After Transmigrating into the Villain’s Cat, I Dominated the Entertainment Circle – Chapter 114
by Little PandaExtra 4
New Film
The proposal went very smoothly. Lin Sifei’s smile was more beautiful than any rose.
After the kiss ended, Luo Ke held her by the waist. The path they had walked down lit up again, but this time, it was a little different.
Floating above each little lamp was a small photograph, all of them of Luo Ke.
There were pictures of her at work, pictures of her in loungewear at home, pictures of her pushing a shopping cart at the grocery store…
Each one recorded a moment of her life.
Luo Ke’s brow twitched. “You took these secretly?”
Lin Sifei was perfectly self-righteous. “You’ve taken secret pictures of me, too. We’re even.”
“They’re quite well-shot,” Luo Ke said, kissing her on the cheek again.
Lin Sifei covered her face, giggling. “None of these pictures were edited. You’re just too beautiful, you don’t need any editing at all.”
Seeing the genuine look on her face, Luo Ke sighed internally. This must be what they mean when they say a Xishi appears in a lover’s eyes.1 Xiao Xiao is clearly the most beautiful one.
She had completely forgotten how she herself had once found a blurry mosaic beautiful.
The mosaic was a photo of Lin Sifei that had come out blurry.
“Why are you only showing me the photos after the proposal is over? Shouldn’t you have brought them out earlier to move me?”
Lin Sifei hadn’t expected Luo Ke to be so sharp. She touched her nose awkwardly and opened her hand, revealing a folded piece of paper.
“This was supposed to be my proposal speech, but I was too excited, so… I missed a lot.”
Luo Ke opened the paper and saw a sheet of A4 paper densely packed with words. Fortunately, the characters were written quite large, so it wasn’t too hard to read. Some parts were even marked up with red pen or had the font size enlarged in red.
“These are…”
“I was afraid I’d forget my lines, so I wrote the words bigger on purpose to use as cue cards.” But her mind had gone completely blank, and she hadn’t remembered a single thing, which meant she didn’t even have time to look at her script.
Lin Sifei wanted to cry but had no tears. This had never happened to her before, and her on-the-spot improvisation was so terrible that the photos only came out after Luo Ke had already said yes.
Luo Ke saw her QAQ expression and couldn’t help but smile. She reached out and stroked her head. “A genuine display of emotion. That’s my favorite.”
Only then did Lin Sifei feel a bit better. She couldn’t resist showing off again. “I guessed you wouldn’t like those scenic views that planners specifically create, so I found some people to help me set it all up at home.”
“My Xiao Xiao is so amazing, to know me so well.”
Lin Sifei grinned, revealing her small, sharp canines.
“You’ve been busy for so long. You haven’t had lunch yet, have you?”
“Mm, I was waiting for you to come back. Auntie Wu prepared lu—ah!” A thud rang out, and Lin Sifei suddenly cried out in pain.
Luo Ke jumped in fright and quickly turned to look at her.
Lin Sifei sucked in a breath, clutching her calf.
“Let me see.” It was pitch black around them. Luo Ke quickly jogged over to turn on the lights.
“Wait, I’m fine!” Lin Sifei tried to stop her, but it was too late.
The main lights in the living room switched on, instantly illuminating the space and revealing the room’s condition in its entirety.
Luo Ke looked at the scene before her and fell silent. Very well, she now completely believed that Lin Sifei had prepared all of this herself.
The dry ice had mostly dissipated, revealing the floor underneath.
The lit path she had just walked on was a series of plastic panels connected to lights, with another glass panel on top that was presumably for displaying the photos. The beautiful starry sky was a spherical projector in the middle of the room. Ribbons and steel light strips were strewn about haphazardly.
“The effect was pretty good,” Lin Sifei said, scratching her cheek in embarrassment. “I was originally planning to take you out to eat. Even though Auntie Wu cooked, the house is too messy.”
It was indeed messy. There wasn’t even a place to put one’s foot down, except for the narrow path of plastic panels.
“There wasn’t enough time.” Lin Sifei lifted the hem of her dress and walked toward her. She must have bumped into the corner of a nearby box.
Luo Ke smiled and held out a hand to her. “It was beautiful. As long as it’s beautiful, nothing else matters.”
“Right?!” Lin Sifei’s eyes shone, and she threw herself into Luo Ke’s arms. “I knew it! The effect is what’s most important.”
Luo Ke couldn’t help but let her lips curl into a smile.
With the proposal a success, it was naturally time to consider the wedding.
Luo Ke had wanted it to be as soon as possible, and Lin Sifei had no objections.
However, plans couldn’t keep up with changes. News that Lin Sifei had recovered spread.
Wang Zhixin finally came looking for her, calling her with a handful of snot and a handful of tears.2
Only then did Lin Sifei remember that she had been recuperating for so long. The horror film she hadn’t been able to finish had been put on hold, and everyone had gone their separate ways, leaving the contract in limbo.
When Wang Zhixin learned of Lin Sifei’s recovery, he understood she might not be able to film right away, so he waited patiently. In the meantime, he pressured Liu Zheng to revise the script again, changing all the scenes with strenuous physical activity.
It was certainly not an easy revision, but they could only grit their teeth and do it. For parts that couldn’t be changed, they would use a body double and give the shots to other characters.
Once everything was ready, Wang Zhixin finally came to find Lin Sifei, his emotions getting the better of him.
Lin Sifei looked at Luo Ke, troubled.
Luo Ke knew the wedding would probably be delayed for quite a while, but she didn’t mind. Her intention was to be with Lin Sifei forever. Now that the proposal was done, she was less anxious than before.
She had gained a small sense of security.
After getting the doctor’s approval, Luo Ke allowed Lin Sifei to join the film crew. The two of them packed their bags and headed to the set.
The original cast members with remaining scenes all came back. Some had other projects they were filming, so they had to negotiate and adjust schedules.
Wang Zhixin agreed to everything, doing his best to cooperate. After all, restarting a production was a huge hassle, and he understood that.
The remaining scenes indeed didn’t require much strenuous movement, and Lin Sifei had an easy time filming.
Moreover, over the past year, many of the actors had improved significantly, making the filming process even smoother.
Luo Ke also had a few more scenes as the “back spirit,” where her hands and feet were constantly busy.
In the past, Wang Zhixin would have been an iron head and tried to stop her, but now he didn’t dare. What if President Luo got upset and dragged Lin Sifei away again under the pretext of recuperation?
Wang Zhixin thought, It’s so miserable being an unknown little director!
The filming for the horror film didn’t take long, wrapping up in half a month. The final title they decided on was the name of the mental hospital. It was an ordinary, safe choice, but they wouldn’t have to worry about it overlapping with anyone else’s.
Wang Zhixin slapped his chest. “Our film is too successful! The ones who need to be careful are the others who might try to touch porcelain!”3
The cast had originally been promising actors from Ju Luo Culture and Xinghe Culture. A year later, many of them had become popular stars. Some who were popular a year ago had seen a slight decline and were hoping to make a comeback with this film.
A massive promotional campaign began. Everyone declared they wanted to see what kind of “seductive bitch”4 this film was.
But after the preview screenings, it received rave reviews. Some were expectant, while others were spurred by a sense of contrarianism.
Li Tao’s promotional strategy was utterly shameless. He unceremoniously dragged Yan Yafei into it, forcing everyone to revisit the case once again.
The fact that someone was so jealous of her talent that they tried to kill her must mean she was truly amazing.
Furthermore, because of this senseless disaster, she had been forced to take a year-long hiatus. As the strongest newcomer who had won numerous awards for two films, she garnered a fair amount of sympathy.
Lin Sifei was looking at her phone when she learned that Yan Yafei had received such a long sentence and had even attempted suicide in prison, though she was unfortunately rescued.
Lin Sifei waved her phone. “Did you know?”
Luo Ke glanced at the phone and nodded. “Her suicide attempt was nothing more than a way to threaten Erik, but Erik’s reach doesn’t extend that far. After she tried threatening them a few times, no one took her seriously, so she actually went through with it. She probably realized she could never be a person above others again and finally couldn’t take it.”
Lin Sifei’s lips twitched. Thinking of the person who had been so obsessed with becoming number one, this was indeed something she would do.
“Ending her life to escape failure… She disgusts me more and more,” Lin Sifei said, and then never brought up Yan Yafei again.
With its star-studded cast, the horror film attracted a huge audience. It proved to be an excellent movie—a standard commercial film, but a good-looking one!
The box office numbers continuously broke records, and everyone once again experienced just how powerful this formidable newcomer, Lin Sifei, truly was.
A year wasn’t a long time, but many people had already forgotten her.
And so, her two previous films also saw a resurgence in popularity.
Lin Sifei couldn’t stop laughing. “Aigh, I blush just reading all their rainbow farts.”5
“They’re just telling the truth.”
“A Xishi appears in a lover’s eyes,” Lin Sifei shot her a playful glare and put down her phone.
“What are your plans for the wedding?”
Luo Ke, however, shook her head. “I saw that Li Tao sent you a script. You just got back. A wedding and a honeymoon would take up too much time. You have momentum now; you should strike while the iron is hot.”
Lin Sifei’s eyes widened, surprised that she would say that. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she pouted. “You don’t have to accommodate me.”
“It’s not about accommodating you.” Luo Ke took her hand and kissed it. “You love acting, and I want to help you achieve your dreams. I don’t want you to waste your talent and give up your passion for my sake. That would be you accommodating me.”
To be honest, Lin Sifei hadn’t acted in a year, and half a month was definitely not enough to satisfy her craving.
She bit her lip and kissed Luo Ke on the cheek. “Then let’s pick a script right now. After we finish this film, we’ll get married.”
She spread her arms wide. “I want to marry you when I’m at the absolute peak of my popularity.”
Luo Ke knew her all too well. Xiao Xiao was just like a cat—very proud and loved to show off. She would definitely want everyone to see her wedding, just like with their engagement.
“Of course.”
In the end, Lin Sifei chose an art film.6 Her previous works had a somewhat dream-like quality, but this one, while also about dreams, had a strong element of fantasy.
The film took half a year to shoot, followed by another two months of reshoots for certain scenes.
Finally, the movie was released during the summer vacation.
Riding the summer holiday buzz, the film quickly began to gain traction online.
It was a very interesting movie, with a dystopian theme. Lin Sifei played the protagonist, a woman wanted for a crime. Her crime was greeting her neighbor in the morning.
A simple “hello” had deeply offended the neighbor, who didn’t want to be greeted. He believed the protagonist had interfered with his life.
The female lead tried to explain herself but was immediately locked up.
In prison, she saw many other criminals. Some were there for bumping into someone, others for making a funny face at a friend…
These seemingly absurd reasons were all real.
In the end, the female lead was acquitted in a nationwide online vote, because people felt that some degree of communication was necessary.
Thanks to its brilliant satire, the film received an excellent response, and Lin Sifei once again became a hot topic of discussion.
Everyone had to admit it: she was a genius.
And a certain cat who was being showered with praise was currently squinting her eyes in delight.
Ah! It’s finally time! I’m at the peak of my popularity now, we can get married!
Footnotes
- A famous Chinese idiom, ‘qíngrén yǎnlǐ chū Xīshī,’ which means ‘in a lover’s eyes, a Xishi appears.’ Xishi was one of the legendary Four Great Beauties of ancient China.
- The original is ‘yī bǎ bítì yī bǎ lèi,’ a vivid idiom literally meaning ‘a handful of snot and a handful of tears,’ used to describe someone crying messily and uncontrollably.
- Literally ‘to touch porcelain’ (pèngcí). A slang term originating from a scam where people would pretend to be hit by cars to extort money. In entertainment, it means to deliberately pick a fight with or leech off a more famous person to gain attention.
- The original is ‘yāoyàn jiànhuò,’ a popular and harsh internet slang term literally meaning ‘seductive, cheap goods.’ It’s used to insult a woman who is perceived as vulgarly attention-seeking and promiscuous.
- Literally ‘rainbow fart’ (cǎihóng pì). A popular internet slang term for over-the-top, effusive, and elaborate praise, typically directed at a celebrity or idol.
- The original term is ‘wényì piàn,’ literally ‘literature and art film.’ It refers to a genre of film that is typically more artistic, serious, or experimental in nature compared to mainstream commercial blockbusters.
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