Chapter 253 Small Conflicts
Luo Xiaoxi only had limited memories of Mu Sijue.
Yet, he had left her a deep impression.
Based on physical appearance, Mu Sijue was not bad when compared to Su Yicheng or Lu Boyan. He was dangerously mysterious and projected a natural dignity, as if he came from the darkest place on earth.
If it took confidence and courage to approach to Lu Boyan and Su Yicheng, then it required much more to approach Mu Sijue.
To simply put it, only the dauntless dared to confront Mu Sijue.
The hot pot restaurant was decorated in an antique style. The customers filled up the open seats and the private rooms, and many more were waiting outside the door.
Confused, Luo Xiaoxi asked, “Mu Sijue is in the catering business? Such a drastic difference from his temperament.”
Su Yicheng pulled out the chair for Luo Xiaoxi. “Catering is not Mu Sijue’s main business. The Mu Family opened a hot pot restaurant in G city for more than 80 years. This is their branch in A city.”
“If they are not in the catering business, why open a branch in City A?” Luo Xiaoxi did not think Mu Sijue would care for the meager revenue in the hot pot shop.
Su Yicheng said lightly, “Jianan likes the taste of their food. It was Boyan’s idea to open a branch in A city.”
Luo Xiaoxi’s beautiful eyes widened, instantly inflicted by jealousy.
She needed to find some comfort from Su Yicheng –
Placing her chin on both of her hands, she smiled at Su Yicheng and asked, “do you know what I miss the most recently?”
Su Yicheng put the fresh organic vegetables into the boiling hot pot. “What?”
Blinking her eyes, Luo Xiaoxi smiled playfully and charmingly with a wisp of hope hidden in her eyes. “The udon I had in a small restaurant in j.a.pan!”
Next, Su Yicheng would ask her where in j.a.pan the restaurant was at, and whether she still remembered the name of the restaurant… right?
Then, he would follow Lu Boyan’s example by quietly opening a noodle restaurant that sold udon in A city, and imported all the ingredient from j.a.pan!
Yet, reality was unfulfilling. Su Yicheng simply glanced at her lightly. “Did you had it during your trip to j.a.pan last year with Jianan?”
Luo Xiaoxi nodded, and wanted to remind Su Yicheng that he was missing the point.
Next, Su Yicheng did not ask for the address or name of the restaurant which caused disappointment to spread through Luo Xiaoxi’s small heart like a hurricane. Later, she kept her gaze down as she left the restaurant that even the pa.s.sers-by could tell she was unhappy with a glance.
However, Su Yicheng seemed to not have noticed, and dropped her off at Lu Enterprise Media. “Call me after you are done filming.”
Luo Xiaoxi first answered with an “en”, then suddenly shook her head as if she’d woke up from a bad dream. “No need! I will go back on my own after I finish, you don’t have to pick me up!”
It was the first time she spoke politely with him.
Su Yicheng looked deeply at Luo Xiaoxi, and smiled lightly. “As you please.”
He got back in the car and left as Luo Xiaoxi got on the minivan and rushed to the filming scene.
In fact, she was filming for an MV as one of the female leads. Although there were only ten minutes of acting or so, there would be a few shots taken with the male protagonist in which they would engage in intimate contact. She dared not to tell Su Yicheng truthfully, let alone have him pick her up.
Usually, he would have banned her from posing in s.e.xy clothing for magazines, not to mention partic.i.p.ate in an intimate scene with others.
But attracted by this novelty and challenge to her career, Luo Xiaoxi accepted the job offer without telling Su Yicheng the truth.
…
“Very good, next shot. All staff withdraw the scene, Xiaoxi enters, action!”
…
“Very good, prepare the next scene! Xiaoxi, touchup on the makeup.”
…
The previous shooting went smoothly with only a few NGs due to bloopers. The director was very content with Luo Xiaoxi’s performance. “I’ve really chosen the right candidate.”
Soon, Luo Xiaoxi started the scenes with the male lead and began to make mistakes frequently. It was either the unnatural movement or her expression which did not meet the director’s expectations.
Candy hurried over and apologized to the director. “It’s her first time on the scene with a male actor. Please pardon her and give her a few more chances.”
The director was not in a rush, so he called for a break and let Candy to go talk to Luo Xiaoxi.
Knowing what the problem was, Candy opened a bottle of water and handed it to Luo Xiaoxi. “You have to think about this as your job. If you really can’t do it, try to see him as Su Yicheng.”
Biting her teeth, Luo Xiaoxi decided to go all out. “I’ll try!”
By imagining the male lead as Su Yicheng, Luo Xiaoxi’s following shooting went quite smoothly.
The last scene took place on the sofa with the actor’s arms around Luo Xiaoxi’s waist from the back while he intimately whispered in her ear. Luo Xiaoxi needed to act as a sweet and vulnerable girl in his arms. Though she felt very awkward, she still performed with the kind of feeling the director wanted.
“Cut!” The director clapped his hands. “It’ a wrap, thanks, everyone!”
In a sigh of relief, Luo Xiaoxi tried to focus on how to explain to Su Yicheng so that he would not get too angry. But instead, she noticed that the actor’s hands were still wrapped around her waist, grabbing her even tighter than before.
“Miss Luo, how about giving me your phone number? I will contact you tonight.” The actor’s voice sounded pleasing and flawless, but unfortunately, it lacked attractiveness. “I can introduce you to other directors.”
The last sentence was too attractive for a Z-list model like Luo Xiaoxi.
Luo Xiaoxi thought about it and remembered this actor seemed to be a new generation idol. Whatever he lacked in real talents, he made up for with that little pretty face of his; his popularity could not be underestimated.
It seemed true what Candy had said about his dating skills being better than acting skills.
Contempt slid across Luo Xiaoxi’s lips as she roughly broke off his hands, and stood up with her heels on his toes.
“I’m a model, and I don’t need to know any director. But you seem to be in need of a rich lady. I can introduce a few to you. Real rich woman~”
The actor’s face turned black then red. “Luo Xiaoxi!”
Luo Xiaoxi smiled sweetly and gestured him to quiet down. “Don’t get too excited, I will give you their contact information. Goodbye~”
She turned around graciously, and almost instantly, her whole body, along with the smile on her face, froze.
Su Yicheng.
Standing outside the filming scene dressed in a sleek suit, Su Yicheng looked so gloomy as if he could eat her alive.
Luo Xiaoxi took a deep breath. “Stay calm.”
She walked over and smiled stiffly, “Mr. Su.”
There were many eyes behind them so that she tried to keep a distance from Su Yicheng. Since Su Yicheng was the biggest sponsor of the show Top Model, it would be inappropriate to pretend that she didn’t know him. She simply gave a “courteous greeting” to him.
Su Yicheng snorted coldly and dragged her out by the wrist regardless of the situation.
The director couldn’t help but squint ambiguously at Candy. “What’s going on?”
Candy shrugged and left, a.s.suming that the director had already taken the hint.
At the same time, Su Yicheng pushed Luo Xiaoxi into the car.
“Let’s go!”
After the command, with a slam, Su Yicheng abruptly pulled down the divider between the front and rear seats. Luo Xiaoxi trembled at the anger emitted from his voice.
On second thought, what was there to be afraid of? That was her job, was it wrong for her to do her job?
She sat down and explained in a serious way. “Su Yicheng, I can explain!”
Su Yicheng squinted at her with a gloomy look. Since he didn’t tell her to stop talking, she just continued on. “I was very interested in this new opportunity, so I took the job.”
“…”
She waited a long time for Su Yicheng’s reply until he frowned slightly. “That’s all?”
“What else could there be?” Luo Xiaoxi thought for a moment. “All I did was hug him… was that too much?”
“I’ve said that you can’t be in any show.” Danger emitted from Su Yicheng’s eyes. “How dare you disregard my words!”
Luo Xiaoxi turned her head away. “But I just debuted, and someone is willing to give me a chance. How can I turn it down?”
Since she distanced from her family after the dispute, she needed to prove that she had the ability to make a living to avoid discussing her future with the stubborn Lao Luo.
As she thought more about it, Luo Xiaoxi added resentfully, “I know my limits, and you should not interfere with my work.”
Su Yicheng’s anger turned into laughter. “What is your limit?”
Agitated by the way Su Yicheng treated her as if she didn’t understand anything, Luo Xiaoxi stopped talking.
After simmering with anger on the way, Luo Xiaoxi decided to challenge Su Yicheng’s bottom line when they arrived home. “Maybe there will be more intimate acting in the future! You… hey, what are you doing!”
Su Yicheng pressed her against the back of the door, his angry face pressed against her face.
Frightened, she tried to explain to him, but her words were blocked by his violent kiss.
“What kind of intimate? Hm?”
With a “slash”, a sudden coldness swept through her body, and Luo Xiaoxi lost the chance to answer.
…
When it came to this kind of thing, Luo Xiaoxi discovered Su Yicheng’s beasty side for the first time. Later, while he was taking a shower, she sneaked away.
At eleven o’clock at night, without the courage to go home or go back to the apartment, Luo Xiaoxi drove Su Yicheng’s car around the city and stopped outside a bar.
She did not expect to run into Qin Wei.
He seemed to have come directly from the company with a loosened tie around his neckline, laughing with the girls in both of his arms. The girls flocked around him like little birds that couldn’t wait to get into his arms. They slightly hammered on his chest. “You are such a playboy.”
Qin Wei smiled and naturally bent down to kiss the girl in his arms. It was at that moment when he saw Luo Xiaoxi.
Immediately, he pushed away the girl in his arms and walked over. “Why are you here so late?”
He knew that Luo Xiaoxi had a fight with her father, then she should be with Su Yicheng at this time, but why could Su Yicheng let her come to a place like this?
Without a second guess, Qin Wei asked, “did you fight with Su Yicheng?”
Luo Xiaoxi shrugged and smiled. “Quit picking up girls, let’s talk.”
Qin Wei walked Luo Xiaoxi to the bar, and they sat down one stool away from each other.
Qin Wei ordered a juice for Luo Xiaoxi and smiled. “Why are you avoiding me now? Don’t you want to make him jealous when you’re with me?”
Luo Xiaoxi sneered upon his idea and stopped the bartender from pouring the juice. Instead, she knocked on the bar. “Long Island Iced Tea.”
“I thought you quit alcohol?”
Luo Xiaoxi straightened her back and casually crossed her long legs. “Momma needs a drink today!”
She had always done what she wanted to do.
What she didn’t know was that Su Yicheng was approaching the limit of anger at this time.
A bath was enough to calm him down. He wanted to talk to Luo Xiaoxi about her work, but only to see an empty room when he opened the door.
He underestimated Luo Xiaoxi’s temper. He looked at the entrance, surely enough, her shoes and his car keys were missing.
Who allowed her to run around this late at night?
Su Yicheng dialed Luo Xiaoxi’s number but she didn’t pick up the call. Instead, she sent back a text message.
– I went home.
When he tried to call again, all he could hear was the system voice message: The number you have dialed has been turned off.