The Stand-in is Exceptionally Clingy [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 26.1

Chapter 26.1: The CEO and Her Canary

◎Where Did She Move?◎

The problem of where to live didn’t last long, because Jian Ke was about to join a new film crew. Since filming wrapped for Sea of Fog, Jian Ke had been resting for almost three months, aside from interviews and commercial shoots. There were many scripts that came her way during this time, but because Wang Qiu’s standards for selecting scripts had become much stricter, none of them were a good fit.

Wang Qiu: “It’s better to wait a little longer than to accept a bad project and ruin the reputation we’ve worked so hard to build.”

The response to Sea of Fog was excellent. Not only did Jian Ke gain countless fans, but she also built a solid reputation among the general public.

She was the type of person who people might not know by name, but they would have a good impression of her. Originally, the company’s plan for her career was more of a “consecutive projects” strategy, taking on several projects a year with less-than-strict quality requirements, but they had to have a “selling point.”

That way, within three years, Jian Ke would quickly rise to fame in the entertainment industry and become a second or third-tier celebrity.

But after Sea of Fog, her star-making team suddenly realized that their original plan might not work. This was because most of Jian Ke’s fans, “Kola fans,” were fans of her acting and her looks.

Unlike idol fans who love to create hype and rank their idols, the Kola fans’ favorite thing to do was watch the show, admire her beauty, and live a peaceful, low-effort lifestyle, focusing on “retirement-style” happiness. They would either check into her fan group and praise her beauty or demand new projects in all sorts of creative ways.

“Another day being emotionally hurt by bad acting. @JianKe, when are you filming a new show? Do I have to keep re-watching Sea of Fog to cleanse my eyes?”

“I heard you’ve signed another brand endorsement. @JianKe, to be fair, the shoot was beautiful. But instead of posing and showing off your figure, when are you going to give us the good news that you’ve joined a new crew?!”

“I’ve seen at least five marketing accounts post about you joining a new crew. @JianKe, I can only happily watch the drama unfold. If you don’t announce your new project officially, they’ll just keep using you for clicks.”

What more could career fans want besides a good show? Oh, right, they wanted their artist to refuse bad projects. It was no joke how much more her career fans cared about her future than she did. So, after three months of searching, Jian Ke finally got a brand-new script.

The filming location was in a desolate forest in the suburbs of Lidcheng. Because there would be a lot of real-life fight scenes, Jian Ke needed to attend training first.

To be closer to the training base, she rented a nearby house and moved out of Jingxiu Garden on the same day. The villa in Jingxiu Garden was huge, with many guest rooms. Shu Yu and Jian Ke lived on the same floor, but one was on the east side and the other on the west.

Jian Ke carried her bags and suitcases up and down the stairs. Knowing Lou Bianxia disliked strangers coming in and out of Jingxiu Garden, she didn’t ask a moving company to come in, but instead parked the car at the entrance.

Most of her luggage was clothes. Although she hadn’t been living there for a year, the previously empty walk-in closet was now packed. Jian Ke looked at the clothes neatly arranged by color, her fingers tracing the shoulder lines of each garment before she paused.

She suddenly remembered that a few days ago, Lou Bianxia had told her that she would knock down the wall of the adjacent room to create another walk-in closet for her.

When she first signed the contract and moved in, Jian Ke deliberately chose the smallest guest room on the floor because she thought she wouldn’t be staying for long and would eventually have to leave. Later, without realizing it, more and more things piled up in the room, making the space feel much smaller. Lou Bianxia had asked her to move to a bigger room, but she had always refused with the excuse of “being too lazy to move.” When you live in a place for a long time, you really do start to feel a sense of belonging. Now, watching the room slowly become empty, Jian Ke felt a little sad to leave.

But in reality, for all the time she’d been there, Jian Ke had spent more nights in Lou Bianxia’s room than in her own.

Their passionate lovemaking would always last a long time. They would whisper sweet nothings to each other, their tears of joy falling like a sweet rain on a slick surface.

After their tender moments, she would carry a tired and lazy Lou Bianxia out of the bathroom, into the deep night. Jian Ke would nestle beside Lou Bianxia and whine playfully, “I’m sleepy, I don’t want to go downstairs.” At first, Lou Bianxia would close her eyes and weakly push her away, but later, she just let her be.

Oh, right, I think I have a lot of clothes still in Lou Bianxia’s closet! —Never mind, there’s too much to take. Lou Bianxia will probably just get rid of them.

Carrying a huge stuffed animal downstairs, Jian Ke saw Shu Yu sitting on the sofa, drinking milk. The milk that would make Jian Ke dizzy with just one sip, Shu Yu could drink half a cup of in one go, twice a day without fail. That’s great, it’s good for both nutrition and skin.

“Are you moving out?” Shu Yu looked at the pile of luggage at the bottom of the stairs with surprise.

Jian Ke: “Yes. I’ve stayed at Ms. Lou’s for so long, it’s time for me to move out.”

Shu Yu’s expression was complicated as she put her milk on the table and walked over to help.

Jian Ke had told Shu Yu that she was a “poor student” Lou Bianxia was sponsoring and that she was staying at Lou Bianxia’s house because she was poor. This reason sounded a little ridiculous. But before Jian Ke could come up with more creative details for her story, Shu Yu nodded and said with a sympathetic look, “You must have had a very hard time these past few years.”

She… just believed me? She hadn’t even mentioned her alcoholic, gambling father or her biased mother who would chase her for money to give to her younger brother. Jian Ke was suspicious. Looking at Shu Yu’s calm and natural reaction, she had a feeling that the white moonlight might already know about her real relationship with Lou Bianxia. She might even know that Lou Bianxia was using her as a substitute, but was simply playing along.

But Jian Ke thought again. Shu Yu had just returned to the country and probably didn’t even know that Lou Bianxia liked women. If she had known about Lou Bianxia’s feelings for her, she probably would have run away by now. How could she be sitting here as if nothing had happened? I must be overthinking things.

After all her luggage was packed into the car, Jian Ke cheerfully said goodbye to Shu Yu. She thought to herself: This third wheel is now officially leaving. You and Lou Bianxia must work on your intimacy rating!

Shu Yu looked at Jian Ke’s sincere smile and hesitated before saying, “If you have any difficulties in the future… you can come to me.”

From her observations, Jian Ke’s inexplicable enthusiasm for her didn’t seem fake. It felt more like… the acceptance of a painful reality.

Yes, she was convinced of it. Otherwise, there was no other way to explain why Jian Ke would be so eager to befriend her and even move out of Jingxiu Garden. She had realized that since the “real deal” had returned, she was no longer needed and had chosen to let go gracefully. Shu Yu asked herself if she could be as free and decisive as Jian Ke.

Shu Yu: Making a decision like this must have been difficult for her.

“Although my connections can’t compare to Senior’s, one of my uncles is a director with some reputation in the industry. I’ll ask him to keep an eye out for you.” Although she didn’t know what kind of arrangement Lou Bianxia and Jian Ke had, strictly speaking, it was Lou Bianxia’s fault.

Jian Ke was confused, not understanding why Shu Yu was saying this. Then she remembered the “inspirational” persona she had created for herself and quickly put on her acting skills. She forced a sad smile, her eyes showing a hint of sourness, but with an unyielding glimmer of strength. “Thank you so much, Sister Shu Yu. I will keep persevering on my path.”

Jian Ke: She’s such a good person.

Shu Yu: She’s such a good person.

…

When Lou Bianxia returned, she was still thinking about telling Shu Yu to move out.

After all, she was a person who was going to get engaged next month. It wouldn’t be appropriate for her to stay here… She hadn’t taken Jian Ke’s words seriously.

The Li and Shu families were family friends. Li Yao and Shu Yu had been engaged since they were children and had grown up together. Lou Bianxia had seen how they interacted. They were a perfect match, a beautiful couple, and their relationship was deep. It wasn’t something an outsider could easily interfere with.

Li Yao loved Shu Yu very much, and she could see that. Their marriage would likely be happy and intimate.

Therefore, she of course had to keep her distance from Shu Yu.

A first love, a white moonlight, could only be admired from afar. Lou Bianxia got a little carried away in her thoughts, but she didn’t seem to realize that her actions were simply making up excuses. Thinking about the girl’s actions last night, her head started to hurt again. She would have to drag that girl over and pinch her face until she was all soft and pliable.

The aroma of food drifted from the kitchen. Lou Bianxia thought it was Jian Ke experimenting with a new dish again. “You have to blanch and marinate the meat beforehand. Yesterday…” Her words stopped. In the kitchen, Shu Yu, wearing an apron, turned her head and looked at Lou Bianxia with a gentle gaze. “Senior, you’re back. Dinner will be ready soon.”

Lou Bianxia gave a stiff smile. “Shu Yu, why are you cooking?”

Shu Yu: “Since I’ve already tasted your cooking, of course, I have to let you taste mine.”

When the food was on the table, Shu Yu chatted, “I was forced to learn how to cook during all those years abroad. I really couldn’t get used to their food, and my sense of smell almost went bad…” Lou Bianxia nodded to show she was listening, but her eyes kept glancing upstairs. There was no movement from upstairs. “Jian Ke still hasn’t come down. She’s probably having too much fun and forgot the time. I’ll go call her.”

Shu Yu was stunned. “Jian Ke moved out. Didn’t she tell you?” For a moment, Lou Bianxia didn’t understand the meaning of “moved out.”

“Is she traveling for work to join a film crew? I think I heard her assistant say something about it…” But it shouldn’t be today.

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