The most beautiful space

51. Receiving Xie Mingyuan

Upon arriving at the film set, it was considered Xie Chengjing's place at Su Tong's place. Su Tong immediately adopted a hostess-like demeanor, inviting Xie Chengjing to sit down at the table in the lounge. However, this makeshift lounge didn't have much to offer guests, so she asked Yang Huan and Zhang Lin to get some water. She handed one bottle to Xie Chengjing first, then another to Lin Zhen, and finally took one for herself. Thinking that she would be filming later, she didn't dare to drink too much water, so she sipped it slowly. She silently watched Wang Lu and Director Lin chatting behind the monitor, and quietly asked Xie Chengjing, "Have you finished discussing what you came here to talk about?"

Xie Chengjing obliged, unscrewing the bottle cap and taking a couple of sips of water. "No, we'll talk about it later."

An Jing and Qin Jing also walked down from the stage. An Jing first smiled and gave Su Tong a thumbs up, "You performed very well just now! My friends from the crew and I were all stunned, it was amazing! From now on, you're our goddess!" Then she asked with concern, "Sue, you didn't fall, did you?"

Su Tong was grateful for the concern shown to her, and smiled, saying, "Yes, I was caught just in time, so I didn't fall at all. By the way, you have scenes to film later, so don't worry about me, go change into your costume and get ready. Your scene next seems to be quite emotional, and I'm looking forward to seeing your performance."

As soon as she finished speaking, they saw Lin Shanshan, who was smiling, standing behind Qin Jing with a somber expression. She was wearing a dark, retro-style dress that she wore in the play as the daughter of a Chinese painter, which made her look even more proud and beautiful. Her eyes were fixed on Xie Chengjing and Su Tong next to her. She gestured for Qin Jing and An Jing to pass by, and then walked over with a cold face.

Faced with Lin Shanshan's resentful gaze, which seemed to be staring at her with such self-righteousness, Su Tong, who hadn't done anything, felt a sense of guilt, like a mistress seeing the wife. She couldn't help but find it amusing.

Qin Jing smiled at the scene and tugged at An Jing's t-shirt from behind, "Let's go, let's go. It's better if we don't get involved at a time like this, lest we offend everyone. We still have our scenes to film. As a girl, I need more time for makeup. My manager and assistant aren't here right now. I'm all alone and helpless. Can you come with me to the dressing room for a bit?"

She usually exudes charm and allure, but this time she acted like a little girl, acting coquettishly towards An Jing. She didn't seem like a rising female star at all, but rather like an ordinary young girl. An Jing quickly couldn't resist Qin Jing's pitiful look as she stared at him, and was pulled away by Qin Jing. Then, Qin Jing, with her back to him, revealed her usual seductive smile.

Xie Chengjing paid no attention to Lin Shanshan, but looked at Lin Zhen calmly and coldly, without any joy or anger.

Although Lin Zhen always gives people the impression of being an immortal untouched by the mortal world, he has actually experienced and seen a lot, which is why he is so refined and insightful. This has enabled him to reach the current position of being so popular in the entertainment industry, where he can almost decide the fate of another actor with a single sentence.

Last year, before the Lunar New Year, a top-tier actress mustered the courage to give Lin Zhen an aphrodisiac. However, Lin Zhen's caution prevented her from succeeding, which angered him greatly. Later, in an interview, Lin Zhen subtly mentioned what the actress had done, saying, "I can only hope that she can behave better in the future." Within a month, the actress was embroiled in numerous scandals and her career was severely damaged. She faced a massive boycott from netizens and fans, and the production teams and brands she had already signed with demanded to terminate their contracts because of her tarnished image and lack of self-respect. By February of this year, she had essentially disappeared from the entertainment industry.

Now he sensed that the cold man who had saved Su Tong clearly didn't like him. With his experience and composure, he merely smiled faintly and nodded at Xie Chengjing, then asked Su Tong, "Sue, who is this...?"

Su Tong met Lin Zhen's gentle and sincere smile, pursed her lips, and simply said, "Yes, he's a friend I met by chance before. He's been taking good care of me since I came to the capital. You can just call him Mr. Xie."

As they were talking, Lin Shanshan gracefully walked onto the stage, ignoring Su Tong and standing directly in front of Xie Chengjing. She stared at Xie Chengjing, who wouldn't even look at her, for a few seconds before slowly glancing back at Su Tong and asking Xie Chengjing in a low voice, "Why are you here? To see me? Or—to see her?"

Zhang Lin, Yang Huan, and the others were quite perceptive. Su Tong and the cold-faced man were clearly not people who wanted others to know about their affair. When they saw Lin Shanshan coming over aggressively, they knew that this was not something they should get involved in. After exchanging glances, they closed the door and left.

Feeling almost directly provoked, Su Tong decided not to remain silent. She calmly placed the water bottle back on the table and began to speak, "Ms. Lin, if you're here to chat, you're welcome. But if you have other matters to attend to, please forgive me for not being able to keep you company. As for Mr. Xie, he's just here to..."

Xie Chengjing coldly interrupted her, saying to Su Tong, "Your rest time is almost up. Go back to filming. This is none of your business. I'll handle it."

Upon hearing this, Lin Shanshan turned to look at Su Tong, as if to tell her to leave quickly.

In Xie Chengjing's view, Lin Shanshan's one-sided affection for him was something he should handle, and Su Tong shouldn't have to worry about it, nor should he cause her any trouble. Lin Shanshan, however, thought completely differently. She had finally seen Xie Chengjing again and naturally didn't want Su Tong in her way; she wished both Su Tong and Lin Zhen would disappear immediately.

Su Tong nodded and said to Lin Zhen, who had been watching from the sidelines as if he didn't exist, "Then let's go film the scene first." Seeing Lin Zhen smile and nod, she said to Xie Chengjing, "Filming is actually quite fun to watch occasionally, but it gets a bit repetitive after a while. You watch for now, and I'll go reshoot the scene we just filmed."

"Hmm." Xie Chengjing said, "I still have things to discuss and I have to leave soon. Wang Hai said you'll probably finish work around 8 pm tonight. I'll be done by then and will come pick you up." As soon as he finished speaking, Su Tong noticed that Lin Shanshan's already unpleasant expression turned completely dark. However, she still maintained her haughty posture with her chin held high. Su Tong immediately felt that Lin Shanshan was still the proud and beautiful woman she had first met at the city wedding reception, regardless of who she liked or who liked her.

***

After Su Tong finished reshooting the final part of the dance scene, although Xie Chengjing said he wouldn't stay much longer, she still felt it wasn't good to leave him hanging in the dressing room. Just as she walked to the side of the stage to check if Xie Chengjing was still there, Xie Chengjing said something to Lin Shanshan and saw Lin Shanshan rush out of the dressing room with tears in her eyes, which was unusual for her. She just happened to meet Su Tong and immediately reverted to her usual aloof and arrogant expression. Then, ignoring the obstruction of her manager and assistant and disregarding the several scenes she was supposed to film that day, she simply got into her car and left the set.

Director Lin, being a shrewd and perceptive person, could tell that Lin Shanshan was really in a bad mood today. Even if she forced herself to continue filming, she wouldn't achieve the desired effect. After her agent apologized repeatedly, he didn't hold it against Lin Shanshan, a popular A-list actress, for throwing a small tantrum. He just smiled and told the agent to remind Lin Shanshan not to be late the next day.

Lin Shanshan's departure disrupted the original filming schedule, and filming wrapped up half an hour earlier than Su Tong had anticipated. After smilingly seeing off Lin Zhen, An Jing, Yang Huan, and others on set, she waited for Xie Chengjing to pick her up, accompanied by Zhang Lin. Su Tong had originally asked Zhang Lin to leave first, but Zhang Lin simply smiled and said that Wang Hai had instructed her not to leave Su Tong alone, refusing to go ahead. Su Tong understood her concerns and didn't say anything. The two women chatted about interesting topics in the entertainment industry, and time passed quickly.

After Wang Lu drove Xie Chengjing to pick her up, and they said goodbye to Zhang Lin, Su Tong got into the car and drove for a short distance before realizing that this wasn't the way back to her apartment complex. She asked Xie Chengjing, "Where do we need to go before we go back?"

Xie Chengjing said, "Yes, Mingyuan has figured it out, so my brother asked me to pick him up and take him back to the main house."

Su Tong knew Xie Mingyuan was being held captive by his family because he had called her once during that time, telling her not to worry and that he wouldn't let her stay in City C for long. She was quite touched at the time, because in this world, no one has an obligation to be kind to another person, and you should be grateful for everyone's kindness and care, regardless of the reason. However, she had no idea why Xie Mingyuan was being restricted by his family. After arriving in the capital, thinking that she and Xie Mingyuan were at least former colleagues, and that he had always cared about her, she asked Xie Chengjing about Xie Mingyuan's situation. Xie Chengjing said that it was because he disobeyed his father, so his father had locked him up and told him to reflect on his actions and be released when he came to his senses.

He also told Su Tong, "Don't overthink this. It's my older brother's family's business, and it was approved by my dad. Even I can't control it." He meant that Su Tong's overthinking was useless, so she should just let it go.

But wasn't it said that Xie Chengjing didn't care about his elder brother's family affairs? With the Xie family's status, surely they could find a driver to pick up Xie Mingyuan, so why did they specifically ask Xie Chengjing to do it? Su Tong thought for a moment and still asked, "Does it really have to be you who picks him up personally?"

“Not necessarily,” Xie Chengjing’s voice was calm, not as sharp and cold as usual. “It’s just that although Mingyuan compromised, he’s said to be very unwilling. My relationship with him is relatively good, so my elder brother asked me to pick him up and say a few words of advice to him. I don’t have to go if I don’t want to, but since there’s nothing important to do today, I’ll go pick him up.”

His eyes held something Su Tong couldn't decipher, and he said casually, "While I can't control my brother's family affairs, he can't control mine either."

The car ride took a long time. Su Tong had a deep sleep in the car before they arrived. It seemed to be an unnamed mountain on the outskirts of the capital. The car stopped by a small villa that looked ordinary but had all its windows tightly sealed. Then, Xie Mingyuan, who had lost a lot of weight, came out with four men behind him. He seemed to be in relatively good spirits. Xie Chengjing rolled down the car window and gave a faint smile, calling out in a hoarse and dry voice, "Second Uncle."

But then Xie Mingyuan saw Su Tong, and he was instantly struck dumb, as if seeing Su Tong was a sudden and unexpected blow, leaving him frozen in place. (166 Reading Network)