“Whoa, so this is the Golden Lion Group’s headquarters? This place is
insanely
luxurious!”
Saturday morning. Jinghe District. Golden Lion Tower.
A black family sedan passed through the security barrier, rolling onto the fountain driveway where a massive golden lion statue reared back in a roaring pose.
Ahead, rows of high-end business vehicles were parked in a neat formation, like servants awaiting an audience with a corporate giant, flanking the wide path leading to the black marble entrance pavilion.
Bai Yi sat in the back seat, peering up through the rear window at the towering black skyscraper before her. She couldn’t help but marvel.
But the moment she remembered that the
infuriating
Spencer from school was actually the heiress of the Golden Lion Group, any admiration she had for the building instantly vanished.
That
woman
had the worst personality—always staring at Yan Huan with that creepy, unsettling gaze. Every time Bai Yi saw it, she felt utterly disgusted.
Then, another thought struck her—she had signed a contract with one of Spencer’s family’s subsidiaries.
What if, after crushing all of Yan Huan’s potential love rivals and finally getting together with him, Spencer used her family’s power to bully them both?
Her mind suddenly conjured a vivid scene:
A grown-up Spencer, with that signature fang peeking out, tossing Bai Yi’s artist contract onto a table right in front of a pale-faced, uneasy Yan Huan.
Then, with an evil grin, she’d say—
"Mr. Yan, you wouldn’t want your wife to lose her job in the industry, would you?"
Bai Yi shuddered violently, horrified by the scene playing out in her head.
What the hell?! Why am I suddenly thinking about something so disgusting?
She shook her head furiously, trying to expel the vile image from her brain.
No matter what happened, she
would never
let something like that come true—even if it killed her!
Up front, Jiang Xiong let out a helpless chuckle, glancing at their humble family car amidst the sea of luxury vehicles.
“Linmen is the Golden Lion Group’s stronghold in East Continent. Of course, it’s got to be flashy. I’ll take you to their main headquarters in New York sometime—you’ll see real extravagance.”
“…Mm, okay.”
Bai Yi’s enthusiasm suddenly cooled, leaving Jiang Xiong a bit puzzled.
But by then, they had already arrived at the tower entrance.
Before the car even came to a full stop, a uniformed doorman approached and politely asked,
“Are you here for the Energy Conference?”
Jiang Xiong shook his head. “No, we have an appointment with Mr. Milos. Here’s our access pass.”
“I see… Please step out here. We’ll handle the parking for you.”
As Bai Yi gathered her things, she curiously observed the constant flow of people coming in and out of the building.
“What Energy Conference? There are so many people.”
“Linmen is trying to push for new energy initiatives and recently brought in supporting infrastructure from the Dragon Empire. Everyone knows that Ye International has set up operations here. That move directly threatened the Golden Lion Group, which dominates the oil industry.
“So, Linmen’s government has now held
three
Energy Conferences—right here in the Golden Lion Tower—basically just to watch Ye International and the Golden Lion Group battle it out.”
Jiang Xiong unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out, smiling as he explained,
“To put it bluntly, Linmen’s government doesn’t want to offend the Golden Lion Group. Holding the meetings here is a sign of goodwill. But at the conferences, it’s mostly just Linmen officials watching the two companies clash.”
“Ye International… Ah! That’s the company run by that former student council president you told me about, right? What was her name again…?”
“Ye Lan.”
Bai Yi blinked. She wasn’t really interested in the
business
side of things—her mind immediately jumped to Yan Huan and Ye Lan’s relationship instead.
Then she remembered how, at the doujin convention, her
own mother
had straight-up asked Ye Lan—
the CEO of Ye International’s Linmen branch
—if she was still single…
Mortifying.
Thinking about it now made her want to crawl into a hole and disappear.
Feeling embarrassed, she quickly changed the subject.
“So, is Aunt Ye attending today?”
“This should be the last Energy Conference. She’ll probably be there to observe.”
Jiang Xiong chuckled, then glanced around.
“But more importantly—where’s Yan Huan? We can’t shoot an MV without a male lead.”
Bai Yi pursed her lips and checked her phone.
“He said he’s almost here. He took the subway from the South District.”
“The South District?”
Jiang Xiong raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He had heard about Yan Huan and Ye Lan’s situation from Zuo Jiangqin, so he had assumed that at the very least, Ye Lan would be coming with him.
Didn’t she
adopt
him?
So why was he still living in the South District?
A flood of possible explanations ran through Jiang Xiong’s mind, but Bai Yi clearly wasn’t overthinking it like he was.
She was too busy staring at her phone, growing increasingly nervous.
Hurriedly, she turned to the reflective glass surface beside her, fixing her hair and adjusting her outfit.
But even that wasn’t enough.
She quickly opened her front camera, pouted, and moved her head side to side, checking herself from every possible angle.
Since the full makeup for the MV would be done on-site, she had left the house with just the basics—
A bit of primer, concealer, setting powder, brow powder, colored contacts, subtle eyeshadow, aegyo-sal, lip tint, blush…
And just like that, she was ready to go.
Perfect no-makeup look—achieved!
The so-called "no-makeup makeup look" followed the principle of
less is more
, using minimal yet effective techniques to create a flawless, natural appearance.
Most guys, clueless about makeup, would fall for it completely, thinking—
"Wow, I can’t believe she looks this pretty without makeup!"
And considering Bai Yi’s already expert-level skills, there was
no way
she’d get caught.
She smirked internally.
Mission: Complete.
After one final check, she put away her phone and casually glanced toward the entrance.
Then, pretending not to be waiting, she paced back and forth while subtly checking her phone—
All while adopting the perfect "casually looking around" pose.
Jiang Xiong, watching her antics, simply shook his head.
“Bai Yi, sorry to keep you waiting.”
Just then, a familiar voice called out.
Jiang Xiong turned and saw a tall, well-built young man walking toward them.
He took one look at Yan Huan’s striking features and couldn’t help but be impressed.
Damn, this kid is good-looking. Almost on par with me in my prime.
“Uncle, hello. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”
“Ah, no worries—we just got here ourselves.”
Behind Jiang Xiong, Bai Yi had instantly
frozen
in place the moment she heard Yan Huan’s voice.
She cleared her throat, quickly composed herself, and
then
turned around with a practiced, natural-looking smile.
Their eyes met.
She was supposed to
lift
her chin slightly, showing off her expertly crafted "bare-faced beauty"—
But for some reason, she
hesitated
, her head instinctively tilting downward instead.
She even absentmindedly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“…M-morning.”
Yan Huan’s gaze lingered on her for a second longer than usual.
He had seen Bai Yi countless times, but today…
She really did look stunning.
“…Morning.”
Success!
Bai Yi clenched her fists in triumph
internally
.
“Uh… was there, um, traffic on the way?”
“…Huh?”
Yan Huan blinked, confused.
Even Jiang Xiong looked at her, completely speechless.
“…Bai Yi, he took the
subway
. There’s no
traffic
underground.”
“…Oh! Right! My brain’s all over the place today…”
Her face reddened slightly. She quickly waved her hand dismissively, then pointed toward the skyscraper.
“Ahaha… Anyway, it’s almost time! Let’s head up!”
Yan Huan glanced at the massive golden lion sculpture inside the lobby, a vague sense of unease creeping into his gut.
But this was just an office building.
There was no way he’d run into
that
idiot here… right?
“Alright, let’s go.”
With that, he pushed the thought aside and walked into the tower.
Yan Huan frowned as he flipped through the densely annotated script, scanning the contents with an increasingly puzzled expression.
He glanced up at Bai Yi, only to find her staring right at him.
Catching his surprised look, she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Pfft~”
Yan Huan raised an eyebrow. “What’s so funny?”
“Your face—it looks exactly like mine when I first saw the script.
So
cute~”
“…You’re just calling
yourself
cute, aren’t you?”
“Hmm…”
Bai Yi tapped her chin, thought for a second, then suddenly grinned and nodded.
“Yep. Hehe~”
Her sheer honesty made Yan Huan chuckle. Holding up his script, he said,
“You’re laughing, but have you even gone through yours yet? You’ve got way more lines than me—the camera’s gonna be trailing you the whole time.”
“This? Piece of cake~”
Hands on her hips, Bai Yi flashed a confident smile.
“I’m a
professional
!”
Just then, a staff member called out to them.
“You two, please head over to the set.”
“Got it.”
“Coming!”
Yan Huan got up, script in hand. Bai Yi, noticing a slight crease in his jacket, instinctively reached out and smoothed it down, adjusting his collar as well.
“Does this fit okay? If it’s uncomfortable, we can have them swap it out.”
Yan Huan blinked, glancing at her sparkling eyes, before replying after a brief pause,
“It fits fine.”
Feeling his gaze linger, Bai Yi’s face grew slightly warm.
Thankfully, her makeup concealed any redness, making it seem as though she was effortlessly composed—like she had just casually
teased
him.
“…Alright then, let’s get started.”
At the entrance, Jiang Xiong glanced at the now bustling set, smiling slightly as he stepped outside, dialing a number.
“Beep… Beep…”
“Hey, Gong, are you still at the conference site?”
Jiang Xiong paced the building as he spoke, weaving through the corridors of the massive Golden Lion Tower, which housed numerous corporate offices across its 100+ floors.
“So, it’s on the third floor? Got it, I’ll head down now—might as well check out what’s happening at the conference.”
Unknowingly, he arrived at a sleek black elevator and pressed the button.
Coincidentally, the elevator was already descending from an upper floor and arrived quickly.
Ding~
The doors slid open, revealing a spacious interior carpeted with plush fabric.
Inside, a blonde girl in a white hoodie was absorbed in a game of
Angry Little Pigs
.
Unlike the standard office elevators they had taken earlier, this one was clearly
different
. But Jiang Xiong, distracted by his call, didn’t notice.
The blonde girl lifted her gaze, briefly eyeing the man who had just stepped in and pressed a floor button.
She crossed her arms and simply watched in silence, curious about what he was up to.
“Yeah, I’m at Golden Lion Tower, here with my daughter and her classmate for an MV shoot—on the 40th floor.”
Behind him, the blonde girl tilted her head slightly, replaying his words in her mind.
MV…?
Her eyes blinked thoughtfully as she memorized the number—40th floor.
“I also wanted to ask, Gong—will Ye International’s President Ye be attending? Huh? She already left? Oh, she and her daughter got invited upstairs by the Golden Lion Group?”
The elevator continued its descent, soon stopping at the third floor.
The doors opened to a quiet hallway, still a short walk from the main conference hall.
Jiang Xiong glanced around, stepping out while speaking.
“Hah, come on, of course I had to come down and catch up with you. I’m already here—alright, let’s talk later.”
As the doors slowly shut, Jiang Xiong remained completely unaware of the blonde girl standing behind him, hands in her pockets.
Nor did he realize…
He had just
led the troublemaker straight upstairs.
Inside the elevator, the blonde girl—no,
Spencer
—mulled over what Jiang Xiong had just said.
"Yan Huan is shooting some kind of MV with Bai Yi… Could it be on the 40th floor?"
She had been bored out of her mind at the penthouse all weekend and had decided to go out in search of entertainment.
But she hadn’t expected to stumble upon
this
information on her way down.
Her golden hair shimmered with excitement, and her imaginary devil horns practically popped into existence.
She was just about to smirk mischievously—plotting all sorts of evil schemes—
But then…
She suddenly remembered what the AI had told her on Thursday night.
“......”
Her face flushed red in an instant as she bit her thumb in frustration.
The truth was, she
hadn’t
been sick on Friday at all.
For Spencer to actually fall ill? That would be harder than the world ending.
She had simply…
Had no idea how to face An Le.
Or how to face Yan Huan.
That kiss had practically
stolen her soul
.
Now, anytime she saw anything remotely similar, she’d instantly turn red.
She couldn’t even look at romance movies or games without her lips tingling from the memory.
And now, for the first time, Spencer hesitated.
She paced inside the elevator, arms crossed, deep in thought.
If I run into Yan Huan, what the hell am I supposed to say…?
"Hehe, Yan Huan~ I stole your most precious thing, so from now on, just be a good boy and follow me~"
Yeah, right. That’d only piss him off and get herself yelled at.
That’d be
way
too much like a thug.
"That was an accident. Forget about it, just pretend it never happened!"
Huh?
That… sounded
way
too cold. Even she felt kind of bad saying it.
"I… I’ll take responsibility!"
That?
But then what about An Le?!
How the hell am I supposed to hand him over now?!
Spencer clutched her head, cheeks burning as she spiraled deeper into her crisis.
Eventually, she squatted down and resumed playing
Angry Little Pigs
, using the act of slingshotting pigs into birds' fortresses to calm her nerves.
But as she eyed the glowing
40th-floor
button on the panel, her clear blue gaze wavered.
Finally, she made up her mind.
Pressing her lips together, she slowly raised her right hand and firmly pressed the button.
Hmph!
On her phone screen, the golden bomb pig launched forward, hurtling toward the birds’ fortress in a fiery explosion.
"Ms. Ye, from the 40th floor up, we enter the entertainment sector of Golden Lion Group."
Ding~
The elevator doors slid open on the 40th floor.
A tall blonde man in a suit led the way, escorting Ye Lan—who wore a sleek emerald qipao—out of the elevator.
Today, Ye Lan was attending the Energy Conference as an observer in a
private
capacity.
Ye International’s appointed experts were still in the conference hall, locked in debate with the opposing expert team.
But that didn’t stop upper management from taking a casual stroll through the building.
The suited man was William, Golden Lion Group’s Linmen President. Following closely behind him was Milos, the head of Golden Lion Entertainment, ready to introduce the sector’s various divisions.
With her jade hairpin—one she had worn when she first met Yan Huan—adorned at the back of her head, Ye Lan smiled as she glanced at the film posters hanging in the entertainment lobby.
“Oh, look—they seem to be filming something here. I didn’t expect them to set up a full scene inside the building.”
William and Milos both smiled, following her gaze.
After a brief pause, a tall girl in a crisp white blouse, black leather corset belt, and high-waisted skirt gracefully stepped out of the elevator.
Her long, jet-black hair cascaded down her back, framing an expressionless, doll-like face.
It was Ye Lan’s only daughter—Ye Shiyu.
“……”
Hands neatly placed at her sides, she held a phone in her right hand.
Hearing her mother’s voice, she turned her head toward the bustling filming set.
Milos immediately stepped forward.
“They’re shooting an MV. Golden Lion Entertainment is the biggest music distributor in Linmen. Would you like a tour, Miss Ye?”
“M…V?”
Ye Shiyu tilted her head expressionlessly, glancing at him.
Milos nodded. A staff member handed him a clipboard, which he skimmed through before raising an eyebrow in surprise.
“Miss Ye, have you heard of Bai Yi? She’s in the same school as you—one grade below, I believe.
“She invited a rather
famous
male classmate to star in her MV. They’re filming right now.”
Ye Shiyu blinked, exchanging a glance with Ye Lan.
“A famous male classmate…?”
Aside from Yan Huan and a few close friends, she barely knew anyone at school.
Still, since the invitation had been extended, she figured she might as well take a look.
She turned to her mother, then nodded.
“Alright.”
Ye Lan smiled and turned to Milos.
“We’ll be in your care, then.”
“Three, two, one…
Action!
”
With the director’s cue, the lights brightened, illuminating Bai Yi as she emerged from the folds of pristine white fabric—like the petals of a blooming rose.
She reached out, gently taking Yan Huan’s hand.
“……”
Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the handsome young man before her, flashing a sweet smile.
Silently, her lips moved—
"Alright, let’s begin…
"This absolutely perfect MV~”