Ji Fan lifted the thin blanket and sat up, quietly sitting at the head of the bed.

The pair of tearful eyes from her dream kept swaying in her heart. She couldn’t say what she felt, her heart was half cold and half hot. She just sat quietly at the head of the bed for a while without saying a word.

Dawn was breaking.

Ji Fan opened her phone’s photo album, which contained many, many photos of Jiang Cha, and even some short videos. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she didn’t know how to deal with this sudden surge of emotions. In the past, as long as she waved her hand, the girl would come, obediently submissive, letting her enjoy herself.

Now she could only quench her thirst by looking at the plum.

She got back under the covers and curled up.

The upper right corner showed the time, 5:30 in the morning.

Dawn was breaking.

Ji Fan’s fingertips trembled slightly as she touched the cold screen and opened WeChat. She stared at Jiang Cha’s familiar avatar on the WeChat interface, feeling a strange sensation in her heart.

The avatar was a simple cartoon rabbit, holding a carrot, with bright eyes.

Ji Fan clicked on the chat interface and tried to send her something.

——”Do you like rabbits?”

She typed a few words.

Deleted.

Her long, white fingers trembled slightly, and her clear, clean eyes rippled gently.

——”I like you.”

Ji Fan was startled by the sudden appearance of a row of words, thinking to herself, did I type that?

She frowned, staring at the few words on the screen, instantly sober, and she couldn’t fall asleep at all.

Ji Fan’s heart was pounding like a drum, and she turned over uncomfortably. Her finger accidentally touched the screen, and then her long eyelashes trembled, her expression solidifying.

The message had been sent.

Did she actually send it out while half asleep and half awake?

Immediately, her hands and feet felt ice-cold.

••••

The sky turned a faint pink, the morning mist of spring dissipated, and the first rays of dawn shone through the gaps in the curtains into Jiang Cha’s room.

A white hand emerged from the quilt, and Jiang Cha picked up her phone to check the time.

There was a message notification hanging in the notification bar.

From Ji Fan.

Above the chat interface, a row of gray text on a white background read: [The other party has revoked a message]

The time was 5:30 in the morning.

So early in the morning, what did she send, and why did she retract it?

Jiang Cha looked at it quietly for a moment, her thoughts racing. Finally, she felt a bit of a headache.

Just say what you want to say. Since she has already retracted the message, then there is no need for her to dwell on it.

She didn’t know before that dealing with emotional matters could be so clean and neat, without any dragging.

Jiang Cha sat up abruptly and began to wash up and put on makeup.

Today was the first day of filming. Recently, she had been so busy that she had no time to take care of her personal emotional problems.

••••

The filming location was set in the Minguo Street of the film city.

This area of Republic of China-style buildings was located at the southern end of the film city. It was a group of ancient buildings with a cultural background of towns and streets during the Republic of China period. The buildings were modeled after the way sets were built for film and television. The roads were all paved with blue stone. On both sides of the street were shops, including a clock tower, a theater, a teahouse, an academy, an arena, a dyeing workshop, a pawnshop, a temple, and a train station.

The streets were paved with blue stone slabs, and there were rows of unevenly sized old buildings on both sides, small Western-style buildings, and some tile-roofed houses. The signs on the streets were all written in dripping ink in traditional Chinese characters, and there were even two rows of iron tracks for trams in the middle of the road.

The opening ceremony was held on a stage built in a villa that combined Central European and Chinese styles.

A red carpet was laid from inside the building down several steps, connecting to the built-up platform.

The host distributed incense to everyone, two sticks per person. The blue smoke curled up, straight into the air.

Below the stage was an intricately carved bronze furnace.

A group of people began to pay their respects to the gods.

The host held the microphone and called out:

“First bow, for smooth sailing!”

“Second bow, for a great start to filming!”

“Third bow, for a box office hit!”

After three bows, the investors, followed by the director, and then all the main creators, offered incense.

The photography team, lighting team, costume team, makeup team, and production crew all paid their respects and offered incense.

The producers and main creators came on stage to unveil the red cloth.

“Let the filming begin!”

A wave of applause erupted from the audience.

Next was the introduction of the investors and the characters.

The director gave a speech, followed by the main investor.

When the host called out Ji Fan’s name, many curious glances drifted over.

Is this the CEO Ji, who was rumored to have cheated, had casual sex, had a chaotic private life, and was very likely to be a drug user?

In the early morning, a light rain fell. After the rain, the mountains behind the villa had a beautiful scenery, with a clear blue sky and just the right light.

Ji Fan gracefully walked onto the stage.

She wore a white chiffon semi-sheer blouse, her long black curly hair draped over her shoulders, paired with a green leather skirt, silver-gray stiletto heels, and a casual brown square leather bag slung over her shoulder. She was very tall and had a good figure, her legs were straight and slender under the short skirt, and they were dazzlingly white.

Just standing there, she looked like a female model, very eye-catching, and her temperament even overshadowed the stars present.

Ji Fan had excellent stage presence. Somehow, as soon as she went up, a calm yet compelling aura emanated, so that everyone, looking at her expressionless face and cold demeanor, forgot that this was the CEO Ji who had been entangled in countless scandals recently.

She herself was so calm that it made the people who were gossiping behind her look inadequate.

She had a script, but she didn’t look at it at that moment. She casually talked about her expectations for the film, and then began to praise the director and actors in official language.

When she mentioned Song Baiwei, she frowned slightly, her expression as if she was trying hard to suppress something, but her words were full of praise.

As for Luo Yan, she only casually praised her a few times.

Everyone, who had been nodding off from the hour-long opening ceremony, suddenly perked up: Ji was about to praise her wife!

They all pricked up their ears.

Ji Fan hesitated for a moment before saying softly, “Jiang Cha is a very promising actress.”

Her eyes searched for Jiang Cha.

The girl was sitting in the crowd.

She was wearing a moon-white qipao, her figure petite and graceful. Her slender white arms were resting on her knees, and her right hand quietly cupped her chin. Her black hair was coiled into a gentle bun at the back of her head, as delicate as a piece of fine jade carved one piece at a time, and her soft red lips were slightly pursed.

Her eyes were slightly lowered, her expression calm and indifferent, and it was impossible to tell whether she was happy or angry.

“Promising” was definitely not a superficial, insincere compliment. She had a tenacity hidden beneath her soft and harmless appearance. It was just that this tenacity needed to be guided, needed environmental stimulation. As the saying goes, “a cornered beast will fight.” If she was pushed to the brink, her natural strength would rebound.

Force is reciprocal. When a person is suppressed by various forces in adversity, the strength that belongs to them will also grow.

What she wanted to express was her hope for Jiang Cha’s future.

But when it reached the ears of others, it took on a different meaning.

Just that?

Just that??

CEO Ji really had no survival instincts.

No wonder people wanted to divorce her!

She had praised others for so long, but when it came to her own wife, she only said one sentence?

Ji Fan was oblivious and continued to speak for a while, then stepped off the stage amidst applause.

Half an hour later, the host called them, the main creative team, and the investors, to the stage for a group photo.

The process was over.

Next was the makeup photo shoot, followed by lunch.

“Come on, let’s take a picture,” the photographer said, carrying his camera. “Right here.”

The photo shoot took place in a building that looked like an ancient castle, in the style of the Republic of China period, warm and elegant.

There were two white-painted windows, a round small table with a dark green cloud pattern tassel pendant under the bed, and an antique oil lamp on the table.

“Jiang Cha, you go first.”

Jiang Cha was wearing a moon-white brocade qipao with silver dark cloud patterns that shimmered softly as the fabric moved.

Her makeup was retro, with thin willow-leaf eyebrows, apricot-colored hues smudged at the corners of her eyes, and small, plump cherry-red lips. As she sat at the round table, propping her chin up, her dark pupils held a hint of a smile as she quietly looked at the camera. A dim yellow lamp instantly illuminated her graceful figure.

The corners of her lips curled up slightly.

Charming and lovely, stunningly beautiful.

“Tsk tsk, Cha’s beauty is no joke, she’s too gorgeous,” the supporting actors whispered in amazement.

“She has such an aura, even I, a girl, can’t resist.”

“Stop it, she’s taken!”

“Hey, aren’t they having marital problems and about to get a divorce? It’s the perfect chance for me to be the third party—”

The conversation gradually veered off topic, turning into aimless joking.

Just then, several people suddenly felt a chill down their necks.

“Ms. Ji is here?” The girl who had been planning to be the third party turned her head and laughed dryly, “We were just joking. Don’t mind us, haha.”

The on-set assistant, seeing Ji Fan arrive, immediately invited her to sit down and poured her a pot of Longjing tea.

Ji Fan picked up the teacup with her cold white fingers, raised her eyelids leisurely, and watched them take photos.

Her gaze wandered from time to time to Jiang Cha.

It had been a long time since they had seen each other, and she seemed even more… attractive.

It was just that the indifferent and aloof expression between her brows made her a little annoyed.

That spark was instantly extinguished when it collided with her cold, clear gaze. Ji Fan tightened her grip on the teacup, her profile calm as she lowered her head and said nothing.

The photos were taken with a few clicks of the camera.

Yang Yan sat beside her, glancing down at the photos sent by the photographer: “Okay, the stills are done. They can be used for the official announcement of the movie’s start.”

“You’re so beautiful.” As Jiang Cha passed by Luo Yan, Luo Yan looked at her several times, leaned in slightly, and smiled, whispering a compliment.

Perhaps fearing that others would hear, she was very close to Jiang Cha when she spoke. Luo Yan almost pressed her entire body against her. It was a very intimate posture: Luo Yan leaned in with her red lips, almost touching Jiang Cha’s glistening earlobe, and her eyes held an ambiguous smile.

Ji Fan watched from the side, frowning.

It was rather irritating.

“Come on, next is Ms. Luo.”

The hierarchy here was immediately apparent.

Jiang Cha was simply called Jiang Cha.

When it came to Luo Yan, it was “Ms. Luo.”

Following the entertainment industry’s principle of praising the high and trampling the low, this was nothing unusual.

However, Jiang Cha lowered her eyes slightly and looked over.

Luo Yan’s makeup and styling were completely different. She was wearing a military green uniform, her black hair was pulled back, and she was wearing a small hat. With her red lips and snow-white skin, and a cold look in her eyes, it seemed like she was already in character as soon as the camera was pointed at her.

With her hands casually stuffed into the pockets of her military pants, she tilted her chin slightly, her eyes holding a condescending coldness.

With a few clicks, the angle was constantly changing.

“Perfect, perfect,” the photographer said, looking down at the photos. “The two of you together for a photo, we’ll use it for the poster.”

A few more photos were taken.

The stills had already been released, and both of them had their own unique characteristics and were very photogenic. The comments were positive.

The on-set assistant sat with her on the sofa, scalding teacups on the tea table over and over again. Ji Fan looked at her and asked, “Can I come to visit the set whenever I want during filming?”

“Yes,” the assistant said. “You can come whenever you want, just one thing, keep your voice down so you don’t affect the on-set recording.”

Ji Fan nodded.

“Is it tiring to film?”

The assistant was startled, and then started talking.

“Actually, filming is quite tiring. It’s early spring now, the weather isn’t too hot yet, and the environment is pretty good. But in summer, it’s miserable. Sometimes you have to wear several layers of thick costumes and film under the sun, without air conditioning or fans. Every summer during filming, some people get heatstroke.”

“And sometimes when we film, we have to go to the countryside to shoot on location, and the food is just boxed lunches, which are very, very bad. Of course, our crew has your funding, so the actors’ food should be quite good.”

She continued to ramble on, half complaining and half reminiscing, telling Ji Fan about some of the difficulties of filming, saying that the hard work of filming was nothing, the real thing that made directors and actors collapse was when the finished product was poorly received by the audience.

“No matter how much effort you put into it, something that took so long to complete being criticized as worthless is the most painful thing.”

Ji Fan just quietly looked at Jiang Cha in the distance, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly, her expression slightly reserved.

---

A/N: This chapter and the previous chapter have been revised, has Ji’s image improved a bit?