When Shang Yechu arrived at the lounge where Su Ge was, Su Ge was having dinner.
Su Ge's dinner was rather meager, consisting of only a cabbage leaf and half a carrot. Shang Yechu glanced at the other woman's delicate pinkish-purple plate and silently thanked the system for allowing her to avoid eating vegetables every day like other female celebrities.
Su Ge had a vegetable leaf in her mouth, a laptop in front of her, and a mouse in her hand. She was intently working on something on the computer.
Shang Yechu guessed that Su Ge was probably editing Qin Tianye's photos.
Today's filming schedule was disrupted again, and as evening approached, most of the crew members left the set. Qin Tianye stayed, waiting for Zheng Bohan to leave together. Therefore, Su Ge also stayed.
Shang Yechu knocked on the door to remind Su Ge that someone had arrived.
Su Ge raised her eyes and saw that it was Shang Yechu, so she spat out the vegetable leaf and gestured for the other person to sit down.
"What are you doing here so late?" Su Ge asked casually.
Shang Yechu didn't waste any words and said directly, "Director Zheng said that he already has an idea about the female lead's screen time."
"Oh." Su Ge became a little interested. "Tell me about it, I'm listening."
After a moment's thought, Shang Yechu said, "The female lead that Miss Su needs to play is the woman that Teacher Qin Tianye loves most in his life."
"Bang!"
Su Ge slipped, and the vegetable salad plate in front of her crashed to the ground!
Su Ge looked at Shang Yechu with a look of utter disbelief, even forgetting to pick up the plate.
Shang Yechu said innocently, "Miss Su, you dropped your plate. Let me pick it up for you?"
"Don't come any closer!" Su Ge shouted, staring intently at Shang Yechu as she bent down and groped to pick up the plate from the ground.
On the computer screen in front of Su Ge, a Photoshop interface was displayed, with Qin Tianye's headshot facing Su Ge. Because Su Ge had just accidentally adjusted the color curves incorrectly, Qin Tianye's face now looked like a Smurf.
"Okay." Shang Yechu seemed a little puzzled. "Are you busy? If you are, I can talk to you about this tomorrow."
"No! No need." Su Ge pulled out a tissue to wipe her hands and slammed the laptop shut. "Tell me more about Teacher Qin's favorite character, and things like that."
Shang Yechu nodded gently and continued, "Teacher Qin will be playing the role of an emperor. Miss Su will be playing his wife, his empress."
Su Ge suddenly coughed, as if her throat was uncomfortable.
Shang Yechu seemed oblivious to this detail, continuing her explanation slowly: "Director Zheng made this arrangement because this drama is an episodic series, and each episode requires a different cast. Only the male and female leads are the underlying characters throughout the entire series; they are the 'regular guests.'"
"What pairings are fixed in palace dramas? Actually, there aren't many. It's nothing more than the emperor and empress dowager, the emperor and empress, the emperor and eunuch, and the emperor and his wet nurse. Of course, Miss Su can't play the empress dowager, the eunuch, or the wet nurse, so it can only be the empress."
Su Ge nodded involuntarily.
“But there’s a small problem. Teacher Qin is already forty-five years old this year…” Shang Yechu held up both hands, one hand making a four and the other a five.
Su Ge couldn't help but interrupt Shang Yechu: "But actually, Teacher Qin looks very young, doesn't he? I think he looks at most thirty years old."
"..." Shang Yechu withdrew her hand and nodded in agreement. "Teacher Qin's face is indeed young, but his temperament—that mature and refined temperament—is something that most young people don't have."
Su Ge's eyes lit up slightly: "Teacher Qin's temperament is indeed—uh, quite good."
Su Ge awkwardly shut her mouth. She almost got carried away again.
“As we all know, empresses are usually the first wives. Therefore, they should be around the same age as Teacher Qin.” Shang Yechu observed Su Ge’s expression without showing any emotion. “Miss Su’s age seems to be quite similar to Teacher Qin’s.”
Su Ge jumped up and said, "Age is not a problem!"
“Age is certainly not a problem,” Shang Yechu said with a smile. “It’s just that Miss Su can’t possibly make up to look like a middle-aged woman, right? And if Teacher Qin were to force himself to play a young emperor, it might spark discussion among netizens.”
Su Ge's face turned green.
As a popular young actress, Su Ge was well aware of how venomous netizens could be. She herself could never pretend to be old; she couldn't tolerate looking old and ugly, allowing haters to screenshot and ridicule her. She also couldn't allow Teacher Qin to force himself to play a young person just to match her image—when netizens started insulting her, things like "an old cow eating young grass" were nothing compared to the harshness of their comments!
The thought of people possibly cursing Qin Tianye with phrases like "old cucumber painted green" made Su Ge feel like she was about to faint.
Su Ge muttered, "Then I'll devise a plan to have the original wife die, and I'll become the empress."
A hint of a smile flashed across Shang Yechu's eyes: "Then we'll have to choose a female artist of similar age to Teacher Qin? Even if we don't choose one, the Empress's reputation isn't very good."
No die-hard fan wants to see their idol have a "sister-in-law," even if it's a fictional one. Su Ge was no exception. When Shang Yechu merely mentioned the possibility that Qin Tianye might play the original wife of another actress, Su Ge's face turned the same color as the cabbage leaves she had just eaten.
How could a pampered young lady like Su Ge, who grew up in luxury, be cast as a concubine?
Su Ge's face scrunched up, and she looked like she was about to lose her temper.
Seeing that the time was right, Shang Yechu threw out the sweet talk: "Fortunately, Director Zheng is a senior screenwriter and has a lot of experience in this kind of situation. He designed a new plot so that Miss Su doesn't have to play an older character and can still play Teacher Qin's original wife."
"Huh?" Su Ge's eyes widened.
Shang Yechu slowly uttered the second half of the sentence: "Moreover, Teacher Qin Tianye won't have to get scolded."
"!!!" Su Ge was almost frantic. "Just tell me!"
Shang Yechu then told Su Ge about the plot involving the White Moonlight and others.
"The entire storyline involving the deceased first wife exists only in Teacher Qin's fantasies and memories. Since it's a memory that remains at its most beautiful stage, Miss Su doesn't need to pretend to be a middle-aged woman," Shang Yechu said in a dreamlike tone. "The young deceased wife and the middle-aged emperor, separated by the thick barrier of time, gaze at each other from afar in their illusions—oh my god, just thinking about that scene makes me want to cry!"
Su Ge was completely dumbfounded.
"Absolutely amazing. The sense of tragedy, poignant beauty, and profoundness is simply incredible," Shang Yechu exclaimed. "Director Zheng truly deserves to be called a screenwriter. This design solved all the problems and made the character of Teacher Qin Tianye even more profound."
Su Ge's breathing quickened. She jumped up from her chair, cupped her face, and spun around twice. "Could he be a genius?"
Shang Yechu suppressed a laugh, a look of regret on her face: "But Director Zheng hasn't made up his mind yet. Sigh, such a perfect plan, I wonder what he's hesitating about?"
"Why hasn't he made up his mind?" Su Ge asked incredulously. "After all this, what else could he possibly be dissatisfied with?"
"Perhaps they're worried about screen time," Shang Yechu said casually. "This means Teacher Qin might have more screen time than Miss Su. Also, since the Empress appears in a hallucination and flashback, she might not have many lines. Miss Su, Director Zheng is doing this for your own good—"
Before she could finish speaking, Su Ge had already picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Lin Hui! Lin Hui!" Su Ge called out into the phone, "Help me contact Zheng Bohan!"
-----
Zheng Bohan, who was arguing with Lin Hui, sneezed.
After sneezing, Lin Hui returned after finishing her phone call. The young and capable agent looked at Zheng Bohan with a strange expression, as if she wanted to devour him whole.
Zheng Bohan frowned and asked, "Lin Hui, what's wrong?"
Lin Hui looked Zheng Bohan up and down again, and after confirming that he was genuinely unaware and not pretending, she clicked her tongue and sat down.
"Sometimes I really wonder if you're just a stubborn person who's lucky in some ways," Lin Hui said sarcastically.
Zheng Bohan's brow twitched. "What's wrong?"
Lin Hui took a sip of coffee before saying, "There's no need to mention what you just asked me to do."
"Lin Hui, what do you mean by this?" Zheng Bohan asked anxiously.
“What I mean is, you don’t need to ask me for help anymore.” Lin Hui put down her coffee cup and looked directly at Zheng Bohan. “Su Ge just agreed to this.”
Zheng Bohan's hand paused.
"It's more than just agreeing. She practically begged me to let you know immediately. She's extremely, really willing to play this damn 'white moonlight' role. I even suspect you secretly sent someone to bewitch her," Lin Hui said. "What, Lao Zheng, did you send some strategist to persuade Su Ge besides coming to me?"
"No, no. Haha." Zheng Bohan came to his senses and took a sip of tea.
He put down his teacup and smiled at Lin Hui with great enthusiasm, saying, "It was just one of my primary school students who did a little bit of insignificant work. Come, have some tea."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
