Why did the system take my request to take photos with a cosplayer seriously?

There were many bouquets and gift boxes piled up in the corner, beautifully packaged and wrapped with ribbons.

Most of them are gifts from fans to the lead actors, and occasionally a few are given to other actors. Most of them are eventually collected and disposed of by the cleaners.

Hua Qing sat down at a table near the edge and carefully placed the roses in her hand on the corner of the table.

The girl next to me, a second-year graduate student from Beijing Dance Academy, is named Pan Fang. Like Hua Qing, she is majoring in classical dance. We are not very familiar with each other, but we chat occasionally during rehearsals.

Pan Fang glanced at the roses and asked jokingly, "Oh, you received flowers?"

Hua Qing smiled shyly and didn't explain further.

"A gift from a fan?"

"That's it."

"I said, Hua Qing..."

Pan Fang exclaimed, "Your account already has a million followers, right? Your exposure is quite high, and your skills are good too. If you keep engaging with your account, your popularity should continue to rise."

Hua Qing shook her head: "I'm still in school, let's talk about it later."

She knew Pan Fang was right.

An account with millions of followers, a "friend" status with Longhe, plus a resume of being a graduate student at Beijing Dance Academy and a lead dancer of the Lotus Award.

Even a simple stir-fry will keep it popular.

In fact, several talent agencies have already approached her.

One company offered very generous terms... a one-stop service including packaging, promotion, and business coordination, with a high revenue share.

Hua Qing politely declined.

Those things were too far removed from her, like another world.

Her life trajectory from childhood to adulthood is very simple. She only receives the spotlight on stage. Offstage, she is an ordinary person and does not need to be watched by too many people.

Seeing that Hua Qing wasn't responding, Pan Fang wisely refrained from pressing the issue and turned back to scroll through her phone.

The conference room door was pushed open again, and the director strode in.

He's in his early forties, surnamed Meng, and people in the industry call him Old Meng.

"Alright, alright, quiet down, let's say a few words."

Old Meng clapped his hands, and the whispers in the meeting room gradually subsided.

"Everyone has worked hard during this period, especially the two lead actors, who have been working non-stop for a month and the quality has remained consistently high. On behalf of the crew, I would like to thank you both."

He bowed slightly towards the lead actor, and several young actors applauded in response.

The male and female leads stood up at the same time, saying "It's only right, it's only right," with humble and proper posture.

Old Meng then said a few more polite words, nothing more than "thank you for your efforts" and "the finale is approaching, just hang in there for a few more days"—the kind of repetitive phrases that made everyone drowsy.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing I want to especially thank Hua Qing for."

Suddenly, he changed the subject: "Xiao Zhou's injury came suddenly, and Hua Qing temporarily took over the role. She had less rehearsal time and fewer performances than others, but every performance was of high quality."

Old Meng's praise was not just polite talk; it was a genuine compliment.

Hua Qing quickly stood up and bowed slightly: "Director Meng, please don't say that. This is what I should do."

"Sit down, sit down, don't be shy."

Old Meng waved his hand: "In short, everyone here has worked hard to make this tour go smoothly! Next week is the final show, and some big leaders will be there to watch, so everyone keep your spirits up and don't let us down."

The meeting lasted for another ten minutes or so, consisting mainly of final confirmations of procedures and other trivial matters.

Pan Fang leaned closer and whispered, "Hua Qing, the director seems to be trying to make you the lead."

Hua Qing whispered in response, "Don't talk nonsense. Xiao Zhou is just injured. She'll still be in her role when she comes back."

"I'm not making this up."

Pan Fang said earnestly, "Haven't you noticed? Everyone's been talking about how much better you are than Xiao Zhou lately. Your technique, your expressiveness, your consistency—aren't you better than her in every way?"

"Pan Fang".

Hua Qing interrupted sternly, "Stop talking."

Pan Fang awkwardly shut her mouth and shrugged.

Hua Qing lowered her eyes and picked up the roses again to fiddle with them.

In fact, not only the director, but the producer also mentioned it to her the day before yesterday.

They said that if she was interested, she could continue to play the role, and they could even consider letting her try out for the lead role in a new drama. They also emphasized that there was no male lead and that she could have free rein to perform.

Clearly, there's a powerful force pulling the strings behind the scenes...

Hua Qing gave a vague response, neither refusing nor agreeing.

She had heard before she arrived that Xiao Zhou had been working hard for the role for over a year.

As a girl who is tough on the outside but soft on the inside, she has an instinctive aversion to taking away other people's jobs.

After the debriefing meeting ended, people walked out of the meeting room in twos and threes. Hua Qing mingled with the crowd as she walked out, clutching the roses Ding Heng had given her tightly in her hand.

At the theater entrance, a deliveryman was waiting, next to him was an extravagantly large bouquet of flowers, estimated to be 999.

"Miss Hua Qing?"

The young man shouted into the crowd.

All eyes turned to her, and Hua Qing stopped in her tracks.

The deliveryman handed over the delivery slip: "Mr. Xu asked me to deliver this. He just found out you have a performance and can't make it in time. I wish you a successful performance. Please sign for it."

Xu Yan, in his early thirties, comes from a family that invests in cultural products. He met Hua Qing at a school event last week.

At the time, Hua Qing didn't have much of an impression of him. She only remembered that he spoke slowly and deliberately, but was also very pretentious and pretentious.

Later, he started sending her messages every few days. Hua Qing politely declined, warned him, and blocked him. He didn't get angry and even resorted to the old-fashioned and cheesy trick of writing letters by hand. Today, he even sent flowers directly to the theater.

"Wow, what a grand display."

Someone muttered under their breath, teasingly remarking, "Even Sister Liao has never received such a big flower before."

Hua Qing firmly refused the deliveryman, saying, "I'm sorry, I won't accept these flowers. Please return them to me."

The deliveryman looked troubled: "Miss Hua Qing, this..."

Hua Qing gave the other party no further room to speak, and quickly walked out the door, with faint whispers coming from behind her.

She didn't hear clearly, nor did she want to hear.

In the underground parking lot, Hua Qing opened the passenger door and bent down to sit inside.

Ding Heng was leaning back in the driver's seat scrolling through his phone when he heard the noise. He turned around and looked him up and down.

Why the long face?

"Well……"

Hua Qing forcefully inserted the rose into the water glass slot beside her.

Ding Heng chuckled lightly: "Who upset you?"

Someone sent me flowers.

Hua Qing rubbed her temples: "That person..."

"Your surname is Xu, right?"

"you know?"

Hua Qing has been too busy lately and hasn't had a chance to explain Xu Yan's situation to Ding Heng yet. How did he find out?

But on second thought, it makes sense.

Ding Heng smiled calmly and continued to ask, "How big is the flower?"

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine flowers."

"Tsk tsk tsk! Quite a grand display. Looks like I'm too stingy."

"And you're making sarcastic remarks."

Hua Qing turned her head and glared at the man, saying aggrievedly, "Do you know how embarrassed I was? I was just filling in for this role temporarily, and making such a big fuss made people think I was being too flashy."

Ding Heng ignored him and added fuel to the fire: "How about next week when the series concludes, I'll give you 9999 next time?"

"you……!"

Hua Qing raised her hand and punched him in annoyance: "Can't you talk about something serious?"

"How is it inappropriate? You have plenty of suitors, isn't it normal for there to be an occasional clueless idiot among them? If you're worried about him harassing you again, have Lin Man hire a lawyer to scare him. If that doesn't work..."

Ding Heng started the car, his tone suddenly becoming serious.

"I'll help you solve it."

"Oh……"

With Ding Heng's assurance, Hua Qing's anxiety dissipated considerably.

She knew that Ding Heng would keep his word and block anything related to Liu Jianming, a fact she still couldn't forget.

"There's one more thing."

"what's up?"

"that is……"

Hua Qing carefully said, "The director and producer want me to officially replace Xiao Zhou, and also hinted that I should try out for the lead role in the next drama."

"Isn't this a good thing?"

Ding Heng, steering with one hand, asked, "Why are you still looking so gloomy?"

"What's so good about it?"

Hua Qing sighed: "The lead role is fine, but the current role originally belonged to Xiao Zhou, but she injured her ankle just before the performance, so I took over. She's recovering from her injury, and I'm taking her role away from her? What kind of nonsense is this?"

"Senior, oh senior."

Ding Heng exclaimed, "Why haven't you gotten used to the spotlight yet?"