Chapter 42: Declaration of War

Chapter 42: Declaration of War

Lu Yuan: "Who do you choose?"

Lin Shenshi: "......"

Could he choose neither?

What's the difference between being poisoned by a venomous snake and being mauled by a wild beast?

Oh, wait.

There is a difference.

Qi Lian likes the male lead, while Lu Yuan likes him. So... isn't the answer obvious?

Under Lu Yuan's intense gaze, Lin Shenshi stepped forward and looked up at this ruthless, obsessive top rival who had deviated from the original plot, become unhinged, and transferred his obsession elsewhere.

Lin Shenshi said solemnly:

"I choose Actor Qi."

A flicker of surprise passed through Lu Yuan's eyes, quickly replaced by a familiar coldness as his deep gaze shifted toward Qi Lian.

Ominous and dangerous, like the dark sky pressing down before a storm.

Lin Shenshi: Perfect!

He chose Qi Lian not only to keep himself as far away from Lu Yuan as possible but also because Lu Yuan was someone who would go to any lengths to eliminate romantic rivals.

In the original book, Lu Yuan repeatedly used underhanded means to try to take down Qi Lian, causing him a lot of trouble.

However, the third rival was not someone to be trifled with—not only did he survive, but he also pieced it together and uncovered the mastermind behind it. As retribution, Qi Lian also gave Lu Yuan plenty of headaches.

The two fought back and forth, a classic case of dog-eat-dog.

In the end, it was Yin Yunxian, who had been watching from the sidelines, who benefited, allowing this wealthy tycoon to monopolize the male lead for a long time.

Now, by redirecting the conflict, Lin Shenshi aimed to achieve a similar outcome.

—If those two were busy fighting each other, they naturally wouldn’t have time to harass him and Yu Lanzhao.

What a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone!

Seeing that Lin Shenshi had made his choice, Tang Sen quickly cleared the set and organized the rehearsal.

Lu Yuan gave Qi Lian a meaningful look but didn’t say anything more. At Tang Sen’s invitation, he sat down on a nearby chair, though the coldness in his eyes betrayed his inner turmoil.

Lin Shenshi memorized all his lines after just one read-through of the script. To his surprise, Qi Lian also had his lines down after just five minutes.

But on second thought, since Qi Lian had suggested the scene "Confrontation on a Snowy Night," it meant he must have already been familiar with it.

To be honest, aside from his tendency to recklessly imprison and force himself on the male lead, Qi Lian was truly impeccable in his acting career—skilled and dedicated, no wonder he had remained an A-list actor for so many years.

Sigh!

What a shame—such a talented young man, why did he have to be an antagonist?

Wouldn’t it be better to just marry a nice girl and build a warm, happy home?

He really couldn’t understand the thought processes of these men.

As Lin Shenshi mused, he stood in front of Qi Lian. At Tang Sen’s call of "ACTION," the two instantly slipped into character.

With a single lift of his eyes, Qi Lian fully embodied the image of a righteous sect’s Eldest Senior Brother betrayed by his trusted comrade.

"Junior Brother, was it really you?"

Those usually mischievous phoenix eyes now held only shattered sorrow and disbelief.

Lin Shenshi felt a pang in his chest, his emotions involuntarily stirred. He lifted his chin, feigning innocence and harmlessness as the script required.

"Eldest Senior Brother, what are you talking about?"

"Do I need to present all the evidence before you?"

"I didn’t..."

'Qi Lian' let out a heavy sigh, listing his oversights and flaws one by one. 'Lin Shenshi' went from denial and explanation to growing silence, until he finally closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly opened them again, leaving only helpless struggle and pain.

"Eldest Senior Brother, why did it have to be you? Why did it have to be you who exposed me?"

"Does it matter who exposed you?"

"Of course..."

'Lin Shenshi' looked at the person before him with mixed emotions, his amber eyes filled with attachment and reluctance.

"Anyone else, I could kill without hesitation. But you... I could never."

"Cut!"

As the scene ended, Tang Sen applauded excitedly: "Brilliant! Xiao Lin, I had no idea your acting was this good! You’re just as talented as Xiao Yu! Why on earth did you choose to work behind the scenes as an agent? With talent like this, you should be acting more!"

The rest of the crew also looked at him with admiration, but Lin Shenshi felt dazed, as if lost in a dream.

What? Good acting?

He... actually didn’t mess it up?

But... he’d never studied acting! His only experience related to performance was from the past month after crossing into this world, and most of that time had been spent trying to protect Yu Lanzhao. There was no way he could have become a skilled actor from just over a month of learning.

Lin Shenshi carefully recalled his performance. From the moment they started, it felt like he wasn’t himself anymore, as if some external force was guiding his body.

Joy, anger, sorrow, love, hatred—it was as though his body inherently knew how to express these emotions without needing any processing from his brain.

Could it be...

Was this the original body’s memory?

Just like how someone who has learned to ride a bicycle can pick it up again the moment they touch the handlebars, no matter how much time has passed—his body retained the original owner’s memory of acting. So even though he knew nothing about performance, he could still execute it perfectly?

No wonder Yu Lanzhao had always been so confident he could handle it. So the original owner was actually this skilled...

Lin Shenshi’s mind was a mess. By the time he regained his senses, only Yu Lanzhao was left by his side.

They were standing by the roadside waiting for a taxi.

Yu Lanzhao was thrilled: "Xiao Shi, from now on we can act together on set!"

"...Yeah." Lin Shenshi, still processing things, nodded blankly.

A car stopped in front of them.

The window rolled down, and the person in the driver's seat leaned out to greet them.

It was Tang Sen.

"Xiao Lin, Xiao Yu, hop in. I'll drive you back to school."

"Director Tang?" Yu Lanzhao waved, "Are you sure it’s not trouble? We can just take a taxi."

Tang Sen waved his hand. "No trouble at all. I have to be there anyway. It’s on the way. Get in, get in!"

Since Tang Sen was insisting, refusing would seem rude. They got into the car one after the other. Only after Lin Shenshi had slid into the back seat did he realize with a jolt that there was already someone else in the car.

On the roomy backseat, Lu Yuan sat with his legs crossed and hands folded on his knees. His sharp eyes glanced their way through gold-rimmed glasses.

Lin Shenshi froze on the spot.

A split second later, he instinctively reached for the door to get out, but found it had already automatically locked.

The car slowly started moving.

Lu Yuan’s eyes narrowed. "Where do you think you’re going?"

Lin Shenshi: "N-nowhere."

It wasn’t until Lu Yuan spoke that Yu Lanzhao noticed the presence of a fourth person in the car. He jolted upright like an alert deer, turning to look back, his fingers pressing deeply into the leather, leaving dents.

Noticing their reactions, Tang Sen said casually, "Oh, I just heard from Mr. Lu that it turns out you’re all his students. I happen to be driving him back to school, so I’ll just drop you off too."

Lin Shenshi: "..."

So the "business near the school" Tang Sen mentioned earlier was just driving Lu Yuan back...

Had he known, he definitely wouldn’t have gotten in the car.

But it was too late for regrets now. Lin Shenshi could only sit as close to the door as possible, leaving a wide gap between himself and Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan’s eyes scanned the empty space, paused for a few seconds, then closed as he feigned sleep.

Seeing that Lu Yuan didn’t move, Lin Shenshi shook his head at Yu Lanzhao in the front seat. The anxious teen finally sat back properly.

Perhaps noticing the awkward tension among the three, Tang Sen drove quietly without speaking.

For a while, the car fell into silence, with only the steady hum of the wheels rolling over the asphalt.

Lin Shenshi watched the scenery outside the window for a while, but his gaze wandered inevitably to Lu Yuan.

The man was still resting with his eyes closed—whether he was still pretending or had actually fallen asleep, it was hard to tell.

Lu Yuan’s skin was surprisingly smooth. Though he was thirty-five, he showed no signs of aging, not even the slightest crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes. Heavy dark circles hung under his eyes, as if he had been up all night for a long time. Combined with the exhaustion of travel, he radiated weariness from the inside out.

Perhaps that was why Lu Yuan didn’t have the energy to give them a hard time?

Lin Shenshi couldn’t help but feel grateful for the seminar. Seminars are great—seminars are amazing—may there be many more seminars, preferably ones that kept Lu Yuan locked inside and away from here.

But Lin Shenshi also knew it was unrealistic. Like this time, the seminar was originally supposed to end two days later, but Lu Yuan had returned early.

It was as if something had urged him to finish everything quickly and rush back as fast as possible.

Lin Shenshi pursed his lips, turned away from Lu Yuan, and looked back out the window.

But the moment he averted his gaze, the man who had been pretending to sleep slowly opened his eyes, his dark eyes fixed directly on him.

In his line of sight, the young man was leaning against the car window, which was rolled down about a centimeter. The warm midday winter wind seeped through the gap into the car, gently tousling the young man’s messy bangs.

Lin Shenshi’s hair wasn’t pure black but carried the same amber hue as his eyes, giving him a soft, lazy aura. Even just sitting quietly, he was hard to look away from.

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but recall the many days and nights when the young man had hunched over the desk in his office, focused and quiet, helping him write replies. He, too, had watched silently like this, wishing time would stand still, preserving that beauty forever so he could keep him by his side.

However...

Lu Yuan’s eyes darkened as he glanced toward the front.

In the front seat of the car, the vigilant young man was staring intently at him through the rearview mirror, his dark, deer-like eyes filled with wariness and warning.

Lu Yuan let out a soundless scoff.

He still remembered the muffled sounds and angry whispers that had come through the bug after that busy day at the seminar.

["No more kissing others."]

["Otherwise... I really don’t know what I might do."]

What? Did he still think he could claim what’s mine? Did he really believe that after just over a year of spending days and nights together, no one could take him away?

But Lu Yuan didn’t blame him.

Beautiful things always attract envy—he himself was no exception, nor was Yu Lanzhao, and especially not Qi Lian.

In the future, who else would come coveting what was his?

From the moment he recommended Lin Shenshi to Tang Sen, Lu Yuan had been prepared for a fight. But...

Yu Lanzhao, oh Yu Lanzhao, are you truly prepared? Do you know what consequences will follow when you push him into the role of the second male lead today?

The shining treasure could no longer be hidden. He was destined to be discovered by the world, his beauty witnessed by all. That man would eventually learn of his existence.

But clearly, you are not prepared.

And he—he had been waiting for years.

This struggle was inevitable, and in the end, the victor would be him alone.

Facing the young man’s vigilant stare, Lu Yuan mouthed silently.

It was both a declaration of war and a proclamation.

—"He is mine."