Forced to Act out a Strange Script with a Rival - Chapter 28

With the hair tie as an excuse, Si Xiaoxiao felt as if she had been granted permission to act, and she immediately sprang into action.

It was just to retrieve her own possession; it was just to see her archenemy’s deflated, disheartened look after being struck a blow—everything was normal.

She didn’t even bother to carefully fix her hair, casually grabbed a thin jacket to throw over her pajamas, and hobbled out of her room.

Soon, she stood outside Li Ting’s room.

Si Xiaoxiao silently took a deep breath, attributing the inexplicable throbbing in her heart to the normal physical reaction caused by her leg injury.

She then raised her hand, and with a touch of impatience she hadn’t even noticed herself, knocked on the door.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

There was no immediate response from inside.

Si Xiaoxiao frowned and knocked a few more times with greater force.

Still no answer.

It was so late; could Li Ting have gone out?

This person wouldn’t actually be so upset over a minor setback that she’d do something foolish, would she?

“Li Ting? Are you there? Open the door!”

So, she raised her voice, her tone desperately maintaining her usual “King Si Xiaoxiao” style of impatience.

As if that could dispel the unease in her heart.

Si Xiaoxiao fretfully fiddled with her nails and raised her hand again. Just as she was about to knock once more, the door lock clicked softly, and that seemingly impenetrable door was pulled open just a crack.

Li Ting appeared behind the door as expected.

She seemed to have just taken a shower; her long hair was slightly damp and casually draped over her shoulders. She wore a soft, off-white silk bathrobe, which made her skin look even fairer and her demeanor especially gentle and clear.

When she saw Si Xiaoxiao, her expression held a trace of surprise at being disturbed. Her amber eyes, in the warm, yellow light of the hallway, appeared much softer than during the day, yet still carried a slight, fragmented sense of fragility.

“Si Xiaoxiao?” She clearly hadn’t expected the visitor to be her.

“Nonsense! Who else would be looking for you at this hour?” Si Xiaoxiao retorted testily.

In the entire production team, only the two of them had each other blocked; if anyone else had a matter, why would they need to visit in person?

The gap where the door was pulled open wasn’t very wide, but Si Xiaoxiao’s eyesight was good. Her gaze involuntarily drifted past Li Ting’s shoulder and into the room.

The room was pitch black, and the first thing that caught Si Xiaoxiao’s attention was the large image projected onto the wall on one side of the room.

It was playing a film with vivid colors and ambiguous light and shadow.

In the center of the frame, an incredibly alluring female protagonist was leaning on a sofa, her eyes darting, her red lips slightly parted, a strand of hair wrapped around her fingertip, radiating a silent yet fatal temptation toward the camera.

Si Xiaoxiao clearly caught a fleeting look in Li Ting’s eyes—a mix of embarrassment at having a secret exposed and a hint of panic she hadn’t managed to hide in time.

“What are you here for?” Li Ting lowered her gaze, her upturned eyelashes like butterfly wings dampened by rain.

Si Xiaoxiao, however, detected Li Ting’s unwelcoming tone and gave her justifiable reason for being there: “My hair tie, you haven’t returned it to me. I need it to match an outfit tomorrow!”

Li Ting raised her hand, untied the hair tie from her wrist, and very naturally tied it onto Si Xiaoxiao’s wrist, though her tone was not pleasant: “Here.”

Afterward, she reached out her hand towards Si Xiaoxiao again.

“What?” Si Xiaoxiao was puzzled at first, then suddenly realized: “The clothes you lent me before? I forgot to bring them down; I’ll return them tomorrow.”

Li Ting leaned against the door and sighed, explaining: “The punishment.”

“?? ”

Seeing Si Xiaoxiao’s cat-like eyes wide with shock, Li Ting simply stepped into the room, and in a flash, she was seen returning with a neatly folded, perfectly square bath towel.

“…” She had forgotten! Every meeting required exchanging a piece of personal, close-fitting item!

Si Xiaoxiao suddenly felt incredibly foolish.

However, she was unwilling to let Li Ting see her false bravado.

So, she retorted self-righteously: “Of course, I know!”

“…” Li Ting sized Si Xiaoxiao up and down, highly suspicious: “You really didn’t forget?”

Si Xiaoxiao licked her lips, forcefully trying to save face: “You let me in first. My foot hurts. Let me sit down for a bit.”

“… You certainly make yourself at home.” Although Li Ting’s words were acerbic, she didn’t say Si Xiaoxiao couldn’t enter. Her body very considerately opened the door wider.

Si Xiaoxiao hobbled into her archenemy’s room late at night, her brain frantically brainstorming how to wrap things up.

Female celebrities, concerned with skincare and cleanliness, would naturally remove makeup and shower as soon as they returned to the hotel.

Obviously, after undergoing these two steps, she wouldn’t have any small, personal, close-fitting items on her.

Should she take off a fake eyelash to give Li Ting to wear? No, even the fake eyelashes had been removed.

The punishment issued to Si Xiaoxiao by the system was this: she must personally exchange a close-fitting item she had worn for at least thirty minutes with Li Ting, and Li Ting must also wear it close to her body, the longer the better.

If the punishment wasn’t carried out, its difficulty and duration would double.

If she could do the punishment, it would naturally be better to do it.

But the only close-fitting item she genuinely had right now that met the system’s requirement… was probably her underwear…

It couldn’t be this perverted, could it?

Li Ting turned on the room lights and once again looked Si Xiaoxiao up and down. She confirmed one thing: “You don’t seem to have any close-fitting items on you…”

The atmosphere in the room fell into an awkward silence.

Then, Si Xiaoxiao self-righteously exploded: “Who says I don’t! How can a person not have close-fitting items!!”

Li Ting knew Si Xiaoxiao’s personality somewhat and retorted quietly: “No underwear.”

“H-How could it be underwear! What kind of pervert are you?!” Si Xiaoxiao, whose ears were red because she was nearly provoked into actually selling her underwear, quietly withdrew that dangerous thought.

A person shouldn’t, at least not with an archenemy, exchange… well.

“Then what is it?” Li Ting was certainly hoping Si Xiaoxiao had some sense and wasn’t just pretending.

She knew if the exchanged item wasn’t good, she would be the one suffering.

At that moment, a light bulb went off in Si Xiaoxiao’s head. She raised her hand, proudly showing the hair tie now fastened to her wrist, like a small child: “Isn’t this one too?”

Li Ting folded her arms, smiling faintly: “…Didn’t you say you needed it to match tomorrow’s outfit?”

“…” Si Xiaoxiao licked her lips, her confidence finally faltering a bit: “It’s normal for a female celebrity to have several sets of outfits. And besides, I suddenly don’t want to give you the other item on my body…”

“? Are you sure you even have one?” Li Ting sighed, grateful for Si Xiaoxiao’s quick thinking.

Otherwise, they might genuinely have to do something perverted.

They were archenemies!

Rivals who were still blocked, argued, disliked, and fought with each other. If they truly had to wear each other’s… uh, what a terrifying world that would be.

“I just think it doesn’t look right for my little trinkets to constantly appear on you! With your taste, how could you ever pick a hair tie as beautiful as mine! So, let’s just consistently exchange this one—it’s discreet and less likely to be noticed!” Si Xiaoxiao grew more confident as she spoke, not sounding at all like the fool who had completely forgotten the punishment.

Well, at least she didn’t think she was a fool.

Li Ting offered a knowing half-smile. She clearly saw through Si Xiaoxiao’s complete fabrication but deliberately made things difficult: “Is that so? Then kindly let me see the other item too, so that a ‘country bumpkin’ like me, who doesn’t understand fashion, can have her eyes opened.” She deliberately emphasized the word “kindly.”

“…I never said you were a country bumpkin.” Si Xiaoxiao gnashed her teeth, quietly admitting defeat.

Li Ting was also quite helpless to be bound to a partner like this by the system.

She always knew when to stop and wasn’t too keen on doing things that would force the bunny into a corner. So, she turned a blind eye and let Si Xiaoxiao off the hook: “Alright, then give me the hair tie again.”

With that, she extended her wrist toward Si Xiaoxiao. Her wrist was slender yet strong, showing evidence of exercise, and she wasn’t wearing any other miscellaneous items, giving a clean and refreshing impression.

Si Xiaoxiao sprawled casually onto the luxurious sofa of the deluxe suite, letting out a satisfied sigh while speaking as if nothing was amiss: “Oh, it has to be tied on my hand for thirty minutes.”

This was also a measure by the system to prevent them from cheating.

“??” Li Ting was incredulous: “You? Want to, stay with me alone? For another thirty minutes?”

Si Xiaoxiao blinked, looking very innocent, but when facing her archenemy, competing was an instinct: “Didn’t you stay in my room longer yesterday?”

Then, Si Xiaoxiao asked: “Do you have something to do?”

Li Ting silently pointed towards the screen with the incredibly alluring woman.

Since it was her rest time, she naturally wanted her private space.

Moreover, she… wanted to adjust her acting state.

“I’ll watch it with you then. What is that… I don’t think I’ve seen it.” Si Xiaoxiao played with her fingers nonchalantly, completely unbothered by the idea of sharing a room and watching a movie with her archenemy.

A flicker of embarrassment crossed Li Ting’s eyes. Her cool, regal voice revealed a hint of her current inner turmoil: “It’s… a foreign film, leaning toward emotional and stream-of-consciousness… an erotic lesbian film.”

“???” Si Xiaoxiao’s cat-like eyes widened: “Li Ting, you hypocrite! You’re actually a lesbian!”

“I am not.” Li Ting refuted. What could she do? The directors were all obsessed with the CP trope, and the script was about female-female love and hate!

She was just a singer who wanted to act well!

“Then why are you watching it!” Si Xiaoxiao’s tone was high-pitched, like a victorious little lion, as if she had caught her archenemy with a major secret.

Li Ting sneered, immediately regaining her logic, and provoked her: “A straight woman can definitely watch it. It’s precisely because I’m straight and my heart is pure, thinking only of studying. On the contrary, you… reacting this strongly suggests you’re the one with something to hide.”

Si Xiaoxiao knew it was a provocation, yet she always fell for the trap. She declared confidently: “I! Am very pure! I have absolutely no reaction! If you don’t believe me, play it now. I’ll give you a professional review of the actors’ performances! Absolutely professional.”

“Hmph.”

Li Ting’s tone carried a cool “I dare you” attitude: “Try me. Go ahead, Film Critic Si. It just so happens I also need to hear some ‘professional’ opinions.” She specifically emphasized the word “professional.”

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