. You don’t have to say it, I understand. It must have been difficult for you there. Leaving early was a good thing for you. You’re still young; that place isn’t suitable for you.”
Tang Yumeng patted her head, comforting her with a gentle voice. This intelligent older sister liked to pat people’s heads, although Yu Linna also enjoyed being patted.
Having been in the entertainment industry, Tang Yumeng knew how dirty the water was there. She understood Yu Linna’s choice. If one could still persist in the entertainment industry after witnessing its darkness, that would be truly difficult to understand. Although Tang Yumeng was one of those people, she also understood that ordinary people shouldn’t enter this circle.
There were so many professions in this world, so many in the entertainment field for people to choose. Why insist on choosing the entertainment industry specifically? Although this circle was bright and glamorous, how many hidden transactions occurred behind it? In a sense, the entertainment industry was actually an underworld.
The others didn’t say anything more, perhaps having sensed the helplessness in Tang Yumeng’s words. They obediently chose to keep quiet. The entertainment industry, although glamorous on the surface, didn’t seem as beautiful as they imagined.
Taking advantage of a break in preparations, Tang Yumeng took Yu Linna aside to chat privately. It wasn’t for any other reason than that they shared a common topic, so she wanted to have a good talk.
“Little Sister Linna, you must have witnessed something unacceptable when you chose to leave the entertainment industry.”
Tang Yumeng sat on the floor of the courtyard, one leg bent upward, her left hand resting on her leg. She brushed aside the hair covering her ear, revealing the earring on her earlobe.
“Not just witnessed something unacceptable…”
If it were just witnessing something unacceptable, that would have been great. If it were just so simple, there wouldn’t have been so much pain afterward. If only it were so simple.
Even today, Yu Linna still couldn’t accept that she was almost subjected to the unspoken rules and ruthlessly betrayed by Nangong Ying.
The one she once considered her best friend, a friend worth her lifetime trust, betrayed her so heartlessly. You know, their relationship used to be so good. Even when it was hardest, they could share one steamed bun. Yu Linna was also a foodie. That she was willing to share her precious food with someone else showed how much that person meant to her.
Yet this trust was repaid with betrayal.
“The entertainment industry is a circle where brilliance and darkness coexist. People always want to enter this place, but once inside, they all want to get out. It’s not as good as people imagine. It’s full of darkness, full of transactions, nothing honorable.”
Tang Yumeng smiled bitterly. She herself had crawled and tumbled in that place; she knew clearly the situation there. Although still young, she had seen plenty.
She was still just a supporting role now. If she ever became the lead, how many more transactions would she have to witness?
“Do you know Nangong Ying?”
“Nangong Ying? I know her. Isn’t she the recently popular newcomer? Just because of acting in a good film, she became famous. But she indeed has ability, even the popular actress Li Yuexin supported her, and she got important roles from the director. She is also one of the few talented actors I know.”
“What kind of person do you think she is?”
“I don’t know her, so I can’t comment on whether she’s good or bad, but just from the perspective of an actress, she is indeed an outstanding person. She’s a year younger than me, yet she has caught up already. I really feel unwilling.”
She didn’t know Nangong Ying, didn’t know how to evaluate her personally. But from an actor’s perspective, Nangong Ying was sufficiently excellent. This answer was also within Yu Linna’s expectation.
Indeed, everyone thought Nangong Ying was very outstanding, excellent. This was normal.
But if they knew that Nangong Ying’s present status was obtained by betrayal, would they still like her?
Yu Linna kept this secret in her heart, without saying anything. She was sad, but she didn’t want others to know this matter. Being betrayed by one’s best friend, she didn’t want people to know.
Nangong, I liked you so much in the past, yet you ruthlessly stabbed me in the heart with a knife. How would you know how much that stab hurt?
“Why are you so concerned about this Nangong Ying? Do you have a connection with her?”
“…She’s a third-year student at the City’s First Middle School, the same school as me.”
“So you’re schoolmates. No wonder you’re interested in her. What a small world.”
Tang Yumeng didn’t know her relationship with Nangong Ying. If she knew their past relationship, she would probably be very surprised.
Nangong Ying was now a very popular star, a super newcomer. And with so many female fans, this was a rare situation. After she became famous, many stars in the industry wanted to get close to her, build connections, even visit her personally, give her gifts.
When someone gets famous, even their poor relatives from the countryside appear. Once Nangong Ying became popular, relatives who were previously unknown suddenly came to the city looking for her.
This is the so-called “more famous, more trouble.”
If people knew that Nangong Ying and Yu Linna were extremely close, then Yu Linna would probably get into a lot of trouble as well. But Yu Linna never acknowledged their relationship. At school, besides her third-year classmates, few people knew her relationship with Nangong Ying.
“Having such an outstanding schoolmate must be quite a source of pride, right?”
“Yes…”
As long as I don’t know her.
Thinking about their past, her heart always ached faintly. Those bygone days always made her heart bleed with pain. She always thought, if only that hadn’t happened. But it was already impossible; they couldn’t go back, they had reached the end.
“Senior Tang, I want to know, since the entertainment industry is so complicated, the water so deep, why do you still insist on staying there? Wouldn’t it be better to just leave early?”
Tang Yumeng froze slightly, then smiled wryly. Why did she continue to stay in the entertainment industry? She had thought about this question many times, but every time there was only one answer.
She took out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, put one between her lips, lit it with a lighter, and exhaled.
So she smokes too? Yu Linna couldn’t help but feel greatly surprised.
It was truly hard to imagine that this intelligent and gentle older sister would actually smoke. She was only 19, right? Actually smoking like a boy?
Tang Yumeng exhaled a puff of smoke, gazing at the depths of the forest, her eyes slightly dazed. But quickly, her gaze turned resolute. She smiled, a natural smile.
“Because of dreams.”
A very simple sentence, also the most unadulterated sentence, the most sincere sentence.
How could she not understand the darkness of the entertainment industry? How could she not know how terrible the entertainment industry was? She knew all these things. But to achieve her dream, she still chose to persevere, chose to keep striving. For no other reason than that dream in her heart.
“Others advised me to leave, to give up this dream, but only I know what I want. No matter how many difficulties, no matter how many setbacks, I still choose to move forward. Persistence might not guarantee results, but without persistence, there will definitely be no results. Whether or not there’s a path ahead, I want to walk forward and see for myself.”
After finishing a cigarette, Tang Yumeng stubbed it out, stood up, and stretched.
Perhaps her words sounded hard to understand, but just as she said, whether or not there’s a path ahead, she wanted to walk forward and see for herself.
Even if the path was difficult to tread, even if there was no path ahead, even if she had no backing, she still had to walk. Because, at the end of this path lay her dream.
She wanted to become famous, wanted more people to know her existence. That’s why she would choose to continue.
“Don’t overthink it. Just think of it as me venting to you. Let’s go, time for dinner.”
Patting Yu Linna’s head, Tang Yumeng turned and went inside. Yu Linna still sat there, a bit stunned. Those words just now had greatly impacted her, so much so that she still hadn’t come back to her senses.
Dream, this word, she could actually hear it from someone else’s mouth again.
She used to have dreams, but later gave up due to certain events. Now, the dream buried deep in her heart was slowly being unearthed.
Yu Linna felt lost, unsure what to do.
Dreams, were they really that important? She kept asking herself this in her heart.
Leave a Reply