Early the next morning.
Zhang Xiaoru, her assistant, came in carrying breakfast and set the boxes out on the table one by one. There were seven or eight different things to eat. “Sister Ping said to go easy,” she told Ai Xuan. “You’re only supposed to have a taste to satisfy the craving.”
Once she’d washed up, Ai Xuan came out and sipped her unsweetened soy milk. Still thinking about what Gu Heng had said the night before, she went to the bedside for her phone, in a good mood.
“But if you have a few extra bites, I’ll cover for you. You need to eat enough to get through filming.” Zhang Xiaoru followed her like a little tail. She thought the manager was being far too strict. It was practically mistreatment of her idol.
“You’re so thoughtful,” Ai Xuan said sweetly. She turned on her phone and saw a message notification. She knew who it was from without having to think about it, and her face lit up.
She opened the message. He’d sent it at 6:40. He really did get up early.
Gu Heng: Good morning.
Ai Xuan quickly replied: Morning!
After sending it, she picked out a cute sticker of a big white rabbit waving.
Elsewhere, Gu Heng’s lips curved into a smile as he read her message. He kept looking at it for a long time.
Secretary Pei caught sight of the Third Young Master’s smile in the rearview mirror and breathed another sigh of relief.
When the Third Young Master was happy, everyone at the company was happy. Secretary Pei could even eat an extra half bowl of rice.
Ai Xuan walked over to the table and met Zhang Xiaoru’s curious gaze. Her red lips curved into a captivating smile. She sat down, picked up a pair of chopsticks for herself, and handed another pair to Zhang Xiaoru. “Good morning. A good day starts in the morning. Time for breakfast!” Her voice was bright and teasing.
Zhang Xiaoru was flattered and flustered. Her face went bright red, and she suddenly didn’t know what to do with herself. A dozen little voices in her head were screaming.
Oh, come on! Why’d she have to flirt with her like that?!
She was so pretty. If Zhang Xiaoru let her guard down for even a second, she wouldn’t be able to resist~
“Cut.”
“That’s a take.”
“Great! That was really well acted!”
…
On set, the assistant director was so excited that he slapped the script against his palm.
Lu Yuchen shot him an icy look. The assistant director reined in his enthusiasm and said sheepishly, “Ai Xuan really is good. Look at that expression. She nailed it!”
“You think I can’t see that for myself?” Lu Yuchen said coldly.
The assistant director shut his mouth.
Lu Yuchen looked back at Ai Xuan. She wore a pale blue gown with ruyi motifs and swirling clouds, and an exquisite hairpin in her hair. She had willow-leaf brows, narrow eyes, vermilion lips, and pearly white teeth. Her skin was as lovely as white porcelain.
When she smiled, she looked charming and full of life.
Ruyan was a period drama. Its heroine, Jiang Ruyan, was the daughter of the general’s principal wife, and her paternal aunt was the reigning Empress. She was engaged to her older cousin, the Crown Prince. Once she came of age and went through her hairpin ceremony, she would marry him and become the Crown Princess.
As a young noblewoman who’d been doted on all her life, Jiang Ruyan was radiant and poised, with an endearing personality. She lived without a care in the world. All she had to do was wait for the Crown Prince to ascend the throne, and she would become Empress.
But the novel took an unexpected turn. She and the Crown Prince seemed well suited to each other, and he indulged her every wish. In the first half of the story, their feelings appeared to be mutual, and she was a delicate young woman who scarcely had the strength to truss a chicken.
The turning point came when she learned that the Crown Prince’s faction feared the power of the general’s household. Once she married into the Eastern Palace and the Crown Prince ascended the throne, her family would fall.
The last thing the Emperor would do for the Crown Prince was dismantle the general’s power.
Nothing illustrated the old saying better. To serve an emperor was to live beside a tiger.
The beautiful young noblewoman, whose smile could charm anyone, now had to maneuver between the Crown Prince’s faction and the Third Prince’s faction.
Confusion, helplessness, fear, anger, a refusal to accept her fate… This seemingly fragile young woman went through them all. Little by little, the pretty, innocent girl she’d been at the start changed, drawing on a resilience she’d had in her all along.
It took a remarkably nuanced performance to convey that change, and it would put any actor’s skills to the test.
Along the way, she happened to meet the frail and often ill Fifth Prince. Only with him did she let her old, sweet, innocent self show.
The Fifth Prince had never wanted the throne. After meeting her, he began to make plans of his own and made one exception after another for her.
He quietly watched over her and bent his own rules for her time and again. Without letting anyone know, the two developed feelings for each other. There was something genuinely compelling about their love, so sincere and yet so carefully held back.
Filming continued.
Under the blazing sun, Ai Xuan rehearsed with some of the supporting actors in her heavy period costume. She smiled easily as they ran through the scene, then gave them her full attention once they were ready to get into character.
Their laughter carried across the set from time to time.
“We’re rolling!” Lu Yuchen called to her through the megaphone.
Ai Xuan came over at once.
It was an ensemble scene. One of the supporting actresses seemed nervous. She’d struggled to get in sync with the others several times already, and her expressions hadn’t been right. When they had to cut again, Lu Yuchen’s face darkened.
Cold sweat broke out on the actress’s forehead, and she didn’t dare look up. Seeing that she was starting to shake, Ai Xuan patted her gently. “It’s okay. Let’s try again. I stumbled over a line just now, too. We’ll do it just like we rehearsed.”
“All departments, get ready,” the assistant director called again.
Ai Xuan turned to the actress with a bright, playful smile and began her lines. The actress relaxed and, following Ai Xuan’s lead, got through her own lines as well.
They soon found their rhythm and went straight on to shoot the next scene.
At some point, Lu Yuchen stepped away to take a call. By the time he returned, several scenes were already in the can. The assistant director was praising Ai Xuan again and looked thoroughly pleased.
Lu Yuchen tossed his phone aside, his gaze fixed on Ai Xuan’s radiant smile. He gave a cold snort. “Daheng offered to invest in the series.”
“Really?” The assistant director hadn’t even had time to get excited when he saw Lu Yuchen’s livid expression. He lowered his voice. “Why would they suddenly want to invest in us?”
No one had ever wanted to invest in their projects before. Daheng had so many resources that a little production like theirs should’ve been beneath its notice.
The series was coming along well, and Lu Yuchen, the credited director, had been interfering far less than usual. Still, his reputation preceded him. Had Daheng lost its mind?
“Who knows?” Lu Yuchen said sarcastically, looking toward Ai Xuan. Then he added at his leisure, “I turned them down. We’re hardly short of money now.”
Third Brother had gone so far as to invest in an entertainment company. What was an offer like this to him? He could take on the whole world now!
Still…
Lu Yuchen remembered running into Jin Yan outside the elevator that night. He looked back at Ai Xuan and narrowed his eyes. Halfway through her take, he shouted, “Cut!”
Ai Xuan turned to look at him.
“Ai Xuan, take this seriously! What the hell was that?!” Lu Yuchen snapped.
“I thought it was pretty good…” The assistant director trailed off, afraid to finish.
Was Director Lu back to making things difficult for his actors? Hadn’t he said he’d step back and let them do their jobs this time?
Good heavens.
If a project this good turned into another flop, he’d be so angry he’d cough up blood. It would take ten years off his life!
The supporting actors frowned. They clearly had objections of their own, but none dared speak up. Ai Xuan took it in stride and even apologized with a smile. “Sorry, I rushed that a little. Let’s do it again.”
During the break, Zhang Xiaoru gave a little stamp of her foot in frustration. “I swear the director’s doing it on purpose.”
Ai Xuan was drinking water. When she heard that, she reached over and gently pinched Zhang Xiaoru’s round cheek. “Keep comments like that to yourself on set. Someone might overhear you, and then you’ll have trouble on your hands.”
“I’m only telling you,” Zhang Xiaoru said, still indignant.
“All right, I’ll buy you some milk tea.” Ai Xuan didn’t take it to heart.
As far as she was concerned, rich heirs like Lu Yuchen had a bit of a prickly streak. They wanted people to flatter them and acted up every now and then. If she stopped expecting him to behave like a reasonable person, she could let it go. How was she supposed to get by in the entertainment industry if she took every little thing to heart?
As she drank her milk tea, Zhang Xiaoru opened a thread titled “What’s Some Real Inside Gossip About the Entertainment Industry?” and started typing an update. “Xuanxuan is incredibly easy to get along with. Her reputation for being well liked is no exaggeration. She never uses a double, often helps newcomers, and is sweet, gentle, and even-tempered. Some directors in this industry, though, have awful tempers and throw their weight around.”
She often posted little things about Ai Xuan without revealing anything private. Over time, the thread gained traction, and soon someone left another comment. “Is Ai Xuan dating Jin Yan? Is there any truth to that? Just curious.”
Zhang Xiaoru frowned and immediately typed a reply. “No!”
As soon as she replied, others chimed in.
“Of course she isn’t. If Xuanxuan were dating Jin Yan, why would she terminate her contract? What’s wrong with being the boss’s wife? Daheng would definitely put everything it had behind her.”
“Exactly! Xuanxuan shines just fine on her own.”
“I can’t wait for the new series to air. I’m so excited!”
…
As soon as Ai Xuan successfully terminated her contract with Daheng, her studio issued a statement thanking the company for helping her grow. It gave the company all the public credit it could ask for. Daheng was even less keen to let the matter blow up, so it heavily moderated the comments, and the news barely made a ripple.
Zhang Xiaoru happily read all the praise and picked a few more comments to reply to. Then she opened the trending topics about Ai Xuan and used her alternate account to repost on Weibo and get her a little more attention.
Filming was moving along quickly, and Ai Xuan was thriving on set. She was dedicated and considerate, and there was something about her radiant good looks that made people want to look after her.
Everyone found themselves giving her a little extra leeway and feeling protective of her without quite realizing it.
Natural talent and hard work made for a formidable combination. Anyone acting opposite Ai Xuan had to stay especially sharp. If they let their concentration slip, it was all too easy to get swept up in her performance and lose their own footing.
Meanwhile, the production had spent heavily on online promotion. As an adaptation of a popular novel, it was already attracting plenty of interest and goodwill. Everything was moving in the right direction.
Lu Yuchen was the only one growing more dissatisfied with Ai Xuan.
He couldn’t figure it out. It was one thing for Daheng to call him over and over, but in the end, Jin Yan had personally gotten involved and was practically falling over himself to invest in their production.
The others were easy enough to fob off, but Jin Yan had been in business for years and was sharp as a tack. He kept fishing for information, both directly and indirectly.
Ai Xuan’s acting was beyond reproach. She was also good at analyzing the script and had ideas of her own. As far as Lu Yuchen was concerned, though, she was two-timing. He’d already heard whispers that she and Jin Yan had something going on.
Secretary Pei had specifically asked him to look after Ai Xuan, and look what she’d been doing behind Secretary Pei’s back! Lu Yuchen looked down on Secretary Pei for letting a woman turn his head, but he stood up for his own. His loyalty extended to anyone his people cared about, too!
Everyone could tell that Lu Yuchen had a problem with Ai Xuan. He picked at minor details during filming and acted high and mighty whenever they discussed script changes. Some of the more timid actors didn’t dare get too close to Ai Xuan for fear he’d single them out as well.
Whenever they clashed, though, Ai Xuan usually smiled, gave a little ground, and smoothed things over. Lu Yuchen was the one left stewing, unable to have it out with her or let it go.
Then it came time to revise the script again.
Ai Xuan had given it a lot of thought this time. A television series worked differently from a novel, and she wanted to add some conflict to move the romantic subplot along. Lu Yuchen vetoed the idea and made a couple of snide remarks.
For the first time, the two of them openly butted heads.
Ai Xuan had been in a reasonably good mood until she saw Jin Yan’s friend request on WeChat. The message attached to it said only “Jin Yan.”
Just seeing his name was enough to bring his arrogance to mind. Did he really think he was some all-powerful, domineering president? She ignored the request. Five minutes later, a call came in.
Jin Yan’s low voice came through the phone. “It’s me.”
“Who’s this?” Ai Xuan asked.
Where had he gotten her new number this time? He haunted her like a ghost that wouldn’t go away!
Jin Yan was angry all over again. Hadn’t she said she knew his number by heart? How could she ask who he was?!
“You have the wrong number,” Ai Xuan said impatiently.
“Ai Xuan, don’t you dare hang up on me…”
She hung up without hesitation before he could finish.
Furious, Jin Yan called again, but the line kept coming up busy. She’d clearly blocked his number.
He gripped his phone. For the first time, a woman had made him so angry he was shaking.
Fine.
Just fine.
Ai Xuan’s good mood was gone. During filming, Lu Yuchen was dissatisfied again and called for several retakes. Instead of smiling apologetically as usual, she asked him humbly for guidance. “Director Lu, how do you think we should shoot this part?”
It was easy enough to criticize. Let him come out here and show her what he meant.
He was the director in name only, and the crew did all the work. Letting him coast around the set every day and step into the spotlight whenever he felt like it was already more than enough courtesy.
Lu Yuchen’s face went through a whole palette of colors. He finally forced himself to step forward and cobble together a couple of suggestions.
“But I don’t quite understand what you mean, Director Lu. I think the way we’ve been shooting it works too. What do you think?” Ai Xuan turned to the assistant director. This time, she wasn’t going to smooth things over with a few words. From her expression and tone, no one could tell whether she was being sincere.
Lu Yuchen only directed for fun, and he was used to getting his way. No one had ever put him on the spot like this. From the way he was glaring at Ai Xuan, he looked ready to explode.
The assistant director wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and stammered.
Ai Xuan was still waiting politely for guidance. After a moment, she looked as though something had just clicked. “I think I see what Director Lu means now. The shift in emotion here should come through more strongly, right? Let’s try it again.”
She sounded eager to give it a go.
“Good, let’s try it again,” the assistant director hastened to say. “All departments, get ready. Quickly!”
Lu Yuchen went over and sat down in front of the camera, grinding his teeth. “I won’t forget this! She’s driving me mad!”
The assistant director could have cried. What was it this time? What had she even done to him now?
Filming wrapped for the day.
“Director Lu finally got put in his place today,” Zhang Xiaoru said, thoroughly pleased.
“What do you mean?” Ai Xuan looked blank, as though she had no idea what Zhang Xiaoru was talking about.
This time, Zhang Xiaoru couldn’t tell whether Ai Xuan had done it on purpose or very much on purpose.
“I’m livestreaming tonight, so I need to get back early. Could you get me something to eat?” Ai Xuan walked away as soon as she’d said it, her expression unchanged, as though she really had just been asking for guidance, humbly and sincerely.
Only after she turned away did her expression change. Her red lips curved slightly, and a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. She loved how Lu Yuchen couldn’t stand her but couldn’t do a thing about her either.
If he hadn’t had some sense of where to draw the line, stayed out of the crew’s way, and acknowledged her acting skills, she wouldn’t have put up with him for this long.
He was a grown man from a wealthy family. Why was he throwing tantrums like a child?
She remembered what Gu Heng had told her about Lu Yuchen’s background. His birth mother had been a waitress and came from a very humble background. Perhaps acting this way was the only reason no one in the Lu family saw him as a threat. They were all happy to see him carry on like this.
Meanwhile.
Lu Yuchen was still stewing when Jin Yan called him again.
For fuck’s sake. He kept his voice in check, though he couldn’t quite hide the humblebrag. “President Jin, our production is fully funded. We have more money than we can spend.”
Jin Yan didn’t believe him. They’d been looking for investors before, and the only explanation he could think of was that Ai Xuan had made some sort of deal with them to keep him out. He asked outright, “This is because of Ai Xuan, isn’t it? What did she ask you for?”
Lu Yuchen: “…”
That woman again. He knew it!
After fobbing off Jin Yan, he called Gu Heng. He sounded like he was tattling as much as complaining. “Third Brother, that crooked businessman Jin Yan wants a piece of our pie!”
Who in their circle didn’t know Jin Yan was a ruthless bastard in business?
And now he’d brought his messy love life right onto Lu Yuchen’s set.
Pah! He had no respect for him!