Chapter 17

Ji Hanzhang’s acting was indeed excellent. He portrayed the regent prince—cold and resolute in front of others, yet secretly fragile and lonely behind the scenes—with a powerful contrast hidden beneath the mask of a strong man. His performance was deeply moving, stirring, and even evoked a sense of sympathy.

Jiang Shuwan was indeed very immersed in the film.

But the regent prince was only tormented by illness; he didn’t die. Was it really necessary to cry over it?

She had just gotten an eyelash in her eye and accidentally rubbed it red.

Xia Xiangyang didn’t give her a chance to explain at all. He immediately chattered away and confirmed dinner plans with Ji Hanzhang. Then he even winked at Jiang Shuwan with a “Aren’t I clever? Go ahead, praise me!” look on his face.

Jiang Shuwan: “…”

Praise you for what? For being shamelessly out of control and constantly dragging your teammates down? Or for your terrible eyesight and even worse imagination?

As she was thinking this, the ever-cool and aloof Movie King Ji, like snow on a mountaintop, looked over at her from afar. Suddenly, the corner of his lips lifted ever so slightly—he smiled.

So, so good-looking!

Jiang Shuwan froze for a moment.

No, no—this love-struck brain of hers was going to grow back again.

In the distance, Ji Hanzhang’s lips twitched slightly as he quickly looked away.

*

There were quite a few restaurants near the film studio, but not many had both a good environment and a high level of privacy. The one Xia Xiangyang picked was a classical-style courtyard. In the center of the courtyard was a pool, with private rooms arranged around it among artificial hills, creating excellent separation and privacy.

However, after the group walked for a bit under the guidance of the staff, they ran into Liang Hao in the corridor.

Liang Hao saw Jiang Shuwan and Xia Xiangyang first. He stopped and looked at Jiang Shuwan with a pitiful expression: “Shuwan, you…”

He wore a look that said he was holding back his words, filled with heartbreak and sorrow.

Jiang Shuwan glanced at him. At first, she was puzzled, then suddenly seemed to understand something:
“You’ve been reading An Actor Prepares, huh? Well, although it’s still a bit stiff, you’ve definitely improved. Failure is the mother of success—605 failures will eventually lead to that 606th success. Keep it up!”

Liang Hao: “…”

He wasn’t acting!

Okay… maybe he was acting. But was it just to get her feedback on his acting skills?!

Since they’d already bumped into each other in the restaurant hallway, shouldn’t she have invited him to join them? Give him a chance to cozy up to Xia Xiangyang, Director Wang Youde… and Movie King Ji?

But the moment he caught sight of Ji Hanzhang beside Wang Youde, Liang Hao instantly sobered up.

Fine. He wasn’t worthy.

Wang Youde said, “Hey, isn’t this Liang Hao? Miss Jiang, aren’t you his fan? Why don’t we all eat together—”

Liang Hao’s eyes lit up.

And then Jiang Shuwan said, “No need. I’ve unfollowed. Besides, he’s on a tight schedule and doesn’t have much time in his ‘budget.’”

[He has four dates with four girls scheduled tonight, each one budgeted for an hour and a half. It’s six o’clock now—he’ll be busy till midnight. Inviting him to dinner would just make things hard for him. Look at him, standing there like he wants to say something but can’t.]

Standing nearby, Ji Hanzhang glanced at Liang Hao’s eager face and thought that the reason he looked like he wanted to speak probably wasn’t because he was struggling with Wang Youde inviting him.

Still, having four dates in one night did sound like a tight schedule. Not suitable for a group dinner.

Ji Hanzhang withdrew his gaze and said calmly, “Let’s go.”

Wang Youde didn’t quite understand what Jiang Shuwan meant by “not much budget time.” It’s just dinner—why would there be a budget? But since Jiang Shuwan said she’d unfollowed, he wasn’t going to push it and drag someone unwanted along.

Wang Youde said, “Then suit yourself, Liang Hao. We’ll eat together another time if there’s a chance.”

The so-called “another time” was just a polite brush-off. Liang Hao understood perfectly. But as a barely-known minor celebrity, he didn’t dare offend Wang Youde. He quickly smiled and said, “Of course, Director Wang, Teacher Xia, Movie King Ji—if you’re free next time, dinner’s on me.”

Xia Xiangyang smiled, “Thanks in advance.”

Ji Hanzhang gave him a meaningful look and nodded slightly.

As the group walked farther away, Liang Hao scratched his head.
Why did he feel like Movie King Ji was looking at him… a little strangely?

*

The four of them weren’t exactly close. Relatively speaking, Xia Xiangyang and Wang Youde were more familiar with each other. So from the moment they sat down to eat, the two of them began reminiscing.

It wasn’t even that long ago—just last year, when they’d worked on the same crime drama.

“Who would’ve thought,” Wang Youde said, “that the guy who was called in last-minute to play a fugitive… was actually a real fugitive! And the guy playing the police officer—a background extra—actually recognized him. Right after filming that scene, the real cops showed up and took him away.”

Wang Youde sighed, “I’ve been in this industry a long time, but that was the wildest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jiang Shuwan glanced at him and silently sipped her Coke.

[There was something even wilder. That background actor playing the cop was actually an undercover police officer. He’d been blending in with background actors to investigate a human trafficking ring.]

[Seriously, if not for his professional instincts, how could an ordinary person recognize a fugitive’s face? No way he’d pick him out in a crowd on a film set.]

[Wonder if that undercover officer ever caught the traffickers… Not yet? Still undercover? Police really do have a tough job.]

Wang Youde said, “Tch, is this story kinda boring? Movie King Ji, come on, eat, eat.”

Ji Hanzhang glanced at Jiang Shuwan, who was drinking her Coke with her head down, and smiled,
“Not at all. It’s quite interesting.”

The fact that there was an undercover cop among the extras was something he had never heard of before.

Hearing this, Wang Youde became even more animated. He took another sip of alcohol and continued sharing more amusing stories from previous film crews. Jiang Shuwan listened with great interest; this was far more entertaining than stories of some senior forgetting his girlfriend’s birthday because of a lab experiment, or a senior sister’s pet white mouse “escaping from prison.”

But at that moment, the system’s mechanical voice suddenly rang out again:

[One of the girls Liang Hao scheduled for tonight is about to run into another.]

Huh?

Jiang Shuwan’s chopsticks froze mid-air. So that scumbag Liang Hao, who was juggling multiple women, was about to get exposed?

Honestly, she hadn’t been all that angry when she learned Liang Hao had tricked her into being his unpaid assistant. After all, she had taken the initiative to approach him after seeing his photo, finding her way onto the film set just to get close to him. To a certain degree, she had brought this on herself—it wasn’t entirely his fault.

As for the things the system had mentioned, they were all events that hadn’t happened yet. Jiang Shuwan wasn’t going to blame Liang Hao for things he hadn’t even done.

After being cured of her hopeless romantic tendencies by the system, Jiang Shuwan had become rational again when it came to Liang Hao. She no longer held onto any personal resentment or prejudice. That was why she had even generously gifted him her book.

But that said—right was right, wrong was wrong.

Liang Hao, this player, was going on multiple dates in one night… If he got caught, Jiang Shuwan would be more than happy to see it happen.

In fact, she was kind of excited to watch the drama unfold.

Jiang Shuwan silently asked the system in her mind whether she could go out and watch the show now. Receiving a confirmed “yes,” she cheerfully stood up and said, “I’m going to the restroom.”

Wang Youde and Xia Xiangyang were deep in conversation and didn’t really notice. Only Ji Hanzhang gave it a moment of thought after Jiang Shuwan left the private room. After a few seconds, he too stood up. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

A few minutes later, having just finished telling a funny story about the male lead from their last crew getting drunk and embarrassing himself, Wang Youde and Xia Xiangyang looked at each other in confusion. “Where’d they go?”

---

After leaving the private room, Jiang Shuwan was just about to ask the system which direction to head in when she heard a voice:

“Oh look who it is—our background extra with lofty ambitions.”

Jiang Shuwan instinctively turned around. The speakers were two young women in their twenties—one with a round face, the other with an oval (melon-seed) shaped face. They looked vaguely familiar.

She was a little face-blind. If she had run into just one of them alone, she probably wouldn’t have remembered where she’d seen them. But seeing them together, and with such distinctive features, she quickly recalled they were from the large dressing room she had visited before.

“Tsk, I’m talking to you. What are you running around for? Trying to ambush someone? Willing to do anything just for a minor role?”

The round-faced girl looked at her with disdain, even though she herself had come here deliberately after hearing that Film Emperor Ji and the casting director for The Regent Prince were dining nearby, hoping to bump into them.

But she thought she was different from Jiang Shuwan.

She had experience, had played several roles, and had acting chops. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have landed a minor role in a big production like The Regent Prince.

She was here to seize a rare opportunity and shine like a hidden gem. But Jiang Shuwan, some background extra, trying to ambush someone for a role? That was just plain shameless shortcut-chasing.

The oval-faced girl frowned. “Why are you even wasting your time talking to her?”

Though directed at her companion, her tone dripped with contempt toward Jiang Shuwan.

Jiang Shuwan was baffled. She had grown up in a straightforward environment; her senior brothers and sisters were all blunt, upfront people. She wasn’t used to these underhanded, passive-aggressive types. “Are you two talking to me? I don’t think I know you.”

The round-faced girl flushed red with anger. “Hah, look at her, so arrogant.”

Jiang Shuwan blinked in confusion. “How is telling the truth considered arrogant?”

The round-faced girl was left speechless: “……”

The oval-faced girl’s brows furrowed even tighter. “Forget it. Stop wasting breath on her.”

Just then, she glanced up and spotted someone familiar. Her tightly knitted brows immediately relaxed. “Oh! Liang Hao? What are you doing here?”

The round-faced girl also perked up and turned her head, flashing a cute, flirty smile. “Liang Hao, so you were here!”

A short distance away, Liang Hao was standing at the door of a half-open private room, speaking to a server. When he heard the voices, he turned to look. The moment he saw who was standing there, his face turned ghostly pale.

The round-faced and oval-faced girls exchanged a glance. Their expressions both flickered with doubt—then, as if putting on a mask, they smiled in unison, linking arms and walking over together.

“Liang Hao, let us introduce our best friend to you,” they said in perfect sync.

The moment they heard each other speak, they looked at one another in shock.

And just then, a woman’s voice came from inside the private room: “Liang Hao, what are you doing out there? Who’s outside?”

As despair filled Liang Hao’s expression, the door swung fully open. A woman with curled hair and red lips stepped out. “Liang Hao, who are these two?”

In Jiang Shuwan’s ear, the system’s gleeful, schadenfreude-filled voice chimed in:

[Three out of four of his dates for tonight are here.]

Whoa!

Now this was spicy.

Jiang Shuwan’s eyes lit up instantly—she had never seen a real-life “battlefield of love” before.