Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 209: Don’t Make Me Slap You

After finishing the call with Yue Ling, Yu Xia felt completely at ease, ignored the dozens of missed calls on her phone, and lay down comfortably to sleep.

The next day on set, Mei sat on a low stool holding her phone, engrossed in something, muttering excitedly with a flushed face.

"What are you watching?" Yu Xia turned her head, trying to take a peek.

But Mei quickly moved the phone away, realizing her reaction was over the top, she forced a grin and chuckled twice.

"Haha, nothing much, just following some stars."

Yu Xia raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Which stars are you following that you can hear the sound of sticks being hit?"

Mei awkwardly turned the phone towards Yu Xia. It was the behind-the-scenes footage the crew had just posted on Weibo, showing the part where Xie Qingci was sparring with the martial arts teacher.

Yu Xia glanced at it and made no comment.

Mei whispered, "You guys pushed me into the CP pool, now that you’re at odds, you should give me some time to adapt, right? What do you say, sis?"

Yu Xia: "I’m not stopping you from watching."

"Do you want to take a look too? Just a quick glance, look, there are so many comments, all saying how handsome he is. Honestly, he really is quite handsome. I’m even getting interested in this short stick art."

Yu Xia: "Take it away, not interested."

Mei sneaked a smile and glanced over at Xie Qingci across from them.

Xie Qingci had been paying attention to Yu Xia and also noticed Mei’s glance.

His eyelashes fluttered lightly, and he started to scrutinize Yu Xia’s demeanor carefully.

Her eyes were downcast, lips pressed thin, expression indifferent, only one hand holding a phone, resting it on a warm water bag on her legs, giving an impression of keeping people at a distance.

She was always on her phone...

Xie Qingci took his phone from his assistant, opened the pinned conversation on WeChat, and typed again.

[You saw the message I sent, didn’t you?]

[Sister, I was really wrong, I lost my mind that day, I’m sorry]

[Please don’t ignore me, I feel terrible]

He sent several messages in a row, but there were no responses, and Yu Xia didn’t even change her posture while looking at her phone.

Scrolling up to the hundreds of messages he’d sent over the past half month, all filled with apologies, her cold reception made him dare not use the tactics of feigning pitifulness or coercion.

The judgment wasn’t in yet, but even this single mistake was enough to make him uneasy.

Clutching the phone, he thought for a long time, recalling the past half-month’s unreturned calls during his high fever, unanswered messages, and the neglect he felt from her both inside and outside the scenes. It all felt like ants gnawing at his heart, chilling him to the bone.

Finally, with stiff fingers, he sent one last message.

[Say something, or I’ll come over now and drag you back to the hotel, or we can just expose it in front of the camera]

After sending, he fell into a limbo of anticipation and disappointment, much like every second of the past half-month.

The phone buzzed and a white message box popped up at the bottom.

[Don’t push me to slap you. Let’s talk after the wrap]

Her tone was impatient, her attitude extremely harsh.

But Xie Qingci breathed a long sigh of relief, his tense body relaxing as he leaned back into the lounge chair.

Then he cautiously sent another message.

[Okay. I’ll come find you at home after your wrap]

Their shooting schedules were different; he only had a few days left while she had at least half a month.

Half a month was no big deal; after all, he had already endured the hardest half-month.

Besides, a good portion of her remaining scenes were with him; as long as he cooperated and the filming went smoothly, her wrap date could be moved up.

So Xie Qingci eagerly approached the director, suggesting they compress the scenes delayed by his illness and shoot them quickly.

The director was not moved by his enthusiasm but rather a bit worried.

"Xie, our filming schedule isn’t that tight, you don’t have to push yourself."

He then looked at Xie Qingci’s expression, coughed, and added, "Actors in a crew are colleagues; even if you can’t be closer, you can still maintain a friendship, there’s no need for this."

He presumed that Xie Qingci intended to wrap up early and leave because he was heartbroken from unrequited love and was determined to forget Yu Xia.

Xie Qingci showed a smile: "It’s not what you think, Director. I just want to speed things up so that everyone doesn’t waste time because of my previous illness. Besides, I also have other work to start on."

The director nodded heavily.

Look at him, what a heartbreaking smile, how fragile, how stubborn and insincere he is, this young man!

"Xie, let me speak to you as someone older. In your life, you’ll encounter many people you have a fondness for; don’t stubbornly focus only on the flower in front of you and forget to look up at the vast grassland beyond."

"Also, acting as a profession is like this: with a good script and good acting, it’s easy to become too immersed and develop some tragic ideas under the character’s influence, which is normal, you need to try to overcome this mindset."

"I’m a straightforward person, so I’ll be frank with you. You can’t demand that others like you just because you like them. Mutual affection is a rare opportunity. If you like her, chase after her; if it doesn’t work, let go, don’t disrupt her life."

Xie Qingci’s smile froze briefly: "Thank you, Director, for your guidance."

The director wanted to pat him on the shoulder but wasn’t tall enough and could only reach his arm, which dramatically downgraded the image of the "charismatic and worldly storyteller" he had of himself.

"Do your best, I have high hopes for you."

Xie Qingci automatically substituted "I have high hopes for your career development" with "I have high hopes you will win over Yu Xia."

He seriously nodded and thanked him: "Thank you, Director, I’ll do my best."

Later, Yu Xia received a notification from the director saying the last few scenes with Xie Qingci needed to be compressed and filmed together.

Mr. Yang even ordered afternoon tea and pizza for the entire crew, to compensate for speeding up the schedule due to Xie Qingci.

Everyone had the same thought as the director, expressing understanding amidst their sighs. Then, during the filming of the last scene between Xie Qingci and Yu Xia, the entire crew gathered around to watch.

They looked like the villagers bringing stools to watch an outdoor movie, and these "villagers" already knew the ending of this outdoor movie was tragic, so they all came with regret on their faces.

When Yu Xia was putting on makeup and changing costumes, she saw Mei bringing a pack of tissues.

"What are you planning to do? Perform a restroom break on the spot?"

Mei shook her head tragically: "I know already, the ending is very sad, so to avoid crying with snot and tears flowing, I need to prepare tissues in advance."

"Oh," she responded.

"You’re overthinking. This isn’t an edited final product with music; the effect isn’t that great when filming on set, and if there’s an NG, it might even break into laughter."

Mei: "I don’t care, I’m treating today as a CP disbandment farewell party, boohoo."