Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The suite located on the top floor had a far better view than the fifth floor.

At dusk, the setting sun rendered the clouds in gradient colors, layers of glowing sun spreading out, soaking the skyline in warm tones, like an oil painting embedded within the floor-to-ceiling window frame.

Looking downward, you could see the nearby forest park, lush and stretching continuously.

Unfortunately, it didn’t snow today; otherwise the snow-white scenery should have been even more beautiful.

Xing Ye went directly to the filming set first today; the luggage had just been taken down from the car.

After entering, Xiao Zhou very consciously did not disturb them. He brewed two cups of coffee and delivered them to the separate study, then stayed outside to tidy up the luggage.

From the reception room came the occasional sound of suitcases opening and closing.

It sounded quite busy.

Pei Chuzhi stood by the study door, glanced outside at Xiao Zhou’s hardworking figure, and couldn’t help being curious: “You came out to film and only brought one assistant?”

Previously, in a certain crew she had followed, the male lead was only a third-tier artist, yet he had grandly brought three assistants plus one driver.

Xing Ye walked over and half-closed the door: “Fewer people are more convenient. Did you bring the script?”

“I brought it. Do you want to look?”

Pei Chuzhi placed the bag she carried with her on the desk and took the script out from inside.

“I don’t need it; I’ve memorized all the lines.” Xing Ye walked to the double sofa by the window and sat down, “I’m asking whether you want to look at the script.”

“My memory is pretty good; I probably don’t need to either.”

Seeing that the only sofa in the room was occupied by him, Pei Chuzhi instead went to sit in the computer chair behind the desk. “Start now?”

Xing Ye glanced at her, the tip of his tongue pressing against his cheek: “Why sit there, waiting for me to report work to you?”

As he spoke he patted the other side of the sofa. “Come here.”

The tone of the last two words was stiff, sounding like an order.

Pei Chuzhi felt very innocent.

She didn’t deliberately want to sit like a boss; she just thought the sofa wasn’t spacious enough and kindly left him room to move freely.

Forget it, under someone else’s roof.

After comforting herself in her heart, Pei Chuzhi carried her mug and sat beside Xing Ye.

As soon as she sat down, she realized the sofa was even narrower than she imagined.

Both of them belonged to the type with well-proportioned, slender figures. Sitting side by side, it wasn’t crowded to the point of being unable to move, but it felt like if they moved their legs slightly, they would bump into each other’s knees.

Moreover, after coming in Xing Ye had taken off his coat; at the moment he was only wearing a thin sweater.

As long as her gaze dipped slightly downward, she could see the clear collarbones exposed at his neckline, and the faint outline of his chest beneath the thin fabric.

Certain scenes from the movie uncontrollably rushed into her mind.

Dim, indistinct light and shadow, smooth flowing lines of muscle, and his sharp gaze immersed in darkness.

Strange—she hadn’t been like this before.

Pei Chuzhi felt somewhat embarrassed.

She cleared her throat, lifted the mug, wanting to use drinking coffee to hide her rapidly accelerating heartbeat.

The freshly brewed coffee was a bit hot, so she brought the cup close and gently blew on it, her well-shaped lips pursed into an enticing angle.

As if asking someone for a kiss.

Xing Ye’s gaze suddenly darkened, and as if possessed he asked, “How did filming the kiss scene feel today?”

Pei Chuzhi choked, and the borrowed-angle kissing scene surfaced uncontrollably before her eyes.

Heat rose in waves from the mug in front of her, steaming a touch of pink onto her fair cheeks.

Xing Ye gave a light snort: “Looks like you liked it a lot. Is Zhong Li’s kissing technique very good?”

“……”

Pei Chuzhi was baffled. What did it have to do with Zhong Li?

After a second of silence she reacted—Xing Ye was asking about the kiss scene she formally filmed with Zhong Li.

To be honest, she had basically no impression of it.

But Pei Chuzhi didn’t like Xing Ye’s tone right now.

She thought about it and felt that since they had known each other this long, she really didn’t need to keep being overly cautious in front of him.

Since she was his nominal girlfriend, she couldn’t just let him output one-sidedly.

“Zhong Li’s kissing technique is not bad. Of course he definitely can’t compare to Teacher Xing.” She deliberately used an honorific, then turned her head and looked at him with admiration, her tone sincere. “After all, Teacher Xing is ranked number one in the online vote for the man people most want to sleep with. So amazing, so amazing.”

She said this in a coquettish, sweet voice, directly making Xing Ye freeze on the spot, parting his lips but unable to think of what to retort.

Pei Chuzhi made a little “yeah” in her heart.

Teasing once really felt good.

After quite a while, Xing Ye seemed to come back to his senses and chuckled softly: “Really? You also want to sleep with me?”

Pei Chuzhi’s smile stiffened on her face.

Are male actors nowadays all this scary?

Xing Ye pressed closer, the invasive presence at close range almost squeezing her off the sofa: “Hmm? Not talking anymore? Weren’t you praising me just now?”

“No need, no need, I appreciate the thought.”

A wise person submits to circumstances; Pei Chuzhi decisively admitted defeat. For some reason her mind suddenly produced a line: “Do you remember I’m your fan? If we really slept together, your behavior would be called sleeping with fans. Very unethical.”

Xing Ye: “……”

He fell silent for a moment, then sat back in his previous position, his voice cooling. “Alright. Run lines.”

Pei Chuzhi let out a sigh of relief.

She couldn’t figure out which pill Xing Ye had taken wrong today, insisting on showing off a round of moves with her.

In the end both of them each lost eight hundred, and she didn’t know what the point was.

·

After they formally began running lines, both of their attitudes became serious.

The character Xing Ye was guest-starring in didn’t have much screen time in the original work, but ran throughout the entire story.

He was the owner of a bar near the company. His past was unknown and his identity unclear, but from the author’s few descriptions, one could see he was a very charming man.

The bar owner had no emotional entanglements with any characters in the drama. He only occasionally showed up when they encountered emotional confusion, saying things that seemed quite reasonable, guiding the lost lambs.

He was simply a transitional role.

But because Xing Ye was cast, the screenwriter made his personality more clearly defined. Now he became a man who seemed flirtatious but was actually perceptive.

The first scene to be filmed tomorrow was after Jiang Nanyan, played by Pei Chuzhi, was ruthlessly rejected by the male lead and came alone to the bar to drown her sorrows.

She was sad inside but unwilling to show weakness, forcing a smile to tease the bar owner. However, instead of joking with her as usual, he specially prepared her a cup of hot milk and told her, “Go back and sleep. When you wake up tomorrow, everything will have passed.”

Because of this single comfort, Jiang Nanyan’s emotions completely collapsed. She cried pitifully in the bar, and was finally taken away by Ji Xining who hurried over.

Pei Chuzhi held the mug in her hand as a substitute for a wine glass.

Her first line was to ramble on scolding the male lead as a blind jerk. After reciting a long paragraph of lines, she didn’t stumble once, smooth and natural throughout.

After she finished speaking, Xing Ye did not hurry to take the next line.

Instead he stopped and analyzed for her word by word, pointing out which pause had been wrong, or which word’s stress would be better changed.

It had to be said, the reason Xing Ye could stand at such a high position was not solely relying on his background and looks.

In terms of acting professionalism, he was equally beyond reproach.

While listening to his guidance, Pei Chuzhi felt deeply impressed.

When she usually read scripts, she would also habitually remember the other party’s lines, but normally she only remembered the first and last one or two sentences, and simply couldn’t do what Xing Ye did—memorize her complicated lines word for word.

Then thinking about his terrifying workload…

Pei Chuzhi glanced at him, suspecting he didn’t need to sleep at all.

After finishing the explanation, Xing Ye reminded her, “Try again.”

“Okay.”

Pei Chuzhi was also quick-witted; when she repeated it again, the effect was clearly much improved compared to before. Not only that, combining changes in tone and enunciation, she also adjusted her movements and expressions accordingly.

The process of running lines went very smoothly; the accident happened just as it was about to end.

Pei Chuzhi underestimated how smooth the coffee table was. When acting the moment Jiang Nanyan pushed away the milk cup, she only brushed it lightly, yet the mug slid out along the edge of the table.

With a “bang,” it happened to hit her ankle.

The coffee inside was no longer hot, but the ankle she had sprained a few days ago was solidly struck, making her entire face wrinkle up.

Xing Ye immediately stood up. He walked around from behind the sofa and half-knelt on the ground to check her condition.

The remaining coffee stained Pei Chuzhi’s flats, while the small section of skin exposed above her sock was dazzlingly pale.

The ankle that had almost healed showed a faint redness, as if a bruise would appear with the slightest force.

Pei Chuzhi lowered her head, looking at Xing Ye’s well-defined fingers.

Her slender ankle was held in his hand, like some kind of scorching temperature burning along the surface of her skin.

She pulled her foot back slightly. “It’s… it’s fine. My assistant will be back soon; she has medicine.”

Her voice carried a hint of shyness, as if coated in a layer of rose candy, making one’s heart tremble.

Xing Ye’s Adam’s apple rolled a few times, and he awkwardly shifted his gaze away.

He released her, stood up, and walked toward the door. “I have medicine here. Wait a moment.”

From outside the door crack came the sound of Xing Ye talking with Xiao Zhou, intermittent and unclear, seemingly because there was too much luggage and they couldn’t find where the medical kit was for the moment.

Pei Chuzhi bent down to pick up the mug. The sensation of being touched still lingered on her skin; compared to the dull pain, it felt more like another unfamiliar sensation, making her uncomfortable.

A few minutes later, Xing Ye returned with a bottle of ointment.

Pei Chuzhi slowly bent down, dipped some of the slightly cool ointment, and gently applied it.

Her sprain was already almost healed; although the hit hurt, it didn’t really affect the injury.

It was like bumping into a table leg—not serious.

But Xing Ye stood beside her, staring at her applying medicine with a serious face; someone unaware might think she was about to be amputated.

When he didn’t smile, his whole person appeared more imposing. Only the warm breath brushing over the top of her head revealed a rare hint of patience.

Pei Chuzhi felt somewhat confused, not understanding where Xing Ye’s low pressure was coming from.

Was he blaming her carelessness for interrupting the line-reading?

Just as she was thinking wildly, her phone, silent for a long time, rang.

“It should be Xu Lei calling. I sent her a message earlier saying I was running lines here with you.”

Pei Chuzhi had ointment on her hands, so she could only point from afar toward the phone on the desk. “Can you help me answer it?”

What she meant was actually for Xing Ye to turn on speaker.

Unexpectedly, he walked over, picked up the phone, pressed answer, and put it to his ear.

“……”

Then he smoothly started talking with her assistant.

“Yes, she’s here with me.”

“She’s not convenient to answer the phone right now.”

“Okay, come up directly. I’ll have my assistant open the door for you.”

·

In the room on the fifth floor of the hotel, after hanging up, Xu Lei couldn’t calm down for a long time.

She had only recently joined Huaxing. In the first few days after she started, it just so happened that Pei Chuzhi and Xing Ye trended because of the car ride incident.

Later Tang Dong transferred her to be Pei Chuzhi’s assistant and seriously reminded her a few times, telling her not to spread artists’ **, especially matters related to relationships.

At that time Xu Lei was half-believing, but today she only went back to the set to get some medicine, and Pei Chuzhi had directly gone to Xing Ye’s room.

This inevitably made her feel a wave of panic.

During this period of getting along, Xu Lei had quite a good impression of Pei Chuzhi.

Pei Chuzhi’s personality wasn’t as aggressive as her appearance suggested. Anyway, she was a very generous and friendly girl, much easier to get along with than the artists Xu Lei had followed before.

But once her relationship with Xing Ye was exposed to the public…

Xu Lei thought about Xing Ye’s number of fans and silently decided that after returning to Yancheng she would sign up for a fitness class. She had to strengthen her physique; if she ever encountered irrational brain-dead fans, she could at least pull Pei Chuzhi and run faster.

With such complicated yet motivational thoughts, Xu Lei arrived at the executive suite on the top floor.

The doorbell rang a few times and was quickly opened from inside.

Xiao Zhou brought her to the reception room to wait, then went in again to notify the two inside.

Xu Lei didn’t know the structure of the executive suite; she only saw Pei Chuzhi walk out from behind a half-closed door.

For some reason, her walking posture looked a bit strange.

Pei Chuzhi was afraid of affecting the injury and didn’t dare walk too fast. When she slowly moved into the reception room, she first smiled at Xu Lei. “I was going to tell you not to bring the medicine up. I was planning to go back to my room to change clothes later.”

Her shoes and pant legs had gotten some coffee on them, so she intended to change everything before going out to eat.

Unexpectedly, Xu Lei misunderstood the meaning of this.

As a modern young woman who liked reading “overbearing CEO falls in love with me” stories in her spare time, many indescribable scenes flashed rapidly through Xu Lei’s mind. Linking “she’s not convenient to answer the phone right now” with “planning to go back to the room to change clothes,” and then thinking about Pei Chuzhi’s posture when coming out of the room…

Xu Lei felt like she was struck by lightning; her entire mind was in chaos.

She quickly leaned closer and whispered, “Zhizhi, isn’t this kind of thing not very good?”

Pei Chuzhi blinked. “What’s not good?”

What’s not good…

This is during filming, and you just wrapped and went back to the hotel…

Xu Lei’s face reddened. She was only in her early twenties; some words were naturally hard to say too explicitly.

Pei Chuzhi froze for a moment, then after realizing, raised her voice: “It’s not what you think!”

Unfortunately, her voice drifted a bit, sounding more like a guilty reaction.

Xu Lei was filled with emotions and was about to say something more when her gaze suddenly froze.

Xing Ye walked out of the study.

He had obviously heard Pei Chuzhi’s words just now, and standing by the door he asked in a low voice, “What are you thinking?”

The two on this side simultaneously fell into silence.

A seventeenth-tier female artist and her assistant looked at each other, neither knowing how to explain.

Fortunately Xu Lei had a quick idea. Like performing magic, she took out a notebook and a pen from her bag, trembling slightly as she changed the subject: “Teacher Xing, can you give me an autograph?”

Xing Ye originally hadn’t guessed what yellow topic they were discussing.

Seeing that this person was Pei Chuzhi’s assistant, he didn’t say much and directly took the paper and pen, signing on the opened page.

Then he lifted his eyelids and looked toward Pei Chuzhi with a half-smile.

Pei Chuzhi’s heart skipped a beat.

She felt his gaze now probably meant, “Last chance—better cherish it.”

She borrowed the notebook from Xu Lei, flipped to a new page, and handed it over. “Can you sign one for me too? I have a friend who especially likes you. She even messaged me today asking me to get an autograph for her.”

“Which friend?”

Xing Ye lowered his eyes, looking at her under the warm yellow halo of the reception room lights.

Pei Chuzhi raised her face and replied softly, “Her name is Qiao Na. She’s my university classmate. She took special care of me when we were studying.”

Xing Ye went quiet, a faint obscure light flashing through his dark pupils.

He still took it and signed, though his expression didn’t look very pleased.

Pei Chuzhi finally completed Qiao Na’s entrusted task, a huge weight lifting off her heart.

Then she thought about it and took out the script of “Quietly Fall in Love With You” from her backpack, flipping to the page where she and Xing Ye had their opposing scene.

Watching her actions, the gradually curling corner of Xing Ye’s lips betrayed his inner emotions.

Pei Chuzhi smiled. “Now it’s my turn.”

The room fell silent for a moment; Xing Ye didn’t speak.

Pei Chuzhi thought this was bad—could it be he still remembered the autograph grudge from earlier and planned to embarrass her in front of others?

After a moment, a low, hoarse male voice sounded: “Sure.”

Xing Ye leaned slightly forward. Without reaching to take the script, he directly wrote on the script she held in her palm.

The black handwriting had strong strokes, the force pressing through the paper, leaving a faint and ambiguous sensation on her hand.

Stroke by stroke, it formed a bold, domineering presence.

·

Even after returning to her own room, Pei Chuzhi was still somewhat dazed.

It was still early before going out for dinner. After changing clothes, she subconsciously took out the script to look, but as soon as she flipped to tomorrow’s filming content, those lines of handwriting made her tremble.

Xing Ye had left several lines of a personalized signature on it, and the beginning wasn’t her full name, but the most intimate “Zhizhi.”

“Acting too realistically, huh.”

Pei Chuzhi muttered softly, feeling more and more that she couldn’t look directly at this script anymore, so she simply stuffed it back into her backpack.

At eight in the evening, the entire crew wrapped for the day and could finally go out to eat.

As soon as Pei Chuzhi entered the elevator, she ran into Ruan Li coming down from upstairs.

Although in the drama their characters were always at odds, in reality the two girls were similar in age and got along well in personality, quickly becoming fairly good friends.

Ruan Li had scenes with Group B today and didn’t know what happened on set.

As soon as she saw Pei Chuzhi, she leaned close affectionately and asked softly, “You saw Xing Ye today, right? Happy?”

“Pretty okay.” Pei Chuzhi smiled and asked, “Did filming go smoothly today?”

“Pretty okay.”

Ruan Li mischievously imitated her tone, then after a pause asked, “How many people did Xing Ye bring this time?”

Pei Chuzhi said, “Just one—his assistant Xiao Zhou. Have you met him?”

For some reason, Ruan Li’s voice dimmed. “I’ve met him.”

Pei Chuzhi was startled. Before she could think further, the elevator had already reached the first floor.

The two of them walked out of the elevator one after another. By the time they reached the lobby, Ruan Li’s expression had already returned to normal.

Ruan Li was shorter than Pei Chuzhi. When linking arms while walking, she lightly held her wrist, clingy like she was acting cute.

“I heard too many people are going to the restaurant, and the crew doesn’t have enough cars.”

As she spoke, Ruan Li gestured for her to look outside the lobby. “How about we share a car later?”

Pei Chuzhi followed her gaze and realized she wasn’t lying.

Xing Ye, as a guest actor who joined the crew with investment, was indeed generous in treating everyone. Not only did he invite all the actors and main creators, he also included staff like lighting technicians and makeup artists.

The production assistant was arranging everyone to get in cars. Seeing the female lead and second female lead appear at the same time, he quickly pointed to the nanny van parked ahead. “Sister Ruan Li, sit in that one. Zhizhi, are you going with her or taking a separate car?”

Pei Chuzhi smiled. “No need to be so troublesome. She and I…”

Before she finished speaking, the door of a car by the roadside opened.

Xing Ye’s signature long legs stepped onto the ground. After he stood steady, his voice sounded calmly: “She’ll ride with me.”

A very calm tone, as if this arrangement was natural.

The noisy environment suddenly quieted.

Many people showed expressions of sudden realization: no wonder Xing Ye, who didn’t need to film today, still went to the set to visit—was that a visit? He was clearly visiting a girl!

And Zhong Li, who had just filmed a kiss scene with Pei Chuzhi today, broke out in a cold sweat.

No wonder earlier his company contacted Huaxing wanting to hype things up with Pei Chuzhi, but Tang Dong refused no matter what. At that time they even complained that Huaxing Entertainment didn’t understand the game.

Now thinking about it, the reason was actually here.

The more Zhong Li thought, the more scared he became. He had even planned to build a good relationship with Pei Chuzhi on set, so that during later promotions they could create some ambiguity and let everyone speculate about the “Southwest CP.”

He hid in the crowd and glanced at Xing Ye from afar, feeling like he had just walked past the gates of hell.

Pei Chuzhi knew nothing about Zhong Li’s inner thoughts.

Now that Xing Ye had stepped forward, she obviously couldn’t refuse in front of everyone, so she could only smile apologetically at Ruan Li.

Ruan Li gave her an “I understand” look. “Go on, dear.”

Then her gaze flickered toward Xing Ye’s car, and immediately shifted away without leaving a trace.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Pei Chuzhi walked to the car.

“Watch your foot.” Xing Ye extended his hand and supported her elbow as she got in, his tone gentle. “Don’t sprain it again.”

Everyone hated that modern technology wasn’t advanced enough; their eyes didn’t have camera functions to record this doting scene intact.

As for why no one took out their phones to secretly film.

The answer was simple—they didn’t dare.

Pei Chuzhi felt that just getting into a car made the onlookers treat it like she was walking a red carpet.

When the door finally closed, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She turned her head and saw Ruan Li outside the window still winking and making a heart gesture toward her, which made her both amused and helpless.

After Xing Ye also got into the car, Pei Chuzhi remembered Ruan Li’s earlier behavior and couldn’t help asking softly, “Are you very familiar with Ruan Li?”

Xing Ye lowered his head to fasten his seatbelt. “Same company. Occasionally run into each other.”

Meaning not very familiar.

Pei Chuzhi thought something wasn’t right. “But she seems to bring you up often, or rather… she often pays attention to your situation.”

Previously Ruan Li first mentioned that Xing Ye would come guest-star, and in the elevator she paid particular attention to how many people he brought. No matter how she thought about it, it felt strange.

After fastening his seatbelt, Xing Ye leaned back and curved his lips. “Jealous?”

“……”

Pei Chuzhi was speechless. What did he mean? She had professional ethics, okay? As a contract girlfriend she couldn’t care less how many admirers Xing Ye had.

Seeing her press her lips together and too lazy to respond, Xing Ye smiled silently.

After the car drove out of the hotel gate, he leaned slightly toward Pei Chuzhi and softly explained, “What she’s paying attention to isn’t me, it’s Song Shiqing.”

Pei Chuzhi froze. “Why?”

“When she first debuted, she was an artist under Song Shiqing. You could say he personally made her popular.”

“Then isn’t Song Shiqing her manager now?”

“Mm, they changed last year.”

The more Pei Chuzhi thought, the more confused she became. Normally, after a manager finally makes an artist popular, it’s the time to enjoy the benefits; it’s basically impossible to transfer her to another manager within the company.

Moreover, given Song Shiqing’s status as a well-known gold-medal manager in the industry, presumably no one at Yay Ying would dare to snatch someone from his hands.

Pei Chuzhi couldn’t suppress her curiosity. “Can I ask why?”

Xing Ye glanced at her, seeming to hesitate for a moment.

But in the end he still spoke slowly, “Because when many things involve feelings, it becomes inconvenient.”

Pei Chuzhi was stunned.

She didn’t continue asking who developed feelings between Ruan Li and Song Shiqing, but vaguely felt a trace of gloom.

She couldn’t explain it clearly.

·

Not long after, the car drove into the restaurant garage in the night.

Everyone arrived one after another. Pei Chuzhi moved slowly, so Xing Ye simply accompanied her at the end.

The restaurant was booked out by Xing Ye tonight. Relatively less important supporting roles and ordinary staff sat in the hall, while the main creative team and four principal actors moved to the innermost private room.

When the two entered the private room, everyone else had already arrived.

Everyone tactfully left two adjacent seats for them.

Xing Ye walked to the table first but didn’t sit. Instead, like a gentleman, he pulled out the chair for Pei Chuzhi.

His expression while doing this was quite natural, not intentionally showing affection—just a well-brought-up man helping a girl.

Actually, although Xing Ye usually seemed arrogant, in reality he only confronted people who deserved it.

Privately he never lacked proper manners. Having worked with so many directors and actors, no one had ever come out to accuse him of bad conduct.

But in others’ eyes, this scene still carried a different implication.

Especially after Pei Chuzhi sat down and smiled at him, and he returned a faint smile, everyone couldn’t help thinking: putting aside the disparity in fame, their appearances were truly well matched, and their relationship seemed extremely good.

Then the rumors about them were probably true.

Several people were extremely curious, but recalling Xing Ye’s previous response on Weibo using a movie screenshot, they didn’t dare gossip in front of them.

The waiter pushed the door open to serve dishes and also brought a bottle of red wine.

With food and wine to liven things up, the atmosphere quickly became lively.

Everyone first chatted about interesting filming anecdotes, then discussed the emotional lines of the characters. As the topic drifted, it turned to a certain female star who recently announced her marriage.

The director mentioned it with puzzlement. “Her husband is an outsider. When she was dating him, she was filming in my crew. I didn’t hear a single rumor from start to finish. She hid it way too carefully.”

The eldest executive producer present laughed kindly a few times.

Among this group he had the deepest seniority. Having been in the industry for decades, he had seen many young people dating and wasn’t surprised at all.

After laughing, he raised his glass toward Xing Ye. “What about you two? When do you plan to announce it? Don’t suddenly announce marriage without a word—Director Zhang might start doubting life.”

Pei Chuzhi almost choked on the asparagus in her mouth.

What are they thinking! How could they possibly get married!

She hurriedly swallowed the food, and when she raised her head her acting skills surged wildly.

Her eyelashes lowered, hiding three parts shyness and seven parts joy. Then her eyes shifted, and she looked toward Xing Ye with a pleading gaze of “What should I do, I’ve been asked, how should I answer?”

Xing Ye accurately received her brainwaves, raised his brows and gave a light smile, saying calmly, “For now we don’t plan to make it public. Please don’t laugh at us.”

This was basically admitting the relationship.

The melon-eating crowd around the round table felt genuine happiness, thinking today’s trip was truly worthwhile.

But everyone present was an insider; the one with the shortest time in the industry was still Pei Chuzhi.

Anyone who stayed long enough in the circle would know many unspoken rules.

For example, certain deeds of celebrities—people quietly pass them around within the entertainment circle, but whoever dares to spread them outside is breaking the rules and basically doesn’t want to stay in the industry anymore.

Take a certain recently popular young idol for example: everyone in the circle knows he smokes and drinks in private, but anyone with a normal brain wouldn’t bring that to the public.

Because of this tacit understanding, that young idol is still a well-behaved and cute warm boy in fans’ hearts.

Therefore Xing Ye didn’t need to avoid being known that he was “dating” Pei Chuzhi.

After all, that was exactly his purpose in finding Pei Chuzhi to play contract lovers.

Hearing him directly confess, the executive producer first praised them as a perfect match in a businesslike manner, then with a joking elder tone said with a smile, “Since that’s the case, I’ll have to speak up for Miss Pei.”

He took a sip of wine, set down the glass, and continued, “She has such good conditions. Director Zhang said she’s very satisfactory after joining the crew. A young girl with looks and ability—and you have such wide connections in the film industry—why not just invest resources and find her a movie as the female lead?”

Pei Chuzhi felt like she was about to have a heart attack.

Leaving aside directly giving her a movie, for Xing Ye the investment return would be too low.

Even if he were a fool willing to spend heavily to promote her, with her little bit of popularity, what would she use to carry a movie’s box office?

If she really acted in one, she might end up being mocked as box-office poison.

But she could only complain about this in her heart.

Pei Chuzhi put down her chopsticks, first soothing Xing Ye with a “It’s okay, I don’t blame you” affectionate look, then switched to a tone speaking for her boyfriend and softly replied:

“You can’t blame him for this. It’s my own lack of acting experience. Right now I just want to learn from seniors for a while. Movies and things like that—I’m not in a hurry.”

Acted perfectly.

Pei Chuzhi applauded herself internally. What a reasonable, humble, and motivated girlfriend.

The character shaping was simply perfect, not wasting her professional teacher’s careful training.

However, what she never expected was that Xing Ye would undermine her at this critical moment.

He thought for a moment, then slowly said word by word, “You’re right to remind me. After we go back, I’ll help her pay attention to film resources.”

“……”

Pei Chuzhi stared dumbfounded at the wine glass by his hand, with only one thought in her mind.

Brother, did you drink too much?