Superstar Assistant [GL] - Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Since Li Ziyu mentioned in the departure lounge that she wanted to thank Zhou Tiantian with a kiss, Zhou Tiantian hadn’t spoken to her for a long time. She figured that if she gave Li Ziyu the cold shoulder for a while, the other woman would eventually stop pestering her for that kiss.

Back at the hotel, Li Ziyu went to shower first. Zhou Tiantian breathed a sigh of relief in the room, thinking her plan was working. In the future, if this happens again, I’ll just ignore her, she thought.

However, when it was Zhou Tiantian’s turn to shower, Li Ziyu blocked her path at the bathroom door. She leaned against the wall, one hand braced against the doorframe, completely obstructing the entrance. With a faint, rebellious glint in her eyes and a rogue-like smile, she said shamelessly, “The ‘thank-you kiss’ we agreed on hasn’t happened yet.”

This version of Li Ziyu always reminded Zhou Tiantian of their high school days. Back then, Li Ziyu was young and hadn’t yet learned to hide her unruly streak.

Zhou Tiantian remembered a boy once confessing his feelings to her. After the love letter reached her, Li Ziyu saw it. She was instantly displeased, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. “You sure are charming,” she had said.

That was the first love letter of Zhou Tiantian’s life. At the time, she was flustered and didn’t know what to do. When Li Ziyu offered to handle it, she was actually grateful. Looking back now, Li Ziyu must have been furious that someone dared to try and “steal” her girlfriend.

Later, Li Ziyu had cornered that boy exactly like this—leaning against the classroom doorframe, blocking the exit. Even though the boy was taller than her, Li Ziyu’s sheer aura had completely suppressed him. Zhou Tiantian never knew what was said, but no one ever gave her a love letter again.

Snapped out of her memories by Li Ziyu flicking her forehead, Zhou Tiantian looked up in surprise. Li Ziyu gave a light huff. “What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Zhou Tiantian shook her head quickly. Looking at the bathroom behind Li Ziyu, she felt a familiar helplessness. Even though she could be incredibly strong-willed in front of reporters and editors, she always lost her edge in front of Li Ziyu.

Knowing she wanted to shower, Li Ziyu tilted Zhou Tiantian’s chin up and rubbed it gently. “Give me a kiss, and I’ll let you in.”

“But…” Zhou Tiantian felt it was strange, yet she couldn’t explain why. As Li Ziyu lowered her eyelids and moved closer, Zhou Tiantian’s heart hammered against her ribs, and the blood rushed to her face, making it burn.

As Li Ziyu got close, Zhou Tiantian squeezed her eyes shut. Then, a warm kiss landed softly on her forehead.

She breathed a sigh of relief—oh, it’s just the forehead—yet, inexplicably, a tiny sliver of disappointment flickered in her heart.

…

As the weather turned colder, Zhou Tiantian prepared an arsenal of warming gadgets for Li Ziyu. She lined her costume with heat packs and asked worriedly, “Is this enough? Do you still feel cold?”

Li Ziyu ruffled her hair and touched her stomach playfully. “With you dressing me in so many layers, how could I be cold? Don’t worry about me. You need to take care of yourself; add more clothes if you’re chilly.”

Dong Minsi, watching from the side, was speechless. “Ziyu, I find it so weird. Why do you always like touching your assistant’s stomach? If I didn’t know better, I’d think the child in there was yours.”

Li Ziyu smirked at Dong Minsi. “Sister Sisi, you actually got it right—the child in her belly is mine.”

“Ziyu!” Zhou Tiantian cried out, her round eyes glaring at Li Ziyu, telling her not to talk nonsense. If the wrong person heard that, who knows what the tabloids would say.

But the more Li Ziyu joked, the less Dong Minsi believed it.

While they were resting between scenes, Li Ziyu’s phone rang. Zhou Tiantian pulled it out of the bag. “Who is Ji Xingchen?”

“A screenwriter I met on a previous project. She writes great scripts,” Li Ziyu explained before answering. “Hello, Mrs. Xingchen! Why the call? Do you have a new script for me?”

On the other end, Ji Xingchen replied, “I’m just a writer, I don’t get to decide the casting! I’m calling to ask: you’re filming with Dong Minsi right now, right?”

“Yeah. Do you want me to get her autograph for you?” Li Ziyu joked.

“No, I want to visit the set.”

Li Ziyu became suspicious. Ji Xingchen had written her first drama and they became friends, but she had never visited her on set before. Visiting now that she was with Dong Minsi? There was definitely something fishy going on.

Bored with the filming routine, Li Ziyu readily agreed.

Two days later, Ji Xingchen arrived with hot drinks and snacks. After greeting the crew, she pulled Li Ziyu aside and asked to have dinner that night, saying she had something important to ask.

At dinner in a private hotel room, Ji Xingchen asked, “Ziyu, Zhao Qing is your friend, right?”

When Li Ziyu nodded, Ji Xingchen lowered her voice mysteriously. “Normally I shouldn’t leak this, but since you’re connected to both people involved, I need your help.”

Li Ziyu knew something fun was coming. “Just say it. No need to go in circles.”

Ji Xingchen explained, “Zhao Qing approached me yesterday. She wants me to create a ‘persona’ for her and design a pursuit plan to win over someone she’s interested in.”

Ji Xingchen was a top-tier idol drama writer and a legendary author on Jinjiang Literature City. Her characters were notoriously charming.

Li Ziyu grinned, her eyes glowing with gossip. “Is the person she wants to chase Dong Minsi?”

Ji Xingchen sighed in relief. “You already knew! Then I’m not technically leaking her privacy.”

Li Ziyu laughed. “I told her a long time ago to just go for it, but she was too scared. Now she’s hiring a professional to build a fake persona? Isn’t she afraid that if they actually get together, Dong Minsi will dump her once she realizes she’s not actually a ‘hardcore butch’ (Iron T)?”

Ji Xingchen laughed helplessly. “Zhao Qing thought of that. She asked me to make the persona ‘flexible’ so she can slowly transition back to her real self later.”

Zhou Tiantian, sitting nearby, was completely lost. The conversation felt like a fantasy novel.

Suddenly, Ji Xingchen’s phone rang. She stepped away to take it, and when she returned a minute later, her expression was priceless.

“I just set a meeting for tomorrow,” Ji Xingchen said, looking at Li Ziyu with an ‘I can’t believe this’ face. “I don’t even know if I should tell you who that was.”

Li Ziyu turned to Zhou Tiantian. “Tiantian, guess who?”

Zhou Tiantian was bewildered. “I have no idea.”

Li Ziyu winked. “Then eat your food like a good girl.” She turned back to Ji Xingchen. “Was it Dong Minsi? She wants to hire you to build her a persona too, right?”

Ji Xingchen stared at her in awe. “You’re a psychic. How did you know?”

“I’ve been watching them out-act each other on and off camera for weeks,” Li Ziyu replied, delighted.

Ji Xingchen pleaded, “You have to help me. I don’t know them that well, and they’re both too ‘in the dark’ to explain the situation clearly. I need your perspective!”

Li Ziyu happily agreed. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

On the walk back to the hotel, Li Ziyu put her arm around Zhou Tiantian’s shoulder. Zhou Tiantian shied away. “There are people everywhere in Hengdian at night. It’s not good if we’re seen like this.”

Li Ziyu ignored the comment and asked, “Don’t you want to know what Ji Xingchen told me?”

Zhou Tiantian was dying of curiosity but didn’t want to give in so easily.

Li Ziyu chuckled. “Stay still by my side and I’ll tell you the whole story about Dong Minsi and Zhao Qing.”

Zhou Tiantian stopped struggling. “Did they both hire the same person to help them chase each other?”

“You’re not so dumb after all! That’s exactly it.” Li Ziyu’s hand wandered to Zhou Tiantian’s earlobe, gently pinching the soft skin until it turned pink. She continued, “But it’s deeper than that. Before you met her, Zhao Qing had long hair and was a huge fan of Dong Minsi. When she heard Dong Minsi likes girls, she decided to chase her. But she was afraid she looked too ‘girly’ and cute, so she cut her hair short and made herself look like a ‘hardcore butch’.”

Zhou Tiantian was shocked. “But if they have a mutual crush, shouldn’t we just tell them and break the ice?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Li Ziyu laughed. “Haven’t you noticed Dong Minsi has a very strong, assertive personality?”

Zhou Tiantian nodded, thinking of Minsi on set.

“But every time she’s in front of Zhao Qing, she becomes as gentle as water,” Li Ziyu added.

“Wait… so they’ve switched roles?” Zhou Tiantian realized.

“Exactly! Isn’t it hilarious? Zhao Qing is clearly a ‘Bottom’ pretending to be a ‘Top,’ and Dong Minsi is naturally a ‘Top’ pretending to be a ‘Bottom.’ It’s way more interesting to let them play it out.”

Zhou Tiantian finally understood why their interactions felt so “off.” She also realized Li Ziyu was just being a bit mischievous.

The next day, Zhou Tiantian sent Li Ziyu’s life assistant, Xiao Xu, to buy lunch. Xiao Xu asked Minsi’s assistant to go along, but Minsi’s assistant said, “Sister Sisi is eating the crew’s boxed lunches today.”

At lunchtime, Zhao Qing showed up again. Li Ziyu poked fun at her: “Visiting again? It’s only been two days.”

Zhao Qing glared and handed over a fruit basket. “Keep talking and I won’t bring snacks next time.”

Li Ziyu took the baskets. “My mistake. You’re always welcome.”

Zhao Qing only gave her one. “You only get one. Don’t be greedy.”

“And who is the other one for?” Li Ziyu asked knowingly.

Zhao Qing’s ears turned red. “Keep playing dumb and I’ll hire someone to steal your assistant away!”

Li Ziyu smiled and whispered to her, “Your future wife is eating a cheap crew lunch today.”

Zhao Qing’s eyes lit up. “She really is?” She whispered back, “Ziyu, that screenwriter I hired told me to build my ‘Alpha’ persona by showing up and acting disgusted by her lunch, so I have an excuse to bring her food every day.”

With that, Zhao Qing scurried off to find Dong Minsi.

Zhou Tiantian watched as Zhao Qing hovered over Minsi, criticizing her boxed lunch. “They hired the same writer… that writer is going to create so many ‘accidental’ coincidences for them!”

Li Ziyu chuckled. “Look at them—one faking weakness, the other faking toughness. It gets better the more you watch.”

Just then, Li Ziyu’s phone chimed. She opened a message and handed it to Zhou Tiantian with a brilliant smile.

Zhou Tiantian looked and couldn’t help but giggle, covering her mouth.

On the screen were two screenshots from Ji Xingchen. One was a message telling Dong Minsi to stop buying her own lunch and only eat the crew food to make Zhao Qing feel sorry for her. The other was a message telling Zhao Qing to open a restaurant near Hengdian and use the “disgusting crew food” as an excuse to provide Minsi with lunch every day.

Li Ziyu replied: “Plot successful. Excellent.”