With filming nearing its end, the crew is rushing to meet deadlines, finishing very late every day, often even in the early hours of the morning, and today was no exception.

When the director finally yelled "That's a wrap!" it was already 1 a.m.

Gu Qingqiu was so sleepy that she could barely keep her eyes open, and all she wanted to do was go back to the hotel and sleep.

Unexpectedly, all the lights on the set suddenly went out, startling Gu Qingqiu and waking her up halfway from her drowsiness.

But soon, singing began to fill the air.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Qingqiu!

Gu Qingqiu was taken aback. The lights on set came back on, and the director walked over in the distance pushing a large cake. "Haha, Qingqiu, you've worked hard! Happy birthday!"

Gu Qingqiu was somewhat shocked. She thought she wasn't popular on set and no one would remember her birthday.

The director quickly lit the candles for Gu Qingqiu. Gu Qingqiu blew out the candles, closed her eyes, but didn't know what to wish for.

Finally, he silently prayed to himself, "I hope I can break the ice with Xiao Yiming soon," because nothing is more important than completing the mission.

After cutting the cake and distributing it to the staff present, Gu Qingqiu dragged her tired body back to the hotel.

After taking a shower and quickly reviewing the scenes to be filmed tomorrow, Gu Qingqiu went to bed to rest. As she picked up her phone to set an alarm, she discovered that Xiao Yiming had sent her a message just over ten minutes earlier.

Opening the message list, Xiao Yiming only sent a brief four-word message: "Happy Birthday".

If it weren't for the fact that this conversation was preceded by Gu Qingqiu's previous thank you message to Xiao Yiming with a bright red exclamation mark, no one would have imagined that the famous actor had once blocked her.

But when did Xiao Yiming remove her from the blacklist? Gu Qingqiu was too sleepy to think about it, so she put down her phone, turned off the light, and decided to reply to the message after she woke up tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yiming was getting anxious. He had finally made up his mind to remove Gu Qingqiu from his blacklist and had finally mustered the courage to send her a message wishing her a happy birthday. But almost twenty minutes had passed and Gu Qingqiu still hadn't replied!

Did she fall asleep so quickly? Or did she just not want to reply to her own messages?

Xiao Yiming's face was gloomy, and he was in a very low mood. For the first time in his life, he felt anxious and helpless while waiting for someone to reply to his message.

But he quickly realized something was wrong with him—why did he care whether Gu Qingqiu replied to his messages or not?

Frustrated, Xiao Yiming turned off the screen and lay back down on the bed. However, he tossed and turned all night and couldn't sleep soundly. When the alarm rang in the morning, Xiao Yiming even had the urge to throw his phone out the window.

Of course, Xiao Yiming didn't actually do that. Instead, after quickly forcing himself to calm down, he opened WeChat and chatted with Gu Qingqiu. Two minutes earlier, she had replied with "Thank you."

Xiao Yiming felt a sense of inexplicable dissatisfaction. Why was it just a simple "thank you"?

But he only sent a "Happy Birthday" message, didn't he? Why should he expect Gu Qingqiu to be grateful and write him a long thank-you message?

He got so worked up over a single reply; it's so unlike him.

"Ha," Xiao Yiming thought somewhat irritably, "I was even thinking of introducing Gu Qingqiu to a new drama!"

The film set was still very busy, and Gu Qingqiu and Xiao Yiming barely had time to think about anything else, as they needed to maintain their character's state at all times.

As soon as filming wrapped up in the morning, Gu Qingqiu was called over by the director.

The director took a drag of his cigarette and asked Gu Qingqiu, "Have you read the script I sent you before? What did you think of it?"

"I've finished watching it." Gu Qingqiu really liked the character's design. "The story is very interesting, and the character is very well-developed. It's something I've never tried before. If the director is willing to give me this opportunity, I will definitely do my best to act it."

"Hmm." The director was also very satisfied. "When I was conceiving the image of the second female lead, you were the first person I thought of. Since you are willing, there is no need for an audition. I will contact your agent to send you the contract directly. We are already quite familiar with each other. If there are no other issues after reading the contract, let's sign it directly."

"Thank you, Director! I will definitely live up to your expectations!" Gu Qingqiu quickly expressed her gratitude. "Director, you've been so kind to me, I'm really so embarrassed. You also prepared the birthday cake this morning, right?"

"Birthday cake? That was prepared by Brother Ming through the crew." The director laughed, "If Brother Ming hadn't reminded my assistant that it was your birthday, we would have almost forgotten about it. He's so thoughtful. I'm really sorry, we didn't even prepare a gift for you."

It was actually Xiao Yiming...?

The director added, "Ming-ge still takes good care of you. He even had the crew fire the staff member who threw the towel earlier."

Before Gu Qingqiu could even express her surprise, she replied, "It's nothing. Inviting me to act in your new play is already the best birthday gift you could give me."

"Alright, go eat, have a good rest, we have a tough battle to fight this afternoon and evening." The director patted Gu Qingqiu on the shoulder with a smile.

"You should go eat too. You've been shouting on set for so long today, you must be exhausted," Gu Qingqiu said with a smile.

The two exchanged compliments for a while before ending the conversation.

Gu Qingqiu was just about to get her lunchbox when she saw Xiao Yiming standing to the side, looking at her with a complicated expression.

Realizing that the other person still remembered her birthday, Gu Qingqiu felt she had to take the initiative to break the ice, so she walked straight up to Xiao Yiming and said, "Brother Ming, thank you."

"What?" Xiao Yiming didn't expect Gu Qingqiu to suddenly talk to him, and he touched his nose somewhat awkwardly.

"The director said that you told the crew today is my birthday," Gu Qingqiu explained.

"Oh, it's nothing," Xiao Yiming asked. "Want to go out for dinner together?"

“…Huh?” Gu Qingqiu didn’t expect Xiao Yiming to invite her. Could it be that Xu’s birthday wish came true?

But this is a good opportunity to get to know the male lead, and there's no reason to refuse.

Gu Qingqiu immediately agreed, "Let's go then. It's my birthday today, so I'll treat you. We won't eat the crew's boxed meals; let's sneak off and treat ourselves."

Reason told Xiao Yiming that he should refuse. Eating the crew's boxed lunches together was fine, but wouldn't it be a bit too intimate for the two of them to go out to eat alone?

But for some reason, Xiao Yiming agreed, "Then I won't stand on ceremony, thank you for your expense."

Gu Qingqiu smiled sweetly, "Not at all, it's my honor that the great movie star would deign to have dinner with me."

When Xiao Yiming saw Gu Qingqiu smile like that for the first time, he was momentarily stunned.

I used to find her repulsive, but now I think she's pretty, especially when she smiles.

Xiao Yiming composed himself. He wasn't the type to care about appearances; his appreciation for Gu Qingqiu stemmed solely from her professional competence.