“Who is Zhou Yining? I’ve never heard of her. There are no results even on Baidu. How did she just parachute into the cast of Taiping Dynasty?”

“She’s probably another performing arts graduate who used the casting couch to get ahead. She must have strong connections to land such a big role right away.”

“She is genuinely beautiful, though. Not a plastic surgery face or an internet celebrity look.”

“I just want to know who is backing her.”

…

Zhou Yining skimmed the comments on Weibo. She wasn’t surprised by the remarks. The investors for the Taiping Dynasty were from Hua Chen Film and Television, and Hua Chen’s CEO, Qin Sen, was her cousin. He had only given her an audition opportunity; the director, Xu Ping, was the one who ultimately decided to cast her.

She exited Weibo. The assistant director for the Taiping Dynasty sent her a message: The male lead joins the crew tomorrow. If you have time, feel free to come over too.

Zhou Yining immediately replied: Okay.

The Taiping Dynasty was Director Xu Ping’s new work. Director Xu was famous for his historical dramas, shooting one every three years, a steady routine for twelve years, and every one was a classic. After three years of waiting, his new drama finally began filming quietly on July 16th. The crew and other actors had already been shooting in Hengdian for over ten days. The male lead hadn’t appeared since the press conference or the start of filming, and Zhou Yining still didn’t know who he was.

Zhou Yining opened the ticket booking page and called Qin Sen. “Cousin, I’m going to Hengdian tomorrow. Do you need me to bring anything for Jing Xin?”

Jing Xin was Qin Sen’s girlfriend and one of the main cast members of the Taiping Dynasty. After watching Jing Xin’s latest interview, it seemed the two were having a conflict.

Qin Sen said, “No need. I’m going myself.”

Zhou Yining was delighted. “Perfect! Could you ask your assistant to book my ticket too? I was just worried about flying alone and then taking a transfer. Take me with you.”

Having solved one hassle, Zhou Yining started packing her luggage.

The next afternoon, they arrived in Hengdian.

Director Xu and a group of people were waiting nearby. When Zhou Yining got out of the car, she thought they were there to welcome Qin Sen. To her surprise, when Director Xu saw them, he was taken aback. “President Qin, what brings you here?”

Qin Sen smiled. “Just visiting the set.”

Zhou Yining glanced around, then approached one of the young actors and whispered, “Has the male lead arrived yet?”

The actor shook her head. “No, we’re waiting for him.”

Zhou Yining understood and turned to go back.

The driver had just pulled her suitcase out of the car when a black car suddenly stopped right behind them. She glanced back. That car… why did it look familiar? The door opened, and a tall figure stepped out. He was wearing a black mask, only revealing a pair of heroic eyes and brows, yet he was still strikingly handsome.

Unfortunately, the air between his eyebrows carried a chilling aloofness that discouraged approach.

Zhou Yining stood there, frowning as she looked at the man beside her. Why was he here?

Ji Dongyang sensed someone staring at him and turned his head to look.

Zhou Yining forced a smile. “Dong-ge, don’t tell me you’re the Emperor, the male lead?”

Ji Dongyang removed his mask and gave a faint “Mm.”

Zhou Yining: “…”

Before this, Zhou Yining and Jing Xin had speculated about who the male lead would be. Both had guessed Ji Dongyang. Few male leads in the entertainment industry could make a large group of people wait without complaint. Eliminating the others, only Ji Dongyang was left.

She never expected it to truly be him.

To be honest, Zhou Yining felt a wave of despair at that moment. She really didn’t want to act opposite Ji Dongyang.

The reason was simple: she disliked him. The reasons for her dislike, if deeply explored, were numerous.

The thought of spending the next few months with him in the same crew made Zhou Yining depressed. What kind of bad karma was this? Why did it have to be him?

Everyone else present, except Zhou Yining, was ecstatic.

She dragged her suitcase into the middle of the crowd. The young actresses next to her were especially agitated, grabbing each other’s hands and jumping with excitement. “I can’t believe Dong-ge is the male lead! Hasn’t he not acted in a TV series for years? I remember when he played the Emperor a few years ago; his aura was explosive! Ahhh!”

“I can’t believe I get to be in a historical drama with Dong-ge on my first try! I’m so lucky! Hua Chen is amazing for inviting Dong-ge!”

“Ahhh, I remember I have more than ten lines of dialogue with Dong-ge!”

“…I don’t. Waaah.”

Zhou Yining frowned. Unfortunately, the role she was playing was Ji Dongyang’s concubine, meaning she had a lot of scenes with him.

Director Xu saw Ji Dongyang, smiled, took a few steps forward, and addressed everyone. “Our male lead is here. Let’s all get together tonight.”

The crowd applauded in welcome. After all, Ji Dongyang had been exclusively making movies for the past few years and had won numerous awards. He hadn’t acted in a historical drama in years. The male lead they had been keeping secret for so long turned out to be the famous Movie King; it was a pleasant surprise indeed.

After some polite small talk, they decided on the location and time for the dinner and dispersed to their hotels to rest.

Zhou Yining returned to her hotel room, tossed her suitcase aside, and collapsed onto the bed. She had only planned to rest her eyes, but ended up falling asleep.

A knock on the door woke her up. Zhou Yining smoothed her hair and clothes and went to open it.

Director Xu and the assistant director were standing outside, as was the female lead, Zhou Wei. Like Ji Dongyang, Zhou Wei had focused on the big screen in recent years and even won an Actress Queen award last year. Hua Chen had truly spent a fortune this time. With a Movie King and an Actress Queen playing the leads, the Taiping Dynasty was guaranteed to be the hottest historical drama of the year and another classic.

The assistant director looked at Zhou Yining. “Everyone’s ready to leave. President Qin and Jing Xin left earlier. Can you give them a call and tell them the dinner location?”

Zhou Yining subtly rolled her eyes. Qin Sen and Jing Xin were currently arguing. They were surely busy making up after finally seeing each other. How awkward would that call be? Wasn’t this clearly setting her up? She looked at the people standing at the door; every one of them was more famous than her. Unable to refuse, she simply nodded. “Sure.”

Two minutes later, Zhou Yining hung up. Director Xu invited everyone to leave together. He called Ji Dongyang but found his phone was off.

Director Xu turned back and patted Zhou Yining’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go call our male lead again?”

Zhou Yining: “…Why me again?”

They couldn’t bully her just because she was a newcomer!

Director Xu laughed. “Aren’t you his concubine? You have a lot of scenes with him. Get to know him better.”

Zhou Yining was blunt. “Well, Sister Wei is his Empress! Why don’t you ask Sister Wei to go?”

Zhou Wei smiled. Even she could tell that the girl and Ji Dongyang weren’t on good terms. Director Xu had clearly noticed this, too, and was using this opportunity to make her interact with Ji Dongyang more.

Director Xu: “The Empress is the highest in the inner court. Have you ever seen an Empress ordered around by a concubine?”

Zhou Yining: “…Director, you’re getting too deep into the role!”

Director Xu burst out laughing. “Go on. The rest of us will head over first.”

They all tacitly left, leaving Zhou Yining alone.

Zhou Yining stood there, glaring, completely helpless.

After a few seconds, she decided to go upstairs to call Ji Dongyang anyway.

Standing in front of Ji Dongyang’s room, Zhou Yining rapped forcefully on the door. Despite her lack of gentleness, there was still no movement inside.

That’s strange. Where was his assistant?

Why did she have to be the one to do this?!

Thinking of this, Zhou Yining knocked on the door even harder. Unless there was no one inside, there had to be a response.

The next second, the door flew open with a Kuanglang!

The man’s voice was utterly frigid. “Didn’t I say not to wake me for dinner?”

The lights were off in the room, and the curtains were tightly drawn, making the room extremely dark. The shirtless man stood in the doorway, his face sullen. Zhou Yining was stunned. She was a little surprised to see that, despite his lean figure, he had every bit of muscle he should. Her gaze moved up, and she noticed the man was wearing a pure black eye mask. How sensitive to light was he?

The man didn’t seem to look at her at all. After roaring that sentence, he slammed the door shut with a bang.

Zhou Yining stood there, gritting her teeth and glaring at the door. Who was he to yell at her?!

Just then, two people walked out of the room across the hall and called out, “Miss Zhou?” from behind her.

Zhou Yining turned around and recognized them as Ji Dongyang’s driver and assistant.

She suppressed her anger and pointed at the door. “Don’t you know there’s a dinner at seven? You just let him sleep like that?”

Ji Dongyang’s assistant looked troubled. “Dong-ge filmed two straight night scenes and then rushed here to Hengdian. He hasn’t slept in almost two days. And… Dong-ge instructed us not to wake him for dinner. He said he’d apologize to Director Xu later. He gets really bad when he’s woken up, so we didn’t dare to call him.”

Zhou Yining grew even angrier. So she had walked right into a bullet?

She gave a cold laugh. “He just shouted at me. You heard it, didn’t you?”

They had come out precisely because they heard him. Ji Dongyang’s assistant apologized profusely. “We’re sorry, Miss Zhou.”

Zhou Yining sighed. “Forget it.”

It wasn’t worth getting mad at an assistant.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, the door behind her opened again.

Zhou Yining looked back. Ji Dongyang was standing in the doorway, fully dressed. The two stood in silent confrontation for a few seconds. Zhou Yining turned and walked away. Ji Dongyang glanced at his assistant and followed Zhou Yining.

The assistant chased after him. “Dong-ge, where are you going?”

Ji Dongyang: “Dinner.”

Zhou Yining, in her high heels, walked quickly and pressed the elevator button, stepping rapidly inside.

Ji Dongyang reached the elevator door. Zhou Yining looked at him and deliberately closed the door in his face.

Only when his face was completely out of sight did Zhou Yining feel a sense of satisfaction.

That was why she disliked Ji Dongyang.

She suddenly remembered a headline she had seen on Tianya Entertainment a few days ago: “The Male Star Most Likely to Die Alone.” At the time, she thought it was funny. Which male star would die alone these days? In a chaotic place like the entertainment industry, not having multiple wives and concubines was already good.

Ji Dongyang’s cold face and awful personality flashed in her mind.

He really might die alone!

NOTES

Baidu: The most popular Chinese search engine, analogous to Google.

Casting couch: A common term in Chinese media for using sex or personal influence to gain roles or career advancement.