24 Mouthy

"Wow, Mr Wei is generous. Is this your subtle way of begging me not to submit a formal report on this mistake? Mr Wei truly is cavalier, I can only wonder which distressed maiden you're protecting."

The door to Yuan Siqi's office slammed open unceremoniously for the second time in a row. She was already worked up, both by the mistake and the presence of this infuriating arrogant man who dared to use his privilege to try and pull strings with her. Was this mistake something that could be rectified by throwing money at it?

Her eyes flashed. At this moment, with her fashionable curls and her understated sleek bespoke look, she was the most intimidating person Li Ai had ever met. Yuan Siqi was aware of the effect that she had on her subordinates and often tried to ameliorate it because she knew that she could be intense. But she saw no reason to give Li Ai face today. A mistake was a mistake and needed to be owned up to.

Li Ai was panting as though she had run a whole marathon to come bursting through Yuan Siqi's doors. It was…a bit of an exaggeration but Yuan Siqi supposed it could be interpreted as Li Ai going to great lengths to come and defend herself, to prove to her boyfriend or whatever this Wei Yunian was to her that she could be independent too.

Yuan Siqi folded her arms and stood up so that they were face to face. She never backed down from fights and had a clear conscience. Today was her first meeting with Wei Yunian and already they had gotten off on the wrong foot. She should be more worried about her career but he wasn't her boss. Shen Xue, his mother, was. Creative Director Shen might be a fierce taskmaster but if there was one thing Yuan Siqi could count on, Shen Xue believed wholeheartedly in meritocracy.

And here was her son, throwing his weight around for a little girlfriend. If she had a bit less control over her temper, she would be mocking him for it by now.

"Senior Designer Yuan," Li Ai said, rushing forward to stand next to her boyfriend, whose body language changed to hover protectively over her.

[Mo Chen was right, there are similarities between Lin Zizhou and Wei Yunian. Was this the unfortunate fate of male leads? To fall for white lotuses? Oh, wait. Yuan Siqi is the female lead. I am the female lead.]

"Well?" Yuan Siqi drummed her fingers on her arm. Her French manicure gleamed in the warm overhead lighting. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Li Ai took a deep shuddery breath. "It was my carelessness, Senior Designer Yuan. I apologise for the mistake."

Yuan Siqi nodded. "You're right, it's your fault. Not just yours, but you're the main cause of it." Li Ai was supposed to double-check with the fabric manager, who was her intern supervisor, before submitting the forms to the print department. "Am I right to say that?"

Li Ai hung her head low. "Yes, Senior Designer Yuan. I accept full responsibility." Next to her, Wei Yunian's eyes shone with pride as he regarded her. Yuan Siqi resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"All right, I accept your apology and will write the report now. Starting tomorrow, you needn't report anymore."

The suddenness of Yuan Siqi's announcement was met with pin-drop silence.

It was Wei Yunian who recovered first, the depths of his eyes freezing over as he turned his gaze from his beloved girlfriend to this conceited employee who had chased after his mother's footsteps for half a decade now.

"That's too harsh," he said, voice low and dangerous. "Li Ai is just an intern, she shouldn't be held to the same standards as—"

Yuan Siqi's smile turned saccharine. "This isn't a court of law, Mr Wei. This is your mother's company, a fact I'm certain you're more than aware of." She grabbed her desk calendar and tossed it on the desk right in front of him. Someone else gasped but she didn't care. "Can you read this? Do you see the Qing Hua Ci completion date? It's in two days. If I don't report Intern Li's mistake to my superior, are you expecting me to take the fall?"

Before Wei Yunian could reply, Li Ai interrupted. There were tears welling at the corners of her eyes, which were reddened like a pitiful little rabbit's. It was enough to inspire pity in the hearts of any man but it was too bad for her that Yuan Siqi was a woman and a very impatient one at that.

…although wasn't Li Ai supposed to be a very strong and determined girl who was proud of her middle-class roots? Crying at this point seemed a bit premature—

"Senior Designer Yuan, I feel like you're being unfair to me."

[…her words are too shaky with unshed tears.]

Yuan Siqi's steely gaze flickered to her. "Oh? In what sense? You're the one who offered to take full responsibility. Or did you just say that because you knew someone in this room can't bear to let you?"

Li Ai's…cheeks coloured. Yuan Siqi's aggressive facade nearly cracked.

[…is this the time to be blushing? Ms Li, your career is at stake, you can canoodle with your boyfriend afterwards.]

"I might have made a mistake but I am an intern," Li Ai tried to argue. "Senior Designer Yuan, I fought hard to get this opportunity and I—" her voice wobbled. "I think I deserve a second chance—"

"…cut!"

——————————

Su Qiao resisted the urge to tear out all her hair. They'd been working on this scene for the better half of the day, even before Lin Zizhou's arrival interrupted their filming. Su Qiao had thought that the one good thing about having to spend the whole day in the vicinity of this disgusting man was that it would at least level up Bai Meixin's acting.

That was the way these novels worked, right? As the heroine of this touching love story, shouldn't Bai Meixin be inspired by the presence of the love of her life? Wasn't this the opportune moment to impress him with her artistry?

Mo Chen also let out an irritable sigh. He ran a hand through his hair, probably so frustrated with the snail's pace of their filming progression that he forgot that it was carefully styled. Now that it was mussed, he looked less like an overachieving CEO and more like a rakish playboy.

Director Fu came over. His expression was mildly exasperated as he watched Bai Meixin rush to wipe the tears pouring from her eyes but perhaps she looked so pitiful that he couldn't bring himself to scold her.

Or maybe it was because Lin Zizhou was following closely behind. Su Qiao was so intent on treating him like he was thin air that she missed the way his eyes roved between Bai Meixin and her with a calculating weight.

But Mo Chen didn't.

"I'm so sorry," Bai Meixin babbled, scrubbing at her face with the back of her hands. "I—I was just so emotionally affected by my character's grievances, I couldn't help it!" Anyone else would be a hot mess but because she was her, she just looked adorable. Su Qiao suddenly could understand the envy that she was supposed to harbour towards Bai Meixin as the antagonist.

Who wouldn't be jealous of convenience? Crying made Su Qiao's face a splotchy disaster. Her skin was very pale and tended to turn a patchy red whenever she wept. It was why Su Qiao had to be extremely careful when crying during filming. It required real skill and she'd spent ages practising it.

The director sighed. "I understand that you're new and you didn't train in acting school, it'll take a while for you to manage your emotions well, after filming, it would be good to ask your manager about arranging some lessons with your company's teachers. But it's out of character for Li Ai to cry here, you need to find a way to hold yourself back and portray yourself as tougher." He looked over. "Take Su Qiao for example, I recall how demure she was during the auditions but for this role, you can see how she firmed herself up. You need to develop this ability—"

"That's not necessary."

All heads apart from Su Qiao's turned in Lin Zizhou's direction. The attention didn't faze him.

Director Ma hesitated. If it were anyone else, he would have lectured them for interfering. But the CEO of DFE wasn't someone he could afford to offend. Not only were they in charge of a large portion of talent, but they also invested in many productions.

"Lin Zong means…" he enquired tentatively, praying that this taciturn young master wasn't about to say what he thought he was.

"I think Bai Meixin's portrayal of Li Ai is more realistic," Lin Zizhou continued, confirming all of Director Ma's worst fears. He dug around for a good excuse to help him convince Lin Zizhou that it made no sense whatsoever to rewrite whole chunks of the script just to fit an actress, especially since 'Diamond in the Rough' was based on a popular web novel. Fans would tear the drama's official Weibo page to shreds once word got out that they irresponsibly adapted the characterisation like that.

Compared to catering a script to an actress, it made far more sense to just replace her with a more competent alternative.

But how was he supposed to tell this CEO that?! Especially after witnessing the telling closeness between the both of them earlier that day? He should have known that this was going to be a problem after Bai Meixin accidentally called this intimidating man 'Big Brother' earlier on.

Luckily for Director Ma, he didn't have to open his mouth because someone's tolerance dwindled to zero before his.

"Indulge my curiosity, little CEO Lin," Su Qiao drawled. "Can you even write the characters for professionalism? Or did you return that to your elementary school teachers straight after your nepotic climb to your current position in your grandfather's conglomerate?"