[Ballet Troupe · Conference Room]
—The Official Invitation Scene for If Love Becomes a Calamity
The ballet troupe's conference room was always quiet and solemn,
tour posters on the walls arranged in perfect rows.
But today—
the moment the door opened, the atmosphere shifted.
At the front were two assistants from the production company, carrying thick stacks of documents.
In the middle came the producer, the marketing manager, and a line of executives.
And strolling in at the back, unhurried—
…was Jiang Wei (Wayne).
He wore a long black coat. The moment he took off his sunglasses, the outer corners of his eyes lifted sharply—
like he was about to put everyone in this room on trial.
The troupe staff froze.
Why was a styling director in the official negotiation team from a film company?
The troupe director hurried forward, smiling like he'd just seen a sugar daddy in person.
"Oh! Master Wayne is here too? What an honor for our troupe!"
Wayne put on a professional smile.
"A major shareholder showing up isn't that strange, is it?"
The troupe staff exchanged stunned looks.
What?!
So the man everyone thought was just a rich, flamboyant, sharp-tongued fashion weirdo—
was actually the big boss investor?!
Ye Xiaoxiao (in Qiao Fei's body) sat at the side of the conference table,
so nervous she felt like a student summoned to the principal's office.
Qiao Fei's soul sat cross-legged on the back of her chair, arms folded, observing.
The film company representatives immediately pulled out contracts, tablets, and a thick stack of scripts.
The producer spoke formally, excitement barely contained.
"Miss Qiao Fei, we sincerely invite you to star as the female lead in our new drama,
If Love Becomes a Calamity—as Shen Xu."
The troupe director's face glowed with pride.
"Feifei! This is a huge crossover opportunity!"
Ye Xiaoxiao shrank into herself.
"I—I don't know how to act… and I still need to dance White Feather… I—"
The troupe director slapped the table, cutting her off.
"It's fine! The troupe is willing to fully cooperate with your filming schedule!"
Ye Xiaoxiao stammered, "B-but our tour—"
"Postpone it! We'll postpone everything!" the director declared without hesitation.
(Crossover = free publicity! The performances will explode!)
The film company began rapidly listing the cast.
"Our male lead He Zhan has been confirmed. And the second male lead…"
The next second—
"Qin Mu."
The instant that name was spoken—
Right in that moment—
the silver ring on her wrist suddenly dinged and flashed once,
as if awakened by some invisible pull.
The glow was quick—gone just as quickly.
So faint it could've been a hallucination—
but it struck her heart for real.
Inside her head:
"Qin Mu… Qin Mu… it's him…!"
Qiao Fei's soul widened her eyes.
"Hey—hey? Why are you blushing all of a sudden? Who is he?!"
Ye Xiaoxiao's heartbeat was shoved hard off balance.
She wasn't moved by the role—
She was moved because—
He was the person she couldn't let go of the most.
The film company continued:
"This is the script and the preliminary schedule.
Miss Qiao Fei, we truly hope you'll accept."
But Ye Xiaoxiao's brain was still drowning in those two words: Qin Mu.
So—
without thinking, she nodded.
"I—I accept!"
The room went silent for three seconds.
The troupe director slammed the table in delight.
"Wonderful! Our troupe is finally going to produce a star!"
The film company hugged their documents like treasures.
"Welcome to If Love Becomes a Calamity!"
Qiao Fei's soul practically leapt into the air.
"Are you insane?!"
And Wayne—
Wayne simply stared at Ye Xiaoxiao (Qiao Fei),
a strange weight clogging his chest.
He didn't say a word.
But behind his sunglasses, his gaze looked like it was forcing an answer:
Qiao Fei… do you really not remember me?
When the film company finally left, the troupe director was so happy he looked ready to spin in place.
Assistants and staff excitedly discussed the news of "Qiao Fei acting."
But the lounge area outside the conference room was quiet.
Ye Xiaoxiao (in Qiao Fei's body) sat hugging the script.
Qiao Fei's soul floated cross-legged in the air, ready to start nagging—
"Why did you say yes back there? You—"
Suddenly—
the lounge door opened.
A man walked in with excessive perfume, glitter, and presence.
—Wayne.
But this time, he wasn't loud like usual.
He was… strangely quiet.
And the instant Jiang Wei stood at the doorway of the troupe lounge—
time seemed to rewind.
He was already a major shareholder of the film company, an eye-catching figure in the fashion world—
but the moment that familiar figure lifted her head,
his heart, unbelievably,
hurt and jolted like it had when he was twelve.
—Qiao Fei.
The little princess whose whole family escorted her on her first day of school.
The girl who seemed born with light on her back as she walked into the classroom.
Jiang Wei, as a child, was the complete opposite.
Skinny, small—often mistaken for someone a grade younger.
His parents were so busy they might as well not exist.
Even on the first day of school, they sent only a driver and a nanny.
He secretly envied other kids who could hold their mother's hand walking in.
He even envied those who had someone filming them at the school gate.
And then he saw—
Qiao Fei's whole family surrounding her, smiling as they straightened her tie, handed her water, patted her head.
That day, a sharp, ugly jealousy pounced on him.
So he ran right up to her
and attacked in the dumbest, rudest way—
the only way he knew how.
"Hmph! You probably can't do anything right!
Your mom must've prepared everything for you!"
Qiao Fei froze.
And from that moment on, pride grew thorns.
That sentence—
became her lifelong obsession:
"I'll rely on myself. No one gets to deny me."
Top student. Model student. Undefeated in dance competitions.
Qiao Fei shone her way into becoming "the perfect one."
Everyone thought she was naturally flawless.
Only she knew—
it all started from the cruel mockery of a stupid boy.
And that boy,
grew up quietly in the corner where she couldn't see.
In sixth grade, Qiao Fei won a ballet competition.
In a white leotard, she stood center stage.
And when the lights fell onto her—
Jiang Wei suddenly understood:
That thorn wasn't jealousy.
It was love.
But he didn't know how to be kind.
Other boys gave cards, candy, lined up to buy her drinks after class.
Jiang Wei?
He dangled rubber bug erasers to scare her.
He shouted near her ear.
He hid spring snakes under her chair.
Every time, Qiao Fei would point at him, furious:
"You—stupid—Jiang—Wei!!"
It was the harshest insult the Qiao family's heiress could manage.
But for some reason—
to Jiang Wei,
being cursed like that felt like being seen.
Now—thirteen years after elementary school graduation.
Every step Jiang Wei took toward Qiao Fei
(though it was actually Ye Xiaoxiao)
felt like he was crossing over that childhood
starved of love, full of stubborn bravado.
When he spoke, it wasn't Wayne's flamboyant tone.
It was the raw yearning of the boy he used to be.
"…You don't recognize me anymore?"
Ye Xiaoxiao panicked internally:
Oh no!!! I'm exposed!!! Can Wayne tell I'm not Qiao Fei?!
Qiao Fei's soul:
Huh? Who is this? Why don't I remember—
Jiang Wei slowly bent down,
like he was confirming whether she was still the little princess who used to curse him.
"We were classmates in elementary school."
—Pop.
Qiao Fei's soul exploded midair.
"Y-you—you're that—
Stupid Jiang Wei!!!"
Ye Xiaoxiao: "…?? 'You're that stupid Jiang Wei?'"
She repeated Qiao Fei's shout word for word.
Jiang Wei's eyes lit up—so bright it was unbelievable.
That single insult—
he had never forgotten.
And hearing it again now
made it feel like the whole world returned
to a sunny elementary school playground with wind in the air.