Lu Qingze and Su Mo returned to the private room one after the other, without attracting much attention. Only Ji Lingye noticed that they both left almost at the same time and returned almost simultaneously. His lips curved ever so slightly, as if in amusement.

After Lu Qingze returned, he didn’t sit back in his usual corner. Instead, he sat in the center of the room and started watching the group play cards.

Su Mo had drunk a glass of juice outside earlier, and it was a bit too cold, making her stomach feel uncomfortable. So, after coming in, she poured herself a cup of hot water, but it was freshly boiled and too hot to drink.

Ye Qingqiu had been sitting in the corner for a while. This time, she didn’t主动 (actively) move toward Lu Qingze.

She understood him too well, so she knew when it was the right time to approach him and when it was best to keep her distance.

Otherwise, she would only push him farther away.

She stood up and glanced at Lu Qingze, then reluctantly pulled her gaze away and went over to Su Mo.

“Mo Mo, I heard from Ye Jue that you passed the audition for Dark Sparrow?”

As soon as this topic was brought up, Su Mo’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, that’s right! Qingqiu Jie, I heard you also took the role in that drama. Are you the female lead?”

Ye Qingqiu smiled and nodded. However, after the smile, her expression slowly faded.

“I heard from Ye Jue that you auditioned for the second female lead?”

“Yeah.”

Ye Qingqiu furrowed her brows. “Was it Director Yuan who personally tested you? Did you sign a contract at the time? Has anyone contacted you recently?”

Seeing Ye Qingqiu’s serious expression, Su Mo also became serious, feeling like she was about to hear something important.

“It was Director Yuan who personally tested me, but it wasn’t the scheduled audition time, so I didn’t sign the contract. Director Yuan’s assistant said they would contact me later.”

Ye Qingqiu stared at her for a moment, then hesitated before speaking. “Mo Mo, wait here for a moment. I need to confirm something.”

After saying that, she grabbed her phone and left the private room, apparently to make a call.

Su Mo watched her retreating figure, unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong. Was it something related to the crew? Or was it about the contract?

A sudden sense of foreboding rose in Su Mo’s heart.

And that bad feeling soon turned into reality.

Ye Qingqiu returned after not being gone for long, and when she came back, she looked at Su Mo with a kind of reluctant pity.

“Mo Mo, there might be a problem with your second female lead role.”

Su Mo, who had been about to grab the cup filled with hot water, trembled at Ye Qingqiu’s words.

The water in the cup spilled onto her hand, and her fair wrist turned red in an instant. But Su Mo seemed to not even feel it.

At that moment, she stared at Ye Qingqiu in surprise, or perhaps more accurately, in a bit of confusion. Her clear pupils were visibly shaking, even under the dim light of the private room.

“Qingqiu Jie, what… what did you say?”

Ye Qingqiu looked at her with some reluctance, but in the end, she spoke.

“This afternoon, my agent went over to sign the contract, and when she was there, she saw the second female lead and the second male lead. And that second female lead isn’t you; it’s a rising star named Ren Zhixuan. You’ve probably heard of her.”

“Mo Mo, it seems like Ren Zhixuan may have used some means to replace you. Actually, this kind of thing happens quite often in the entertainment industry. I heard from Ye Jue that you indeed have acting skills, so don’t feel too bad about this. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future.”

Su Mo’s lips moved, but it took a while for her to process the sudden bad news.

“Okay, Qingqiu Jie, I understand.” She then asked, “Qingqiu Jie, do you have Director Yuan’s contact information? Or even his assistant’s will do.”

“I do.” Ye Qingqiu gave Su Mo a phone number.

Afterward, she couldn’t help but feel some concern.

“Mo Mo, if you’re planning to step into this industry, I think you should be careful not to offend directors, especially now when you’re alone with no agent, no company, and no connections. So, I think it’s better for you not to go after Director Yuan. Everyone faces some setbacks when they first enter the industry. Just bear with it.”

Su Mo bit her lip and nodded. “Qingqiu Jie, I understand.”

But she still wrote the phone number down.

Although she knew rationally what to do, inside, she felt terribly unwilling and frustrated. The role she had hoped for so long… was it really gone just like that?

She never considered confronting Director Yuan. She didn’t have the status or position to do that. Even though she passed the audition, if Director Yuan didn’t want to use her, there was nothing she could say. But still, she wanted to figure out what had happened.

After writing down the number, Su Mo felt very unsettled. She had no mood to continue playing and got up to bid Ye Jue goodbye.

Ye Qingqiu watched her straight back, still unable to conceal the disappointment. She sighed softly.

Actually, she could have helped Su Mo in this matter. The Ye family still had some influence, and with her position in the industry, if she spoke up, even Director Yuan would give her face.

However, her relationship with Su Mo wasn’t deep enough to offend anyone for her. Moreover, Ren Zhixuan was with the same company as her, and she was currently one of the rising stars being heavily promoted by Haosheng Entertainment, which was backed by the Bai family. Ye Qingqiu certainly couldn’t go against Ren Zhixuan for Su Mo.

The fact that she even told Su Mo about this was already because of her old friendship with Ye Jue.

She sighed again, no longer looking at Su Mo but turning her gaze to Lu Qingze.

The man, lost in thought, had his brows deeply furrowed, and his originally gentle face now appeared slightly harsh because of the frown.

Even so, Ye Qingqiu couldn’t look away.

Whether it was his slight smile when he was happy, his usual gentle demeanor, or the current look of concentration and deep eyes, it seemed that every expression of his stirred the deepest admiration in her heart.

Fifteen years, unchanged.

Ye Qingqiu watched him intently, then, just as she was about to go over to talk to Lu Qingze, the man suddenly stood up.

“You guys play on. I’ll leave first.”

Su Mo had just finished talking to Ye Jue when she heard Lu Qingze’s words.

She stared at him in surprise, only to see Lu Qingze already putting on his coat. He then said to Ye Jue, “Ning Ning is home alone. I can’t stay too long. Let’s get together another time.”

He used Ning Ning as an excuse, and indeed, no one could really stop him from leaving.

At that moment, Ji Lingye, who had been seriously playing cards, suddenly raised his head.

“Didn’t Miss Su say she was leaving too? Ye Jue, we’re all here to accompany you tonight. You can’t leave early. Qingze, would you mind sending Miss Su?”

Everyone looked at Ji Lingye, then cautiously turned to Lu Qingze, waiting for him to refuse and perhaps help smooth things over for Su Mo.

But unexpectedly, Lu Qingze replied, his face expressionless, “Sure.”

At that, the atmosphere in the room shifted, and Ye Qingqiu’s face became particularly stiff.