The Pact

Two days later, Cao Shiyu finally met the soul of the drama in the director's eyes—the screenwriter Li Xun.

Li Xun looked very young, only slightly older than her. He was tall and handsome, exceptionally so, even more so than many of her classmates.

This was astonishing. She graduated from the acting program at the Central Academy of Drama; weren't all her classmates' looks top-tier? Yet, this screenwriter Li was outstanding even among them!

Cao Shiyu felt like she had been dreaming for the past two days.

Suddenly, she got the role of Chang Yu!

She was even acting opposite the rising superstar Huang Zhou!

Huang Zhou!

"My classmates must be so envious of me," she thought.

"I, Cao Shiyu, am finally having my lucky break!"

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

It was a highly skilled crew with excellent chemistry.

Everything seemed perfect.

But at this very moment, Cao Shiyu wasn't entirely at ease.

Her role had come about too suddenly.

It was almost inexplicable.

She didn't know screenwriter Li Xun at all, so why did he kick singer Xia Qing out and recommend her to the director?

What was the logic behind his actions?

"Screenwriter Li Xun wasn't even present when I auditioned, so why did he specifically choose me?"

"What makes me better than Xia Qing?"

Cao Shiyu believed there was no such thing as unprovoked affection in this world!

She mused thoughtfully.

"I'm nowhere near as famous as Xia Qing, so compared to her, I need this opportunity more! This means that to get this chance, I'll definitely be more obedient than Xia Qing!"

"So the reason he kicked Xia Qing out and recommended me to the director was to get a more obedient actress, right? I need this opportunity so badly, I wouldn't dare say no to him! He could easily dismiss Xia Qing, so replacing me would be even easier, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it must be like this!"

"If my guess is correct, will he come to me with inappropriate requests?"

That night, Cao Shiyu tossed and turned.

When a fellow actress from the crew came to visit, the knock on the door startled her.

Yet, for over ten days, this screenwriter Li made no move. His gaze towards Cao Shiyu was no different from his gaze towards any other actress on set. Even after the entire second unit's scenes were filmed, he still hadn't done anything, not even spoken to her alone.

After countless restless nights, Cao Shiyu even felt it would be better to get it over with quickly rather than live in constant suspicion.

On January 18th, Li Xun returned home.

In reality, the crew was very professional, and Director Kong Teng was exceptionally rigorous with his filming; he wouldn't easily change his script.

So, his presence on set during filming didn't have a significant impact. He had insisted on following the crew because he felt he would gain something from it.

While filming, he stayed by Director Kong Teng's side, learning bit by bit: how Director Kong Teng managed a crew, how he filmed, how he directed actors, how he arranged shots during filming, and listening to his explanations for those arrangements.

Yes, Director Kong Teng would sometimes explain the reasoning behind his choices while filming.

During the filming of the first unit, "Famous Throughout the World," he mostly just watched and listened.

But during the filming of "Blood Altar" this time, he had unconsciously taken on the role of Director Kong Teng's assistant.

Li Xun truly learned a lot from Director Kong Teng.

Their relationship had also unknowingly grown stronger, and they were now probably in a mentor-mentee, friend-like relationship.

During filming, Kong Teng often praised Li Xun's intuition as incredibly accurate.

For a scene, how to arrange the shots, how the actors should move, what kind of body language to use, etc.—Li Xun's ideas often coincided perfectly with Kong Teng's.

The difference was that Director Kong Teng knew why it should be done that way, the underlying principles, whereas Li Xun could only say that his intuition told him it should be so.

Thus, 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 even made Li Xun feel a bit ashamed.

He was merely describing the images in his mind, and sometimes his descriptions weren't even entirely precise. Yet, in Director Kong Teng's eyes, this was evidence of his astonishing talent.

Back in Jing City, Dai Ying's parents had been discharged from the hospital. All their test results were fine, and Dai Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief.

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

"Here, Li Xun, have some meat. You've lost weight after being away!" Liu Fang said with a smile, serving him food.

"Thank you, Auntie. I can serve myself," Li Xun replied with a smile.

"Look at you, still being so polite. You're family now!" Liu Fang turned to glance at Dai Ying, who was quietly eating, then turned back and continued smiling.

"Thank you, Auntie. Your cooking is truly amazing. I'm in for a treat tonight! To be honest, Auntie, even though I'm from Xiang Province, the most common meal I've eaten these past few years has been noodles. It's just convenient. Boil water, throw in the noodles, add a few greens, and it's super simple. Cooking rice and stir-frying dishes takes too much effort for just one person."

"See, it's not good to not have a woman around. Eating noodles every day isn't ideal, but cooking a proper meal for one person really isn't worth the trouble! Dai Ying also orders takeout all the time. Who knows how hygienic that takeout is? It's much more reassuring to cook at home yourself, don't you think?"

"Exactly, exactly. But there's no helping it, all young people are like this nowadays!"

"That won't do. Little Li, I think we should do this: you're looking for a place, right? Why don't you just find one in this building? Preferably right across the hall, and then we can cook meals together for both families, saving you the trouble of cooking for yourself, right?

Liu Fang had previously offered to let Li Xun move in with her daughter, but it was just a spur-of-the-moment remark. After thinking it over carefully, she felt it wasn't quite right. She wasn't sure how far her daughter and Li Xun's relationship had progressed. It didn't seem as intimate as it appeared in her daughter's social media posts!

Judging by her daughter's social media, her daughter and this Li Xun should have been very close. But after actually meeting Li Xun and observing his interactions with her daughter, Liu Fang felt their relationship was far from that stage.

Could it be that Dai Ying has a crush on Li Xun?

If that's the case, then my joking offer to have Li Xun move in with my daughter would be truly inappropriate.

We can't let the young man think that our side is too forward.

So this time, she didn't bring up the idea of Li Xun moving in. Li Xun was looking for a place, and that was fine, but it would be best if he found one close to Yingying's apartment.

Tomorrow, she would go around and ask everyone in the building if any units were available for rent.

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

The two walked downstairs.

"My parents have agreed to live in Jing City permanently from now on!" Dai Ying said.

"That's great. As parents get older, it's worrying not to have them nearby. Besides, Jing City has such excellent medical resources, it's convenient for seeing a doctor," Li Xun replied.

"So, our fake couple relationship might have to continue for a while longer, perhaps a very long time," Dai Ying whispered.

"Then let's keep pretending. I'm single, so it doesn't matter to me!" Li Xun said dismissively.

"What if you meet someone you like in the future?" Dai Ying stopped and asked.

Li Xun stopped and looked at Dai Ying, saying, "What's the problem then? When that day comes, we can just find an excuse to have a fight and break up!"

Dai Ying asked, "Who will say they were dumped by whom?"

Li Xun chuckled, "Simple. Whoever meets someone they like first will be the one who gets dumped, so the other person who hasn't met anyone can feel a bit more balanced."

Dai Ying thought for a moment and smiled, "That actually sounds interesting. It's a deal then!"