Passionate Love After Marriage With The White Moonlight Movie Queen

Chapter 14: Black Hearted, Big Villain

Gu Jinrong's palm was delicate, like fine white jade.

The lollipop, wrapped in a pink candy coating, landed in her palm, as if it had become a luxurious jewel held in an exquisite container.

Upon seeing this scene, Shen Qingzhi inwardly cursed herself for being foolish: I am used to feeding candy to the staff and children at ordinary times, how can Movie Queen Gu be as easy to fool as others?

"I'm sorry, I made a mistake," Shen Qingzhi said, reaching out to take the candy back.

Gu Jinrong closed her fingers, enveloping the delicate fingertips with the candy. "It's okay, I like this one."

The touch of her slender fingers was warm and gentle. Due to sword training for filming, there was a thin callus layer, which tickled when they touched.

Blushing, Shen Qingzhi withdrew her fingertips and watched as Gu Jinrong gracefully peeled off the candy wrapper and placed the lollipop in her mouth.

"It's very sweet."

***

Since they started living together, three days had quickly passed.

At first, Shen Qingzhi thought she would have a hard time adjusting. After all, it was her first time living under the same roof with someone other than her family for an extended period of time.

However, Gu Jinrong turned out to be an exceptional roommate. Not only did she maintain a healthy routine and have a penchant for cleanliness, but most importantly, she had excellent cooking skills that were a world apart from Shen Wangshu's dark cuisines.

At first, Shen Qingzhi tried to maintain a sense of dignity by insisting she didn't need to cook and would order takeout instead. But unfortunately, that sense of dignity didn't last more than an hour, as she surrendered in the face of the tantalizing aroma of Gu Jinrong's Italian stew. Even her usual favorite, Yangzhou fried rice, suddenly lost its appeal.

As the saying goes, "Food is the paramount necessity of the people," and it held true in this case.

Grateful for Gu Jinrong's culinary delights, Shen Qingzhi decided to reciprocate and make their "model home" more inviting. In just two short days, she brought in various sports equipment and entertainment devices to liven up the place. 

On her first day, she jokingly said, "Not even a piece of wallpaper will come off." But now, she has replaced the entire wallpaper of the house.

Of course, all these changes were made with the permission of the homeowner.

Shen Qingzhi was quite satisfied with her masterpiece. Even though she had been idle for the past two days, she considered it an improvement in her living environment for the coming year.

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When she moved out after a year and got divorced, she could use these improvements to offset the rent. Otherwise, it would be quite pitiful for Gu Jinrong to be left alone in an empty house.

Now, Shen Qingzhi sat in the newly arranged study, flipping through a script with an unusually serious expression. She had been on vacation for several days now, and during this time, besides decorating the house, she had been studying the acting skills of her seniors.

The online criticism against her had temporarily died down in the past few days, but many potential collaborators were still watching and she hadn't been assigned any new projects yet.

However, Shen Qingzhi wasn't too concerned about it. When she initially decided to enter the entertainment industry, her main goal was to become a good actress.

For an actress, their work was the foundation of their career.

When you have a sufficient number of well-received works, as long as you don't cross the moral and legal boundaries, naturally, most people will be inclined towards you.

This morning, Song Ling brought her several scripts. Although her reputation wasn't great at the moment, there were quite a few scripts coming her way. However...

Ever since she played a wicked and provocative female antagonist and gained popularity, the roles she was being offered were mostly a collection of unruly, green tea*, troublemakers.

*used to describe a girl who appears innocent and pure on the surface but actually engages in manipulative or deceptive behavior behind the scenes

It's not that playing villains is a bad thing, but the scripts she received were heavily homogeneous, and some of them were clearly trying to replicate her previous character.

When an actor is constantly playing roles with similar traits, it becomes difficult to improve their acting skills and it can be draining for themselves as well.

In fact, before that breakout role as a female antagonist, she had already played a similar character.

She wondered why those producers were so fond of casting her as a villain.

But there's no way around it. With her current level of popularity and reputation, she hasn't reached the point where she can freely choose scripts as she wishes.

Shen Qingzhi carefully read through all these scripts, hoping to find one that offers a little more breakthrough.

In the end, she selected a role as a snobbish and arrogant young lady. In the beginning, this character is extremely arrogant and treats people around her with insolence and capriciousness. However, she secretly extends a helping hand when she encounters an injured swordsman.

But later, her family is brutally killed, and the surviving young lady witnesses the tragic deaths of her parents, enduring grief while escaping.

During her escape, she experiences various hardships, and the once carefree person starts to turn dark.

Due to misunderstandings, she holds a deep hatred towards the protagonist and goes insane later on, committing all sorts of wicked deeds. She becomes the most despised antagonist in the whole drama, with a tragic ending.

In the later stages, this character is purely wicked and crazy, with no regard for any relationships. However, compared to other villains, she at least has a complete storyline and reasonable character motivation. If performed well, it can also evoke empathy from the audience.

Shen Qingzhi messaged her choice to her agent, Song Ling, but within a minute, she received a phone call from her.

"Qingzhi, are you sure you want to play Nan Gongxue in 'Sword of Chivalry'? Do you have any thoughts about other scripts?" 

Shen Qingzhi recalled a few other nonsensical villainous scripts and shook her head.

"Ling-jie, I've looked through the scripts you gave me, and Nan Gongxue is the most well-developed character. What's wrong with this role?"

Song Ling replied, "It's not that there's anything wrong with it. In terms of screen time, this character can be considered the second female lead. The film is directed by Lu Gang, and you have a good eye.

"But it seems like the production team has a preferred candidate for this role. They haven't finalized it yet, which is why they extended audition invitations to you and a few other actresses.

"If you can secure this role, that would be great. But if not, we should have a backup plan."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingzhi was instantly ignited with fighting spirit. She thumped her chest and made a bold declaration.

"Ling-jie, rest assured, I will do my best to secure this role!"

The door of the room was pushed open, and Gu Jinrong was holding a piece of raw fish in her hand. "Qingqing, what should we eat tonight... oh, are you cosplaying as a chimpanzee?"

Shen Qingzhi:...

On the other end of the phone, Song Ling was confused. "Qingzhi, is there someone with you? I told you to stay home and go out less these days. The voice I heard doesn't sound like your sister."

Shen Qingzhi didn't want to mention her marriage over the phone, so she made up a story on the spot.

"I'm at home, and that was my cousin. She came to visit our house."

Song Ling became even more puzzled. "I remember when I took you in, I looked at your family information. When did you have another cousin?"

Shen Qingzhi pouted her lips. "Oh, she's my aunt's daughter. She had some mental issues since childhood and was abducted for a while. She just recently recognized us, so I didn't mention it before."

It sounded a bit far-fetched, but it was their family matter, so Song Ling didn't inquire further.

After hanging up the phone, Shen Qingzhi angrily shouted at Gu Jinrong, "You're the chimpanzee! Your whole family are chimpanzees!"

Gu Jinrong smiled with a mischievous look in her eyes, hinting at some ill intentions. "Oh, so my whole family are chimpanzees, including you, my dear cousin?"

Shen Qingzhi felt like a startled rabbit, instantly getting agitated.

"Who's your cousin? Who's part of your family? Look at the two of us from head to toe, do we have any similarities in our genes?"

Gu Jinrong listened and carefully examined Shen Qingzhi from top to bottom, nodding her head.

"Well... I do see some similarities in our genes. After all, as you just mentioned, I also have a 'mental issue since childhood'."

The use of the word "also" was quite subtle.

Shen Qingzhi ground her small white teeth, looking very unhappy: What kind of person is this? She'd rather insult herself just to insult others.

Black hearted, big villain.

Seeing that she had successfully irritated Shen Qingzhi, Gu Jinrong decided to stop and changed the topic. She weighed the raw fish in her hand.

"Let's make stewed noodles tonight and have sashimi as a side dish. Is that okay?"

Shen Qingzhi glared at Gu Jinrong, not averting her gaze, and snorted, "Hmph, I'm full of anger. I've decided to fast tonight."

"Understood," Gu Jinrong nodded and turned to leave with the fish in hand.

Shen Qingzhi: ?

You've made me lose my appetite with your provocation, and you don't feel guilty at all?

You won't even console me and just leave like that?

Weren't you different three days ago?

Shen Qingzhi couldn't sit still and headed straight to the kitchen.

In the partially open kitchen, Gu Jinrong was tying an apron and concentrating on slicing the raw fish on the cutting board.

Her knife skills were impressive, and the fish slices were cut translucent and thin, glistening under the light.

Shen Qingzhi glanced at them briefly, raised her head, and walked past Gu Jinrong.

But Gu Jinrong acted as if she hadn't noticed and continued her careful actions, unaffected.

Shen Qingzhi turned back, circled around again, humming as she walked.

She was very close to Gu Jinrong, making it impossible for her to remain indifferent. "Qingqing, is your throat bothering you?"

Finally, there was a reaction. Shen Qingzhi stopped in her tracks, pretending to be reserved.

"No, it's nothing. I'm just preparing for an audition for the role of an arrogant young miss, so I'm trying to get into character in advance."