The next day, Lu Lingxi came to pick up Sang Yu for her audition. Along the way, she casually mentioned that the “four-way love entanglement” scandal from the previous day had been completely suppressed overnight.
After speaking, she glanced at Sang Yu, looking a bit suspicious. “Little President Song didn’t say anything to you, did she?”
Sang Yu blinked, looking remarkably innocent. “How could she? My phone was on airplane mode all day yesterday—you were the one who reminded me, after all. There’s no way I’d go looking for Song Yunsheng at a time like this.”
“That’s true,” Lu Lingxi muttered.
At the same time, she shook her head, sounding puzzled. “I thought Little President Song would let the trending search stay up for a day or two to generate momentum for Su Miao.”
“But then it all vanished just like that. What a waste. If I’d known, I would have hired some internet water soldiers to follow suit, or at least used the chance to clarify things for Jiang Xin like you suggested. Now that the news has suddenly gone cold, it’s really…”
As Lu Lingxi spoke, she seemed to realize something and suddenly said gloatingly, “But since it was suppressed so quickly, Little President Song must have spent a fortune on it.”
She talked to herself, alternating between happiness and grumbling. Ever since she found out that Sang Yu had fainted on the side of the road in the middle of the night, Lu Lingxi’s attitude toward Song Yunsheng had taken a 180-degree turn.
While she still called her “Little President Song” out of habit, she couldn’t stand anything about Song Yunsheng whenever she mentioned her. Sang Yu accepted this shift well and didn’t take it to heart.
However, this audition brought about more than just one awkward situation.
Just as Lu Lingxi finished parking and led Sang Yu upstairs, they ran into the director leading Su Miao out.
The director knew Sang Yu. When she had received Jiang Xin’s call earlier, she had enthusiastically expressed her welcome. But looking at the situation now…
Sang Yu narrowed her eyes and exchanged a look with Lu Lingxi. The smile on Lu Lingxi’s face had vanished instantly; she had clearly guessed what kind of “compensation” Song Yunsheng had given Su Miao.
With a cold expression, Lu Lingxi prepared to push the director for one more chance for Sang Yu. Unexpectedly, in the next second, Su Miao feigned surprise and proactively addressed her: “Sister Sang Yu?”
Now, the director couldn’t pretend not to see them. Since the role had already been finalized, she could only speak with an awkward and regretful tone.
“I’m so sorry. The role has already been assigned to Su Miao. Sang Yu, why don’t you try for another character instead?”
As soon as she finished speaking, several people approached to find the director. The director made a show of being busy, but in reality, she was clearly relieved. While apologizing to them, she moved away to handle the other matters.
Without a word, Sang Yu and Lu Lingxi moved to follow her.
Unwilling to let the drama end, Su Miao took a step forward to block Sang Yu’s path and asked weakly, “Sister Sang Yu, are you making a comeback? I didn’t hear Yunsheng mention it. Surely it’s not because of those trending searches? All that talk about scandals and whatnot…”
As Su Miao apologized to Sang Yu, her face turned red. She was duplicitous and pretentious; just one glance made Sang Yu’s eyes ache. Yet, Su Miao wasn’t finished with her performance. She tapped her head as if suddenly remembering something and said she would give up the role to Sang Yu as an apology.
Su Miao likely wanted to show her disdain for the role, but she underestimated Sang Yu’s mental fortitude. Sang Yu had always been a stubborn and determined person; how could she be broken by an outsider?
When Su Miao said that, Sang Yu let out a direct sneer and accepted the offer.
“Fine. Since you’re being so generous, it would be rude of me to refuse. Go tell the director yourself; it’ll save me an extra trip.”
Su Miao was caught off guard by these words and stood there stunned. Finally, her manager reacted and quickly tried to smooth things over.
“Look at you, what nonsense are you talking? The director decides the roles; they can’t just be handed over. Besides, you’re also a victim of those rumors. Miss Sang Yu surely wouldn’t mind, right?”
Su Miao’s manager was just as “tea-like” (manipulative) as Su Miao herself. Sang Yu gave a cold laugh and looked at them, saying, “Oh, so that’s how it is.”
The sarcasm in her eyes, however, was vividly clear.
In the end, Su Miao couldn’t take it anymore. She gritted her teeth in frustration while still pretending to be polite as she bid Sang Yu goodbye. But hearing the force with which her high heels hit the floor as she walked away, Sang Yu knew the girl was likely dying of anger.
Sang Yu’s mood instantly improved, and Lu Lingxi patted her shoulder, giving her a big thumbs up.
The two went to find the director together. Even though the female lead role was set, the director’s tone suggested there was still room for negotiation.
While a last-minute replacement for the lead was impossible, there was still hope to fight for the second female lead or another supporting role.
Moreover, Jiang Xin had given her the script and told her to study it well over the last two days. Sang Yu wasn’t willing to give up just like that; she had to seize this audition opportunity no matter what.
The director was actually quite surprised. She had assumed that Sang Yu, having won Best Actress, would be too proud to settle for a supporting role.
She had worried that Sang Yu would find it insulting, but now the result seemed quite good.
With Jiang Xin’s earlier guarantee and Sang Yu’s acting skills, the director was more than happy to give them a chance. Thus, Sang Yu successfully secured the role of the female antagonist (second female lead).
At this, Lu Lingxi breathed a sigh of relief, but then became anxious again.
While driving Sang Yu back, she kept talking. On one hand, she was happy Sang Yu got a role with a lot of screen time.
On the other hand, she worried if this role would limit Sang Yu’s future career path, and even more so because Su Miao was one of the dual leads. What if she caused trouble?
She fretted so much her hair nearly turned white, but Sang Yu didn’t care. She ignored Lu Lingxi’s worries about Su Miao and focused entirely on explaining: “I read the script before. Although this second female lead is a villain, her scenes are very interesting and there’s a lot of room for character development.”
Seeing Sang Yu’s eyes light up as she explained the charm of the character, Lu Lingxi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She shrugged and said, “Alright, as long as you know what you’re doing.”
“This is your first role since your comeback, after all. It’s best that you’re motivated to act. As for the rest, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Worst case scenario, didn’t they still have Jiang Xin? Lu Lingxi’s eyes said it all.
Sang Yu caught the look and smiled, still not mentioning Su Miao. She didn’t like the woman, but she didn’t care if Su Miao targeted her on set. At most, she would just try to get the script changed.
However, the role Sang Yu took was the female antagonist, and the most important thing for a villain is their level of threat.
If the director didn’t want the show to become a disorganized mess, then at least on the surface, Su Miao wouldn’t be able to target her using any excuse.
As for what happened privately, Sang Yu wasn’t a fool. If she couldn’t afford to provoke her, couldn’t she at least hide?
But thinking of Su Miao made Sang Yu think of Song Yunsheng again, which soured her mood. She narrowed her eyes and changed her mind on the spot. “Actually, I’m not going back to the hotel. Can you help me rent a place to live?”
Sang Yu hadn’t received any money yet, so her finances were tight. K-City was highly developed, and a hotel room cost several thousand a day—something she couldn’t afford.
She couldn’t go back to the villa either. Sang Yu truly wasn’t in the mood to stay under the same roof as Song Yunsheng. After thinking it over, moving out was the only option.
Lu Lingxi agreed with the idea and immediately took her to look at apartments.
After choosing a place, Sang Yu saw it was still early and said she wanted to go back to pack her things and move.
Lu Lingxi was curious and asked worriedly, “What if you run into President Song? You’re not going to tell her about the Su Miao situation, are you? You can’t do that; wouldn’t that be falling into her trap?”
Sang Yu shook her head, not thinking it was that serious. She said directly, “Song Yunsheng has to work during the day. How could she possibly bother with this?”
Besides, Su Miao being a brat wasn’t a new occurrence; Sang Yu couldn’t even be bothered to talk about it.
Seeing this, Lu Lingxi was still worried and insisted on going with Sang Yu to help, claiming: “If Song Yunsheng tries to lock you up, I’ll run out first and call the police for you.”
A question mark practically appeared over Sang Yu’s head as she reminded her, “If I, an Alpha, were locked up by an Omega, it would be the joke of the year.”
Lu Lingxi snorted. “Don’t say that. An Alpha willing to be a housewife for three years is already a rare sight.”
Sang Yu;
Unable to win the argument, Sang Yu took Lu Lingxi back with her. In reality, Sang Yu didn’t have much to pack. Looking around, she remembered the unused suppressants she had left.
Even though the doctor didn’t recommend using them anymore, Sang Yu remembered those boxes of suppressants were outrageously expensive, and they still had some shelf life left.
It would be a waste to just throw them away.
Thinking this, Sang Yu went upstairs. Lu Lingxi tactfully waited downstairs. But as soon as Sang Yu opened the bedroom door, she realized something was wrong.
There was the sound of heavy breathing coming from inside. But the housekeeper wasn’t allowed in the bedroom during the day. Sang Yu’s heart sank, and she couldn’t help but take two steps back. She was afraid it was a thief, but then the person on the bed spoke first.
“Auntie?”
That familiar voice—who else could it be but Song Yunsheng?
Sang Yu subconsciously frowned. She was about to turn and leave when she heard the person inside suddenly gasp, seemingly in intense pain.
Her voice was wavering as she struggled to maintain her tone and asked again, “Auntie? Is that you? Hiss, please help me call for an ambulance… whew…”
Now Sang Yu couldn’t leave even if she wanted to. With a stern face and without a word, she walked over, picked Song Yunsheng up, and headed straight out.