Don’t be fooled by how easygoing and kind-hearted Fan Yanliang seems.

In the book, he’s a true villain.

The author designed his character to make the female supporting character’s fate miserable, giving him every nasty trait imaginable to please readers.

He’s a womanizer, abusive, and has some unspeakable perversions.

The Original owner’s married life is quite miserable.

Xiao Sheng introduced everyone at the table to Fan Yanliang.

Fan Yanliang listened with his eyes half-closed and didn’t say much.

When he was introduced to Ning Qiuxiu, his eyes seemed to open a bit, but he still didn’t say anything, acting aloof and unapproachable.

Ning Qiuxiu breathed a quiet sigh of relief and tried to stay as inconspicuous as possible.

After all, this was a one-time event with the investors.

If she didn’t attract his attention, she wouldn’t have to deal with him again.

She wasn’t afraid of Fan Yanliang, just that dealing with him was troublesome.

She preferred to avoid unnecessary trouble, especially since she’d have to clean up any mess herself later.

She was particularly wary of emotional issues because Old Master Zhan would probably accuse her of causing trouble later.

“What was that about earlier?” Song Chu whispered, noticing Ning Qiuhou’s distraction. “Do you know this Mr. Fan?”

“Mind your own business and don’t talk to me,” Ning Qiuxiu replied. Whispering could attract unwanted attention.

“I’m just concerned about you,” Song Chu grumbled, his voice filled with irritation.

Ning Qiuxiu was tempted to slap him but restrained herself, thinking about how his fans would react to his behavior.

It must be tough for Song Chu’s team to deal with someone so prone to messing up his image.

It was a wonder his image hadn’t collapsed yet.

As the party grew livelier, with people drinking and mingling, it was clear that the other guests were seasoned drinkers.

The producer was very generous and drank freely.

When it came to the actors, especially since Ning Qiuxiu was a girl and had to work tomorrow, it was generally accepted that she didn’t have to drink.

She had a drink in hand and was about to toast with the producer when he put down his glass and said, “Why drink a soft drink? Just have some wine.”

He called over a waiter and said, “Get her a proper glass.”

Ning Qiuxiu could drink wine and usually handled it well, but today was different—she had her period.

Drinking would cause her pain, and since she had to perform tomorrow, she couldn’t afford that.

So she said apologetically, “Mr. Chen, I’m not good with alcohol. I’m afraid I can’t drink.”

The producer insisted, “Just have a little. Red wine won’t get you drunk.”

Ning Qiuxiu looked troubled.

Song Chu, seeing this, was about to step in and drink on her behalf when someone else spoke up first.

Fan Yanliang, who had been talking to Xiao Sheng, said, “If she can’t drink, then don’t force her. She’s a girl. Let me drink it for her.”

Fan Yanliang picked up his glass and said to the producer, “Let’s drink up.”

The producer wasn’t trying to make things difficult for Ning Qiuhou.

He was just straightforward and didn’t believe anyone would pour out a glass of red wine.

Seeing Fan Yanliang’s gesture made him a bit awkward, so he quickly said, “No, there’s no reason for Mr. Fan to drink. I’ll drink it myself. I’ll have a self-punishment drink.”

Ning Qiuxiu thought, “You’re enjoying yourself, not really punishing yourself. Self-reward might be more accurate.”

She was frustrated that Fan Yanliang ended up helping her drink.

She had wanted to stay low-profile, but now she owed him a favor.

She regretted not just drinking the wine today if it meant she’d suffer tomorrow.

Despite her inner turmoil, she smiled politely and said, “Thank you, Mr. Fan.”

Fan Yanliang waved his hand and said, “No need to thank me. Girls should be cherished. We men, rough as we are, can handle a lot more.”

Ning Qiuxiu thought, “How dare you say that with your history of abuse?”

Yet, Fan Yanliang’s words earned him approval from the other women at the table.

Ning Qiuxiu noticed that the second female lead sitting next to her seemed more interested in him.

Even though he was balding, Fan Yanliang’s age gave him a mature charm.

He didn’t need a stunning appearance; with enough money and gentlemanly behavior, many women could be captivated by his refined demeanor.

After this small incident, the atmosphere at the table became lively again.

Fan Yanliang didn’t focus much on Ning Qiuxiu, and she felt relieved.

It seemed that with changes in the story, many things would shift as well.

This realization lifted her spirits, and she felt much more at ease.

Her good mood lasted until the end of the dinner.

When everyone returned to the hotel, Ning Qiuxiu went to the restroom to change her sanitary pad.

Due to the crowd, she was delayed a bit and arrived at the hotel after everyone had already gone to their rooms.

Qu Hua had some PR matters to handle and wasn’t with her.

As she and Xiao Chi were heading to the hotel, they noticed a Porsche ahead.

The second female lead, Lin Yihan, was getting out of the car.

Although they didn’t know each other well, they were in the same production team, so it felt awkward to ignore her.

Ning Qiuxiu greeted her, “You’re still here?”

Lin Yihan responded vaguely, her expression a bit strange.

At that moment, the other side of the Porsche door opened, and Ning Qiuhou saw…

Fan Yanliang stepping out of the car, smiling at her. “Miss Ning, we meet again.”

“…Seriously, this is so cliché.”

Are these two… having an affair?

It certainly seemed that way.

Lin Yihan walked over, linking her arm with Fan Yanliang’s as if claiming him, and said in a flirtatious tone, “Didn’t you say you were going to leave? Why are you coming back? Can’t bear to part with me?”

Fan Yanliang replied, “I just came back to say hello to Miss Ning.”

Well, I don’t want to say hello to you!

Ning Qiuxiu felt Lin Yihan’s animosity towards her intensify with that comment.

She quickly said, “You two carry on, I’ll go inside first.”

Without waiting for Fan Yanliang to respond, she grabbed Xiao Chi and hurried away, not giving him any chance to talk.

Seeing Fan Yanliang’s gaze fixed on Ning Qiuxiu’s retreating figure, Lin Yihan smiled and stood in front of him to block his view, pouting, “Mr. Fan~”

Fan Yanliang looked away, patted Lin Yihan’s shoulder, and said, “You should head back and get some rest.”

Ning Qiuxiu ran all the way to the hotel elevator before stopping.

She was catching her breath, thinking, “Wow, that was intense.”

What a mess of a day! It had been exhausting and frustrating.

Back in her hotel room, Ning Qiuxiu collapsed on the sofa, feeling completely drained.

She asked Xiao Chi to get her bath supplies while she pulled out her phone, opened WeChat, and sent a message to Zhan Qingyue.

【Ning Qiuxiu: Reporting in, arrived at the hotel safely!】

Zhan Qingyue immediately replied with a video call, which Ning Qiuxiu quickly rejected without a second thought.

【Broken-Hearter Onion: ?】

【Ning Qiuxiu: My makeup is ruined, so I’m refusing the video call. I’m a delicate fairy.】

Actually, she was lounging in a very unflattering position, and didn’t want to appear on video looking like a mess.

It would distort her face and look terrible!

Ahem, she realized that she had developed a sense of image consciousness in front of Zhan Qingyue.

Previously, she didn’t care about such things, and she would stroll around in front of him with no makeup on, even sometimes waking up with messy hair and bumping into Zhan Qingyue, without a care.

Moreover, typing and chatting were sometimes much more fun than video calls.

During video calls, when Zhan always talked a lot, he would uncontrollably reveal his true nature and start setting traps for her.

【Black-hearted Onion: Oh.】

【Black-hearted Onion: But I remember you always had beauty filters on during the video calls. Is there really a difference between having makeup and not?】

Ning Qiuxiu: “……”

Damn it %&*￥#……

Zhan Qingyue, be a bit more honest, or you’ll really be left without a wife.

Just then, Xiao Chi finished preparing the bathing supplies.

Seeing that it was getting late, Ning Qiuxiu decided to say goodnight to Zhan Qingyue.

Such a straightforward guy should spend the long night reflecting on himself!

When Ning Qiuxiu came out of the shower, Xiao Chi was organizing the gifts from the fans and said with a sigh, “Wow, compared to last time, the fans really went all out this time, sending so many gifts.”

Last time, when “Wandering” began filming, Ning Qiuxiu was being targeted by Yixing and was being aggressively criticized by Fang Jinran’s fans.

True fans were few and far between.

Only five or six fans came to support her at the start of filming, which felt insignificant compared to Fang Jinran’s massive fan base.

This time was different.

Not only were there many fans who came, but they also sent a lot of gifts.

However, anything received was accompanied by a small gift from Qu Hua’s assistant, as Ning Qiuxiu had previously arranged.

Most of the fans were students with limited budgets, so it was unreasonable to accept gifts without reciprocating.

Additionally, in a somewhat pragmatic way, this also helped improve the fans’ favorability.

Ning Qiuxiu walked over and was shocked to see the pile of gifts that resembled a small mountain. “How did we get so many?”

“And we haven’t even collected all of them,” Xiao Chi said proudly, “This is just a small portion.”

“……” Had she unknowingly become so popular?

Xiao Chi dragged out a rectangular box and said, “I don’t know what’s in this big box. It’s a bit heavy. Should we open it here and see?”

“Sure,” Ning Qiuxiu said, seeing Xiao Chi’s curious expression.

She was afraid that Xiao Chi wouldn’t be able to sleep if she didn’t open it.

“Okay!”

Xiao Chi started tearing off the outer wrapping paper and opened the box.

When she saw what was inside, she screamed, jumped up, threw the lid away, and rushed to hug Ning Qiuxiu.

“What happened?” Ning Qiuxiu was startled by her reaction.

She peeked inside the box and immediately turned pale.

Inside the rectangular box was a severed, bloody arm—made of plastic.

The inner side of the lid had a message printed in black ink on white paper: “Hehe, have a good shoot.”