309 5.53 – Breaking Down – The Sleepless Elite’s wife
+— Author’s note —-+
Edited by Psycho S.
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Bing Shi covered her laughter with her palm, her eyes brightened. The world suddenly became more colourful when Lu Kai, Quin Yu, and a few other investors appeared right after.
‘Hubby?!’
‘Hubbyyyy!’
‘Hubby did his hair?’
‘The world is ending!’
‘Hubbyyy is wearing a suit!’
.....
Lu Kai scanned his wife from head to toe with a half-smile. Gorgeous. Quietly, he motioned to her to tune her beauty down, but then he noticed that she had already taken care of it. Still, to him, she was impossible to be overlooked.
True to Lu Kai’s words, every person present stared at the woman in Mo Luwei’s embrace. Who was she? Was she a new lover?
The train of thoughts were all collectively cut off as they shuddered in unison: they felt a dark aura being emitted from Quin Yu.
Compared to all the other lifetimes, where he was usually the one with an impressive status, Lu Kai was the most low key person in this scenario. He missed the days where he’d just be lurking in the dark, dragging his shadow with him like a coattail, waiting for his death to come. In the presence of those two noteworthy individuals, Mo Luwei and Quin Yu, his aura was the weakest.
Lu Kai tried hard not to be influenced by his lifetimes as the scene would turn into a bloody battlefield, where Ru Quan would find an excuse to step on Aoi Hong’s head for she dared to touch his wife, anything to break Mo Luwei’s bones. Ziek would join Ru Quan soon after. The silent Xuan Mu would be the most sinister. They were slowly pulling him in, to be a part of it. Though he wanted to, he couldn’t. He had to behave. He promised Bing Shi.
He decided to practice with his wife in an effort to lower his presence.
Lu Kai’s focus switched to Aoi Hong. It’s been a long time since he checked her situation. Being a system was the worst occupation among all the posts. Nobody from the organization wanted to monitor a host all day every day, including him. He had better and more important things to do- that was how systems and auto modes came to life.
Another wave of fear and admiration rippled through the watching crowd when Quin Yu appeared with his foreign friend. Everyone felt as if they were in the middle of a show. There were too many good-looking men in one place!
Bing Shi and Aoi Hong quickly returned to their spots. They couldn’t postpone the filming.
Sometimes, Mo Luwei would be dissatisfied with Silika’s acting and would demand her to retake a scene many times.
It was obvious bullying from Mo Luwei’s side but nobody dared to step in. Despite his blatant bullying, all the things he said were partly right. His words were rather... crude, at times, but still, for every critic he told Silika, there was a grain of truth.
Silika Lin’s acting wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t that horrible, but with her being surrounded by the impressive Aoi Hong, she did seem like an eyesore in the film. The way she acted was a bit awkward during emotional scenes. It was like she wished she would be anywhere but there in the moment; if this was aired, even the audience would not be affected by the emotional scenes. She couldn’t awe everyone like Aoi Hong or Li Jie, who, by the way, also appeared on the movie set today.
Bing Shi’s patience was running low. She had no love for acting. It brought her no joy. It only brought her endless stress and frustration.
Quin Yu glanced at Lu Kai. The man’s calm silence was far more destructive than his violent pranks.
Li Jie eyed Lu Kai for any signs of the other going up to help the frustrated Silika. He wanted to step in to help Silika, but seeing her husband’s calmness, he too, went into standby mode.
Aoi Hong was too drunk at that time to remember the relationship between Lu Kai and Bing Shi. Too drunk to recognize Lu Kai without his coat.
“Cut!” The director spoke to the megaphone, “President Mo, I don’t think Silika would be able to show a more vulnerable expression. This has to do.”
“Is this all you’ve got?” Mo Luwei sneered at the quiet Bing Shi. Giving her this role was a good idea: oh, certainly, it didn’t help the director at all, but it helped him. He felt as though he was in power again. Now, he was no longer the man that had been trampled on by that woman!
Mo Luwei looked down at Bing Shi as he said, “Director, continue. I believe that sooner or later, we’ll be able to force the essence of Lisha out of her..”
“I wish you could,” Bing Shi muttered as she took a deep breath. With an equally deep exhale, she sighed. She was disappointed in herself. She braced herself for another take as she got into position.
“Action!”
Lu Kai didn’t pull his gaze away from his wife who repeated her lines like a robot for the nth time. She took this opportunity to practice, practice, and practice. He admired her for her determination, after all, it was for the sake of her mission. But as he listened to Mo Luwei’s blabbering...
His fingers dug into his hands. He could feel his nails making a home in the form of crescents in his skin; his bulging veins threatened to burst forth when Aoi Hong stepped before Mo Luwei.
“That’s enough! Give her a break!” Aoi Hong stood before Silika and outstretched her arms as protection against Mo Luwei’s remarks, “I could play Lisha! It might help Silika understand her role better.”
“Are you sure?” Bing Shi didn’t disclose her relationship with her husband to Aoi Hong again. Aoi Hong was a good girl, but who knew what secrets would that girl reveal during her next drunken stupor?
“I am... But he...” Aoi Hong glared scorching flames at Mo Luwei.
“He?” Bing Shi picked herself up and chuckled at Mo Luwei, that man chose the worst target to bully, “He too, is working hard to better my acting, isn’t it right, Mr. M.o L.u.w.e.i?”
“...Right...” Mo Luwei still couldn’t accomplish what he wanted: her, submitting to him. With annoyance, he would stare Silika Lin down. She had far too much confidence for a woman with practically nothing holding her up. As he observed Silika, he was annoyed to see that there was no sign of her being intimidated by him.
‘Just you wait,’ He thought as he forced the annoyance down. He smirked as he mockingly crossed his arms. He’d get her to bend her back to please him because earlier today, he was able to get a hold of brand new blackmail material.
The scene resumed. Everyone gasped in amazement when Aoi Hong played Lisha: as expected, she was able to portray Lisha perfectly. The feelings she felt inside and outside were blatantly shown by her body and her aura; from her downcast eyes to the way she shrunk into herself like a teenage girl who’d been outcast and even to the way the air around her was vibrant but sad.
Bing Shi clutched her shirt. Aoi Hong just highlighted how bad she truly was. Even if she mirrored every motion and gesture, she would still be viewed as a third-class actress. Maybe she should have started with an easier role, where the expectations for an actor were not as high. But how could she throw such an opportunity like this away? The director didn’t fire her for good yet. Her acting couldn’t be that bad, could it?
When it was her turn, most of the people began to get bored and tired of the excessive amount of retakes, except her...
...and Lu Kai, who was a story for another time.
· · — · ???· — · ·
Bing Shi was finally set free after a more passable take. She sat in her designated place. Liking high places, she chose the highest chair possible. Aoi Hong’s seat was right next to her. And the man sitting on that seat was none other than Quin Yu. Due to the accident a while ago, he made it clear that Aoi Hong belonged to him. Next to Quin Yu stood Lu Kai. She peeked in his direction, lifting her hand into a paw.
|”Rawr.”|
Lu Kai’s grim face cracked when he heard her soft giggles. Her voice effortlessly tugged at his heart like a cat pawing at a yarn of wool. He pressed his pointer against his lips: this told her, wordlessly, that he was alright, “Shh.”
Bing Shi nodded obediently and picked up her bottle.
+– ANTI PIRACY NOTE–+
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