Chapter 29: Gu Mingyan's CP Appears!
After seeing Gu Xubai off, Yun yawned and turned around, preparing to go upstairs for another nap.
She had just stepped onto the first step—
"Bang!"
The door was suddenly opened from the outside.
Yun Qingqing initially thought it was Gu Xubai returning, but when she turned around, she found that it was the butler leading seven or eight people in single file.
These people, carrying all sorts of boxes of different sizes, silently and swiftly surged into the spacious living room.
Their movements were synchronized and well-trained, and they quickly filled up a small portion of the previously empty living room.
If the butler hadn't been leading the way, Yun Qingqing would have almost thought this was some kind of robbery gang, conducting a precise sweep early in the morning.
Yun Qingqing: "?"
Before she could ask a question, the sound of footsteps came from upstairs.
With messy hair and sleepy eyes, Gu Mingyan leaned on the railing and looked down. Upon seeing the scene, she immediately exclaimed "Ah!" and woke up.
"Qingqing! You're up? Perfect timing!" She excitedly waved to Yunqing, "Let's get ready quickly."
"Prepare what?" Yun Qingqing was still a little confused.
"Get ready for tonight's charity gala." Gu Mingyan ran downstairs and affectionately took her hand.
Yun recalled that she seemed to have heard Gu Mingyan mention such an event a couple of days ago, and she had even promised to go with her.
“So they are…” Yun gently pointed to the group of people in the living room.
Gu Mingyan said, "They are the ones who do our makeup and styling."
Yun asked hesitantly, "Isn't the banquet starting in the evening? Do we need to prepare our makeup and attire so early?"
“Of course!” Gu Mingyan explained, “The makeup needs to be determined based on the dress and the theme of the evening, the hairstyle needs to be designed, and we also need to try on matching jewelry, check if the shoes fit, and adjust the overall effect… everything takes time.”
Yun Qingqing listened in a daze. When she was a child, she watched those TV dramas about wealthy families and always felt that the scenes of the young ladies being surrounded by a group of people to dress them up before going out were somewhat of an artistic exaggeration.
Now, facing this situation firsthand, she suddenly realized—art truly does originate from life!
At 7 p.m., as the city lights began to twinkle, the giant white cruise ship moored at the private dock resembled a crystal palace floating on the sea.
Well-dressed celebrities, holding gold-embossed invitations, boarded the soon-to-be-departing "Star Dream" ship one after another, under the polite guidance and strict verification of the waiters.
This is not just a charity gala, but also a social event for the wealthy.
Besides the wealthy individuals who frequently appear in financial news, many heavyweight figures from the entertainment industry also made an appearance, drawing a flurry of flashes from the media waiting outside the cordon.
Near the entrance to the banquet hall on the first deck, Meng Xian walked gracefully in a carefully chosen lotus root pink off-shoulder dress, attracting many admiring or scrutinizing glances along the way.
This brought a smug smile to Meng Xian's lips.
She clutched a small, diamond-encrusted handbag, her gaze constantly scanning the flow of people entering the venue.
Meng Xian is here today mainly to stake out the famous director Sun Mo.
According to Ye Jinyan, Director Sun is currently preparing a highly anticipated historical epic with a budget of hundreds of millions of yuan. Although the lead actress has already been secured by a well-established Best Actress, a second lead actress with a significant role and a compelling character is still vacant.
This was a tempting piece of meat, and Meng Xian used a lot of connections to get the invitation tonight, hoping to create an opportunity for a chance encounter and leave an impression on Director Sun.
"They're here!" Ding Manni knew the purpose of her visit and quietly reminded her.
Meng Xian immediately looked in that direction and saw an elderly man, dressed in a low-key dark blue Zhongshan suit, with gray hair but a vigorous spirit, walking into the banquet hall accompanied by several assistants, exchanging pleasantries with people.
This must be Sun Mo.
Meng Xian tidied her hair, revealed a confident smile, and pulled Ding Manni to greet them.
"Director Sun, good evening. I didn't expect to meet you here. I'm Meng Xian, and I really love your film 'The Great River Flows East'."
Director Sun Mo turned his head upon hearing the voice, his gaze lingering on Meng Xian's face for a moment, as if recalling something, before giving a polite smile: "Oh, hello."
He was calm and not overly enthusiastic, but he didn't refuse to talk either.
Meng Xian was secretly pleased and quickly seized the opportunity to talk about her appreciation of Director Sun's works and her insights on Chinese historical themes.
Director Sun Mo would nod occasionally, give a few simple replies, and sometimes his gaze would fall on Meng Xian's beautiful face, as if he were examining her.
Meng Xian's outfit today was deliberately chosen to resemble the character of the second female lead in the drama, and she couldn't help but feel secretly pleased with herself.
Among the young actresses of the right age in the industry, those with acting skills are not as popular as her, not as good-looking as her, and those with popularity are not as solid in acting skills as her. Meng Xian secretly weighed her options and felt that she was quite suitable for this role in terms of both image and strength.
Seeing that the timing seemed good, she carefully chose her words, trying to steer the conversation toward Director Sun's new film in preparation: "I heard that you're currently working on an epic production, Director Sun, and we younger generation are really looking forward to it..."
At this moment, the orderly hushed conversations outside the banquet hall entrance were suddenly replaced by a noticeable commotion and commotion, with a few suppressed gasps that could be faintly heard.
The commotion was quite loud, and even Director Sun Mo, who was talking to Meng Xian, stopped talking and looked up curiously toward the entrance.
Gu Mingyan affectionately took Yun Qingqing's hand and slowly stepped into the radiant banquet hall.
Gu Mingyan, dressed in a fiery red dress, was dazzling and exuded an aura of dominance over everyone present.
Yun Qingqing wore a misty blue long dress, her figure slender and well-proportioned.
She seemed a little uncomfortable in front of so many people, with a hint of unease in her eyes. But this unease did not detract from her beauty; on the contrary, it strangely neutralized Gu Mingyan's dazzling presence, creating a subtle and eye-catching complement.
Their arrival instantly made them the undisputed focus of the entire venue, easily drawing the majority of attention.
"Huh?" Director Sun Mo's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked his assistant, "Those two young ladies look really talented. Are they also in the entertainment industry?"
The assistant followed his gaze and immediately recognized her: "Director Sun, the one in the red dress is Miss Gu Mingyan, the eldest daughter of the Gu family. The one next to her should be her friend, who has only appeared on one variety show with her."
"Gu Mingyan," Director Sun Mo said, shaking his head regretfully. "Alas, she is indeed exceptionally beautiful and has a wonderful temperament, but unfortunately, she is notoriously bad at acting."
Seeing that Sun Mo's attention was entirely on Gu Mingyan and Yun Qingqing, Meng Xian tightened her grip on Ding Manni's arm slightly.
Why are it the two of them again?
Yun Qingqing and Gu Mingyan had no idea that they had just unintentionally stolen the limelight from someone else.
Upon entering the banquet hall, Yun Qingqing's gaze was drawn to the pastries on the long table as if by a magnet.
Seeing the starry look in her eyes, Gu Mingyan couldn't help but chuckle. She grabbed her hand and headed straight for the food area: "Come on, let me take you to try the cooking of the chef hired by this cruise ship."
The two approached the food counter, and Gu Mingyan began to introduce it with great familiarity: "This is called Champagne Caviar Tart, the texture is absolutely wonderful..."
As she was speaking, she reached out to take one and place it on Yun Qingqing's small porcelain plate, but suddenly a hand with distinct knuckles reached out from the side, beat her to it, and deftly snatched the delicate tart away.
Gu Mingyan didn't pay much attention, assuming that someone else had also taken a liking to the same one, and instead pointed to the chocolate lava cake decorated with gold leaf next to it: "This is also delicious, sweet but not cloying..."
Just as she reached out, another hand came over and snatched the cake away first.
Once could be a coincidence, but twice would be intentional.
Gu Mingyan and Yun Qingqing both raised their heads at the same time to look at the owner of the hand.
He was a tall young man wearing a well-tailored dark gray suit, without a tie, and with two buttons casually undone at the collar of his shirt.
His features were relaxed, and a lazy smile played on his lips as he looked at Gu Mingyan.
"Fan! Shu! Ye!" Gu Mingyan recognized the person and her beautiful eyebrows immediately shot up. "What are you doing? Looking for trouble?"
The man named Fan Shuye put the small cake in his mouth, ate it slowly, and then raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Nothing, just getting some snacks."
Gu Mingyan glared at him fiercely: "There are so many desserts on the table, do you have to steal mine?"
"Oh?" Fan Shuye took a step closer and leaned slightly forward. "Did you, Miss Gu, contract this dining table? Is your name on it? How come I didn't know?"
"That's just sophistry, I can't be bothered to argue with you." Gu Mingyan waved her hand at him. "Go somewhere cool and don't bother us."
Fan Shuye wasn't annoyed at all; instead, he laughed even more heartily.
He glanced at Yun Qingqing, who seemed a little confused, gave her a slight, respectful nod, and then, carrying the plate, turned and walked away with an air of nonchalance.
"Who is this person? Do you know him?" Yun asked softly.
“Fan Shuye, the next heir of the Fan family.” Gu Mingyan shot another glare at the man’s back before taking Yun Qingqing’s arm and starting to complain, “You have no idea, this guy has never gotten along with me since we were kids.”
The Fan family?
Yun gently recalled that the original owner's mother seemed to be working as a maid in the Fan family.
“我跟你讲，他小时候就可坏了，抢我秋千，还揍送我鲜花的小朋友。”顾明嫣滔滔不绝道，“上了中学更过分，明明知道我在控制体重，还天天给我塞各种高热量小蛋糕，害我那段时间胖了好几斤！最可气的是，我让他帮我给夜靳言送情书，他直接把情书弄丢了……”
"Stop, stop, stop." Yun Qingqing felt something was off as she listened, and raised her hand to make a pause gesture. "You mean he beat up the kid who gave you flowers when you were little?"
"Yes! She was really fierce; she even made someone's child cry!"
"He lost the love letter you gave to Ye Jinyan?"
"Of course! You made me so sad for so long, I thought Ye Jinyan didn't want to talk to me!"
"He also feeds you your favorite cakes every day?"
"Yeah, tell me how despicable he is!"
Yun Qingqing was silent for two seconds, her expression somewhat subtle: "Mingyan, have you ever considered the possibility... that he did these things because he likes you?"
"Huh?!" Gu Mingyan exclaimed as if she had heard something out of the blue. "He likes me? Him? How could that be! Qingqing, don't joke around. Fan Shuye and I are incompatible, our energies clash."
Yun asked hesitantly, "What if he really likes you?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Mingyan couldn't help but sneer: "Then I'll definitely cut off that thing of his and feed it to the dogs right away."
Yun Qingqing: "..."
She lowered her head and silently lit a candle for that young master Fan, sincerely hoping that she was just overthinking things.
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