Ji Dongyang walked out of the restroom, and Zhou Yining followed behind, her head bowed, sneaking back into her own restroom.

A Ming saw the stain on his shirt and exclaimed, “Dong-ge, your shirt is dirty!”

Ji Dongyang looked unperturbed. “Spilled coffee.”

The costume designer saw it and quickly said, “Dong-ge, come with me to change. Thankfully, we prepared three shirts.”

Ji Dongyang nodded and went to change. A Ming muttered behind him, “It’s been so many years, and I’ve never seen Dong-ge spill coffee on himself…”

Everything was ready. Wei Zhong called “Action” again.

Lu Yanzhou sat in his office, wearing a white shirt, his back to the desk. Frameless glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, his face expressionless. He held a book in his hand, his fingers long and slender, casually flipping a page.

Footsteps approached from afar. Clack. The door opened.

Lu Yanzhou turned around, glanced at the young woman in front of him, and paused slightly. “Have a seat.”

Pei Yuan sat down opposite him, looking at him. “Doctor Lu.”

Lu Yanzhou preferred to get straight to the point, and he believed the girl in front of him did too. So, he spoke directly:

“What do you usually like to do the most?”

“Smash things.”

“And what else?”

“Drinking, smoking, dancing, having sex.”

“What do you want to do the most?”

“Kill someone.”

She said this calmly, with no warmth in her eyes, as detachedly as commenting on the fine weather.

Her eyes were hollow, distant.

Lu Yanzhou stared at her for a few seconds, then slowly curved his lips. “Kill whom? Yourself?”

A slight ripple finally crossed the calm surface of Pei Yuan’s eyes. Then, she pulled back her chair and turned to leave. The door closed with a Bang! Lu Yanzhou waited a few seconds. The door pushed open again. Pei Yuan leaned against the door frame, looking down at him, smiling seductively. “Doctor Lu, coming to my place tonight?”

Lu Yanzhou smiled, shaking his head. “You should sit down and talk to me.”

Pei Yuan continued to smile. “You had a look of astonishment in your eyes just now. You think I’m beautiful, don’t you?”

Lu Yanzhou turned to face her. “I don’t have relationships with my patients.”

…

Wei Zhong finally yelled, “Cut.” Zhou Yining pursed her lips, took the hot water offered by Zhang Ran, held it in her hands, and looked toward Ji Dongyang. That scene was only a small snapshot of Pei Yuan. She was a renowned fashion designer who gained fame at 18, winning numerous international awards in recent years; yet, her life had descended into darkness, emptiness, and hopelessness…

What was a brilliant life like?

What was a burning youth like?

Zhou Yining lowered her head and turned to leave.

Shen Yanjun hadn’t left yet. This was his first time seeing Zhou Yining act, and he hadn’t expected her to be so good. However, the girl he just saw felt very unfamiliar.

After this scene, Zhou Yining had one more in the evening. There was a long break for lunch and rest. Shen Yanjun asked her, “Lunch together?”

Zhou Yining: “No, the crew has boxed lunches.”

She could eat with Ji Dongyang.

Shen Yanjun never liked to force her. Sometimes he truly wanted to, but occasionally she would become very docile and obedient. Every time that happened, he would be ecstatic, thinking she had finally seen his worth, only for her to turn back into the volatile, short-tempered girl the next day. She was always so unpredictable.

Later, he went abroad for studies, and each return visit was brief. By the time he came back to settle down, she had already been taken to England by Qin Yuan. The two of them hadn’t seen each other for a very long time. When they met again, the look in her eyes was somewhat distant.

Zhou Yining watched Shen Yanjun leave. She held the hot water bottle, sat in her chair, and flipped through the script, though she didn’t actually read a page.

When Zhou Lihui had asked her to get engaged to Shen Yanjun, he had said, “Yanjun has always liked you. His character, looks, and family background are impeccable. You’ll have a good life with him, even if…”

“Even if he knows I’m sick, he won’t look down on me, right?”

As soon as it got dark, Zhou Yining prepared for the sixth scene, the one she had performed on her audition day.

This take went very smoothly and was completed quickly. Zhou Yining stared at the wreckage scattered on the floor. She dug her fingernails into her palm, seeking the pain. It had been a long time since she had so thoroughly smashed things. In the past, she always felt a sense of guilt after breaking things, like she had done something wrong. Many times, after she finished breaking things, she would quietly clean up all the fragments herself…

She enjoyed the thrill of smashing things, and she also enjoyed killing time by cleaning up the shattered debris.

Pei Yuan wouldn’t feel guilty. She only felt the thrill of release.

Zhou Yining felt she was blurring the lines between herself and the role, constantly reliving her past, and she was starting to lose control of her emotions. Staring at the mess of shards, she didn’t wait for the prop crew. She suddenly stood up, found a broom nearby, and started sweeping from the edge of the room.

Her action stunned everyone present. A prop guy quickly rushed over to take the broom from her. “Miss Zhou, this is our job! You don’t need to do this…”

Zhou Yining stubbornly held onto the broom. “I broke it, I’ll clean it up.”

The prop guy couldn’t win the argument and stood there awkwardly. Ji Dongyang, who was discussing the next scene with Wei Zhong, looked over, watching her meticulously clean every corner. He frowned slightly. Wei Zhong also felt the girl was too persistent. “Zhou Yining, if you take over all their work, what are they supposed to do? You just focus on filming.”

Zhou Yining looked up and smiled obediently. “I can definitely do a better job cleaning it up. Since I broke it, let me sweep.”

No one noticed her strange behavior. They only thought the girl had a good temper and was helping the prop guy tidy up the set.

Ji Dongyang’s frown deepened. Wei Zhong called him twice. “Dongyang? Continue talking about the next part.”

He came back to his senses, looked at Wei Zhong, and offered a small smile. “Right, Lu Yanzhou and Pei Yuan‘s scenes tomorrow…”

Zhou Yining completely cleaned the area, leaving no single shard behind. The prop guy scratched his head and thanked her. She stared at the trash can full of fragments and garbage and suddenly sobered up. What was she doing?

She dropped the broom and turned to leave, as if fleeing from a remote soul, sealed deep within her heart.

That’s not me, that’s not me, it definitely isn’t me…

Zhou Yining ran back to her apartment. Ji Dongyang was still filming. Her scenes for the night were finished, so no one questioned her leaving the set.

The next day, Wei Zhong announced early, “We’ll film Lu Ling and Yan Cheng’s scenes this morning. We’ll schedule everything else for the afternoon.”

Lu Ling looked surprised. “Wasn’t the morning primarily for Pei Yuan‘s scenes?”

Wei Zhong: “That girl Zhou Yining asked for the day off.”

Lu Ling frowned. Quite the demanding star. She had only been filming for a few days and was already taking time off. She had met Shen Yanjun previously and knew he was Zhou Yining’s former fiancé, and the crew was well aware he was an investor in the film. Both she and Zhou Yining were signed by Wan Wei, but Zhou Yining’s treatment and resources were far better than hers had been initially. Lu Ling had worked for years to climb to the position of a Minor Flower, yet she was only the second female lead in Wei Zhong’s film, while Zhou Yining got the lead role right away. Zhou Yining’s luck was truly amazing. Wan Wei was so clearly biased. It was good to have connections.

In the evening, Ji Dongyang finished work. After changing his clothes, he returned to his car. A Ming was dozing against the steering wheel. Hearing the door close, he jolted awake, rubbed his eyes, and looked back. “Dong-ge, can we go back now?”

Ji Dongyang leaned against the seat, pulled out his phone. “Wait a moment.”

Zhou Yining had just finished showering when she heard her phone ring. She saw it was Ji Dongyang and quickly answered. “Hello.”

“Not asleep yet?”

“Mm, just finished showering. Are you done filming?”

Ji Dongyang gave a low hum and asked her, “Where are you staying?”

Zhou Yining sat on the sofa, pulled a cushion into her lap, and sounded happy. “Are you coming to see me?”

Ji Dongyang raised his arm and glanced at his watch. It was already 11 PM. “Tell me the address.”

Zhou Yining happily recited the address, teasing him. “Can you remember that? It’s very close; you could even jog here, except you definitely can’t jog nearby. You’d have a horde of fans chasing you, and the crowd would grow bigger and bigger, like a snowball…”

She imagined the scene and laughed to herself. If Ji Dongyang really came, he definitely wouldn’t be able to leave. She regretted it immensely. “It’s a pity I’m indisposed now. Maybe you can come in a few days?”

Ji Dongyang pursed his lips. He felt she had turned back into the little devil again.

“Told you not to hold back last time. Regret it now?”

Before she could say anything more outrageous, Ji Dongyang cut her off and hung up the phone.

A Ming looked back. “Dong-ge, back to the hotel?”

He thought he’d heard him asking the little devil for an address.

Ji Dongyang leaned back against the seat, reached for his eye mask, put it on, and closed his eyes. “Mm. Back to the hotel.”

Dong-ge is truly capable of restraint, A Ming thought. As he drove off, he heard the man in the back seat say, “The books I asked you to buy last time? Buy another set according to the list.”

A Ming: “Aren’t they in your suitcase? I took them out that day and put them on the table.”

“Two books are missing. Replace those two.”

“Oh…” A Ming recalled. “I’m sure I bought the full set!”

Ji Dongyang pulled off the eye mask and looked out the window, thinking of Zhou Yining’s occasional strange behavior, her sudden personality shifts, and the two missing books. “Yes, you bought the full set. I lost them. Buy another set.”

A Ming nodded. “Understood.”

Dong-ge has been acting weird lately. He usually never lost books like that. And spilling coffee on himself today was also…

Not like him at all.

Finally, he looks like he’s in a relationship.

Early the next morning, Ji Dongyang and Zhou Yining arrived at the set early to prepare. Zhou Yining finished her makeup. Seeing no one was paying attention, she sneaked into Ji Dongyang’s restroom. A Ming was inside. Seeing her enter, he politely excused himself.

As he reached the door, he told Ji Dongyang, “Dong-ge, I’m going to buy those books now.”

Ji Dongyang nodded.

As soon as he left, Zhou Yining immediately went over and sat right on his lap. She hooked her arms around his neck, smiling sweetly. “What books is A Ming buying?”

Ji Dongyang pulled her hands away. “You’ll have to ask him that.”

Zhou Yining snorted. “I thought they were for you.”