Your Aloof Persona Has Crumbled - Chapter 58

Lu Jingwei froze for a few seconds, thinking she had misheard. Her eyes widened as she pointed to herself. “Me?”

“Yes.” Fu Chenyuan nodded. “Why are you so surprised? You really dance well, you have a lot of talent.”

Lu Jingwei felt like she was dreaming and parted her lips in disbelief.

Wen Shike: ?

Wen Shike glanced at Fu Chenyuan, feeling a bit like a stranger all of a sudden. However… thinking that Lu Jingwei could collaborate with Fu Chenyuan made her quite happy.

“Let’s exchange contact info, listen to the demo first.” Fu Chenyuan pulled out her phone, opened her QR code, and handed it to Lu Jingwei. “My inspiration this time came from you. I was a bit busy a while ago, and only caught up on your survival show these past few days. Your change is quite obvious.”

“Is it?” Lu Jingwei didn’t feel it at all, and she glanced over at Wen Shike.

“You speak more, you’re more confident, you can make jokes now. You used to like staying in the corner, but later you became willing to step into the center.” Fu Chenyuan smiled, “I also had a phase similar to yours, so… I felt a bit of resonance.”

Wen Shike looked at Fu Chenyuan, who had clearly become a lot more serious.

The three of them sat directly on the floor of the dance studio to listen to Fu Chenyuan play the music.

In the beginning, the song sounded slightly oppressive, as if dark clouds were pressing down on the sea, with the water churning so intensely it made it hard to breathe. The tempo wasn’t fast, and both the lyrics and the accompaniment tugged heavily at one’s heartstrings.

But toward the latter half, the rhythm gradually picked up, and then drumbeats joined in. It felt like a battle, like fighting against something. The ending shared the same lyrics and a similar melody as the beginning, but the style had transformed to become lighter. The surface of the sea was still the same sea, but now, it was a sea bathed in sunshine.

“How is it?” Fu Chenyuan looked at them expectantly.

“It’s pretty good, but it feels like the live performance difficulty will be high.”

Wen Shike rested her chin in her hand, looking at Fu Chenyuan. The climax and the vocal transitions at the beginning of the second verse, along with a few other details, were very difficult. Just thinking about singing it live sounded exhausting.

Fu Chenyuan glanced at Wen Shike. “My eldest lady, how come you aren’t even as confident as I am now?”

Wen Shike: ?

“Even though they said the same thing, I still like this version best.” Fu Chenyuan propped up her chin. “This is already a version that has been revised many times late into the night.”

“If you like it, then let’s go with this one. Anyway, your vocals are decent, I believe in you.”

Wen Shike said. Although Fu Chenyuan’s acting was absolutely garbage, her vocals and dancing were still solid, and she believed Fu Chenyuan knew exactly what she was capable of.

A lot of people criticized Fu Chenyuan, but to this day, no one had ever criticized her for her singing or dancing. She was someone who wasn’t flustered at all even when singing with a fully open mic during the New Year’s Eve concert.

“So, what do you want to collaborate with her on?” Wen Shike pointed at Lu Jingwei and asked.

“An MV shoot,” Fu Chenyuan said. “When the time comes, we’ll shoot two MVs, one dance studio version and one story version. For the story version, I want to film it like a mini narrative. I don’t want to act in it myself anymore, it’s too painful.”

Fu Chenyuan felt miserable just thinking about her last acting experience. It was the darkest of dark histories. Facts proved that acting was something that required a bit of natural talent.

Previously, the production crew wanted to buy a trending search topic for her like “Fu Chenyuan’s Acting Skills,” but she rejected it immediately. She didn’t want to throw her own face out there just to let others slap it.

“Can you feel the meaning of this song?” Fu Chenyuan looked at Lu Jingwei, her eyes filled with a few hints of anticipation.

“I can,” Lu Jingwei nodded, then hesitated for a few seconds. “But, I’ve never acted before either, I…”

“There’s a bit of plot, but mostly it’s dancing. For the dance parts, I hope you can project a sense of drama. I will also participate in this part. I haven’t figured out the exact effect yet, I only have a rough concept. We can talk about this part later. I think you’re suitable.” Fu Chenyuan said, adding another sentence, “Don’t worry, the plot isn’t hard.”

“Okay, thank you. If it’s needed, I can give it a try,” Lu Jingwei said.

Fu Chenyuan was a top idol, her popularity and exposure were massive. For Lu Jingwei, being able to collaborate with Fu Chenyuan was an excellent opportunity, something one could only stumble upon but not ask for.

She never expected that just coming over to take an exam would bring such a pleasant surprise.

“However, don’t tell anyone else for the time being. I’ll talk to Sister Qiu first,” Fu Chenyuan said.

“Okay,” Lu Jingwei nodded.

The few of them chatted for a bit longer. Wen Shike looked at Fu Chenyuan’s heavy dark circles: “You should go back and sleep.”

Fu Chenyuan blinked, let out a yawn, and checked the time. “It really is time to sleep. I can’t pull all-nighters anymore. Ah, I want to take a shower. Do you need me to drop you off at the hotel?”

“No need. Looking like this, how could we let you drive? Can you have your assistant pick you up?” Wen Shike asked.

Fu Chenyuan expressed her refusal. “I just let my assistant go back to rest. Calling her back out now would be too inhumane.”

“Then I’ll have my assistant come over.”

“Deal.”

Shushu hadn’t followed Wen Shike to record the variety show. She had wanted to go, but was turned down. Previously, when Wen Shike had altitude sickness, it had scared them half to death. Currently, the fact that Wen Shike had altitude sickness was still being kept a secret from her parents.

Shushu had driven over herself. The three of them went downstairs together and got into her car.

Fu Chenyuan wanted to talk to Wen Shike, so she sent Lu Jingwei to the front passenger seat. As soon as Wen Shike got into the car, she saw Shushu turn around and look at her with a strange expression.

Wen Shike: ?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“To see if you’ve gained weight,” Shushu said.

Wen Shike: ?

Wen Shike displayed her face up, down, left, and right.

“Alright, you haven’t gained weight,” Shushu was satisfied.

Wen Shike pulled down the front-to-back privacy partition and glanced at Fu Chenyuan. “What did you want to say?”

“How do you feel?”

“It’s fine, nothing particularly special,” Wen Shike said. “Did you just want to ask this?”

Fu Chenyuan gave a laugh, leaned closer to Wen Shike, and lowered her voice. “My high school puppy love first love came back to the country.”

Wen Shike: ?

“Don’t breach your contract. I won’t plead for mercy on your behalf. You’ll have to pay however much compensation you owe.” Wen Shike immediately looked at Fu Chenyuan with vigilance.

Fu Chenyuan: ?

“Am I an idiot? How could I possibly date during this rising phase of my career? Absolutely impossible, I’m telling you. Right now, my emotions are severed and my love is dead. I only love my career and money.” Fu Chenyuan lowered her voice, speaking with absolute certainty, “Dating right now would be an insult to the career I’ve fought so long for.”

Wen Shike patted Fu Chenyuan’s shoulder and let out a sigh of relief. “It’s good that you think that way.”

“Tsk, I treat you as a friend and tell you this, but in the end, you face me with a capitalist’s attitude.”

After Fu Chenyuan finished speaking, she sighed deeply and looked at Wen Shike. Under Fu Chenyuan’s gaze, Wen Shike felt like she was barely being treated as human.

Wen Shike: …

“I’m just kindly reminding you. After all, I don’t have actual authority, and you aren’t some minor celebrity. If a problem occurs, I really won’t be able to help you,” Wen Shike said. “Idol dating is a major taboo, especially for female idols.”

“Don’t worry, I really won’t. Listen to me!” Fu Chenyuan slapped her thigh twice. “She went abroad to study screenwriting. Then she wrote a script, and recently showed me the proposal along with the scenes from the first few acts.”

Wen Shike: ???

“She’s looking for you to be the lead? No way, how could she be so reckless? Or does she want to get back together?” Wen Shike thought of Fu Chenyuan’s acting skills. To be willing to let Fu Chenyuan act in a script written with one’s own heart and soul, if that wasn’t love, what was it?

“No, she just asked if I was interested in investing.”

Fu Chenyuan looked at Wen Shike expressionlessly. She had thought the same thing at the time, assuming the other party wanted her to act and that she still had lingering feelings for her. Who knew she was just flattering herself.

It was so embarrassing; the scene at the time was quite awkward for a moment.

Fortunately, they were chatting online. If it had been in reality, she might have already found a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Of course, it was impossible for Fu Chenyuan to tell Wen Shike about such an embarrassing matter.

“Her family just runs a small business. Although they’re considered well-off, they don’t have any background in the entertainment industry. She didn’t dare casually give the script to just anyone because she didn’t trust anyone. You see, previously there were some independent screenwriters without backgrounds whose scripts were taken by big companies and…” Fu Chenyuan glanced at Wen Shike.

“I know.” Wen Shike nodded. There were indeed some companies with no bottom line that would scam college students out of their scripts. If they thought it was good, they wouldn’t say so, they would just tell the other party they didn’t take a fancy to it, and then plagiarize the core content of the script, putting a new shell over it to make it a new script. Generally, in this kind of situation, those college students could only swallow their grievances silently, unable to demand justice.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Does our company do such things?” Wen Shike asked with a frown.

“No. Ah, anyway, she didn’t trust anyone and only knew me, so she gave the script to me.” Fu Chenyuan looked at Wen Shike again. “I’m contemplating whether to just recommend her script to the film and television department.”

Wen Shike looked at Fu Chenyuan. “What do you think of it? If you think it’s good, then recommend it.”

“Um… I can’t really tell either.” Fu Chenyuan looked up. “To be honest with you, the drama I filmed before. I also thought the script was pretty good at the time, but another friend told me the script was complete garbage.”

Wen Shike: ?

“Then give it directly to the film and television department. The department over there will evaluate it themselves.”

“What if it doesn’t get chosen, what will she do…” Fu Chenyuan sighed.

Wen Shike stared at Fu Chenyuan. “I sincerely advise you not to invest yourself. Sincerely. The water in the film industry runs very deep. Do you have a ton of money right now?”

“Not really.” Fu Chenyuan had just bought a house, and she hadn’t even finished paying off the mortgage yet. “Forget it, I’ll still pass it to the film and television department. I’ll ask her if she needs me to pull some strings.”

“What kind of genre is it roughly?” Wen Shike asked casually.

Fu Chenyuan thought for a few seconds, speaking slightly with a stutter, watching the changes in Wen Shike’s expression as she spoke: “Youth campus, but not the melodramatic romance kind. It’s more of a realistic theme, capturing the story of art students. Even though so many years have passed, aren’t there still a lot of prejudices against art students? Things like taking shortcuts, acting like they don’t work hard at all, and then…”

“What about the main storyline?” Wen Shike looked at Fu Chenyuan.

“The struggle of third year high school art students? It’s an ensemble theme with four main characters of different genders and different family backgrounds.”

“Then that counts as four separate plotlines. Can she explain them clearly? What is the selling point that will attract the general public?” Wen Shike continued to ask. She wasn’t trying to be argumentative, all film and television works needed to address this point.

Fu Chenyuan pulled out her phone and glanced at the proposal. “Everyone’s curiosity about art students…”

“Just give it directly to the film and television department, I don’t understand it either,” Wen Shike said. “It sounds like the budget isn’t very high. If the story is decent, there’s hope for a low-cost web movie.”

“Her goal is a theatrical release,” Fu Chenyuan said. “I’ll send the proposal to you. She agreed to let me show it to you.”

Wen Shike: ?

The two of them talked for a long time, and by then, Wen Shike and Lu Jingwei had already arrived at the hotel.

“You have to look at it,” Fu Chenyuan instructed.

“Got it.” Wen Shike stared at Fu Chenyuan, lowering her voice, “Do you still like her?”

“Not exactly ‘like’, but I don’t mind lending a hand. After all, back then we parted on good terms. Besides, having an extra connection isn’t bad. If she can make a name for herself in the future, won’t she remember me fondly? Even though… I probably won’t be acting anymore.” Fu Chenyuan’s gaze was completely open and honest.

Wen Shike and Lu Jingwei got out of the car.

Before leaving, Shushu specifically rolled down the window: “No eating night snacks!”

Wen Shike: ?

“Got it!” Wen Shike said.

Lu Jingwei’s ID had been added to Wen Shike’s room registration, and the two of them went upstairs together. The room Wen Shike booked was on the top floor. The room was very large, featuring huge floor to ceiling windows, a massive terrace with a scenic view, and a jacuzzi in the bathroom.

“How much is this room per night?”

“Over two thousand yuan.”

Wen Shike sat down on the sofa. “Do you want to look at the script proposal?”

“What script proposal?”

“The one Fu Chenyuan forwarded to me, asking if I was interested in investing.”

“Can I look at it?”

“Why not? Just don’t go out and talk about it.” Wen Shike took out her tablet, looking at it on a phone screen was too small.

Lu Jingwei sat down beside Wen Shike. The two of them sat very close, leaning together to look at the tablet.

The proposal was written concisely, and the plot synopsis was also very clear. However, over in the character profile section, something caught Wen Shike’s attention.

“Wang Yimiao has unusual feelings for Yang Xiyuan?” Wen Shike scrolled back up.

“If I remember correctly, both of them are girls,” Lu Jingwei said.

“Wang Yimiao, Yang Xiyuan…” Wen Shike chanted these two names a few times, and suddenly thought of something. She glanced at the screenwriter’s name, “Su Yiqing, tsk.”

“Is there a problem?” Lu Jingwei didn’t understand.

“No.” Wen Shike shook her head. It was just that one character from each of these two names shared a homophone with a character from Su Yiqing and Fu Chenyuan’s names respectively.

A screenwriter inserting private goods into a script is a major issue. If it gets dug up, it can be fatal.

This proposal was followed by the main text of the script, though there were only a few scenes. Looking at the story synopsis, she couldn’t see any previous feelings between Wang Yimiao and Yang Xiyuan either. Most of it focused on portraying the hardships and difficulties the four art students encountered in their third year of high school, with no reflection of a romantic storyline.

“What do you think of it?”

“It’s mediocre, since we haven’t seen the actual script yet… However, it’s true that you rarely see anyone filming art examinees.” Lu Jingwei pulled out her phone to search, but couldn’t find anything related.

“Go take a shower first.”

“Okay,” Lu Jingwei nodded.

Wen Shike tapped open Fu Chenyuan’s chat box.

Wen Shike: Didn’t you feel that the names of the protagonists in this script have something to do with you guys?

Fu the Annoying: ?

Wen Shike: Wang (Yi)miao, Su (Yi)qing. Yang Xi(yuan), Fu Chen(yuan).

[Note: Homophones in Chinese]

Fu the Annoying: ?

Wen Shike: Do your stories share similarities with this story?

Fu the Annoying. It’s true that I was the one who started studying art first, but I don’t know if she had a conflict with her family, and she didn’t run over to sleep at my house either. Afterwards, it’s true that I had a clash with the remedial class teacher, but that shouldn’t count as anything special right…

Wen Shike: Talk to your manager about this matter.

Fu the Annoying: I’m going crazy.

Wen Shike: Would she intentionally harm you? (If it really gets filmed and the movie screens, once the public narrative picks up…)

Fu Chenyuan stared at the message Wen Shike sent over and fell into silence. Intuitively, she didn’t feel that Su Yiqing would do that kind of thing. The other party was a very proud person who disdained doing such things.

However, she and Su Yiqing hadn’t met for many years, and she didn’t know what changes the other party might have undergone.

Fu the Annoying. I’ll just go directly and ask her if she can change the names.

Wen Shike: ?

Fu Chenyuan was still Fu Chenyuan.

Wen Shike: I’ll talk to your manager.

Fu Chenyuan: I already spoke to her just now.

Fu Chenyuan lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

She hoped Su Yiqing was still that same Su Yiqing without any changes.

She also hoped that the issue Wen Shike pointed out was just an accident on the other party’s part, and that she was just flattering herself.

Fu Chenyuan’s mind was a bit of a mess.

Wen Shike put down her phone, the rest was Fu Chenyuan’s business.

She let out a yawn.

She glanced at the bathroom entrance, listening to the sound of rushing water inside, and then looked at the single bed in front of her.

For some reason…

Even though it wasn’t the first time they slept in the same room, she always felt that today was just so different.

Wen Shike took out her pajamas and the clothes she was going to wear tomorrow, waiting for Lu Jingwei to come out.

Lu Jingwei took a bit longer to shower this time, likely using the jacuzzi. When she came out, her complexion and mood both looked quite good.

“The jacuzzi is very nice,” Lu Jingwei said, a bit more brightness appearing in her eyes. “It’s my first time using a jacuzzi, it feels quite magical.”

“Is it? In the future when you buy a house, install one yourself.”

“Mm.” Lu Jingwei nodded. “I washed the bathtub three times, you can use it directly.”

“Okay,” Wen Shike nodded.

Actually, she didn’t really want to take a bath today, but since Lu Jingwei had already washed the tub, she would reluctantly take a soak.

Wen Shike lay in the bathtub, and as she soaked, she directly drifted off to sleep.

Lu Jingwei was memorizing vocabulary words in the living room. She had already gone through five rounds, yet Wen Shike still hadn’t come out. She frowned and checked the time on her phone.

An hour had already passed, but there wasn’t a single sound coming from inside the bathroom.

She hesitated for a moment, but still stood up, walked to the door, and knocked.

“Wen Shike?”

“Wen Shike?”

Lu Jingwei called out twice, but there was still no sound inside.

Her mind went a bit blank and frantic.

Can a jacuzzi leak electricity?

Nothing bad happened, right?

Lu Jingwei opened the door and rushed inside in a hurry, only to see Wen Shike leaning in the bathtub with her eyes closed. She immediately cut off the power supply to the jacuzzi.

“Wen Shike!”

Lu Jingwei felt like she had never been able to shout this loudly in her entire life. She rushed over, nearly slipping on the water on the floor.

Wen Shike vaguely heard someone calling her, and right after that, someone was shaking her shoulders forcefully.

Cold, so cold.

Wen Shike opened her eyes and looked at Lu Jingwei.

“You scared me to death… How could you fall asleep in the bathtub?” Lu Jingwei stared at Wen Shike with wide eyes.

The bathroom…

The bathtub…

Showering…

Wen Shike’s eyes widened, her crashed brain instantly waking up. Thinking of her current state, she wanted to hide beneath the water, but the water couldn’t block much either.

In the next second, she was grabbed by the arm and pulled up by Lu Jingwei. Wen Shike never imagined that Lu Jingwei’s strength could actually be this immense, completely mismatched with her delicate and slender arms.

Lu Jingwei grabbed a bath towel and wrapped Wen Shike up directly, there wasn’t a single shred of a smile on her face.

“The water has turned freezing cold! And you’re still hiding inside? Are you stupid? Come out, put your clothes on, I’m going to buy cold medicine.” Lu Jingwei’s face was dark.

Wen Shike: …

Wen Shike didn’t dare to speak, and Lu Jingwei stormed out of the room.

Wen Shike let out a sneeze.

Lu Jingwei came back again, turned on the heater, and glared at Wen Shike once more.

Wen Shike shrank her neck back in fear.

Good grief, this look…

Wen Shike put on her clothes, returned to the living room, and sneezed twice more.

What a disaster, how could she fall asleep in the bathtub.

She rubbed her temples, feeling like she had never done such a stupid thing before.

It must be that this bathtub wasn’t good enough, it actually couldn’t keep the water at a constant temperature.

Wen Shike wiped her nose, then lay sideways on the sofa.

Actually, she wanted to say that the hotel should have cold medicine, but Lu Jingwei’s state just now had intimidated her, causing her to not utter a single word.

Too fierce.

She was simply too fierce.

Lu Jingwei returned, her face still dark.

“Take the medicine to prevent it.” Lu Jingwei poured a glass of plain warm water for Wen Shike and placed it on the table.

“Okay…” Wen Shike nodded. “Thank you.”

Lu Jingwei stared at Wen Shike. “Did you sleep very late last night?”

“Very early, maybe it was just too comfortable, so I drifted off.”

Lu Jingwei fell into silence, took a deep breath, and softened her tone a bit. “Next time you use the jacuzzi by yourself, it’s best to set an alarm.”

“Okay.” Wen Shike took the medicine and sat on the sofa, looking exceptionally well-behaved.

Lu Jingwei took a deep breath.

“Are you still angry?”

“Why would I be angry? I’m not angry,” Lu Jingwei said.

Wen Shike looked at Lu Jingwei. “Then give me a smile.”

Lu Jingwei glanced at Wen Shike. “Why do you act like you’re nine years old?”

“I’ll give you ten years as a gift. The current Lu Jingwei… feels like the head of the family.” Wen Shike laughed.

Lu Jingwei pursed her lips, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed.

She didn’t know why she was this angry either.

Perhaps she was angry that Wen Shike didn’t pay the slightest attention to her own health, or perhaps it was something else…

She took a deep breath.

“Thank you.” Wen Shike took a sip of the plain water, looked at Lu Jingwei’s expression, and cracked a joke, “Thank you, Sister Lu, for saving my little life.”

Lu Jingwei: …