22 – Don’t sleep if you can’t sleep
“It seems you have quite a few opinions,” Xu Ni curled her lips. “I’ve said it before—being an actor under my direction isn’t easy. If you want to do this film well, you follow my instructions. Otherwise, it’ll just be another lousy movie, and the one wasting money to gild yourself will be you.”
Xu Youyi was fuming inside. Originally, she had thought that as the female lead, she would have plenty of time and ways to make things difficult for Xu Ni. Now, however, Xu Ni had beaten her to it.
“Can’t the makeup artist handle this kind of thing?” Xu Youyi frowned.
Xu Ni flipped through the script. “The makeup artist can do the makeup, but you—” She looked up, scanning Xu Youyi from head to toe. “Do you have the kind of extraordinary acting skills to portray that desperate, near-death state?”
She had seen Xu Youyi’s audition materials.
She was half-baked at best, lacking maturity in every aspect an actor should possess. She had simply relied on her good looks to win the support and praise of many fans. Over time, she had come to believe she actually had real talent.
Xu Youyi disliked Xu Ni’s self-righteous attitude, but with so many people around, she couldn’t afford to lose her temper. She could only say, “Fine, I’ll listen to you. Being dedicated is what a good actor should do.”
Xu Ni clapped. “Well said.”
“Then I’ll have my assistant supervise you. One salad a day, and don’t even drink too much water—no bloating allowed.”
Xu Youyi felt a pang of frustration.
Gritting her teeth, she replied, “Fine.”
Watching Xu Youyi leave, Xu Ni finally set down the script.
It wasn’t that she had intentionally wanted to make things difficult for Xu Youyi. She would have made the same demand of any actor today. How could anyone expect to produce a good work if they were taking sky-high paychecks but wanted to breeze through filming without enduring any hardship?
A little dieting—what was that compared to the hardships of ordinary people?
Back in her trailer, Xu Youyi angrily threw the script on the table. Xu Ni’s attitude was truly infuriating!
Her assistant quickly tried to comfort her. “Youyou, don’t be angry. She’s just a small-time director. Focus on building your popularity and influence first. Once your fame rises a bit more, someone like her—an unknown nobody—can easily be replaced. Just wait for her to slip up.”
Xu Youyi frowned. “This industry is complicated. A young girl like her naturally can’t stir up much trouble. What I’m worried about is her threatening my position in the Xu family. After all, she was raised for over twenty years—even raising a stray cat or dog would create some attachment.”
What she wanted most now was to completely drive Xu Ni out of the Xu family!
As she spoke, Xu Youyi suddenly added, “It’s just a shame we don’t know which old man Xu Ni has latched onto. We still haven’t gotten to the bottom of that umbrella incident last time. If…” She narrowed her eyes.
“If Xu Ni really is cozying up to some big shots to gain a foothold in this industry, her reputation will naturally be ruined. Those old men, relying on their wealth and power, always want to taste young grass no matter how old they are. They have wives at home but fool around outside. In this internet age, the most hated identity is that of a mistress. I don’t believe Xu Ni is clean.”
She didn’t look like the well-behaved type anyway.
How many young people could afford a custom-made Rolls-Royce?
“Go find someone to investigate Xu Ni. It would be best if we could catch something on camera and pin it on her.”
By then, even the Xu family would find Xu Ni disgraceful and kick her out!
The assistant nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
Xu Ni took her work seriously. After pulling two all-nighters on set and maintaining strict control over the details, it wasn’t until a week later that she finally had time to rest.
During those days, she had been eating and sleeping on set.
When she was busy, everything else fell by the wayside.
Only after catching her breath did she realize that she hadn’t seen or contacted Fu Guidu for a week either.
Their last encounter at the hotel had ended on a sour note.
But now she had no time to continue teasing him. At this point, she could fall asleep standing up. All those romantic notions were nothing but fleeting clouds.
Returning to the hotel, Xu Ni didn’t even bother showering before collapsing into bed.
She slept until the afternoon of the next day.
When she woke up, Tang Ru called.
Xu Ni answered while heading to make coffee.
“Back among the living?”
Xu Ni: “Not yet. About ninety percent booted up.”
Tang Ru: “Then come out tonight. There’s a party with a lot of industry insiders. If you can meet a few people and get their WeChats, it might help your career. It’s a pretty private gathering—someone rented out an entire winery. Don’t know who, but they’re loaded.”
Xu Ni took a sip of her Americano. “You’re in the fashion circle. We’re not exactly in the same lane.”
Tang Ru disagreed: “But there are plenty of actors coming too. Rumor has it the party is actually for Chu Song. You sure you don’t want to come?”
Xu Ni: “Who?”
Tang Ru: “Chu. Song.”
Xu Ni set down her cup: “I’d crawl there even if it killed me.”
Tang Ru burst into laughter: “Perfect. At a winery party, who knows? You might even get a chance to have a little fling with your idol. Chu Song, man—he’s ridiculously handsome. Be an octopus, plenty of legs to go around. Hook as many as you can.”
Xu Ni immediately thought of Fu Guidu.
He said if she was his woman, she’d be his even in death.
Yet they hadn’t made any progress at all.
He simply gave her no opportunity.
Thinking of this, Xu Ni slapped her thigh with a heroic flourish: “Hook ’em!”
Truthfully, her feelings toward Chu Song weren’t those of a girlfriend fan.
She simply admired someone like him immensely—excelling at everything he did, staying scandal-free and avoiding messy entanglements. She was more of a die-hard career fan. If she were actually given the chance to sleep with her idol, she’d still say no way.
As a career fan, how could she hinder her idol’s future?
No messing around with women—don’t sleep with those you shouldn’t, pay your taxes properly, career comes first!
Puhe Winery.
It occupied an entire mountainside, with the front slopes opened up as an entertainment venue.
The scale was astonishingly grand.
It was a level only the top echelons of society could access.
Xu Ni arrived with Tang Ru.
As soon as they stepped out of the car, Tang Ru craned her neck, looking around. “I found out for you—Chu Song is on the third floor. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Don’t chicken out when you see him. I’ve paved the way this far. I’m off to find someone.”
Xu Ni asked: “Who are you looking for?”
Tang Ru waved her off with a strange expression: “I’ll tell you later.”
Left with no choice, Xu Ni headed in alone.
There were indeed quite a few people.
She even spotted some familiar faces from the big screen.
She couldn’t help but marvel at the caliber of the party.
Making her way to the third floor, it seemed much quieter here.
Following the information Tang Ru had given her, Xu Ni moved forward, searching for the room with the distinctive marker.
But the place was enormous, and she soon found herself lost.
Wandering around, she eventually ended up in front of a door adorned with inlaid jade, exuding extravagance. Unable to find another way, Xu Ni knocked and pushed the door open.
But as soon as she stepped inside, she heard a cacophony of crashing sounds.
A knife came flying straight at her.
Xu Ni’s eyes widened as she swiftly dodged it, barely avoiding the blade.
Her gaze fell on the scene inside.
The interior was already in complete disarray, with two people wrestling in the center. Bloodstains seeped across the floor, chillingly eerie. One of them turned his head to look at her.
A pair of deep, exquisite peach blossom eyes were pitch black, bottomless.
He was currently choking the person beneath him by the neck.
When he looked at her, he still had the leisure to curl his lips: “Miss, wrong door?”
Xu Ni snapped awake.
In such an obviously abnormal scene, her first reaction was to close the door!
Then she swiftly pulled the knife embedded in the wall and handed it to him: “You finish him off, I’ll keep watch for you!”
Chu Song: “…?”