Chapter 73: More Please – A New Task
Who could resist Song Mingzhi’s sweet nothings? Dong Ling couldn’t.
Her heart was now even sweeter than after eating the pastries, her sweetness levels exceeding the limit. Cuddling with her Jiejie, she didn’t want to think about anything.
While Song Mingzhi was washing up, Dong Ling went on Weibo, unable to resist sharing her joy.
@Jieshi: I’m in a relationship now, may this happiness last.
It was currently peak online activity time, and several replies appeared immediately.
@IReallyWantToSleep: Congratulations!
There were such congratulatory messages, and also CP fans who disliked her account, coming to provoke her.
@SongZhongSistersNumberOne: Oh, Jieshi is in a relationship with her friend, so it seems my Song Zhong CP is also set in stone.
@ImDyingFromSweetness: The sister upstairs is wrong, they’ve been together for a while now.
@SweetSongZhong: Borrowing Jieshi Jiejie’s good fortune, wishing Song Jie and CEO Dong the same happiness.
@SweetDreamsInMyDreams: Jieshi Jiejie, does your friend know that you’re Song Jie’s biggest anti-fan? Be careful, she might get jealous.
Dong Ling thought, these people were clearly trying to annoy her, but she couldn’t help but smile.
To avoid revealing too much, Dong Ling only replied to the last comment.
@Jieshi replying to @SweetDreamsInMyDreams: She won’t be jealous.
How could Song Mingzhi be jealous of herself? She would be happy.
Dong Ling happily browsed online, ignoring the CP fans who were still discussing the sugar mommy and her sister-in-law’s trip to the temple.
She would consider how to introduce Zhong Zhong after the test results came out, there was no hurry, as long as Song Mingzhi didn’t misunderstand, Dong Ling didn’t care what others thought.
After Song Mingzhi came out of the bathroom, Dong Ling went in. She had come in a hurry and didn’t bring anything, so she used her friend’s shower gel, toothpaste, and other toiletries.
Song Mingzhi smelled the girl’s soft, fragrant scent, the same as hers, and gave her a sweet kiss.
Tonight was destined to be filled with sweet dreams.
Dong Ling was woken up by a knock the next morning and opened the door sleepily.
“Mingzhi, you’re going to be late, if you don’t hurry, you won’t have time for hair and makeup, Director Yu will…”
Zuo Zhen looked down at her schedule and urged, Song Mingzhi was always punctual, but she was late today. She could understand her being shocked by the news yesterday, but if they delayed any longer, the film crew would have to wait for her.
But when Zuo Zhen looked up and saw her boss in a loose robe, her words stopped abruptly.
?????
Was this a lovers’ reunion scene?
“CEO Dong… I’ll go and tell Director Yu.”
Zuo Zhen, always considerate of her boss and her boss’s lover, immediately said this.
Dong Ling yawned and said: “Tell Director Yu that Mingzhi has something to do and needs to take a day off, and also, there’s no need to prepare for the contract termination, but don’t arrange any new jobs for Mingzhi for now.”
Dong Ling wasn’t sure what would happen next, so she made these arrangements first.
Zuo Zhen nodded, seeing Dong Ling close her eyes again.
She didn’t understand her boss’s world, she would just do as she was told.
Dong Ling lay back down, wanting to go back to sleep, but she couldn’t quite fall asleep, her mind in a half-awake, half-asleep state.
Song Mingzhi came out of the bathroom, saw the girl on the bed with messy hair, and gently brushed the strands from her cheek.
“I’m sleepy, but also a little awake.”
Dong Ling mumbled, her voice soft and coquettish.
“Close your eyes and lie down.”
Song Mingzhi pulled the quilt over Dong Ling and gently caressed her flushed cheeks.
Dong Ling heard Song Mingzhi’s footsteps receding, her consciousness hazy.
A cool towel was placed on her slightly swollen eyelids, dispelling the heat and summer stickiness.
Dong Ling’s brows relaxed comfortably, her eyes moving under her eyelids, she slowly woke up.
Song Mingzhi applied the cold compress for a while, then folded the towel and put it aside again, only removing it after two or three minutes.
Dong Ling was now fully awake, she stretched contentedly and smiled at her friend.
She originally thought this was enough, but then Song Mingzhi put slippers on her feet, which were dangling off the bed, carried her to the bathroom, and helped her stand.
“Breakfast is already ordered, you can eat after washing up.”
Seeing the prepared cup and toothbrush, Dong Ling gave a thumbs-up in admiration.
So being in a relationship allowed you to act like you were disabled without any guilt, how wonderful.
Song Mingzhi’s smile was gentle and subtle, a twenty-nine-year-old experiencing first love, her heart filled with a youthful passion, wanting to do everything for her little girlfriend.
Dong Ling happily finished her breakfast, and after putting on sunglasses and masks, she and Song Mingzhi went to a local testing center.
Zhong Zhong and Yuki were already waiting there. Seeing Song Mingzhi, Zhong Zhong’s pupils constricted for a moment, but her face remained expressionless.
Song Mingzhi knew about her facial paralysis from Dong Ling and gave her a friendly smile.
“Don’t be nervous.”
Song Mingzhi didn’t act too enthusiastically, she wasn’t usually very expressive, if this girl wasn’t related to her, she wouldn’t care, so she didn’t want to say too much too soon, just trying to reassure her.
Zhong Zhong nodded and took a deep breath.
She looked a little cute making this action with a blank face. Dong Ling handed her a candy, hoping to ease her nerves.
Professionally, she was an artist under her company, personally, she might be her sister-in-law, and she was only nineteen, so she should take care of her.
Even with expedited processing, the results would still take a few hours.
Dong Ling made an excuse to go shopping with Yuki, leaving Song Mingzhi and Zhong Zhong alone for a while.
Song Mingzhi appreciated her girlfriend’s thoughtfulness, and only after Dong Ling left did she look away from her and sit on a bench with the girl beside her, starting their conversation by talking about their favorite things.
In the ice cream shop opposite the testing center, Dong Ling sat on a bar stool, eating shaved ice and swinging her legs, waiting.
She really hoped Zhong Zhong was Song Mingzhi’s younger sister, it would make Song Mingzhi’s search for her family much easier.
She wondered if the task system was also dormant along with 021, Dong Ling bit her spoon and thought wistfully, when would 021 wake up?
Perhaps sensing her summons, the long-awaited voice of the task system rang out in Dong Ling’s mind.
It issued a task, along with the unlocked plot for this stage.
The content was so rich and dramatic that Dong Ling was stunned.
First, she learned that the task system and 021 operated independently.
Second was the content of the unlocked plot outline. It mentioned the appearance of a person who resembled the female lead, which was the next part of the story, but there was a backstory to it.
In the original novel, at this time, there was a conflict between the male and female leads.
They were in a tacitly understood ambiguous stage, just one step away from an official confession, but then, there were rumors about the female lead.
She was photographed leaving the same restaurant as a man, who was actually just a friend, there was nothing ambiguous between them, and since the female lead was busy filming and also had her own business to attend to, she assumed the male lead wouldn’t believe such rumors, so she didn’t bother explaining.
The male lead indeed didn’t believe it, but he wanted the female lead to explain, as a gesture of reassurance, but the female lead didn’t contact him at all, so he sulked.
Under these circumstances, Zhong Zhong appeared, she was taken to a party by her agent, and ran into the male lead when she was drunk.
Seeing her resemblance to the female lead, the male lead didn’t want her to be taken advantage of, so he kindly offered her a ride, and they were photographed by the paparazzi.
But unfortunately, the paparazzi’s headline was “Popular actress suspected of secret meetings with different men,” mistaking Zhong Zhong for the female lead.
This plot was so familiar it made Dong Ling’s toes curl, she didn’t know whether to call it an irresistible force of the plot or a striking resemblance to history.
Just like Dong Ling’s reaction, the male lead immediately suppressed the news and clarified the situation with the female lead, but the Song Mingzhi in the novel reacted differently from the Song Mingzhi with Dong Ling.
The female lead simply said, “I believe you,” and that was it, incredibly calm.
Because the female lead felt that they were both adults, capable of making their own judgments, but the male lead felt that the female lead didn’t care enough about him, that she wasn’t even jealous, so he went to see her, half-drunk, and in his anger, restricted her freedom.
The subsequent plot was grayed out again, waiting for the next unlock.
And the task Dong Ling received was… to have a cold war with the female lead for three days, and be photographed with the supporting character, completing this would reward 7% progress.
Dong Ling finally understood how 021 felt every time it lamented being taken advantage of, was the task system crazy?! Could it be a little more intelligent?!
This plot had already happened! It was all over!
And she had just officially gotten together with her girlfriend yesterday, and now it wanted her to have a cold war for three days?
Was it serious?
But 7%… Dong Ling took a deep breath, her expression gloomy.
This damn fate was testing her will, playing with her soul.
Dong Ling wasn’t very motivated to complete the task, but she knew she couldn’t miss this opportunity, she wouldn’t make the decision herself, she had already been honest with her girlfriend, this was something they should face together, she didn’t want Song Mingzhi to be sad.
Dong Ling finished her shaved ice and returned to the testing center with Yuki.
She gave them each a takeout container of ice cream, then waved at Yuki and Zhong Zhong.
“Wait in the room for a bit.”
Yuki and Zhong Zhong immediately left, not wanting to be lightbulbs.
“Mingzhi, there’s something very, very important I need to tell you, about this.”
Dong Ling pointed to her head, she knew Song Mingzhi would understand.
Song Mingzhi’s expression became serious, and she pulled Dong Ling to sit down.
Because “task” and “progress” were all within the system’s restricted vocabulary, Dong Ling couldn’t say them directly, she could only rack her brains and use various metaphors and stories to explain her current situation.
Fortunately, Song Mingzhi was very patient and logical, able to find the correct meaning from her sometimes incoherent and fragmented words.
“Can modern technology detect it?”
This was a question Song Mingzhi wanted to ask yesterday, but the atmosphere wasn’t right at the time, it would have been a mood killer.
Dong Ling shook her head and said: “No, I had a checkup at the beginning, and also after the car accident, they couldn’t find anything.”
Song Mingzhi wasn’t surprised, she pondered: “It seems it really is as you said, mechanically applying templates.”
“So after three days of cold war, it will be time for me to act angrily and film certain scenes, right?”
Song Mingzhi raised a delicate eyebrow, a knowing glint in her eyes.
“Darling, remember to act well when you get the script, don’t let down my upcoming three days of separation.”
Song Mingzhi’s fingers caressed Dong Ling’s soft cheek, and she gently kissed the tip of Dong Ling’s nose.
Dong Ling swore she saw anticipation in Song Mingzhi’s eyes, so this was how tasks could be completed.
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