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

Chapter 93 Bai Mengyan: It's enough to defend against you!

With no other scenes to film today, Dilraba, having changed into casual clothes and stepped out of the filming studio, immediately spotted Bai Mengyan squatting beside the flowerbed.

She quietly walked up behind Bai Mengyan and exclaimed "Wow!" which startled Bai Mengyan so much that she stumbled.

Bai Mengyan turned around, saw who it was, and rolled her eyes at them.

She muttered irritably, "Dilraba! You can scare people to death!"

Dilraba laughed without a care, revealing a row of white teeth, exuding a sweet and innocent charm.

She imitated Bai Mengyan and squatted down next to her.

"What are you doing squatting here?"

Dilraba tilted her head and asked in a soft, sweet voice.

"Look at the fish!"

Bai Mengyan pointed to the small ornamental fish pond in the middle of the flower bed, where several koi were lazily swaying their tails.

"What else can we do?"

Dilraba looked at the fish following her finger, then turned her head away, blinking her deep, large eyes.

Suddenly, he leaned closer, lowered his voice, and asked with a hint of slyness.

"Why aren't you inside keeping watch today?"

She gestured with her eyes to the still brightly lit shooting studio, where the filming had just ended.

"It's because of the three of them: Yang Mi, Liu Shishi, and Sister Tong."

She paused, her tone slightly teasing.

"Can't you even defend one of them?"

These words accurately struck a chord with Bai Mengyan.

She pouted, glanced at Dilraba with some annoyance, and retorted sharply.

"It's enough to just defend against you!"

"cut----"

Dilraba trailed off her words, but didn't continue arguing as usual.

She didn't look away, but instead stared quietly at Bai Mengyan's profile, at the obvious disappointment and annoyance on her face.

The air was quiet for a few seconds, with only the occasional soft sound of fish splashing on the surface of the water.

Suddenly, Dilraba began to hum softly in her slightly exotic, gentle voice, improvising lyrics that were not in tune.

Some people live in fish tanks, but the fish aren't swimming in the water; they're swimming in their hearts.

This sudden, self-composed folk song startled Bai Mengyan, causing her eyes to widen in surprise.

She saw that Dilraba's playful expression had vanished, and in those large eyes, her own reflection was visible. There was no mockery in them, only a certain...

A sense of understanding, and a faint, bittersweet feeling of being fellow sufferers in the same boat.

Bai Mengyan was stunned.

She is straightforward and her emotions are easily read, but she is not stupid.

Dilraba's seemingly nonsensical humming, along with her gaze at that moment, instantly pierced through her feigned strength.

Yes, she's wary of Dilraba because she thinks she's not "skilled" enough and poses little threat.

But actually?

The two of them, one is passionate and outspoken, yet dares not truly get close.

A seemingly innocent and naive person with a strong inner self, yet only daring to admire from afar.

In the face of Shen Mo's radiant fortress, they were all essentially the same.

They were "soldiers" lingering outside the city, unsure even which way the city gates faced.

"As if you're not the same way—"

Bai Mengyan withdrew her gaze, her voice lowered, no longer aggressive, but instead conveying a sense of helplessness.

She picked up a small pebble from the ground and unconsciously scribbled it across the surface.

"Between the two of us, squatting here, who's really that much better off than the other?"

Dilraba did not refute.

She also quieted down, imitating Bai Mengyan, hugging her knees and resting her chin in the crook of her arm.

My gaze fell upon the koi carp in the pond, which seemed free but were actually confined to a small space.

Bai Mengyan's words, "Who is so much better than whom?" were like a small pebble thrown into the lake in her heart called "Shen Mo," creating ripples.

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke in her soft, sweet voice, as if talking to herself, or perhaps answering.

"But—at least the fish are still in one pond."

Her long eyelashes drooped down, obscuring the emotions in her eyes.

"He can see, he can encounter the fish he wants to encounter."

"Unlike some people, who are like stars in the sky, looking so bright, but actually so far away —"

This whisper is more penetrating than any straightforward confession.

Bai Mengyan stopped slicing the ground.

She turned her head and looked at Dilraba's profile, which was curled up in a ball.

That face, which always wore a silly smile, was now shrouded in a faint, genuine melancholy.

She suddenly realized that this competitor, whom she thought was "the easiest to guard against," might have just as many hidden turmoil within him as she did.

"Feed".

Bai Mengyan gently nudged Dilireba with her elbow, her tone softening considerably.

It even carried a hint of something she herself wasn't aware of.

Dilraba raised her head, rubbed her nose, and smiled a little embarrassedly. The smile was somewhat forced, and her crescent-shaped eyes didn't quite curve into a full smile.

"actually----"

Bai Mengyan took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind, and lowered her voice even further, with a hint of resignation.

"I was inside just now, watching how effortlessly Mr. Li handled things, watching Brother Mo—watching the way the boss looked at him—"

She paused, a bitter feeling spreading through her.

"I felt like I was squatting there, like a superfluous fool."

"Defend? With what can we defend? Defend what?"

"Theirs is a perfect match, ours is at best—"

"Watching from the sidelines."

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It's rare for her to say something so clear-headed and somewhat self-deprecating. Rather than speaking to Dilraba, it's more like she's summarizing her own behavior all along.

Dilraba listened quietly, then nodded earnestly, her tone soft yet incisive.

"So, we'll just squat here together and be two little turtles watching?"

This metaphor was so vivid and endearing that it instantly lightened the somewhat heavy atmosphere.

Bai Mengyan couldn't help but burst out laughing. The sudden amusement dispelled much of her earlier gloom.

"Get lost, you're the turtle!"

She smiled and gave Dilraba a light push.

Dilraba was pushed and swayed a bit, but she wasn't angry. Instead, she laughed along with her, her eyes finally curving into familiar crescent moons.

After laughing for a while, she slowly stopped, looked at Bai Mengyan, and her eyes became more serious.

"Mengyan, tell me—are we just going to stand by and watch like cowards?"

The question was seemingly minor, yet it weighed so heavily that it silenced the two girls once again.

As the sun slowly sank below the horizon, a warm orange-red hue spread across the sky, enveloping their figures in soft light.

Finally, Bai Mengyan stood up first, dusted off her pants, and reached out her hand to Dilraba.

Her expression returned to its usual straightforwardness, carrying a sense of "if I can't figure it out, I won't think about it anymore."

Or rather, it's a stubborn refusal to admit defeat.

"Who knows!" she said, her voice regaining its energy.

"But at least now I'm hungry!"

"Come on, little turtle, I'll take you to eat!"

"Nothing is more important than eating!"

Dilraba looked at the hand extended in front of her, paused for a moment, then broke into a genuine, sweet smile, reached out and grasped it, using it to help her stand up.

"You're the little turtle!"

She protested softly, but her tone carried a hint of dependence, "And besides, I'm the older sister! You're the younger sister!"

"Then if you don't want to be a turtle, be a fish! You'll be a little koi!"

Bai Mengyan pulled her along and walked outside, casually making a joke.

"I wish you a speedy leap—well, whatever you want to leap!"

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