Chapter 19

Wen Jiu had one thumbs-up to give, and it went to Ji Yujing.
Looks like she’d picked the right person to bring along, even if he did attract a lot of hate.
Wen Ling’s lips trembled; her lashes lowered, hiding the flash of tears in her eyes. She stood there like a bullied little daughter-in-law, aggrieved but silent, perfectly pitiful.
No wonder her acting could win her a Best Actress award, she had the chops.
The male lead was a wildly popular idol. Seeing this, he stepped forward, playing the hero.
Wen Jiu knew perfectly well that Wen Ling and her prophetic dreams were no harmless little bunny act. This “weak flower” routine that concealed a hidden blade was always a hit in novels.
Back when she’d read it, slipping into the heroine’s POV and watching her stomp female supports and male supports into the ground had felt amazing.
Unfortunately, now she was the one on the receiving end.
“She’s from the Beicheng Yue family; I’m from the South City Xie family,” the male lead said.
His name was Xie Junyu, a top-tier idol. Online, they said he was completely guileless; Wen Jiu had assumed that was just PR, but apparently it was true.
“By your logic,” he said solemnly, patting his chest, “you should be calling me Young Master Xie.”
He had the looks to match his name, refined, handsome, every inch a “young master.” His personality, however, was galloping in the opposite direction.
In Wen Jiu’s experience, South City didn’t have any so-called young masters. Parents’ money had nothing to do with the kids; even if you were a “young master,” you still got dragged off to do factory shifts.
Ji Yujing had only ever answered to “Young Master Ji.” He’d never had to call anyone else Young Master. The words alone almost made him explode, flames practically dancing on his head.
Before he could blow, Wen Jiu rapped him lightly on the skull, knocking the fire back in.
“What are you doing?!” he snapped, transferring his anger straight to her.
Wen Jiu hauled him over by the collar and turned a sunny smile on Xie Junyu and Wen Ling. “My little brother dropped himself on his head as a kid, he’s a bit blunt. Don’t mind him. What he meant was that only he gets to call her ‘Sister Yue.’ It’s not directed at anyone in particular. He won’t even let me, his real sister, call her that.”
“Wuu wuu…” gagged Ji Yujing, who could not get out a single full sentence.
Give me back my “real sister,” will you?!
Wen Jiu swatted him on the back of the head again, knocking him into submission.
Xie Junyu was the type who melted at softness, not toughness. He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. “Older sister, maybe don’t hit him anymore. If you do, his brain might get even worse.”
“Explaining is enough. Wen Ling, he wasn’t deliberately targeting you. We’re all in the same production, so we’re like a family, we should understand and help each other. Actually, Young Lady Yue, this Older sister, and Older sister’s silly little brother all seem to get along pretty well.”
With that face, Xie Junyu looked like he should have eight hundred schemes lined up behind his eyes, but the second he opened his mouth, it owed that face a thousand more.
Wen Ling lifted her gaze ever so slightly, just in time to catch Wen Jiu winking at her.
Wen Jiu was doing it on purpose, blinking innocently, looking even more harmless than the heroine who specialized in playing dumb to hunt tigers.
Even among heroines, there were tiers. She really did miss her hardworking, straightforward, genuinely kind Lan Mingyan.
The air huffing out through Wen Ling’s nose was practically scalding, heated by pure fury.
And yet Xie Junyu, this lovable idiot, was still over there chanting about “one big happy family.” As a forcibly promoted eighteenth-tier actress, she might be the female lead now, but she was still, essentially, an eighteenth-tier nobody. She had no real power here, and nothing she could say.
Once the opening ceremony was finally over, Wen Jiu at last let go of Ji Yujing.
He rushed straight over to Yue Ling to complain. “Sister Yue, she’s full of little schemes. If you keep her by your side as an assistant, you’re going to get stabbed in the back sooner or later.”
The moment he stood in front of Yue Ling, all that earlier swagger evaporated. He looked more like an eager puppy, just dying to nuzzle against her leg.
Wen Jiu couldn’t bear to watch and almost stepped over to peel him off.
Yue Ling rubbed his head, just as she had with Qin Yao before.
Only, where Qin Yao received the fondness of an older sister for a little sister, with Ji Yujing it really did look like she was literally petting a dog.
That can’t be right. In Wen Jiu’s heart, her white-moonlight Young Lady was pure and luminous inside and out, gentle, poised, dignified. Why did she suddenly look a little… black-bellied, like she was training a dog?
“Yujing said he wanted to be your lackey,” Yue Ling said mildly. “He should keep his word.”
“Wen Jiu didn’t come to my side with some ulterior motive. She’s not like you are, Yujing. You need to treat her kindly.”
Her voice rang like chimes on a bronze bell, soft and clear, resonant and cool.
She pointed out his little thoughts directly, and at the same time cleanly lifted Wen Jiu out of the “secretly scheming” category.
“Sister Yue, you knew…?” Ji Yujing’s face flushed red in an instant.
Instead of the usual shame-turned-anger that came from having his crush exposed, he just looked so shy and dizzy with happiness he barely knew which way was up.
He was taller than Yue Ling by quite a bit, so to lean in close he had to stoop.
Yue Ling’s smile curved lightly. “Yujing, you and Wen Jiu can stay in this crew with me. If, after we finish this production, you still feel like that’s what you’re feeling, we can give it a try.”
She was fully aware that though he looked grown, his mind hadn’t caught up. He couldn’t tell the difference between love and the possessiveness he felt toward an older brother or sister.
She always did things by the book, giving Ji Yujing a proper buffer.
Off to the side, Wen Jiu was practically howling internally.
Her white-moonlight Young Lady really hadn’t done anything in particular, but no matter how you looked at it, she shone like a queen.
In Mistook the Boss for My Boyfriend, when Qin Yao liked the male lead, Wen Jiu’s job was to help push them together. But here, in The Film Emperor’s White Moonlight Stand-In, it was obvious Yue Ling had her own ideas; all Wen Jiu needed to do was focus on her career.
Thinking about it that way, if she weren’t afraid of the original plot snapping back into place, she wouldn’t even have needed to track down Ji Yujing.
As long as Young Lady Yue kept this mindset, she could handle everything herself.
“Wen Jiu, we’ll be with this crew for three months. I’ll pay your salary for the three months in advance.”
The sound of her white-moonlight Young Lady’s voice overlapped perfectly with the “money received” notification on Wen Jiu’s phone.
Advance pay, and three months all in one go!!!
She swiped her screen open and stared. Altogether: 150,000.
“The money from Yao Yao’s side probably comes through the butler, with all the precise line items. I’ll round it up for you, call it fifty thousand a month.”
Wen Jiu: ?!!
Wen Jiu: How much?? Fifty. Thousand.
Sorry, Former Young Lady, but she would like to formally apply to stay by White-Moonlight Young Lady’s side just a little longer.
Mostly because she really was paying too well.
Even Wen Jiu herself, the person receiving it, was stunned, let alone Ji Yujing.
One hundred fifty thousand might not even be as expensive as a single bottle of whatever he drank at his favorite club, but it wasn’t about the price.
“Fifty thousand?!” he yelped. “Sister Yue, if someone forced you, blink twice. She’s just an assistant, fifty thousand a month?!”
“With fifty thousand in a college town you could hire ten student assistants.”
Silently, Wen Jiu thought: You could hire ten for less than five thousand, actually. Only a young master would think five thousand is squeezing them dry.
“Wen Jiu prevented a full-blown bloodbath today,” Yue Ling said. “That deserves a reward.”
“Ding, ”
WeChat chimed again: white-moonlight Young Lady had just transferred her another 5,000 yuan.
Yue Ling’s lips tipped up, every tiny movement perfectly measured, her smile warm as a spring breeze. “This is your tip.”
Qin Yao had told her already: make sure to give Wen Jiu plenty of tips.
Ji Yujing glared at Wen Jiu, then turned back to Yue Ling, pitiful. “Sister Yue, clearly I also…”
No, wait, that sounded like he was begging for a tip too. He wasn’t. He wasn’t! He protected Sister Yue because he should, not for money.
He shut his mouth abruptly.
Yue Ling, fair as always, transferred him 5,000 as well.
“Yujing, I’m very happy you know how to protect your Older sister,” she said. “But next time, don’t be so impulsive. I’d hate for you to get hurt.”
Mostly, she’d hate for someone else to get hurt.
Ji Yujing completely missed the subtext. He happily took a screenshot and posted it to his Moments.
He didn’t care about the five thousand, but it was from Sister Yue!
And it was specifically for protecting her, not just the usual allowances.
He was a knight!
Watching his “I’m so cheap” expression, Wen Jiu suddenly felt like the male supporting role climbing up to be the male lead might not be all that bad, provided he didn’t suddenly switch sides like in the book.
Yue Ling didn’t turn in early. On top of studying the script, she also scheduled time every day to exercise and paint.
At that hour, Wen Jiu didn’t dare disturb her, she dragged Ji Yujing out instead.
He was in such a good mood that, the second they stepped outside, he transferred Wen Jiu another 150,000.
Wen Jiu looked at him suspiciously. “?”
He grinned so wide his already-not-small eyes almost disappeared. He tugged off his mask, safe enough in the hotel, no risk of being recognized, and his arrogance returned in full force.
“Retainer fee. Three months of being your lackey.”
“Even if, in name, I’m your lackey, when Sister Yue isn’t around, you’d better treat me well.”
“Your young master has more money than he knows what to do with. Work with me. If I actually win Sister Yue over, I’ll… let you sit at the main table. Could happen.”
Whatever warmth she’d felt toward that 150,000 vanished in an instant.
So she could treat money like dirt after all.
He flicked his fringe back, wheat-colored skin and handsome features lit up with so much confidence he clearly felt he could already see his bright, shining future.
When he looked over, Wen Jiu was already gone. He had no idea if she’d heard a word.
The elevator hadn’t even left; he hurried to catch up.
“Wen Jiu, do you think my brother’s a better match for Sister Yue than I am?” His face darkened suddenly, and for once that “pharaoh” face actually matched his imposing tone.
She hadn’t mentioned Ji Yanting once, yet this little master could still drag his brother into it and start making trouble.
Wen Jiu was in a rush to eat and tossed off a perfunctory answer. “I don’t really know Film Emperor Ji. But from the past couple of days, I’ve realized something: Young Master isn’t anything like those rumors about a good-for-nothing. Young Master is overflowing with righteousness and always protects his Older sisters. Young Master respects his elders and loves the young; he dotes on his cousin. Young Master can host in the parlor and cook in the kitchen, the food you made yesterday was delicious. Young Master is an incredibly steady driver, too. You didn’t even run a red light and get points docked.”
Any normal person could hear how perfunctory that was.
Young Master, of course, was not normal.
Ji Yujing’s grin split his face, revealing a full row of white teeth. “You’re exactly right. Young Master is that outstanding.”
“Tips, huh? I’ll pay. Happily.”
He transferred her another 5,000 and shot her a raised-eyebrow look.
On any other handsome man, that raised eyebrow would either be seductive or greasy; only this young master could make it look endearingly dumb.
Wen Jiu accepted calmly. “Young Master is such a good person.”
Ji Yujing’s ears turned scarlet. “Keep your voice down, keep your voice down.”
The elevator reached the first floor. The doors slid open, standing outside were the leads of Pearl Chronicle: Xie Junyu and Wen Ling.
At the opening ceremony, half the people there had been masked; with his mask on, Ji Yujing had blended right in. Now that it was off, neither of them recognized him as the guy who’d publicly slapped Wen Ling in the face, verbally, anyway.
Wen Ling might not have recognized that, but she recognized him as Ji Yujing, Ji Yanting’s younger brother, the one who, in her dream, would become her staunchest, most devoted follower.