Part 2 of Chapter 59
This chapter is brought to you by Celestialsiren, thanks for the ko-fi! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･
Please Like Her 10 – Let me check who my new husband is… Shang Lu?!
Shang Lu quickly noticed the pattern of the show.
Each guest’s fake friend actually had some connection, more or less, with another guest.
For example, Chen Zi’an had worked with her before, Tang Qingqing and Lin Yanyan didn’t get along, Ou Yi and Yan Yu had a bad relationship, and Song Zeqian’s friend was another actress, Cen Yan.
Cen Yan and Jiang Jing had been rumored to compete for the same role multiple times, with wins and losses on both sides. They had given interviews at a film festival, making almost sarcastic comments about each other.
Jiang Jing usually has a mild temperament. However, that was the first and only time she acted so indecently in public.
As for the last guest, Jiang Jing’s friend, Shang Lu’s gaze shifted towards Song Zeqian and Xu Ze, thinking that it was highly probable that they had some connection with one of them.
Sure enough, the last person to appear was the host An Qing, although he hadn’t formally hosted a show for many years. His more famous identity now was that of a film review blogger.
Regarding Song Zeqian’s latest movie, it had received decent reviews during its preview screening. Other ‘industry insiders’ had praised it professionally after seeing Song Zeqian’s name, with the exception of An Qing. He wrote a 5,000-word review criticizing Song Zeqian’s impatience in film creation from start to finish, and that Weibo post garnered a whopping 100,000 reposts.
Indeed, after Jiang Jing and An Qing took the stage, the atmosphere froze to an extreme point.
[Haha, the people around you may not necessarily be your friends, but they are definitely enemies of the other guest on the scene. Whoever doesn’t say anything after seeing this is impressive.]
[Xia Yuan and Ning Lin are out of the industry, so Ye Lu and Shang Lu don’t really have enemies in the circle. So the program team brought out Ou Yi and Yan Yu instead, as the show definitely needs to pair up more enemies.]
Everyone was present, and the program team reiterated the rules they had mentioned earlier, urging everyone to identify the fake friends.
The director continued, “True friends meet the following three criteria: they go out together alone, have had meals together privately, and have collaborated on work.”
Shang Lu nodded to show his understanding and said, “It doesn’t sound very close, to be honest.”
Song Zeqian agreed with Shang Lu, saying, “It’s true that meeting all criteria might mean they’re friends, but even if they are, they may not necessarily be good friends.”
The two exchanged glances and saw some understanding in each other’s eyes.
The game was disrupted before it even began, and the director tried to make amends with a smile, saying, “We want it to look a bit absurd, otherwise, if everyone is really good friends, wouldn’t it be hard to expose the fake ones?”
That made sense, at least it was enough to fool most of the people present.
[Haha, it seems like Shang Lu and Song Zeqian have noticed something unusual! They are the only two clever ones on the show!]
[Shang Lu, think it over again! Don’t be easily fooled by the show’s tricks!]
[I hope they see through the show’s tricks soon!]
Watching Shang Lu and Song Zeqian no longer object, the staff of the show breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, it was time for each pair of friends to talk about their friendship.
Shang Lu narrated the set of stories that he and Tang Qingqing had put together, and then looked at Lin Yanyan.
Shang Lu asked with her eyes : Do you understand?
Lin Yanyan nodded : I understand!
So, Shanglu hopes that she and Tang Qingqing will reconcile?
Although she doesn’t really like Tang Qingqing, she can’t say she hates Tang Qingqing either.
Well, for Shang Lu’s sake, she’ll reluctantly let go of those past grievances with Tang Qingqing!
Looking at Lin Yanyan’s forced or even… smug expression, Shang Lu felt like something was not quite right.
Well, since Lin Yanyan doesn’t seem unhappy, then it’s fine.
Next, it was Lin Yanyan’s turn to talk about her friendship story with Chen Zi’an. Lin Yanyan said, “He had worked with Lulu before, so the two of us met at a certain event, chatted for a while, and then… we found that we got along well, so we became friends.”
Since Shang Lu became friends with Tang Qingqing because of her, she also had to make friends with Chen Zi’an because of Shang Lu!
Chen Zi’an : “?”
How come this story is different from what they agreed upon in the private room? Why did Lin Yanyan suddenly change the script?
Although Chen Zi’an was quite confused, his original intention for coming here was also for Shang Lu, so he naturally nodded along, saying, “Yes, that’s right, we both really like Teacher Shang Lu.”
Chen Zi’an also knew how to play along, and his words were suitable to be taken out of context and edited into videos, providing material for their few but dedicated CP fans.
Netizens noticed it too.
[Hahaha, Lin Yanyan and Chen Zi’an did collaborate, but they didn’t have any scenes together. The version they came up with in the private room is that they met during that time!]
[Chen Zi’an looks confused, and the princess really creates stories on the spot.]
[But this version strangely sounds more credible.]
[Because it’s like a trap, Shang Lu is the bait inside. Mention Shang Lu, and the princess takes the bait, which makes perfect sense.]
Ye Lu proudly said, “It’s my turn, it’s my turn. I got to know Yan Yu through gaming, and then we realized we’re in the same industry!”
Yan Yu nodded, confirming that he was right.
Netizens gave their assessment.
[The two of you should never be a scriptwriter. This doesn’t even sound as credible as what netizens came up for you.]
[But Yan Yu doesn’t know how to play games at all. Last time, fans spotted him playing a game at the airport, but it was a match-3 game. How about you, Ye Lu? Do you also enjoy playing it? You can’t play this one together, can you?]
[Hahaha, there’s a plothole! This script won’t do, the two of you are not suitable as scriptwriters. Let’s just kick you both out!]
Xu Ze and Ou Yi’s version was naturally simpler because they had previously recorded the variety show together and felt that the other person was nice, so they occasionally chatted and found that they were very suitable as friends.
Song Zeqian explained that it was because Cen Yan and Han Cheng had worked together before, so they met through Han Cheng. However, he wasn’t very satisfied with Cen Yan’s first scene, and he changed his opinion of her later on.
Now, it was time for Song Zeqian’s strongest skill, enhancing the credibility of false events by adding seemingly unnecessary details.
Netizens were almost fooled.
[If I didn’t know the truth, I would definitely believe what Song Zeqian just said!]
[What a convincing liar! Director Song, you’ve got something up your sleeve!]
[Director Song really knows how to write a script, so what he says is the most genuine and reasonable.]
As for An Qing, he directly confessed to being a fan of Jiang Jing, expressing his admiration on the spot. Then, in the face of Song Zeqian’s impatience, he pushed her glasses up and added with a smile, “If Jiang Jing, the Best Actress, stars in Director Song’s movie, even if the script is bad, I might add half a star to my rating when I review it.”
The atmosphere, which had finally eased, became awkward again under An Qing’s seemingly joking but actually biting words.
“Wow!”
Shang Lu seemed to be enjoying the show and handed a fist to Song Zeqian beside him, asking, “Director Song, do you have anything to say?”
[What are you doing, Shang Lu? Aren’t you afraid that Director Song will punch you?]
[What’s the point of acting? Previous commenter, tell us honestly! Don’t you want to hear Song Zeqian’s response?]
[Well, I do. Thanks, Shang Lu, hahaha.]
Song Zeqian remained calm and replied directly, “It’s true that my previous work had problems, and the the given ratings is also fact. But if my upcoming work is still not excellent enough, even with the collaboration of the most outstanding actors, it shouldn’t be given that extra half-star. Allowing it to be influenced in such a way would be unprofessional.”
Song Zeqian had enough composure not to take offense at negative comments, as he had directly mocked the acting skills of many actors in the past. So, he could accept negative feedback with equanimity.
However, what annoyed him a bit was An Qing’s latter sentence, which carried a hint of condescension and pity.
[Director Song’s reply indeed shows some class.]
[He expressed his attitude while subtly responding, without losing out. Pretty good.]
[I still want to see Director Song’s new movie. He spoke about it before, but there hasn’t been any update! ]
An Qing also realized this and immediately said, “Sorry, just making a joke. When Director Song’s new movie is released, I hope I can have a chance to attend the preview and be among the first to give my review.”
Song Zeqian nodded, “Of course.”