Goddess Strategy GL - Chapter 34
Ye Ruoqing asked: “As an extra?”
Director Chen said: “Of course I want you to be the lead actress, acting opposite Zhao Xin, playing Li Ruyuan.”
“…”
Although she was not very interested in acting, such a huge opportunity had suddenly landed on her. Ye Ruoqing couldn’t quite believe it. She pointed to herself, then pointed to Director Chen, her eyes wide, unable to utter a word.
“Little Ye, Director Chen asked you a question, you should answer him.”
Ye Ruoqing vigorously shook her head: “No way, I really can’t act. I know my acting talent is 0, not a point more, not a point less.”
Director Chen waved his hand: “You can’t say that. Talent needs to be unearthed. And I have always firmly believed in Griffith’s theory. If I think you can do it, you definitely can, because I am the director, that’s just how it is.”
These words were full of arrogance. Ye Ruoqing finally understood why Director Chen, who often invested hundreds of millions, never worried about box office losses; he had the ability to be this confident.
She thought for a while and said: “Then why don’t you wait a little longer? I have an audition in a few days. I have to finish the competition before I can give you an answer.”
Director Chen, seeing a chance, said with a smile: “No rush, no rush, I’ll wait for you. And you don’t have to worry about being a novice. Zhao Xin was mentored by Old Wang and has a lot of experience acting opposite newcomers. You live together every day; she will tell you what to do, and it will also be a great benefit to the film itself.”
“Yes, that’s right. Both Zhao Xin’s mentor and Director Wang promote method acting. Zhao Xin is also a pioneering method actor in China. You two have an emotional foundation, so your compatibility is quite high compared to others.”
Director Chen went to wash his face. Brother Pi Dan, seeing that the film had gained someone from their own side, was naturally willing to fan the flames for Director Chen, throwing out a bunch of theories that made Ye Ruoqing’s head spin.
Director Chen came out after washing his face and changing clothes. Zhao Xin happened to open the door, slightly surprised to see such a lively scene at her home: “Director Chen? When did you arrive?”
“Just now, I’ve been chatting with Little Ye for quite a while.”
Looking back at Ye Ruoqing on the sofa, she rolled her eyes towards the ceiling as soon as she saw Zhao Xin return: “Didn’t your domineering CEO bring you back?”
“What domineering CEO?”
“No comment, you understand.”
Zhao Xin glanced at Brother Pi Dan. Brother Pi Dan looked at the ceiling, feigning innocence.
“I haven’t eaten yet. Has Director Chen eaten?”
“Not yet, and Dali hasn’t eaten either.”
“Alright, I happen to have some fresh shrimp dumplings I wrapped a few days ago. Should I cook a bowl for you to try?”
Ye Ruoqing was still very conscious of her duties as a personal assistant. Hearing that none of them had eaten, she voluntarily stood up and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for them.
Brother Pi Dan’s stomach was rumbling with hunger. Seeing that Ye Ruoqing was going into the kitchen, he was worried that the bowl of dumplings would end up like the bowl of instant noodles just now, so he also stood up to help.
“I’ll go.” Zhao Xin stood up and pressed Brother Pi Dan’s shoulder. “You are guests, how can I let you cook.”
Inside the kitchen, the water was boiling loudly on the stove. Ye Ruoqing was squatting by the trash can, picking off the baby bok choy.
Zhao Xin turned the heat down a bit, gave her a small stool, and then moved a stool for herself to sit beside her, asking: “What’s with this ‘domineering CEO’ thing?”
Ye Ruoqing plucked a rotten leaf and threw it into the basket, not looking at Zhao Xin: “It’s just that thing.”
“Who told you?”
“You told so many people, are you worried that I wouldn’t know?”
“You misunderstood.”
A stalk of bok choy had been stripped down to just the heart by Ye Ruoqing. Zhao Xin moved the trash basket closer to her and said: “Throw it away.”
“I won’t.”
“Why are you angry with me?”
Ye Ruoqing tore off the heart leaves one by one and threw them into the basket, criticizing Zhao Xin with every throw: “Angry that you’ve been acting so weird lately, angry that you told everyone about your domineering CEO but didn’t tell me, angry that you… I’m just angry, I’m furious.”
Zhao Xin didn’t know what expression to make. She just shook her head and said: “You really have quite an imagination.”
“Imagination about what?” This sentence added fuel to the fire. Ye Ruoqing threw the vegetables in her hand, reached out to touch Zhao Xin’s face. Zhao Xin was startled at first, then immediately dodged. Ye Ruoqing stopped her hand, looking at her with a look of grievance.
“I have an imagination? Zhao Xin, I really want to treat you well and compensate you properly, so I treat you like my wife, caring for you. But look at you? You’re acting all nervous. I just touched you, and you look at me with the expression you’d give a rapist. I’m starting to wonder if I really did assault you that night.”
Zhao Xin’s face looked displeased: “Compensate me?”
“What do you think?”
Ye Ruoqing was in a fit of pique and didn’t mind her volume. Brother Pi Dan and Director Chen, hearing the argument in the kitchen from the living room, hurried over and asked: “What’s wrong? Why are you fighting?”
Zhao Xin threw the vegetables in her hand, clapped her hands, and stood up, saying coldly: “The vegetables are frozen. Let’s go out to eat.”
Brother Pi Dan looked down at the green bok choy. He was about to defend the innocent vegetables when a cold wind blew past him. Zhao Xin walked out of the kitchen with an expression that screamed, stay away from me, almost freezing him to death in the summer heat.
Oh dear, the Iceberg Goddess was furious.
The culprit was behind him, blowing his own beard and glaring: “I’m not going with you~ Have a happy meal~ I’m going to sleep~ Don’t call me to pick you up~ My phone is dead today and I’m not planning to charge it~ Just let your domineering CEO bring you back, mwah mwah da~”
Good news travels slowly, but bad news travels far and wide.
A few days later, Ye Ruoqing received a call from Ren Xi: “Little Ye Qing, I heard you and Zhao Xin had a fight?”
The seductive voice carried an undisguised amusement. Ye Ruoqing was certain that Ren Xi must be laughing heartily on the other end.
“Who told you?”
“I naturally have my sources. Little Ye Qing, my little beauty, why don’t you come over and be my assistant? My apartment is no smaller than Zhao Xin’s. You can choose any room, and it’s fine if you want to sleep with me.”
“Who wants to sleep with you?”
“You don’t want to?”
“Thank you, but no!”
“Oh, I get it~ You want to sleep with Zhao Xin, but Zhao Xin won’t, so you fought?”
What an imagination! Ye Ruoqing hung up the phone, completely ignoring Ren Xi. However, a pretty woman having too much imagination was better than one who loved reading CEO romance novels. Zhao Xin was indeed escorted back by a man that night, and Ye Ruoqing was hiding behind the curtains, furious enough to spit bl00d.
How harmful these silly romance novels were! At thirty years old, she still believed in love at first sight from a domineering CEO. How childish!
Ye Ruoqing’s good impression of Ren Xi soared. Who said women with big chests were brainless? She thought Ren Xi was quite good.
However, that good impression of Ren Xi, which she had painstakingly built up, was gone by the afternoon. That afternoon, a flood of news spread across online media. Leading the charge was an extremely aloof picture of Zhao Xin backstage at an event, coupled with a sensational headline—”A-list Actress Is Cold-Faced Throughout the Event, Suspected to Be Related to Her New Assistant.”
Ye Ruoqing clicked on the news and read the entire article carefully. There wasn’t a single explicit word in the text. Centered around the word “sleep” from the phone call, and using Ye Ruoqing and Zhao Xin’s cold war as fact, the article was full of insinuations, impossible to articulate clearly.
It was a new height for fan-fiction-style writing.
She wanted to grab Ren Xi’s neck and shake her hard. Where is your integrity?!
At that moment, Ren Xi was leaning by her office desk, casually lighting a cigarette, and looking at the news with satisfaction, indicating that she only loved money and had no integrity.
Susan saw the news. Following her usual procedure, she asked Ye Ruoqing to temporarily move out of Zhao Xin’s place and stay in a hotel.
Ye Ruoqing said: “That damn woman Ren Xi is spouting nonsense. I’m going to find her after work today to talk about life! I need to set her moral compass straight!”
Little Yuan poked her forehead: “How can you believe Ren Xi has a moral compass?”
Ye Ruoqing roared: “I thought she was just calling to mock me a bit, who knew she had another trick up her sleeve? Should we issue a statement to clarify?”
Little Yuan said: “It’s useless. There are tons of these kinds of news stories. If you issue a statement for every one, you’ll be exhausted. Plus, you actually live together. Denying it will just invite media to dig deeper.”
Ye Ruoqing angrily pulled out her phone: “I’m going to report her to the anti-pornography and illegal publications office! Writing yellow news to gain clicks!”
Susan walked over, saw Ye Ruoqing still thinking about how to retaliate, and said: “You don’t need to worry about this. Just move out.”
Ye Ruoqing insisted: “I will not move out. Zhao Xin and I are clean…”
Thinking of the slightly intimate past they had that one night, even though nothing much happened while they lived together, she didn’t dare to say the words fully. She just shook her head continuously, refusing to move out no matter what.
“You must move out. Zhao Xin is very protective of her reputation. This kind of same-s3x scandal has a very bad influence, and you have an audition in a few days. If the media gets interested and digs for news, it won’t be good for you either.”
“I’m not worried. I believe Zhao Xin won’t worry about these fake news stories either…”
Seeing Ye Ruoqing’s stubbornness, Susan directly called Zhao Xin. She briefly spoke to Zhao Xin, then handed the phone to Ye Ruoqing.
“You talk to Zhao Xin.”
Ye Ruoqing took the phone. They had been in a cold war for several days. Zhao Xin had been out early and returned late, busy with recent events, and hadn’t let her pick her up. The two only saw each other in the morning and evening. Although Ye Ruoqing was angry whenever she thought of that domineering CEO, the fury had subsided over the days. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xin was holding a grudge against her. It was back to square one; Zhao Xin was treating her now just like when they first met, with an unapproachable, cold, and beautiful demeanor.
“Zhao Xin, it’s me, Ye Ruoqing. I want to tell you, that dead woman Ren Xi balabala…”
Ye Ruoqing felt a little wronged. After the news broke, she couldn’t help but tell Susan about her private phone call with Ren Xi. Although Susan didn’t say it, Ye Ruoqing felt that she was somewhat blaming her.
She wanted to use this phone call to resolve their conflict, and at the same time, have her owner comfort her and smooth things over. Unexpectedly, before she even finished speaking, Zhao Xin’s words poured cold water all over her:
“Then you should move out.”