What Should I do After Binding the Wrong System and the Female Lead comes Knocking at my Door? - Chapter 22.1

Pei Yuanxi proactively comforted her: “It’s okay, don’t overthink it. At worst, we just won’t accept emotional scenes in the future.

To be honest, I feel that current film and television dramas always have to add emotional scenes regardless of the subject matter, and the audience is already tired of it. I think female centric dramas will be very popular in the future.”

Gu Qing suddenly grabbed Pei Yuanxi and stopped walking. She thoughtfully stared at Pei Yuanxi’s lips, which were still chattering non-stop.

After a moment, Gu Qing nodded: “That works.”

Pei Yuanxi smiled and said: “Right? Do you also agree with my female-centric drama viewpoint? That’s great, I’ll definitely choose fewer scripts with emotional scenes for you in the future.”

Gu Qing shook her head and quietly said: “What I mean by ‘that works’ is rehearsing with you before acting emotional scenes. That works.”

Pei Yuanxi: …

The next morning.

Pei Yuanxi was sitting on a small stool, intently watching Gu Qing filming from a distance.

After the official start of filming, Gu Qing became busy, while Pei Yuanxi’s scenes were scheduled much later. However, she couldn’t stop worrying about Gu Qing, so she stayed on set to watch her.

“Stop looking. Are you going to be able to conjure flowers by staring at her?”

Wen Liang also brought a small stool and sat beside Pei Yuanxi.

“Wen Wen, what do you think of A-Qing’s acting?” Even though she was talking to Wen Liang, Pei Yuanxi’s gaze remained fixed on Gu Qing.

Wen Liang sighed helplessly: “I said, you have a new person and you forget the old one, right? I’ve been here for a long time, and you haven’t even looked at me.”

Pei Yuanxi finally took her eyes off Gu Qing and looked at Wen Liang.

Wen Liang had already started her makeup test, and after some transformation, she had become a handsome and charming young man. (handsome and pretty/charming)

“Hiss…” Pei Yuanxi gasped in amazement: “Whose handsome young man is this?”

This wasn’t just to please Wen Liang; Pei Yuanxi was genuinely stunned. She hadn’t expected Wen Liang’s cross-gender look to be so effective.

Wen Liang finally smiled and puffed out her chest: “Do I need any adjustments?”

Pei Yuanxi looked her over and shook her head: “No need. You look exactly like a man.”

Wen Liang couldn’t help but punch Pei Yuanxi. Pei Yuanxi, unfazed, returned her gaze to Gu Qing in the distance.

Yet, she continued to babble to Wen Liang: “Wen Wen, what exactly happened between you and A-Qing that day? Why did your relationship suddenly become so good? A-Qing won’t tell me, and it makes me really curious.”

Wen Liang looked at Pei Yuanxi’s profile and chuckled: “She asked me if I liked you.”

Pei Yuanxi froze, turning her head to look at Wen Liang in disbelief.

Wen Liang nodded: “Yes, you didn’t mishear. She directly issued a challenge to me.”

“What… what did you answer?” Pei Yuanxi urgently pressed.

Wen Liang rolled her eyes, “What are you nervous about? Do you think I’d actually set you up?”

Before Pei Yuanxi could breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Wen Liang say, “I’ll say it, and you guess.”

Pei Yuanxi was about to lose it!

“How is that any different from just answering!”

Pei Yuanxi grabbed Wen Liang’s shoulders and started to shake her.

“Ah-ow… Ah-ow… Stop shaking! My head’s gonna fall off! Oh, I was just kidding!”

Finally, hearing that, Pei Yuanxi stopped shaking her and was about to let go when Wen Liang stopped her, “Don’t let go.”

Pei Yuanxi was stunned, “Why?”

“Let your A-Qing sneak a look for a little longer.”

Pei Yuanxi was so startled she immediately let go and sat up straight, glaring at Gu Qing in the distance. When she saw that Gu Qing hadn’t noticed them, she gritted her teeth and said, “Just you wait!”

Wen Liang smiled, “Don’t you think A-Qing looks cute when she’s jealous?”

Pei Yuanxi thought about it silently and conceded, “She is quite cute… But don’t change the subject! How exactly did you answer her?”

“I told her my plan.”

Pei Yuanxi frowned, “You told A-Qing?”

“Yes.”

Wen Liang wasn’t actually in love with her; the ambiguous feelings she’d shown were all an act.

Pei Yuanxi, like everyone else, had once genuinely thought Wen Liang liked her, but she only saw Wen Liang as her best friend.

To avoid giving Wen Liang false hope, she’d gone to clarify things, only to find that Wen Liang wasn’t disheartened by the rejection at all. Instead, she said happily, “That’s great. If I could even fool you, this whole thing is solid.”

At the time, Pei Yuanxi was completely bewildered, thinking Wen Liang was just putting on a brave face.

Wen Liang saw what Pei Yuanxi was thinking, rolled her eyes, and told her who she really liked.

Wen Liang was constantly acting around Pei Yuanxi in real life, so she naturally needed a frequent audience who was always by Pei Yuanxi’s side. Who could that audience be?

That’s right, it was Bai Zhou, the one who always believed she was as straight as a pole.

According to Wen Liang, she had been instantly smitten with Bai Zhou at first sight. To this day, Pei Yuanxi has reason to suspect Wen Liang only befriended her to get closer to Bai Zhou.

Neither Pei Yuanxi nor Wen Liang actually thought Bai Zhou was that straight, but it was hard to argue when Bai Zhou kept proclaiming her straightness.

Operating under the principle of watching the fun unfold, Pei Yuanxi proactively discussed the plan with Wen Liang.

The plan was simple: Wen Liang would keep up the act, absolutely needing Bai Zhou to genuinely believe Wen Liang was in love with Pei Yuanxi.

When the time was right, Pei Yuanxi would publicly reject Wen Liang, and Wen Liang would then, heartbroken, seek comfort from Bai Zhou.

A heart-to-heart talk naturally involves some drinking, doesn’t it? What Wen Liang planned next, once both were slightly tipsy, is best left unsaid.

In any case, if Bai Zhou was the iron straight woman she claimed to be, no amount of seduction from Wen Liang would lead to anything, and Wen Liang would finally give up.

But who was to say Bai Zhou wasn’t a “Schrödinger’s straight woman”?

What if?

What if Bai Zhou wasn’t as straight as she said and fell for Wen Liang’s scheme? If something happened, Bai Zhou would never escape Wen Liang’s grasp.

The plan had been going smoothly. Bai Zhou genuinely believed Wen Liang liked Pei Yuanxi. Then Gu Qing appeared, and Gu Qing was also taken in by Wen Liang’s superb acting.

That day at the sink, Gu Qing had proactively challenged her to a “PK.” What was Wen Liang supposed to do?

Everything she had witnessed that day in Pei Yuanxi’s studio showed that things were definitely not right between Pei Yuanxi and Gu Qing.

Pei Yuanxi’s actions clearly indicated she cared about Gu Qing’s feelings, but whether to cooperate with Wen Liang’s plan or just to watch Bai Zhou squirm, she had never told Gu Qing that Wen Liang’s actual crush was Bai Zhou.

Pei Yuanxi could do that, but Wen Liang couldn’t betray her best friend.

So, when faced with Gu Qing’s question, Wen Liang chose to tell her the truth.

She figured that even if the plan was exposed, it wouldn’t matter. She could just confess to Bai Zhou directly. She was tired of acting after all these years. If it worked, great; if not, so be it.

To her relief, Gu Qing thought for a moment and then promised not to ruin her plan.

That’s when Wen Liang’s eyes lit up, and a sudden idea popped into her head—an idea she didn’t tell Pei Yuanxi.

That’s when she flipped the question back to Gu Qing: “Do you like Yuanxi?”

Gu Qing softly replied, “She is the only light in my life.”

Well, then things got easier. Wen Liang refused Gu Qing’s challenge and instead offered her a partnership: “You help me land Bai Zhou, and I’ll help you land Pei Yuanxi.”

To show her sincerity, Wen Liang immediately proposed a tactic: Gu Qing should hint to Pei Yuanxi on set that she was going to Wen Liang’s room that evening to run lines for a script.

If Pei Yuanxi had feelings for Gu Qing, there was no way she would be at ease with two women who liked women alone in a room together.

Sure enough… Pei Yuanxi claimed she wouldn’t go, but her body was honest and showed up anyway.

Then it was Gu Qing’s turn to act.

Gu Qing was a second-tier actress in her original world; how could she fail to act out a little emotion during a love scene?

It was all a setup. The moment Pei Yuanxi stepped into Wen Liang’s room, she walked right into the trap.

First, Wen Liang suggested that Gu Qing couldn’t quite get the bedroom scene right, then she subtly prompted Pei Yuanxi to act it out with Gu Qing.

Next came the real test of Gu Qing’s acting chops.

After rehearsing with Pei Yuanxi, Gu Qing had to immediately run the scene with Wen Liang, but she had to act as if she hadn’t fully stepped out of the role, her eyes still holding a lingering hint of emotion.

Gu Qing executed the task flawlessly.

Finally, Wen Liang said, seemingly sarcastically, “Well, A-Qing can’t always rehearse love scenes with you before filming, can she?”

The purpose of this line was to lay the groundwork for Gu Qing’s later response outside the room, where she would tell Pei Yuanxi that she actually could.

Unfortunately, Pei Yuanxi was blissfully unaware of all this. She and Bai Zhou would never know that they had been subtly manipulated by the other two women.

Pei Yuanxi and Bai Zhou were still focused on watching each other for entertainment…

Speaking of Pei Yuanxi, she even thanked Wen Liang.

“Thank you, good sister!” Pei Yuanxi told Wen Liang, looking touched.

“I can’t believe you told Gu Qing, who you’d only just met, your entire plan just for me! I used to think you were a troublemaker like me, but I didn’t realize that when it really counts, my sister is totally dependable!”

Wen Liang chuckled, shifting her gaze to Gu Qing, who was filming in the distance. Gu Qing happened to look over at the two of them as well.

After their eyes met, Wen Liang smiled and said to Pei Yuanxi, “That’s what sisters are for!”

Gu Qing’s scene went smoothly. She finished her scenes for the day. The next scenes were childhood family memories of the character He Xiaomai, which would be filmed by a child star.

Pei Yuanxi stood up to greet Gu Qing, who was walking toward her, giving her a big thumbs-up from afar.

“Perfect! Want to go hear Director Zhang’s comments?”

Gu Qing shook her head, “They’re still filming. I’ll wait until Director Zhang is free.”

“Alright, sit down.”

Pei Yuanxi didn’t give Gu Qing a chance to refuse and immediately pressed her onto her small folding stool.

Gu Qing then looked at Wen Liang, who had been rolling her eyes since earlier, and complimented her, “Very handsome. Much better than when I cross-dressed in my short drama.”

Wen Liang gave a confident smile, “Want to come to my room again tonight to run lines?”

Pei Yuanxi looked as though she wanted to say something but didn’t.

Gu Qing smiled slightly, glanced at Pei Yuanxi, and said, “Sure. Yuanxi, are you coming?”

If Gu Qing hadn’t invited her, Pei Yuanxi might have just pretended to tag along, but with the invitation, Pei Yuanxi suddenly felt awkward.

Especially since she now knew there was no love triangle between Wen Liang and Gu Qing, going along would just make it look like she didn’t trust them alone together.

Pei Yuanxi gave a few forced laughs, “You go ahead. I won’t go this time.”

Gu Qing looked at Pei Yuanxi and nodded.

Wen Liang tsk’d with a sympathetic tone.

Pei Yuanxi looked carefree in her refusal, but she was a wreck that night, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

She regretted it…

She should have realized that once the misunderstanding between Wen Liang and Gu Qing was resolved, Wen Liang’s personality meant she would absolutely gossip about her with Gu Qing behind her back.

It made sense why she, Wen Liang, and Bai Zhou got along so well, didn’t it?

All three of them loved drama…

Pei Yuanxi’s eyes widened at the thought. She couldn’t just sit and wait! It was fine if the two of them just gossiped, but what if Wen Liang came up with some terrible idea and Gu Qing actually thought it was a good one? Wouldn’t she become Bai Zhou 2.0?

I’m the one being messed with?

She couldn’t accept that.

So, Pei Yuanxi sprang up from the bed, about to throw on some clothes to go find Gu Qing, when she heard a knock on her door.