The Movie Queen is Flirtatious and Doting - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Gu Yinglian recently landed a role in a drama playing a secretary. Although it was a supporting role, she had a decent amount of screen time and would survive until the final episode. Originally a music composer, her glory days had passed; with her inspiration running dry lately, she decided to dive into the world of film and television to rediscover her “feel.”

Her co-star was the currently sensational Ye Yansheng, the female lead of the drama. Gu Yinglian was no stranger to the name Ye Yansheng—not only because she had swept the Golden Statue Award for Best Actress last year for the movie Passion and was revered as a “Movie Queen,” but also because of her “notorious reputation.”

The world-renowned Movie Queen Ye Yansheng was at the peak of her glory, yet she harbored a secret everyone knew: she liked young and beautiful juniors—the female kind. Rumor had it that the female influencers, singers, and actresses she had “tainted” could form a line long enough to wrap around the Earth.

Many sought to climb the social ladder through her, and plenty were more than willing to be “hidden” (offered for favors) by her. For the sake of fame, their bottom lines were lowered indefinitely.

Gu Yinglian was only there to experience life. Although she was co-starring with Ye Yansheng, she had no intention of having any contact with her outside of work. What others scrambled for, she avoided like the plague.

Gu Yinglian pushed open the door to the dressing room. Upon entering, she saw Ye Yansheng holding a young girl in her arms, sitting there flirting. The girl was perched on her lap. Gu Yinglian felt awkward, unsure whether to stay or retreat. A makeup artist sitting nearby looking at a phone looked up and greeted her: “Are you here for makeup? Come on in.”

“Oh,” Gu Yinglian responded and walked in.

Seeing an outsider enter, the young girl tried to stand up, but Ye Yansheng held her down. “What’s the rush?”

The girl was a bit embarrassed. “Someone is watching.”

Gu Yinglian couldn’t bear to look, and frankly, she didn’t want to deal with them. She silently walked to her seat and let the makeup artist begin.

Ye Yansheng glanced at Gu Yinglian and said nonchalantly, “You’re quite late. Are all newcomers these days so negligent?”

Hearing this, Gu Yinglian felt uncomfortable. She was indeed a bit late due to a traffic jam, but she had still arrived ahead of schedule. How did she get labeled as “negligent”?

Gu Yinglian apologized gloomily: “I’m sorry.”

Ye Yansheng: “Your attitude isn’t sincere enough. You’re the little secretary playing opposite me? You don’t look like you have much acting talent.”

No acting talent? We haven’t even started!

Gu Yinglian sighed inwardly but said, “I will work hard to cooperate with you.”

Ye Yansheng: “Mhm, you should work hard. Don’t let people say I took a ‘rotten film’ just because of you.”

So… arrogant. It’s infuriating. Gu Yinglian was experiencing her character firsthand for the first time. She wouldn’t call it “acting like a big shot” exactly, but her personality was truly subpar. Why target her just for being slightly late?

The makeup artist worked on Gu Yinglian, who kept her mouth shut and ignored the other woman.

The young girl finally stood up from Ye Yansheng’s lap and began applying Ye Yansheng’s makeup.

…

After makeup and before filming, Gu Yinglian felt a bit nervous and flipped through the script again. This wasn’t her first scene ever, but it was her first scene opposite Ye Yansheng. There were only a few lines. Logically, she shouldn’t be nervous; she just needed to deliver them step-by-step. But facing a character like Ye Yansheng, Gu Yinglian felt uncertain. She feared that even with just a few lines, the woman would find something to nitpick.

The drama told a story of a “love-hate” relationship between the male and female leads. Both were heirs to family corporations, their companies equal in financial power and fierce competitors. Ye Yansheng played the female lead (the overbearing CEO), and most of Gu Yinglian’s scenes were as her secretary. It was an inspirational drama focused on business with romance as a supplement, featuring delicate character portrayals.

In recent years, “overbearing CEOs” in dramas were almost always male, while women were portrayed as either obsessed or silly. The audience was experiencing “aesthetic fatigue.” At this time, someone went against the grain, letting the female lead be the “overbearing” one for once, and the results were quite good.

The screenwriter favored Ye Yansheng, believing she was the textbook example of an overbearing CEO, and wrote this drama specifically for her. It even contained a hidden emotional sub-line that ordinary people might not notice. When Ye Yansheng received the script and flipped through it, she became interested in the “little secretary.” She had grown tired of the “vulgar beauties” in the industry and demanded that the secretary be played by a fresh face, otherwise, she wouldn’t take the role.

Thus, the script eventually landed in the hands of the “fresh face,” Gu Yinglian. Gu Yinglian saw that there were no special romantic scenes for her; all she had to do was cooperate with the lead and do her job. Thinking it would be simple, she accepted.

Now she realized she had picked up a hot potato. Had she known Ye Yansheng was this picky, she should have taken a role in a drama where the lead wasn’t famous… yet, she also felt a spark of anticipation about interacting with famous people. Especially someone like Ye Yansheng, who was a walking headline—perhaps she could provide some inspiration.

Ye Yansheng had known Gu Yinglian was cast; she liked the look of her photos and looked forward to the collaboration. However, since Gu was a newcomer with plenty of room for improvement, Ye Yansheng didn’t know if this woman could deliver the “feel” she wanted. She didn’t want to ruin her own reputation.

Everything was ready; filming began.

Gu Yinglian, playing Secretary Jin, took a phone call and walked toward the CEO’s office. At the door, she knocked.

“Come in,” Ye Yansheng’s voice came from inside.

Gu Yinglian opened the door. The camera panned to a close-up of her face. She closed the door, turned, walked to Ye Yansheng, and informed her: “CEO, President Luo is here and requests to see you.” President Luo was the male lead.

The camera focused on Ye Yansheng. She sized up Gu Yinglian. Gu was wearing black-rimmed glasses, light makeup, and had her hair in a bun, looking elegant and clean. Her white shirt was tucked into a black pencil skirt, her waist looking slender enough to hold in one hand, quite… “Heh,” Ye Yansheng suddenly let out a small laugh.

Hearing her laugh, Gu Yinglian looked up in surprise. That “heh” wasn’t in the script. And why was she laughing here? Gu Yinglian was stunned, panicking and not knowing how to react.

“Cut!” the director shouted. “Xiao Ye, say your lines! Why are you just staring at the secretary?”

“Sorry, Director, I wasn’t ready. Let’s do it again,” Ye Yansheng said apologetically.

The director could only say, “Again, again.”

Gu Yinglian had to walk out and start over.

She entered again: “CEO, President Luo is here and requests to see you.”

“Oh? What is he here for?” Ye Yansheng looked at the secretary with a playful expression.

Gu Yinglian: “He says he wants to talk to you…”

Ye Yansheng continued to stare at her. “There’s nothing to talk about between him and me…”

Gu Yinglian couldn’t help but glance at Ye Yansheng, catching her gaze. She quickly looked down and said, “Yes, I’ll go send him away.”

“Cut!” the director stopped them again, saying to Ye Yansheng, “Xiao Ye, you’re focusing too much on the secretary. You two are just boss and subordinate—boss and subordinate, okay?” The director almost said out loud: You better restrain yourself!

Dealing with such a lead was truly a headache. The director rubbed his few remaining hairs and said, “Let’s do it again. The vibe isn’t right.”

Gu Yinglian took a deep breath, went out, and started over for the third time.

This time, Ye Yansheng restrained herself and, with her excellent professional skills, easily passed the scene.

“Cut, that’s good. Touch up your makeup, next scene,” said the director.

The following scene involved Gu Yinglian sending President Luo away. It was just two lines, not difficult.

Gu Yinglian met the male lead for the first time. He was a rising star in the industry, quite handsome, but gave off a bit of a “playboy” vibe. Seeing him, Gu Yinglian felt Ye Yansheng should worry about him ruining her reputation rather than herself.

Ye Yansheng had scenes with others. Once Gu Yinglian finished her part, she stood aside to observe. When filming with others, Ye Yansheng was perfectly serious and professional. Gu Yinglian suspected she had been teasing her earlier.

After watching for a while, Gu Yinglian felt she wasn’t needed anymore, so she notified the person in charge, went to the dressing room to change into her own clothes, and prepared to leave.

Coming out of the dressing room, she unexpectedly bumped into Ye Yansheng. Gu Yinglian had a bad premonition.

“You performed well today,” Ye Yansheng smiled at her. “I think I’ve fallen in love with you at first sight, Secretary Jin.”

Gu Yinglian’s face remained calm. “Then I must be having the worst luck in eight lifetimes.”

“How can you say it’s bad luck?” Ye Yansheng walked over and stared intently at her face. Gu Yinglian’s heart pounded, fearing she might suddenly do something shocking.

Ye Yansheng saw that while Gu Yinglian’s face was expressionless, her ears were bright red. She couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t be nervous. I won’t make a move on you in a place like this.”

Gu Yinglian: Is that something a normal person says?

“Sister Ye, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going,” Gu Yinglian said.

“Aren’t you going to leave your contact info? It would make it easier to stay in touch…”

“No, that’s not necessary,” Gu Yinglian said, practically fleeing the scene.

Ye Yansheng watched her retreating back, her smile deepening. “Interesting. It’s been a long time since I encountered such a pure-hearted little rabbit.”

…

Gu Yinglian had lunch and went home to rest. She lived alone and enjoyed the quiet life. Her manager didn’t disturb her unless it was absolutely necessary.

Unlike those movie stars or influencers, Gu Yinglian wasn’t well-known to the public. She was a music creator—simply put, a songwriter, a behind-the-scenes worker. Even if people were familiar with her songs, they usually focused on the singer and rarely cared about the writer.

When Gu Yinglian was twenty, her songs were full of talent, beautiful fantasies, and poetic imagery. She was still in university then, and a roommate who was a great singer performed her songs, which became instant hits. After that, people came knocking on her door. For the next four years, every song she wrote became a hit. She even wrote specifically for some very famous singers. For a time, her glory was boundless.

But it was also these four years of over-exhaustion that drained her talent. Suddenly, she was at her wits’ end. Now twenty-five, the moment her inspiration dried up, she felt a sense of crisis. If she couldn’t write another new song, her livelihood was at stake.

…

Ye Yansheng finished filming in the morning, rested briefly at noon, and rushed to a location in the afternoon to shoot a commercial. Her schedule was packed.

Sitting in the car, she felt exhausted. “After this commercial, don’t take any more for me.”

Her manager looked at her and said, “Fine. Finish this drama first, then we’ll see.”

Ye Yansheng said, “After this drama, I want to rest for a while… and then fall in love.”

The manager said, “Aren’t you falling in love every day, baby? You’ve certainly flirted with enough beauties. Just be careful not to overdo it.”

Ye Yansheng said, “I met someone interesting today. I want to be serious.”

The manager replied, “Oh, give it a rest. Don’t you say you want to be ‘serious’ every single time?”

Ye Yansheng said, “This time it’s for real. I fell in love at first sight.”

The manager remarked, “The other meaning of ‘love at first sight’ is simply ‘lust at first sight.'”