Apart from Su Wanli, one of the main characters, who had some complaints about the role she was to play, the other three temporary workers all approved of this script and unsparingly gave it the level of praise that “this will be the greatest script of the century.”
“…Really?”
Su Wanli angrily flipped through the script in her hands, her eyes quickly scanning the lines of text.
‘In her own opinion, this script was actually quite ordinary. There didn’t seem to be anything particularly outstanding about it, right?’
This morning, when Meng Wange handed the script to her, Su Wanli’s attention had been completely focused on the identity she was to play. She hadn’t actually looked at the story itself very carefully. Now that she thought about it…
Well, just like Xiao Fen said, in Meng Wange’s revised version, the main characters of the whole story were almost no longer Cinderella and the Prince.
The Prince had become a background character mentioned once by the Stepmother and then appearing briefly in the ending.
Furthermore, the two daughters the Stepmother brought with her had been reduced to one—the stepsister of Cinderella, played by Su Wanli, who was originally supposed to be one of the villains.
And this was also the role to which Meng Wange had made the biggest changes. She had almost leaped to become the female lead with as much screen time as Cinderella.
As for the specific content of the script…
—
Scene 1: The Grand Living Room.
(The Stepsister (played by Su Wanli) sits arrogantly on the sofa, trimming her nails while looking at Cinderella (played by Meng Wange) with a critical eye as she wipes the floor.)
Stepsister: Hey, you useless thing over there. Can’t you even clean the floor properly? Did you skip a meal or what? If I see a single speck of dust, you’re not getting dinner tonight!
Cinderella: Yes, sister. I’ll try harder.
Stepsister: …Tch, clumsy. Use more strength!
Cinderella (internal monologue): ‘…Ever since I came to this new home with my father, my stepsister has been making things difficult for me in all sorts of ways every day, giving me many troubles. But I always have this strange feeling in my heart… maybe my stepsister doesn’t really hate me?’
(Cinderella looks up and sees that although her stepsister says harsh words, her gaze is tightly furrowed, staring at Cinderella’s red and swollen knees from kneeling on the floor.)
Stepsister (stands up indignantly, then accidentally twists her ankle): …Tch, who told you to wipe the floor under my feet first? You almost made me fall! Go get me some medicine from the drawer! The red bottle!
Cinderella: Understood, sister. Do you need me to apply it for you?
Stepsister: No, forget it. Just looking at your stupid face annoys me. If you’re that diligent, put it on yourself.
(With that, the Stepsister crosses her arms and turns away coldly, leaving Cinderella alone by the living room drawer, holding the medicine for treating scrapes and relieving pain.)
—
Reading up to here, Su Wanli raised her eyebrows slightly, a strange sense of déjà vu appearing before her eyes.
…Was it a mistake?
Anyway, let’s read a little further…
—
Scene 3: The Kitchen at Noon.
(The Stepsister leans against the kitchen door, watching Cinderella busy around the stove with a critical gaze.)
Stepsister: Hey, Cinderella. This time’s mashed potatoes…
Cinderella: More carrots, less peas, and add a little extra dressing, right?
Stepsister (frowning): Tch. You remember the unimportant trifles well enough. What about Mother? How are you going to make hers?
Cinderella: Mother’s portion… she never gives me any specific requirements. But last time we ate, I noticed she deliberately added carrots, peas, and a little dressing to each spoonful before putting it in her mouth. Maybe she needs a more balanced serving?
(The Stepsister seems a bit surprised by this, but immediately furrows her brow and appears somewhat angry.)
Stepsister: …Hmph. That’s nothing special. You’re still far from earning my approval!
(With that, she turns and leaves quickly, leaving Cinderella alone in the kitchen.)
Cinderella (gazing upward toward the direction the Stepsister left): …Approval?
—
As she read, Su Wanli felt the same question arise in her heart as Cinderella’s.
Of course, so far, all the plot seemed quite different from her own real life with Meng Wange.
But…
There seemed to be some little clever touches from Meng Wange in this script.
If viewed from an outsider’s perspective, Cinderella and her father moved into the Stepmother’s house, and then in daily life, she was constantly harassed by her Stepsister, but Cinderella overcame it all. Now she even remembered the Stepsister and Stepmother’s food preferences…
So, did “approval” mean whether the Stepsister recognized Cinderella as a member of the family?
With this thought, Su Wanli continued flipping to the next page of the script.
—
Scene 6: Bedroom at Night.
(Thunder roars outside the window. Cinderella lies in bed, frowning and tossing and turning. The bed board squeaks.)
Stepsister (bursting in): …So noisy! Have I been too soft on you lately, making you think you can do whatever you want in the house?
(Cinderella doesn’t answer, only curling up further.)
Stepsister: Hey? Didn’t you hear me? If you keep disturbing my sleep like this, I’ll throw you out the window!
(Cinderella doesn’t answer, only curling up further.)
Stepsister (confused, steps forward and touches Cinderella’s forehead): Huh? This… is she really running a fever?
Cinderella (murmuring softly): …So cold.
Stepsister (slaps her own forehead): …What an idiot. After the season changed, she didn’t even ask for an extra blanket. Can’t take care of herself. Do I have to take care of her proactively?
(Looking at the expression on Cinderella’s face, the Stepsister finally sighs softly. She brings over her own extra blanket, wanting to cover Cinderella, but not sure how to do it without waking her. After hesitating for a long time, she simply places the blanket at Cinderella’s feet, drapes the clothes that were by the bedside over her, and puts the sleeve of the clothes into Cinderella’s palm, pretending that Cinderella did it all herself.)
—
Su Wanli took a deep breath and rubbed her temples with her fingertips.
What a strange feeling.
For some reason, the words spoken by the Stepsister in this script somehow sounded like something she herself would say, and the way of thinking was subtly similar…
Had Meng Wange written her own understanding of Su Wanli directly into the script?
No, that couldn’t be.
From the looks of it, this Stepsister was clearly the type who was hard on the outside but soft on the inside. When she needed to be forceful, Su Wanli had never held back…
But no matter how she looked at it, the role she was playing wasn’t a malicious villain.
Which also indirectly showed that her image in Meng Wange’s heart was still quite positive?
Su Wanli subconsciously turned her head and looked at the brown-haired girl beside her.
Even though it was still class time, Meng Wange seemed to have already noticed what Su Wanli was doing.
She was squinting slightly, watching Su Wanli’s reaction, with a faint smile on her lips.
Realizing this, Su Wanli’s mind became chaotic for a moment.
“!? #￥@%…”
She instinctively covered her face with the script, and the force almost tore the script in two.
…She had been seen.
Just now, during class, the expressions and reactions she made while scratching her head over Meng Wange’s script had been seen by her!
No, maybe not completely?
Perhaps Meng Wange just happened to glance at her, and that smile didn’t mean anything…
“Next question, Meng Wange, please answer.”
On the lecture platform, the math teacher whose voice sounded like a broken bellows happened to call on Meng Wange, breaking the deadlock in the back row.
Meng Wange blinked at Su Wanli, lightly stuck out her tongue, then stood up and bowed apologetically to the math teacher—
“Sorry, Teacher Zhang Benying. I was a bit distracted just now. May I ask which question you need me to answer?”
“…Hmph. I’ve been seeing you flirting with the girl next to you for a while now. Don’t think you can get away with anything just because you have good grades. The road ahead is still long.”
The math teacher shook his head silently, then used his pointer to tap a certain area on the blackboard.
“Come up and solve this problem.”
“…Yes.”
Although Meng Wange’s expression was calm, looking no different from usual, Su Wanli had already buried her head in her arms, barely able to control her expression.
So, this Meng Wange…