"You're mistaken." Pei Yan's voice was as cold as ever. "I'm far more powerful and influential than you imagine. If you try any tricks, I won't hesitate to use my connections in the industry."
He dropped this threat in a flat tone.
After saying this, the director called out from the set: "Pei Yan! It's time for your scene with Zhiyi!"
"Take care of yourself."
Pei Yan smoothed his wide robes, didn't spare Jiang Yuanheng a glance, and walked steadily toward the filming area.
Naturally, he didn't see Jiang Yuanheng staring intently at him from behind.
His eyes were cold and venomous, like a snake's—the kind of look that wanted to tear him apart in anger.
Jiang Yuanheng quickly reined in the viciousness in his eyes, replaced them with his usual expression, and curled the corners of his lips slightly, turning back into the innocent, sunny person he had been in front of Su Zhiyi.
If Jiejie saw that... she would definitely be scared, right?
*
"Wait, Zhiyi, don't leave yet."
After filming ended, Su Zhiyi removed her makeup and changed into her regular clothes. She was about to leave when the director stopped her.
Jiang Yuanheng's car was still parked at the entrance of the set. He had been waiting for her to finish filming so they could go eat together. She was exhausted after a long day and wanted to rest, and she wondered what the director wanted.
Su Zhiyi stood respectfully in front of the director. "Is there something, Director Zhou?"
"Yes, there is." The director held the script in his hand and glanced at her packed bag. "Do you have time? I'd like to discuss the script with you. It won't take long, just about ten minutes."
"Ten minutes..."
Su Zhiyi pulled out her phone, checked the time, opened her chat with Jiang Yuanheng, quickly sent "Wait for me half an hour," and put her phone away.
"No problem. Where should we talk?"
"Right here."
The director pulled the nearest chair and sat down in the dressing room. He opened his script and, seeing Su Zhiyi sit down in front of him, looked down at the pages and cut straight to the chase. "Can you handle a romantic scene?"
"Ah... ah?" Su Zhiyi was stunned by the question. "What kind of romantic scene?"
She had read her script hundreds of times before joining the cast to act well, and she had never seen any romantic plot involving her!
"Here's the thing, Zhiyi. Let me explain slowly."
The director spoke slowly. He handed Su Zhiyi a brand-new script and explained step by step.
"Pei Yan came to me yesterday and said he wanted to add some scenes. Since the original novel only had the Regent interacting more with the Princess, and our previous script already cut down on your scenes with him, adding more can only happen on your end."
After explaining why they needed to add romantic scenes, he started listing the benefits.
"You know, Pei Yan is an excellent actor with huge popularity. As long as it doesn't affect the other actors' roles, having more of his scenes actually benefits us. It's good for you too—who knows, you might even become an overnight sensation because of it..."
The more Su Zhiyi listened, the more she felt something was off. She couldn't take it anymore and interrupted, "Hold on, Director Zhou."
"Huh?" The interrupted director stopped talking and listened attentively. "Is there a problem?"
Su Zhiyi knew that the director had initially wanted to add some romantic scenes between her and Pei Yan, then use their chemistry to promote the show. But the system had told her that Pei Yan had flat-out rejected Director Zhou, indicating that Pei Yan didn't want to have romantic scenes with her or get involved in CP promotion.
Now the director suddenly came to tell her that he had arranged romantic scenes for her and Pei Yan, and even planned to use them for promotion?!
What a joke!
"I do have a question." Su Zhiyi said, "Doesn't Best Actor Pei refuse romantic scenes? Does he know about this?"
After hearing her question, the director smiled calmly instead.
"Oh, you're asking about that."
He patiently answered her doubts. "Of course he doesn't mind. He came to me himself about adding scenes, and he also brought up adding romantic content."
"Let me think how he put it... He said that if all his scenes with you were cut, your characters in the drama wouldn't be well-rounded. So after some thought, he decided to add them back."
At this point, the director found it strange. He had been in the industry long enough to know Pei Yan's temperament. Pei Yan never took scripts with romantic plots and never paired up with other actors for CP promotion. He knew that his commercial drama didn't match Pei Yan's caliber; Pei Yan was friends with the Gu siblings and had only come as a guest star at their invitation. Pei Yan's guest appearance was practically charity for their crew. Pei Yan's scenes were supposed to wrap up tomorrow, but yesterday he suddenly came to him, saying he wanted to add back the deleted scenes. His reasoning was: "If my romantic scenes are all deleted, it's bad for both me and Miss Su. Without them, I'm just a plot device who dies early, and she's just a tool to advance the main couple's relationship."
At that time, hearing Pei Yan say he was willing to act in romantic scenes, the director was overjoyed. He immediately agreed, and even stayed up all night to write the new script for Pei Yan and Su Zhiyi with the screenwriter.
"I want to hear your opinion—whether you're willing to have more scenes and do CP promotion with Pei Yan."
Su Zhiyi wanted to agree, but she had concerns. For instance, her reputation was terrible...
Seeing her hesitation, the director thought of her not-so-good reputation online.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
"As for the public opinion online, we've arranged a professional team to control it. Pei Yan's side also has a PR team. You know how efficient his team is."
"So, Zhiyi, you can rest assured. Just focus on your acting. Leave the rest to us."
Su Zhiyi's furrowed brow gradually relaxed. Her only worry was that if she and Pei Yan promoted CP, Pei Yan's fans would tear her apart—a pretty-faced actress with no talent—and someone might dig up her identity. But with Pei Yan's PR team controlling the narrative and Pei Yan's cooperation, she could rest easy. Last time, when a paparazzi accidentally caught them outside a hotel, Pei Yan protected her privacy, weathered the storm without revealing her identity, and even sued the gossip accounts and the paparazzi. Judging by his attitude, Pei Yan would definitely protect her.
Best Actor Pei Yan, who never accepted romantic scenes, was willing to act in romantic scenes with her and do CP promotion... When passersby saw that, they would definitely be shocked by her connections and backing.
Su Zhiyi suddenly smiled, her sweet smile tinged with delight. "Really? I actually really like Best Actor Pei. Having more scenes with him is a pleasant surprise for me." She smiled sweetly. "If Best Actor Pei knows, then I'm relieved."
"Whew..."
The director relaxed, let out a breath, closed his script, and stood up. "That's good. Since both of you agree, I'll arrange your scenes over the next few days."
"Thank you for your hard work, Director Zhou."
"Mm, it's you who's working hard. Your schedule will be busy these days." The director nodded. "Isn't your singer friend... Jiang Yuanheng still waiting for you? Go ahead. Don't keep him waiting."
"Then I'll take my leave, Director Zhou. See you tomorrow!"
Su Zhiyi put away her new script, gave a slight bow, and left the dressing room.
Everyone in the entertainment industry knew that Jiang Yuanheng was the young master of a wealthy family. He wasn't low-key; when visiting Su Zhiyi's set, he drove a Bentley. Security had already dispersed the fans, and only a Bentley was parked at the entrance.
Jiang Yuanheng sat in the driver's seat with the window rolled down. His phone screen showed the chat with Su Zhiyi, and he occasionally looked up toward the entrance. When he saw her walk out, he smiled and raised his hand to wave.
Su Zhiyi smiled back, walked to the Bentley, opened the passenger door, and sat down.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Director Zhou just pulled me aside to discuss the script."
"As long as I can see you, Jiejie, it's never too long to wait."
Jiang Yuanheng waited until Su Zhiyi fastened her seatbelt before driving off. "It's my treat today. I can't bear to let you pay." He said lightly, "A friend recommended a restaurant nearby. He said he's been there a few times and the food is good. My first thought was to take you there."
"Oh~" Su Zhiyi's voice rose slightly like a little hook. "You're so thoughtful."
"I was also worried about where to take you for dinner. I always get so indecisive about these things."
She had also been worrying about how to treat Jiang Yuanheng to a meal with just 100 yuan. Since he offered to pay, she wouldn't be polite.
Jiang Yuanheng drove and chatted with Su Zhiyi about this and that. After a while, he suddenly brought up Pei Yan.
"Jiejie, when did you get to know Brother Pei?"
Su Zhiyi recalled the standoff between Jiang Yuanheng and Pei Yan that afternoon, and her heart pounded hard. Even though Jiang Yuanheng had also taunted Pei Yan about being old, she still felt sorry for him. It was strange.
She didn't think much about it and spoke the comforting words she had prepared. Her voice was as soft as water, like a caring older sister comforting a hurt little neighbor boy.
"I'm not close to him. I never expected to be in a drama with him. I've only seen his shows. This is the first time I've met him in person."
"Oh..." Jiang Yuanheng's sunny smile deepened. "So you're not close to him."
"Seeing how he acted, I thought he was very familiar with you."