The Entertainment Industry in Turmoil: Young Actresses All Want to Rise to the Top

Returning from my walk, the warm CD player inside the house dispelled the slight chill of the autumn night.

Li Yitong enthusiastically spread out two yoga mats on the living room floor and pulled Shen Mo to learn a few stretching exercises.

Shen Mo followed her instructions, clumsily but earnestly imitating her posture, which prompted Li Yitong to correct him with a smile from time to time.

After playing around for a while, Li Yitong lay down on the mat, intending to do a few sets of sit-ups.

She tried to stabilize her feet, but she always felt uncomfortable, unable to engage her core, and her movements were crooked.

Suddenly a shadow fell over her, and Shen Mo silently walked to her feet and sat down naturally.

Then I gently pressed down on the back of her foot.

Li Yitong subconsciously looked up and met his lowered gaze.

Their eyes met, and without a word, they exchanged a knowing smile.

However, when Li Yitong tried to get up again, a subtle feeling instantly gripped her.

Each time she did a crunch, she inevitably turned her face toward Shen Mo, who was sitting at her feet.

The distance shortened dramatically with each rise and fall, and she could even clearly feel his breath and see his fine eyelashes.

An indescribable, ambiguous atmosphere silently permeated the two of them.

Li Yitong's heart skipped a few beats for no apparent reason, and then began to race uncontrollably.

Her cheeks gradually flushed uncontrollably, and even her ears began to burn.

It felt as if my core had lost its strength, making it extremely difficult to get up each time.

Shen Mo seemed oblivious to this subtle change, continuing to focus intently on counting for her.

"...ten, eleven..."

After managing to do a dozen or so, Li Yitong seemed to have exhausted all her strength and collapsed onto the yoga mat.

His chest rose and fell slightly as he stared blankly at the ceiling, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

Shen Mo finally noticed her unusual state, and the counting stopped.

Recalling what had just happened, he seemed to understand something.

He didn't say anything, but silently moved his body and lay down on the yoga mat next to her, with a distance of more than ten centimeters between them.

He placed one hand behind his head and silently watched the ceiling with her, waiting for her to calm down.

In the quiet room, only the clear sound of each other's breathing could be heard.

After a while, Li Yitong spoke softly, her voice trembling slightly.

"Shen Mo, do you remember... what day is tomorrow?"

"Your birthday."

Shen Mo spoke without hesitation, his voice gentle yet firm.

"How could I not remember?"

He turned his head to look at her.

"Otherwise, why do you think I rushed to coordinate with the crew to wrap up filming today?"

"...It's so good to have you."

Li Yitong's voice was very soft, like a feather brushing against the heart, almost imperceptible.

After their rebirth, an unusual atmosphere arose between the two, one intimate yet tinged with distance, and the name that stood between them.

At this moment, Li Yitong suddenly didn't want to avoid anything anymore.

She took a deep breath, as if gathering her courage.

"Do you remember... September 7th, 2023? The day after my birthday."

This date was like a key, unlocking the memory of that night in Shen Mo's mind.

"Of course I remember."

His voice lowered.

"That day at the karaoke bar."

"Xiao Tian'er sang 'Super Star,' 'Sing when you laugh, feel heartache when you frown...'"

"you……"

He paused, then softly hummed a familiar melody.

"Don't shed tears of sorrow, and never give up. I wish to be with you forever..."

"You sang 'Red Sun'."

Li Yitong suddenly turned her head and stared at Shen Mo lying beside her, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

His tone carried a hint of bitterness and inquiry.

"You remember...so clearly!"

After saying that, she pursed her lips slightly, turned her head back with a hint of stubbornness, and looked at the ceiling again, her voice ethereal.

"Xiao Tian... had something to do on the 6th, so she specially came over on the 7th to celebrate my birthday."

"That was... your first meeting, right?"

"Tell me, after more than twenty years of friendship, why didn't we end up together?"

Li Yitong pondered the question of "why the green plum couldn't withstand the sudden arrival of a newcomer" for several years.

Like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, it creates ripples in the quiet living room.

Her voice was soft, yet it carried the weight of two lifetimes.

Shen Mo did not answer immediately.

He turned his head and looked at her.

He saw the confusion, resentment, and a hint of cautious expectation hidden deep in her eyes.

"Yes, why is that...?"

Shen Mo repeated her question in a low voice, his gaze seemingly piercing through the ceiling and looking towards the distant past.

He didn't evade the question, but pondered it seriously before slowly speaking.

"Perhaps," he carefully chose his words, "it's precisely because we've become so familiar with each other over the past twenty-odd years."

"I know you so well that I can tell what you want to say just by looking at you."

"So familiar with my movements that you can guess what I'm going to do."

"We are like two trees growing in the same soil, our roots intertwined, sharing sunshine and rain, and weathering storms together."

"This feeling is deep and strong, but it's also because it's so natural."

"On the contrary... it makes people overlook the fact that 'love' needs to be clearly perceived and strongly affirmed."

His words contained no regret, only a clear understanding born from insight into the ways of the world.

"And us back then."

"In 2023, Xiaotian'er's appearance is different from the complicated feelings between you and me, such as kinship, friendship, and love."

"It was a pure kind of liking."

"Like a completely different landscape, it possesses an unknown and intense attraction."

"That feeling was vivid and exciting."

"People are always easily attracted to such strong differences."

Li Yitong listened quietly without interrupting, though her eyes flickered slightly.

It seems to be a re-examination of the long years between them.

Shen Mo sighed softly, his tone becoming gentler, carrying a hint of barely perceptible apology.

"Yukiko, even childhood sweethearts can't withstand a sudden influx of love."

"At least, you're no worse than anyone else! Not even Xiaotian."

"Perhaps it's just because we're so busy chasing after distant places that we forget to look back and overlook the warmest fire right beside us."

He neither denied the choices made in the past nor offered perfunctory words of comfort.

"If I had understood you back then and hadn't argued with you, would the outcome have been different?"

Li Yitong's question precisely pierced through that most regrettable past, her voice carrying a barely perceptible sob and boundless melancholy.

Shen Mo's answer, however, was unusually clear-headed.

No, it won't.

Li Yitong slowly raised her head, opened her mouth and moved it for a long time but no sound came out.

After a long while, a very soft voice finally escaped from her mouth.

"When I left Shenzhen, your doorstep was also piled with those things, and your aunt was crying as she cleaned them up."

"I don't believe those online comments that profit from human suffering, nor am I questioning you."

"I'm angry."

She turned to look at Shen Mo, her eyes filled with sincerity.

"I'm angry at you for doing these things. Why didn't you tell us? Why couldn't you think more comprehensively? Why didn't you protect Auntie?"

"But in my anger, I blurted out something that questioned you, and I regretted it as soon as it left my mouth."

"You wouldn't listen to my explanation, you just turned around and left, and you didn't answer my phone."

"I called your aunt, and she told me not to worry, she'll take care of you, and she'll let me know when you've calmed down."

"I'm telling the truth, I'm not lying to you!"

Shen Mo nodded and turned to meet her eyes.

"I trust you!"

"Actually, looking back now, I was at my most stubborn and arrogant when I had just made a lot of money by short selling. Coupled with being cyberbullied by the entire internet, my mentality was already distorted."

"I can't listen to anything you say. Even if it weren't for what you said, we would definitely have argued about something else in the near future."

"Back then, I was like a powder keg that could explode at any moment."

This answer made Li Yitong lower her head and remain silent for a moment.

But another, even deeper grievance immediately welled up.

"Then why didn't you contact me later, or wait for me to contact you!"

"Instead, they went abroad without saying a word?!"

She suddenly stood up, propped herself up on her elbows, faced him, gritted her teeth, and her whole face was scrunched up with anger.

"And they've cut off all means of communication!"

"I thought you'd calmed down!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Mo snorted coldly, rolled his eyes at her with an annoyance, and spoke with a hint of long-standing jealousy.

"It's all because of someone else. While I was calming down, they successfully paired up with someone else on a dating show."

"Why would I stay in the country if I didn't leave?"

"Are you suggesting I stay and attend your wedding?"

"Huh? Just because of this?!"

Li Yitong's eyes widened instantly; this was the first time she had learned the direct trigger for Shen Mo's departure back then.

It turned out to be such a trivial matter in her eyes.

"That's obviously for the show! It's scripted! Don't you understand?"

Looking at her incredulous expression.

Shen Mo simply used an extremely sarcastic tone to imitate the lines from that dating show he remembered.

"I'm so glad! The one I set my sights on is still one of them—the one I decided on at the beginning."

He paused, then spoke in an even more irritating tone.

"21 seconds! You turned everyone into idiots!"

This lifelike imitation, this lingering jealousy that remains strong even after more than a decade.

Li Yitong was taken aback at first, but then she couldn't hold back any longer.

After a "pfft," he burst into unrestrained laughter, completely disregarding his image.

She laughed so hard she curled up on the yoga mat.

"Hahaha... That's fake! You idiot, you're really, really stupid!"

She explained while laughing and panting.

"That time, a relative in Quanzhou was getting married, and I went back to attend the wedding."

"I was tricked into joining the show halfway through by the production team with a few hundred yuan for being an extra!"

"It was just a job! After the show, we said goodbye and never contacted each other again!"

"Hahaha... Shen Mo, you actually did this because of this..."

She laughed for a while before she could barely stop, but the corners of her mouth were still turned up high, as if she had discovered some earth-shattering secret. She leaned closer to him and asked mischievously.

"So... you cared about me this much back then?"

"Shouldn't we?" Shen Mo snorted, asking the question with an air of self-righteousness.

Li Yitong's eyes darted around, and she teased him, taking advantage of the situation.

"What am I going to do when I act in the future, with kissing scenes and intimate scenes?"

Upon hearing this, he suddenly turned to look at Li Yitong, his expression serious.

"You can forget about ever doing a kissing scene again in your life!"

In the brief moment that Li Yitong was stunned, he turned back to look at the ceiling, his hands behind his neck.

"What do you think I've been working so hard to make money for all my life?"

"Isn't it just wanting the right to say no?"

Li Yitong simply turned to the side, looking at him with starry eyes.

"Amo, you look so cool when you say that!"

He cares a lot!

These four words clearly came to mind for Li Yitong.