So Cowardly
Direct Confrontation
The ambulance pulled into the hospital. They needed to check for parasites.
“Director, I really think we shouldn’t delay the shoot,” Lin Sifei said, gently adjusting her hospital gown. “The sooner we finish filming, the sooner I can go back. I feel too uneasy here.”
The director gave an awkward smile. “But your health…”
“Even if there are parasites, they won’t affect me that quickly.” Her expression darkened slightly. “This is the last location for the shoot. Once we’re done, let’s just wrap this up.”
The director nodded hastily. The rest of the content wasn’t that important anyway. At worst, he could just have Feng Tingyun stay late to film a short segment as a closing statement.
Lin Sifei was discharged that same day. She returned to the filming location in the afternoon, and after some preparation, everyone re-entered the cave.
This time, they started filming again from the cave entrance, but everyone’s positions had changed slightly.
Yan Yafei was now at the very front of the group, mainly because no one else was willing to stand there. Feng Tingyun bluntly stated he’d just had a falling out with her. Lu Heng didn’t want Feng Tingyun to get dragged into it, and Xu You was too timid, afraid he’d be used as an outlet for her anger.
The director was at a loss. He could only persuade Yan Yafei to film a scene where she “bravely volunteered” to take the lead position.
Once they were back in the cave, the shoot went smoothly. They were all actors, after all, and their performances were perfectly natural. The only one who seemed a bit stiff was Xu You, but they could just give him less screen time.
The director let out a long sigh of relief and went to find Feng Tingyun, asking him to stay behind and film a promotional bit for the scenic spot.
Lin Sifei stood up, strode quickly behind Yan Yafei, and with a sharp jab of her elbow, knocked her straight into the water.
Yan Yafei swallowed two mouthfuls of water and began flailing her arms wildly. “He-help! I can’t swim!”
The director looked like he was about to faint. A lifeguard quickly jumped in to rescue her. Without the interference from the lights this time, he reacted much faster. It didn’t take long to pull her out.
The moment Yan Yafei was on solid ground, she pointed a finger at Lin Sifei and screamed, “That was attempted murder! I’m calling the police!”
“Go ahead, call them,” Lin Sifei said, inspecting her nails. “Did any of you see me push her? Do you have any proof? When the police get here, we can finally figure out who pushed me.”
The director hurried over to make the stage round.1 Looking at Yan Yafei, he pleaded, “Can’t we just say this was all a misunderstanding?”
Yan Yafei bit her lower lip in frustration. She glanced at the people around them and saw, to her disbelief, that every single one of them was avoiding her gaze. Not one dared to speak up.
Lin Sifei smiled. “Besides, even if someone did push you, the safety facilities here are so comprehensive. At worst, it would just be considered friends messing around.”
With a cheerful wave, she turned and headed back to the guesthouse first to pack her things.
After she finished packing, she sat on her suitcase and waited for Yan Yafei. “The matter of you pushing me isn’t just going to be forgotten.”
Yan Yafei, now changed into dry clothes and much calmer, shot her a glance. A small, mocking smile touched her lips. “How unfortunate for you. The Luo Corporation’s influence in the entertainment circle is hardly worth mentioning.”
“Of course, I know that. After all, not even the Yuan Group has managed to cause you much trouble.” Lin Sifei raised an eyebrow with a smile. Although the Yuan Group had never officially made a move, a simple falling out with Yuan Mo would have been enough for a normal person to drink a pot of it.2 Yet, Yan Yafei had managed to retreat with her whole body.3
Yan Yafei covered her mouth and chuckled. “You flatter me. This circle really does give preferential treatment to those with real talent.”
“You certainly have some ability, but destroying you would be just as easy.”
“Really? Then let’s see you try.”
Yan Yafei sneered, shoved past her shoulder, and strode away.
Lin Sifei pressed a hand to her shoulder and called out cheerfully, “You’d better practice your swimming, then! You might not be so lucky every time.”
Yan Yafei’s steps faltered. She gripped her own hand tightly and walked away even faster.
Luo Ke’s brow furrowed slightly. “Should I release the video of her abusing the cat?”
“Not yet. That’s not enough to truly finish her.” Lin Sifei leaned against Luo Ke with a smile, wrapping her arms around her neck. “I’m waiting for the perfect opportunity.”
Lin Sifei smiled like a cunning fox. Luo Ke reached out and pinched her nose, her expression turning serious. “Now, get yourself back to the hospital. Immediately.”
Lin Sifei grumbled twice but was promptly packed up by Luo Ke, “air-freighted” home, and sent directly to the hospital.
“There probably aren’t any parasites, right?” Lin Sifei said, a little scared now that the adrenaline had worn off.
The test results came back quickly. No parasites. Her luck was pretty good.
Lin Sifei let out a sigh of relief, then added regretfully, “Heh. That really let Yan Yafei off easy.”
She got her things together and followed Luo Ke home.
“Luo Ke, why does the Luo Corporation’s entertainment company perform so poorly?”
“It’s not the main focus for the Luo Corporation,” Luo Ke explained with a smile. “Most of the Luo Corporation’s investment and energy is concentrated on the internet and high-tech industries.”
Lin Sifei nodded. “So in that case, can companies like that just be left to run themselves? Last time I went to Feng Xiao’s company, their old boss was really terrible.”
“That’s why after Ju Luo Culture was acquired, there were no personnel changes. It’s still the same people.”
Lin Sifei nodded again, her eyes darting around thoughtfully. “In that case… you could try letting me handle it.”
Luo Ke, who was in the middle of signing a document, paused, leaving a dark ink mark on the paper. She looked up, a little surprised. “Why the sudden interest in managing the company? You didn’t even want the shares I offered you before. I can have someone arrange a position for you now, but it might take a few days.”
“No, no,” Lin Sifei said, waving her hands dismissively. “Just do it under your name.”
She rested her chin on her hands with a smile. Speaking of which, she had managed a company in her past life. Because she was an actress herself, she had a good eye for talent, and her investments rarely lost money. The only downside was that training new actors took a lot of energy.
“I’ve done this before. Besides, your company is already well-established. I won’t have to personally act in projects to promote newcomers, which is better for my own career development too.”
“Are you sure you can handle it?” It wasn’t that Luo Ke doubted her, but she was just such a salted fish.4 She spent her days eating, drinking, and having fun. The only time she was serious was when she was filming. Otherwise… the only place she put in any effort was in bed…
“Don’t look down on me,” Lin Sifei pouted. Then she flopped onto the desk. “Otherwise, it’s so boring when I’m a cat.”
Luo Ke couldn’t help but smile as she glanced at her. This was the Xiao Xiao she knew. So she was just bored.
“Alright. I’ll have Zhao Min contact them. If management is going to be handled directly from here, a lot of things will have to change.” As she spoke, Luo Ke sent a message to Zhao Min and Special Assistant Lin. This would probably keep them busy for a few days.
Lin Sifei watched Luo Ke’s profile as she typed, sighing to herself. My girlfriend is so beautiful.
There was something else she hadn’t told Luo Ke. She hoped to grow into someone who could genuinely handle corporate affairs so that one day, she could help Luo Ke. She knew Luo Ke often had to get up in the middle of the night to deal with work. It wasn’t something she could just put off to get more rest; it had to be handled.
Lin Sifei reached out and gently stroked Luo Ke’s hair. When Luo Ke looked at her questioningly, she just smiled.
“Luo Ke, I really, really like you!” So much that even a salted fish is starting to strive.
Luo Ke, unaware of her inner thoughts, just smiled and tapped her on the nose. “I like you, too.”
《Light》 was nearing the end of its theatrical run. Its total box office earnings were quite good—an excellent result for an art house film.5
The advertisements for the endorsement Lin Sifei had filmed were starting to appear everywhere. Her face was all over the streets, her lively eyes a stark contrast to the blind girl she had played in the movie. A single film had earned her a sizable fanbase, and they were clamoring every day for her to come out and do business.6
【It’s her only project so far. I want to find some other food7 to eat, but there’s nothing QAQ】
【Feifei, please do more events! The scissor hands8 have already started making edits of your commercials!】
【I really want to know what her next schedule is】
Lin Sifei sighed helplessly. She took a photo of herself in the study and posted it to her Weibo.9
【Lin Sifei V:10 Reading scripts. Found one that seems pretty good.】
The comments were immediately flooded with people fawning over her looks. Some tried to pry for details about the new script, but of course, she didn’t reply to any of them.
【Is that study in the background real? Does Feifei really read all those books?】
Lin Sifei glanced back at the books within reach on the shelf behind her. She’d never even heard of many of the titles. She quickly replied: 【They’re my family’s books. I haven’t read a lot of them, but I will, slowly. Reading makes one wise.】
After replying, she put down her phone and looked at Luo Ke. “Luo Ke! Luo Ke!”
“What is it?” Luo Ke didn’t stop what she was doing.
“Have you read all these books?”
“More or less.” Luo Ke looked up, her gaze sweeping across the books in the study. “A lot of them were left by my parents. They have their notes inside. I used to flip through them when I was little, and it became a habit to read them often.”
“That’s amazing. So many books.” For a moment, Lin Sifei could almost see a halo of knowledge glowing on Luo Ke’s forehead.
“I want to read one, too. Any recommendations?”
“What kind do you like?”
“Fiction. The kind that reflects human nature.”
Luo Ke pulled a book from the shelf and handed it to her. Lin Sifei took it, sat back down in her seat, and opened it to read.
Luo Ke smiled and sat down to continue her work.
Ever since the study was broken into, the place had been a mess. Luo Ke had simply hired someone to redecorate it completely, adding a desk and chair for Lin Sifei and even a small cat staircase. Now, Lin Sifei could truly stick by her side anytime, anywhere.
She smiled again, this time focusing seriously on her work.
Lin Sifei was engrossed in her book when her phone started flashing nonstop. She picked it up and saw it was Li Tao.
【Li Tao: Did you piss off Yan Yafei?】
The moment Lin Sifei saw the message, she knew Yan Yafei was stirring up trouble again. She rolled her eyes.
【Lin Sifei: I didn’t piss her off. She pissed me off.】
Li Tao sent back an ellipsis.
【I don’t care who pissed off who. Right now, Yan Yafei’s side is instigating her fans to start tearing11 at you.】
Lin Sifei was completely baffled. She thought Yan Yafei was actually brave enough to expose the pushing incident, planning to reverse black and white.12
But when she went online and searched, she found the cause of the argument: fans were calling them by similar-sounding names.
Feifei, Feifei.
Lin Sifei’s mouth twitched, speechless. Fans are starting a war over something so trivial?
She picked up her phone and immediately composed a Weibo post: 【If you’re so scared of someone stealing your spotlight, you can just change your name. To secretly poke13 from behind the scenes and use your fans as a weapon is just disgusting. If I catch one and sue them, will you help pay the compensation?】
She’d always been one to hard-confront14 issues. She especially hated people who used their fans like this. Fans liked celebrities out of love, and that love shouldn’t be exploited.
The moment she posted it, the conflict was dragged out into the open. In particular, implying Yan Yafei was afraid of having her spotlight stolen was basically calling her a weaker competitor.
Yan Yafei’s fans exploded and immediately swarmed her post to attack.
Lin Sifei couldn’t care less about them. She even posted another Weibo telling her fans to ignore it and just have fun. She ended by once again calling for celebrities to stop hiding behind their fans and have the courage to speak for themselves.
To have a model and learn from the model, her fans followed her lead. They didn’t argue with Yan Yafei’s fans, but instead relentlessly @’d Yan Yafei, telling her to come out and speak.
Seeing how things were escalating, Li Tao recalled what Lin Sifei had said and couldn’t help but sigh. Looks like she really pissed her off good. Why else would she jump straight to this tear the face kind of fight?
But since they’d already decided to tear the face,15 they might as well do it loudly. He immediately arranged for a hot search16 topic: “Yan Yafei, come out and speak.”
Once the topic hit the hot search, non-fans quickly began to voice their approval.
【Finally, we don’t have to watch fans fight anymore. Isn’t it great to see the steamed main17 face the line18 directly?】
【I don’t know what happened, but it’s good for celebrities to talk directly to each other. If there’s a problem, solve it. What’s the use of fans arguing?】
【Hahaha, am I the only one who noticed Lin Sifei’s yin-yang strange air?19 Looks like their relationship is terrible.】
【Didn’t they just film a variety show together? Did they become enemies on the show?】
This quickly gave people a new line of inquiry. The marketing accounts20 sprang into action. After confirming the two had no interactions before the variety show, they concluded something must have happened during filming. Then someone posted a screen recording of the last livestream. Seeing the cheerful atmosphere in the video only made everyone more curious.
After posting those two Weibos, Lin Sifei went back to her book, leaving the rest to Li Tao. That was his job, after all. He couldn’t just take a salary for nothing.
By the next day, public opinion had taken a strange turn. Lin Sifei’s refreshingly direct attitude had won her a lot of goodwill. Finally, early that morning, Yan Yafei arrived late and leisurely21 with a long Weibo post of her own. In short, she’d claimed she had only just learned about the issue, that it must have all been a misunderstanding, and she then placated her fans.
After yesterday, Lin Sifei’s fans were already thoroughly displeased with her. They immediately started mocking her for being a White Lotus Flower.22
【Such a White Lotus. But what’s the use? Feifei is just amazing. She landed a leading role for her debut, her performance was incredible, and the box office is in the top five for the year. Tsk tsk, someone’s way too sour.23】
【Our Feifei’s name comes from The Book of Odes.24 I suggest certain sour people go dig the characters out of The Book of Odes and ban all homophones from now on.】
【She probably thinks she’s an ancient emperor, and everyone has to avoid a taboo name.25 No, wait, even emperors didn’t care about homophones.】
With the high-grossing film 《Light》, publicly acclaimed acting skills, and now considerable fame, Lin Sifei’s fans had the confidence to mock Yan Yafei relentlessly.
When Yan Yafei saw the mocking comments, she was so angry she nearly went insane. She took a deep breath. Her manager beside her advised, “You can’t reply again right now. Just swallow your anger for now. Wait… just wait.”
As he spoke, the manager took out several scripts and handed them to her. “These are all pretty good. Take a look.”
“Enter the crew26 again!?” Yan Yafei frowned. “How am I supposed to get any exposure that way?”
Fuming, she told her manager to leave.
She took out her phone and started asking a few directors for information.
【Producer Liu: That screenwriter named Gongbi27 has a friend, but they haven’t written a TV drama script in a long time.】
Yan Yafei looked at the address for the drama company that had been sent to her, a smirk playing on her lips. “Aren’t you so amazing? Well, if the screenwriter happens to hate you, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Lying on her pillow, Lin Sifei suddenly felt a chill and sneezed.
Luo Ke tucked her more snugly into the blankets, her voice full of concern. “Did you catch a chill? I told you to keep the covers on.”
Under the covers, Lin Sifei poofed back into human form and wrapped her arms around Luo Ke’s waist. “There’s nothing going on the next couple of days anyway. Just let me sleep as a person. If I change back into a cat, I change back.”
Luo Ke’s hand rested on her smooth back. “Just don’t complain about it again tomorrow.”
Lin Sifei’s eyes were half-closed. “I won’t.”
Luo Ke cupped her cheek and leaned in to kiss her.
The author has something to say:
Due to my own issues, updates will probably be in the early morning from now on. Everyone can just read them the next day.
Making a big heart for you all.
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