I Love Her Because She’s Dim-Witted And Filthy Rich - Chapter 19

Duan Bainian woke up early; it was just past six o’clock when she stirred. She squinted her eyes for a while to fully wake up, pulled at her pajamas, and got out of bed.

Because of the drinking last night, the living room table was a complete mess. She decided to take the opportunity to clean it up before Su Miao woke up.

Opening her bedroom door, she was surprised to find Guan Jing already tidying up.

Guan Jing greeted her with youthful energy, “Morning, Sister Bainian.”

Duan Bainian stepped forward to help. “I didn’t expect you to be up so early. Sorry to trouble you with cleaning up all this trash.”

No matter how thick-skinned Guan Jing usually was, she felt a bit embarrassed. “Oh, Sister Bainian, look at what you’re saying! I’m your junior assistant; what’s a little trouble?”

Not all assistants were the same. Although Duan Bainian took good care of the staff around her, she kept a clear scale of judgment in her heart.

Take her previous assistant, Xiao Yuan, for example. To be honest, she hadn’t liked her much. Xiao Yuan had a loose tongue and would blab about anything. When Duan Bainian was harassed by Tang Shi last time, Xiao Yuan hadn’t made any effort to help, which left a lingering bad taste in her mouth.

As for her new assistant, Guan Jing, based on their current interactions, she was someone who called a spade a spade and didn’t hide things on purpose—a trait Duan Bainian liked very much.

After tidying up, Duan Bainian went to wake Su Miao.

Looking at the gentle expression on Duan Bainian’s face, Su Miao was full of confusion. “You… you seem to be in a very good mood?”

Duan Bainian patted the back of Su Miao’s head. “Mhm, it’s not bad.”

Su Miao instinctively touched the back of her head and followed suit with a grin.

Hehe, Duan Bainian isn’t giving me the cold shoulder anymore. That’s great.

The banquet scene they filmed yesterday was a major production involving almost all the actors, and it had been filming for several days. However, because the actors were not coordinating well, they had only finished a small portion.

Another day passed with worrying progress. The director was getting anxious. After wrapping for the night, he arranged for everyone to gather to study the script together, looking for ways to act that would be both high-quality and efficient.

A dozen people huddled together to study the script. Duan Bainian didn’t feel much of anything, as she had experienced this in other crews before, but Su Miao felt like she was sitting on pins and needles.

If it were an official shoot where everyone was immersed in their roles, Su Miao wouldn’t feel her acting was awkward. But right now, with everyone laughing while reciting lines, she really… couldn’t blend in.

Duan Bainian noticed it too. While everyone else was enthusiastically discussing how to play their parts, only Su Miao was as quiet as a chicken, merely listening. Despite being the female lead, her presence was far too weak.

However, Duan Bainian thought this was an opportunity. Judging from the incident with the class monitor, Su Miao’s judgment of people was practically blind. She intended to let Su Miao interact with more people; with more exposure, her ability to distinguish character would naturally improve, so she wouldn’t always be foolishly deceived. Currently, using the excuse of a group rehearsal could be considered a starting point.

Su Miao, naturally, was unwilling. She didn’t like these crowded atmospheres. Usually, at night, she only needed to rehearse with Duan Bainian.

Seeing that she couldn’t force it, Duan Bainian had no choice but to drop the matter.

The group continued their fiery discussion. They had long since grown accustomed to Su Miao not participating. Since Su Miao’s acting was now considered above the baseline and she didn’t drag them down with constant NGs (No-Goods), everyone turned a blind eye to her silence.

Halfway through the rehearsal, someone suddenly looked toward the door and spoke in pleasant surprise, “Teacher Tian, why are you here?”

The newcomer was Tian Yu, 33 years old. Having debuted for over a decade, he had swept all the major awards and was currently at the peak of his fame. With more resources than he could choose from, Tian Yu basically only accepted movies—they had more prestige, higher fees, and were much better than filming TV dramas.

An artist of Tian Yu’s caliber would be coddled wherever he went, and this place was no exception.

The director was all smiles. “Oh, Teacher Tian, what brings you here at this hour?”

Tian Yu smiled and said, “I’m filming next door. I heard your crew was here, so I came over to see my junior sister.”

The director looked puzzled. “Your junior sister?”

Tian Yu pointed at Su Miao. “Su Miao. Before I left, her mother asked me to check on her when I had time. You must know her mother, Sister He Aizhi.”

The set fell into an eerie silence for a moment.

The crowd might not have known Su Miao’s mother by that title, but who didn’t know He Aizhi? Her marketing and hype abilities were top-tier; no one knew how many popular idols she had manufactured over the past few years.

Wait, what happened to the rumored sugar daddy? So Su Miao’s rumored benefactor is actually her mother?

Seeing the atmosphere turn a bit awkward, Su Miao took the initiative to leave the group and walked to Tian Yu’s side, saying softly, “Brother Tian Yu, let’s go to my lounge.”

The director finally snapped out of it. “Ah, right, right! Su Miao has a private lounge. Teacher Tian, you can go to the lounge to catch up with your junior sister!”

Watching Su Miao and Tian Yu enter the lounge, the crowd immediately exploded.

“Su Miao is actually that powerful? Why have we never heard her mention it?”

Someone joked, “If I had known Su Miao had such a good background, I should have gone to suck up to her and be her friend, haha!”

This comment immediately shifted the focus to Duan Bainian. “Hey, Bainian, you’ve hit the jackpot! Su Miao likes hanging out with you so much; you definitely won’t lack resources in the future!”

Duan Bainian couldn’t be bothered to argue and smiled. “A bunch of jokers. Are we going to keep discussing the scene or not? If not, I’m going back to sleep.”

Naturally, the group no longer had the heart to continue the script reading, so they simply dispersed to go to bed.

When they returned to the set the next day, Su Miao clearly felt that everyone’s attitude toward her had changed; it began to show a hint of hidden enthusiasm.

There was even a male actor she had never spoken to privately who came over to strike up a conversation, claiming he wanted to rehearse.

Su Miao originally wanted to refuse, but then she remembered that Duan Bainian had wanted her to interact more with others, so she agreed.

Through the rehearsal, the two became somewhat familiar.

The male actor was named Lan Hongxin, a third-tier character, essentially an 18th-line transparent actor.

Lan Hongxin was full of flattery. “Su Miao, I’ve always been curious about how your acting keeps getting better. You’re really amazing. Can you teach me?”

Having just gone through the incident with the class monitor, Su Miao felt more or less repulsed whenever she saw a man being overly enthusiastic toward her. She said casually, “Just rehearse more, there’s nothing else to it.”

Lan Hongxin said, “Is that so? But isn’t there a lot of knowledge in digging deep during rehearsals? How about this, Su Miao, let me treat you to dinner tonight. I’d really like you to teach me more.”

Su Miao pursed her lips. “I think I’ll pass. I… I’m pretty bad myself; I can’t teach you.”

Lan Hongxin replied, “Hey, ‘when three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher.’ Why are you being so humble?”

Su Miao still refused. “I think it’s better not to. Duan Bainian said that having dinner alone with male artists easily leads to rumors. It’s not good.”

Lan Hongxin smiled and said, “Then we can invite Sister Bainian to come along, how about that?”

Su Miao refused flatly, “No.”

Duan Bainian happened to come over to find Su Miao, and with one look, she understood what Lan Hongxin was thinking.

Lan Hongxin wasn’t exactly a bad person, just a bit slick. Duan Bainian intended to let Su Miao interact with different types of people. She pinched Su Miao’s cheek and joked, “It’s not like we have anything to do tonight anyway. Lan Hongxin has been praising your progress and wants to ask for advice. Why are you refusing so bluntly?”

Since Duan Bainian had agreed, Su Miao didn’t bother to persist further. After wrapping for the night, the three of them went to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

To Lan Hongxin, this dinner was truly a bit hard to describe.

Duan Bainian, sitting across from him, first poured water for Su Miao, then served her food, and then very thoughtfully took a tissue to wipe oil stains off Su Miao’s face. Meanwhile, Su Miao looked completely pampered, smiling at Duan Bainian non-stop.

In short, neither of these two people spared him a single glance.

What happened to ‘asking for advice while eating’? Not only was he being ignored, but why did the relationship between these two feel strange? Would friends really be this close?

In order to make the two across from him notice him, Lan Hongxin joked, “Hey, can you two stop being so clingy? You’re acting like a couple of lesbians.”

Duan Bainian’s hand froze while picking up food. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Su Miao looked at Lan Hongxin first, then at Duan Bainian. Seeing the hint of embarrassment on Duan Bainian’s face, she became unhappy.

Does this person know how to speak? He actually said the two of them were lesbians? It would be one thing to say it about her, but he actually said it about Duan Bainian?

Lan Hongxin was completely unaware that the joke had turned awkward and laughed loudly. “Really, Sister Bainian, you two are just too clingy. It’s exactly like being lesbians!”

He actually said Duan Bainian was a lesbian again?

Su Miao suddenly couldn’t hold back. “What are you talking about? You’re the lesbian!”