Chapter 11

"Sister Xia Xi, sister Xia Xi."
Song Yuan's voice brought Xia Xi back to the present once more. She squinted, rubbing her temples, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she was met with Lu Yisheng's irritating face.
"Eek!, What are you doing here?" Xia Xi froze for a second before snapping back to reality, her tone toward Lu Yisheng sharp and laced with disdain.
Disdain?!
"Sister Xia Xi," Song Yuan whispered, tugging discreetly at Xia Xi's sleeve to stop her from saying more, leaning in to explain quietly, "After Lu Yisheng finished filming, you were staring at him with such deep affection that he came over."
Deep affection?! Impossible.
Xia Xi frowned, clearly disbelieving that she had been the one gazing so intently. She was about to refute the situation when Ye Xin suddenly approached, interrupting her.
"Lu Yisheng, so this is where you were." Spotting Lu Yisheng, Ye Xin hurried to his side, her tone dripping with familiarity. "We're about to shoot the scene where the male and female leads meet for the first time, and I'm a bit nervous. Lu Yisheng, could you run lines with me?"
After speaking, she looked at Lu Yisheng with hopeful eyes.
"Sorry, I don't have time."
Ye Xin, who had initially thought Lu Yisheng would never refuse, quickly flashed a look of embarrassment upon hearing his response. She forced an awkward smile and said, "Since you don't have time, it seems I'll have to ask you to rehearse with me another day."
"Yeah, next time." Lu Yisheng replied absentmindedly, picking up the script from the table and flipping it open. He sat down in the chair beside Xia Xi and glanced at Ye Xin indifferently. "What, is there something else?"
"N-no, nothing." After being rejected by Lu Yisheng, Ye Xin looked on the verge of tears. She glanced at Lu Yisheng, then at Xia Xi, and managed to pull a stiff smile. "I'll go get my makeup done then."
"Mm."
Xia Xi watched the hurriedly departing figure and felt a pang of regret for not leaving immediately earlier. The truth was, she just hadn't reacted in time,
Xia Xi narrowed her eyes, sighed inwardly, calmly picked up the cup on the table, took a sip of water, and focused on her own thoughts, pretending she hadn't seen anything.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Lu Yisheng glanced at Xia Xi and suddenly spoke in a neutral tone.
"Huh?"
Xia Xi, who had been savoring the drama she'd just witnessed, was startled by his question. A clear look of confusion flashed in her eyes, and her expression couldn't have been more innocent. "What should I say?"
She doesn't know? Lu Yisheng was visibly taken aback when he saw Xia Xi's expression. He raised an eyebrow, mentally calculating whether this woman was playing dumb or if he had misunderstood. Could it be that the two of them really hadn't met before,
This thought flickered through Lu Yisheng's mind, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he lowered his head and focused on reading the script, ignoring no matter how many times Xia Xi tried to ask him what he meant.
Left alone, Xia Xi was consumed with curiosity, desperately trying to figure out what he had meant.
Could it be that the original host and Lu Yisheng knew each other?
Does that mean I've blown my cover again?

"Whew."
Only after seeing Lu Yisheng's retreating figure did Song Yuan dare to let out a long sigh of relief and whisper to Xia Xi, "It seems God Lu isn't as easy to get along with as the rumors say. He didn't show any mercy to such a beautiful woman."
Xia Xi chuckled lightly and nodded. "Of course. If he catered to every woman's requests, he'd be driven crazy. Besides, at his level, he has the privilege to be willful and do as he pleases. Even though Ye Xin was humiliated by him today, she wouldn't dare say a single negative word about Lu Yisheng in public. Instead, she'd praise him for being polite and caring toward juniors. That's just how the entertainment industry is, it's hard to tell what's real and what's fake."
"Sister Xia Xi, I remember you just entered the entertainment industry. How do you know so much?"
"By observing with my eyes and feeling with my heart, you naturally understand. Everyone in the entertainment industry wears a thick mask." Xia Xi picked up the cup beside her, took a small sip of tea, and glanced at the busy staff around her. "This circle is full of fakeness. Love might be fake, friendships might be fake, even family bonds, could be fake too. Hah."
She paused at this point, then turned to look at Song Yuan.
"But that's just how this industry is, you have to adapt to it. So from now on, be more careful and don't be fooled by Lu Yisheng's appearance."
"Got it, Sister Xia Xi!"
Xia Xi watched Song Yuan nod earnestly and chuckled softly, then sighed inwardly, repeating the words once more, unsure who she was saying them to.
"Where's Xia Xi? Where is she? When it's time to get serious, she's disappeared again!"
Just as Xia Xi was idly sipping tea, enjoying the scenery, and feeling utterly relaxed, the director's furious roar suddenly echoed through the air, causing her hand to tremble and nearly spill her drink.
Before she could even process what had happened to make the usually mild-mannered director explode in anger, the director's assistant hurried over with a furrowed brow and urgently said, "Xia Xi, why haven't you done your makeup yet? Hurry up, let's go to the makeup room quickly, your scene is up next!"
As Xia Xi hurried alongside him toward the makeup room, she narrowed her eyes slightly. Noticing that he wasn't volunteering any explanation about the situation, she asked, "Assistant Wang, wasn't my scene originally scheduled for the afternoon? And Senior Li Mo, who plays the Kunlun Sect Leader, hasn't even arrived yet."
"We're not filming that scene now, it's the one where you confess your feelings to Su Yuxue. You should be able to handle that, right?" The assistant director explained reluctantly, his tone dripping with skepticism, which irked Xia Xi a little.
But she knew full well that she was just a minor actress of little consequence, and it was common for people in this industry to fawn over the powerful and trample on the weak. Suppressing her annoyance, she replied calmly, "I can handle it, but could you tell me why the director suddenly made this change?"
It was a perfectly reasonable question, but the assistant director's reaction was telling.
He gave her a dismissive glance, a flicker of impatience flashing quickly in his eyes, and snapped gruffly, "Just act when you're told to. Why ask so many questions? Don't you know there are things you shouldn't pry into?"
Xia Xi was instantly infuriated by his attitude. Who did he think he was, talking to people like that? It was just acting, what was there that she shouldn't ask about? Did he think it was some state secret?
Hah.
A surge of uncontrollable anger welled up inside her. She stared daggers at the assistant director, ready to confront the clueless fool, when she felt Song Yuan gently tugging at her. Song Yuan must have sensed Xia Xi's intention and immediately tried to soothe her, mouthing silently, "Sister Xia Xi, calm down, calm down!"
The rage that had been building up, ready to make her walk off the set, suddenly dissipated the moment she saw Song Yuan. All her anger vanished because she was reminded of Da He.