Jealousy
Jiang Xiao suddenly felt that the focus of the whole place was on her and Zhou Qishen. She was afraid that if she didn't take any action, he would say something else, so she walked towards the seat next to him while everyone else was still there.
After the brief interlude, everyone withdrew their gaze and started to order food. The atmosphere on the scene suddenly became heated up during the conversation.
Someone handed Jiang Xiao a menu and asked her what she wanted to eat.
Jiang Xiao smiled and said, "I can do anything, just watch out."
Ancient costumes are most challenging for actors' posture and weight. If they want to present the best on-camera effect, they must diet for the role, especially now that they are in the filming period, they cannot relax.
She couldn't eat anything on the menu, or could only take a bite, so anything was fine.
While waiting, Jiang Xiao had nothing to do so she could only sit properly, with her hands on her knees, staring at the tablecloth in a daze.
A shadow suddenly fell on the left. She tilted her head slightly and found that Zhou Qishen's shoulder was leaning towards her.
Then, a low voice came: "I forgot to tell you, Director Zheng is my uncle. I will formally introduce him to you another day."
This meant that Director Zheng had not yet been informed of their relationship. Jiang Xiao's nervousness suddenly eased a lot. She nodded knowingly and whispered, "You arrange it."
Zhou Qishen then asked, "You came here with Ji Changzheng?"
"No." Jiang Xiao said, and then she thought that it might be because she and Ji Changzheng and his group arrived at the private room at the same time that he misunderstood her, so she explained: "My assistant brought me here, I didn't come with him."
"On the set, I saw you two getting along pretty well, and I thought..." Having said this, Zhou Qishen paused, and stared at Jiang Xiao's face with his handsome eyes without blinking, as if he was thinking about something.
After a long while, his expression became meaningful, and he asked weakly, "Are you sure you are just in a normal relationship?"
Jiang Xiao sensed a hint of accusation in this and grabbed the silky fabric of her pants vigorously. Since the scandal with Ji Changzheng began, she had explained their relationship to him more than once. Okay, okay, you still don't believe her, right?
Jiang Xiao felt unhappy and snorted. Instead of answering, she asked, "What about you and Qin Yuanyuan? I think you have a good relationship."
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qishen asked: "Who?"
Jiang Xiao paused when she heard this, thinking he was playing dumb, and said with a soft click of the tongue: "Qin Yuanyuan, she's the one who showed you around the crew during the day, and she's also the artist that Fenghua Entertainment is supporting."
At her prompt, Zhou Qishen thought carefully for a moment, but still couldn't match the name she said with the face in his mind. He was very confused: "Uh, so, who are you talking about?"
"You're still pretending!" Jiang Xiao took a deep breath and glared at him angrily.
"I'm really not pretending." Zhou Qishen's frowning brows tightened even more, and he added patiently, "Fenghua Entertainment is indeed a partnership between me and my friends, but I hardly interfere in the company's affairs. I really have no impression of the person you mentioned."
After his serious explanation, Jiang Xiao doubted her own judgment and carefully studied his expression. It didn't look like he was lying, nor did it look like he couldn't remember. Instead, it seemed like he didn't take the other person seriously, so he really had no impression of him.
Realizing this, Jiang Xiao pursed her lips. It was thanks to Qin Yuanyuan that she humbled herself and tried to please Zhou Qishen, but after most of the day, he didn't even remember her name.
While they were whispering, people gradually arrived, and Qin Yuanyuan also arrived late.
She was wearing ten-centimeter high heels, big wavy hair, beautiful makeup, a hip-hugging miniskirt, and sweet perfume. Compared with the other actresses in the private room who were mainly dressed simply and comfortably, she was so exquisite that she seemed a little out of place.
"I don't know what you were thinking of dressing up so fancy just for a meal."
A sound of complaint from not too far away floated into Jiang Xiao's ears, mixed with the noisy noise, and was a little unclear.
"Sister Qin, you don't know this, right? We are all here to eat for free, but she is different." Someone motioned her to look in the direction of the main seat, hinting, "She is here to pick up rich men."
The actress known as Sister Qin reacted immediately after being pointed out. She snorted heavily and said sarcastically, "It's not enough to climb into the bed of the boss's son, now you want to climb into the bed of the boss."
Qin Yuanyuan, who happened to be passing by behind Sister Qin, stopped immediately when she heard this.
Not only did he say bad things about someone, but he was also caught by the person who did it. Normally, an ordinary person would have shut up out of embarrassment by now.
But I don't know whether Sister Qin didn't notice it, or she said it on purpose for Qin Yuanyuan to hear, but her voice got louder instead of decreasing: "You are so sexy, but you have nowhere to use your energy."
As soon as Sister Qin finished her words, a pair of slender hands with beautiful manicures brushed across her shoulders and slowly closed together in a strangling gesture, which frightened her.
However, this was not the end. Qin Yuanyuan's half-smiley voice sounded from behind: "Auntie Qin, since you are here to eat, use this mouth to eat, and don't fart all the time."
Aunt Qin?
Female artists are relatively sensitive to the topic of age. Just two words almost broke Sister Qin's defense, not to mention the impolite reply that followed. Sister Qin was so angry that she raised her voice a little: "A stinky bitch who relies on her body to get ahead, how dare you talk to me like this!"
Qin Yuanyuan was about to leave, but she stopped after being provoked by her and cursed back, "What's wrong? It's better than Aunt Qin, you're old and ugly, but no one wants to sleep with you, and you can only play minor roles at your age."
Hearing this, Sister Qin was so angry that she coughed for a long time and only managed to utter a dry "You!"
She entered the circle early and her qualifications are there. Even though she has been out of fashion for many years, everyone will still give her face. This is the first time that her fig leaf has been torn off in public like today.
Not only that, the gazes of the people around her were like countless knives stabbing into her heart. She was afraid that if she continued arguing, more people would notice this side. After thinking it over again and again, she had to swallow her anger and lower her head under the persuasion of her companions.
The verbal battle ended with Sister Qin's defeat. Jiang Xiao, who was watching with great interest, picked up her water cup and took a sip of water.
Speaking of which, Sister Qin also relied on a financial sponsor to rise to power when she was young, and she had done no less things than Qin Yuanyuan, but the Internet was not so developed at that time, so few people knew about it.
So Jiang Xiao didn't understand why she mocked Qin Yuanyuan. Isn't this just the pot calling the kettle black and making others laugh at her?
She glanced at the rich man that Qin Yuanyuan was trying to hook.
The man lazily leaned back on a wooden chair, his inky black eyes were intense, and one hand, with distinct joints, was placed on the gray teacup. His skin was fair and slender, and under the light, even his neatly trimmed nails were glistening.
One has to admit that he is a man of great wealth, power, looks and talent, so it is understandable that Qin Yuanyuan has feelings for him.
Noticing Jiang Xiao's gaze, Zhou Qishen, who had been watching her, raised his eyebrows and coldly pointed out the fact that she had ignored him for a long time: "Is the show so good?"
Jiang Xiao heard the hidden meaning in his words and made a fool of herself for the first time. She said jokingly, "Well, she's prettier than you."
Zhou Qishen was stunned for a moment, a helpless smile spreading across his lips.
Jiang Xiao's lips, hidden behind the cup, also curved.
When the atmosphere was just right, someone suddenly poked her on the back. Jiang Xiao turned her head subconsciously and saw Qin Yuanyuan coming behind her at some point.
Qin Yuanyuan put on a rare kind smile and negotiated with her in a soft voice: "Jiang Xiao, let's switch seats."
He was talking to her, but his eyes were fixed on Zhou Qishen.
Qin Yuanyuan's target is very clear: Zhou Qishen, but Jiang Xiao will never let her do as she wishes, nor will she take the initiative to give her the opportunity to get close to him. After all, Zhou Qishen is still her husband in the legal sense, and she doesn't have the habit of cheating on herself.
Jiang Xiao refused bluntly: "No."
But she also knew that Qin Yuanyuan was not someone who would give up easily. Sure enough, the next second Qin Yuanyuan reached out and grabbed her short sleeves, shamelessly whispering, "Sister Xiaoxiao, please, just help me this time."
Jiang Xiao was wearing a loose short-sleeved shirt. Qin Yuanyuan used too much force, and her shoulders were deformed in a few seconds. Her neckline was open, and there was a risk of exposure.
Realizing this, Jiang Xiao hurriedly pulled her collar back to its original position, while struggling to avoid Qin Yuanyuan's hand, and said coldly: "Even if you call me mom, I won't change."
Qin Yuanyuan saw her tough attitude and her patience gradually disappeared. She felt that she was ungrateful and raised her voice to act like a rogue: "It's not stipulated that this seat is yours, you..."
However, her unreasonable behavior was soon interrupted.
"You want to sit next to Director Zheng, right? How about I switch with you?"
Jiang Xiao subconsciously looked towards the owner of the voice. Zhou Qishen stood up and left his seat vacant. His natural height advantage gave him an oppressive feeling from above, and his arrogant eyes were intimidating.
With just one simple sentence, he removed himself from the center of public opinion and at the same time silently but forcefully persuaded the unreasonable Qin Yuanyuan to back off.
As soon as Zhou Qishen opened his mouth, he instantly caught the attention of Director Zheng. His vicious gaze moved between the few people for a moment. Combined with Zhou Qishen's words, he immediately guessed the cause and effect and gave a look to the producer next to him.
The latter immediately understood and waved to Qin Yuanyuan: "Yuanyuan, come here, there is a seat next to Changzheng."
Qin Yuanyuan bit her lip unwillingly, but since the producer had spoken, she could only give up the idea of grabbing a seat for the time being.
"I understand." Qin Yuanyuan responded softly, and walked over to sit next to Ji Changzheng dejectedly.
The continuous noises were not small, but few people dared to watch the excitement openly. Most of them just glanced at it out of the corner of their eyes, believing that watching the show was one thing, but no one wanted to be involved in it accidentally.
Seeing that Qin Yuanyuan failed, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhou Qishen is now the largest investor in their crew. If Qin Yuanyuan's small fault messes up everything and causes the other party to withdraw his investment in anger, then the years of hard work of many people may be in vain.
The assistant director in charge of recruiting watched Qin Yuanyuan's actions throughout the whole process. Noticing the slightly ugly expressions of Zhou Qishen and Director Zheng, he couldn't help sweating profusely.
If he continues like this, he might even lose his job.
When working in the industry, it is impossible to truly only look at the actors' abilities. The capital behind them is also a factor to consider. When he was casting, the reason why he picked up Qin Yuanyuan's resume was more or less out of consideration for the son of the president of Fenghua Entertainment.
An insignificant supporting role in exchange for tens of millions of investment, this business is a sure win, but who knew that she would be so noisy and dare to seduce and show off in front of the future successor of Zhou Group. It would be fine if she succeeded, but it is obvious that the other party is not interested in her at all.
If I were to offend Zhou Qishen because of this, it would be a loss.
Thinking of this, the assistant director swallowed his saliva, put on a flattering smile on his face, raised his glass to toast, and tried to change the subject: "Director Zheng, I toast you a glass."
Director Zheng was well aware of the secret activities of his subordinates, but he was also aware that in the mixed entertainment industry, it was impossible to expect everyone to be upright, so he turned a blind eye most of the time.
At this time, he did not refuse the assistant director's face. He raised his glass and took a sip as a response.
After everyone arrived, the restaurant served the food on time. At such occasions as a dinner party, drinking is inevitable to liven up the atmosphere.
Jiang Xiao was not worried about this problem. After all, she had long established herself as a person with a poor alcohol tolerance. Not many people urged her to drink, and those who occasionally asked her to drink only let her take a simple sip as a token of their appreciation. So throughout the whole event, she drank less than three glasses in total.
On the other hand, Zhou Qishen next to her was drinking with Director Zheng, chatting and laughing without changing his expression. It seemed that he could drink quite well.
But if you drink too much, you can't help but go to the toilet.
"I'm going to the bathroom." After Zhou Qishen said hello to Director Zheng, he did not get up and leave immediately. Instead, he turned his head to look at her and said softly, "I'll be back soon."
Just go, there's no need to report to her.
Although she thought so, Jiang Xiao still nodded calmly.
After Zhou Qishen left, Jiang Xiao couldn't help but be gossiped about by the actresses next to her, who were trying to find out about their relationship in every way they spoke.
Jiang Xiao smiled and laughed it off, only saying that they had met a few times before but they were not very familiar with each other. She did not respond directly. The actress did not get the answer she wanted and felt bored, so she tactfully stopped the topic.
Jiang Xiao felt quiet and her ears were quiet. Suddenly, she thought of something and raised her eyes to look across.
Just as she thought, Qin Yuanyuan was no longer in her seat.
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