After Secretly Marrying the Top Celebrity, I Fell in Love - Chapter 5

Two days later, the film crew resumed shooting. A week later, the entire production wrapped smoothly.

The wrap party was held at a high-end, highly private club. Most of the patrons here were industry insiders or influential political figures.

After the wrap party ended, Ye Manqing (took the initiative) to find Zhang Mingxiu. The two went one after the other to the adjacent flower hall to speak privately.

Ye Manqing asked her assistant to brew and bring two cups of Biluochun tea. After the assistant left, only Ye Manqing and Zhang Mingxiu remained in the flower hall.

In the large, quiet flower hall, a faint, elegant scent of sandalwood drifted through the air. The scent was extremely subtle, yet impossible to ignore.

Ye Manqing did not beat around the bush. She picked up the white jade teacup in front of her, lowered her gaze to take a sip of the hot tea, and went straight to the point: “Director Zhang, I want to introduce someone to you.”

“You want to introduce someone to me?” Zhang Mingxiu leaned casually against the sofa opposite her, his face showing an expression of utter surprise.

Zhang Mingxiu felt he must truly be drunk, to hear such words from Ye Manqing. Everyone in the industry knew that Ye Manqing never owed favors, nor would she sell favors for others.

“Yes, and you know this person,” Ye Manqing stated directly.

“Who is it?” Zhang Mingxiu was even more curious now.

Ye Manqing’s thin lips moved slightly, and she clearly uttered three words:

“Bai Yiyan.”

“What? Little Bai?!” Zhang Mingxiu’s sobriety instantly returned by a large margin, and he shot up to sit straight.

“That’s right, Little Bai,” Ye Manqing nodded slightly. “Although Little Bai is only an extra, you’ve seen her acting.”

“Little Bai’s acting is indeed good, even better than many professional actors, but…” Zhang Mingxiu frowned, finding some things difficult to state plainly.

However, given Ye Manqing’s intelligence, she would understand even if he didn’t spell it out. A mere extra has no background whatsoever.

Ye Manqing naturally knew what Zhang Mingxiu was worried about. She wasn’t in a hurry, lightly lowered her pair of dark eyelashes, and elegantly sipped her hot tea.

In an instant, the rich aroma of the tea filled her mouth.

“Director Zhang, how is the casting for your next project coming along?” Suddenly, Ye Manqing abruptly changed the subject.

Zhang Mingxiu: “The male and female leads have been finalized. Currently, we’re just missing a female second lead. The female lead is Fu Yu; she should have told you.”

Ye Manqing lightly inclined her head: “Mm.”

Zhang Mingxiu continued: “The female second lead is set as the main villain; it’s not a very likable role, and I haven’t really found a suitable actress for it yet.”

“I did send an invitation to a certain actress before. But as soon as she saw the script, she declined, citing a scheduling conflict.”

Opposite her on the sofa, Ye Manqing held the teacup lid, gently scraped the surface of the tea, and pushed aside a floating tea leaf.

Suddenly, the woman lifted her gaze, a pair of amber-like, light brown pupils quietly looking at Zhang Mingxiu.

“Do you think Little Bai would be suitable?”

“…” Zhang Mingxiu froze, looking at Ye Manqing in astonishment.

The new drama, Nine Heavens, is a martial arts costume drama. In the script, the female second lead’s character setting is: the main villain of the Demonic Cult, with vicious methods.

Physical description: seductive appearance, tall and graceful figure, charming and elegant.

The originally blank character face, as it gradually overlapped with Bai Yiyan’s unparalleled beautiful face, the lifeless paper character seemed to suddenly come alive, leaping off the page.

Zhang Mingxiu suddenly snapped back to attention, leaned forward, and picked up the cup of Biluochun on the coffee table in front of him.

He lifted the teacup lid with one hand, blew on the steaming tea, and buried his head to take a sip of the fragrant brew.

“I’ll think about it.”

Ye Manqing sat composedly on the sofa, her thick, long eyelashes, kissed by the watery vapor, slightly lowered.

The distinct angles of the fingers holding the teacup, with clear, delicate, transparent nail beds, looked like they were carved from jade, absolutely lovely.

Ten full days had passed since the last time she met Ye Manqing.

Bai Yiyan was very patient, waiting quietly for ten days. Even though she didn’t receive any related phone calls during that time, Bai Yiyan wasn’t anxious.

Haste makes waste.

In recent years, the film and television industry has been in a slump. Even actors who graduated from professional acting schools have few roles to take, let alone an “unofficial” extra like Bai Yiyan.

In the evening, a heavy rainstorm suddenly arrived in the entire first-tier city. The thick, water-logged clouds seemed to have burst open, and the rain poured down in torrents.

Bai Yiyan rode her electric scooter through the mist, and even though she wore an airtight raincoat, her body was still soaked to varying degrees by the heavy rain.

Fortunately, summer rainstorms are like this; they come fast and leave fast.

At ten o’clock at night, when Bai Yiyan rode her electric scooter back to her residential complex, she saw a tall figure standing by the building entrance from afar.

The woman wore a light apricot linen shirt paired with black wide-leg trousers. The shirt hem was tucked into the trousers, and the buttons were meticulously fastened all the way to the top one, revealing a segment of her fair, delicate neck.

A pair of brown sunglasses rested on her tall, elegant nose bridge, nearly obscuring half her face. Her two elegantly shaped thin lips were lightly pressed together, wearing a lipstick of passionate, vibrant rose-brown tea tone.

The woman wore no jewelry at all. Her noble demeanor was innate; one look and you knew she was a person of high status.

“…!” After a brief moment of being lost in thought, Bai Yiyan quickly parked her electric scooter in a nearby parking spot.

She locked it up and removed the key.

She walked straight towards the building entrance. Just as Bai Yiyan was about to speak and greet her, the woman spoke first, a faint smile playing on her lips.

“Little Bai, good evening.”

The opening line was exactly the same as ten days ago, word for word.

“Teacher Ye, good evening,” Bai Yiyan bowed slightly, greeting her politely.

“I came to return the umbrella,” Ye Manqing said, extending the umbrella in her hand forward with a smiling gesture.

Suddenly, a gust of evening wind swept in, carrying the dampness of the rain. The woman’s slightly curled hair lightly swayed with the breeze.

Soft light fell upon her, meticulously outlining the woman’s delicate profile with a gentle halo. She was as beautiful as if she had stepped out of a painting.

…

The two went upstairs one after the other, changed their shoes, and entered the rental apartment.

“Teacher Ye, please make yourself comfortable,” Bai Yiyan, wearing her wet raincoat, looked a little flustered. “I’ll go change my clothes.”

“You should take a shower first,” Ye Manqing suggested. “You’ll feel more comfortable.”

“…Okay,” Bai Yiyan lightly bit her lip, whispering.

The layout of the one-bedroom rental was limited. The bathroom was next to the living room, with the bathroom door facing the sofa.

The “whooshing” sound of water occasionally came from the bathroom, and the entire frosted glass door was covered with steamy vapor.

The atmosphere was a bit subtle.

Ye Manqing sat upright on the living room sofa, with nothing to do. The surroundings were too quiet, and the sound of the water felt a bit distracting.

After an unknown period, the rushing water finally stopped.

As if by a strange impulse, Ye Manqing lifted her gaze, looking toward the bathroom.

Through the glass door, a tall, graceful figure was faintly visible: slender waist, long legs, full breasts, and a curvaceous bottom. The extraordinarily superior figure instantly caught Ye Manqing’s eye.

“…!” Ye Manqing quickly realized what she was doing, abruptly turned her head away, and averted her gaze.

Her heart pounded rapidly several times, and a slight flush instantly appeared on her cheeks, extending to her earlobes.

Getting up, Ye Manqing walked to the window and stood there, her back to the bathroom.

The next second, the bathroom door opened without warning.

The sound of the door opening immediately drew Ye Manqing’s attention. The woman paused but did not turn back, her gaze still fixed on the pitch-black night outside the window.

It was completely dark outside. The dilapidated, lifeless complex and the dim, yellow streetlights offered no scenery to admire.

Ye Manqing was somewhat distracted and didn’t notice when the sound of footsteps behind her began or stopped, until Bai Yiyan’s voice reached her.

“Teacher Ye.”

Following the sound, Ye Manqing turned around, smiling sweetly at Bai Yiyan.

“You’re done washing up.”

“…” Bai Yiyan stood rooted to the spot, her cheeks flushed with a delicate rosy pink, perhaps due to having just showered or perhaps because of Ye Manqing’s words.

Why did those words sound a little ambiguous?

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