Chapter 20

When her idol Ji Yanting hadn’t followed the dream and let himself be picked up by her, Wen Ling had already realized that dreams and reality might not line up perfectly.
But the dream had been so vivid, so beautiful, she couldn’t help clinging to it.
Even if she hadn’t managed to sleep with her idol, she’d still landed the role in Pearl Chronicle. Some things were still the same.
Maybe it was just that the idol himself had changed. Maybe his younger brother, Ji Yujing, would match the dream.
She put on the smile she’d practiced eight hundred times in the mirror, the kind that felt like a warm spring breeze brushing across your cheek.
“Hello, are you on this crew as well? I don’t think I saw you this morning.” Her tone was all gentle harmony, easy and approachable.
Wen Jiu tipped her head, studying Ji Yujing’s expression with great interest.
When you were eating melon seeds and watching drama, you didn’t care if they were bitter. Even a stomachache could be ignored temporarily.
She had no intention of hurrying off to the restaurant now. Her legs were planted like iron posts, not moving an inch.
Ji Yujing’s lips curled. With that young master face, even a mocking smile came out as devil-may-care charm.
“You don’t recognize me? I’m the one who told you to call her Teacher Yue.” He didn’t give Wen Ling an inch of face, ripping her scab right open and then sprinkling salt on it.
Color drained from her cheeks and rushed back in waves, shame mixing with disbelief.
She never would have imagined Yue Ling would actually bring Ji Yujing along as an assistant. In her dream, he always protected Yue Ling from the shadows, almost never appearing. Yue Ling had kept her distance from him there; they’d rarely been seen together.
Wen Jiu’s secondhand embarrassment flared up again, but fortunately, she’d honed herself a sturdy heart and was determined to see this through to the end.
Wen Ling bit her lip, looking both pitiful and flustered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I couldn’t address her that way. It’s my first time meeting Teacher Yue, I don’t really understand what kind of person she is yet.”
Wow. Nice throw.
Wen Jiu rubbed her chin. Her white-moonlight Young Lady’s back probably felt pretty heavy right now, burdened with that big, fat black cauldron of blame.
Good thing she’d already had Ji Yujing marinated in green-tea poison. He could spot this act a mile away now and was immune.
“That was my line,” he snapped. “It has nothing to do with Sister Yue. Don’t drag her into it.”
If he weren’t still trying to maintain some kind of image, he’d already rolled his eyes into orbit.
He yanked Wen Jiu over. “Suit yourself. Just stop constantly trying to get attention in front of us,” he tossed over his shoulder, dragging her away.
Wen Jiu, pulled along, couldn’t help sneaking a look back.
Wen Ling was still standing where they’d left her, having even forgotten to press the elevator button. She bit down hard on her lower lip, a shadow flickering under her eyes.
“Whose side are you on, exactly? You keep looking at her, are you planning to defect?” Ji Yujing caught the direction of her gaze at once.
“I’m not,” Wen Jiu shot back.
Then she planted her hands on her hips, straightened up and declared, “I’m going to ask you a few questions. This is a test.”
Her momentum surged out of nowhere, all righteous authority. Ji Yujing was stunned into obedience for a second, before realizing something was off and cocking a brow, slouching back into his usual lazy posture.
“Ask.”
“When you see Wen Ling, do you feel like she’s fake and not exactly pure, but at the same time she gives off this fragile-little-white-flower vibe? Like you kind of hate it but kind of like it, your heart all ‘thump-thump’ like a little deer crashing around?”
Ji Yujing’s expression went strange. “Who’s Wen Ling?”
“Aren’t you Wen Jiu?”
He denied it three times in a row. “You don’t actually think Young Master would like you, do you?
Young Master would never be into a bean sprout like you.
Young Master’s standards are sky high.”
Bean-sprout Wen Jiu let out a cold little laugh.
She shouldn’t have asked. Might as well let the supporting male fall into a pit on his own.
“She’s the female lead from the elevator just now,” she said sourly.
“Oh, her.”
“I’m even less likely to like her.”
“She’s weird, okay? I wasn’t even wearing a mask and she was already throwing herself at me. Then she tried to smear Sister Yue right in front of me. She still puts on an act, trying to imitate Sister Yue, like Yue Ling is someone she can copy just like that?!”
“…”
Before he betrayed the female supporting role, this male supporting role really was a hardcore ‘only-my-girl’ stan.
God knows what circuits his brain ran through, but Ji Yujing suddenly looked enlightened. “I get it now. Either she recognized me, or she’s coveting Young Master’s looks.
It’s not bragging if it’s true, this face of Young Master’s could walk out the door and debut as a top model…”
Wen Jiu’s expression was hanging on by a thread; her stomach was starting to churn. She turned and left.
“Hey, hey, hey, weren’t you the one asking me? Why are you running? I’m answering!” Young Master Ji didn’t feel even a little rejected, and hurried after her.
With his wheat-colored skin under the streetlights, he almost blended into the background amid the current cold-white-skin trend.
But with his high-profile features, like a foreign friend dropped in out of nowhere, chasing after Wen Jiu, they drew a lot of curious looks.
Which just made it worse. Wen Jiu practically scuttled away on hands and feet, wishing she could pretend she didn’t know him.
“Don’t run. Listen to me.”
“If you stop, I’ll give you a thousand.”
Wen Jiu: …
The body is always honest. Her steps slowed to a halt.
She turned around, flattering smile in place. “Young Master, please speak.”
“I’m handsome.”
“Mhm, mhm, Young Master is absolutely right. You’re basically a fairy descended to earth, so handsome that both gods and mortals resent you.”
She spoke so fast Ji Yujing didn’t catch every word.
He vaguely felt something was off, but speech didn’t come with a replay button, and he couldn’t find the problem.
“Mm. Good eye.”
Thinking Wen Jiu was quite sensible, he transferred her 2,000.
“No need to thank Young Master. If Young Master gives it to you, you just take it.”
“Young Master is truly a great person. May all Young Master’s wishes come true.”
Young Master Ji was so delighted he practically lost north. “What do you want to eat? Tonight’s on me.”
He strode ahead, broad shoulders and long limbs swinging, giving the impression that his body had grown but his brain hadn’t kept up.
The crew with White-Moonlight Young Lady had left Beicheng proper for the film base.
Wen Jiu had never been, so she had no idea what was good there.
But even though he hadn’t either, Young Master’s circle of disreputable friends was spread across the world. A few casual calls, and he really did dig up a place.
Generous as ever, he took her to a private kitchen restaurant, and ordered his way down half the menu.
“…”
“Young Master, we can’t finish all this. Wasting food is bad, you know,” Wen Jiu said.
Young Master gave a grand wave. “What are you afraid of? Young Master doesn’t know the meaning of waste.”
Her fists itched. She smiled instead. “Sister Yue doesn’t like men who waste food. Says they have no taste.”
The Young Master froze, then quietly slid that half a menu back over and obediently ordered a modest four dishes and one soup. “This is the first time I’ve eaten such a frugal meal,” he muttered.
“Mhm. Then Young Master should eat more.” Wen Jiu piled his bowl high, packing the rice down into a solid brick. Even the waiter in the next private room doorway was staring.
As expected, Young Master ate himself sick.
Because he absolutely had to finish that mountain of rice.
In his head, the same line kept looping: Sister Yue doesn’t like men who waste food…
Lying in bed that night, he suddenly snapped out of it.
Between him and Wen Jiu, who had known Sister Yue longer? So why was he being led around by the nose by Wen Jiu, of all people? He’d never heard of this particular “dislike,” ever.
Meanwhile, Wen Jiu counted up all the little “tips” Young Master Ji had given her. Any dissatisfaction she’d had toward him evaporated like morning mist.
From the 2.01 yuan she’d inherited on crossing over, she had now climbed into seven figures.
Current Balance: 1,339,770.65 yuan.
Plus a ten-million-yuan apartment!
Suddenly she remembered: now that the apartment belonged to her, shouldn’t she return the deposit to the original landlady?
She texted the landlord auntie that very night. The woman was still awake and replied quickly.
Deposit transfer: 30,000 yuan.
Landlady Auntie (voice message): “Auntie sold the place in full, so Auntie’s the one who made money. This deposit goes back to you. Auntie was going to transfer it anyway, but I lost track of you. Good thing you messaged me first.”
What she didn’t say was that all the fees and whatnot had been covered by the buyer. However you did the math, she’d made more than that thirty thousand, so she was happy to send it back.
Wen Jiu didn’t know the details; she happily accepted the return of her thirty-thousand-yuan deposit.
Her balance ticked up again,
Current Balance: 1,369,770.65 yuan.
Car. Car, car, car. As soon as she had time, she was going to pay in full and drive one out.
A car, a house, no loans, stable work that wasn’t even busy, this was peak happiness.
Wen Jiu rolled back and forth on the hotel bed clutching her phone, then kissed the balance.
Just a string of numbers, but she flipped them over and over like a treasure.
It was her first time seeing this much savings, her own savings!
So exciting she could hardly sleep.
She opened her chats with the two Young Ladies.
Should she send a thank-you?
But it was really late; they were probably asleep.
Texting a boss who squeezes you is annoying. Texting an Young Lady is a sweet little burden.
This was bliss.
Hugging her phone, Wen Jiu drifted off with a smile.
The next day, Ji Yujing showed up with panda eyes; Wen Jiu was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, brimming with energy.
“They’re shooting the sun-baking scene today. I’ve prepped cooling supplies.” Wen Jiu proudly showed him her toolkit. “Cooling patches, icy wipes, chill mist, a mini ice-fan…”
Ji Yujing had just been about to praise her professionalism when she smashed him over the head with reality. “All of these are for Sister Yue. If Young Master needs any, you’re welcome to purchase. 999 a piece, no bargaining.”
“Wen Jiu, you came here specifically to fleece me, didn’t you?!”
She just smiled. “Young Master’s status is exalted; naturally, the things you use have to match your status.”
“Wen Jiu, I may have money, but I’m not stupid,” Ji Yujing ground out between his teeth.
“Wen Jiu, let’s go.” Yue Ling had finished her makeup and had her elegant period hairstyle in place. She stepped out and called to Wen Jiu in that soft voice.
The car door was already open. As a newcomer, she had no fans yet and didn’t need security; she simply walked over.
Wen Jiu hurried after her and got into the car by her side.
Yue Ling waved toward the outside, her voice as pleasant as ever. “Yujing, come along.”
Ji Yujing trotted over happily. If he’d had a tail, it would’ve been wagging like crazy.
Wen Jiu propped her chin on her hand and watched Young Master chase love.
Once he was in the car, his eyes stayed glued to Yue Ling, even the stray strand of hair at her temple becoming an object of reverent appreciation.
Yue Ling looked down at her script; the pages were full of notes, her handwriting flowing and bold.
Wen Jiu pulled out a backup script of her own.
Today’s “sun-baking” scene was all on the female lead, Mingzhu.
Filming never followed chronological order; schedules rotated around sets and locations.
She tightened her grip on the bag full of cooling gadgets.
The female lead had probably brought some herself, right? If she hadn’t… would she try to guilt Wen Jiu into sharing?