Chapter 13

Chapter 13

As soon as these words came out, many people fell into confusion.

After Pei Chuzhi first trended with Xing Ye and was dug up, many netizens searched her information with the mindset of “let me see which little vixen is riding the hype again.”

Searching was worse than not searching—everyone ended up laughing.

She had debuted for two years and acted in three dramas total. Two of them were basically unheard of, and the remaining one had a somewhat familiar title.

The male and female leads were both heavily pushed by capital. Their looks were average, and their acting was even worse.

It was said that when filming started, the two leads were absent seven days out of ten, and half the final cut might have relied on stand-ins. When it aired, most viewers were driven away by the first episode.

With someone like Pei Chuzhi, whose resume was full of flops and trash productions, she could gain fans through her works?

Impossible. It must be marketing.

Someone directly commented: 【Boss, if you lack money just say so. I’ll steal electric bike batteries to support you—let’s not take dirty money!】

This UP host had a gentle personality. Facing everyone’s suspicion that she was paid for marketing, she only replied softly, “I really didn’t take money, you’ll know after watching,” then closed Weibo and went to do serious work.

·

Pei Chuzhi had no idea that she would soon have her first personal edited video.

She followed the previously discussed plan—no matter how big the storm online, she didn’t say a single word on Weibo.

Even though speculation about their relationship grew, Xing Ye’s forceful response directly blocked all the turbulence.

The next morning, Pei Chuzhi got up on time and prepared to head to the set.

The filming location for “Secretly Fall in Love With You” was set in a second-tier city near Yancheng, only two hours one way.

Even so, the production team still booked hotel rooms for all actors and notified that aside from pre-arranged schedules, no one could take leave casually after joining the crew.

Pei Chuzhi didn’t know what others thought, but she was quite happy when she received the news.

One drama she had filmed before had a loosely managed production—today the male lead asked for leave, tomorrow the female lead wasn’t there. Supporting actors like them either had to act against stand-ins or suffer repeated NGs because the two leads weren’t focused on the drama.

Just as Pei Chuzhi finished packing, the doorbell rang.

Tang Dong brought a round-faced girl. “This is Xu Lei, the assistant we hired for you. Anything in the crew, you can let her handle.”

Xu Lei was a few years older than Pei Chuzhi, but her clothing style was simple and fresh, making her look like a student who had just entered society.

She stepped out from behind Tang Dong and said softly, “Hello, can I call you Zhizhi from now on?”

“Of course.”

Pei Chuzhi smiled at her.

The three went downstairs. Tang Dong didn’t follow them into the car.

He pulled Pei Chuzhi aside and reminded her, “Xu Lei just joined. Remember to keep some things from her.”

“I understand.”

“You’ll be filming for two months this time. I’ll keep an eye on publicity during this period—best if you can become famous in one shot with this drama.”

Tang Dong’s eyes were full of expectation for the future, then he lowered his voice again. “Remember to communicate more and build feelings with Xing Ye.”

Pei Chuzhi: “…Okay.”

Although she roughly understood Tang Dong meant “the more familiar you two are, the better coordination for future hype,” the way he said it somehow sounded like a worried father.

Tang Dong patted her shoulder, gave Xu Lei a few brief instructions, then drove away in another car.

·

On Thursday, “Secretly Fall in Love With You” officially started filming.

Pei Chuzhi only had one scene today, but she still arrived early, wanting to familiarize herself with the director and other actors’ working styles.

“Cut—!”

A shout rang out on set.

The director stood up from behind the monitor and scolded toward the center of everyone’s attention: “How many takes has this been? Did you not listen to a word I just said? Your role now is a newcomer entering the workplace, not a clueless high school student! Don’t use that old acting style of yours in this drama, understand? Ruan Li!”

“…Sorry.”

Ruan Li, who had been scolded harshly, shrank her neck and apologized to everyone around her with a guilty face.

Pei Chuzhi sat in her chair holding a cup of water, watching this from afar. She felt the director had quite a temper, but also understood why he was so angry.

Ruan Li was the female lead of “Secretly Fall in Love With You,” and she also happened to be an artist under Ya-Ying Media, where Xing Ye belonged.

She had an innocent, harmless “little white flower” face, fair skin, slender figure, and not very tall.

After debuting, she entered the audience’s view with a high school campus drama, and most of her later roles were similar.

She was an actress with a strong youthful aura, and her acting wasn’t bad.

The only problem was that she had played too many youthful roles. This was her first time challenging a workplace drama, so she inevitably felt a bit unaccustomed.

If they followed the script order, the female lead’s first appearance was actually a scene where she received an offer in the school dorm and celebrated with classmates.

If they had started from there, Ruan Li’s performance wouldn’t have been so poor, and she could gradually find the transition from campus to workplace.

But due to various factors, filming often disrupted chronological order.

And this director’s personal preference was to start with an emotionally intense scene, hoping actors could quickly grasp the essence of the character.

But three hours had passed, and Ruan Li still hadn’t found her state.

Pei Chuzhi unscrewed the lid, about to take a sip of water, when she saw the second male lead, Zhong Li, walk over.

Now whenever she saw Zhong Li, Pei Chuzhi thought of the scalp-tingling “Southwest CP.”

But those were just fans amusing themselves; Zhong Li himself hadn’t done anything, so she still looked up and smiled politely.

Zhong Li sat in the chair beside her and asked gently, “Ruan Li got scolded again?”

“Mm, the director’s probably anxious.”

Pei Chuzhi kept her eyes forward, half listening to the director explaining the scene, half answering him. “They’re directly shooting the part where she’s misunderstood by the male lead and argues. It might be too difficult. Maybe switching scenes would give a different result.”

Before she finished speaking, everyone heard the director announce: “Forget it, forget it—shoot the later scene first, see if she can find her state.”

Pei Chuzhi froze.

The later scene… wasn’t that her scene with Ruan Li?

The makeup artist came with her kit to touch up Pei Chuzhi’s makeup, and staff hurriedly adjusted lighting and cameras, preparing to film the scene where Jiang Nanyan, played by Pei Chuzhi, makes things difficult for the female lead in the office.

Ruan Li came over after changing outfits. She was probably psychologically affected by the scolding, looking dispirited.

She walked to Pei Chuzhi and said uncertainly, “Shall we rehearse? Do you remember your lines? I might’ve forgotten a bit…”

Pei Chuzhi curled her lips and comforted, “It’s okay, let’s try first.”

Ruan Li glanced at the script again, then hugged it to her chest, pretending it was a stack of documents: “Miss Jiang, maybe in your eyes, people like us who struggle desperately are laughable, but I want to say, no matter how ordinary a person is, they will definitely, definitely, um…”

“They will definitely have a stage of their own,” Pei Chuzhi softly reminded her.

Ruan Li smacked her forehead in frustration. “Right, right. Sorry, I really memorized it last night, but today after being scolded, my head’s spinning. I might NG again later—please bear with me.”

“I don’t have much filming experience either,” Pei Chuzhi didn’t foolishly go along with her words, but modestly expressed friendliness, “I’ll need you to bear with me too.”

Unexpectedly, Ruan Li pursed her lips and looked at her seriously. “You should still be better than me, right? Aren’t you professionally trained? And I heard you ranked first in your major?”

Pei Chuzhi froze, thinking Ruan Li, a second-tier rising actress, knew so clearly about her, an eighteenth-tier… well, maybe seventeenth-tier now.

Seeing her silent, Ruan Li glanced around, then pulled her chair closer. “Could it be the information I found online is fake?”

Pei Chuzhi shook her head. “What you said is correct, but why… look up my information?”

“Because I wanted to know.”

Ruan Li lowered her voice and leaned closer to whisper in her ear, “Aren’t you rumored with Xing Ye? I was especially curious, so I specifically checked.”

Pei Chuzhi: “……”

Are artists from big companies all this gossipy?

Ruan Li paused, then suddenly remembered something and quickly grabbed her hand. “Don’t tell Xing Ye I gossip about him behind his back. He has shares in Ya-Ying—what if he doesn’t renew my contract later?”

Pei Chuzhi blinked. “He won’t. This is a secret between us.”

After a few lines of small talk, Ruan Li’s mood returned to normal.

When filming resumed, perhaps because this scene wasn’t too difficult for her, she performed much better than before.

As for Pei Chuzhi, she was even more at ease playing a glamorous villainous supporting role.

She carried a chain bag, back straight, walked arrogantly to Ruan Li, then twisted her waist and leaned against the desk, her cold eyes sweeping downward, red lips curling in disdain—she became Jiang Nanyan herself.

At the end of the scene, she smiled and slammed the chain bag hard onto the desk. The arrogance and domineering attitude she displayed in that instant made Ruan Li’s eyes unconsciously redden.

After the scene finished, the director was finally delighted.

He pointed at the monitor and had them watch the final shot. “This scene was good. Pei Chuzhi’s presence was handled very well. Ruan Li, look too—this kind of weak yet unwilling expression, you captured the timing correctly.”

Ruan Li rubbed the tip of her nose and didn’t speak.

After walking to a less crowded place, she patted her chest with lingering fear and whispered to Pei Chuzhi.

“My almost-crying look just now was actually instinctive. You were too much like Jiang Nanyan. Once I got into character, I felt like—why are you bullying me? Then the more I thought about it, the more aggrieved I felt…”

“Thanks to your good acting just now, otherwise I’d definitely have been scolded again. This director is so fierce.”

Pei Chuzhi thought she was quite cute and smiled. “Don’t mind it. Didn’t he praise you later? Just remember this feeling—you probably won’t be scolded again.”

Ruan Li clenched her fists. “You’re right. I really can’t be scolded anymore. Otherwise when Xing Ye joins the crew later, getting scolded in front of him would be too embarrassing.”

Pei Chuzhi paused. “What?”

“You didn’t know?” Ruan Li also looked at her in surprise. “Xing Ye is going to make a cameo in this drama.”

“……”

She really didn’t know.

Author’s note: Sorry, I got stuck today so the update is late.

So… shall we send a 24-hour red packet as usual?