Chapter 27: Acting Is in the Eye of the Beholder

Before Gou Yu could react, Cheng Jinzhi jumped up and called for Ah Wei. Ah Wei, who’d been following behind Gou Yu, trotted in. Seeing Cheng Jinzhi and Rong Si tangled together, he quickly turned around.

“Throw her into the swimming pool.” Cheng Jinzhi pulled her collar closed.

At those words, Gou Yu finally snapped out of it. But before she could run, Ah Wei had her hoisted up.

“Cheng Jinzhi, you—”

“Splash!” Gou Yu’s body arced into the center of the pool, sending up a tall spray. Gou Yu gasped and swallowed a couple of mouthfuls of water before she came to her senses. Once she had, her first action was to extend a middle finger at Cheng Jinzhi, adding to her earlier unfinished sentence. “You bitch!”

Seeing Cheng Jinzhi roll up her sleeves, Gou Yu scrambled backward. “Cheng Jinzhi, what the hell are you doing!”

Gou Yu barely made it to the edge, and Cheng Jinzhi grabbed her by the back of the collar. “Where did you go dumpster diving? You’re filthy. You’ve dirtied my entire pool.”

“I’m turning trash into treasure!” Gou Yu gasped for breath, clutching her collar. “Stop pulling me. I can’t… breathe!”

Cheng Jinzhi ignored her and hauled Gou Yu’s upper body “out” of the water. Gou Yu had to “comply” with Cheng Jinzhi, propping herself up, coughing several times. “Cheng Jinzhi… I’m telling you, this is a society under the rule of law now. Traffic cameras, there are traffic cameras recording me entering your house!”

Cheng Jinzhi laughed. “The traffic camera at my gate didn’t see you come in. Huh? You think it can see you go out?”

“Senior Rong, save me! Your sugar mommy’s gone crazy!” Gou Yu flailed.

Rong Si glanced at Gou Yu, then lightly turned her face away, as if she’d seen nothing at all.

Seeing no hope of rescue, Gou Yu quickly clutched her collar and pointed a trembling finger at Cheng Jinzhi, wearing a little-wife expression. “What you did to me tonight—I won’t let you go even as a ghost!”

Cheng Jinzhi swatted Gou Yu’s hand away. “Only one kind of relationship can exist between me and you: hero and casualty. Given the things you’ve done, if I went to court, the judge would rule that I was doing society a service.”

“What ‘service’? Once I expose the huge story in my hands, I’ll be the hero of the gossip world.”

“What story?”

Gou Yu furtively glanced at Rong Si. Rong Si’s expression didn’t change; she seemed utterly uninterested in Gou Yu’s supposed big story. She turned and left.

“Diva Fu Xinbai and her husband—they’re separated.” Gou Yu said in a low voice. “I’ve been following them for days. I’ve discovered they’re each doing their own thing now.”

Cheng Jinzhi was startled. This story was supposed to break years later. Why now? Could it be because of her? The butterfly effect—she’d advanced “history”? Cheng Jinzhi grew anxious. Did that mean her family’s bankruptcy would also come early? No way! She’d just gotten used to being rich, just gotten used to her big bathtub and big bed at home!

Seeing Cheng Jinzhi’s furrowed brows, Gou Yu said smugly, “You’re the first to know.”

“How did you find out?”

Gou Yu wagged her finger. “All my skills can’t be revealed to you.”

“You went through their trash?”

“Cough… not that much. That’s not the point.” Gou Yu said. “The point is, I don’t have enough evidence yet. I know you recorded a show with Fu Xinbai—did you hear any of her intentions?”

“Even if I knew, I couldn’t tell you.” Cheng Jinzhi said. “I still want to be a star in the future. Exposing a colleague’s story—do I not want to work in this industry anymore?”

“Don’t you think it’s exciting? Being a double agent?”

“A double agent?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Gou Yu nodded, extremely excited.

“That name sounds like a death flag.” Cheng Jinzhi reached out and pushed Gou Yu under the water. “If not in real life, then in films—which double agent walks away clean?”

Gou Yu bubbled and flailed underwater. “What are you doing?”

“You dirtied the pool this badly. When the water’s drained, wipe the tiles. Not a speck of dust.”

“Damn!”

“What ‘damn’?”

“I’m, uh, leaning against the shore. The view is great.” Gou Yu adapted quickly, splashing the water and starting to sing.

Cheng Jinzhi snorted at her and had Ah Wei drain the water and supervise her wiping the tiles.

Back in the living room, Rong Si was gone—probably back to her bedroom. Remembering what had almost happened, Cheng Jinzhi felt a bit embarrassed. If Gou Yu hadn’t come in, what would they have done? Cheng Jinzhi sat on the sofa, patting the armrest, supporting her head with one hand. Even if Gou Yu hadn’t come in, nothing would have happened… The “experience” by the pool last time was a “lesson from the past”… And Gou Yu was right—in Rong Si’s eyes, she was probably just a “sugar mommy.”

Annoying.

The next day, Cheng Jinzhi and Rong Si went to the drama society. Besides the two of them, the other roles had various adjustments. For instance, He Xi, who’d played Cheng Jinzhi’s page boy, had gained some popularity now and could no longer play a page boy for Cheng Jinzhi. Let alone status—even for salaries, celebrities compared with each other constantly. Give too much, no problem. Give too little, and you’re “looking down on” them.

When Cheng Jinzhi’s new page boy arrived, she choked on her water. Who was this? She quickly checked the cast list: Wu Di. Yes—the Wu Di who would later become a Double Best Actor. The current Wu Di was still going the pretty-boy route; he hadn’t grown the rugged stubble. He looked a bit naive and sweet. He came over and gave Cheng Jinzhi a bow, then gave Rong Si a second bow. “Miss Cheng, hello. Miss Rong, hello. I’m the new actor, Wu Di. Invincible Wu Di.”

Cheng Jinzhi choked again, water nearly spraying from her nose. Holy shit, such an edgelord. Later, Wu Di would walk the “taciturn” rugged route—this was a very different vibe. “Hello. We’re about the same age—just call me Jinzhi.”

Looking at the Double Best Actor, Cheng Jinzhi’s tone became sincerely “warm.” She thought, holy shit, I hope I don’t get out-acted by my own page boy.

Rong Si glanced at Cheng Jinzhi, as if she’d never seen Cheng Jinzhi smile so brightly at a man. She also shook Wu Di’s hand. “Hello, just call me Rong Si.”

“No, no, this humble one should call you Princess.” Holding Rong Si’s hand, Wu Di immediately slipped into character. In a flash, he transformed from a pretty boy into the slow-witted, crafty little page boy.

Rong Si smiled.

??? What the hell? You two are in character just like that? Cheng Jinzhi felt she still had a lot to learn—like being an edgelord regardless of the occasion.

Wu Di said it was his first stage play, but his blocking and line rhythm were extremely well-controlled. Acting with him, Cheng Jinzhi felt herself being led by him. Though Cheng Jinzhi had put effort into the play, since she wasn’t used to the projection required for stage, her own performance didn’t feel as fluid as in 《Girls’ Fortress》.

“Stop.” President Gong rolled up the script, pinched his chin, and frowned. “Cheng Jinzhi, come here a moment.”

“Huh?” Seeing President Gong’s expression, Cheng Jinzhi knew things looked bad. But that wasn’t right—she thought she’d done much better than the last time.

President Gong called her aside. “How do you think you did?”

“Not, not bad…”

“You think quite highly of yourself.”

Here comes the scolding.

“You’re being led by someone else.” President Gong said. “You’re the Prince Consort. The lead. It’s not that when the spotlight hits you, you’re the lead. It’s that you stand on stage, the audience takes one look, and yes—that’s you, you are the Prince Consort.”

“Master… can you be a little clearer?”

“You’re being led by Wu Di. Don’t you know it?”

Hearing President Gong say it, Cheng Jinzhi calculated internally. Yes, her performance just now had indeed been led by Wu Di. “Don’t you always say to play to strengths and avoid weaknesses? I’m just following…”

“I’m telling you to use others’ strengths?” President Gong said. “I thought you’d understood the character. Seems like you just caught a dead mouse blind.”

“President Gong, should we keep rehearsing?” The vice president came over too, afraid President Gong would trigger the princess temperament of Eldest Miss Cheng. At a critical moment, the worst thing was an actor walking off the job.

“Rehearse.” Cheng Jinzhi hadn’t left yet. President Gong gave her a look. “I’m not talking to you.”

President Gong clapped in front of the stage. “Alright, everyone, continue.”

At that, everyone started humming and rehearsing again.

“Master, what about me?” Cheng Jinzhi pointed at herself.

President Gong picked up the script from the table. “You, watch from the back. When you’ve read it clearly, when you’ve read it deeply, then get on stage.”

Reading the script wouldn’t help either—didn’t roles need practice? There was no way around it; President Gong was stubborn. Since he’d said so, Cheng Jinzhi could only take the script, still in makeup and costume, and sit in the back row reading.

She read until the early hours. President Gong let everyone go to the back to rest. Rong Si took a bottle of mineral water and sat beside Cheng Jinzhi.

“Rong Si, you’ve played the Prince Consort too. Tell me, was I really that bad just now?” Cheng Jinzhi said.

Rong Si didn’t answer, just handed her the water.

Rong Si had felt it too. Cheng Jinzhi had lost something compared to last time. Now, looking at her, it felt like her brows had lost some of their spirit.

Cheng Jinzhi sullenly drank a mouthful of water. President Gong waved at her from up front, and she had no choice but to go over.

As she stood, Rong Si caught her wrist. “Wu Di’s performance is good. Yours is too.”