After Being Marked by the Top Celebrity Childhood Friend [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 5

Perfume

Lu Ling had just finished the final handover with the brand and stepped into the lounge when she saw the staff gathered in a circle.

Seeing her return, Jia Jia hurriedly greeted her: “Xiao Lu, come and see if there’s anything you like?”

In the center of the crowd were PR gift boxes sent by the brand.

“Sister doesn’t just receive gift boxes from this one company every month, and they don’t just send them to us,” Jia Jia glanced at Lin Que, who was resting with her eyes closed in a chair, her eyes overflowing with pride. “Our big star is the type with very low material desires; these gift boxes basically become employee benefits for us.”

“Not bad, right?”

Lu Ling smiled slightly in agreement.

“Xiao Lu, you performed incredibly well today! Have you really never done related work before?”

As Jia Jia spoke, the staff surrounding her also chimed in with agreement, and Lu Ling smiled back cooperatively.

She had never been an assistant, but she had participated in music festivals.

From receiving the invitation and communicating with the other party to finally waiting backstage for the performance, there were always points that could be understood through analogy; it was simply a reversal of roles.

“No, it’s because the older sisters taught me well,” Lu Ling said obediently.

Lin Que leaned back in the chair in front of the vanity mirror. She had changed back into her private clothes, arms crossed over her chest, her brows slightly furrowed. Was she finding them noisy?

In that instant, Lu Ling subconsciously wanted to make these workplace seniors fall silent.

But in the next second, that thought was swept away.

Praise me more.

Would Lin Que look at her and chime in: Great job, you did very well.

Lu Ling’s breath hitched. Before she could dismiss this terrifying thought from her mind, the sister in charge of costumes handed her a bottle of perfume: “This is their brand’s classic scent. This full-sized bottle usually sells out the moment it hits the stores.”

“Is that so?”

Lu Ling took the perfume, looking at her with immense gratitude, “Thank you, sister.”

In her peripheral vision, Lin Que seemed to cast a glance toward her, said nothing, and let out a very soft sigh.

Lu Ling’s eyes dimmed, and she put down the expensive perfume.

To possess everything at the top of the pyramid and distribute what she herself looked down upon like charity, while those functioning as human trash cans rejoiced.

“That scent,”

Lin Que had appeared beside her at some unknown point, one hand reaching around her neck to rest lightly on her shoulder, while the other picked up the perfume she had just set down. She looked at her and asked, “Do you like it?”

Lin Que leaned against her; the scent of mint was mixed with a faint citrus aroma, or perhaps bitter grapefruit.

Lu Ling snapped back to reality and subconsciously shook her head: “No…” In the next second, she remembered this was recommended by the costume sister and changed her words to the truth: “I haven’t smelled it, I don’t know.”

Lin Que put down the perfume and nodded: “I see.”

“Its scent is too cloying; it doesn’t suit you.”

Lu Ling was slightly stunned. Lin Que withdrew her hand, her gaze scanning the gift boxes before finally stopping on the bracelet in Jia Jia’s hand.

Ever observant, Jia Jia smiled and handed the bracelet to Lin Que with a relaxed, natural posture.

“Reach out your hand.” She tapped Lu Ling’s shoulder.

“Huh?”

The body responded before the brain.

—Click.

At 4:37 PM, the sun was still a bright orange-yellow.

Lu Ling lowered her eyes, her finger covering Lin Que’s fingerprint—there seemed to be a residual warmth left on it.

A vampire possesses the same body temperature as her.

“You did a great job.”

—Do vampires also have mind-reading abilities?

Lu Ling blinked repeatedly, only coming to her senses when the sound of the door closing echoed.

Lin Que and Jia Jia had left together.

The once crowded lounge became empty.

“Why are you still dazed?”

The costume sister smiled and patted her shoulder with her free hand: “Little one, get off work~~”

“Sister,” Lu Ling asked, “Where is Lin Que going?”

“Huh?”

Lu Ling’s eyes flickered as she tried to cover up: “I remember there were no more itineraries today, but Jia Jia just went out with her again.”

“Oh, I see,” the costume sister hurried to say, “Turn right out the door, you’ll see the elevator, the underground garage is on B1, or call—”

“Okay!”

Lu Ling hooked her canvas bag over her shoulder and dashed out like an arrow from a bow.

She completely missed the second half of the costume sister’s sentence: “…or just call and ask Jia Jia.”

Inside the nanny van, Lin Que glanced out the window. From the driver’s seat, Jia Jia saw this through the rearview mirror and asked with concern, “Are you feeling unwell?”

Lin Que retracted her gaze: “It’s nothing.”

Jia Jia hesitated for a moment but finally spoke: “Sister, at the dinner later, besides the director and the lead actors, there will be several producers and CEOs of film companies. They are all investors for Long Night, and the dramas we’ve already negotiated also have their investments.”

Lin Que’s fingertips paused. She didn’t speak, and the atmosphere in the car grew heavy.

Intuition told Jia Jia that her best option right now was to turn around and take Lin Que back to the hotel to rest.

But things had already reached this point.

There was no turning back.

“Sister, don’t be nervous. It’s just a normal crew dinner; just think of it as a pep rally.”

Lin Que looked up, staring at Jia Jia through the rearview mirror.

She had been debuted for four years, and Jia Jia had been her manager for those four years.

When Lin Que went for her first audition, Jia Jia carried a heavy bag, looking more nervous as the manager than Lin Que did as the actor. She had said, unrefined but sincere: “Sister, don’t be nervous, you’re prettier than all of them,” and “If you don’t get it, it’s fine. Trust my eyes, it wouldn’t be logical for a face like yours not to become a big star!”

“When the time comes, you’ll be the big star, and I’ll be the star manager!”

Lin Que let out a breath and looked back out the window—what was there to be sad about?

It wasn’t the first time she had experienced a similar situation.

You really haven’t improved one bit, have you?

Lin Que.

Lin Que took off her hat, retracted her gaze, and pulled a comb from her bag.

Jia Jia, in the driver’s seat, wanted to say something, but Lin Que didn’t give her the chance—Thud.

The comb was tossed carelessly onto an empty seat, and Lin Que closed her eyes again.

The sky dimmed, and the evening ushered in a rare blue hour, with yellow streetlights appearing like scattered stars.

The city was quietly bustling.

“Normal dinner”—my ass.

Inside the private room, a total of thirteen people were seated.

The only actors were her and the male actor playing the General.

The General’s role in the play was only at the beginning.

Killed off as soon as he appeared.

Men in suits, thinking themselves profound, toasted one another. Their gazes were like strings of phlegm; whenever the conversation turned to Lin Que, Jia Jia would stand up, smiling and offering toasts to block them.

Lin Que only watched her coldly.

Jia Jia had served her up as a dish, yet she didn’t want her to actually be eaten.

Humans are truly conflicted and interesting.

Lin Que looked up and happened to lock eyes with the “General.”

It was over.

The “General” smiled at Lin Que across the decanter.

Lin Que felt this probably didn’t mean “fellow sufferers” or “happy cooperation.”

He, like her, was just another dish at this dinner.

The difference was that he seemed to have unrealistic fantasies about this meal.

Actually, not fantasies; the gaze of the male producer sitting next to him was stuck to him like a spider’s web.

Lin Que took a sip of red wine.

—In about a year, maybe less, she would soon be able to remember this male actor’s name.

“Yo,”

Lin Que put down her wine glass and looked at the speaker.

Gu Ming.

The largest investor in Long Night.

His suit jacket was open, and he loosened his tie, his arm resting naturally on the back of Lin Que’s chair: “I brought this bottle of wine from my own vineyard. You’re young, but I didn’t expect you to have such sophisticated taste.”

Gu Ming’s eyes squinted half-shut as if he wanted to say more.

Lin Que glanced at his sparse hair and tapped her fingers twice on her forearm.

Alarm bells rang in Jia Jia’s head, and she rushed to handle the social interaction “for” Lin Que before Gu Ming could speak again.

“I wasn’t talking to you.”

Jia Jia glanced at Lin Que.

Lin Que’s expression was indifferent, her arms crossed over her chest, with no intention of smoothing things over.

Jia Jia took a deep breath, picked up the bottle of white liquor in front of her, and gave a practiced smile: “I was being tactless. President Gu, please be the bigger person and don’t hold it against a subordinate like me. I’ll down this whole bottle! Consider it my apology to you!”

Jeering voices rose in the room.

Lin Que frowned at her, her look seemingly cursing: Are you sick?

Jia Jia resolutely opened the bottle—Clang.

“If you’re sick, go to the hospital and register for an appointment.”

Lin Que snatched the bottle from Jia Jia’s hand. After scolding her, she looked down at Gu Ming, her gaze sweeping over the “Mediterranean” bald spot on his head where the wind seemed to change direction: “Alcohol, in fact, is also a major factor leading to hair loss.”

The atmosphere at the table froze.

At that moment, Lin Que was certain she had “offended” the person she least should have offended.

But, so what?

Lin Que stared at him, emotionless, but it was hardly different from a mockery.

Jia Jia’s breath hitched. By reflex, she moved past Lin Que, smiling and trying to smooth things over: “Prominent people don’t grow heavy hair! Oh, this mouth of hers just doesn’t know how to say nice things! President Gu, don’t lower yourself to her level. I’ll drink! I can drink!”

As she spoke, Jia Jia grabbed the white liquor and gulped it down.

The alcohol made her stumble slightly. She lowered her head, blinking hard, and when she looked up again, she still faced Gu Ming with a perfect smile.

Gu Ming had seen too many scenes like this and people like this.

Jia Jia didn’t know that drinking to settle matters also had a threshold.

Gu Ming squinted his eyes. Lin Que stared at him, thinking it in her heart, and her mouth couldn’t help but say it out loud: “It’s so shiny.”

The air froze again.

“Why the expressions?” Gu Ming smiled, leisurely pouring a glass of red wine and handing it to Lin Que. “If I, a man in my forties, actually got angry at a little girl in her early twenties, I’d be the one people laughed at.”

“Xiao Lin, drink this glass of wine.”

Lin Que looked down at the red wine.

In the reflection, her own face was distorted by the rippling waves.

She took a step back, still staring at him with indifference.

“—Lin Que!”

Lu Ling burst in like an uninvited guest from outer space.

The scene this uninvited guest saw was: Lin Que being grabbed by the wrist by a middle-aged balding man, who also held a glass of red wine in his hand.

She didn’t hesitate. She directly twisted the man’s hand. Accompanied by a crisp “crack” and the man’s pathetic gasp, the red wine inevitably splashed all over her face.

By the time she woke up again, she was in the nanny van.

On the glowing phone screen, the social media push notifications were filled with the headline #Long Night Yin-Yang Script#.

Lu Ling glanced at it briefly, then turned off the screen and looked out the car. Lin Que was alone, her expression unreadable, looking only lonely.

“Whoosh—”

Lu Ling looked up.

Lin Que stood against the light, her shadow completely enveloping her, her expression swallowed by the darkness.

“You—”

Before she could finish, the sound of a camera shutter clicking echoed not far away.

The two of them looked toward the sound at the same time:

“Who’s there?”