Her finger hovered over the screen, trembling with indecision. Down, up, down again—she'd been caught in this endless loop for what felt like an eternity. Days had passed without a word from the little rabbit, and Ye Ruihuan had foolishly expected her to reach out first. But after that brutal online character assassination, there was nothing. Not a single message. The silence was... maddening.
Ye Ruihuan stared at the empty chat interface, her lips pressed into a bloodless line, her face a mask of controlled neutrality. But beneath that carefully crafted exterior, something dark and restless stirred.
A wave of frustration crashed over her—foreign and unwelcome. When was the last time she'd felt this powerless? She, who commanded everything and everyone with effortless grace, was being undone by Lin Ruijiao's stubborn silence. The irony wasn't lost on her that these cursed dreams were slowly poisoning her thoughts. Each night brought the same tormenting cycle: nightmares that dissolved into fragments she couldn't quite grasp, and that one vivid spring dream that blazed through her consciousness with crystalline clarity—so real it felt like a confession of sins she'd committed in sleep.
The memory of that enchanting figure flickered behind her eyelids again, and she surrendered to the inevitable. If the little rabbit wouldn't come to her, then she would simply have to hunt her down.
Ye Ruihuan had been handling quite a lot of work affairs recently. A script had come to her, and the entire production team seemed decent. Although it was a TV drama, she really wanted to try that role.
She immediately called Ye Zhi.
"Ye Zhi, I'm planning to take that role in 'Phoenix.'"
"Mm, that's good." Ye Zhi replied perfunctorily. Ye Ruihuan contacting her couldn't possibly be just about this small matter.
"Arrange for Lin Ruijiao to be included." She instructed lightly.
The pause that followed was loaded with unspoken amusement. "Isn't our rising star rather... occupied these days?"
Ye Ruihuan's eyes narrowed to predatory slits. "She seems to have plenty of time for those pathetic variety show appearances."
"I'll see what I can arrange."
The line went dead, and Ye Zhi immediately dialed Lin Ruijiao, barely suppressing her delicious anticipation.
"Sister Ye Zhi." Lin Ruijiao's voice carried the weary hope of someone constantly searching for the next opportunity, the next chance to prove herself worthy.
"Mm, Ruijiao, there's a script here called 'Phoenix.' Do you want to go?"
"Yes, thank you Sister Ye Zhi." Without even thinking, Lin Ruijiao agreed immediately. The script for 'Phoenix' was really good. In her previous life, she had watched this TV drama countless times. Now that she had a chance to participate, she certainly couldn't let it pass.
"Ye Ruihuan will also be going." Ye Zhi dropped this bombshell directly.
The silence stretched like a held breath. "...I see."
In her previous life, Ye Ruihuan wasn't in this drama at all. How could things have changed so much...
"Good, wait for news, then go for the audition." She wouldn't use resources for such small matters. Since she wanted to prove herself useful, she had to show real ability and results. Besides, watching Ye Ruihuan's drama unfold like this was quite entertaining.
"Okay, thank you Sister Ye Zhi."
Even with Ye Ruihuan there, Lin Ruijiao didn't want to miss this good opportunity. At worst, she'd just humble herself a bit and put on more of an act in front of Ye Ruihuan. There was no choice—who told her she was still unknown in the industry? She couldn't help but sigh deeply.
In just a few days, she received a message from Sister Wang—an audition invitation from the 'Phoenix' production team.
The sun was bright, the sky crystal blue, with fluffy white clouds drifting above. The autumn temperature was just so comfortable, warm and pleasant.
After arriving at the destination, she didn't expect there would be so many people waiting in line outside. Among them were several popular young actresses. It seemed this drama wouldn't be easy to get into. They were truly the original cast—in Lin Ruijiao's heart, they were the ceiling of this drama. But she didn't think her acting would necessarily be worse than others.
[Hey, look at the one in the back, who is that? Haven't seen her before.]
[Don't recognize her.]
[Seems to be from Huarui Entertainment, the one who was marketing herself as sisters with Zhou Yanyan online a while ago...]
[Ah... so it's her. She really doesn't look much like it, must be all photoshopped...]
[Zhou Yanyan is at least one of the four leading actresses, how could she bring along this kind of newcomer...]
[Probably the company forced the pairing, but this newcomer really doesn't look outstanding.]
...
Various whispered comments reached Lin Ruijiao's ears. It seemed everyone really didn't know her. No matter, it should get better after Moonlight Serenade aired. Her sixth sense told her so.
"You're Lin Ruijiao, right? I'm Liu Qingqing. I've acted with Sister Zhou Yanyan before."
A cute girl suddenly approached her, with a round face, round eyes, adorable, even her voice was sweet. Lin Ruijiao immediately responded, "Yes, hello." Even her own voice unconsciously softened.
"I'm a fan of Sister Zhou. What was it like acting with Sister Zhou?" she asked with a bright smile, an aura of innocent purity coming toward her.
"Very good. Sister Zhou has great acting skills, very professional, and she's also a very good person." Lin Ruijiao answered honestly.
Hearing this, the other girl's eyes curved into crescents, incredibly cute. "Right? Sister Zhou is really wonderful."
"All the sisters who came to audition today are so amazing, I probably won't be selected." She looked at the long line ahead and said dejectedly.
"No way, we've both acted with Sister Zhou." Lin Ruijiao finally remembered who she was—she really did have some connection with Zhou Yanyan. Moreover, she played a little maid in this drama, also cute and lovable, very endearing.
"Mm! You're right! We can definitely do it!" The two naturally started chatting like this, until the production assistant came to call people.
"Lin Ruijiao! Which one is Lin Ruijiao! It's your turn!" There were only about twenty people left on site.
"Here!" Lin Ruijiao immediately ran forward.
As soon as she entered the room, she froze. Ye Ruihuan was actually sitting on the judges' panel. How could she be here? Didn't she especially dislike these kinds of occasions?
At this moment, Ye Ruihuan's expression was cold and aloof, full of seriousness and earnestness. This appearance of hers was truly rare, inexplicably possessing a kind of professional, intellectual beauty.
She immediately reacted, bowing with a bright smile: "Hello, teachers!"
"Good, this role." The director selected one from several pieces of paper and handed it out. Ye Ruihuan glanced over, raising an eyebrow.
Lin Ruijiao looked and saw only a short scene written on it, not even a character biography—completely dependent on the actor's improvisation. Moreover, this Director Liu was famously strict in the industry, but all his directed works had excellent reputations.
For her, a die-hard fan who had watched 'Phoenix' countless times, every character and plot was familiar by heart. This was no challenge at all.
She just hadn't expected the director to have her audition for this role. This character was actually a third-lead role in 'Phoenix.' With such a massive production team and so many complex character relationships, Lin Ruijiao had never dared imagine she could play such an important role.
This character was a noble consort in 'Phoenix,' of decent birth, seemingly harmless but actually very scheming—not exactly a villain but definitely not a good person either.
The scene the director gave her was from the character's later period, when her scheming nature was fully revealed—three parts harsh, three parts calculating, with the rest being feigned innocence.
Lin Ruijiao quickly adjusted her state and stepped forward.
Wearing an appropriate smile, but with a somewhat stiff curve to her lips, some harshness between her brows, resentment in her eyes, staring viciously ahead: "If she dares abandon Xuanyi today, tomorrow she'll dare to kill him. I definitely won't let her have it easy. Just wait and see."
After the scene, the corner of Ye Ruihuan's lips unconsciously stiffened. When had this little rabbit become such a good actress? No wonder the little rabbit dared to ignore her—it turned out she was relying on her excellent acting skills.
"Xiao Ye, what do you think?" the director asked her with some amusement.