Time passed day by day. Liu Lanci heard the news that the Ren family business had gone bankrupt, President Ren had been sent to prison, and the Song family had driven Song Wenwen out of the house, leaving her whereabouts completely unknown.
Yet Shen Nanxian showed not the slightest change; if anything, he grew even more clingy, sticking to his side every single day like a pair of conjoined twins that could never be separated.
Liu Lanci felt very conflicted and terrified in his heart. This kind of life was truly not something a human could endure. Had he known these events would happen, why on earth would he have crawled into that bed in the first place? But even as he thought this, he still felt that his past decision was the most correct choice of his entire life.
“What is wrong, my treasure? Why are you zoning out and silly-smiling bright and early in the morning?” Shen Nanxian gently stroked the top of Liu Lanci’s head, his eyes overflowing with pampering affection.
Liu Lanci snapped back to reality, his face plastered with a flattering smile as he spoke in a small voice: “Um, can we stop doing that now? I need to go out later!”
“Hmm? Go out? What for?” Shen Nanxian raised an eyebrow slightly.
“It is just that.” Liu Lanci scratched his head awkwardly, hesitating for a long while before continuing: “My manager says there is a major production coming up, and there is a role in it that suits me very well.”
“What role?” Shen Nanxian asked flatly, his tone calm as water, making it completely impossible for Liu Lanci to guess his true inner thoughts at that moment.
“A spoiled, vicious second male lead.” Liu Lanci replied tentatively while observing Shen Nanxian’s expression.
Shen Nanxian did not seem particularly interested in the script he mentioned, commenting offhandedly: “Oh, that sounds pretty good. If you act well, you can attract a lot of fans.”
“Right? I think so too.” Liu Lanci failed to catch the hidden meaning behind Shen Nanxian’s words, assuming he had agreed and feeling quite happy about it.
“Attracting a lot of anti-fans, the kind that curse you out every day.”
Shen Nanxian deliberately brought up this possibility. He did not think Liu Lanci resembled a spoiled, vicious cannon-fodder character at all. How was he spoiled? He was clearly a sweet little treasure. What kind of trash manager was this? He would just have to replace him later.
Liu Lanci immediately shook his head: “Surely not! I just want to act in it. I have never played a bad guy before.”
By the end, Liu Lanci’s tone had shifted into one of spoiled pleading, clearly confident that this role was in the bag. Even if Shen Nanxian refused, he would still go.
Shen Nanxian pressed his lips into a straight line, staring intently at Liu Lanci for a long while until Liu Lanci looked ready to crack under the pressure, before suddenly speaking up: “Fine, then we will do as you say.”
Hearing this, Liu Lanci instantly broke into a radiant smile, wrapping his arms around Shen Nanxian and planting a fierce kiss on his cheek.
“Husband, you are the best.” Liu Lanci said sincerely.
Shen Nanxian let out a cold snort, turned up his nose at Liu Lanci with a haughty expression, and arrogantly stated: “Hmph! Who asked my wife to love acting so much!”
Despite saying that, Shen Nanxian had already secretly instructed System 222 that those netizens could curse the character all they wanted, but cursing his wife was absolutely prohibited.
“Hahaha!” Liu Lanci was amused, doubling over in laughter.
After finishing breakfast, the two of them arrived at the production set for auditions. Shen Nanxian sat with a cold face in the audience while the director beside him occasionally pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead and brow.
The director could not fathom Shen Nanxian’s approach. Rich people had their ways, and poor people had theirs. He was terrified that Liu Lanci would point fingers and demand to play the male lead, robbing the actor he had originally set his sights on of any chance at a comeback.
Up on stage, Liu Lanci had barely delivered two lines of dialogue and had not even started performing yet when the director began clapping and cheering. His expression and level of exaggeration made him look like Liu Lanci’s personal fanboy, almost frightening Liu Lanci to the point of tears.
“He is exceptionally suited for the role of the pampered darling of the second male lead group.” The director decided that striking first gains the upper hand while striking later brings disaster. Regardless of anything else, he would lock down the role right now.
“Di, Director. I want to play the third male lead, that vicious second antagonist.” Liu Lanci raised his hand and spoke weakly.
The director was instantly dumbfounded. After staring blankly for a moment, he burst into laughter. This time, his smile lacked any trace of falseness, though the way he looked at Shen Nanxian felt a bit strange. Letting his wife play a vicious villain, what on earth was going through his head?
The director smiled warmly at Liu Lanci and said: “Teacher Liu’s acting skills are certainly without issue, but this vicious villain is not an easy role to play. Would you like to reconsider?”
“Uh.” Liu Lanci hesitated for a moment. Thinking of the people who had bullied him when he was young, his mind was made up: “I want to play it. No need to reconsider.”
The director had no other choice and gave his final approval.
Shen Nanxian did not utter a single word from start to finish. Since Liu Lanci wanted to do it, he might as well let him go ahead.
On the day he officially entered the production crew, Liu Lanci ran into an old acquaintance, a good friend who used to give him candy when they were children, though they had lost contact after his family moved away.
“It has been so long.” Liu Lanci said.
“It has been a long time.” The other person spoke first: “Do you still recognize me?”
“Of course, my memory has always been quite good.” Liu Lanci replied: “I haven’t seen you since you moved away. You finally achieved your wish and became a star.”
“What kind of star am I? I am just an extra running background errands.” Wang Youle smiled bitterly.
“It is fine. If you have a dream, you will achieve it sooner or later.” Remembering the times he and Wang Youle shared in their childhood, the corners of Liu Lanci’s mouth curled upward on their own.
“Sigh, let us not talk about it.” Wang Youle shook his head and sighed: “Saying anything more now is useless. I can only pin my hopes on the heavens.”
“Ah, keep working hard and persevere!”
As the two chatted, people arrived one after another, greeting one another. Because of Liu Lanci’s identity and status, the people around them showed an extraordinary level of enthusiasm.
It left Wang Youle gaping in astonishment. These people truly lived up to their names as famous actors. Their speed at changing facial expressions was incredible, and several of them had actually cursed him out in the past.
Wang Youle quietly stepped off to the side. This childhood friend of his had climbed to a height he could no longer imagine. They no longer belonged to the same world. He wondered if Liu Lanci would still be willing to be friends with him.
Shen Nanxian was stewing in anger back at the company. His wife was shunning him. Liu Lanci was actually shunning him! System 222 was busy with work and dared not make a sound, leaving him without even a single target to vent to. Should he go find a lover as well?
Right at that moment, a photo sent by Liu Lanci’s assistant popped up on his computer screen: Liu Lanci was surrounded by a group of people, with a resentful-looking young man standing right beside him. This was practically the prelude to getting a green hat placed on his head!
He knew that without him around, those little goblins would go pester his wife.
Shen Nanxian turned around and walked straight out.
System 222 went back to working in resignation.
If anyone wanted to know what it felt like to have a love-brained host, they only needed to ask System 222.