Uneasy daily life

Angelina quickly waved her hands: "No, no, I'll give you both the king and the queen. From now on, you'll just be the big ugly clown."

"You've only been in college for half a year, and you've already won over the tongues of all the scoundrels," Yukino Yukinoshita teased with a grin.

"Tongue, tongue?! What tongue?! I don't kiss every day—"

Angelina reached out and grabbed a bag of biscuits, stuffing it into her mouth to stop her rampaging mouth.

"Tsk, wasn't it 9528 who did it too?"

The white figure looked at Sakurajima Mai and Toyohama Kazuka, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, with a puzzled expression: "What are you doing here?"

"I'm curious too," Sakurajima Mai said with a smile, crossing her legs. "What's going on with Hater-kun here?"

Toyohama and Hana weren't curious: "It's normal for that jerk to come here under the snow, they're boyfriend and girlfriend."

“That’s not normal,” Yukino Yukinoshita said with interest. “When that jerk comes to see me, he usually goes straight to the Starry Night Showroom, or he finds out my schedule in advance and ambushes me on the way… He’s very clever; he only looks for opportunities to spend time with the two of us.”

"What about Yukinoshita?" Toyohama Kazuka subconsciously looked at Yukinoshita Yukino.

Yukino Yukinoshita quietly brewed and drank black tea, appearing detached and unwilling to get involved in the discussion.

The white figure suddenly turned to look at Yukino Yukinoshita: "What?! Hero, it was you who leaked the news that I wanted to cast you as the heroine?!"

The room suddenly became quiet.

"Cough-cough-!"

Yukino coughed.

"Huh? So Yukino is the female lead?" Director Angelina was very surprised.

"Oh—I see!" Yukinoshita Haruno drawled, grinning as she began to reveal the secret, "No wonder Yukino-chan has been in such a good mood lately, no wonder she disappeared over the weekend... I get it! Yukino-chan must have been messed with by some jerk!"

"No, no, that's not true!"

Yukino Yukinoshita took a deep breath: "Sister, you're spreading rumors, I didn't..."

“I understand now.” Mai Sakurajima suddenly realized, “This is the black-fan-kun’s alternative ‘dowry’? Once Yukino finishes playing the female lead, she should graduate from girls’ school.”

"No way! The female lead in the script doesn't have many scenes, and she doesn't look like me at all. She's not even a well-developed character..."

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at the white figure halfway through her sentence, then subconsciously thought, "Hmm? Could it be that White-kun's secret plan is really the same as Mai's? I had already made up my mind back then, but he didn't accept it outright..."

The white figure turned its head away.

Well--!

Yukino Yukinoshita was momentarily at a loss for what expression to make or what her feelings were.

"You two are just too much of a showman," Toyohama Kazuka remarked simply, then scratched her head and said, "Huh? If the female lead is Koyuki, why did Director Nian hire me?"

Bai Ying immediately changed the subject: "What? The director of a bad movie sent you here?"

“Yeah.” Toyohama Kazuka was also puzzled. “She called me, very enthusiastically, saying things like, ‘Little sister is really popular right now, come and play with your older sister,’ ‘I’ve already booked your schedule,’ and so on. Anyway, Aunt Sakurajima and the company just told me to come over… Huh? It wasn’t that bastard who had Director Nian contact me?”

"By the way, I was called here by Director Okita." Mai Sakurajima roughly understood and said with a smile, "He was very excited and kept shouting things like 'Recreating glory,' 'The three of us are really strong,' and 'A new era has arrived.' I was a little surprised because I have some free time recently, so it's impossible for Hater not to know."

The mystery is solved—it was the director of "The Magic Path" and the director of bad movies who did it!

Bai Ying slammed her hand on the table: "Good, good, good! They really are two lawless traitors! We haven't even discussed the matter, we haven't even read the script, and they've already started arranging manpower for me! This is outrageous! I'm afraid their next step will be to criticize my script!"

Angelina felt the director's position was even hotter than her own: "Bai Ying, let Okita be the director. You've all worked together on so many movies and shows, he's more experienced..."

"We don't agree!"

The door to the rented room was suddenly pushed open.

Yukino Yukinoshita twitched her brow slightly and looked at her older sister: Was the door closed just now?

Yukino Yukinoshita: Well~ let's not talk about common sense with espers.

Yukino Yukinoshita: Is there any hope for the locks in the house?

Yukinoshita: Probably?

A white-haired, purple-eyed Chinese man strode into the room, his folding fan snapping open with a whoosh: "That guy who only knows how to make pointless, rambling films, how could he possibly be the director? When it comes to action, scale, and explosions, no one can rival us! Young man, let's usher in a new era for the film industry!"

“So here’s the problem—” Bai Ying spread her hands, “There’s no excitement, no big scenes, and no explosions in the script.”

"Isn't that simple?" Nian Fengcai, as always, took a sip of his familiar tea. "Just add it, right? We'll provide the gunpowder! We'll make the bombs! We'll buy the venue! We'll take care of the government permits! Everything is a piece of cake!"

Bai Ying looked at Angelina and gestured with her lip: "Quickly, go exercise your power as the chief director and give her a good wake-up call."

Angelina: "I think it's a good idea to choose Director Nian as the general director. She can solve all the problems except for filming. As the saying goes, money isn't everything, but you can't do anything without it..."

"I disagree!"

A man strode into the room with his head held high and chest out; it was none other than director Okita Masashi.

After a few days away, Okita looked radiant and his hair and clothes were neatly groomed...

Hmm... Is this the director of Mo Dao Zu Shi that Bai Jun mentioned? In my memory, he was a rather slovenly but very special and enthusiastic middle-aged man... No, that's from three years ago. After all, we're not in the same industry and haven't had many opportunities to interact, which has only deepened my past impressions.

The year is still the same, because he is a superpowered person?

Yukino Yukinoshita seemed to realize something. Hmm? So the female lead in the script that Shiro-kun wrote...

"You have absolutely no aesthetic sense, all you know is flammable and explosive! Even popcorn movies know to shove in some shallow romance scenes to add flavor, you're not even as good as a popcorn movie!" Okita shouted. "Brother! I'm the director you're most compatible with! Let's work together to make movies great again!"

"Tsk, what's the point of talking about romance, spring, summer, autumn, and winter?" Nian fanned himself. "Only movies that transcend common sense, startle the world, and shock society are the best movies! You must understand this, right, bro? If you want something unforgettable on screen, choosing us is definitely the way to go!"

Suddenly I feel like the topic has shifted...

Yukinoshita Haruno secretly nudged Yukinoshita Yukino and chuckled, "Yukino-chan, aren't you, the heroine, going to join the screenwriter and director's love triangle?"

Yukino secretly rolled her eyes at her older sister. Her mind was completely overwhelmed and she couldn't help but feel a subtle sense of exhaustion, like she just wanted everything to be destroyed.

At this moment, the white figure whispered something to Angelina, who suddenly realized what was happening and quickly stood up to stop the fight.

"Both directors, you actually share the same idea: to make a movie that's unforgettable! As long as you can achieve that, isn't that enough? Director Okita is right, but isn't just being sentimental a bit bland? Director Nian is right too, but what's most memorable is precisely the people themselves! Why don't you two take a look at the script first?"

Bai Ying promptly produced two photocopied copies of the script.

Okita Masakazu temporarily stopped debating and quickly flipped through the script.

"Hmm... First love theme? I feel like we've done too many back-to-back shots, but this kind of shooting style is quite bold and really tests the actors' skills..." Okita chuckled, "This doesn't need any big explosion scenes, it's all about romance!"

"Wow, maybe that's true, but shouldn't a script in Chinese be filmed by someone like me, a Chinese person (whose identity is practically archaeological)?"

Nian smiled confidently: "Not bad, not bad. It's rare to find a script that's neither exciting nor explosive, yet it interests us so much."

"Huh? What Chinese?" Okita gestured to the script in his hand. "Isn't this Japanese?"

"?"

Looking back at my script every year, it's written in Chinese characters. It can't be that I slept through it and then revised it, can it? I'm not your sister, who has to retake Chinese class just because she slept through it!

“That’s right, I plan to shoot two versions this time. I’ve already translated both of your scripts.” Bai Ying clapped her hands and pointed at Angelina. “The Japanese version will be given to the director of ‘Mo Dao Zu Shi,’ the Chinese version to the director of ‘Bad Movie,’ and the overall director of ‘Souji: The Ultimate Director’ will be given to ‘Too Long to Read’!”

"?"

Nian looked at Angelina.

"?"

Okita was looking at Angelina.

Angelina trembled.

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Casting Storm

"That's fine, as long as it doesn't interfere with my filming."

Okita Masashi chuckled: "Next, let the iron triangle of Okita Masashi, Shirokage, and Sakurajima Mai soar into the sky once again!"

"Wait a minute!" Nian objected. "Given the current level of discussion in the market, wouldn't it be better to have Toyohama Kazuka as the female lead?"

"Bullshit!" Okita retorted vehemently, "Sakurajima Mai is the best leading lady!"

When the two directors began to discuss aesthetic issues, the others glanced at Yukino Yukinoshita, who seemed to have lost her composure.

The female lead is still pretending to be deaf here, lol.

Mai Sakurajima reached out and took the script, flipping through it. She felt something was off: "I thought the Black Fan would write something special, like a love story about a mute girl who can't express her feelings, and how they communicate heart to heart. That would make it easier for Yukino to play herself, and the Black Fan could handle it with ease..."

Yukinoshita Yukino: “?”

Kazuka Toyohama complained, "Sis... Mai-san's favorite scripts are just too unusual, aren't they?"

“Hmm—it’s probably because I like the ordinary things in life, so I prefer scripts that are a bit more special.” Mai Sakurajima handed the script to Haruno Yukinoshita, who was reaching out her hand. “Uncommon, rare, dramatic, and conflict-filled scripts are better for honing acting skills and allowing you to feel some real emotions through the story. Ordinary and mundane stories are not within my preferred range.”

"However, I still don't quite understand how this script is related to Yukino."

Mai Sakurajima rested her chin on her hand and carefully examined Yukino Yukinoshita: "If we're talking about having a lot of inner thoughts, then it's true that Yukino is the same, but that's the male protagonist. If we're talking about depicting first love, then the female protagonist really doesn't have much of an image or screen time... Yukino, you didn't write this script, did you?"

“No.” Yukino Yukinoshita simply shook her head slightly. “I’m not quite sure what inspired Haku-kun to write this script.”

"Hey hey—" Yukinoshita Haruno raised her hand while looking at the script, "Since it's about first love, the jerk must be saying that Yukino-chan is his first love so that he can move Yukino-chan. Case solved!"

Yukino Yukinoshita glanced at her mischievous older sister and said calmly, "My first love story doesn't need him to rewrite it..."

"Anyway, you remember everything very clearly, right?" Yukinoshita Haruno took advantage of the situation and immediately silenced Yukinoshita Yukino. She closed the script and pondered, "Hmm... It's not just that it doesn't resemble Yukino-chan, it doesn't even resemble a jerk at all. What's with this open ending? It's completely harmless. It just looks like an idiot being pretentious."

Kazuha Toyohama took the script and flipped through it: "Maybe that bastard wrote Koyuki as a boy? If inner thoughts could be spoken aloud, Koyuki would definitely be a chatterbox, and these long passages of inner monologue are totally Koyuki's..."

Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head: "Impossible... Well... In the end, everyone has similarities."

"First love?" Feng Bin and Hua Ling suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Huh? Could it be that Koyuki is very concerned about who that bastard's first love is, so that's why he wrote this script?"

Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head: "I would never ask such a pointless question that has no answer."

Feng Bin and Hua pouted and said, "Don't you want to ask?"

"..." Yukino Yukinoshita hesitated for a moment, "Do I want to... or not? I'm not sure..."

Could it be that I was so concerned and wanted to ask, but consciously refrained from doing so, and Bai Jun noticed? No, that doesn't make sense. Am I really that concerned about this kind of thing? I shouldn't, right? But Bai Jun's works always have some deeper meaning…

For a moment, Yukino Yukinoshita became skeptical.

"Toyohama and Hana are the best! Young! Fit the script's background! And they're really popular right now! Haven't you ever heard of a first love?!"

"Sakurajima Mai isn't young anymore? She's especially good at portraying young female students! She has a solid acting talent and a large fan base!"

The two directors were arguing back and forth when Nian closed his folding fan and said, "Hey buddy, tell me, who's more suitable to be the female lead!"

White Shadow: "Then let's go with Yukino Yukinoshita."

"Who?" Okita looked around blankly.

"Her?" Nian pointed his folding fan at Yukino Yukinoshita on the sofa.

Yukino Yukinoshita suddenly became the focus of attention: "..."

Okita was stroking his chin, frowning as he carefully observed the person. He vaguely remembered who the other person was, but... not as good as Sakurajima Mai!

Nian tapped his forehead with his folding fan, looked the kid up and down with a subtle expression, and felt that this kid was a bit serious and didn't seem like someone who liked big screens... not as good as Feng Bin and Hua!

"#!"

Although she didn't know why, Yukino Yukinoshita felt a small flame rising in her heart, and she decisively cast a glance at the white shadow.

"OK! I'll praise you right away!"

The white figure stood up gracefully and rushed over in one stride.

With one hand, he pulled Yukino Yukinoshita up, and with another hand, he pulled Mai Sakurajima up.

Mai Sakurajima and Yukino Yukinoshita exchanged a strange look, vaguely sensing that their unlucky boyfriends were about to cause trouble, but it was too late.

"Everyone, please look—especially the director of 'The Untamed,' put aside your fan bias! Take a closer look!" Bai Ying gestured wildly in front of the two men with a serious expression. "Look at the Hero Plus! Standing here, his proportions are perfect, neither too big nor too small, neither too fat nor too thin, composed and dignified, with a thousand doors in his eyes, a natural charm that shines through! A kind of approachable, gentle yet captivating allure arises naturally. He could easily play a teacher or a policeman, but if he wanted to play a first love, he could turn a school uniform into a uniform temptation! He lacks that most important sense of clarity, ethereal beauty!"

Okita Masahiro was shocked and stunned. Looking back, he couldn't recall Sakurajima Mai's image as a student back then.

"And look at this hero! Her expression is calm, making her thoughts unfathomable; her eyes are bright like a student's innocent gaze; her light body seems as if she might be carried away by the wind at any moment. At first glance, she's just an ordinary pretty girl, but upon closer inspection, her emotions are hard to discern, especially like this..."

The white figure suddenly reached out and viciously struck Yukino Yukinoshita's hair.

"You..." Yukino Yukinoshita was caught off guard. Her neatly combed black hair was messed up by the white figure in a few moments, and then the figure grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

A few strands of hair fell beside her ears, partially obscuring her cheeks. Peeking through the curtain, one could vaguely make out that she was a beautiful young woman, yet it was hard to describe just how beautiful she was. Her dark hair, like a curtain, fell to her eyes, making it impossible to discern her joys and sorrows, like a hazy mist, the more one looked, the less visible she became, the more one pondered, the more exquisite she seemed…

"Hiss—" Nian tapped his palm with his folding fan. "Young man, you really know Yukino well. Just by changing the angle and messing up her hair, it's a completely different feeling. Tsk tsk tsk, I'm quite curious, are you staring at that girl all day long?"

"That's it! That's it! If they wore high school uniforms, they would look exactly like them! They would look exactly like them!"

Okita exclaimed, "This kind of hazy beauty, which is precisely because it's not clearly visible, is what allows for such vivid associations... It's her!"

The two directors betrayed the organization on the spot.