I Love Her Because She’s Dim-Witted And Filthy Rich - Chapter 4

Was it possible that everyone had misunderstood this fool? That there was actually no so-called “financial backer” at all?

Thinking that this fool was inexplicably carrying such a massive scapegoat on her back, a hint of sympathy appeared in Duan Bainian’s eyes, and even her own prejudice against her faded quite a bit.

Duan Bainian flipped through the script, looked at it for a few minutes, then set it down. “Come on, let’s run through it once together to find the right emotions.”

Seeing that Duan Bainian’s hands were empty, Su Miao was greatly shocked. “You don’t need to look at the lines? You’ve memorized them all?”

Duan Bainian replied, “I’ve mostly memorized them.”

Su Miao’s eyes were full of admiration. “How are you so amazing? If only I could be as amazing as you in the future.”

Duan Bainian: “……”

Isn’t this just the basic skill of an actor? Could this fool please stop praising her with such genuine sincerity? It was truly… embarrassing.

She paused, accepted Su Miao’s way of thinking, and offered a casual word of comfort. “You will be; it gets better once you’re familiar with it. Come on, let’s try a read-through. I don’t require you to specifically memorize the lines; focus on understanding the emotions behind them.”

Su Miao nodded, and the two began to rehearse.

Halfway through, Duan Bainian couldn’t help but cough several times, her face turning flushed from the effort.

Su Miao put down the script. “Are you okay?”

Duan Bainian said, “I’m fine… cough… maybe… cough… the weather is too… dry.”

Su Miao thought of something. “Wait a moment, I’ll be right back.” After saying that, she trotted out of the room.

A moment later, Su Miao trotted back again. She handed the item in her hand to Duan Bainian. “It’s autumn pear syrup I brought from home. The effect is very noticeable. Drink a little, and it will stop the cough very quickly.”

Duan Bainian hesitated for a second before taking the autumn pear syrup, opening it, and drinking a bit. It was icy and cool, sliding all the way down her throat; she did indeed feel that her throat was no longer as itchy.

Duan Bainian shook the bottle. “It really is effective. Thank you.”

Su Miao smiled shyly. “You’re welcome. You’ve helped me so much; this is nothing.”

Duan Bainian found it difficult to understand. “I only helped you run through your lines twice; I didn’t really do anything.”

Su Miao subconsciously grabbed the hem of her clothes. “Um… I found out at noon today that you were originally supposed to be the female lead. I… I snatched your role, yet not only are you not angry, you’re returning grievance with kindness by helping me with my lines. You are truly a very good person; you are different from anyone I’ve met before!”

Duan Bainian turned her head with a chuckle. “How do you know I’m not angry?”

Su Miao froze. “Are… are you very angry?”

Duan Bainian looked into those jet-black pupils.

This person was truly too weak—so weak that the urge to bully her became even stronger.

Thus, Duan Bainian said without any reservation, “Yes, I am very angry. When I heard I had been replaced, I hated you very much. Even now, I still hate you very much.”

The humiliation on Su Miao’s face was obvious. She stood up in a panic. “I’m sorry… I didn’t know you hated me so much. I won’t bother you again in the future.”

Watching Su Miao’s reaction, Duan Bainian did not feel the satisfaction she had imagined; instead, she became irritable.

She didn’t want to continue the topic. “Forget it, let’s keep rehearsing.”

Su Miao’s eyes were dim. “It’s quite late, I don’t want to trouble you anymore. I’ll head back first.”

After saying that, Su Miao blankly packed up her script, paper, and pen, then turned and walked out.

Duan Bainian felt a surge of regret.

She prided herself on being someone who handled things smoothly; how could she have lost control in front of this fool and blurted out the truth so suddenly?

That fool clearly had a sensitive, glass-like heart. She didn’t know how long her words would hurt her.

After sitting in the living room for a while, Xiao Yuan came out of the room. “Hey Sis, has the Canary left? Why did she leave so early today?”

Duan Bainian stood up. “Don’t call her ‘Canary’ anymore. She doesn’t have a financial backer.”

Xiao Yuan scratched her head. “She doesn’t? Then how did she get dropped into the cast out of nowhere?”

Duan Bainian didn’t answer and went straight back to her room.

Xiao Yuan became increasingly bewildered; her artist’s emotions had really been getting more and more unstable lately.

That night, Duan Bainian was lying in bed before nine o’clock, but she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

It wasn’t until the latter half of the night that she dizzily drifted off.

She had a dream.

In the dream, she was being hunted and hid in a small cabin in the woods. The killer kept knocking on the door—thump, thump, thump—nonstop.

And so, she woke up startled.

Straining her ears, she realized there really was a knocking sound, along with some noisy shouting.

She checked her phone: 00:56.

At this hour, why was it so lively outside? Had something happened?

Duan Bainian immediately got out of bed to open the door and check.

The moment she opened the door, Su Miao was standing there, her face full of panic. “There’s a fire! Run, quick!”

Only then did Duan Bainian hear the smoke alarms blaring outside. She looked back at the smoke alarm in her own room; it was likely broken, as it was as quiet as if nothing was happening.

Duan Bainian immediately called Xiao Yuan out, and the three of them rushed toward the stairs.

They ran all the way from the seventh floor to the open ground downstairs. Just as they caught their breath, Su Miao’s assistant, Xiao Song, rushed over to meet them, her voice carrying a sob.

“You scared me to death, Su Miao! You already ran down to the 3rd floor, why did you go back up? Wuwu… If something had happened to you, my conscience would have been troubled for the rest of my life!”

Duan Bainian’s expression was complicated. “You went back up… was it to find me?”

Su Miao’s face was flushed, and she panted as she said, “I didn’t see you in the crowd of people going downstairs. I was worried you hadn’t made it out, so I went back. Luckily, I did. Hehe.”

Duan Bainian looked at the fool in front of her. She still had that shy look, yet one could still see a trace of a proud expression.

Because she felt she had done something very impressive.

Duan Bainian laughed inwardly. This fool really wrote everything on her face.

She patted the fool’s head, her eyes full of sincerity. “Thank you, Su Miao.”

Su Miao froze. She touched the spot Duan Bainian had just touched in disbelief. “Ah? No need to thank me, no need to thank me.”

Xiao Yuan also spoke up somewhat awkwardly, “We really have to thank you. Otherwise, my Sis and I might have perished in the sea of fire.”

Su Miao’s face turned even redder. “Actually, the fire didn’t seem that big. Look at it now; the fire department has only been here for ten minutes, and the fire is already under control.”

Duan Bainian smiled and said, “Of course I have to thank you. Looking at this situation, we won’t be able to go back for a while. Are you hungry? How about I treat you to a late-night snack?”

Su Miao widened her eyes. “You’re treating me to a late-night snack?”

Duan Bainian said with a beaming smile, “Are you going or not?”

Su Miao was happy yet shy. “I’m going.”

At one o’clock in the morning, at a barbecue shop.

Duan Bainian ordered a table full of grilled skewers. “Is it enough? Tell me if it’s not.”

Su Miao said softly, “It’s enough, it’s enough.”

Duan Bainian took a sip of hot water and said, “First, I’ll apologize to you.”

Su Miao was stunned. “Apologize for what?”

Duan Bainian chose her words carefully. “I shouldn’t have said that I hate you.”

Su Miao’s expression was embarrassed. “I snatched your role; it’s only right that you hate me.”

Duan Bainian smiled. “But you also saved me. So, doesn’t that mean it’s also right for me to like you?”

Su Miao was so stunned she even forgot to chew. “Ah? You like me?”

Duan Bainian burst out laughing. This fool’s mental circuits were probably truly different from ordinary people. She was only making an analogy; she didn’t expect the fool to only hear the four words “I like you.”

Duan Bainian didn’t bother to explain. “Anyway, I don’t hate you at all now. On the contrary, I think you are very cute.”

Su Miao’s face turned red again. “You think I’m very cute?”

Duan Bainian couldn’t help but tease her. “Why does your face turn red so easily?”

Su Miao felt like her face was about to burn up. She pretended not to hear Duan Bainian’s words and buried her head in eating.

Duan Bainian smiled and changed the subject. “How old are you this year?”

Su Miao: “19.”

Duan Bainian was somewhat surprised. She had originally thought Su Miao only looked young because of her baby face; she hadn’t expected her to actually be that young.

“At 19, shouldn’t you be in school? How did you end up filming?”

Su Miao swallowed the meat in her mouth. “The university I attend is terrible. It doesn’t matter if I go or not; I can get the graduation certificate eventually anyway.”

Duan Bainian: “What university? Let’s see if I’ve heard of it.”

Su Miao glanced at Duan Bainian. “I’d better not say. It’s a really trashy university; you definitely wouldn’t know it.”

Duan Bainian didn’t press her. “Then why did you come to act? Honestly, you are very shy; you aren’t really suitable for acting.”

Su Miao involuntarily frowned. “It’s not that I absolutely had to come to act. My mom said that going to that university was a waste of time, so I might as well do something else. She said that besides being a bit good-looking, I’m not good at anything else. After thinking it over, she sent me to try acting because she felt that if I was lucky, I could be a ‘vase’ (eye candy). She said if acting doesn’t work out, she’ll send me to try something else.”

Duan Bainian thought to herself that this fool’s mother had a very clear view of her own daughter.

She asked again, “Then how do you feel about acting these past two days?”

Su Miao let out a small sigh. “I might really not be suitable. Originally, I wanted to tell my mom I wanted to go home, but I’m afraid she’ll scold me. So much money was spent; if I just stop filming whenever I want, my mom will definitely be unhappy.”

Duan Bainian was speechless for a moment.

This was truly a case of some people calculating every penny while others didn’t care at all.

A person like Su Miao was destined to be happier than ordinary people.

Duan Bainian poured some hot water for Su Miao. “Come find me to go over your lines as usual from now on, okay?”

Su Miao was somewhat hesitant. “Would it be a trouble to you?”

Duan Bainian teased her intentionally. “You’re so cute, how could you be a trouble to me?”

The little fool’s face turned red again as expected, and her voice was as quiet as a mosquito. “You… you shouldn’t say things like that.”

She looked exactly like a virtuous maiden being flirted with.

Duan Bainian couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This fool was truly too fun.