The male assistant looked up again.
Still wearing that arrogant, condescending look, he walked briskly past Jiang Liuyue, as if the pathetic figure from moments ago wasn't him at all.
"I know where you can buy iced coffee," Jiang Liuyue suddenly said.
The male assistant's steps halted.
He looked her up and down.
"You'd be that kind?"
Jiang Liuyue sighed and said, "You're just a working stiff like the rest of us. It's not easy for anyone. Why would I want to harm you?"
The male assistant looked at her, half-believing and half-doubting.
Ten minutes later.
Li Feile looked at the iced coffee the male assistant handed her, a tone of disgust in her voice.
"I asked you to buy a coffee and you dawdled forever. Do you have any idea how precious my time is?"
The male assistant knew that explaining anything at this point would be useless.
He could only apologize profusely.
Seeing his cowardly, easily bullied demeanor, Li Feile finally curled her lips into a smile.
She opened the small white hole on the coffee lid.
And took a sip.
It was cold, but the taste was a bit strange.
She frowned.
"The coffee from this place you bought isn't very good."
"Don't buy it from here next time."
The male assistant lowered his head and replied, "Yes, Sister Feile."
But in his mind, the scene from earlier surfaced.
When Jiang Liuyue had led him to the shop that served iced coffee, she had casually mentioned something.
"People who like this coffee think it's delicious, but those who don't think it tastes weird."
"Last time, a friend of mine even joked that it tastes like spit."
"Honestly, if I were buying coffee for someone I hated, I might just spit in it. They wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway."
Jiang Liuyue had said it so openly and naturally.
She even actually left right after leading him to this coffee shop.
The male assistant watched the liquid slowly swirling in the coffee machine.
He heard the clerk ask:
"To go, or for here?"
The male assistant said softly, "For here. Don't put the lid on yet, I'm going to add some sugar."
In reality.
He added a little something extra.
...
Jiang Liuyue returned to the set holding two cups of hot cocoa.
Seeing Qian Li, she handed one of the cups over.
"Sister Li, for you."
Qian Li took it, feeling flattered but also a bit guilty:
"Sigh, at the end of the day, these trivial things should be done by an assistant. It makes no sense for an artist like you to buy drinks yourself."
Jiang Liuyue smiled and said, "It's fine. I'm not even a D-list actress right now. When I get famous later, I'll have assistants and all that."
Seeing her good attitude.
Qian Li nodded.
And suddenly asked out of the blue:
"When are you and your boyfriend planning to break up?"
"Why?"
"Then maybe you should ask your boyfriend if he's married, or if he has a fiancée back home or something," Qian Li hinted vaguely.
Jiang Liuyue didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
But Qian Li looked completely serious:
"Don't forget how you got this second female lead role. If it weren't for the original actress getting exposed for having an affair with a married director—such a massive scandal—the production team wouldn't have recast the role at the last minute."
"You fought hard for this opportunity, so you must hold onto it!"
Jiang Liuyue patted her shoulder.
And comforted her:
"Don't worry, Sister Li."
"I'm not blinded by love."
Qian Li was still very persistent and asked again, "So when are you two breaking up?"
Jiang Liuyue thought about it.
"That's a hard question to answer."
Qian Li sighed, showing a worried expression, and said, "Then be discreet when you go out. Don't let the paparazzi photograph you."
"Don't worry, I know."
Today's scenes were relatively simple.
The Empress character played by Jiang Liuyue only needed to sit at the head seat, watch the other concubines come to pay their respects, and say a few indifferent, soothing lines as they bickered with each other.
Li Feile, playing Consort Li in the drama, ranked below the Noble Consort and sat in the second seat on the left.
She couldn't believe it.
The little actress who was like a maid by her side just yesterday had become the Empress today, sitting in a higher position than her.
Because of this, she forgot her movements and lines several times during filming.
After being scolded by the director a few times.
Li Feile threw a tantrum.
"This isn't my problem."
"It's because my co-star's acting is so bad that I can't immerse myself in the scene at all."
A flash of displeasure faintly crossed the faces of the actresses playing the Noble Consort and the Zhaoyi.
What did that mean?
Did she think their acting was bad?
The executive director knew that Li Feile had strong backing. Left with no choice, he could only let everyone take a break.
He tried his best to placate her.
Looking displeased, Li Feile pointed at Jiang Liuyue in the distance and said:
"It's all because of her that I can't get into character."
"I was already used to her being a maid. Now she's sitting up there in the Empress's clothes. How am I supposed to get into the scene?!"
These words were incredibly domineering.
But no matter how reluctant she was.
The executive director couldn't possibly demote Jiang Liuyue from the second female lead back to the role of Li Feile's maid.
He could only persuade her:
"Sister Feile, how about you just don't look at Jiang Liuyue while filming?"
"Look at the other actors."
"Anyway, she's just a background prop in this scene. She barely has any lines."
Li Feile glared at him and said with great dissatisfaction:
"Are you the actor or am I? Are you trying to teach me how to act?"
Her tone carried a hint of hostility.
She looked as if she might furiously stand up and hit someone the very next second.
The executive director was stunned by the scolding.
For a moment, he didn't dare reply.
The male assistant silently handed over the iced coffee from the side.
And said softly:
"Sister Feile, have some iced coffee to cool down."
The executive director chimed in, "Yes, cool down."
Looking unhappy, Li Feile took the iced coffee and had another sip.
Her brows furrowed.
She muttered under her breath:
"The taste of this coffee is really weird."
"Why does it smell a bit stinky, like spit?"
The male assistant explained without changing his expression, "The owner of that shop said their raw materials are all Kopi Luwak beans."
Kopi Luwak: "..."
Seemingly suffering a blow to its reputation.
Li Feile took another tiny sip.
Then handed the iced coffee back to the male assistant.
"I'm not drinking anymore."
"It tastes awful!"
The executive director, seeing that her mood had gradually stabilized.
Could only smile apologetically and say:
"How about this, Sister Feile? Today we'll first shoot the scenes that don't include Jiang Liuyue. Will that work?"
Hearing this, Li Feile still felt it wasn't enough.
And made another demand.
"Tomorrow and the day after, I don't want to do scenes with her either."
The executive director looked troubled but had no choice but to smile and agree for now.
Meanwhile, when Jiang Liuyue was informed by the executive director that she would have the next three days off and didn't need to come to the set, she was slightly taken aback and asked:
"Why? Are my scenes being adjusted?"
The executive director could only nod along.
"Yes, all the scenes of the previous actress need to be reshot. We are still tallying the number of reshoots needed and plan to film them all at once later."
"You should go back, review your script, and memorize your lines thoroughly."
How could Jiang Liuyue not guess that this was yet another of Li Feile's tricks?
She smiled and nodded.
As she prepared to leave, she suddenly walked over to Li Feile's rest area.
Her almond eyes curved into crescents, a faint smile playing on her lips.
She asked with concern:
"Sister Feile."
"Is the coffee good?"
