“If you keep looking at me like that, I can’t guarantee I won’t finish what I didn’t get to earlier.”
The voice was low and sounded half-mocking, half-amused.
Yan Luoxi snapped back to reality to realize she had been staring at him all this time.
She turned to look out the window, her ears betraying her by blushing furiously.
An unfamiliar ringtone sounded.
Yan Luoxi glanced subconsciously to see a distinct, slender hand picking up the phone from the central console.
She was sharp-eyed and spotted the name Xiaola.
Li Yeqi answered, “Is there something you need?”
La Zhuangzhuang stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, her lips quirking into an elegant smile, “Can’t I call you if it’s nothing important?”
Li Yeqi was silent.
The smile on La Zhuangzhuang’s face slowly solidified as she felt the distant coldness coming through.
She closed her eyes, “I heard you’ve returned.
If you have time, could we meet up, please?”
Li Yeqi felt suffocated every time he dealt with La Zhuangzhuang, which was why he had tried to help her in every possible way over the years but could never get any closer to her.
“Sure.”
Yan Luoxi sat beside him, his phone emitting no sound, but from his expression, she instinctively knew the person on the other end was a woman—a woman who seemed to cause him great conflict; otherwise, he wouldn’t sound so heavy.
Once he hung up the phone, she raised an eyebrow and asked, “Sugar mommy?”
Li Yeqi’s gaze was cold as he stared at her.
She quickly raised her hands in surrender, “Got it, got it, you sell your talent, not your body.”
Li Yeqi’s stare became so fierce it was as if he wanted to throw her out of the car.
How could she imply such a thing?
And the “talent” she mentioned was probably not meant in a good way.
“Yan Luoxi, no wonder you’ve only played second lead for three years, your emotional intelligence is truly lacking.” The man’s deep voice carried over slowly, with a faint hint of mockery, as if laughing at her obtuseness.
In her life, Yan Luoxi hated two things the most: one was people mocking her for having a small chest, the other was for not being able to play the lead actress.
She ground her teeth with hatred, “Who says I can only play the eternal second lead?
I’ll show you I can play the lead actress, hmph!”
“Ambitious, little wildcat.
I’ll look forward to that,” he chuckled lowly, his mood seemingly pleased.
Yan Luoxi could clearly see he was mocking her overestimation of herself, and she clenched her fists, fearing she would lose control and scratch his face right there.
The car stopped outside Zuo’an, and Yan Luoxi pushed open the door and got out without looking back and walked away.
Li Yeqi watched her figure disappear into the grandiose lobby, then withdrew his gaze, picked up his phone, and opened a text message, “Brother Qi, I’ll be waiting for you in the Quanjude private room at seven tonight.”
He casually tossed the phone back onto the central console and looked straight ahead, his half-closed eyes revealing a deep inkiness.
After a while, he started the car and drove off.
Yan Luoxi walked into the private room and immediately saw the woman sitting by the window, immersed in typing out her draft.
Sunlight streamed in, casting a dazzling glow over her.
Her fingers flew over the keyboard, filling the whole room with a ‘tap tap’ sound.
She tiptoed over and stood behind her, blocking some of the sunlight, and glanced at the screen, “Sweetie, when did you start writing melodramatic novels?”
Tian Lingyun didn’t bother with her and continued typing for five more minutes before finally letting out a sigh, “Done.
Why did you take so long to get here?”
Yan Luoxi walked over and sat down on the sofa, clutching a pillow, and said with full resentment, “I ran into a man who seemed like bad news.
He almost kidnapped me, but luckily, I was smart enough to escape.”
“With your intelligence, are you sure he wasn’t just letting you go on purpose?” Tian Lingyun mercilessly teased her.
Yan Luoxi threw the pillow at her, and seeing her catch it with ease, she said angrily, “Why did I even become best friends with you?”
“Because I’m soft and cute, easy to knock over,” Tian Lingyun said with a playful smile.
Yan Luoxi rolled her eyes at her and got back on topic, “Director Xu from the ‘Jin Palace’ crew offended a high official three years ago and got blacklisted.
Did you know about this?”
“Sure, I know.
But that director is really talented.
The shows he made back then were extremely popular.
La Zhuangzhuang, who is now the queen of the industry, is said to have been promoted by him,” Tian Lingyun gossiped.
As a fashion blogger, she had done a special interview about La Zhuangzhuang and, while sorting out her road to fame, discovered an interesting fact: La Zhuangzhuang clearly had a powerful backer promoting her.
Yan Luoxi tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Director Xu is indeed talented.
Every show he makes is both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, but isn’t the crew out of money?”
“You don’t have to worry about that at all.
My BFF was just telling me this morning that she must have saved the Milky Way in her past life.
But last night, an anonymous tycoon suddenly injected ten million into it.”
Yan Luoxi’s eyes lit up, “Really?”
“Of course, it’s true.
I’ll tell you a secret, I invested too.
Once this show is released, I might just become a little rich lady,” Tian Lingyun said with a gleam in her eye, the typical look of a little miser.
Yan Luoxi thought to herself, she had invested as well, albeit she had been duped.
Seeing Tian Lingyun looking ready to strike it rich, Yan Luoxi didn’t have the heart to tell her that Director Xu’s shows might not even get a release slot.
The money they had put in was likely to go down the drain.
All she could do now was to take a gamble, betting on the influence of this mysterious investor.
Sometimes, risk and opportunity went hand in hand.
Moreover, rather than go back and beg Lu Zhaoran, she would rather take a chance, at least if she lost, she would lose with dignity.
Having made up her mind, she stopped fretting and leaned on the table to look at Tian Lingyun, “Sweetie, will you treat me to Peking duck tonight?”
“Craving it?”
Yan Luoxi nodded vigorously, and Tian Lingyun packed up her laptop, “Keep me company shopping first, and afterwards, we can go.”
Yan Luoxi checked her watch, her expression full of grief, “It’s only ten in the morning.
Don’t tell me you’re planning to shop the whole day with that mad obsession of yours.”
“Why not?” Tian Lingyun retorted.
Yan Luoxi felt like dying, knowing all too well that underneath Tian Lingyun’s fairy-like exterior was the heart of an indecisive Libra.
Whenever she went shopping with her, witnessing her agony over what to buy was almost too much to bear.
But for the sake of that Peking duck, she was willing to go all out.
At seven in the evening, a half-dead Yan Luoxi finally sat in Quanjude’s dining hall.
After ordering, she felt rejuvenated.
Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar male figure walking towards her.
She quickly covered her face with her cap and sneakily watched his movements.
It really was a narrow escape!
Starting tomorrow, there will be two updates of four thousand words each, xoxo~~