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

On the evening of the second day of the Lunar New Year, the sky over Jinan was overcast.

Li Yitong's house was packed with relatives visiting.

The child was running around and screaming in the living room, while the adults were playing mahjong and asking questions.

"Where does Xiaoxue work now?"

"Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend yet?"

In her previous life, she was asked this question for over thirty years.

I'm only twenty years old in this life, and I don't want to hear it.

While her aunt was showing her pictures and introducing her to the family, she grabbed her coat, slipped out the door, and went straight to knock on Shen Mo's door.

It was Shen's mother who opened the door, and she smiled as soon as she saw her.

"Xiaoxue is here? Is she looking for Xiaomo? He went downstairs to buy vinegar."

"His aunt was just asking you, 'What about Xiaoxue? Is she coming to pay New Year's visits today?' I said you're probably busy at home too!"

"Thank you, Auntie!"

Li Yitong chuckled and peeked inside. Shen Mo's house was almost identical to her own.

"Then I won't go in..."

Before he could finish speaking, he caught a glimpse of Shen Mo out of the corner of his eye, as well as Bai Mengyan, who was half a step behind him and had a bright smile on her face as she walked up.

When Shen's mother saw Li Yitong's expression change instantly, she couldn't help but laugh.

On that small face, the crescent moon was flattened and slightly narrowed, the bridge of the nose was slightly wrinkled, and the corners of the mouth were gently pouting.

She stepped forward, took Li Yitong's hand, and led her into the house.

"Xiaoxue, come in and play for a while. It's quite cold standing outside."

Shen Mo and Bai Mengyan, who were behind her, did not notice anything unusual about Li Yitong in front of them and followed her inside.

Bai Mengyan suddenly regretted entering the room.

Although I expected there would be people at my boss's house, I didn't expect there to be so many.

God, please save the child...

Bai Mengyan, who was always aloof from work, lowered her head silently at this moment, trying to hide behind Shen Mo's broad back.

"Xiaoxue is here! I was just asking you when you were coming."

"Wow, you've become even more beautiful."

"Yes, they're becoming more and more of a perfect match."

"They look like a married couple!"

"Don't talk nonsense, that young girl is very shy."

Shen Mo's second aunt gently patted Shen Mo's younger aunt beside her, took Li Yitong's hand from Shen's mother, and pulled her to sit on the sofa.

Li Yitong, oblivious to her blushing face, stared intently at Bai Mengyan at the door.

How did she end up here?

How could she be here?

Why is she here?

Shen Mo handed the vinegar to his mother, took off his coat, put on his sweater, and walked towards the sofa.

Faced with a chorus of questioning glances around him, Shen Mo pointed to Bai Mengyan, who was sitting down next to him.

"My colleagues from the company came over to wish me a Happy New Year."

Seeing Li Yitong being held by Shen Mo's second aunt, Shen Mo's youngest aunt rolled her eyes, stepped forward, took Bai Mengyan's hand, and sat down next to her.

"What's your name?"

How old are you?

"Where do you live?"

"That little face is so pretty..."

Li Yitong's eyes swept over Shen Mo's aunt and Bai Mengyan's faces before settling on Shen Mo.

She slowly clenched her slender fingers into a fist, lightly tapped her knee, and without saying a word, got up, pulled Shen Mo along, and left.

"Auntie, can I borrow Shen Mo for a moment?"

He grabbed Shen Mo's coat from the hanger by the door, slammed the door shut, and ran downstairs at top speed.

As she walked down the stairs, Li Yitong snorted angrily and forcefully shook off Shen Mo's hand.

She strode forward defiantly, her feet crunching loudly on the snow beneath her feet.

Shen Mo seemed to have guessed something, smiled slightly, and then silently followed behind her, stepping in her footprints.

Before I knew it, I had arrived at the entrance of the affiliated primary school of the Normal University.

The campus was unusually quiet during the winter break, and the iron gates were locked.

Li Yitong walked slowly along the wall, then suddenly stopped.

"look!"

"The tree is still there."

Li Yitong pointed to a sycamore tree at the base of the wall.

"Yeah! You just threw me over your shoulder right under that tree."

Shen Mo nodded, recalling that scene.

"Now I want to give you another over-the-shoulder throw!"

Li Yitong turned around, glared at him fiercely, and wrinkled her nose very much.

Shen Mo bent down and slowly brought his face closer until he could feel her rapid breathing.

"You can't beat me at this!"

"Little dwarf!"

Shen Mo tilted his head, a mocking smile on his face.

Hearing Shen Mo's teasing voice, Li Yitong rolled her eyes speechlessly.

"You little fatty, you did something wrong and you still think you're right?"

"You said I'd grow short if I ate wall plaster!"

"He brought another woman home for the New Year again today!"

Hmm? This twist...

Shen Mo frowned, looking at Li Yitong with admiration.

Seeing this made her increasingly guilty, and she began to mutter to herself.

"Isn't that right?"

"no!"

Shen Mo's confident and assertive voice startled Li Yitong.

He then widened his eyes, put his hands on his hips, and looked up to bring his face closer.

"Then why is she at your house?!"

"How did she know your address!"

"When Xiaotian and I decided to get married, you didn't even bring her home for the New Year!"

"you……"

Shen Mo directly silenced her mouth, which was firing like a machine gun, with his own.

Li Yitong's eyes widened instantly, and then she opened her mouth and bit his lower lip with her teeth.

In the end, I couldn't bring myself to bite hard enough, and I let go with just a light bite.

"You only know how to bully me!"

"You kissed me on New Year's Eve last time!"

"You kissed me again today!"

Do you think I'm easy to bully?

"What are we now?"

"Shen Mo, if you don't give me an explanation!"

"Watch out, or I'll give you another chance to be reborn!"

Shen Mo looked at her slightly flushed cheeks and her misty eyes.

Putting aside his playful and teasing expression, Shen Mo looked serious, slowly leaned down, and once again precisely pressed his lips to hers.

This kiss was no longer the fleeting touch it had been before.

Rather, it is profound and fiery.

He wrapped one arm tightly around her waist, pulling her cold body completely into his embrace.

His other hand firmly supported the back of her neck, allowing no retreat whatsoever.

Li Yitong's mind went blank for a moment, and all the sounds around her were instantly pulled away.

The world was silent, except for the hot and soft touch on my lips.

She instinctively gripped his sweater tightly, her fingertips trembling slightly.

A bittersweet feeling welled up inside her, making her eyes well up with tears.

She closed her eyes and bravely began to respond, letting herself indulge in this warm harbor.

Their breaths mingled, their lips met.

Those unspoken vows of protection, the longing after separation, the joy of reunion, and the jealousy stirred up today.

Everything melted away in that long kiss.

After an unknown amount of time, until both of them were somewhat out of breath, Shen Mo slowly loosened his grip, but his arms remained wrapped around them.

Their foreheads touched, Shen Mo's breathing was slightly heavy, and his deep eyes were filled with turbulent emotions.

Li Yitong's cheeks were flushed, and she was breathing slightly out of breath. Her lips were especially red and full from the kiss.

Looking at his face so close to hers, and at her own reflection clearly in his eyes, she felt as if her heart was completely filled with something.

Snowflakes began to fall silently again, a few landing on their hair and shoulders.

He raised his hand and gently brushed her lower lip with his fingertips.

"Is that clear enough?"

She didn't answer, but simply buried her burning cheeks deep into the warmth of his neck.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, as if embracing the whole world she had lost and then regained.

After a long while, she finally let out a muffled sound while buried in his arms.

"Shen Mo..."

"Um?"

"Are you just looking to take advantage without wanting to take responsibility?"

She mustered her courage, raised her head slightly, and wanted a definite answer.

In her gentle, crescent-shaped eyes, there was anticipation, but also a hint of unease that she couldn't hide.

Looking at her dependent yet uncertain expression, Shen Mo's heart melted completely.

He raised his hand and cupped her slightly cool cheek in his palm, his thumb gently stroking the corners of her reddened eyes, his gaze focused and solemn.

"It means..."

He spoke each word clearly and slowly, as if he wanted to etch each word into her life.

"You, Li Yitong, are my girlfriend, Shen Mo."

We grew up together, and we'll grow old together.

It wasn't a test, nor was it ambiguity; it was a resolute confirmation.

He owed her those words for two lifetimes.

Li Yitong's eyes instantly reddened, and the tears she had been holding back rolled down her cheeks without warning, but she wore a bright smile of relief.

She nodded vigorously, her voice choked with emotion yet incredibly clear.

"It's a deal! No backing out! If you dare run away like you did in my last life, I'll chase you to the ends of the earth and drag you back!"

Hearing her tearful "threat," Shen Mo smiled.

He lowered his head and kissed away the tear stains at the corner of her eye, his movements as gentle as if he were handling a rare treasure.

"I'm not running anymore."

He whispered a promise in her ear.

"Wherever you are from now on, I will be there."

……

Not far away, a figure stood there, stunned.

Bai Mengyan, who had just quickly answered Aunt Shen Mo's question and then ran after her, now had her shoulders slumped limply.

The two figures standing embracing each other not far away made her look like a clown at that moment.

So, did their very existence make them who they are?

If I don't come, will I still have a chance?

Oh, the dream! How could it have ended so quickly!

"Heh! You've got me into trouble..."

Bai Mengyan slowly retreated, her face contorted with grief, and dialed her best friend Hehe's number.

……

In Shen Mo's arms, Li Yitong looked up at him, her crescent-shaped eyes crinkling with laughter.

"You've really grown so tall now, I have to look up to see you."

"Because I don't eat wall plaster."

Li Yitong gently patted his chest with both hands and pushed him away, giving him a disdainful look.

Then she skipped and hopped in front of him, turned around and walked backwards, just like when she was a child walking home from school.

"Shen Mo, I'm so happy today!"

"Me too!"

"Can you carry me on your back, like when I was a kid coming home from school?"

"You have such a nerve. Back then, you pretended to be in so much pain from stretching that you couldn't walk, and you would wait for me at the classroom door every day after dance class so I could carry you."

"Hehe! My dancing is 'super' good!"

"How could it possibly hurt!"

She chuckled, her words uttered in a strange accent, but there was a hint of guilt in her tone.

Shen Mo turned around and squatted down. As Li Yitong jumped up, he gently lifted her leg and steadily hugged it.

"With the way you bully me every day, anyone else would have beaten you up long ago."

"Didn't you start learning martial arts just to beat me up?"

"Why didn't they hit me afterwards?"

"I'm afraid you'll cry, and if you cry, I'll have to comfort you, and if I don't, I'll get a beating when we get home."

Li Yitong's lips curved into a high smile.

"By the way, when you left Jinan to go to Shenzhen for junior high school with your aunt and the others, did you cry?"

"Did you miss me?"

-----------------

Shen Mo suddenly fell silent. That summer, he thought he could finally escape the clutches of this "little devil".

But in the second week after arriving in Shenzhen, I saw her at my doorstep.

What are you doing here?

"I came to Pengcheng Arts School, and your auntie let me stay at your house!"

"mom……"

From Jinan to Shenzhen, from elementary school to art school, she was like an inescapable shadow, always following him in his life.

Shen Mo suddenly seemed a little dazed.

The woman in the background seems to overlap with that little girl from many years ago.

She was wearing a short skirt, her hair in a ponytail, and she called out to him with a smile.

"I'm here, little dwarf! Did you miss me?"

-----------------

Shen Mo chuckled softly, bending his body slightly forward as he carried Li Yitong, making it easier for her to lean on his back.

"If you don't go, I might miss you."

"There's no need to think about someone you see every day; if you do think about them, just look."

"Then we'll watch it every day from now on!"

She swung her legs, her crescent-shaped eyes full of laughter.

He grabbed her hands, which were wrapped around his neck, and tucked them under his scarf, pressing them firmly a few times.

He put his arm around her leg again and carried her home on his back.