Ji Dongyang felt the entire night had been a bit of an ordeal. Thinking it over, he felt like she was an irresponsible wild cat, showing up for food when she was hungry, and just when he wanted to pet her and make her stay, she would thoughtlessly run away.

If last night wasn’t about something specific, then the issue was between them.

Zhou Yining kept her head down, hiding herself in his chest. “I’m fine. How could anything be wrong with me?”

Ji Dongyang’s lips tightened, and his expression turned cold. “If that’s the case, why were you acting like a completely different person last night? Zhou Yining, don’t joke about this. We can’t afford to play games.”

Had she made him misunderstand? Zhou Yining panicked a little. She quickly looked up, a smile on her face. “I’m not playing games. If I weren’t so well-behaved, how could I have gotten you to let me sleep with you? Don’t you know how fickle women are?”

She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, a hint of appeasement in her action. She said pitifully, “Don’t be so serious.”

Ji Dongyang’s expression slowly softened. He looked down at her. “You didn’t bring your key. How are you going to get back in?”

Zhou Yining hid herself in his embrace again, cooing. “I’m not going back. I’m staying here.”

Ji Dongyang: “I have to leave this afternoon and won’t be back until tomorrow night.”

“You have to leave again…?”

“Yes.”

She finally pulled away from him and looked up with a smile. “Don’t worry. I have a way to get back in.”

Ji Dongyang earnestly suggested, “You can change to a code lock. That way, you can get in even if you forget your keys.”

She immediately refused. “No. I like using a key to open the door.”

She only trusted a key. She loved the feeling of turning the key in the lock.

Ji Dongyang smiled a little. “Whatever you want. Just remember to bring your key next time. I won’t always take you in.”

Zhou Yining left in a huff. Ji Dongyang didn’t follow her, assuming she would be back in a minute. But she slammed the door shut with a bang and didn’t return. When he went to check, he saw her crouching on the ground, carefully rummaging for something. Sensing someone behind her, she turned around in a panic. When she saw it was him, she seemed to relax, stood up, and opened her door.

He had no idea where she got the key from.

Another “bang,” and she was gone, back in her own apartment.

Ji Dongyang frowned, now convinced she had done it on purpose.

Later, Zhou Yining finally understood that she should take Ji Dongyang’s words with a grain of salt. Afterward, he would break his own rules for her countless times and indulge her endlessly.

…

Zhou Yining was busy with the promotions for the Taiping Dynasty, traveling to several different cities. During this time, she also had to make time to film her cameo role in Destined for a Lifetime. Luckily, her part was small and only took a few days to shoot. She was finally getting a taste of how hard it was to be a celebrity.

But she hadn’t touched the script for Heart Knot again. When Wan Wei asked her about it, she said she was too busy with filming and promotions, which was true.

After shooting the last night scene for Destined for a Lifetime, her brief cameo role was finished. Jing Xin said that, regardless, it was her first movie, so they went out to have a feast for a late-night snack to celebrate.

Jing Xin asked, “Do you have any plans for your next project?”

The lead actress for Heart Knot hadn’t been publicly announced yet, but the male lead, Ji Dongyang, had. Director Wei Zhong’s new film had received a lot of attention from the media ever since it was first exposed, and his fans were ecstatic.

The news that Li Zheng would be the male lead had previously caused a huge stir, but then Director Wei Zhong insisted on not changing the male lead, and the gossip slowly faded. After all, Xin Chen International didn’t want to lose face with their own artist.

Because of the non-disclosure agreement, Zhou Yining hadn’t revealed anything about her new role to anyone around her. She looked up with a smile. “I already have plans. You’ll know in a couple of days.”

Jing Xin blinked and didn’t press for more.

Zhou Yining’s phone, sitting on the table, flashed with a push notification for a late-night news article. She casually glanced at it, about to look away, when she suddenly froze, her eyes fixed on the screen.

“Ji Dongyang, Shen Qing, and Wei Zhong Meet Up, Possibly for New Film Heart Knot.”

She picked up her phone and tapped on the article. The photo quality was poor due to the bad lighting, but she could still recognize the tall, broad-shouldered man as Ji Dongyang by his silhouette alone. Director Wei Zhong was on his left, and Shen Qing was on his right. There were two or three other people behind them, so it wasn’t a private get-together.

She scrolled down to the comments.

“Is Dong-ge really going to work with Goddess Qing-qing again? I’m so excited!”

“It’s been so many years, and I’m still living in Black and White. The ending was too much of a shame. I always hoped they would end up together.”

“The guy’s single, the girl’s single, anything is possible…”

…

Anything my ass. Ji Dongyang was hers.

She sent a message to A Ming: “Did Ji Dongyang have dinner with Shen Qing tonight?”

She waited a long time and got no response. She drove home, and when she stopped at a red light halfway there, she finally got a reply. But it wasn’t from A Ming. It was from Ji Dongyang himself.

Just two words: “No.”

Zhou Yining smiled, intentionally not replying.

Ji Dongyang put down his phone. A Ming was driving. “Dong-ge, did you tell Miss Zhou? The news is all over the place. It only happened two hours ago. Do you think it was Sister Qing’s team?”

Shen Qing had only filmed one movie last year, and its online rating was barely above 6.0, a true flop. Her fans were still quite forgiving, even comforting her. She had originally hoped to use Director Wei Zhong to revive her reputation, but she never expected a newcomer to snatch the female lead role. The arrogant Shen Qing was clearly not happy and was convinced Zhou Yining had gotten the role through connections.

She was simply unwilling to accept losing the chance to work with Ji Dongyang again.

After hearing that Ji Dongyang was having a meal with Director Wei Zhong, she booked a private room next to theirs. She pretended it was a coincidence and “ran into” them at the door. She even lowered her pride to ask Director Wei if he was really going to cast a newcomer as the female lead. His answer was firm. He had regretfully said, “If there’s a suitable script next time, we’ll work together.”

Ji Dongyang glanced at his phone, still waiting for a reply. He put on his eye mask to rest. “That’s their business.”

A Ming suddenly understood. As long as it didn’t cross his bottom line, Dong-ge disliked commenting on other people’s actions.

The car stopped in the garage. A Ming took the books from the passenger seat. “Dong-ge, the books you asked me to buy are all here.”

Ji Dongyang glanced at the bag and took it. “Good. You can go home now.”

Just as A Ming got into his car, Zhou Yining’s car drove in.

Ji Dongyang held the bag of books and turned to face her, waiting for her to get out.

Zhou Yining couldn’t believe her luck. She was so happy to see him. She jumped out of her car and dashed over to him. “Oh, what a coincidence!”

Ji Dongyang nodded and started walking. Zhou Yining followed behind him, staring at the bag in his hand. “So many books. Do you even have time to read?”

“I read when I have time.” He pressed the elevator button, standing up straight.

Zhou Yining looked around. The area was quiet and empty. She immediately wrapped her arms around his arm and pressed herself against him.

Ji Dongyang looked down at her as they walked into the elevator together.

They hadn’t seen each other in a few days. After they got off the elevator, Zhou Yining, on her own accord, followed him to his door. When he didn’t move, she quickly said, “I’ll only stay for half an hour, then I’ll go back to sleep. I’m really tired from filming today. I promise not to cause any trouble.”

She turned her head away, promising not to peek at the passcode.

Ji Dongyang raised an eyebrow and entered the code. He was too tired to even question how much truth was in her words.

Zhou Yining excitedly followed him in. Ji Dongyang tossed the books on the sofa, rubbed her head, and went to his bedroom.

She followed him, but one look from him made her shrink back to the sofa.

Bored, she sat on the sofa and dumped all the books out of the bag. She froze instantly, her eyes fixed on the titles: Psychology, Psychiatric Patients, Dissociative Identity Disorder…

Every word pierced her soul. She looked toward the bedroom door.

Ji Dongyang came out after his shower. The living room was empty. He pulled the towel from his neck and haphazardly dried his hair. He looked around the apartment, confirming the girl had obediently left. He glanced at the books scattered on the sofa, walked over, and flipped through them. Two were missing.

He picked up his phone from the coffee table and called her.

She took a long time to answer.

He said, “You took two of my books.”

Zhou Yining was leaning against the liquor cabinet, hugging her knees, a cigarette pinched between her fingers. She took a deep drag, looked up, and exhaled a puff of smoke. She said calmly, “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

Ji Dongyang straightened the messy sofa. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “Do what you want.”

Just don’t come and go without a word next time, like a wild cat.

Zhou Yining made an excuse to hang up, then extinguished the cigarette. She stared at the cigarette butt in the trash can. She hadn’t smoked in a long time.

She looked at the two books on the sofa and abruptly shoved them into the trash can.

It still didn’t feel like enough…

Late that night, she carried the trash out of her apartment with a cold expression on her face, tossing it into the dumpster downstairs.

…

Zhou Yining stayed home all day the next day. The day after that was January 16th, and the press conference for Heart Knot was scheduled for 3 p.m.

Her assistant, Zhang Ran, came to pick her up early. Zhou Yining got into the car, and Zhang Ran said, “Sister Wei wants us to come to the company first.”

Zhou Yining nodded.

When she walked into the office, Wan Wei stared at her, her voice cold. “What did you say last night? That you don’t want to act anymore?”

Zhou Yining nodded. “Yes.”

Wan Wei sneered. “Zhou Yining, the contract is signed, and filming is about to begin. And you’re telling me now that you don’t want to do it? Do you know how much I put into getting you this role? How am I supposed to explain this to Director Wei? I know you can afford the breach of contract fee, but you have to give me a reason that I can accept.”

After a moment of silence, Zhou Yining looked up. “I thought about it all night. I changed my mind.”

Wan Wei sighed in relief, but her tone became even colder. “Zhou Yining, I hope this is the only time something like this happens. You can’t just be so impulsive in the future.”