Chapter 57: Absolutely Not, Absolutely Not – Ulterior Motives
Dong Ling fled.
She was initially just embarrassed by her body’s sensitivity, secretly relieved that it was relatively hidden and Song Mingzhi hadn’t noticed, but when she returned to her room and saw the small water stain on her skirt, she almost exploded.
Life wasn’t that long, Dong Ling had the urge to start over.
021 sensed her intense emotional fluctuation and hurriedly comforted her: [It’s okay, girl, it’s not a big deal, we weren’t taken advantage of.]
What malicious intentions could an AI have? It only cared about whether the host completed the tasks on time and whether they were taken advantage of.
In 021’s opinion, they were just rehearsing, it wasn’t even a real kiss, not even holding hands, so there was nothing to worry about.
That’s why it was just an AI.
Dong Ling: [I suggest you shut up immediately, or we’ll both self-destruct.]
021 became quiet. Although it didn’t know what made the host so upset, it was better to stay quiet for now.
Dong Ling silently changed her clothes, the lingering dampness making her want to jump out the window every time she thought about it.
So embarrassing, truly embarrassing. She knew her body was sensitive, so she never liked being touched, but she didn’t expect it to be this extreme.
She thought of that night with Chen Fei’s “stimulant,” which was practically a strong drug for her. She was disoriented for days, unlike just now, when she was fully conscious.
The water stain on her skirt wasn’t obvious, Song Mingzhi probably hadn’t noticed, right?
The more Dong Ling thought about it, the more likely it seemed, Song Mingzhi only helped her pull up her skirt, she probably, possibly, maybe, most likely, hadn’t noticed.
The brain would help humans avoid unpleasant memories and even embellish them with wishful thinking. The more Dong Ling thought about it, the more she felt that Song Mingzhi hadn’t noticed.
Her mood stabilized somewhat, but she still felt embarrassed.
Fortunately, her scenes were decreasing with each passing day, it would be fine.
Yu Shuangwei only had time to coach Dong Ling in the evening, and was pleasantly surprised to find that Dong Ling was performing quite well, she had finally gotten it.
Dong Ling mercilessly shattered her joy: “Mingzhi taught me.”
“It took a lot of effort.”
Dong Ling emphasized this point, afraid that Yu Shuangwei, in her excitement, would add more scenes for her.
No, absolutely not, any more scenes like that would truly be unbearable.
Yu Shuangwei felt a little regretful, gave Dong Ling some pointers, and then left.
Dong Ling practiced repeatedly in front of the mirror until late at night, then fell asleep, exhausted.
When she woke up the next day, Dong Ling numbly got out of bed.
She turned on the hot water, washed up, showered, and then started washing her underwear.
Normally, dreams were easily forgotten the next day, but Dong Ling remembered last night’s dream very clearly, and sincerely wished she could forget it immediately.
It was that scene, but the characters had changed from Liang Jin’an and You Su Changying to Song Mingzhi and her. Fortunately, the Song Mingzhi in her dream didn’t use any terrifying sword hilts, but that wasn’t exactly comforting either!
Song Mingzhi’s movements were gentle, constantly coaxing her, just like that night when they kissed while she was drunk, tender and gentle, like a romantic fantasy, making her feel as comfortable as soaking in a hot spring.
Waking up and realizing she had wet her underwear was truly absurd, it was better not to have such dreams.
Dong Ling felt very dejected, she didn’t want to have feelings for Song Mingzhi, she just wanted to be good friends with her.
The kind of friends who could still get along even after she was no longer playing the male lead’s role.
It wasn’t that she was afraid of how to face Wen Han after he woke up, but rather, she was afraid of how to act after Wen Han woke up and the tasks were transferred back to him.
If she and Song Mingzhi really crossed that line, how could she bear to witness that scene?
But how could she avoid it? She couldn’t just watch this world be destroyed, even if it was just a small world to the system, to her and the people living here, this was the real world.
She couldn’t watch Song Mingzhi die, and she couldn’t watch her family die either.
Dong Ling took a deep breath and suppressed her restless heart.
She put on her usual smile, grabbed her clothes, and hurried out.
Seeing Song Mingzhi in her costume, she waved, her smile pure, her expression without any hint of avoidance.
Seeing her sweet smile, Song Mingzhi smiled back.
She had discussed this with Ji Yiling last night, and the relationship expert, Ji Yiling, said that if Dong Ling didn’t specifically avoid or resist her today, it meant Dong Ling was actually happy to be intimate with her. And if her attitude was very good, it meant Dong Ling might be shy or not comfortable expressing herself directly, and she could pursue her more aggressively.
It seemed victory was within reach.
Song Mingzhi thought, perhaps Dong Ling didn’t intend to be a skilled hunter, but she was.
She, the hunter, was being negligent, and her prey was taking the bait.
Because her charm was irresistible, captivating.
The intimate scene in the script was soon filmed.
To prevent the two leads from being awkward, Yu Shuangwei specifically asked most of the crew to leave, only a few remained in the palace set.
Dong Ling wore two pairs of safety pants and a panty liner today, determined not to embarrass herself again.
With triple protection, Dong Ling’s performance today was particularly unrestrained.
Although it wasn’t perfect on the first take, Yu Shuangwei was relatively satisfied with the third take, and the scene was successfully completed.
Song Mingzhi pulled Dong Ling up from the bed and helped her adjust her clothes.
The costume that had slipped down to her shoulder was put back in place, Dong Ling wasn’t worried about being exposed, she was wearing a camisole underneath.
“Good work, go and apply some medicine.”
Song Mingzhi touched Dong Ling’s lips, frowning slightly at the wound.
Originally, the script included a scene of You Su Changying screaming, but it was changed at Dong Ling’s suggestion.
Although You Su Changying had lowered herself, she still had her pride as a princess, the more she was tormented, the more she would endure.
So Yu Shuangwei changed this action to biting her lip, Dong Ling, to portray the pain of being abused, had bitten down hard.
Dong Ling hadn’t yet detached herself from the scene and only reacted when Song Mingzhi said this, wincing in pain.
Her lips were naturally sensitive, and now they were numb and throbbing.
Dong Ling nodded, Song Mingzhi had another scene to film later, she could finish work for the day after that.
Dong Ling returned to the dressing room, changed back into her casual clothes, and then went to find a doctor to apply medicine.
After applying the medicine, seeing that it wasn’t too late, she decided to go watch Song Mingzhi film.
When she arrived on set, someone was talking to Song Mingzhi.
The young actor Pu Xingchun, who played the young emperor in the movie, Song Mingzhi seemed to be explaining the scene to him, he nodded repeatedly, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Song Mingzhi.
Dong Ling frowned, tone it down, buddy, are you afraid people won’t see the admiration on your face?
Song Mingzhi’s assistant, Xiao Tan, saw Dong Ling return and brought a chair for her.
“How long have they been rehearsing?”
Dong Ling sat down and looked at the two people not far away, asking Xiao Tan.
Xiao Tan honestly replied: “About ten minutes, he often comes to Song Jie to ask questions or rehearse.”
Dong Ling’s frown deepened, often?
She had never seen it before, he probably always came when she wasn’t around.
Dong Ling couldn’t help but overthink it, how could it be such a coincidence, every single time? Could he have some ulterior motives towards Mingzhi, or was he trying to use her for fame?
But these were just suspicions, besides the obvious admiration on Pu Xingchun’s face, he hadn’t crossed any lines, so Dong Ling watched for a while without interrupting, and prepared to leave.
Just as she stood up from the chair, she heard the task system’s voice in her mind.
[Task: Hold the female lead’s hand and walk across the film set. Completing this task will reward 2% progress.]
Holding hands, walking across the film set.
Wen Han, your intentions are too obvious!
Dong Ling thought, wasn’t this just declaring ownership? A CEO and a female celebrity, holding hands and walking across the film set, more effective than an official announcement.
This task… Dong Ling would, of course, do it!
The task of acting in a movie together had a generous reward of 10%, but it would only be given after filming was completed, who knew when that would be, so of course, she had to earn every bit of progress she could now.
Dong Ling sat back down on the chair, clutched her stomach, and put on a pained expression.
She had just figured it out, to find a reason to hold Song Mingzhi’s hand and walk across the film set, pretending to be sick was the quickest, most natural, and most irrefutable excuse!
She couldn’t use something like a sore foot as an excuse, it was too clumsy and easily exposed, the most painful part of her body right now was her mouth, but a sore mouth would only get her a few sympathetic blows, it wouldn’t justify holding hands and walking across the entire film set.
“CEO Dong, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Should I help you back to your room?”
Xiao Tan, seeing the boss suddenly looking so uncomfortable, asked anxiously.
“No, I’ll go by myself.”
Dong Ling stood up, dramatically clutching her stomach, putting on a pained expression.
Song Mingzhi’s back was turned, but Pu Xingchun, who was facing her, happened to see it and couldn’t help but say: “CEO Dong doesn’t look well, she seems to be in a lot of pain.”
Song Mingzhi immediately turned around, put the script back in Pu Xingchun’s hand, and said: “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”
Seeing Song Mingzhi coming towards her, Dong Ling lowered her head and smiled slightly, then raised her head with a pained expression.
“Ling Ling, what’s wrong?”
“My stomach hurts a little, can you help me to the infirmary?”
Dong Ling naturally grabbed Song Mingzhi’s outstretched hand, her voice trembling slightly to add to the authenticity.
Song Mingzhi nodded: “Okay, I’ll take you there.”
She turned to Xiao Tan and instructed: “If Director Yu looks for me, tell her what happened.”
Xiao Tan nodded, watching Song Mingzhi help Dong Ling away, and learned a workplace tip.
She should have told CEO Dong to ask Song Jie to help her, instead of offering herself, this wasn’t good enough, she would do better next time.
There was a small infirmary on set for dealing with minor injuries, colds, and fevers. It was located on the east side of the set, requiring a detour to get there.
Dong Ling didn’t plan to take a detour with Song Mingzhi, how could she complete the task if they took a detour? The task system was rigidly literal, if it said “across,” then it had to be “across.”
“Let’s go this way, it’s faster.”
Dong Ling pretended to be weak and led Song Mingzhi along her planned route, ignoring the gazes of the people around them.
Song Mingzhi just assumed she was in too much pain and wanted to save time, so she walked quickly, supporting Dong Ling.
“Stomach ache? Did you eat something bad?”
Song Mingzhi tried to ask as many details as possible, so the information she gave the doctor would be more helpful in diagnosing the problem.
“Stomach ache, I didn’t eat anything bad, it’s a dull ache, like being poked by needles, it comes and goes, but it’s constant.”
Dong Ling described it vividly, she was truly putting in a lot of effort for this task.
Song Mingzhi murmured: “It sounds a bit like period cramps, but your period shouldn’t be around this time.”
“Maybe, but it was irregular last month.”
Dong Ling agreed, her period had indeed been a bit irregular recently, probably due to her irregular schedule and endocrine imbalance last month.
Thank you, Song Mingzhi, for giving her the perfect excuse. It wasn’t like gastroenteritis, even if she went to the hospital, the doctor couldn’t say she was lying.
Dong Ling tightened her grip on Song Mingzhi’s hand, just wanting this path to be shorter, shorter.
Song Mingzhi looked at their clasped hands and felt the girl’s dependence on her.
So the numerous extras and crew members watched as the female lead and her sugar mommy walked across the set.
When the infirmary was in sight, Dong Ling heard the wonderful system notification.
[Task complete, current main storyline progress: 49%.]
Dong Ling felt like she could instantly perform a perfect recovery for Song Mingzhi and praise the task system’s miraculous healing abilities.
Of course, she was just thinking about it, she had to commit to the act.
There were no patients in the infirmary, the old doctor in glasses was reading a newspaper. Seeing someone being helped in, he asked them to sit down.
Hearing Song Mingzhi say that the patient had a stomach ache and irregular periods, he subconsciously asked: “Have you been sexually active recently?”
This was a standard question from doctors to avoid misdiagnosis due to patients withholding information.
Dong Ling’s toes curled, she didn’t dare look Song Mingzhi in the eye, and said awkwardly: “No.”
Dreams didn’t count.
Song Mingzhi saw the girl’s embarrassment and couldn’t help but smile.
The doctor briefly examined her, asked some detailed questions, and finally said: “Nothing serious, probably just premenstrual cramps, drink plenty of hot water, and massage your stomach if it hurts. If there are any other symptoms or pain, go to the hospital as soon as possible.”
Dong Ling nodded repeatedly, finished the glass of hot water the doctor gave her, and left the infirmary.
“Mingzhi, you can go back to filming, I feel much better after drinking some hot water, I’ll go back and rest.”
Song Mingzhi looked at Dong Ling’s seemingly better complexion, she had a scene to film later and couldn’t leave, so she carefully instructed: “If you feel unwell, have Yuki take you to the hospital immediately, or call Xiao Tan and have her find me.”
Dong Ling nodded and waved goodbye to Song Mingzhi.
Seeing this scene, one probably couldn’t tell who was the sugar mommy and who was the canary.
Dong Ling’s stomach didn’t actually hurt, and she practically flew back to her room.
Song Mingzhi had already returned to the set and immediately started filming.
She filmed until late at night, and after work, Xiao Tan took her things and followed her to the makeup room to remove her makeup.
“Any calls from CEO Dong?”
Xiao Tan shook her head, indicating no.
Then she seemed to remember something and said: “Song Jie, CEO Dong saw Teacher Pu rehearsing with you today, she didn’t seem very happy.”
This was something Xiao Tan wanted to tell Song Mingzhi after she returned, but she couldn’t find the right time.
Song Mingzhi paused and looked at Xiao Tan, asking: “She wasn’t happy?”
Xiao Tan nodded and recounted her conversation with Dong Ling, emphasizing Dong Ling’s unhappy expression when she saw them rehearsing, and that Pu Xingchun was indeed a little too close to her at the time.
Although Xiao Tan didn’t say it explicitly, her implication was clear.
The sugar mommy was jealous.
The corners of Song Mingzhi’s lips curled up unconsciously, as expected, the girl cared about her.
Xiao Tan casually said: “CEO Dong’s stomach started hurting after that, I was going to help her, but she said she would go by herself, and then you came, Song Jie.”
They both knew what Dong Ling said after Song Mingzhi arrived.
Song Mingzhi narrowed her eyes, searching for clues in her memories.
She was probably too concerned at the time, but now, recalling it, Dong Ling’s expression didn’t seem that pained afterwards, and crossing the set wasn’t actually much faster than taking a detour, and there were many people, Dong Ling didn’t usually like crowded places.
Unless… unless she had a motive.
Song Mingzhi said cheerfully: “You did a good job, I’ll give you a raise.”
Xiao Tan beamed: “Thank you, Jie.”
Another workplace tip, mastered.
Dong Ling didn’t know she had revealed her intentions so quickly, and was grinding her teeth while scrolling through Weibo on her bed.
Walking across the film set hand-in-hand was too conspicuous, and this incident quickly appeared online.
Although it wasn’t trending, it still spread among the CP fans.
@TodayIsNotMyBirthday: Why was CEO Dong being supported? Is she sick?
@ILikeTheLunarCalendar: No way, if CEO Dong was sick, she would have been taken to the hospital immediately, why would she go to the small infirmary on set? Did she sprain her ankle?
@SongZhongIsSoCute: I was there, CEO Dong looked like she had a stomach ache, one hand holding Song Jie’s hand, the other clutching her stomach, it wasn’t very serious, just like what the sister upstairs said.
@PleaseSendMeOffToMyGrave: Sorry for my bold speculation, but is it because the canary is too powerful, and the sugar mommy couldn’t handle it and got a stomach ache?
@SweetToDeath: I understand exactly what you mean, I’m truly hopeless.
@SongZhongIsReal: Sorry, I can’t help but imagine a Jinjiang entertainment industry pregnancy trope, asking if she felt any fetal movement! (A common trope in danmei/BL novels involving mpreg)
This was getting more and more absurd, Dong Ling angrily closed Weibo.
Fortunately, this news wasn’t very explosive, only noticed by fans and those boring marketing accounts, no one else paid attention, so Dong Ling didn’t have to suppress the trending topic.
When the doorbell rang, Dong Ling was applying a face mask.
She saw Song Mingzhi’s face through the peephole, her heart skipping a beat, then she calmly opened the door.
“Are you feeling better?”
“I drank some hot water and I feel much better.”
Dong Ling wasn’t lying about this, she did drink some hot water, and she did feel better, just not from a stomach ache.
“That’s good. I just finished work, filming went quite smoothly tonight.”
Dong Ling was about to reply “That’s good” when she heard Song Mingzhi continue: “That actor who plays the young emperor in our film crew, Pu Xingchun, he’s quite hardworking and talented.”
The corners of Dong Ling’s lips immediately turned downwards, fortunately, she was wearing a face mask, Song Mingzhi couldn’t see any change in her expression.
Seeing the change in her eyes, Song Mingzhi thought the girl was quite jealous.
“His girlfriend visited the set last time, he gave me some pineapple pie she made.”
This was Song Mingzhi’s main point, to prevent the girl from drowning in her own jealousy.
Dong Ling’s mood instantly brightened, and she asked with feigned surprise: “He’s dating?”
“Yes, a civilian, I think. He’s an actor, not an idol, he doesn’t rely on fans for income, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Being able to catch Yu Shuangwei’s eye meant Pu Xingchun definitely had something going for him. Even if he didn’t become hugely popular after this movie, as long as his performance was good, some director would notice him.
Dong Ling thought about it and agreed, if he wasn’t relying on fans, then his relationship being exposed wouldn’t have much of an impact.
Now that she thought about it, the admiration on Pu Xingchun’s face at the time was probably similar to the expression of admiring a genius student.
Seeing that the girl had been appeased, Song Mingzhi gracefully left.
Dong Ling was still in a good mood when she woke up the next day, her attitude towards Pu Xingchun, whom she had misunderstood yesterday, was very friendly.
Pu Xingchun was flattered, thinking that CEO Dong must have seen his potential and might even want to sign him, so he boldly approached Dong Ling to rehearse.
Dong Ling also had scenes with Pu Xingchun, after all, she was playing the empress.
Historically, this young emperor was quite pitiful.
Born a puppet controlled by his mother, a pawn in her political games, although he was the emperor, he wasn’t free or happy. Empress Dowager Liang was busy with political affairs and wars, rarely spending time with him.
As he grew older, he understood many things, caught between the Empress Dowager and the court officials, he actually also thought it would be good to be a puppet emperor and let his mother rule, after all, he felt that the Empress Dowager was much more capable than him, but her debauchery and his growing sense of self-awareness made him want to resist.
The emperor had a woman he loved, it wasn’t You Su Changying, but he had to obey the Empress Dowager’s orders and marry his mother’s woman, giving her supreme honor.
Some historians believed that Liang Jin’an likely wanted the next generation of the dynasty to be born from You Su Changying, so she could depose her son and install her grandson, continuing to control the power.
But historically, You Su Changying didn’t have any children, and whether she was ever pregnant, or whether she and the emperor had a real marital relationship, remained unknown, the records from that time had long been lost in the changes of dynasties.
In Yu Shuangwei’s version of the story, based on her understanding and interpretation of the character, she chose to portray You Su Changying and the emperor as not having a real marital relationship, she felt that based on Liang Jin’an’s personality, she wouldn’t tolerate it, so it was just for show.
In the script, on the emperor and empress’s wedding night, the emperor sat alone in the side hall all night.
The woman in the main hall was having her veil lifted by his mother, the two of them consummating their marriage on the dragon bed, how could he not feel humiliated and resentful? This was probably the final trigger for the Empress Dowager.
Dong Ling sighed: “Pitiful, so pitiful.”
Pu Xingchun patted his chest and said: “Indeed, don’t worry, CEO Dong, I’m very experienced in playing the cuckolded husband, I definitely won’t hold you back.”
Pu Xingchun’s previous role was a murderer whose wife cheated on him, and the role before that was a man whose wife and others conspired to swindle him out of all his possessions. In short, he had played many cuckolded roles, his experience was undeniable.
He felt that he had to perform well, maybe CEO Dong would take a liking to him and poach him, he didn’t expect to have the same resources as Song Jie, just a little boost would be good!
Dong Ling thought, no need for that, buddy, and it wasn’t certain who would be holding whom back. If it weren’t for Yu Shuangwei and Song Mingzhi spending so much time coaching her, she could only be a pretty face, talent couldn’t be forced.
Just like that girl in the attic, Dong Ling would call her the unknown violin assassin, she didn’t know where her talent lay, but definitely not in playing the violin.
“What are you talking about?”
Song Mingzhi came over and asked curiously.
She thought with displeasure, Xiao Tan was right, Pu Xingchun did like to get too close to people, this wasn’t good, it needed to be changed.