Chapter One Hundred: Dinner Together, A Condensed Society

The two leads, one icy and one warm, looked nothing like their on-screen images. In the drama, the heroine was written as a soft, sweet, and somewhat foolish girl, the kind who gets caught between two men, unable to choose, afraid of hurting either one, forever hesitating when faced with a decision. In reality, though, she gave off a cool, distant air; even her greeting sounded chilly. As for the hero, he played a ruthless young master of a sect on screen, but off-screen he was chatty to the point of being a motor mouth.

Yet both of them had the same question in their hearts: Lin Yu? They had never even heard of this person. If he was a newcomer, that made it even stranger. What newcomer steps into a production and lands a supporting role right away? And in the original plan by the author Tao Youyou, that supporting character was even more appealing than the male lead.

Such a role, more important than the protagonist, and they let a newcomer play it? Either he had brought capital into the production, or his acting was outrageously good.

But judging from the enthusiasm of the waiter in the suspended restaurant when Lin Yu had just arrived, it seemed more likely to be the former.

The man and woman seated beside Qiao Song were the second male and second female leads in the drama. The man was named Park Gun-wook, a man from Korea with delicate, somewhat effeminate features. In the story he played the villain who secretly loved the heroine and joined forces with the second female lead to destroy the relationship between the hero and heroine.

The second female lead, An Zhiyuan, was the standard sly, tea-scented woman of film and television, arriving at the dinner with light makeup, though in private she was actually quite gentle.

It seemed the main members had all introduced themselves, and dinner should have begun. Lin Yu was already full, but seeing the fruit salad on the table and remembering the greasy heaviness of the steak he had just eaten, he suddenly wanted some vegetables to cut the richness.

Just as he picked up his chopsticks, the owner of the last empty seat at the table arrived. Aside from Liang Shiyi, the other women all let out little cries of astonishment.

“Oh my god, seeing him in person for the first time, he’s even more handsome than in the photos!”

“No wonder he’s the little film emperor of the industry. He’s got such presence, and at over six feet tall he still dresses so well. Ah, I’m dead!”

“So handsome! If only I could do a scene with him!!!”

Lin Yu stuffed a piece of tomato into his mouth and looked up almost unconsciously, only to see a handsome Korean man in casual clothes walking straight toward Wu De. Seeing him arrive, the deputy director hurried to his feet and even patted the chair, respectfully giving up the most important seat.

From the deputy director’s abject deference, Lin Yu guessed that this was the villain from the drama, the one who had never once come to the set but had long been the subject of countless rumors and legends: Li Shi-che.

There were already many versions of the rumors surrounding him in the story. Handsome, of course. Surrounded by a flock of fangirls in the production. A little film emperor who had brought investment into the project. He had been unable to come to the set lately because his schedule of endorsements and appearances was packed.

With powerful backing behind him, he could act as pampered as he liked, and no one would dare say a word.

After he sat down beside Wu De, he lifted his hand, and the expensive-looking watch on his wrist once again drew exclamations from some of the women at the table.

Only after he finished the tomato in his mouth did Lin Yu finally have the chance to study this legendary little film emperor in earnest.

Li Shi-che had the exact aura of the cold, high-and-mighty CEO type often described in novels. Every inch of him radiated luxury and privilege; to anyone who did not know better, he looked more like an investor than an actor.

But that also suited his status. Rumor had it that the capital behind him was formidable, and that he had friendly ties with Ji Fei; that was why he had been able to bring money into the production.

At that moment, Li Shi-che finished his polite exchange with Wu De. Though he clearly outclassed most of the people present, he did not put on airs. Instead, he rose on his own initiative to greet everyone, and the others followed suit, standing to toast him.

Lin Yu thought he had been the slowest to react, yet Liang Shiyi did not even stand. Even while Li Shi-che kept looking at her, she gave no response at all.

Following Wu De’s instruction, the waiter poured a glass of red wine for Liang Shiyi. Unexpectedly, Li Shi-che stopped him. “No need. She can’t hold her liquor. Give her share to me.”

There was something domineering in his tone, yet within it could still be heard a trace of concern and indulgence. Lin Yu’s gossip-loving heart immediately stirred with curiosity. What exactly was the relationship between these two?

Quite a few people at the table knew a thing or two, and Qiao Song, sitting beside Lin Yu, leaned over and gave him a whispered explanation.

“Li Shi-che should have won five straight Best Actor titles, but this year he didn’t even attend the awards selection meeting, just because his childhood sweetheart, Liang Shiyi, had caught a chill and come down with a cold.”

“And Liang Shiyi really doesn’t know what’s good for her. He even chased her without caring about fame or status, but she still rejected his advances in the hospital.”

“Maybe because he’s been rejected so many times, Li Shi-che used to insist on only acting opposite Liang Shiyi. Now he’s probably gone dark and become the villain, planning to use the plot itself to tell Liang Shiyi that no matter which man you choose, I’ll find a way to tear you apart.”

Damn, there was even an inside story like this? Lin Yu was stunned. He had never expected that the kind of rich CEO chasing after a woman which one usually only saw in dramas could actually happen in real life.

From Qiao Song’s endless gossip, Lin Yu roughly pieced together Li Shi-che’s identity. He was probably some real-world CEO who had entered the entertainment industry to pursue the woman he loved, only to become a rising star of the circle because of his exceptional acting and outstanding looks.

But for the sake of chasing her, he seemed willing to do anything. Whatever Liang Shiyi acted in, he wanted a part in it too, especially if it was a scene opposite her. Yet from Liang Shiyi’s personality, since they were childhood sweethearts, it seemed unlikely that they had spent so many years together without any feelings at all. Perhaps she simply did not want to be with him when the gap between them had become so wide, fearing people would criticize her for it.

“Liang Shiyi doesn’t know that the heroine status she finally got was secretly arranged by Li Shi-che. This young master has a cousinly relationship with the female CEO who is the hidden investor behind this film, so you know what that means~”

“Oh, so they’re only cousins.”

“I said all that, and that’s the only thing you focused on? Brother, I really do think of you as my brother. Don’t you feel even a little sorry for me, being the male lead trapped in the middle?”

Lin Yu no longer paid attention to Qiao Song’s lamenting. Out of everything he had heard, only that last sentence truly mattered to him. When he learned that Li Shi-che and the behind-the-scenes investor, Ji Ya, were closely related, he did not know why, but he felt somewhat uncomfortable inside, until he heard that they were only cousins.

He quickly buried that feeling. This was not the time to talk about matters of the heart. He should be focusing on his career.

Li Shi-che merely sniffed the specially prepared red wine from Wu De and frowned. The emotion of looking down on it flashed by in an instant, quickly hidden, replaced once more by that faint smile at the corners of his mouth. With a glance, his assistant immediately brought the bottle of red wine he had brought himself onto the table.

“I just got back from the island. My father asked me to bring everyone a bottle of eighty-two vintage red wine. Let’s all try it together.”

It was an invitation pitched with perfect tact, and by invoking an elder’s name, he preserved Wu De’s dignity from every angle. Wu De waved a hand and had his own wine taken away, not taking offense in the slightest.