After Rebirth, I Became My Ex's "White Moonlight" - Chapter 5

“Hey, Ji Yun, you’re here for the audition too?” Shen Moxu naturally joined the conversation between the two.

Hearing Shen Moxu’s voice, Cheng Siyu instinctively huddled closer to her side.

“Yes, I’m here to audition for Ye Xingyue. What about you guys?” Ji Yun replied, but her curious gaze lingered on Cheng Siyu, staring until she felt somewhat uncomfortable.

“I’m trying out for Jiang Ming, and Siyu is trying out for Chi Xia,” Shen Moxu answered casually.

“Number six!” A staff member emerged from the auditorium, calling out the number.

“Here!” Shen Moxu responded. She patted Cheng Siyu’s shoulder, looking as though she were about to head onto a battlefield, and then walked over.

At that moment, having lost her shield, Cheng Siyu felt as though she had nowhere to hide.

“Senior, do you hate me?” Ji Yun stared at Cheng Siyu, speaking with a somewhat innocent tone.

Looking at the expression in her eyes, Cheng Siyu couldn’t help but recall how she had looked in her previous life. Nevertheless, she said, “No, of course not.”

As she spoke, she turned her face to the side, trying her best to pull back the tears that were about to spill over, and then explained:

“I have a bit of social anxiety.”

“It’s okay, we’ll get to know each other slowly.” Ji Yun seemingly believed her excuse and didn’t ask further.

“Mhm.”

“Actually, I think you look a bit familiar, Senior. You look like a friend of mine,” Ji Yun remarked naturally, sizing Cheng Siyu up.

Cheng Siyu turned back to look at her. She knew, of course. In their past life, Ji Yun had told her after they had been intimated that Cheng Siyu bore a resemblance to her older cousin.

At the time, she had even joked that if Cheng Siyu hadn’t looked like her, their relationship probably wouldn’t have reached that stage.

In this moment, Cheng Siyu suddenly understood something, and a tear finally rolled down her cheek. Fortunately, Ji Yun had already been called away by several junior students from the same year, so she didn’t witness Cheng Siyu’s moment of distress.

Not long after Shen Moxu went in, the staff called Cheng Siyu’s number.

“Cheng Siyu, right?”

“Yes.”

“Auditioning for Chi Xia?”

“Mhm.”

“Begin.”

The audition scene was the moment where Chi Xia is misunderstood by Chi Li and chases after him into the rain.

Cheng Siyu performed with great immersion. Perhaps because of the obsessions from her youth, when the performance ended, the judges and the director couldn’t help but applaud her.

This entire scene fell into the eyes of Ji Yun, who was leaning against the doorway. She looked at Cheng Siyu, feeling as though something were beginning to stir.

Finally, the cast was decided. Ji Yun and Shen Moxu were selected just as they had been in the previous life. Cheng Siyu also got her wish to play Chi Xia, and the “Department Heartthrob” Shen Moxu had mentioned earlier, Shan Xiyuan, was successfully cast as the male lead.

Knowing the result made Cheng Siyu’s heart flutter with a bit of excitement, but she was soon followed by a wave of worry. Joining the cast meant she would once again be entangled with Ji Yun.

However, she couldn’t hide forever.

“Hey, why do you look so unhappy after being selected?”

While Cheng Siyu was lost in thought, Shen Moxu nudged her. “People are upset when they fail, so why are you upset when you’re chosen?”

“Well, you know… sometimes extreme joy turns to sorrow,” Cheng Siyu began to change the subject.

“Huh? Where’s the sorrow?”

In the days that followed, Cheng Siyu acted like a concubine in ancient times who had caught a cold; she refused all social gatherings. Aside from attending classes and eating, she spent all her time in the dormitory studying the script. This continued until the day filming began.

She hadn’t been idle during this time, though. She listened to Shen Moxu, the school’s little reporter, tell her all sorts of gossip.

For example, Shan Xiyuan was a “player” who had several girls on the hook at once. Several of the actresses in the crew were his ex-girlfriends, and he was currently pursuing Ji Yun.

Also, Shen Moxu had received more confessions, but she had rejected them all. Cheng Siyu was used to this; Shen Moxu had a “mature sister” look that gave people a great sense of security, so she was often confessed to by younger male students. In reality, though, she liked people more mature than herself.

The difference this time was that she heard Xiyue Entertainment had invested in this movie. To ensure she could meet Qin Xiangqing after becoming famous, she decided to remain “pure.”

“Fine. Luckily, I don’t have an idol. If someone confessed to me, I’d probably just give in,” Cheng Siyu lamented while listening to Shen Moxu’s chatter over the phone.

Whether it was because she looked too well-behaved or—as Shen Moxu put it—she looked like someone who clearly already “belonged” to someone, very few people pursued her.

In her previous life, Ji Yun had only actively approached her after trying several times to confirm that she really didn’t have a partner.

“You spend all day cooped up in the dorm. Are you planning to let a partner just grow out of the ground?”

“Mhm… if possible.”

The next day, to avoid affecting the students’ classes, most of the scenes were filmed in a theater very close to the school.

Because she didn’t want to meet or talk to Ji Yun, Cheng Siyu arrived at the theater at the last possible second.

However, she didn’t expect the first scene to be a direct interaction between her and Ji Yun. After contemplating in front of the dressing room mirror for three seconds, Cheng Siyu decided not to bring her personal emotions into the acting.

The first scene to be filmed was when Chi Xia, after learning that Ye Xingyue and Chi Li are together, goes to Ye Xingyue’s workplace to give her a sum of money to pass on to Chi Li. Ye Xingyue, unaware of the conflict between the two, candidly agrees.

“3, 2, 1, Action.”

“Excuse me, is there someone named Ye Xingyue in your shop?” Chi Xia, rarely wearing long sleeves and long pants in the middle of summer, arrived at the shop.

“Xingyue, someone is looking for you,” the person at the coffee shop front desk called out toward the back kitchen.

Following that, Ye Xingyue walked out from the kitchen. After sizing Chi Xia up for a moment, she asked, “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Do you know Xiao Li? I mean, Chi Li,” Chi Xia spoke somewhat cautiously.

“I do.”

“I’m his sister. Could you help me give this to him?” Chi Xia looked at Ye Xingyue earnestly, her posture suggesting that if Ye Xingyue refused, she might drop to her knees the very next second.

“Okay…” Ye Xingyue’s eyes showed some hesitation, but after weighing it over, she agreed.

“Thank you, thank you so much. Please tell Xiao Li I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to keep it from him.”

Chi Xia handed the money, wrapped in a black plastic bag, to Ye Xingyue and then walked away quickly.

“Cut.”

The director’s voice rang out, and Cheng Siyu breathed a sigh of relief. She always instinctively wanted to dodge whenever her eyes met Ji Yun’s.

“Sister Siyu, are you okay?”

Seeing the tissue Ji Yun handed over, Cheng Siyu realized that a tear had unknowingly fallen from the corner of her eye.

“I’m fine. I just got a bit too into the character,” Cheng Siyu said, taking the tissue and turning her gaze away.

Not long after that scene was finished, Shan Xiyuan arrived. He was there to film his first meeting with Ye Xingyue.

As soon as Shan Xiyuan entered, he went straight to Ji Yun, and the two began to chat. Cheng Siyu took the opportunity to find a seat far away from Ji Yun.

Shortly after she sat down, the screenwriter came over and sat beside her.

“Miss Cheng, I wanted to ask if you have any interest in filming a perfume advertisement?”

Hearing the screenwriter’s words, Cheng Siyu froze for a moment and blurted out, “Is it for Xiyu?”

Xiyu was a high-end luxury brand that had recently exploded in popularity. Its defining characteristic was that it didn’t focus on hiring trending celebrities for endorsements; instead, it sought out high-visual “commoners” for its promotions. Without exception, every person chosen went on to become incredibly famous.

Cheng Siyu knew about this brand only because in her previous life, Ji Yun had endorsed this ad, which, combined with the movie’s success, made her an overnight sensation.

“Yes, have you heard of it?”

“I’ve heard of it before. Of course, I’m interested.” Cheng Siyu made some small talk and then continued chatting with the screenwriter.

During the conversation, Cheng Siyu learned that the screenwriter’s name was Zhao Xixi. Besides being the writer for The Cold Summer of the Pool Moon, she was also an investor in Xiyu and had the authority to select candidates for the selection process.

“Great! It’s a deal then! Leave me your email, and I’ll send you the form later.”

“Okay.”

After they exchanged contact information, Zhao Xixi headed back to the director’s group.

“Chi Li! Chi Li, don’t look at Ye Xingyue so intensely! At this point, he doesn’t have feelings for her yet!”

The director’s voice boomed. Cheng Siyu looked in the direction the director was pointing and saw Shan Xiyuan’s displeased expression after being scolded, and the flustered Ji Yun standing beside him.

She remembered that in her previous life, the director had lost his temper once right after she arrived; it seemed now that it was because of Shan Xiyuan.

“Stop filming for a moment. Shan Xiyuan, come over here so I can talk to you. Everyone else, take a break.”

Once the director finished speaking, Ji Yun walked toward the restroom. At that time, to lighten the mood, Zhao Xixi offered to buy milk tea for everyone.

“I don’t come here often. Do you guys know any good milk tea shops nearby?”

Someone called out the name of the shop by the school gate and provided a menu for everyone to order one by one.

After everyone had placed their orders and Zhao Xixi was about to make the call, Cheng Siyu glanced around. After some hesitation, she finally spoke up, “Ji Yun hasn’t come out yet. Should we wait for her?”

“You order for her.” Zhao Xixi paused for a second and handed the menu directly to Cheng Siyu.

Cheng Siyu took the menu, feeling a bit dazed. Relying on the memories of her past life, she put a checkmark next to the drink Ji Yun usually ordered.

About half an hour later, the milk tea arrived. Coincidentally, Ji Yun emerged from the restroom at that exact moment. She bypassed the milk tea on the side and sat down directly to one side.

Cheng Siyu noticed that the corners of her eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying. The scales in Cheng Siyu’s heart wavered, and she finally couldn’t help but pick up Ji Yun’s cup and hand it to her.

“Don’t cry. We still have to keep filming later.”

Consider it repayment for the kindness of the milk tea she gave me in the last life, Cheng Siyu thought, then added, “Drink something sweet; it’ll make you feel better.”

“Thank you.”

Being suddenly caught behind her mask made Ji Yun appear somewhat flustered, but she hurriedly took the milk tea. Seeing her like this, Cheng Siyu couldn’t help but think of the Ji Yun from her previous life.

On that night, Ji Yun had also been flustered, looking like a little cat that had been abandoned.

Except, that was all in the past.

Having delivered the milk tea, Cheng Siyu took her own cup and sat back in her seat. Meanwhile, Ji Yun stared at the milk tea, falling into a brief silence.

“Alright, we’re holding off on the male lead’s scenes for now. Chi Xia and Ye Xingyue, you have one more scene. Let’s film yours first.”