Chapter 77: Who Fooled Whom

She had anticipated this reaction from everyone, so Chu Luoxi was more than happy to feign ignorance. Being a newcomer had its advantages—people were far more forgiving of minor mistakes, and she could act with impunity!

"Pfft, Director Qiu, where on earth did you find such a thoughtful Consort Roufei? Not only has she won over the Emperor, now even the Empress Dowager is in her pocket!" Yao Xiao teased, genuinely impressed by Chu Luoxi. When she herself was a newcomer, she could barely manage her own affairs, let alone think of others.

"Hehe, that just shows my discerning eye. Look at me—even as the director, I’m starting to envy the Empress Dowager," Qiu Xian chimed in, helping Chu Luoxi out of the awkward spot. These things could easily arouse resentment if handled poorly. People rarely care about the effort you put in; they only envy the advantages you gain from it. To be on friendly terms with someone as experienced as Xia Qing was something many desired but dared not pursue themselves, so it was only natural for some to harbor opinions about Chu Luoxi.

Still, if everyone only minded their own business and tiptoed around, how could society remain harmonious? It wasn’t that such actions were forbidden, but rather that one had to be wary of petty people.

Xia Qing let out a snort, giving Chu Luoxi a knowing look. "Did you hear that? Director Qiu is hinting at something—you’d better put on a good performance!"

"Hehe, that’s true," Chu Luoxi replied with a radiant smile, standing up with a look of feigned difficulty. She even threw a resentful glance over. "Director Qiu, you’re sitting so far away. What am I to do? I can hardly go over there and push Sister Yuyun aside, can I?"

If she were truly to serve Qiu Xian food now, it would only cement her reputation as an obsequious flatterer. But since the conversation had reached this point, she could only mask it with humor. Otherwise, to embarrass the director in front of so many people would surely mean the end of her prospects.

"Eh? Why me? Why not Huang Zixue?" Yu Yuyun blinked in confusion, but she readily gave Chu Luoxi an easy way out.

Hearing this, everyone turned to Chu Luoxi with curiosity, eager for her response.

Unfazed, Chu Luoxi widened her eyes in mock disbelief. "Sister Yuyun, are you asking me to request the Emperor to abdicate? Please don’t scare me like that—that’s terrifying!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Chu Luoxi truly had a gift for acting—here at the dinner table, they had an Empress Dowager and an Emperor. Could things possibly get any funnier?

Seeing the reaction, Chu Luoxi raised an eyebrow, calm and collected. Just as she had expected—successfully steering the conversation away was already a victory.

Liu Yun looked at Chu Luoxi wordlessly. He could see that this was all a play within a play, orchestrated by Chu Luoxi herself. While everyone else thought she was merely performing to entertain and break the ice, they didn’t realize that the entire scenario—the setup, the reactions, even the outcome—had all been part of Chu Luoxi’s original script!

He was certain that if it weren’t for the desire to fit in with the crew, Chu Luoxi wouldn’t care at all about what others thought, let alone expend so much effort to stage such a scene for everyone’s amusement.

In other words, to pull off something like this in this setting, at this moment, had all been Chu Luoxi’s plan from the start. She had anticipated everyone’s reactions—what could be more suited to the entertainment industry than such a person?

Some fancied themselves as having seen through Chu Luoxi’s façade, but how could they know that it wasn’t precisely what she intended them to see?

She shot Liu Yun a secret, playful grimace, knowing full well that he, sharp as ever, had seen through her intentions and tactics.

In the end, the entertainment industry remained as capricious as ever. In her previous life, she’d never seen things so clearly, nor had she the chance to play like this. Now, she found the circle far more interesting than she had ever realized.

It seemed her mindset had changed. She often felt like the sober one among the intoxicated, seeing things that had once been invisible to her, relishing the novelty.

After the lesson learned from Huang Zixue earlier, no one drank any more alcohol that evening. Better safe than sorry—what if something really did happen? Besides, there were still several scenes to shoot that night; only a fool would risk tempting fate at a time like this.

Her own shooting schedule was not as hectic as she’d imagined, and Chu Luoxi found herself quite fond of the computer in her room. Before coming, she hadn’t expected such a privilege. It seemed the director understood the necessity of keeping pace with the times. After all, shooting a drama for months on end couldn’t mean falling completely out of touch with the world.

Thus, Master Baiyun was pleasantly surprised to discover that Chu Luoxi had not vanished as she’d threatened—she just appeared at irregular intervals, but at least she could still be reached.

"Thank goodness you haven’t disappeared completely. Life without you is tough!" Master Baiyun said in all sincerity, his tone tinged with genuine melancholy.

Chu Luoxi responded with an exaggerated sweat emoji and an eye roll. "You’re nuts! Don’t say such ambiguous things to me. Even if I’m not around, you still have to keep writing and updating. Otherwise, you’ll have a mob baying for your blood!"

Master Baiyun’s new novel was doing exceptionally well, with all the stats breaking records daily—so much so that it seemed almost unreal. Chu Luoxi often joked about it. Fortunately, the internet was much more regulated now, and the notorious click-farmers had vanished. Everyone knew this, so aside from the usual amazement and envy, no one doubted the authenticity of the numbers.

"…You’re so heartless. Do you want to see me hunted down?" Master Baiyun complained, accusing her of her callousness.

He had already noticed the signs; the messaging accounts he’d posted in the past were now too risky to open, and he’d hurriedly deleted those messages overnight. Luckily, he hadn’t started a reader group—otherwise, it would be a headache now.

Master Baiyun reflected that friends like Chu Luoxi, who actually helped his writing, were enough—too much excitement was nothing but trouble.

"Exactly! You seem to enjoy being hunted down. If a group of beautiful women came after you, who knows how thrilled you’d be…" Chu Luoxi scoffed. Although Master Baiyun rarely wrote multi-heroine or harem stories, she understood all too well the foibles of men.

"…Is that really how low I rank in your eyes?" Master Baiyun was speechless. Why was it that Chu Luoxi always cut him down? Worse, he couldn’t talk back, or the storm would only get fiercer.

"Hmph, men are all the same," Chu Luoxi retorted, her eyes full of laughter. She admitted, teasing Master Baiyun gave her a sense of accomplishment, and he evoked in her a wicked urge to bully him. Every time he was left dumbstruck and at a loss for words, her spirits soared.

"…" Master Baiyun was once again at a loss, feeling like he was asking for punishment.