The entertainment industry: My 99 future timelines!

The day after the celebration banquet ended.

It's 10 PM at Liu Yifei's house.

Only one floor lamp was on in the living room, its warm yellow light circling a small, quiet area.

Liu Yifei sat cross-legged on the cashmere carpet, having been reading Annie Baby's novel "July and Ansheng" for three hours.

Then the phone on the coffee table vibrated; it was a text message from Liu Xiaoli:

"Yifei, are you asleep? Mom wants to talk to you about the new movie."

Liu Yifei stared at the text message but did not reply immediately.

Her gaze fell on a page in the book—a scene of An Sheng and Jia Ming in a hotel bed.

The text was very restrained, with only simple descriptions of actions and a few lines of dialogue, but she could imagine the scene: a dimly lit room, intertwined bodies, and An Sheng's empty gaze as she stared at the ceiling.

It's not desire, it's self-destruction.

She flipped back to the previous page and read the passage about the two girls' first meeting when they were thirteen years old.

An Sheng skipped school by climbing over the wall, and July waited for him at the foot of the wall, handing him a still-warm steamed bun.

"My mom made this. Eat more, you're too thin."

Just from those words, Liu Yifei's eyes suddenly felt a little hot.

She recalled what she was doing when she was thirteen: her parents were divorced, she was abroad, her class was full of unfamiliar Europeans and Americans, she was being ostracized, and she was trying hard to adapt.

An Sheng's thirteenth year was filled with climbing over walls, fighting, smoking, and defying the whole world.

Her thirteenth year was a time of learning, living in a completely unfamiliar social system across the ocean, and hearing her mother say, "Girls should be dignified."

Thinking about all this, Liu Yifei suddenly sent Li Xu a message: "Li Xu, why did you want me to play the rebellious An Sheng instead of the obedient Qi Yue?"

Li Xu's reply came a while later:

"I remember when you first came to me, you said your life was like a blank sheet of paper where everything was arranged, so I hoped you would play a role that would allow you to break free. I think there might be a An Sheng living inside you, but you've been trapped for too long."

Liu Yifei stared at those words, her heart feeling as if it had been gently squeezed.

She recalled the night of the celebration banquet, on the terrace, when Li Xu said, "I'm going to break the labels on the two of you."

At the time, she thought it was just a business consideration, a transformation strategy.

But now, looking at An Sheng's words in the script—

"July, you live like a mannequin."

"I'm fucking rotten, so what? At least I'm genuinely rotten."

"You dare say you've never dreamed of living like me? Saying whatever you want, sleeping with whomever you want, dying whenever you want?"

Liu Yifei took a deep breath, picked up her phone, and dialed her mother's number.

The phone rang five times before being answered. Liu Xiaoli's voice was sleepy: "Yifei? Still awake so late?"

"Mom, Li Xu gave me a new script with a female lead role."

"So? This role you've been waiting for for half a year, is it still a youth film, or some other genre?"

"Let me tell you, look how popular Jing Tian is now thanks to 'You Are the Apple of My Eye'. Her fame and status are almost catching up with yours. She has become a near-top-tier actress in the film industry. All she needs is one more blockbuster movie to solidify her status as a top-tier movie star."

"You have to seize this opportunity. Time waits for no one, and opportunities don't wait for anyone. Don't let it slip away again. You don't have time to wait another six months..."

"The character I play is a rebellious girl," Liu Yifei interrupted Liu Xiaoli.

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Rebellious? How rebellious...?"

"A character who smokes, drinks, sleeps with different men, and even sleeps with her best friend's boyfriend."

Liu Yifei spoke slowly and deliberately, her tone as calm as if she were reciting a recipe.

"Liu Yifei!"

Liu Xiaoli's voice suddenly became shrill.

"Are you crazy?! Do you know how much damage this kind of role will do to your image? You just made a comeback on the big screen with 'Love Announcement,' and you still have the image of Little Dragon Girl from 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' on your sleeve. And now you want to play this kind of role?"

"Do you want to ruin your future?"

"mom."

Liu Yifei interrupted again, her voice still calm, "I'm twenty-two years old this year. I've been acting for eight years, and I've played the role of the fairy sister in other people's hearts for six or seven years."

"This time, I just want to play a completely different screen image. I am not the fairy sister, nor the little dragon girl, nor am I otherworldly. I am just Liu Yifei."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

Liu Xiaoli tried to persuade her, but Liu Yifei was as stubborn as a rock this time, and her attitude did not soften at all.

Finally, Liu Xiaoli angrily hung up the phone, very angry, and immediately dialed Li Xu's number: "Hello, Director Li, it's me. Is there any room for adjustment regarding the role you assigned to Yifei?"

At the same time that Liu Xiaoli called Li Xu, Liu Yifei, who knows her mother best, also sent a text message:

"Li Xu, I want to play An Sheng, I want to break through my own limitations. You are not allowed to be influenced by my mother, otherwise I will be angry."

"Also, during the next part of filming, I will be in a completely calm state. Don't be scared by me, I will still be the same me."

"Finally, if I can't get out of character, you're responsible for pulling me back."

The message has been sent.

Liu Yifei put down her phone and went to the bathroom.

She took off her clothes and looked at the girl in the mirror.

The girl had long, flowing hair, no makeup, clear eyes, a stunningly beautiful face, and an elegant figure.

Looking at the girl in the mirror, Liu Yifei suddenly stopped smiling, relaxed her expression, and her eyes gradually turned cold as she adjusted her mindset and demeanor.

Until the person in the mirror completely changed.

It was still the same face, but something surfaced from deep within—a weariness, indifference, and a "who cares" kind of decadence.

Liu Yifei reached out and touched her face in the mirror.

Hello, An Sheng.

She said softly.

-

At the same time, at Jing Tian's villa.

The lights in the audiovisual room were dim, and the huge projection screen displayed the scene of Shen Jiayi from "You Are the Apple of My Eye" turning her head in the rain, her smile as pure as the first snow.

Jing Tian nestled on the sofa, clutching a bag of potato chips, a copy of "July and An Sheng" lying casually at her feet.

She has read this book twice in its entirety.

I frowned the first time I read it, and I still frowned the second time...

"What a pathetic character!"

Looking at Shen Jiayi, the perfect campus sweetheart, on the huge projection screen in front of her, she couldn't help but complain to the air, then grabbed a potato chip and bit it hard.

July.

She was obedient and compliant, the kind of well-behaved girl in the eyes of outsiders. Her original life plan was to go to school, work, get married, and get pregnant in an orderly manner.

As a result, starting when she turned eighteen, she discovered that her best friend and her boyfriend had always had problems.

She pretended not to know until she couldn't keep up the act any longer and successfully caught the adulterer in the act.

Finally, driven by a variety of complex emotions—some towards An Sheng, some towards Su Jiaming—she made her boyfriend Su Jiaming elope on the eve of her wedding, in order to preserve her last shred of dignity.

Then she got pregnant, had a difficult childbirth, and died.

Growing angrier the more Jing Tian thought about it, she felt incredibly frustrated. Unable to contain herself, she slammed the bag of potato chips onto the sofa, muttering curses under her breath.

"What a ridiculous, melodramatic plot! What a pathetic, tragic life!"

"I, Jing Tian, ​​a wealthy heiress with memories of the future, can I live this kind of life? Can I endure this kind of bullying?"

But he kept muttering curses.

Her gaze involuntarily drifted back to the original copy of "July and Ansheng" lying on the ground.

The ending of the novel "July and Ansheng" is also the ending of the novel that Ansheng wrote under the pen name "July":

"July knew that from that moment on, she was free."

Jing Tian stared at that sentence for a very long time.

She thought of herself.

Thinking back on these years, my life has been arranged for me.

From childhood to adulthood, she has probably only done two truly rebellious things: one was to defy family pressure and insist on entering the entertainment industry to become a big star, and the other was because of Li Xu.

Thinking about all this, Jing Tian suddenly felt a little angry. She grabbed her phone and dialed Li Xu's number without checking the time.

At that moment, Li Xu had just finished a phone call with Liu Xiaoli and shared his thoughts.

Using the rhetoric of carefully observing and adjusting the plot to avoid damaging Liu Yifei's image, Liu Xiaoli was temporarily appeased.

When Jing Tian called, he was already in bed and was about to tell Liu Yifei about it.

Jing Tian's sudden call forced him to temporarily put his plan aside. Li Xu's voice was filled with doubt: "Tian Tian? What's wrong? Why are you sending messages so late at night?"

"Li Xu, I'm asking you, in your heart, am I like July?"

"Then who is An Sheng? And who will become An Sheng?" Jing Tian's tone was somewhat angry and jealous.

Hearing this, Li Xu was momentarily stunned. After a second or two of confusion, he quickly replied, "Why do you ask that?"

"Because July is just a good girl who's been trapped in a cage! Everyone loves her, but no one ever asks her what she wants! She doesn't even know how to resist; she just bottles it up until she dies!"

"I really dislike this role, so why can't I play An Sheng?!"

Jing Tian's voice grew louder and louder until it was almost a shout.

Then she heard a very gentle yet incredibly calm and rational voice coming from the other end of the phone:

"Tian Tian, ​​novels are novels, and reality is reality."

"Your portrayal of July doesn't represent your personality. Even if you were July, would July be as capable as you?"

"And would Yifei's personality be as rebellious as Ansheng's?"

Li Xu's voice was devoid of any extra emotion.

Hearing Li Xu's tone, Jing Tian calmed down.

But because she was holding back her anger, she couldn't help but suddenly ask a question she would never have impulsively asked under normal circumstances: "Li Xu, since you're playing Su Jiaming, if I were July and Liu Yifei were An Sheng, which one would you prefer?"

As soon as Jing Tian asked the question, she immediately regretted it.

This question is too naive, too romantic, and not like something she would ask. She is the domineering and resourceful Queen Jing Tian, ​​Miss Jing of Chang'an!

But on the other end of the phone, Li Xu didn't laugh when he heard the question; he was genuinely thinking about it.

After a two-second silence, and after considering many thoughts, he spoke earnestly:

"Tian Tian, ​​you are not July, Liu Yifei is not An Sheng, and I am not Jia Ming, but if you insist on an answer, then it is possible for all of them to be true."

"I will just let nature take its course. Whoever ends up by my side is whoever fate has in mind, and I will be with whoever it arranges for me to be with."

"Of course, if reality were just a novel, I wouldn't mind choosing both and then being abandoned by you both."

Jing Tian was stunned, then burst out laughing. This answer surprised her a little, but not entirely.

Li Xu is that kind of person.

She was even certain that if she were more proactive and enthusiastic, and used various means to directly intercept Li Xu's current attempt to win her over, force the issue, and then quickly get married because she was pregnant.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Li Xu will certainly not have any further dealings with Liu Yifei; at most, he will repay a debt of gratitude.

However, Jing Tian had no intention of getting married and having children right away.

"Li Xu, you're such a bastard!"

She laughed and scolded at the same time, "How could you say such a thing! Want both of them? Do you think reality is a novel? Do you think Yifei and I can just do whatever you want?"

"But it's the truth."

Li Xu's voice also carried a smile, "Jiaming's problem isn't choosing between them, it's that he wants both, but can't afford to take on either."

"As for July and An Sheng, in their final choices, Jia Ming was no longer a part of their lives. July hated An Sheng, but An Sheng was the only person in her life, and An Sheng was the same."

Jing Tian's laughter gradually subsided.

She leaned back on the sofa, looking at the ceiling, her voice softening, her fingers unconsciously twirling the ends of her hair.

"So...can you accept those intimate scenes between me and Sister Yifei?"

This time, Li Xu didn't hesitate and quickly said, "That's just acting. I believe you guys, and boys generally don't care about that."

"Just like girls reading BL novels, these kinds of scenes and plots are never a problem for most guys."

Jing Tian curled her lip, thinking, "What a jerk."

Girls can be friends, but if she were to have intimate scenes with another guy, the guy opposite her would probably jump up and down and wouldn't be able to pretend to be calm anymore.

"Okay, I'm hanging up now, Little Li. You can leave now."

"By the way, I want to make it up to you after this movie is finished."

"You promised to come with me to Gulangyu last time, but you had something to take care of after only half a day. After we finish filming 'Soulmate,' I want you to take me on a trip, just the two of us, no matter how the box office turns out or how well I acted."

Jing Tian hummed into the phone.

After shedding the role of Shen Jiayi, her domineering personality as a daughter of an official began to reappear.

"Alright, Miss Jing, long live the Emperor, haha."

A burst of laughter came from the phone. Li Xu rubbed his face, his tone becoming relaxed again.

"make a deal."

"It's a deal! Anyone who goes back on their word is a little dog!"

Jing Tian's mood suddenly improved, and she hung up the phone with a "snap".

After hanging up the phone, she curled up back on the sofa, picked up the novel "July and Ansheng" from the floor, and started reading it again.

This time, she read very slowly.

She decided to try to understand what kind of feelings July had for An Sheng, and why she was so forgiving.

It was past midnight.

Jing Tian looked at the book and saw two girls, July and An Sheng, who had known each other since they were thirteen. They took baths together, lay in the same bed together, and shared secrets in the dark.

Then in July, he discovered An Sheng and Jia Ming's affair, and in the bathroom, he tore off An Sheng's clothes, and also tore off his own.

Looking at July, she said, "An Sheng, you see, you like me, you like my rustic style."

In the end, July became An Sheng, and An Sheng became July.

As Jing Tian read, tears unexpectedly streamed down her face, landing on the script and spreading a small patch of ink.

She wiped her face, and, unusually, abandoned her usual elegant manners, cursed "Fuck!" The two of them then buried their heads under the covers.

On the screen in the video room, Shen Jiayi's image was still frozen in that scene where she turned back and smiled in the rain.

Jing Tian murmured softly under the covers, "You bastard Li Xu, you made me play Qiyue, then I'll see how infuriate you when we're filming."

"Give me back my place in July, and see how I'll torment you and vent my anger off-screen."