Extreme Pampering
Chapter 160: Can You Leave for a Business Trip Immediately?

Chapter 160: Chapter 160: Can You Leave for a Business Trip Immediately?

After Shen Zhiyi successfully passed the audition, she quickly received a notice to join the cast. It turned out that except for the roles of the second and third female leads, the rest had already been decided, and everything was well prepared. It was just that the director had not yet determined who to give these two important female roles to.

"So they still went with Xu Xia for the third female lead?" Shen Zhiyi asked with some surprise when she heard Xiaodong gossiping about this.

Hmm... Xu Xia’s acting really isn’t up to par.

"Yeah," Xiaodong had seen Xu Xia’s work and knew what her acting was like. For her to be selected despite that, it was obvious she’d pulled some strings, "It really makes the whole elaborate audition process seem like a joke."

If they had said the roles were precast, who would have bothered making the effort?

Shen Zhiyi did not comment on this but felt slightly concerned.

The role she was playing had quite a few scenes with Xu Xia’s character, the third female lead.

It wasn’t that she was worried about Xu Xia doing something to her; Shen Zhiyi simply disliked when personal issues affected the progress of filming. If Xu Xia was uncooperative, it would inevitably impact the shooting.

However, Shen Zhiyi didn’t dwell on it too much and went to the filming location after getting ready.

On the first day of joining the cast, most of her fellow actors were new faces. Shen Zhiyi greeted each one until Xu Xia arrived, and both adopted a cold and distant attitude.

"Xu Xia and Zhiyi have worked together before, right?" The director looked over the script. "Let’s shoot the scene between you two first today, then."

Neither actor had any objections. Shen Zhiyi handed her phone to Xiaodong and whispered a few words to her.

"Sister Zhiyi isn’t ready yet?" In public, Xu Xia’s attitude was very polite, inadvertently reverting to the familiar way of addressing her.

"All set."

Shen Zhiyi responded and went to her designated spot.

The scene was about the second female lead being caught having an affair, and the third female lead, who had been eyeing her husband, comes to confront her. She accuses the second lead of betraying her marriage and pressures her to divorce quickly. It was a scene full of conflict and tension, requiring the release of emotions.

The first half went smoothly, with Xu Xia reciting her lines fluently, albeit a bit exaggerated. But, there were no slip-ups, and the director did not call cut, until a crisp "slap" was heard by everyone.

It was Xu Xia slapping Shen Zhiyi.

The slap was scripted, but no one expected Xu Xia to actually hit for real, and so hard at that, turning Shen Zhiyi’s face red instantly.

"I’m sorry," Xu Xia quickly apologized, "Sister Zhiyi, I’m really sorry. The director told me before to make it real, but I didn’t control my strength properly. I’m really sorry."

With one cheek burning as if on fire, and still tingling, Shen Zhiyi looked at Xu Xia’s insincere behavior, feeling both bemused and amused.

She had always known that Xu Xia didn’t like her. At first, she thought it was because she was Huo Heng’s contractual girlfriend, occupying the spot of his girlfriend, but she gradually realized that Xu Xia didn’t care about Huo Heng at all. Xu Xia’s dislike for her had nothing to do with Huo Heng.

This inexplicable hostility made Shen Zhiyi find her rather laughable.

Was she really daring enough to think she could take advantage of filming to strike her and that Shen Zhiyi would just take the insult silently?

Seeing that the atmosphere was off, the director quickly came over to mediate, "How could you be so careless? You need to apologize properly to Zhiyi later. Zhiyi, don’t be too hard on Xu, she’s new to acting and still quite clumsy."

"If it wasn’t on purpose," Shen Zhiyi took the ice pack Xiaodong offered and applied it to her face, "I certainly won’t take offense."

"But if it was intentional," she looked at Xu Xia and smiled faintly, as if joking, "I will return the favor."

Because of the injury, they couldn’t continue filming the next scene, and Shen Zhiyi had to end her workday early.

The director hadn’t initially planned to shoot the slap in this scene. It was unexpected for Xu Xia to slap without giving any warning, and he wasn’t pleased inside. However, considering her connections, he had to tolerate it.

"Sister Zhiyi," Xiaodong saw her swollen face, fuming with the urge to punch someone, "How dare she!"

With so many people watching, Xu Xia was truly lawless.

"Did you get it all on camera?" Shen Zhiyi hadn’t expected Xu Xia to actually hit her, but luckily, she was mentally prepared and wouldn’t suffer in silence.

"Captured everything, from start to finish," Xiaodong said with a bit of relief, "Thankfully, we recorded it. I’ve already sent it to Sister Feifei, so she can make arrangements."

Shen Zhiyi hummed in acknowledgment and said nothing more.

After all, she had been slapped in vain. She was not in a good mood, especially since it was the first day of filming—it felt like an ominous start.

"Xu Xia is so bold, now daring to hit people, what will she do next?" The more Xiaodong thought, the more worried he became, "If she keeps causing trouble every time, how can we continue shooting the film?"

"She won’t stay long," Shen Zhiyi said indifferently, sending several messages to Wang Feifei, "Do you think she’s only ever targeted me?"

Xiaodong looked puzzled: "You mean—"

"She’s got lots of dirt on her," Shen Zhiyi wouldn’t allow a ticking time bomb to linger around her. Xu Xia’s slap today was essentially blocking her own retreat, "Let’s see how much Sister Feifei can dig up."

The reason Xu Xia had been unrestrained for so long was that in addition to Huo Heng, she had other backers. But then, didn’t Shen Zhiyi have her own support?

Others might not dare to touch Xu Xia, but Shen Zhiyi had no such fears.

But the immediate concern was...

"Can I take a leave of absence?"

Xiaodong: "Sis, where do you have the opportunity to take a leave right now? You’ve been injured, you should stay home and recover properly."

Shen Zhiyi sighed, "Then do you think Pei Yu can go on a business trip right away?"

Xiaodong: "..."

Okay, so she was worried about her brother-in-law finding out.

"Why keep it a secret," Xiaodong said, confused, "He should see how you’ve been bullied, so he can stand up for you."

"You don’t understand," Shen Zhiyi touched her obviously swollen face, "If he gets involved, resolving this matter won’t be that simple."

Mainly, she didn’t want Pei Yu to think she couldn’t handle even this minor issue on her own. She could completely resolve Xu Xia’s matter by herself.

Shen Zhiyi returned to Huating in worry. She was wearing a mask so the butler didn’t notice anything unusual at first, until he caught her sneaking a drink.

Seeing her clearly swollen face, the butler gasped, "What happened?"

"Um..." Shen Zhiyi said softly, "I got injured while filming."

"Who gets injured like this while filming?" The butler wasn’t foolish and saw that something was amiss right away, "I’ll tell Mr. Pei."

"Don’t," Shen Zhiyi feared this the most and quickly stopped him, "Don’t tell him yet, it’ll affect his work. I’ll tell him when he comes back tonight."

The butler frowned at her, but ultimately he was moved by her pitiful gaze and compromised, "Alright, then I’ll call the doctor over."

Pei Yu was bound to get angry when he saw her like this upon his return.