Shen Xiaoyu took a shower and lay on the bed, feeling extremely tired. She wondered if it was because she was about to be erased—perhaps the system had given her the gradual weakening sensation of someone suffering from a serious illness.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help calling out: [System, in this world I have cancer. Will I experience the torture of illness and die painfully within a month?]
The system explained: [Although you're being erased, your ending in this world is death by illness, so your body will indeed become increasingly weaker.]
Hearing this, Shen Xiaoyu suddenly felt that living for these few dozen more days was meaningless; it would be better to simply die and be done with it.
The only person she couldn't let go of was her mother. Her eyes reddened involuntarily: [System, I beg you, can you let me see my mother one last time before I disappear? I really miss her.]
The system remained silent.
Shen Xiaoyu pleaded persistently: [Please, system, we've known each other for ten years after all. Please help me. I'll agree to anything.]
[Oh, don't be like this, you're making me, a system, feel uncomfortable.]
The system responded somewhat awkwardly, its usually mechanical tone actually carrying some human emotion: [Alright, alright, I'll think of something.]
Shen Xiaoyu was almost crying with joy and sincerely said: [Thank you.]
Just as she was about to sleep, her phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and looked, a trace of sarcasm flashing in her eyes.
It was a message from Su Huan: Are you asleep?
These three inexplicable words no longer stirred any feelings in Shen Xiaoyu.
She even thought Su Huan was being affected. After everything that had happened between them, why not just speak directly? Sending such ambiguous messages was just trying to make her initiate contact, eagerly probing her thoughts.
Unfortunately, Shen Xiaoyu, having given up on her mission, had no desire to guess her thoughts anymore. What was she to her now?
Like an addiction that brought only pain and despair when thought of—she wanted to quit her in the final days of her life.
Shen Xiaoyu closed her phone, turned over, and quickly fell asleep.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Su Huan, who had been staring at her phone since sending the message, watched her expression change from expectation to tension, and as time passed, gradually spread into despair.
For a long, long time, the phone remained silent.
She tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, thinking of Shen Xiaoyu's recent coldness and unusual behavior. It seemed like something was quietly changing, which made her increasingly anxious.
In the end, she still called Shen Xiaoyu's phone, unwilling to give up.
She had many things she wanted to say, but what she got was a resolute hang-up from the other end. When she called again, the phone was directly powered off.
Su Huan's face instantly turned pale, and she remained sleepless all night.
On the other side, Shen Xiaoyu, who had been awakened by the call, saw Su Huan's name and felt only annoyance. She turned over and continued sleeping, wanting to return to that unfinished beautiful dream.
In her dream, she had returned to her original world. Her mother was out of danger, and she had regained her peaceful, undisturbed life—no system, no mission, no Su Huan, no fear of being erased.
How wonderful it would be if this weren't just a dream.
Early the next morning, Shen Xiaoyu got up and went to the set with Shi Qiubai.
Su Huan, Tang Tang, and Qin Miao arrived at the same time.
Su Huan's gaze remained fixed on Shen Xiaoyu, but Shen Xiaoyu pretended not to see, focusing more attention on Qin Miao. She was surprised that with two popular young actresses, Qin Miao still had time to visit the set.
Qin Miao greeted her.
Shen Xiaoyu turned her head away, pretending not to see, and took Shi Qiubai to find her makeup room.
On the set, different status meant different makeup rooms.
Stars of Su Huan and Tang Tang's caliber had their own individual makeup rooms. However, according to Qin Miao's marketing strategy, their makeup rooms would be combined, and then leaked photos would be subtly released online to solidify the 'Huan-Tang' CP fans and further expand the casual audience.
Then, tactics would be used to torment fans, wash out certain fans, and refine the fanbase, transforming CP fans into Tang Tang's personal fans.
This was her usual routine—how else would Tang Tang have achieved her current status?
But now, both were her artists, deeply bound together. To break free, one would have to be bled dry, left with no place for burial.
This was why Shen Xiaoyu had always disagreed with hyping CPs in the past.
What did being a top actress matter? She still couldn't fight against capital, only to be abandoned.
But what did that have to do with her now?
Zhou Yu hits Huang Gai—one willing to hit, one willing to take it.
Shen Xiaoyu and Shi Qiubai entered her makeup room together, naturally not seeing the gaze cast from behind.
Su Huan stood at the entrance of the makeup room, staring fixedly in the direction they had left, her eyes slightly darkening.
"Su Huan, come in quickly," Qin Miao called from inside the makeup room. "How are you feeling? Tang Tang said you were sick. Do you need to go to the hospital?"
Su Huan came to her senses, walked in, and sat in front of the makeup mirror, removing her mask to reveal a pale face.
She covered her mouth and coughed twice, "I'm fine, just a slight cold. I'll take some medicine at noon and be fine."
Hearing this, Tang Tang immediately rummaged through her bag, "I have medicine!"
She brought the medicine to Su Huan—a small packet, clearly prepared in advance.
"Sister Huan, please take some medicine first." She carefully placed the medicine packet in front of her and quickly moved away.
Su Huan raised her hand and tossed the medicine into the trash, ignoring Tang Tang's disappointed face, and turned to the makeup artist.
"Let's start the makeup."
Tang Tang lowered her head, walked back to her own makeup table, and sat down, turning back to look at her several times with disappointment, her clear eyes becoming dim and lusterless.
Qin Miao acted as if she hadn't seen their interaction, sitting to the side scrolling through something on her phone.
After quite a while, she finally said, "In a few days, I'll arrange for fan visits. You both know the procedure, so I won't say much."
Tang Tang nodded obediently.
Su Huan remained silent.
Qin Miao was already well acquainted with Su Huan's taciturn nature and didn't mind, continuing to arrange matters.
It was nothing more than having the two interact more on set. She would find fan photographers to take behind-the-scenes photos, while the production team would also edit highlights.
The two had been marketed as a CP for so many years that many people already assumed they were actually together. 'Real couples' always looked sweetest no matter how they interacted.
Su Huan closed her eyes, her face showing no emotion, making it impossible to guess her thoughts.
However, when it came to work matters, she had always been compliant, so Qin Miao wasn't worried.
Meanwhile, Tang Tang, sitting back-to-back with her, looked at the reflection in the mirror, her eyelashes trembling slightly, emotions flashing in her eyes before quickly disappearing.
The three-hour makeup session passed quickly.
When the two came out again, their auras had completely changed.
Shen Xiaoyu moved next to the director, sitting in a camp chair with sunglasses, watching the monitor screen, listlessly waving the fan in her hand, occasionally glancing at the people on the screen.
How to put it?
As expected of the female lead and the villain, their faces were truly stunning.
The Dunhuang-style costume, combined with exquisite makeup, made them look like celestial beings straight out of a mural.
Shi Qiubai wasn't bad either. After changing into the clothes of a young lady from a good family, even her smile became serene and elegant, very likable.
Shen Xiaoyu watched for a while before looking away, glancing at the hot sun, and making a phone call.
When they had a break, an employee from a milk tea shop arrived with packages.
During the rest interval, Shen Xiaoyu first took a cup of iced red bean drink to the director, saying loudly: "It's hot today. Qiubai asked me early this morning to order green bean soup for everyone. These are iced, those are room temperature—please help yourselves."
The director accepted with a smile, "Let's take a break then."
Shen Xiaoyu, wearing a hat, carried the green bean drinks around to the staff, delivering them to those who couldn't leave their posts, ensuring everyone received one.
Everyone cheered and thanked Shi Qiubai.
Shi Qiubai had never experienced this before. Her face flushed red as she moved to Shen Xiaoyu's side, almost dying of embarrassment.
"Sister, I, I..." she said nervously, clutching Shen Xiaoyu's clothes.
Shen Xiaoyu smiled, pulled her out, pretended to adjust her clothes, and whispered: "What are you afraid of? Just be natural and greet everyone."
Under her encouraging gaze, Shi Qiubai straightened her back and smiled at the others, though her hand still clutched Shen Xiaoyu's clothes.
The two stood close together, especially when Shen Xiaoyu whispered, it looked like she was kissing her.
Su Huan, staring intently from the side, couldn't help but feel jealous, wanting to rush over and pull them apart. But being in a public place, she couldn't act. Shen Xiaoyu hadn't noticed her unusual behavior at all and continued to smile and talk softly with Shi Qiubai.
Su Huan's eyes reddened with resentment—once upon a time, that person's gaze would only rest on her.