╔════ Author's note ═════╗
Edited by Psycho S.
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As Bing Shi fled, the crowd parted ways like the red sea to create a path for her. Some bold fans had even followed her before they came to a stop before the hotel.
Silika found herself blacklisted by a powerful man, drowning in debt and homeless. She became the target of disdain among the social elite, who saw her as oblivious to the unspoken rules of their hierarchy. This earned her the scorn of the privileged women and the mocking amusement of wealthy upstarts. Yet, those not at the very pinnacle of the elite circles found her endearing.
She was a beauty whose life was jam-packed with many spicy rumors. Since people loved beauties and spicy rumors, she was a favored topic to discuss over dinner. People couldn't wait to see her performance in the upcoming movie. They had high -and, depending on the person, sometimes extremely low- expectations for her.
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Bing Shi's new song caused some controversy. Some even began to ship Silika Lin with Li Jie, and they were supporting their 'secret' relationship, so they were welcomed to 'come out'.
In response to the shipping controversy, a mysterious fan brought up a video of a recent press conference. Li Jie clearly stated his relationship with Silika Lin in the press conference video. They were not friends; they were only colleagues.
Fans expressed disappointment over the misinterpreted relationship between Silika and Li Jie, leading to a failed 'ship.' Some even apologized to both, feeling guilty for misunderstanding their dynamics. Clearly, Silika and Li Jie were uncomfortable with the fan-driven pairing (not that Bing Shi was complaining; She got more clout out of the misunderstanding).
Silika likewise apologized for the ML's entertainment and thanked them for giving her a second chance. Afterward, she remarked that she only pointed her personal grudges at Mo Luwei.
Mo Luwei had to clear his image and respond with a professional smile. He could send Silika to prison for spreading false information about himself, but he didn't due to his benevolence. He proceeded to badmouth Su Min in front of the cameras and talked about how she had drugged and forced herself on him before. Then, he went so far as to explain how she fabricated the whole Su Luqin fiasco in order to destroy his marriage with Su Luqin.
Because of his listed reasons, he justified the way he acted toward Su Min with violence. Thinking that words alone weren't enough, he showed everyone the videos of how Su Min attacked her stepmother. He was dead-set on getting Su Luqin out of prison since he believed in her innocence.
"So what if Miss Su Min isn't all that innocent? I helped her not because I like her," Bing Shi responded, "If Mr Mo Luwei was in the same situation as her, I'd save you too. I simply hate seeing such scenes."
'Hey! I just got a new role. I'm not allowing Su Luqin to escape the prison. Not until I finish filming.'
The press conference ended with everyone's image lifted except Su Min's. Everyone believed Mo Luwei's slander of Su Min, save for the few doctors and nurses who regularly attended to her in the psychiatrist ward.
Fortunately or not, Su Min had no idea of what was happening outside of her ward. She was currently reading a fairy tale to her protruding belly. That's right; she did not have a miscarriage. The doctors couldn't hide this fact from her for long. When she discovered that her little bun was still, in fact, in her oven, she was ecstatic.
There was no thought about Mo Luwei as she carefully tended to her own body so her baby could have a fighting chance to live. Thanks to Bing Shi's interference, Su Luqin didn't get a chance to kill Su Min's unborn child.
Police found out about Su Luqin having an uninvestigated connection with Su Min's parent's murder. After following various clues and interlacing connections, the police were able to conclude what happened logically. That heartless woman, Su Luqin, tried to lure Su Min out with information regarding her dead father.
As though killing Su Min's parents was not enough, Su Luqin was also scheming another kidnapping incident. Because of this, the police swore that Su Luqin would never have the chance to leave prison.
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Holding a camera, XiaoPu fully showcased his usefulness when it came to constructive criticism the moment Bing Shi began to practice her script. He easily pointed out every little mistake and added what she could do to improve her acting in detail. She had to retake all of Su Luqin's scenes in a very short amount of time.
"XiaoPu, we can't allow a newbie host to trash us too hard," Bing Shi grimaced before the huge mirrors inside the gym, running around crazily as she avoided various obstacles scattered around, "Our pride as a veteran host and system are at risk."
"Host should first learn how to exhibit fear of being chased by a hitman before declaring such a thing," XiaoPu showed Bing Shi what he recorded, "You look like a lunatic who just escaped a psychiatric ward. If this continues, we are going to get wrecked like rubbish."
"I tried to make it as realistic as possible." Bing Shi tried to remember the time when she was chased by the stalker, but reenacting that scene in her mind only seemed to worsen her acting?
"Movies aren't an exact portrayal of real life. Most of our daily life is boring. Nobody would watch it." Putting down the camera, Xiao Pu showed Bing Shi how true prey in movies behaved. She had a hard time improvising during an imaginary scene, especially if it wasn't real. This could be her biggest downfall as an actor.
"If a hitman won't do, then what about training with your hubby?" XiaoPu mused aloud as he wandered away from Bing Shi.
"No, no, no," Bing Shi watched how XiaoPu disappeared before her eyes, about to notify her husband. Without any care, she ran out of the room. Her frantic running and heavy panting were reminiscent of a prey being hunted; should this be portrayed in front of an audience, she would catch their attention and hold it, "Please, please, Mr Hitman! Spare me, spare me, oh pleaaaase!"
"..." XiaoPu flew to the living room with Bing Shi not far behind him. He turned the TV on and asked Bing Shi, "When did you last watch a high-quality movie?"
"Well… I've watched movies, but I prefer reading books." XiaoPu was silent, so Bing Shi thoughtfully tacked on to her sentence, "Hubby prefers gaming and playing with his baby."
"Host should watch this first," Xiao Pu primly told his host. Then he motioned for Bing Shi to get comfortable on the couch.
Bing Shi settled on the couch as she thought about when she last watched a movie. It seemed… She watched a movie when she first confessed to Xuan Mu. Hm, that felt like a life-time ago.
Bing Shi watched as XiaoPu used the TV remote to switch on his favorite action movie. "But..." she decided to go along. "Alright."
She went through a bunch of materials on how to be a good actor. Books didn't teach her a lot. Until now, she worked on reading Shakespeare and one-sidedly acted out the plays with her partner being a broom if she needed it. XiaoPu said that if one could successfully act out Shapekeare's plays, one could act in anything.
So far, what helped her the most was acting day and night, doing voice work, and working on her body. Her voice was already very persuasive; she could make someone believe that the sky was red and that they were colorblind if she tried hard enough.
Xiao Pu pressed the play button and sat on his armchair.
When Lu Kai returned home, he was greeted by Bing Shi, leaning comfortably on the couch that seemed to carry her languish figure like a painting, and XiaoPu, who expectantly waited on his armchair. He seemed to be waiting for… praise on behalf of his favourite movie.
Lu Kai's tiredness from the busy day seemed to disappear with this sight. He lumbered his way over to the couch and sat next to Bing Shi after giving her a light peck on her cheek. He naturally wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to his body. He decided to watch the movie too, "Taking a rest?"
