Chapter 7

For her first drama, Tian Bao'er desperately wanted to use it to turn her fortunes around and cement her position as a top-tier young actress in the country.

Ever since her debut, Tian Bao'er had constantly manufactured dating rumors to maintain her popularity—of course, that was also standard practice for many domestic actresses. Given the Tian Bao'er team's outrageous tricks, Ji Jie had originally not wanted to take this drama. But Yan Donglin threw money around far too readily, and during negotiations, Tian Bao'er's team had explicitly promised not to release press statements or hype up dating rumors during their collaboration. After much consideration, Ji Jie finally agreed.

Still, one guarded against petty people, not gentlemen. Although Tian Bao'er's team had made assurances, Ji Jie still needed to remind her own artist not to let his guard down, just in case.

"Doesn't she already have a boyfriend?" Ao Qingyuan had a bit of a headache. He did not understand why his aunt was acting so tense, as if facing a formidable enemy. "If she still hypes dating rumors while in a relationship, wouldn't her reputation get even worse?"

Seeing Ji Jie raise an eyebrow, clearly about to scold him again, Ao Qingyuan quickly raised his hands in surrender and obediently promised, "But don't worry, I won't play along with them. They can't even play games."

"Even if they can, you still can't!" Ji Jie shot her young nephew a glare. "Listen, this is the first drama you've filmed since returning to the country.

Your first drama. And it's a costume drama, so put some effort into it. Perform well and practice your lines properly. Let's strive to use your own voice for the dubbing when the time comes. Let everyone in the industry see what you're capable of. Our Qingyuan isn't some pretty-boy idol with nothing but a face. Don't let the fact that we debuted in a Hollywood musical and won an international singing award fool you—we excel at voice, stage presence, movement, and acting, and we're skilled at both singing and songwriting. A triple-threat superstar in film, television, and music. We're an idol with real talent. The talented kind among idols."

Ao Qingyuan loved hearing that. His brows lifted, and his handsome features immediately brightened with exuberant sunshine. "Of course."

Ji Jie shook her head. After finally soothing the little ancestor through a mix of coaxing and persuasion, she turned to Ao Qingyuan's junior assistant and worriedly instructed, "Once filming starts, keep an eye on the call sheets for me. See how many units they split into each day, how many scenes everyone has, whether there are any last-minute script pages, and organize it all before sending it to me every night."

The assistant nodded and patted his chest. "Don't worry, Sis. I'll keep a close eye on them. I definitely won't let the production pull any tricks."

"Good." Ji Jie patted the assistant's shoulder. "Your task is a heavy one. Although we specifically emphasized final-cut rights when signing the contract, it won't matter how closely we watch post-production if they never filmed our scenes in the first place."

With this kind of lavish costume drama funded and produced by a streaming platform, it was obvious that the producers would slip in their own people to promote them. Otherwise, they would not have joined the production with an eighty-million investment just for the second male lead. Nor would they have stuffed in so many eager little newcomers. They simply wanted to use Ao Qingyuan and Tian Bao'er's fame to promote their own people. Both sides understood this unspoken arrangement. Ji Jie had taken the money, so long as they did not go too far, she would not say much.

At the end of the day, everyone was just trying to make a living.

As Ji Jie was giving her instructions, someone knocked on the lounge door. The makeup artist in charge of Ao Qingyuan's look cautiously pushed it open. "I'm here to do Teacher Ao's makeup."

Ji Jie immediately fell silent and greeted her with a beaming smile. "Thank you for your hard work. Come in."

The makeup artist entered with two makeup assistants. The previously spacious lounge became a little crowded. Seeing that, Ji Jie simply found an excuse to leave.

Ao Qingyuan sat at the makeup table for an hour before his makeup was finished. There was still more than an hour before the press conference for the start of filming. The makeup artist left with her two assistants. Bored out of his mind, Ao Qingyuan took out his phone and snapped a few selfies. Just as he was about to upload them to his friends circle to show off, the dressing room door was pushed open again.

Wenren Yan stared blankly at Ao Qingyuan, who was standing before the mirror and constantly making faces, and failed to react for a moment.

Ao Qingyuan had not expected anyone to catch him making faces at himself in the mirror. He instantly became a little nervous, his whole body instinctively going on guard. He widened his eyes at the uninvited guest who had walked in and fiercely demanded, "What are you looking at?"

The corner of Wenren Yan's lips lifted instinctively, and a teasing reply slipped out. "Looking at how pretty you are."

Author's note:

Thank you to all the little angels who cast overlord tickets or donated nutrient solution between 2020-05-15 11:01:31 and 2020-05-16 11:03:28~

Thank you to the little angel who threw mines: Feng Chu, 2;

Thank you to the little angel who donated nutrient solution: Feng Chu, 4 bottles;

Thank you all so much for your support. I will continue working hard!

Chapter 7

Ao Qingyuan was a little displeased. The way he frowned looked somewhat fierce. He turned his head slightly and looked at Wenren Yan with cool indifference, his thin lips pressed into a straight line. In an instant, Wenren Yan's figure was reflected in his dark pupils. That tiny detail filled Wenren Yan with immense satisfaction. He chuckled softly and smoothly corrected himself. "I mean, you're very handsome. You have a great body."

Ao Qingyuan was not placated by that. He asked coldly, "Who are you? Didn't anyone tell you that you need to knock before entering someone else's lounge?"

Wenren Yan smiled. "Sorry. I must have gone to the wrong room. I thought this was my lounge."

After a pause, Wenren Yan carefully explained, "Someone gave me directions when I arrived. They said the first room on the right after entering."

Ao Qingyuan raised an eyebrow. "You can't tell left from right?"

Wenren Yan: "?"

Ao Qingyuan said, "This is the first room on the left."

Wenren Yan: "..."

Having accidentally exposed the fact that he could not tell left from right, Wenren Yan explained with slight embarrassment, "When I went out before, people would always just tell me a direction. East, west, south, north, or an o'clock direction. After all, directions like left and right are rather subjective and not standardized."

Ao Qingyuan could not help but complain, "Go north after entering, go south after entering... Doesn't that sound even stranger?"

Wenren Yan merely smiled without replying.

Since the other party had done it unintentionally, Ao Qingyuan did not want to dwell on it. Like a young tiger whose territory had been inadvertently invaded, he raised his head with a trace of careless pride and innocence. "Now that you know, be more careful next time. Don't go to the wrong room again."