Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Budding White Lotus

At this moment, Meng Ling smiled like an angel, with not a trace of the arrogance she had shown earlier in the dressing room. Watching Meng Ling approach with two bottles of drinks, Bai Chenxi’s heart thudded with unease: trouble rarely comes without reason!

“Where are you looking? If you don’t act well, you don’t get anything to drink,” the director said.

Hearing this, Bai Chenxi quickly focused her gaze on the monitor.

“Director Li, here’s some water.” The sweetness in that voice made Bai Chenxi sigh inwardly—no wonder Meng Ling was called the queen of love songs; her earlier outburst seemed entirely out of character.

“Mm.” Director Li took the water, sipped it, and set it aside.

Meng Ling hesitated for a long while, not leaving, her gaze fixed on Bai Chenxi as if faced with some great difficulty. Bai Chenxi, however, kept her eyes glued to the monitor, ignoring her entirely. To an outsider, it must have looked like Bai Chenxi was being utterly unreasonable.

Director Li glanced up, nudged Bai Chenxi’s chair, and gave her a meaningful look.

Bai Chenxi looked over, just as Meng Ling offered her a bottle of water in a pitiful, delicate manner. “Sister Bai, here’s your water,” she said, raising her voice deliberately so those nearby could hear. “I was in the wrong earlier. I apologize. I’m sorry.”

With Meng Ling’s calculated move, everyone’s attention quickly shifted to them, and whispers began to circulate about what had happened.

Seeing Meng Ling apologizing to Bai Chenxi, the first thought in everyone’s mind was that Bai Chenxi must have bullied her again. It seemed likely—after all, Meng Ling was with Kaijia Entertainment, so who would dare offend Bai Chenxi?

Watching Meng Ling bow in apology, Bai Chenxi’s heart gave a jolt: Oh, trying to play the innocent victim here, are we?

Without hesitation, Bai Chenxi sprang up from her chair and bowed even lower, a perfect ninety degrees, her face full of shock as she exclaimed, “Sister Meng Ling, please don’t! I should be the one apologizing to you. Please, don’t be angry.”

Meng Ling had just opened her mouth when Bai Chenxi continued, “I didn’t recognize you earlier, Sister Meng Ling. It was my fault. It’s only natural you’d be upset.”

The sudden reversal stunned everyone: so that’s what happened.

Bai Chenxi pressed on, twisting the knife further. “When you stormed out and slammed the door just now, I was so frightened—I thought you were really angry with me. Since I had to go on set, I sent my assistant to buy drinks, planning to apologize to you in person later.”

Those present quickly pieced together the situation: Meng Ling had overreacted—just because someone didn’t recognize her, she’d thrown a tantrum.

Catching the looks from those around her, Meng Ling had no choice but to endure. Taking a deep breath, she managed a gentle smile. “You misunderstood. Something happened today, and I was in a bad mood. I wasn’t mad at you.”

“My assistant just reminded me, and I realized I might have made things difficult for you without meaning to. I came over to apologize.”

Her assistant chimed in at the right moment, “It’s true, Teacher Bai. Sister Meng Ling had something happen at home today—she’s just not herself. She didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

Bai Chenxi thought to herself: Well played.

On the surface, she let out a sigh of relief. “So that’s what it was. I was so scared—I thought Sister Meng Ling was angry with me! It’s been on my mind all this time.”

Just then, Xiaoyu returned with the drinks, reinforcing Bai Chenxi’s story in everyone’s minds.

Bai Chenxi took the drink from Xiaoyu and cheerfully offered one to Meng Ling. “Sister Meng Ling, here’s your water.”

Meng Ling accepted it and forced a smile. The more respectfully Bai Chenxi treated her, the more it felt like she was being regarded as an elderly has-been.

In the entertainment industry, where age is such a sensitive subject, Bai Chenxi’s incessant use of “Sister” was hard to see as anything but intentional. Who would believe it was innocent?

Yet Bai Chenxi’s display of deference to her senior status left Meng Ling with no room to object.

“Sister Meng Ling, let’s take a photo together!” Could she refuse? Bai Chenxi had already turned on her phone’s camera and was holding it up. With little choice, Meng Ling forced the corners of her mouth upward, while Bai Chenxi leaned in beside her, beaming sweetly.

Bai Chenxi looked at the photo with satisfaction, nodding in approval. After that, Meng Ling left without another word, which Bai Chenxi didn’t mind in the slightest.

Director Li glanced over and couldn’t help but remark, “If you put half that acting into your scenes, you’d be finished in no time.”

Bai Chenxi looked at Director Li in surprise, her face plainly asking: How did you know?

Director Li was somewhat exasperated—was this open-book, transparent girl really the same person as before?

“If I couldn’t see through your little tricks, I wouldn’t be fit to call myself a director,” he said.

Seeing that Director Li wasn’t truly angry, Bai Chenxi smiled and flattered him, “Director Li, you’re truly wise.”

He waved her off. “Just be grateful if you can act half as well in the actual scenes.”

After several more takes, Bai Chenxi finally got it right in one go.

Given her earlier explanation, everyone assumed she’d been distracted by the Meng Ling situation and that was why she hadn’t performed well at first.

From the sidelines, Meng Ling watched Bai Chenxi with eyes full of fury.

“Bai Chenxi, let’s see how long you can keep that smile on your face. When she comes back, you’ll know what it feels like to be abandoned.”

Seducing someone else’s man comes at a price, Meng Ling thought, sending off another message.