After Marrying My Arch-Rival - Chapter 6

When Xu Mengzhou told Ruan Li she could drop by, she hadn’t actually prepared herself for it.

Han Shutong had recommended a handful of movies and TV shows…all works Xu Mengzhou used to adore over the past few years. Back then, every time she finished one, she would gush about how she wished she could wipe her memory just to experience it for the first time again.

Well, now was the perfect opportunity.

The movie truly was fantastic. Xu Mengzhou was so absorbed that her dinner ended up taking over an hour to finish.

Yet, long after the screen faded to black and the final line of credits rolled past, she remained motionless.

Her reflection stared back at her from the darkened glass.

Her golden hair was no longer soft and vibrant, and a drab, boring blue-and-white hospital gown draped over her visibly emaciated frame.

So hideous!

Would Ruan Li actually come tomorrow?

Probably, right?

But these days, all she ever wore were hospital gowns…nothing remotely close to looking sleek or radiant. Was she really fit to see anyone like this?

Xu Mengzhou genuinely loved dressing up.

It wasn’t that she craved turning heads on the street, being secretly photographed, or soaking in the thrill of the spotlight. She simply enjoyed the novel feeling that different fashion styles brought her; she loved trying new things.

There was a phase where she fell head over heels for the Gothic aesthetic…decked out in black and red from head to toe, complete with pitch-black eyeshadow and dark lipstick. Her mother, Ms. Xu, had absolutely despised it, instinctively covering her eyes whenever she saw her.

Beyond that, she had tried Central European, Greek, traditional Chinese, New Chinese style, and even Lolita…though definitely not the sugary-sweet kind.

Whatever else you could say about someone capable of being a film director, her eye for aesthetics was undeniably top-tier.

Yet, Xu Mengzhou was equally accustomed to being willful. Sometimes she’d wander out the door draped in a bathrobe with her hair unbrushed, flip-flops clacking with every step, completely unbothered by the glances of passersby.

During her days in the hospital, lounging around in a hospital gown with a bare face hadn’t felt wrong in the slightest.

But now, the mere thought of meeting Ruan Li…a woman who used to be a distant acquaintance, was currently her legal wife, and whom her “future” self apparently adored…made her grit her teeth, her eyes flickering with hesitation.

Maybe… I should have someone bring over a few outfits?

Her fingertip hovered over her contact list, but just as she was about to place the call, she paused.

If she went out of her way to put on a whole new ensemble, wouldn’t that make her look way too eager?

Setting aside the phone…which had a nick chipped off one corner…Xu Mengzhou pulled her tablet back into her lap and clicked on the next movie.

She stared at the screen without so much as blinking, every strand of hair practically radiating defiance.

Pleasing someone was far too humiliating; there was no way she’d degrade herself like that.

Holding onto that stubborn streak, she turned in for the night. Before drifting off, she rehearsed countless lines to use on Ruan Li…including those sickeningly sweet uses of “Zhouzhou” that made her scalp tingle just thinking about them. That had to stop, effective immediately.

The moment she woke up the next morning, she checked her phone. Sure enough, Ruan Li had messaged saying she was setting off.

Except she was setting off on a business trip to a neighboring city.

Xu Mengzhou glared expressionlessly at her screen. If looks could kill, the phone would have been pulverized into atomized dust.

So, after all that tossing and turning and overthinking, she had been working herself up over absolutely nothing!

Didn’t this make her look even more ridiculous?!

If someone were to prick her with a needle right now, she wouldn’t bleed…she’d burst with sheer, concentrated rage.

Thirty percent of that rage came from being stood up, while seventy percent was pure, embarrassed indignation.

Thinking about it more carefully, Ruan Li hadn’t even explicitly said she was coming over. It was all her own one-sided assumption, a product of her overactive imagination.

Now she was even angrier!

This cloud of frustration hung over her all the way until her discharge. The person who had promised to take her home still hadn’t returned from her trip, seemingly tossing her commitment to the back of her mind. In the end, it was her mother who took time out of her schedule to give her a ride back.

The entire way, Xu Mengzhou kept a scowl so foul on her face that you’d think someone owed her tens of millions.

Ms. Xu had no desire to draw fire upon herself. The second she dropped her off, she turned on her heel and left. Loving her daughter was one thing, but listening to her vent at the top of her lungs was quite another.

She was louder than a pack of ten Beagles.

Her new home was a standard luxury flat with a lake view.

Leaning on her crutch, Xu Mengzhou made her way over to the balcony step by painful step, gazing out through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The clear blue lake reflected the sunlight, shimmering like vanilla cream poured over a cake…soft and pure white. The green willows along the shore looked like decorative kiwi slices, while a few round, vibrant flower clusters served as sweet strawberry dabs.

Swallows brushed past the sky with their scissor-like tails, slicing the sheep-shaped clouds clean in half.

The scenery was breathtaking, and the floor-to-ceiling windows were precisely her preferred style.

Turning around, she took in the living room, which was styled in a crisp Mediterranean aesthetic. It used generous amounts of white, blue, and yellow, complemented by plenty of potted greenery…bright, natural, and so refreshing you could practically smell the sunshine and ocean waves.

Xu Mengzhou’s critical gaze gradually softened. Though her lips remained pressed into a tight line to refrain from uttering a single compliment, she had to admit in her heart: this house hit every single one of her sweet spots.

The new home was nice enough to melt away a bit of her irritation.

The second item on Xu Mengzhou’s agenda after arriving home was barging straight into the walk-in closet to admire her collection.

Her favorite styles were arranged right at the front…vintage fashion. Row after row of shirts and jackets in shades of reddish-brown, forest green, navy, and bright yellow hung neatly, flanked by various dark, wide-leg trousers and jeans.

Stepping around to the accessories section, she found leather belts, waist chains, silk scarves, fedoras, berets, sunglasses, and headbands… a dazzling kaleidoscope of colors, glowing under the light like the unfurling feathers of a peacock.

The more Xu Mengzhou looked, the more satisfied she felt. As expected of her own taste…every single piece aligned perfectly with her aesthetic.

How on earth did her taste in people end up so… well, best not to bring that up.

The moment Ruan Li crossed her mind, she couldn’t resist the urge to curl her lip.

And they called this a honeymoon phase? Ruan Li hadn’t bothered to reach out to her at all these past few days. Could it be that her past self was just an absolute simp, and Ruan Li had simply given up trying to resist after getting worn down?

The more she pondered, the more annoyed she grew. Xu Mengzhou slammed the belt in her hand back onto the rack with a sharp snap and stomped back to her bedroom.

Whatever. She had a career to focus on anyway.

It was better if Ruan Li didn’t come looking for her…saved her the trouble of racking her brain for ways to reply to messages.

Early the next morning, the car sent to pick her up was already waiting downstairs.

This was only the second time Xu Mengzhou had met face-to-face with her assistant, Xiao Yang, since the accident. Usually, Xiao Yang stayed with the film crew, and the two communicated via video calls.

Hexin City boasted the largest film production base in the entire country, which was precisely where her crew was stationed.

These days, audiences preferred high-budget sci-fi blockbusters packed with heavy visual effects…essentially a mashup of humans courting disaster through leaked experiments and planetary explosions caused by natural disasters.

The special effects were getting grander, yet box office numbers dropped year after year.

The market was saturated; audiences wanted something fresh. Coincidentally, Xu Mengzhou had no interest in chasing trends…she had a lifelong dream of directing a wuxia epic.

In an era where action stars were fading out, newcomers who were willing to endure tough physical training became her primary choice. At the same time, she spent a fortune inviting veteran actors out of retirement.

Xu Mengzhou held high hopes for this drama, pouring an incredible amount of heart and soul into it. She had even leveraged her mother’s connections to commission an industry master to compose the theme song.

She was aiming straight for awards.

Who could have predicted a string of misfortunes would hit her one after another?

Now, she was back to being an eighteen-year-old amateur who had never touched a camera in her life.

When she arrived at the set, she didn’t announce her presence to anyone. She simply stood at the entrance, leaning on her crutch as she surveyed the scene inside.

A crew member spotted her and was just about to greet her when Xu Mengzhou raised a hand, placing her index finger against her lips.

The crew member clamped her mouth shut instantly. A moment later, she leaned in quietly. “Director Xu, should I grab a chair for you to sit on?”

Xu Mengzhou thought about it for a second and declined. She just didn’t want to disrupt the take currently being filmed; she certainly didn’t plan on sitting by the doorway forever.

The crew member offered an obsequious smile and stepped back, standing straight as a board with her hands clasped in front of her, looking as dutiful as could be. Her eyes, however, kept sneaking glances.

When the female lead, Ms. Tan, had her accident and fell from the wire rig, it had given the entire crew a massive fright. Thankfully, it wasn’t a high drop…just a sprain that wouldn’t delay shooting by much.

It was the news of Director Xu’s accident that had truly left everyone jaw-dropped and in a frenzy.

Yet here she was, barely half a month later, reappearing on set with hardly any noticeable changes aside from needing a crutch.

If you didn’t know better, you’d think she hadn’t survived a car crash, but had just returned from a vacation.

She looked bursting with energy and radiant…perhaps even a bit sharp and formidable, exuding an aura even stronger than before.

The crew member quietly lowered her head, playing dumb.

Though Director Xu had a short temper, she never played dirty or held petty grudges. Her outbursts were always justified, and when the work was done well, the bonuses were generous and the pay was top-tier.

Word was she was a wealthy second-generation heir whose family was loaded; whenever she treated the crew to meals, it was always at upscale hotels.

That was infinitely better than directors who pulled shady, unwritten-rule antics behind closed doors.

She had only managed to land this gig through personal connections in the first place.

As the crew member watched the scene unfolding, her mind began to wander. One moment she was wondering what brand Director Xu’s shoes were and how much they cost; the next, she was thinking that the crutch looked pretty expensive too. Just as her thoughts drifted to what was on the menu for today’s boxed lunches, the assistant director let out a sudden, boisterous shout:

“Cut!”

It was so sudden that she jolted violently. Looking up, she saw Director Xu’s eyes narrowing beside her.

Uh-oh. We’re in trouble.

“That roll was way too slow…it lacked fluidity…”

The assistant director was a slightly plump, middle-aged woman who looked mild-mannered and spoke at a leisurely pace. She didn’t yell; she simply sighed and offered a look of gentle disappointment…though whether that hurt a young actor’s feelings more or less than a harsh scolding was anyone’s guess.

“Double the basic training reps.”

The moment that familiar, cool, ringing voice sounded, every head on set snapped around.

Standing near the entrance was a woman clad in deep brown wide-leg pants paired with a solid black camisole. The angled sunlight hit her navy-blue shirt, reflecting countless shimmering threads of gold…yet even that couldn’t match the brilliance of the golden hair cascading over her shoulders.

The priceless emerald earrings hanging from her lobes served merely as a subtle accent to the shallow amber of her eyes.

Even as she approached on a crutch, no one felt a trace of pity or sympathy. If anything, they worried about how loud that crutch would sound slamming into the ground…or how much it would hurt if it struck someone.

Every single person on set halted what they were doing, their eyes fixed on her, only to lower their heads the moment her gaze swept past.

Xu Mengzhou kept her face stoic, though the corners of her lips twitched upward into an almost imperceptible curve.

Is being a director really this fun?

It felt like being some kind of mob boss…everyone hanging onto her every word.

So satisfying!

Before she could even take another step forward, people snapped into action. One brought over a chair, while others scrambled for water and portable fans.

By the time she reached the director’s table, there was even a fruit platter laid out for her.

Suppressing her inner glee with an effort, Xu Mengzhou sat down with effortless grace. She looked toward the lead actors, feeling that this position offered the ultimate vantage point…a complete overview of the entire set. Even the chair was remarkably comfortable, with just the right balance of softness and support.

Just as she opened her mouth to drop a few more instructions, her phone suddenly chimed.

A message popped up from the profile with the red fox avatar:

[I’m coming back tonight. Dinner at Tingzhu Pavilion?]

How can someone be so utterly shameless?

What kind of invitation was this supposed to be?!

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