Chapter 35

She hadn’t expected Lin Xia’s abilities to have increased to such an extent in the time they hadn’t seen each other.

“Why are you laughing?” Chu Xi looked confused.

After a long while, Su Yi finally managed to stop laughing, shaking her head as she said, “Later when we’re filming, don’t make any sounds, otherwise if you get chased out I’m not going to care about you.”

This was a scene with her and Wu Ke. The set was ready, the props were in place and standing amidst it all was Wu Ke was in an old-fashioned suit. Upon seeing Su Yi, he said with a smile, “Little Yi, the one beside you is?”

“Sister.” Su Yi smiled pleasantly and tilted her head. “I’m good.”

The scene was only two minutes and one conversation. Both were in good condition, so it flowed smoothly and was passed in the first go.

After it’s over, Su Yi went to change into something else to catch the next scene, and saw Wu Ke standing beside Chu Xi when coming out, saying something with a smile.

Wu Xue followed her, asking, “That’s Director Chu’s sister?”

Su Yi left an affirmative grunt before walking over, just in time to hear Wu Ke’s “Your eyes are really pretty.”

Before Chu Xi spoke, Li Min shouted this way. “Wu Ke, come over here, I’m going to talk about the next scene.”

“Coming.” Before going, Wu Ke left behind, “Little sister, let’s chat later.”

Chat my ass!

Wu Ke had just left when Su Yi turned around and said, “Go wait for me in the make-up room.”

“What!” Chu Xi propped up her chin. “I want to watch you guys film.”

Su Yi said straightforwardly, “I’m afraid Wu Ke would eat you up and not even spit the bones out, I’d be unable to explain that to your brother.”

“Him?” Chu Xi looked disgusted and put off. “Relax, I don’t like old men.”

“…”

Wu Xue walked over to Chu Xi and hurried her. “I’ll watch her, you go film, Director Li is asking you to hurry up.”

After his scene, Wu Ke still wanted to go find Chu Xi. Su Yi had yet to manage to speak when Tu Jinglan came up.

“Ke-ge,” Tu Jinglan smiled brightly. She had already changed into something easy, a pink spaghetti strap dress that revealed a lot of skin and then some more when one leaned closer. “Let’s go eat together? I was waiting for you.”

Wu Ke put on a smile too. “Sure, my treat.”

Wu Ke had a very elegant and refined appearance, like a cultured person, the sort of handsome that came from being well-read and completely different from the casanova type. With his good acting skills and strong support team, it’s no wonder so many little girls liked him.

Seeing that the problem had been somewhat resolved by Tu Jinglan, Su Yi no longer stuck around, nodding as a greeting before leaving.

When she came back, the two were no longer in their seats. She had just entered the make-up room when she saw Chu Xi looking at Wu Xue with reverence.

“Really?” Chu Xi said anxiously. “She really redid her whole face? Her fans talk every day about how she’s a completely natural beauty.”

Wu Xue huffed. “Her company has had to spend copious amounts of money every year on this sort of news. Whenever someone questioned it, a huge water army (paid posters) would go up and attack them. So, she has plenty of fans and plenty of haters.”

Su Yi was confused. “Who are you talking about?”

Wu Xue named a currently famous celebrity.

“Why do you like talking about other people so much?” Su Yi sat in front of the mirror, took the make-up remover and started removing her make-up. “What’s wrong with cosmetic surgery, anyone would like to be prettier, it’s normal.”

Chu Xi tsked and leant closer to ask Wu Xue in a whisper. “Did she go for cosmetic surgery too?”

Wu Xue said sincerely, “Actually no.”

“I want to.” Su Yi looked very upset. “Being too beautiful is a burden.”

Chu Xi said, “She really is thick-skinned.”

Wu Xue echoed, “Yeah, she is.”

After two knocks An Xuan entered. Seeing that Su Yi was taking off her own make-up, she immediately jogged up and said, “Yi-jie, I’ll help you remove your make-up.”

“What’s up with you recently?” Su Yi asked, her hands were still busy. “Last few days when I wasn’t around, it’s understandable that you took leave, now that I’m on the set you can still vanish for such a long time?”

“I’m sorry.” An Xuan immediately apologised. “I went out to take a call.”

Wu Xue couldn’t hold back anymore either. “I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes and I didn’t see you, how long did that call take? We’re working here, you have to distinguish between private business and work.”

An Xuan started apologising again.

Su Yi found it a little annoying, and it just happened that she was done removing her make-up. She got up and, after wiping her face carefully with a wet towel, said, “Alright, just be more careful next time.”

Although she didn’t say anything too serious, she was too used to portraying villainous characters on screen. Her whole person gave others the impression of someone serious.

Just one sentence had An Xuan’s eyes reddened. She nodded, silently picked up Su Yi’s clutch and followed the trio out of the make-up room.

“Yi-jie, going back?” Tu Jinglan was standing not far away waiting for Wu Ke to finish his scenes. When she saw Su Yi, she flashed a smile yet not a smile and called out in greeting.

Su Yi nodded. “Yeah, goodbye.”

“Hey!” Tu Jinglan sounded surprised. “Why are you crying?”

She meant the person at the end, An Xuan.

An Xuan paused, then shook her head. “It’s, it’s nothing.”

Su Yi looked behind her. She really just wanted to see what it was with An Xuan, but she didn’t expect the other’s eyes to redden even more once she met her eyes.

“…”

“Don’t cry.” Tu Jinglan suddenly took out some tissues from her bag and gave it to An Xuan. “Yi-jie is really strict with even herself, you need to be more focused if you’re working for her. Don’t think too much about it, Yi-jie’s actually quite a nice person.”

An Xuan hurriedly waved her hands. “No, no, it’s my own business, nothing to do with Yi-jie.”

Her hand was soft and weak, and her explanation was even stranger.

Finding it funny, Su Yi said, “My assistant doesn’t need your worry, you can be nicer to your own.”

Hearing this, Tu Jinglan’s body froze.

A while ago, as her assistant accidentally spilled some cold water on her, she’d slapped the other twice. Later, Lin Xia brushed it under the carpet by giving the assistant hush money.

But they weren’t the only ones there then, and Tu Jinglan’s team wasn’t the tightest bunch; it didn’t take long for the news to reach Wu Xue.

Tu Jinglan, who was under the impression she’d done a good job keeping things under wraps, was dazed for a moment before recovering. “I’ve always been good to my assistant.”

Su Yi sneered and didn’t continue the conversation, turning around and walking out of the set.

**

Back at the hotel, once Su Yi entered the room she made a video call to Chu Ying. After about ten seconds, the other picked up.

The other’s angle was very strange – from bottom up, an angle that even the legendary Pan An couldn’t look good in. It’s good that Chu Ying was more handsome than Pan An.

Su Yi silently complimented him in her heart and, seeing the city nightscape outside the window in his background, asked casually, “You’re home?”

“No,” Chu Ying put down his cup and asked, “Did Chu Xi annoy you?”

From the other side came Chu Xi’s voice. “I didn’t! I’m staying here obediently!”

Su Yi held back her laughter, walked to the balcony and said softly, “Little girls are easy to please.”

Chu Ying’s expression didn’t change as he asked, “Are you easy to please?”

“Very – easy to please,” Su Yi said sincerely. “Kiss me a few times and I’ll forget everything.”

Chu Ying raised an eyebrow and said, “So easy?”

Su Yi nodded. “If you don’t believe it, you can try it the next time.”

Just when she finished speaking, she heard some short laughter from the other side.

Su Yi paused. “Where are you, why do I hear some other people’s voices.”

Chu Ying held back his laughter. “I’m in a meeting.”

Su Yi was confused, very confused.

Chu Ying opened the phone’s camera and casually moved it around.

She saw more than ten people sitting at the long table, a laptop and a folder in front of every person. They had uniform expressions, as they’re all looking to the front, as if they had no clue what was happening beside. Written clearly on their face was “We really heard nothing, please relax it’s all fine”.

[E/D: am still laughing imagining this scene, by far my fav]

Su Yi paused for two seconds before she hung up.

Chu Ying smiled briefly and sent her a message. When he put the phone back into his front pocket, his smile vanished in a jiffy. “Continue reporting.”

At once the mood in the office went from light to heavy.

The assistant was long since used to this. His boss was basically a face-shifting monster.

Su Yi went back to the room with her phone.

Wu Xue couldn’t help teasing her. “Are you serious, just a call and your face can become this red?”

Chu Xi was sitting sideways on the sofa, focused on her phone.

“Maybe I haven’t gotten all my makeup off.” Su Yi covered her face with her hands. “Why don’t you go back to your room?”

“I have something to discuss with you.” Wu Xue took out a little notebook from her bag. “Look at it, I have written it down.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it your birthday soon?” Wu Xue said. “These are birthday plans suggested by the company, there’re three, pick one.”

Su Yi was a little surprised. “It’s so soon?”

She flipped through those. The three were almost the same, the only difference being the venue and the events happening.

Actually, she hadn’t had many birthdays when she was young. It was only after she became an actress that she celebrated her birthday more, though rather than calling it a celebration it would be more accurate to term it as a ‘meet-up with fans’. Every year there would be a couple dozens of her fans celebrating together at some place, considered a bonus for the fans.

She hesitated, then said, “This year I want to celebrate my birthday by myself.”

Wu Xue said, “That’s not too good, you’ve always spent it with your fans. Recently there’s plenty of fans on your Weibo asking when the sign-ups for this year’s party will begin.”

“What age is this?” Chu Xi said without looking up. “Still holding parties? If you really want to thank your fans, do a livestream, your safety’s guaranteed and it doesn’t limit the number of people who wish to join.”

“Oh that actually sounds like a good idea.” Wu Xue’s eyes brightened. “It’s just nice that recently there’s a live streaming platform looking for celebrities to livestream.”

After she finished speaking, she didn’t wait for Su Yi to react before happily rushing out to call the company.

Su Yi came back to herself, sat down beside Chu Xi and asked, “What do you need to do in a livestream?”

She had only been to livestreams for magazine interviews with a host beside her. She really had no idea how to do a livestream on her own.

“Sing, chat or play games.” Chu Xi looked a little disgusted. “You can’t have ‘not watched livestreams’?”

“No. I don’t sing well, I can chat, as for games…” Su Yi felt embarrassed and in a bid to find something that she could do, she said, “Is it okay to livestream Pair-Up/Pair-Match or Link-Up?”

Chu Xi was speechless.

this chapter was edited by larkspur!!!

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