CHAPTER 23

It was a rare opportunity!

He starred in his first TV drama "Their Little Affairs," which had a very impressive production team. This kind of urban youth drama primarily attracts young female audiences, making it easy to gain popularity.

Wang Ji was thrilled, in just a few minutes, he had gained such significant benefits. If he could spend more time with Wei Zhuang, if he could become Wei Zhuang's lover...

"Mr. Wang," Assistant Gao interrupted his thoughts, looking very friendly. "Are you busy recently? Are you filming anything?"

Wang Ji perked up and replied brightly, "Not too bad. I just finished filming 'Their Little Affairs.' I have a magazine shoot coming up and a few fashion shows to walk in."

His agent had told him that a major fantasy-themed drama based on a popular IP was in pre-production, attracting interest from various investors, and he had a good chance of landing an important role.

This was the opportunity mentioned in the contract.

"But I still prefer filming TV dramas..."

"Since Mr. Wang is so busy, I think maybe it's best not to do TV dramas for now. After all, filming takes several months, and staying up late is a common occurrence, which might affect your modeling gigs." Assistant Gao said with a particularly warm smile.

"That won't be...," Wang's head felt numb, "...won't be, there's always time."

After inquiring for a long time, he found out that there was a gathering of industry bigwigs tonight. After much effort, he managed to get in but couldn't find Wei Zhuang. Fortunately, he saw Wei's personal assistant, Assistant Gao.

He hurriedly said, "I still wish to meet with Wei Zhuang, if you could..."

Assistant Gao smiled and cut him off, "Mr. Wang, staying up late for your job can harm your skin, and it won't help your condition for the runway." She patted his shoulder, "Mr. Wang, don't rely on your youth and neglect your health."

Assistant Gao, with a smile on her face, was becoming impatient internally:

'Take the hint, young man, don't be clueless!'

'Do I really have to spell it out for you? Tsk tsk! What a waste of a pretty face!'

'Our president has no interest in you, doesn't want to sleep with you!'

'She lost interest in just a few minutes!'

'So annoying, don't block me from finding some young fresh meat!'

Assistant Gao's internal monologue was rich, and the smile on her face gradually faded.

Wang Ji was sweating nervously.

.......

Xiang Xiaoyuan couldn't quite hear what they were saying. Based on their expressions and body language, Wang Ji initially could speak properly, but later he became meek and submissive, no longer as arrogant and dismissive as when acting with her.

With his tall stature, slightly hunched over, he looked a bit ridiculous and somewhat pitiful.

Xiaoyuan inadvertently peeked out, and in the next moment, her gaze met that of the woman beside Wang Ji.

Feeling guilty, she took a deep breath.

Assistant Gao was also momentarily taken aback, her pretty face, framed by the green leaves, looked even softer and more radiant.

The girl clearly heard something, she was startled and turned to run.

Assistant Gao dismissed Wang Ji and quickly followed after her.

Xiang Xiaoyuan didn't actually hear anything, and she didn't know why she was running. 'Wei Zhuang' was still chasing her, so she could only brace herself and escape, making her way to the elevator area, glancing up hurriedly a few times.

'Oh no, the elevator isn't coming.'

There was only one empty elevator, and the elevator attendant in uniform was standing there. She ran over and asked, "Is this elevator out of order?"

Seeing her face, the attendant paused for a moment, momentarily taken aback, and replied, "...No."

Xiaoyuan brushed past him, her dress brushing against him, causing him to pause again. It wasn't until she entered the elevator that he reacted and shouted, "Ah, miss, you can't take this elevator..."

It was too late for him to press the stop button, the elevator continued upwards.

The hotel staff were completely dumbfounded. He turned around and saw Assistant Gao standing in front of him, panicking, "Assistant Gao, what should we do? The President is resting upstairs..."

Assistant Gao stared at the red numbers that kept rising, deep in thought.

'Oh no, this seems to be really bad...'

'Wait, why does this girl look a bit familiar? Where have I seen her before?'

"Hey, what's wrong with this elevator..." Xiaoyuan entered the elevator and pressed a floor, realizing that it didn't respond at all when pressed, it continued to ascend on its own.

Oh, this was an elevator set for specific floors.

Sighing, she leaned against one side of the elevator, watching the numbers, and suddenly realized, "Why was I running?"

She hadn't heard any gossip.

It was all because of the Wei siblings that made her nerves tense, too nervous.

As the elevator continued upwards, it finally stopped when it reached the top floor.

With a "ding," the elevator doors opened.

She stepped out, her Mary Jane shoes clicking against the shiny marble floor.

The top floor was somewhat different, the elevator went directly into the suite, and before entering the suite, the lobby was spacious, adorned with several impressionist oil paintings and a large door in black and gold.

Possibly the VIP presidential suite.

The floor was high, and the environment seemed quite desolate, Xiaoyuan touched her arm, feeling a bit cold.

Just as she turned to leave and pressed the elevator button, the large door opened with a whoosh, and a woman stepped out.

The two of them met eye to eye.

Xiaoyuan blinked.

The other person seemed surprised to see someone at the entrance and stood still, her deep, cold, black eyes fixed on Xiaoyuan.

Their eyes met.

After a moment, the elevator door automatically closed.

Only then did Xiaoyuan snap back to reality, pressing the elevator button again and stepping inside.

She hesitated, looking outside, unsure if the other person was coming in.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a pair of green pointed high heels stepped inside.

The green was very special—seaweed green, with a snake-skin pattern on the shoe, giving off an inexplicable cold yet enchanting vibe.

Wait, enchanting?

How did such a word pop into her mind?

When Xiaoyuan was studying at Huaxi, her favorite thing to do was to write a diary on "character observation," which she called "character sketching." She would go to the market, the supermarket, take the subway, and observe the places with the most people.

Acting cannot rely on imagination alone, it comes from life. Actors portray living, breathing people, so they must not detach from reality, and reality is inseparable from details.

How do the uncles and aunties at the market haggle prices, how do they buy groceries, how do the elderly walk, how do pregnant women walk?

How do office workers behave during the morning rush? Do students really rush to finish their homework on the subway? What does it feel like to be pushed forward by a crowd?

What are the differences between people buying groceries at the supermarket and at the market?

What professions do these people have?

Sometimes it's about remembering expressions and body movements, sometimes it's about guessing people's professions, guessing what their personalities are like.

But this woman, she couldn't figure out...

There was just an inexplicable coldness, yet the word "enchanting" popped into her mind.

The tips of her shoes were pointed, leading to fitted black trousers, a matching V-neck vest shirt, and a suit jacket of the same color. Her shoulder-length jet-black hair framed a long, pale neck, and on her earlobe was a square emerald earring.

Black attire, white skin. The color of the shoes and earrings echoed each other.

Great taste in fashion.

As she looked up, she once again fell into a pair of dark and indifferent eyes.

She froze for a moment and then realized she had been staring for too long—it was very rude—and this person was clearly the owner of the VIP presidential suite, the territory she had accidentally intruded upon.

"...I'm sorry, I must have taken a wrong turn." she said softly. She didn't know why she instinctively lowered her voice, she just felt that the aura from the woman was too strong, her temperament too cold, and she looked like someone who was not to be trifled with.

"...Ah!" Wait a second, she gasped softly, she remembered this face.

In Yangcheng, the car that drove by, the woman in the back seat of the car.

"You..."

She couldn't help but touch her arm, look up at the floor, let out a sigh, feeling somewhat nervous for no reason.

This hotel has 36 floors, and it would take time to get downstairs.

In the sealed space, there were only two people, silently, although the elevator was moving, the air inside seemed still as if under a spell.

Fortunately, it wasn't completely still, Xiaoyuan's nose could still catch a hint of a flowing fragrance, the fragrant scent of night-blooming jasmine followed by a hint of light and lively jasmine.

It was the scent of her own perfume.

The one Xiang Zhishi picked for her, L'Artisan's "La Chasse aux Papillons," a gift he gave her for a birthday a few years back.

Lively, pure, a scent that would make people smile when they smell it.

At this moment, Xiaoyuan remembered what her brother said when he gave her the perfume.

Could the woman opposite her smell it too? She suddenly felt that this thought was quite subtle...

She raised her eyelashes slightly and quietly looked over at the opposite side.

At such a close distance, the woman's face resembled a sculpted piece of jade, completely devoid of warmth. Even her eyes held no thoughts, and it felt as if she was scanning Xiaoyuan rather than just looking at her—no, "scanning" was too mechanical a term.

In any case, Xiaoyuan could sense the gaze from across the way lingering on her, silent and unresponsive.

She felt a bit scared.

Xiaoyuan quickly glanced at the number above—it was only the 13th floor.

She lowered her eyes and saw the screen of her phone light up.

The word "Brother" flashed on the screen.

She breathed a sigh of relief, ignored the person in front, and hastily answered, "Brother..."

"Xiaoyuan, where are you?" The signal was bad, Xiang Zhishi's voice was unclear.

"I accidentally took the wrong elevator just now, heading to the first floor now..." she said, but there was no response from the other side.

"Hello, hello, Brother," Xiaoyuan repeated, "I'm going to the first floor, can you hear me?"

"...Where did you go, I couldn't reach you just now..." Xiang Zhishi's voice was intermittent, barely audible.

"Brother, I went to the wrong floor." Xiaoyuan repeated again, recalling the reason she took this elevator, she blurted out unconsciously, "...Brother, I just saw Wei Zhuang and her lover..."

As the words left her mouth, she felt it was inappropriate, hurriedly paused, and continued, "I'm going to the first floor, brother, I'll wait for you there."

"Alright, got it." Xiang Zhishi finally heard clearly, "Stay in the lobby and don't wander around."

"Mm, got it."

After hanging up, the elevator number had already reached the 8th floor.

Finally, she was almost there. She turned to face the elevator doors, eager to get out.

Unnoticed by her, the woman opposite finally showed a flicker of emotion in her cold brows when she heard the words "Wei Zhuang" and "lover," a very faint surprise, a slight curl of her thin lips, her gaze fixed on Xiaoyuan's profile. Xiaoyuan's black hair was tucked behind her ear, and there was a light brown freckle on her nose, while her slightly pink earlobes resembled petals under the moonlight.

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