Chen Yang’s unexpected appearance disrupted all of Qi Yunrou’s calculations, rendering her carefully laid plans utterly futile.

Shortly after Chen Yang and Yuan Xi exited the dressing room, Liang Hao followed, his expression sour. His puzzled gaze landed on Qi Yunrou as if silently asking why she had lied.

Qi Yunrou avoided his eyes, deliberately turning her gaze elsewhere.

Liang Hao frowned but, mindful of Chen Yang’s presence nearby, refrained from approaching her to confront the issue.

Director Yu glanced at Chen Yang, his expression briefly shifting before settling into a neutral, cheerful facade, as if completely unaware of the situation. Seeing that Liang Hao and Yuan Xi were already in full makeup, he quickly signaled for the crew to get ready and begin filming.

Chen Yang nodded at the director and found a seat. While he focused primarily on watching Yuan Xi act, a part of his attention lingered on Qi Yunrou.

From the moment Cheng Xiaoke had reported to him, Chen Yang had already deduced who was behind the scenes.

What surprised him, however, was the sheer recklessness of Qi Yunrou’s actions. Despite knowing full well that Yuan Xi was under Chen Yang’s management, she had still resorted to such petty and underhanded tactics.

Qi Yunrou herself hadn’t expected Chen Yang to personally show up on set. Back when she was signed under his management, Chen Yang rarely accompanied her to shoots, typically delegating such tasks to assistants.

It was precisely this assumption that emboldened Qi Yunrou to employ these low-level schemes against Yuan Xi without fear of repercussions.

What Qi Yunrou hadn’t anticipated was Chen Yang showing up at the set in person. Even without saying a word, his mere presence rendered all her previous efforts futile. Although Chen Yang wasn’t an actor, he was a renowned agent whose name carried significant weight in the entertainment industry.

With Chen Yang now directly involved in the production, he didn’t need to introduce himself. Anyone in the crew with even a basic understanding of the industry could immediately identify him as Yuan Xi’s agent.

“Brother Chen, about Qi Yunrou…” Cheng Xiaoke handed Chen Yang a cup of hot water.

Chen Yang glanced at Qi Yunrou, a hint of both mockery and self-awareness flashing in his eyes. “Don’t bother with her for now. Yuan Xi’s troubles won’t be resolved so easily. Keep a close watch—Qi Yunrou isn’t likely to give up that easily.”

Cheng Xiaoke nodded but suddenly remembered something. She fished her phone out of her pocket, pulled up a screen, and handed it to Chen Yang. “Oh, by the way, Brother Chen, take a look at this.”

“What is it?” Chen Yang asked, raising an eyebrow as he took the phone and glanced at the screen.

The next moment, his posture straightened. “The lead actress of Beauty’s Makeup is in trouble? Where did you hear this? How come I didn’t know about it?”

Cheng Xiaoke grinned sheepishly and waved her hand dismissively. “Secret. But trust me, it’s 80% accurate. Oh, and I found out Qi Yunrou seems really interested in that role. She’s been meeting with the director behind the scenes lately.”

Chen Yang chuckled, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, though deep down, he wasn’t shocked at all.

He had understood what kind of person Qi Yunrou was ever since she chose to leave his management. Moreover, Qi Yunrou had already shown interest in Beauty’s Makeup back when the script first circulated. Now that the lead actress was in trouble, it was inevitable she would make her move.

After all, Beauty’s Makeup had far more prestige and potential than With You for the Rest of My Life. Anyone with half a brain could see which project offered better prospects.

What surprised Chen Yang was Qi Yunrou’s audacity. Despite With You for the Rest of My Life being officially announced and already in production, she was still scheming about other projects. It was a risky move—directors, whether big or small, universally despised such behavior in the entertainment industry.

Although Yu Xinglong couldn’t compare to the director of Beauty’s Makeup, he was still a relatively well-known director in his own right. Qi Yunrou’s actions were clearly a sign of her disregard for him.

Chen Yang, still looking at the messages on his phone, suddenly smiled and said. “You don’t need to worry about Qi Yunrou for now. I’ve arranged an advertisement for Xiao Xi. In a few days, go with him to the shoot.”

“Oh, okay. What about you?” Cheng Xiaoke asked, a bit confused. Although she didn’t understand why they suddenly didn’t need to keep an eye on Qi Yunrou, she still obediently nodded.

“I’ve got something to handle, but I’ll go later.”

The shoot between Liang Hao and Yuan Xi went very smoothly. The number of NGs combined was less than ten. Despite being a newcomer, Yuan Xi’s acting was solid. He had been observing and asking for advice during the shoot, so there were rarely any issues during their scenes together.

Yuan Xi and Liang Hao’s scenes wrapped up much quicker than expected, leaving a lot of free time afterward. Yu Xinglong glanced at Chen Yang, although he was tempted to continue filming, he decided to stop for a moment and give Chen Yang some time to address matters.

Yu Xinglong didn’t think Chen Yang came to the set just to be Yuan Xi’s backup or to dispel rumors.

In reality, Chen Yang’s primary reason for visiting was to set the record straight, with the discussion about the advertisement coming second.

After Yuan Xi finished his scene, Yu Xinglong glanced at Qi Yunrou in the corner. She was still holding the script, but her expression showed she was mentally absent, clearly not focused on her work. Even though Yu Xinglong knew her mind was elsewhere, he couldn’t really say anything about it.

The person who brought her in was Liang Hao, and Liang Hao was the son of an investor. When he agreed to have Qi Yunrou join, it was because he was impressed by her fame. However, he didn’t expect Qi Yunrou’s acting to be so lackluster, especially in some of the more prominent scenes, where she appeared…

Yu Xinglong noticed this and shot an unhappy glance at Liang Hao before signaling for Xia Wenru to begin filming the scenes with the male lead and the female supporting role.

Yuan Xi had paid attention to Xia Wenru’s acting before. While it couldn’t be said to be outstanding, it was certainly better than Qi Yunrou’s. However, Xia Wenru’s fame wasn’t as high as Qi Yunrou’s, and there were actors with better acting skills than Xia Wenru who had been considered for the role. In the end, though, Xia Wenru was chosen.

At first, Yuan Xi had wondered about this and, after asking Cheng Xiaoke, learned that Xia Wenru had actually come in through connections.

But whether Xia Wenru entered through connections or not didn’t matter to Yuan Xi. He was too distracted by the news about Chen Yang to care.

“Brother Chen, I’m… shooting an ad cover?” Yuan Xi was doubtful about the news that he would be shooting an advertisement. “I don’t have any works or fame. Can I really do this?”

Yuan Xi felt a bit insecure. As a newcomer without any representative works, he found it hard to believe that he would be chosen for an ad or that advertisers would notice him.

Chen Yang gave Yuan Xi’s head a gentle pat, laughing softly. “Do you really think I’m just a figurehead as a manager? And you’re actually lucky this time. The client needed an artist with a gentle, obedient image, and your look just happens to fit, so you got picked.”

Yuan Xi stared at Chen Yang in disbelief, not expecting something this good to happen. A silly smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

=^_^=