Forced to Act out a Strange Script with a Rival - Chapter 17

The pleasant scent of the woman enveloped Si Xiaoxiao, inexplicably causing her to feel a sense of inadequate shame by comparison.

She instinctively wanted to retreat, so she broke free from the embrace.

Although the mascot costume was cumbersome and bulky, the thick padding inside did provide a buffer.

Si Xiaoxiao’s fall was solid, and the swirling dust clung to the plush fabric. Miraculously, apart from a piercing pain in her ankle, the rest of her body was unharmed.

However, one thing was not good: the mascot costume had become filthy.

The surface of the costume was covered in grit, and the dusty, gray plush matted into clumps.

Worse, the inside of the costume was like a giant steamer. The high-intensity activity combined with the scorching midday sun had completely soaked the thin gauze dress and undergarments she wore inside.

Si Xiaoxiao had only managed to take the costume halfway off. The zipper was pulled all the way down, and the entire panda body was tilted and naturally drooped with gravity.

The sun beat directly onto her skin. Sweat no longer just beaded, but flowed like a stream, clinging tightly to her skin, outlining every curve, and bringing with it an irritating stickiness.

Her back, armpits, chest…

As sweat collected, the fabric adhered tightly. Every slightest movement was accompanied by a tearing friction between the fabric and her skin. The heat and dampness made it almost impossible to breathe.

She could clearly feel the trail of sweat running down her spinal groove, an agonizing itch that she couldn’t reach to scratch. Her meticulously styled hair was damp with sweat, a few strands sticking to her sweaty neck and cheeks.

Compared to the cool and clean Li Ting, whose every hair seemed to carry a pleasant scent, Si Xiaoxiao felt truly foul-smelling. As a “pretty face” actress who must be impeccably groomed from head to toe, she desperately wanted to escape her current predicament.

“Director!” Her voice rose with agitation, even carrying an unquestionable tone of command, making her sound terribly spoiled: “I need to change clothes! Now! Immediately! Right away!”

“Ah, you want to change clothes?”

Si Xiaoxiao gasped for breath, her chest heaving violently, and she supplemented with a fierce gaze, every word squeezed out between her teeth: “Yes, a complete set! From inside out! Not a single piece less!”

The director was rubbing his hands, looking awkward, his face filled with a difficult, wry smile. Fine beads of sweat dotted his forehead, half from the heat and half from anxiety: “Xiaoxiao, we didn’t prepare any spare clothes. We originally planned for you to finish filming in the mascot costume…”

While celebrities do have many privileges, for C-list stars, they don’t count as having them.

Whatever anti-human script the production team wrote, they had to cooperate and finish filming it.

In other words, according to the original plan, Si Xiaoxiao had to stay in the mascot costume, enduring the scorching sun, to shoot.

How could anyone come up with a script like this!

Si Xiaoxiao was trembling with anger, her eyes red. They had clearly told her in the beginning that she only needed to wear the costume for a little while.

Sweat ran down her smooth forehead, flowing into the slightly reddened corners of her eyes, bringing a stinging sensation that made her blink involuntarily.

“Tear—” a sound echoed.

Si Xiaoxiao, without changing her expression, ripped open the panda costume. Large clumps of cotton stuffing spilled out from the opening.

“The mascot costume is ruined now.”

Si Xiaoxiao wasn’t someone who couldn’t endure hardship, but some hardships could indeed be avoided. In such situations, her usual choice was to fight back.

It wasn’t the confidence granted by any backer; it was simply her consistent logic in life.

“You—Ah, ah, it’s broken, what are we going to do!” The director instantly looked as if the sky had fallen.

“I’ll have my assistant bring my clothes over,” Si Xiaoxiao’s desire to change clothes remained extremely firm.

The director frowned, looked at his watch, and exclaimed, “But it takes over an hour to get here from the hotel… It’ll be high tide soon, we won’t be able to finish filming.”

“Then we won’t film today,” Si Xiaoxiao’s response was very defiant, showing no sign of backing down.

“How can we do that!” The director naturally spun around anxiously.

Just at this awkward standstill, the air seemed to solidify.

Si Xiaoxiao’s irritation, the director’s anxiety, and the powerlessness of the other staff silently collided and escalated on the hot beach.

“Wear mine.”

A clear, cool voice, like the striking of jade, unexpectedly cut through the suffocating noise.

Li Ting was like a green bamboo standing by the sea, naturally possessing a calm coolness that soothed everyone’s nervousness.

“Yours?” Si Xiaoxiao blinked, not expecting the person to come to her rescue at this moment would be Li Ting.

“It’s easy to get clothes dirty at the beach,” Li Ting’s voice remained calm, as if stating an ordinary fact, explaining this “coincidental” foresight. She always liked to prepare ahead of time, and this time was no exception: “I brought an extra set.”

With that, she opened the hiking backpack on her back and pulled out a neatly folded set of clean clothes, complete with soft cotton inner wear and a light sun-protection outer shirt.

The sunlight fell on her aloof, clear profile, coating her inherent calm demeanor with a soft halo of light, and highlighting the clean clothes as if they were salvation.

“I…” Faced with a gesture of goodwill from her nemesis, Si Xiaoxiao was actually a bit conflicted. She truly couldn’t stand the stickiness on her body, and she didn’t want to delay the filming schedule because of herself. But if she just accepted it, it felt like something was amiss.

Li Ting didn’t wait for Si Xiaoxiao’s reply and directly shoved the clothes into her arms, giving her a way out: “I don’t want to waste more time out here in the blazing sun with you. Given the program team’s track record, we’re bound to have physical contact in the next shoot. I don’t want you to get me dirty.”

Si Xiaoxiao bristled: “I’m not dirty! I’m a fairy, and a fairy is always clean.”

Li Ting didn’t bother to mock her self-proclamation as a fairy, but instead instructed the director to quickly find Si Xiaoxiao a place to change clothes.

Allowing an invited guest to get hurt.

At this moment, the director was feeling guilty and urgently had people lead Si Xiaoxiao to the program team’s RV.

Inside the private, enclosed space of the RV, Si Xiaoxiao stripped off the sweaty, sand-covered, suffocating mascot costume with a sense of urgent relief, wadded it up with extreme disdain, and tossed it into a small corner.

However, when she unfolded the stack of clothes Li Ting had given her, her brows involuntarily furrowed.

Because these clothes were completely not her style!

The clothes lacked her beloved bright colors, elaborate lace, or flowing skirts.

What she held was a soft-textured but exceptionally simple and clean-cut, off-white linen shirt and a pair of similarly textured dark gray wide-leg trousers.

It was evident that this was indeed Li Ting’s style.

The colors were Li Ting’s usual cool, neutral tones, and the style was absolute comfortable practicality, carrying that distinctive, meticulous sense of order that defined Li Ting.

After all, singers don’t have as many requirements for their styling as actors; they rarely have the need for constant public exposure.

Si Xiaoxiao pouted at these unattractive clothes, struggling internally for a second.

However, the discomfort of the sticky, sweat-soaked dress clinging to her skin ultimately triumphed over her aesthetic resistance.

After taking off her other clothes, she somewhat roughly pulled on the wide-leg trousers.

They weren’t a perfect fit; the waistband was slightly too large.

After all, she was an actress who relied on her face and figure, so her waist was naturally more slender than Li Ting’s.

But what Si Xiaoxiao found strange was why the trouser legs were so long. Didn’t she and Li Ting look about the same height in her impression?

Oh, right, Li Ting was indeed slightly taller than her.

But Si Xiaoxiao always wore high heels when confronting Li Ting, trying to suppress her with an imposing presence.

The slightly long trouser legs were stacked at her ankles, almost covering Si Xiaoxiao’s sprained foot, making her look a few centimeters shorter and adding a clumsy, childish innocence.

Next was the shirt.

The soft linen fabric carried a refreshing, dry scent, along with a subtle hint of Li Ting’s distinct, cool fragrance. Although Si Xiaoxiao was steeped in the world of perfumes and knew every new and classic scent by heart, she couldn’t identify this particular one.

It smelled like cedar mixed with clean soap and a hint of rose fragrance—very faint, yet exceptionally clear.

Perhaps it wasn’t a popular commercial scent, but rather a niche, hidden gem brand.

The scent made Si Xiaoxiao pause slightly, a strange, peculiar feeling crossing her heart, as if she was silently enveloped by the other person’s aura. She raised the sleeve to her nose and inhaled deeply.

Why did she feel like a pervert?

She shook her head, trying hard to dismiss the strange feeling, and quickly put on the shirt.

While the unsuitable trousers could be managed, the shirt was different.

The shoulder line of Li Ting’s shirt was clearly wider than Si Xiaoxiao’s, so the shirt hung loosely, making her already delicate frame appear even frailer.

Correspondingly, Li Ting was taller than Si Xiaoxiao, so her arm length would naturally be longer.

The shirt cuffs were long enough to cover half her palm, forcing her to clumsily roll them up several times before barely exposing her wrist.

Of course, these things could be overlooked.

The most critical issue was the buttons across the chest.

Si Xiaoxiao’s figure was more voluptuous than Li Ting’s, especially her bust, which was generously sized and rare among female celebrities.

After buttoning the first few buttons, she found the fabric across her chest to be uncomfortably taut, outlining an overly full curve that contrasted sharply with the shirt’s overall loose style.

The top two buttons, due to their position, would feel constricting if fastened, but leaving them undone seemed… overly casual, frivolous, or even slightly… suggestive?

She finally only managed to button it up to the second button below her collarbone, revealing a small patch of delicate skin and the clear line of her collarbone.

After confirming she was properly dressed, Si Xiaoxiao specifically looked for a mirror in the RV.

The reflection staring back at her was almost unrecognizable.

Her signature, normally wild, flowing golden hair was now damp with sweat and semi-dry, looking somewhat frizzy and messy, casually draped over her shoulders, making her look frivolous and unrestrained.

The set of clothes belonging to Li Ting’s style—the overly large off-white linen shirt and dark gray trousers—enveloped her in a cool, detached color palette and silhouette.

This style created an intense, almost absurd conflict with her highly aggressive, striking, and almost dazzlingly bright facial features.

She was like a blaze of fire that mistakenly wandered into an ink wash painting, forcibly compressed into the elegant negative space and light ink.

However, the not-quite-fitting clothes did not hide her overall radiance.

Instead, in a strange and inappropriate way, they made her beauty seem even more aggressively dazzling, even carrying a subtle hint of decadent allure and seduction.

The lingering, cool, clean scent of Li Ting on the clothes occasionally wafted to her nose, constantly reminding her of the source of this outfit.

This made her feel extremely uneasy, as if she were wearing someone else’s armor or draped in her opponent’s banner.

The wide neckline of the shirt was slightly open, exposing her slender neck and collarbone. The loose fabric gathered at her waist, barely contained by the hastily tied waistband, outlining an unintentional, languid curve.

The ankle-length trousers made her look precarious, and coupled with her slightly furrowed brows and reddened eyes due to the ankle pain, they added a touch of pitiful distress.

She awkwardly stepped out of the RV, hopping a couple of times on one foot across the sand, exposing her new attire to the curious gazes of the crowd.

Everyone was looking at her—

All eyes, including Li Ting, who was quietly discussing something with the cameraman, were focused squarely on her.

Li Ting’s gaze was especially deep.

She looked at Si Xiaoxiao, who was wearing her clothes and giving off a distinct “Li Ting” vibe, seeing the wide shirt outlining her voluptuous curves, and the overly long trouser cuffs bunching up around her injured ankle…

The scene carried a powerful, simple sense of allure that immediately captured her attention.

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