Always Chasing My White Moonlight Omega - Chapter 25

The next day was Ruan Yang’s birthday. She told the director she had some family matters to attend to and asked for leave. The director hesitated.

Today was scheduled for a major scene, and they were already short-handed.

But Ruan Yang was just an assistant, after all. The director couldn’t very well force her to stay, so he relented, saying, “Alright, go ahead, Xiao Ruan. But we have a particularly challenging scene today. If you finish your family business early, see if you can spare some time to come back and help out.”

Ruan Yang was still internally debating whether to attend the evening banquet. She nodded. “Mm.”

After bidding the director farewell, Ruan Yang headed back to the hotel to pack her things. As she passed the set, she saw the crew pulling Xu Zhiyi out of the pool.

“Today must be Sister Zhiyi’s day of suffering,” a production assistant nearby murmured. “All her scenes today are grueling falling into water, jumping off buildings. She’ll probably be completely exhausted by the end.”

“Yeah,” another girl chimed in. “They’ve already shot the water scene several times, and it still hasn’t passed. Is Sister Zhiyi not in good form today?”

“Probably because she’s been in the water too long. It’s been almost an hour. Even though it’s summer, staying submerged that long would wear anyone out.”

…

She’d been in the water for over an hour?

Ruan Yang hadn’t checked today’s schedule. She’d gone straight to the director to ask for leave, so she hadn’t known.

Hearing the two girls’ conversation, she suddenly found it hard to walk away.

She turned to look at Xu Zhiyi, who had just climbed out of the pool.

Xu Zhiyi was completely drenched. She was wearing a princess costume, and the heavy fabric, soaked with water, weighed her down even more. Under the scorching sun, Ruan Yang could see Xu Zhiyi trembling with every step she took.

Her delicate face had grown even paler.

The assistant director reviewed the footage they’d just shot, then glanced at Xu Zhiyi, who was already prepared to go again. Reluctantly, he said, “Zhiyi, maybe let’s call it a day. I think the last take was good enough. No need for another.”

Xu Zhiyi was having her assistant dry her hair. After watching the footage, she shook her head. “No, it doesn’t meet Director Wu’s standards. If he were here, he’d definitely ask for a retake.”

Since she insisted, the assistant director had no choice but to arrange for another take.

Ruan Yang was about to step forward and tell Xu Zhiyi not to push herself, but just as she lifted her foot, her phone rang.

It was Ruan Qingyu.

Frowning, Ruan Yang answered. The moment the call connected, Ruan Qingyu’s voice blasted through the receiver.

“Yangyang, are you back yet? Do you want me to pick you up?”

Ruan Yang lowered her raised leg. Her voice dropped. “Yeah, I’m back. No need to pick me up. I can get home myself.”

Ruan Qingyu sounded thrilled. “Then hurry back! Mom’s waiting to dress you up. Your dad asked me to buy you a bunch of clothes. When you get back, try them all on and see which one looks best!”

The eagerness in her voice suddenly made Ruan Yang feel exhausted.

After hanging up, Ruan Yang exhaled deeply.

She went to the break room and found a packet of brown sugar ginger tea. While preparing it, she remembered Xu Zhiyi disliked the taste of ginger, so she added extra brown sugar to mask it.

Once it was ready, she poured it into a cup and brought it out.

Ruan Yang approached the two girls from earlier. “Hello.”

Both of them turned around simultaneously and saw it was Ruan Yang, leaving them somewhat at a loss.

Ruan Yang was usually aloof, and despite having been with the crew for quite some time, hardly anyone aside from the directors had spoken to her.

Now that Ruan Yang was initiating a conversation with them, it caught them off guard.

Both were Betas, but they knew Ruan Yang was an Alpha. Being stared at by such a stunning and commanding Alpha made their faces flush. “Wh-what’s the matter?”

Ruan Yang glanced at Xu Zhiyi, who had just been pushed into the pool again in the distance, and spoke softly.

“I have to leave the set for something. Could you please call the director for me? If the director were here, they definitely wouldn’t let Zhiyi keep jumping in like this.”

They hadn’t expected Ruan Yang to ask them to help Xu Zhiyi. After a moment of stunned silence, they stammered, “S-sure, we can do that.”

Online rumors painted Xu Zhiyi as having a bad temper, but those who had worked with her knew she was actually quite gentle in person, often treating them to late-night snacks or afternoon tea.

They couldn’t bear to watch Xu Zhiyi keep falling into the water endlessly either.

“And,” Ruan Yang unconsciously lowered her voice, her fingertips turning white from gripping the cup too tightly, “I just made a cup of brown sugar ginger tea. Could you please give it to Zhiyi. Sister Zhiyi later?”

This was probably the most they’d ever heard Ruan Yang speak at once.

They finally realized, this assistant Ruan must be a fan of Xu Zhiyi.

One of them readily agreed, “Don’t worry, I’ll deliver it for you!”

Ruan Yang thanked her and handed over the cup.

The summer heat meant the ginger tea would cool slowly.

After passing it over, Ruan Yang added, “Could you not tell Sister Zhiyi that I made this?”

“…Why?” The girl holding the cup didn’t understand.

As a fan, shouldn’t she want Sister Zhiyi to know what she’d done for her?

“I,” Ruan Yang pressed her lips together, thinking for a moment, “don’t want Sister Zhiyi to know I’m her fan. I’m afraid she might feel awkward during filming afterward.”

That made sense. If Xu Zhiyi found out Ruan Yang was her fan, it might create some discomfort during future shoots.

After a brief consideration, the two girls nodded in understanding. “Don’t worry, we’ll keep it a secret.”

Ruan Yang thanked them again. “If anything else happens to Sister Zhiyi later, please let me know right away.”

Once everything was settled, Ruan Yang left the set.

The set was quite far from the Xu family villa, and it took Ruan Yang some time to get there.

As soon as she arrived, Ruan Qingyu pulled her into the dressing room to pick out a formal gown, summoning a group of stylists and rolling out an array of jewelry.

Surrounded by people, Ruan Yang was unaccustomed to the feeling of being dressed under so many eyes.

She managed to stop Ruan Qingyu from rushing her to change by threatening not to attend the party if things continued this way.

Soon, evening arrived. Xu Rongjiang had already left for the banquet, instructing Ruan Qingyu to bring Ruan Yang along so he could introduce her to the guests.

In the car, Ruan Yang asked Ruan Qingyu, “Mom, do you know why Uncle Xu is throwing this banquet for me?”

“What else could it be?” Ruan Qingyu was displeased that none of the clothes she had picked for Ruan Yang were being worn. Glancing at her phone, she said offhandedly, “It must be because he likes you as his daughter. He told me before that any daughter of mine would surely resemble me, and if she did, he’d adore her.”

Ruan Yang didn’t see it that way.

Ever since learning that Xu Rongjiang was hosting this banquet, Ruan Yang had secretly arranged for someone to investigate his motives.

Although nothing concrete was uncovered, they accidentally discovered that Xu Rongjiang had lost his fertility due to an accident shortly after Xu Zhiyi was born.

In other words, Xu Rongjiang would never have another biological child besides Xu Zhiyi.

His fondness for her wasn’t because she was Ruan Qingyu’s daughter—it was because he wanted to groom her as his successor, unwilling to let the Xu Corporation, which he had held onto for so many years, fall back into Xu Zhiyi’s hands.

Ruan Qingyu began briefing Ruan Yang on the etiquette she should observe at the banquet. Silently, Ruan Yang gazed out the window, once again hesitating over whether she should attend.

If she went, Xu Zhiyi would forever see her as an enemy.

She would never have another chance to get close to her again.

Just as she was lost in thought, a WeChat notification chimed.

Ruan Yang opened it to find a friend request with the note: “Hello, Assistant Ruan! I’m the one who delivered the brown sugar ginger tea for you today. I have something important to tell you about Sister Zhiyi!”

Without hesitation, Ruan Yang accepted the request.

She replied immediately, “What’s wrong with Sister Zhiyi?”

The other person seemed equally frantic. “Sister Zhiyi collapsed this afternoon from exhaustion after filming!”

It felt as though something inside Ruan Yang had shattered.

The world plunged into chaos in that instant, she could no longer focus on anything else.

All she could picture was Xu Zhiyi’s pale face when she had left that morning.

Reaching forward, she grabbed the driver’s shoulder and urged, “Pull over up ahead! I need to get out!”

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