Chapter 22: Human Relationships Are Like This, You Have To Pretend

This translation is originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.

Warning: This is fixed MTL, accuracy not guaranteed.

T/N: NU debut, irregular update, side project only, meaning once or twice a week update. Join Discord to get notified.

Picked this up, started from Chapter 1.

But Snowy Codex already have

Chapter 1-39

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After sleeping heavily until late afternoon, Xi Mo felt sore and numb all over her body. She felt like she was floating while walking. After taking a shower and changing into a suitable dress, she tidied up her makeup, which made her look a bit more energetic, though her complexion was still a bit pale. Yan Tinghuan called her, so Xi Mo got ready and went downstairs to the hotel restaurant.

This kind of banquet is actually not very formal. All crew members will have meals together. The atmosphere will be like a casual dinner party

When she arrived, there were already many people in the restaurant, coordinators, photographers, script supervisors, lighting, makeup, sounds, etc., and these people belonged to different groups in the crew. 'Sui Ting' is a large production, and the number of people in each group are quite a lot, most of them are young and energetic, they gather around a lot of tables, chatting and laughing together.

Lin Qitang's assistant was also there, greeting the scene with the coordinator and others. Yan Tinghuan and Xi Mo had walked around Lin Qitang's place a few times before, and the assistant was quite familiar with them. Upon seeing them, the assistant waved enthusiastically and said, "Miss Ruan, Miss Yan, you've arrived."

Yan Tinghuan is an outgoing person, naturally mingling and gathering around with affection, showing no reservations. Both the assistant and the coordination team are quite receptive to her ways. Yan Tinghuan, with a smiling expression, cheerfully mentions that she hopes everyone will take good care of our "Ruan Yesheng" in the future. Everyone quickly responds with polite assurances, saying, "Of course, certainly." Xi Mo is not in a good mood. In the past, if she had encountered Yan Tinghuan acting like this, she would have definitely scolded her internally for making her lose face and belly. Now she just stands by, too lazy to talk to her, just letting her be.

The assistant introduced Xi Mo, and then introduced the staff to her.

Xi Mo has never had any contact with anyone on this crew, and she doesn't know anyone. She used to be a movie queen, and she was incredibly popular. It was always someone else who came to flatter her and stood up in front of her. She was the most annoyed with these things, so she didn't even bother to remember other people's faces, let alone their names. This time when the assistant mentioned their names, she politely smiled and said hello, with a humble and polite demeanor. Perhaps she has undergone some change indeed. Remembering too many names isn't feasible, nor necessary, but after paying attention, she managed to roughly recognize the faces of these crew members.

Ruan Yesheng's skin is very alluring, and Xi Mo has just the right smile on her face. Her answers are watertight. When the crew members speak to her, they suddenly feel as if they're bathed in a spring breeze, thinking that she has a good temper. They anticipate that future cooperation will be easygoing, causing their favorable impressions of her to soar.

After all, she's an important supporting actress. Xi Mo's seat has been arranged in one of the larger private rooms inside. With many celebrities present, their respective managers accompany them, and even the producer is there. It can be considered a comprehensive arrangement.

The room can be said to be full of stars, the production lineup is there, and many of the supporting roles are well-known actors, but Xi Mo has never been in any scenes like this before. She weighs more than a lot of them, watching in the room, she doesn't feel it at all. Some of the actors know each other well, and some have even collaborated on several films. They also made appearances to show support for the producer and director. They were not familiar with Ruan Yesheng, so no one came to talk to Xi Mo.

Xi Mo happened to fall into a peaceful state and sat down with Yan Tinghuan in their seats. Looking over, they found that Ruan Yesheng had not yet arrived.

Looking around, she saw Yan Mu.

Yan Mu is tall with long legs, and handsome features, especially when surrounded by several actresses, he's even more conspicuous. She doesn't know what he said, but the actresses burst into laughter, and Yan Mu also smiled there, his eyes were sparkling, full of stars.

He debuted not many years ago, originally a singer. Lukewarm for a period of time, later he took on a role in a drama playing the male lead. With a clever male lead character design and his exceptional appearance, after the TV drama aired, it quickly spread across the country like wildfire, ascending to the top of the male god rankings. After becoming popular, he has continuously received roles and advertisements, capturing the girlish hearts of millions of fans. Moreover, he has also won the favor of many female actresses within the circle.

This time he will play the male lead in Sui Ting as Emperor Liu Zhao of the Han Dynasty. He is the backbone of the drama with Deng Sui, indicating his status.

Xi Mo has worked with him a few times. She has a cold temperament and simply finds his impression of her to be quite decent. But she doesn't truly consider him a friend. In fact, she doesn't have true friends, given the superficiality within the circle. She doesn't want to form deep connections. Those interactions that appear to be friendship and concern are nothing more than a shell she covers herself on the outside.

Human relationships are like this, you have to pretend.

Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=2188414
This translation is originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.

Yan Mu seemed to really really regard her as a good friend. He is younger than her, he didn't care whether Xi Mo accepted or not, he chased after her and called her sister. He used to send her messages from time to time. Sending greetings and saying interesting things during holidays, he seems to enjoy himself, even if Xi Mo doesn't respond.

Although Xi Mo doesn't consider Yan Mu, the heartthrob of countless young girls, to be significant, he is after all an acquaintance. Thus, she condescends to give him a few more glances. Seated beside Yan Mu is Liu Yusi, who is also quite popular. But, it's rumored that she took a rather unconventional way, she slept her way to fame. This matter has already been picked up by netizens.

Liu Yusi listened to Yan Mu talking there, her eyes never left him at all, she wished her hands and feet could grow on Yan Mu's body.

Someone brought Yan Mu a drink. He is famous in the industry for his good temper. He was a big name but he didn't have the airs of a big name. He smiled and stood up to accept it. When he sat down, he quietly moved his butt slightly farther away from Liu Yusi, probably because he was afraid that Liu Yusi's hands and feet would really grow on him.

Xi Mo's expression didn't change after watching the bustle, but she felt a little sympathetic to Yan Mu in her heart.

Yan Mu took a sip of wine, looked around, and seemed to see Xi Mo's side. Xi Mo had already turned her face and glanced at Yan Tinghuan, who was eating calmly next to her.

"The appetizers are not bad." Yan Tinghuan pushed a plate of pickled radish to her: "Try it, it will whet your appetite."

Xi Mo really wanted to shake Yan Tinghuan's neck like a duck to let her see her own virtue, and then let her see the performance of other managers present.

However, Yan Tinghuan remained focused and single-mindedly continued eating the radish.

Xi Mo lost her temper and also began eating the radish alongside her.

"Miss Ruan?" A man next to her called her.

Xi Mo raised her head, and saw Yan Mu coming over at some point, she was a little surprised for a moment, maybe it was because she was still in a drowsy state of heatstroke, maybe it was because the pickled radish secretly made by this hotel was really delicious, she thought she was still the same as Xi Mo. Mo, seeing this kid Yan Mu coming over, she immediately thought that he was going to act chummy with her again, and was thinking about how to deal with him.

Then she realized that Yan Mu called her 'Miss Ruan'.

It stands to reason that Yan Mu only debuted in recent years, and by that time Ruan Yesheng had long disappeared from the scene. The two of them were living in completely different worlds, like two parallel lines without any point of intersection. It's surprising that Yan Mu would actually take the initiative to approach her.

Xi Mo stood up, nodded to Yan Mu, smiled, and said hello.

Smiling back and forth, her face is almost frozen from smiling today.

"I'm Yan Mu," Yan Mu's introduction was very natural, straightforward, and also quite silly.

Xi Mo smiled: "You are so famous, how could I not know about you, male god, you are so humorous."

Yan Mu seemed to have been stuffed with a candy suddenly, the starlight in his eyes was so sweet that it shone even brighter: "Do you regard me as your male god?"

Xi Mo: "..."

The same as ever!

Silly and naive! How can you believe the polite words?!

Xi Mo was watertight and said, "You are everyone's male god."

"What male god or not, it's all just everyone exaggerating," Yan Mu laughed. "You can call me Xiao Mu."

Xi Mo: "..."

Why don't you let me call you Xiaoming then?!

Xi Mo pretended to be a little embarrassed. When others looked at her, they could only feel that she truly displayed the modest and polite demeanor of someone who had just arrived, her pure and innocent temperament making people feel fond of her. "You're too kind. To be honest, I'm not familiar with the crew, so I'm quite nervous. I'm just sitting here without daring to move, and I didn't expect you to come over and say hello to me."

Yan Mu said: "When you come to the production team, everyone is a family. Even if we're not familiar at first, we'll quickly become close. Relax a bit, don't be nervous."

Xi Mo rounded a corner in her heart and took the opportunity to make a small, polite joke: "Thank you. You're taking such good care of me, if your fans know, I'm afraid they'll eat me."

"We're all in the same crew, and we'll be filming together in the future. We should take care of each other."

Xi Mo thought in her heart: Only a ghost would believe you.

Although Yan Mu seemed silly and sweet to her, it was only in front of people he felt familiar with, and Yan Mu had to have a good impression of them. Silly and sweet is not really stupid. Yan Mu has no airs in the circle, and it's just the route he took. It doesn't mean that he doesn't recognize how high his status is. From the perspective of a big celebrity like him, there's no point in going out of his way to get close to an actress whom he doesn't know well.

Could it be that Yan Mu really knows Ruan Yesheng?

It doesn't seem so, and Yan Mu's attitude towards her doesn't look like they know each other, he's quite polite, and always calls her 'Miss Ruan', and the subsequent conversation doesn't reveal any previous interaction between them. It seems this might indeed be their first meeting.

So, Xi Mo began to subtly probe, "I thought not many people here would know me. It's quite an honor that you know my name. To be honest, I'm flattered.

Yan Mu continued to smile: "I've seen your information from Director Lin."

"Oh?" Xi Mo pretended to be surprised. 

What are you doing with other people's information when you're free? Are you that bored?

Yan Mu, realizing that his friendly approach might raise questions, especially with so many other celebrities present, explained, "When the production team approached me initially, they showed me the script. I really liked the story and immediately accepted the role. Afterward, when I read the entire script, I became particularly fond of the character Ding'e in it. I've been curious about who would play that role. But Director Lin is quite selective with casting and hasn't finalized it. Later, I heard that it was you who got the role, so I inquired and got to know about you from Director Lin."

He smiled very warmly: "I'm a fan of Ding'e."

Xi Mo stared at him.

This smile made Xi Mo feel that the emotion in his eyes seemed to be sincere, it might even be the kind of liking one has as a fan. Yan Mu is the type of person who either likes something or doesn't, and he's very clear about it. Reaching his level in the industry and still being so genuine is indeed quite rare.

Yan Mu is a spotlight. As soon as he appeared beside Xi Mo, others quickly gathered around. These people are usually practical and perhaps wanted to see what kind of person could make Yan Mu take the initiative to approach and whether it's worth befriending. However, when they came over and took a look, they found that it was an unfamiliar face they had no impression of.

Liu Yusi stood aside, looking at Xi Mo with a rather eccentric look.

The circle is updated very quickly. Suddenly, one day some people disappear, while on another day, a few individuals seemingly emerge from nowhere and become popular. With so many people making appearances, not everyone can withstand the test of time. Before long, they are casually forgotten and left behind.

Many new-generation actors here have never seen Ruan Yesheng act. Ruan Yesheng became famous very early and retired soon. These actors were still reading textbooks at school at that time, and they didn't recognize Ruan Yesheng's face at all. And even if some of them have seen her bright red* before, Ruan Yesheng's face now is different from the youthful one at the beginning, just as charming and mature as a flower that has bloomed. Seeing her after so many years, some may only think the outline of her face is familiar, but they wouldn't figure it out right away 

*popular 



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