lcionline Chapter 9: This thing can be turned on but not off!
Chapter 9: This thing can be turned on but not off!
On a chilly early winter night in Shanghai, the hotel's heating pipes hissed softly, like something breathing slowly in the darkness.
Guo Caijie curled up in the quilt, and vaguely fell into a hot darkness.
She opened her eyes and saw a man in a black suit standing in front of her bed.
The suit was sharply tailored, the fabric had a matte sheen in the dim light, the tie hung loosely at the collar, and the top two buttons of the shirt had been ripped open by someone.
Guo Caijie couldn't see the other person's face clearly.
But she vaguely knew who it was.
The next instant, the man's hand gripped her neck.
It was a hand with distinct joints, long and strong.
The lines on her fingertips, the warmth of her palm, even the suffocating feeling she experienced when her hand was pressed against her throat—all seemed familiar.
Guo Caijie felt as if her back had bumped into something hard.
It's a wall, or it's a door.
She couldn't tell the difference.
The whole world is shaking.
Sweat and tears mingled and slid down her cheeks, shattering at the edge of her collarbone.
She wanted to raise her hand to touch his face, to grab his wrist, to know what expression he had at that moment.
But she can't.
She was trembling all over.
It's not fear.
Or rather, it's not just fear.
It was something deeper, more secretive, and more shameful than fear.
It surged in her veins and climbed up her spine, like a million ants having a party in the cracks of her bones.
She tried desperately to see his face clearly.
She tried desperately to break free.
She desperately wanted to—
Guo Caijie suddenly opened her eyes, breathing heavily...
The room was empty except for her.
Only the smoke detector on the ceiling flashed a faint red light. The air conditioner vents continued to blow out hot, dry air.
There were sporadic sounds of vehicles outside the window.
The faint sound of ship horns could be heard from the Huangpu River in the distance.
Guo Caijie lay on the hotel bed, completely soaked.
It wasn't just the fine sweat beading on his forehead; his whole body looked as if he had been pulled out of the water.
The silk nightgown clung stickily to her body, and the pillow and sheets were stained with a large, dark water stain.
Her breathing was still erratic, and her heart was beating as fast as if she had just run 800 meters.
Guo Caijie finally let out a long sigh of relief, staring blankly at the ceiling for a long time, so long that the red indicator light began to appear double.
Then she buried her face in the soaked pillow and let out a muffled, trembling sob.
......
......
Meanwhile, in another room of the hotel.
Guan Shengbai sat cross-legged on the bed, staring silently at the semi-transparent panel in front of him, which only he could see.
Name: Guo Caijie
Fate: None
Relationship: Friends
Favorability: 50%
Strategy level: 60%
Those whose eyes hold a hint of pink are moved, their hearts stirred, and their emotions intertwined; the seven-day ceremony concludes.
He stared at those few lines of text, reading them over and over again three times. Each time he read them, the corners of his mouth sank down a little more.
The good news is that his "Girl's Recycled Furnace" destiny seems to be quite useful.
The bad news is that he never used it on his own initiative.
From the first day he joined the crew, he had been wary of the so-called "Girl's Eyes".
What is the meaning of gazing for three breaths to observe its color? What kind of emotions are involved? What kind of feelings are involved?
It sounds fancy, but in the end it's just a more advanced electric discharge skill.
Moreover, Guan Shengbai was quite concerned about its side effects, namely the "lust-induced irrationality".
The panel also explained that each time he used the Maiden's Eye, his rational judgment would decrease slightly.
If used more than three times a day in a row, it is easy to be consumed by lust.
For public relations professionals like Guan Shengbai, whose "desire for control" is ingrained in their DNA, this kind of "dangerous factor" that could get out of control at any time has always been deeply abhorrent.
Therefore, he kept the [Girl's Eye] locked up tightly from beginning to end.
The results of it?
Who would have thought that [Entangled in Love] would actually be a passive skill!
As long as the other person's level of affection for him reaches a certain threshold, it will automatically trigger once he has been watching them for a certain amount of time.
Guan Shengbai pinched the bridge of his nose.
Looking back on the past few days, he did have quite a few scenes with Amber Kuo.
When faced with scenes that require eye contact, the two inevitably stare at each other for a few seconds.
And that's what triggered it?
As expected of the system-certified blonde-haired core build, you know what a mess this has made...
Guan Shengbai had a bit of a headache.
To be honest, this wasn't him putting on an act, nor was it an excuse to take care of his stomach.
Although he had no intention of using his "fate" to do evil.
But they wouldn't be so hypocritical as to abhor this.
He even wondered who his "emotional entanglement" would fall on for the first time.
He had considered Yang Mi, or even Guo Biting.
The only thing I never expected was that it would fall on Guo Caijie's head.
Guan Shengbai shook his head and immediately put it out of his mind.
Moreover, he discovered a downside—
Guan Shengbai tried silently repeating in his mind, "Remove my fate."
The [Girl's Converter] on the panel remained completely still.
"Cancel mount".
Still motionless.
"uninstall."
Do not move.
"delete."
Do not move.
"Damn! He's falling flat on his face!"
He cursed, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down and study the panel.
After studying it for most of the hour, he finally figured something out.
Fate is something that can only be replaced, not uninstalled out of thin air.
Just like the system apps that come pre-installed on a phone, you can use other apps to override its permissions, but you can't completely delete it.
In other words, the [Girl's Refining Furnace] will remain attached to him until he obtains the next usable destiny.
As for the "emotional entanglement" as a destiny trait, at least in the "Tiny Times" film crew, it will be passively and persistently effective.
This is hardly good news for Guan Shengbai, who has an extremely strong desire for control.
One reason is that he didn't want to lose his mind and become the second generation of Qiao Feng and Bai Jie, resulting in a famous poem about geese that has been passed down to this day.
Secondly, Guan Shengbai had been in the industry for so many years in his previous life, what kind of women hadn't he seen and tasted?
In other words, what is a treasure to a group that represses their desire to show off is nothing more than a useless burden in his eyes.
And this "Tiny Times" production team is like a shallow pond with many turtles.
Not to mention that Guo Xiaosi harbored inexplicable hostility towards him, Ke Jingteng had also formed a grudge against Guan Shengbai at this time.
If Guan Shengbai were to stumble in matters of love and sex, do you think those two would be happy to kick him while he's down?
The problem now is that he unknowingly "marked" Guo Caijie.
This is a bit of a problem.
Moreover, recalling the day of filming, Guo Caijie's reaction afterwards was indeed a bit off.
Guan Shengbai, a man of wide experience, could also vaguely sense that the other party seemed to be somewhat enjoying it...
At the time, he thought that this girl might have awakened some unknown attribute.
Who knew the root of the problem lay within myself...
Guan Shengbai leaned back and lay down on the bed.
The smoke detector on the ceiling was exactly the same as the one in Guo Caijie's room, flashing a red light.
He began to recall his interactions with Guo Caijie over the past few days.
During a late-night snack in the dressing room, she sat quietly to the side, drinking and occasionally interjecting with a smile that made her eyes crinkle.
During filming, she handed me a bottle of water; it felt cool on my fingertips.
The color peach indicates that one's heart is stirred.
This means that Amber Kuo has feelings for him.
He had a vague feeling about this.
But he originally thought it was just normal affection between a man and a woman, at most a little appreciation for his acting skills.
Guan Shengbai sighed.
In his past life, he worked in the public relations industry, and his greatest skill was predicting the worst-case scenario before things even happened and then filling in the gaps in advance.
But this time the pit collapsed right beneath his feet, leaving him with no option to refuse.
However, on the other hand, the effect of this "entanglement of affections" only lasts for seven days.
If he does nothing during these seven days, his feelings will naturally fade away.
He counted on his fingers.
Four days have passed since that scene was filmed.
This matter will be over in three more days.
In the end, Guan Shengbai pulled the blanket over his head.
Since things have come to this, I might as well go to sleep.
......
......
In the following three days, Guan Shengbai did not have many scenes.
Even when he is required to appear, he is mostly relegated to the background.
There are no lines, and sometimes there aren't even close-ups.
But he still stood there earnestly, filling in Xi Cheng's contradictory feelings of both violence and vulnerability with a single glance or a silhouette of his profile.
Guo Xiaosi watched the monitor several times, but although he didn't say anything, he also didn't call "cut" to make him start over.
Guan Shengbai also noticed that Guo Caijie seemed to be deliberately avoiding him these past few days.
She always stayed in her corner, looking down at the script or scrolling through her phone. Occasionally, her eyes would meet his, but she would quickly look away.
Moreover, her eye makeup was visibly heavier than usual.
Presumably, it's to cover up the increasingly "deep" dark circles under the eyes.
Guan Shengbai pretended not to notice anything unusual and continued doing what he was doing.
He also maintained a distant and indifferent attitude towards Guo Caijie.
It was like treating a regular colleague you'd only known for a few days.
Until the sixth day.
When work ended in the afternoon, Guan Shengbai followed the crowd out. As he passed the prop room, he caught a glimpse of Guo Caijie sitting in a folding chair inside, holding a phone in her hand, but the screen was dark.
It's not hard to see that her eyes are somewhat vacant.
Guan Shengbai paused for a moment, then walked over as if nothing had happened.
He didn't turn around.
That night, Guan Shengbai sat cross-legged on the bed and opened the control panel.
Name: Guo Caijie
Fate: None
Favorability: 65%
Strategy level: 60%
Six days have passed, and our love is about to break...
The air conditioner vents blow out air at a constant temperature.
The night view of Shanghai outside the window was as thick as ink that couldn't be dissolved.
Guan Shengbai closed his eyes, trying to clear the matter from his mind.
There's a big show the day after tomorrow, so he needs to focus on preparing.
……
……
Meanwhile, Guo Caijie lay in her room, feeling that the air conditioning temperature was still set too high.
She lay on her side in bed, staring blankly at the dim yellow lamp on the bedside table.
The phone screen lit up and then dimmed, dimmed and then lit up again.
In the WeChat chat, the conversation with someone is still stuck on the first day after joining the group: "I have accepted your friend request."
She didn't post anything.
I didn't receive anything.
Guo Caijie flipped her phone over, placing it face down on the bedside table.
Then she reached out and turned off the table lamp.
In the darkness, she exhaled a long breath at the ceiling, as if she had made up her mind.
Then she suddenly stood up, walked quickly to the door, and as if afraid she would regret it, she reached out and pulled and pushed, locking herself out of the room.
The temperature in Shanghai in December was already close to 0 degrees Celsius. A cold wind blew in from the corridor window, making Guo Caijie, who was only wearing a silk nightgown, shiver. It also seemed to bring her back to her senses.
She reached out to grab the doorknob, only to realize with a start that she had rushed out without her access card...
Guo Caijie swallowed.
"It wasn't on purpose... Who would have thought I wouldn't have my access card with me?"
After much hesitation, Guo Caijie's gaze fell on the elevator...
She remembered clearly that the room was 321 on the 8th floor, and she was currently on the 3rd floor.
I just took a step to walk over, but then I suddenly stopped.
No... there are surveillance cameras.
Guo Caijie then turned a corner, heading straight for the hotel's emergency exit staircase...
......
......
Two flowers bloom, one branch each.
Yang Mi has been feeling a serious sense of crisis lately.
As for the culprit, it is naturally a certain clueless newbie who always wears an innocent face.
But her sense of crisis did not come from someone shivering and struggling to climb the stairs in the cold wind.
It originated from Chai Zhiping.
In fact, Chai Zhiping was right; Yang Mi had indeed already considered Guan Shengbai as her own.
With her mutually beneficial collaboration with H&R Century Pictures, coupled with her soaring popularity after "Palace," her fame skyrocketed.
Yang Mi is not yet a big shot in the entertainment industry, but she can be considered a "junior" at best.
Even if a promising talent is exceptionally talented, without resources and connections in today's entertainment industry, it's incredibly difficult to make a name for themselves.
After Yang Mi recommended Guan Shengbai to the "Tiny Times" crew, he was destined to be branded with Yang Mi's name.
Logically speaking, it wouldn't be difficult for her studio to sign Guan Shengbai.
But then Chai Zhiping suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
This woman is so shrewd; her eyes are incredibly sharp, and she immediately set her sights on Guan Shengbai.
Yang Mi had previously asked her agent, Zeng Jia, to help Guan Shengbai review the contract, hoping to make signing Guan Shengbai a done deal as soon as possible.
But Guan Shengbai shut him down with a single sentence.
Although he spoke of Chai Zhiping's company with a sense of disdain, the astute Yang Mi also sensed that Guan Shengbai seemed to harbor some inexplicable dissatisfaction with her agent, Zeng Jia.
If Guan Shengbai really gets signed by someone else...
No!
Yang Mi's hidden possessiveness swelled uncontrollably, but she was still muttering to herself.
"If such an outstanding junior brother is snatched away at the last minute, I'm afraid I'll be laughed to death by everyone else... No, I have to find a chance to talk to him."
Just do it.
Yang Mi simply put on her coat and walked out the door.
As she stood in front of the elevator, about to press the button, she suddenly caught a glimpse of the security camera not far down the corridor...
Yang Mi hesitated for a moment. Although she was going to talk to Xiao Bai about serious business, what if they were photographed...?
Thinking this through, Yang Mi bit her lip and looked at the fifth floor where she was...
Gritting her teeth, she turned and walked towards the hotel's emergency staircase...