CHAPTER 46

As night fell and the summer breeze cooled the air, they dressed simply and casually as they walked out of the hotel.

"You were only on my livestream for a short while that day, and many praised your beauty and for having great skin. Hmph, these people are still my fans!"

"Hahaha, are you jealous?"

"I regret it now, I shouldn't have let you greet them!"

"Alright, alright, since you've done me such a big favor, let me treat you to chicken wings."

"Such a big favor, just one chicken wing enough?"

"Then I'll remember it, next time I have the chance, I'll introduce you to acting?"

Zou Yirui laughed incredulously upon hearing this.

"All I want to know is, who's your man?" she whispered.

Xiaoyuan replied, puzzled, "What man?"

"Didn't you offend Wei Jiabao earlier? Who helped you settle that?" Zou Yirui shot her a sideways glance.

Xiaoyuan's eyes flickered as she denied, "No one."

"You know Wei Jiabao wasn't like this before. He wouldn't make things so difficult for women. You really must have angered him."

"Hasn't anyone rejected him before?"

This topic became somewhat sensitive in front of Zou Yirui, who rolled her eyes and continued, "Actually, Wei Jiabao doesn't force women. He only proposes serious relationships. If others are unwilling, then so be it. There will naturally be willing participants. I don't know why he's so persistent with you."

"Maybe no one has shown disinterest to him before."

"Fair point. You managed to 'survive' his advances. Who smoothed things over for you under his pressure? Who is so capable, even more so than the young master from Tong Hua?" 

Zou Yirui's curiosity was on the verge of exploding.

Xiaoyuan pressed her lips and shrugged.

Zou Yirui pursed her lips. "If you don't want to say, then don't say, hmph."

Xiaoyuan chuckled and naturally didn't reveal that the person who had smoothed things over with Wei Jiabao for her was her boss. She hadn't lied, it indeed wasn't a man!

They arrived at the barbecue stall, but Zou Yirui refused to sit down because the chairs weren't clean enough. The two of them chose chicken wings, squid, eggplant, ham, baby bokchoy, and green beans, packing three boxes to take with them.

As it was getting late, and just before they entered the hotel, Zou Yirui suddenly spotted a familiar figure hurrying out, wearing a baseball cap pulled low.

She stopped Xiaoyuan and said, "Do you see who that is?"

Following her gaze, Xiaoyuan looked over and said, "Looks like Fang Hao?"

"It's him! Why is he out at this hour..." Zou Yirui's gossip instincts ignited. "Let's go over and take a look."

"Why go over? The barbecue will be cold by then." Xiaoyuan disagreed.

"Hey, my gut tells me there's gossip to catch. What's more important, the gossip or the barbecue?"

Xiaoyuan didn't understand how these two things could be compared, "Of course it's..." She didn't finish her sentence before being pulled away.

"Hey... you," Xiaoyuan said, carefully holding the takeout boxes as she was led along.

They followed Fang Hao around to the back of the hotel, weaving around as he kept looking around, seemingly afraid of being spotted. Even Xiaoyuan's curiosity was piqued now.

Fang Hao took a long detour, walking quite a distance to an outdoor set that seemed to belong to an unknown production. It was late, and everyone had already left, the set was mostly taken down.

Xiaoyuan and Zou Yirui hid behind a 'lifelike' fake mountain, watching Fang Hao standing under a partially dismantled roof, seemingly waiting for someone.

Soon, a petite figure wearing a baseball cap approached from that direction. It was late at night, and she was even wearing a mask, revealing a bit of fair skin on her face.

The two stood together, exchanged a few words, and quickly started arguing, displaying animated body language.

Xiaoyuan and Zou Yirui were at a distance, unable to hear their conversation clearly, only catching words like "busy," "phone call," and so on.

Xiaoyuan also found the arguing woman somewhat familiar. Zou Yirui spoke up, "It's Lu Jingnian."

Both she and Lu Jingnian were popular young actresses often compared to each other. Each time, Zou Yirui was said to be "prettier but lacking in acting skills" compared to her.

She was so familiar with Lu Jingnian that she could recognize her even with her face covered.

"Oh..." After Zou Yirui pointed it out, the more Xiaoyuan looked, the more certain she became that it really was Lu Jingnian. Were these two actually dating?

"I told you, he definitely has a girlfriend," Zou Yirui said, clicking her tongue while taking pictures with her phone. "I didn't expect it to be someone from the same company."

"They've worked together before," Xiaoyuan recalled that drama, "Their Little Affairs," in which she had a part that ended up being cut entirely. At that time, Fang Hao didn't know how to act at all, and it was Lu Jingnian who patiently taught him. Maybe they developed feelings for each other during that production?

Zou Yirui snapped several pictures, clearly enjoying the moment. "A May-December romance! these two are really keeping up with the trend!"

"Don't you seem older than Wei Jiabao too?"

"Hey, who said that? According to Baidu Baike, I'm the same age as him!"

Xiaoyuan laughed, only then realizing that Zou Yirui was taking photos, "Hey, what are you taking photos of? Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"Don't worry, I'm just... taking a casual shot," Zou Yirui said, aiming her phone at them. "Just trying out the night photography feature on my Huawei phone."

"..." Xiaoyuan was speechless.

Fang Hao and Lu Jingnian were still arguing, speaking in lowered voices. Lu Jingnian suddenly lowered her head, covering her face as if crying, while Fang Hao looked anxious, glancing around and speaking in low tones.

The onlookers recalled a previous night when the three of them were acting together, the person who kept calling Fang Hao, it must have been Lu Jingnian.

"Let's go, let's not watch anymore." Xiaoyuan suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I can't watch anymore." Zou Yirui put her phone away, and the two quietly made their way back to the hotel.

"Do you still have the photos you took?" Xiaoyuan asked.

"I'll just keep them," Zou Yirui teased, laughing. "Don't worry, I won't show them to anyone."

In TV dramas, it's common to promote the male and female lead along with supporting actresses together for publicity. Sometimes, companies also cooperate to create rumors for publicity. Especially for Fang Hao, this kind of idol-like male lead, even if the actresses he works with don't create rumors, it's highly likely to cause trouble.

In this drama, Xiaoyuan's popularity and discussion level weren't high enough, leaving only herself in the spotlight. Zou Yirui wasn't afraid, but she found it quite frustrating to be someone else's stepping stone.

These photos were just for precaution.

"It looks like Lu Jingnian has fallen for Fang Hao. Relationships within the same company rarely end well, especially with Fang Hao's current rising star status. Once 'Zui Xiaoyao' premieres, it'll be even more intense." Zou Yirui pursed her lips.

"Yeah, they probably won't announce their relationship too soon." Xiaoyuan continued her train of thought.

Zou Yirui chuckled at her response and glanced at her. "Announce their relationship? Just by looking at them, it's clear they're keeping it under wraps. Fang Hao comes from an idol background. He hasn't been an actor for many years, and probably can't date due to clauses in his contract. Lu Jingnian has been stagnant for a few years, tried transitioning to movies but wasn't successful. Plus, she's at least six years older than Fang Hao. If it's exposed, who will Boyi protect?"

Xiaoyuan replied, "That's too cruel..."

From their earlier argument, it was clear that Lu Jingnian cared about Fang Hao more. In Xiaoyuan's impression, Lu Jingnian was quite mature, self-assured, and personable, without any apparent flaws.

Xiaoyuan had met her during "Their Little Affairs," they added each other on WeChat, and exchanged polite messages. Perhaps at that time, Lu Jingnian thought Xiaoyuan had some connection to Boyi. After Xiaoyuan shot a web movie, their contact gradually faded.

Xiaoyuan didn't feel regretful. This industry is the most realistic—today's friends could be tomorrow's enemies, nothing is set in stone.

However, when she was filming "Zui Xiaoyao," Lu Jingnian sent her a few congratulatory messages. At that time, Xiaoyuan thought she and Fang Hao were from the same company, only to realize they had a closer relationship.

"It's completely normal. If it were us at Tonghua, we would handle it the same way. That's why we prohibit relationships within the same company. But at Tonghua, we don't have many young artists, so these situations are relatively rare." Zou Yirui seemed somewhat proud of the company's policy.

Xiaoyuan gave her a meaningful look, her expression speaking volumes.

'So you signed with Tonghua thanks to Wei Jiabao, and after separating from him, you maximized your benefits without investing real feelings in him. That's quite practical and rational choice.'

Zou Yirui seemed to understand what Xiaoyuan was thinking and patted her on the shoulder. "Got it? So hurry up and find a man! Remember not to be too foolish, if he gives you enough benefits, then you 'give' back, okay? And make sure to pull away in time!"

For a moment, Xiaoyuan found Zou Yirui's smug smile quite annoying. She really wanted to say to her, "Excuse me, have you met your boss? We didn't just meet, we did a lot more than just meeting!"

......

She suddenly stopped in her tracks, lost in thought.

Zou Yirui turned around, "Why did you stop? Let's quickly go back and have some barbecue."

Xiaoyuan snapped out of her reverie and followed along.

She felt like she had been reminded of Wei Zhuang far too many times today—this was the second time. She also recalled another thing: their contract seemed to have less than two months left.

Once back in Shencheng, she took a few days off.

Xiang Zhishi also returned to Shencheng, telling her that a personal assistant had been hired in Pengcheng to take care of his mother. However, he hinted that he would be visiting every month.

He didn't say it outright, but he implied that he hoped Xiaoyuan would go with him. Xiaoyuan responded with a few vague "mm-hm" sounds to brush it off.

Cai Juan was giving her knowing glances from the side. She knew he wanted her to be confess to her brother about her contract with Wei Zhuang, but she pretended not to see.

Cai Juan pulled her aside and whispered, "You better... ugh, you know what I mean, You know how worried I am. If Brother Zhishi finds out..."

"Don't worry! If I get found out, I'll say you didn't know either. Besides, it was all my idea."

Cai Juan breathed a sigh of relief, patted Xiaoyuan cautiously, "Good, thank goodness. It really has nothing to do with me."

Xiaoyuan: "..."

Cai Juan continued, "At least there's only a month left until you're done."

Xiaoyuan: "..."

Why does that sound a bit unpleasant?

Over the next month, Xiaoyuan continued to keep an eye on the entertainment news while studying and training as usual, but she never received a call from Assistant Gao.

She knew Wei Zhuang was busy, so she kept herself busy as well. She even accepted an invitation from her junior colleagues and returned to school to perform in a play. When the last month of her contract arrived, she finally received a call from Assistant Gao.

She said, "Miss Xiang, President Wei has been extremely busy recently and won't be able to meet with you this month. So she wants to know if you agree to renew the contract?"

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