I Love Her Because She’s Dim-Witted And Filthy Rich - Chapter 57

Su Miao never expected to encounter Duan Bainian at her own front door.

The weather was gradually getting warmer, so she would take Ergou out for a stroll every morning before the temperature rose.

At this moment, Ergou was affectionately rubbing its head against Duan Bainian. Meanwhile, Duan Bainian was reaching out a hand, quietly waiting for her.

The familiar scent of perfume drifted into her nostrils bit by bit. Su Miao stood frozen in place, neither reaching out nor speaking.

Duan Bainian’s hand grew tired from holding it up. “Give me a hand up, alright?”

Despite the summer heat, Su Miao couldn’t help but shiver. Snapping back to her senses, she said flusteredly, “You… get up yourself. I have things to do, I’m going back now.”

With that, she scooped up the cat and ran back into the yard without looking back.

Inside the house, He Aizhi, who had returned to grab some documents, frowned at the sight of her panicked daughter. “What did you run into? Why are you scared like this?”

Su Miao waved her hand subconsciously. “Nothing, just a Teddy dog out front that kept trying to bite the cat, so I hugged it and ran home.”

He Aizhi was busy heading to the company and didn’t bother asking further before leaving.

Around the corner outside the yard, Duan Bainian was filled with disappointment. She stood dazed for a moment before walking a short distance to her car.

Su Miao’s reaction truly left her at a loss.

She had thought the most difficult part would be He Aizhi, but now, why did it feel like Su Miao was the hardest problem to solve?

The once clingy Su Miao now avoided her like the plague.

A phone call interrupted her thoughts.

She had a lunch meeting scheduled for today, and looking at the time, it was almost time to go.

Glancing up at Su Miao’s house, Duan Bainian decided she would continue to stake out the place tomorrow morning. When she finally caught her again, she wouldn’t let Su Miao run away without saying a word.

However, the reality was that for three consecutive mornings, she never saw Su Miao again.

She hesitated, wondering if Su Miao had changed her cat-walking time, so she switched to staking out in the evening.

But she still couldn’t find her.

Duan Bainian realized something was wrong. In this heat, no one would walk a cat in the middle of the day.

Could it be that Su Miao wasn’t home?

She had someone check Su Miao’s recent schedule and discovered… she had already joined a film crew several days ago.

Su Miao had taken on a new Xianxia (fantasy) drama, playing the best friend of the female lead.

An Qiu had introduced her to this role; An Qiu was the female lead.

Su Miao’s mindset lately was very nuanced.

She wanted to act because she was gradually finding a sense of accomplishment in it.

But she didn’t want to get roles because of her mother.

So she had rested at home for two months. On one hand, she was in a bad mood and didn’t want to move; on the other hand, without her mother’s arrangements, there truly weren’t many scripts coming her way.

A while ago, An Qiu mentioned there was a “best friend” role—a true “silly, sweet, and righteous” character who would surely draw tears from the audience in the later stages. Though the screen time wasn’t much—only two or three minutes per episode—An Qiu asked if she wanted it.

Having a role to play, and a decent one at that, without relying on her mother’s connections, Su Miao naturally accepted it gladly.

This day, as usual, Su Miao finished her makeup and sat to the side, quietly waiting for her scenes.

She took out her script and recited her lines to herself, finding that she forgot a few words in certain places.

Just as she was about to go through them a second time, she heard a voice from above her. “Memorizing lines?”

She looked up instinctively. A pair of beautiful eyes were looking at her with a smile. “Do you need me to help you run lines?”

Seeing it was Duan Bainian, Su Miao subconsciously took a step back, nearly falling off her chair. “You… why are you here?”

Duan Bainian sat in the chair next to her. “I’m here for a cameo.”

Only then did Su Miao notice that Duan Bainian was dressed in the robes of an ordinary disciple.

Su Miao hesitated for a moment and stood up. “I’m about to film, I’m going over now.”

Duan Bainian grabbed her. “I asked the director; your scenes aren’t until the afternoon. Going over now means just waiting around. You might as well rest here for a bit.”

Su Miao: “…”

Duan Bainian took the opportunity to pull Su Miao back down into the chair. “I see you’re not very familiar with your lines. Let me help you run them.”

Su Miao pulled her hand away and whispered, “No need.”

Duan Bainian smiled. “Fine, go through them yourself then.” She then changed the subject. “What do you want to eat after work this afternoon? I’ll take you out.”

Su Miao kept her head down, aimlessly scribbling on her script. “You… don’t come looking for me anymore. I don’t want to have contact with you.”

Duan Bainian froze for a second, but her smile turned even more tender. “Are you still angry with me? How about I apologize to you?”

Su Miao retreated further. “You don’t need to apologize. Just don’t come looking for me.”

Duan Bainian grabbed Su Miao’s shoulders, forcing Su Miao to look directly at her. “Su Miao, do you still like me now?”

Caught by the shoulders, Su Miao’s whole body went stiff. She dazed for a few seconds before forcefully pushing Duan Bainian’s hands away. “I don’t like you anymore, so don’t come looking for me. I don’t want to see you.”

Duan Bainian’s heart suddenly sank, but a moment later, she smiled. “Impossible. If you didn’t like me, why is your body so stiff right now?”

Su Miao was both angry and annoyed. So she was supposed to like Duan Bainian?

She suddenly stood up. “Duan Bainian, can you stop being so narcissistic? I said I don’t like you, and I mean it.”

Duan Bainian let go and stared calmly at the person in front of her. “You don’t like me anymore? Then who do you like now?”

Su Miao said indignantly, “I’ll like anyone but you.”

Duan Bainian smiled. “I’ll come find you after work tonight.” With that, she turned to leave.

Su Miao grabbed Duan Bainian’s arm. “I said I don’t like you, don’t you understand? Don’t come looking for me!”

Duan Bainian just smiled at Su Miao and didn’t speak.

Su Miao steeled her heart and said, “I like An Qiu now. The two of us will be together very soon, so don’t come looking for me anymore.”

The smile slowly froze on Duan Bainian’s face. “Is what you’re saying true?”

Su Miao: “True.”

Duan Bainian stood still for a moment, then regained her smile. “I’m just inviting you to dinner tonight, don’t overthink it. See you tonight.”

Watching Duan Bainian leave, Su Miao felt a surge of frustration she couldn’t vent.

She sat down without a word and forced herself to start memorizing lines again.

Duan Bainian returned to her trailer and began thinking about what to do next.

Her schedule didn’t allow her to cameo in this production for long; she had to continue recording that reality show in a couple of days.

As she was thinking, she saw someone pass by outside the trailer in her peripheral vision.

Duan Bainian opened the door and greeted, “An Qiu.”

An Qiu looked back instinctively, surprised. “Duan Bainian? Why are you here?”

Looking at Duan Bainian’s costume, An Qiu was even more astonished. “Did they write in a special part for you? No, that’s not right. At your level, you shouldn’t be playing anything other than the female lead.”

Duan Bainian smiled warmly. “I’m just doing a cameo, only staying for two days.”

An Qiu nodded. “Then you get to work. I’m going back to my car to sleep for a bit; I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Duan Bainian suddenly asked, “The movie Feng Shan Jian is currently casting. Are you interested?”

An Qiu looked at Duan Bainian hesitantly. “I heard the competition for that movie is quite fierce lately. Why are you suddenly telling me this?”

Duan Bainian didn’t answer but asked instead, “You and Su Miao, the two of you…” After a moment of hesitation, Duan Bainian still asked, “I heard you say last time that you like Su Miao?”

An Qiu was instantly amused. Last time she had just been making things up; Duan Bainian seemed like a smart person, how could she believe that?

She was about to deny it but then felt something was off. Guardedly, she asked, “Why are you asking this?”

Duan Bainian smiled. “Nothing much. You know Su Miao and I are having a conflict. I want to reconcile with her now, and I need an ally. I thought, if you don’t actually like her, you could help me out. Of course, I won’t let you help for nothing. I can help you secure a role in Feng Shan Jian.”

There was such a good deal?

An Qiu immediately said, “My relationship with Su Miao is perfectly normal!”

Duan Bainian quietly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “That’s good. Then, can you help me? Just… try to persuade Su Miao when there’s nothing else going on. Um… Su Miao is quite sensitive, so try not to be too obvious when you advise her.”

An Qiu asked back, “But Feng Shan Jian is a big production. Why can you help me get a role? Aren’t you going for it yourself?”

Duan Bainian: “The female lead is already set—it’s me. I can recommend you for the second female lead. I have a good relationship with the investors, so there shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

An Qiu blinked and smiled mischievously. “Okay~ deal reached~ Come, let’s add each other on WeChat. We can contact each other anytime if there are issues.”

Having exposed Su Miao’s lie, Duan Bainian felt significantly better.

In the afternoon, she professionally finished her scenes and then quietly waited for Su Miao to finish work.

When Su Miao returned to the rest area and saw Duan Bainian waiting there, she was instantly annoyed. “Why are you still here?”

Duan Bainian smiled. “Didn’t we agree? I’m taking you to dinner.”

Su Miao said stiffly, “I have a date with An Qiu tonight, I don’t have time to eat with you.”

Duan Bainian gave a long “Oh.” “Then call An Qiu over and see if she’s willing to go to dinner with you.”

Su Miao didn’t think too deeply about Duan Bainian’s meaning. She happened to want to use An Qiu to get Duan Bainian to stop looking for her. So, she sent An Qiu a WeChat message asking her to come over.

Seeing the two of them standing together, An Qiu’s expression was momentarily strange, but she quickly returned to normal.

She asked Su Miao, “What is it? Is something wrong?”

Su Miao took An Qiu’s arm. “I told Duan Bainian that we like each other and that we have a date tonight. She won’t believe it. Tell her, is it true?”

An Qiu instinctively looked at Duan Bainian. Duan Bainian was looking at her with a face full of smiles.

An Qiu looked at Su Miao conflictedly, thinking, Little Miao Miao, don’t blame me.

When An Qiu didn’t speak for a long time, Su Miao thought An Qiu didn’t understand her meaning. She secretly poked An Qiu in the back. “Quick, tell her, are we going on a date tonight?”

Duan Bainian also chimed in, “An Qiu, are the two of you going on a date tonight?”

An Qiu subtly pulled her arm out of Su Miao’s grasp and smiled. “Su Miao, you must have remembered wrong. I have to video call my partner every night; how would I have time to date you?”

Su Miao was dumbstruck.

She still thought An Qiu didn’t understand her meaning and hurriedly blinked to signal her. “What are you talking about? Where did you get a partner?”

An Qiu took two steps back. “My partner is rushing me. I’m leaving first, Bye~”

Watching An Qiu leave, Su Miao turned around to find Duan Bainian looking at her with a broad smile.

She immediately became embarrassed and angry. “You’re crazy!”

Instead of being upset by the insult, Duan Bainian’s smile became even more pronounced. “Yes, I’m crazy. As long as you’re happy, you can say whatever you want.”

Su Miao looked at Duan Bainian with uncertainty and suspicion, thinking to herself: This person definitely has something wrong with them.