The Best Actor Insists On Living With Me!-Chapter 1724 - 1716: Short on Money (2)

Sometimes, your personal experiences and the feeling of them being turned into a script are completely different.

No matter what you’ve been through, you tend to see it as ordinary at the time. But when it’s written into a script, with the embellishment of words and artistic impact, especially from a third-person perspective and from the female angle, it leaves a deeper impression than the original experience.

Especially for Xia Siyu, who wanted to portray the true situation, but eventually accepted the screenwriter’s suggestion to modify the personality of the male protagonist. The scene Xia Youbiao watched was actually a reenactment of the snowy night when they were driven out. Of course, in the script, there was no role for the daughter; the outburst occurred at the time of the wedding.

In reality, faced with his parents, relatives, wife, and daughter, he chose his parents. But in the script, it was written that at the beginning, the heroine was already at her wit’s end when facing societal judgment. Yet at the male protagonist’s home, she had to face the entire family’s reproach alone. The male protagonist, rather than choosing between family and love, was making a choice between right and wrong.

Although he expressed: "I understand my parents’ good intentions and know this incident has caused reputational issues for you all, he still chose her. She did nothing wrong; she was merely a victim."

Perhaps many people from that era couldn’t understand at the time, but now, even though the person involved still inevitably faces some criticism over the breach of privacy, societal norms are more open, and such incidents don’t cause much surprise. Some lesser-known stars even use so-called "scandalous photos" to gain fame, willing to do anything to become popular.

In fact, parents really can’t overrule their children. Even Xia Youbiao, despite the family’s staunch opposition, obtained a marriage license and continued to reunite with them annually. If he hadn’t brought them back, hadn’t faced off with the family, he wouldn’t have experienced such an awkward event on a snowy night.

But, he didn’t understand at the time; his wife and parents shared no blood relationship. The only link was himself. As the intermediary, he couldn’t always shy away, remain weak, demand one side to sacrifice and compromise to satisfy the unreasonable demands of the other.

If he couldn’t manage that, he had to choose a side. He couldn’t want everything because that was unfair to both parties. In reality, he sacrificed his wife and daughter’s rights.

Reflecting now, was it truly necessary for him to cling to his stubborn parents and those relatives eyeing his family fortune?

Wanting everything means ending up with nothing.

Xia Siyu only brought out this small segment of the script. She was accustomed to annotating the scenes to be shot daily, also noting the emotions and causes and effects she needed to portray. He couldn’t see the subsequent content, but he saw that after the male protagonist uttered that line, the heroine’s eyes immediately lit up.

Actually, she didn’t need the male protagonist to make any sacrifice. Perhaps, in the end, the conflicts were irreconcilable, and they would break up; she might even withdraw voluntarily. However, the male protagonist’s attitude at that moment could tell her that she hadn’t loved the wrong person before. In a world closing in on her from all sides, all she needed was recognition, just confirmation.

Regrettably, in the real world, he eternally missed the opportunity to say that line.

Xia Youbiao held the script for a long time after hearing the phone call end outside, quickly putting it to the side. Xia Siyu disliked others meddling with her stuff, and he didn’t want her to know he had been reading the play she was currently involved in.

Although Xia Siyu seldom spoke and hardly interactively engaged with him during this period she was taking care of him, it was already the longest period of contact since their fallout. He was very content.

Sure enough, Xia Siyu came in shortly after. She frowned, seemingly in a bad mood.

Xia Youbiao asked, "What’s wrong?"

Xia Siyu, not realizing she was speaking to her father, replied offhandedly, "Couldn’t secure the investment."

Upon saying this, she looked up, found herself conversing with her father, and her eyes turned silent again. She didn’t mean to not care about her dad, but thinking about the past made it difficult to get over herself. Yet her father’s suffering weighed on her heart too, resulting in the awkward family dynamics they had.

Xia Youbiao asked again, "Is it for the film project you’re shooting lately?"

Xia Siyu thought of her mother’s drama, nodded perfunctorily, "Sort of."

Xia Youbiao didn’t inquire further and, without much hesitation, immediately offered, "I can fund it."

Xia Siyu didn’t think twice, her first remark was, "No need."

Xia Youbiao questioned, "Why not?"

Xia Siyu scoffed lightly, "If I use your money, I’m afraid your sons and daughters, and those relatives of yours, will attack me."

Xia Youbiao had long been accustomed to hearing those people subtly or openly say bad things about Xia Siyu these days, accusing her of approaching him for money. See, once asked, Xia Siyu immediately refused. Does that look like someone out for money?

"You don’t need to worry about them." He had already arranged the will, intending it to be Xia Siyu’s, just doing it sooner.

"I’m not worried about them one bit. I’ll resolve our project myself."

"It probably isn’t easy to solve, otherwise you wouldn’t have had that expression just now." Xia Youbiao looked at her seriously; after all, he was a businessman who couldn’t be fooled by expressions.

"Bo Yan and I already have a solution." In fact, today was their last shot at securing the investment; if it failed, they would mortgage their property the next day.

"You’re not planning to sell something, are you? Or sign a profit-sharing agreement. Those are pitfalls, and if you sign, given the tough state of the film industry now, it’s likely you’ll have to bear losses."

In fact, Bo Yan and Xia Siyu had considered such an agreement but decided against it. Both felt that signing it would force them to take on a bunch of cheap productions just for money, and deteriorating their craft would be inevitable, making further improvement in their acting skills impossible.

Xia Siyu didn’t say much, but he had guessed correctly about the first point even if he was wrong about the second.

Xia Youbiao knew that his daughter didn’t want him to pay, didn’t want to use his money, to avoid being unable to stand firm against Xia Family members, Xia Sicai, and Tong in the future.

She was hot-tempered and had a strong sense of self-esteem. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have fought her way into the entertainment industry for sheer pride and achieved her current status.

Having endured various criticisms since childhood allowed her to stand tall in the whirlwind of the entertainment circle, completely unfazed by the hacker’s online attacks.