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Su Shen blushed and looked down without saying anything.

She didn’t want to go ask He Hua now. After all, their relationship was based on the link with Xie Yan. It was like if she hadn’t used up all the money in her pocket, she would definitely not borrow money from others easily. Likewise, she should give the company some more time. When they really couldn’t handle it anymore, she would then go find He Hua.

After she got her hair done, she sent another message to Liu jie, asking if she could deal with the matter.

However, Liu jie only said that it was impossible to suppress it now. Moreover, the several endorsements that had been negotiated more or so were hesitant to go forward today. Obviously, they thought that her current bad reputation would have an impact on the brand image.

“For now, we can only draw away the public’s attention. Li Tiantian was originally going to go public with her relationship next month, but since something had happened to you, the company decided to let her announce it today, hoping to divert the public’s attention away.” Liu jie said solemnly on the phone.

Hearing this, Su Shen just mumbled “en,” and then hung up the phone.

Li Tiantian was also an artist in their company and could be considered a B-list actress. However, her boyfriend was a child star and was famous in the country. The news should be able to divert some of the public’s attention away.

In the past, if there was something wrong, Liu jie would always ask her to let Xie Yan help her. But when it came to PR matters, she would not let her ask Xie Yan for help. Su Shen knew that Liu jie was afraid that she would lose faith in the company and would follow Xie Yan away. After all, the opportunities that Starlight Entertainment could give her, He Hua could also give her, and the pay cut wouldn’t be as severe.

Even though she didn’t go find He Hua, the other party arrived at her doorsteps himself.

As soon as Su Shen changed her clothes and was about to go out to film, she heard someone knocking on the door of the dressing room. Thus, she asked Xiao Zhou to open the door. 

As soon as the door opened, she saw He Hua in a trench coat with meticulously combed hair walk in. Seeing this, the makeup artist and Xiao Zhou both walked out with discerning eyes and closed the door in passing.

She didn’t expect that he would come to her on his own initiative. With a frown, Su Shen said insipidly, “Xie Yan’s dressing room is over there.”

“I’ve seen him.” He Hua also didn’t like to chatter around. He took out a box of cigarettes, took one out and handed it to her, “Gold Leaf*.”

Gold Leaf – it’s an actual cigarettes brand in China—黄金叶

Su Shen: “……”

“I don’t like to smoke.”

Hearing this, He Hua paused for a sec before preparing to put it away.

“But, you can smoke.” In passing, she could observe his expression when he smoked. 

As if he had seen through her mind, He Hua suddenly smiled and took out a cigarette. He put it in his mouth and lit it with a lighter. He inhaled deeply and clamped the cigarette with three fingers, squinting while exhaling a large circle of smoke. Then, he walked over to the sofa and sat down.

“As you can see, even at this time, Starlight Entertainment wouldn’t expend a lot on you. Their resources would only be spent on people like Ye Hong. Your career just started, so how can their PR team be willing to expend great effort on you?” He Hua said calmly while smoking the cigarette in his hand. 

Ye Hong was the top actress at Starlight Entertainment and had received a Best Actress in Drama before. The productions she had all starred in were of fine works. The company loved and protected her in every way possible. But, Su Shen was not stupid. It was obvious that He Hua’s words were trying to sow dissension. Even so, her next drama was invested in by Starlight Entertainment. If she terminated the contract now, it would be like burning the bridge after crossing it.

“Thank you for your reminder, but I have my own plan.” Su Shen said unhurriedly.

“You youngsters like to act on emotions. When you regret, you will know how stupid you were at that time.” He Hua exhaled a mouthful of smoke and said, “Family price. If you come to our company, it’ll be three to seven. Moreover, Xie Yan’s a shareholder. Half of that third would be going into his pocket. Isn’t his stuff also yours? We’re all one family, why don’t you believe me?”

Su Shen had seen how eloquent He Hua was with his words. He would intimidate you first. Even if she wanted to switch companies, Su Shen would also go ask for Xie Yan’s opinion instead of listening to him blabber here.

“We haven’t even married, so how are we one family? It will be so embarrassing if we break up in the future, no?” Su Shen turned and looked at him with a faint smile.

After a pause, He Hua took another smoke. After a few seconds, he then said, “You should be confident in your relationship with Xie Yan. Even if you guys break up, you guys can still be friends, or even as a work partner.”

After saying that, he took out his phone as if he wanted to prove something and said fervently, “Give me five minutes. I only need to send a message to solve the problem that Starlight can’t solve.”

Hearing this, Su Shen smiled, “Does Xie Yan know that you came to find me?”

After tapping twice and seeing the message that had just been sent, He Hua took another smoke confidently and leaned against the sofa blowing smoke, “Of course Xie Yan knows, but he’s a blockhead. You don’t need to worry about him.”

As if he thought of something, he smiled and said earnestly, “When you get married to Xie Yan in the future, you don’t need to sign any contract. What’s Xie Yan’s is also yours!”

Seeing that he was getting more and more ridiculous, Su Shen almost laughed out loud. He Hua’s flattery ability was absolutely top-class. No wonder he was well-connected in this industry, unlike Liu jie, who never liked to boot-lick others.

“No need to say anything more; if I have this idea, I will ask for Xie Yan’s opinion. But, I don’t plan to switch companies for the time being.” Su Shen said insipidly.

Seeing her being stubborn, He Hua was met with a deadend. He was basically signing Su Shen for free, but the other party had actually declined? 

“Well, you can come find me once you’ve thought it through at any time.” He Hua stood up and took out a business card from his pocket before placing it on the vanity while emphasizing, “You don’t believe me, but you must believe in Xie Yan.”

Su Shen: “…….”

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Maliciously Attacked Online

Su Shen felt a little guity, but on second thought, she didn’t do anything wrong, and Tan Haozhi didn’t like her either. They were just ordinary neighbors. 

With this thought, she immediately nodded assuredly, “My neighbor, we’ve known each other for a long time.”

Seeing that she admitted it so frankly, Xie Yan stared at her fixedly for a while before pulling her up, “Let’s go then.”

Su Shen put on a big down coat, a cap, and a pink mask, leaving only her eyes exposed. Then, she followed Xie Yan out of the dressing room into the cold.

The staff outside seemed to have been used to seeing the two of them going in and out everyday. Insiders in the industry knew that Xie Yan was an extremely low-key person. Besides when filming, his figure couldn’t be seen at all. But no one had expected that he would dote on his girlfriend so much!

The filming site was in a small gated community, which had been reserved by the production team. When they walked to the entrance, Uncle Liu, who was smoking inside the security booth, immediately stubbed the cigarette as he saw Su Shen coming over through the glass window and walked out of the security booth. He said to Xie Yan earnestly, “Xie Yan, you have to take good care of Su Shen. This girl asked me how to roll a cigar two days ago. She’s still so young, don’t let her ruin her health because of acting.”

After saying that, the two young security guards at the side couldn’t help laughing. Not long ago, Su Shen liked to discuss the feeling of smoking with them, which was odd.

At that, Xie Yan couldn’t help but look at the person beside him bundled up warmly, with the latter looking away from him and said in a muffled voice, “I didn’t smoke. I just wanted to learn how to roll an old-fashioned cigar and how to light it.”

The posture of smoking was very important, as well as the expression shown when smoking. The minute details changed everything, so she had to mull about it carefully.

But this Uncle Liu was so wicked. She had clearly given him several of Xie Yan’s autographed photos for his granddaughter, but now, he’s snitching on her! 

“You’re still making a point, aren’t you, little cigar pipe?” Xie Yan pulled down her cap, and Su Shen immediately shuddered due to the cold wind. 

“You’re the big cigar pipe!”

Wearing a cap, Su Shen strode out of the gated community and decided that she would never seek Uncle Liu again. Wang ge from the props team was also a veteran smoker; she’d go and observe his expression when he’s smoking in the future. 

After walking out of the gated community for a while, she saw a familiar black Bentley parked on the side of the road. She took a look at Xie Yan following behind her and lowered her cap again for fear of being photographed.

When Tan Haozhi saw her coming over, he immediately got out of the car. When he saw that she was bundled up leaving only her pair of eyes exposed, he couldn’t help but chuckle, “You’re that cold?”

Taking the paper bag from him, Su Shen said in a muffled voice, “Duh, us slim people don’t have any fat to resist the cold.”

Tan Haozhi was amused by her words and saw the tall man following behind Su Shen. He was wearing a black coat and a mask, with an indifferent gaze staring at him.

At the same time, Xie Yan was also sizing the man in front of him up too. He was not bad looking. From the perspective of girls, he was a sweet guy. When talking, he always looked at Su Shen with a smile. The two of them seemed very close, with Su Shen joking around him without scruple. Xie Yan knew that with unfamiliar people, Su Shen would never speak so casually, even with Zhao Tong, she had never made such a joke.

Noticing that the atmosphere was a little awkward, Su Shen didn’t know what to say for a moment.

“Is this your colleague?” Tan Haozhi broke the ice first.

Su Shen blinked and just as she was about to say something, she saw that Xie Yan suddenly stepped forward, took off his mask and extended his hand, “Hi, I’m Su Shen’s boyfriend.”

Su Shen: “……”

Even if he didn’t say it, Tan Haozhi could also feel that the relationship between the two of them was not simple. Looking at the outstretched hand, he also extended his hand to shake it and said with a smile, “I’ve seen your movies abroad, they were great.”

Withdrawing his hand, Xie Yan smiled insipidly, “Thank you.”

Su Shen thought that Tan Haozhi didn’t know who Xie Yan was. After all, he just came back from abroad. She hadn’t expected that he saw his movies abroad before.

“Um… Thank you for bringing me the chicken soup. I.. and Xie Yan will treat you to dinner some other time.” Su Shen promptly corrected her words. Fortunately, the mask covered her face, so no one saw her embarrassed expression.

“No worries, it was on the way. Auntie also asked you to remember to go back home to eat dinner for the Laba Festival*.” After saying that, Tan Haozhi glanced at Xie Yan again, “I have to go now, see you.”

Laba Festival – it’s celebrated on the eight day of the twelfth lunar month, originally an occasion to give sacrifices to their ancestors and to pray to heaven and earth for a good harvest and good luck for the family

“En.” Xie Yan’s expression remained unchanged.

Seeing Tan Haozhi get in the car again, Su Shen suddenly knocked on his car window as she thought of something. The latter slowly rolled down the car window and Su Shen leaned in and whispered, “Um… can you not tell my parents that I have a boyfriend? I want to tell them myself.”

Looking at her eyes full of expectation, Tan Haozhi nodded slightly and smiled meaningfully, “He seems to like you very much.”

His words made her blush. Su Shen immediately withdrew and waved her hand to say bye to him.

It was not until the car slowly drove away that Su Shen came back to her senses and noticed that Xie Yan was looking at her fixedly. She couldn’t help but walk over to him and handed him the paper bag with the chicken soup, “Let’s go.”

The latter took the paper bag from her and turned to look at her solemnly, “Have you known your neighbor for a long time?”

After filming so many idol dramas, Su Shen knew that those misunderstandings stemmed from concealing something, so she candidly replied earnestly, “Yep, we’ve known each other since we were little. We even went to the same school, but he was several grades older than me. Later, he moved abroad with his parents when he was 16, and we haven’t been in contact for a long time until he came back recently.”

It was super windy on the streets, and there were not many passersby. Among the few were aunties who were going to the supermarket. Xie Yan didn’t take her to go eat, but went in the direction of the set.

“Oh, childhood friends.”

Su Shen turned slightly and was helpless when she saw his peculiar appearance, “He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him either. He’s just a brother who I’m close with.”

Not knowing if all men were like this, but Su Shen found that the always rational Xie Yan seemed to fuss over every minor detail regarding this kind of matter, not letting a single clue slip by. But, nothing really had happened between them.

“How do you know that he doesn’t like you?” Xie Yan glanced at her pensively.

Su Shen was taken aback. Did she have to say that the original Su Shen confessed but was rejected?

“Some time ago, he had even told me to find a boyfriend soon. How could he like me? I’m not a man-killer.” As she said this, Su Shen looked around the street, “Aren’t you going to take me to lunch?”

At that, Xie Yan raised the paper bag in his hand and said insipidly, “Go back and have some chicken soup.”

Su Shen: “……”

It was said that women were small-minded, but Su Shen felt that men were about the same as well.

When they returned to set, she went to drink the chicken soup with Xiao Zhou and won’t give a sip to Xie Yan who was being enigmatic!

She ignored him the whole afternoon. When she returned to the hotel at night, Xiao Zhou told her that something had happened.

She had been reading the script the whole afternoon, so she hadn’t had the time to check her phone. When Su Shen went to check her phone, she found that another marketing account had broken the news that she got the role of the supporting female lead for that literary film. It was said that even Tang Xuan and Wen Xin, who were A-list actresses, were pushed out by her. 

If it was a rumor made up by a marketing account, it was whatever, but there were indeed traces of Tang Xuan reading the novel Lost on her Weibo page. Everyone knew that this novel had been adapted into a film by Director Li and was in the midst of casting roles. It could be seen that Tang Xuan was preparing for this film. However, she had suddenly appeared. Not to mention Tang Xuan’s fans, but passersbys also began to boycott her.

Moreover, whoever was manipulating it behind the scenes had even bought her a Hot Search, directly putting #Su Shen & Tang Xuan# at fifth place on the Hot Search. The marketing accounts all over the net implicated that she snatched Tang Xuan’s role. Her fans were just a flash in the pan among the large-scale malicious attack from the antis.

Netizen A: Miss Su’s background is so powerful to the point of even daring to steal a role from the TV Empress now!

Netizen B: I’ve read this novel of Yan Zhi’s. The supporting female lead was a dancer that led a tragic life. Su Shen?? Did she want to interpret the role as a sweet, naive girl?

Netizen C: AHHHH! I like this novel the most! Definitely don’t let it be ruined by Su Shen!

Netizen D: Wow, the Empress of Snatching has upgraded! From Mu Yao to Tang Xuan, looking forward to seeing which celebrity she will snatch from next. [smiley face]

Netizen E: I thought that Director Li would not be stained with mud, but I didn’t expect that he was merely just so. Did he want to destroy his outstanding legacy in the hands of Su Shen?

Netizen F: To be honest, Su Shen’s definitely the sickest post-90s starlet I’ve ever seen. Those starlets that debuted with web dramas were still stuck in the web drama industry. But, Su Shen’s so sick and directly sntatched Mu Yao’s role and even replaced Yang Zhi to act with Xie Yan. Now, a Best Actress in Drama was not even in her eyes. Do y’all think she would care about the small domestic market? No, her goal is to enter the international market and charge into the universe!

The comment section was very intense. Su Shen knew that if it went on like this, it would only ruin her image with the public.

When she called Liu jie, the other party seemed to be very busy, but she just told her not to worry.

“You’ve offended too many people and blocked too many people’s way. Now, they are banding up together to tackle you down. But, this matter doesn’t have anything to do with Tang Xuan. Just focus on filming, the PR team will work overtime to control the comments for you.” After saying that, Liu jie hung up the phone in a hurry.

Although the movie was about to be aired soon, if her image with the public was to be ruined at this time, it would be useless for her to brainwash her image with acting in the future.

Su Shen leaned against the bed wearily while scrolling through the comments. But, it seemed that they were all saying that she relied on her background to snatch the role.

The entertainment industry was the same as the imperial harem. Those who were famous were the high ranking concubines, and the public was the Emperor. If there was a newly entered girl who had received favor from the Emperor, those high ranking concubines would definitely stifle her in the cradle, and even if they couldn’t kill her, they would libel her image in the Emperor’s heart.

But if this person’s clan was very powerful in the previous dynasty, even if the Emperor did not like her, he would still continue to favor her. It was the same in the entertainment industry. If she really had a strong background, even if the public hated her, she would still receive good opportunities. But without the Emperor’s love, she was destined to not go far.

If the fervor couldn’t be suppressed, Su Shen would contact He Hua and see if he could ask the production team to come forward and explain. He Hua had a good relationship with Director Li, and as long as the production team clarified some things, the rumors would more or less be suppressed somewhat.

Today’s filming was too exhausting. Su Shen was not bothered by those comments and slept well all night. When she woke up the next morning, those rumors online still did not decrease. She was still firmly at fifth place on Hot Search. It seemed like those people really had spent a lot of money to libel her, to actually buy a Hot Search for so long.

Obviously, everyone in the production crew saw what was happening online. Those who were close to her would offer some words of comfort, while those who weren’t just greeted her like before.

When she got to her dressing room, it was still early and the makeup artist hadn’t arrived yet. Su Shen drank soy milk while letting the hairstylist do her hair.

“Su Shen, did you ask for leave to go audition last time?” The hairstylist fiddled with her hair and asked her idly.

Su Shen bit the straw and mumbled “en.”

“Actually, those people online are just fence sitters who only saw the surface. You can hire a famous PR team within the industry and throw money at them. If you throw a few million at them, those marketing accounts would definitely not utter a word. The Hot Search on Weibo can be taken down with just a million. But it’s been there for so long, there must be someone who’s trying to take you down.” The hairstylist clearly had seen a lot of this kind of thing and continued to offer solutions one after another.

The company had a publicity team. If she were to outsource it, it would be a breach of contract. Moreover, a few millions was her entire net worth.

Speaking of this, the hairstylist laughed meaningfully as she thought of something, “But don’t worry, I’m just kidding. Xie Yan will definitely handle this kind of matter for you.”

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Sending Chicken Soup Again

“This isn’t about culinary skills. Without ingredients, no matter how good your cooking is, it’s useless.” The Director said.

Hearing this, everyone could only make a funny expression. The Director then followed, “Next, you guys will be divided into two teams to answer questions. This game is just a warm-up, not a competition.”

After saying that, everyone then sat on both sides of the long table. There was a whiteboard and a black marker in front of each team, apparently to be used to answer the questions.

After the cameras were adjusted, the Director then asked, “The first question is who is the little sister of your dad’s older sister’s son’s older sister’s husband’s mother-in-law’s?”

“…….”

Everyone was stupefied, but the Director didn’t seem to want to say it again.

Seeing that Song Yan’s team were already discussing about it, Su Shen and her team didn’t even have a clue. It was just that the Director had said it all too fast. There were two sisters among the phrase, so it was difficult to distinguish the relationship between them.

“I think it’s daughter-in-law.” Zhang Jing took the black marker and wanted to write something with dead earnesty.

Su Shen grabbed her hand, “I think it’s auntie*.”

auntie – here in Chinese, it is 舅妈, which is maternal uncle’s wife

Zheng Luo at the side was also dumbfounded, “I don’t know these kinship relationships at all.”

With just a minute left, Su Shen had no choice but to let Zhang Jing write “daughter-in-law” down.

Director: “Okay, please show your whiteboards everyone!”

The other side wrote maternal aunt while they wrote daughter-in-law, with the two not being close one bit.

Director: “Both are wrong, it’s paternal aunt.”

“Ah? You said it so quickly, how can we remember!” Wang Cheng said with a bitter face, “These kinship relationships are even more difficult to understand than astronomy.”

“Right. Every time my relatives visit us during Chinese New Year, I’m afraid to see them, in case I call them by the wrong name.” Zhang Jing scratched her head, appearing helpless.

Director: “Okay, let’s move on to the second question. Why do people like to smoke a cigarette after a meal?”

At that, the three men across from them began to write quickly. Su Shen and Zhang Jing turned to look at Zheng Luo, who shrugged and said, “I don’t smoke.”

He was clearly smoking backstage at first, but now, he said he didn’t smoke, all to create an image of a good man that didn’t smoke. Zhang Jing glanced at him with disdain. When she turned around to look at Su Shen, she saw her writing something on the whiteboard.

As soon as she leaned over, her eyes lit up. She looked at Su Shen in disbelief, “A veteran!”

Director: “Time’s up, please show your whiteboards!”

It just so happened that Su Shen had finished writing, but it was a little messy, so she could only explain it to the Director, “I think that people like to smoke a cigarette after a meal because their taste buds have been completely opened at that time. They are at their most relaxed state, and blood circulates after a meal, in which nicotine would stimulate the nerves. This would invoke a feeling of being relaxed and excited even more than usual.” 

The three men on the other side were all surprised, as if they didn’t expect that Su Shen would know about this.

“Su Shen, do you smoke?” Song Yan couldn’t help but ask.

Just at this moment, the camera panned over. Su Shen smiled, “I accepted a role recently, where the character likes to smoke a lot, so I specially looked into it.”

Hearing this, Song Yan then nodded. Their answer was also about the same, but it was more simplified.

“Everyone knows that a smoke after a meal makes you as happy as the gods. It’s the same as a smoke in the morning and after doing it.” Jin Qingzhou explained earnestly.

Everyone else covered their faces and screamed, even the Director couldn’t help laughing meaningfully. The male staff members also had an expression of understanding.

Wang Cheng couldn’t help but leaned over and said, “Jin laoshi, we’re still kids!”

The scale of variety shows nowadays were getting bigger and bigger, but it would still be alright even if it was broadcasted, with the words “doing it” being replaced with mute sounds in post-production.

Su Shen also couldn’t help but cover her face and looked down. Fortunately, Xie Yan wouldn’t tell dirty jokes in front of her.

Director: “Good! Both teams gain one point for this question. Let’s move on to the third question. Is there any inscription under the Golden Flower Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress?”

“This is discrimination! How would we know if there are words carved on it?!” Zhang Jing looked at the Director dumbfoundedly.

However, the team across from them quickly wrote something down. As for Su Shen, she truly didn’t know, and she had never seen Xie Yan’s trophy before either.

When time was up, they wrote “yes” on their whiteboard, while the team across from them wrote “no”. As for the answer, the Director said that there was no inscription under the trophy.

Although the other team said it was a guess, Su Shen knew that someone among them must’ve seen the trophy before and had even observed it carefully. Otherwise, they couldn’t have written it so decisively.

Afterwards, they answered a few more questions, with Wang Cheng’s team winning in the end. But this was just a warm-up, they needed to go out to the food streets to look for ingredients later.

It was very cold outside, but there was also a lot of yummy food. Zhang Jing ultimately pulled her along with the cameraman to eat through the food street. Su Shen knew that she had to go on a diet again.

After searching for a whole day, they only found two carrots and a stalk of scallions. As the saying goes, “the cleverest woman couldn’t make a meal without rice.” Su Shen was not confident to the point of making two carrots taste even more tasty. Wang Cheng’s team, on the other hand, found a lot of ingredients. Jin Qingzhou’s cooking was quite good. There were none of those flowers or garnishes, it was closer to home cooking. In the end, their team won.

After the show, everyone became closer with one another. Song Yan said that he wanted to treat everyone to dinner, but Su Shen had to go back to set overnight, so she declined.

When she returned to the hotel, it was already dawn. She was so exhausted that she fell asleep after taking a shower.

Since she ate so much yesterday, Su Shen only dared to drink a glass of soymilk for breakfast the next morning. She was not chubby and was quite slim, but appearing on camera would make her look a little bit chubby, so she definitely could not eat a lot.

Fortunately, there were only indoor scenes today. It was not that cold, but Su Shen was still shivering even though she was bundled up in a cotton padded coat while reclining on Xie Yan’s wooden armchair. Xiao Zhou automatically brought her a cup of hot water.

At this time, the scene consisted of Xie Yan and Li Xue. The supporting female lead called the male lead over to a hotel and then notified the female lead to come over, in hopes of causing the female lead to misunderstand. Currently, Li Xue was in the middle of confessing her love. In the next scene, the female lead would then appear.

“Su jie, Liu jie called just now and said that the shooting for that magazine cover next week would be pushed up to this Saturday.” Xiao Zhou said and handed her phone to her.

Taking over the phone and after reading the message, Su Shen then replied to Liu jie with “I got it,” before continuing to look at her script. According to the normal filming schedule, she would still need half a month to wrap up this drama. However, if they continued to focus all her scenes together and film it all at once, it might only take a week to finish.

“The chair’s not cold?”

It was not until a voice sounded above her head that Su Shen looked up, only to see Xie Yan crouching down and holding her ice-cold hands, “I’ll ask Zhao Tong to go buy a cushion in the afternoon, so that it will be a little warmer.”

Xiao Zhou, who was suddenly fed a mouth of dog food, quietly walked away.

Seeing that he was still wearing the costume T-shirt, Su Shen couldn’t help but poke her head out from her cap, “You’re not afraid of the cold?”

Why was she so afraid of the cold? Could exercising resist the cold?

“Those who are skinny are afraid of the cold.” He chuckled and pinched her slender arm.

Su Shen withdrew her hand and glared at him angrily, “This is called being slim.”

There was a saying in the entertainment industry that if you didn’t lose weight, you would die!

For female artists, fat was their natural enemy. For some people, eating just one more meat bun was a luxury. Su Shen felt that she was already very blessed, since others ate meagerly. Normally, girls who were 110 lbs were already considered slim. But in the entertainment industry, that was considered chubby. Generally, female artists were about 99 lbs, and once they exceeded 100 lbs, they needed to go on a diet. There were some who even went to do liposuction in order to appear slimmer on camera.

“You’re so easy to provide then. I’ll only give you one meal a day in the future.” Xie Yan arched his brow, seemingly unhappy with her conduct from the tone of his voice. 

Su Shen blushed and couldn’t help but smile, “You think too much. Who needs you to provide for me!” 

“Don’t tell me you want someone else to provide for you?” Xie Yan said seriously as he leaned in.

Su Shen pushed him a little and looked at him fiercely, “Then, you need to save some more money. I want to buy a mansion, sports cars, a lot of clothes and bags!”

The Director couldn’t help but loudly shout into the loudspeaker as no one answered him after calling twice, “It’s time to film!”

The other staff members wanted to laugh, but they didn’t dare to. Their Film Emperor was absorbed in dating and no longer had the heart to film.

Hearing the Director’s shout, Su Shen immediately stood up in embarrassment, and then took off her cotton padded coat. Instantly, she had goosebumps again because of the cold.

Just as she was about to have lunch with Xie Yan after finally finishing the morning scenes, she suddenly received a call from her mom saying that she asked Tan Haozhi to bring her chicken soup! 

Since the chicken soup had already arrived, she couldn’t even refuse. She bundled up warmly to go pick up the chicken soup.  

“Where are you going?” Xie Yan, who was in the middle of putting on his coat to go out, couldn’t help but glance at her.

There were only the two of them in the dressing room. Su Shen was so embarrassed that she didn’t know what to say. She leaned against the sofa and covered her head with a huge cap, “My… My mom sent me chicken soup. I’m going to go get it. Why don’t you wait for me here for a while?”

“I’ll go with you.”

As Xie Yan said that, he took the pair of pink mittens on the table and crouched down in front of her, unhurriedly putting her ice-cold hands into the mittens.

Seeing that he didn’t seem to be joking, Su Shen immediately explained, “No, I can go alone. My mom didn’t come, she asked one of our neighbors to send it here.”

Her voice was light, with a trace of panic on her fair face and her eyes began to wander. This was one of Su Shen’s traits whenever she spoke without confidence, she didn’t dare to look straight at him.

Seeing this, Xie Yan stared into her eyes and asked, “Male?”

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Recording Reality Show

What else could she do?

In her previous life, what she knew were some basic things, but it was considered some sort of talent here.

In the past, Su Shen had meticulously studied calligraphy and painting because she knew that the Empress liked talented noble ladies. However, she would certainly not reveal this in front of outsiders. It was different from playing the guzheng. As long as one learned the guzheng slowly, one would be able to play it. But calligraphy and painting depended on innate talent, else it would only have an external appearance but no internal essence.

But most people nowadays were only able to achieve the external appearance and being able to achieve the internal essence were all famous painters. Su Shen was not stupid. If she had to reveal a little bit of some talent, her parents would suspect her sooner or later. She could learn the guzheng secretly, but calligraphy and painting had to be nurtured from a young age.

“What else can I do? Do you think I am a jack of all trades?” Su Shen chuckled and took another sip of hot water.

Liu jie was not discouraged. With her years of experience in reading people, Su Shen must be hiding something from her, but she was unwilling to reveal it.

“Alright, here’s the completed script. The casting for the drama has yet to be finished. The movie would most likely start filming in May of next year. Although your itinerary is tight, the return will be great. Next year, you have a movie, a variety show, and two dramas to be aired. With such a lineup, your fame would definitely increase substantially. Even if one of them goes viral and if the marketing is good, you won’t be worse than Mu Yao and the others!” Liu jie said earnestly.

Su Shen didn’t feel much when she heard that. Everything was uncertain. Luck depended on the mood of God. Some people could not be famous no matter how many highest rated dramas or films they shot, which was the most tragic thing. So, Su Shen never only looked at the good. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment would be. 

Taking over the script, it indeed contained all the scenes of the supporting female lead. Su Shen read through it carefully and found that the script of this kind of literary film emphasized more on the character portrayal. She was absorbed in it before she knew it.

“Su Shen.” Liu jie couldn’t help raising her voice, “Remember that this is acting, don’t get absorbed in it!”

There were many people in the entertainment industry who became depressed. They were enacting a person’s life everyday, so it was inevitable that they would be mentally confused. There was a classic foreign movie in which the lead actor acted excellently, but they inhabited the role too deeply that they committed suicide after filming ended.

Although money was important, Liu jie didn’t want Su Shen to become such a lunatic.

When Su Shen came to her senses, she closed the script and nodded, “I know.”

Liu jie found that Su Shen had changed. She couldn’t tell when she had changed, but she was like a different person. She used to be playful and careless, but now, she was too calm and was much more mature than before. But why did she become like this, Liu jie couldn’t tell.

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If you’re tired, I can help you cancel some engagements.” Liu jie patted her on the shoulder and looked at her weirdly.

Su Shen nodded without uttering a word. Seeing this, she waved to Xiao Zhou and went over to tell her something before leaving.

The weather was freezing. They spent the whole morning filming outside and only changed to an indoor set in the afternoon. When Su Shen returned to the hotel at night, she took a shower and went to bed. The variety show that she accepted was going to start recording next week. The production team had announced several fixed guests today.

Among them were herself, Wang Cheng, Zhang Jing, Song Yan, Jin Qingzhou, and Zheng Luo. Zhang Jing’s career was very varied. She had been a singer before, and then went to film dramas and movies. Although they were just supporting roles, the productions she had been in were all popular. On top of that, her carefree temperament attracted a lot of fans.

Song Yan filmed dramas, and his image was that of a low-profile veteran actor. But he was actually only in his early 30s. However, because he debuted very early, he gave people a feeling that he was very old.

Jin Qingzhou went the tragedy drama route and was very popular with the public. This was also his variety show debut. Although he and Song Yan were not as popular as Wang Cheng, they were certainly more famous than him. Moreover, they had a certain status and connections in the entertainment industry.

Recently, Zheng Luo has been rapidly rising in popularity. A xianxia drama that he had starred in had exploded and he was at the peak of his popularity recently. However, his booking price was not as high as that of Song Yan’s, because for a person to be famous, it would be determined after three months since the drama had been aired. If he could still maintain his popularity, then it could be considered a moment of fame. To be famous, it meant that one’s influence would continue, and clearly, this kind of xiao xian rou influence was only limited to the younger audience. 

Where there were idols, there would be the Jianghu*. As soon as the production team released the list of names, the fans in the comments began to fight with each other, and there were more than one group of fans. There were several groups of fans of different artists battling it out, which stemmed from the positions of the guests in the promotional poster.

Jianghu – used to describe the martial arts world of Historical China

Netizen A: Did the production team make a mistake?! Our Cheng ge’s face is only shown half! The production team should give that half of a face to Zheng Luo! [smiley face]

Netizen B: I was just about to ask who Zheng Luo thinks he is? To occupy the largest area of the entire poster?

Netizen C: This is the matter of the production team. Why do y’all attack the artist? Our Zheng Luo’s not all that but better than that sissy. [smiley face]

Netizen D: Come out, editor! Why did you photoshop away Song Yan’s double eyelids!

Netizen E: The editor must be an idiot! Our Zhang Jing’s face is clearly round, why was it v-shaped this time? [joy]

Netizen F: [vomit] With all due respect, I really didn’t know who Zheng Luo was before, but now I know, he’s a relative of the production team’s director, so powerful that I can’t offend! 

In the eyes of every fan, their idol was perfect. There was always a time of unfairness within the production team, but sometimes, it depended on the likes of the editors, so an industry reputation was very important. When filming, no matter how famous an artist was, they did not dare to offend the lighting director. Otherwise, if they took revenge on you, the final result would only be that your skin would appear uneven, tan, and aged. Thus, some highly emotionally intelligent artists would send gifts to some acquainted editors and staff members during holidays. They would then be more attentive to you. 

However, the fight above had nothing to do with Su Shen. Her position was in the corner and was not heavily photoshopped, so naturally no one attacked her. Her fans wouldn’t ask for trouble and attack the production team either.

But Wang Cheng’s and Zheng Luo’s fans’ fighting strength was very powerful. Wang Cheng’s fans wouldn’t stop until the production team changed the poster. 

The next day, Xie Yan came back. Su Shen didn’t ask what he did; it was not important whether he told her or not.

The movie was about to air, and the promotional tour for it would start soon, but Xie Yan would not participate in it. He also needed to accelerate filming for this drama and fly to Africa to shoot that action film soon.

He Hua seemed to be very displeased that Xie Yan accepted that film and would drag her over to persuade him every time.

“Think about it, you will be gone for three months. Do you have the heart to not see Su Shen for three months? Do you know how much she will miss you? Do you have the heart to have her go all the way to Africa to visit you?”

Hearing that, Su Shen almost spat out a mouthful of water. He Hua was still there persuading him while Xie Yan was still just sitting on the sofa reading his script and turning a deaf ear to him.

Tired of talking, He Hua raised his hand and looked at his watch, “You two just got together, it’s precisely the time to get to know each other. What if your relationship dulls after you leave?” 

Su Shen: “……”

She coughed slightly and leaned against the sofa with a smile, “I also need to film, so it’s the same whether he goes or not.”

Seeing that she didn’t support him, He Hua frowned and glared at the two of them unhappily. Then, he turned around and walked out of the dressing room, seemingly very angry.

The next moment, Su Shen felt a tight hold on her waist and saw Xie Yan leaning in and stared at her, “You won’t miss me?”

Their eyes met. Su Shen saw a hint of gloom flashed through his eyes and couldn’t help putting down her script in her hand to stroke his hair, “Are you willing to give up on this movie then?”

After saying that, Su Shen didn’t want him to make a choice and just laughed lightly, “When you come back, I’ll make something tasty for you.”

“Why wait until I come back?” Xie Yan held her waist, “Come to my house, my kitchen’s very big.”

Su Shen: “……”

Being stared at by him, she couldn’t help but blushed and pushed him away, “My… my kitchen’s also very big.”

She was bundled up in a pink cotton padded coat. The fluffy fur on her cap made her fair face even more fair and flawless. Her slightly pursed rosy lips appeared luscious. After staring at it for a while, Xie Yan couldn’t help but want to kiss her. 

“Bang bang!”

Zhao Tong knocked on the door while shouting, “Yan ge, it’s time to film!”

Zhao Tong was very weary. In the past, their Yan ge didn’t need to be called at all, but now, he wouldn’t come out even after calling him several times.

After a while, just when he was about to knock on the door again, the door suddenly opened. He saw Su Shen walk out wrapped like a bunny, while Xie Yan wore a T-shirt and a pair of athleisure pants for filming. The two of them seemed to be living in different seasons.

“Knock on the door lightly in the future. Don’t you know there’s people inside?” Xie Yan glanced at Zhao Tong and then followed behind Su Shen without hesitation.

Zhao Tong: “……”

So, who did he scare?

This was an outside scene. A gust of cold wind blew and Su Shen didn’t want to take off her cotton padded coat at all. But she had to film, and she ultimately took off her coat and just wore a blue dress. 

Li Xue also just wore a long dress, and the two of them got goosebumps due to the cold. When the Director called “cut,” Su Shen immediately went to Xiao Zhou for her coat.

However, she saw Xie Yan coming over with a cotton padded coat and then wrapping her up in it, even covering up her head. He then fed her a cup of hot water. 

The people on set were already used to the two of them showing off PDA as if no one else was around everyday. Even so, when they saw Xie Yan carefully feeding Su Shen water, they were KO-ed multiple times. Another person’s boyfriend and their own boyfriend were really not of the same breed.

Su Shen was afraid of the cold, very much so, so she finally decided to go out to eat hotpot with Xie Yan at night to warm up her body. Moreover, she would wrap up this drama in half a month, and they might not meet again until the end of the year as Xie Yan had to go to Africa to film soon.

When the day of the recording for the reality TV show came about, she had to ask for a day’s leave and fly to Jiang City overnight. The model of this reality TV show was also based on games, just like most programs domestically.

When everyone gathered at the filming site the next day, the cold wind was blowing outside. Everyone wore a lot of clothes, with Su Shen wearing the most, but she was skinny so she didn’t seem bloated. However, when Wang Cheng saw her, he asked her to invite him to dinner again. 

For the time being, the filming site was indoors. After everyone got familiar with one another, the Director then officially started shooting. Everyone thus then became well-behaved.

Director: “Welcome to ‘Brave Adventures’, everyone! I believe that everyone has gotten to know the objective of our program. The team with the most wins through the various games will become the final winner, and the production team will donate one million to poverty stricken areas in their name.” 

After saying that, everyone applauded again. The room had central heating, so Su Shen was still sitting there comfortably while listening to the Director.

Director: “Everyone knows that our city is a famous foodie city. Later, you will win the final ingredients through team games. Finally, every team needs to make a dish. We have invited ten primary school students from the city to be the judges. It is fair and square!” 

“AHH!” Everyone was shocked. They didn’t expect that the judges would be children.

Just when Wang Cheng was about to say something complacently, the Director continued, “Today’s teams are divided into Su Shen, Zhang Jing, and Zheng Luo, with the remaining being another team.”

Fans of Wang Cheng and Zheng Luo were fighting fiercely against one another. Hence, the production team would definitely not let them be part of the same team.

Only Zhang Jing ran to Su Shen’s side happily, “The production team has a good eye. They know that we’re both pretty looking, so they specially put us in the same team.”

“Right; originally, the image of Su Shen and Zheng Luo would be an idol drama, but you distorted it into a horror movie!” Song Yan knew Zhang Jing from before, so he was pretty lax with his words.

The others all laughed. Although they were not familiar with each other, they had to pretend that they were for the sake of the program.

Just at this moment, Wang Cheng pointed at Su Shen and looked at the Director fervently, “This is unfair! Su Shen can cook, but we can’t!”

Competing with her, they would simply lose!

“What a coincidence!” Song Yan suddenly pointed at Jin Qingzhou at the side and said, “Our Jin laoshi used to be a chef!”

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Talent

Hearing this, Su Shen looked up and smiled slightly, “Thank you.”

He Hua finally noticed that this girl was not as impetuous as other ordinary young folks. She had an indescribable indifference about her, just like her acting, similar to a small but steady stream.

“Since you’re with Xie Yan now, why don’t you come over to our agency? Although Liu Min has some connections in the fashion industry, she’s still at the bottom of the barrel in the big and small screen industry. But I have a lot of resources in my hands which are being wasted and not used. Let’s not mention anything else, but the drama “Immortal Road” that Yang Zhi and Wang Cheng are currently filming, if you had come to our agency, I would’ve definitely gotten the role for you!” He Hua said with certainty. 

Su Shen had no doubts about his ability. After many artists in the industry were together, the PR* teams would merge into one and could save a lot of money. If she belonged to the same agency as Xie Yan, she would definitely have a lot of freedom in many aspects. Moreover, the pay cut  with the company would not be so heavy handed too. 

However, her contract with Starlight Entertainment had not matured yet. If she terminated her contract early, she would have to pay 20 million RMB. Moreover, the company treated her quite well and had given all the resources that should be given to her. The marketing and PR teams also exerted pretty good effort. Although Liu jie prioritized her interest, they were partners in the first place. The link between them was the layer of interest before. Not to mention anything else, Liu jie had contributed a lot to her success and how far she had gotten.

“Are you worried about compensating for damages? Don’t worry, I’m familiar with the vice president of your company. They probably wouldn’t ask you to pay that much money, and our agency will also help you.” He Hua really did want to pull Su Shen over. As a businessman, he naturally saw the infinite potential in Su Shen.

Moreover, 20 million RMB was really not much. As long as Su Shen became famous, which A-lister actress did not make tens of millions from a drama?

“Thank you for your kind intentions. My career just started and changing teams is not suitable. Let’s talk about it in the future.” Su Shen said politely.

She didn’t want to be that thankless wretch who would burn the bridge after crossing it.

Although He Hua felt it was a pity when he heard that, he didn’t say anything else. He just stepped on the gas and continued to drive forward.

He also found that although Su Shen appeared to be quiet, she was actually very opinionated. She knew the circumstances she was in, and she knew what she wanted. This girl was indeed suitable for this industry, at least more than Xie Yan that blockhead.  

When she returned to set, Su Shen was in a hurry to get her makeup done as there were still night scenes to film tonight. She saw He Hua entering Xie Yan’s dressing room, but didn’t know what he said. 

As she was going to enter the set for that crime drama soon, her scenes were centralized together to be filmed. It was not until she finished filming at midnight that she changed her clothes and returned to the hotel.

Xie Yan had finished work early, but he did not go back first and waited for her there all this while. Su Shen had her chauffeur go back first and took Xie Yan’s car.

As soon as she got in the car, she leaned against the seat and rested wearily that she didn’t know what Xie Yan had said. She didn’t open her eyes until a touch of warmth appeared on her lips.

“I’ve been wondering why you have been sneakily seeking Uncle Liu recently, and here I thought I couldn’t even compare to him. It turns out that you’re bold enough to go learn how to smoke.” Xie Yan said with a sullen face, seemingly angry.

Under the dim light, there was no hint of anger in his eyes, but a trace of concern. Su Shen gathered her courage to wrap her hands around his neck and rubbed his neck, muttering, “It was just for the audition. Before entering the set for that film, I won’t smoke again.”

She didn’t like smoking either.

There was a softness on his neck and a touch of warmth from her breath. Toward her sudden intimacy, Xie Yan’s eyes dimmed. He pressed her against the seat, leaned over, and looked into her eyes, “Is it worth it?”

It was just a supporting female lead, she could’ve chosen the female lead instead.

When their eyes met, Su Shen smiled, “You know better than me whether it’s worth it or not.”

She believed that Xie Yan was even more stringent with his roles than she was.

The face in front of him was fair and tender, with a pair of clear eyes staring at him. After staring at her for a while, Xie Yan ultimately kissed her on the forehead. Gradually, the kiss shifted from her cheek to those rosy soft lips.  

The atmosphere in the car was instantly full of ambiguity. Xie Yan’s kiss was very gentle, unlike the aggressive kisses from before, it was more like probing. Su Shen still felt embarrassed about this kind of intimacy, but she knew that she had to learn to change, so she clumsily responded to him. 

Feeling her subtle responses, Xie Yan’s offense immediately became more fierce. He quickly pried her teeth open and gently bit her soft lower lip. The atmosphere full of ambiguity immediately spread to their surroundings.

Su Shen was a little out of breath and could only pat him on the shoulder to let go of her. When he let go of her, a certain someone couldn’t help but leaned in and tenderly kissed her as he stared at her rosy red lips.

For a while, there was only her uneven breathing in the car, full of ambiguity and indistinct.

“How are you so good at all this? Did you have many girlfriends before?” Su Shen blinked, breathing steadily.

Xie Yan: “……”

He coughed slightly and immediately sat back in his seat to drive, “My parents forced one on me before, but we broke up in just a week.”

“Ah? Why?” Su Shen seemed rather curious about this.

The car sped through the road. The expression on the driver’s face seemed to be a little peculiar. After a pause, he said insipidly, “I needed to film; she was too bothersome.”

Hearing this, Su Shen seemed to have understood something. It was true that couples broke up easily in the entertainment industry, but it was because they seldom got together most of the time. Take herself as an example, Tong Le had asked her out for dinner several times, but she didn’t have time, not even time to sleep nor time to date.

“I never even touched her hand.” Xie Yan turned his head slightly and emphasized.

Hearing this, Su Shen just smiled. After a pause, she asked, “Did you like her?”

If he didn’t like her, he still wouldn’t accept it even if his parents forced it on him, right?

Noticing that she liked to ask these kinds of questions, Xie Yan couldn’t help but chuckled, “Are you jealous?”

He didn’t turn around. Taking a glance at his side profile, Su Shen continued to lean against the seat and closed her eyes, “You can choose not to say it.”

Who said that only men could be possessive, why couldn’t women be too?

Seeing that she was silent, Xie Yan coughed helplessly and said, “She was the daughter of one of my dad’s friends. At the start, she was very well behaved. There was no like or dislike, but if I continued not to have a girlfriend, my family would send me to the hospital and get checked, so I agreed.”

Hearing this, Su Shen suddenly opened her eyes and turned around to look at him seriously, “Do you feel that you’re at the age where you should get married and felt that I was quite pleasing to the eye, so you forced yourself to be with me?”

As her words fell, a hint of helplessness flashed through the driver’s eyes. He had no choice but to turn around slightly to look at her, “Should I show you whether I forced myself or not right now?”

His aggressive yet passionate glance made Su Shen blushed. She quickly closed her eyes and leaned against her seat without saying anything more.

When they returned to the hotel, Su Shen got out of the car first. She was afraid of the paparazzi, so she entered the hotel first. After Xie Yan parked the car, he would go up from the elevator in the parking lot.

When she went back to her room, Su Shen didn’t even go through her phone and went straight to take a shower to go to bed. She was so exhausted that she could fall asleep in less than a minute.

When the alarm rang the next day, she still felt sleepy and had no choice but to get up and wash up.

It was very cold today. Apparently, it was snowing heavily in the north. It was still fine in the south, but when the cold wind blew against one’s face, it was as painful as a cut. The most important thing was that it was still summer in the script, so even if Su Shen wore winter clothing, she still had to wear summer clothes when filming.

She was afraid of the cold, very much at that. Every time she had to say a line, she had to hold her breath to say it, else she would be too frozen to utter a word. As soon as the Director called “cut,” she immediately squeezed into her cotton padded coat, and Xiao Zhou would give her a glass of hot water to help warm up her body.

Just after the end of a scene, Liu jie came over. Seeing her bundled up in a cotton padded coat shivering, Liu jie couldn’t help smiling and walked over. She looked around, but didn’t see Xie Yan.

“Liu jie.” Xiao Zhou greeted her as soon as she saw her.

Su Shen turned around and saw Liu jie walking over in a gray coat while carrying her purse. But, she was so cold that she couldn’t even muster a smile.

“Where’s Xie Yan?” She walked over and asked.

After drinking a large mouthful of hot water and feeling a little bit warmer, Su Shen then said, “He seemed to have something to do, a dinner apparently.” 

Xie Yan asked for leave today, but he seldom did so. It seemed that he had something important to do.

The cold wind blew throughout the set, with staff members busying themselves away. Li Xue, over there, was also bundled up in a cotton padded coat while reading her script, as if she placed great importance on this drama and so were the others. They insisted on waiting outside in the cold wind for filming to start.

Pulling out a stool, Liu jie sat beside her. Seeing that there was no one around, she leaned over and whispered, “When he comes back, go and ask what he did.”

Su Shen glanced at her from the corner of her eye and knew that there was another meaning to Liu jie’s words.

“I heard that the director of that Hollywood blockbuster has come to China. Inviting Xie Yan to dinner, I’m sure that the matter’s halfway to success.”

Hearing this, Su Shen was also taken aback, but not surprised. This kind of opportunity was no longer achieved through ordinary connections, but a combination of various factors. However, most domestic artists were unable to even get close to this kind of opportunity, so the few domestic artists that were able to enter the international scene could be counted on one’s fingers. 

“The reality TV show from Hunan TV will start next week. Have all the other members been determined?”

Speaking of this, Liu jie replied conscientiously, “Yeah. Although they’re all more popular than you, they’re not busybodies and are easy to get along with.”

After saying that, she looked at Su Shen meaningfully, “Since you can’t hype CPs any more, you need to have some other topics to attract people’s attention. I find that you know a lot of things, what else can you do besides playing the bamboo flute and the guzheng?”

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Hearing this, He Hua smiled, “Look, this is called inherent acting, real acting from life. And look, Fan Meng and Wang Li are already in their 30s. Although their acting is great, aren’t they still acting?”

It had to be said that He Hua was great with his words. Director Li went silent for a while before picking up a script on the table and drew a circle on it with his pen, “Then, try this part first.”

The advantage of having connections was that one didn’t have to wait in line, else she would have to wait until dark with her current level of fame.

However, Su Shen took a step forward when she heard that and said earnestly, “Actually… I like the supporting female lead more.”

The insipid voice of a girl shocked everyone. They couldn’t help but look at the beautiful and innocent girl in front of them. Not to mention that her image was not even close to the supporting female lead’s, who didn’t want to act as the female lead instead of the supporting female lead nowadays? 

Her expression was very serene, without the excitement and nervousness that could be seen in other people’s eyes. The aura that she exuded had a hint of indifference that did not match her age. Director Li couldn’t help but take another look at her.

“You think you’re suitable for the supporting female lead?” He Hua couldn’t help but glare at Su Shen, as if he had never seen such a disobedient person.

“Go and change your clothes next door. Try this part.” Director Li suddenly handed her a piece of paper.

Su Shen immediately stepped forward and received it. At a glance, she knew that this was the supporting female lead part.

Seeing this, she said thank you and then went to the dressing room next door to get her makeup done, with He Hua being there fuming.

The dressing room next door was large, and the people sitting inside were all here to audition today. There were some unfamiliar newcomers and some A-listers. Su Shen saw Yang Zhi, and she must’ve been here to audition for the third supporting female role, who was an heiress that had returned from studying abroad. Although her popularity was high as an idol, her fame was useless for the movie industry.

Director Li liked to use newcomers, so they were not surprised at the arrival of Su Shen. But when they saw her come out wearing the cheongsam of the supporting female lead, each and everyone thought that she must be crazy.

Su Shen was wearing a bright red cheongsam, which was very body-hugging, showing her great figure fully. The slit was very high up to her thighs, exposing her fair skin. For a moment, others couldn’t help but take another look at her.

When she was getting her makeup done, an actress beside her couldn’t help but take another look at her, “Xiao meimei*, how old are you this year?”

xiao meimei – the literal translation is little sister, it is a term that can be referred to females younger than you

Su Shen recognized her. Her name was Tang Xuan and had won a Best Actress in a Drama Series. It seemed that she was going to march into the film industry now. Speaking of appearance, she was indeed in line with the image of a mature woman for the supporting female lead role.

“Hi, Tang laoshi. I’m Su Shen, 24 this year.” Su Shen introduced herself with a smile.

Hearing this, the latter curled her big red lips and continued to read the script, “Good luck. People should always challenge themselves, or it will be too boring.”

Su Shen nodded as she heard that. The stylist gave her a curly hairstyle from the Republic of China era. She got heavy makeup done, which instantly upped her innocent features to be more mature. When it was her turn to audition, Su Shen took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her purse and went to the auditioning room.

When a newcomer walked out of the room, Su Shen then pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing that she seemed to fit the image after getting her makeup done, He Hua was still unhappy. He had tried his best to allow her to audition for the female lead, but she went for the supporting female lead role instead!

“En, go sit over there.” When the Director saw her, he just nodded slightly with his expression remaining indifferent.

Su Shen slowly walked over to the chair in the middle of the room and sat down. She took a deep breath. When the assistant director called out “action,” her expression remained unchanged and just crossed her legs casually.

With no male lead counterpart, Su Shen could only complete the scene by herself. 

Looking down, she took the cigarette box at the side and opened it. She took out a cigarette from it with her fair fingers, held it in her mouth, and lit it with a lighter skillfully. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled a circle of smoke while squinting. Although there was no expression on her face, it could be seen that she was enjoying it. 

He Hua arched his brow, and his expression suddenly became a little strange.

“For a night, I’m very expensive.” She looked ahead, her red lips curled into a slight smile, with no expression on her face. She inhaled another breath, “You wasted so much of my time. How much are you going to pay for wasting my time?”

There was no one who answered her from across, but Su Shen seemed to have heard something and snorted sarcastically. She raised her eyes and crossed her legs the other way. Her entire upper body suddenly leaned forward, and her pair of big beautiful eyes stared straight ahead, “No money? Aren’t you afraid that I will sell you out?”

The intonation of her voice did not change at all. Her posture of holding the cigarette was as if she was a veteran smoker. There was no emotion in her eyes or on her face, as if nothing could attract her interest. The producers along with several others couldn’t help but stare at her seriously.

“You’re so noble.” With a smile, Su Shen took another smoke and exhaled it forward. There was still no undulation in her tone, “Unfortunately, I’m an ordinary person. I want money, and I like money. Don’t tell me what’s righteous or not. When my parents got into an accident, I didn’t see words of righteousness from your mouth to save them.”  

Speaking of this, she paused and didn’t exhale the smoke until her lower jaw finally moved. She finally exhaled a smoke ring, “When I was about to starve to death, I didn’t see the words of righteousness from your mouth offering alms such as a steamed bun to me. So, for me, the thing you mentioned is not even comparable to a copper coin.”

There were no more lines that followed. Su Shen quietly smoked the rest of the cigarette because the supporting female lead didn’t like to waste.

When she finished smoking the cigarette, Su Shen then stood up. Her expression changed and the coldness from before vanished and was replaced with the innocence of a girl.

Director Li took a deep breath, looked down, and kept tapping the table with his pen. The others didn’t make a sound either. Compared with the previous auditions for the supporting female lead, Su Shen’s performance did not have much impact, but her performance seemed to be coming from the innermost depth of her bones, which made people feel that it was real. 

“You smoke?” Director Li looked at her seriously.

Su Shen shook her head, “I just learned it these past two days.”

For this role, she had specially asked Uncle Liu at the entrance of the set to learn some smoking postures and tried all kinds of cigarette flavors. Smoking was addictive, not the taste, but that kind of feeling.

At the side, He Hua’s expression was also a little peculiar. Okay, he did think that Su Shen’s acting was not good before, but now, it seems that this girl does have some potential. Sure enough, she was the same as Xie Yan. For a role, one went to learn Muay Thai and another went to learn smoking. As expected, there must be a reason why people became a family. 

“What do you think of the taste then?” Director Li looked at her nonchalantly. 

Hearing this, Su Shen hesitated for a bit before saying insipidly, “No matter how good a taste is, you will get tired of it after eating too much. But no matter how good a feeling is, you will never feel tired of it. Smoking stimulates the nerves, and everyone perhaps likes that kind of feeling more. Although I have learned it for a few days, I don’t like it. It’s bad for my health and family.” 

She loved her life and was afraid of death, so she didn’t want to smoke something that would harm her health.

Several of the men smiled inexplicably when they heard that. They thought that this girl was really interesting and originally thought that she could act so naturally because she must’ve gone through something traumatic. However, they did not expect that she was a girl from a good family.

“Why do you think you are more suitable for the supporting female lead rather than the female lead?” Director Li stared at her fervently.

Hearing this, Su Shen frowned and pondered for a while, “Acting comes from life. Not some people can act as college students just because they look like one, and not some people can’t act as a mature and sexy person just because they look young. I think that a role’s emphasis should be on the innermost self and not on the external appearance.”

After saying that, Director Li stared at her seriously for a while before he finally patted He Hua on the shoulder and said while smiling, “I have to buy you a drink this time!”

How could other people not understand what he meant, but the other producers and scriptwriters didn’t reject anything. She acted well and had connections, who would object.

At that, He Hua just laughed a little, but did not appear to be very happy. It was just that Su Shen’s performance today was really beyond his expectations.

Su Shen still had night scenes for tonight, so she had to go back first. He Hua also made plans to drink with Director Li next time. On the way back, it was awkward between the two of them, and the atmosphere in the car was also very strange.

Looking at the red light in front, He Hua slowly stopped the car. Suddenly, he coughed and turned to look at the person in the backseat, “Uh… you did a good job.”

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Breathtaking

The Director didn’t give them any time to speak. When he saw that it was almost time, he shouted “action!” 

When the camera panned over, Su Shen turned the pages of the book in her hand and mumbled, “Last time was actually a misunderstanding, did your mom and my mom quarrel again?”

After saying that, the person below her kept silent and did pushups one after another. Su Shen couldn’t help pinching his lean waist and said, “Every time, you make me worry about you. All you know about is training and training. If you hadn’t gone on a mission when we were about to get our marriage certificate, my mom wouldn’t have been so dissatisfied with you!”

The expression on the person below remained unchanged. There was not even a drop of sweat on his forehead, only his bulging biceps were apparent, “It was a mission.”

“Mission, mission, mission, if I were ever to die one day, would you still go on a mission even if I wanted to see you for the last time!” As she said, Su Shen seemed to be a little angry. She suddenly got up and hit him with the book in her hand.

The person on the floor also got up, and seeing that she was about to go sleep outside with a pillow and comforter in her arms, he immediately stepped forward and blocked the door.

“Move!” Su Shen glared at him fuming.

Xie Yan naturally came forward and grabbed the comforter from her arms. After a few tugs between the two, it got taken away by him.

Just at this moment, the camera panned over again. Su Shen seemed to be a little angry and pulled hard on the doorknob. However, her entire body was carried up by someone and thrown directly onto the bed.

Xie Yan pressed on top of her and kissed her on the cheek, “I won’t let you die before me.”

The Director in front of the monitor continued to keep a smile on his face. He hadn’t asked Xie Yan to kiss her. He pretended to not film kiss scenes before, but what was this?

Although they were acting, some of the female staff members only felt that they had been KO-ed again. Why did they have to also eat dog food* at work!

dog food – an internet slang for public display of affection, where singles are forced to “eat” it

“Hmph! All you care about is the key point. If a call came right now, are you gonna go on a mission?!” Su Shen pretended to grumble and turned away from him. Her slightly red ears could be seen upon closer inspection. 

Xie Yan buried his head in her neck, took a deep breath and said in a muffled voice, “You have to understand that this is my duty.”

“Cut!”

The next moment, the props team began to adjust the lighting. Zhao Tong didn’t step forward to hand Xie Yan water, because he knew that their Yan ge no longer needed him anymore.

Su Shen slowly sat up from the bed and found that her hair was messed up. She took off the headband and put it on again. She found that Xie Yan was still staring at her, and she couldn’t help but blush, “You don’t have any scenes in the next scene, go away quickly.”

The staff members at the side: “……”

In the past, they were furtive. But now, they were so open and brazen!

“I won’t be in your way anymore.” With a helpless smile, Xie Yan patted her on the head and got out of the bed.

Seeing this, the makeup artist then had the courage to come forward and retouch Su Shen’s makeup. Despite being an auntie, her young and girlish heart was KO-ed again!

They were bound to cross paths everyday. Knowing that they couldn’t hide it anymore, Su Shen no longer tried to hide it. At noon, she had takeout with Xie Yan again. It was just that Liu jie called and was dissatisfied with her choice of the supporting female lead in the film. Why did you want to vie for the supporting female lead when you could vie for the female lead role instead?  

However, Su Shen insisted, so Liu jie had to compromise reluctantly.

A few days later, they got in touch with the production team for the audition time. Xie Yan said that he wanted to go there with her, but Su Shen didn’t let him. In the end, He Hua brought her there.

She asked for half a day’s leave. She sat in the rear seat of the car with Xiao Zhou, with He Hua driving in the front. Liu jie did not come. The atmosphere in the car instantly became a little weird.

Su Shen knew that Xie Yan’s agent might not like her. He must have thought that she wanted to rely on Xie Yan to climb up. It was no wonder that people thought like so, since it was all too common in this industry.

“Why didn’t you choose the female lead?” The person in the front seat suddenly broke the awkward atmosphere in the car.

Su Shen looked up and paused, “I’m not suitable for it.”

After saying this, she looked down to scroll through her phone again. It just so happened that a pair of famous celebrities went public with their relationship, and thus, it gradually suppressed the news from the press conference. However, Xie Yan’s fans were still wailing anguishly, as if their idol had already announced his relationship.

“Do you think you are suitable for the supporting female lead then?”

As He Hua turned the steering wheel, a hint of sarcasm flashed through his eyes. The female lead was an innocent college student, which was more in line with Su Shen’s age. However, the supporting female lead was a mature woman who had experienced many ups and downs in life. Su Shen’s image was not even close to it at all.

At that, Su Shen didn’t even look up and just said insipidly, “I don’t know.”

Hearing this, a hint of sarcasm flashed through He Hua’s eyes again. Come on, she’d probably rely on him to tell the Director about auditioning for the female lead later. However, Director Li had a stubborn temper. If an artist did not have the ability, then they would not get the role.

“What’s your plan with Xie Yan?” He Hua said.

Su Shen was taken aback and blinked. She tightened her windbreaker as the weather had gotten cold now. That movie of hers would air in less than a month and a half. It would be aired at the beginning of the year, and there were two dramas waiting to be broadcasted next year. Liu jie said that whether her fame would increase depended on her performance next year.

“I’m still young. After mutually understanding each other, I would then take the next step.” Su Shen knew that He Hua must’ve wanted her to break up with Xie Yan as soon as possible.

Hearing this, the person driving in the front just chuckled, “It’s great that you can think like that. You’re still young, so it’s natural for you to focus on your career.”

He Hua knew Xie Yan best. If he got married, he wouldn’t come out to shoot a movie so easily in the future, so He Hua never urged him to find a girlfriend. But he didn’t expect that he actually found a girlfriend secretly!

“I heard that Xie Yan’s next act is an action film and that he has to go to the forest?” Su Shen suddenly thought of this.

Speaking of this, He Hua also became serious, “That’s right, so you’d better persuade him not to shoot this movie if you have the chance, even if we have to pay for compensatory damages. He almost broke an arm the last time he filmed Fang Kong’s movie. Who knows what danger he will encounter this time?”

Although she knew that he was thinking for the sake of Xie Yan, Su Shen didn’t intend to stop him. Everyone had their own aspirations. Even if she persuaded him, he might still have regrets in his heart.

Seeing her silent, He Hua was a little unhappy. At a critical moment, this girlfriend pretended to be deaf and mute. She didn’t care about Xie Yan at all!

Under the awkward atmosphere throughout the ride, the car finally stopped at the entrance of a hotel. As soon as she got out of the car with a mask on, a gust of cold wind blew her hair into the air. After He Hua parked the car, he then led them into the hotel.

When they arrived at the ninth floor, the floor had been reserved. From time to time, there were busy staff members passing by. Su Shen also saw several A-list actresses; evidently, they were here for an audition.

Having connections was a different story, He Hua took her directly to the Director, who so happened to be auditioning an actress. Furthermore, she was a B-list actress who just won a Best Supporting Actress award. She’s been part of the big screen circle, and although her appearance was not breathtaking, it was easy on the eyes. While her fame had been lukewarm, her acting was superb. Looking at her in a red cheongsam, it could be seen that she was also auditioning for the supporting female lead.

“Director Li, long time no see! When are you going to go drinking with me?” He Hua greeted with a smile.

There were also several producers and scriptwriters sitting inside the room. Li Xun was a middle-aged man in his 40s and looked quite old, with wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. He wore a pair of black frame glasses and was dressed casually. It was hard to imagine that he was the leader of the literary film industry.

When he saw He Hua, he also waved his hand, “You’re such a busy man to still remember to go drinking with me. You still owe me a meal from last time.”

The assistant director and a producer at the side all laughed. He Hua didn’t feel embarrassed and dragged a chair and sat down beside the table, “I’ll treat you to drink enough this time, as long as saozi* don’t scold me!” 

saozi – a term to refer to an older brother’s wife, sometimes may be referred to the girlfriend of a big bro in a group

“AHAHAHA!” The people around finally couldn’t help laughing. Everyone knew that Director Li was henpecked.

Seeing that someone had come, the actress that was auditioning could only go outside and wait for the result. She couldn’t help but glance at Su Shen when she left.

“No, no, I’ve abstained from drinking now.” Director Li waved his hand and looked at Su Shen up and down. He said indifferently, “Is this the person you wanted to introduce?”

Getting to the point, He Hua naturally nodded in agreement, “How is she, innocent enough? Doesn’t she fit the image of your female lead greatly?”

Hearing this, Su Shen couldn’t help but frown. Didn’t she say that she was auditioning for the supporting female lead?

Just at this moment, the other producers and script writers began to look at her up and down. Today, Su Shen wore a long beige windbreaker, and her legs appeared slim and straight in black leggings. She had light makeup on, with big eyes and fair skin. Her features had no imperfections, and she was absolutely at the forefront of the many beauties in the entertainment industry.

Director Li casted a glance at Su Shen. With a pen in his hand, he tapped the pen on the table from time to time. There was no expression of joy or anger on his face, “Appearance wise—not bad.”

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I’m Heavy

Just as Su Shen was about to say something, Liu jie continued, “I know you don’t like to rely on these connections, but it’s actually the same. You can accept your sister’s help. Why can’t you accept using Xie Yan’s connections?”

“When did I say no?” Su Shen turned around and stared at the constantly passing scenery, “If the script is good or the role suits me, I will definitely fight for it if I can.”

Su Shen didn’t think she was that noble. People who did not rely on their connections basically could not survive in the entertainment industry. However, everything had to be based on reality. If the script did not suit her, what was the use of a great production team?”

On the contrary, if the script suited her, then she would definitely fight for the role.

Hearing this, Liu jie was stunned, “It’s great that you think so. I’ll send you the character profile when I get back.”

At that, Su Shen didn’t say anything else.

When she returned to the hotel, it was already dark. She asked Xiao Zhou to order takeout and then went back to her room first.

After removing her makeup and taking a shower, when she went online again to check the situation, Xie Yan’s fans were still there anguished. In the past, every time there was a scandal, Xie Yan’s studio would clarify it. However, nobody even knew the target of the gossip this time around. His studio did not make any movement whatsoever, which made the fans strive to think of the possible possibilities.

The news today was so breaking that even the hype of the long trailer released at the press conference was suppressed. It should be said that almost no one cared about it, but a few passersby still noticed the trailer.

Netizen A: Holy sh*t! Is that Su Shen?! What on earth did she experience for her acting to improve by leaps and bounds?!  

Netizen B: Sure enough, it’s different with a well-known director, for even Su Shen to be good at acting. [joy]

Netizen C: I actually feel that Su Shen’s acting is even better than Fan Meng’s? Tell me, it’s not just me who feels this!

Netizen D: Hahaha, of course the trailer would be edited to show a great performance. Once the whole movie airs, Miss Su’s poor acting will take its original form. [smiley face]

Netizen E: Looking forward to the movie, the antis will be slapped in the face by that time. [smiley face]

Netizen F: It’s hard to imagine that this is actually Su Shen, her acting is so great. She even has such a viscous look at such a young age. [joy]

Netizen G: I got goosebumps all over my body when I saw it. Rooting for xiao jie jie!

The kiss scene did not appear in the trailer. Su Shen didn’t know if it had been deleted or not. However, she had quite a lot of scenes in the trailer, but perhaps she was unlucky. Last time when the trailer got released, it was suppressed because of a certain best actor engaged in a s*x scandal, so not many people paid notice to it. This time, the public’s attention was pulled away because of Xie Yan. She might really have to wait until the movie aired to whitewash her acting.

It was not until Liu jie sent her an email and she clicked on it that she found it was the character profile of the movie Liu jie had mentioned at first.

Nowadays, most of the films that won awards were literary films and not commercial ones. And Director Li was at the top for literary films. Every film of his could win an award, and they could become a classic. Therefore, most of his films were highly vied for by domestic artists. However, what he looked for was the suitability of the role with the artist, not their fame.

Xie Yan had acted in one of his films before. He acted as a teacher in the olden times. It was hard to imagine that he would act as a refined and gentle teacher, but because of this film, he won his second best actor award.

The character profile sent by Liu jie was relatively detailed. The female lead was a student during the Republic of China era. She had a crush on an upperclassman and was madly in love with him. However, the upperclassman was a spy of the Communist Party. He didn’t want to be trapped in the case that they had children, so he kept rejecting the female lead. It was not until the female lead’s parents were killed during the war and when she saw her sister being defiled in order to cover her that she understood the patriotism of the nation. She then decisively entered the army. It was not until she met the male lead much later that she understood why he rejected her at the time. However, she could no longer return to that innocent love she had for the male lead.

This role had multiple layers to it and was complicated. There were some things that could not be shown through acting. Su Shen did not want this role and knew what she was capable of. Commercial films were different from literary films. The former focused on the film as a whole while the latter focused on the character.  

Art came from life. She had never experienced the feeling of being crazily in love, so naturally she could not express what the role wanted. The love scenes from before, she did not need to take it to heart and just focused on her acting. However, if she did not take it to heart for this film, she would be sorry to the director and to such a great opportunity. 

On the contrary, she preferred the supporting female lead of this film more. The supporting female lead was a dancer. She had seen the ugliness of human nature and the prosperity and loneliness of the world. She only knew how to make money until she met the male lead. The male lead encountered the supporting female lead on a mission, where she had helped him. The supporting female lead was curious about his identity and said that she would hand him over for money. However, the male lead told her many things. Gradually, the supporting female lead realized the value of her existence, or in other words, the meaning of life. She helped the male lead obtain a lot of information on high-ranking officials, but ultimately died in an accident in order to save him.

She asked the male lead whether anyone would remember her.

The male lead said that he would remember her.

The supporting female lead’s feelings toward the male lead were complicated, and the many things she did were out of selfishness. She wanted to show the value of being a dancer, even if only the male lead remembered her in the end.

This was a very sad role. Su Shen felt very similar to her. In her previous life, she was also like that, thinking that the meaning of her life was to climb up the social ladder. Like the dancer, she had never received genuine concern from anyone. However, she was more fortunate than the dancer because God gave her a chance to be reborn and had even given her a family. Thus, she knew that the meaning of her life was to live well and make her family happier.

After reading these, Su Shen sent Liu jie a message, telling her that she preferred the supporting female lead. Perhaps Liu jie was already asleep as she did not reply to her, so Su Shen could only go to bed.

The production crew began work at 8:30 am, and Su Shen arrived to the set at 8:00 am. The makeup for modern times was very quick. However, the makeup artist had been looking at her admiringly. The rest of the crew had also been looking at her admiringly, as if they were certain that the person Xie Yan mentioned was her.

“Su Shen, put this headband on.” The stylist handed her a pink headband.

Su Shen put the headband on. She had natural makeup on and wore a pink nightgown, looking very leisurely. It was because they were filming indoor scenes today.  

At this time, the male and female leads had just gotten married, and the male lead was there doing pushups. The female lead ran over to sit on his back and read, while discussing the meeting between their parents tomorrow. 

When it was almost time, Su Shen went to discuss the script with the Director. She immediately found an excuse to escape when the Director had mentioned something, and sneakily went to Xie Yan’s dressing room. Perhaps because she was too impulsive, she had forgotten to knock on the door. As soon as the door opened, she saw Xie Yan’s naked upper body as he was about to put on a T-shirt.

“Su Shen!”

Zhao Tong, who was in the room, was so frightened that he almost dropped his phone, seemingly hadn’t expected her to come in so suddenly. Seeing Su Shen cast a strange look at him, he immediately explained in a hurry, “Don’t misunderstand, Yan ge was just changing his clothes!

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately ran out, afraid of disturbing the two of them.

Su Shen blushed and didn’t know whether she should go in or not. She hadn’t thought wrong, but Zhao Tong insisted on explaining. She knew whether Xie Yan was straight or not.

“Have you had breakfast?” He walked over and pulled her inside, closing the door in passing.

“En.” She nodded slightly. Her pink nightgown made her exude an even more youthful air to her.

“But I haven’t eaten yet.” He held her shoulder and looked down at her fervently.

Being stared at by him, Su Shen couldn’t help but blushed, “Then… ask Zhao Tong to buy it for you.”

Xie Yan found that although the person in front of him was usually calm and collected beyond her age, when it came to matters between men and women, she was like an 18 year old girl who didn’t seem to understand anything.

With a helpless smile, he led her to the sofa and sat her down. Then, he went over and got her yogurt. Knowing that she liked this brand of yogurt, he specially asked someone to bring a box of it back from abroad. 

“I just heard from the Director that you have to show your upper body later. I don’t think it’s necessary. He just wants to use you as a gimmick. Although you’re not a woman, there’s still no need for you to show your upper body.” As Su Shen said this, she felt a bit unsettled. Perhaps this was because of her possessiveness. Since Xie Yan was her boyfriend now, she didn’t want him to be seen by other women, even if it’s a physical part.

Hearing this, the latter arched a brow, walked over to her side and sat down. He leaned in and stared into her eyes, “Are you jealous?”

Su Shen was taken aback. Her face was somewhat flushed as if she had put on blush.

“I just don’t think it’s necessary.” She turned around, not looking at him; her ears were a little red.

Once they confirmed their relationship, it was the same as an engagement. If her fiance’s body was seen by other women, she would definitely be unhappy. Moreover, he would be seen by so many people, who might take screenshots and use them as a screensaver. She was not that open-minded.

“Okay, I’ll do whatever you say. I’ll only show it to you.” He steeped tea with a smile, his eyes full of joy.

Turning around, she saw that he had brought out a whole tea set to make tea, and he was very adept at it too. No wonder he walked around everywhere with a teapot everyday.

“Can I ask you for a favor?” After hesitating for a while, she finally said it. 

At that, Xie Yan placed the teapot down and turned to wrap his arm around her slender waist. He held the petite woman in his arms and said earnestly, “There’s no need for favors between us.”

“But…”

“If I say I want to eat your cooking, should I ask you for a favor then? En?” He stared at the beautiful and exquisite face in his arms fervently.

Hearing this, the latter just blinked and looked down slightly, “Sorry, I…”

“You don’t need to be so courteous.” With a helpless smile, he patted her head and said, “It’s my duty to do anything you ask me to do.”

A deep and mellow voice sounded besider her ear. Su Shen’s heart skipped a beat and her expression became a little perplexed. She found that she seemed to have done nothing for Xie Yan.

Su Shen felt that she should try to change her old-fashioned way of thinking and learn how to be an actual girlfriend. This time, there’s no benefits or power involved, only love. She didn’t hate Xie Yan nearing her, so it must be like, no?

“Liu jie found a film for me. It’s directed by Director Li, and I quite liked the supporting female lead, so I want to strive for a chance to audition. Is that okay?” She looked up, her lips accidentally touching his chin, causing her to blush once more.

His chin felt an itch, as if a feather just swept past it. It itched to his heart.

Xie Yan’s eyes darkened and kissed her on the cheek, “Of course.”

Director Li had offered him to act in this film, but Xie Yan felt that he was not suitable for the male lead role, so he declined it. At the time, He Hua got very angry with him too. However, some films were different from idol dramas. If he accepted it so inaptly, it would be disrespectful to the director and the entire production team. Although Su Shen wanted to act in this film, he could only be a middleman. Nonetheless, he would definitely not take part in this film.

“I just want to tell you that eating too much lipstick is bad for your health.” Su Shen couldn’t help glancing at him.

The latter arched a brow and took a deep breath in the pit of her neck while holding her in his arms, “But I’m in good health.”

Helplessly, Su Shen wanted to say something when someone knocked on the door. She hurriedly got up and prepared to leave. She almost forgot that filming was about to begin.

It was Zhao Tong who knocked on the door. He wanted to say that the Director had begun to call standby. Although he had to take the risk of disturbing the two of them, he still risked it.

When the Director heard that Xie Yan didn’t want to bare his upper body, he felt it was a pity but did not insist on it. 

This was an indoor scene. The male lead was doing pushups at home, and the female lead would sit on his back to increase the intensity. The theme of this drama was pretty relaxed, so daily life scenes were pretty sweet.

After setting up the set, the Director told them to get ready for filming.

Just at this time, the rest of the crew withdrew from being in frame. After Xie Yan was propped on the floor, Su Shen then carefully sat on his back with a book in her hand. However, she only saw the biceps that bulged on his arms.

“Be careful.” She held her dress as she adjusted her position. Afraid of falling, she whispered to the person below her, “I’m heavy.”

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