Chapter 90: CH 90

Lu Zhi Wei had dreams the entire night.

The content of her dreams was simple, it was fighting the little monsters.

It wasn’t the domineering CEO fighting the little monsters, but the domineering chairman fighting the little monsters. That domineering chairman was Sang Wan Ci’s father.

In the dream, Sang Wan Ci’s father was fighting the little monsters, then eventually, he did a peace sign with the little monster and took a photo as a souvenir.

The whole dream was filled with outrageousness.

The next day, Lu Zhi Wei was exhausted when she woke up, as if she had been the one being beaten by the monster in her dream.

When she thought of the dream while brushing her teeth, she suddenly felt even more ashamed, not knowing how to face Sang Wan Ci.

【Lao Wu……】 She called in her heart as she walked out of the bathroom.

【What is it?】

【Nothing else appeared after I slept last night, right? Like gundams or cultivators……】

【No.】

【The little monster didn’t make it to any newspaper headlines?】

【No.】

【That’s good then……】

Having been assured, Lu Zhi Wei stretched and prepared to have her breakfast before leaving to continue filming.

Ever since she got the male protagonist halo and the system, her psychological quality had long since changed. She could quickly forget about outrageous things once she was done feeling shocked.

Anyway, they could never be as outrageous as this dog system.

After eating the breakfast that her assistant, Wen Wen, had brought over, she hugged her script and went out to look for her girlfriend so they could go to work together.

This time, Sang Wan Ci wasn’t in the room beside her, but luckily they were still on the same floor. She just had to walk past a few rooms.

When they got there, Sang Wan Ci had just left the room with Xiao Qiu.

When she saw Sang Wan Ci, the image of Chairman Meng fighting the monsters emerged again from the depths of her brain.

Lu Zhi Wei suddenly paused, filled with awkwardness.

Her expression finally evened out after three seconds.

She consoled herself: It’s okay, Wan Ci doesn’t know anything, it’s just a dream. Dreams have all sorts of nonsense in them……

“Wan Ci, good morning.” She greeted Sang Wan Ci with a normal expression.

“Zhi Wei, morning.” Sang Wan Ci smiled.

As Sang Wan Ci’s looks fan, Wen Wen was starting to feel that Sang Wan Ci was nothing like the aloof, cold person she seemed on the surface.

Look, Sang Wan Ci was smiling very nicely at her artiste!

Lu Zhi Wei held Sang Wan Ci’s hand.

In public, she dared to at least do that.

They walked side by side and chatted.

Lu Zhi Wei asked Sang Wan Ci: “Wan Ci, did you sleep well last night?”

Sang Wan Ci nodded.

Lu Zhi Wei asked again: “You didn’t stay up late, right?”

Sang Wan Ci looked at her and nodded lightly.

Lu Zhi Wei relaxed and smiled radiantly: “Good girl.”

Sleeping early, not only did that mean that she rested well, it also meant she definitely didn’t see that monster’s claw!

Besides, Sang Wan Ci’s reaction was so calm, she definitely didn’t see it.

It was best that she didn’t see it. Such a terrifying thing, what if her Wan Ci was scared?

“You’ll have to work hard again today, Wan Ci, wearing so many clothes.”

“It’s what I should do.”

“After a few days when I have a break, I’ll cook for you, okay?”

“Okay.” Sang Wan Ci smiled.

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Filming continued, with everybody performing their own part.

After a few days, Lu Zhi Wei finally didn’t have to wear the beggar’s costume anymore and she didn’t have to have the bandages on her leg either.

Aside from not touching the ankle bell, the goddess had the same uniform as the rest of the Zhou family’s servants.

With Zhou Ming Shan’s permission, she only had to serve Lin Huai Rou and repay her debt.

Zhou Ming Shan had told her, if she couldn’t do it and repay her debt, then he would break both her legs.

It was both fierce and didn’t allow for any disagreement.

Lin Huai Rou actually didn’t lack any servants to serve her.

But she didn’t dare disobey her husband, so she kept this little beggar with her.

Aside from getting the little beggar to take care of some of her daily requirements and run errands, Lin Huai Rou basically didn’t let her do much.

Because of that, the goddess was a lot more carefree compared to the other servants.

Carefree until she dared to climb up the wall and sit there, watching the world go by.

Lu Zhi Wei climbed up the wall with the help of an employee and sat down.

Guo Hui and Sang Wan Ci both asked her to watch out and not fall down.

Lu Zhi Wei flashed an “OK” sign.

She was better than anybody else at being afraid of death and pain, so she definitely wouldn’t let herself fall down!

With all the actors in position, Guo Hui went back and sat down behind the monitor.

Filming officially started with a command.

The weather was clear and pleasant on screen.

A young lady dressed in yellow with her hair loose was perched atop the white wall with blue tiles, with a bell tied around her ankle.

The whole scene was like a clean, elegant painting.

On the other monitor screen, a skirt fluttered gracefully.

Sang Wan Ci had her hair done up in a style that only married women used, her lips were red with rouge and she looked elegant and dignified.

She walked into the scene with Lu Zhi Wei, as if she had walked into the goddess’ quiet world from the turbulent mortal realm.

The goddess looked down from above.

The matriarch looked up from below.

It was like they had gone back to the temple, the believer looking up towards her belief.

But in this moment, there was no piety on the believer’s face and there was no unattainable holiness aura surrounding the goddess.

They were both in the mortal world, in each other’s eyes.

The bell jingled crisply, the sound sent to the ear by the wind.

Lin Huai Rou stood under the wall, not asking the person on top to come down.

The goddess was in her eyes, but it also seemed like she was looking at a farther place, looking at someone in the past.

Through the monitor screen, Sang Wan Ci’s eyes were dimmed slightly, but it was still able to capture everybody’s heart.

She clearly didn’t say anything, but people could feel her pain and want to ask her like the goddess did: “Are you unhappy?”

Immediately, Cui Luo’s voice rang out in everybody’s ear: “Ah Yue!”

That was the current name for the goddess.

With that shout, Lin Huai Rou came back to her senses, her face turning indifferent again.

Cui Luo shouted at the goddess from behind Lin Huai Rou: “What are you doing climbing so high up, and you’re not even coming down to curtsy after seeing Madam, you’re being too presumptuous!”

Lin Huai Rou lifted a hand.

Cui Luo immediately fell silent.

Lin Huai Rou turned her head and said: “You can withdraw, Ah Yue is here to serve me.”

Cui Luo looked up at the goddess, wanting to say something but not daring to go against the matriarch’s order. She finally walked away obediently.

The goddess watched as Cui Luo walked off, then looked towards Lin Huai Rou.

“Madam, you look like you’re unhappy.”

Lin Huai Rou’s face didn’t change: “You saw wrong.”

“Is that so.”

The goddess turned around and started climbing down.

Carefully.

Eventually, she was stuck on the wall and she called out pitifully, just like how she had done when they first met: “Madam, save me……”

Although she had called out, but she didn’t have much confidence that Lin Huai Rou would help her.

Lin Huai Rou was the matriarch of the Zhou family and the person who followed the rules the most strictly.

The Zhou family had strict rules, and a servant like her climbing the walls was definitely going to be punished.

But she still did it.

Because the goddess liked to watch living beings going about their life, she liked watching the spark of life.

Gods were not bound by any rules in the mortal world either.

At this moment, she just wanted to see what her believer would do.

And conveniently…… coax her believer to be happy.

Her two hands grabbed the edge of the wall as her feet fought to reach the ground, but there was still a large gap.

It looked really funny.

Lin Huai Rou actually smiled watching her.

But the smile didn’t last long, slowly disappearing from her beautiful face.

She walked over and reached out: “Jump down, I’ll catch you.”

The goddess looked slightly startled, then decisively let go as her feet touched the ground and her body lurched into Lin Huai Rou’s arms.

Lin Huai Rou subconsciously hugged the person in her arms.

The goddess turned her head back.

Their eyes met.

This time, they were very close.

“Thank you, Madam.” The goddess turned around and held her hand, patting her ornate robes, not shying away from intimate contact.

Lin Huai Rou said softly: “Were you making me laugh?”

The goddess didn’t deny it.

Lin Huai Rou continued asking: “What were you doing up there?”

The goddess replied: “Looking at the worldly scenery, I like looking at scenery.”

Lin Huai Rou paused.

The goddess supported her: “Thanks to Madam for not punishing me.”

Lin Huai Rou said: “We’ll let it go this time, but there shouldn’t be a next time. If the master saw it and got angry, I wouldn’t be able to protect you either.”

The goddess agreed.

The goddess had thought that Lin Huai Rou would chase her to come down like Cui Luo, but she didn’t.

There was even a brief moment of realisation, as if she had thought of something thanks to the goddess.

She supported Lin Huai Rou’s hand as she snuck a glance at her.

Pretty, but too indifferent, as if she didn’t have any emotions.

But her heart was not necessarily cold. How could someone with a cold heart save others time and time again?

They walked out of the backyard in silence.

They were obviously very close, but they were incomparably far at the same time.

In the lens, the bamboo trees were green, each scene was like a painting, solemn but beautiful.

Guo Hui was most adept at shooting scenery and using it to tell the story.

Each scene had to have a purpose and not be cumbersome.

Acting in a movie done by her was like being invited into a painting.

At least, that’s what Lu Zhi Wei and Sang Wan Ci felt after they took a look at the scene on the monitor.

It already looked so good before it went to post-production editing, the finished product would definitely be even better!

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Once night fell, it was time for Sang Wan Ci and Luo Xin Han’s scene.

Lin Huai Rou’s troubles could be seen here.

Guo Hui and the production crew were preparing the scene.

Sang Wan Ci changed into a thin, white inner robe with a dark blue cloak embroidered with clouds draped over her shoulders.

Both Sang Wan Ci and Luo Xin Han were ready to start the depressing evening conversation scene ——

The candles flickered in the quiet room.

Sang Wan Ci sat by the window as Lin Huai Rou, a hand propping up her chin with a travel journal on the side table.

It wrote about the beautiful scenery around the world and what the author experienced on his journeys.

Lin Huai Rou looked out the window in a daze, suddenly thinking about the young lady who had been sitting on the wall today and what she said to her.

The young lady said she liked to see the scenery of the world.

Actually…… How could Lin Huai Rou not like it too?

The next moment, Zhou Ming Shan pushed open the door and walked in.

The wind made the candles flicker.

Lin Huai Rou quickly closed the book and stood up, walking over to welcome him: “Husband, you’re back.”

“Mm.” Zhou Ming Shan’s reply was lukewarm.

Sang Wan Ci followed the script and helped him undo his belt and take off his outermost robe.

Zhou Ming Shan looked at where she was sitting and asked: “What were you reading?”

Lin Huai Rou didn’t dare to lie: “A travel journal.”

Zhou Ming Shan’s eyebrows moved slightly: “Furen is reading this again.”

Lin Huai Rou nodded lightly, caution visible in her actions: “I had nothing to do so I was just casually flipping through it.”

The next second, her chin was lightly grasped as she was forced to look up.

Zhou Ming Shan said blandly: “Throw these rubbish books away.”

Lin Huai Rou’s eyes were filled with astonishment.

The corner of Zhou Ming Shan’s lips quirked up, coldness showing in his smile: “Furen, it’ll be tiring to travel far away, this husband doesn’t like it.”

Lin Huai Rou looked down, pressing her lips together and not daring to say a word.

Zhou Ming Shan’s fingers pushed her chin up again, forcing her to look at him as he enunciated each word slowly: “This husband doesn’t like it, so furen doesn’t like it either, do you understand?”

Lin Huai Rou obediently answered: “Huai Rou understands……”

Zhou Ming Shan was satisfied and pulled her into a hug.

He stroked his wife’s hair and said in an incredibly gentle voice: “Furen, you don’t know how envious others are that I can have such a good wife.

“Listen to how they praise you, incredibly beautiful, virtuous, dignified and generous, obedient —— That’s my furen.”

The scene was cold.

Under the candlelight, his expression was gentle, making the atmosphere even colder.

“If husband is happy, I’m happy.”

Sang Wan Ci’s hands hung by her side.

When the camera panned over, the slender white fingers were trembling, as if the owner had her neck in the jaws of a beast, fearful yet helpless.

Suddenly, a gust blew into the room.

Zhou Ming Shan let go of Lin Huai Rou and asked her to close the window before going to bed.

Lin Huai Rou obeyed.

The bright moon was framed in the open window.

Lin Huai Rou reached out and closed it, slowly blocking the moonlight out.

The sound of the wind became quieter.

The chime of a bell suddenly entered her ears, sharp and ethereal.

Lin Huai Rou froze, her first reaction to turn around and look at her husband.

Zhou Ming Shan was taking off his shoes, as if he hadn’t heard it.

As if it was just something she had heard wrongly.

That night, the chime of the bell didn’t sound out again.

“Cut!”

Guo Hui shouted.

She spoke to the two actors first, then shot this scene again.

Lu Zhi Wei hugged her notebook and took notes by the side as she waited for her girlfriend to get off work.

The notebook was filled with notes and there were even several sticky notes pasted on the side.

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The filming went on daily.

If it ended early, then everybody could go home to celebrate the new year.

To meet this goal, aside from rest that was necessary, Guo Hui didn’t dare to dilly-dally, working hard alongside the production crew.

Lu Zhi Wei and Sang Wan Ci would also occasionally post about their life on Weibo.

Aside from interacting with the fans, they didn’t do much else. Their usual days were spent filming and doing more filming.

One had to become a top star while the other had to fulfil her agreement with her father, they didn’t have time to remain idle.

Lu Zhi Wei was worried that if she started idling, not only monsters would appear, but gundams would start appearing too……

The story had progressed to the point where Lin Huai Rou went back to visit her family.

Aside from Cui Luo, the goddess accompanied her too.

In the script, the goddess had realised that aside from keeping her by her side, Lin Huai Rou also treated her differently, being extra tolerant, but the goddess didn’t know why.

Until she accompanied Lin Huai Rou back to the Lin family.

The Lin family was a powerful clan.

But over the years and through the generations, the family had lost more and more power, until when it came to Lin Huai Rou’s generation, they had to rely on the Zhou family to continue living extravagantly.

So when Lin Huai Rou returned home, the entire Lin family treated her with respect.

Not only for Lin Huai Rou, but more to show the Zhou family servants who followed Lin Huai Rou.

Only when the servants knew of their respect then Zhou Ming Shan would know that they were truly subservient to the Zhou family.

The goddess snuck a glance at Lin Huai Rou as she supported her.

Even when facing her closest blood relatives, Lin Huai Rou’s expression was still cold and distant, without a trace of warmth.

The scene changed.

The garden of the Lin family.

It was a clear, still day. There were some dark clouds in the sky, but no chance of rain, so it was relatively cool.

There were three main characters in this scene: Lin Huai Rou, the goddess and the Lin matriarch.

The goddess played her role as a servant, following behind the matriarch.

Lin Huai Rou and her mother walked side by side.

Lin Huai Rou didn’t say much, but her mother was enthusiastically making conversation and talking about the past, trying to use it to deepen their relationship.

Lin Huai Rou’s mother suddenly pointed to a tall wall, saying: “Rou-er, do you remember you liked to sit on that wall and look out?”

Hearing that, the goddess raised her head.

Lin Huai Rou still didn’t speak.

Her mother patted the back of her hand and smiled: “Every time you saw some rare thing, you’d tell us. It always angered your father, he was worried you would fall and hurt yourself, so he even locked you up to learn embroidery.

“Mother still remembers that you loved to go out and play and look around. Oh, right, didn’t you say you wanted to write a travel journal when you grew up?

“Sigh, in the blink of an eye, you’ve gotten married and become the matriarch of your own family……”

Lin Huai Rou’s face didn’t change, she just calmly said: “I don’t remember it anymore, mother.”

She had coldly drawn the boundary between her current self and her past self.

The goddess looked at Lin Huai Rou’s back.

She suddenly understood why Lin Huai Rou was so accommodating towards her.

She knew Lin Huai Rou hadn’t forgotten.

She remembered, she just couldn’t say it……

Lin Huai Rou’s mother continued: “You’ve changed, you don’t smile as much as you used to.

“You don’t like to smile even when meeting your father and mother.”

Lin Huai Rou stopped walking and turned to face her, suddenly asking: “How would mother like for me to smile?”

The goddess blinked.

She saw Lin Huai Rou’s interlocked hands exert so much strength her fingertips went white.

Restrained and upset.

Lin Huai Rou’s mother was stunned, looking at the goddess awkwardly.

Lin Huai Rou ordered the goddess to wait aside.

Lu Zhi Wei retreated to the end of the walkway and temporarily became part of the decoration.

Nobody else was around.

Lin Huai Rou’s mother held her daughter’s hands, her eyes burning: “Rou-er, no matter what happened in the past, you have to capture Ming Shan’s heart now! If we don’t have the Zhou family, our Lin family will be done for!”

Sang Wan Ci’s acting skills were superb. The moment the actress for Lin Huai Rou’s mother had finished speaking, she immediately showed her exhaustion: “Mother, Rou-er is really tired……”

“Tired of what!” Lin Huai Rou’s mother’s face changed, showing a sullen expression. “Living your life with riches and power, what’s there to be tired of! If we ask you to do something, just do it, or what’s the point of us raising you?

“If Ming Shan asks you to do something, do it. What’s wrong with a husband guiding his wife? Clearly, you’re too insensible, not knowing how blessed you are!”

Hearing that, Lin Huai Rou’s face froze and her heart felt cold like snow in winter.

The goddess wasn’t mortal, she naturally could hear what they were saying.

At this moment, she finally realised that Lin Huai Rou wasn’t treated as a person in the Zhou and Lin families. It was more like she was a tool, something to fulfil the requests of both families.

She had to do whatever her husband wanted her to do. She had to do whatever her family asked her to do. As if she was just a puppet for others to control.

Nobody cared whether she was willing, whether she liked it, whether she wanted it.

And nobody cared about her situation, whether she was happy……

The goddess looked in Lin Huai Rou’s direction, eyes filled with compassion.

After this scene, Guo Hui gave everybody a break.

Lu Zhi Wei and Sang Wan Ci sat beside Guo Hui to look at the scene.

Guo Hui praised Sang Wan Ci for a few small actions that gave additional depth and meaning to the character.

Then she praised Lu Zhi Wei’s compassionate gaze.

All in all, she felt more and more like the initial decision to invite the two of them was right.

At night, the two of them still had a scene together. Once that was done, they could wrap up.

Before that, Luo Xin Han had a scene to film first.

This scene of his was to show the audience his arrogance and domineering nature, not allowing others to be defiant or disobey him.

It was also a foreshadowing of his fate.

A fortune teller had said he had accumulated too many evils and had a bad fate. He would die and bring harm to his family, so the fortune teller told Zhou Ming Shan to do more good deeds to accumulate virtue and good karma.

After hearing it, Zhou Ming Shan laughed coldly: “My fate is not good? You really are a fraud.”

Then he smashed up the fortune teller’s stall and beat him half to death. The man passed away that night.

Zhou Ming Shan didn’t care about it.

He would die an unnatural death?

Even if anybody was going to die an unnatural death, it wouldn’t be him, Zhou Ming Shan!

And he still said his fate wasn’t good. If his fate wasn’t good, what was considered good?

When this scene was going to be shot, Lu Zhi Wei and Sang Wan Ci were having their dinner off-set.

Guo Hui said there was a lot of time so they could slowly eat.

After such a long period of filming, it was hard to find time to relax. So the two of them really started eating slowly and chatted.

They talked about a lot, but nobody mentioned the monster claw that had appeared in the middle of the night.

Lu Zhi Wei didn’t mention it because she was worried about frightening Sang Wan Ci, and it wasn’t easy to explain either.

Suddenly mentioning that there was a system controlling this world, who wouldn’t be scared?

She didn’t want to see the domineering CEO fight the monsters anymore, and she didn’t want the world to descend into chaos or scare anybody.

The peace and quiet she had now was good.

She loved world peace.

As she ate, she asked Sang Wan Ci: “Wan Ci, after this movie, have you accepted a lot of jobs?”

Sang Wan Ci replied objectively: “I’ve always had a lot of work.”

Lu Zhi Wei scratched her face: “That’s true…… But no matter what, don’t work until you’re too tired.”

Zhang Xian Rui definitely knew about Sang Wan Ci’s headaches, and since Sang Wan Ci wasn’t someone who liked other people arranging things for her without her knowledge, Zhang Xian Rui definitely wouldn’t have arranged for work without Sang Wan Ci’s approval.

Lu Zhi Wei was now worried that she would be a workaholic, asking for more work.

Hearing that, Sang Wan Ci chuckled.

“I’ll rest properly tomorrow morning,” she bit back a smile and said. “Does Teacher Lu have time to come over and help me with my acting skills?”

Guo Hui had said she would let the main actors sleep in tomorrow, so she specially arranged their scenes in the afternoon.

Lu Zhi Wei was confused: “What skills?”

Why did she not know this child still had areas that she could teach?

Sang Wan Ci’s finger calmly landed on her own lips.

Lu Zhi Wei immediately understood.

Sang Wan Ci added a line: “And others.”

Lu Zhi Wei’s thin skin couldn’t handle such a direct attack.

She quickly looked left and right, making sure nobody was around before she begged for mercy with a red face: “Okay, okay, okay, stop right there little ancestor, whatever you say.”

They had indeed not done anything in a while, so they had to practice to keep their skills from going rusty.

Besides, they did have a kiss scene in this show…… And a bed scene.

Speaking of helping her with her acting skills, it didn’t seem wrong either?

Sang Wan Ci smiled: “Have some meat, Zhi Wei.”

After lunch, they had to go back to filming.

But after having a good meal with the person you liked, even working didn’t seem so boring.

The scene was brief too.

But it was important, because it was the foundation for their relationship to get closer.

The two of them were in front of that little pond again.

The goddess sat on the rock, while Lin Huai Rou stood opposite her.

But this time, there was a little less distance between the two, and the moonlight was shining on the goddess’ head.

They looked at each other across the pond.

After meeting Lin Huai Rou’s mother, the goddess finally had a bit more understanding of her own believer.

Lu Zhi Wei adjusted her posture.

She stood up, her eyes calm and her voice steady, as if god was asking all living beings: “Do you believe in miracles in this world?”

Sang Wan Ci answered as Lin Huai Rou: “If you believe it, there will be. If you don’t believe it, there won’t be.”

The goddess asked: “So is Madam the former or the latter?”

Lin Huai Rou shook her head.

She actually didn’t know if she believed or not.

If she believed, why didn’t she tell the goddess about her own sorrows and wishes?

If she didn’t believe, why did she go to visit the goddess countless times in search of a shred of peace?

The goddess smiled and asked: “Madam, do you fear anything?”

Is it because you’re afraid of something in your heart, that’s why you’re willing to be shackled in this place?

Hearing it, Lin Huai Rou shook her head lightly.

If you had asked her what she feared before she got married, she would have been able to answer it.

But now that she was living in a cage, living her worst life, what else was there to be afraid of?

Lin Huai Rou asked her back: “What are you afraid of?”

The goddess looked at the sky and answered casually: “Afraid of lightning.”

Lin Huai Rou didn’t expect this answer.

She thought that this girl who had suffered in life would tell her that she was afraid of starving or of not being able to live another day.

It was always hard to predict what the person in front of her would say.

“Go rest, I don’t need you to serve me tonight.”

Lin Huai Rou turned to leave.

The goddess watched as she walked away, and the bell on her ankle suddenly chimed clearly.

Doubt showed on the goddess’ face as she counted with her fingers, but the result stunned her.

—— Lin Huai Rou’s death was approaching.