The Movie Queen And Her Rival Just Went Public! - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“You heard right, that’s the only requirement.”

“They want you to sleep in the same bed and experience a couple’s life.”

Su Cancan froze, the smile instantly stiffening on her face.

She shook her head. No.

Seeing her reaction, Liu Yi-Min rubbed the tip of her nose, trying to stifle a laugh: “Look how scared you are. Alright, I’m just kidding.”

“The production team said to try and immerse yourselves in the role to experience a couple’s life. There won’t be excessive demands. The script will be sent out before filming starts. I’ve set the signing for the day after tomorrow afternoon, which is your day off.”

Su Cancan breathed a sigh of relief, lunged over to lightly punch Liu Yi-Min’s shoulder, and pouted, “You just love scaring and exploiting me!”

Xiao Ke, who hadn’t figured out how to join the conversation, glanced left and right, then quietly shut her mouth.

…

Two days flew by in an instant.

The day for signing the contract with the FOR U production team was gloomy and rainy. The black minivan sped along the city avenue. The tall buildings were shrouded in thick, dark clouds. Looking out the window through the privacy film, everything was grey and lifeless, much like Su Cancan’s heavy heart.

“Sigh.”

The car navigation announced that the destination was eight hundred meters straight ahead. A sigh came from the back seat.

Liu Yi-Min in the passenger seat turned to look. Su Cancan was curled up in the back seat, her small face hidden in the shadow of her baseball cap. The exposed skin was fair and translucent, and she exuded an air of gloom, looking unapproachable and warning people not to bother her.

The traffic light turned green, and the minivan stopped smoothly before the signal. The driver, Xiao Wu, glanced in the rearview mirror and reminded her, “Sister Cancan, we’ll be there in two minutes.”

“Turn left. I’m not signing.”

Liu Yi-Min was shocked by her casual remark. Her heart skipped two beats, her brows furrowed, and her mouth half-open, she couldn’t speak. Xiao Ke was organizing Su Cancan’s documents and in her panic, cut her finger on the inside page of a passport. Blood beads rushed out immediately.

In the back seat, Su Cancan slowly lifted her head. Natural light fell upon her bare face. She looked around, curled her lips into a smile: “I’m just kidding. What are those expressions for?”

Liu Yi-Min sighed in relief and turned back to look at the road: “That’s good. If you suddenly backed out at this critical moment, Qian Wei-Yi would go crazy.”

Su Cancan fiddled with the lifted edge of the nail gel on her index finger. The transparent piece, which had been impossible to rub off when it was first applied and solidified, was now dangling. Annoyed, she pressed down with her fingertip and peeled the whole thing off, taking a piece of her natural nail with it, leaving white streaks.

It wasn’t a joke at all.

Su Cancan pouted. She just didn’t want to sign.

Before she could say more, the minivan arrived at the office building where the production team was located. This business district strictly controlled external vehicles. Xiao Wu registered the information and drove the car into the underground parking lot, circling once to park near the elevator. Xiao Ke, having stopped the bleeding by pressing the wound with a tissue, got out first to help Su Cancan.

As this was an unannounced itinerary, few in the industry knew, and the fans certainly didn’t. The three of them reached the eighth floor without any trouble. The elevator doors opened to reveal a young girl with a very sweet smile, holding a large bouquet of daisies.

“Hello, Teacher Su, I’m Minnie from the FOR U production team.” With that, she handed the bouquet to Su Cancan.

Su Cancan scanned the flowers subtly and felt a bit cheerier. They had done their homework; even if it was a lucky guess, the flowers were exactly what she liked.

“No need to be formal, just call me Cancan.” She stepped out of the elevator, took the bouquet, and smiled, “Please take us to the conference room.”

The dim light inside the elevator blurred Su Cancan’s expression. As the brightness changed, the bright white fluorescent light lifted the veil, revealing her delicate, impeccable features. Even without makeup, her smile was like a blossoming rose—fiery and intense, her beauty slightly aggressive and rushing forth.

“Ah, okay.” Even Minnie, who had dealt with hundreds of models and actors, was dazzled by her brilliance. She clapped her hands together and then set off, “Please follow me.”

Before arriving, Su Cancan thought it would be a huge production team, as they could offer such a high fee, they surely weren’t short on money. But upon arrival, she found that the company wasn’t very large, only occupying one floor of the office tower, a space of about two hundred square meters simply divided into four or five areas.

Minnie led them through the editing area. The phone in her pocket suddenly rang. She apologized sheepishly. Just as she was about to hang up, she saw the caller ID on the screen and covered the receiver, walking a couple of steps aside to answer.

Su Cancan, bored just standing, lazily looked around. This area was filled with young men and women of her age, all sitting in front of computers, staring at the screens and focusing on their work.

The importance of editing and post-production in a project was self-evident. Mass amounts of raw footage passed through their hands to become the final product, which would take many days and nights. She called Xiao Ke and had her order enough drinks and desserts for everyone.

After Xiao Ke placed the order, Minnie ended her call and proactively explained: “Excuse me, Sister Su, Sister Cancan, that was a call from Teacher Shen’s side. They ran into a stalker following their car and had to take a detour, so they might be a little late. We’ll have to trouble you to sit and wait for a moment.”

A stalker following the car—this was arguably an unavoidable factor. Su Cancan couldn’t find fault with it, but she was annoyed. She followed them to the conference room door, where a rebellious urge suddenly made her stop.

“Minnie, excuse me, where is the restroom? I’d like to go to the restroom first.”

The other party’s large eyes were dewy and filled with spring-like charm, and she smiled innocently. Minnie quickly pointed out the direction.

Liu Yi-Min sensed Su Cancan was expressing dissatisfaction. She gave her a deep look but let her leave, silently praying in her heart that today’s signing would go smoothly.

Su Cancan didn’t have any malicious intent. She simply didn’t want to arrive early and wait for Shen Luo-Yan. Firstly, it would be embarrassing, and secondly, it would make her look eager to grovel, even though it was the truth.

The restroom was empty. She casually walked into an empty stall, locked the door, and leaned against the partition to reply to messages from friends in the industry. After about ten minutes, she figured Shen Luo-Yan had probably arrived. Just as she was about to press the flush button to leave, she heard a very soft inquiry from outside.

“Is anyone here?”

Su Cancan was afraid that occupying an empty stall was inconveniencing someone. Her lips parted to reply, but the person outside cleared their throat and spoke again.

“Hello?”

“Hello? Ahem.”

“Hello, I am Shen Luo-Yan, and I am very happy to be working with you.”

Su Cancan: “…”

Was Shen Luo-Yan socially awkward? Was her usual composure just an act?

She rehearsed the same line several times, which was then suppressed by the sound of flowing water. Su Cancan held it in until she was certain Shen Luo-Yan had left before leisurely opening the door and walking out. She meticulously washed and wiped every drop of water from her hands in front of the mirror, took lipstick from her bag to touch up her red lips, and then followed her memory back to the conference room.

She pushed open the frosted glass door, and the staff in the conference room all turned to look at her.

The young company’s conference room lacked traditional formality. There were two rows of multi-person sofas along the long sides of the coffee table, currently seating members of both her and Shen Luo-Yan’s teams, with single-person sofas placed at each end. The light colors matched the overall decor style.

The young man sitting at the far end stood up when he saw her: “Teacher Su, please take a seat.”

Su Cancan did not look at him, her gaze sweeping past him and landing on the woman to his right.

The entertainment circle was filled with talent, and beautiful women of all types were countless. Seeing her today, she was indeed as everyone said—Shen Luo-Yan was different.

She was different; beautiful, yes, but her aura was especially cold, like cold ice yet like warm jade, distant and hard to decipher.

Looking closely at her face, the smooth facial lines had no major angles. Her nose bridge was straight, her double eyelids were narrow, and her eyes held a hint of aloofness. Wearing a hooded sweatshirt and short hair that just reached her collarbone, she looked more like a high school student at first glance.

Speaking of a high school student, she certainly was one. Only a well-behaved student would prepare for every important event, even if it was just a simple greeting. Su Cancan thought of the restroom incident and couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. She didn’t try to hide her amusement even under everyone’s scrutiny, her smiling eyes curving deeper.

Shen Luo-Yan was naturally looking at her, feigning calmness and indifference.

However, all her efforts were betrayed by her bobbing throat.

Su Cancan didn’t expose her pretense, taking a step to sit in the empty seat next to Liu Yi-Min.

With everyone seated, the man picked up the proposal on the table and handed it to her and Shen Luo-Yan, projecting a PPT: “Before signing the contract, allow me to introduce this project to both of you.”

“FOR U is a dating variety show aimed at young people. By showcasing the daily interactions of four couples in different stages of romance, we hope to let everyone feel love, learn to love, and try to love in their leisure time… The two of you are here to experience this. We don’t have a fixed script but have provided check-in tasks. We hope you two can complete them during the filming period.”

He then handed out two stacks of papers: “These are the contracts. Please take a look, teachers, and let us know if there are any issues or disagreements. Our goal today is to jointly discuss the best plan.”

After the contracts were distributed, the only sound left in the conference room was the rustling of paper. The contract had a few more clauses made concrete compared to the previous versions, and the filming location was also set—in the local city’s suburbs, which seemed to be decided with her subsequent work in mind.

Su Cancan’s contracts were always reviewed by Liu Yi-Min. She quickly flipped through it and handed it to Liu Yi-Min, then helped herself to the water pitcher on the table and poured a cup of water.

The man asked with his eyes. She pressed the paper cup to her lips, took a sip of water, and shook her head: “Professional matters are handled by professionals. I don’t usually look at contracts. If my manager says it’s okay, then it’s okay. I’ll bring up anything outside the contract later.”

The man understood. Opposite her, Shen Luo-Yan’s hand, flipping a page, paused.

Su Cancan’s casual attention shifted. Shen Luo-Yan was clearly gripping the contract tightly, the paper showing signs of wrinkling, and a few shallow veins slightly bulging on the back of her hand. It was subtle but not unnoticeable. She swallowed another mouthful of water and put down the paper cup stained with a red mark. Such a lack of composure wouldn’t do.

“I have no problem with it here.”

The sky gradually tore open a small gap, and the sun poured out, casting a few spots of light on the white wall. Shen Luo-Yan put down the contract, looked up, and met Su Cancan’s teasing eyes squarely.

Su Cancan had a clear conscience, letting her look without reservation. Liu Yi-Min whispered a few words in her ear. She raised an eyebrow and replied, “Same here.”

Receiving the answer, the man’s tension instantly dissipated. He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hands: “Good, no problems, good.”

He added, “If there are no problems, please sign on the last page. We’ll finalize the contract as soon as possible and proceed with the payment promptly.”