Jiang Yuanheng was even easier to coax than Pei Yan. Su Zhiyi had never coaxed a man that easily—just by saying she wasn't close to Pei Yan, Jiang Yuanheng tactfully dropped the subject. The restaurant Jiang Yuanheng had chosen was a Michelin-starred one. He provided Su Zhiyi with plenty of emotional value, not only politely pulling out her chair but also letting her decide what to order. It was Su Zhiyi's second time eating with Jiang Yuanheng, and the experience was just as pleasant. After the meal, Jiang Yuanheng drove her home.
"What are your plans for the next few days?"
"The tour's over, so I have no schedule for the rest of the month." After answering Su Zhiyi's question, Jiang Yuanheng asked in return, "I have no work, so I gave my assistant time off too. I'm a bit bored these days. I want to stay here and shoot scenes with you. Is that okay?"
When he smiled, his little canine teeth peeked out. "I can be your temporary assistant. I'll carry your bag, hold your clothes, touch up your makeup—whatever you want, I'll do it."
"Ah..." Su Zhiyi thought for a moment, not rushing to agree. She didn't have an assistant and had to do everything herself on set. She wanted an assistant, but her shady company squeezed every penny out of their artists and employees. They didn't provide assistants, and her agent was stretched so thin managing multiple artists that she sometimes couldn't keep up. Having a well-behaved, good-looking assistant to take care of her sounded nice.
"You want to be my assistant?" Su Zhiyi agreed readily. "Okay."
"Really?" Jiang Yuanheng's excited tone gradually shifted to a gentle concern for Su Zhiyi. "Actually, I saw you filming all day without a break, and there's no assistant to look after you. It really broke my heart."
"It's fine," Su Zhiyi said. "I can take care of myself, but of course, it's better to have someone by my side. Otherwise, there's no one familiar on set to chat with."
Jiang Yuanheng asked, "So you agreed because you like talking with me?"
Su Zhiyi laughed. "Of course. I told you I like hearing you talk."
Jiang Yuanheng said, "Then I'll have to talk with you a lot more, so you don't find me boring and fire me as your assistant."
"Oh~" Su Zhiyi drew out the syllable. "Assistant Jiang better chat with me well and not bore me, because I don't need a boring assistant."
"Understood." Jiang Yuanheng answered readily. "I'll make sure you know I'm an interesting person."
Jiang Yuanheng dropped Su Zhiyi off at the hotel arranged by the production. Since he wasn't part of the crew and the hotel near Hengdian was mostly booked by other filming groups, he had to find another place to stay. After agreeing to meet the next day, Su Zhiyi watched Jiang Yuanheng's Bentley disappear into the sea of cars. She wanted to stay out longer, but there wasn't much free time after joining the set. Even now, she still had work to handle—like the new script that had been sitting in her bag.
Back in her hotel room, Su Zhiyi freshened up, washed off her fatigue, changed into pajamas, and leaned against the headboard to finally look at the new script. It wasn't thick, meaning the director hadn't written too many romantic scenes for her and Pei Yan. After all, they weren't the leads; too many would overwhelm the main plot. She flipped to the first page and froze the moment she saw the first scene.
A... kissing scene?
Su Zhiyi: "...?" She stared at those lines for at least five minutes, breaking down each word. Her pupils quaked countless times in that short span. She simply couldn't picture herself and Pei Yan as "Jiang Ruyue" and "Cheng Feng" kissing. Her eyelids twitched, and she silently closed the script.
"System, who wrote this script?" Su Zhiyi clutched the script, grinding her teeth.
She had read the original novel. There was no kissing scene between the Regent and the Princess! She had kissed men before, but she had never acted out kissing a man! Having so many people watch her kiss someone was basically a public humiliation. Moreover, she had already agreed to let Jiang Yuanheng be her assistant, and assistants naturally follow artists. She couldn't imagine what would happen when Jiang Yuanheng saw it—more passive-aggressive exchanges with Pei Yan.
"Host, I'll search the database!" This information wasn't hard to find, and System 030 quickly located it. "The head screenwriter and the original author wrote it overnight under the director's guidance. Host, you should know that the original author has been shipping the Regent and the Princess for a long time. Once they started writing, they went all out, forgot themselves... and then, um, wrote three kissing scenes."
Su Zhiyi's beautiful eyes widened again, and she gasped. "Wait, what did you say? Not only is there a kissing scene, but three kissing scenes?!"
"Haha... yes, yes." System 030 hastily explained. "Host, you need to know that healthy romantic relationships are no longer popular in entertainment literature. Modern young people, after being repressed for so long, love unhealthy relationships. The most popular are taboo romances, like brother-sister stories, uncle stories, adoptive father stories—those kinds of taboo loves are the hottest."
"Also, in the drama, the Regent is the sworn brother of the Princess's father, her uncle, and also the adoptive father who raised her. With the double boost of uncle and adoptive father tropes, the director is very optimistic about your CP with Pei Yan. He's already arranged for people to write promotional material overnight, ready to launch a massive marketing campaign after your first kissing scene."
"..." Su Zhiyi asked, "Does Pei Yan know all this?"
"Mm... yes, he knows everything." System 030 said. "Not only does he know, but after reading the script, he also asked the screenwriter and original author to add one more kissing scene."
"Oh..." Su Zhiyi responded weakly.
"Host, it seems like Pei Yan has a crush on you!" System 030 chirped cheerfully.
"Take out the 'seems like.'" Su Zhiyi said.
"Take out the 'seems like'..." System 030 said innocently. "Then it means Pei Yan has a crush on you!"
"See, you can tell too." Su Zhiyi said with resignation.
Pei Yan was useful—his connections and resources in the entertainment industry were things she could leverage. But she couldn't let their relationship develop further. If Pei Yan wanted, he could easily find out that her persona was all fabricated by her company, and from there, he'd dig into her real identity. Her fans, Pei Yan's fans—there were too many uncertainties. If she were to date someone in this world, it would have to be an outsider, someone powerful and wealthy, a well-known figure in high society, so even if paparazzi caught her, it would confirm her identity as the heiress of a prestigious Beijing family.
"If only I were really a Beijing heiress slumming it in the industry," she sighed from the bottom of her heart. Then there wouldn't be so many complications—she could promote CP with whoever she wanted, pick any script, not fear haters or paparazzi digging up her identity, and break her contract with the shady company without any worries.
Forget it... She would take no initiative, no rejection, no response. She would maintain the status quo with Pei Yan until the mission was over. It seemed the latest kissing scene was scheduled for the day after tomorrow, and she hadn't memorized the lines yet. Resigned, Su Zhiyi opened the script and began silently reciting the lines. After nearly an hour of familiarizing herself with the script, she had mostly memorized the lines for the next few scenes, and drowsiness crept in. She closed the script and was about to turn off the light when her phone, which had been silent on the bedside table, pinged with a new message notification.
She picked up the phone and saw a message from Pei Yan, and... a friend request?
[You have accepted [Yu]'s friend request. You can now chat!]
[Su Zhiyi: Hello, may I ask who you are?]
Su Zhiyi already knew who it was upon seeing the name "Yu," but she still asked politely.
[Yu: Gu Yu.]
[Su Zhiyi: Hello, President Gu. I've saved your contact info.]
[Su Zhiyi: May I ask if there's something you need?]
[Gu Yu: Are you interested in a jewelry endorsement?]
[Gu Yu: The Greta jewelry endorsement.]
[Su Zhiyi: Ah?]
Su Zhiyi knew Greta jewelry—it was a luxury brand with high visibility and high prices. Such high-end jewelry usually chose influential celebrities as ambassadors. She... wasn't quite at that level yet, was she?
[Su Zhiyi: President Gu, I don't quite understand what you mean.]
[Su Zhiyi: Are you saying you want me to take this endorsement?]
[Gu Yu: Yes.]
Now Su Zhiyi was completely confused. She and Gu Yu weren't from the same company. Why would he give such a good high-end jewelry endorsement to her instead of one of his own company's stars? Gu Yu quickly cleared things up.
[Gu Yu: Originally, our company planned to give this endorsement to Gu Yumo, but her schedule is full next month.]
[Gu Yu: Greta is invested by the Gu family, so I have the say in who endorses it. Xinghui Entertainment has plenty of resources; this one isn't a loss.]
[Gu Yu: Gu Yumo is your fan, and I'm her brother, so we decided to pass this endorsement to you.]
Su Zhiyi's furrowed brow relaxed. This was a gift from heaven. She didn't need to weigh pros and cons—this endorsement was nothing but beneficial to her. Previous endorsements had been scraps from her company, like snacks from small workshops and obscure daily necessities. But this was a high-end jewelry that even high society bought...
[Su Zhiyi: Thank you for President Gu and your sister's kindness!]
[Su Zhiyi: Could you please discuss this endorsement with my agent? It's completely fine on my end!]
Gu Yu saw Su Zhiyi's message, paused for a moment, then replied.
[Gu Yu: No need to call me President Gu.]
[Gu Yu: I'll arrange for someone to contact your company and your agent. Focus on your filming.]
This was the second time Gu Yu had asked her not to call him President Gu. This time, Su Zhiyi didn't refuse and used a more familiar term to bridge the gap between them.
[Su Zhiyi: Okay, then I'll call you Brother Gu~]