Ye Jinyan, on the surface, was the only son of the Ye family’s head, enjoying boundless prestige.
The reason for adding the words “on the surface” was that, thanks to her plot advantage, Yun Qingqing knew this man was nothing more than a counterfeit born from his mother’s affair with another man.
Father Ye suffered from weak sperm and, after years of trying, only had one eldest daughter from a mistress. Unwilling to accept this, he made an announcement to his flock of women: whoever gave birth to a son first would be married into the family as Mrs. Ye.
Ye Jinyan’s birth mother was ambitious. She secretly found someone to conceive a child with and went to great lengths to swap the DNA test report, successfully deceiving everyone and marrying into the wealthy family.
However, despite being the Ye family’s only heir, Ye Jinyan’s abilities were mediocre. He showed no real talent for business. On the contrary, his long-overlooked half-sister, Ye Lan, thrived the moment she entered the company, displaying astonishing business acumen.
Seeing his position under threat, Ye Jinyan panicked. Relying on his status as the only son, he forcibly seized the most profitable and promising entertainment division from the family business, hoping to produce results and compete with his sister.
It was during this time that he happened to meet Gu Mingyan, who bore a resemblance to his white moonlight, Meng Xian.
Perhaps in search of a substitute to soothe his longing, Ye Jinyan launched an aggressive pursuit of her.
Unable to withstand the offensive, Gu Mingyan quickly fell. After that, she poured money and resources into him, helping her boyfriend gain a foothold in the entertainment industry.
Thinking of all this, Yun Qingqing couldn’t help but click her tongue. “Freeloader.”
She walked to the reception room door. It wasn’t fully closed, and through the crack she could hear Ye Jinyan’s voice.
“Mingyan, I’ve explained this to you many times. Meng Xian and I are really just ordinary friends. At most, she’s an artist under my company that I think highly of. You’d rather believe those baseless media reports than trust me?”
Gu Mingyan pressed her lips together and said nothing.
The images of Ye Jinyan and Meng Xian appearing intimately together flashed through her mind, and her chest still felt tight.
But looking at Ye Jinyan’s focused and patient gaze, she couldn’t help but waver.
Ye Jinyan changed his tone and began reproaching her instead.
“Sometimes I really think you’re too immature. You know this is a critical period for my career. It’s fine if you don’t help share the burden, but you keep getting emotional over these groundless things. Aren’t you just dragging me down?”
After being told this, Gu Mingyan’s momentum weakened a little, and she subconsciously began reflecting on herself.
Was I really being too willful… not considerate enough of him?
“I… I’m sorry.”
Seeing her expression loosen, Ye Jinyan pressed his advantage.
“Everyone has irrational moments. I don’t blame you. But can you return the Lumira endorsement to Meng Xian?”
“Return?” Gu Mingyan lifted her head, finding his suggestion somewhat absurd. “The brand chose me in the first place. Why should I ‘return’ it to her?”
Ye Jinyan sighed and spoke earnestly.
“Mingyan, why don’t you understand? This endorsement is just icing on the cake for you, but it’s different for Meng Xian. She just returned to the country and needs heavyweight resources to open the market. If you give up this endorsement, it will help the company secure a promising artist. That would be tremendous support for my career.”
He watched Gu Mingyan’s expression and continued to add pressure.
“You keep saying you care about me. Are you really unwilling to make even this small sacrifice?”
Gu Mingyan’s heart struggled fiercely.
Her temper was bad and she hated being wronged, yet for some reason, when facing Ye Jinyan, her principles and pride always retreated again and again.
Looking at Ye Jinyan’s increasingly disappointed expression, Gu Mingyan’s lips parted. She was almost about to compromise—just like countless times before—to maintain this relationship—
“Tsk.”
A teasing voice suddenly cut in.
Yun Qingqing leaned lazily against the doorframe, looking at Ye Jinyan with a half-smile.
“Ye Shao, forgive my bluntness, but if Miss Meng, as an artist, doesn’t have any real ability and can’t even secure a decent endorsement, then I think your company signing her is a pure loss-making investment.”
Ye Jinyan looked at the uninvited guest, displeasure in his tone. “Who are you?”
Yun Qingqing immediately switched to a sweet professional smile, walked to Gu Mingyan’s side in a few steps, and affectionately looped her arm through hers.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Yun Qingqing, Mingyan’s partner on Best Partners.”
Before Ye Jinyan could respond, she sighed on her own.
“Ye Shao, if you ask me, the artist under your banner has truly failed your painstaking cultivation! Fighting over an endorsement and you, the big boss, have to personally beg around for resources. Those who know will say you’re eager to nurture talent, but those who don’t…”
She deliberately dragged out the last words, her gaze sweeping across Ye Jinyan’s darkening face before she slowly finished:
“…might think you and Miss Meng have some kind of special relationship.”
“Watch your words!” Ye Jinyan shot a quick glance at Gu Mingyan and said sternly, “Meng Xian and I are completely aboveboard. There is absolutely no other relationship!”
“Oh, I knew it!” Yun Qingqing immediately clapped her hands, her face blooming into an exceptionally bright smile. “Ye Shao, you’re upright and honorable, open and aboveboard—definitely not the kind of shameless man who eats from his girlfriend’s bowl while eyeing the pot and rises to power by living off a woman! I was being petty. My apologies!”
This long string of modifiers sounded like praise on the surface, but the more one thought about it, the more off it felt.
Gu Mingyan, however, didn’t catch anything wrong. She thought Yun Qingqing was praising her boyfriend and nodded in full agreement.
“Jinyan-gege is definitely not that kind of person. His investment judgment is just a bit poor—everything he invests in loses money. This time he probably just misjudged and thought Meng Xian could become popular.”
Her sincere defense struck straight at the heart, turning Ye Jinyan’s face the color of pig liver, yet he couldn’t lose his composure and lash out.
“Pfft—” Yun Qingqing almost burst out laughing and quickly covered her mouth.
Ye Jinyan felt his dignity had been thoroughly trampled and temporarily didn’t want to see the two of them. He reminded them coolly,
“Don’t you still have to shoot your styling photos? Hurry up and go. Don’t delay the work.”
Yun Qingqing was more than happy not to waste words with him. She dragged the still-reluctant Gu Mingyan away.
Back in their exclusive dressing room, the makeup artist hurried forward to finish Gu Mingyan’s previously incomplete makeup and adjusted the details of Yun Qingqing’s hairstyle.
Just as they finished tidying up, Gu Mingyan’s assistant hurried in with a contract.
“Miss Yun, this is your recording contract. Please take a look—if there are no issues, just sign here.”
“Okay.” Yun Qingqing took the contract, quickly scanned the key clauses, and after confirming there were no problems, neatly signed her name at the end.
As soon as she handed the contract back to the assistant, a staff member came to remind them,
“Teachers, we’re ready here. You can begin shooting.”
Yun Qingqing and Gu Mingyan sat on the small sofa in front of the backdrop and posed according to the photographer’s instructions.
One was bright and glamorous; the other was delicate and lively. Judging purely by looks, both were extremely outstanding.
But after taking a few shots, the photographer frowned slightly.
One of the core concepts of Best Partners was to capture the genuine friendship between guests. Yet when Yun Qingqing and Gu Mingyan appeared in the same frame, their posture was stiff and they had zero eye contact—far from the effect the production team wanted.
The photographer quickly poked his head out from behind the camera to guide them.
“Qingqing, you can relax your posture a bit—no need to be so tense. Teacher Gu, soften your expression slightly. Let’s take another set.”
The two adjusted as instructed, but the effect only worsened.
Yun Qingqing was facing a professional camera for the first time and inevitably felt a bit restrained. Meanwhile, Gu Mingyan wore that haughty, world-looking-down-on-everyone expression almost 365 days a year. After deliberately trying to soften it, her face stiffened instead, making her look even fiercer.
The photographer was conscientious and kept trying to guide them.
“Teacher Gu, let’s try again. This time please add a slight smile… um, just a natural smile is fine—no need to force it.”
Repeated shooting finally exhausted what little patience Gu Mingyan had.
Her expression visibly cooled. “Are you done yet?”
The entire studio fell silent instantly.
All the staff held their breath, silently crying in their hearts—
We’re doomed. How did we forget this young lady is famously bad-tempered?
Everyone here today is probably about to get scolded bloody.
Gu Mingyan stood up, her face full of impatience.
“If you can shoot, then shoot. If you can’t, then gu—”
The final word “get lost” never left her mouth, because Gu Mingyan accidentally glanced at Yun Qingqing beside her.
After such a long shoot, not only was Yun Qingqing not impatient—she was grinning from ear to ear, her clear eyes sparkling.
Gu Mingyan found it baffling and asked irritably, “What are you smiling about?”
Hearing this, Yun Qingqing turned her head, her eyes curved into crescents.
“I just signed the contract, remember? It says during the recording period, the production team will pay us civilian guests thirty thousand yuan per day!” She held up three fingers for emphasis. “Thirty thousand a day!”
Her smile was pure and vivid, without the slightest bit of affectation.
Gu Mingyan couldn’t care less about a mere thirty thousand, but strangely, looking at Yun Qingqing’s radiant smile, the irritation in her chest quietly dissipated by more than half.
“Look at your lack of ambition.” Gu Mingyan curled her lips, in a notably better mood as she sat back down on the sofa.
Everyone exchanged looks, seeing shock and disbelief in each other’s eyes.
This girl Yun Qingqing was incredible—just a few casual words, and she had effortlessly soothed the young lady who was about to erupt?
Gu Mingyan slightly lifted her chin and said to the still-dazed crowd,
“What are you all standing there for? Keep shooting!”
“Ah? O-oh! Yes, Teacher Gu!” The staff snapped back to their senses and immediately returned to their positions.
Gu Mingyan tilted her head and whispered to Yun Qingqing, “Today’s shoot ran a bit long—it’s been hard on you. So the daily rate of one hundred thousand I promised you… I’ll double it.”
Yun Qingqing’s eyes lit up instantly!
From one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand? A windfall from heaven!
The power of money was infinite. Yun Qingqing immediately felt her entire body surge with overflowing motivation.
She grabbed Gu Mingyan’s hand and declared firmly, “Mingyan, don’t worry. You just want the genuine friendship of Best Partners, right? I suddenly feel inspired!”
As she spoke, Yun Qingqing adjusted her sitting posture. When the photographer signaled ready, she lifted her eyes and, with an incomparably focused, gentle, and almost reverent gaze, stared deeply at Gu Mingyan’s profile.
The photographer was stunned.
Damn—what kind of ‘one glance that lasts ten thousand years’ look is that?