An Ting sighed. "But Qianqian has only been at the TV station for a month. Won't this make her unpopular?"
"The lead role isn't about seniority," Sun Yiling said seriously. "In my mind, Qianqian is the perfect choice."
"So, Director, you think highly of Qianqian, which is why you agreed to let her join the TV station?"
"Of course." Sun Yiling looked at Ye Qianqian intently. "In my heart, she is the best—better than anyone else."
If the scene had been different, Ye Qianqian would have been very happy, maybe even smug, at hearing that. But Zhou Lili was squeezing her hand harder and harder, and panic began to set in.
She couldn't afford to offend Zhou Lili right now. Zhou Lili came from a wealthy family with extensive connections, while Ye Qianqian's family had fallen into poverty when she was born. They were just an ordinary working-class family. Getting along with Zhou Lili meant not only meeting other wealthy friends and expanding her connections, but also occasionally receiving designer gifts and free food and drinks.
Ye Qianqian had even used Zhou Lili's connections to get into the TV station, which indirectly boosted Sun Yiling's reputation as a prodigy. If it weren't for Zhou Lili, no one at the station would have cared about her, let alone let her in.
All of this relied on giving Zhou Lili the illusion that Sun Yiling liked her. If Zhou Lili discovered that Sun Yiling liked someone else instead, she would never forgive Ye Qianqian.
"Lili, the station director is just appreciating talent…" Ye Qianqian tried to explain.
Zhou Lili abruptly shook off her hand and shrieked, "Appreciating talent? I have no idea where you get any talent at all!!"
Her words were harsh, revealing her true thoughts. Ye Qianqian's face instantly paled, her fingers clenching until they turned white, and resentment surged inside her.
Sun Yiling, still under the filter, couldn't bear to see Ye Qianqian bullied. He stepped directly in front of her and said in a deep voice, "What do you want to do?"
Zhou Lili's chest heaved with anger at Sun Yiling's protective stance. "Fine! So they were all just playing me! Ye Qianqian, I'll remember you. You tried to play mind games with me and act like a green tea girl—just wait!"
Ye Qianqian's face looked terrible. She wanted to defend herself, but with Sun Yiling shielding her, there was nothing she could do except watch Zhou Lili storm off.
An Ting and Li Qin, squatting in the corner, watched the entire scene with great enjoyment, eating sunflower seeds and whispering to each other.
"Good and evil will be rewarded in the end. Hehehe, that green tea girl Ye Qianqian finally got what's coming to her," Li Qin said, thoroughly satisfied.
An Ting grabbed a melon seed that Li Qin had pulled out and cracked it open with relish. "Hehehe."
In stark contrast, Ye Qianqian could only manage a forced smile despite Sun Yiling's attentive care. Clearly, the fallout with Zhou Lili was a major blow to her.
After exchanging a few words with Sun Yiling, she made an excuse and left.
An Ting reversed her previous actions on the PS interface. Sun Yiling, now back to his senses, saw Ye Qianqian's face looking like a dog's head.
Thinking this way, he began to doubt his decision.
Schools take their annual recruitment videos very seriously, and they're released to everyone. If Ye Qianqian's image really looked like what he imagined, wouldn't she be unsuitable as the lead actress? When he initially chose her, he thought she had a good image and was hardworking, perfectly matching the theme of being positive and ambitious.
But after only a week apart, why did he feel completely different about her?
Sun Yiling wasn't sure if Ye Qianqian was in a bad mood today or if he was, and besides, he had already submitted the candidate to his superiors, so changing it now would be troublesome.
He hesitated—a rare moment for him.
Regardless of his inner struggle, An Ting smiled and asked, "Director, can we start recording now?"
Sun Yiling snapped out of his daze. A wave of guilt washed over him the moment he saw An Ting. He nodded. "Okay."
There weren't many lines. Sun Yiling simply explained the emotion he wanted twice, and An Ting conveyed it perfectly.
At the end, Sun Yiling's satisfied expression said it all. "You really are quite talented."
An Ting tossed her hair and shook her head smugly. Nonsense. If you've been doing a job for over ten years, you can master anything.
While fiddling with the computer, Sun Yiling casually said, "I know a few companies that hire voice actors—from audiobook recording to radio jobs. All legitimate channels. Most school-area part-time jobs exploit cheap labor. You have a great voice; you could pick better part-time work. The ones I'm talking about offer a base salary, and you can earn more if you do well. Are you interested?"
It wasn't surprising that Sun Yiling had so many resources. He was the director of the school's TV station, and his mother had been planning large-scale variety shows for years.
An Ting knew he wanted to help her solve her current difficulties—perhaps out of sympathy, or perhaps out of guilt for almost ruining her mission.
However, An Ting also had her own direction. She wasn't the original owner of this body. The original owner, having not yet entered society, could only take time-consuming, physically demanding part-time jobs due to limited abilities. An Ting was different—before she had been killed by the spotlight, she had been a successful businesswoman who could afford a house in the capital. Now, she had more options.
Still, An Ting accepted Sun Yiling's favor and did her best to make use of the opportunities, knowing that some of them were highly sought after, even by media students.
"Thank you, Director." An Ting patted his shoulder warmly. "I've been thinking of changing some part-time jobs recently, and I have a general idea of what I want to do. It's not related to voice work, but I may still need your help."
"What kind of help?"
"You know I was dating Song Qian before. I learned a lot about photography then, so I want to study it more deeply." An Ting sighed. "I've saved a little money from part-time jobs over the past few years—enough for my tuition. I'm a junior now, and doing all sorts of part-time jobs is a waste of time. I want to learn something new. I'm a music major, and while the saying 'graduation equals unemployment' is just a joke among classmates, it does reflect some truth. Learning more is always good."
She gave Sun Yiling a soft yet strong, tired yet confident smile, like a cluster of resilient, flamboyant wildflowers in a field.
For some reason, Sun Yiling thought "wildflower" was an odd word, but he was moved by her sincerity.
"I have an unused DSLR camera at home. You can take it if you need it," Sun Yiling said.
"Thank you, Master!" An Ting said emotionally.
Sun Yiling felt ashamed under her grateful gaze. He regretted almost depriving An Ting of her mission due to his personal feelings. He lent out a camera that others would consider expensive with just a word, not even asking when it would be returned.
An Ting thought to herself how many good people there were in the world.
PS popped up again, ruining the mood. "If I hadn't helped you remove his filter for Ye Qianqian, would you still want him to help you? It's already good that he's not helping Ye Qianqian suppress you!"
An Ting twitched the corner of her mouth. "Shut up. If someone gives you a benefit, just accept it. What's the point of thinking too much?"
The system's original intent was just to encourage An Ting to take initiative in dealing with the buff-obsessed PS; it wasn't meant to bother her further.
With her task complete, An Ting didn't linger. She said goodbye to Sun Yiling and Li Qin and left the TV station.
Li Qin had just finished editing the video, packed up her computer, and left with An Ting.
"Qinqin, do you know any pretty girls?"
Li Qin rubbed her arms. "Your tone is really disgusting. There are lots—so what?"
"Could you help me meet someone? I want to practice photography, but I'm missing a pretty model."
"Okay." Li Qin agreed readily. "Let's add each other as friends, and you can send me your contact info."
By the time they parted at the bottom of the dormitory building, An Ting's modest friend list already had the contact info of several girls.
Since she had already promised Sun Yiling she'd practice photography, she needed to build a portfolio, whether for taking orders or showing her work in the future.
Starting from scratch, An Ting—famous for nothing—adopted the most basic approach to photography: finding pretty girls at school to photograph and produce images.
For the next few days, she was extremely busy, taking photos everywhere and staying up all night editing them. A week later, she had produced several sets of very high-quality photos.
The girls who were photographed were impressed and asked for a second session, and even Sun Yiling was impressed by An Ting's talent after seeing the results.
Sun Yiling: "I've discovered that you have an extraordinary talent for everything you do."
An Ting: "Maybe he's just too outstanding."
After shamelessly replying to Sun Yiling's WeChat message, An Ting shut down her computer. She had been working non-stop for days and was physically and mentally exhausted.
She had no classes that day, so she climbed into bed to rest.
Wang Shiran, her roommate across the bed, was scrolling through her phone when she suddenly turned and looked at her teasingly. "I heard you broke up with Song Qian?"
As soon as she said it, the other three roommates turned to watch, clearly treating it like a show.
"Where did you hear that?" Ma Yang leaned closer. "How come I don't know?"
"Someone posted photos on WeChat Moments of Song Qian giving flowers to Ye Qianqian." Wang Shiran turned her phone toward Ma Yang.
Ma Yang zoomed in on each photo. "Wow, Song Qian didn't treat you like this when he was dating An Ting, did he?"
Wang Shiran scoffed. "What are you talking about? We don't even know if Song Qian broke up with An Ting and found someone new, or if he's openly cheating on her."
She looked at An Ting. "Hey, An Ting, none of us in this dorm have heard anything about you and Song Qian breaking up. Could it be that he's two-timing you?"