Chapter 39: The Pursuer

“Senior, do you have plans tonight?”

As she was about to finish for the day, Ji Xueli was getting ready to remove her makeup and meet with Chengdu before going to find Duan Qingyu, but Fu Yunfan suddenly called out to her.

“Hm? What’s up?” Ji Xueli replied.

“The crew is having a dinner party tonight. Just wanted to see if you’re coming,” Fu Yunfan said.

Crew dinner? She wasn’t interested—she had more important things to do. Ji Xueli waved him off. “Oh, I’m not going.”

Now that the female lead was back, she felt a strong sense of crisis. She couldn’t afford to slack off like before.

“Then I won’t go either,” Fu Yunfan said casually.

“Why not?” Ji Xueli asked, a little puzzled by his determined tone.

Fu Yunfan looked at her. “You’re not going either, right?”

What kind of logic is that? Ji Xueli wrinkled her nose, then decided to just drop it—finding Chengdu was more important right now.

“I’m heading out first. See you the day after tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you then.” Fu Yunfan stayed where he was, staring after her as she left, not moving an inch.

Guan Ru noticed this and smirked as she walked up. “Look at Xueli running off so fast—guess she’s skipping dinner. Could she be rushing to meet President Ji?”

“Who she’s meeting has nothing to do with us,” Fu Yunfan responded coldly, his face now expressionless.

“Xueli’s got a long list of people she could be meeting. And now she’s added Young Master Cheng and the Crown Prince. Tsk, too bad you’re not in her consideration pool,” Guan Ru sighed dramatically on purpose.

“You’d be better off using this time to practice controlling your facial expressions,” Fu Yunfan retorted and turned to leave without wasting another word.

Anyone who messes with his senior? He couldn’t care less about them.

“You—!” Guan Ru stomped her foot in frustration. Ever since Ji Xueli went abroad, Fu Yunfan had been at odds with her. And now he was showing it even more openly.

Sure, they could act friendly on the surface, but he wouldn’t go beyond the role.

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“Xiao Li Li, get in.” Chengdu waved at Ji Xueli as she walked out of the set.

Ji Xueli quickly got in the car and, before even fastening her seatbelt, urged, “Tell me what’s up with Song Ruo?”

“Song Ruo? She was just a minor actress back when you were popular. Then she somehow got to know the Crown Prince and signed with START Entertainment. Honestly, I don’t know much more. The Crown Prince never mentioned her, never brought her around, so I didn’t pay attention.”

Chengdu shrugged. He genuinely didn’t have much impression of Song Ruo—could’ve been some fling Duan Qingyu had at some point, who knew.

“But he went to pick her up at the airport,” Ji Xueli said, clearly not buying it. There had to be more going on between them.

She’d been observing Duan Qingyu for a while and never saw anyone who even remotely resembled a “female lead.” Her gut told her Song Ruo had to be it.

“We’ll know when we see him later. I still don’t think they’re involved,” Chengdu insisted.

“We’ll see if he brings her along later, then let’s see how you explain it.” Ji Xueli pouted.

“No way. This is our Three Musketeers’ gathering. Duan Qingyu would never bring some woman along—I trust him,” Chengdu said confidently.

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At the restaurant.

When Ji Xueli saw the woman next to Duan Qingyu, she turned her head to glare at Chengdu with a cold expression.

“……”

Chengdu froze—he didn’t even dare make eye contact.

“Hi, I’m Song Ruo,” the woman greeted brightly.

She focused on the girl sitting across from her—delicate features, flawless fair skin, exuding a cold and noble aura. That kind of presence couldn’t be faked—it felt like it was in her bones.

As expected, celebrities always looked better in person than on-screen. She was even more stunning in real life.

“Hi, I’m Ji Xueli,” she waved, casually sizing up Song Ruo. Pretty, sure. But she seemed to lack something in presence.

“Chengdu,” he replied calmly.

Duan Qingyu glanced at Ji Xueli, then pulled out a chair and sat opposite her.

“I know you, the award-winning actress,” Ji Xueli said with a smile.

Song Ruo looked at her and returned the smile. “You flatter me. I’ve heard of you too, Miss Ji.”

“The Crown Prince didn’t introduce anyone, so I thought it was just the three of us,” Chengdu said to Duan Qingyu. At this point, he was clearly siding with Ji Xueli. He already didn’t like this woman from the first impression.

“Just a friend,” Duan Qingyu said lazily, taking a sip of wine.

“A friend?” Song Ruo didn’t like that answer and asked again.

Ji Xueli tapped the table with her finger, studying her. This female lead was clearly playing hardball.

“What did you want it to be then?” Duan Qingyu glanced at her.

“A pursuer,” Song Ruo replied with a soft smile.

Duan Qingyu’s brows knit together slightly.

Chengdu’s eyes widened. He looked at her, then at Duan Qingyu, then back at Ji Xueli.

Ji Xueli didn’t react much. She just gave a faint smile. A pursuer, huh? Well, at least they weren’t together yet…

“You’re pursuing the Crown Prince?” Chengdu asked with a fake smile.

“Mhm.” Song Ruo nodded. She knew Chengdu was Duan Qingyu’s friend in the story. Duan Qingyu had tried many times to bring her to meet him, but somehow it always fell through.

Chengdu glanced at Ji Xueli and said firmly, “You’ve got no chance.”

If Li Li wanted to go after Duan Qingyu, then nobody else would stand a chance. Loyalty above all.

Ji Xueli subtly gave him a thumbs-up under the table—what a loyal bro.

Song Ruo glanced at Ji Xueli, already getting suspicious. But what she couldn’t understand was—why had Ji Xueli seemingly given up on Ji Yanzhou?

“Shouldn’t it be Duan Qingyu who says that, not you?” Song Ruo chuckled, pretending not to care.

“He just said it—‘friend,’” Ji Xueli said casually.

Duan Qingyu met her gaze and smiled slightly, saying nothing.

“There are tons of people who want to get close to the Crown Prince,” Chengdu said, shaking his head, directing his comment toward Song Ruo.

Song Ruo clenched her teeth inwardly. Chengdu was clearly determined to go against her. It was totally different from how it was written in the book—and so was Ji Xueli.

“Let’s eat. I just came from the set, I’m starving,” Ji Xueli cut in. If Duan Qingyu thought they were ganging up on the female lead, it’d backfire.

“Then let’s eat! The food’s getting cold,” Chengdu quickly agreed.

“Qingyu, I remember you like this dish,” Song Ruo said sweetly, serving him some food.

Duan Qingyu looked at the food in his plate. His instinct was to reject it—but the voice in his mind urged him otherwise, trying to control him. His hand tightened under the table. After a pause, he finally ate it.

Song Ruo saw this and arched her brows slightly in triumph, casually glancing at Ji Xueli.

Ji Xueli didn’t even look up. She was seriously hungry. After dieting for so long on set, she was finally letting loose—and she wasn’t going to waste the chance.

Chengdu watched her with twitching lips, taking note of every little movement.

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