Chapter 37 - Chapter 37

In the morning, Li Ling received a message from 9787532754335. 9787532754335 happily told her that his son had made great progress recently. Not only did he finally muster the courage to compliment the neighbor girl on being cute, but he also reciprocated when he received a gift from a classmate. Li Ling was also very happy for him and enthusiastically said, "Congratulations to the little genius for finally starting to make friends, that's great! [applause][applause][applause]" 9787532754335 shyly said, "Thank you, sister [triangle ruler heart]." Li Ling opened the door to her room, feeling cheerful, planning to go for a morning run just like yesterday. The smile on her face suddenly disappeared. Who could tell her why there were two breakfasts placed at her door? "..." It was hard to believe her eyes; maybe it was an illusion. Li Ling took a step back, closed the door, and then reopened it. The two breakfasts were still there, glaringly obvious. Li Ling was silent for a moment, then closed the door again and prayed internally for a minute and a half. She opened the door once more. Only one breakfast bag was left. Great! Li Ling was overjoyed and took a step outside. Suddenly, she seemed to sense something and stiffly turned her head. Jin Jingyao was standing by the door, looking at her calmly. He was holding the other breakfast bag in his hand. Li Ling: "..." Help. At this moment, Li Ling couldn't say anything except for an awkward smile, so she continued to smile at the director. Jin Jingyao said, "If you don't take it soon, it'll get cold." Li Ling responded with an "oh," bent down with a full smile, and reflexively picked up the breakfast bag from the ground. The other party slightly frowned, showing a more reserved and polite look than usual, but still seemed to be looking at an idiot. She tentatively said, "Th-thank you, director, for bringing me... breakfast?" "Your injury just healed," Jin Jingyao said rather reservedly, "You need to watch your diet." Li Ling felt dead inside but smiled even more resolutely, "Okay, director, thank you for your concern. Goodbye, director." Under the gaze of Director Jin, she stiffly closed the door, hugged the warm breakfast bag, and fell into deep self-isolation. The situation seemed more severe than she had imagined. After a while, she weakly and pitifully sent a message to Xiao Liu. Xiao Liu said, "So, your friend gave the breakfast that B bought for her to A, and now she's worried that A will be unhappy if he finds out the truth?" "Yes," Li Ling said nervously, "What do you think A's reaction will be? Will he be particularly angry?" Xiao Liu said, "How could that be? If I were A, I wouldn't care at all. If it's free food, why not eat it? Big men don't have such petty minds." Li Ling thought he made a lot of sense. Why wasn't Director Jin a broad-minded man? She let out a long breath. "Anyway, A and B don't have any grudges," Xiao Liu added. Li Ling felt like an arrow had pierced her chest. What a coincidence, A and B had a deep-seated grudge. Xiao Liu: "By the way, who is your friend? She sounds a lot like you. Didn't you say Luo Mingqing bought you breakfast yesterday? You didn't give it to your cousin, did you..." Li Ling: "..." Actually, any normal person hearing "I have a friend" would know that this friend doesn't exist. Xiao Liu still hadn't figured it out, which showed he had a somewhat endearing lack of awareness. Li Ling was about to confess when the other party, even more clueless, said, "Forget it, what am I thinking, that's definitely impossible."Li Ling asked him, "Why?" Xiao Liu: "If you did something like that, would you still be alive to see today's sun? Hahahahaha!" Li Ling: "..." Thank you, Xiao Liu. A sense of tragic heroism welled up in her heart. She slowly stood up, opened the window, and admired the glow outside. The weather was great. The sky looked like a spilled palette, with bright morning clouds piled at the edge of the horizon, shining together with the silent mountains. It was a magnificent scene impossible to see in the city. Perhaps, this was the last sunrise of her life. Li Ling took a photo of the sunrise and edited a Weibo post with even more tragic heroism. 9787532754335 immediately liked her post. She suddenly had an idea. 9787532754335 was a middle-aged man and a kind-hearted good father. He could even be said to be the best father Li Ling had ever seen. He was so gentle and patient with his son, perhaps he would also be good at handling such interpersonal dilemmas. With this thought, Li Ling sent a private message to 9787532754335 asking for help. 9787532754335 was indeed very patient. Unlike Xiao Liu, who spouted nonsense, he asked in great detail about the entire situation and responsibly confirmed every detail with Li Ling. "So, why did your friend do this?" 9787532754335 asked her in a fair and objective tone, "What do you think was her mindset?" In the past, when Li Ling chatted with 9787532754335, at least eight out of ten sentences were nonsense. But this time, with the attitude of solving the problem, she was very honest and didn't tell a single lie. "It was completely a misunderstanding," she explained. "My friend didn't think too much, just thought that A would definitely throw away the breakfast, after all, he did it last time." 9787532754335 said, "So this wasn't the first time." Li Ling felt that he missed the point a bit, but still honestly said, "No, it wasn't." She was about to elaborate on the whole story when 9787532754335 said, "B often gives your friend gifts, right?" Li Ling felt he missed the point even more, so she casually responded with a few "uh-huhs." 9787532754335: "." 9787532754335: "Did she accept them all?" No, she didn't. They were all given to A. Telling the truth might be too annoying, so Li Ling vaguely said, "She accepted some of them." She continued to humbly ask for advice, "What do you think my friend should do?" 9787532754335 coldly said, "She should commit seppuku to apologize." Li Ling: ? 9787532754335: "Just kidding :)" Li Ling: "..." He meticulously retracted the message about "seppuku to apologize," clearly just a joke. She laughed twice and continued to ask for a solution. 9787532754335 indifferently said, "Wait a moment, I need to take my son to school first." Li Ling had no choice but to say, "Okay, be safe." - 9787532754335's attitude was very strange, making Li Ling suspicious. She arrived at the set with a heavy heart, and because she never received a solution from him, she was ten minutes late. She thought she would get scolded, but found that the director was not there. How strange, wasn't he always the most punctual? Luo Mingqing had already arrived, his face cold as he vented his anger at the assistant director: "My schedule is very full. He shoots so slowly that he's already behind schedule. How does he have the nerve to be late?" The assistant director, though nodding and bowing with a smile, spoke in a rather sarcastic tone: "I'm really sorry, Mr. Luo. Our director does have high standards for actors, but if you can meet his requirements, the shooting actually goes quite quickly." What nonsense. Even a small assistant director dared to speak to him like this. Luo Mingqing was furious, his eyes filled with rage, and he raised his hand, ready to slap the assistant director. Suddenly, his tone changed, becoming very gentle: "Yes, I know my abilities are lacking, and I don't deserve to work with your esteemed director. Fortunately, you have very excellent actors here who are models and examples for me to learn from." Assistant Director: ? Why did it suddenly feel so insincere? He turned his head, sensing something, and sure enough, saw Li Ling approaching. Luo Mingqing smiled and waved at Li Ling, his dark eyes deeply fixed on her, his expression appearing innocent and pure. There was no trace of the arrogance and contempt he had shown the assistant director moments before. Although Li Ling was unaware of the details, she was already thoroughly fed up with him. The only reason she was willing to go over was to warn him not to send her breakfast or anything else anymore. (Money transfers were acceptable.) Before she could speak, Luo Mingqing earnestly requested that Li Ling go over lines with him. He tried reading a few lines, but his delivery was so poor that it was infuriating. If he really acted like this, they wouldn't wrap up until dawn. Helpless, Li Ling had to demonstrate each line for Luo Mingqing. She taught seriously, but her student wasn't really listening. He just stared at her, his gaze moist and burning, hiding an almost imperceptible infatuation. So beautiful. Luo Mingqing greedily stared at her fair profile, not missing a single detail. Time had been kind to her; she hadn't aged at all and was just as beautiful as he remembered. He could never find a substitute; it had always been her, only her. She was so gentle and kind to him. His sister had returned. - Jin Jingyao wasn't on set but took a moment to text the assistant director, asking if everyone had arrived. "They're all here," the assistant director said, touched. "Teacher Li is so responsible. She's worried about delaying the shoot and is teaching Luo Mingqing his lines." Jin Jingyao asked, "How is she teaching him?" The assistant director was puzzled: "Just, you know, teaching?" He sent a photo to Jin Jingyao. In the picture, the two of them were sitting in a corner, heads almost touching, looking very close. Jin Jingyao's expression grew even darker, almost unable to hold his phone. It's just reading lines, not like they're deaf. Why sit so close? Li Ling dared to teach, not considering if he wanted to learn. She was looking down at the script, but Luo Mingqing was different, openly staring at her. His gaze was heavy, straightforward, almost vulgar, like a mass of foul-smelling mud. Jin Jingyao knew exactly what that look meant. He also knew very well that although Luo Mingqing was a poor actor, his line delivery was fine. He was a singer, after all, needing to control his breath and practice enunciation. What could Li Ling possibly teach him? Were her own lines that good? When they first started, she was terrible, and it was Jin Jingyao who personally taught her. Now she was teaching someone else. Such deep sibling affection. Oh, wait. People without blood relations, what kind of siblings are they? After a while, 9787532754335 sent Li Ling a very dark and abstract sketch, vaguely resembling a woman being drowned in a pig cage. Li Ling: "...A new work from the little genius?" 9787532754335: "Yes. For you." Luo Mingqing tried to peek at her screen from the side: "Who sent you a message?" Li Ling said, "It's none of your business." Luo Mingqing's face darkened, and he stopped talking. Li Ling looked at the drawing again, feeling it was somewhat reminiscent of Chinese horror, and swallowed hard. But not wanting to disappoint the child, she reluctantly said, "Th-thank you, little genius, it's very well drawn." 9787532754335 obediently said, "Thank you, sister." Li Ling thought for a moment and then advised, "It's okay, you can give all these drawings to sister, sister likes them very much. But if you want to give them to your classmates, it's best to ask your dad first." 9787532754335: "Okay, sister." The little genius probably really thought his sister liked them, and soon sent an even more abstract comic strip. The content was of a woman walking down the street, and suddenly her head fell off. Li Ling: "..." Jin Jingyao threw his phone aside and said to the martial artist in front of him, "Again." "No way, director, I'm exhausted." The other person lay on the ground, panting heavily, "Please, get someone else." Early in the morning, Director Jin seemed to have gone mad, suddenly wanting to spar with someone. Not the kind for filming, but real fighting. Every punch was aimed to tear the person apart. No one knew why a director who made art films had such a heavy aura of hostility. The other person, gasping for breath, looked up half-jokingly and asked, "Bad mood today, director?" Jin Jingyao handed him a towel and water: "Yes, not very good." "If you have grievances, take them out on the person who wronged you. Sulking alone won't help." The martial artist looked up, half-laughing, half-crying, "Director, who offended you? I'll bring people to beat him up." Jin Jingyao said, "You can't beat him up." "Why not?" Because that was her brother. Under the lights, the young man remained silent. His skin was pale, and his bare upper body was covered in sweat, dripping down the grooves of his muscles. Because of filming, he had become frighteningly thin, his whole body turning into a thin blade, exuding a massive sense of aggression. He lowered his head, unwrapping the boxing wraps circle by circle, then wrapping new ones. The heavy smell of sweat and faint scent of blood in the gym made him feel dirty. He wanted to become even dirtier. - Li Ling waited a while longer, and the assistant director came over and said, "The director called in sick today, said he got food poisoning from eating breakfast on an empty stomach." Li Ling: ? Can you get food poisoning from eating breakfast on an empty stomach? It sounded more like Luo Mingqing poisoned him. Although it sounded like an Onion News article, Director Jin was always a workaholic, never leaving the set for minor injuries. The film had been shooting for so long, and this was the first time he called in sick. He might really be seriously ill. "Should we go visit him?" she asked with concern. The assistant director wiped the sweat from his forehead: "I-I don't think that's necessary." Luo Mingqing sweetly invited Li Ling to his room to continue rehearsing lines, but she directly refused. He got angry again and left with a scowl. Li Ling didn't want to leave with him, so she deliberately delayed for a while. The assistant director took a call, then came back to her, somewhat awkwardly saying, "Um, Ms. Li, the director suddenly wants to add an intimate scene to the script. Do you think that's okay?" Li Ling said, "How intimate?""The assistant director stammered, finding it hard to speak: 'It's, it's that...' 'Bed scene?'""