CHAPTER 477: CHAPTER 471: ACTRESS 38

Ning Shuangshuang didn’t want to suffer when it came to eating, nor was bathing just a matter of pampering; in a place without doctors, maintaining hygiene was the best way to avoid getting sick.

The main reason everyone was so focused on building the bamboo house was to have a place to bathe.

The four of them took a refreshing bath, finally feeling the sticky sensation that had been clinging to them for days dissipating. Ning Shuangshuang even felt like the air around her had cooled significantly.

In the following days, the show’s team kept coming up with new ways to put people through the wringer until everyone was too worn out to care. By the time the survival game ended, even Yu Yingjie privately said he would never participate in such a taxing show again.

However, the viewership for this season of the survival game broke historical records, boosting Ning Shuangshuang’s fame further, bringing her close to the level of a top-tier celebrity, and even earning her a fan nickname, Brother Ning.

After the survival game ended, Jin An arranged for Ning Shuangshuang to rest for a month to recuperate, as the show was very demanding, and every celebrity who participated needed time off to recover afterward.

However, after only three days, Ning Shuangshuang couldn’t sit still. With the sudden increase in her finances, she remembered something she had always wanted to do in her past life: establish an animal rescue center, because she was fond of small animals, especially cats.

Many people like to own a cat or a dog, but animals are different from humans—they easily get into trouble. Once they do, their owners might consider abandoning them. A few responsible ones will find a new owner, but more often, they just leave them without care.

Ning Shuangshuang couldn’t stand seeing these abandoned animals, but she couldn’t dictate how people treated their pets either. So, she decided to open a pet rescue center to take in stray cats and dogs, neuter them, and then put them up for adoption, while also selling some pet supplies to subsidize the rescue center, regardless of how much money it made.

Although running it might inevitably lose money, if she could become a top actress, she could easily support it by taking on more roles, so there was no worry about sustaining it.

In her previous life, Ning Shuangshuang hadn’t even managed to start the rescue center before her career fell apart. In this life, her dream remained unchanged. The survival game brought her enough funds to support the rescue center for two or three years, so she immediately went out to scout for locations.

To get as large an area as possible, Ning Shuangshuang chose a more remote location, mainly for the expansive space and low price.

Ning Shuangshuang planned well, purchasing land in the suburbs, buying as much as possible and, if the funds allowed, continuing to build the pet rescue center. If money was tight, she’d buy the land first and build the center once she earned more from acting.

Once the pet center was built, the remote location would serve solely for housing pets. She planned to later open a pet hospital in the city center, which could also sell pet supplies, promoting adoption over buying pets and taking in strays or abandoned animals from within the city.

Because the chosen site was far and remote, the price of the vast land Ning Shuangshuang bought was unbelievably cheap. Nonetheless, her greed to buy more land left her with the newly acquired funds spent even before they warmed her pocket.

Now eager to take on acting jobs to earn money, Ning Shuangshuang rushed to Jin An after only two days of rest, asking him to arrange a script because she wanted to act.

Jin An was well aware of Ning Shuangshuang’s recent activities, including her plan to open a pet rescue center, but he had no objections. He was just her manager, responsible for her career, how she spent her earnings was up to Ning Shuangshuang and none of his business.

However, Jin An was supportive of Ning Shuangshuang’s desire to act. He had prepared two scripts for her, both carefully selected, with guaranteed viewership. Ning Shuangshuang just had to pick one she liked to perform.

Among these scripts, one was for a currently popular palace drama, about an innocent and lovely girl who maintained her authenticity amidst the harem conflicts and ultimately won the Emperor’s true love.

But to Ning Shuangshuang, this was just a story of a naive heroine pulling down everyone’s intelligence with her idiot aura. All the beautiful female characters inexplicably hated the heroine, and all the men were blindly in love with her. She and the Emperor had a tortuous romance, creating one ridiculous love drama after another until misunderstandings were resolved and the lead couple lived happily ever after.

Though undeniably this type of heroine and plot appealed to some romance-obsessed young girls who thought love needed trials to be beautiful and followed such dramas avidly, Ning Shuangshuang was determined not to lower her intelligence by playing such a character.

Despite Jin An’s optimism about the story’s ratings, seeing Ning Shuangshuang’s expression, he knew it was a no-go. Unconcerned, he took the script that had her frowning and replaced it with another one.

This next story satisfied Ning Shuangshuang; it was about a famous historical figure, a Regent Empress.

This Regent Empress was named Ding Xinxian, and was poorly portrayed by historians. Accused of husband-killing, power-grabbing, violence, extravagance, and deep cunning, she was harshly criticized in historical records. Yet, when she was alive, no one dared defy her orders.

Under her governance, the nation was very prosperous. Though severe and ruthless to officials, she understood the need for rest for the people. Disdaining royals and nobles who exploited their birthright, she vigorously supported those from poor families, opening educational opportunities wide, ensuring all poor students had a chance to rise.

Thus, opinions on Empress Ding Xinxian are deeply divided. The aristocratic upper society and official historians criticized her harshly, while unofficial histories written by poor students and stories passed among common people praised her.

For over a thousand years, this Regent Empress endured historical criticism, yet in modern times, many historians have begun to vindicate her.

The play in Ning Shuangshuang’s hands was called Regent Empress, adopting a neutral stance and detailing Ding Xinxian’s life—from entering the palace to becoming the Empress Dowager, controlling the court, appointing strict officials to fight corruption, to her enlightened policies opening opportunities for poor students—all portrayed in detail.