During the first night banquet performance, Song Anni had several NGs and her condition kept worsening.
The director, Zhao Xun, took off his glasses and restrained his tone as he patiently asked her, "Anni, have you been practicing the Nishang Feather Dance video that was sent to you?"
Although he tried to control his tone, it was clear that he was very dissatisfied with Song Anni's performance.
Innocently, Song Anni replied, "I've been practicing every day."
"If you've been practicing every day, why is your dance still..."
Even the dance behind her was better than hers.
Although Zhao Xun didn't finish his sentence, everyone knew what he meant.
Song Anni's dance was fine on its own, but compared to Bai Yin's dance behind her, it was like a kindergarten child dancing. Not only did it lack charm, but it also lacked basic beauty.
Using this kind of dance to conquer the audience and make them believe that the female lead was the "number one dancer in the Tang Dynasty" was simply not convincing.
Song Anni was also very frustrated, sitting in front of the dressing table and driving everyone away.
At this moment, Qiao Xinqi walked in with a smile and said to Song Anni, "Anni, your dance is really great!"
Song Anni knew that Qiao Xinqi was a member of the dance team and a very professional dancer. Hearing her words, she felt slightly relieved, "I also think it's okay."
"Anni, do you know where the problem lies?"
"Where?"
Qiao Xinqi took out her phone and showed Song Anni a video clip that had just been taken, pointing to Bai Yin behind her, "It's her."
After watching the clip, Song Anni understood in an instant.
Compared to the graceful dancer in white behind her, her movements were really not up to par.
"She's Bai Yin, she's been showing off before the start of the shoot, and even boasted about stealing the spotlight from your female lead."
Observing her expression, Qiao Xinqi pretended to be indignant, "You see, we are all dance partners, all existing to set off the female lead, but she's openly challenging you, isn't that a slap in the face?"
Song Anni's face gradually darkened. She had already heard from Su Anning that Bai Yin was not a good person. Her intention for joining the crew this time was to give her a hard time.
"This Bai Yin is very ambitious. I think she's determined to steal your female lead from you."
"What does she think she is?" Song Anni's fingertips forcefully pinched the dressing table.
"Exactly, Anni, you are the queen of costume dramas. She hasn't even acted before, she's just relying on her dance skills."
Song Anni sneered, "We'll see."
...
The night banquet performance resumed, and director Zhao Xun and art director Li He found Bai Yin, seeming to have something to discuss.
Bai Yin saw their hesitant expressions and asked directly, "Director Zhao, Director Li, what do you want to say?"
"Well, it's like this." Zhao Xun struggled to speak, "Little Yin, your dance is really good, but Song Anni is the female lead signed by the investor from the very beginning. It's not easy to invite a star of her caliber, but her dance is not as good as yours, that's the fact."
"Bai Yin understood the director's implied meaning: 'You want me to give up the lead dancer role, don't you?'
Zhao Xun and Li He exchanged a glance, and Li He said, 'That's right. You see... can you be the dance double for the female lead?'
At this, Bai Yin's heart sank, but she remained composed on the surface.
A dance double, in reality, is a stand-in.
No matter how well she practiced, no matter how beautiful she danced, in the eyes of the audience, it was all the female lead's credit.
On the set, even extras were better off than stand-ins.
At least extras had the chance to show their faces in front of the camera, even if it was only for a second or two, they were seen as existences.
But stand-ins were forever making wedding dresses for the lead.
Bai Yin turned back and looked at Song Anni.
She stood at the edge of the flower-fading corridor, arms folded, a proud smile on her lips.
She understood that this was Song Anni's suggestion.
And Bai Yin had no choice now, either to become Song Anni's stand-in or... to leave the 'Ni Chang' drama crew.
She pondered for a moment and agreed, 'Director Zhao, Director Li, I can be Song Anni's stand-in.'
The director didn't expect Bai Yin to be so easy to talk to, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, 'Ah, this is really great!'
Dance director Li He was also remorseful, instructing someone, 'Xiao Liu, take her to the dressing room and makeup, make her look exactly like Anni. Whatever Bai Yin needs, try to fulfill it.'
As the makeup artist led Bai Yin towards the dressing room, Song Anni sneered, 'What's the use of dancing well? In this circle, whoever has a high position and says the last word, is the one who counts. What are you? You dare to show off in front of me.'
Bai Yin glanced at her, 'Who am I? You'll find out in the future.'
...
During makeup, the makeup artist, Xiao Liu, kept consoling Bai Yin, 'That's just how Anni is, a bit of a diva, but she's famous and her fans all love her.'
'Newcomers are inevitably going to be wronged, but you'll get used to it.'
'Thank you, Liu Jie.'
Bai Yin indeed felt suffocated and unhappy.
As Song Anni said, in this circle, whoever has a high position and says the last word, is the one who counts. This is the rule of the entertainment industry.
She took out her phone and typed a message to Chen Huaixiao, but before she could send it, her phone vibrated, and a message from Chen Huaixiao came in -
chx: 'Are you busy?'
Bai Yin quickly replied, 'It's like we're telepathic. I was just about to send a message to my husband.'
chx: 'What's up?'
Bai Yin: 'You tell me, what's the matter?'
chx: 'Grandpa has decided to move back to the north city from our hometown in Jiangnan. The old house is too big, and he doesn't want to stay there. If you have time tomorrow, can you accompany him to look at houses?'
It was Bai Yin's duty to help with Chen's grandfather's matter, so she asked, "Why don't you go yourself?"
chx: 'Grandpa and I are at odds. Whatever house I choose, he won't be satisfied with it. He's more fond of his daughter-in-law.'
Bai Yin replied, 'Okay, I'll go.'
chx: 'Tell me what happened to you.'
Bai Yin immediately sent him an emoji of a pitiful and crying face, 'Husband, I'm being bullied on the set. [Pitiful][Crying]' "
Chen Huaixiao: "If you can outsmart me, then who else can bully you?"
Bai Yin was not happy and tapped her fingertips on the screen heavily. "I admit that I put some thought into our marriage, but you were willing, weren't you? If you weren't happy, who could force you to get married?"
Chen Huaixiao didn't respond to her messages anymore, and Bai Yin put down her phone feeling dejected.
She knew that Chen Huaixiao never really liked her that much.
She was a strong-willed person who always refused to lose, and had been like that since she was a child.
Chen Huaixiao preferred girls with a softer personality, and if she wanted to fake it, she could have done it easily.
But back then, Bai Yin thought that if she really liked someone, she shouldn't be pretentious in front of them, so she always showed her true self to him.
But she was too naive back then. Being sincere wasn't enough, she had to be able to manipulate people.
Bai Yin closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.
Since her fake marriage wasn't reliable, she could only rely on herself.
...
After the meeting, Chen Huaixiao leaned back in his office chair and opened the chat window with Bai Yin again. He saw her message: "Husband, I was bullied on set. [Poor thing] [Crying]"
Shen Bin knocked politely on the door and entered the office. "Boss Chen, did you need me for something?"
"Help me check on the situation of the 'Ni Chang' crew."
"Are you trying to find out if Madam was mistreated on set?" Shen Bin asked.
Chen Huaixiao gave him a cold look. "Since when did you become so smart?"
"No, no, no, I'm not smart at all!" Shen Bin quickly left. "I'll go find out!"
...
Bai Yin picked out a lakeside villa with a large courtyard for Chen's father. It was only a fifty-meter walk to the park's man-made lake, which perfectly satisfied the old man's fishing hobby.
The villa had a large flower bed in the courtyard that was already sown with vegetable seeds. When spring arrived, the seeds would sprout. This was also because Chen's father liked to grow his own vegetables.
In addition, there was a green fish pond in the courtyard that was covered in algae and aquatic plants.
Every time Chen's father caught a fish, he could put it in this small pond to keep it, and when he wanted to eat fish, he could just catch one.
The interior decoration, furniture, and appliances of the villa also met the old man's aesthetic and habits - it was all Chinese-style wooden furniture.
Since Chen Huaixiao paid for the house, Bai Yin spared no expense and tried to please her father-in-law in every way.
On the first day that Chen's father moved in, he couldn't wait to take his fishing gear to the lake to fish.
Bai Yin rushed over from the set and saw him fishing. She took a small shovel and dug a small box of earthworms in the garden beside the lake, and handed it to him.
Chen's father looked up and saw Bai Yin wearing a plaid coat and a black knee-length skirt. She was no longer the skinny girl she used to be.
Now, she was mature and elegant.
He took the plastic box of large, fat earthworms from Bai Yin's hand and said with a smile, "You're already a grown woman, why are you still helping me catch earthworms? You can just ask the housekeeper to do these things."
"I can't rely on anyone under Chen Huaixiao."
With that, Bai Yin tentatively handed the box of earthworms to Tang Ka, the housekeeper.
Tang Ka's whole body tensed up and he almost threw up. "Please spare me, madam."
Bai Yin smiled and said, "Grandpa Chen, you see, no one else can do the job of digging up earthworms like me."
"Well, then I can't do without you."
"I just dug up a lot and put them in your vegetable garden. If you need any, just go to the garden and dig them up with a shovel. There will be plenty."
With the bait set, Old Chen cast his fishing line and said, "You, my third daughter-in-law, are even more considerate than my third son."
"That's right." Bai Yin gathered her skirt and sat down next to Grandpa Chen. "I have spent more time with Grandpa Chen than Chen Huaixiao has."
She was truly close to him, but Grandpa Chen had seen so many storms over the years that he naturally knew that this little girl had developed an unconscious personality of pleasing others from being raised by others.
Her feelings for him were genuine, but they were inevitably tinged with a bit of cautious fawning.
If it hadn't been for her ten years of winning his affection, he would never have handed over his most promising grandson to her.
"Is your grandmother doing okay? When her condition stabilizes, I'll go see her."
"She's awake, but she doesn't remember people or things very well." Bai Yin paused and covered up her wounded heart. "I will make sure the doctors treat her actively and give her the best care."
"Has Chen Huaixiao been helping with the medical expenses every month?"
"He's too busy to take care of these things." Bai Yin shrugged. "But it's not a big deal. I can handle it."
Although the monthly medical expenses were high, the current Bai Yin was fully capable of taking care of her grandmother.
She planned to save up some money and pay back all the surgery fees that the Su family had subsidized earlier, so that her grandmother wouldn't feel indebted.
Old Chen understood that the little girl had a high spirit, so he didn't ask any further.
In the past, Bai Yin couldn't even get enough to eat and was so hungry that she couldn't even walk steadily. She wouldn't even ask him next door for a bite of food and would rather endure it herself.
With her stubborn temper... it was probably going to take some time to adapt to Chen Huaixiao, who was also stubborn.
"Little Bai, I have some advice for you."
"Please, Grandpa."
"My grandson went through some bad things when he was young..."
Before he could finish, Bai Yin asked with concern, "What happened?"
Grandpa Chen waved his hand, seeming unwilling to say more, and said instead, "He has always been introspective and stubborn since he was young. The friends who can talk to him and play with him are all those with simple and clear minds."
"Grandpa, I understand what you mean." Bai Yin looked at the mottled light and shadow on the lake surface and said in a low voice, "Chen Huaixiao hates people like me the most. He was nice to me before because of Grandpa's relationship."
"No matter what the reason is, since we are married, we should get along well, you know?"
"Grandpa, I know."
Chen Grandpa stopped there and said, "Stay for dinner tonight, I'll make some fish soup for you."
"Grandpa, it's a special day today. Chen Huaixiao might come back. I want to go to the supermarket to buy some ingredients."
"Sure, you newlyweds enjoy your life, we won't disturb you."
Chen Grandpa didn't insist on keeping her.
...
Bai Yin asked Tang Ka to drive her to the supermarket.
The car stopped by the roadside and Tang Ka respectfully opened the door.
"Tang Ka, you're the housekeeper, but I almost use you as my personal assistant." Bai Yin smiled and looked at him, "Do you have any complaints?"
Under the sunshine, the woman's brown eyes became a shade lighter, clear and bright. Her long eyelashes seemed to emit light, and her skin became even more fair and radiant under the sun. She had a hint of seductiveness in her purity.
Tang Ka averted his gaze and said, "No, the young master asked me to take care of you, so it's okay to do anything."
"If that's the case, then you can come with me to the set tomorrow." Bai Yin walked over and patted his shoulder, "My pay is low, and I can't afford a personal assistant for now, so I'll have to trouble you."
"..."
Tang Ka realized that the young madam was taking advantage of the opportunity given by Chen Huaixiao. He had to talk to him about a raise.
Bai Yin happily walked into the mall.
Soon after, Tang Ka received a call from Chen Huaixiao.
In a low and mellow voice, the man asked, "Where are you?"
"I'm driving to pick up the madam from the set. She went to the lakeside villa with Grandpa to go fishing and caught a lot of sticky worms. I threw up three times."
"Get to the point."
"Yes, the madam went to the supermarket to buy ingredients, and I'm waiting for her by the roadside."
Chen Huaixiao paused and asked, "As her personal assistant, how much is she paying you?"
Tang Ka clearly heard the dissatisfaction in Chen Huaixiao's tone and said, somewhat aggrieved, "But... Young Master, you told me to listen to the madam and follow her lead."
Chen Huaixiao said, "I didn't ask you to follow her 24/7. You're a housekeeper, so do your job properly."
After hesitating for a moment, Tang Ka asked tentatively, "Young Master, where are you?"
"At the door."
Tang Ka asked, "You didn't bring the key, did you?"
"..."
