Invite for a meal

Director Tian stared at the screen in consternation with his brows visibly furrowed. Yet, as time passed, he sighed in resignation and gave the sign to wrap up the scene.

"Director, is it not good?" The thirty-something-year-old cameramen asked carefully after observing the slightly displeased look on Tian Yun's face. He had known director Tian for quite some time and had worked with him for a few good years.

To his knowledge, this person can be considered a director with some talent, and despite his work being very stereotypical and not gaining wide popularity, it can be mostly contributed to ill luck and wrong timing. Seeing him look dissatisfied like this, the cameraman was certain that there was something missing from the scene they had shot moments ago.

"If it's no good, we can shoot it one more time? Then we can compare the two and select the better one."

Director Tian stared in concentration at the still playing scene on the screen and slowly said, "Nevermind… I'm afraid it won't change even if we redo it."

"Huh?"

The segment they shot just now was a confrontation between the female lead Xu Lanhua and the minor villain Zhu Wanyin. This can be considered as sort of a climax of the interactions between the two because, after this would be the scene of Zhu Wanyin setting up Xu Lanhua and injuring her.

If looked at from a different angle, Su Yijia's acting in this scene can be considered quite good. In fact, it can even be considered as one of her best scenes.

If it had been any other time, Tian Yun would have been over the moon because of this. The lead roles were the main focus of any drama, so them being in their best shape and giving their best in any segment was a cause for celebration. But…

'This Feng Xi… Her acting– it actually suppressed Su Yijia's best performance? But, she didn't act up to this level in her earlier scenes. Could it be…' Had she actually been suppressing her acting level to suit the others in the crew and this good performance from her co-star brought forth her hidden potential?

After all, this girl Feng Xi had starred in quite a few good dramas as second or third female leads before this. And, two years of acting experience in this industry, especially if you were an artist from a top-level company was no joke ah!

'Ah, that must be it, right?' Director Tian was not willing to think of the other possibility as the reason for Feng Xi's performance overshadowing that of Su Yijia's. After all, this little actress from Star dreams was too young and inexperienced to achieve something of that caliber.

And on the off chance she really did something like that– he could only say that she had a deep mind and unfathomable talents. Fortunately, he treated her quite well from the start so she won't be holding any sort of grudge against them, no matter the outcome.

***

It was late evening and the drama set was teeming with staff preparing for the next scene. Yu Xiuran had sneaked into the location today as well, and ignoring the displeased glare of the director, had taken up residence at the small office.

Anyway, it was not like he was getting in the way of shooting so what's the harm? He was simply here so he could take a look at the acting of that woman. Needless to say– Yu Xiuran was pleasantly surprised.

He might not know that well about acting and filming, but having determined to make his mark in this field, he had exerted quite some effort into studying various aspects of this industry. And let's just say, he had enough awareness to know when someone was performing well or not. Even if that was the case, today, the acting level shown by that person…

Yu Xiuran sighed and stood up from the chair as he walked towards the door. Only time will tell. And no matter how talented one was, he was not going to sacrifice his dreams and goals if there was even the slightest possibility of them getting ruined one way or another.

He'll just wait and see for now and take note of the response for this dr– "Aiyooo!" A long painful wail was heard and Yu Xiuran could be seen squatting down cradling his arm. The burning pain can only be considered as blinding and even though he could vaguely hear someone anxiously calling out to him, he was in no mood to appreciate their concern.

"Which fuckwit dared to pour boiling water on daddy? I'll fucking kil– eh, miss Feng?"

"I- I'm– I'm so sorry teacher Yu. I didn't see you and accidentally spilled this tea. I didn't mean it." It was none other than the very person he had been musing about, the infamous Feng Xi. And, she looked as pale as a ghost as she hastily tried to wipe off the wet stain on the arm of his trench coat, her hand visibly trembling.

Ignoring his stinging arm, Yu Xiuran hastily straightened up, all the while thinking to himself that he finally knew why any man would go crazy for this woman and try to protect her despite the huge scandal she caused with a bunch of other men. Even frightened like this, she still appeared impossibly alluring. Owning this type of beauty… even he wouldn't mind wearing a green hat (1) once in a while if he could get a long-term deal ah! ≥∇≤

"It's fine, it's fine. It was an accident ne.."

"I– I"

"Getting splashed by a beauty… I'm also quite lucky today." Seeing the way the other blushed at his remark, Yu Xiuran laughed out in delight, feeling quite pleased with himself. It was only that stupid woman who doesn't even know how to flirt with a man, always acting prim and proper. Why did he even start dating her in the first place, eh? ⎺⩘⎺o

Just look at this girl, who looked sweet and soft like cotton while blushing furiously. Women should be like this ah!

"That- teacher Yu, at least let me pay to clean your coat."

"Clean this?" Yu Xiuran appeared to be deep in thought as he stared at the ruined article of clothing for a while. It looked soggy and wrinkled due to the earlier rubbing, and the fabric looked stretched. It was then that a sudden idea occurred to him. "Do you know how much it cost? Besides, I'm not even sure it can be cleaned to look like before... This is a brand name, you know?"

"How– how much?"

Feng Xi's fair, palm-sized face turned a shade paler after hearing the brand and the price, but she didn't look that surprised after a while. Being an actress, how can she not know the price of the clothes from this particular fashion brand? Seeing her pale face, Yu xiuran suddenly felt a bit guilty, but he pushed back this feeling after some thinking.

This woman also could be said to be a seasoned player, and the chances were that she was faking it from the start. And even if she didn't spill the tea on him on purpose, being the experienced player she probably was, how could he believe she didn't manipulate the rest to her advantage?

And for god's sake, what kind of coincidence was there in the world that she accurately bumped into him just as he opened the door? But then again, if she wanted him to play this game, he would be only too happy to oblige. As long as she doesn't get him into trouble with that rumored backer of hers... if there ever was one in the first place.

"Ah, I didn't mean that you need to pay. Just… it was my favorite. *sigh* What to do?" So, just take the hint already.

This was what little Zhang heard when he came to check on his young master who was getting quite late. Seeing the dejected and pitiful expression on the usually ferocious face made him speechless for a moment, not knowing what to do or think.

'...' What is this guy doing this time around? A few days ago, didn't he resolutely express that he had no interest whatsoever in going after any actress in the crew for his drama, let alone this particular one? So, what the hell was that just now? Change of heart? Q^Q

"Then at least let me repay you in some other way." Feng xi anxiously cried out, seeing this downtrodden look on the younger man's face. After all, this was her employer. She can't afford to leave a bad impression on him.

"Oh– repay? How exactly?" Finally! He was starting to think that things were getting a bit too long-winded.

"How about, I'll treat you to a meal as an apology?"

"Eh?" Huh? That didn't go as he thought. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm? Ah! Could it be that this woman was going the longer route, playing hard to get and all? Maybe she wanted him to woe her slowly?

Hehe. Not that he minded though. The longer you go hungry, the better your meal tastes!

Little Zhang who had been silently watching this all: "..."

Judging from the smug expression on his young master's face, little Zhang thought that he didn't need a high school certificate much less a university degree to guess what was going through the other's mind. Aaaai! His young master was such a good boy some time ago. Now, why was he doing this to himself? Deceiving young girls and all? Was it that difficult to accept the fact that the girl he liked ended up dumping him because of his terrible personality!? T▽T

#####

Glossary:

01) Wearing a green hat - getting cheated on by your partner. In other words, getting cuckolded