A OO Love After Officially Announcing with the Best Actress - Chapter 1

June, outside an airport in the south.

The car door was wide open. A dark shadow flashed by as a humanoid creature suddenly pounced upward. With two loud thuds, the car body shook violently twice.

Lu Tu, who was dozing off against the steering wheel, jolted like a startled bird: “Was that an earthquake?!”

Lin Ke’s butt hit the seat: “It’s me.”

Lu Tu: “I’ve been waiting for you for two hours. The crew’s meet-and-greet is already over.”

Lin Ke took off her mask, sunglasses, and baseball cap, revealing a wheat-colored face. She urged: “The flight was delayed, let’s go quickly.”

Lu Tu was even more nervous than Lin Ke. Being late on the first day of joining the crew—if word got out that she was playing the big shot, it would be over! Lu Tu started the engine and glanced in the rearview mirror, receiving a second shock to the heart!

“My god!”

“How did you get so dark!”

“Is it very dark?” Lin Ke touched her small face. “I applied some dark foundation; it’s all to fit the character!”

Lu Tu said: “The script didn’t say Xiao Feng looked like this. Stop messing around. If you ruin that face, who will still like you?”

Lin Ke held her face: “I specifically went to Sanya for a week of sunbathing, but no matter what, I just couldn’t get a tan!”

It was a two-hour drive from the airport to the studio city. Lu Tu said: “I sent you an email. Read it first and do your homework. When we get to the set in a bit, we’ll go apologize to the director first.”

Lin Ke clicked open the email: “Wang Bingbing, Li Mengying, Zhang Du, Shen Kuo…”

The files were full of the participating actors for Wind Chime. The content involved the teachers’ interests, representative works, unspeakable “black material” (scandals), topics that could be mentioned, etc.—everything Lin Ke needed to memorize before joining the crew.

Lu Tu: “The script is special, and the crew’s confidentiality work was done too well. I only just got the list of participants. The information was bundled by the company. Skim through it first and we’ll analyze it later.”

After scanning the general list, Lin Ke asked: “What about the second female lead?”

Lu Tu: “The second female lead is the most mysterious. There hasn’t been a single bit of news until now.”

Lin Ke couldn’t help but tug at the tassels on the seat cushion, nervously saying: “Damn, it won’t be some greasy female Alpha, will it?”

At a red light, Lu Tu turned back to look at her and said extremely cruelly: “The contract is signed. Even if it’s a greasy Alpha, you have to keep acting.”

Lin Ke’s face turned white instantly, and she placed her hand on the car door handle.

Lu Tu: “Relax, relax. Wang Bingbing and Li Mengying are veteran actors. This drama has a high status; the second lead being so mysterious means they must be a big shot. They won’t invite some shady person to take advantage of you.”

Lin Ke nodded, her palms sweating. It wasn’t her fault for being nervous; this play had so many intimate scenes. If the director wasn’t Shen Feng, who would fight tooth and nail to squeeze into the cast?

Lu Tu: “Stop frowning, think of something happy.”

Lin Ke took out her phone to browse Weibo.

Lu Tu saw it in the rearview mirror: “Don’t look at those haters…”

“I know, I know,” Lin Ke said. “You’re really like an old nag.”

Lu Tu: “…”

Lin Ke: “I’m going to check on my ‘wives’.”

Lu Tu felt even more distressed. Ever since the role was finalized, Lin Ke would go on Weibo every few days to “select concubines.” He didn’t know if this “illness” could be cured.

Lin Ke flipped through Weibo, first looking at her favorite: a model, 176cm tall, all legs below the chest, with a high-fashion “world-weary” face.

“Do you think Zhou Xiaoxiao will come?”

Lu Tu: “No, her image is the polar opposite of the character Ling.”

Lin Ke continued flipping and selected a national-level Best Actress with fifty million fans—a figure like an immortal descended to earth.

“Cough, what about Zhou Wen? I’ve seen her early works; she’s done Yuri-leaning stuff…”

Lu Tu’s face was covered in black lines. “She’s fifty! Coming to play a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl? Are you crazy or is the director crazy?”

Lin Ke pouted: “What about this one? One of the idols from that recently exploded girl group, Zhang Xian’er. She’s even an Alpha. I can handle a ‘girly-dom’ (young girl-attacker) type too.”

Brushing past a divine face, Lin Ke subconsciously swallowed. She wondered who it was, and looking closely, it was actually Lin Bingran.

“Bad luck.” Lin Ke turned off her phone.

Lu Tu: “Finished choosing? Who are you favoring today?”

Lin Ke curled her lip: “The one banished to the Cold Palace.”

Lu Tu laughed to death. “I just find it strange. You hate Empress Lin (Best Actress Lin) so much, yet you still want to include her in your harem?”

Lin Ke sneered: “You know too much.”

Lu Tu made a motion of zipping his mouth shut.

A moment later, Lu Tu glanced at the rearview mirror, and the two of them made eye contact in the mirror.

In their hearts, they both cursed: How did the conversation drift to Lin Bingran?

Some thoughts are like spring winds blowing on a wildfire—impossible to burn out, impossible to stop.

Lu Tu deliberated: “I always feel like…”

“Don’t!” Lin Ke quickly stopped her. “Don’t say it.”

It was already too late.

Lu Tu: “Director Shen and Lin Bingran have been good friends for many years. Two years ago, the two of them even gave a shout-out on Weibo looking forward to collaborating. If she really comes…”

Lin Ke’s expression was a mix of shock, fear, and guilt: “Please, let it not be.”

The sun tilted westward, and the warm orange sunlight spilled onto the moss-covered road of the small town, as if plated with a layer of faint light.

Underfoot was a gurgling stream. Shen Feng and Lin Bingran were eating hotpot at a folding table by the river.

The environment was open-air and simple—no roof, no air conditioning, no cold drinks. The two of them were using two cups of green tea to clear their heat and moisten their lungs on a midsummer evening.

Lin Bingran picked up a piece of fatty beef with her chopsticks, swished it through the hot water, dipped it into the dry spice bowl, coated it in a layer of peanut sauce, and fed it into her mouth.

Shen Feng: “If you can’t eat spicy food, just stick to the clear broth.”

A faint tint of color touched the corners of Lin Bingran’s eyes: “No need.”

Shen Feng laughed: “Fine, I won’t mind you. You sweat the moment you eat spicy food; just don’t let your scent overwhelm me.”

Lin Bingran smiled faintly: “It’s not certain who will overwhelm whom.”

Shen Feng pulled at her collar. Her chest and back were covered in sweat, but her pheromones were well-concealed.

“The filming starts tomorrow. Retweet the Weibo post when I put it up then,” Shen Feng said. “I hope your fans don’t tear me apart.”

Lin Bingran looked up, a ring of red around her mouth from eating. Shen Feng couldn’t bear to look and handed her a tissue.

Lin Bingran took it and wiped, but the paper was clean—it wasn’t lipstick or oil; it was her mouth turned red from the spice.

“Why?” Lin Bingran picked up her teacup and took a small sip to cool her mouth.

Shen Feng mused: “Our female lead hasn’t been very well-behaved lately.”

Lin Bingran frowned: “Drug use or solicitation exposed?”

Shen Feng almost sprayed a mouthful of tea: “Would I dare use that kind of actor? Can you pay a little more attention to the lead? After all, you’re the one who finalized her.”

Lin Bingran put down her chopsticks and recalled carefully. A few months ago, when Wind Chime held open auditions for the female lead, Shen Feng had let her watch several audition clips.

“Come, choose a wife.” Those were Shen Feng’s original words at the time.

Five or six videos fell into her hands. She clicked the first one. It was a pretty girl who looked like a snowman. Her eyes were like a deer’s. When she looked back and smiled, there was a sense of youthfulness and innocence, her eyes clear, bright, and simple—yet in the next second, she switched to a look of craftiness, full of spirit.

“This one.”

Shen Feng was stunned: “So fast?”

Lin Bingran had said casually back then: “She’s too pale. Being a bit darker would fit the character better.”

“Remembered now?” Shen Feng teased. “Lin Ke’s performance was just average. I almost thought you liked this type of girl.”

Lin Bingran picked up a slice of potato: “As an Omega, what is there to talk about ‘liking’?”

Lu Tu parked the car outside the studio city, surprised that they had driven into the wild.

Not far away was a large rock with “Water Town” written on it in red paint.

Lu Tu made a call, and a floor manager came out to pick them up.

While Water Town was called a studio city, it was actually a tourism project developed by the local government. Hearing that Shen Feng was coming to borrow the scenery to film a movie, they were riding the coattails to create some hype.

The small town had blue stones and green tiles. It wasn’t the kind of ancient town with carved beams and painted rafters, but a rural town with a very lived-in atmosphere. Stepping deep into it made one think of the “Rainy Alley” from textbooks.

Lin Ke took a deep breath, feeling as if sweet air had flowed into her lungs.

“Thanks for the hard work,” Lu Tu exchanged pleasantries and shook hands with the floor manager. “I’m really sorry the flight was delayed. Where is the director? I’ll take Xiao Lin over first to say hello and apologize.”

The floor manager said: “Director Shen is receiving the second female lead and specifically said not to be disturbed. Why don’t you two head to the hotel first? The hotel is in the city area, about a half-hour drive from here.”

As if a nerve had been poked, Lin Ke pursed her lips and asked: “Where is she?”

The floor manager was stunned: “Who?”

Lin Ke asked: “The second female lead is here? Which teacher is it?”

Lu Tu pressed her palm to her forehead and gestured for Lin Ke not to be so excited, saying: “We’ll just go over to say hello, it won’t take long. I’m Xiao Lin’s assistant and manager; you can just call me Xiao Lu. Please look after us in the future, Teacher Floor Manager.”

The floor manager pulled a walkie-talkie from under his arm and said to the two of them: “You two teachers please stand here for a moment.”

That “moment” lasted about twenty minutes, and the floor manager never returned.

Lu Tu’s feet were aching from standing, and she started making sarcastic remarks: “See, this is what happens when you’re not famous.”

Lin Ke felt the bitterness in her heart and started picking at the moss under her feet: “The fans fight so hard online that I actually thought I was heading straight for the A-list.”

Lu Tu then said: “Perform well. This movie is directed by Shen Feng. If the response is good after it’s released, I’ll have the company buy you a Hundred Flowers Award. With a representative work, you can join the ranks of third-tier actresses.”

Lin Ke, 22 years old, graduated for a year, debuted for three, had made two small waves.

The first time, she relied on a third-string role in a small-budget web drama to overshadow the lead actress, almost breaking out. After the topic blew up slightly, the company went into a marketing frenzy over her beauty, stepping on various actresses to maintain the heat.

In the first half of the year, a TV drama aired, and she became a bit famous again playing the second female lead. The company began marketing her as having both acting skills and beauty. Because of one look, the target she “stepped on” changed from ordinary actresses to the Best Actress, Lin Bingran.

The team was frantically “blood-sucking” Lin Bingran, determined to bind the term “Little Lin Bingran” to Lin Ke. They were currently pushing Lin Ke down the path of being “infamous-red,” but Lin Ke was still far from being truly infamously popular.

Shen Feng took out her phone, picked out the overwhelming press releases from a while back, and read a few randomly: “Lin Ke—I see the shadow of Lin Bingran in her.”

“Lin Ke’s styling in ‘Human Not Demon’ referenced Lin Bingran’s classic look from ten years ago. Since Lin Ke happens to be known as ‘Little Lin Bingran,’ whose look do you think is better?”

“Compared to Lin Bingran’s look, Little Lin Bingran’s appearance can be said to be the student surpassing the master. What do you think?”

“Lin Bingran has faded from the public eye for years and no longer has an age advantage. Domestic entertainment aesthetics can only rely on Little Lin Bingran…”

Shen Feng read with gusto, and Lin Bingran listened with gusto too. “So she’s called Little Lin Bingran.”

Shen Feng corrected: “Her name is Lin Ke. The fans of you two are fighting like there’s no tomorrow. A while ago, Lin Ke’s company even issued a lawyer’s letter, saying they would sue the haters who called her out for riding your coattails, and they denied蹭 (using) your popularity.”

Lin Bingran: “I don’t care.”

Shen Feng said to herself: “I know you’ve seen big winds and waves and won’t take these things to heart, but your fans can’t stand seeing you bullied. Lin Ke ‘slipped up’ and liked a post about your black material last week, and her Weibo was swamped that night. What if she really is your anti-fan…”

Lin Bingran said calmly: “Fan or hater, we won’t have contact outside of the scene, and I won’t make things difficult for you during filming.”

Shen Feng was just giving her a “preventative shot” so Lin Bingran would be mentally prepared. Now that the goal was achieved, she started comforting Lin Bingran: “Of course I won’t question your professionalism. If the contract hadn’t been signed, I wouldn’t have used her, just to avoid making you feel uncomfortable.”

Lin Bingran mocked her hypocrisy: “Is it really me you’re worried about?”

“Taking a call.” Shen Feng picked up her phone; Lin Bingran signaled for her to go ahead.

After listening to a few sentences, Shen Feng said amusingly: “I’ll have to ask her about this.”

Lin Bingran put down her chopsticks: “What is it?”

Shen Feng covered the phone receiver: “Lin Ke wants to come over, and she wants to see you by the way. Will you see her?”

Only the last sliver of orange light remained on the horizon. It was getting late. Was it to save face for the director, or to come see her?

Lin Bingran tucked a stray hair behind her ear and said: “Might as well.”