She twisted her stiff neck, and a "snap" sound rang out. This sound seemed to connect the nerve of memory in her brain, and the bold things she had said and done last night came to mind.
"Damn it—" She slammed her head into the pillow, trying to suffocate herself that way.
It's all over, her soft and cute little rabbit image has vanished.
"Come down for dinner when you're awake."
Wen Mubai's cool voice came from downstairs, his tone as casual as if nothing had happened the night before. (Note: The last sentence appears to be an unrelated advertisement and has been omitted from the translation.)
Xu Chacha cautiously peeked out and saw that she was already dressed neatly and sitting at the dining table reading the newspaper. On the table was still the same old egg sandwich with milk.
She slowly went downstairs, and when she stood in front of the table, her round toes nervously gripped her slippers.
"Eat up, and remember to eat breakfast on weekends from now on." Wen Mubai looked up at her.
"Oh, okay."
The atmosphere of eating in silence was a bit awkward. Xu Chacha secretly reached for the remote control and turned on the TV to start watching the drama she hadn't finished watching last time.
Wen Mubai glanced over upon hearing the sound and saw a familiar face on the screen. "You like her?"
"She" refers to Zhao Lin, the female lead of the drama. Xu Chacha rarely watches dramas, but the ones she does watch usually feature Zhao Lin.
Wen Mubai originally thought that Xu Chacha would prefer Lai Qian, after all, they got along well on set last time, while Lai Qian and the one on screen were long-time rivals competing for resources.
"It's alright, I'm just looking around."
Xu Chacha didn't want to say it directly, but Zhao Lin looked so much like her former idol, especially when she acted in period dramas. The resemblance went from six points to eight points, so when she was in a drama drought, she would watch Zhao Lin's dramas.
But to say I like her is an understatement; Zhao Lin's acting skills are nowhere near those of her idol.
"Just browsing." Wen Mubai nodded, but his tone was meaningful. "I can get you an autograph if you want."
She also wrote the script for Zhao Lin's new drama.
"No need," Xu Chacha shook her head. "I have plenty of her autographs; Sister Laiqian gave them to me."
"..."
"Why aren't you eating?" Xu Chacha turned her head and saw Wen Mubai put down the sandwich in his hand.
"Go to work." Wen Mubai flipped through the newspaper, folded it neatly, put it back in its place, then pulled out a chair and stood up.
"Huh?" Xu Chacha's head turned with hers, and she hurriedly swallowed the food in her mouth, wanting to ask the question before she left.
Unexpectedly, Wen Mubai took the initiative to walk up to her, extended his hand, his fair palm facing up, his beautiful fingers long and slender.
Xu Chacha stared blankly at her palm, not knowing what it meant.
"Give it to me." Wen Mubai beckoned his finger back.
"Wh...what?"
"bank card."
"Oh, okay." Xu Chacha didn't understand, but her mind subconsciously followed Wen Mubai's orders.
She pulled out her bank card from her old coat and handed it to the person with both hands.
"All my belongings are here."
Wen Mubai smiled, his upturned eyebrows radiating a warm tenderness. "Okay, I'll take it."
"You're holding..." Xu Chacha finally reacted as Wen Mubai opened the door to leave, and chased after him to ask, "Is it what I thought it meant?"
Wen Mubai raised his hand and patted her head. "Eat your food properly. I'll pick you up this afternoon."
"Pick me up?" She's off today, it's the weekend.
"Look at your phone, you've passed the interview."
Xu Chacha's eyes lit up, and she ran over excitedly to find her phone.
She had been messing with her phone until it ran out of battery last night, but luckily Wen Mubai had already plugged it in for her. When she turned on her phone, there was indeed a bright email from AS, informing her that she had passed the interview.
AS is a top-tier dairy group in China, and this time they are recruiting a spokesperson for one of their ice cream product lines called Lelebing.
The job posting stated that two female candidates were needed, and AS invited her over this afternoon for a three-way meeting.
Xu Chacha scrolled down and found that the other two companies had also replied. They basically said that although she had good qualifications, she lacked experience and declined her after saying a few polite words about the possibility of working together.
However, this result was within Xu Chacha's expectations. After all, the three companies she interviewed with were top-tier domestic and international brands, and the candidates were extremely competitive. Her thin resume was indeed not enough to impress her.
Besides, she didn't tell anyone about this, and she also concealed her family situation and her collaboration with Hua Jinglangshu during the interview. It's quite remarkable that a wild model who doesn't have a relevant major and only releases one photo every two or three years could even get a chance to be selected for an interview.
After having breakfast, Xu Chacha tidied herself up, changed into some comfortable clothes, and went out. Before going to AS, she wanted to have a meal with Xu Yanshu first.
She recently participated in a dating reality show that included meals and accommodation, and hadn't been home for a long time. In addition, Xu Chacha was curious about her future sister-in-law, so she had to persuade Xu Yanshu to let her have a meal with her sister-in-law.
Her sister-in-law was a trainee at MK Entertainment, so Xu Chacha had to rush there. When she arrived, only Xu Yanshu was there. She ran over and sat down, still a little out of breath.
"Where is my sister-in-law?"
"Don't shout like that in front of her." Xu Yanshu, who was holding the menu, looked up at her and handed her a glass of water. "Jian Xi is still upstairs. Didn't I tell you to take your time? Why are you running?"
Xu Chacha gulped down a mouthful, "Don't you know the reason!"
If Zhao Lin only resembles her former idol by about 60%, then Jian Xi is a 100% replica, and even their names are exactly the same.
So when Xu Chacha heard that Jian Xi was actually Zhao Lin's stunt double, she felt particularly sorry for her, because she had already idolized Jian Xi. Her idol was an award-winning actress, how could she possibly condescend to be a stunt double for an idol drama heroine?
Even if her face were just there as a decorative vase, she'd still contribute to the ratings. But she's just a stand-in who never appears on screen, so she doesn't even have a chance to watch any shows.
Xu Yanshu received a text message just then. She lowered her eyes to reply, and then said to Xu Chacha, "Come down, be good in a bit."
Xu Chacha frowned. "Sister, you don't love me anymore."
"How could I not love you? You little ungrateful thing." Xu Yanshu reached out and pinched her cheek, then pushed the menu over. "Order what you want to eat first."
Xu Chacha shook her head, "I need to manage my figure lately, just order me a salad."
"You really won't eat?"
"I won't eat it, and I mean it." Xu Chacha was very firm.
"Okay." Xu Yanshu smiled and helped her pick out a salad.
Not long after, Jian Xi, who arrived late, finally took her seat. "Sorry, I was called in for a talk, so I came down late."
When she appeared, Xu Chacha's eyes almost popped out. She looked even more like her idol in person than in the photos! The key was that her tone of voice and her graceful and confident demeanor were exactly the same. She would believe it if you told her it was the real person!
"Your name is Cha Cha, right?" Jian Xi looked over with a smile. "Why aren't you ordering anything to eat? Aren't you hungry?"
Xu Chacha sipped her mint water and shook her head. "I'm not hungry. I'm full just looking at pretty girls."
Xu Yanshu nudged her under the table with her foot, giving her a suggestive look, "Sorry, that's just how my sister talks, don't take it to heart."
"No, your sister is very cute."
Hearing this, Xu Chacha proudly raised her eyebrows and looked at Xu Yanshu, who felt very jealous but couldn't do anything about it.
Although the meal consisted of bland salad, Xu Chacha was happier than if she had eaten a Manchu Han Imperial Feast. After finishing the meal, despite Xu Yanshu's warning look, she asked Jianxi for her contact information, giving her a sense of happiness as a fan who had successfully met her idol.
"See you next time, cutie."
When Jian Xi said this, Xu Chacha almost burst out with starry eyes and shouted her old idol-chasing slogans, but thankfully she gritted her teeth and held back.
On her way back, she couldn't help but send a message to Wen Mubai.
Xu Chacha: Ahhh! I met my sister-in-law today! She's absolutely gorgeous in person!
Xu Chacha: I'll introduce you to her next time. Seriously, my sister-in-law is so beautiful that I'd be willing to stay single for ten years, but I'd rather my sister win her over!
Xu Chacha: My beautiful sister-in-law is so cute!
While she was typing excitedly, Wen Mubai on the other end only noticed one important sentence, and a deep voice message quickly came through.
"Single for ten years? You try it."
Putting down his phone, Wen Mubai lost all interest in eating. He opened a webpage and entered Jian Xi's name to start searching.
I originally thought he was some kind of extraordinary person, but it turns out he's just an undebuted trainee whose Baidu Baike page only has one photo that looks like an ID card.
She opened the mirror and examined herself. The campus belle of University A, who receives countless confessions of love every year, was learning about the term "appearance anxiety" for the first time.
He kissed her forcefully while drunk the night before last, and the next day he was swooning over another woman.
Okay, Xu Chacha, you're really something.
...
After finishing her meal, Xu Chacha took a car to the AS headquarters. Upon entering, she showed the text message to the receptionist, and soon someone came to lead her upstairs.
There was no one in the conference room yet; she was the first to arrive.
The young lady who greeted her asked her to wait there for a moment, and someone would come right away.
Xu Chacha nodded and said thank you, found a seat, and started browsing Weibo.
Before she could even read a few trending topics, footsteps sounded outside again. Xu Chacha put down her phone and got up to greet them, only to find a familiar face when she opened the door.
"Who are you……"
Before she could speak, the person opposite her rushed over, "Ahhh! Chacha! I've finally seen you! I've missed you so much!"
Xu Chacha was knocked back three steps by her before she regained her balance. Then, looking a little pale, she patted her and said, "Dou Dou, I can't breathe. Loosen up a bit."
Tang Doudou realized she might be getting a little too excited, so she stepped back a bit and chuckled sheepishly.
"I missed you so much." She stuck out her tongue.
"Me too."
"Nonsense! You never contact me first. You won't hang out with me unless I message you!" Tang Doudou said sadly, hands on her hips. "I see you going out with your friends on WeChat Moments every day. I'm so envious, but every time I ask you to have dinner, you say you don't have time."
Xu Chacha scratched her head. She wasn't refusing on purpose; she just genuinely couldn't find the time. Besides, Tang Doudou was now a well-known actress in the industry, and she felt embarrassed to contact her unnecessarily.
“Aren’t you usually quite busy?” Xu Chacha said.
"As long as it's you, I can cancel my schedule immediately," Tang Doudou said seriously.
The young woman standing next to her, who looked to be in her early twenties and seemed to be her manager, immediately came over and said, "Sorry, sorry, don't take her words seriously."
Xu Chacha shook her head. "Haha, I know."
The agent turned to scold him, "You're on the rise right now, can you stop causing me trouble? You keep saying you're canceling your schedules, do you believe they'll just buy you a trending topic about you being a diva?"
Tang Doudou reluctantly said "oh" to indicate that she understood.