Shen Lideng introduced herself with effortless grace, exuding an aura that felt entirely out of place with her surroundings. She wasn’t trying to blend into this battlefield of hidden daggers; she was here to shatter the balance entirely.
The previously rowdy dressing room fell into a heavy silence. Everyone simply stared at her. She, in turn, waited with a calm, placid expression.
Someone in the crowd finally snapped out of it, greeting her with a slight stutter. “He… hello.”
Beside Ming Li, Zhu Hanxing hissed under her breath, “Holy hell!”
Ming Li quickly reached out and covered her friend’s mouth.
–
It was another farce.
Ming Li pulled Zhu Hanxing out of the dressing room. Before leaving, she offered the director a few consoling words. “I understand you have your own choices to make, Director. Xingxing was just sticking up for me today. She was a bit reckless, but please don’t take it to heart. If you need me for anything else later, feel free to reach out. I hope we have another chance to work together.”
Ming Li brushed past Shen Lideng. In that fleeting second, their eyes met. Shen Lideng was wearing blue-tinted contact lenses; they looked a bit exotic, making her appear even more radiant.
The moment they climbed into Zhu Hanxing’s trailer, the phone rang. Her agent, who had been away handling other business, had heard about the incident on set and launched into a blistering tirade.
Zhu Hanxing’s agent had been with her since her debut. While usually serious, she genuinely cared for Hanxing and rarely spoke to her so harshly. This time, she was truly enraged.
From the agent’s perspective, fighting the production for one’s own interests was one thing, but getting into a public shouting match with a director for a friend’s sake was a completely different level of professional suicide.
“Ming Li is my friend!” Zhu Hanxing argued.
“I don’t care if she’s your mother!” the agent screamed back. “Are you planning on quitting the industry? Do you even know who showed up at the set today? People like that can end your career with a single sentence! Do you really think you’re a big shot already? You still have a long way to go!”
Zhu Hanxing went silent. Her mood was foul, but she didn’t talk back further, simply holding the phone to her ear and letting the lecture wash over her.
“That’s capital, Zhu Hanxing! These past three years haven’t been easy for you. I finally managed to get you a spot in a big-budget film—I handed you a ladder to the clouds, and you’re insisting on jumping into hell! What, do you have a death wish?!”
“To people like her, you’re an ant. She could blacklist you in minutes. Can’t you use your head? I leave for one second and you cause a mess this big!”
The agent ranted for five minutes until her throat was dry. Because the trailer was so quiet and the agent’s voice was so loud, Ming Li caught fragments of the conversation even without the speakerphone being on.
Ming Li rubbed her ears and glanced at Zhu Hanxing. Her friend’s face looked as sour as if she’d been constipated for ten days. But Ming Li knew this woman; she had a stubborn streak. Her strategy was simple: don’t argue, don’t rebut, but also don’t agree and don’t change.
Once the agent finished her threats, she told Hanxing not to do anything stupid and to wait for her to return.
Zhu Hanxing hung up and slumped into a chair, leaning back carelessly. She reached into a drawer and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She held a cigarette in her hand but couldn’t find a lighter.
Ming Li handed one to her. Zhu Hanxing froze, her eyes shifting to Ming Li with a brooding gaze.
Feeling uncomfortable under the scrutiny, Ming Li shrugged with forced nonchalance. “Aren’t you going to smoke?”
Zhu Hanxing tossed the cigarette into the trash. “I’m not smoking.”
“I’m fine,” Ming Li said. “If it’s an issue, I’ll just step out while you finish.”
Zhu Hanxing shook her head. “No need.”
Silence descended upon the vehicle. Ming Li didn’t try to coax her friend further, wanting to give her space to cool down. She believed Hanxing would eventually see reason.
However, after a while, Zhu Hanxing suddenly asked, “Did she come here to steal this role on purpose?”
Ming Li’s thoughts were scattered, and she didn’t react immediately. “Huh?”
“She went straight to Huaxing Private Hospital the moment she returned to the country. If I remember correctly, Gu Qingshuang was there at the time. So, she’s seen Gu Qingshuang, and now she’s coming for you.” Zhu Hanxing bit her lip, her brow furrowed in annoyance. “With her status, she could play any role she wants. Why choose your minor character?”
Ming Li didn’t confirm or deny it. The moment Shen Lideng appeared in the dressing room, everything had flashed through her mind like a lightning storm. The strange sense of unease she’d felt since seeing that news report yesterday finally had an explanation.
She even suspected that the reason Gu Qingshuang had avoided her the other day was because she had received news of Shen Lideng’s return. If Gu Qingshuang wouldn’t see her, did she see Shen Lideng?
She probably did. There was no point in seeing Ming Li, but seeing Shen Lideng… that was likely a different story.
Ming Li forced a thin smile.
Zhu Hanxing shot her a look of utter frustration. “Stop smiling. It looks worse than crying.”
“What else am I supposed to do?” Ming Li asked.
“A love rival has come knocking at your door! Fight back!” Zhu Hanxing was fired up. “You’re the legal one right now. Where does she get the nerve to try and take things from you?”
Ming Li remained silent.
“I can’t swallow this insult. Ming Li, if you give her this role today, you’ll be giving her your wife tomorrow. It’s all well and good to act like you’re above it all, but in this world, if you don’t fight, you’re destined to get nothing.”
“It’s not that I’m not fighting.” Ming Li paused. “It’s that I’ve already been kicked out of the game.”
“How do you know you’re out if you haven’t even started?” Zhu Hanxing countered. “The director asked for you specifically. If he wants to bow down to capital now, he owes you an explanation. Otherwise… I’m quitting, too.”
Ming Li glared at her. “Don’t be willful.”
“It’s not being willful.” Zhu Hanxing’s voice was heavy. “I really like this character. It’s like she is me and I am her. I’ve lived with her for so many days now. Every morning when I wake up, I feel a sense of trance. In the past, I might have thought this was normal.”
In this industry, who hadn’t been replaced at the last minute? Given her background, it was a miracle she had even made it this far. With no connections or resources, a grassroots singer from a music competition making it this far meant she must have been replaced countless times before. If she were a producer or director, she wouldn’t want to use someone with zero backing either. Some people came with their own “buffs”—when they stood before you, you didn’t just see a person; you saw stacks of gold.
