Chapter 88
On the other end of the line, Ling Yao's voice was filled with rare, barely suppressed excitement and agitation, conveying clearly through the electricity. "Rui Rui!" He spoke quickly, with a sense of relief. "I've got the second male lead in Director Zhang's movie!"
Su Rui was sitting in front of the computer sorting photos. Upon hearing this, he immediately stopped what he was doing and a smile broke out on his face involuntarily: "Really? That's great! Congratulations!" He was really happy for Ling Yao. He knew how fierce the competition for this role was and how important it was to Ling Yao's transformation.
"I auditioned three times and went to two script readings. It was all worth it!" Ling Yao's voice was filled with a sense of accomplishment, like a child who got a perfect score on an exam and was eager to share. "This role is so challenging. The character arc is very complete. It's completely different from what I've played before..."
He talked incessantly about his understanding of the role and his expectations for the collaboration. Su Rui listened quietly, sharing his joy and imagining his excited look on the other end of the phone.
However, the excited narration gradually slowed down. Ling Yao's tone was tinged with a different emotion, like a small cloud floating in the clear sky.
"But..." He paused, his voice lowered, a hint of subtle awkwardness in his voice, "The male lead has been decided. It's... Shen Qingyuan."
The smile on Su Rui's face froze for a moment.
On the other end of the line, Ling Yao seemed to hum softly, his excitement suddenly overshadowed by a sour tone. "Tsk, what a coincidence. We're brothers in the play, and we have quite a few scenes together." He paused, his tone becoming somewhat ambiguous, even tinged with a hint of self-deprecation. "That's good now. You can openly take photos of him. The position of chief photographer for the crew must belong to you, right?"
It sounded like a joke, but Su Rui knew him all too well. Beneath the words, bubbling with undisguised concern and jealousy, Ling Yao had achieved a major career breakthrough. This should have been a moment of pure joy, but he immediately thought of the increased contact between Su Rui and Shen Qingyuan that work inevitably brought, and he felt unhappy about it.
He even deliberately emphasized the word "open and aboveboard", which formed a sharp and unpleasant contrast with the situation where he had to hide Su Rui in the dark forever.
Su Rui's heart sank slightly. The pure joy he had just felt seemed to have been poured with a small bucket of cold water. He tried to lighten the mood: "Work is work. And this is an important work of yours. Isn't it great that I can participate in the recording?"
"Yes, very good." Ling Yao quickly replied, but there was not much happiness in his tone. "My breakthrough role, you and my 'rival' were together on the set every day, discussing composition and lighting." He could almost imagine the scene - Su Rui looked at Shen Qingyuan intently, and Shen Qingyuan could naturally enjoy Su Rui's professionalism and... closeness.
This thought made him extremely uncomfortable, even though he knew it was just work.
"Ling Yao..." Su Rui felt powerless.
"Alright, I know." Ling Yao interrupted him, seeming to realize that he had lost his composure. He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the bitterness. His tone became relaxed again, but a hint of stiffness could not be concealed. "Let's not talk about this. Anyway, it's a good thing that I got the role."
His joy was ultimately overshadowed by a hint of jealousy. He had received the opportunity he had longed for, yet he also watched helplessly as Su Rui and Shen Qingyuan had even more "legitimate reasons" to be together. This conflicting emotion complicated the taste of his recent success.
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