Your Rival in Love Gets Prettier Every Day

Chapter 58: Is he the Heroine?

After not hearing Xiao Ai’s voice for so long, Shen Jintai felt overwhelmed with emotions.

Shen Jintai: “You’re finally back!”

Xiao Ai: “Kiss~”

It was truly Xiao Ai. So much cuter than that cold like a corpse Xiao Mei.

“I’m sorry. I promised to take a week off, but it took longer to come back.” Xiao Ai said: “When Xiao Ai was away, my dear, you received the hair and flushing reward. Congratulations!”

“I just got my hair not long ago, but when it comes to the flushing reward, I have been embarrassed to ask Xiao Mei.” Shen Jintai hurriedly asked: “What the devil is this flushing reward?”

Xiao Ai giggled and said: “The reward for flushing, as the name suggest, is that when you are emotional, your body will flush. This includes, but not limited to the ears, face, chest, toes, ect.”

I knew it!

Shen Jintai: “What in blazes is this kind reward? I’m an attacker! What use are these to me?!”

“Dear, I have to criticize your old-fashioned feudal thinking again,” Xiao Ai said: “Who stipulates that men cannot be lewd? Who stipulates that men cannot be sensitive? Regardless of whether men or women, attack or receive, as long as they can give each other a more intense response, wouldn’t this be a good thing?”

Shen Jintai: “Then what is my next reward? I remember it was a sexy reward.”

Xiao Ai: “Xiao Ai will take a look for you. It’s either sensitivity or killer ankles.”

Why is sensitivity there again?

Shen Jintai: “Ankles! Ankles! I choose ankles!”

Xiao Ai: “Alright. Xiao Ai has made note of it. But Dear, Xiao Ai disturbed you late at night because Xiao Ai has something important to tell you.”

Shen Jintai: “What’s the matter?”

Xiao Ai: “It has been detected that the love between the male protagonist and Bai Yueguang has reached a freezing point not long ago. My dear, your task if almost halfway completed! Congratulations.”

“Ah?” Shen Jintai’s face was full of questions marks: “What did I do?”

He felt that he hadn’t done anything recently besides Bai Yueguang’s favorability for him explicably rising which gave him multiple rewards. If it wasn’t for Xiao Mei’s cold and indifference attitude that didn’t show any favoritism towards him, he would’ve suspected the system had let him in through the backdoor.

He hadn’t taken any action recently but sudden the possibility of love between the male lead and Bai Yueguang had reached a freezing point. What does this mean?

Does it mean that Bai Qingquan has already developed feelings for him?

Xiao Ai: “In short, as long as it is determined that the male lead and his official match will never be together in this lifetime, you will receive your ultimate reward and live freely in this world. At that time, Xiao Ai will no longer appear in front of you and you can live like a normal person.”

Shen Jintai: “Then I won’t be able see you anymore?”

Xiao Ai: “Kiss~ there’s no such thing as an everlasting banquet.”

“Actually, I have always had a question.” Shen Jintai said: “My task is to steal away the protagonist’s official match, but Bai Yueguang is not the only superb beauty in this world. It’s impossible for an exquisite man like Yan Qiuchi to remain a virgin forever. He will eventually fall in love.”

Treating the symptoms does not cure the root cause*.

*Clarity: Shen Jintai is saying the original goal is to stop Yan Qiuchi from falling in love and going all sex-crazy with his white moonlight. Problem is, even he succeeds wouldn’t Yan Qiuchi fall in love with someone else and then become sex-crazy anyways?

“Dear, you may not understand our working mechanism. You see, the world you live in now is actually a different dimension of the real world. Besides the male protagonist, there are numerous other men similar to him. Yet why do we target his sex life and not others? It’s because they are not mentioned in this book. We are only responsible for changing the standards of the original novel. As for whether the outcome causes different plot points to pop up, or whether the current plot exceed the standards, those are not within our scope of work*.”

*Clarity: he’s saying the system is only focused on changing Yan Qiuchi because he’s the protagonist in the novel <Everyone Loves Bai Yueguang>. Whether this change makes him better, still sex craze (for someone else), causes the plot to go in a totally different direction, that’s not within the system’s scope of work.
*A side note: the author has written several novels within this universe. What Xiao Ai is hinting at here is that there are other similar situation happening in this world to other leads, one being this novel: After Reverse Transmigration, I became the Four Arch-Enemies’ White Moonlight. It’s a different book but I think it’s still in the same alternate dimension as the setting of this one. Funnily enough, Xiao Ai is also the system in that novel, which I think confirms that this world is basically a setting for all the novels the system wants to “fix”.

So it turns out to be like this.

Xiao Ai: “Alright, it’s getting late. Xiao Ai will go offline first.”

“Can you accompany me to the end of the mission?” Shen Jintai said: “Your colleague Xiao Mei is too cold.”

Xiao Ai said: “His personality is like that. Knowing that you are not satisfied with his service, he’s also very depressed. I had to comfort him for a long time. Dear, victory is in sight! Xiao Ai also hopes that you can live freely and brightly in this new world. Good luck! Beep.”

Xiao Ai went offline.

Shen Jintai let out a long sighed. He laid down again, turned off the light, and looked at the hazy snow that was falling outside his window. While lying down, a thought suddenly came to his mind.

The relationship between Xiao Ai and Xiao Mei may not be so simple. There’s a clear distinction between the attacker and receiver.

What a crazy world he’s in.

—

It snowed heavily overnight that the city looked like a world of glass wrapped in silver. The first speck of sunlight caused the snow to glisten in people’s eyes. Shen Jintai had just arrived at the film and television city. As he got out of the RV with sunglasses on, he saw Bai Qingquan had already arrived and his RV was next to his.

Shen Jintai went over to say hello.

Bai Qingquan had a scene earlier than him today. He had already finished filming it and was currently hiding in the RV to keep warm. He was sitting down reciting his lines with a script in his hand.

Shen Jintai: “Morning.”

“Morning.” Bai Qingquan opened the RV door to let him in.

While taking off his sunglasses, Shen Jintai said: “It’s warm in your car.”

Bai Qingquan: “Did you receive today’s flying page?”

Shen Jintai: “No, I just arrived. What was added today?” Bai Qingquan handed him a piece of paper. He took a look at a short line and said: “Editor Meng is improving.”

It was a confrontation scene between him and Bai Qingquan. Bai Qingquan was very excited when he received this flying page because this was a rivalry scene between him and Shen Jintai. He likes acting together with Shen Jintai.

Shen Jintai smiled and looked at Bai Qingquan who was dressed in an ancient costume. The light casted a faint yellow on him that made him looked very fairy-like, as if he was covered with a misty aura.

After acting for a long time, this aura would combine with the characters, especially for those who have been filming the same series for a long time. As they continue to shoot, the more similar the actor’s temperament becomes with the character they played. Bai Qingquan was originally a fairy, but now he looked more like a prince in all his glory.

With an experienced crew and increased motivation from the actors, the filming of the drama had made tremendous progress. Despite only 20 episode having been broadcasted so far, the content they have film was already up to 28 episodes.

After defeating the final prince, Zhou Jing was able to force his way to ascension. He was going to be the new emperor with Li Xu by his side, who was became the chief eunuch.

“Your relationship with President Yan is very good now.” Bai Qingquan asked as he looked up.

Shen Jintai was caught by surprise. He then smiled and said: “There is no righteousness in buying and selling*, right?”

*Business is not righteous (买卖不成仁义在) = means that buyers and sellers play a game on the transaction price. Although the transaction has not been completed, the relationship between each other still exists, so it will not hurt the peace of this matter. From “Three Heroes and Five Righteousness”.

Bai Qingquan smiled, pinched the script with his slender fingers, and said: “I saw the news yesterday, and I thought you two got back together.”

Shen Jintai: “We’ve never been together so you can’t really say we were getting back together.”

Shen Jintai recalled his conversation with Xiao Ai yesterday. He carefully observed Bai Qingquan, but he didn’t see any hints of Bai Qingquan liking him. This was the disadvantage of being such a fairy. Bai Qingquan always gives him smiles and speak gently to everyone that he couldn’t tell who Bai Qingquan hated and who he liked.

Hearing his response, Bai Qingquan simply smiled. He then lowered his head and started to rub the corners of his script.

When Shen Jintai finished putting on his makeup and arrived on the set, Director Guo said: “You’re flying again today*.”

*Translation help: (今天又飞了) not sure what this is referring to.

“I know.” Shen Jintai sat on a chair, smiled, and gave the director a thumbs up: “I just want to say, cow.”

*Translation help: (牛) not sure what it’s referring to. Unless he’s referring to the cow of the zodiac sign that stands for hard work only making contributions and ignoring rewards.

The surrounding staff laughed along. The crew’s atmosphere had become harmonious. Shen Jintai’s popularity had reached its peak and almost everyone on the crew loves him. He had a good temper, crack joke, and had a serious attitude to his work. How could anyone dislike such an actor?

When they first started filming, they were shooting winter scenes in the summer. Now that it’s winter, they were doing the complete opposite, shooting summer scenes. Before the filming started, Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan took of their thick down jackets. Bai Qingquan shivered as he said: “It’s so cold.”

Shen Jintai smiled and handed the hand warmer to the assistant next to him.

In the big summer drama, they all wore luo yi*. Because of his role, his clothes were thinner than Bai Qingquan’s so he didn’t suffer as badly. Bai Qingquan needed people to fan him while in costume. Shen Jintai wanted to take a picture at that time but couldn’t get one.

*Reminder: luo yi (罗衣) = refers to clothes made of light and soft silk fabrics.

When Bai Qingquan spoke, white puffs of air came out. It was too obvious for the recording, so they both had to drink ice water before reciting their lines. After the filming, they were both shivering from the cold. Shen Jintai also ate some ice cubes, which made his tongue completely numbed.

After the filming, Bai Qingquan smiled and patted his shoulder and said: “When work is over, I will treat you to hot pot.”

The two of them sat behind Director Guo to see the effect of the shot and watched from beginning to end.

“Very good, very good.” Shen Jintai said.

—

The relationship between Li Xu and Zhou Jing became more developed.

On the eve of preparing his ascension, Zhou Jing came to Li Xu. The two talked about their preparation for tomorrow. After the discussion, Li Xu sent Zhou Jing out. When he returned, he saw a piece of jade pendant on the futon where Zhou Jing had been sitting.

It was the double mandarin duck jade pendant that Zhou Ying left him. Though it had broken in half, he still kept it. Later, Zhou Jing confiscated it from him. When he took the pendant away, Zhou Jing told him: “You have to think clearly about why I keep you by my side. It’s not so you could reminisce about the person who you were with that this broken jade symbolizes.”

The pendant was now returned to him, but it was a complete piece. It had been repaired with gold inlays. Li Xu picked it up, put it in his hand, and caressed it. The pendant rotated and shook. A glimpse of gentleness appeared in Li Xu’s gloomy eyes. It quickly disappeared.

Li Xu’s and Zhou Jing’s relationship was complicated. There were feelings of childhood friends as well as master and slave. Li Xu relied on Zhou Jing to climb up, while Zhou Jing kept him close to comfort his own heart so he wouldn’t be alone when he reached the highest point. Li Xu was the only person he could trust.

But between them was Zhou Ying that caused an irreparable rift. It was like this jade pendant. Broken in half, Zhou Jing had mended it with gold inlays. Though the cracks may be invisible, they all knew it was still there.

—

The pendant represented the intricate relationship between the three of them. Shen Jintai felt that this addition was very innovative.

The recent filming was not too sadistic for Shen Jintai. His character would never cry again. As of the 28 episodes filmed so far, after the prince’s death, he had not a single crying scene. He had many scenes of him abusing other before eventually he turned against the heroine and was abused by her.

The death of the crown prince that was broadcasted last week stunned many people and caused many others to shed tears. Eventually their grift turned to anger. Everyone was expecting Li Xu to kill the entire palace.

After Li Xu returned from the snow, he fell ill. On the verge of death, he was rescued by a doctor and recovered. In a thin robe, his face haggard, his eyes red, Li Xu started to write the names of his enemies on pieces of paper, one by one. This started his signature move of burning these pieces of paper for Zhou Ying* as each of his enemies died.

*In Chinese and some Asian cultures, you would burn fake money and other things to ensure that the spirit of the deceased has sufficient needs in the afterlife. In this case, Li Xu is burning the names of those he killed as tribute for Zhou Ying.

The villain has now started to emerge. The scene has now switch from its love lenses to palace fighting mode, indicating <The East Palace is Coming> was gradually reaching its climax.

“My tears, let others shed them for me.” This was the classic famous line from Li Xu.

“All these murderers who killed the crown prince. Torture them to death. Torture them to death.”

“Xiao Li Xu, will keep attacking for you.”

“Is he really the villain?” Yang Lizhi asked her assistant. It felt like the whole country was on his side.

Yang Lizhi had been frightened recently. Because according to the development of the plot, in the later stage, she, the heroine, would fight against the villain, and she would make Li Xu miserable and drive him crazy.

Oh god. She’s not going to be scolded to death by the audience, right?

It seems as if Li Xu was the real heroine of this drama.

Kinky Thoughts: LOL Shen Jintai just CPed Xiao Ai and Xiao Mei. Eyyy. I ship it too.

I love how Xiao Ai could always trick Shen Jintai:
Shen Jintai: “WTF are these rewards. I’m a GONG. I don’t need this bullshit reward!”
Xiao Ai: “No, no, no. Whether you’re a gong or not, these rewards benefits all!”
Shen Jintai: “What you say does make sense…” and thus the hole he’s digging gets deeper.

Regarding my side note on the novel: After Reverse Transmigration, I became the Four Arch-Enemies’ White Moonlight. The premise of the story is a little bit different. It’s actually one of the characters in the book realizes that he’s a character in a book, and someone would be transmigrating into his body. As such, he decides to blacken 4 big shots (his potential gongs) so that when the host takes over, they’ll be face with an inescapable situation of being crush by the 4 he blackened… Unfortunately, fate doesn’t work like that, and the transmigration never happened so… Well, he’s kinda fucked now, right?

Xiao Ai is also the system in that novel (from the first few chapters that I’ve read).

Also, I find this system funny compared to other transmigration novels I’ve read. Usually systems are like “You got to stick to the plot”… This one is just “Eh… Yan Qiuchi cannot fall for his white moonlight. What happens after… we don’t care.”

Another side note: Is anyone familiar with acting? I use “rivalry scene” a lot but it’s not in the sense where Bai Qingquan and Shen Jintai are rivals acting together. It just means the scene holds two (or more) characters that are acting together in that scene. Is there a specific term for it?