The moment Qiao Qiao stepped into the photographic studio, she immediately put on a different expression. She had already spotted the makeup artist helping Yu Huai with her makeup.
She sat down next to Yu Huai, and both the makeup artist and Xiaoduo hurried over immediately.
Yu Huai glanced at her sideways and let out a cold hum.
Qiao Qiao couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to her. She reined in the restless feelings she had outside and prepared to dive straight into her work mode.
Her phone vibrated a few times, and Qiao Yi sent her an image.
The moment she opened it, she was greeted by a riot of colorful lights and a dim environment. Qiao Yi was smiling at the camera with a slightly roguish expression, clearly looking like he was at a bar.
Qiao Yi: Sister, celebrating my full recovery! The little prince of the bars is back in action.
At the sight of alcohol, Qiao Qiao instantly thought of Ni Zijing. With a throbbing headache, she replied: I’m telling you not to start any trouble, because nobody is going to clean up your mess.
Qiao Yi: I know, I know. Sister, when are you coming back home for dinner? I miss you so much.
Seeing this message, Qiao Qiao didn’t reply further and tucked her phone away.
Xiaoduo stepped up in front of her with an exclamation: “Sister Qiao, you look so incredibly good. You look amazing without makeup, and amazing with makeup, and your skin is still this good. How do you maintain it?”
The makeup artist nodded along from the side as well: “Indeed, Xiao Qiao’s skin texture is the absolute easiest to apply makeup on. It doesn’t cake or flake at all.”
Qiao Qiao smiled. “Just use the most expensive skincare products.”
Aused by these remarks, the atmosphere in the studio lightened up a bit.
The more Yu Huai listened, the more irritated she grew. She had only recently found out that Qiao Qiao was also going to participate in the reality variety show Perfect Romance, and she thought to herself what right Qiao Qiao had. She was a rising star with commercial pulling power, high popularity, and the backing and investment of President Ling behind her, making her participation in the show a matter of course. Qiao Qiao lacked both popularity and backing. Wasn’t she just relying on her good looks to cling to President Ni as a giant tree?
So what if she climbed into President Ni’s bed. Did she think she could soar straight to the heavens?
Yu Huai’s nose was practically turned up to the sky. Remembering that she hadn’t settled the score from earlier when Qiao Qiao splashed water all over her body, she let out another cold huff upon hearing Qiao Qiao chatting and laughing over there.
Qiao Qiao’s expression remained completely calm, and she didn’t care at all.
Xiaoduo frowned as she glanced at Yu Huai, quickly turning her gaze away to tell Qiao Qiao: “Sister Qiao, Sister Zou asked me to tell you that you have a new schedule. It’s a new variety show produced by Peng Xunchen called Perfect Romance, and the first episode will officially record in five days.”
Qiao Qiao tilted her head slightly. “What show? When did I accept this, how come I’ve never heard of it?”
Xiaoduo: “Huh? President Ni said so. Since you didn’t have any issues with your side, so.”
Only then did Qiao Qiao recall that Ni Zijing had indeed mentioned while she was drunk that she agreed to go on a show. So this was it?
Qiao Qiao nodded. “Got it, go on.”
“Right, so here’s the deal. It’s a simulated romance show, meaning that after the guests are paired up, they will undergo various couple tasks and dates.” Xiaoduo let out a long sigh of relief.
Qiao Qiao: “?” Why does President Ni want me to go on a dating show?
Wait, does that mean among the three pairs of couples, she and Ni Zijing are supposed to be one pair?
“Yes.” Xiaoduo confirmed her guess.
Qiao Qiao massaged her temples, temporarily setting that question aside: “What about the other guests? Does that mean the pairings will be decided by votes or randomly combined?”
“There’s also Director Qin Zhijian and her girlfriend Sang Yi, and then.” Xiaoduo lowered her voice, casting a glance toward Yu Huai’s direction.
Qiao Qiao understood.
It was Yu Huai and Cheng Qian.
They were all heavy hitters, and she figured this show was going to be an uphill battle for her.
Qin Zhijian and her partner were a real-life couple, and with Yu Huai and Cheng Qian being the only heterosexual couple, the overwhelming probability for her pairing was Ni Zijing.
Of course, since it was a variety recording, nobody knew whether the production team would randomly mix people up just to grab eyeballs.
“There’s one more problem.” Xiaoduo wore a troubled look. “The couples are randomly paired, and it seems there are tasks right in the first episode. You have to pass them to find out who your partner is.”
“What a hassle.” Qiao Qiao clicked her tongue, as a scene suddenly flashed through her mind.
A sober Ni Zijing: “Will you choose me?”
A drunk herself: “I will.”
Great. At the mere thought of this, even the words of refusal that were right on the tip of Qiao Qiao’s tongue got stuck.
Yu Huai suddenly knocked the makeup brush out of the makeup artist’s hand and shrieked in a shrill voice, “Can you even do makeup? If you can’t, just get lost! Are you blind, didn’t you know you were about to poke it right into my eye?”
How could a makeup artist dare to provoke this A-list celebrity? She could only meekly pick up the brush while repeating, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Yu Huai kicked the makeup brush away impatiently, frowning. “Get lost, bring me someone else.”
Her eyes shifted, landing on Qiao Qiao’s side: “Oh, Qiao Qiao, look at how poorly trained this person is, she couldn’t even do my makeup right. Can you let your makeup artist do mine?”
“Sure.” Qiao Qiao was already finished, so she nodded to the makeup artist and added, “Then please go ahead and do Yu Huai’s makeup.”
The makeup artist was pleasantly surprised. “Not at all, not at all.”
Yu Huai simply couldn’t stand this look of utter indifference where Qiao Qiao seemed not to care about anything. If she doesn’t care about anything, how could she even enter the entertainment industry, let alone know how to drum up buzz? She rolled her eyes, sneered directly at Qiao Qiao, and voiced the thoughts running through her mind.
“What are you putting on airs of magnanimity for? Didn’t you just get this opportunity to be on the show by relying on President Ni? You’re quite the actress yourself, aren’t you?”
She stretched out her foot, pushing the small low stool beside her toward Qiao Qiao’s feet, narrowly missing her ankle.
She let out a dismissive laugh. “I wonder if that foot injury was even fake to begin with, huh?”
Qiao Qiao’s face turned cold.
Xiaoduo raised her voice on the side: “Watch your mouth!”
Qiao Qiao stopped Xiaoduo, shaking her head. She crossed her arms and leaned back lazily against the vanity, the corners of her lips curling into a small hook. “So what if it’s fake, what’s it to you? What, want your fans to tear me to shreds?”
“You!” Frustrated into a corner, Yu Huai stood up with a cold scoff. “I thought you were so high and mighty. Aren’t you just someone who crawled into President Ni’s bed?”
Her voice wasn’t particularly loud, but it was enough for the staff members in the studio to hear clearly. Qiao Qiao’s gaze remained as still as stagnant water, though a closer look revealed a hint of mockery. She couldn’t be bothered to squabble with Yu Huai at all. Xiaoduo, however, couldn’t suppress her anger and stomped her foot repeatedly.
Yu Huai laughed. “Look at you, even your own assistant has such an unmanageable temper. What, do you want to do something to me? Take a look in the mirror and see if you’re even qualified.”
Qiao Qiao had one core principle: she simply couldn’t stand seeing the people around her wronged. The moment she heard Yu Huai direct her barbs at Xiaoduo, her anger genuinely flared up. Lowering her eyelids, she straightened her posture and stepped forward. “Care to say that one more time?”
Yu Huai carried an imposing momentum. Though she choked slightly upon seeing the icy chill in Qiao Qiao’s eyes, she immediately stood up, took a few steps, and walked right up to Qiao Qiao: “So what if I said it? I said you climbed into President Ni’s bed just to climb the ladder. Everyone understands the quid pro quo of the entertainment industry. Do you really think President Ni likes you and you’re all that now? Acting all high and mighty, are you worthy? She probably just took a fancy to your face and is playing with you, and you actually thought you found a backing.”
As she stepped forward, her foot conveniently bumped into the small stool right against Qiao Qiao’s newly healed ankle. Having already taken a twist in the car earlier, the impact made the pain sharply clear once again.
The low stool was small and made no sound upon impact, so nobody else noticed.
Qiao Qiao didn’t budge an inch. She smiled coquettingly at Yu Huai, her tone actually carrying a trace of amusement: “Thanks for telling the cold truth and praising my looks. You, on the other hand, certainly don’t have that. Even if you swapped my makeup artist, she still couldn’t paint this face of mine. Oh, and as for whether President Ni truly likes me or not, why don’t you go ask her yourself? Is there anyone present here who doesn’t know that President Ni herself publicly declared in front of the media that she has been pursuing me?”
As she said this, the outer corners of Qiao Qiao’s eyes lifted, carrying an involuntary, subtle hint of pride.
Stifling a heavy breath of frustration with nowhere to go, Yu Huai said through gritted teeth, “Vixen! You still haven’t made your parents public to this day. I suppose your family didn’t teach you any better than to raise a vixen like you!”
With a crisp sound, a palm print already bloomed across Yu Huai’s shocked face.
Qiao Qiao didn’t hesitate in the slightest when landing that slap.
Being indifferent was one thing, but once someone crossed her bottom line, she would never allow herself to be pushed around.
“Sorry, I’m not very fond of people greeting my family members in that manner. Did I startle you? Don’t mind it just because the hit was a bit heavy.” Qiao Qiao shook her hand with a faint smile, dragging out her tail end lazily, “Can’t help it, who asked my backing to be President Ni, Ni Zijing?”
Qiao Qiao discovered that Ni Zijing’s name was truly useful.
Once Yu Huai recovered her senses, she lunged toward Qiao Qiao. Every staff member present had witnessed the whole ordeal, and naturally, their sympathies lay with Qiao Qiao. Immediately, they called over the person in charge and the cameraman, urging everyone to quickly rush the touch-ups because they needed to resume filming.
Yu Huai’s face certainly needed serious touch-ups, otherwise the marks wouldn’t be covered at all.
“I am not done with you! How dare you hit me, just you wait!” Yu Huai’s voice was naturally thin. When speaking normally it could pass for pleasant, but right now it was left with only sharp, petty malice. “And you claimed President Ni has been desperately pursuing you while you reject her. What kind of persona are you trying to build for yourself? So hypocritical and pretentious.”
Qiao Qiao smiled. “Just like how it might be sunny today and start raining by afternoon, or how you were fine a second ago and got hit by me the next. People change very quickly. Maybe I don’t like it today, but who knows, tomorrow I might just take a fancy to it. What business is it of yours?”
She turned around first to shoot her solo photos, leaving behind a furious, exasperated Yu Huai.
Indeed, matters of the heart didn’t require any logic.
Who’s to say someone couldn’t just fall in love all of a sudden?
Qiao Qiao guessed that because she had slapped Yu Huai today, she would probably be heavily reprimanded by Sister Zou again, and the incident would undoubtedly be reported to Ni Zijing, especially since she had brandished President Ni’s full name.
She could already imagine the helpless tone Ni Zijing would use to look at her and say: “Why are you always able to cause so much trouble for me?”
At this thought, Qiao Qiao let out a soft chuckle.
This shooting session went smoothly for Qiao Qiao.
Yu Huai caked on thick layers of powder to cover the palm print, but during their joint shots with Qiao Qiao, she kept a stony face and refused to cooperate with the photographer. After repeated failed takes that yielded not a single good frame, the staff grew quietly critical over time. Qiao Qiao, with her slender waist and delicate legs, was in a stellar mood. She looked breathtakingly stunning before the camera, delivering fantastic shots frame after frame.
Once they finally managed a barely passable shot of Yu Huai, they quickly wrapped up the shoot.
Before Qiao Qiao left, the photographer walked up to her with an expression of pure admiration and specifically told her: “Your camera presence is phenomenal. Today was truly thanks to your cooperation, and I hope we can collaborate again next time.”
Earlier on, he had heard others say that Qiao Qiao was rather aloof and came with a bit of negative baggage. But upon seeing her today, he realized she was practically a fairy, especially compared to Yu Huai.
Qiao Qiao smiled cordially. “You’ve worked hard.”
As for Yu Huai, aside from her own assistant, no staff members went anywhere near her, which infuriated her all over again.
The moment Qiao Qiao and Xiaoduo stepped into the elevator, they received Sister Zou’s relentless phone calls. Guilt-ridden, Qiao Qiao didn’t dare to answer, pretending she had entered the elevator and lost signal.
In truth, her foot was still hurting, but she didn’t voice it.
Stepping out the front entrance, the nanny van was parked outside, with Sister Zou waiting for her with a gloomy face.
Seeing her and Xiaoduo approach, Sister Zou pulled open the van door and let loose immediately: “Hitting someone? Do you not want to have a career anymore! And Xiaoduo, you too, why didn’t you stop her?”
Xiaoduo lowered her head. “They started hurling insults first.”
“That still doesn’t make it right!”
Seeing Qiao Qiao’s gaze wandering off, Sister Zou grabbed her wrist and hauled her inside, saying in a deep voice, “Still looking for people? Stop looking! President Ni is in meetings at the company all day today and can’t make it.”
Qiao Qiao uttered an “Oh,” resting lazily back in her seat. “Did Yu Huai’s manager look for you?”
“If they had looked for me, could I still be this anxious?” Sister Zou let out a cold huff. “There hasn’t been a peep of news yet. If her manager had contacted me, we could still reach a settlement. But by not contacting me, it means Yu Huai’s side is scheming behind the scenes to take you down, do you understand that? You finally managed to land a variety show to salvage your popularity, yet you pull a stunt like hitting someone and causing a scandal. Do you want to be blacklisted across the entire internet?”
Meanwhile, on Yu Huai’s side, the moment she got into the car, she wanted to call her manager, but after a moment of thought, she dialed a different number instead.
It took a while for the other end to pick up, greeted by an extremely chaotic background noise filled with drinking games and deafening, pulsating rhythm music.
Amidst the din, a voice could be heard asking: Young Master, what should we do with this guy?
A lazy voice finally sounded: “Beat him up first, hm? Yu Huai, what is it?”
Yu Huai still held a shred of fear toward Ling Yang, but she still put on a spoiled tone as she exaggeratedly recounted how she had been bullied by Qiao Qiao today, ending with: “President Ling, she even claimed she has President Ni backing her up and acted so arrogant. I truly cannot swallow this anger.”
“Qiao Qiao, is it? That person still dares to act wild? Rub her face into the ground for me.”
The other side suddenly erupted into chaos, sending a wave of involuntary apprehension through Yu Huai’s heart. Ling Yang’s voice drifted over lightly, sounding as though he was drinking, laced with a roguish smile as he said: “Alright, Ni Zijing dares to touch my people? Rest assured, Huaihuai, I’ll help you vent this anger.”
Having received a satisfactory reply, a chilling glint flashed through Yu Huai’s eyes, and she finally revealed a triumphant smile.
“Thank you, President Ling. Let’s have a meal together sometime.”
“Such a good girl.” The response from the other end was half-hearted, the underlying meaning self-evident.