An Agreement

Two days later, Cao Shiyu finally met the person the director considered the soul of the show: its screenwriter, Li Xun.

Li Xun looked young, only a little older than her. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and exceptionally handsome—even more so than many of her classmates.

That was remarkable. After all, she had graduated from the acting program at the Central Academy of Drama. Every one of her classmates had been a rare beauty or a strikingly handsome man. Yet this screenwriter Li stood out even among them!

Cao Shiyu felt as if she'd been dreaming these past two days.

Out of nowhere, she'd landed the role of Chang Yu!

She was even acting opposite the rising star Huang Zhou!

Huang Zhou!

"My classmates must be so jealous of me."

"My luck has finally turned!"

The first day of shooting went smoothly. Director Kong Teng was truly a professional.

The production was of a very high standard, and the crew worked together seamlessly.

Everything seemed so wonderful.

But at that moment, Cao Shiyu couldn't quite put her mind at ease.

The role had come to her so suddenly.

It almost made no sense.

She didn't even know the screenwriter, Li Xun. So why had he pushed the singer Xia Qing out and recommended her to the director instead?

What was the reasoning behind his decision?

"When I auditioned, screenwriter Li Xun wasn't even there. So why did he pick me?"

"What am I better at than Xia Qing?"

Cao Shiyu believed that no one in this world gave affection without a reason.

She fell into thought.

"I'm nowhere near as famous as Xia Qing. That means I need this opportunity more than she does. So I'd definitely be more obedient than her if I wanted to get it!"

"So he pushed Xia Qing out and recommended me to the director because he wanted a more obedient actress, right? I need this opportunity so badly—how could I find the courage to say no to him? He could easily kick a somewhat famous person like Xia Qing out. Replacing me would be even easier!"

"That's it. It must be!"

"If I'm right, is he going to come to me and make some unreasonable demands?"

That night, Cao Shiyu tossed and turned.

Whenever one of the other actresses from the production came by and knocked on her door, she jumped.

But for more than ten days, the screenwriter Li made no move at all. He looked at Cao Shiyu no differently than he looked at the other actresses in the production. Even after they'd finished filming all the scenes for the second unit, he still hadn't done anything. He hadn't even spoken to her alone once.

After so many nights of tossing and turning, Cao Shiyu even thought that, rather than keep fretting every day, she'd prefer it if he just got it over with.

On January 18, Li Xun returned home.

The crew was very professional, and Director Kong Teng was extremely meticulous about his work. He rarely changed Li Xun's scripts.

So his presence on set didn't make much difference to the filming. He'd insisted on staying with the crew because he thought he could learn something that way.

During filming, he stayed by Director Kong Teng's side and learned bit by bit: how Kong Teng managed a production, how he shot scenes, how he directed the actors, how he planned the camera angles, and why he made those choices.

Yes, sometimes Director Kong Teng would explain his reasoning to Li Xun while they were filming.

When they shot the first arc, Famous Throughout the World, Li Xun had mostly watched and listened.

But now, while filming Blood Altar, he'd gradually begun to serve as Director Kong Teng's assistant.

Li Xun had truly learned a lot from Director Kong Teng.

Without either of them realizing it, their relationship had grown closer. By now, they were something like teacher and friend.

During filming, Director Kong Teng often praised Li Xun's excellent instincts.

How to frame a scene, how the actors should move, what kind of body language they should use—Li Xun's ideas always seemed to coincide with Kong Teng's.

The difference was that Director Kong Teng knew why things should be done that way and understood the reasoning behind it, while Li Xun could only say that it felt right to him.

So in Director Kong Teng's eyes, Li Xun was born to be a director.

What Director Kong Teng didn't know was that his praise made Li Xun feel a little embarrassed.

Li Xun was only describing the images in his mind, and sometimes he didn't even describe them very precisely. Yet Director Kong Teng took that as proof of his extraordinary talent.

By the time he returned to the capital, Dai Ying's parents had been discharged from the hospital. Their test results were all clear, and Dai Ying could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

That evening, Li Xun was invited to have dinner at Dai Ying's home.

"Here, Li Xun, have some meat. You've lost weight since you went away!" Liu Fang said with a smile, putting food on his plate.

"Thank you, Auntie. I can help myself," Li Xun said with a smile.

"Why are you still being so polite? We're family now!" Liu Fang said. She glanced at Dai Ying, who was eating quietly, then turned back to Li Xun with a smile.

"Thank you, Auntie. Your cooking is wonderful. I'm in for a real treat tonight. To be honest, Auntie, even though I'm from Hunan, the thing I've eaten most these past few years is noodles. They're just convenient: boil some water, add the noodles, toss in a few greens, and you're done. If you cook rice, you have to make dishes to go with it. It's not worth the trouble when you're on your own."

"See? You really can't do without a woman around. You can't eat noodles every day. But it's true, cooking a proper meal isn't worth the effort when you're alone! Dai Ying orders takeout all the time, too. Who knows if the food's prepared in a clean place? Cooking at home is so much safer, don't you think?"

"Exactly. But there's not much to be done about it. That's how young people are these days!"

"That won't do, Xiao Li. How about this? You're looking for a place, aren't you? Why not find one in this building? Better yet, take the apartment right across the hall. Then we can cook for both households at once, and you won't have to go to the trouble of making food just for yourself, right?"

The last time, Liu Fang had blurted out that Li Xun should move in with her daughter. At the time, she'd said it without thinking. But later, after giving it some thought, she'd decided it might not be appropriate. She couldn't tell how far things had progressed between her daughter and Li Xun. They didn't seem as close in person as they did in Dai Ying's social media posts!

Judging from her daughter's posts, she and Li Xun should have been quite intimate by now. But after meeting Li Xun and seeing how he and Dai Ying interacted, Liu Fang felt they weren't nearly that close.

"Could Dai Ying have a one-sided crush on Li Xun?"

"If that's the case, then joking about having Li Xun move into her place really wasn't appropriate."

"I shouldn't make the young man think our family is too forward."

So this time, she didn't bring up having Li Xun move in. He was looking for a place, after all. He could find one—but preferably somewhere close to Yingying's apartment.

Tomorrow, she'd ask around the whole building and see if any apartments were available for rent.

After dinner, Dai Ying's parents asked her to see Li Xun off.

The two of them went downstairs.

"My parents have agreed to live in the capital long-term," Dai Ying said.

"That's good. When your parents are older, it's only natural to worry when they're not nearby. Besides, the capital has such good medical resources. It's convenient if they need to see a doctor," Li Xun said.

"So we may have to keep pretending to be a couple for a while longer. Maybe for quite a long time," Dai Ying said softly.

"Then we'll keep pretending. I'm single anyway, so it doesn't matter to me," Li Xun said casually.

"But what if you meet someone you like?" Dai Ying stopped and asked.

Li Xun stopped too and looked at Dai Ying. "Wouldn't that be easy to handle? When that day comes, we'll find some excuse to have a fight and break up."

Dai Ying asked, "And who'll we say dumped whom?"

Li Xun smiled. "Easy. Whoever meets someone they like first gets to be the one who was dumped. That way, the person who hasn't met anyone yet won't feel so bad about it."

Dai Ying thought about it, then smiled. "That actually sounds kind of fun. Then it's a deal!"