Acting Out of Character (GL) - Chapter 15

“I’ve liked her for a very long time. No one could ever replace Teacher Luo Jingyi’s place in my heart.”

Luo Jingyi had been about to enter the living room, but when she heard Chen Ge say this, she stopped around the corner of the staircase.

This was not the first time, was it? Whenever this child had the chance, she confessed her admiration.

And each confession was more direct than the last. She was saying this in front of everyone—wasn’t it embarrassingly sentimental?

With both hands behind her back, Luo Jingyi continued massaging her lower back as she listened.

Chen Ge said, “Apart from the plays Teacher Luo worked on early in her career, which can no longer be found anywhere, I’ve watched everything else she has written. I remember almost every line from all the important scenes.”

Ren Yan exclaimed, “Wow. It seems you truly like Screenwriter Luo.”

Chen Ge gave a soft “Mm.”

“I’ve liked her since I first entered the industry. I’ve simply never met her in person. I’ve heard plenty of stories about her, but I think they’re nonsense. You can tell what kind of person she is from the small details hidden in her scripts. She merely holds herself and her work to very high standards. As for people saying she’s fierce… I think she simply has a stronger sense of responsibility than most people.”

The living room was quiet, allowing Luo Jingyi to hear every word clearly.

Chen Ge usually appeared reserved. Luo Jingyi had not expected her to speak with such emotion—or even such firmness—whenever Luo Jingyi was mentioned.

Separated by a wall, Luo Jingyi imagined what expression Chen Ge must be wearing.

Luo Jingyi had never lacked admirers. She had heard so many confessions throughout her life that she had long since grown tired of them.

People had spoken in all kinds of languages while employing every obvious little scheme imaginable. She had seen every method before.

She had believed herself completely weary, that nothing could stir her emotions anymore.

Yet this unfamiliar young woman had somehow read Luo Jingyi’s personality and understood her temper through her scripts.

She must have devoted a great deal of thought and time to them.

That was far more considerate than receiving flowers every day or being given expensive gifts without pause.

As someone who worked with words, there was probably no resisting this kind of tenderness.

Leaning against the wall, Luo Jingyi’s lips curved into a soft smile.

Song Ruyu noticed that everyone’s attention was focused on Chen Ge and became somewhat displeased. She closed her boxed meal and said:

“Oh, this is so boring. Why are we talking about some screenwriter? It’s not like any of us could ever appear in a famous screenwriter’s work. Hey, do you know Su Fang? The rapper from Debut Now!? Let me tell you—she’s actually a lesbian! She’s had a girlfriend for three years!”

Su Fang was a popular contestant from the talent show and had debuted in the final group last month after placing second.

She looked sweet and adorable, but the moment she stepped onto the stage, she seemed to become a completely different person. Her professional skills were exceptional.

Yin Yin became interested. “Huh? She’s a lesbian? She doesn’t look like one. I thought the main dancer was.”

Song Ruyu immediately said, “The main dancer? Zuo Yizhen? She isn’t! She’s changed boyfriends several times! Her hair might be short, but she’s still a bitch!”

Song Ruyu enthusiastically spilled gossip. Debut Now! Season Three had genuinely become popular, and the group’s several commercial performances after debut had drawn enormous attention. Its most popular members remained on trending searches all year round.

To this group of obscure celebrities and ordinary amateurs, what Song Ruyu revealed counted as explosive insider information.

After finishing dinner, Feng Yunxin came downstairs and saw Luo Jingyi standing at the staircase instead of entering the room.

Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, she heard Song Ruyu speaking.

Feng Yunxin listened for a while. When Song Ruyu’s words became increasingly inappropriate, she called over the staff and began the evening shoot, preventing her from continuing to spread nonsense.

The evening shoot mainly consisted of romantic games designed to use their convenient rules as an excuse to openly provide sweet CP moments.

Luo Jingyi had previously asked Feng Yunxin, “This wretched game must have a script, right?”

“It does,” Feng Yunxin said. “I stayed up last night writing it.”

“Let me see.”

Luo Jingyi held out her hand. Feng Yunxin immediately felt the panic of a student whose homework was being inspected by her homeroom teacher.

She respectfully handed over the script for the game segment with both hands.

Luo Jingyi only needed one glance before directing a murderous gaze at Feng Yunxin.

Feng Yunxin muttered quietly, “It’s supposed to be a show about promoting CPs…”

Luo Jingyi said, “Do CPs have to kiss through a sheet of cellophane? Disgusting.”

“How is that disgusting?” Feng Yunxin asked. “Isn’t the game segment supposed to be a benefit for the CPs to create sweet moments? This is completely normal.”

“Have you lost your mind? Kissing through only a thin sheet of cellophane? Would they even let you broadcast that?”

“Television dramas can broadcast kisses with strings of saliva between them. Isn’t mine much safer?” Feng Yunxin pointed at the script. “Besides that one, there’s also a perfectly innocent charades game. Why aren’t you mentioning that?”

“I will not participate in anything involving kissing.”

Luo Jingyi tossed down the script. Feng Yunxin hurriedly said:

“All right, all right. Then for your group… Fine, I’ll replace it with ‘Look This Way’ for both of the male-female pairings. Will that work?”

Luo Jingyi humbly asked, “What is ‘Look This Way’?”

“Has the esteemed elder gone two lifetimes without watching television? Two people face each other. One points up, down, left, or right. If the other person turns their head in the same direction as the finger, they lose. The loser receives a punishment.”

“What punishment?”

“Getting hit on the head with an inflatable hammer.”

“I won’t allow anyone to hit me on the head.”

“…Then simply don’t lose!” Feng Yunxin roared. “Does the word ‘lose’ even exist in Teacher Luo’s dictionary?!”

Luo Jingyi: “…”

They had both compromised to some extent. Luo Jingyi glanced at Chen Ge’s name, written beside Song Ruyu’s. The two were paired together.

Luo Jingyi recalled Chen Ge’s gentle confession earlier. No matter how she looked at it, that little sparrow Song Ruyu, who loved talking nonsense, did not suit Chen Ge at all.

Luo Jingyi continued finding fault. “Why are the games changed for the opposite-sex CPs but not the same-sex CPs? Do they absolutely need to kiss through cellophane?”

Feng Yunxin: “?? Why are you interfering with other people’s business after finishing with your own? Are you representing migrant workers demanding unpaid wages?”

“I’m not the one insisting on interfering. Your script is biased.”

Feng Yunxin genuinely could not understand her.

“Wait, great Screenwriter Luo. Didn’t you just refuse to write the script for me? Why are you suddenly criticizing every part of the script I wrote? If you can’t stand it, write one yourself!”

“Even if I refuse to write it, you still can’t write nonsense.”

Feng Yunxin was nearly driven insane and began speaking without restraint.

“How did I write nonsense? This is an entirely normal process for a reality show! What else do you expect? If Chen Ge doesn’t promote a CP with her socialist sister, should she do it with you instead?”

Luo Jingyi cast her a sidelong glance and slapped the script against her chest.

“Is there no other way for them to interact? Something that doesn’t involve such sleazy tricks?”

Feng Yunxin wondered how kissing through cellophane counted as sleazy when everything clearly remained above the neck. It could even be published on certain fiction websites without being censored. Why was Old Luo throwing a fit?

She looked at Luo Jingyi’s face, then at the script, and suddenly understood. She began laughing like she was having a seizure.

Luo Jingyi said, “…Has the rat poison you consumed finally taken effect?”

Feng Yunxin leaned against her and whispered, “You’re jealous, aren’t you? You don’t want your little follower promoting a CP with someone else.”

Luo Jingyi ignored her, which only encouraged Feng Yunxin further.

“Then have her promote one with Teacher Luo instead. We can make it real and even save the cellophane. Xiao Chen is extremely obedient and takes special care of Teacher Luo. If we ask her, she’ll definitely agree. Fine, it’s settled.”

Luo Jingyi grabbed her sharply. “Are you sick? Keep talking nonsense and I’ll hit you. Believe me?”

“You’re anxious now,” Feng Yunxin laughed. “Relax. I was only joking. Even if you wanted to form a CP with her, her company might not agree. Chen Ge and Song Ruyu are both artists under White Horse Pictures. Pairing them together allows them to share traffic while keeping all the benefits within the company.”

“White Horse Pictures?” Luo Jingyi found the name vaguely familiar. She seemed to have heard it somewhere before.

“But since Teacher Luo has spoken, I’ll change it.”

Feng Yunxin took out a pen, crossed out one line on the printed script, and replaced “kiss through cellophane” with “pass water using paper cups held in the mouth.”

For this game, both people held paper cups between their teeth. One person scooped up water with their cup, then poured it into the second person’s cup. The second person then carried the water to a designated container. Neither participant could use their hands.

Whichever group transferred the most water within the allotted time would win.

After revising it, Feng Yunxin specifically asked Luo Jingyi:

“This is acceptable, right? The same-sex groups will play the paper-cup water relay and charades. For the opposite-sex groups, the paper-cup relay will be replaced with ‘Look This Way.’”

Luo Jingyi examined it carefully. Her expression improved slightly before she said:

“Write whatever you like. I won’t interfere.”

Watching Luo Jingyi’s retreating back as she headed toward the living room, Feng Yunxin shook her head. She felt her skills as a servant had improved yet again.

After dinner, none of the guests appeared particularly energetic.

They had spent the entire day doing farmwork and had been withered by the sun. Everyone looked exhausted, yet they still had to force themselves to promote their CPs. It truly was tiring.

But money was difficult to earn, and shit was difficult to eat. Since they had accepted payment and signed contracts, they needed to work properly until the end.

Fortunately, they would be playing games that evening rather than continuing with farmwork, allowing them to catch their breath.

Although the pairs had already been decided according to their promotional CPs, the directing team wanted the arrangement to appear natural to the audience without obvious signs that the CPs had been deliberately matched. They therefore prepared eight slips of paper.

The papers contained the numbers one through eight. The directing team would supposedly draw them randomly to form pairs.

Chen Ge drew number two, while Song Ruyu drew number six. Naturally, the two were placed together.

Unsurprisingly, Luo Jingyi was paired with Qian Yu.

In the first round of charades, Chen Ge and Song Ruyu would compete against Sun Ruibin and Yin Yin.

Luo Jingyi and Qian Yu would compete against Dong Shenghong and Ren Yan.

Each round lasted one minute. Whichever pair guessed the most answers within the time limit would win. The losers would be punished by drinking lemon juice.

The groups competed one at a time, with Chen Ge and Song Ruyu going first.

Chen Ge would act while Song Ruyu guessed. The assistant director stood behind Song Ruyu, holding a tablet displaying the prompts.

The first prompt was: dinosaur.

Chen Ge was an actress, and imitating animals was a compulsory part of their training at school.

The most famous dinosaur was the Tyrannosaurus rex, whose most obvious features were its short arms and ferocious nature.

Chen Ge’s mind worked quickly. She formed a plan: first imitate a Tyrannosaurus rex, then gradually guide Song Ruyu toward the word “dinosaur.”

She drew both arms close to her body and roared. Her performance was so vivid that even people who could not see the prompt immediately understood what she was portraying.

Song Ruyu merely giggled. “What is that? What are you acting out?”

Chen Ge: “…”

Chen Ge performed it again. Song Ruyu suddenly clapped her hands in realization, drew out an excited “Ohhh—” and shouted:

“Sneaking around like a thief!”

Chen Ge: “…”

Chen Ge said, “Look properly. Do the chickens and dogs in your family stand upright?”

Song Ruyu said, “Then I have no idea. Your performance must be too terrible.”

Chen Ge: “…Pass!”

Luo Jingyi heard Yin Yin, seated beside her, say to Sun Ruibin:

“This woman surnamed Song is so fucking annoying.”

The second prompt was: marking the boat to find a lost sword.

This one was extremely simple.

Chen Ge sat on the floor and mimed rowing a boat. She then pretended to draw a sword and toss it away. Afterward, she pinched her fingers as though holding a pen and drew a line beside her leg.

She shuffled forward a short distance, then reached down from where she had previously marked the line. After searching for a long time and finding nothing, she wore a confused expression.

Her performance was precise and complete. What else could it possibly be besides marking the boat to find a lost sword?

Song Ruyu began again. “What is this? What are you even acting out? Ah… It’s too abstract. It seems I can only rely on my clever mind and make a random guess. Dragon-boat racing? Is it dragon-boat racing?”

Chen Ge tried to guide her. “Don’t only look at the rowing. Look at this—this part!”

She emphasized the movements of drawing the sword and marking the boat.

Song Ruyu said, “Huh? Is it… I challenge you to a duel! Come, evil dragon!”

Chen Ge: “…Forget it. Pass.”

But Song Ruyu said, “Why are you giving up so easily? Didn’t you professionally study acting? You should be extremely confident in your performance. Keep trying. When I used to practice dancing, I continued until four in the morning without giving up. Even when I had fluid in my knees, I kept dancing. You should learn from me. Only those who endure the greatest hardships can rise above everyone else.”

Previously, Chen Ge had not been entirely certain. They had not been particularly familiar before coming here, so she had assumed Song Ruyu simply had a careless, outspoken personality.

But by this point in the game, even a fool could see what was happening.

Song Ruyu was doing it deliberately, wasn’t she? Earlier, she had praised Chen Ge openly while subtly putting her down. Now, she was directly using comparisons to undermine her.

Realizing this, Chen Ge said, “Let’s switch. You act, and I’ll guess.”

Song Ruyu still wanted to speak, but Chen Ge walked directly toward her and gestured for her to move to the acting position.

Everyone present was waiting, so Song Ruyu could not remain there stubbornly. She could only exchange places with her in disappointment.

The next prompt was: Black Cat Detective.

Song Ruyu had no intention of acting properly. She simply let out a casual meow.

Chen Ge asked, “How many characters?”

“Four.”

Chen Ge said, “Black Cat Detective.”

Song Ruyu: “??”

Everyone: “???”

She guessed it just like that?!

Author’s Note:

Chen Ge: I’m an entire team by myself—!