Just as Ruan Qing'an swept the broken camera fragments into a corner, there was a knock on the door of the couple's suite, and Li Xin's voice came from outside—"Qing'an, are you in there?"
Ruan Qingan did not expect Li Xin to arrive so quickly.
She glanced at the fragments of the camera in the corner and scoffed, "They have a nose even sharper than a dog's. They came as soon as they sensed something was wrong. I should have just left it there."
When the door opened, the impatience and coldness in Ruan Qing'an's leaden eyes vanished, replaced by panic.
Before Li Xin, who was standing at the door, could ask, Ruan Qing'an asked in a panic and fear, "What did you do? My God, this hotel has security cameras! This is terrifying!"
"Ah...ah?"
Li Xin was stunned: "Camera?!"
037 remained silent. If it hadn't witnessed its ancestor smashing the camera and then cleaning it up, it would have believed it.
Clearly, Ruan Qingan's preemptive move had choked Li Xin, leaving her speechless as she could only glance at the shattered camera.
"Um, what... what's going on?"
"I did it."
Ruan Qingan said casually.
Li Xin didn't pay much attention. She looked into the suite and, after confirming that she didn't see Shi An, couldn't help but say, "Qing An, where did Shi An go? He's been drugged, he can't possibly be running around."
"He's gone. What happened?"
"How could you let him go?!"
Li Xin was startled and turned around to chase after Shi An. There were other powerful people in the hotel, and Shi An had been drugged. If it involved others, Ruan Qingling would not be able to protect her!
Seeing that Li Xin was about to leave, Ruan Qing'an grabbed her arm: "Why are you chasing Shi An? Isn't my business more important?"
"But……"
"What's wrong? Am I not as good as Shi An?"
Meeting Ruan Qing'an's ambiguous smile, Li Xin was speechless for a moment before realizing that she had been too obvious. She could only give an awkward smile and say, "No, no."
"Qing'an, just tell me, I'll help you with anything!"
Ruan Qingan raised an eyebrow slightly: "Then come with me to complain about the hotel. We need to get an explanation for the CCTV incident, right?"
Li Xin's expression stiffened: "How about we just forget about it?"
"No, this can't be left like this. If I hadn't discovered it, my privacy would have been compromised. This hotel is terrible; I'm going to file a complaint against them!"
"No, no, no, it's better to avoid trouble."
Li Xin was terrified. The hotel didn't have any cameras installed. If they asked, wouldn't that expose her? Absolutely not!
Ruan Qing'an looked at her righteously and said, "What? Li Xin? I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. These cameras are so harmful. How can you be so unkind and unjust? I despise you!"
Li Xin, who had been thoroughly berated, could only endure it for the time being and said with a forced smile, "Let's go back, Qing An."
"Aren't you going to look for Shi An anymore?"
"I'm not looking anymore, I'm not looking anymore."
As soon as Li Xin finished speaking, she realized something was wrong. She looked up at Ruan Qing'an and subconsciously took a half step back.
Ruan Qing'an looked up at her and said casually, "Oh, seeing how anxious you are, I thought... you came to check how far we've come."
"Right, Li Xin?"
"Ha, haha... that's not true."
Li Xin tried to cover it up with an awkward laugh, but found that Ruan Qing'an just stood there with his arms crossed, looking at her coldly with his leaden gray eyes, as if he were watching a joke.
For a moment, Li Xin's awkward laughter grew softer and softer until it stopped abruptly. She stood there, not daring to say a word.
Ruan Qing'an sat down on the edge of the bed, squinting at Li Xin: "I do like Shi An quite a bit, but you brought him here to me, do you think I'm a bandit?"
"No, it's not..."
"Tell me, what's going on with Shi An?"
As Ruan Qing'an spoke, he slightly raised his eyes, a hint of mockery in them: "Li Xin, if Ruan Qingling knew you were useless, would she still give you a single penny? Not only that, she would probably get rid of you for knowing so many of her secrets, wouldn't she?"
Hearing this, Li Xin realized that the seemingly foolish second young lady she had always thought of actually knew everything...
Li Xin paused for a moment before revealing what she had done.
Just like in the original story, the semi-ban on Shi An was orchestrated by Li Xin at Ruan Qingling's instigation. Li Xin went to those investors and entertainment companies and put pressure on them in the name of the original owner of the body.
After saying that, Li Xin cautiously asked, "Then, should I have someone withdraw the measures we used against Shi An?"
"Need not."
Ruan Qingan said slowly and deliberately, "I heard that Shi An recently made a suspense movie called 'No Return,' which is a big-budget production, right? You should call Beixing Entertainment."
"Second Miss, are you planning to make another investment?"
Li Xin's attitude and stance changed very quickly; now she has begun to follow Ruan Qingan's lead.
But Ruan Qing'an gave her a strange look: "I asked you to call them and inform them in Ruan Qingling's name to change the actress in this movie, otherwise they shouldn't release it."
"Second Miss, are you going to completely blacklist Shi An?"
Li Xin was stunned.
037 is the same: [Holy crap, ancestor, calm down!]
Unexpectedly, Ruan Qing'an retorted, "You went to notify them, and you used Ruan Qingling's name. What does that have to do with me, Ruan Qing'an? Am I trying to blacklist Shi An?"
Upon hearing this, Li Xin felt a chill run down her spine.
Ruan Qing'an raised his eyes: "Make a phone call, Li Xin. Weren't you using my name back then, acting all high and mighty? Didn't you feel comfortable doing that?"
"What, you don't dare to use Ruan Qingling's name?"
She spoke in a low voice, her eyes full of mockery.
...
The following afternoon, inside the film studio.
The suspense film "No Return" is being filmed here. Due to Shi An's participation, North Star Entertainment has invested a large sum of money.
Shi An plays the villain in "No Return," a criminal planner who seeks justice for victims outside the law, creating a series of perfect crimes to murder murderers, and walking in the darkness for the "justice" he believes in.
He never killed a single person, yet he "killed" many.
Under the cameras from various positions, the set is a model of a high-rise building, and a tall man with a slim waist and long legs is sitting on the edge. He is wearing a white shirt with specks of blood on it.
Under the camera's gaze, Shi An lowered his eyes, his slender hand pressing down on half of his face, and the smile on his lips was unrestrained and wild.
Compared to his usual indifference, Shi An seemed to come alive in that instant, his intense emotions spreading and infecting others, drawing them into the emotions he released.
"Wrong?"
"No, I am not wrong, and no one can judge me!"
He chuckled in a suppressed voice, his condescending gaze looking down at the world like a god. The next moment—Shi An had already leaped into the air, the biting wind ruffling his hair.
He fell from the high-rise building, free and arrogant.
The director, who was facing the camera, was excited. Only after the last scene was filmed did he yell, "Cut!"
This sound finally snapped everyone out of Shi An's reverie.
This was the final scene of "No Return," and the crew quickly began packing up the equipment. The director, meanwhile, looked at the footage with satisfaction and nodded in approval.
At that moment, Shi An was putting on his coat and walking over, his half-naked chest revealing the faint outline of his abdominal muscles.
The director looked up: "You're in great shape, and your emotions are running high!"
"fine."
Shi An said indifferently.
Compared to the multifaceted and complex characters she portrays on screen, Shi An usually has a cold, expressionless face, as if she's just letting her mind go after investing too much emotion, without even a flicker of emotion in her eyes.
However, the director was used to his demeanor and shrugged: "You're not usually a very emotional person, but I didn't expect you to be so talented in acting."
"I'll come to the wrap party tonight."
Shi Anchong nodded to the director and was about to leave when the director, who had been smiling just moments before, suddenly called out to him.
"Um, wait a minute... Shi An."
The director stared at the message on his phone, his expression contorted. He looked up, his smile frozen: "Something's happened. The company says they're replacing the actor for the role in 'No Return'..."
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