The acting was utterly natural, needing no refinement; everything was perfect.

Everyone stared with astonishment at the bewitching Zhou Yining. They were instantly pulled into the scene. This sick, world-weary young woman held a fatal attraction. Her eyes were unfocused, light as a speck of dust in the world, capable of vanishing at any moment.

This suffocating emotion tightly gripped the hearts of the onlookers.

It was the first time Wei Zhong had encountered such a talented female actress. No actress had ever portrayed the female lead so vividly in their very first scene. Zhou Yining achieved it. The shadow of Pei Yuan completely overlapped with her. He was even more surprised that she knew how to smoke.

Judging by her proficiency, it was impossible unless she’d been smoking for years.

In the frame, Pei Yuan stood up, bent down to extinguish the cigarette butt, and walked into the bedroom to change clothes.

Here, they needed to shoot two relatively sensual frames: one of her bare back, and one of the dress slipping to her feet, revealing her long, luminous white legs.

The costume designer had long prepared Zhou Yining to ensure she wouldn’t be exposed. After clearing the set of crew members, only the director, the cameraman, and the male lead, Ji Dongyang, remained to shoot the two shots.

Wei Zhong clapped his hands hard. “Cut! The first scene went very smoothly. Zhou Yining, excellent performance.”

Zhou Yining took the long coat offered by Zhang Ran and wrapped it around herself, exposing her jade-white feet. Ji Dongyang leaned back in his chair, frowning as he stared at her for a few seconds. He admitted Zhou Yining was talented, but such exquisite acting in her very first scene was something he found a little hard to accept.

As for why, he couldn’t say.

The makeup artist led Zhou Yining away to prepare for the next scene.

…

Lu Xiao and Shen Yanjun hadn’t expected to run into each other at the film set; they met right outside. Today’s filming location was indoors, with the duplex serving as the female lead, Pei Yuan’s home. The already cramped space, filled with crew members, became even narrower with the sudden arrival of two investors.

Wei Zhong came downstairs and exchanged pleasantries with the two investors. Shen Yanjun said, “Director Wei, you don’t need to worry about us. Mr. Lu and I just came to take a look.”

Lu Xiao smiled, pointing his chin at Ji Dongyang. “Came to see an old friend.”

Wei Zhong also smiled. “Alright then, feel free to look around. If you need anything, let the staff on site take care of you.”

Lu Xiao looked around but didn’t see Zhou Yining. He then walked over to Ji Dongyang, pulled up a chair, and sat beside him. “What, not your scene yet?”

Ji Dongyang: “My scenes are tonight.”

Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow. “Then why are you here so early? Was the scene they just shot for the female lead?”

Ji Dongyang glanced at him and said flatly, “Mm. Just watching.”

Lu Xiao sighed regretfully. “Too bad, I was a step too late. I missed seeing the little devil’s splendor.”

He spoke without reservation. The staff members nearby paused upon hearing this. Who was the little devil? The next second, they matched the name to Zhou Yining and realized. Ah, Mr. Lu is pursuing Zhou Yining.

Ji Dongyang stood up and looked down at him. “Let’s talk somewhere else.”

Lu Xiao casually uncrossed his legs and followed Ji Dongyang. He greeted Shen Yanjun. “Mr. Shen, Dongyang, and I will be leaving first.”

Shen Yanjun smiled. “Take care.”

The hotel the crew had booked was nearby. Lu Xiao and Ji Dongyang returned to the hotel. Ji Dongyang’s room was a large suite with a living room and a sofa. A Ming prepared two cups of coffee, and the two sat on the sofa to chat.

Lu Xiao was quite interested in Zhou Yining recently and asked for more information. The Zhou family had two daughters: one little devil and one little princess.

“I heard the little devil was very obedient when she was young, so compliant she was like a doll. Her personality changed drastically as she grew up. I heard some things about her from high school. Back during school days, a girl like that would be trouble, and hard to like.”

In school, boys generally preferred pure and obedient girls. After battling in society for over a decade, their preferences in romance had become increasingly inexplicable.

Ji Dongyang took a sip of coffee, saying subtly, “Is that so?”

Lu Xiao smiled. “Absolutely. I chased the class beauty for three whole years and never succeeded. She liked you, and you didn’t even acknowledge her. Why are all these young girls only attracted to guys like you? You can’t tell jokes, you’re not romantic, and a normal date is difficult. How boring.”

Ji Dongyang smiled, noncommittal. A Ming, however, was displeased. “Dong-ge is what you call the ‘abstinent type.’ He looks safe and reliable. Girls these days like that style.”

Lu Xiao frowned. “Do I look very unfaithful?”

A Ming didn’t answer, but his silence suggested, You don’t look very devoted, no.

Lu Xiao clicked his tongue. He had work to do and left after a short while. Ji Dongyang walked him to the door and asked casually, “Still planning to pursue Zhou Yining?”

Lu Xiao: “Yeah, why else would I go to the set? You don’t really think I went just to see you, do you?”

“You won’t catch her.”

“Huh? Why? Because of Shen Yanjun? Oh, don’t worry about him. Shen Yanjun has no chance.”

“It’s not him.”

Lu Xiao was confused. Ji Dongyang looked composed. “She’s taken.”

Lu Xiao was incredulous. “…By whom?”

He certainly hadn’t heard that.

Ji Dongyang curved his lips, patted his shoulder, and turned to walk away.

…

Ji Dongyang’s first scene didn’t start until after 8:00 PM: a face-off with Yan Cheng, played by Yu Yuanhang.

It was a major scene, filmed in a bar. There were hundreds of extras alone. The location was provided by Lu Xiao; it was his territory, and the bartenders and servers were used as extras.

Lu Yanzhou returned from the US, and his friend Yan Cheng threw him a welcome party. The two were drinking in the noisy, chaotic bar. Lu Yanzhou habitually observed the girls dancing wildly in the pool of light. An outsider might think he was looking for prey. Yan Cheng raised his glass and raised an eyebrow. “What have you figured out now?”

“Some are venting, some are indulging, some are enjoying…”

His gaze fell upon a girl in a white shirt. The most normal attire, yet she danced the fiercest, and she was the prettiest one, with her eyes tightly closed.

Soon, a man approached her to strike up a conversation. She leaned close to him, breathing her words into his ear like an orchid. What she said was, “If you can out-drink me, I’ll go with you tonight.” The man’s eyes lit up, and he quickly led her towards the bartender.

Pei Yuan stared at the man, smiling charmingly. She lifted her glass and downed the drink, soon drinking the man under the table.

She smiled with disgust, turned, and walked away.

“Cut…”

Wei Zhong roared into the megaphone, and the deafening music stopped. He looked at Zhou Yining. “The look in your eyes was wrong just now. Disdain, yes, but also a hint of scorn. It’s not yet time for disgust.”

Zhou Yining tightened her lips. “Understood.”

The second take passed this stage smoothly, and the performance continued.

The bartender looked sympathetically at the heavily drunk man and chatted with his colleague beside him. “This guy must be new. He fell for the Pei Vixen‘s trick. She always says she’ll go with a guy if he can out-drink her, but I’ve never seen any man actually take her away.”

“That’s right. It’s been two years, and it’s the same routine.”

“I’d like to see who can finally take her away.”

“Tough luck. Her alcohol tolerance is too high.”

…

Lu Yanzhou watched Pei Yuan walk past him, his long, slender fingers gently tapping the table.

Someone is giving up.

The scene wrapped up at 11:30 PM. Zhou Yining had been filming all day, completely drained of energy. After changing clothes and removing her makeup, her long hair fell loosely behind her waist, her gaze vacant, lacking its usual sparkle. Ji Dongyang passed by her and said quietly, “Tired?”

Zhou Yining looked up, her gaze focusing on his face. She slowly nodded. “Mm.”

Just then, Director Wei and the assistant director walked past. Ji Dongyang said, “Ride in my car. We can talk about tomorrow’s scenes on the way.”

Zhou Yining looked at him in surprise. The man had already turned to leave.

Director Wei turned back and laughed. “Dongyang is running lines with you? Good. That will help tomorrow’s shoot go smoothly.”

And so, she legitimately, under the pretense of running lines, got into Ji Dongyang’s car. Her own assistant, Zhang Ran, drove back alone.

As soon as she got into the car, Zhou Yining leaned against his shoulder and laughed a few times. “Ji Dongyang, you can lie! Who knew…”

Ji Dongyang’s expression didn’t change. He looked down at her. “I’m serious. It’s too late to go back, so running lines on the road is perfectly normal.”

Zhou Yining was still laughing, clearly unconvinced. Yet, Ji Dongyang really did start talking to her about the script, but not tomorrow’s scenes. He asked about her first scene this morning. “I never saw you smoke before. Did you quit?”

Zhou Yining’s smile slowly faded. She whispered, “I tried to quit.”

The bad things, the things she could quit, she had tried to quit them all.

Ji Dongyang’s eyes narrowed slightly. He raised a hand and gently rubbed her head. “If you want to smoke in the future, tell me.”

Zhou Yining blinked, confused. “Tell you what for?”

“So I can tell you not to smoke.”

“…”

Such an unconvincing reason, yet she felt so happy.

A Ming, driving in the front, felt a thousand darts pierce his heart.

Back at the hotel, Zhou Yining, seeing no one around, once again dashed into Ji Dongyang’s room. He didn’t even have time to stop her. If this continued, they would be discovered soon. He leaned against the bathroom doorframe. “Are you afraid of being exposed?”

Zhou Yining thought for a moment and nodded. “Not until I finish filming this movie.”

Ji Dongyang nodded, turned, and walked into the living room, sitting on the sofa. “Since that’s the case…”

Zhou Yining thought he was about to tell her to stop coming to his room. She quickly followed him, saying hastily, “I won’t stay at the hotel tomorrow night. I’ll just stay for a while tonight.”

He turned his head to look at her. “Not staying at the hotel?”

She lowered her head. “I have an apartment near the hotel. I’ll live at home from now on.”

This was the best plan. If she couldn’t control her emotions, no one would find out, and she didn’t want anyone to see her.

Ji Dongyang looked up, staring at her for a few seconds. Suddenly, he reached out and pulled her onto his lap. Zhou Yining’s heart rate spiked. She put her hands on his shoulders, looking at him in surprise.

Ji Dongyang pressed her head down and said in a low voice, “Tell me about your high school days.”