Chapter 123: A Different Kind of Heartbeat

This year's Spring Festival came early, coinciding with the last day of January. Ordinary people started planning their holiday activities well in advance, such as where to go for fun or where to have a big meal. They were just waiting with bated breath for the festive day to arrive.

However, there is another group of people who are even busier during holidays than usual.

In the entertainment industry, Li Sishi is one of those people who are busier during holidays than usual. With "The Fake Son-in-Law" scheduled to air on New Year's Eve, she didn't even have time to have New Year's Eve dinner with her family. She was on TV from day to night.

However, she still tried her best to call her family members one by one during the short breaks in the middle to wish them a Happy New Year in advance. She also said that if she had the opportunity, she would try to go home and reunite with her family. If she really didn't have the opportunity, they could still see her and a group of celebrities wishing everyone a Happy New Year on TV.

Understanding the special nature of Li Sishi's profession, neither her uncle's family nor the Li family said anything. Instead, they comforted her and expressed their sympathy for her recent busy schedule. Then, her uncle's family brought over stewed soup at noon, and in the evening, Old Madam Li also arrived with Li Jinhao and Zhou Jiaxian. The way they carried those three-layered insulated lunch boxes made it look like they were there to force-feed ducks...

The elders are truly in sync.

Although Li Sishi was eager to accept the loving meals prepared by her elders, she couldn't quite manage to eat them all—the lunch at her uncle's house was fine, and she could burn off the calories by working and exercising in the afternoon; but the three-tiered lunchbox made with precious ingredients and full of care by Old Madam Li was simply too much for her to handle…

Moreover, tonight is the movie premiere. If she eats a little more and her dress shows a slight tummy, some gossip magazines might make a big deal out of it tomorrow.

Even though her figure has withstood the test of four beauty pageants and is recognized as having a slim yet curvy and well-proportioned physique, it's been almost half a year since the last Miss Universe pageant. If her figure "goes out of shape," it's hard to guarantee that the sharp-tongued Hong Kong media won't write a harsh review like "Legendary Miss Hong Kong neglects her figure after the pageant, revealing her 'true form' at the movie premiere"...

However, faced with the earnest looks from her grandmother and parents, who all said, "How can you have the strength to work if you don't eat enough?", Li Sishi ultimately ate a little more of the nourishing soup than planned.

After waving goodbye to the three cramming prodigies, Li Sishi went back to the dressing room to change into the little dress she had prepared for the premiere. She noticed that the custom-made dress was slightly too small for her.

A surge of emotions welled up within her, especially regarding her slightly curved waist.

"Actually, it's not that obvious..." Assistant Zuo Lili carefully observed Li Sishi's waist and felt that her artist was too demanding of herself. "She just needs to take a breath and her waist will turn back to its original slim shape."

"Besides, it's a bit chilly tonight, so I've paired this dress with a large white fur shawl. If I wear it like this, you won't be able to tell it's there even if I don't breathe!"

Li Sishi looked down at her waist, then took a ruler to measure it again. Looking at the number 22.5 inches, she sighed: "It is indeed about half an inch larger than usual. I'll take this as a lesson and never do it again!"

Fortunately, although the dress was custom-made, the velvet fabric still had a little bit of elasticity, so that the extra half inch at the waist would not easily cause it to burst or rip. However, many female celebrities can start reducing their food intake or even skipping meals a few days in advance to "nourish" their figures in order to look good in a dress.

She couldn't refuse the elders' hospitality, so she did relax a bit.

After having Zuo Lili help her put on the shawl and style her hair, Li Sishi walked out of the changing room and went to the makeup room.

There's no need for heavy makeup for tonight's premiere. After all, she's surrounded by two stunning beauties, Xia Yingyun and Zheng Shuqiu, so she can't really try to outshine them. Instead, she should focus on enhancing her cool and ethereal aura and her sense of age, carving out her own path as a fairy amidst the dazzling presence of these two equally beautiful women.

Li Sishi asked her familiar makeup artist, Sister Hong, to give her a light and natural makeup look. When she smiled at herself in the mirror, she looked even more youthful and innocent. This girlish freshness, which is a privilege of youth, is something that Xia Yingyun and Zheng Shuqiu, who have already developed their own unique beauty and style, can no longer possess.

Of course, this smile she gave while looking at herself in the mirror was also inspired by Xia Yingyun's fresh and refined beauty in her early Ning Yao dramas and Zheng Shuqiu's consistently lively and charming personality.

In addition, she recently learned gentleness and grace from Wen Huihui, and then combined her own understanding of the unique charm of girlish beauty to create a brand new beauty that she has recreated.

So the reason she likes to associate with beautiful women is mainly because they can provide her with references for beauty styles. Ultimately, through imitation and learning, she can integrate and synthesize everything she has learned, turning it into her own "beauty points".

The unique beauty of the senior

While beauty cannot be replicated, by observing, learning, thinking, and trying more, beauties can gradually develop their own unique style while maintaining a vague resemblance to others.

After confirming that her makeup and clothing were in order, Li Sishi quickly got into her van and headed to the movie theater where the film premiere would be held that evening.

She arrived at the cinema at a time that was neither too early nor too late, but when she got out of the car, she could already see Cheng Erjian, Zheng Shuqiu, and a group of crew members in the distance.

That makes sense. Although this Lunar New Year comedy film has a pretty big budget, the others are all very busy people, so it's perfectly normal for them to arrive late. As for Zheng Shuqiu arriving early, it's probably out of respect for her fat director boyfriend.

Thinking of this, Li Sishi took the initiative to get out of the car, walked past a group of cameras, recorders, and microphones, and quickly joined her own people.

"You're here pretty early too." Cheng Erjian saw her walking over and quickly came out to take her away.

“My most important ‘job’ tonight is right here,” Li Sishi joked, following his lead to the area around the table covered with a red cloth.

This wasn't her first time attending a movie premiere. The premiere of "Hero in My Heart" still seemed like a vivid memory. And with the recent box office figures for "Hero in My Heart," it's safe to say it'll be in the top three of the 1994 box office rankings.

Therefore, her first foray into the film industry was quite successful—although the character "Lili" is still controversial, most film critics gave her positive reviews, considering it one of her more successful performances.

This role was basically a "success," which also proves that she is not only good at television, but also adapts well to the big screen.

"Let's work together more often in the future!" The chubby director shook her hand, arranged a good position for her, and then led Zheng Shuqiu to interact with the reporters carrying various equipment.

Undeniably, the chubby director, who is always adept at social interaction, is really good at talking to the media. Li Sishi recalled the time when she stood with Zhou Shengyi and was surrounded by a bunch of microphones, and although the people next to her tried their best to help her, it was not very effective. She could only sigh and think that everyone has their own expertise.

Of course, Zhou Shengyi's ability to resist being surrounded by reporters is not as good as the fat director's, but it is definitely much better than the cunning Cheng Erjian next to her now.

Standing next to Cheng Erjian while being questioned by reporters—Li Sishi even began to suspect that his motive for coming over was simply to find an acquaintance to help him.

He blocked the reporters...

Sometimes, teammates are really important.

As for how she managed to escape safely on the night of "Hero in My Heart," it was mainly because she pretended to be young and smiled and laughed it off. Then, Shang Hanyou arrived in time and stood by her side, perfectly using Tai Chi to shield her from most of the reporters' questions.

As if on cue, Shang Hanyou appeared. Seeing that Shang Hanyou had already gotten out of the car and drawn away the attention of a large group of reporters, Li Sishi quickly abandoned her cheap senior brother who, apart from being tall enough, lacked both intelligence and emotional intelligence, and instead went to hang out with Shang Hanyou, a Tai Chi master who had evolved to the point of being able to talk nonsense with reporters in a serious manner.

"Why are you so enthusiastic tonight?" Shang Hanyou said with a smile, his hand naturally around her waist, as if the two of them were closer than others off-screen because they were a couple in the play.

Of course, even though he said that, he could roughly guess why Li Sishi took the initiative to get closer to him: it was nothing more than that the little rascal who didn't quite know how to deal with the media swarm was planning to repeat her last tactic and come to him as a shield.

Sigh, I don't know if his "kindness" in helping her block reporters last time was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Of course it's a good thing!" Li Sishi gently punched him, continued to smile at the camera, and said in a whisper that only the two of them could hear, "I'm a little inconvenient to talk tonight, so why don't you continue to fill in?"

"Well... that's possible, but how do you plan to repay me?" he replied softly.

"Didn't I just pick out several beautiful dresses for you at the store? I'll be your free fashion consultant, isn't that enough?" Seeing that he was getting too demanding, Li Sishi secretly pinched him.

"Hanyou, you don't look too well."

The sharp-eyed reporter immediately spotted the problem.

"It's nothing, I was just suddenly pulled in by someone to be a shield, so my feelings are a bit complicated for a moment..." He said with a meaningful smile, which attracted a bunch of reporters to look at Li Sishi next to him.

Hearing his obviously teasing words, Li Sishi, feeling somewhat guilty, glared at him playfully. The lively and spirited look in her eyes, under the constant flash of the cameras, seemed to stir ripples in the hearts of anyone who saw the scene.

It must be said that some beautiful people, as they grow older, not only do not lose their natural charm, but instead, with the passage of time, they develop an increasingly intoxicating flavor, like fine wine.

Having worked in this industry for nearly ten years, he has probably collaborated with so many people that even he himself has lost count.

But—he can hold hands, put his arm around anyone, and look into their eyes with them, yet only with her does his heart flutter in a different way.