“Uh… I, um, I have something to do, so I’m going to bed now.”
In her panic, Jiang Qian uttered a contradictory statement.
“Heh heh…” A burst of laughter came from the other end of the phone.
Even her laughter sounded coolly enchanting. What a beauty Shen Xiruo was… Don’t laugh like that! It’s so seductive! Foul play, foul play! Jiang Qian felt a little flustered.
“I called today because there’s something I want to tell you. My family will be hosting a charity gala soon, and I’d like to invite you.”
Jiang Qian’s thoughts stirred upon hearing this, and the plot of the original book quickly flashed into her mind.
The gala naturally existed in the original book. At that time, the male lead, Shen Xizhou, invited the original female lead, but without a dress code. The original female lead went in a T-shirt and casual pants, was mocked by the male lead’s “white moonlight” (first love) and her friends, but was then championed by Shen Xizhou.
After reading that part of the plot, Jiang Qian didn’t feel any satisfaction, only extreme embarrassment.
What a cliché among clichés! Just imagining herself dressed casually and standing among a group of people in glamorous outfits made her want to suffocate, alright? Even if Shen Xizhou ultimately came out and “wall-slammed” the original female lead in public, saying something like, “Compared to the clothes, you are more beautiful,” it couldn’t cover up the original female lead’s agony of being so embarrassed for that long that she wanted to burrow into the ground!
Unexpectedly, she had no interaction with Shen Xizhou now, yet Shen Xiruo was the one inviting her. Could this be destiny’s mysterious arrangement?
Since coming to this world, she had experienced the magical power of the plot several times. If she refused now, would she be unable to refuse at all, and then be forced by the plot to attend anyway?
In that case, it would be better to accept the invitation as soon as possible and prepare early.
“Mmm… I’ll go.”
“That’s wonderful. I thought you might refuse.”
The voice on the other end of the phone held clear pleasure.
“Haha, I’m going to be a movie queen in the future, how could I be afraid of a gala like this? Small potatoes!” Jiang Qian couldn’t help but boast.
“Good. I will try my best to stay with you the whole time. Don’t be afraid.”
“Just prepare some good food! I’ll be fine.”
“Mmm… Jiang Qian, I really think you’re different from before.”
Shen Xiruo listened to Jiang Qian’s energetic voice on the other end of the phone, remembering the person she knew in the previous life.
The Jiang Qian of the previous life would never have spoken in such a tone. Her voice was always delicate, weak, and timid.
But the current Jiang Qian was very different. The more Shen Xiruo interacted with her, the more she discovered that this Jiang Qian was completely unlike the one from the previous life.
She really liked this Jiang Qian.
If the Jiang Qian of the previous life was an ordinary friend Shen Xiruo cared about and felt indebted to.
Then the current Jiang Qian was a very close friend whom Shen Xiruo greatly admired and was very fond of.
Shen Xiruo’s lips curved into a slight smile at the thought.
“Well, good night. I have to get up early for filming tomorrow, so you should get some rest too.”
Jiang Qian’s warm voice came from the other end of the phone.
“Mmm, good night, Qianqian.” Shen Xiruo responded with a smile.
“Qianqian? Ahahaha, that sounds weird, but if you like it, then go for it, whatever. I’ll hang up now, good night~ Xiruo!”
“Mmm… Good night.”
Only after hearing Jiang Qian hang up did Shen Xiruo put down her phone, smiling as she recalled the tone in which Jiang Qian had just called her name.
It was very pleasant.
A few days later.
A media tabloid on Weibo broke a piece of entertainment gossip.
“Shocker! Young Master Shen ‘wall-slams’ a pure university student on set. Does he have a new target?”
The accompanying picture was of Shen Xizhou “wall-slamming” Jiang Qian on set. Someone had taken a surprisingly clear photo.
Shen Xizhou had his chin raised, looking down arrogantly and domineeringly at the person in his arms.
Jiang Qian in his arms had her head lowered and her arms crossed, her appearance pure and weak, making her look pitiful.
Gossip-loving netizens immediately exploded.
Because this was a dog-blood novel world, Shen Xizhou’s popularity was higher than that of an average celebrity. His name was known across the internet, as was his reputation for being a playboy.
Shen Xizhou was handsome and a domineering CEO. Being a playboy wasn’t a huge deal, and he still attracted many young female fans who fantasized about being able to climb into the CEO’s bed.
Shen Xizhou hadn’t had a rumor in almost half a year, and his female fans were fantasizing enthusiastically, thinking maybe the playboy had changed his ways. Who would have thought that Jiang Qian would suddenly appear on the scene?
“Ahhh, I can’t take this anymore. Why did my darling Zhouzhou find another pure little starlet! Doesn’t he ever get tired of it? Several of his rumored girlfriends follow this same pattern!”
“To be honest, I don’t think this girl is up to par. She’s not as good-looking as Li Zheng was. Oh, by the way, where is Li Zheng?”
“It’s said that she was forced out of the entertainment industry and lost all her resources because of this campus belle, Jiang Qian! My god, this Jiang Qian is truly not simple, not simple. Such an innocent face.”
Netizens, with their invincible gossip abilities, quickly dug up all sorts of details about Jiang Qian’s background, offering harsh criticism and judgment on her family, education, looks, and background.
“Oh ho, she’s just a child from an ordinary family. Her parents divorced and both started new families. How could someone with this background be worthy of our Zhouzhou? She’s probably just another girl who volunteered herself.”
“My Zhou is too welcoming! This Jiang Qian, with her looks and background, the only passable thing is the title of campus belle of X Film School, but I think her title is a bit watered down. There are many people better looking than her at X Film. 0.0 Does anyone else think so?”
“Am I the only one who thinks this Jiang Qian looks kind of malicious! Zhouzhou, leave her and find me! I can do it!”
“Warning: Brothel alert, brothel alert!”
After a flurry of online chatter, the trending topic was suddenly taken down, and all content published by various marketing accounts and big-name influencers was deleted or blocked.
The netizens became even more excited, saying things like: “Looks like this is confirmed! Sure enough, Shen Xizhou is removing the trending topic to protect his new target!”
“Why does this domineering act of protecting his ‘wife’ seem a little cool…”
“Why wasn’t it me he was ‘wall-slamming’? Then I could be receiving his protection right now, boohoohoo!”
Shen Xizhou sat in his office, his eyes dark as he watched the online public opinion monitoring.
His assistant walked in and cautiously asked him, “President Shen, the Weibo side said a very important person intervened and wouldn’t allow us to escalate the issue or let the topic rise again. I apologize.”
Shen Xizhou’s eyes were filled with fury. He yelled at his assistant, “Useless trash! Get out!”
The assistant scrambled out.
Shen Xizhou sat in his chair. After a long moment, he, for the first time ever, called Shen Xiruo: “Was that you?”
Shen Xiruo let out a soft laugh on the other end of the phone. The laughter was scorching, like a slap across Shen Xizhou’s face.
She didn’t deny it at all, and even said easily and cheerfully, “It was me. Compared to your despicable actions, I was upholding justice.”
Shen Xizhou clenched his teeth but had nothing to say.
In the entertainment industry, his sister was in a related field and controlled far more resources and connections than he did. He couldn’t compete with her at all.
The online public opinion was something Shen Xizhou had deliberately fueled. He wanted to take an alternative route, binding Jiang Qian to himself through public opinion first.
He wanted everyone to think of Shen Xizhou’s name the moment they saw Jiang Qian. Over time, Jiang Qian would surely come to him actively asking for help.
At that point, he would keep Jiang Qian by his side, treat her well, give her fine clothes, gourmet food, and let her live the life of a rich wife without having to rush around filming.
But who would have known that his plan had barely begun before it provoked such a strong counter-attack from Shen Xiruo!
Shen Xiruo then added on the phone, “Oh, by the way, President Jiang also found out about this and said he no longer wants to discuss cooperation with someone like you.”
President Jiang was a major client Shen Xizhou’s company was actively trying to connect with recently. This was the Shen family company’s largest project for the second half of the year!
And just like that, it was gone?
Shen Xizhou frowned and roared into the phone, “You’ve gone too far!”
Shen Xiruo said, “Little brother, thank you for the compliment.”
Then, with a “click,” the phone was hung up.
Shen Xizhou listened to the “beep-beep” of the dial tone, filled with resentment and anger. With a hand whose veins were bulging, he violently swept everything off his desk, scattering it all over the floor!
Half a month later, the Shen family’s small charity gala was about to begin.
On this day, Jiang Qian wrapped up filming early and requested the evening and tomorrow morning off from the director.
After eating the homemade egg yolk pastry Zheng Yang had given her, Jiang Qian said goodbye to Zheng Yang. As she walked out of the set, she saw a discreet Mercedes-Benz slide to a stop in front of her.
Inside the Mercedes was the familiar, taciturn middle-aged driver. He politely bowed his head to Jiang Qian, took off his hat, and said, “Miss Jiang, Miss Shen asked me to pick you up here.”
Jiang Qian opened the car door and got in. She saw a very beautiful, huge gift box on the back seat.
“This is a gift from Miss Shen for you. You can take a look first and try it on when we get to the villa.”
Jiang Qian opened the intricately wrapped gift box and saw an extremely gorgeous evening gown inside.
“This dress… a white mermaid style, bright and soft material, elegant design with pearl embellishments…”
Why was it so familiar?
Jiang Qian thought and thought, finally recalling it.
Wasn’t this the dress described over half a chapter in the original book, the one Shen Xizhou’s white moonlight, Su Xiangxue, wore to this very gala?!
The book described Su Xiangxue wearing this dress, stunning everyone, making the original female lead look as drab as a sparrow. Combined with the mean-spirited remarks from some cannon-fodder women, it made the original female lead cry.
How did a dress with such a rich background and so many plot points end up in her hands? Was Shen Xiruo that incredible?
A blue-blooded haute couture brand, a one-of-a-kind dress globally, just casually tossed in the car and given to her to wear?
That being said… what would Su Xiangxue wear today?
Jiang Qian suddenly worried about Su Xiangxue’s attire, fearing that she might end up wearing a T-shirt and casual pants instead.
That image would be a bit too beautiful to behold.
