Chapter 7

“What are you doing?” Meng Yi’an asked in a deep voice.

Assistant Wu, who was about to leave, froze in place. He turned around mechanically, unable to say a word. Looking at Meng Yi’an’s cold expression, Assistant Wu started to doubt his own intelligence. How could he have thought that Meng Yi’an cared about Shen Yan? If he hadn’t thought that, why would he have picked up the necklace and even had it repaired, then returned it?

The jewelry box on the desk seemed out of place. Meng Yi’an walked over, opened it, and his expression showed no sign of emotion.

Assistant Wu quickly tried to explain, “Mr. Meng, I—”

With a clink, the jewelry box, along with the necklace inside, was thrown into the trash can. Meng Yi’an said, “I don’t like it when people make decisions for me.”

Assistant Wu broke into a cold sweat. “I understand, Mr. Meng. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”

Leaving Meng Yi’an’s office, Assistant Wu felt like he had overthought everything. How could Meng Yi’an care about Shen Yan? He would only hate her, after all. Shen Yan had rejected him for his lack of money when she chose her career, and broke up with him because of it.

Meng Yi’an grabbed a swivel chair and sat down. He lowered his gaze at the trash can, staring at the items inside for a long time. Then, he squatted down in front of the trash can, his voice hoarse. “I told you I would make money. Why didn’t you believe me?”

His voice wasn’t one of grievance, but cold and somewhat bewildered.

He pulled the necklace out of the trash and tossed it into a drawer, then locked it. As Meng Yi’an relaxed his fingers, the key to the drawer fell into the trash can.

The next day, Shen Yan officially began shooting. Since she didn’t have an assistant, the crew’s assistant handed her the schedule for the day. Shen Yan quickly glanced over it. Her scenes would wrap up in just a few days.

As for He Han, Shen Yan thought she would probably be filming for much longer since she played the maid of the female lead, and had many scenes with the female lead, so she would likely finish shooting around the same time as the first female lead.

When Shen Yan arrived at the set, the assistant director who was handing out lunch boxes gave her a breakfast. “Make sure to act well.”

Shen Yan: “………”

In order to match the pure and clean image of Lan Fei, her makeup and costume were designed accordingly.

She wore a light blue robe, with a single white jade hairpin in her hair, a simple look. But this style made Shen Yan seem distant, as if one shouldn’t approach her for fear of disturbing her.

Her eyes, like washed water, seemed to have something hidden in them. Yet they didn’t give the pure, untainted feeling one might expect. Instead, they had a dreamy quality, as if gazing at a beauty through mist.

She was beautiful, but somewhat out of reach.

When Shen Yan finished her makeup and walked out, many people stared at her in awe. Shen Yan simply sat aside and focused on her script.

The assistant director sat next to her. “Your success will be partly because of me, after all, I’m your mentor.”

Shen Yan paused for a moment and, with a good-natured smile, said, “Okay.”

Shen Yan had come to the set to film, but He Han hadn’t. He Han didn’t have any scenes in the morning and was in her hotel room, talking on the phone.

“Shen Yan is bullying me.”

“You don’t know how much I hate her. She uses her good relationship with the assistant director to bully me.”

“The lead actress also thinks the assistant director and Shen Yan are close and bullies me too.”

The person on the phone with He Han was another artist from Zhou Ruo’s team, Chu Chu. Hearing He Han’s words, Chu Chu replied, “Shen Yan is relying on her better resources compared to you. If you beat her, she definitely won’t dare to do this. Why don’t you… let her lose to you?”

He Han: “You think I don’t want to win? How can I win? In a bit, I still have to bow to her in the scene.”

Chu Chu laughed and then said, “Your boyfriend, a web drama—invest a little, and you’re an investor. Change your role, no problem. Or let the screenwriter turn your role into a consort, and then let Shen Luo bow to you.”

He Han hesitated. “My boyfriend…”

Chu Chu: “Your boyfriend made money from stocks.”

“Ah?”

“You told me your boyfriend put all his money into stocks. You were thinking of breaking up with him, but his stocks made a profit. Investing in a web drama is easy.”

Hearing this, He Han thought about asking the screenwriter to change her role, having Shen Yan bow to her, and getting the assistant director and others to flatter her. She quickly said, “What break up? I’m just doing this for his sake. How could I break up with him when I like him so much?” After saying that, she added, “I’ll talk to you later.”

In the morning, Shen Yan filmed her scenes where she enters the palace as a female scholar, and then took a break. In the afternoon, she was scheduled to film her scenes with the emperor. However, in the afternoon, Director Li Jun got angry because He Han had taken a leave.

Initially, Li Jun had planned to change the actress, but after looking at Shen Yan, he said, “Hurry up and film. Assistant director, why are you standing there? Don’t you have to order lunch boxes?”

Assistant Director: “Huh, order lunch boxes?”

Li Jun: “Start by watching them buy vegetables from the market.”

Assistant Director: “………”

Shen Yan spoke up directly, “I’m not familiar with He Han.” After saying that, she moved to her spot and began preparing for the scene.

Not only is Shen Yan beautiful, but her portrayal of Lan Fei also fits her temperament perfectly. She just needed to casually perform the role, and that was enough for her to perform well. So far, she hadn’t had any issues with her individual scenes, especially her lines—she hadn’t made a single mistake.

Although Li Jun didn’t like Shen Yan’s statement about not being familiar with He Han, he still acknowledged her acting skills.

Shen Yan easily completed the scenes for the day and returned to the hotel. She had things to do—she needed to check on the audition results and other matters. Zhou Ruo had so many artists under her management, and even though Shen Yan had landed a role in a web drama, Zhou Ruo wouldn’t promote her. She kept her resources for the artists she personally favored.

He Han returned after dinner. She entered the room, and her gaze toward Shen Yan was filled with pride. Then, she silently washed up and went to bed.

Shen Yan didn’t respond to He Han and continued looking at the audition news online.

He Han disapproved of Shen Yan’s attitude toward her. She said, “Shen Yan, do you really dislike me that much? Well, I dislike you too. I’ll be moving out tomorrow because my boyfriend is going to invest in this web drama.”

After waiting for a while, Shen Yan was still focused on the audition news and didn’t respond to He Han.

He Han thought that Shen Yan was just pretending to be calm. She imagined that once her boyfriend came as an investor the next day, she wouldn’t want to deal with Shen Yan anymore, because Shen Yan was on a different level. Once her boyfriend became the investor for the role of Consort Chen, dealing with Shen Yan would be easy.

After looking at the audition requirements for a decent actor, Shen Yan walked over to He Han and yanked her up. “You’re moving out?”

He Han was momentarily stunned, then said, “Did you not understand? My boyfriend is going to invest in this web drama. If I want, not only can I change rooms, I can even make sure you get kicked out of the entire crew. You won’t even be able to be an extra in this drama!”

Shen Yan: “But your boyfriend isn’t an investor yet.” After that, Shen Yan grabbed He Han’s pillow and blanket from the bed and threw them onto the floor. She bent down, and with a firm tone, said to He Han, who had fallen back onto the bed after Shen Yan let go of her: “You dislike me and target me? Well, as soon as your boyfriend becomes an investor, I have ways to get you out of this room.”

“You…” He Han didn’t expect Shen Yan to be so arrogant. She laughed. “Right now, all you can do is target me. Tomorrow, I’ll make sure you get kicked out of the crew. No, I’ll make you an extra and watch me film my scenes!”

A minute later, Shen Yan locked He Han out of the room. The sound of the door slamming shut was harsh.

Shen Yan felt that if He Han’s boyfriend was really going to become an investor for the role of Consort Chen, then there was no use in trying to please He Han. Besides, Shen Yan wasn’t going to please her now, and she definitely wouldn’t do so after her rebirth. Why should she let herself suffer? It was better to just kick He Han out.

Knock, knock, knock—the sound of someone knocking on the door echoed.

“Shen Yan, open the door!”

“As soon as my boyfriend becomes the investor, I’ll make you bow to me and stand outside in the rain knocking on the door.”

“Shen Yan, open the door!”

Shen Yan locked the door from the inside and continued browsing the information online.

The knocking lasted for a few minutes before it stopped. After a while, the voice of the assistant director came from outside the door.

Assistant Director: “Shen Yan?”

The assistant director had a good relationship with Shen Yan, at least he thought so. So, he assumed this was He Han’s fault. After knocking on the door, he said, “Come out for a moment. I’ll stand up for you.”

He Han said from the side, “Assistant Director, what do you mean by this?”

The assistant director was angry, “What do you mean by that? I know I’m the assistant director, not the director, but I’ll become a director in the future!”

He Han: “You’re just making excuses!”

Assistant Director: “I’m not dealing with this anymore!”

He Han: “………”

Because of He Han’s boyfriend investing in the drama, the director returned to City A. So He Han could only go to the assistant director. He Han thought that the assistant director would help her because of her boyfriend’s involvement as an investor, but instead, the assistant director said he wouldn’t get involved.

That night, He Han moved to another room. She contacted Director Li Jun through the hotel front desk, and Li Jun arranged a new room for her. This meant that Li Jun and He Han’s boyfriend had finalized the investment deal.

Early the next morning, when Shen Yan went to the set, the assistant director pulled her aside. “He Han’s boyfriend has finalized the investment with the crew. He Han took another leave, saying she’ll come back to the set once her boyfriend arrives at the film city.”

Shen Yan responded, “Assistant Director, where’s breakfast?”

Assistant Director: “………”