Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season

“Ms. Xu, sorry to keep you waiting. Ms. Yaying’s makeup is a bit more complex today, so our makeup artist is still busy with her and it might take a while before she can rush over. Could you please wait for a few more minutes?” One of the program staff followed Ning Xiaoruan in and politely explained the situation.

“Since your makeup artist is still busy, do you mind if I do my makeup myself?” Sheng Jiaoyang didn’t seem to mind as she asked.

“Of course, that’s no issue at all! Did you bring your makeup products with you?”

“Yes, I brought them with me.” Sheng Jiaoyang nodded.

The young lady responsible for the program’s logistics apologised again before leaving the dressing room.

Ning Xiaoruan’s expression immediately darkened the moment the staff member left. He sat down next to Sheng Jiaoyang and complained, “Guess what I saw earlier, that so-called Yaying’s dressing room sure was rowdy! A few makeup artists were fixing her makeup, and even the host was there, chatting and laughing. So, I asked the young lady from earlier, ‘Don’t the other stars of the show need makeup artists?’ and she replied that big-name stars usually brought their own makeup artists, humph! When we go back later, I must let Li Yu arrange a makeup artist, a stylist, a beautician, and all kinds of beauty experts for you!”

“I was actually waiting for their program’s makeup artist out of respect, but it’s great that they see me as a big-name star, saving me the trouble of finding an excuse to use my own makeup.” Sheng Jiaoyang had actually already applied makeup before coming here. At that time, she was worried that the communal cosmetics used by the program’s makeup artists weren’t of the best quality. Now, all she had to do was to touch up a bit and her makeup was done.

Ning Xiaoruan sized her up while commenting, “Isn’t your makeup a bit too light? I just saw that Yaying come out with heavy makeup. Wouldn’t she look better on camera and steal the limelight?”

“Why do I need to put on that much makeup? It isn’t about how heavy my makeup should be, but more about how it suits me. With my age, do you think it’s appropriate for me to wear that kind of heavy makeup?”

“But, you put on heavy makeup when you were filming on set, and I must say, you looked quite pretty!”

“It was required for that role.” Sheng Jiaoyang finally experienced Shen Zhining’s helplessness. No wonder he’d left this guy at her side. Just look at this guy’s EQ! If they didn’t let him hone his EQ now, then in the future, he’d certainly be misled by others with just a few words. The entertainment industry was indeed the best place for this. After all, all kinds of shady practices could be found in this circle.

Sheng Jiaoyang thought about it and decided to discuss the situation in detail with Ning Xiaoruan. “The people in this TV station would rather wait on Yaying than come help me do my makeup. So, who’s the popular one, Yaying or me?”

“Of course, it’s Yaying. The people here aren’t complete fools.” Ning Xiaoruan looked at her with an are-you-stupid look and immediately got an ‘affectionate reward’ in return. “Ouchhh, Xu Jiaojiao, why did you hit me on the head? Although you’re my future Cousin-in-Law, you’re still younger than me! Remember this well, you’re younger than me!”

“It doesn’t matter as long as Shen Zhining is older than you.”

“…” Ning Xiaoruan glared at her with a listless look in his eyes.

“Say, when you go to someone else’s birthday party, do you dress to steal the spotlight from the person celebrating his or her birthday?” Sheng Jiaoyang made an analogy to make Ning Xiaoruan understand the situation better.

She didn’t wait for Ning Xiaoruan’s response and continued, “Of course not! Otherwise, you must be bearing a grudge against that person. But, since we’re attending someone else’s party, we want to look representable enough to attract others’ attention. So, the only way to go is to dress up differently from everyone else while paying attention to two points. Firstly, we mustn’t overshadow the host at all costs, and secondly, we mustn’t overstep our identity.”

“Why can’t we overstep our identity?” Ning Xiaoruan understood the first point, but the second one left him puzzled.

“If a princess dresses up as Cinderella and attends a party, do you think people will think she looks dazzling? Or is she simply making a fool of herself? If a prince dresses up as a beggar for an important occasion in order to attract attention, will others admire him for his peculiar taste? No, people will just think that he’s out of his mind.”

“Oh, I see~” Ning Xiaoruan exclaimed as realisation dawned on him. But, in the next second, he cast a puzzled glance at Sheng Jiaoyang and said, “That has nothing to do with your makeup though…a little more makeup will make you look prettier! It’s not like I’m asking you to dress up as a beggar.”

Sigh, she’d said so much, but it was all in vain! Sheng Jiaoyang rolled her eyes.

“Xu Jiaojiao, I saw you roll your eyes, that’s so unladylike!” Ning Xiaoruan condemned.

Sheng Jiaoyang rolled her eyes again and said, “I’ve never met anyone stupider than you!”

“Hey, Xu Jiaojiao, that’s enough! I graduated from Ha…”

Knowing what he was going to say next, Sheng Jiaoyang quickly interrupted him, “Alright, you’re not stupid, so use your brain and think about the things I said earlier.”

This was common sense. No matter what one did, one must act in accordance with their identity. If she tried to punch above her weight, she was just making herself a laughing stock. Not to mention overshadowing someone, if someone as young as herself were to wear such heavy makeup, what would the others think of her? That she looked like a flirtatious b*tch? Filming a variety show and acting in a drama was different. When acting, she would act as someone else and bring the character to life. But, in a variety show, she was representing herself and her every word and action would make an impression on the audience.

Knock knock.

“Hello, may I come in?” a magnetic and gentle voice asked outside the door.

“Please, come in.” Sheng Jiaoyang waved to Ning Xiaoruan and signalled for him to move to the other side of the room.

A man in a burgundy suit walked in with a smile on his face. His smile looked particularly intimate as he hurriedly walked over and said, “Knowing someone by their reputation can’t compare to meeting them in person. Jiaojiao, you’re the classiest supermodel that I’ve ever seen domestically!”

“Thank you for the compliment,” Sheng Jiaoyang answered, neither conceited nor impetuously.

A glimmer of admiration flashed across the man’s eyes upon seeing her indifferent attitude at such a young age. “You probably don’t know who I am, but let me introduce myself. I’m Liang Chen, the host of the show ‘Ultimate Ace’.”

“I recognise you; I’ve watched your show before. I didn’t expect that I would have the honour of attending this show,” Sheng Jiaoyang smiled.

Ning Xiaoruan quietly watched the two people chat from the sidelines. Even though he’d already seen her communication skills when she was filming on the set, he couldn’t help but admire her ability to adapt so easily. The phrase ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans’ fitted her personality perfectly.

After conversing for a few minutes, Liang Chen acquired a better understanding of the young girl standing in front of him. Previously, everything he knew about her was based on the information available on the internet. Now, after having a face-to-face conversation, he realised that this girl spoke in a watertight manner as if she’d experienced a lot in life. He didn’t manage to fish any info out of her. For example, her relationship with Gu Zhou, whether she’d used her connection with Lina to partake in Fashion Week, how she became intimate with Lina to the point of getting into a scandal, and so on…

But, after chatting, he still didn’t manage to find out anything. Liang Chen then realised that although Sheng Jiaoyang was young, her EQ was very high and her experience in life wasn’t shallow. More importantly, she was…very thick-skinned!

Sure enough, she was a good sapling that suited the entertainment industry! Liang Chen sighed sorrowfully in his heart and left soon after.

Afterwards, Sheng Jiaoyang followed a staff member backstage. Several stars were gathered here already. The sight of handsome men and pretty women standing together was particularly pleasing to the eye.

She actually didn’t know much about the domestic stars because it hadn’t been that long since she’d returned, only six months. In those months, she’d been so busy that she didn’t have much time to surf the internet. In the beginning, when she’d become Xu Jiaojiao, she was busy with the National Supermodel competition. Later, she’d decided to enter the entertainment industry and began to surf the internet to follow the entertainment news. But, she didn’t have that much free time either when she’d started to take on more work. As such, her understanding of the people in the entertainment circle wasn’t that extensive. As a result, she only recognised half of the people present.

It was clear that no one wanted to pay much attention to her, the so-called trending newcomer. When she arrived, the others continued chatting and laughing merrily, and no one came to talk to her.

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Dear readers,

I hope all is well on your side. I have prepared a glossary and when I published it, there was a pop-up that said that 0 notifications have been sent out. Therefore, I am posting this announcement just in case some of you hadn't received the notification. 

Glossary link: ROF Glossary.

The glossary is also added to the table of content for future reference. I will try to update this bi-weekly. It could be that I have missed some minor characters in between, if you see any and want me to include them...

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TL: Yuna | Editor: Purpledragon | TLC: Grace