Before leaving, she couldn’t help but glance at Zhou Qishen. Since the filming started, he had been staring at her as if no one else existed.

He had clearly reacted so intensely when he heard that she was going to film a kissing scene, but now that he has seen it with his own eyes, he seems quite calm.After all, seeing it made it clear that kissing scenes were just part of her job and nothing special.

Their proximity was close enough for her to catch a faint smell of smoke from him. Did he disappear earlier to smoke?

Zhou Qishen looked at her flushed cheeks and the beads of sweat on her forehead, his eyes then lowered to her thick ancient costume. He pursed his lips slightly, a hint of concern evident in his eyes.

However, due to the crowd and prying eyes, he ultimately said nothing, merely mimicking her earlier gesture: “You’ve worked hard.”

Jiang Xiao understood his meaning and was momentarily stunned.

The slight intimacy between them seemed to attract Director Zheng’s attention, who glanced over intentionally or unintentionally.

Sensing this, Jiang Xiao quickly adjusted her expression, moved away, and focused on the tense filming.

Finally, they passed on the fifth take.

As people dispersed from the set, Director Zheng and Zhou Qishen walked out together, followed by the producer and assistant director. With few outsiders around, they began chatting casually.

“How’s your father’s health?”

Director Zheng’s wife is the younger sister of Zhou Qishen’s father, who is also the current head of the Zhou family. The two are in a sister-brother relationship with a ten-year age difference.

Thirty years ago, when Director Zheng first came to Beijing to work hard, he was just a poor country boy. By chance, he met Zhou Mengyuan, the daughter of the Zhou family, and fell in love with her. The huge difference in status and age seemed to have doomed them to have no good ending.

However, Zhou Mengyuan had been resolute in defying her father’s wishes for love and secretly married Director Zheng until the former family head passed away, only then resuming contact with the Zhou family.

Zhou Qishen’s hands hung naturally at his sides as he spoke calmly, “Thank you for your concern. It’s still the same, confined at home due to mobility issues. If you and Auntie have time, you can visit him.”

Director Zheng glanced at Zhou Qishen, noting the young man’s calm demeanor and maturity beyond his years. His words were warm and comfortable yet maintained a certain distance, as if nothing and no one could stir his inner emotions.

The topic ended there, and Director Zheng asked about Zhou Qishen’s recent activities, chatting about this and that, suddenly remembering a scene he had glimpsed not long ago and asked tentatively, “Do you know Jiang Xiao?”

“I do,” Zhou Qishen replied truthfully.

“Oh?” Zhou Qishen paused for a moment, a picture of the determined and serious face appearing in his mind, and smiled suddenly, “I’m her fan.”

“This answer surprises me. You are also a fan of celebrities?” Director Zheng was amazed by his unexpected response. He suddenly understood something that had puzzled him before, “Was your recent proposal for additional investment related to this?”

“You could say that.” Zhou Qishen didn’t deny it. Then he added a rare compliment, “Mainly because I trust Uncle Zheng’s judgment and capability, so I wanted to contribute.”

“Hahaha, don’t flatter me too much.” Director Zheng was quite pleased with this. His usually stern expression cracked into a smile, even resorting to internet slang.

“You’re a busy man, so I won’t keep you. But since you’re here, how about joining us for dinner before you leave?” After a few seconds of thought, Director Zheng silently assessed Zhou Qishen’s expression, hinting, “Do you mind if I invite a few more people?”

Zhou Qishen understood his implication and calmly replied, “I’m fine with that.”

*

Jiang Xiao leaned on the chair in the dressing room. Two stylists were removing her headgear from behind her, and a makeup artist was removing her makeup. The three of them worked quickly for a while, and the burden on their shoulders was immediately relieved.

She couldn’t help but sigh in relief, saying, “Wow, that was exhausting.”

The makeup artist asked, “Would you like some water?”

Jiang Xiao, feeling physically and mentally drained rather than thirsty, shook her head, “No, thank you.”

Assistant Xiao Zhang and a crew member entered one after another, the latter smiling as he spoke, “Xiaoxiao, Director Zheng is inviting everyone to dinner tonight. He asked me to see if you’d like to join.”

Jiang Xiao, without hesitation, replied, “Yes.”

Director Zheng treating everyone to dinner, this kind of face must be given.

After the staff left, Xiao Zhang leaned in mysteriously, his voice eager, “Xiaoxiao, you absolutely won’t guess the identity of that handsome guy.”

Jiang Xiao was taken aback. She remembered she hadn’t had a chance to tell Xiao Zhang about her relationship with Zhou Qishen, but with others present, she couldn’t mention it publicly. She could only vaguely ask, “What identity?”

Taking a chair, Xiao Zhang lowered his voice, “He’s actually Director Zheng’s nephew!”

Jiang Xiao blinked. Director Zheng’s nephew? She really didn’t know about this.

“Nephew? Are you sure? He doesn’t look anything like him,” said one stylist.

“Oh, you’re so silly,” another stylist couldn’t help but intervene, explaining, “That handsome guy is from Director Zheng’s wife’s side of the family. He definitely doesn’t resemble Director Zheng. Besides, Director Zheng has gained some weight now, but he was quite handsome when he was young. I’ve seen his photos online.”

The stylist realized he had made a joke and scratched his head embarrassedly, “Oh really? I don’t understand these family relations.”

Jiang Xiao agreed with this point. Family relationships were indeed complex, and few people could fully understand them.

After they finished their banter, Xiao Zhang continued with the information he had gathered, “And he’s also the new investor behind this round, the boss behind Xunli.”

Who hasn’t heard of Xunli? But its boss has never appeared in public, and there are no photos or videos online about him, maintaining an extremely low profile.

The stylist exclaimed, “The boss of Xunli is so young?”

“Fenghua Entertainment is backed by Xunli, right? No wonder Qin Yuanyuan has been around him all day today,” the makeup artist chimed in.

This comment sparked another lively discussion, with everyone discussing their relationship, even dragging in rumors of secret affairs between female stars and big bosses.

Jiang Xiao knew for sure that these two had nothing to do with each other. But even if she knew, she couldn’t speak up. After all, she had a feud with Qin Yuanyuan, and publicly, she didn’t know Zhou Qishen, so naturally, she couldn’t understand the private lives of those two.

At that moment, a message popped up on WeChat from Zhou Qishen: For tonight’s dinner, should we meet at the hotel or at the restaurant?

For some reason, Jiang Xiao’s hand holding the phone started sweating slightly, feeling a strange sense of unease creeping in.

After waiting a moment and ensuring that the few girls around her were still engrossed in their chat, she pretended to be calm and subtly moved her finger to cover the note at the top of WeChat, avoiding being seen by the stylist behind her.

With one hand, she replied: Let’s meet at the restaurant.

Then she exited WeChat and, to distract herself, opened Weibo to browse entertainment news for a while.

After removing her makeup, changing into her own casual clothes, and leaving the makeup room, the sky outside had already turned dusky, with hues of orange and pink dominating the horizon like an overturned palette, dazzling and colorful.

The Chinese restaurant Director Zheng chose wasn’t far from the hotel and the Hengdian studio, only about ten minutes’ drive away.

The overall decoration style is that of the Qing Dynasty gardens. Walking along the flower-shaded paths, you can vaguely hear the gurgling of springs. The green tiles and white walls are everywhere, and the white marble tables and chairs are dotted in between, which has a very antique charm.

As soon as the door to the private room opened, all eyes turned towards it.

Dinner was scheduled at 7:30 pm, and it was only 6:30 pm now. Jiang Xiao wondered if the uncle and nephew wanted to have a private chat. Despite the large room capable of accommodating thirty people, at the moment, only Director Zheng and Zhou Qishen were inside.

Jiang Xiao stood hesitantly at the door of the private room, her foot halfway out before quietly pulling it back in. Ever since she found out Director Zheng was Zhou Qishen’s uncle, seeing them together gave her an inexplicable nervousness, akin to meeting a boyfriend’s parents.

“Xiaoxiao, why aren’t you coming in?” Just as she hesitated, Ji Changzheng’s voice came unexpectedly from behind.

Jiang Xiao turned her head and saw Ji Changzheng and the group behind him. She felt a sense of relief, as if grabbing a life-saving straw.

The crowd swarmed in, more than a dozen people, mostly crew members and main actors. The originally quiet private room instantly became lively. After exchanging greetings, everyone took their seats around the large round table.

Without a doubt, Director Zheng sat at the head, with Zhou Qishen on his right, and the producer and assistant director on his left. Ji Changzheng, who arrived later, took his seat at the third position upon the assistant director’s invitation.

Jiang Xiao hesitated for a moment. Given her status as the lead actress and her seniority in the industry, she should have sat next to Ji Changzheng. Just as she was about to take a step, she saw Zhou Qishen giving her a look, clearly indicating for her to come and sit next to him.

As she hesitated and remained still, Zhou Qishen spoke softly, “Sit here.”

Zhou Qishen had been silent since appearing behind the crew, seemingly low-key, but his status and appearance naturally drew attention. His rare words now piqued curiosity, prompting others around to cast speculative glances his way.