Chapter 22

Nothing Zhai You had been hoping for happened at the hot spring.

She sat alone in the room in a daze, surrounded by drifting steam, her hands resting obediently on her knees while her eyes kept wandering toward the room next door.

Next door was the female Omega section, where Jiang Bailu was.

Peeping would be far too obscene and shameless. Zhai You’s moral bottom line wouldn’t allow her to do something like that.

Bored out of her mind, she got up from the pool, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and went to wait for Su Luo.

She hadn’t forgotten the real purpose of coming here.

Before long, Su Luo came out. He was wiping his hair with a towel while laughing and chatting with a staff member beside him. When he turned his head, he immediately saw the sexy, aloof-looking Zhai You.

Water was still dripping from Zhai You’s red hair. She didn’t seem to care at all, lazily closing her eyes as she waited.

The moment she saw Su Luo, however, her eyes filled with a silent pressure.

Uh.

Su Luo suddenly panicked. “Come on, Sister Zhai ​bailiantales.com​You. I only stopped you from bathing together with Sister-in-law. You don’t have to glare at me like that.”

“Was I glaring at you?” Zhai You pursed her lips and shamelessly argued, “I wasn’t glaring at you. My eyes are just big. Sigh, someone with tiny eyes like you could never understand how innocent I look.”

Su Luo: “……”

She hadn’t been glaring.

There was nothing wrong with her waiting here for Su Luo, right?

Su Luo dismissed the staff member first, then walked over to Zhai You. “So what did you need me for?”

Zhai You sighed. She had come straight out of the hot spring without even drying her hair, leaving it wet over her shoulders. She wore only a long dress that exposed her evenly proportioned calves.

It should have been a beautiful, picturesque scene, but the moment Zhai You opened her mouth, all that remained was the vulgar bluntness of the nouveau riche.

“How much money do you have?”

“What?” Su Luo froze, nearly failing to process that Zhai You was the one asking him this.

After all, among their entire group, Zhai You was usually the one person who never lacked money.

Whenever Su Luo was short on cash, he would even borrow from Zhai You.

Zhai You was the only daughter in her family, while her parents loved traveling and leaving their daughter at home.

Their way of compensating her was by giving her all kinds of pocket money. As long as Zhai You opened her mouth and asked, Father Zhai would give it to her.

Su Luo could envy that for a lifetime.

He answered honestly, “I’ve still got a few million.”

Thinking about how much money had previously been sitting in her own account, Zhai You actually showed disdain. “Poor bastard.”

Su Luo was poor and silent.

And yet even the several million belonging to this “poor bastard” was about to be drained by Zhai You.

“Lend it to me.”

Su Luo looked as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

This seemed to be the first time since his birth that he had ever heard Zhai You ask to borrow money.

“Didn’t you invest in a movie before?” Although [Read on BaiLianTales]he was asking, Su Luo was already taking out his phone. “Didn’t that movie make two billion at the box office? You should’ve earned quite a lot too.”

Zhai You suddenly understood.

So that was where the balance in her bank account had come from.

No wonder there had still been money left even after investing in Deliberate Love. The original owner really had been blessed by the god of wealth.

Too bad Zhai You herself didn’t have that kind of ability. She had only just started squandering money and had already burned through everything she had.

“Sigh, I donated a building to a school.” Zhai You looked melancholy. “No matter how hard life gets, we can’t let the children suffer. We absolutely had to expand the space where they study.”

“After all, the students at No. 1 High School spend more than ten hours every day crammed into tiny classrooms. How pitiful.”

Su Luo was speechless.

Out of the hundreds of ways Zhai You could have silenced him, she had chosen the cruelest possible one, dredging up his own painful memories.

You’re not doing this for the children. You got caught in the rain yourself, so now you want to snap the children’s umbrellas in half.

“I transferred it to your account.” Su Luo put his phone away.

Now he would have to live an ascetic, desire-free life for the next month.

His heart genuinely hurt.

With intense bitterness, he asked, “Can I at least ask what you’re using the money for?”

Zhai You received the text notifying her that the money had arrived and looked very satisfied. “Obviously, it’s being spent on your sister-in-law.”

“Sister-in-law is a money-devouring beast?”

Zhai You thought, Isn’t she? Just look at how much I’ve spent already.

But outwardly, she remained perfectly serious. “Nonsense. Your sister-in-law brings wealth. Once I start making money later, you’ll understand.”

Su Luo said, “I’d like to understand by the end of this month.”

Zhai You replied, “That’s probably not very realistic.”

At the end of this month, Jiang Bailu and Zhai You would be going to audition.

Zhai You transferred the money to Sister Ji, leaving her bank account empty once again. She told Sister Ji to terminate Jiang Bailu’s contract as soon as possible, preferably before the role was officially finalized.

After bringing Jiang Bailu home, Zhai You spent several days constantly hanging around her.

She obediently read the original novel for several days and, under Jiang Bailu’s guidance, tried to figure out screenwriter Luo Yin’s preferences.

*

Early in the morning, Zhai You’s assistant was already waiting downstairs for them.

Jiang Bailu changed into one of her new outfits. That niche brand really suited her. Zhai You, meanwhile, stuck to her usual style, since her entire wardrobe was filled with clothes like that anyway.

Zhai You couldn’t tell what new styles had been added to her wardrobe or what had disappeared.

They had all been sent over by the store according to the original owner’s preferences.

Zhai You thought, I certainly don’t have money to buy new clothes.

And so, wearing the latest seasonal outfit, she strode downstairs.

The assistant sighed with emotion as he opened the car door. “This is the first time Sister Zhai is seriously going to an audition, isn’t it?”

Jiang Bailu was a little curious. “Didn’t she audition before too?”

Zhai You had no idea what things had been ​bailiantales.com​like before. She folded her arms and said nothing, while the eyes beneath her sunglasses stared fixedly at the assistant.

If he dared say too much, she would tear him apart the moment they got out of the car.

The assistant had absolutely no sense of danger. He thought Jiang Bailu would soon be signing under Sister Ji anyway, which meant he might have to take care of Jiang Bailu in the future as well. She could be considered another new boss of his, so he answered every question honestly.

“Back then, if she showed up on time, that already meant she was in a good mood. She’d stroll in, make a lap like a model showing off her outfit, then leave.”

“……”

“Pfft.” Jiang Bailu covered her lips and let out a soft laugh.

That really was very Zhai You.

Just imagining Zhai You arrogantly lifting her chin made Jiang Bailu find it amusing.

The audition was being held on the eighth floor. There were already plenty of people downstairs, all dressed and styled to look like teenagers, overflowing with youthful energy.

The assistant leaned toward Jiang Bailu and started gossiping. “Do you know that one over there? Tsk, tsk. She’s twenty-seven and still came here to play a high-school student!”

Jiang Bailu wasn’t very familiar with entertainment-industry celebrities yet, but she didn’t like talking about people behind their backs. Still, the assistant was clearly enjoying himself, so she didn’t interrupt.

Zhai You coldly reminded him, “Guess how old I am.”

The assistant panicked. “But Sister Zhai, your beauty crushes everyone else. Forget a high-school student, even a middle-school—”

You’d be suitable for playing one of the teachers.

Jiang Bailu laughed softly. “Don’t listen to him.”

Zhai You’s eyes were clear and clean, like someone vigorously growing beneath sunlight, full of the fiery vitality of youth.

Jiang Bailu’s soft deer-like eyes looked at Zhai You, filled with complete affirmation.

Zhai You’s mood improved considerably.

The corners of her lips visibly lifted, carrying an air of Jiang Bailu really does have good taste. Then she gave the assistant a cold sidelong glance, snorted, and walked off.

It seemed everyone attending this audition was aiming for the female lead role.

They tried their best to imitate the original character’s quiet, taciturn temperament, but Jiang Bailu didn’t even need to act. The moment she stood there, it came naturally.

There were also people auditioning for the second female lead.

In a yuri drama, both the unauthorized copy first and second female leads were protagonists. The only difference was the amount of screen time.

Those auditioning for the second female lead came in every possible style.

In the novel, this character was the person the female lead secretly loved. Most of the story was still told from the female lead’s perspective, but whenever the camera focused on the second female lead, her own personality would still emerge.

And everyone interpreted that personality differently.

The reason so many people had shown up to audition was that Director Guo’s team hadn’t announced that the roles had already been decided internally.

Director Guo was currently overwhelmed.

Officially, the only information that had gotten out was that Zhai You had become an investor and would play one of the roles. Nothing more specific had been released.

And the internal casting decision had only been made recently, so it wasn’t exactly convenient to suddenly notify all the actors who had already come to audition.

It left Director Guo caught in an impossible position.

When a staff member told him that Zhai You and Jiang Bailu had arrived, he said irritably, “Did those two come here specifically to provoke the other actors?”

After saying it, he fell silent again.

Director Guo was very satisfied with Jiang Bailu.

Only Zhai You bothered him.

His previous sentence had seemed to drag Jiang Bailu into his criticism too, so Director Guo very rigorously added, “Zhai You really is a piece of work.”

Zhai You arrived wearing sunglasses that covered most of her face.

Logically, no one should have been able to recognize her, but her aura was so distinctive that the moment she appeared, everyone immediately realized—

Zhai You had arrived.

The crowd naturally split into two lines.

Their gazes uniformly shifted toward Jiang Bailu beside her. They saw her long, smooth black hair, her understated clothing, and the tranquil aura she gave off when silent, so peaceful that it unconsciously made people slow their breathing.

Then everyone immediately realized—

the female lead role was gone…

No one spoke.

There wasn’t even any quiet whispering.

The first floor fell completely silent as everyone secretly watched the two women.

Zhai You and Jiang Bailu hadn’t said anything.

They hadn’t done anything.

Yet they were already the center of the crowd, as though everyone else naturally existed around them.

People like that were truly…

envy-inducing.

One person in particular had an especially ugly expression.

She had gotten up at four in the morning and deliberately spent time applying natural-looking no-makeup makeup so she could stand out among all the other actors and successfully fight for the female lead role.

That person was Li Xiaolan—her real name.

Li Xiaolan gritted her teeth and stared resentfully at Zhai You.

She and Zhai You were practically natural-born enemies.

During an idol competition, Li Xiaolan’s vote count had been steadily rising, and she had a real chance of debuting.

During the final round of voting, she had even deliberately played up her hardships to her fans. Just when she thought she could squeeze into the last debut spot—

Zhai You arrived with her money.

Because the rules allowed it, she openly bought nearly two hundred thousand votes and shot straight into second place.

That sudden second-place ranking knocked the original last-place contestant out.

And that contestant had been her, Li Xiaolan.

If Zhai You had that kind of money, why didn’t she just debut directly?

Why didn’t she simply sign with a company?

Why did she have to come and steal Li Xiaolan’s spot?

Because of that incident, Zhai You had been mocked from the moment she debuted.

Less than a year later, she loudly announced that she was leaving the group, radiating [unauthorized copy]the infuriating attitude of I got bored of playing.

It made people grit their teeth in hatred while also being completely helpless against her.

After that, Zhai You moved on to acting…

Judging by things now, she still hadn’t gotten bored of that.

Li Xiaolan’s gaze practically stuck to Zhai You.

She hated admitting that the whole “mortal enemies” thing existed only in her own mind.

Because Zhai You didn’t even have her in her eyes.

Disgust filled Li Xiaolan’s gaze.

Just as she was nearly unable to hold herself back, she vaguely saw the woman beside Zhai You tug on Zhai You’s sleeve.

Then the two of them looked toward her.

Li Xiaolan’s breathing stopped.

Jiang Bailu’s breathing was faint as she sensed an intense wave of hostility.

Whenever she had this sort of instinct, she tried to avoid unnecessary conflict as much as possible.

Jiang Bailu lowered her eyes, then sensed that the hostility wasn’t directed at her.

It was directed at Zhai You beside her.

Jiang Bailu froze for a long while and blinked in confusion.

She raised her head to look at Zhai You.

Zhai You hadn’t noticed anything at all. Perhaps she had already grown used to being treated this way, because her expression was so calm that Jiang Bailu inexplicably felt dissatisfied.

Anger began rising inside her.

There was even a faint instinct to defend Zhai You.

She tugged at Zhai You’s sleeve.

When Zhai You lowered her head to look at her, Jiang Bailu had already been staring at her for quite a while.

This woman had helped her so much.

Consider it repayment…

Jiang Bailu sighed softly, then looked toward the direction filled with hostility. “Someone’s staring at you.”

Zhai You felt like everyone was staring at her.

She didn’t particularly care. Instead, she gave a low chuckle and asked, “Are you jealous?”