What Should I do After Binding the Wrong System and the Female Lead comes Knocking at my Door? - Chapter 19

Most of the preparations for the production are nearly done, the money will be in place soon, and now it’s time to wait for those little stars from the entertainment industry to come and fight for the roles.

Why didn’t Pei Yuanxi hold auditions for the actors?

She knew that after the dinner, the big shots in the entertainment industry would definitely have their artists come to her. After all, they had already invested money, and she couldn’t guarantee they would make a profit without giving the financial backers a chance to “piggyback” on some awards.

Of course, Pei Yuanxi was fine with letting the little stars ride the coattails for the awards, but there was one condition—she had to be impressed with them. For example, someone like Xie Ying, who was a fool in Pei Yuanxi’s eyes, would never even get a glance from her.

The fact that the big shots didn’t bring up the matter at the dinner was because they didn’t know what kind of impression their artists left on Pei Yuanxi. If she rejected them in front of everyone, it would be extremely embarrassing.

So, now they were letting the little stars reach out to Pei Yuanxi on their own.

It was their opportunity, and if they succeeded, they would be able to stick around and gain some awards; if they failed, it wouldn’t be Pei Yuanxi’s face that was lost. This was the true mentality of the big shots.

Sure enough, ever since Pei Yuanxi woke up from Gu Qing’s bed, her phone hadn’t stopped ringing. After rejecting a few calls, it finally became quiet.

Just when she was enjoying the breakfast that Gu Qing had prepared for her, her phone suddenly rang again. Pei Yuanxi glanced at it, grinned, and eagerly answered the call, not even giving the other person a chance to speak. She said first, “Hello, Wenwen, come quickly, I’ve already reserved a role for you!”

Gu Qing, who was eating breakfast next to her, paused.

But Pei Yuanxi continued chatting with the woman on the phone, seemingly unaware of Gu Qing’s reaction.

“Of course, it’s an important role, don’t worry! Ah, don’t ask so many questions, just come early, alright, it’s settled, bye~”

After hanging up, Pei Yuanxi happily took a big sip of her porridge.

Gu Qing glanced at her. “Wenwen… who is that?”

Pei Yuanxi, knowing that Gu Qing wasn’t familiar with other celebrities in the entertainment industry, explained, “Her name is Wen Liang, a very dedicated actress, from a family of traditional opera performers, and she’s really pretty too.”

Gu Qing lowered her eyes. When she heard the name “Wen Liang,” she immediately knew who she was.

Gu Qing had often seen a woman in the films she watched late at night after following Pei Yuanxi. The first few times, she didn’t think much of it, but after seeing her a few times, she started to find it odd. She then went to look up who she was and found out the woman’s name was Wen Liang.

Pei Yuanxi had a lot of fans for her onscreen pairings. Every time she filmed a movie, there were one or two fan clubs for her with other people. Since Pei Yuanxi and Wen Liang frequently collaborated, their CP fans far outpaced the others, and they called it the “Perfect Pair CP.”

Gu Qing even went into the fan group for this “Perfect Pair CP” once, and it was filled with all sorts of comments like “I ship it!” and “I can’t handle this!” along with fan fiction. After quickly scanning through it, she reported the content, but unfortunately, her report didn’t go through.

“Are you close to her?”

Pei Yuanxi raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Of course, she’s my first real friend in the entertainment industry. When I first entered the industry, she helped me a lot. What’s even rarer is that after my identity was exposed, she still treated me the same as before.”

Gu Qing took a deep breath and asked, “Which role did you reserve for her, Xi?”

“Definitely not Xi!” Pei Yuanxi quickly responded. “That role is definitely for me!”

Gu Qing finally let out a breath of relief. She had a feeling that Wen Liang might have some ulterior motives, and if they were to act in a scene together, especially playing rival lovers, she wasn’t sure if she could still pull off that subtle, almost-flirty dynamic.

But before Gu Qing could relax completely, she heard Pei Yuanxi say, “She’ll play your boyfriend.”

Gu Qing: ???

Pei Yuanxi, seeing Gu Qing’s confused expression, chuckled and said, “Her face has a mix of feminine and masculine traits, very elegant. I thought she’d be perfect for playing your boyfriend. The idea actually came from you when you cross-dressed as a man in that short drama.”

Gu Qing: …

At that moment, Gu Qing found herself getting irritated by Pei Yuanxi’s teasing expression.

She forced herself to calm down, telling herself that as long as Pei Yuanxi and she got to act in the final scene together, it should be fine.

“Are you not worried about how people will react when they see her playing such a scumbag role?” Gu Qing asked.

Pei Yuanxi laughed, “If a man played the scumbag role, there’s a chance the audience would end up hating him. But since Wen Liang is a woman, even if she plays the scumbag well, no one will hate her for it. Instead, they’ll praise her more and it will broaden her acting range.”

Gu Qing listened quietly, but then couldn’t help asking, “Pei Yuanxi, are you this nice to everyone?”

She had originally thought that Pei Yuanxi was her little sun, but now hearing her consider another woman this much, she felt a little uneasy.

Pei Yuanxi was taken aback for a moment, then laughed, “Of course not. Wen Liang is my truly recognized friend in the entertainment industry. That’s why I think of her like this.”

“And what about me? Is it the same because I’m your good friend?” Gu Qing asked, biting her lip. She had already prepared herself for Pei Yuanxi to say the right thing.

But what she didn’t expect was that Pei Yuanxi immediately countered, “Aren’t we a couple?”

Gu Qing’s eyes flickered. “W-What?”

Pei Yuanxi sighed, “A contractual relationship is still a kind of relationship. Although I told you not to treat it as a serious contract, if we didn’t have this agreement, we wouldn’t be sitting here having breakfast together.”

“Fate, the greatest thing arranged by heaven,” she added, smiling. “So, no matter the reason we’re together now, since we’re here, I’ll cherish this connection.”

Pei Yuanxi’s mention of fate wasn’t what Gu Qing was thinking—she had assumed it referred to their love agreement, but in Pei Yuanxi’s mind, it was all due to the system.

Pei Yuanxi believed that if it wasn’t for the system binding them together, she would never have known Gu Qing was a traveler, and she wouldn’t have agreed to the contract when Gu Qing approached her out of curiosity. That also meant there would have been no shared bed or care between them.

But fate loves to play tricks. The system, this ridiculous AI, had bound the wrong person, which led them down this path, and their relationship kept growing.

Pei Yuanxi didn’t know what Gu Qing’s life was like in the world she came from, but she could guess it wasn’t easy. That’s why Gu Qing developed such a personality and mindset.

By now, Pei Yuanxi had also noticed the subtle possessiveness Gu Qing had for her. But what did it matter?

Gu Qing had never experienced “love” in her original world. Now, having traveled to this completely foreign world, Pei Yuanxi could see that, in a way, Gu Qing was silently asking for help.

She didn’t want to watch Gu Qing spiral into nihilism, so she responded to each of those silent pleas, trying to fill the tiny crack in Gu Qing’s heart with warmth.

And Pei Yuanxi was right—fate, arranged by heaven, was the greatest of all.

She believed in that, which is why she had never resisted Gu Qing’s closeness from the start.

Gu Qing, on the other hand, didn’t know what Pei Yuanxi was truly thinking. She assumed everything had started because of their love agreement, and as Pei Yuanxi spoke, she began to reflect on herself. Ever since Pei Yuanxi treated her so kindly, it had almost become an expectation, which made her possessiveness feel almost pathological.

She wanted to apologize but didn’t know where to begin. She feared that revealing her feelings might push Pei Yuanxi away, but if she said nothing, it wouldn’t be fair to her either.

So Gu Qing looked down and mumbled, “Yuanxi… that agreement doesn’t need to wait until I pay off the money before we end it. You should have the right to terminate it at any time. I will still pay you back.”

After waiting a while, Gu Qing didn’t hear Pei Yuanxi respond. She looked up and found Pei Yuanxi grinning at her.

Gu Qing felt embarrassed, quickly looking away.

“What are you laughing at?” she asked.

Pei Yuanxi leaned closer, poking Gu Qing’s head.

“Gu Xiaoqing, didn’t we agree that you wouldn’t bring up the money thing again? I remember I said… Oh, I remember now—if you mention it again, I’ll ignore you, right?”

“Don’t!”

Pei Yuanxi, however, was not satisfied. She leaned in closer to Gu Qing’s ear and asked, “Don’t what?”

Gu Qing didn’t respond but turned her head to look at Pei Yuanxi.

What Pei Yuanxi saw was Gu Qing’s eyes welling up with tears, droplets like pearls falling down her face.

Gu Qing bit her lip, her expression making Pei Yuanxi’s heart skip a beat.

Pei Yuanxi quickly cupped Gu Qing’s face, gently squeezing it. Gu Qing’s lips puffed up, and Pei Yuanxi couldn’t help but laugh, soothing her, “Look, you’ve bitten your lips so hard they’re bleeding. Don’t cry, okay? Be good~”

Perhaps it was because Gu Qing’s pouty lips looked so adorable, Pei Yuanxi couldn’t stop herself from rubbing her face.

Gu Qing was so frustrated by Pei Yuanxi’s playfulness that she laughed, wiping her tears and resting a while. Then she looked at Pei Yuanxi, gazing at her intently.

Pei Yuanxi combed her hair. “What’s wrong?”

Gu Qing took a deep breath, resting her head on Pei Yuanxi’s shoulder. She whispered, “Don’t ignore me.”

“If you want me to pay attention to you, just pout for me~”

“Go away!”