CH 34.1

Do You Still Hate Her? 24 – Chi Yan’s desire for victory

After confirming that the person in front of her was the one she had identified as her ‘true love,’ Tang Qingqing decided to take the initiative for her upcoming romance.

Tang Qingqing, who had acted in numerous idol dramas, had always fantasized about experiencing a perfect love-at-first-sight romance, just like the main characters in those dramas. Now, it seemed that her dream was about to come true.

Her mind raced as she thought of a brilliant way to approach him. Taking a deep breath, she mustered her courage and walked forward.

“Hello…” Tang Qingqing began, but to her surprise, Lin Yanyan reached out and held the hand of Tang Qingqing’s future ‘true love,’ and he didn’t refuse.

Tang Qingqing : “???”

Why was this happening? What was the relationship between Lin Yanyan and her ‘true love’? At that moment, both Lin Yanyan and Shang Lu noticed Tang Qingqing and turned their gazes toward her.

Upon seeing Shang Lu’s face, Tang Qingqing’s mind briefly went blank. He looked somewhat familiar. Then, it dawned on her : they must have met in a dream or had some past-life connection! This only proved that they were destined for each other!

But… as Tang Qingqing’s eyes fell on the intertwined hands of Lin Yanyan and Shang Lu, she thought, why were her ‘true love’ and Lin Yanyan so intimate? Did she arrive a step too late? No! This couldn’t be happening!

Seeing Tang Qingqing’s pained expression as she looked at their hands, Shang Lu suddenly realized that she might have misunderstood something. Tang Qingqing directly asked, “What’s your relationship? Is he your boyfriend?”

Shang Lu was about to explain, but Lin Yanyan unexpectedly covered her mouth with her hand. Indeed, Lin Yanyan’s brain had never worked so quickly in her life. She immediately grasped the hidden meaning behind Tang Qingqing’s words. Considering Tang Qingqing’s relationship with her, that ‘hello’ couldn’t have been directed at her. And Tang Qingqing should not be concerned about her having a boyfriend, so Tang Qingqing’s target should have been the ‘boyfriend’ from the start.

Lin Yanyan felt that she had suffered some losses at the hands of Tang Qingqing in the past two days (specifically, the previous day’s argument in the lounge didn’t end well, leaving her frustrated and unable to sleep until 3 a.m.). Now, she saw this as a golden opportunity to turn the tables!

Though Shang Lu didn’t understand what Lin Yanyan was planning, she decided not to speak since Lin Yanyan didn’t want her to. In the next moment, Lin Yanyan looked at Tang Qingqing and replied, “He’s not my boyfriend; he’s… my cousin! Ou Yi couldn’t make it today, so he’s filling in for him.”

Lin Yanyan dared to say this without fear of being exposed because the director also wanted to keep Shang Lu’s cross-dressing as a surprise marketing tactic after the drama started airing. He had ordered strict confidentiality, and only a few people on the set knew about it, thinking she was a last-minute stand-in.

When Tang Qingqing heard Lin Yanyan refer to him as ‘my cousin,’ the sparks of love in her heart reignited.

Lin Yanyan tiptoed and whispered into Shang Lu’s ear, “You go change your clothes; I’ll handle her.” Shang Lu nodded without saying anything and cooperatively went to remove her makeup.

As Shang Lu walked away, Tang Qingqing looked back at Lin Yanyan. Lin Yanyan smiled at her and asked, “What do you want to do? Just say it.”

Tang Qingqing’s words didn’t match her true intentions as she said, “What can I do? Don’t think too much about it.”

Lin Yanyan nodded, pretending to understand, “I see, I was overthinking it. Just now, Ranran even praised my cousin for being handsome. I’ll introduce them later.”

Ranran was the third female lead on the set, and she had an amicable relationship with both Lin Yanyan and Tang Qingqing, staying neutral to avoid offending anyone.

Tang Qingqing became anxious instantly, “No! That’s not okay!”

Lin Yanyan, playing along, asked, “Why is it not okay?”

After hesitating for a while, Tang Qingqing finally made up her mind and said, “Introduce your cousin to me.”

Lin Yanyan chuckled knowingly and asked, “What about that lounge from yesterday?”

Tang Qingqing replied, “…You can have it!”

Lin Yanyan smiled slyly, looking like she saw through Tang Qingqing’s intentions, and then said, “Let’s see how you perform, and then I’ll consider it.”

Later, when Shang Lu returned after changing her clothes and removing her makeup, Tang Qingqing was already back to filming, not present on the set. Lin Yanyan had finished her morning scenes and could now take a break. She got a meal card from her manager and said, “Let’s go to the school cafeteria. I heard their sweet and sour pork ribs are their specialty.”

“Sure,” Shang Lu agreed naturally, not probing further about the situation with Tang Qingqing.

As they stepped out of the filming area surrounded by the crew, a group of students recognized them, instantly turning the scene into a ‘fan meeting.’

“Lin Yanyan! Lin Yanyan! Princess, Mom loves you!”

“The one next to her is Shang Lu! Shang Lu is also here?!”

“Shang Lu is here too? Ahhh!”

Facing the enthusiastic students, both Shang Lu and Lin Yanyan naturally greeted and chatted with them. After learning that the two of them wanted to go to the cafeteria for lunch, the students immediately made way for them and recommended other delicious dishes in the cafeteria.

In the end, Shang Lu and Lin Yanyan each ordered a lunch portion. Because there were too many choices, they wanted to try a variety of dishes and share it together.

As more students passed by, the cafeteria became overcrowded due to their presence. However, most people refrained from approaching them while they were eating. At most, some blushing girls would walk by and compliment, “You both look so beautiful,” before quickly leaving.

While eating, Lin Yanyan became more conscious of her image and kept silently reminding herself, “Don’t take ugly photos of me… please don’t.”

She wanted to maintain some elegance!

Meanwhile, she saw Shang Lu open her mouth wide and ate a spoonful of rice, puffing her cheeks, asking, “What are you mumbling about?”

Lin Yanyan : “…”

Darn it, why is Shang Lu so cute like this?

Watching Shang Lu eat made Lin Yanyan think it looked appetizing, so she couldn’t help but pick up her own spoon and join in, disregarding her image concerns. She then asked, “Did you go for an audition at Yue Qi’s set this morning? How did it go?”

Shang Lu replied, “It’s confirmed. They were all prepared there. Tomorrow, we’ll sign the contract and do the costume fitting, and the day after, we’ll start shooting.”

“That’s quite rushed, isn’t it?” Lin Yanyan was a bit surprised but quickly added, “Well, they have to make it for the Spring Festival release. Once it’s out, I promise you I will buy a hundred tickets.”

“You’re quite the generous boss, Miss Lin,” Shang Lu replied, playing along and showing a grateful expression, which made Lin Yanyan smile.

Then, Shang Lu remembered her main purpose for being there and asked, “What are you filming this afternoon? Any scenes in a classroom?”

“This afternoon is mainly for Tang Qingqing’s scenes, in the dormitory,” Lin Yanyan said. Seeing Shang Lu’s disappointment, she immediately suggested, “But I have a scene in the evening. I’m free until then. How about we sneak into another classroom?”

Shang Lu wholeheartedly agreed to this proposal.

In the afternoon, with the help of Lin Yanyan’s manager (who couldn’t stop them), the two of them discreetly dressed in hats and masks and sneaked into a classroom of an acting-related major when the class bell rang.

The classroom was large, accommodating over a hundred students, and most of the seats were taken. No one noticed their arrival.

The blackboard displayed the title of the class : “Micro Film Script Creation.” Perhaps due to being an art major, there were some students in the front row wearing stylish outfits with eye-catching hair colors. Shang Lu and Lin Yanyan blended in discreetly among them.

Soon, the class bell rang, and the teacher began the lecture. The atmosphere in the classroom was good, with students in the front rows attentively listening to the lecture and interacting with the teacher, while some in the back were discreetly playing with their phones.

During this class, the teacher talked about character development in the script, and both Shang Lu and Lin Yanyan listened attentively.

Then, it was time for roll call.

At this moment, a very small voice sounded beside Shang Lu, “Excuse me, could you make some room inside?”

Shang Lu lowered her head to look, and there was a short-haired girl with a silver-black dyed two-tone hairstyle squatting by her feet.

Shang Lu glanced at Lin Yanyan and gestured with her eyes for her to move over to make space.

The short-haired girl successfully sat down next to Shang Lu and managed to catch the teacher’s roll call.

“Tantai Yuxuan!”

“Here!”

It was a rather unique name, which made Shang Lu raise her gaze and pause for a moment. The girl in front of her was familiar; she was the anti-fan she had met during the recording of the first episode of <The Most Hated Her and Him>. She was also a well-known big fan of the Linjiang CP, the one whose username was Sweetie Donut.