After the Substitute Left [Entertainment Industry]

Quite a few people in the industry knew that the genius actress Shen Chengmin was nothing more than Director Li's stand-in.

Five years ago, when Shen Chengmin was just starting out, she became embroiled in a contract dispute with a shady company. Her agent tracked her down to the film set, and the only person who stood in front of her was Li Yue, a rising star she had never met before.

Later, Shen Chengmin learned that Li Yue had helped her only because she wanted Shen Chengmin to be a stand-in for her own unattainable first love, Qin Qiongzhi.

There was nothing wrong with being a stand-in. Shen Chengmin always thought so. Perhaps one day, Li Yue might come to like her a little, too?

But time passed, and Shen Chengmin got nothing. Now the person Li Yue had always loved was coming back.

When Qin Qiongzhi returned to the country, Shen Chengmin drove Li Yue home after the welcome banquet.

She thought she would be subjected to endless taunts, but Li Yue, hazy with drink, suddenly threw her arms around her and gazed at her with the same bright eyes she had worn when they first met.

She asked Shen Chengmin, "Would you be willing to be the leading lady in my film?"

In that moment, Shen Chengmin thought she had finally made Li Yue look back at her.

"I will." Tears fell as she took Li Yue's hand. "I promise..."

Yet just over a month later, outside a press conference, Shen Chengmin heard Li Yue announce to the media that the leading role in her film had always been reserved for Qin Qiongzhi alone.

A reporter asked, "Director Li, we heard you were considering asking Miss Shen Chengmin to star in your next film. Now that Miss Qin has returned, do you still plan to work with Miss Shen?"

"Her?" Li Yue replied casually. "Did I ever say I was going to work with her? That must have been a misunderstanding."

Shen Chengmin stood outside all night in the heavy snow.

At last, she understood that everything concerning her was nothing more than a fleeting misunderstanding to Li Yue.

Shen Chengmin decided to give up.

*

But after Shen Chengmin left, Li Yue regretted it.

She put all her filming plans on hold, went to the city where Shen Chengmin was, and did everything she could to see her.

Scripts, resources, connections: she offered up everything she had never given Shen Chengmin before, all for the chance to meet her once.

"Xiao Cheng, will you get back together with me?" Li Yue said hoarsely, her expression full of desperate pleading. "Can we start over?"

Shen Chengmin simply looked at Li Yue.

"What do you mean, get back together, Director Li? Were we ever dating?"

She said it with a smile, asking Li Yue to step aside.

"It was only a misunderstanding, wasn't it?"

*Li Yue/Shen Chengmin

*Director/actress, regret-and-redemption arc

*An emotionally clueless puppy / a cool, reserved, sickly beauty with a tragic fate. The bottom has a mild physical disability affecting her legs.

Theme: Loving yourself is the prerequisite for everything.