Chapter 4

Confirming Shen Yan and He Han’s contracts? Sister Zhou asked in confusion, “Didn’t they audition for the role of the maid beside the Empress, Lan Fei? Why are they… signing contracts together?”

The staff member from the Empress Chen team explained, “He Han auditioned for the maid role, and Shen Yan also auditioned for a maid role. But when Shen Yan auditioned, our assistant director was impressed by her, so they immediately confirmed her for the role of the concubine, Lan Fei. It’s also quite an important role.”

Sister Zhou was stunned, but after thinking it over, it seemed that since Shen Yan had come, she hadn’t given Shen Yan a chance to say which role she passed for.

Looking at Sister Zhou, He Han felt a little flustered for some reason but maintained a smug expression. She passed the audition, so it was her success.

Sister Zhou went to a corner to discuss the pay.

He Han tucked her long hair behind her ear, assuming a senior’s demeanor. “Shen Yan, you look good, but the problem is, you’re too beautiful. The crew can’t let you outshine the lead actress. I suggest that next time you audition for a supporting role, maybe try to hide your beauty.” After saying that, she even laughed.

What use is your beauty, Shen Yan? You’re still no match for me, He Han.

Shen Yan slightly parted her red lips and said, “Do you know what scene your character has?”

He Han was taken aback. “Huh?”

In the next moment, Shen Yan raised her hand and slapped He Han across the face. Leaning down, she whispered, “You’re supposed to be slapped. Let me help you rehearse, so you don’t embarrass yourself when you’re acting with your looks and poor acting skills.” Her voice was as clear and pleasant as her appearance, flowing like a calm stream, and she said it with a certain justification.

Afterward, Shen Yan straightened up and gazed out the window.

“You… you…” He Han covered her reddened cheek. She wanted to strike Shen Yan back but stopped herself, as they were in her agent’s office. Then, tears streamed down her face. Shen Yan, however, was unmoved.

Shen Yan wasn’t interested in dealing with He Han, and her thoughts wandered off to what she would have for dinner.

Both Shen Yan and He Han were unknowns, and the drama was a low-budget web series, so their pay would be low. Sister Zhou tried to raise their pay, but in the end, it was still very little.

When they returned, Sister Zhou saw He Han looking pitiful, with tear stains on her cheeks and glistening tears still in her eyes.

Sister Zhou ignored He Han and asked Shen Yan, “You passed for Lan Fei?”

Shen Yan nodded faintly and replied with a soft “Mm.”

Lan Fei, which Lan Fei??

He Han had no idea about the Lan Fei role, but seeing Sister Zhou’s attitude, she realized that Shen Yan had gotten a better role than hers. She thought about it for a moment, and her expression darkened. She had just told Shen Yan to hide her beauty next time she auditioned. Would Shen Yan now think she was foolish?

At that moment, He Han’s face felt even more painfully hot.

Sister Zhou said a few words to Shen Yan, advising her to perform well, then turned to He Han, “What’s wrong with you?”

“I… I’m acting with Shen Yan.” He Han gritted her teeth. Afterward, she realized her tone wasn’t right and forced a smile at Sister Zhou.

If Shen Yan hadn’t passed for Lan Fei’s role, she could say she was just helping Shen Yan out. But now that Shen Yan had passed the audition, she had no choice but to endure. Moreover, it was obvious that Sister Zhou was leaning toward Shen Yan.

Sister Zhou didn’t want to get involved in the artists’ personal issues and said, “Mm, your acting is good. You both did well. When you join the cast, I’ll send you there.”

After leaving Starry Sky Entertainment, Shen Yan hailed a taxi and headed straight to the supermarket.

There were many things to prepare for joining the crew, and since she didn’t know what she had at home, she decided to buy everything she needed at the supermarket. Afterward, she went back home.

As for dinner, Shen Yan wanted to eat outside because she had things to do. She ended up ordering a barbecue rice.

Back home, Shen Yan tossed the items she bought onto the couch, then went to her bedroom and began throwing clothes out.

She stopped after throwing out about a third of the clothes.

So, Meng Yian gave her all this clothing?

After finishing with the clothes, Shen Yan went to sort through other things that Meng Yian had given her.

Sitting on the floor, Shen Yan wrapped up all the clothes that Meng Yian had given her and then went downstairs to find an old clothes donation box. She stuffed the clothes inside. Fortunately, there were several donation boxes, or she wouldn’t have been able to fit everything in.

Since Shen Yan was holding a lot of clothes, she didn’t pay much attention to the words on the donation box.

When Shen Yan returned, the community manager was showing a reporter around and pointed at the clothes donation box, saying, “Our community has several security guards who come from the mountains, and their living conditions are very tough. So we set up this donation box to collect old clothes for them. The box clearly says so.”

The reporter smiled and asked, “Can I take a look inside the box?”

The community manager replied, “Sure, we’re just about to send the clothes for disinfection and cleaning before sending them to the mountains.” With that, he opened the donation box.

As soon as the box opened, the reporter took a few photos, then pointed to a dress and said, “This one is beautiful.” He was about to say more when he noticed a jewelry box inside. He opened it to find a platinum necklace. “This was donated too?”

The community manager explained, “She probably broke up with her boyfriend, so she threw it away. We’ve found things like this—necklaces, rings—before, and we even asked the residents if anyone accidentally threw it in. But the girl said she broke up with her boyfriend, so she just tossed it.”

After taking a few more photos, the reporter said, “Alright, I’m heading back. Make sure to check tomorrow’s news.”

After throwing away everything Meng Yian had given her, Shen Yan felt a sense of relief. She even went out to eat while shopping for new items, like a new bedding set, because the items she had been using were all to Meng Yian’s liking. Since she had discarded the clothes, she decided to replace everything else.

After eating and shopping, Shen Yan was in a good mood.

A new life was ahead of her. As long as she no longer liked Meng Yian, her life would be full of hope.

The next morning, Shen Yan found herself trending for the first time—though it wasn’t quite trending, since the headline was about “a certain lady.”

Waking up in a daze, Shen Yan picked up her phone and saw a Weibo notification that read: “Should you throw away the things your ex-boyfriend gave you after breaking up?” Shen Yan’s first reaction was to think, “Of course you should throw them away! How else could you start a brand-new life? And maybe your ex-boyfriend would want you to throw them away too.”

For example, the dress Shen Yan wore yesterday was a gift from Meng Yian, and then Meng Yian had ruined the dress by getting it dirty.

Thinking about this, Shen Yan clicked on the Weibo link. As she continued reading, the post started to feel very familiar.

The community name was the same, the old clothes donation box was the same, the clothes in the pictures were the same as the ones she had thrown away, and even the platinum necklace was the same…

This was the stuff she had thrown away yesterday.

The comments below the Weibo post had people supporting the idea of throwing things away, and others saying not to, arguing that as long as you treat those items as ordinary belongings, throwing them away means you still care.

Shen Yan wasn’t really concerned about the items; it was just that what Meng Yian had done yesterday made her feel like he wanted her to throw them away, so she did. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have had any particular attachment to the things he gave her, especially since she no longer had any feelings for him.

Shen Yan tossed her phone aside, rubbed her eyes, and then got out of bed to open the curtains.

In the sunlight, Shen Yan’s skin looked almost radiant, her figure was delicate, and her pure and clean expression, especially when she glanced sideways, made her look like a work of art.

In the afternoon, Zhou Ruo called Shen Yan and told her that they were starting the shoot the next day. She would pick Shen Yan up in the morning, and they would go together to pick up He Han.

There was nothing too deep about it; it was just a matter of convenience, so Shen Yan didn’t think too much of it.

But He Han read too much into it. She thought that Zhou Ruo arranged it this way because Shen Yan had passed the audition for Lan Fei, and she silently made a decision to surpass Shen Yan next time.

“Hello everyone, this is News Express. I’m your host Ning Ning. This morning, a hot search appeared on Weibo with the title: ‘Should you throw away things your ex-boyfriend gave you after breaking up?’ Here’s what happened: A community set up a used clothing donation box for security guards who came from the mountains. Residents of the community could throw away their old clothes and donate them to those in need.”

The car was driving smoothly, and the financial program had turned into a news segment. The driver had initially thought about switching to another radio station but noticed that Meng Yian, sitting in the back, was focused on his laptop, showing no interest in the program. So, the driver decided not to change the station.

Since he didn’t understand the financial program anyway, he just continued listening.

The host, Ning Ning, continued, “But when the reporter was interviewing, they found a platinum necklace inside the donation box. When the reporter asked the community manager, he said that such items are usually thrown away by girls after breaking up with their boyfriends. Oh, and the necklace had the initials ‘MYA’ engraved on it. We don’t know if those initials belong to the girl.”

Meng Yian froze for a moment, his gaze lifting slightly.

MYA, Meng Yian.

As the host continued talking about the hot search, Meng Yian’s long fingers picked up his phone and opened it. Since he didn’t have Weibo downloaded, he first downloaded the app, opened it, and clicked on the hot search.