Capital International Airport terminal.

Passengers from a flight scattered at the exit. Xiao Ning got a luggage cart, and Xi Tang helped. The two loaded several huge suitcases onto the cart and walked toward the exit, one in front and one behind. Ni Kailun came back with coffee, handed a cup to each of them, and then said to Xiao Ning: “Go out and check first.”

Xiao Ning followed orders to scout the situation and quickly returned to report: “Fans are waiting outside.”

Ni Kailun asked: “Not many, right?”

Xiao Ning replied: “The fan club was notified last night. About a dozen came.”

Ni Kailun nodded: “Then let’s exit through the passenger channel.”

Finally, she glared at Huang Xi Tang: “Smile, remember to be warm.”

Xi Tang put on sunglasses, making a full show of status. Her assistant pushed the luggage cart, while her manager followed behind as they walked out of the airport exit.

As soon as they appeared at the exit, besides the fact that no normal person would wear sunglasses at the airport in broad daylight, the fans’ built-in search system quickly spotted Xi Tang. Screams immediately erupted: “Huang Xi Tang!”

“Master Xi! You’re so beautiful!”

Xi Tang slowed her pace, accepted a large bouquet that a young man enthusiastically handed over, and smiled, waving at them.

Suddenly, from somewhere, a group of young girls rushed over, holding Zheng Youtong’s signs and screaming wildly. In an instant, the intimate interaction between the female celebrity and her small fan base dramatically transformed into a chaotic scene of a big star’s arrival. The noise grew so loud that surrounding passengers turned to look. Amid the confusion, a female voice screamed from the crowd, reaching the clouds: “Miss Huang! Please take good care of Brother Tong!”

The entire hall erupted in laughter. Xi Tang almost burst out laughing too.

Comrade Zheng Youtong had already gone to Hong Kong. At this moment, he was probably accompanying his sugar mommy throwing away thousands in some casino around the world.

Xiao Ning stood in front of her, continuously speaking with a warm smile: “Excuse me, be careful, please mind your safety—”

Ni Kailun took her arm and walked toward the business van parked by the road. A large group of fans followed behind them. This top manager in the entertainment circle maintained a face as calm as a lake. With one artist after another rising to fame under her guidance, she had waited for this day for far too long.

The car door closed, shutting out all the noise. Ni Kailun looked at Xi Tang. All her words, reaching her lips, became just a gentle sentence: “Baby, it’s all beginning.”

Xi Tang didn’t answer her. At that moment, her gaze drifted outside. Through the tea-colored glass window, she saw the last touch of gray evening glow on the distant horizon.

In the late autumn of her twenty-sixth year, after exactly five years, Xi Tang returned to Beijing to start work. With one assistant, she formally joined the cast of “The Last Princess.”

Looking at her entire acting career development afterward, this could almost be considered the most important drama in her life. It officially began filming in Beijing on October 6th of that year.

Acting.

Xi Tang loved this for almost her entire life.

A lifetime of wandering through one messy dressing room after another. Colorful powder cases and rouge scattered everywhere. A huge mirror before her. Xi Tang sat in the chair, watching the makeup artist’s skillful hands carefully manipulate, pat, smear, draw, and apply white powder and light red and lake blue on her face. Black hair like clouds was styled into a high bun. Xi Tang saw the face in the mirror slowly changing, gradually taking her soul into another person’s body. From the first day she entered the performance department of the Film Academy, she had been through countless film sets and stages. Every time she passed through the chaotic backstage, walked through that half-lit, half-dark passage, and stood in that small, black waiting area behind the stage curtain, she would close her eyes slightly, rid herself of the surrounding noise, and everything around her would become a dark silence. She would breathe slowly, inhale and exhale, concentrate, gradually forget herself, and enter another person’s world.

In that moment, there were mountains and moonlight shadows before her eyes, sword rain and the martial arts world. She heard her inner voice, like the howling from the deepest part of the ocean.

Xi Tang slowly opened her eyes. The on-site director counted down in her earpiece. Stage music resumed in her ears, or the slate marker on set made a crisp sound, shouting “action.” She lifted her skirt, turned around, made an entrance, and met the eyes of her acting partner. In her pupils, the lights suddenly blazed, and applause from the audience surged over like clouds.

Jin Family’s eldest princess Jin Shunjin: is beautiful with long eyebrows, a high forehead, and phoenix eyes, elegant, tragic, and solitary with a cold clarity.

She became another person. The performance began.

This was the thing she loved most in her life. To be able to do what she loved, no matter how much hardship she endured, she felt it was happiness.

“The Last Princess” was adapted from Ye Guangcen’s novel. Xi Tang had read Mr. Ye’s books in college and liked them very much. The scriptwriter was a major talent in the industry. The director was the famous Feng Gansu, who had previously directed “The Silhouette” and “The Great Tang Dynasty.” On the first day Xi Tang joined the crew for costume photos, while trying on clothes in the dressing room, she met the art director, Mr. Zhang Hongpo.

Every conversation was filled with learned masters.

She vaguely knew that her life had changed.

The main photography set was built in Huairou Film City, with additional filming locations at the Chun Prince’s Palace Garden in the city and the suburbs of Beijing. On the day of the official start, the entire crew gathered in the courtyard to burn incense and worship the gods. Suddenly, reporters who came to interview became restless. Xi Tang stood behind the director and seemed to suddenly see a bright light. Looking closely, she saw a handsome man in the crowd wearing a gray Armani coat, surrounded by assistants and managers, approaching through the throng.

Yin Nan first shook hands with the director, then turned to face Xi Tang, revealing a slight smile. He extended his arm and called out: “Master Xi, how have you been?”

Xi Tang stepped forward, looking up slightly with a smile. Yin Nan reached out his arms, bent down, and embraced her. Xi Tang smiled and lightly touched his shoulder: “Brother Nan.”

Behind them, the media’s cameras clicked in a chorus.

Yin Nan was previously a popular male star at Xingyi Entertainment. Later, as his work focus shifted to Beijing, he transferred to Fenghua Company. Xi Tang had worked with him at the company. Having been in the entertainment circle for so many years, male celebrities came and went like a revolving lantern, but Yin Nan’s qualities remained the best she had seen. He was tall and slender with an almost perfectly handsome face. His glances naturally carried a gallant and unrestrained demeanor. In Ni Kailun’s words, he was born to eat from this bowl.

In his early career, Yin Nan mostly acted in martial arts costume dramas, then transitioned to films. After a few years’ absence, he returned to television with this drama. He enjoyed reading history and discussing philosophy. Xi Tang occasionally had tea with him on the company’s film sets in Hengdian.

She never dared to imagine that the day would come so quickly when she would act alongside Yin Nan. He played her husband, Song Jiasi, the son of the Beijing Police Department Chief in the drama.

During the lunch break, Yin Nan smiled and asked her: “When will you write another good song lyric for A Yun?”

Yin Nan’s girlfriend, Lin Yuanhong, was a well-known Taiwanese pop music producer. Her love songs were exceptionally moving and touching. She has produced albums for several top female singers in the industry. During the most difficult period of waiting for recovery after plastic surgery, Xi Tang was in Shanghai with no formal work. At that time, Yin Nan met her at the company. The two got along well, and Xi Tang wrote lyrics for several of Lin Yuanhong’s melodies. Unexpectedly, as a newcomer in the industry, every song became a hit, and she even won the annual Golden Song Award.

Xi Tang smiled shyly: “I haven’t written anymore.”

Yin Nan expressed some regret: “Xi Tang, ah, A Yun praises you for having talent.”