Chapter 25

Chapter 25

He Wei was badly startled by that number of his and quickly shook her head, refusing: “Let’s still go with five hundred thousand…”

As if afraid Yan Huai wouldn’t agree, she added, “I’m not actually that short on money.”

That sounded a bit unconvincing.

Although the system didn’t give He Wei specific “abuse point” prompts, the overall framework of the entire novel had already been laid out clearly in her mind.

The original female lead in “Ex-Wife on Top” had all the classic Cinderella traits—both parents passed away, leaving only an elderly grandmother who raised her.

The old lady was very old and plagued with illness. She had been admitted to a nursing home two years ago and never came out. The nursing home fees were not low, and they had all been covered by the original owner’s multiple part-time jobs during her school years.

Later, after she got together with the male lead Yan Chen, Yan Chen felt sorry for her and gradually took over those expenses himself.

To a certain extent, the original owner in the novel was like a dodder plant—

Even though she was the female protagonist, most of the time she had to rely on the male lead.

A few days ago, He Wei calculated her finances. Although she had recently taken on the endorsement from Feli Jewelry, the endorsement fee would only be paid three months after the final product was approved.

Including the salary from “Empress Tiancheng”, she had only received 20% in advance.

Her role was only a fourth female lead—just a slightly more important supporting role than an extra. And as an unknown 18th-tier actress with no fame and no connections, plus limited screen time per episode, each episode only paid a few tens of thousands.

All things considered, He Wei currently only had less than 100,000 yuan in hand.

And out of that ten-plus thousand, she had to keep seventy to eighty thousand.

Because if the plot didn’t change too much, the original owner’s grandmother would soon suffer a sudden serious illness, and the treatment costs would be very high.

In previous timelines, when she fell ill, He Wei was still together with Yan Chen, so the expenses were advanced by him.

But this time was different—she and Yan Chen had already broken up.

Without a personal savings buffer, He Wei felt uneasy.

So she liked taking small advantages.

But liking it aside, she still clearly knew whose advantages she could and could not take.

For example, she absolutely did not dare take advantage of Yan Huai.

This plate originally came from their family. Letting him buy it back already sounded inappropriate enough, and yet he was even offering several times the market price…

He Wei even felt like she was about to be kept.

And that “one million” was like the price of keeping her.

The more she thought about it, the more awkward she felt. After a few seconds of hesitation, she said again, “Let’s just do three hundred thousand.”

As long as it was even one yuan above market price, she felt like Yan Huai was using extra money to keep her.

She couldn’t afford this kind of implication. “I asked someone who knows about these things before I came. Three hundred thousand is the market price… so—”

“Your things, I don’t want to buy at market price.”

He Wei: “……”

Hey, big brother, open your eyes—this is your family’s plate!

For a few seconds, He Wei really wanted to say that out loud, but she still had her rationality. She took a breath and forced herself to calm down again: “President Yan, if you keep this up, I won’t sell it anymore.”

“Call my name.”

“……”

He Wei didn’t want to speak anymore.

She had already known—since the moment this man pushed the door open—she had lost the position of control.

He Wei lowered her eyes. Just as she was about to pick up the plate and leave, his hand lightly pressed hers down. “Alright, thirty thousand it is.”

He had already handed her his phone. “Leave your account number.”

He Wei took the phone and quickly typed in a string of numbers.

After finishing, she pursed her lips. “Um…”

She was considering whether to come clean.

To be honest, she felt a little embarrassed; but if she didn’t tell the truth, what if Yan Huai turned around and gave this plate back to Yan Rujing? Then in the future, if she ever became famous and appeared on TV every few days, Yan Rujing would probably point at her in front of his old friends and say—

“Look, that’s the girl who sold the plate I gave me to my son, and my son gave it back to me as a gift.”

…Just imagining it was already unbearably awkward.

At least the person across from her was Yan Huai.

She had even slept with him, so at this point she couldn’t be bothered about face anymore. She cleared her throat lightly. “This plate… don’t you think it looks familiar?”

The man nodded: “It does.”

“Then… do you remember where you saw it?”

He Wei asked cautiously. Because she had just been frightened into tears earlier, her eyes were still moist, as if covered with a layer of shimmering water.

Yan Huai’s lips curved slightly. “At my house.”

He Wei: “……”

So he actually did remember… Then what was the point of him just now sitting there and letting her perform a solo act?

He Wei’s brows unconsciously furrowed. Before she could recover from that hollow feeling, she heard him speak again. “It wasn’t bought for my father.”

His hand moved along her wrist, brushed over the back of her hand, then lightly touched her fingers together with the plate. “Put your mind at ease.”

With a slight movement of his fingers, he took the plate from her hand.

“What do you want to eat?”

He returned to the opposite side, sat down gracefully after pulling out the chair.

He Wei had slept in until after ten in the morning and hadn’t eaten anything. She was indeed hungry, but she didn’t really want to sit at the same table as Yan Huai.

She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to eat.

It seemed Yan Huai had only asked casually anyway and wasn’t waiting for her answer. He flipped through the menu, pressed the bell for the waiter, and added a few dishes.

He Wei frowned. “We can’t finish that much…”

“Eat however much you can,” Yan Huai said lightly, glancing at her. From her palm-sized face downward, her chin was slightly pointed, her wrists thin. His brows furrowed slightly. “Too thin.”

She also didn’t seem very physically strong—probably the kind who would get sick for a long time even from a single rain.

As for what would happen in bed later—

Yan Huai raised his hand and touched his Adam’s apple. It rolled distinctly beneath his fingers, the movement obvious.

He then asked He Wei, “Do you have anything to do this afternoon?”

He Wei nodded. “I’m going for an audition.”

Although the staff at Feli Jewelry said it was mainly to try on outfits, there would likely also be a test of her compatibility with the photographer’s camera.

If the coordination went well, it would save a lot of trouble when shooting the advertisement later.

The person opposite, Yan Huai, gave a faint “mm.”

He Wei didn’t say anything else. She lowered her head slightly and checked the time on her phone.

12:27 p.m.

Only then did she remember she hadn’t messaged her online boyfriend today. She quickly opened WeChat, found the contact, and typed: 【Just woke up, have you eaten yet?】

The screen of the phone placed on the table lit up.

The exact message He Wei had sent appeared on it.

Just woke up—

Yan Huai’s lips tugged slightly. Across the table, he replied to her: 【Eating.】

He Kuo: 【Eating alone?】

Y: 【No.】

He Kuo: 【With someone else? A man or a woman?】

Y: 【Woman.】

He Kuo: 【Is she pretty?】

Y: 【Mm.】

He Wei pursed her lips slightly. The colder the other person was, the more her mischievous thoughts stirred.

Since she couldn’t do anything to the person in front of her, couldn’t she at least tease an online stranger?

So half a minute later, He Wei found another photo of a beautiful woman online and sent it over: 【Is she prettier than me?】

She still remembered the last one she sent—the chest was very large, probably a 36D, and the face wasn’t shown.

This time too, the face wasn’t shown, but the advantage was that the chest was also large—almost about to burst out of the clothes, the cleavage exposed at the neckline like a deep abyss.

Although He Wei felt it was a bit too exaggerated, men didn’t think like that. They were creatures ruled by their lower half, and liked this kind of big-chested woman the most.

After she sent it, just as her lips curled slightly, a message came back: 【Mm.】

Tsk.

Does this man even know how to talk?

What kind of boyfriend says another woman looks good in front of his own girlfriend?

An online boyfriend also had dignity. Unconvinced, He Wei continued typing: 【Is her chest bigger than mine?】

Across from her, Yan Huai lifted his eyes. His gaze skimmed past the faint curve of her lips, then moved downward, landing beneath her collarbone.

It was already past spring, and the temperature outside was no longer low, staying steadily above ten degrees.

So He Wei wasn’t wearing much today—only a white cropped top. The neckline wasn’t high, ending just below her collarbone.

Yan Huai noticed the silver necklace on her collarbone, the pendant delicate in shape. It was probably not cheap.

He didn’t need to guess to know it was bought by Yan Chen.

Although Yan Chen was flirtatious and not a qualified boyfriend, there was one thing that was quite pleasing to girls—no matter which girlfriend he was with, he never mistreated them financially.

He Wei was of course included in that category as well.

Yan Huai narrowed his eyes slightly. His gaze continued downward, pausing for only half a second on He Wei’s perky chest before turning away.

He Wei didn’t notice at all. She only knew that a full minute had passed and the other side still hadn’t replied to her message.

She couldn’t help but send another one: 【Why aren’t you talking?】 She didn’t believe the chest in that photo could be bigger than hers!

Sure enough, a few seconds later, the other person replied: 【No.】

He Wei’s lips couldn’t help but curl up slightly. 【I knew it.】

Yan Huai: “……”

Little silly cat.

He Wei originally thought that with Yan Huai sitting across from her, she wouldn’t have much appetite.

But during the meal, her appetite was unexpectedly good. She ate a full two bowls of rice and picked at every dish on the table.

Because her appointment with Feli Jewelry was at 2:30 in the afternoon, He Wei left the teahouse almost immediately after finishing eating.

The result of eating too much was that even when she got into the taxi, she kept hiccupping.

He Wei held her breath for a few seconds, finally managing to control it a little, then remembered to take out her phone and check Weibo.

The trending headlines had been swiped through in a few seconds—there was no mention of the early-morning incident between her and Mu Sheng, everything was peaceful.

Maybe because she had eaten too much, He Wei felt uneasy, always sensing this was the calm before the storm.

She closed her eyes. Just as she exhaled, a burp slipped out.

The driver in front tried to hold it in, but in the end couldn’t resist and burst out laughing.

He Wei: “……”

What’s so funny? Doesn’t everyone hiccup?

Yan Huai had a meeting at three in the afternoon.

When He Wei left, it was a little past one. He didn’t immediately return to the company, but first replied to Cheng Yan about the plate transaction situation.

After replying, Yan Huai called the company’s PR department manager.

The manager, a man in his thirties, had been dozing off. When he saw the caller ID, he instantly woke up and couldn’t help raising his voice slightly: “President Yan.”

“How much black material do you have on Mu Sheng and Song Zhenzhen?”

Both of them were rising young actresses under Yan Corporation, and had a good relationship with each other—two promising assets. The manager hurriedly said, “President Yan, don’t worry, I’ve already suppressed all their scandals. It definitely won’t affect their future development…”

Yan Huai picked up the cup opposite him. “I asked how much there is.”

The manager fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly guessing his intentions. After a while, he said, “It’s things like… going to nightclubs in the past… gambling in underground casinos… and hooking up, h-hooking up…”

He paused, then carefully explained, “Hooking up means sleeping with men they haven’t confirmed a relationship with…”

Although Mu Sheng and Song Zhenzhen had fairly innocent public personas, they were nothing like that in private.

In the past two years, after gaining some fame, they had learned to restrain themselves, but before that they were extremely wild—at least half their week was spent in nightclubs.

The manager still couldn’t fully understand what Yan Huai meant.

In the company, everyone knew this boss’s thoughts were impossible to guess. After hesitating for a few seconds, just as he was about to probe further, he heard the other end ask: “Anything else?”

“After they signed with the company, that’s all there is. I don’t know anything beyond that…”

The manager thought to himself that even just this much was enough to ruin their public goodwill.

“Continue digging up dirt on those two.”

“Ah?”

The manager was even more confused.

“Even if you have to dig back ten years, I want you to dig it out.”

Manager: “……”

After thinking for a few seconds, he still couldn’t help but ask, “President Yan, what level of dirt are you looking for?”

Yan Huai lowered his eyes. He saw the faint blush-pink lipstick mark printed on the teacup that He Wei had used. His lips curved slightly. He poured another half cup of water into the cup, then raised it and drank it all in one go, right over that lipstick mark. His expression was gentle, but his tone was cold as he enunciated word by word:

“The kind that can get someone properly and justifiably blacklisted.”

Manager: “……”

He understood the logic, but weren’t those two the company’s newly promoted starlets they were pushing hard?

Before he could ask further, the other side said “hang up” and ended the call without hesitation.

The manager sat there holding the receiver, stunned.

“……”

What the hell kind of situation is this?!

He Wei arrived at the Feili company building fifteen minutes early.

The wedding dresses were designed in three sets, each paired with three sets of soon-to-be-released jewelry.

He Wei tried on all three sets of jewelry after arriving early. When she finally came out wearing a silver strapless fishtail floor-length gown, the designer came over and pinched her waist and underarm area.

Not tight, not loose—just perfect.

“This outfit looks the best on you,” the designer smiled and sighed in mock envy, “Custom expedited pieces really are different from off-the-rack ones.”

He Wei stood slightly sideways. Hearing this, she couldn’t help but turn her head and glance at her, joking half-seriously, “Is Feili’s endorsement benefit this good? You even get custom-made clothes to wear?”

The designer just smiled and didn’t answer, instead adjusting her long hair a bit.

“He Wei, this time the photographer is the very famous international one, Kevin. He’ll come over at 3:30 for a test shoot.”

He Wei was already mentally prepared.

She had occasionally gone through this process when shooting magazine covers before.

The designer waved at an assistant, “Get someone to do her makeup—heavier, the kind that looks good on camera.”

The assistant responded and quickly led her to the makeup station and called someone over to do her makeup.

He Wei sat there idly. Earlier she hadn’t felt it was appropriate to ask too many questions in front of that well-known aloof designer, but it was different with the young assistant. She lifted her eyelids and looked at the girl.

“Will actor Su Mu be coming today too?”

The assistant was talkative and nodded with a smile. She clearly admired the actor, her face lighting up as she spoke: “He already arrived while He Wei-jie was changing just now. He should be called over to change clothes soon.”

He Wei nodded.

This time the shoot was very much a real, full production, so the makeup wasn’t done as meticulously.

During the ten-plus minutes of makeup, He Wei chatted casually with the assistant. It wasn’t until someone said the photographer had arrived that they both stopped talking.

The photographer looked young, only a little over thirty.

Blond hair, blue eyes, fair-skinned, and tall with a solid build.

He Wei could even see the shape of his muscles pressing against his clothes—large, bulky, with absolutely no aesthetic appeal in her eyes.

She didn’t really like this kind of physique. It reminded her of the “protein beauties” described in the high school biology textbook’s protein chapter—like bodybuilding-type figures that had spent too much time in the gym.

Compared to this Teacher Kevin, He Wei preferred someone like Yan Huai.

After all, she had once been with Yan Huai. Although the experience was not pleasant, she had still seen him naked with her own eyes. The man’s abdomen was firm, and his muscle lines were smooth and well-defined.

It was undeniable—this man was even more deadly when undressed.

Compared to both sides, He Wei increasingly felt that Teacher Kevin’s physique was a bit too exaggerated.

She nodded in greeting to Kevin, who was covered in dense muscles. After he finished adjusting the camera and the staff set up the green screen backdrop, everything was ready.

“Miss He, please go over there first. I’ll take a shot to find the feeling.”

He spoke Chinese. Although not very standard, it was still understandable.

He Wei nodded and quickly lifted the hem of her dress, walking to stand in front of the backdrop.

She had done many still-photo modeling jobs before, so her sense of the camera was naturally good. On top of that, she was beautiful—no matter how she was shot, she looked good.

After several consecutive shots, Kevin nodded in satisfaction. “Little girl has pretty good camera sense.”

He raised a hand toward the distance. “Su Mu, come over too. You two stand together. Let me see if there’s any CP chemistry.”

They had worked together a few times before and could talk casually, so communication wasn’t too difficult.

Su Mu smiled and walked over while adjusting his cuffs.

He was wearing a white suit today, tailored perfectly, making his entire presence even more refined and elegant.

He Wei had been in the same crew as him and was used to seeing him in ancient costume dramas. Occasionally, when she saw him in modern casual wear, it was simple and understated. Now seeing him dressed so formally, she finally felt that the media description of him as a “gentle, jade-like noble young master” was quite accurate.

She smiled at Su Mu. “Senior brother looks very handsome today.”

Su Mu also politely responded, “Junior sister looks very beautiful today.”

Kevin let out an “ah.” “What are you two flirting for? Start, start…”

The two immediately stood properly again and controlled their expressions.

“Stand closer!”

Su Mu moved half a step closer.

He Wei’s fingers tightened slightly.

“Closer!”

……

“Alright, alright, the effect is pretty good,” Kevin whistled. “See you tomorrow.”

Only then did the test shoot fully end.

After leaving Feili, Su Mu originally wanted to drive He Wei home, but she politely declined.

She didn’t take a taxi back. After walking a few steps, she suddenly remembered the incident with Mu Sheng. She stopped, took out her phone, found a contact, and sent a WeChat message:

【Sister Yue, are you free tomorrow?】

Before she got home, she received Jiang Jingyue’s reply:

【Of course I am, baby. Why are you suddenly thinking of me?】

Jiang Jingyue was her university roommate. Because the original He Wei had arrived two days late during registration, she was assigned to a mixed dormitory.

The reason it was called a “mixed dormitory” was because the people inside were from different majors and different years.

The original host’s interpersonal relationships were very simple. After graduating, her previous roommates had almost completely lost contact.

The only one left was Jiang Jingyue from the School of Journalism, and she was also the one who often took the initiative to care about the original host. The original host, however, was always cold and uninterested every time.

After He Wei replaced the original host, she completely changed her personality. Whenever Jiang Jingyue looked for her, she would definitely reply, and sometimes she would even take the initiative to chat with her.

Aside from Cheng Nuo, the only female friend He Wei got along well with was basically this senior sister who was currently working as a paparazzi.

She didn’t say much in WeChat:

【I’ll treat you to a meal tomorrow, Sister Yue, and I also have something I want to ask for your help…】

Over there, Jiang Jingyue readily agreed.

Only then did He Wei finally breathe a sigh of relief. She took out her keys and opened the door to go inside.

When she closed the door, an email arrived in her inbox.

It was sent from Feili. It contained promotional videos for couple jewelry advertisements from the past two years.

He Wei didn’t look through them carefully and simply replied “Received” before going into the kitchen.

She ate a simple dinner at night—one bowl of noodles and one egg.

After finishing, she turned on her laptop and downloaded all the videos and photos.

Because both her and Su Mu’s schedules were free tomorrow, the first shooting set was arranged for tomorrow morning.

In order to prepare thoroughly, He Wei spent the entire night repeatedly going through the downloaded materials frame by frame. In the end, she didn’t even shut down her computer before falling asleep against the headboard.

At a little past six the next morning, she was woken by her alarm.

Someone from Feili called right after:

“Miss He, are you awake? Could you please tell us your address? We’ll send someone to pick you up and take you to a beauty salon for styling.”

He Wei responded and then hung up.

At seven o’clock, someone indeed came to pick her up.

Even though He Wei was in the entertainment industry, she had rarely been to a beauty salon in her life.

She stayed inside for over two hours, having both her face and hair done, before being sent back to Feili.

After all that fuss, when He Wei stood under the backdrop again, she was completely awake and full of energy.

Teacher Kevin was explaining the actions for the first scene:

“Right now you two are a couple. Standing close is obvious, and later you might need to hug and even kiss…”

He Wei nodded.

Teacher Kevin nodded in satisfaction and turned to chat with Su Mu.

The young designer assistant was still beside He Wei, adjusting her dress hem, gossiping with another colleague while doing so:

“I heard President Yan will also come today…”

He Wei was startled and quickly turned to them:

“Who—who is coming?!”