Chapter 52: Absolutely Not, Absolutely Not – Bite Marks
Dong Ling found that Song Mingzhi had a good personality. She had been angry just moments ago, but learning that Dong Ling was participating in the movie for her sake, she became happy, no longer minding that her previous preparations and efforts had gone to waste.
This made Dong Ling feel even more apologetic, because she only agreed to Yu Shuangwei’s offer for the task.
021 sensed Dong Ling’s inner conflict and cleared its throat, saying: [Ten percent.]
That’s right, ten percent.
Dong Ling was overjoyed, the task system was offering too much.
“Mingzhi, I have no acting experience, if I don’t do well, please give me some pointers.”
“Of course, and if Director Yu is going to teach you, I also hope to observe and learn.”
Song Mingzhi calmly secured an opportunity for herself, her smile softening.
Dong Ling didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, but rather found Song Mingzhi eager to learn, and readily agreed: “Okay.”
Since she was going to be filming, Dong Ling decided to deal with some other matters first.
Because of the continuous pressure and generous offers, the producer and director of that costume drama quickly chose sides.
They told Zhu Shini’s side that the collaboration wouldn’t work, that they would stick to their original choice. Going back on their word after agreeing, this made Zhu Shini furious.
The producer also decided to go all out, since they had to offend one side anyway, they might as well offend Zhu Shini’s side thoroughly. So the producer responded, saying that they had originally agreed to work with Canghai, but had to collaborate with Zhu Shini’s side because of their “offer,” but they still believed in keeping promises.
Zhu Shini didn’t believe their explanation at all, knowing that Canghai must have done something for the film crew to suddenly change their minds, but since they hadn’t signed a contract yet, there was nothing she could do.
Dong Ling got the female lead role in the martial arts movie back and gave it to Tang Nuo.
When Tang Nuo found out, she was stunned, as if hit by five million, asking her agent repeatedly in disbelief.
“Did CEO Dong really give this role to me? Thank you for the opportunity, I definitely won’t disappoint CEO Dong!”
Tang Nuo was overjoyed, being poached by Dong Ling was truly her lucky break. Dong Ling kept her word, she didn’t have to accompany anyone for drinks, and the occasional business dinners were all standard, her agent kept an eye on things, preventing any shady business.
Although Song Mingzhi was the one who became famous from “A Mysterious Person’s Funeral,” she also gained some popularity. Later, her agent got her some supporting roles, allowing her to steadily improve her acting skills.
Tang Nuo knew she wasn’t exceptionally beautiful, and didn’t expect to become famous overnight, she just wanted to hone her acting skills and do justice to every role she played. She didn’t expect to suddenly be given the female lead.
“It’s yours, CEO Dong considered everyone in the company and felt that you have the most potential to play this role well.”
She hesitated slightly: “But wasn’t this role originally meant for our top actress?”
Everyone in Canghai Entertainment knew who the top actress was. Tang Nuo’s address was quite respectful, some even secretly called her “the Empress” or “Her Majesty,” after all, it was common knowledge that CEO Dong doted on her exclusively.
The agent replied: “CEO Dong wants to promote her for Director Yu Shuangwei’s new movie.”
Tang Nuo breathed a sigh of relief, she was reassured.
If the resource originally meant for the top actress was given to her, or if the resources CEO Dong gave her were better than those given to the top actress, she would be worried about the top actress joining the assassination list.
Heaven and earth could testify, she had no ulterior motives towards CEO Dong, and didn’t intend to compete for favor or participate in any palace intrigue within the company.
Sometimes Tang Nuo felt regretful about her initial suspicion that Dong Ling wanted to take advantage of her. Who wouldn’t want to say “I don’t want to work hard anymore” when seeing a rich and beautiful older sister? But it was just a thought, again, if she and CEO Dong were together, who would be taking advantage of whom?
There were no secrets in the world, and every big opportunity had many people vying for it. The news that the female lead of this martial arts movie had changed hands was quite a spectacle for those in the know, especially Zhu Shini’s rivals, who were laughing their heads off.
So, some gossip posts quietly appeared.
[A certain actress, famous for her pure and innocent campus belle image, tried to snatch a role from a more established actress with a more mature and somewhat scandalous image. With the help of her backer, she successfully got the role, which angered a certain wealthy investor who was also a CP fan of the mature actress. This investor, who has repeatedly defended the mature actress, immediately snatched the resources back, but didn’t give them to the mature actress, but to a third-tier actress in her company. The campus belle actress, frustrated and furious, is suspected to be planning her next move.]
Although the people involved were referred to indirectly, with some distinctive characteristics, those consuming the gossip could easily guess who they were.
@PleaseSendMeOffToMyGrave: CP fan here, blindly guessing the domineering CEO’s mentality, she doesn’t want to give her canary something that’s been tainted by others, she wants to give her canary something better!
This comment was later dug up by the Song Zhong sisters, saying that this bold prediction was spot on, of course, this was after the fact.
There were many similar comments from CP fans, but some speculated whether CEO Dong had shifted her affections or if the canary had fallen out of favor. The CP fans simply ignored them, their stance was that if their CP wasn’t together, it was because they were being considerate of each other and keeping a low profile, and if they were together, it was pure sugar!
Seeing the trend of public opinion, Yuki knew someone was trying to target Zhu Shini, but why drag her CEO into this? She immediately sent in the paid trolls to turn the tide.
While Zhu Shini’s side was being attacked, the focus shifted to CEO Dong’s love for her employees because of the news about Tang Nuo getting the role.
#HowHappyItIsToBeLovedByCEODong #CEODongPleaseLookAtMyJiejie/Gege #JiejieIDontWantToWorkHardAnymore, topics like these became the main focus of netizens’ jokes.
@HoldCEODongAndNeverLetGo: I have to say, I’ve decided to stop shipping CEO Dong with anyone, I’m shipping CEO Dong with myself, Jiejie, please dominate me!
@SweetheartNuoMi: I have to say too! CEO Dong, please look at our sweetheart, she’s a hardworking artist, with stunning visuals and dedicated to acting, can you please take her away? qwq
@EightThousandMilesOfCloudsAndMoon: Hahahaha, dies laughing, I can already imagine CEO Dong’s bewildered expression.
Dong Ling was indeed quite bewildered, especially when Canghai Entertainment’s private message inbox was suddenly flooded with submissions from fans, all promoting their own idols, asking her to take a look, as if asking her to choose a concubine.
Song Mingzhi also saw these, and was quite displeased. It was fine for those frivolous netizens to call Dong Ling “wife,” but what did they mean by “expanding the harem, looking at new talents”?
But netizens were just joking, Dong Ling didn’t plan to randomly sign anyone, although she did ask the company to scout for talented individuals, if there were suitable candidates, it wouldn’t hurt to recruit new talents.
Dong Ling didn’t focus on these matters, because compared to these, she had more important things to do.
Zhu Shini, having lost the role again, was complaining to her sugar daddy. CEO Zhao, who was currently doting on her, naturally wouldn’t just sit idly by and immediately got a new role for Zhu Shini, but Zhu Shini was still resentful and insisted that CEO Zhao make trouble for Canghai Entertainment.
Snatching the role back and giving it to Song Mingzhi would be fine, but why Tang Nuo?
CEO Zhao naturally complied, but Dong Ling had already set a trap for him.
She contacted Zhao Yudong and painted a picture of a lucrative project for CEO Zhao. This project wasn’t presented directly to CEO Zhao by them, but through He Diesheng’s secret channels, passed to another person, who then, through an intermediary, relayed it to CEO Zhao.
With so many layers, CEO Zhao had no idea who was behind it all.
Dong Ling didn’t need to monitor this, she just needed to provide cover when necessary, leaking a portion of funds as bait for the trap, and Zhao Yudong would handle the rest.
In her spare time, Dong Ling took acting lessons from Yu Shuangwei, but not alone, because there was often a studious Song Mingzhi by her side.
Yu Shuangwei didn’t mind at all, but rather felt it was just as well, she could have Song Mingzhi act opposite Dong Ling.
“The curve of your smile is too wide, it needs to be more forced, more strained, the person in front of you is your enemy, who’s about to sleep with you and kill your entire family, you hate her, but you’re even more afraid of her, in this fear, you have to please her to survive, because she’s your only support, she controls your life and death, understand?”
Dong Ling had zero acting experience, so Yu Shuangwei had to break everything down and explain it to her step by step, ensuring every detail met her standards.
With anyone else, Yu Shuangwei would have lost patience, but looking at Dong Ling’s face, she felt she could persevere a little longer.
Dong Ling understood the concept, but her facial expressions didn’t convey it, this kind of complex emotion was quite a challenge for her.
The fall of her kingdom lacked impact, Dong Ling tried her best to look terrified.
Even 021 couldn’t bear to watch and said: [Girl, what if I told you that in the future, your entire family will suffer terribly because of the female lead? Your parents will be imprisoned in their old age, your brother will be disabled and live by picking up trash, and you will already be dead…]
Dong Ling’s face turned pale, she couldn’t help but imagine the scene 021 described, she knew she was the vicious female supporting character, she knew her ending wouldn’t be good, and she also knew that her family would probably suffer because of indulging her, but she only had a vague understanding.
Just imagining that ending, she couldn’t help but feel some resentment and disgust towards Song Mingzhi, and even more fear.
Even though things were different now, Zhu Shini still did almost the same thing, if the plot was an irresistible force, then…
Yu Shuangwei, seeing her expression, nodded excitedly, finally, after so much effort, it was right, she beckoned to Song Mingzhi, signaling her to join the scene.
Although Song Mingzhi was puzzled by Dong Ling’s sudden change in emotion, she still followed the script, put her arm around Dong Ling’s waist, threw her onto the sofa which served as a prop bed, and pressed down on her.
“No!”
Dong Ling cried out instinctively, still immersed in the emotions of learning about her ending, feeling Song Mingzhi’s weight on her, she bit her shoulder.
Song Mingzhi gasped, looked down in surprise, her brows furrowed in pain.
Summer clothes were thin, and Dong Ling bit down without mercy. As Song Mingzhi endured the pain, she felt warm tears falling on her neck.
So immersed in the role, Song Mingzhi sighed inwardly.
Yu Shuangwei thought they were acting, and muttered “Good, good,” quickly jotting it down in her notebook.
021: […That wasn’t in the script, girl, I made it up.]
Dong Ling, lost in her emotions: ?
[021! I’ll! Kill! You!]
Dong Ling immediately released her bite, her tears making Song Mingzhi’s neck wet. She felt Song Mingzhi trying to get up, and subconsciously tightened her arms around Song Mingzhi’s waist, preventing her from moving.
Song Mingzhi was caught off guard, her weight pressing down on the soft, fragrant body beneath her, a little flustered.
Dong Ling sniffed and said: “My face is covered in tears…”
Song Mingzhi understood, the girl didn’t want others to see her like this.
Dong Ling’s voice was muffled as she apologized: “Sorry, Mingzhi, did I bite you too hard?”
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