"Okay," Sun Chengcheng replied, "Take another look and see if there's anything else that needs to be added."
Gu Yixue glanced at the menu and added a few more dishes.
After the waiter left, Gu Yixue began to liven up the atmosphere.
There are many film crews being formed, and Gu Yixue certainly has a knack for this. She first picked two young girls and asked, "Have you two written your graduation thesis proposals?"
Both girls are students.
Qi Tang and Tang Zui said in unison, "I wrote it."
"This shoot will take a month," Gu Yixue said. "Don't let it interfere with your studies."
"It's alright..." Qi Tang said halfway through, but Gu Yixue chuckled, "Of course, your studies shouldn't interfere with my acting."
Qi Tang and Tang Zui immediately felt relieved.
The main reason was that Gu Yixue's smile was so languid, like a friendly older sister next door, which immediately dispelled their fear.
Qi Tang and Tang Zui were both quite lively, so they started a conversation, making the private room much more lively than before.
Liang Shi and Sun Chengcheng were the only ones who did not communicate at all.
After the food was served, everyone chatted and ate.
Gu Yixue only ate a few bites before putting down her chopsticks and sitting there tapping on her phone.
Liang Shi asked her why she wasn't eating.
Gu Yixue shrugged. "I eat very little for dinner."
There was a lot of wine in front of me, though.
A glass of wine was poured in front of Liang Shi, but she focused on eating and didn't drink it.
Gu Yixue doesn't flush easily when she drinks; she looks no different from usual.
Halfway through the meal, Gu Yixue took her cigarettes and phone and left the private room, saying she was going to the restroom and get some fresh air.
After Gu Yixue left, the two girls came to chat with Liang Shi, asking her which school she graduated from and whether she had a girlfriend. They asked these questions in a teasing manner, without any insistence on getting a definitive answer.
Liang Shi replied politely.
Sun Chengcheng then asked, "Have you ever acted before?"
Liang Shi paused for a moment, and the "acted" that he blurted out was instantly replaced with: "What's it to you?"
Sun Chengcheng: "?"
Sun Chengcheng asked incredulously, puzzled, "Liang Shi, what grudge do I have against you? Why are you targeting me?"
"No," Liang Shi also stood up, "I just don't like you."
Sun Chengcheng: "?"
"Why?" Sun Chengcheng asked.
Liang Shi frowned as he stared at her, and after a moment replied, "I don't like people whose names contain the character 'Cheng' (橙, meaning orange)."
Sun Chengcheng: "?"
When Sun Chengcheng suspected that this person was Liang Shi from the original world, Liang Shi said with a hint of disgust, "Oranges are such a terrible fruit, and by extension, I don't like people whose names contain the character for orange. What a coincidence."
Sun Chengcheng: "..."
Liang Shi's tone and demeanor were that of a nitpicking, pretentious nitpicker.
The two girls in the same private room were stunned. Their eye contact contained a lot of information, but the most obvious was surprise—was this even possible?
Sun Chengcheng muttered under her breath, "Sure enough, people named Liang Shi are all unpopular."
Liang Shi had been watching her closely, so of course he heard her. However, when he looked at Sun Chengcheng, he still had a condescending gaze, as if he were doing her a favor. He then said in a light, dismissive tone, "Sun...Cheng..."
After stammering out two words, Liang Shi clicked his tongue and said, "Never mind, I can't remember your name, so let's leave it at that."
Sun Chengcheng: "?"
Liang Shi didn't say anything more to her. He said goodbye to the two girls and went to the restroom before leaving the private room.
Sun Chengcheng was furious as she watched her leave.
What...is this?!
None of the people named Liang Shi are good; they're all here to oppose her!
That's outrageous!
Just as Sun Chengcheng was still angry, Qi Tang suddenly said, "Sister Liang Shi is so beautiful, she must be a rich second generation."
Tang Zui exclaimed, "Why?"
“Her car is almost a million yuan,” Qi Tang said. “She hasn’t acted much. She only played two small roles in Zhao Ying’s film crew. One role only had two scenes, and the other was filmed halfway through but stopped and there’s no sign of her resuming work. She definitely didn’t earn that money from acting, so the only option left is that she’s a rich second-generation.”
"What if he's a self-made millionaire?" Tang Zui guessed.
Qi Tang: "..."
"Wake up, how old is she?" Qi Tang said. "She's only graduated two or three years ago, how could she possibly be that rich?"
Tang Zui suddenly realized: "That's true."
Hearing this, Sun Chengcheng clenched the cup in her hand.
rich second generation...
How could Liang Shi possibly be living a better life than her?
Can't.
Neither of them can be Liang Shi.
//
Liang Shi didn't care what Sun Chengcheng thought; she finished her sarcastic remarks to Sun Chengcheng and then left.
After going to the restroom, I stood in front of the sink, lost in thought.
The gentle flow of water trickled through her fingers, and her phone vibrated in her pocket. Only then did she take it out to check.
It was a message from Xu Qingzhu: 【Have you finished meeting with the director?】
Liang Shi dried his hands and replied: 【Yes, I'm eating.】
Xu Qingzhu: [Just you and Gu Yixue?]
Liang Shi: [There were others, the main actors in the production team.]
Xu Qingzhu sent a voice message: "Wife, can I hear Director Gu's voice? I quite like her voice."
Liang Shi: "..."
Liang Shi: [Honey, do you think this is appropriate?]
Xu Qingzhu's voice was tinged with laughter: "Why is it inappropriate? I just wanted to hear your voice."
Liang Shi: "..."
"Or we could make a deal: you act, and Director Gu can do your voiceover?" Xu Qingzhu said with a smile.
As Liang Shi walked out, he listened to her voice message and replied, "Why do you always think of good things?"
"If you don't want good things, why would you want bad things?" Xu Qingzhu's voice was languid, and she laughed lightly. "You know, Director Gu has such a nice voice, wouldn't it be great if he were a voice actor? Why did he have to become a director?"
Liang Shi: [Honey, is it appropriate for you to praise her like that?]
Xu Qingzhu: "Isn't simple praise enough?"
Liang Shi listened to her voice, which had a rising intonation at the end, twice, and replied helplessly, "No."
Xu Qingzhu: [Hmm?]
Liang Shi stared at the voice message that had been converted to text on the screen. The words were glaringly obvious. After a moment, she leaned against the wall, put the phone's receiver to her mouth, and sent a voice message: "Baby, I'm going to get angry if you keep doing this."
"Really?" Xu Qingzhu asked, "What do you look like when you're angry? Come and tie me up."
Liang Shi tapped the screen: [Tie to the bed.]
Liang Shi: [Do you remember the tie you wore that day?]
Liang Shi: [This time I'll cut you in half; one half to tie your hands, and the other half to tie your feet.]
Liang Shi: [And then... I stopped kissing you.]
Xu Qingzhu: "..."
After a while, Xu Qingzhu sent a video call, and Liang Shi found a safe passage and went into the stairwell.
The stairwell smelled damp and was covered in dust; it was much colder than inside. As soon as the door closed, the dim motion-activated light came on.
Liang Shi leaned against the wall and answered the call.
Xu Qingzhu asked her, "Where is Teacher Liang?"
Liang Shi rubbed his slightly itchy nose: "Restaurant."
The light was much brighter on her side than on Liang Shi's side. Her long hair was spread out on the sofa, and she was curled up on the sofa with heavy dark circles under her eyes.
Making videos is much more formal than sending text messages.
Liang Shi even felt embarrassed for two seconds about his embarrassing words.
"When are you going home?" Xu Qingzhu asked.
Liang Shi shook his head: "I don't know yet, what's wrong?"
After saying that, he added, "You're not home."
Xu Qingzhu chuckled: "What? You're going back just because I'm home?"
Liang Shi paused for a moment, feigning a bit of modesty, and said, "It's not that it's impossible."
Xu Qingzhu shrugged: "It's a pity I'm not home."
"Then what did you say?" Liang Shi replied.
Xu Qingzhu: "I want to see you go home and get that tie, and cut it in half first."
Liang Shi: "..."