Chapter 267: A Girl's Grand Ambitions

The progress of Li Xin and Li Yitong's off-screen chemistry rehearsal was unknown to anyone.

But Meng Jie's performance as this unknown small-time nobody brought quite a pleasant surprise to the directing team.

Brows like willow leaves, dark eyes glancing about, lips painted cinnabar red, naturally exuding an air of allure with every slight parting.

She was the most popular Miss on the capital's show stage: Si Lili.

Meng Jie: I've said it before, I was born to play the courtesan queen!

What do you call the number one female idol of Southern Qing~

During this period after joining the crew, Meng Jie had been unusually quiet, which even made Li Yitong feel puzzled.

Everyone was guessing whether she was holding back some big move~

She really was holding back, but not to tear into the young ladies and fight over a man — Meng Jie was working hard for something serious.

To play the role of Si Lili well, she truly threw herself in wholeheartedly, not even going to cuddle up with Bai Liang.

She entered the role directly, aiming for that feeling of desire unfulfilled.

When acting opposite Bai Liang, she really wanted to lean over and press herself hard into his body — but she held back.

The specific reason even Bai Liang couldn't remember, but it was indeed because of something he'd done.

Previously, when Meng Jie discussed the role with Bai Liang, she asked him how she should play this character well.

Bai Liang casually said: "Meng Jie, just play it naturally, and rein it in a little, that'll do."

His original meaning was actually that Meng Jie was a bit green, so he'd take the lead and set the rhythm to influence her — that would be enough.

But she misunderstood him, yet it turned out to be a happy accident.

Si Lili in "Joy of Life" is an extremely complex and contradictory character.

On the surface, she is the courtesan queen of the capital's Drunken Immortal House, gifted in both looks and talent, endlessly charming, the focus of the powerful and wealthy.

Her true identity is the leader of Northern Qi spies潜伏 in Southern Qing, bearing the mission of her family and country.

Her identity, emotions, and fate are intertwined in the vortex of power struggles and the jianghu.

These settings and background flesh out the character, and because of script changes, the male lead Fan Xian can no longer "keep a harem," but Si Lili's love for him has become even more straightforward.

For Meng Jie, to play this role well, the most important thing boils down to two words: restraint.

The result of this restraint is:

While being seductive and alluring, her every word and deed, even her micro-expressions, are extremely proper.

She gives people the impression of a gentle and charming ancient woman.

Her little companions were all stunned~

Li Yitong, Jin Cheng, and others:???

We were all just muddling through together, performing passably — with Bai Liang carrying us, how did you suddenly start cheating?!

Meng Jie: I just took all the time you spent on weird stuff and put it into seriously studying the character and my acting.

She said she wasn't in any hurry at all, because she didn't have many scenes.

But although her screen time was limited, the character was quite striking and memorable.

So she had to find a way to push herself to the limit within those limited scenes.

Meng Jie even secretly borrowed a line from a Han Han movie as her recent "motto":

Liking is indulgence, but love is restraint.

A bit melodramatic, but that's her taste — what can you do~

And Meng Jie's perspective is gradually broadening now; this recent bout of restraint has given her a feeling almost like an "enlightenment at Dragon Field."

What's the little situation in the "Joy of Life" crew?

What good bestie sneaking a bite of her ex, bestie's bestie wanting a taste too, bestie's look-alike sisters seeming to want a taste too — none of these are the main contradiction!

Because the truly formidable ones aren't even in this crew. What good would it do even if she "took care of" everyone in the crew?

Those two new Jiangnan Misses outside are like two sky-obscuring dark clouds, looming over every girl who wants a story with Bai Liang.

If one only wants a short-term fling, or even no story at all, just a physical encounter, that's still manageable.

But once you start wanting more, yearning for a bigger future, the pressure immediately cranks up.

So she has to stand high enough to break through those two clouds and see the sun!

First thing every morning after waking up, give herself a pep talk.

Bai Liang was filled with admiration: Wow! What ambition~

Meng Jie: Hmph~

Bai Liang: By the way, play cards?

Meng Jie: Deal!

Tch, a young girl's grand ambitions don't seem as steadfast as they look.

Bai Liang saw that Meng Jie had written some motivational "slogans" in her script and thought she had truly been elevated.

But it was broken by a single "play cards."

Meng Jie's face flushed bright red, her earlier proud demeanor vanishing instantly, as she muttered: "I haven't played cards in so long, you know~"

"You're full of it. Last time I visited the 'Ever Night' crew, I heard you guys talking about playing cards at dinner — lost quite a bit of money, didn't you?"

"I'm really good at it, how could I possibly lose!" Meng Jie said anxiously.

She would never doubt her card-playing skills; even if she lost, it was because of other reasons.

In short, her skills were definitely not the problem!

Bai Liang propped his face with one hand, holding back a laugh: "This time blaming the seat, or the feng shui? Or the clothes being too tight to breathe?"

"... Blaming you." Meng Jie said softly.

"Huh?"

"Because I missed you too much, I can't help it when I'm drawing tiles."

Bai Liang paused. For a free-spirited capybara, very few things could make him unable to resist a second glance.

Unless it was a sincere heart.

That thing is worthless in some people's eyes, but in others' eyes it weighs heavy.

Bai Liang is a good person at heart — he generally isn't willing to let people down.

But the problem now is that he's run into a few too many of them. He can only "not let them down" from a different angle.

Still, just to be safe, he asked one more thing: "Drawing which tile couldn't you help it?"

Meng Jie giggled. "The one."

"I knew it. Almost moved me there~"

"Who knows if your being moved is real or fake," Meng Jie muttered under her breath.

Even now she can't tell how much of the passionate response Bai Liang gave her back then was false, and how much was sincere.

There has to be at least a sliver of it, right~

"Huh?"

"Hmph! Of course you should be moved. When I draw tiles I'm ruthless — I don't even recognize my own family. And yet now I actually thought of you."

Fair point! Bai Liang expressed his deep honor, then promptly arranged tonight's tile partners for Meng Jie.

Chen Daoming.

Meng Jie:???

It was the first time in her life that playing tiles felt so grueling. Sitting across from her, with that half-smiling, half-not expression on his face — Emperor Qing, no, Teacher Chen Daoming — and she already felt the pressure crushing down.

She used to think that when she played tiles, she could just go all out no matter who the opponent was. Smash them hard and be done with it.

At the tile table there is no rank or seniority — only skill speaks.

But today, she felt she might have been too young and naive back then.

The moment Chen Daoming sat down, before he even drew a tile, you just felt it — done for, not a single chance of winning.

Or rather — did she dare to win?

Li Xin and Li Yitong were also feeling like calling the police about now.

The two of them had been sweet-talked into coming to play tiles.

Because the drama "Joy of Life" has a pai gow scene — it's the Fan family after all.

And Lin Wan'er's character setting is also a tile-skill master, the kind who can swap tiles.

They said something about playing mahjong to get a feel for the character.

Bullshit!

When did Lin Wan'er and Fan Ruoruo ever play tiles with Emperor Qing?!

It would be more like calling Gao Shuguang who plays Fan Jian and Zhao Ke who plays Concubine Liu to come play together.

And does this even make sense?!

In fact, Chen Daoming right now looked like he was smiling on the surface, but inside something was also off.

What a fine — Sanniang Sect teaching her son game!

Oh right, this mahjong battle also has three spectators~

Guo Qilin, in charge of commentary, review, and livening up the atmosphere; Jin Cheng, the sexy dealer in charge of pouring tea and refilling water.

Plus one pure freeloader spectator-slash-player, Bai Liang.

Occasionally helping Miss draw a tile — more accurately, holding Miss's hand while drawing tiles together with her.

The best tile player present was definitely Chen Daoming. If you're not a professional mahjong player, just playing tiles with an elder in your own family who's been at it for years is enough to know what decades of grinding produce — an astonishing tile sense.

So the Misses were soon beaten into a complete rout.

Then Chen Daoming set his sights on the two guys beside him who were grinning and watching the show.

"You two come over for a bit?" "Sure, I'll keep you company for a round~" Guo Qilin agreed in one breath.

Although he came today to show support, he was actually very grateful that Bai Liang had invited him.

This was playing mahjong with Chen Daoming!

Bai Liang: Huh? What do you mean playing with Chen Daoming? This is playing tiles with my Meng Jie!

He simply couldn't figure out the primary and secondary relationships here.

"Let Jin Cheng go instead. If I play there's no point." Bai Liang waved his hand.

Chen Daoming was stunned for a moment, then laughed in exasperation: "You little punk, you're plenty cocky, aren't you? Fine, you come! Let's see just how pointless it really is!"

Li Xin and Li Yitong breathed a sigh of relief. Switch players, switch players, quick, switch.

Meng Jie: I want to switch players too.

Her gaze turned to Jin Cheng, as if seeking rescue.

But Jin Cheng was sharp — she scampered right over to grab the hot water kettle and went to pour tea for Teacher Chen Daoming.

She was here to do exactly this! What kind of "sexy dealer" takes the table herself to play~

There's no such logic.

No errors, no missing chapters, no duplicate content — read everything here!

But soon, the atmosphere in the room turned strange.

As Bai Liang yawned yet casually and effortlessly went on a疯狂 winning spree, he left even Chen Daoming silenced.

He had never seen an opponent like this at a tile table.

Clearly all relaxed and at ease on his face, yet radiating an overwhelming pressure.

Honestly, Bai Liang's so-called top-tier celebrity status and all that光环 — in Chen Daoming's eyes it wasn't really all that impressive. At best, just a pretty decent younger-generation actor.

But once they actually clashed at the card table, the feeling was instantly different!

This kid... he's no simple matter!

Bai Liang: "In a game where luck carries such heavy weight, if you don't play cards, seeing me is like a frog in a well seeing the moon in the sky. But if you DO play cards, seeing me is like a mayfly seeing the vast heavens!"

Guo Qilin, sitting across from Bai Liang, frantically shot him meaningful glances, but couldn't stop Bai Liang from thoroughly putting Chen Daoming on tilt tonight.

"We'll continue tomorrow!"

After tonight's card game ended, Chen Daoming tossed out this line.

Clearly, he wasn't convinced—he was getting anxious~

"I have to take leave tomorrow, won't be on set for a few days," Bai Liang said with a beaming smile. "Let them keep you company first. Here, she's my little apprentice~ Her name is Meng Ziyi. As Mencius said, 'A gentleman would sacrifice his life for righteousness'—nice name, right~"

Chen Daoming glanced at Meng Ziyi, which made her instinctively straighten her back, but her mind went completely blank.

"Fine then, come back soon. An actor taking that many days off during filming—does that even make sense?"

"I have to promote my movies and TV shows. When we film something else later, I might still need to take leave to promote THIS one."

Chen Daoming: Fair point.

Badass!

Guo Qilin and the others were internally clicking their tongues like crazy, thinking: this guy is really fierce!

Anyone else facing Chen Daoming's stern-faced "criticism" would probably panic and apologize first. But Bai Liang simply refused to indulge him.

The relaxed, casual tone of his speech really made people feel—this guy has WAY too much底气 (backbone).

Is he chatting with Uncle Er at the village entrance?

Meng Jie:... Ah?! Me?!

She finally came back to her senses, a complex gleam shining in her big eyes.

If she were still too nervous to play at this point, she really shouldn't be an artist.

Sometimes playing cards is purely for fun—most of the card games Meng Jie played before were exactly like that.

But now she suddenly understood: there's a kind of card game called a business networking game.

It's not that anyone can give her resources—this isn't strip mahjong.

As long as Chen Daoming remembers her name, someday when a reporter interviews him and he mentions her, gives her a slight compliment—that marketing could last her years.

Absolutely far more useful than any of those "look-at-me-stealing-the-show" stunts she played before!

Last year, with the massive hit of "In the Name of the People" and the rise of short videos, all kinds of "acting highlight clips" went viral, breaking down age-based barriers. Veteran actors everywhere rose to prominence, enjoying a second spring, their voices and influence growing ever louder.

At the same time, this is precisely the moment when the whole world has long suffered under the tyranny of traffic-driven fame.

And a veteran actor of Chen Daoming's caliber and influence—there are only a handful in the entire entertainment circle~

Meng Jie: Waaah, Little Hedgehog! Did you prepare this especially for me too?

Bai Liang: "Actually, I just happened to remember it at the very end."

In his eyes, Chen Daoming was just a senior actor—no big deal. Hmm... he's a bit more handsome than average, I guess that counts as something special.

His card skills are average~ Meng Jie could crush him one-handed.

Right, Meng Jie?

If one isn't enough, I can arrange Secretary Dakang next time—he's about to join the cast too. I'm even closer with him.

Meng Jie: Little Hedgehog, how about next time I bring my girlfriends to play strip mahjong with you~

Girls do tend to get carried away pretty easily.

Now Meng Jie was getting a bit carried away. She felt like she'd been freeloading off Bai Liang all along, enjoying all kinds of help from him.

It made her feel a bit ashamed. They weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend... If they were, she wouldn't have to be so conflicted.

She just felt something wasn't quite right.

Never mind that for now. In short, she really couldn't think of anything to repay him with. She didn't want to go the "dry route" like last time either—the experience was just too... you know.

Of course, if he insisted...

But Bai Liang himself said it was just trying it out. He didn't particularly enjoy playing that way—the experience wasn't that great, just novel.

As for the other stuff... that was mutual pleasure, which Meng Jie didn't think counted as her "repayment."

So what to do? She had her pride—she couldn't keep enjoying Bai Liang's care with a clear conscience like this.

So on impulse, she set her sights on her good bestie Li Yitong.

Tongtong, don't you like sneaking bites? If it really comes to it, then...

The back of Li Yitong's head went numb. She kept feeling like she'd been on a lot of people's minds lately—Li Xin, Jin Cheng, and now Meng Jie today—seemed like they were all looking at her with something off in their eyes.

What are these people trying to do?!

Of course, Li Xin's intentions seemed the most obvious—she'd already picked up on it.

Because the other had already been suggesting they call Bai Liang to come drink together sometime.

As for the other two—could they have the same purpose too?

So when Bai Liang brought Meng Jie to knock on her door late at night, Li Yitong's heart gave a jolt.

They're serious? And this fast?!

"Um... I'm not ready yet~" Li Yitong said, her face reddening, sounding a bit conflicted.

"Huh? Does Rourou need a lot of stuff to go out?" Bai Liang asked, a bit puzzled.

Li Yitong froze. "Rourou? What happened to it?"

"I want to bring Chocolate and Rourou on the show together—take them out for a stroll. Didn't Meng Jie tell you?"

Li Yitong looked at Meng Jie, who sheepishly scratched her head. Ahh—her mind had been full of dirty thoughts, she forgot~

After Bai Liang carried off the two dogs, Li Yitong and Meng Ziyi exchanged awkward glances.

"Um..."

"Let's sleep together tonight." Meng Jie suddenly said.

"Sure, sure~ But why the sudden urge? Afraid I'll tickle you?"

"Just want to get used to it first." Meng Jie muttered softly.

Actually, she had also spoken on impulse; forget about any plan, right now it was still purely just her imagination.

But just the imagining alone made her so shy and embarrassed she couldn't take it — if nothing unexpected happened, she'd most likely give up.

However, the moment those words were spoken, Li Yitong's body instantly stiffened.

Oh no! They're serious!

So what kind of attribute was she, Li Yitong, in these people's eyes? The ultimate third wheel?

How utterly outrageous!

The angry evil little kitty will "blame" every single person equally — she has to strike first!

Rather than being someone else's accessory, better to turn the others into her own accessories! —

Bai Liang really was going to take leave from the crew tomorrow.

At the same time he had to promote the two projects "The Story of Ming Lan" and "How Long Will I Love U" — the promotional pressure was indeed a bit heavy.

So, bringing Jing Tian and Zhao Liying onto the show together was very reasonable.

On top of that, the show he was about to go on was called "Back to Field," and Bai Liang felt that Meng Jie's chocolates and Li Yitong's meat might just produce some entertaining moments.

Two young ladies, each sending out a doggo first, to crash the Mushroom House~

Damn, it even kind of rhymes.

Before leaving the next day, that kid Guo Qilin actually made a special trip over.

He was quite the character; between the lines he quietly hinted to Bai Liang that Teacher Huang's "dad energy" was a bit heavy — possibly a brand-new version you haven't encountered before.

"Heavier than Teacher Chen Daoming's dad energy?" Bai Liang asked curiously.

"Bro, you're something else!"

Guo Qilin admiringly gave a thumbs-up — what else could he say? This big brother had clearly reached a certain realm of awesomeness, completely beyond what his own understanding could grasp.

He felt Bai Liang was even more carefree and free-spirited than the Fan Xian he himself played.

Playing himself? This role simply can't fully bring out my Brother Liang's true colors.

"Anything else?"

"Nope, wishing Brother Liang a good time."

(End of chapter)