After Rebirth, I Became My Ex's "White Moonlight" - Chapter 21

“Yes! And it’s a drama I’m filming with you!”

“Really?” Cheng Siyu feigned surprise, then replied, “That’s a good thing.”

“Right? I heard there’s a lot of delicious food over in S City; this time it’s basically a vacation on the company’s dime.”

Hearing Ji Yun’s laughter on the other end of the phone, Cheng Siyu’s heart felt as if it had been sliced by a sharp blade. Even though she had simply returned to ten years ago, this version of Ji Yun gave her a feeling that was simultaneously familiar and yet utterly strange.

“Mm,” Cheng Siyu replied softly.

Due to a series of matters like investment solicitation, they had only signed contracts with the actors, and a start date for filming had not yet been decided. During this interval, a minor interlude occurred.

The cause was that after it was settled that True or False was about to start filming, it sparked dissatisfaction among some people online. This was because True or False was adapted from a novel, and the original work was an out-and-out “Girls’ Love” (GL) novel, telling the story of two female leads falling in love.

However, the television drama had added a male lead and changed it into a standard romance drama. This triggered a strong protest from the fans of the original book.

Seeing the series of comments from netizens, Cheng Siyu didn’t feel dissatisfied herself; she just hadn’t expected that Ji Wanli would choose such a sensitive subject for his precious daughter to act in.

After some thought, Cheng Siyu decided to download the reading app where the True or False novel was hosted to check out the original content.

She personally felt that the original work and the drama adaptation could not be entirely separated. Even after being adapted, certain characteristics would surely be preserved; a screenwriter wouldn’t be so arrogant as to invent a persona entirely out of thin air.

However, when she opened the book, she discovered that the content was not as simple as she had imagined. In the book, Lan Yulin was from the very beginning a woman unwilling to accept her true identity. She did not want her family to accept Duan Xiaohe. To this end, she deliberately flirted with Duan Xiaohe, her purpose being to let her family discover that Duan Xiaohe’s sexual orientation was “abnormal.”

Duan Xiaohe, who had never experienced kindness or sincerity from anyone at first, quickly fell for her. Afterward, Lan Yulin laid out all the evidence of Duan Xiaohe responding to her before the family. The conservative Lan family, as expected, could not accept it and kicked Duan Xiaohe out as if she were a pervert.

Seeing this point, Cheng Siyu paused and stopped reading. At that moment, she opened Weibo again and found that the negative comments had been drowned out by the cheers and anticipation of some paid internet “water soldiers.”

Soon, the time came to head to S City. Cheng Siyu also had a general understanding of who the actors she would be working with were. The male lead, Yi Yuanze, was played by Su Mingshu, who had become a massive hit previously after filming a sweet web drama. Aside from Cheng Siyu and Ji Yun, the other major female role was played by Si Fei, an actress who had previously retired after marriage and was now making a comeback. She played Lan Yulin’s younger sister, Lan Zixuan.

Cheng Siyu didn’t get along well with her because, during an interview featuring several of the leads before filming began, Si Fei had intentionally taken the center position, pushing Cheng Siyu to a corner seat, her words full of mockery.

Later, Cheng Siyu learned from Zhao Xixi that the original casting choice for Duan Xiaohe was actually Si Fei. However, after the director and screenwriter met her in person, they felt her presence exuded an air of meanness, so they swapped her role.

But Si Fei had a preconceived notion that Cheng Siyu had relied on having “backing” to squeeze her out, so she maintained an attitude of looking down on her.

“Just ignore that kind of person. If she deliberately bullies you, remember to find a place with surveillance cameras. That way, if something happens, we’ll be in the right.”

As Zhao Xixi spoke, she leaned closer to Cheng Siyu’s ear and whispered, “I heard her married life is quite unhappy. Her husband is over twenty years older than her and is constantly involved in ‘hidden rules’ casting couch scandals, and he has a daughter just a few years younger than her who is always moving against her.”

Cheng Siyu nodded while flipping through the script. She wasn’t very interested in this gossip; she only wanted to do the work at hand well.

After a busy day, Cheng Siyu’s group finally arrived at the hotel by car. Because she had intentionally bought a flight ticket one day earlier than Ji Yun, she finally gained a moment of respite.

The hotel this time was a very well-known local luxury hotel. It was already seven in the evening when they arrived. Cheng Siyu had just ordered takeout with Zhao Xixi when, in the next second, Ji Yun’s phone call came through.

“Have you arrived? How is the hotel? Let me tell you, when I was in class today, I ran into Sister Mo Xu. She said after you left, she felt like her wife had run off with someone else.”

“Pfft.” Cheng Siyu reminisced for a moment; those words sounded like something that would come out of Shen Mo Xu’s mouth.

“Guess how I answered her?” Ji Yun played coy again, but without waiting for Cheng Siyu to reply, she said, “I told her I’m different from her—my wife actually ran off with someone else.”

“Cough.” Cheng Siyu choked slightly, and just at that moment, the doorbell rang.

Cheng Siyu put down the phone. Upon opening the door, she saw Zhao Xixi coming over carrying bags of takeout.

“The water heater in my room is broken. The maintenance staff is fixing it now, so I have to come here to eat. You don’t mind, do you?”

“I don’t mind.” Cheng Siyu secured the door against the magnetic stopper on the wall, then walked back into the room, picked up the phone, and said, “Time to eat, I’ll stop talking now,” before hanging up.

At this time, Zhao Xixi walked in with the takeout and teased, “Boyfriend?”

“Mm.” Cheng Siyu did not refute it.

“It’s so nice to have a significant other. I want to experience that feeling too,” Zhao Xixi sighed as she looked at Cheng Siyu, then proceeded to open the takeout packaging.

“You should find one too,” Cheng Siyu replied, then picked up her lunch box and began to eat in small bites.

“Forget it, it’s too much trouble.”

At the dining table, Zhao Xixi seemed to suddenly remember something and began to chat animatedly again. “Siyu, do you know the identity of that Ji Yun who acted with you last time?”

“Hmm?” Cheng Siyu swallowed a mouthful of rice. How could she not know? But she still put on a facade of being ignorant and clueless.

“She’s the daughter of our big boss, President Ji. You have to be careful not to offend her; President Ji is very protective,” Zhao Xixi said with a mysterious look. “But according to the grapevine, the relationship between the two of them isn’t very good. I don’t know why, but she doesn’t even know that President Ji is the one funding this drama.”

“Is that so?” Cheng Siyu once again feigned shock and sighed, “Then I’ll be more careful during filming.”

“Yeah, let me tell you, it’s best not to get involved with people from those high circles if you can help it. Be careful of getting sucked in, having your feelings toyed with, and ending up being eaten alive until not even your bones are left.”

As someone who had been toyed with and had lost her life in the end, Cheng Siyu’s chopsticks paused mid-air. She nodded. Yes, such a plain and simple truth—yet her past self-had naively thought she would be the exception and had dived in headfirst.

At this moment, she suddenly thought: fortunately, in her previous life, she had already fallen out with everyone for Ji Yun’s sake before she left. No one should have been sad after she was gone, right? Was that considered a blessing or a misfortune?