At the banquet marking the start of filming.
Ai Xuan had arrived early and was chatting with the other actors.
Although it was a web series, the author of the original novel and a seasoned producer were both involved, so considerable care had gone into casting. The actors weren’t all A-listers, but they were capable performers with recognizable roles to their names.
None of them had anywhere near Ai Xuan’s star status, so they were surprised and delighted to learn she’d joined the cast. She was also known throughout the industry for being down-to-earth and getting along well with people, and everyone felt at ease around her.
Lu Yuchen arrived late. Ai Xuan still remembered that she owed him an apology, so she made a point of going over to apologize again and drank a glass as a penalty.
“All right, that’s enough. I’m hardly that petty.” Lu Yuchen gave her a couple of extra looks and lowered his voice. “I’ve put a lot of money into this series. You’d better do a good job. If you don’t, I don’t care who’s backing you!”
Gu Heng had invested in the series, so Lu Yuchen couldn’t afford to mess it up again. Secretary Pei had flatly refused to let him replace the female lead. Lu Yuchen had never imagined that one day he’d be forced to play along with the industry’s “unspoken rules.” But what could he do when Secretary Pei was one of Gu Heng’s most trusted people?
Lu Yuchen paid her no more attention after that. Ai Xuan turned his words over in her mind, feeling that something was off. Then she remembered that this spoiled heir looked down on everyone and let it go.
She’d spent years in the industry without a powerful family or connections to fall back on. Knowing when to stand her ground and when to yield was how she’d survived, often with very little room to maneuver. She’d earned people’s goodwill bit by bit. She treated her seniors with respect and her juniors with kindness, and over time, plenty of people came to offer her guidance and stand up for her.
Lu Yuchen still didn’t quite like Ai Xuan. He thought she was too pretty, too showy, and putting on an act. One look at her and he could tell she’d be trouble.
No matter how little he liked her, though, Ai Xuan seemed oblivious to it. She was polite and tactful, poised without a hint of arrogance. She got on so well with the producer and the assistant director that they talked at length. She’d clearly put a great deal of work into understanding the script and her character, and everyone appreciated it.
Lu Yuchen couldn’t find a thing to fault her for, and now he was the one feeling awkward. He decided he’d see how well Ai Xuan could act tomorrow and take her down a peg.
As the banquet drew to a close, several actors came over to add Ai Xuan on WeChat. Whatever their reasons, they’d be spending the next few months together. She was warm and at ease with them and even took the initiative to add people herself. Everyone warmed to her all the more.
Seeing how popular she was, Lu Yuchen frowned. When Ai Xuan glanced his way, he coolly averted his eyes.
“?” Whatever Ai Xuan thought of that, she kept smiling.
She figured she must have offended the spoiled heir when she asked for time off. Filming hadn’t even started on schedule in the end, but rich people had a way of taking offense at the strangest things.
When Ai Xuan got back, Zhang Xiaoru brought over a parcel and told her it was for her.
“For me?” Ai Xuan took it and checked the shipping label. When she saw that Gu Heng had sent it, she took it back to her room.
Inside were a tempered glass screen protector and a white phone case. The case had a simple design that she quite liked. She picked up her phone and video-called Gu Heng.
Gu Heng was on his way home. When he saw her call come in, the corners of his mouth lifted before he knew it.
“Did you send me a screen protector and a phone case?” Ai Xuan’s clear voice came through the phone.
He looked toward the front. Secretary Pei lowered his voice. “You asked me to send them to Miss Ai, Third Young Master, so of course I put your name on the parcel.”
With that, he raised the partition and went back to driving as if he weren’t there.
“Mm.” Gu Heng nodded slightly. “If you don’t like them, I’ll send you some others.”
“I like them,” Ai Xuan replied with a smile. “The case is simple and pretty. I’ve already put both on.”
Gu Heng looked at her fair, delicate face on the screen, his gaze filling with tenderness. “I’m glad you like them.”
Secretary Pei had gotten him the black case. It was just as simple, and he liked it, too. He’d spent the entire afternoon putting on screen protectors. He’d gone through one after another before he was finally satisfied.
This phone had also escaped the fate of being replaced after three days.
“Are you only just heading home from the office?” Ai Xuan asked when she saw he was in the car.
“Mm.”
“Were you working late?” Ai Xuan asked.
“I kept busy for a while. Are you settling in over there?” Gu Heng changed the subject.
He wouldn’t call it working late. With her gone, what was there to go home for?
“I’m doing great.” Ai Xuan didn’t want him to worry, so she went on. “Everything’s much better than I expected. There’s a lot of good local food, too.”
They chatted idly for a while.
Before, whenever Gu Heng went out, he’d tell her where he was going and exactly when he’d be back. Whatever time he gave her, she could count on seeing him then. If he went to the office, he’d message her right on time at noon and again in the afternoon. If he was going to be home late, he’d let her know.
Since coming to Xuzhou, she’d been messaging him in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. He always replied right away.
Knock, knock, knock. Someone was at the door.
Ai Xuan got up. “That might be Xiaoru with my dinner. I’ll hang up now.”
“Okay.”
After the call ended, he stared down at his phone, then opened his photos of her. He swiped through them one by one, his gaze intent and ardent.
With the partition up, Secretary Pei slowed the car. He thought for a long while before finally calling out, “Third Young Master.”
Gu Heng looked away from his screen and gave him a displeased look.
“Jin Yan just arrived in Xuzhou,” Secretary Pei said. “He’s gone to see Miss Ai.”
Ai Xuan looked at Jin Yan standing in her doorway, her slender brows drawing together slightly.
“Why have you been avoiding me?” Jin Yan’s face was dark with barely concealed anger, and his questions had an accusatory edge. “Why can’t I get through to you? Why did you terminate your contract?”
“You must be joking, President Jin. I haven’t been avoiding you. I don’t use that number anymore. As for terminating my contract, I had my reasons. The company and I reached an agreement, didn’t we?” Ai Xuan spoke with a smile, in no hurry at all.
She’d wanted out of her contract even before the car accident. It hadn’t been a sudden decision.
Her unbothered attitude infuriated Jin Yan. “I looked everywhere for you, and it turns out you went on vacation. Looks like you had a great time.”
“I did,” Ai Xuan said, smiling genuinely this time. “I rarely get a chance to relax and just feel good for a change.”
Her smile stung him. “You’re doing this to spite me,” he said in a low, stern voice.
“Why would I want to spite you? I’m not doing anything of the sort.” She knew how to get along with all kinds of people and use that goodwill to get what she wanted. Making enemies had never been her way of doing things.
Jin Yan took a deep breath and forced down his anger. “The engagement is off. Let’s talk about us.”
“What is there to talk about? I’m happy with things as they are.”
“Don’t test my patience,” Jin Yan warned sharply. He seemed to be at the end of his restraint, his dark eyes flashing with anger.
“What makes you think I’d take back another woman’s fiancé?” Ai Xuan spoke softly and slowly, but her words had a sharp edge.
If he’d really liked her, how could he have disregarded her feelings? She’d been in a car accident. Had he shown her any concern? He was just an arrogant, self-important, selfish bastard.
She must have been blind. What a turnoff!
Jin Yan pressed his thin lips together, his gaze fixed on her face. The anger burning in his chest told him just how badly she’d rattled him.
She’d always been the one to take the initiative, asking how he was and fussing over him. He’d still been sizing her up and deciding whether to give her a chance. He’d thought she was pretty and rather interesting. If none of this had happened, he might never have realized he’d developed some feelings for her.
Ai Xuan’s words were cutting, and they’d humiliated him.
“If there’s nothing else, I’d like to get some rest.” Ai Xuan started to close the door.
Jin Yan put out a hand to stop it. “Come back to Daheng. I’ll hire a top team for you. We can negotiate the contract and put everything that happened before behind us.”
That was his concession. As far as he was concerned, she was simply angry with him.
She’d gone as far as taking a role in a web series. A script like that was beneath someone of her standing, and Lu Yuchen was directing it, of all people. He fooled around and never took anything seriously. Directing was just a hobby to him.
“President Jin.” Ai Xuan’s smile faded a little. She met his gaze with bright eyes full of contempt, her voice edged with mockery. “Did you ever think to ask whether I needed your charity?” Then she enunciated each word. “Too bad. As far as I’m concerned, it isn’t worth a penny.”
The next second, she shut the door.
Jin Yan stared at the closed door, his face livid. Then he turned and walked away without looking back.
Inside, Ai Xuan locked the door. Her expression turned cold as she turned and walked toward the window.
In the novel, it took a tormented romance full of brushes with death for the two of them to find their beautiful love. How far into all that had she even gotten?
She was fairly well known, but she had no powerful backing. The main reason she’d left Daheng was to get out from under its control. Otherwise, those people could drive her out of the film industry without even needing a reason. Taking them on now would be like throwing an egg against a rock.
Of course she was afraid Jin Yan might come after her. She was even more afraid he’d think she still had feelings for him and start pursuing her again, bringing trouble down on her. Besides, he really was a turnoff.
The crash had already nearly killed her, and she’d been lucky to survive. If she got tangled up with him again, she’d be putting her life on the line all over again. Just thinking about it made it hard to stay calm.
Dragging things out, sending mixed signals, and trading reproaches would only mean she was still clinging to false hopes. She had to cut ties cleanly. Someone as arrogant as Jin Yan probably wouldn’t come looking for her again.
He was from a wealthy family, after all. Surely he had enough class to leave her alone.
They could each get on with their lives. Seeing him again would just be bad luck.
Silver Sea Bay.
With bloodshot eyes and a dark, vicious air about him, Gu Heng opened the study door and walked out.
Behind him, the study was a wreck.
Gu Heng went to Ai Xuan’s room without turning on the lights. The moment he crossed the threshold, his expression eased, and the look in his eyes gradually cleared and softened.
Soft moonlight streamed in through the window. He slowly walked to the bedside.
The sheet hadn’t been changed that day. It was still the same one she’d slept on before she left. Ai Xuan had taken two large suitcases full of things with her, but if she came back now, she’d find that nothing was missing and everything was in exactly the same place.
It was as if she’d never left.
Even the air seemed to carry her scent. Gu Heng sat on the edge of the bed, his thin lips pressed together. The moonlight fell over him, making him look all the lonelier.
He’d come to her room on many nights and watched her intently. This time, she was gone.
Gu Heng didn’t know how long he’d been sitting there when his phone chimed, breaking the silence. When he saw the message from Ai Xuan, he stood up at once.
Ai Xuan: “Are you asleep?”
“Not yet,” he replied immediately.
Clutching her phone, Ai Xuan rolled over on the bed. He really did reply quickly. The corners of her mouth lifted a little as she lay on her stomach and kept typing. “I didn’t eat enough at dinner, so I just snuck in a serving of seafood fried noodles. They weren’t as good as the ones in Haicheng.”
Gu Heng: “If they don’t taste good, leave them. Once you’re done with work, we can go back to Haicheng if you want.”
Reading his reply, she felt her irritation ease for some reason.
The Gu family was another prominent family. She knew they were powerful, but she couldn’t begin to imagine how powerful. She admitted that part of the reason she’d gotten close to Gu Heng was to build a good relationship with him. She wanted to protect herself and have someone to turn to if things went wrong. But she genuinely enjoyed talking to him and felt at ease with him. If a day went by without hearing from him, it felt like something was missing.
The entertainment industry could rub off on anyone who spent long enough in it. Anyone who’d managed to reach her position and stay there had to be smart, or at least smart enough to make the most of the resources they had. Being agreeable and even-tempered was something she’d learned out of necessity.
Ai Xuan went back and forth over how she felt until she couldn’t make sense of her own thoughts anymore.
She was still chatting with Gu Heng when someone knocked on her door.
Puzzled, she got up and opened it anyway. The person at the door addressed her with the utmost respect. “The Third Young Master asked me to bring you something to eat, Miss Ai.”
“Oh, okay.” She stared in surprise.
The person came in, laid out the food for her, then gave her a nod and left with a smile.
Ai Xuan looked at the seafood fried noodles, the sea cucumber borscht, and the several delicately prepared side dishes on the table.
She video-called Gu Heng, and he picked up almost immediately. He was sitting on a sofa. His refined features softened as he looked at her and asked gently, “What is it?”
Ai Xuan seemed to have a thousand things she wanted to say, but in the end, all she said was, “How am I supposed to sleep after eating this much? I’ll put on weight.”
When she was at home, she’d often look just as torn and say the same thing over and over.
She didn’t seem to realize she was pouting. Her clear, bright eyes were brimming with delight, making her look especially radiant.
Gu Heng softened his tone. “You’re about to start filming. You won’t put on weight.”
“You’re making that up. You’re just trying to fool me.” She put on a glum face.
His brows drew together slightly, as if he wasn’t quite sure how to coax her. He patiently offered a compromise. “Then just have a few bites to satisfy the craving, okay?”
“No.” She contradicted him for the sake of it, but she couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from rising. She broke into a radiant smile, her eyes curving into crescents.
Seeing that, Gu Heng breathed a sigh of relief and gave her a small, helpless smile tinged with indulgence.
The seafood fried noodles were delicious. The ingredients were fresh and the texture was excellent. The noodles she’d just eaten couldn’t compare.
Every trace of irritation Jin Yan had left her with melted away. Whether it was the good food or the person on the other end of the call that had soothed her, Ai Xuan slept soundly without a dream until morning.