After the Divorce, the Whole World is Waiting for Us to Get Back Together - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Perhaps it was truly a case of “fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”

Facing Meng Zhijin in the mirror, Cheng Xi didn’t feel the slightest bit of the nervousness one might expect when acting opposite a Best Actress.

“Yes,” Cheng Xi replied.

Having studied ballet since childhood, she didn’t resist someone helping her find her center. Instead, she used the slight pressure Meng Zhijin applied to her waist as leverage to rise onto her toes. Her slender arms extended like the unfurling wings of a swan, fluttering slightly with the minute adjustments of her toes—clean, precise, and beautiful.

In front of the monitor, Wang Youbo was dazed. Over the past few days, he had seen too many girls who claimed to have “studied ballet.” Most were mediocre, but Cheng Xi’s movements were stunning, possessing a perfection that rivaled professional ballerinas.

Despite this, Meng Zhijin followed the script, placing her hand on Cheng Xi’s arm to guide her: “Keep your arm a bit straighter. Observe your movements carefully in the mirror.”

Cheng Xi nodded. Following the touch of Meng Zhijin’s hand, she raised her arm slightly. The “fox-like” charm in her eyes vanished, replaced by the innocent, timid gaze belonging to Ye.

This display of obedience caused a flicker of hesitation in the heart of “Yue.”

Meng Zhijin, of course, remembered Cheng Xi’s original expression—the way she had leaned back in her chair and looked up at others with arrogant, aggressive disdain. This sharp contrast surprised Meng Zhijin, and her gaze shifted imperceptibly.

At that moment, the lights in the room followed Wang Youbo’s command and suddenly dimmed. To adapt to the environment, Wang had placed cameras at multiple angles. Those curved lenses acted like mirrors, reflecting Yue’s crumbling inner world, each one capturing a different angle of Ye’s face.

In the dim light, Wang Youbo watched the shifting expressions of both women on his monitor.

Cheng Xi, her arm still held by Meng Zhijin, maintained her pose. She slowly turned her dark head toward the woman behind her.

“Teacher, why do you always make that face? Are you showing sadness for me?”

Cheng Xi’s delivery was clear, laced with ambiguity and seduction. Her sickly eyes held a hint of a smile—an excellent opening. Both Wang Youbo and the assistant director nodded; it was rare to find someone who could actually hold their own against Meng Zhijin.

But Meng Zhijin herself didn’t feel the same. While Yue’s eyes were supposed to show terror and confusion, Meng Zhijin’s eyes held a trace of disappointment. She still didn’t see what she wanted: Ye’s desire for Yue.

Did I misjudge her after all?

In the split second Meng Zhijin’s mind wandered, she felt her hand go empty. The girl in front of her moved with light, agile steps, circling behind her on the tips of her toes.

Cheng Xi couldn’t read the eyes of a woman she had only met once, so she simply locked eyes with Meng Zhijin in the mirror. She hadn’t been given the full script and didn’t know Yue, but she had read enough news about Meng Zhijin and had just experienced that “familiar yet strange” gap in her own perception of her.

Because she didn’t understand her enough, she wanted to seduce her as much as possible. She wanted to seduce her into agreeing, into granting her recognition.

Wrapping her longing in a sugar coating of desire, Cheng Xi circled behind Meng Zhijin, reversing their positions in the mirror. She closed the distance between them abruptly. The stiff tulle of her skirt was crushed by the proximity. Her dark hair fell forward, and her cheek brushed against Meng Zhijin’s.

Looking at Meng Zhijin through the glass, the seduction in Cheng Xi’s eyes was no longer the thin, superficial act she had performed outside.

If the goal of the split personality, Ye, was to possess Yue… then Cheng Xi’s goal was to possess Meng Zhijin’s validation. She craved this opportunity more than anyone.

Her fingers—deliberately scrubbed clean of nail polish, leaving faint traces behind—wandered over Meng Zhijin’s face as her gaze remained fixed on her in the mirror. This was the first time Cheng Xi had ever touched another woman’s skin like this. It was warm and delicate, as soft as if it had just been pulled from water; it felt as though she could merge with her through this touch.

Combined with the dim surroundings, this sensation stirred a deep desire within the character. She truly wanted to have her—even if it was just this physical form.

“Teacher, you don’t need to be sad, because I am you. Don’t you want me to achieve your lifelong dream for you?”

As Cheng Xi spoke the same lines as before, the terror in Meng Zhijin’s eyes faltered. Perhaps the feeling of the fingernails trailing across her cheek was too real; she finally felt the sickly, obsessive desire she had been looking for.

This leap in progress, achieved with only a few words of guidance, proved the girl’s unparalleled talent. It wasn’t an exaggeration to call Meng Zhijin an “acting maniac.” With that single thought, she was willing to surrender the lead of the scene—and herself—entirely to Cheng Xi.

Even if her tender cheek was pinched by Cheng Xi’s fingers, leaving a crescent-shaped mark of red. Even if this was only the first day she had met Cheng Xi.

A faint fragrance drifted from Meng Zhijin’s hair. Cheng Xi couldn’t describe it, only that it smelled wonderful. Lost in the role, she pressed her nose against Meng Zhijin’s hair. Her breath was warm, starkly evident in the chilly winter room. It burned like a dangerous flame, reflecting a raw, naked seduction in the mirror. Meng Zhijin could see Cheng Xi’s expression behind her, and she could see her own.

Thump, thump.

It was Yue’s heartbeat, and it was Meng Zhijin’s.

Cheng Xi’s pause was the longest in the entire audition, yet Wang Youbo didn’t interrupt her. His eyes, once closed in exhaustion and hopelessness, were wide open now. He wasn’t just looking at the artistic, ambiguous beauty of the two women pressed together. He was looking at Cheng Xi’s genius.

Meng Zhijin’s pale skin only emphasized the sickly, suppressed quality of Cheng Xi’s face pressed against hers. It created a sense of fated harmony—as if they were always meant to be one. Yue was Ye; Ye was Yue.

In all his years of collaborating with her, this was the first time Wang Youbo had found an actor who could create such sparks with Meng Zhijin. It was incredibly rare.

Excitedly, Wang gripped the assistant director’s arm, waiting for Cheng Xi to deliver the next line…

“Xi-jie, Xi-jie…”

Xiao Wu’s voice pulled her from the dim dreamscape. Cheng Xi struggled and woke up with a start.

It was still dark. The memories from the dream continued to replay in her mind. She vaguely remembered that they had worked together perfectly in that scene. But the moment the collaboration ended, the woman who had been manipulated and overpowered by her “second personality” immediately reverted to her cold, distant self.

Yue vanished like a gust of wind in the snow, leaving only the stranger, Meng Zhijin. It left Cheng Xi unable to distinguish whether she had wanted Yue or Meng Zhijin herself.

“Kid, do you know me?”

Meng Zhijin’s question from the past echoed in Cheng Xi’s ears across two different timelines. The uncertain answer from three years ago remained a question mark today.

“If you want to climb back up, I can be your ladder.”

A ladder… What kind of mindset did Meng Zhijin have to have to say something so blunt, so willing to be used? Was it purely to wake up a version of Cheng Xi that was drowning in personal drama?

“Xi-jie? What are you thinking about?” Xiao Wu asked cautiously, seeing Cheng Xi dazed after waking.

The van had stopped in front of a brightly lit hotel. Cheng Xi shook herself out of her thoughts. “Are we here?”

“Mhm,” Xiao Wu nodded. She seemed to have more to say, clutching her phone hesitantly. “Um, Xi-jie…”

Cheng Xi gave a lazy yawn and looked up. “What is it? Just say it.”

Xiao Wu swallowed hard. “The assistant from the production team told Sister Ming that Chen Zhuoying… has expressed interest in joining the show.”

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