After A Secret Marriage Agreement With A Rival Omega - Chapter 92

Chapter 92

◎ I’ll reward you when we get back. ◎

After removing the grievance from their hearts and kissing again, Jian Jixing finally felt the distance between her and Sheng Ruxi dissolve. Sheng Ruxi still carried a lingering chill from being outside, which blended with the faint, gentle scent of her pheromones. Sweetness occupied most of the sensation; Jian Jixing felt Sheng Ruxi’s response.

Closing her eyes, she threw herself into this long-overdue kiss. The warmth of this moment was incredibly real.

Sheng Ruxi held her as well. She couldn’t find more words to say, completely losing herself in the rhythm set by Jian Jixing—until Jian Jixing’s teasing words fell beside her ear: “So it turns out such a proud person can also get jealous because of me—very jealous—and not even tell me.”

Being poked at her secret heart, Sheng Ruxi gave Jian Jixing a light punch, but the strength of her resistance was negligible.

“Doesn’t everyone say you are the most serious and responsible when it comes to work?” Jian Jixing said. “You should know this film of mine is aimed at winning awards. How could Movie Queen Sheng give up such a good script just because of personal emotions?”

Hearing the intentional teasing, Sheng Ruxi huffed: “I gave it up, so what?”

But her tone was soft and warm, having retracted the sharp edges she displayed during their fight, allowing Jian Jixing to touch her true thoughts without obstruction.

“Not much. It’s me who should reflect. Besides being a good director, should I also learn how to be a good wife?” Jian Jixing spoke in a joking manner. “Perhaps there’s a way to dispel your concerns completely?”

Sheng Ruxi raised her eyes in confusion.

“What if I make you my final leading lady? Wouldn’t that be better?”

Sheng Ruxi was startled, her eyes widening: “I didn’t mean that! This is your career.” Empathizing with the situation, it would be like if Jian Jixing got jealous one day and she had to retire from the acting world—that would be going too far.

Personal emotions were personal emotions, but they couldn’t become a shackle between them. Since she and Jian Jixing had cleared the misunderstanding, Sheng Ruxi was able to let it go. She flared up easily, but as long as the words hit the mark, she was also easy to coax and appease.

“Why not? When I started making movies, it wasn’t to make a living.” Jian Jixing felt like teasing her further, continuing to imagine out loud: “I’ve already won the awards I wanted to win. I’ve tried commercial films, art films, and humanist films. Now the story I most want to tell is being filmed. To retire at the peak of my fame—then my achievements would be unsurpassed.”

Sheng Ruxi was momentarily speechless.

In anyone else’s mouth, these words would be ridiculously arrogant, but coming from Jian Jixing, they were backed by facts, making them impossible to refute. People with high talent walk a path that ordinary people can only dream of.

Sheng Ruxi frowned slightly: “Don’t make those kinds of jokes; it’s easy for people to take them seriously.” She knew Jian Jixing truly loved filmmaking; she had seen with her own eyes Jian Jixing’s intense focus on set.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you.”

Although they had only been apart for a week, Jian Jixing held Sheng Ruxi in her arms to weigh her, checking her over from top to bottom before concluding: “You’ve lost so much weight.”

Sheng Ruxi didn’t know how she could feel it: “I controlled my diet a bit so I could join the cast, but it’s only two or three pounds…”

She had read the script and knew the female lead was in a withered state, nearly crushed by life at the beginning, so she shouldn’t be plump.

“You’re already photogenic enough. In my crew, you don’t need to over-control your diet,” Jian Jixing said nonchalantly. “You’d look better with a bit more weight—more like back then.”

“What ‘back then’?”

Jian Jixing realized she had let something slip, but she intentionally kept the secret: “Want to know? Then come with me tomorrow.”

…

Once the quilt was pulled over them, Sheng Ruxi’s breathing became slightly hurried. Jian Jixing comforted her for a moment before pulling Sheng Ruxi into her arms with her other hand: “We should rest well today.”

The comfort and relaxation of this sleep awakened the rhythm in Jian Jixing’s body. She woke up very early but indulged herself by not opening her eyes, sinking into the “gentle village” that Sheng Ruxi provided.

Meals, drinks at the perfect temperature, and a large shipment of clothes and jewelry left Sheng Ruxi dumbfounded.

Actually, was such a grand display necessary? She had brought her own small suitcase of clothes… even if she had worn them yesterday.

“You need to wear new, beautiful things. Yesterday’s clothes are no longer suitable for today’s Miss Sheng—this is what Director Jian instructed us to do.” Manwen was beaming, knowing that Jian Jixing and Sheng Ruxi were now back on good terms, which gave her plenty of work motivation.

Jian Jixing’s lips curved slightly: “It’s no big deal.”

No big deal? She said it as if it were truly easy. If Sheng Ruxi hadn’t experienced that time in Wang Renqing’s pastoral area, she wouldn’t have known that getting supplies up to the plateau was not as easy as one might think.

Sheng Ruxi had no choice but to eat quickly, change, and accompany Jian Jixing to the company.

At the company, Lin Qie and Yang Chang, along with Qian Chunhe and others, were sitting in the conference room looking rather withered. Since Jian Jixing mentioned revising the script, the two screenwriters, Lin Qie and Yang Chang, had practically moved into the office.

They originally thought a revision was just a revision, but this morning, Gu Shengci brought more bad news, making them wonder if Director Jian was truly making a masterpiece or just “playing around.”

“Jian Jixing is so late today; she doesn’t seem like the type to be defeated by news.” Gu Shengci sighed deeply, as if brainwashing herself: “It’s just that the investors have been cut by half, it’s okay, it’s okay…”

Yes, this morning she received temporary news that Jian Jixing had personally withdrawn more than half of the investment. Looking at the situation, she had completely cut ties with Xie Jinheng.

Gu Shengci didn’t want to stop her, and she knew Xie Jinheng wasn’t a good person to begin with, but this happened to coincide with a lead change, making things much more complicated.

“If the actress were Miss Sheng, wouldn’t investors come running like bees to honey?” Yang Chang looked up at the ceiling. “I heard Director Jian and Miss Sheng both have incredible family backgrounds; they surely won’t stand by and do nothing.”

Qian Chunhe said: “Is there a possibility they don’t want to use their family backgrounds? Otherwise, why would Director Jian’s first film still not have been released in the end?”

Lin Qie was silent for a moment: “Could this become the second one? Bah, bah, bah! No way. And they said there’s a table read this afternoon. Read what?”

Read to the air?

“Director Jian hasn’t even come to work, and there’s no message in the group. She’s probably skipping today.” Lin Qie messaged her hair in frustration and stood up unsteadily. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Walking to the door, the conference room door opened by itself.

Looking at the two people before her—familiar yet unfamiliar—Lin Qie rubbed her eyes and muttered: “Is this a hallucination because I stayed up all night?”

Otherwise, why would she see Director Jian appearing here with Sheng Ruxi?

Jian Jixing pushed Lin Qie aside expressionlessly and led Sheng Ruxi to the center seat of the conference table: “Everyone, wake up. Come meet our female lead.”

“Huh?!” “Jian Jixing, you were doing big things in secret, huh? Talking about revising the script two days ago was actually for this?” “Aaaaaah Miss Sheng, you’re finally here! Save us from fire and water! Our benefactor!!” “The salary, the contract… uh, and the expenses, let me calculate. No, no, no, Miss Sheng, don’t look at me like that. I’m just calculating; I didn’t mean to say our crew can’t afford you.”

The voices were messy, but very lively. This was the first time Sheng Ruxi had entered Jian Jixing’s team deeply, and she felt they were different from what she saw as an outsider. Less serious.

Jian Jixing pulled out the seat next to her for Sheng Ruxi: “Please sit.”

“Everyone else, be professional. Xiao Qian, have the people at the set ready this afternoon. We’ll do the table read now and head straight to the set to film afterward.” Jian Jixing looked at the clothes Sheng Ruxi was wearing. “We’ll do the hair and makeup this afternoon… we can probably film the early workplace scenes.”

“So soon?” Sheng Ruxi was startled. She suddenly realized why there were so many clothes this morning; Jian Jixing had prepared them according to the outfit she had picked—no, those must have been costumes. And she had chosen one on a whim. Jian Jixing’s brilliance lay in being able to arrange scenes based on her spontaneous choice.

Only a director with a complete and thorough grasp of the entire film could do that. And she had absolute trust in her actress.

Lin Qie muttered: “You mean, the explosive scenes where Yao Tai resigns from the company? Based on Miss Sheng’s current state, she looks a bit too good… Miss Sheng, I don’t mean to question your acting skills.”

Yao Tai was suffering from mental torment in the big city and resigned only after reaching her breaking point. But Sheng Ruxi was currently radiant from the inside out; asking her to suddenly enter a mental breakdown scene was too fast a transition, and it wouldn’t be good for the texture of the performance.

“No rush. After today’s table read, your state should be just right.” Jian Jixing patted Sheng Ruxi’s shoulder, telling her not to worry.

Sheng Ruxi was very confused as to why, after Jian Jixing said this, everyone in the conference room simultaneously put on a “mask of pain.”

She thought this was just a small script reading. But she had truly underestimated Jian Jixing’s seriousness regarding script polishing. From the time they arrived at 9:00 AM, even lunch was delivered to the room.

For two scenes, every detail was discussed dozens of times. Sheng Ruxi had already memorized the lines backward and forward, and the light in her eyes was fading.

Sure enough, no matter how good a wife is, once she becomes a stubborn colleague—the filters all shatter.

After five consecutive hours, Sheng Ruxi was worn out. Her state was now completely different from the morning. When Jian Jixing said it was time to go to the set, Sheng Ruxi thought that with her current familiarity, she could quickly finish filming and go home.

But Jian Jixing insisted on following procedure, saying they had to sign the contract at the set before they could film. How much more time would that waste!

In the office, a wave of resentment rose in Sheng Ruxi; she almost wanted to pounce on Jian Jixing. Her hands gripped her pen, pressing hard out of restrained emotion, her fingertips wrinkling the paper.

Jian Jixing, do you even want me to film! Are you bullying me!

She was just about to shout Jian Jixing’s name.

But Jian Jixing suddenly stepped back and made a “hold” gesture toward Sheng Ruxi. She then tapped the earpiece she had long been wearing: “All departments ready, start filming.”

Her lips moved silently. Only Sheng Ruxi, facing her, could see what she was saying: I’ll reward you when we get back.