The moment they arrived on set, Yan Ji spotted Chen Jin’an sitting in a director’s chair. Among the crowd of otherwise unimpressive-looking crew members, his sharp presence stood out exceptionally. She raised her brows in silent surprise, not expecting him to appear there. As a high-powered CEO, did he really personally oversee every single brand shoot? Or perhaps……
Yan Ji narrowed her eyes imperceptibly before smoothing her expression into a warm smile as she walked over. “Sorry to keep everyone waiting.”
“Haha, not at all, not at all!” The person in charge of Red Moon’s advertisement was a middle-aged man. The moment he saw Yan Ji, a flash of pure amazement crossed his features, and his expression grew even more satisfied.
This Yan Ji looked far more beautiful in person than she did in photos. They truly had not chosen the wrong person! With a face like this, combined with her knack for constantly trending online, Red Moon’s new fragrance was practically guaranteed to be an explosive hit.
“This particular perfume is called Mermaid’s Tears: Pure Allure. The stylist is already waiting inside, so Ms. Yan can head right in to change.” The person in charge spoke cheerfully.
Yan Ji nodded politely and walked toward the dressing room.
The stylist carefully handled Yan Ji’s glossy black hair, taking small strands from both sides to braid them neatly before pinning them behind her head. Next, she picked up a pearl ornament from the vanity and attached it to the back. The pearl was a rare, deep black, giving it an exceptionally unique edge.
“Ms. Yan, your natural features are absolutely incredible.” The stylist couldn’t help but sigh with envy while applying the makeup. Looking at her from this close, it was impossible to spot a single pore. There wasn’t a blemish, breakthrough, or imperfection in sight. Her skin was fair, smooth, and flawless, like a freshly peeled egg.
Yan Ji offered a light, modest smile.
The makeup process took nearly half an hour to complete. Finally, the stylist used a touch of iridescent blue shimmer to delicately decorate her eyelids and the center of her lips.
“All done! Ms. Yan can go change into the wardrobe now! You look absolutely stunning. If you don’t mind, could I take a couple of photos to keep?” The stylist’s eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together pleadingly.
Yan Ji glanced at her reflection in the mirror. The stylist hadn’t drawn her eyeliner too sharply, choosing instead to lightly outline the shape, which made her eyes appear round, youthful, and wide. Her lip gloss was a pale, delicate pink dusted with white shimmer. Wearing blue contact lenses that perfectly mirrored the color of the ocean, her gaze now carried a profound sense of warmth— as though she were showering whoever she looked at with unconditional affection.
“Of course.” Yan Ji said, blinking with an expression that looked entirely innocent and harmless.
……
Meanwhile, out on set, Chen Jin’an was handling business with his subordinates over his phone. A faint frown creased his forehead as he began to question his own actions. Why on earth had he set aside the mountain of urgent work piling up at headquarters just to fly all the way to Sanya to watch a celebrity shoot a commercial for a subsidiary brand?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, the dressing room door swung open.
Yan Ji walked out wearing a black, strapless, form-fitting bodysuit. The fabric was intricately embellished with midnight-black sequins that caught the lights, reflecting a dazzling, liquid sheen with every movement.
The moment the crew laid eyes on her finished look, a collective gasp echoed through the room, their eyes wide with absolute amazement.
Chen Jin’an subconsciously lifted his head for a glance. And with just that single glance, his heart skipped a beat.
Black typically exuded a dangerous, overtly predatory allure, but the soft makeup on Yan Ji’s face expertly tempered that heavy seductiveness. Her round blue eyes blinked, projecting the sweet innocence of a young girl while seamlessly blending in a trace of enchanting, otherworldly charm.
“Excellent!” The person in charge clapped his hands loudly, snapping the stunned crowd back to their senses. “This perfectly encapsulates the theme for this season! Pure yet seductive. Wait, why are you holding the tail?”
Yan Ji looked down at the mermaid tail in her hands, which was intricately embellished with matching black sequins, and smiled. “If I put it on now, I won’t be able to walk. I plan to slide into it once we arrive at the shooting location.”
“Good, good, good! Then let’s not waste another moment. Let’s move out.” The person in charge nodded repeatedly, quickly rallying the crew. Turning toward Chen Jin’an, he asked politely, “CEO Chen, will you be joining us?”
Chen Jin’an lowered his eyes smoothly, his fingers tapping a rhythmic pattern against his leg as he gave a brief, low response, “Mm.”
……
Yan Ji and Chen Jin’an shared the back seat of the car. From the moment they departed, Chen Jin’an’s attention appeared entirely fixed on the laptop resting on his lap, seemingly focused wholeheartedly on corporate affairs. However, the delicate fragrance drifting from the woman beside him made it entirely impossible for him to concentrate.
The scent felt strangely familiar.
After a moment of quiet contemplation, Chen Jin’an spoke up, “Are you wearing Mermaid’s Tears?”
“Yes.” Yan Ji turned to smile brightly at him. “I actually quite like the scent profile of this perfume. Since the brand team sent a bottle over before the shoot, I decided to test it out today.”
“Mm.” Chen Jin’an acknowledged softly, lowering his gaze back to his screen.
Before long, the car pulled up alongside a pristine, private beach that had been entirely reserved for the production.
Following the photographer’s directions, Yan Ji positioned herself atop a jagged rock by the shore. Once she was fitted into the shimmering mermaid tail, she easily completed several promotional still shots.
Filming the actual commercial, however, proved to be far more grueling. The storyboard required Yan Ji to submerge herself and emerge from the ocean in an exceptionally beautiful, otherworldly manner. But as the afternoon progressed, the sea breeze picked up, and rough waves crashed repeatedly against her face, washing away much of her glitter makeup.
The stylist had to rush back and forth to touch up her look before filming could resume. In the end, a mere one-minute commercial took two grueling hours to complete. By the time Yan Ji finally emerged from the water for the last time, her fingertips had turned pale from the prolonged soaking.
Weiwei quickly rushed over with a plush towel and wrapped Yan Ji up tightly, her face twisted in distress. “Sister Yan, are you freezing? I’ll brew some hot ginger soup the second we get back to the hotel to warm you up.”
“Thanks.” Yan Ji replied with a faint, tired smile. Her lips were slightly pale, and strands of wet hair clung to her cheeks, giving her a look that was deeply pitiful, delicate, and entirely helpless— as if she had been thoroughly bullied by the elements.
Watching from a distance, Chen Jin’an’s eyes darkened imperceptibly, his throat bobbing as he swallowed hard.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure working with you, Ms. Yan. I truly hope we can continue this cooperation if another opportunity arises in the future.” The person in charge said cheerfully. Earlier, the editors had run a rough cut of the underwater footage, and it already looked breathtakingly exquisite. Once fully polished and broadcast, it would undoubtedly cause a massive sensation. The person in charge silently rejoiced yet again over their choice of spokesperson.
By this time, Yan Ji had already returned to the dressing room to shower and change back into her casual clothes. Facing the polite manager, she shook his hand and replied smoothly, “There will definitely be opportunities for us to work together again.”
Watching the two of them shake hands, Chen Jin’an narrowed his eyes slightly, a dark, possessive glint flashing through them. The moment the person in charge withdrew his hand, an inexplicable chill ran down his spine, causing him to shrink his neck slightly in confusion.
────ρя
The moment the endorsement shoot wrapped, Yan Ji found herself on a flight back home once again.
Coincidentally, 《Twins》 had just officially finished filming, and Director Liu had invited the lead cast out for a celebratory wrap dinner. Having barely set foot in the city, Yan Ji rushed out the door to attend the gathering.
By the time she arrived at the restaurant, most of the cast and crew were already seated. Yan Ji’s gaze lingered briefly on Qin Yu. The latter’s complexion was rosy, and a distinct trace of seductive satisfaction lingered between her brows. It seemed that during Yan Ji’s absence, Qin Yu had been living quite comfortably on set.
“Sister Yan, you’re here! Sit over here.” The moment Meng Yiming spotted Yan Ji, his eyes lit up. He immediately stood up and guided her into his own seat, which happened to be right next to Qin Yu.
Yan Ji shot Meng Yiming an amused look. He simply wiggled his brows at her repeatedly before dragging over a spare chair to sit right beside her.
“Xiao Yan, I heard you just touched down from Sanya and haven’t even had a moment to rest. Haha, you’ve really been a busy bee lately.” Director Liu stood up and poured himself a glass of baijiu[1]a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2454323_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2454323_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. “Come, Xiao Yan, have a drink with me. If we get the chance to collaborate again in the future, I’ll definitely give you the female lead role!”
Hearing that, Yan Ji lifted her glass and agreed with a flawless smile, “Then I’ll certainly look forward to Director Liu’s next production.”
Director Liu’s casual remark caused Qin Yu’s expression to darken for a split second. What was that supposed to mean? Did he honestly think the female lead role should have belonged to this b*tch Yan Ji all along?
Qin Yu tightened her grip on her glass, her breathing growing slightly heavy.
Taking in the whole scene, Yan Ji merely smiled calmly and turned to chat with Meng Yiming.
“You really dislike her, huh?”
Both of them knew exactly who ‘her’ referred to. At the mention, a flash of pure disgust crossed Meng Yiming’s eyes as he quietly muttered, “I have no idea what Director Liu was thinking when he cast her as the female lead. She acts like a sex-crazed ghost. She came knocking on my hotel room in the middle of the night several times, claiming she wanted to ‘rehearse scenes’ together. Rehearsing at midnight? Do I look stupid?”
Yan Ji let out a soft, melodic chuckle.
In the altered timeline, Qin Yu had pulled the exact same stunt. But back then, Yan Ji hadn’t joined the production. Without Yan Ji there to completely overshadow her, Qin Yu had naturally managed to command everyone’s attention— including Meng Yiming’s. Later, when Qin Yu had come knocking late at night to rehearse, Meng Yiming, who already harbored favorable feelings toward her, had readily opened the door.
But now, with Yan Ji serving as a constant, brilliant contrast, Qin Yu barely possessed any presence at all in Meng Yiming’s eyes. Pulling that routine now only achieved the exact opposite effect, breeding nothing but irritation.
Yan Ji picked up a piece of diced rabbit meat and placed it in her mouth. The rich, savory flavor deepened the smile on her face. “This rabbit meat is actually delicious.”
“Then have some more.” Meng Yiming immediately used the communal chopsticks to place several more choice pieces into Yan Ji’s bowl. His actions were fluid and completely natural, making it glaringly obvious to everyone at the table just how close the two had become.
Qin Yu glared venomously at Yan Ji, her heart boiling over with jealousy and resentment. The more she looked at Yan Ji now, the more insufferable she found her existence. If her original goal had merely been to ruin Yan Ji’s image in Xue Yang’s eyes, being completely suppressed and humiliated by her on set had mutated that petty grudge. Now, Qin Yu wanted Yan Ji to vanish from this world entirely, and she wanted it to happen immediately.
After dinner, the director, assistant director, and most of the crew were drunk beyond recognition. Only Meng Yiming, Yan Ji, and Qin Yu— who hadn’t touched a single drop of alcohol all evening— remained completely sober.
Looking at the chaotic group sprawled everywhere around them, Meng Yiming found himself in a difficult position.
“You handle getting the director and the others back to the hotel.” Yan Ji suggested. “I’ll just have Weiwei come pick me up.”
At that moment, Qin Yu unexpectedly spoke up, “If Sister Yan doesn’t mind, you could always ride back with me. It’s already quite late, and waiting for your assistant to drive all the way over here would just waste time.”
Qin Yu offered a pleasant smile, though the warmth never reached her eyes.
Yan Ji locked eyes with Qin Yu for a beat before returning a placid smile of her own and nodding. “Then I’ll trouble you.”
“How could it be a trouble?” Qin Yu smiled thinly as she pulled out her phone to call her assistant to bring the car around.
Meng Yiming immediately felt a wave of unease and stepped forward to intervene, but Yan Ji subtly caught his eye and stopped him. She gave a slight, almost imperceptible shake of her head, her expression entirely calm and composed.
She actually wanted to see exactly what kind of game Qin Yu was planning to play with her.
Before long, a black vehicle pulled up to the curb. Qin Yu opened the rear door and politely gestured for Yan Ji to get in first before climbing in behind her. The car slowly accelerated, merging into the traffic and disappearing into the neon-lit streets.
Watching the direction in which the car vanished, Meng Yiming’s frown deepened. However, with a sidewalk full of helpless, drunken people relying on him, he could only turn back to manage the crowd first.
Inside the car, the atmosphere was deathly silent.
Qin Yu pressed herself against the far door, her entire silhouette swallowed by the shadows of the interior. Outside the window, the bright city streetlights began to thin out, replaced by the dense, looming shapes of trees lining both sides of the road.
Yan Ji narrowed her eyes slightly, a cool smile playing on her lips. “This doesn’t seem to be the road back.”
“Of course it isn’t.” Qin Yu let out a low, charming laugh, her tone suddenly dripping with unadulterated malice, “But don’t worry— it is the road that will send you straight to hell.”
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