Forced to Act out a Strange Script with a Rival - Chapter 50

The afternoon sun streamed through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, casting bright spots of light on the glossy marble floor.

Li Ting and Si Xiaoxiao had just taken their seats at a restaurant famous for its oysters. The air was still permeated with the unique salty-fresh scent of seafood. The restaurant wasn’t busy, so the two were seated immediately.

Although oysters and beer are better suited for the evening, these days, as long as one has money, any dish can be ordered and eaten at any time.

Si Xiaoxiao was secretly marveling at the astonishing prices on the menu, trying to figure out how to “make up” the cost worthily, when Li Ting’s phone on the table suddenly vibrated.

The screen displayed the words, “《See You, Friend》Bonus Episode Director Team.”

Li Ting’s long, slender fingers swiped across the screen, answering the call and simultaneously putting it on speakerphone.

“Teacher Li! Where are you right now?” The director’s voice came through the speaker, carrying an almost fawning sweetness that was jarringly out of place in the restaurant’s elegant and quiet atmosphere.

Li Ting frowned slightly and looked up at Si Xiaoxiao, who was seated across from her.

Si Xiaoxiao, who was biting on a slice of lemon, also looked up. A flash of curiosity flickered in her amber cat-like eyes. She silently mouthed, “What is it?”

Li Ting subtly shook her head, gesturing for her to wait. She spoke into the phone in her usual gentle and calm voice: “In A City. What’s the matter? Is there something you need?”

“Oh my, in A City!” The director’s voice instantly rose in pitch, sounding even more warm and eager, even carrying a hint of ingratiating urgency: “It’s like this, Teacher Li, our head director just reviewed the bonus footage we shot on the island these past few days…”

Li Ting picked up her water glass, her fingertip tapping lightly on the cold glass surface, producing a faint, crisp sound.

She had a premonition that it wasn’t good news. Her eyes swept over Si Xiaoxiao’s instantly tense face. Her tone carried a barely perceptible caution, but remained polite and gentle: “Yes? And? Not satisfied? Do we need to reshoot?”

“No, no, no! Of course not!” The voice on the other end of the phone quickly denied it, speaking as rapidly as a machine gun: “The effect is particularly good! Particularly good! It’s just… it’s just…”

“Please tell me,” Li Ting took a small sip of water, her tone still gentle, which aligned with her consistent public persona.

The director’s voice dropped again, carrying a hint of embarrassment that was hard to express: “The head director feels… that the amount of footage isn’t quite enough; they can’t edit it to the anticipated runtime. They think what we shot… is a little too little…”

Li Ting thought for a moment and realized that the scale of this shoot truly was small—they had only played a few games on the beach and learned about each other’s professions in a coffee shop.

It might barely stretch to thirty minutes.

The reason it felt like an eternity was because they had gone to the “prison dungeon” twice, leaving them physically and mentally exhausted.

But frankly, the footage was indeed scarce.

“I understand. However, we’re not on the island now. If we need to reshoot, it might have to wait until tomorrow.”

According to the original plan, Li Ting and Si Xiaoxiao would fly back tonight after finishing their magazine shoot here, so any filming could only happen tomorrow.

“Tomorrow? I’m afraid tomorrow won’t work.” The director on the other end instantly let out a gasp, their voice instantly enveloped by a sense of impending disaster: “It’s over! The head director wants us to submit something tomorrow! We must submit something, no matter the obstacles!!”

Next to her, Si Xiaoxiao finished chewing the lemon, grimaced at the sourness, and pulled out her phone to search for the next available flight.

Unfortunately, there were no suitable tickets left.

Thus, Si Xiaoxiao could only shrug, using her mouth to explain the situation to Li Ting.

“I’m sorry, we can’t make it back right now,” Li Ting could only express her regret as she delivered the message.

“…”

The other end of the phone fell into a brief silence.

A few seconds later, muffled, hushed discussions could be heard in the background, fast-paced and clearly anxious.

Time ticked by, and the soft, melodious light music in the restaurant seemed to become a silent countdown.

Just when Li Ting thought the other party would give up, the director’s voice sounded again, filled with a desperate, all-or-nothing urgency:

“Teacher Li! How about this! Does this work for you?”

The director spoke as if grabbing the last straw, her words so fast she almost bit her tongue: “If it really can’t be helped… could I trouble you to… ask your assistant for a favor? Just film with a mobile phone! Mobile phone cameras have pretty high resolution now, and we can adjust the composition and everything in post-production! Seriously! Please! As long as they are people, alive, and interacting, it’s fine!”

The world truly is a huge makeshift operation.

Li Ting gently rubbed her temple, feeling a profound sense of helplessness toward the director team’s last-minute scramble and their outrageous solution of suggesting a “mobile phone selfie Vlog.”

This is a whole episode of a show, after all.

She even began to reasonably suspect whether the director team had misunderstood the head director’s required footage runtime from the start, only realizing the urgency now.

“My assistant isn’t with me…” Li Ting could only explain.

“Teacher, please, any footage is fine!! Even in the form of a selfie Vlog!! Anything works!!”

The director’s voice was cautious, full of probing and pleading. Even across the airwaves, one could imagine the other party scratching their head, looking utterly dejected and troubled.

It seemed they were genuinely desperate for footage.

“Teacher Li, what do you think?”

Li Ting sighed, not wanting to make things difficult for them. After all, more exposure was a good thing. So, she quietly added, “I’m with Si Xiaoxiao…”

“Ah!!!”

This time, her words were interrupted again.

A flurry of high-pitched, penetrating screams suddenly erupted on the other end of the phone!

The background noise instantly became incredibly loud, like a group of groundhogs whose tails had been stepped on, screeching in unison, mixed with excited table-slapping and foot-stomping.

Someone even yelled, “Ahhh, my CP went abroad and got married, right? It must be!”

Is it that serious?

Li Ting: “…”

Si Xiaoxiao: “???”

Sure enough, she knew some of the staff members were shipping her and Si Xiaoxiao.

The director’s attitude, which had just been “anything goes, just gather some random footage,” instantly changed, replaced by a pumped-up frenzy and unprecedented “professional” enthusiasm: “Teachers, please be sure to ‘sell the girl friendship’ well—oh, I mean, shoot well!”

“It would be best if you could design more activities for best friends to enjoy. The longer the filming duration, the better!! Of course, we can provide the expense budget for the activities! Don’t worry! You can go to aquariums, cinemas, planetariums, and hotels!!”

???

Did some strange location get mixed in? What kind of option is a hotel?

Li Ting was utterly helpless and looked at Si Xiaoxiao, attempting to gauge her opinion.

However, the pauper Si Xiaoxiao’s mind was already occupied by the two words, “expense budget.”

“Can we upgrade the appearance fee?” Si Xiaoxiao tentatively asked, trying to secure another little dress for herself.

The director team gritted their teeth and said, “We’ll apply for you!!”

The pair of amber cat eyes, which had been dazed with the remnants of a hangover, “shone” instantly, like two little light bulbs turning on, clearly reflecting golden money symbols. She spoke excitedly: “Go ahead and film! What’s not to film!!”

Si Xiaoxiao was incredibly decisive, her answer firm and resounding, even carrying a hint of eager anticipation.

It was precisely this decisiveness that caused a fresh round of enthusiastic cheers on the other end of the phone. One could even vaguely hear someone shouting, “Mommy, I’m happy again.”

They really don’t bother to act when they aren’t in front of the people involved, do they?

“Ahem! Silence! Silence!”

The director’s voice struggled to suppress the background noise, though she, too, could not hide her excitement: “The two of you just need to film each other through your phones. In a romantic city like A City, any encounter is beautiful. Just fully enjoy your vacation and your time spent together~”

Even more bizarrely, while speaking endlessly, she somehow managed to multitask and immediately sent a document to both of them.

“Oh, and we’ve sent the guide to A City to Teacher Li’s phone. It includes three routes; you can pick whichever you like!”

Hmm? How did they go from an attitude of “it’s hopeless, just shoot anything” to being so meticulous and having a guide ready instantly?

This makeshift operation was truly a bit outrageous.

“Alright, we’ll try our best to film more high-quality footage.”

Since things had come to this, Li Ting could only agree.

Taking advantage of the distance provided by the phone call, many people on the other end started yelling messages:

“Ahhh! Good luck, Teachers!! We all support you!!”

“Teachers, I’ll steal equipment from the crew for you to ‘sell the girl friendship’! Please don’t let us down!”

“Teacher Li, you are the 1, the eternal 1. Please don’t let Si 0 continue to be so arrogant!”

What on earth is all this…

To prevent the other side from saying anything more shocking, Li Ting proactively hung up the call.

Si Xiaoxiao, who hadn’t been subjected to the jarring noise, was already happily eating oysters, not forgetting to speak with her mouth full: “You eat more too. You need to ‘replenish’ yourself. You’re going to work hard, Teacher Li.”

“What, you’re not opposed to filming a ‘romance variety show’ with me now?” Li Ting smiled helplessly but didn’t pick up her chopsticks.

“It’s a friendship variety show! What romance show? That won’t pass censorship!” Si Xiaoxiao grumbled.

After saying that, she raised her phone, pointed the camera at Li Ting, and flashed a brilliant, puppy-like smile: “Come on, smile! Let’s kick off the beautiful overture of our new chapter!”

How did this become a beautiful overture?

Li Ting rested her chin on her hand. The sunlight by the window bathed her in a thin golden glow. Her eyes were gentle and full of affection, like a vast sea capable of containing everything. She cooperated by raising the corners of her mouth, feigning surprise, and deliberately trying to stump her: “Are we friends?”

Si Xiaoxiao pretended to think for a moment, then blinked, a cunning smile flashing across her face: “Hehe~ We’re puppy arch-rivals~~”

“Puppy arch-rivals?” Li Ting paused, her gaze fixed on Si Xiaoxiao. A complex emotion surged within her.

This person actually learned to invent her own vocabulary.

Then, Si Xiaoxiao explained with exaggerated swagger: “Hmph hmph hmph, it means that one day, I’ll be the arch-rival of the person who plays the puppy.”

Li Ting’s eyes darkened slightly, her gaze sweeping across Si Xiaoxiao’s lips. She managed to suppress the surging desire with great difficulty.

So that’s how it is…

Then, when will the puppy be able to kiss its master?

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