Shen Manyu was enveloped by an increasingly heavy sense of suffocation. She struggled for a long time before finally waking up from the nightmare.
By the time she woke, she was drenched in a cold sweat.
Holding her quilt and sitting upright, Shen Manyu realized that that “dog” Hua Yanqiu wouldn’t even let her go in her dreams. She couldn’t help but grit her teeth in hatred.
There were still a few days left before the film crew’s official start date. Hua Yanqiu had only arrived at the hotel last night; this time was specifically reserved for her to get over her jet lag.
The actors were free to arrange their own schedules for these two days, but they were not allowed to stray too far from the hotel, just in case any emergencies required them to rush back.
Shen Manyu’s mood was gloomy. Everything from the dream—especially Hua Yanqiu’s final expression and posture—kept replaying in her mind, leaving her feeling restless and agitated.
She got up and took a shower. After finishing her morning routine, she looked into the mirror.
A layer of mist gradually clouded the glass again. The sorrowful woman in the reflection seemed to sense her bad mood, casting a worried and questioning gaze her way.
Seeing the “original owner” appearing again, Shen Manyu felt the urge to ask the question that had gone unanswered last night.
However, things had already progressed to this point. The script had been accepted. Searching for the original owner’s reasons for taking the role now would be futile.
She swallowed the words at the tip of her tongue and simply said, “Don’t worry, I’m fine.”
The hotel was currently a mixed bag of people, with actors gathered together. The fact that the original owner had snatched someone else’s script was common knowledge; if she went out, the other actors would inevitably subject her to a barrage of cold mockery and burning satire.
She didn’t feel like going downstairs for breakfast just to have her mood ruined so early in the morning. Yet, after a whole night, she was famished.
Shen Manyu rubbed her belly and pondered for a moment. Thinking of the culprit who had deprived her of a good night’s sleep, she grabbed her script and went to knock on the door opposite hers.
The one who opened the door was Sister Qi. Upon seeing her, Sister Qi’s expression was beyond words—it was as if she had seen a ghost in broad daylight. She said stiffly, “Shen Manyu? Is something the matter?”
Her voice was kept very low, as if she were terrified of waking the person inside.
Besides her, the only other person in the room was Hua Yanqiu.
Shen Manyu paused for a moment and asked first, “Does Hua Yanqiu have a ‘morning temper’ (waking up grumpy)?”
If the woman had a temper when woken up, Shen Manyu naturally wouldn’t go looking for trouble.
Sister Qi fell silent for a moment, then nodded slowly. “Yes, Yanqiu has a very severe morning temper. If she is woken up before her scheduled time, she gets extremely angry.”
Just as she finished speaking, Hua Yanqiu seemed to hear the conversation outside. Recognizing Shen Manyu’s voice, she curled up under the covers and called out with bleary eyes, “Shen Manyu?”
Her voice was lazy. Although she was still sleepy and had indeed been woken up by the sound of their talking, not a hint of anger could be heard.
Shen Manyu’s gaze turned subtle as it swept across Sister Qi’s suddenly tensed face.
Sensing the faint suspicion in Shen Manyu’s eyes, the proud Sister Qi naturally couldn’t accept being misunderstood. She said with a cold face, “You are the exception.”
This is just too real.
For the sake of admiring a beauty, a “face-con” (someone obsessed with looks) could even go against their own biological instincts.
Seeing Sister Qi’s face turning green and the veins on her forehead throbbing with irritation, Shen Manyu said considerately, “I’m sorry to bother you. Since filming is about to start, I wanted to come early to run lines with Senior Hua and get into character.”
“Please go back inside. Once Senior Hua has freshened up, I’ll come back.”
Run lines??
Sister Qi’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately thought of the various X-rated contents in the script. She wanted to refuse on Hua Yanqiu’s behalf, but she knew that once the crew officially started, there would be no escaping this “tribulation” anyway.
Originally, this was supposed to be just a normal acting gig, but Hua Yanqiu insisted on taking this same-sex themed script. Sister Qi had been agonizing over the issue of Hua Yanqiu’s sexual orientation and had even specially sought out Hua Yanqiu’s old partner, Zhou Zhou, to audition.
Leaving acting skills aside for a moment, the point that satisfied Sister Qi most about Zhou Zhou was that she was a “steel-straight” woman. She had a stable boyfriend and was so straight that even a wrench couldn’t bend her.
Then, Shen Manyu had to barge in and mess up all her plans.
Sister Qi’s mind was a tangled mess as she forced a nod toward Shen Manyu. She closed the door and went back inside. Shen Manyu didn’t leave in a hurry; she stood at the door and waited quietly.
Not many actors lived on this floor, and even counting their assistants and managers, there were only a few people. It was too early in the morning, so the vast corridor was almost empty except for Shen Manyu.
Even if someone passed by occasionally and cast a strange look her way, Hua Yanqiu held the highest status here. Even if they were curious as to why Shen Manyu was at Hua Yanqiu’s door, they didn’t dare approach to watch the drama out of respect for Hua Yanqiu’s status.
Shen Manyu leaned against the wall next to the door, casually flipping through her script, indifferent to the gazes of others.
Before long, Sister Qi came out. Seeing that Shen Manyu was still at the door, she was clearly taken aback.
“I’m going to buy breakfast for Yanqiu. Have you eaten? Do you want me to bring you a portion too?”
Regardless of her true feelings toward Shen Manyu, Sister Qi remained polite to her, at least on the surface.
Shen Manyu straightened up and smiled softly. “Then thank you very much. Just a light porridge will do.”
It was just after eight o’clock. Most people hadn’t woken up yet, and very few were eating breakfast, so Sister Qi returned quickly with the food.
Shen Manyu took the initiative to help carry the breakfast. With her hands free, Sister Qi offered a word of thanks and said as she pushed open the door, “Yanqiu should be finished getting ready by now. Come in together.”
Shen Manyu had asked her to bring food, thus owing a favor, and then helped her carry it, returning a bit of that favor.
On the surface, it seemed like a pointless circle. In reality, the psychological distance between them had narrowed slightly because of these seemingly useless actions.
Shen Manyu followed behind her and, naturally seizing on this psychological opening, asked what she wanted to know: “Sister Qi, do you know my manager?”
Last night, Sister Qi’s phone call with her manager had been very short. At the time, most of Shen Manyu’s attention had been focused on Hua Yanqiu, but she had still sensed a subtle familiarity in their tone during the call.
Sister Qi froze for a moment. Shen Manyu’s little scheme had worked; her guard softened slightly, and she answered subconsciously, “Mo Cheng? We came from the same school. He’s two years younger than me, so he’s my junior.”
After saying this, she gave Shen Manyu a deep look. “His ability is quite good. Back when he was at our company, Zhouguang, the company valued him highly. Everyone was optimistic about his career prospects.”
“In fact, Yanqiu was supposed to be managed by him, but Yanqiu is quite repelled by men, so the company eventually assigned her to me.”
Shen Manyu silently repeated the name “Mo Cheng” twice in her mind.
In her memory, during that half-awake period before her car accident, her manager and the little assistant had never mentioned this name when they were discussing the script’s content.
Was he just an insignificant supporting character with little screen time?
It didn’t seem like it. There was a severe rift between the “original owner” and the company, and Mo Cheng was the cord that connected her to it.
Shen Manyu didn’t want to care about these things, but she had a life-and-death crisis waiting for her later. The price the original owner had paid to survive that crisis was too tragic, and she didn’t want to walk the same path.
Determining where Mo Cheng’s loyalties lay was very important to her.