Am I right for the role?

"Aheng, she's being so blatant about it, she clearly doesn't care about your dignity at all. If some gossip sees her, it'll set tongues wagging again."

"If you ask me, you should kick that woman out."

"Weren't you insisting on a divorce before? Why do you seem to have let it drop lately? Is she threatening you?"

But Xia Zhi didn't have anything she could threaten Lu Heng with.

Lu Heng was no longer the man he had once been. No one in the Xia Family could control him now.

Compared with Zhou Chijun's fury, Lu Heng was much calmer. "I'm busy right now. We'll talk later."

After hanging up, Lu Heng lowered his head and went on reading the contract. But after just two pages, he stopped, took out his phone, and found Xia Zhi's number. His finger hovered without pressing it.

A few seconds later, he sent Xia Zhi a voice message.

-Head home as soon as you've bought your clothes. Don't linger outside.

When Xia Zhi received the voice message, she was eating with Song Ye. The man's clear, pleasant voice came through the phone, and even Song Ye, sitting opposite her, heard every word.

He remembered this man's voice.

He could tell the man got along well with his wife. Theirs was probably a family-arranged marriage. Marrying a woman as a cover for one's sexual orientation was hardly uncommon among wealthy families.

Song Ye gave Xia Zhi a sympathetic look.

What a shame to let such a beautiful woman wither in the grave of marriage.

Song Ye's gaze paused on the luxury watch on Xia Zhi's wrist. "Sis, I'd like to borrow some money from you."

Xia Zhi's chopsticks paused. "Borrow money?"

Hadn't the villain just given him two hundred thousand?

"Are you that short of money?"

Two hundred thousand wasn't enough?

Song Ye lowered his head. "Someone in my family is sick. We need a lot of money."

His father had gone mad with gambling, squandered everything the family owned, and racked up a mountain of debt. That ought to count as an illness, right?

Xia Zhi asked, "What's wrong with your family?"

Song Ye smoothly recited the story he had prepared: his father had a terminal illness, his mother was paralyzed and bedridden, and his little sister couldn't even attend school anymore. He had only turned to this line of work because he had nowhere else to go.

Moved by Song Ye's sorrow, Xia Zhi couldn't help tearing up. Ah, he really was a poor kid.

Their meeting was fate, too. If she could help, she would. After all, lives were at stake.

"How much more do you need?"

"A hundred thousand."

A hundred thousand was no small sum to Xia Zhi, but to the wealthy wife whose body she now occupied, it was worth less than a pair of earrings.

Still, Xia Zhi felt something was off. If Song Ye really needed a hundred thousand, he should have accepted the red envelopes she had sent him yesterday. Those two transfers added up to eighty-eight thousand.

Yet Song Ye had refused them.

Seeing Xia Zhi frown, Song Ye thought she was unwilling to lend him the money and sighed softly.

"Sis, if it's difficult for you, forget it. I... I'll think of something else. There's always a way."

The boy hung his head, his voice listless. He looked indescribably pitiful.

Xia Zhi hurriedly said, "I didn't say I wouldn't lend it to you. How about this? Accept yesterday's red envelopes, and I'll transfer another twenty thousand."

"And there's no rush to pay me back. Wait until you have money to spare."

Anyway, this little bit of money was nothing to the villain. Who knew? Once he was in a good mood, he might toss him a million-yuan check. Wasn't that how novels always went?

But Song Ye refused to accept Xia Zhi's red envelopes. He insisted on writing her an IOU for a hundred thousand and promised to repay it in full within six months.

Watching the boy's slight shoulders as he left, Xia Zhi actually found the sight a little desolate.

Ding.

Suddenly, WeChat chimed.

Xia Zhi looked down. It was Song Ye.

-Sis, whenever you need my services, they're free for you.

Xia Zhi was amused. This kid really did know how to repay kindness. She thought the villain was bound to fall for a thoughtful boy like Song Ye. After all, he was handsome, pitiful, adorable, and endearing.

The more Xia Zhi thought about it, the more she felt that the villain and Little Song were a perfect match.

That afternoon, Xia Zhi didn't go out again. She watched many dramas, studying the acting of veteran performers.

After watching videos until her eyes felt sore, Xia Zhi lay down on the spacious bay window seat to rest her eyes. The sunlight was too bright, so she picked up the script beside her and covered her face with it.

Lu Heng came home relatively early that day. The moment he entered, he saw Xia Zhi lying spread-eagled. She wore short-sleeved loungewear, leaving her long arms and legs exposed.

Lu Heng walked closer and saw that she even had a book covering her face.

He picked it up and flipped through it. It was a script.

This woman was going to act?

When had that happened?

Lu Heng lowered his head and read a couple of pages. She was even going to play a woman everyone adored?

It wasn't that he looked down on her. While Xia Zhi had the looks, could someone who was a boorish slob at heart really portray a woman's myriad charms?

Then Lu Heng looked at the production company's name, and his head began to buzz. Starlight Entertainment was a media company under the Lu Group.

Was Xia Zhi trying to ruin his Lu Group's reputation?

Xia Zhi was sound asleep, dreaming that her older brother Xia Tian was stealing her candied hawthorn again. Every single time, he snatched the biggest, sweetest one. Every time. Xia Zhi was so angry that she cried and stamped her feet.

Bastard!

Xia Tian, you bastard!

She would never forgive him!

"Grandma... Grandma..."

Xia Zhi ran back in tears to tell on Xia Tian.

Hearing Xia Zhi murmur "Grandma" in her sleep, Lu Heng remembered that this woman had come from another world. She must be missing her family in that world terribly right now, yet he had trapped her here.

[Ding! Target's corruption value -10. Current corruption value: 70.]

The mechanical female voice that suddenly sounded in her head instantly brought Xia Zhi back to reality.

[Host No. 438, receive your reward. Host No. 438, receive your reward!]

Xia Zhi's eyes flew open. Why had the villain's corruption value suddenly dropped?

What had she done?

She hadn't done anything lately.

Ah.

How could she have forgotten? It had to be because of Little Song!

Little Song deserved all the credit. He must have serviced the villain so well that he was in heaven!

Lu Heng: "..."

This woman...

She was more likable asleep.

"Hubby."

Once Xia Zhi saw clearly who was standing before her, she called out cheerfully, then noticed that Lu Heng was holding her script.

"Hubby, I passed the audition. I'm playing Shu Man."

In a good mood, Xia Zhi ignored the villain's expressionless face and asked with a smile, "Hubby, do you think I'm right for the role?"

Lu Heng said, "You?"

He casually shot her a disdainful look, then turned and left the room.

"Since you're awake, come downstairs for dinner."

Xia Zhi: "..."

What was with the villain's attitude?

Who was he looking down on?

Her acting was top-notch. With this face added to the mix, it would be an injustice if she didn't become famous.

But right now, she was more concerned about her reward. She was so excited and curious.

[Minor, what's the reward this time?]

Why hadn't she felt anything yet?

Little Sponge said, [Host, your reward this time is really amazing.]