Like a Butterfly Unable to Cross the Sea

Night.

On a secluded corridor, two "suspicious" figures completed their "rendezvous" after three secret signals.

After repeatedly confirming that her manager Sister Zhang had really left for the time being, An Luning hurriedly dragged Zhang Xiaorong over to ask about the information she had gathered.

"Sister Zhang, how did it go?"

Although acting as An Luning's informant sounded somewhat ridiculous and childish, Zhang Xiaorong had done an excellent job.

She reported every bit of "intelligence" she had obtained to An Luning.

"He's very impressive. Apparently, he's written several hundred songs. I heard that from that producer surnamed Zhou."

"Huh? You even found out something that important? As expected of Sister Zhang!"

Zhang Xiaorong paused. "It wasn't that hard to find out. They were discussing it very loudly."

An Luning looked confused. Discussing it very loudly?

Ah. How was she supposed to explain the way boys strutted around like peacocks?

Fortunately, An Luning did not dwell on it. Instead, she furrowed her adorable brows. "He was bragging, right? Several hundred songs?!"

"I don't know about that. He was very busy filming during the day, but he's also very skilled with musical instruments. He can play almost every instrument in half a band."

Writing several hundred songs was already fantastical enough. As for the instruments, An Luning actually found that fairly normal.

She herself could play the piano and violin. As an entertainer, having more skills was never a bad thing.

But soon, she became concerned about an even more important question.

"I heard he's really directing and acting in that movie himself? How's his acting?"

"I don't know what counts as good acting. Watching him act on set, I thought he was pretty good." Zhang Xiaorong thought for a moment. "I only have part of the script, so I haven't seen much."

"He's definitely not as good as me, but the fact that he can direct and act at the same time..." An Luning bit her lip, signaling Sister Zhang to continue investigating and report back.

Zhang Xiaorong was also willing to play this "spy" game with her, but she did not forget to add, "Still, I don't think I'll be able to keep helping you gather information. If there's anything you want to say to him, I can just pass it on for you first."

"Huh? What happened?"

"Luning, I can't act. I'll probably be exposed tomorrow." Zhang Xiaorong rarely showed a hint of embarrassment.

"Acting is easy~ If not, just treat it like playing house. Besides, that guy's standards can't be too high. Sister Zhang, you could probably muddle through even if you just winged it, right?"

His standards couldn't be too high?

Zhang Xiaorong really did not understand acting, but she was not blind.

She had seen what Bai Youlou was like on set, acting like a "tyrant," and she had witnessed just how brutally the male supporting actor, Long Ziqiang, was being "tortured."

How could that possibly mean he did not care much about the movie's quality?

As it turned out, she really had no talent for acting.

Compared to Zhang Xiaorong, even Long Ziqiang could count as a seasoned veteran.

To put it simply, this girl could play only one role: herself.

No matter how Bai Youlou coached her, this "block of wood" simply could not get the hang of it.

He had thought he had found an incredible bargain, but it turned out he had invited a "living Bodhisattva."

And they wanted to add a kissing scene and a bed scene?

If female Bodhisattva could perform even those few simple scenes properly, Bai Youlou would be burning incense and bowing to her.

Lady, this is a breakup! Why does that calm, tranquil expression of yours make it seem like you've merely lost a simp?

Even when she splashed water in someone's face with a cup, there was no anger to be felt. It seemed more like... a reward?

The way Zhang Xiaorong splashed that water could probably be turned into a short video and uploaded online. There would likely be a whole crowd of perverts howling, "Beautiful lady, splash me!"

Replace her. Replace her.

No matter how reluctant Bai Youlou was to part with such a beautiful woman, he did not want some "anomaly" like this suddenly appearing in his movie.

Compared with the movie's adrenaline-fueled tone, inserting Zhang Xiaorong into it was like putting ice cream in a hot pot.

Completely out of place!

Still, the girl was genuinely considerate. When Bai Youlou subtly indicated that her acting was really not up to standard and that he might have to replace her, Zhang Xiaorong did not react excessively.

Instead, while visibly relieved, she blushed slightly and hesitated before asking, "Can I still come by to watch?"

Bai Youlou froze. What kind of "intelligence" are you actually trying to gather, girl?

I'll just tell you directly then~

But what he said aloud was naturally, "Of course! You're very interested in singing, aren't you? We can exchange ideas more often."

That offhand remark unexpectedly made Zhang Xiaorong show a rare look of excitement. It was not much, but it was real.

After nodding her thanks, she did not forget to apologize again. "I'm sorry, Director. I've caused you trouble."

Trouble?

Before Bai Youlou could say anything, Old Zhou already wanted to forgive her on his behalf.

The girl was not unwilling to cooperate. She simply could not do it.

And she was so polite, apologizing nonstop.

It was like a butterfly unable to cross the sea. Who could bear to blame her?

Long Ziqiang, who had watched the entire exchange, instinctively opened his mouth, but said nothing. In his eyes, however, an emotion called grief and indignation was brewing.

Damn!

No one could bear to blame that beautiful woman, yet Bai Youlou cursed him every damn day.

A world where he was the only one getting hurt had been achieved.

And so, Zhang Xiaorong continued to appear at the set frequently during her free time.

She did not merely bring a chair and sit there to observe. Whenever there was anything that needed doing, she took the initiative to lend a hand.

Although most people were too embarrassed to make a beautiful woman like her do the set's rough work.

In the end, she could only help the makeup artist with a few things, which at least meant she was not watching for nothing.

This became quite a topic of discussion on set. A beautiful woman had been "kicked out" of the production, yet she still came running over every day. What could she possibly be after?

The man, of course~

Almost everyone tacitly assumed that Zhang Xiaorong was ninety-nine percent in love with Bai Youlou.

She "clung to" Bai Youlou and chatted with him every day. That was definitely unrequited love.

Amid their envy, jealousy, and resentment, they wondered how such a beautiful young woman could already be blind. Had she never heard about Bai Youlou's "accomplishments"?

Still, no "kindhearted person" dared to warn her.

After all, that "madman" Bai Youlou was still there, and the intimidation exerted by the two-man lunatic duo he formed with Long Ziqiang was considerable.

That was until a female entertainer arrived to replace Zhang Xiaorong.

Director He was still working hard.

Although he could not find Bai Youlou a first-tier actress from the industry, finding a film academy graduate from the fourth or fifth tier was no problem.

The new girl was named Hu Manyin. Apparently, she had been a child star. Although she was not as stunning at first glance as Zhang Xiaorong or An Luning, she was unquestionably a beauty from every angle.

Unfortunately, the girl's luck was not very good. Even though she had signed with a company before entering film academy, she had still failed to make much of a name for herself in the entertainment industry by the time she graduated.

But poor prospects or not, she could still look down on someone like Bai Youlou.

So she did not show him the "favor" Zhang Xiaorong had.

It was obvious that she was somewhat unwilling.

Presumably, she could not afford to reject Director He, but she also did not want to get involved with Bai Youlou.

She hardly wanted to interact with him at all. She started work as soon as she arrived.

But she really was a professionally trained actress, and her acting foundation was solid. For the female lead's limited scenes, she practically stepped straight into character after reading the script.

It was not that her performance was particularly stunning; after all, the role did not leave much room to shine. But there was certainly nothing wrong with it.

She finished those scenes in just a day and a half.

Actually, Hu Manyin had agreed to come because she believed Bai Youlou's movie was bound to make no waves at all.

There were too many factors that determined whether a movie could succeed, and quality was only one of them.

Cast, investment, release date, screening schedule, publicity... Setting quality aside, in what way did Whiplash have an advantage?

She had no idea what this movie could possibly rely on to become popular.

And winning awards was even more laughable. An idol had come to direct a movie, and he expected to win awards?

Since the movie would not make any waves, appearing in it should not have much of a negative impact on her.

So under those circumstances, Hu Manyin filmed her scenes, collected her money, and prepared to leave.

She acted exactly like a mercenary.

However, before leaving, she seemed to hesitate. In the end, she decided to give Zhang Xiaorong a little warning.

"Teacher Zhang, cherish your life and stay away from scumbags!"