As the viewership ratings for Taiping Dynasty climbed higher and higher, the acclaim naturally followed. Zhou Yining’s first public role was met with recognition for her acting skills. Coupled with her previously recorded programs, the resurfaced press conference clips, and, most importantly, the fact that she was the female lead in The Heart Knot, acting opposite Movie King Ji Dongyang, astute advertisers realised: This girl is going to be big.

At noon, after finishing her boxed lunch on set, Wan Wei called. “I got you an endorsement deal.”

Zhou Yining smiled. “What endorsement?”

Wan Wei laughed, clearly in a good mood. “The contract for the original spokesperson of Z-Family Skincare, Fang Ke, has expired. With scandals about her flying everywhere recently, the manufacturer decided to switch to a new spokesperson.”

Zhou Yining was somewhat surprised. Z-Family Skincare was one of the top domestic brands. There were two spokespersons in total, and Fang Ke was one of them, having held the position for three years. However, The Legend of Consort Ming, which aired at the same time as Taiping Dynasty, had disappointing ratings. Combined with her previous contract breach and the recent exposure of insider scandals, her reputation had plummeted. The Legend of Consort Ming was invested in and produced by Starry Sky. Starry Sky’s new owner, Ke Teng, was at loggerheads with Hua Chen’s CEO, Qin Sen. Right from the start of preparations, they had poached many contracted actors from the Taiping Dynasty crew. Fang Ke was the first to breach her contract, nearly delaying Hua Chen’s filming schedule.

Zhou Yining knew her cousin Qin Sen’s personality well; he never swallowed a loss silently. The matter with Fang Ke was likely his doing. Unexpectedly, she had picked up an endorsement from it.

Wan Wei said, “I’m just letting you know first. The commercial shoot is scheduled for the end of this month or early next month.”

Zhou Yining smiled, genuinely happy. “Okay, I got it.”

Hanging up the phone, Zhou Yining slipped into Ji Dongyang’s restroom. Ji Dongyang filmed a night scene last night and arrived at the set early this morning to wait. He was currently resting with an eye mask on. Even A Ming was asleep on the table. Ji Dongyang moved slightly. Zhou Yining could sense his displeasure; he was definitely frowning right now.

A Ming lifted his head and made a shushing gesture.

Zhou Yining stood still. After a while, Ji Dongyang pulled down his eye mask, his dark eyes slightly sunken, looking at her.

Zhou Yining smiled at him. “I got an endorsement.”

Ji Dongyang lowered his head, rubbing the space between his eyebrows, and said to A Ming, “A double espresso.”

With her here, there was no way he could continue resting.

A Ming nodded and looked at Zhou Yining. “Miss Zhou, do you need one?”

Zhou Yining nodded. “I’ll have one too.”

While A Ming brewed the coffee, Zhou Yining sat next to Ji Dongyang. “Z-Family Skincare endorsement. I replaced Fang Ke.”

Ji Dongyang pursed his lips. “Congratulations.”

Zhou Yining smiled. “Then treat me to dinner. We still haven’t had that meal from last time.”

These past few days, they have been focusing on filming scenes for the supporting cast. Their shared scenes were during the day. When she filmed night scenes, Ji Dongyang rested, and vice versa. Even though they were in the same crew, they rarely had time alone. But being able to see each other was good enough.

Ji Dongyang looked at her. “I’m going back to B City in a few days. I remember you don’t have scenes for those two days. Want to come back with me?”

Zhou Yining raised an eyebrow. “What are you going back for?”

If the male lead weren’t on set, naturally, she wouldn’t have scenes either. Thanks to Ji Dongyang, she was able to take two days off early. Even if he hadn’t mentioned it, Zhou Yining would have definitely followed him back if she didn’t have work.

“To record an interview program.”

This was a favour Yang Xun owed a program director two years ago. With the Taiping Dynasty currently a hit, the director wanted to invite Ji Dongyang on the show. Yang Xun figured that Ji Dongyang hadn’t recorded a personal interview in the last two or three years, only participating in crew-arranged promotions and programs, declining everything else he could. His exposure was naturally lower than some of the current “fresh meat” idols. Most importantly, he wanted to use this program to let Ji Dongyang reveal a little information.

Zhou Yining let out a surprised sound. “Your Eastern Palace fans must be thrilled.”

After disappearing for nearly a year following the film festival six years ago, Ji Dongyang became low-profile when he reappeared in public. Perhaps it was an image carefully managed by his agency, but Zhou Yining understood that this was the real Ji Dongyang. He was naturally low-key, simply loving and enjoying acting.

Indeed, when the program officially revealed that Ji Dongyang would be recording a personal interview, the fans went wild. Perhaps because Ji Dongyang had been too low-profile in recent years, it created a sense of mystery. Fans were inquisitive and also a little worried: Could the Movie King be secretly in love or secretly married?

Comments flooded the program’s page.

“I just hope Teacher Liang can dig up some gossip about Dong-ge’s personal life. Although I’m worried he’ll die alone, I’m even more worried he’ll suddenly reveal he has a girlfriend or is secretly married. My heart won’t be able to take it!”

“Actually, I’m a little suspicious now. That year, Dong-ge disappeared; maybe he got married? Maybe… he went to accompany his wife for childbirth!”

“The one who said childbirth, come over here. I promise I won’t beat you to death!!”

“Isn’t it because his parents are addicted to gambling and drugs?”

…

That night, Zhou Yining lay in bed scrolling through Weibo. Seeing these comments, she couldn’t help but frown. Childbirth? What the hell?

His parents… gambling could be forgiven, but was the drug use true? Drug use was different in nature from affairs or gambling; the severity was vastly different. As a public figure, Ji Dongyang’s positive image was deeply rooted in people’s hearts. He never hesitated to donate before national disasters and participated in many charity events. His value was high, his salary was high, and his endorsements ranged from seven to eight figures. His wealth went without saying. But if the money he earned supported two drug-addicted parents… this kind of negativity absolutely couldn’t be whitewashed by PR.

If it were true, what would Ji Dongyang do? He was such a proud person.

Because of this, Zhou Yining suffered from some insomnia, but she wouldn’t ask Ji Dongyang. If it were true, she would just stand by his side.

Early the next morning, Zhou Yining rubbed her lower abdomen as she went to get a sanitary pad.

When she arrived at the set, her complexion wasn’t great due to lack of rest and her period.

Ji Dongyang noticed immediately. When she came over to sponge coffee, he refused her. Zhou Yining jumped in anger. “Fine, I won’t drink it! I’ll ask Zhang Ran to buy some.”

She turned to leave, but Ji Dongyang grabbed her from behind, pulling her into his arms, sounding somewhat helpless. “Why do you love getting angry so much?”

Zhou Yining froze, not moving. “Is my temper very bad?”

Ji Dongyang said in a low voice, “A little.”

She was the girl with the worst temper he had ever dealt with.

Zhou Yining knew her temper wasn’t good. She pursed her lips, lifted her head from his chest, stood on tiptoes to kiss his lips, and looked at him like a queen. “No returns allowed.”

Ji Dongyang smiled. He didn’t want to return her either.

He leaned against the edge of the table, his long legs casually stretched out in front. Zhou Yining stood between his legs, her hands resting on his shoulders, about to kiss him. A Ming pushed open the door and saw them, scaring himself half to death. He quickly closed the door and looked behind him. Luckily, no one was there.

The “Bang” startled the two people inside.

Ji Dongyang lifted her, set her on her feet, finished the coffee on the table, and tapped her head with the script. “You should go wait for your scene.”

Zhou Yining was unhappy. She pounced on him, kissed his lips again, and then turned to leave.

Running into A Ming at the door, she made a funny face and strode away.

A Ming walked in, looking a bit bitter. “Dong-ge, watch your image…”

Meeting the little devil, Dong-ge’s bottom line was getting lower and lower. He had said before not to let her come to the restroom all the time, but when she came, he couldn’t do anything about it, making A Ming and Zhang Ran live in fear every day.

Ji Dongyang stiffened slightly but didn’t speak.

…

On the day Ji Dongyang returned to B City, Zhou Yining was still filming on set. Shen Yanjun, who hadn’t visited for a long time, came. This scene was Pei Yuan hungover, combined with the lack of progress with Lu Yanzhou, her emotions were taut to the breaking point, and she smashed everything in the room to pieces. Shen Yanjun stood there, watching this Zhou Yining, feeling a vague sense of familiarity.

That year, when Zhou JiaHui threw away Ball Ball, he had seen her go berserk. She tore Zhou JiaHui’s posters to shreds and smashed everything in the room. When he went over, he had to hug her tightly to stop her from doing anything further.

He narrowed his eyes, staring at Zhou Yining in the monitor.

Unnoticed, a person suddenly stood beside him. Zhou JiaHui whispered, “Yanjun-gege.”

Shen Yanjun frowned. “Why are you here?”

Zhou JiaHui looked aggrieved. “I went to your company to find you, saw your car driving out, and followed you here.”

She hadn’t expected him to be coming to see Zhou Yining.

Thinking this, Zhou JiaHui bit her lip and glared at Zhou Yining. A sneer suddenly curled her lips as she watched Zhou Yining over there like she was watching a joke. She really looked like a mental patient like this.

Probably no one knew, right? She used to be a real mental patient.

A mental patient playing a sick mental patient. Truly unheard of, unseen before.

Ever since running into Ji Dongyang downstairs at Zhou Yining’s place last time, Shen Yanjun hadn’t looked for Zhou Yining, not even seeing her during the New Year. The two of them had clearly grown up together, yet they were becoming more and more like strangers. She was with someone else, and he could do nothing about it.

In the end, he was still unwilling to give up, so he came today.

He suddenly remembered what Zhou Yining said last time: she said he could be with anyone, just not Zhou JiaHui.

Even if she hadn’t said it, he wouldn’t be with Zhou JiaHui.

He hadn’t expected Zhou JiaHui to follow him.

Without waiting for Zhou Yining to finish, he turned and left.

The assistant director asked in a low voice, “Mr Shen, you’re leaving?”

Shen Yanjun nodded and said, “Don’t tell Zhou Yining I was here.”

The assistant director hurriedly said, “Okay.”

Zhou JiaHui froze for a moment, then quickly followed. Shen Yanjun didn’t take the elevator but took the stairs down. He was tall, with long legs, and he walked quickly.

Zhou JiaHui, wearing high heels, was tired from chasing him all the way. She quickly shouted, “Yanjun-gege, wait for me! I have something to tell you.”

Only then did Shen Yanjun stop, looking up at her. “What is it?”

Zhou JiaHui ran down a few steps, panting. Shen Yanjun waited for a while, getting impatient. “Speak. What is it?”

Zhou JiaHui took a deep breath, pursed her lips tightly, her brow carrying a hint of coldness. “Do you know about my sister being sick in the past?”

NOTES

Fresh meat: Slang for young, handsome male idols.

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