“Sister, are we going home now?”
“Ah, no. You’re going home, I have to go to work.”
Qin Jiao fidgeted uneasily with the hem of his clothes, but only said “Okay.”
Jiang Quqi clicked her tongue and took out her phone. “Wait a minute, let me ask.”
“Hello, Xiao Cui? Is it okay if I bring a kid along?”
“It’s okay? Alright, got it. I’ll be right there.”
Hanging up the phone, she patted Qin Jiao’s head. “Let’s go, we’re leaving.”
Arriving at the location in a hurry, Cui Bai was already waiting outside the gate. Seeing Jiang Quqi, he happily ran over. After greeting her, he finally noticed there was someone else beside her. He looked for a long time and asked strangely, “Is this the kid you were talking about?”
“Yes.”
“…” Cui Bai opened his mouth several times but eventually closed it. Anyway, it wouldn’t cause any trouble, and he had already agreed. “Come on, go get your makeup done.”
“Okay, then help me take good care of the kid. If a single hair is missing, I’ll beat you up, you know.”
Cui Bai knew she was joking and laughed back, “Go on with you, stop dawdling.”
As soon as Jiang Quqi left, the atmosphere cooled down. Qin Jiao, who had been as obedient as a little lamb beside Jiang Quqi, instantly turned cold and subtly distanced himself from Cui Bai.
Cui Bai found it amusing. “What’s your name?”
Qin Jiao completely ignored him.
“Careful or I’ll tell on you—”
“Qin Jiao.”
“A herb name? Rare.”
Qin Jiao didn’t react at all. Losing interest, Cui Bai led him inside first.
Jiang Quqi didn’t expect to run into Song Qinglan here. She had just changed her clothes and bumped into someone. She was about to apologize, but looked up and recognized the face—it was Song Qinglan.
Jiang Quqi had no patience for her and coldly told her to move aside.
Since there was no one else around, Song Qinglan dropped all pretense. Her eyes, like a deer’s, were filled with cunning and arrogance. “Hey, did you receive the big gift I sent last time?”
Seeing Jiang Quqi ignore her, she moved closer. “What a pity, I didn’t manage to kill that boy. Back then—”
*Slap.*
“Jiang Yan! How dare you hit me!?”
“Shh,” Jiang Quqi placed her index finger against Song Qinglan’s lips, smiling sweetly. “Yes, I did.”
Brushing the hair away from her face, Jiang Quqi admired her pretty face for a moment. *Slap.* Another loud slap landed, and half of Song Qinglan’s face visibly swelled and turned red.
Jiang Quqi sighed, “What a pity, such a pretty face growing on you.”
Song Qinglan’s head was ringing from the blows. When Jiang Quqi stepped closer, she instinctively retreated, tripped over something behind her, and fell to the ground.
“Miss Song, let me help you up.”
“Huh?” Before she could finish, someone walked in—it was one of the screenwriters.
“What happened? Did you fall?”
Song Qinglan looked at her like a lifesaver. She stumbled over to the female screenwriter, crying and pointing at Jiang Quqi. “Jiang Yan is crazy! She hit me! She actually hit me!”
Her series of accusations didn’t get the reaction she expected. Song Qinglan said in disbelief, “Did you hear me? She hit me! Arrest her right now!”
She was shaking the screenwriter so much that the poor woman could barely stand. Looking for help, she glanced at Jiang Quqi. Jiang Quqi stepped forward and pulled the screenwriter away from Song Qinglan, saying coldly, “Miss Song, if you want to act crazy, do it at home. Not here.”
“You are the crazy one!” Song Qinglan pointed at her own face. “Can’t you see what she did to my face?” It hurt just to move her facial muscles.
The female screenwriter hid timidly behind Jiang Quqi. Hearing this, she poked her head out quietly. “But Miss Song… your face… there’s nothing there.”
“Impossible!” Meeting Jiang Quqi’s eyes, Song Qinglan shuddered. She ran out and looked in the mirror over and over again.
Nothing. Nothing at all. There wasn’t a single mark or scratch on her face!
“How is this possible…”
“It can’t be… it just can’t be…”
“What’s going on?” The director walked over slowly with a script in hand. “Everyone changed already?” He looked at Jiang Quqi with great appreciation. “Perfect! Absolutely perfect! You could go on camera just like this without any makeup.”
Turning to see Song Qinglan, his eyes were filled with barely concealed disdain, but he could only approach her and persuade gently, “Miss Song, you should prepare well.”
“I know!”
The director left, pursing his lips.
Jiang Quqi found this strange. She nudged the female screenwriter who was watching the show and whispered, “Do you know what’s going on?”
The screenwriter looked left and right, then whispered back, “I’ll tell you a secret, but don’t tell anyone else.”
“Deal!”
The screenwriter leaned close to Jiang Quqi’s ear. “Behind her… there’s someone.”
Someone? Oh, who else could it be but Jiang Huairui! No wonder then.
With Jiang Huairui backing her up, no one dared to say a word as long as Song Qinglan didn’t go too far. Just now, she had refused to let the assigned makeup artist work on her, finding fault with everything and scaring the young girl so much she was almost crying.
“If you have a fishbone stuck in your throat, go to the hospital. Why are you finding fault here for no reason?”
As soon as Jiang Quqi spoke, the entire room went silent, afraid that even breathing too loudly would get them involved.
“Jiang Yan!”
“Here.” Jiang Quqi replied lazily.
Looking at Jiang Quqi’s increasingly beautiful face, Song Qinglan was filled with hatred. These days, she had been so anxious and sleepless because the Jiang family still wouldn’t agree to her marriage with Jiang Huairui. Yet Jiang Quqi looked like she was living a comfortable life. This comparison drove her crazy. She was just a substitute, how dare she live so well!
Glancing at Jiang Quqi’s half-finished eyeliner, she suddenly pointed at Jiang Quqi’s makeup artist and ordered, “You, come do my makeup.”
“But Miss Jiang is not finished yet…”
“Come here now!”
The girl was so frightened she trembled. Not daring to meet Jiang Quqi’s eyes, she ran over to do Song Qinglan’s makeup.
Now the original makeup artist had nothing to do. She just thought about going over to help finish Jiang Quqi’s look, but was immediately scolded by Song Qinglan. No one dared to step forward to help.
Jiang Quqi sighed, looking helplessly at the dazzling array of brushes and tools. She picked one up and looked at it for a while, asking the System, “What is this?”
*That’s a nose shadow brush.*
She picked up another one. “And this?”
*That’s foundation cream, dear.*
Jiang Quqi stared at them in distress for a moment, then hesitantly picked up an eyeliner pen and drew a line—it was crooked and messy. She sighed again. “Forget it, let’s go outside and see.”
The atmosphere outside was completely different, unusually lively. Boxes of milk tea, fruits, and desserts were being carried in. Everyone cheered and helped themselves. Jiang Quqi was handed a cup. Curious, she asked, “Who sent these?”
“Our beloved sponsor, the young master of the Jiang family!”
The milk tea suddenly didn’t taste so good anymore. Jiang Quqi handed it back to the person and waved her hand. “I’m on a diet. I haven’t drank these lately.”
“I see,” the person nodded understandingly. “True, everyone says being thinner looks better on camera.” He walked away to distribute the rest.
Jiang Huairui didn’t expect to see Jiang Yan here. The days he spent with Jiang Yan felt like they were just yesterday, and recalling them always left a strange feeling in his chest.
He loved Song Qinglan, yet whenever he saw Jiang Yan, his gaze couldn’t help but be drawn to her. He didn’t notice it when she was by his side before, but now that her attention was no longer on him, he felt a void in his heart that nothing could fill.
Through the crowd, he saw Jiang Yan say a few words to a man and hand back the milk tea. His heart tightened again, a sour feeling spreading through his body. This unfamiliar sensation confused him.
“Young Master Jiang, why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I would have gone to pick you up.”
“No need. I came to see Qinglan.” Jiang Huairui tore his gaze away from Jiang Yan and asked, “That girl over there—is she…?”
The director reacted quickly. “She’s the actress playing Wen Rujun.”
“Wen Rujun?” Wasn’t that the role Qinglan auditioned for? Did she do this on purpose?
Jiang Huairui snorted coldly.
Typical. As long as Qinglan had something, she had to fight for it too. Greedy woman.
“Brother Jiang, did you come to see me?”
Song Qinglan was wearing a long white dress. Her eyes full of adoration, she trotted over to Jiang Huairui. Not caring who saw them, she clung affectionately to his arm and asked, “Brother Jiang, you came to see me, right?”
“Mhm.”
“Brother Jiang is so good to me~”
“Wow.” Watching them from afar, Jiang Quqi let out an exclamation.
“Sister?”
Jiang Quqi was startled and jumped a little. “When did you get here?”
“A while ago.”
“Oh.” Jiang Quqi said, then immediately turned to Qin Jiao. “You have to study hard, understand?”
?
“That way you’ll be worth it.”
Jiang Quqi looked gloomily at the affectionate couple in front of her, feeling that life was going to be very, very troublesome from now on.
“It really isn’t easy, System.”
The System sighed along with her. *Dear, keep going. You can do it.*