The fight was so fierce that even other crews who were working in adjacent areas overheard and came to take a look at what was going on, and before long gossip about the incident was spread all over.
They only felt that this scene… not only was it unbelievable, but also it was a bit funny.
It was the first time anyone ever heard of the two lead actors on a project being so incompatible with each other!
As it happened, Shao Chengyue was also in the film and television city working on another project. When he happened to hear Ruan Tian's name from the gossip, he realized that the one who had been fighting was actually someone he knew.
In Shao Chengyue's impression, Ruan Tian was a smiley little girl with a good temper and also good business ability.
He frowned and ordered his assistant to bring his phone over. After hesitating for a while, he sent a WeChat message to Ruan Tian: 【You aren't in any trouble, are you? 】
However, Ruan Tian didn't see his message right away.
After this incident, Wang Baiyuan seemed to have been beaten into honesty and didn't dare to make any more trouble for the short term.
At the same time, the news was flying all over the place on Weibo, with both pictures and videos.
【Click on this video to see Ruan Tian beating Wang Baiyuan, really makes me laugh to death 】
"Sister Tian is indeed worthy of being Sister Tian, not afraid of that Wang Beiyuan at all and just directly beats him up, ah."
"My BaiBai! How dare she spoil the face that won 'The Most Beautiful Face in Asia'?"
"I'm having a heart attack."
"Wang Baiyuan really looks like a joke, he can't beat Ruan Tian at all hahahaha."
"This is only the first day, but the show will be shot over the course of three months! I look forward to seeing even more wonderful drama every day!"
The netizens even said that Ruan Tian, this Noble Imperial Concubine, and Wang Baiyuan, this prince, were definitely fighting for the royal throne.
Basically, it was a very exciting show.
And on top of that, it was completely unexpected.
Even the production crew were completely caught off guard. They really didn't expect their two stars would immediately start fighting on the first day.
In a flurry, they were all desperately thinking about how to salvage the relationship between their two main stars. Finally, they decided to arrange a dinner in an attempt to bring the two of them together with the hopes that they could behave amiably toward each other for the next three months.
Because of being drenched over and over again on set that day, Ruan Tian began to feel sick, her nose was stuffy and her throat was sore.
After returning to her hotel room she took a hot bath and then went to the dinner arranged by the crew with a groggy head.
The big bosses from the production crew were all at the dinner table when she arrived. The producer, the director, the screenwriter, they were all there. But then, soon after the food arrived, the door to the private room was pushed open from outside.
A man with a frosty aura slowly walked into the room.
The producer stood up and stretched out his hand. Smiling from ear to ear, he said, "I really didn't expect that President Shen would come over today."
Shen Shu accepted the handshake, then went over and sat down next to Ruan Tian without saying anything.
Apart from Wang Baiyuan, everyone else in the room knew that the relationship between Ruan Tian and Shen Shu was somewhat subtle and probably not very harmonious.
Ruan Tian blew her nose and managed to completely ignore Shen Shu. She was busy replying to Shao Chengyue on her phone: 【I didn't suffer any. Rather, Wang Baiyuan was beaten up by me and now he's finally turned honest. 】
Shao Chengyue couldn't help but laugh, 【I saw the video. 】
Ruan Tian typed back, 【Actually, I don't usually do things like that. 】
She was super gentle, okay?
Shao Chengyue replied: 【It's cute. 】
Very bold and brave.
Ruan Tian felt her old face turning hot.
Seeing her blushing, Wang Baiyuan mistakenly thought it was caused by this President Shen who had suddenly appeared and sat next to her. He said in a sly tone: "Teacher Ruan, hurry up and pour your respected President Shen a glass of wine."
Ruan Sweet suddenly realized she had been wrong.
It seemed that Wang Baiyuan still had not been beaten enough to become honest.
At the same time, she felt Shen Shu's eyes on her, making her feel very uncomfortable.
Ruan Tian decided to just treat Shen Shu as a dead person and immersed herself in eating.
In the second half of the dinner, Shen Shu suddenly stretched out his hand and handed her a few boxes of medicine, "Here. Cold medicine. Should be very effective."
As soon as he had entered the private room, Shen Shu had heard Ruan Tian coughing and saw that she didn't look very energetic.
Of course, she had also just lowered her head without even looking at him, seemingly completely focused on chatting with someone else on her phone.
Ruan Tian pushed the medicine back, "Thank you for you consideration, but I can buy some for myself."
Her voice was cordial, polite, and distant.
Shen Shu felt uncomfortable all over. His heart sank and he felt anxious.
His brows furrowed, and he seemed a little sad.
After they finished dinner, the director suggested for everyone to take a group photo and then post it online. This way they could dispel the rumor that Ruan Tian and Wang Baiyuan were irreconcilable.
Naturally, Shen Shu had no intention to participate.
He just quietly waited for Ruan Tian to finish taking the photo, and then followed behind her and stubbornly pushed over the white plastic bag of medicine again. "You need to take medicine to get better."
Ruan Tian looked at him silently for a few seconds, then accepted the bag and walked away.
Shen Shu followed behind her slowly and, sure enough, right after Ruan Tian walked around a corner she immediately dumped the medicine he had just passed her into the trash.
Standing beside the trash can, Shen Shu's face was expressionless as his cold eyes gradually darkened.
Back at the hotel where the cast and crew were staying, Ruan Tian took some medicine she had bought herself and drowsily crawled under her quilt.
Meanwhile, the photo from the dinner was posted online by the director, seemingly trying to announce to the world that their crew were all very harmonious and friendly, and they were all getting along well.
…
These days…
Ruan Tian had found…
… that Wang Baiyuan didn't seem to be acting up so much in the crew anymore. After receiving a beating, the delicate flower-like man without the strength to lift a finger had somehow evolved into a normal person.
On top of that, he had put away his attitude of treating her like a servant.
These days, whenever they had a scene to shoot together, there were no more deliberate NG's happening, and all in all, the set had regained a sense of peace and stability.
Because the crew was currently shooting in the film and television city just outside the capital, Ruan Tian was free to go home and sleep in her own bed whenever there were no scenes for her on the next day.
However, at the same time, Ruan Tian never had time to properly recover from the cold she last time, so it actually gradually got worse until she was running a high fever.
Ruan Tian had always been a person with a strong vitality and good health, but this time her luck seemed to have run out. Her cold only worsened day by day despite her taking medicine the whole time.
Only when she truly felt very ill did Ruan Tian relent and go to a nearby clinic to find a doctor. However, after being prescribed some medication and going to leave the lobby, she fainted directly.
When her eyes finally fluttered open again, she found that it was the doctor from the clinic who had kindly woken her up, "I've already prescribed you your medication, so quickly go back and eat it and have a good rest. During this next period of time, you should avoid eating spicy food or drinking alcohol."
Ruan Tian slowly slipped her mask back on and obediently agreed.
Her head felt as heavy as the lead, and she was in a daze during her entire walk home. At the foot of her building, she barely managed to muster up her last bit of energy to begin her journey upstairs. However, after she came out of the elevator and slowly made her way toward her unit with the wall for support, she finally couldn't bear it any longer and fainted just outside her door.
However, just as Ruan Tian was slipping into unconsciousness, she seemed to hear a distant 'click' sound, like a door opening, and then felt something sturdy beneath her, as if someone had caught her before she could fall.
A cold scent vaguely reminiscent of pine needles slowly wafted into her nose and penetrated her hazy brain, and she could only lean weakly against the firm shoulder that had appeared.
Qin Yu lazily caught her and held her up, and a moment later a leisurely voice spoke up: "Where're your keys?"
However, the girl in his arms had flushed cheeks and seemed to be running a high fever, and couldn't give him any response at all.
Qin Yu was surprised. He had never seen Ruan Tian in such a fragile and vulnerable state.
After all, for as long as he could remember whenever she was in front of him she would never show any weakness at all. She acted like a little hedgehog guarding against a natural predator whenever she saw him, erecting all the sharp thorns on her body to their fullest extent, always on alert and ready to strike back at him the moment he opened his mouth.
Qin Yu found the key to Ruan Tian's apartment inside her coat pocket and, after unlocking the door, he pushed inside and carried her to the bed where he took off her shoes.
As he looked around and tried to find her anti-fever plasters, Qin Yu happened to find the desk drawer where Ruan Tian kept her important documents, including the certificate of divorce and also the contract termination letter from that time.
Qin Yu still remembered this incident clearly. In fact, for this sort of little contract dispute with a small artist, it had been completely unnecessary for him to mobilize the whole Qin Pictures legal team, but he hadn't wanted to leave this matter even slightly to chance and had wanted to make sure for Ruan Tian to clearly know that it would be impossible to terminate the contract with his company.
Seeing the termination letter, Qin Yu felt slightly uncomfortable and pushed it back to the back of the drawer. As for the divorce certificate, he found it quite pleasing to the eye and left it alone.
Just then, Ruan Tian dazedly began to wake up, and she looked around with blurry eyes.
Qin Yu noticed that she was waking up, so he said, "You fainted just now."
Ruan Tian sat up stiffly. For Qin Yu to stumble over her at such an embarrassing moment, what rotten luck!
"I'm fine now, thank you Mr. Qin."
Qin Yu's lips unconsciously curved upward and before he knew it he was already retorting. After all, when it came to this woman he had never been able to say nice things. "Don't call me Mr. Qin. I'm really undeserving. You think so as well, right?"
Ruan Tian felt that she really couldn't understand men.
Was it possible that saying a few bland pleasantries somehow violated his taboo?
Why were his moods so unpredictable?
Since he was like this, there was no need to put up a polite front!
As Qin Yu was leaving, he paused and looked around Ruan Tian's pink princess-style bedroom.
In those few seconds, Ruan Tian could see deep disgust and serious doubts about her aesthetic tastes reflected in his eyes.
As a result of being ridiculed by Qin Yu's eyes, Ruan Tian was so angry she couldn't fall asleep again, and she just laid down in bed and played with her phone, watching the notifications that popped up from time to time.
The front-page headline of a certain financial news site caught her eye:
【The shareholders of the Zhou Company have changed. It seems the dust has finally settled in this uncertain inheritance situation. 】
Beneath the headline, there was an article that included an equity distribution map showing the announced changes.
Mother Zhou had passed all the shares and real estate in her name to Zhou Xiaoqiao and given Ruan Tian absolutely nothing.
This situation was actually within Ruan Tian's expectations. Mother Zhou had never liked her, this rebellious and disobedient daughter. And, after everything that had been said between them last time, the so-called love between mother and child had probably been completely severed.
Ruan Tian hadn't cared much one way or the other at first.
However, after seeing someone else calculate out exactly how much Zhou Xiaoqiao was being allocated, that long series of zeroes really burned her eyes a bit.
Really a bitter taste.
Alas, Zhou Xiaoqiao had been born with both riches and fate, truly an unbeatable main character type existence.
"Ruan Tian didn't even get a single cent, is she an adopted daughter?"
"Answering the above poster, she's a biological daughter. Also, she's the twin sister of that Miss Zhou who inherited everything."
"No matter how much that Miss Zhou's acting has enchanted her parents, is it really okay to be biased to such an extent?"
This time, Ruan Tian had fully won the sympathy of the public.
And, of course, for this sort of news that even netizens were discussing, it had long circulated among the wealthy and aristocratic circles.
Even Qin An, who had always regarded Zhou Xiaoqiao as his personal goddess, felt that this was a little too much. He really couldn't reconcile this news with the goddess that he had admired for many years, and all of a sudden he felt that Zhou Xiaoqiao actually didn't seem so pure.
He felt that Ruan Tian's life was really unfortunate.
At the age of three, she had been abducted and trafficked. After that, she had lived a hard life as a drifting village girl.
Maybe thanks to that, she had cultivated an unpleasant temperament, gotten married, then gotten divorced, and had just generally been rejected by people at every turn.
And, after seeing this news, Qin An suddenly "realized" something, and he immediately sent a WeChat message to Ruan Tian:【I finally know why you kept leaving the group when I was trying to pull you in last time. 】
【It must be because of Sister Xiaoqiao! You didn't want to interact with her, right? 】
【I'm sorry, it must have been hard for you to always see her in the group all this time. 】
【Don't worry, I will help you solve this right away.】
Ruan Tian, after seeing all these messages arrive in quick succession, decided that maybe she shouldn't scold Qin An as an idiot so much so more in the future.
But then, the very next second, Qin An kicked her out of the group chat.
Qin An:【Alright done (*￣︶￣). 】
Ruan Tian: On second thought, he really was an idiot!
—
Monday rolled around again, and Jiang Lili ran over to Ruan Tian to deliver some earth-shattering news, "TianBaby! Several companies have come to contact me to try to poach you away!"
Ruan Tian couldn't believe it, "Several of them?"
Jiang Lili took a sip of water and seemed to calm down a bit, "En. Both big companies and small companies have contacted me for this matter."
Ruan Tian felt a little excited at first, but after thinking for a moment, she remembered that there was no way she could pay the damages for breaking her current contract.
"Well, have you told them they would need to pay the damages?"
Jiang Lili nodded, "I told them…"
After a short pause, she continued, "After I told them the specific amount, all of them stopped contacting me."
Ruan Tian replied, "They all ran away?"
Jiang Lili said hesitantly, "Actually, there was still one company that said they would pay the penalty for you."
Ruan Tian's eyes widened.
Someone really dared to pay?
Such a rich company!
Ruan Tian immediately became energetic, "There's such a good thing? Did you help me accept it! ?"
Jiang Lili touched her head awkwardly, wondering how to say the next words…
Finally, she could only say: "I didn't agree. The other party was the head of the HR Department from Huanshi Entertainment."
"Huanshi Entertainment? Is it the Huanshi Entertainment I'm thinking of?"
Huanshi Entertainment was the name of the entertainment company owned by Shen Shu.
Jiang Lili nodded along, "Yes, it seems that even your ex-husband wants to poach you away from Qin Pictures."
Ruan Tian retorted bluntly: "He's dreaming!"
Was there any difference between working at Qin Pictures or working at Huanshi Entertainment?
There was simply no difference at all!
Jiang Lili said in a relieved tone: "Fortunately, I didn't agree. Otherwise, you might have really killed me."
Ruan Tian tilted her head and said thoughtfully, "I think Shen Shu just wants to humiliate me."
She bared her teeth and continued: "But it's impossible that I would let him get his way!"
After that, Ruan Tian chatted with Jiang Lili for a few more minutes before rushing out the door again. She needed to record the last episode of 'Me and My New Roommates', and today happened to coincide with a brief break in 'The Story of Xie Wan's' shooting schedule, so she was making full use of the gap.
After she arrived, Ruan Tian found that the people on the crew seemed to be treating her exceptionally well, smoothly handling everything for her before she could even think to ask.
The director had already set a theme for the episode, and he had all members of the cast participate in preparing a meal together so they could eat and chat and talk freely.
Thanks to deliberately imitating Ruan Tian during the second episode, Cen Bei had managed to gather a small number of fans. However, in the later episodes, she had been like a transparent person and hadn't gained any popularity at all.
Thus, today she was secretly determined to seize this last chance and do something that would make the audience remember her.
As they were discussing what to make, Cen Bei spoke up in a soft voice and listed a long list of various foods before concluding, "…overall, it's a total of ten dishes. I think it's perfect, ten is an auspicious number."
Ruan Tian blurted out, "Let's eat hot pot. That way there will be a lively and fun atmosphere."
Actually, the second half of that sentence was bullshit, Ruan Tian just wanted to eat hot pot.
Qin An raised his hand and agreed, "I also vote for hot pot."
Gu Jianghe had no objections, "I'm okay with that."
Xu Jing actually had a bad stomach and wasn't very good with spicy food, but after glancing at Ruan Tian he nodded along and said, "Sounds good to me too."
Cen Bei's face wasn't very good. She slowly put away the menu she had painstaking prepared beforehand and reluctantly plastered on a smile, "It's decided then, we'll cook hot pot. I can make it, you all should go and rest for a while."
But Ruan Tian wasn't polite at all, she aimed a kick over at Qin An's calf, raised her chin proudly, and said, "Let this guy wash the vegetables and load the plates."
Qin An was angry, "Why pick me? Why not those two?!"
Ruan Tian responded confidently, "Because the other two are too handsome, it's fine for them to use their faces to eat."
Qin An hmphed twice and immediately became shameless, "I am also a handsome guy though, right? I am a rare hunk only seen in the entertainment industry once every 5,000 years, okay?"
Ruan Tian raised her small fist. "Have you seen that video?"
Qin An took two steps back and looked at her vigilantly. "What video?"
Ruan Tian smiled kindly, "The video of Wang Baiyuan having his head pressed to the ground by me and crying out for help."
Qin An's expression changed colorfully a few times. Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll do it."
He was too really afraid. What if Ruan Tian, this tiger woman, decided to blast his dog head if he didn't agree with her?
【Although her family is ruthless, the QinxTian CP is going strong as always. 】
【What is the feeling? Could this be the aura of a husband and wife? 】
【Even if I died and you nailed my coffin shut, I would still open the coffin lid and shout: QinxTian is real! 】
【CP, what CP? Can't you all see Qin An's terrified eyes! ? 】
【Last time someone even had to eat shit, so I've started to feel that the QinxTian CP is actually not so incomprehensible. 】
【Psh, Ruan Tian and Qin An are already done for! 】
Looking at all the comments in the chatroom, the ratio of people supporting the CP and the people scolding randomly was already seven to three.
Of course, even as she admired the barrage screen, Ruan Tian wasn't idling around. Instead, she used the time to prepare the base for cooking hot pot.
Mandarin duck base, spices, and red oil all mixed together.
The warm red color was very attractive.
At the same time, a spicy scent wafted up from the pot and caused everyone on set to feel hungry. Even Director Liu's stomach grumbled, and he secretly resolved to make sure to have a few bites later on.
Director Liu had already hyped this up to the heavens on Weibo, declaring to anyone who would listen that Ruan Tian's cooking skills were unique in this world. He had even argued with all sorts of people about it, including a chef from a Michelin restaurant and the head chef from a five-star hotel.
Of course, the audience only felt suspicious.
Mostly, he had gotten people telling him to please be respectful and not step on other chefs for hype.
Now, these people felt vindicated.
They were seeing Ruan Tian's "famed" cooking, but it was only this much.
After all, when the camera panned to the bottom of the pot, it didn't look like anything special.
Meanwhile, Qin An was feeling very hungry and finally couldn't bear it. He secretly sneaked away a few slices of beef, then added some of the soup that Ruan Tian had just prepared, and put it in his mouth.
The beef was savory, the sauce was sour and spicy, and overall it was so delicious that Qin An couldn't help but moan.
The audience in the live studio all only felt that Qin An's performance was a bit overdramatic.
Could it really be so delicious? Wasn't hot pot pretty much all the same?
【This is terrible, I think I'm hungry now. 】
【Me too, it looks so good. 】
【I immediately had to get out of bed to cook myself some instant noodles to relieve this feeling. 】
Of course, as a person who had eaten the food made by Ruan Tian twice, Qin An couldn't help but feel impressed with her cooking skills.
However, he was a person born with no filter, so after taking a bite he opened his mouth and said thoughtlessly, "Ruan Tian, how did a person who grew up picking up trash learn to cook so well?!"
Ruan Tian, who suddenly had her past exposed, took a deep breath and tried to calm down. Finally, with an expressionless face, she replied: "Just some trivial knowledge. Maybe it's from the time I won the gold medal at the 17th Chinese Little Chef Competition."
Qin An: (Ω A Ω)!
Other viewers: ! ! ?
…
Seeing this talk of a cooking award, Qin An didn't believe it at all and only thought that Ruan Tian was bragging.
"I really can't praise you at all or else you get so conceited that your head goes straight up into the clouds." Qin An snorted.
Ruan Tian felt a bit dumbfounded. She had really won a gold medal from the Chinese Little Chef Competition back then, okay? Of course, she had only joined because she saw there was a 50,000 yuan prize for the winner, but as it happened, she really ended up going all the way to the end and won the gold medal.
"The gold medal they awarded me is still on my bedroom shelf." Ruan Tian retorted.
Qin An decided to ignore this and return to eating his hot pot with flourish.
However, the words 'spouting nonsense' and 'just keep spouting nonsense' seemed to be written in his two eyes.
Cen Bei only ladled herself a small amount of the hot pot, and what ended up in her bowl was mostly just clear broth. In order to maintain her figure, she would usually never touch these sorts of high-calorie foods, so in the end, she only delicately plucked out a few greens and then never moved her chopsticks again.
After a few moments passed, Cen Bei pretended to ask inadvertently: "I'm also curious about what Qin An said just now, Ruan Tian, where did you learn your cooking skills?"
Of course, she didn't care at all about where Ruan Tian learned how to cook, rather, she wanted to hear about the other part of Qin An's words, the "picking up trash".
There was no shortage of people in the entertainment circle who seemed to be all set to walk the path of stardom but who ended up capsizing their own boats with a few careless words.
Cen Bei hoped that Ruan Tian could also become one of them.
Ruan Tian continued chopping the vegetables as she replied: "I watched a few videos online and pondered over them, in the end, it became like this."
She was actually talking nonsense.
Half of Ruan Tian's cooking skills could be attributed to her talent, but the other half definitely came from the time when she was working part-time in a hotel. Back then she had managed to more or less become the little apprentice for a chef, so she ended up learning some of his skills.
At the same time, the chatroom was going crazy.
【Chinese Little Chef Competition? Is that a real thing or is Ruan Tian joking? 】
【Is there really a culinary competition with such a playful name? Someone enlighten me, I'm too ignorant. 】
【Ruan Tian really likes to just say whatever. As long as she has a little talent, she can't stop herself from showing off. 】
【It seems that I can also enter the entertainment circle. After all, I won first prize during the Community Poem Recitation Competition back in elementary school. 】
Of course, while most people in the chatroom seemed to have convinced themselves they had discovered Ruan Tian's "lies", there were still some people who had nothing but free time who really went over to Baidu to search around and find out if the Chinese Little Chef Competition really existed.
Many people assumed that Ruan Tian was just making things up because she was too vain and couldn't stop herself from bragging, however, some people were curious.
Unexpectedly, they found that there really was such a competition.
Even more unexpectedly, it turned out to be a professional-level event with competitors from all over the nation. The curious people even managed to find the exact date when Ruan Tian participated in the competition, as well as videos and photos from the event…
【I looked it up, it's real. Ruan Tian participated in the competition during the first year after her debut…】
【It seems that Ruan Tian hasn't been idle at all since joining the entertainment industry hahahahaha… what a magical discovery. 】
【Even if it's real, it's not something so great as to brag about…】
But then some insiders jumped out to clarify: 【Actually, my mother is the most famous chef in our town and has even cooked for many celebrities, but when she went to participate in this competition she was only able to win a bronze medal. I really didn't expect that Ruan Tian was so skilled. 】
Ruan Tian: These are the acquired survival skills of a long-time part-timer!
Back then she had cheekily gone up and pestered the hotel chef over and over again until he finally relented and took her in as his little apprentice. Later, when the chef saw that she actually had some talent, he had become more willing and decided to teach this little apprentice all of his own unique skills so she could inherit his mantle. But how could he have guessed that Ruan Tian would give up halfway through so she could go on to become a star instead! ?
When that happened the chef had really scolded her harshly.
However, Ruan Tian's retort back then had been impeccable. What she had said was simply: "Master! In the entertainment industry, the money just falls down from the sky!"
Of course, Ruan Tian had also told Jiang Lili several times in the past that if she really couldn't cut it in the entertainment industry, she at least had the skills to open up a roadside stall.
With her skills, it probably wouldn't be a big problem to make a couple million a year, right?
Cen Bei took a sip of warm water and then frowned and put on a concerned expression. She actually managed to contain herself fairly well, and you couldn't hear any trace of malice in her next words, "Why did Qin An say something about picking up trash just now?"
Ruan Tian had no desire to continue this topic about her past. Thus, she reached down and popped a piece of shrimp into her mouth and then changed the subject very bluntly, "Ah, these are so spicy."
Qin An was a bit of an ass on usual days, but this time it had really been an inadvertent slip of the tongue.
Plus, he had received a very chilly look from Ruan Tian just now and was currently feeling wronged.
He had only spoken casually without thinking just now, but it wasn't like he was the type to go around with a big loudspeaker screaming in Ruan Tian's ears, 'You're a trash-picker, you're a trach picker.' Purposefully bringing up the topic just to attack her just wasn't something he would do.
And even with his brain, he could sense there was something off with Cen Bei's question. Plus, he didn't even like her very much in the first place. At the same time, Qin An had been spoiled from young and was a bit arrogant, he generally just did whatever he wanted to do and never bothered taking other people's face into account. Thus, he sent a cold look over at Cen Bei and said, "Ms. Cen, you're a bit too much."
Cen Bei pinched the corner of her dress and replied, "I was just a little curious. If I offended you, then just take it as if I didn't ask."
Qin An shot back: "En, you offended me."
It stood to reason that since Cen Bei had taken the initiative to take a step back, Qin An should have given her face and taken a step back as well, or else the atmosphere would become still and awkward.
However, Qin An had always just said whatever he felt like and was never afraid of embarrassment, let alone making the atmosphere stiff. He was the type to make things awkward for the other person until they gave up and shut their mouths.
Ruan Tian had long been accustomed to this "virtue" of Qin An's. After all, in the past, she and Qin An had quarreled fiercely many times.
Of course, Qin An was hardly her match and could never play this trick with her.
He would flap his mouth and say – 'Ruan Tian, **** your mother!'
But Ruan Tian wasn't one to be outdone and she would retort – 'That's your future mother-in-law you're talking about, your dreams are really too big!'
Then Qin An would want to rush up to kill her, but Ruan Tian would just kick him away and escape.
After all, even from long ago Ruan Tian was never one to just speak with her words! She also spoke with her fists!
After this little interlude, the atmosphere at the dinner table had turned awkward and stiff. Director Liu finally decided to personally interrupt, and he spoke up with a smile: "Next, you will all have to complete the last game for this episode. The four players will form two pairs. The winning pair can continue to eat as normal, while the losers will have to stop eating and also lose tomorrow's breakfast."
Qin An quickly grabbed Ruan Tian's arm, "I'm in a group with Ruan Tian."
Gu Jianghe silently moved over to Xu Jing and said, "Then I'll group up with Teacher Xu "
Cen Bei seemed to be the odd man out, left without a partner.
The game wasn't very difficult and was a bit similar to charades.
One person was given a list of words and tried to describe them until the other person could guess the word.
Xu Jing's group took the lead in the game. Each round was ten words, and in the end, they managed to guess them all in five minutes.
Although the two men hadn't spoken much and weren't very familiar with each other, they still had some tacit understanding between them and managed to finish pretty quickly.
When it was Ruan Tian's group's turn, Qin An was full of confidence and rubbed his hands together eagerly. He said, "I will do the describing, you can guess."
Ruan Tian sighed, "Alright."
The first word Qin An had was 【Pineapple】.
This was a happy coincidence. He remembered that his brother used to raise a dog with the same name at the old house, so this should be easy!
Qin An made an OK gesture with his hand and his confidence shot through the roof.
He looked at Ruan Tian and said: "The dog that my brother raised."
Ruan Tian snapped her fingers and blurted out without thinking: "Isn't this you?!"
Qin An: Go to hell!
Xu Jing lowered his head and pursed his lips, but he couldn't stop a slight smile from creeping onto his face.
The chatroom was quickly spammed with 'lol' and 'hahahaha'.
Qin An tried to break out of conventional thinking, changing his words and using strange gestures, but in the end, he realized that Ruan Tian really couldn't guess it and could only reluctantly admit defeat.
From the rounds of the game that followed, it was quickly revealed that he and Ruan Tian had no tacit understanding between them at all.
In the end, they couldn't even guess one single word.
Of course, Qin An and Ruan Tian lost the game.
Qin An even still had the face to blame her and asked, "Why are you so stupid?"
Ruan Tian snorted disdainfully, "You shamelessly begged me to join your group, right? What right do you have to blame me? If this were a blind date show, I would be the first one to vote to kick you off the show."
Anyway, thanks to this, the two lost the opportunity to continue eating hot pot as well as their breakfast tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the CP fans all watched the two of them quarreling with relish.
【Ahh, isn't this just a young couple's quarrel? My teeth are itching from all the sweetness. 】
【I haven't slept or eaten for three days because I've been too busy making more materials for the two of them. This exhaustion is bliss. 】
【Ruan Tian is so cute~ Our TianTian is the strongest! 】
【The isolated Cen Bei seems so out of tune with the rest of the show. 】
【Cen Bei is a new hostess that Fruit Video recruited last year. In just one year, she has hosted various galas and appeared on several local variety shows. Looking at it, it seems she has been receiving a lot of support internally but still hasn't become very popular. 】
【Heh, if a person's virtue doesn't match their position, they will only suffer disaster! 】
As the evening dragged on, Xu Jing's stomach started to bother him because he had eaten too much spicy food. His face had turned pale and he couldn't help but cover his stomach with one hand while using his other hand to grip the table tightly for support.
Seeing this situation, Ruan Tian pondered silently for a while. Finally, she dug out the stomach medicine she usually carried in her bag and handed it over to him. At the same time, she said, "You could have just told us if you can't eat spicy food, no one would force you."
Xu Jing lowered his eyes and looked at the medicine she had pushed into his hands. His tone was complicated: "Thank you."
This scene was secretly recorded by one of Xu Jing's fans who was mixed in with the crew, and the video was sent out on the spot. For the past six months, this fan had been chasing the drama surrounding Ruan Tian and Xu Jing. At first, she had been one of the ones wildly insulting Ruan Tian, but by now she had changed her attitude and was full of admiration for her.
In the past few days while Ruan Tian had been busy recording the last episode of the variety show, the head of the HR department from Huanshi Entertainment had directly called Ruan Tian himself a few times and threw out all kinds of attractive conditions to try to poach her away.
Even though Ruan Tian had made it very clear that she had no plans to jump ship, he didn't give up at all and continued to try to buy her over with money and various resources.
Today, he had called again: "Miss Ruan, our company can provide you with access to roles in high-quality films and shows, as well as introduce you to wealthy companies who will seek you out for endorsements, and also prepare an entire team of professionals for you. If you join us you will definitely be able to develop further and faster than with your current company."
Ruan Tian felt moved for half a second or so before she came to her senses and refused.
This campaign of trying to poach Ruan Tian away wasn't hidden at all, and gossip about it was flying all over the place. Of course, when the TianTian Group heard this news they all felt nauseated. Their hatred for Shen Shu was already soaring to the skies!
Ruan Tian getting access to better resources was one thing, but Shen Shu needed to scram away!
However, the fans of the ShenxRuan CP were also very determined. They were all looking forward to Shen Shu successfully chasing his wife back and secretly communicated together in their own smaller groups. They were convinced that when these two finally remarried it would be their turn to feel proud!
Of course, Qin Yu had also already received this news, but he was in no hurry to make a move.
According to his understanding of Ruan Tian, there was no way she would agree.
On some days Qin Yu hated Ruan Tian's stubbornness, but today he felt it was very lucky that she was such a stubborn person.
Qin Yu had truly hated that stubbornness back then. At that time, Ruan Tian's eyes were only full of Shen Shu as if she couldn't see anything else, and her love had been only for him.
Qin Yu had used various methods, threatened and cajoled, grabbed her wrist and demanded for her to say that she wasn't worthy of Shen Shu, and even said that he would strangle her to death. But Ruan Tian had only returned him a blank look and said: "Well, strange me then, I'll still keep liking him."
That Friday night, Qin Yu and Shen Shu happened to meet at a cocktail party.
When Shen Shu spotted Qin Yu, he lifted his chin and said lazily: "Go out and talk?" Then he sauntered away.
At the end of the dimly corridor, Qin Yu found Shen Shu leaning against the wall and lighting up a cigarette. He had put away his usual false mask of cordiality, and his eyes were cold and unfeeling.
Shen Shu asked: "You've liked her since long ago?"
His tone was frigid, with traces of anger.
Qin Yu didn't deny, "Yes." He then smiled softly, "Are you unhappy? Shen Shu, the person who has been leading her on for several years is not me, nor is it me who forced you and her to divorce."
Internally he sneered. What was the saying? Reaping what you sow?
Shen Shu slowly raised his looked up, and his eyes were frosty, "You really calculate well."
Thinking about it, Qin Yu had also contributed to this outcome.
Qin Yu had always been looking on from the side while he made a fool of himself, and also doing whatever he could to make him hate Ruan Tian more and more as the years went by.
Shen Shu had never been a person with a good temper. Of course, in front of outsiders he would always pretend, but it wasn't necessary when he was in front of Qin Yu.
He angrily stubbed out the cigarette butt. But then his face changed and he smiled lightly. He said: "Ruan Tian has always liked the sunny honor student type."
After all, it was exactly that facade of his that Ruan Tian had fallen in love with back in high school.
The one she had liked was the Shen Shu who was an honor student, who always wore his school uniform all year-round, who was never late, and who never cursed.
He walked over and patted Qin Yu on the shoulder, "It's true that she hates me now, but she has never loved or hated you. Qin Yu, to her, you are nothing."
Shen Shu was also a qualified executioner, the type who could easily kill with words and strike people where it hurt the most.
Qin Yu had definitely had a hand in things reaching this point, so he could at least leave some words to disgust him.
After that, the two returned to the party and had no further communication.
However, the stiff atmosphere between them was very obvious.
Someone who was more in the know saw other people looking confused and informed in a low voice, "Actually, Mr. Qin's current girlfriend is Mr. Shen's ex-wife."
With that, the crowd suddenly realized what was going on.
It was said that you should never make a move on the wife of a friend. Since the situation was like this it was no wonder that it seemed as if Young Master Shen was ready to completely cut ties with the Qin family.
The gossip from these sorts of high-end social gatherings always spread out very quickly, so by the next day, the news that Qin Yu's girlfriend that everyone knew about but no one had seen was actually Ruan Tian was already spreading wildly.
Even more exaggeratedly, some people had even made up "inside news" about Ruan Tian and Qin Yu's upcoming wedding date.
When Ruan Tian heard about these rumors from Jiang Lili, her face was full of question marks. At the same time, she felt it was very funny.
If it was said that the chances of a remarriage between her and Shen Shu was 1%…
Then the chances of her marrying Qin Yu were probably something like 0.1%. It was practically an impossibility.
What's more, the woman whom those two dog men were really aiming for was obviously Zhou Xiaoqiao, the female lead who had a big chest and a thin waist.
However, even before Ruan Tian could refute the rumor personally, Qin An scolded the rumormonger who had broken the news on Weibo for her: "This is fake. Nonsense like this shouldn't exist."
After Qin An helped her refute the rumor, he triumphantly jumped into WeChat and haughtily sent her a message:【I've helped you, you're welcome. 】
【Do these people even have brains? They should know that there's no way our Qin family could accept a woman who has already been married once! 】
Qin An absolutely refused to let Ruan Tian become his sister-in-law.
If that really happened, wouldn't he be killed?
Ruan Tian didn't bother saying much nonsense. She just sent back three short messages in rapid succession-
【Go and die!】
【Go and die quickly!】
【Take your brother and Shen Shu and all go die together! 】
'Me and My New Roommates' concluded successfully with top ratings on network television as well as unprecedented numbers of viewers on their live broadcasts.
Thanks to the program, Director Liu raised many eyebrows among the Fruit Station executives and was finally able to talk to his superiors in the company with a straight back.
After all, as the years went by his notoriety among the Fruit Station staff had only been growing, and he had been given many nicknames like 'The Variety Show Killer' or 'Taiwan's Visual Poison'. But now, with this show, he had finally washed away his old shame.
The overjoyed Director Liu even personally distributed red envelopes to the whole cast and, secretly, he made Ruan Tian's red envelope the biggest of them all.
As the dust was settling, Director Liu sent Ruan Tian a long message: 【Tian, ah, the station thinks that I performed very well this time, so they've decided to let me be the chief director of for this year's end of the year New Year's Eve concert. Let me schedule things with you now ahead of time, our station will definitely invite you to participate to do some singing and dancing. 】
Wow! Ruan Tian was surprised and happy.
And when she heard the words "singing and dancing", her eyes shone with excitement. She asked with high expectations: 【Well, Director Liu, can you arrange for two or three young and handsome little brothers as backup dancers for me? 】
Director Liu waved his hand to show this was nothing to him, 【I can arrange it easily. How many do you want? I can get ten if two are not enough. 】
Ruan Tian wasn't modest at all, 【En, ten sounds like a good number. 】
Thus, Ruan Tian's invitation to do a guest performance during the New Year's Eve concert was tentatively settled over the phone.
Director Liu actually had some private thoughts about this matter. He even wanted to put Ruan Tian in the show as the finale. After all, by now, he had been completely convinced and converted by Ruan Tian.
Of course, since there was still half a year before the New Year's Eve concert, Director Liu felt that he had to plan ahead this time. He went and approached one of the Fruit Station leaders to talk about inviting Ruan Tian in advance.
The leader snorted and replied, "Such a small matter, can't you decide for yourself?
Director Liu plucked up his courage and confided his true thoughts, "I think it would be appropriate to let Ruan Tian be the finale of the show…"
The leader looked at him with eyes that seemed to scream 'are you crazy?' for a long moment. Finally, he said, "What are you trying to do? If you don't want to be the chief director there are plenty of people eager to take the role."
Director Liu said, "Ruan Tian was born for the big screen. Whenever our station brings her on for a show or a drama, the ratings always spike and the audience always likes her very much. We can just give her some of those new recruits from the academy to dance and sing behind her, and I guarantee our ratings will skyrocket."
The station leader fell into silence and began to seriously consider it. After pondering for a while, he said, "Well, let's talk about it again when the time comes."
Director Liu nodded and left the office with a clear heart and feeling refreshed.
—–
Though she had finished filming the variety show, Ruan Tian was still very busy and spent time with the other crew almost every day.
Wang Baiyuan still didn't seem like he had any intention to take the job seriously and often messed around. Today, while waiting to shoot the next scene, he approached Ruan Tian to chat: "I heard you grew up in the countryside?"
As usual, his questions were sharp, impolite, and targeted to annoy her. It all made Ruan Tian feel very uncomfortable.
She cooly took another sip of her drink and replied in an emotionless tone: "None of your business."
Wang Baiyuan didn't get annoyed, he just leisurely moved his feet and walked away. In fact, he himself had grown up in the countryside as well. Back when he was still a child he had been rolling in the mud and picking tea leaves in the fields. When he finally managed to escape that place and move to the big city, he had vowed to himself that he would live the life of a rich boss.
Just like one of those rich CEOs on TV, he wanted to be a man who could do whatever he wanted to do.
His philosophy was to live life happily.
Now that there was no one buzzing in her ears anymore, Ruan Tian continued to read her script and go over her lines.
While filming Ruan Tian seldom had any NGs, which saved a lot of work for the crew and caused them to like her quite a bit. Thanks to her professionalism, she was able to finish filming almost three scenes a day on usual days. Of course, when compared with the last film she worked on, 'Destined Immortals', this amount of intensity wasn't much.
Occasionally, she could even have days off from filming. Secretly, Ruan Tian felt that if Wang Baiyuan hadn't been cast as the male lead, they would definitely have been able to finish filming much faster.
But these days the crew was more or less calm, and Jiang Lili also frequently came around to deliver good news. Ruan Tian's recent outstanding performances had brought her various resources to her door that in the past would have been completely out of reach.
Attracted by Ruan Tian's recent success, there were several subsidiary companies under luxury brands who sold beauty products and the like that were coming to find her to discuss cooperation. Although the endorsement fees they were offering weren't very high, it was a good opportunity for Ruan Tian to get her face out there and build up more awareness with the public.
Ruan Tian agonized over the decision for a while before finally settling on a certain second-tier brand.
The endorsement fee was relatively reasonable, there weren't any ridiculous penalties hidden in the contract, and overall their treatment seemed pretty good.
Jiang Lili was a little frustrated, "TianBaby, when will we start to get endorsement requests from those high-end luxury brands~"
Ruan Tian was a realist, "Probably once I get a little more popular?"
Jiang Lili comforted herself: "I think that when 'Destined Immortals' broadcasts over the winter holidays it will definitely explode and your popularity will soar."
After all, Ruan Tian was still currently working on a show where she had been cast as the female lead for the very first time, so her lack of popularity was understandable.
Jiang Lili really wanted nothing more than for Ruan Tian to shoot to fame in one decisive battle, and directly breakthrough into the ranks of those big-time stars instead of having to stand back and wait in line.
In the entertainment industry, the famous and the not-famous received two completely different types of treatment.
For instance, in the past when Ruan Tian had been working as a stand-in for other actresses, even if she took the initiative to greet people she would only be ignored, but now that she had accumulated a bit of fame things were slowly changing.
"Also, this drama you're working on now should be a hit among the student demographic." Jiang Lili continued hopefully.
After all, the script was good and the production was good.
And, maybe most importantly, there were many handsome men and beautiful women in the crew who would attract love from everyone who saw them.
After deciding on which endorsement contract to agree to, Ruan Tian was immediately swept up in this new task. The company was in a hurry to be ready to release their new products on Valentine's Day, so Ruan Tian had to rush to take the photos with the endorsement materials first thing. Thankfully, the shooting process went well, and the security work was also done properly, so there were no photos taken by the paparazzi.
This was actually Ruan Tian's first product endorsement ever since her debut. Thus, Jiang Lili even secretly contacted the president of Ruan Tian's fan club and quietly revealed the news to her, making her fans happy in advance.
When they got the news, the TianTian Group all prepared their wallets. Although they were few, everyone wanted to try their best to support their idol!
Even before the endorsement deal was officially announced, the news that Ruan Tian had secured the spot was released by melon-eaters on the side who wanted to see the fans and anti-fans curse at each other and drive traffic.
Whenever Ruan Tian seemed to be getting good things, it pierced the hearts of her anti-fans, so when this news began to spread around they all disdainfully dismissed it as her fans drumming things up out of nothing again! Since when had Ruan Tian ever gotten to do an endorsement?
However, the TianTian Group didn't jump out to correct them. They just obediently guarded the secret in their bellies and waited for the official announcement.
They decided it was okay to let those idiots be mistaken temporarily.
At the same time, the news caught Zhao Meng'er's attention. However, this time she learned to be a bit more clever, and instead of directly confronting Ruan Tian she just sneakily played some tricks from behind.
After some twists and turns, she managed to stick her oar in and contact the brand Ruan Tian was working with and sign a contract with them at a much lower price.
Zhao Meng'er was very serious in her duties as a villain, after all. But could anyone expect a little starlet who had gotten to where she was by climbing into beds to act any differently? This was just who she was.
Thus, on the day of the official announcement, Zhao Meng'er triumphantly made a post tagging the brand:【Thank you for the invitation this time, I am honored to be the new brand spokesperson. 】
Her words were very provocative for those in the know.
The TianTian Group all felt muddled. Wasn't this supposed to be their Sister Tian's endorsement! ? Why did it suddenly change?
The president of the fan club was so depressed he even changed his avatar to a plain black square. However, even if his mood was low, he still had to come out and explain the whole story to the rest of the group: 【The endorsement was robbed thanks to that woman offering a much lower price. 】
The TianTian Group could only cry and lament that their Sister Tian was too miserable.
Even her very first endorsement had been maliciously intercepted.
That Zhao Meng'er was simply heartless!
The fans felt distressed, but the anti-fans were resurrected on the spot. They immediately trotted out their 'fans drumming up something out of nothing' theory again, and triumphantly pointed out that Ruan Tian's face had been face slapped by the brand itself this time.
"Ruan Tian's fans seem to have been already buying that product ahead of time hahaha… what will they do now? It seems the money was spent in vain."
"I have already figured out the excuse her fans will try to use, they will just say that the endorsement was robbed."
"Poster above, you really guessed it. I have seen her die-hard fans already claiming just that. Really make me laugh to death."
Ruan Tian was someone who would self-describe as having an invincible temper, but this time was really a little angry.
…and also a bit sad.
It was a rare thing for her to find such a good endorsement, ah! That was money!