Acting Out of Character (GL) - Chapter 9

Luo Jingyi did not sleep very well that night. She had trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds.

Even though Xiao Zhao had replaced the hotel room’s bedsheets, duvet cover, pillows, carpet, and toiletries with Luo Jingyi’s personal belongings, whenever she stayed in a hotel, she could still feel herself surrounded by the filthy, unfamiliar traces left behind by other people.

She needed some time to adjust.

At six in the morning, Luo Jingyi got up punctually. After doing some light stretches, she took out her laptop.

The suite contained a study. Xiao Zhao had already checked the height of the desk and chair, and they suited Luo Jingyi perfectly.

She placed her laptop on the desk facing the broad window. In the distance, green mountains were shrouded in thick mist, allowing her dry eyes, constantly damaged by blue light, to receive some timely relief.

Morning was Luo Jingyi’s golden writing period.

Her thoughts were clearest in the morning, and her desire to create was exceptionally strong. For many years, she had maintained the habit of waking early to write.

Not only was she highly efficient, but she was also frequently struck by unexpected inspiration.

When her thoughts became sluggish in the afternoon, she usually watched films or read books. If she grew sleepy, she would casually nap for fifteen minutes to half an hour.

She exercised in the evening, showered afterward, then spent the night replying to friends’ WeChat messages or having video calls with her mother.

This routine had barely changed since she first entered the industry.

Luo Jingyi was highly disciplined. She followed her own way of living and disliked being disturbed by others.

That was why she remained single to this day.

Her demanding personality was naturally one reason she was single, but another, more important factor was that she had no desire to match anyone else’s pace.

Luo Jingyi was exceptionally skilled at observing people. Whether they were men or women, no matter how good they were at hiding themselves, she could always detect their flaws with ease.

Once she discovered someone’s shortcomings, she would lose interest in them and begin avoiding them.

Therefore, at thirty-four, she remained single and had no one she wanted to date. She devoted all her energy to her work.

Love could not give her a sense of accomplishment, but scripts could.

Luo Jingyi liked her present life.

However, her career seemed to have reached a bottleneck.

During the preliminary assessment of the script she was currently writing, both Luo Jingyi and the investors had been extremely interested. They believed it was the sort of subject that would attract considerable attention and had strong prospects for both awards and box-office success.

Unexpectedly, however, they encountered an enormous obstacle.

A flawed chain of logic was fatal to the entire story. She needed to overturn everything she had previously established and reconstruct the flesh and blood of the story from the beginning.

The script had become an unfamiliar child, leaving Luo Jingyi uncertain where to begin.

The hotel room Xiao Zhao had found for her provided an environment where she could write in peace.

But after opening her laptop and spending an entire hour deleting and revising, she failed to leave behind even one complete sentence.

Luo Jingyi looked at the chaotic document and took a deep breath. No longer forcing herself, she closed the laptop.

After returning from breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Luo Jingyi discovered Feng Yunxin sitting in the lobby with several crew members.

The moment she saw Luo Jingyi approaching, Feng Yunxin sprang to her feet.

“Grandmother! I sent you so many WeChat messages. Why didn’t you answer any of them? I thought you’d gone missing!”

Feng Yunxin always appeared loud and excitable. Luo Jingyi headed toward the elevator and said as she walked:

“I only came downstairs for breakfast, so I didn’t bring my phone. Didn’t we agree that you would pick me up at eight? Why are you here so early?”

“Because I was worried about you. We haven’t seen each other in two months, and I missed you, so I decided to come earlier.”

She followed Luo Jingyi into the elevator. Luo Jingyi glanced sideways at her and said, “You had better truly be worried about me.”

In truth, Feng Yunxin was afraid the Empress Dowager might cause some new trouble halfway through. If anything unexpected happened, arriving early would at least give her enough time to make adjustments.

Feng Yunxin ran that explanation through her mind but did not dare say it aloud.

The staff remained downstairs while Feng Yunxin followed Luo Jingyi up.

After they reached the room, Luo Jingyi changed her clothes. When she emerged carrying only a small bag and prepared to leave, Feng Yunxin stopped her.

“Why don’t we simply bring all your luggage and have you stay with the production team? If anything happens, I’ll be there to look after you.”

“The production team? You mean Li Village? You want me to stay in the village?”

After Luo Jingyi fired off three questions in succession, Feng Yunxin immediately replied:

“As long as Sister Yi agrees, I’ll arrange an entire villa for you right away! You’ll be the only one living there. It’ll be clean, spacious, and bright!”

“A villa? How does it compare with this place?”

“…It’s slightly worse.” Feng Yunxin survived in society through the power of her mouth, and her mind spun faster than a top. “But wouldn’t it be wonderful to spend every day with a group of young people?”

Luo Jingyi put on a sun hat and sunglasses, then slipped on a pair of UV-protection sleeves. “What would be wonderful about that?”

“You could experience the vitality of youth every day and prevent aging!”

The corner of Luo Jingyi’s mouth lifted. “If you want to prevent aging, young people are useless. Proper sun protection is useful.”

Feng Yunxin: “…”

On the way to Li Village, Feng Yunxin asked whether the young person who picked Luo Jingyi up the previous night had served her well.

Luo Jingyi said, “Listen to yourself. You make me sound like some feudal landlord. Next time, don’t make a young woman run around outside in the middle of the night. I have arms and legs. I could have gone to the hotel myself.”

Feng Yunxin smiled slyly. “Our Teacher Luo actually knows how to feel sorry for someone? That means she must have served you very well. Then we’ll settle on her as your partner, and—”

Halfway through speaking, Feng Yunxin suddenly felt that something was wrong.

“Young woman? What young woman?”

Luo Jingyi found her reaction even stranger. “Wasn’t she the CP you assigned me? Why are you asking me?”

“No! The person I found for you is called Qian Yu. He’s a young man! What young woman came to pick you up last night?”

“I think her name was Chen Ge. She was quite tall and had a rather cold-looking appearance.”

“Her… I think I vaguely remember her. Wait, Xiao Chen already has a CP! Why would she go pick you up?”

Feng Yunxin’s loud exclamations made Luo Jingyi’s ears ache. Frowning, she said:

“Why are you asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? You’re the one who failed to coordinate things properly. What, Xiao Chen isn’t my CP?”

“You’re a veteran homophobe. How could I not know that? Would I dare arrange for you to promote a same-sex CP with an actual woman? Do I have a death wish?”

Feng Yunxin was exaggerating somewhat. Luo Jingyi had never personally declared herself homophobic, but considering the past, Feng Yunxin had drawn her own conclusions without needing Luo Jingyi to say it aloud.

Luo Jingyi’s mother had divorced her biological father when Luo Jingyi was very young. Several years after the divorce, her mother unexpectedly changed her sexual orientation and found herself a girlfriend. The two quickly became passionately involved, and when Luo Jingyi was in her teens, she even personally witnessed the grand spectacle of her mother rolling around in bed with another woman.

At the time, Luo Jingyi had devoted herself entirely to studying and understood very little about adult matters.

She had only attended a few health-education classes and had not even experienced her first love. Yet her own mother abruptly dragged her into the adult world through a live demonstration.

The incident dealt a considerable blow to the still relatively innocent Luo Jingyi. She fled to Feng Yunxin’s house and refused to return home for three days.

Feng Yunxin was deeply curious about why she had suddenly run away. After questioning her repeatedly, she finally pried open Luo Jingyi’s mouth.

When she learned the truth, Feng Yunxin was shocked too. She pulled Luo Jingyi aside and questioned her for ages.

“Who was the other woman? What did she look like?”

Luo Jingyi was particularly disgusted by her enthusiastic gossiping. “One of my mother’s former students. She’s a famous musical-theater actress. How could she not be beautiful?”

Luo Jingyi’s mother taught in the musical-theater department of an arts university. Luo Jingyi had known of the woman surnamed Qiao even before this. When Xiao Qiao had still been her mother’s student, she had loved organizing all kinds of gatherings and frequently brought groups of classmates to Luo Jingyi’s home.

Luo Jingyi did not know what the two of them had done behind her back, nor could she be bothered to know.

As long as they did not bring their affairs before her, she did not care.

After all, she had plenty of her own matters to handle and no time to interfere in someone else’s life.

Unfortunately, despite all their precautions, she still caught them.

Feng Yunxin listened to Luo Jingyi’s account with fascination.

“A former student? A musical-theater actress? Then she must be much younger than Auntie.”

“She’s only six years older than me.”

“Holy crap. Auntie is incredible at picking up younger women!”

Luo Jingyi raised her eyes coldly, and Feng Yunxin immediately shut her mouth.

From her attitude back then, it was obvious that Luo Jingyi did not like her mother being involved with Xiao Qiao.

Later, both Luo Jingyi and Feng Yunxin entered the film and television industry. They were surrounded by all kinds of people doing all kinds of things, and lesbians were as numerous as fish crossing a river.

But Feng Yunxin never specifically mentioned any of those “fish” in front of Luo Jingyi, afraid she had not yet escaped the shadow cast by her mother.

Perhaps fate had played some cruel joke, because both Luo Jingyi’s appearance and personality made her exceptionally popular within lesbian circles.

Combined with her status as an award-winning screenwriter, there had been a period when waves of reckless young lesbians threw themselves at her one after another.

Some desperately pursued her as though their lives depended on it, while others ran directly into her bed. Their charge was so fierce that they treated Luo Jingyi’s bed like an enemy bunker.

Feng Yunxin knew that one young woman had once chased Teacher Luo relentlessly. In the end, she still failed to crack open Teacher Luo’s iron heart and instead shattered Luo Jingyi’s favorite Limoges porcelain ashtray across the floor.

Feng Yunxin, who had once dared joke about such things, never again mentioned the word “lesbian” in Luo Jingyi’s presence.

After being careful for so long, she had unexpectedly caused such an enormous misunderstanding the previous night.

Luo Jingyi was replacing an amateur guest, and that amateur had originally been paired with Qian Yu. Naturally, after Luo Jingyi took the guest’s place, she was supposed to partner with him.

That was why Feng Yunxin had specifically instructed Qian Yu to collect her from the airport while Director Hu filmed material from their first meeting.

So what had happened? Chen Ge had gone instead?

After thinking about it, Feng Yunxin became certain that Qian Yu, that little bastard, had been too lazy and persuaded Chen Ge to make the trip in his place.

Chen Ge was probably too honest and straightforward to realize what was happening, which was how Luo Jingyi had misunderstood.

Feng Yunxin hurriedly explained what had happened the previous night.

“Don’t worry, Sister Yi. How would I dare provoke you deliberately? It was all a misunderstanding. Your partner is a young man, and he’s quite good-looking. I’ll show you his photo.”

Feng Yunxin immediately took out her phone and showed her Qian Yu’s selfie.

Luo Jingyi glanced at it. “He looks rather grimy.”

Feng Yunxin: “…Your standards are too high. With a face like that, he’s already the most handsome man in our production.”

Luo Jingyi said, “I don’t know whether he’s handsome, but he certainly has plenty of schemes in his head.”

As they spoke, the vehicle reached the farmhouse courtyard.

The moment they got out, they saw Chen Ge and Song Ruyu sitting together nearby, recording their preliminary interviews.

The assistant director asked whether they normally had a good relationship.

Well versed in the art of promoting a CP, Song Ruyu smiled and leaned against Chen Ge’s shoulder. Blinking coquettishly, she said, “Why don’t you guess?”

Chen Ge remained as stiff as a wooden figure throughout. Her lower back was perfectly straight, and an uncomfortable smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

Dissatisfied with her reaction, Song Ruyu sat upright and slapped her arm.

“Hey, say something! It’s so awkward when I’m the only one talking!”

Luo Jingyi crossed her arms over her chest, tilted her head, and asked Feng Yunxin:

“That’s Xiao Chen’s CP?”

“Yeah…”

“Why is she putting her hands all over her?”

“That’s what promoting a CP is like.”

Luo Jingyi’s voice grew colder with every word. “Isn’t all of it fake? Do they really need to flirt and play around to that extent?”

“You don’t understand. This is socialist sisterhood.”

Luo Jingyi glanced sideways at Feng Yunxin. “You never arranged for me to understand it.”

After saying that, she walked away.

Feng Yunxin: “??”

What was wrong this time?

Wasn’t she explaining CP culture because she was afraid Luo Jingyi would not understand fandom operations? How had she served the Empress Dowager incorrectly now?

Author’s Note:

Luo Jingyi: I’m so angry.

Feng Yunxin: My life is far too difficult…