After Transmigrating into the Villain’s Cat, I Dominated the Entertainment Circle – Chapter 121
by Little PandaIF Route (5)
Dad’s Playbook
Luo Ke opened the door and saw the couple sitting on the sofa. She took a deep breath and walked over.
“Dad, Mom, why are you back?”
Luo Ke’s father held her mother’s hand and looked up at her. “What? We’re not allowed to come home?”
“Of course not.” Luo Ke smiled, moving behind him to knead his shoulders. “I was just calculating the dates. There’s no way you had enough time to travel the world.”
“We came back specially because you called and said you wanted to date,” her mother said, smiling as she patted Luo Ke’s hand. “How is it? Have you made any progress with Lin Sifei?”
Luo Ke thought of her many rejected invitations and shook her head helplessly. “It seems like she’s been avoiding me.”
“She should be avoiding you.” Her father sighed in disappointment. “I heard all about it. How could you just give her a ring? It’s too frivolous. The entertainment industry is a mess to begin with; of course she’d keep her distance.”
“Then what should I do?”
Her father picked up a notebook from the coffee table. “Here. This is the notebook I used when I was chasing your mother. You can learn from it.”
Luo Ke hurriedly flipped it open. Seeing the words on the first page, her expression turned skeptical. “Will this actually work?”
Her father put an arm around her mother’s shoulders and raised a brow, showing off. Let the facts speak for themselves.
Luo Ke took a deep breath and nodded.
Lin Sifei had been resting for the most part recently. Her management company wanted her to try singing, but she really didn’t know much about it.
“I can’t even sing, so why do I have to stick my nose in it?”
Lin Sifei was playing a game on her tablet, completely uninterested.
“If you can’t, you can learn. We’ll find a vocal coach.” Her manager looked at her, exasperated. “Besides, releasing a song can make money and maintain your media exposure. The exposure for actors who only act is too low.”
Lin Sifei sighed. “I don’t want to sing.”
“Why not?”
“No reason.” Lin Sifei pressed her lips together and said no more.
Since she was unwilling, her manager couldn’t force her. She could only pack up the materials she’d brought and take them back.
As she was tidying up, the phone on the table began to vibrate.
Lin Sifei glanced over and saw the caller ID—President Luo.
“Is that Luo Ke?”
Her manager shot her a look. “Aren’t you the worst at remembering names? How do you remember hers?”
Lin Sifei looked baffled, not understanding her manager’s strong reaction. “Because she made a very special entrance, suddenly giving me a ring as a gift.” Not to mention she broke into my room at the very beginning.
She couldn’t say that, or her manager would definitely lose her mind on the spot and go try to kill Luo Ke.
“Be careful around her. Luo Corporation is huge. We can’t afford to offend them.”
“If we can’t offend her, then you’d better hurry up and answer the phone,” Lin Sifei complained with a pout.
Prompted, her manager quickly picked up the phone. She walked out onto the balcony as she answered, pulling the sliding door shut so Lin Sifei couldn’t hear.
“Tch.” Lin Sifei rolled her eyes and went back to her game.
Her manager glanced back, and only then did she relax enough to speak. “Hello, President Luo. What can I do for you?”
“It’s nothing. I just sent a letter to Feifei. It’s already been delivered to the company. Please remember to pass it on to her.”
“Of course, of course.” The manager breathed a sigh of relief. At least this time she wasn’t being asked to drag Feifei out for dinner.
The previous dinner invitations had scared her half to death. These days, all the pimps1 used dinner as a pretext.
“The company will hold onto the letter. I’ll be sure to pass it on for you.” Feifei has seen at least five hundred fan letters, if not a thousand. One more is no big deal.
She hung up and picked up her bag. “Since you’re free right now, do you want to look at some gifts and letters from your fans?”
“Sure, bring some of them back with you.”
The manager nodded, clenching her fist discreetly as she walked out the door. I’ll mix President Luo’s letter in with the fan mail. That way, it’ll be less conspicuous.
The letters were delivered quickly. Lin Sifei opened the door and stared at a cardboard box. “Why are there so many letters this time?”
“Wang-jie said that since you’re resting anyway, you could pick a few to read at random.”
In reality, her manager, Wang-jie, figured she was exhausted and would just skim them.
Lin Sifei nodded, opened the box, and looked at the neatly arranged letters inside with a slight pout. They were all from the heart, so she couldn’t really just toss them aside.
She turned on the stereo in her room and started reading the letters while listening to music.
There were a lot of letters, and even though they were from fans, reading for a while was tiring.
“I’ll just pick a few for now.” As a looks-supremacist,2 Lin Sifei started by picking out the envelopes she found most attractive.
She spotted one with a dark blue background and a gold floral pattern. Her fingers paused. She pulled the letter out. The paper was thick and felt pleasant to the touch.
She flipped it over to the front and saw the wax seal, stamped with the character for ‘Luo’.
A name surfaced in Lin Sifei’s mind. She put the other letters aside and decided to open this one first.
After reading the opening, Lin Sifei’s brow furrowed slightly. This letter felt less like a fan’s adoration and more like a love letter. Though the language was subtle and beautifully written, it couldn’t hide the affection within, or the hope for a response.
“Could it be a male fan?”
Lin Sifei continued reading, her eyebrows arching. The letter mentioned her last interview, in which the writer described asking a question about homosexuality.
“Isn’t this…” She quickly looked at the signature at the bottom of the letter: the two large characters for ‘Luo Ke’. It was a practiced signature, clearly designed with a special aesthetic. The elongated hook at the end seemed to lift a corner of her heart.
The tips of Lin Sifei’s ears turned red, and she couldn’t help but let a small smile escape. “Still hasn’t given up, huh.”
She tossed the letter aside and bent down to look at the others.
A moment later, however, she picked the paper up again, folded it neatly, and put it back in its envelope.
As she sat looking at the letter, the sky outside darkened without her noticing.
Lin Sifei put on a face mask, planning to take a walk around the residential complex.
She hadn’t gone far when she saw someone walking toward her from across the path.
Luo Ke smiled when she saw her and crossed over.
The image of the love letter flashed through Lin Sifei’s mind. Feeling a little hot all over, she quickened her pace.
Luo Ke broke into a light jog to catch up.
“Out for a walk?”
“Mhm.” Lin Sifei kept her eyes fixed straight ahead.
Luo Ke tilted her head to look at her. “Can I walk with you?”
“It’s not like I own the road. Walk if you want to.”
Luo Ke smiled and fell into step beside her. “Did you see my letter?”
“Mhm.” Lin Sifei could feel her face getting hotter and hotter.
“Can I expect a reply? I heard you reply to your fans.”
“Not every fan gets a reply.” Lin Sifei shot her a look. “I told you, you don’t get special privileges.”
“Alright.” Luo Ke lowered her head and looked at their two shadows on the ground. She raised her hand, letting her shadow touch Lin Sifei’s.
Lin Sifei dodged to the side. “Are you a grade-schooler? Still playing with shadows.”
“Then don’t dodge,” Luo Ke said, reaching out to touch her shadow again.
Lin Sifei jumped back. “Stay away from me, or I’m calling security.”
“You’re making it sound like I’m doing something to you.” Luo Ke bit her lip, putting on an innocent expression.
She was using the most innocent expression to imply the most wicked things—Lin Sifei just wanted to punch her.
“Don’t change the subject. How did you get in here? Isn’t the security supposed to be good?”
“I moved in.” Luo Ke pointed to a nearby building. “I live in the building across from yours.”
Lin Sifei ran a hand through her hair. “You really are a sasaeng fan.”
“No, the house was secured a long time ago. I didn’t expect you to live in this residential complex too.”
Lin Sifei actually believed that. This complex was indeed the closest to the city center with the best security, so many corporate presidents and celebrities chose to live here.
Like the popular young actor they just happened to run into.
Lin Sifei didn’t say anything else and just kept walking forward.
“You don’t hate me, do you?” Luo Ke asked uncertainly.
Lin Sifei turned to glare at her, speaking fiercely. “I’m an adult. If I hated you, do you think I’d just come out and say it? What a stupid question.”
Luo Ke raised an eyebrow. “So you don’t hate me.”
“I didn’t say I don’t hate you!”
“But you didn’t say you do hate me, did you?” Luo Ke looked at the fuming girl, whose fur was completely bristled, and couldn’t help but raise a fist to her mouth to hide her smile.
Seeing her trying so hard to hide it, which only made it more obvious,3 Lin Sifei’s fur bristled even more. “You think I can’t tell you’re smiling just because you’re covering your mouth?!”
“You’re an adult. Even if you see it, you should pretend you didn’t,” Luo Ke said, her smile growing wider.
Lin Sifei’s face flushed red. She stomped her foot hard. “Now I hate you! I really, really hate you!”
With that, she strode forward, leaving Luo Ke far behind.
Luo Ke jogged to catch up. “Are you a grade-schooler?”
Lin Sifei took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and resisted the urge to beat her up.
“Stay away from me, grade-schooler.”
“Aren’t you angry? Don’t you want to let off some steam?”
Lin Sifei snorted coldly. “I know exactly what you’re thinking. It’s that grade-schooler playbook,4 right? ‘If you like a girl, you bully her.’ I’m not falling for it. I’m not angry at all.”
Luo Ke’s brow twitched. “You’re overthinking it. But you’ve finally admitted that I like you.”
She broke into a smile.
Lin Sifei hadn’t expected to fall into a trap after all. She punched her in a fit of anger. “Go away!”
It was just a light tap, but Luo Ke’s ankle twisted, and she fell right to the ground.
Luo Ke sucked in a sharp breath.
Lin Sifei clapped a hand over her mouth and quickly crouched down. “Are you okay?”
She tried to check Luo Ke’s foot, but Luo Ke was covering it with her hands.
“I’ll call an ambulance!”
Luo Ke grabbed her hand as she reached for her phone. “It’s fine. It just hurts a little.”
She pushed herself up, leaning on Lin Sifei to stand.
Lin Sifei supported her carefully, looking at her foot with concern. “Are you really okay?”
“I’m fine.” Luo Ke leaned against her pitifully. “I wanted to ask you to dinner before, but you kept refusing. Are you very busy?”
“Not busy, I’m on a break right now,” Lin Sifei blurted out, her attention focused on the injury.
A moment later, she realized what she’d said and looked at Luo Ke in astonishment.
Luo Ke blinked innocently.
Lin Sifei had already seen through that expression. “Luo Ke! You’ve gone too far, using this kind of trick on me! Are you trying to exploit my guilt?”
“No, I…”
Before Luo Ke could explain, Lin Sifei had already flung her hand away and started walking back.
Luo Ke tried to chase after her, but her ankle was a little sore, and she couldn’t keep up at all.
She sighed helplessly. “What a terrible move. She saw right through it.”
She called her father, who was very confused. “You have to be more realistic.”
“It was very realistic. My ankle still hurts,” Luo Ke sighed. And I made Feifei angry. Though she’s cute even when she’s angry.
Her father was still baffled. “Maybe she’s just too smart.”
Luo Ke thought of Lin Sifei. True, Feifei was very smart. Her teachers praised her all the time back in school.
Luo Ke, a veteran fan, was well aware of all of Feifei’s good qualities.
“If she’s that smart, then we’ll have to go with a gentle approach. No more little tricks for now.”
Luo Ke could only nod and go back to flipping through the notebook.
Back home, the more Lin Sifei thought about it, the angrier she got. She found her assistant, Xiao Pan, to vent.
【Feifei: I can’t believe people are still using such old-fashioned tricks these days.】
【Xiao Pan: I know, right? It feels like something my dad’s generation would use.】
【Feifei: That’s what I thought too.】
The author has something to say:
President Luo in the IF Route is a bit more lively because her parents are around.
It’s been confirmed that Feifei is smart.
Footnotes
- Original: lā pítiao (拉皮条), literally ‘to pull a leather strap,’ a slang term for acting as a pimp or procurer. The manager worries the dinner invitations are a pretext for setting Lin Sifei up with a powerful sponsor.
- Original: yán gǒu (颜狗), literally ‘face dog.’ This is internet slang for a person who judges people or things primarily by their appearance.
- This refers to the idiom yùgàimízhāng (欲盖弥彰), which means that the more one tries to conceal something, the more conspicuous it becomes.
- Original: tàolù (套路), a popular slang term for a scheme, trick, or a set of clever maneuvers used to achieve a goal, often in dating or social situations. It is frequently translated as ‘playbook,’ ‘routine,’ or ‘trick.’
0 Comments