Li Jing thought happily: The first floor of the big ocean view villa is mine, right?
Hee hee hee.
Her heart was already lying on a beach chair, legs crossed, but her mind was in work mode.
This movie was a crucial opportunity to boost the male lead’s third love line—
The first key was to trigger the perverted attribute in Du Jinghuai’s favorability, because in a way, Du Jinghuai had played himself in this movie.
The male lead he played was a character who is both good and evil, despite having a noble profession, he had to struggle against his almost perverted desires. That kind of struggle and sense of division was a real test of an acting emperor’s skills.
The media outside all praised the Three Golden Award-winning Acting Emperor for his courage in portraying diverse roles, a true artist with high standards for himself. Even Ye Yan, who was secretly accompanying Du Jinghuai during rehearsals, felt that this role was a huge challenge for him.
However, only Li Jing knew—Du Jinghuai was practically playing himself, like a duck in water in this role!
Because later on, Du Jinghuai would imprison the original owner in a small dark room, force her to love him, and other stimulating plots. Later, he would use the substitute’s blood to save the White Moonlight, torturing her while enjoying himself, not at all the pure and noble cold god.
So today was a crucial turning point to raise Du Jinghuai’s emotional progress and smoothly enter the next stage—
The film’s opening credits were already playing in the screening room.
Du Jinghuai leaned back in his chair, his posture relaxed.
The girl beside him, however, sat up straight, her hands clenched in her lap, as if she rarely watched movies in a cinema, suppressing her excitement and joy. The debts she owed, the attacks she suffered, seemed to be temporarily forgotten.
For some reason, Du Jinghuai’s gaze shifted from the screen and landed on Li Jing.
The distance between the girl and the screen was only a few dozen meters, but compared to Ye Yan, who had once been on the screen, her life was a million miles away.
Because of her miserable circumstances, she could be easily manipulated by Fu Lingchu and others. Yet, she always maintained her strength, her optimism.
But how much hardship could one person endure?
When would that string truly snap?carpreads.pages.dev
Just as the film began, Du Jinghuai heard his own voice coming from the speakers—
“If one day you finally fall into the mud, will you rot or will you rise?”
For a moment, a thought popped into his mind: If a small white flower were crushed into the mud, wouldn’t it be even more beautiful when it rotted?
Like a seed buried in black soil, Du Jinghuai felt it growing.
At that moment, his phone screen lit up.
The light was very clear in the dark cinema, Li Jing knew it was Ye Yan without even looking.
Because—the second key to this plot was that the White Moonlight had carefully planned something, and she would definitely be expecting feedback from Du Jinghuai.
After all, the male leads number one and two’s favorability had reached a level that seriously threatened her, while Du Jinghuai’s remained normal.
Ye Yan: [A’huai, have you started watching the film?]
It hadn’t been released overseas yet, but Du Jinghuai had told Ye Yan that he would be watching it today. Even though they were thousands of miles apart, art would connect their hearts.
[Yes.]
Du Jinghuai’s single word contained affection.
Ye Yan understood, so she also replied with a single word: [Good.]
It was their unspoken agreement to not disturb each other while watching the film, to quietly enjoy it.
Li Jing watched from the corner of her eye, giggling inside.
Unfortunately, after Feng Ce dealt with Ye Yan’s detective, Ye Yan didn’t hire anyone new to avoid raising suspicion and collapsing her persona in front of the male leads—otherwise, if she knew that even Du Jinghuai was watching the movie with the substitute, Ye Yan’s face would definitely be a sight to behold.
And most importantly, Li Jing, as someone who knew the entire plot, knew what Ye Yan’s plan was: she had arranged for her own silhouette to flash briefly on screen during the film’s climax, when the male lead had his emotional outburst.
It was a secret arrangement she had made with the director, a way to deliver a blow to Du Jinghuai from afar—a hidden Easter egg from the White Moonlight.
In the original plot, Du Jinghuai would be deeply shocked at this moment, his heart burning with love for Ye Yan. Then, realizing that he had actually watched the film with the substitute, he would instantly feel a physiological aversion.
But—Li Jing was here to steal the tower, hahaha.
The climax of the movie was so important, Du Jinghuai’s own emotions were already heightened, making it incredibly convenient to boost the love line at that point.
So, she adopted a super-serious movie-watching posture, appearing to be clueless yet deeply captivated by the charm of the character Du Jinghuai portrayed.
Of course, Du Jinghuai lived up to his reputation as an acting emperor. His melancholy eyes seemed to speak, engaging in a dialogue with the audience through the screen. Although it was a movie from a world of old-fashioned melodramatic romance, because Du Jinghuai’s looks were truly striking, and the overall color scheme was very good, the film was still visually appealing.
The two seats were very close, close enough to hear each other’s breaths pause, to smell each other’s scent.
In the empty cinema, the romance of a private screening, waiting for the climax to arrive.
Of course, Du Jinghuai was thinking about Ye Yan.
Li Jing, on the other hand—was naturally thinking about another hottie.
The good show was about to begin. She couldn’t help but tap the system, “Teacher Lu—”
After a second, the man’s calm, magnetic voice came out: “Hmm.”
In the empty back row of the screening room, the silver-haired man sat alone with his arms crossed, like a perfect sculpture, a true work of art.
Li Jing couldn’t help but curl her lips: Hee hee.
At this time of darkness, someone would definitely come to supervise her.
Li Jing even felt that she had adapted to this kind of cheating—no, this kind of communication.
“Tea—cher—” Her voice unconsciously carried a hint of coquetry and a sense of accomplishment, “Do you think this movie is good?”
Lu Mian’s gaze had been fixed on her back the whole time. He said lightly, “It’s okay.”
“Then look at me—” The girl’s clear voice passed through the system’s current and clearly reached his ears.
The curve of her lips was just right.
—“I can act better.”
Lu Mian’s fingertips curled slightly.
If Li Jing could hear Lu Mian’s favorability.
She would know that the god’s favorability had already…
From Lu Mian’s perspective, those two were like a movie outside of the movie, directed by Li Jing, performing for him alone.
So in his viewing, there was only one main character.
Li Jing became even more excited.
The pace of the movie was accelerating, the climax was about to come, and Ye Yan’s figure was about to appear—
Du Jinghuai stared intently at the screen, and Li Jing beside him was also tense with nervousness.
The male lead in the film finally couldn’t control the malice in his heart, but in the face of the female lead’s terrified eyes, he turned around fiercely, and in a way of self-harm, he gained temporary peace from his madness.
“Don’t be afraid… No, don’t be afraid of me.”
“The deeper the love, the more deformed it is. That’s… my heart.”
Du Jinghuai deeply empathized with his character.
Perhaps no one could understand him, but—
The moment a tear fell, Du Jinghuai’s hand felt a chill.
He looked down, but saw Li Jing’s bent neck in the darkness, like a fallen white flower stem.
She rubbed her eyes with one hand, but tears flowed like broken pearls, and the other hand hurriedly wiped away the tears on his hand.
The place where their palms touched was wet, but a strange heat rose.
—Du Jinghuai’s favorability +1%
“Eve—everyone has their own light they want to preserve,” the little white flower said, crying, “He, he’s also very sad…”
—Manipulative talk, which she had firmly grasped.
No matter how those dogs were going to be tortured back later, just say “Only I understand you” now and that was it!
Sure enough, Du Jinghuai’s eyes were slightly stunned, then gradually deepened.
Her voice trembled, and a certain hidden feeling of his was soothed, a strange heat surged into his blood vessels.
—Du Jinghuai’s favorability +4%
Du Jinghuai took a breath, then lowered his head and pressed down on her hand.
“It’s okay,” he said, his voice a little hoarse.
Li Jing obediently withdrew her hand—
Because Ye Yan’s few seconds of Easter Egg post-credit footage had already passed, hahaha.
And at the climax of the plot, when the music was most stimulating, and Du Jinghuai’s emotions were at their strongest—
What he saw was Li Jing’s tearful eyes.
Visual and psychological double stimulation √
30% now, my old bro.
The movie ended with an open ending.
Li Jing wiped away the tears on her face, got up and walked out of the screening room with Du Jinghuai. Before crossing the soundproof door, Li Jing turned her head and met Lu Mian’s eyes from afar.
She blinked.
The young god watched her entire performance.
However, only he knew—her real act was just about to begin.
The god lowered his gaze, sighing with a smile.
This was his top 1.
“Here they come, here they come.”
Li Jing walked out, listening to the system’s prompt about the location of Male Lead #1.
Then Male Lead #2 followed Male Lead #1 and arrived as well.
She was so excited she wanted to rub her hands together.
—All three lines are brushing up against each other for the first time!
The battleground must have a good start, and let the little white flower persona progress to the next stage!
All day long, Fu Lingchu forced himself not to be affected by Li Jing.
However, whenever he felt the slap mark on his face, he couldn’t help but think of Li Jing, thinking about how stubborn and fragile she was, how she must be secretly crying somewhere after being insulted by him.
So, after working intensely, he finally got in his car and found her location.
However, at the entrance of the cinema, he saw Li Jing walking with a man.
That man was actually an acquaintance.
Du Jinghuai.
Fu Lingchu’s eyes narrowed dangerously in an instant.
Li Jing, who had been relaxed after watching a movie, froze when she saw Fu Lingchu, then unconsciously took a step back behind Du Jinghuai.
Fu Lingchu told himself that he didn’t need to be affected by Li Jing’s words and actions. But Li Jing’s step back made his breath heavy and hot.
Soon, Male Lead #2 also rushed over and joined the battlefield.
This time, Feng Ce followed Fu Lingchu, this old schemer, to find Li Jing. After delivering the medicine, Li Jing had been missing for a day and a night. Now, Feng Ce was furious.
At this moment, the three most top-notch men from the wealthy families stood silently facing each other.
Li Jing stood in the middle, trembling.
—Fight! Let’s get it on, you guys!!!
Fu Lingchu looked at Du Jinghuai coldly and sneered, “What a day, the big Acting Emperor actually brings a civilian to watch a movie? How is it, does it feel better this way?”
Du Jinghuai’s cold face was equally indifferent, “Not bad—I believe Miss Li’s movie-watching experience is also good.”
Fu Lingchu narrowed his eyes dangerously.
But Feng Ce’s artillery fire was aimed at Fu Lingchu. He looked at Li Jing, pointed at Fu Lingchu, and asked angrily, “Where did you stay last night? What did Fu Lingchu do to you?”
The moment this question was asked, Li Jing’s face turned completely white.
Because not long ago, she had told Du Jinghuai that she was repaying her debt by cleaning Fu Lingchu’s office.
And Feng Ce’s question was like tearing open a corner of something dirty—
Seeing Li Jing’s expression, Fu Lingchu suddenly regained his psychological advantage.
It should be this way, this woman who dared to hit him in the face, she should be in pain, she should be humiliated.
Fu Lingchu slowly revealed a cold and arrogant smile, “Say it, Li Jing, what did I do to you? Where did you sleep last night?”
Li Jing’s tattered sleeves were almost torn, her eyes were getting redder and redder.
It seemed like she didn’t say anything, but it also seemed like she said everything.
Feng Ce was waiting for her answer, but Du Jinghuai’s gaze towards Li Jing was already clear.
Ah. Dirty.
So the little white flower had already been picked.
Then, a certain emotion, beyond pity, began to grow rapidly.
Fu Lingchu pressed on, “Hmm? Not saying anything—”
Feng Ce couldn’t stand his hypocritical appearance, he opened his mouth and started to scold, “You disgusting thing, don’t even look at what’s on your face, how old are you and you’re still getting slapped?”
Du Jinghuai joined in at the right time, “President Fu, do you need ointment? My agent has the best.”
Fu Lingchu sneered, “No—”
Li Jing stood in the middle, her heart screaming: Don’t fight anymore, don’t fight anymore!
You guys can’t kill anyone like this!!
You have to rely on her to push the plot forward!
“—Enough!”
The girl’s voice finally came out.
She slowly raised her head, which had been buried deep, and looked at Feng Ce.
For some reason, Feng Ce instinctively didn’t dare to meet her gaze, as if there was something fragile that would shatter at the slightest touch.
However, Li Jing’s eyes were lifeless, and she had already made up her mind.
“—Feng Ce, don’t you want to ask me where I was last night?”
The plot escalated, and her emotions entered the next stage——
To make the male leads realize that they had personally broken that strong and pure little white flower!
Li Jing bit her lip hard, almost drawing blood, but she spoke clearly, word by word.
“I slept in a five-star hotel for a night, and it was Fu Lingchu who booked the room.”
The white flower was finally crushed, she no longer wanted to be trampled, so——
She publicly revealed her own shame!
For a moment, Fu Lingchu paused slightly.
Feng Ce’s face showed a blank look of astonishment.
Du Jinghuai’s gaze, however, suddenly deepened, falling deeply on her face, which had been crying during the movie.
Li Jing: Well, a three-dimensional character must have a growth arc——
The strong and self-respecting little white flower had endured too much, and there would come a day when she would give up struggling. Since she was already dirty, she might as well be dirty to the core!
And what’s the best way to trigger the destructive desire of the third male lead? It’s to tell him that she’s already been ruined by someone else.
—Du Jinghuai’s favorability +5%
This directly reflected the progress of Du Jinghuai’s inner emotional line: it had already broken through to 35%.
The three lines were finally pulled to the same dimension by her, and they began to influence each other.
All of you, get your heads in the game.
Fu Lingchu came to his senses, frowning: “Come back with me.”
He knew that Li Jing wasn’t really dirty, even though for her, her pure soul had been tainted.
Li Jing told the system: “Do you know what the benefit of the little white flower persona advancing is?”
The system, in this stimulating situation, didn’t dare to breathe: “It, what is it?”
Li Jing directly told it the answer with her actions.
The girl staggered forward, smiling: “Want me to go with you? Okay——just give me money.”
System: “???”
She deliberately put on a frivolous expression, but it looked too immature on her face.
All the men present knew how forced that expression was.
Because this girl would donate money to orphanages, she would save all her medical money for her grandmother, and she would even help her gambling uncle pay off his debts, but she would never, never ask for a penny for herself.
But now, she said: “Whoever pays the most, I’ll go with them!”
System: “?? You’re starting to openly grab things, aren’t you!!!”
Li Jing: “Don’t worry ^_^”
Feng Ce was the first to come to his senses. He walked two steps towards Li Jing, thought for two seconds, and finally, with a frown, pulled out a card.
“My secondary card, is that enough? Swipe whatever you want.”
Li Jing was moved.
Look! Look at this big Young Master!!!
The way he just threw the card was so cool!!!
Li Jing smiled, a broken smile, and actually reached out to take the card.
Feng Ce’s palm was empty.
For some reason, he saw a flash of that day at school, when he threw his own meal card to Li Jing. What did Li Jing do back then?
She fiercely threw back her own meal card, asking him: “Do you have a card, then?”
That kind of Li Jing, had she been destroyed…
—Feng Ce’s favorability +3%
Reaching 54%.
This meant that the scales of Feng Ce’s favorability had already tipped towards Li Jing.
Li Jing tightly clutched the unlimited credit card, her heart overflowing with gratitude and appreciation for the Transmigration Bureau.
Fu Lingchu, on the other hand, stared intently at Li Jing’s hand holding the supplementary card, noticing its constant trembling. He felt a strange pang of heartache.
No one knew better than him how pure Li Jing was, making her self-degradation all the more shocking.
It was like a canvas, only after being stained did it finally realize how pristine it once was.
—Fu Lingchu’s favorability +1%
Fu Lingchu approached Li Jing, but Du Jinghuai, who stood in front of her, reached out to stop him.
“President Fu, what are you going to do to her again?”
A surge of possessive anger flared up in Fu Lingchu’s heart. His aura was already powerful, dominating and fiercely challenging other men.
While Du Jinghuai, despite his slender frame, exuded an air of nobility and aloofness, refusing to back down.
In this moment, in this scene.
The competitive spirit of three top-tier wealthy men had begun.
Du Jinghuai turned, his eyes lowered as he looked at the girl who was on the verge of breaking.
With a burgeoning desire in his heart, he spoke, offering a gilded cage with money: “Didn’t you say you could only contribute a little to my box office?”
Li Jing forgot to blink.
Du Jinghuai paused: “I’ll split my box office earnings with you.”
Li Jing shuddered: Number Three!!!
Number Three, your 2% contribution just skyrocketed!!!
The small dark room is doable! The small dark room is being arranged right now!!!
In the eyes of the male leads, the girl had never encountered such a vast sum of money in her life. So she was terrified, terrified to the point of trembling.
But in the end, she lifted her face and smiled, saying: “Okay, thank you, Mr. Du.”
Having received gifts from two men, the atmosphere became even heavier than before.
Fu Lingchu, unable to contain himself any longer, bypassed Du Jinghuai.
He stretched out his hand, trying to get closer to Li Jing: “Calm down first.”
Li Jing thought to herself: ?? You’re not even going to compete?
Fu Lingchu walked up to her and grabbed her wrist.
“Li Jing,” for a moment, Fu Lingchu felt a bitterness in his mouth, “I know you’re not like this—”
?? You, Fu Lingchu, are talking about feelings when you should be talking about money—
Fu Lingchu wanted to pull her to his side: “I…”
Li Jing, as if finally pushed to her limit, was about to declare her self-degradation with a self-immolating outburst!
So, Li Jing, with lightning speed, raised her arm and slapped Fu Lingchu’s other cheek!
—“Give me money!”
The sound of the slap was crisp.
—Fu Lingchu’s favorability +3%
System: “Damn! So cheap!”
Her assets doubled, three-line progress accelerated.
Li Jing: …Don’t let me die of happiness!!
Ahahaha!!