Chen Die was awakened by her alarm clock.

Her first sensation upon waking was the tightness of her face.

Then she saw the towel on the bedside table with a strange red stain, which almost scared her into fainting again.

Memories of last night slowly returned. After sending Xia Ying off, had Wen Liang come over…?

Chen Die looked again at the towel seemingly stained with “blood,” suddenly realizing it was lipstick. Only one person would remove her makeup in such a rough manner.

“…”

Chen Die was thankful that she didn’t have much of a reaction after drinking. She no longer felt dizzy or had a headache.

She crawled out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom in her slippers.

Like most young women, Chen Die cared about her appearance. When she still lived in the western suburbs, her bathroom had been filled with various skincare products and devices.

But now the hotel bathroom couldn’t hold so many things, and she didn’t have extra time for skincare. During this seasonal change, her skin was already on the dry side, not to mention yesterday’s “Wen Liang-style” makeup removal.

In this day and age, what girl would use such a thick towel to wipe her face??

It was still early, so Chen Die removed her makeup again and applied a face mask.

Just after washing her hands, there was a “beep” at the door, and Wen Liang walked in carrying a bag of breakfast.

Chen Die froze, her voice muffled behind the face mask. “How did you get in?”

Wen Liang raised his hand to show her the key card he was holding.

“…”

How was this hotel still in business??

“Come eat,” Wen Liang said.

Chen Die pointed to her face. “I can’t eat right now.”

“Then eat later.” Today’s Wen Liang was unusually agreeable. He took out a cup of honey water from the bag, inserted a straw, and held it to her lips. “Drink this first.”

Chen Die couldn’t understand how Wen Liang could act so matter-of-factly.

If she wasn’t mistaken, they had broken up, right??

Chen Die softly thanked him and took the honey water from his hand.

Wen Liang stared at her for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand. Chen Die instinctively blocked it, hitting his arm.

Wen Liang hissed but remained undeterred, reaching out again to tuck a stray strand of hair at her temple. “There was something dirty there.”

“…Oh.”

Chen Die noticed his earlier hiss and glanced over, suddenly pausing when she saw a half-circle of red marks on his arm.

Wen Liang was generous, hooking his finger into his clothes to let her see.

The bite from yesterday had been deep, and now there was a purple ring around it, looking quite frightening.

“What happened to this?” Chen Die was confused.

Wen Liang raised an eyebrow. “You forgot?”

As soon as he asked, memories of last night came back, and that perfect circle of teeth marks seemed to flaunt itself, accusing her of her drunken misbehavior.

Wen Liang snorted. “Got bitten by a dog.”

“…”

Chen Die only remembered the feeling of biting down but had forgotten the cause and aftermath. “Why did I bite you?”

“How would I know? Revenge, I guess. After biting me, you said I’d bitten you before too.”

Chen Die’s mind suddenly flashed to that intimate scene when Wen Liang had bitten her shoulder.

Sweat slid down the man’s jawline, his eyes dark and intense, the muscles on his body tensed with effort.

Chen Die inexplicably blushed to her ears, unable to stay in the small bathroom.

Wen Liang noticed her expression and smirked. “What are you thinking about?”

Chen Die pushed him away. “Get out, get out.” She fled from the bathroom like she was escaping.

In the end, the face mask that had only been on for a few minutes was wastefully removed. Chen Die usually ate breakfast after arriving at the set, but today she had spent quite a bit of time at the hotel.

After finishing breakfast at the hotel, she received a call from Fang Ruan.

“We’re about to start filming. Why aren’t you here yet?”

“Coming right away.”

Chen Die went downstairs with Wen Liang.

Zhu Qicong had parked the car at the hotel entrance.

Damn, capitalism—just because Wen Liang was now staying near the film studio, Zhu Qicong had to wake up half an hour earlier every day to drive over.

Seeing Chen Die come out, he automatically opened the back door and nodded. “Miss Chen.”

Chen Die greeted him casually. “I’ll go by myself.”

Wen Liang said, “Didn’t they just rush you?”

“If my manager sees me arriving in your car, I’ll have to listen to her nagging for half an hour.”

Wen Liang frowned slightly, but Chen Die had already walked down the steps.

Chen Die’s mood this morning was quite good.

All the negative emotions from the day before had disappeared with the alcohol. Looking back at how upset she’d been about Lin Quan yesterday seemed quite incredible.

Until she reached the set and saw Chen Shuyuan sitting on a small stool next to Lu Chuan.

…This person was like a haunting ghost.

Today she was alone; Lin Quan wasn’t there.

How annoying.

Chen Shuyuan happened to turn her head and look over. The two simultaneously rolled their eyes at each other, and Chen Die turned and walked away.

Now in the final stage of filming, Chen Die had become increasingly adept at getting into character, and each take was completed more quickly.

During this period, Chen Die had gotten along well with everyone in the crew, except for Wang Yunxi, with whom she’d gone from confrontation to now pretending not to know each other.

Lunch was boxed meals provided by the crew. Qi Cheng had a live streaming reward promised for his 70 million Weibo fans, so he started a livestream at this time.

His studio had already announced this in advance, and as soon as the stream started at noon, hordes of fans flooded the livestream room.

Ahhhhhhh Qi God look at me!!!

I’m here!!!

Is Qi God still filming “Flower Pin”? Wasn’t that officially announced variety show scheduled to start recording its first episode in half a month?

Qi Cheng ate while watching the rapidly scrolling bullet comments, occasionally picking out questions to answer.

“Yes, I’ll be recording in half a month. ‘Flower Pin’ will finish shooting soon.”

“There’s no confirmed release date yet, but there’s hope for the Spring Festival slot.”

“Hmm? I’m not eating alone.” Qi Cheng turned the camera. “Chen Die is here too.”

Chen Die was eating her boxed lunch while looking at the script. She had just stuffed a big bite of food into her mouth when he unexpectedly turned the camera toward her.

“…Cough, cough!”

Chen Die covered her mouth and turned away, not daring to imagine how ugly she had looked.

Her face reddened from choking as she held her breath and waved at the camera. “Hello everyone.”

She didn’t have Qi Cheng’s experience of being a child star and wasn’t used to livestream cameras yet. Her greeting seemed somewhat stiff and formal.

This amused Qi Cheng. “Why are you reacting so strongly?”

The bullet comments scrolled by:

Because Qi God, you’ve provided so many Chen Die reaction memes!!!

Chen Die: “…”

She was speechless.

Qi Cheng turned the camera back.

Wuwuwuwuwuwuwu even when a beautiful woman opens her mouth that wide while eating, she’s still beautiful!

Why do I think Chen Die’s unaffected cuteness is charming?? Blushing from being startled is too adorable!

Want to ruaaa…

I’ve been a fan of Chen Die’s looks since I first saw her. I’ve been following her for four years, but she never posts updates. Qi God, please encourage her to post more wuwuwu.

Hahahahahaha just look at how often Qi God posts on Weibo himself. These two are something.

…

Qi Cheng’s live stream wasn’t long, basically just streaming his meal.

After finishing, he ended the stream. After a short break, filming resumed.

The flower hairpin that Wen Liang had lent to the crew was finally put to use. The makeup artists’ hands trembled as they handled it.

Holding five million yuan.

Xiao Qi inserted the hairpin into Chen Die’s bun, muttering, “I need to be careful. If I damage this, selling myself wouldn’t be enough to pay for it.”

Chen Die’s phone on the table rang, and a crew member brought it to her.

Chen Die thanked them. It was Wen Liang calling.

To prevent people around her from finding out, Chen Die had deleted Wen Liang’s contact name, but she could recognize his number by sight.

“Hello?”

“What time do you finish tonight?” Wen Liang asked.

Chen Die barely lifted her eyelids. “Why?”

“I’m coming over.”

What does that have to do with me?

Chen Die thought privately.

“I don’t know.”

Now sober, she had returned to her prickly state. Wen Liang had been worn down by her to the point of losing his temper.

He sighed and called her name. “Chen Die.”

“…”

“I’m pursuing you now,” he said in a low, magnetic voice that struck her eardrums.

This was the first time he had explicitly said so.

Chen Die was stunned. Her black eyelashes fluttered rapidly, and after a long moment, she managed to say, “Plenty of people pursue me. What are you being smug about?”

Wen Liang chuckled lightly. “Like who?”

“…”

Why did she somehow sense a threat in that question?

“None of your business.” After saying this, Chen Die immediately hung up, switched her phone to silent, and placed it face down on the table.

Xiao Qi, while fixing her hair, teased, “Is that your suitor?”

Chen Die let out a soft “Ah,” absently touching her ear. “I think so.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, I can’t even remember which past life my last boyfriend was from. Is he in the industry or outside?” Xiao Qi asked.

He’s the owner of this 5-million-yuan hairpin in your hands. Chen Die sighed. “Outside the industry.”

Wen Liang had his call hung up on again.

The number of times he’d been hung up on in his life could be counted on one hand, and all were from Chen Die.

Originally, Zhu Qicong had reported that Chen Shuyuan had gone to the set again today. Remembering how the young woman had lain on the sofa yesterday with reddened eyes but no tears, Wen Liang had made this call.

Now, hearing Chen Die’s voice, she seemed full of energy.

The little girl he had raised had developed increasingly sharp claws since escaping.

Wen Liang lowered his eyes to look at his phone. The call screen jumped back to the call history, where the name was labeled “Lingling.”

She was heartless.

He tugged at the corner of his lips and laughed softly.

Zhu Qicong called on the intercom to notify him that the meeting was about to start.

The project they had snatched from Chen Ke’s hands was now underway, with plans to build a food city on that piece of land.

“The construction team can guarantee completion within the time limit. Regarding the spokesperson, after our research, we’ve determined Qi Cheng as the candidate,” the project manager showed on the PowerPoint.

“He has 70 million Weibo fans and previously participated in the highly-rated variety show ‘Wilderness Chef’ with a score of 9.4. In the show, he demonstrated a good understanding of food. Additionally, Qi Cheng is currently filming the movie ‘Flower Pin,’ which is expected to be released during the Spring Festival period, which aligns with our food city’s opening time, creating an informal promotion.”

Wen Liang held a pen between his fingers, his gaze falling indifferently on the PowerPoint. It was impossible to tell whether he was satisfied with this proposal.

The manager paused, then added, “We’ve also considered using dual spokespersons in a CP mode—one being Qi Cheng as planned, and the other being ‘Flower Pin’s’ female lead, Chen Die.”

Only then did Wen Liang look up and speak. “Continue.”

The manager was secretly delighted, thinking he had found the right direction.

“Although Chen Die is new to the entertainment industry, she has high topic relevance and a suitable image. Her variety show debut with Qi Cheng recently made headlines, and she also appeared in Qi Cheng’s livestream activity today at noon.”

As he spoke, he played a 10-second clip from the livestream.

It was the part where Qi Cheng turned the camera toward Chen Die.

Wen Liang: “Play it again.”

This time he saw the bullet comments:

I’m shipping them so hard wuwuwuwu.

My goodness, why do I think they’re so sweet?

No matter what, I have to admit these two look stunning.

I’m locking this moment in my memory forever!!

There were also many unpleasant comments scrolling by, but these stood out more painfully to Wen Liang.

The manager continued his presentation. “Now, the topic of Qi Cheng and Chen Die is already at the top of the hot search list with over 1 billion views. Although there’s controversy, the topic’s reach is guaranteed.”

“Secondly, during the Spring Festival movie release period, there will be on-screen CP hype. By leveraging this, it will be easier for us to negotiate spokesperson agreements with them.”

Zhu Qicong, sitting next to Wen Liang: “…”

Some people in the company had mentioned that Chen Die looked quite similar to the woman who had been in the elevator with the boss before, but no one had thought they might be the same person.

Otherwise, who would dare recommend a future boss’s wife as a CP with another man to their boss?

Zhu Qicong tried to ease the atmosphere. “Using this angle for our benefit might upset Qi Cheng’s fans, eventually damaging our brand.”

The manager countered, “The most important thing right now is to establish our brand. The worst case is having no topic relevance. As long as we have topic relevance, whether good or bad, it’s beneficial to us.”

Zhu Qicong: “…”

How could this person not understand the hint?

Fortunately, Wen Liang, who had been sitting upright in his seat, finally spoke up. “Determine Chen Die as the spokesperson.”

The manager: “Huh? Just her alone?”

“Yes.”

“But I’m concerned that Chen Die’s popularity might not be sufficient. We might not achieve our expected results. Why choose only Chen Die?”

Wen Liang looked up. “Cheap.”

Zhu Qicong: “…”

After pursuing it for so long without progress, that was it.

The manager: “…”

Had Wenrong Group become so poor?