The main color scheme of the entire house was a warm light yellow. Chi Yan neither liked nor disliked it.
She couldn’t find any faults with the most important part—the bedroom. Completely satisfied, she went downstairs to find Wang Ying.
“Ying-jie, I’ve finished looking around. It’s spacious, well-equipped—really nice.”
Wang Ying nodded. “As long as you’re satisfied. Living comfortably gives you more energy to work.”
“What about Ye Jiawen?”
“He hasn’t come out yet. Maybe he’s taking a closer look.”
They sat on the stone stools in the little courtyard, waiting for Ye Jiawen. But even after more than half an hour, he still hadn’t come out.
“What is he doing in there?” Wang Ying was puzzled. “I’ll give him a call and ask.”
The phone rang for a while before it was picked up.
“Jiawen, why haven’t you come out yet?” Wang Ying asked.
No one knew what Ye Jiawen said, but Wang Ying looked helpless. “Alright, got it. Carry on then—I won’t disturb you.”
She turned to Chi Yan and explained, “He’s playing video games. Said the moment he saw the game room, he couldn’t move.”
“He’s that into games? On the day of the finals, he was sitting alone in the makeup room playing games,” Chi Yan recalled. In her past life, she’d never heard he was into gaming.
“Once filming starts, I’ll have his assistant keep an eye on him. If he can’t control himself, we’ll confiscate his phone. No games allowed.”
“Ying-jie, did you manage to finalize things with Teacher Yixuan?”
“I was just about to tell you. Before you and Jiawen arrived, she already spoke to me. Her script is expected to be finished by early September, with shooting starting no later than after the National Day holiday. For this month, you can either appear on variety shows to maintain exposure or join a production as a guest star with a small but standout role. It’s up to you.”
“I want to act,” Chi Yan said firmly. “I’m an actress. If I keep appearing only on variety shows, the audience will remember me as a person, not for the roles I play.”
Wang Ying looked at her deeply. “Since you already have a clear sense of your direction, I won’t interfere with your decision. Director Luo Fangyan is working on a new film—I can reach out and ask. Consider this a reward for winning the championship.”
“Thank you, Ying-jie. If possible, I’d also like to start accepting endorsement deals,” Chi Yan said. “Start as a brand ambassador for promotion, then gradually move toward being a full-fledged spokesperson.”
“There’s still some difficulty with that. Even though you’re popular now, it’s not quite enough. Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll try contacting some affordable luxury brands and see what they say.”
“Alright, thank you, Ying-jie.”
After a while, another artist under Wang Ying suddenly had an issue, and she was called away.
Chi Yan returned to her room.
She suddenly remembered that Yang Yueyi still hadn’t paid back the money. She opened her chat with Chi Hongzheng and sent him a reminder not to forget about covering Yang Yueyi’s debt.
If Chi Hongzheng refused to pay, she’d be seeing Yang Yueyi during the recording of Weekly Fun on Wednesday anyway—she could ask her in person.
It wouldn’t do much damage, but the humiliation would sting. That was Chi Yan’s preferred approach.
Chi Hongzheng didn’t respond to her the entire day. Clearly, he had no intention of paying up.
Chi Yan thought: The netizens are still watching closely. When she’d checked the trending topic Bo Le had purchased for her earlier, she saw many people tagging her and asking if Yang Yueyi had paid her back yet.
By Wednesday night, news that Weekly Fun would be recording a special episode for The Road of the Actor had already spread through Chi Yan’s fan groups.
“Is the recording in Haishi? I can vote for jiejie!”
“I’m a little scared. Can any sister go with me as a team?”
“Looking forward to jiejie’s variety show debut!”
On Wednesday afternoon, Chi Yan and Ye Jiawen arrived together. Since Ye Jiawen hadn’t found a suitable driver yet, he hitched a ride in her car.
When they got out of the car, Chi Yan saw many fans holding banners cheering for her behind the security personnel.
“What’s wrong?” Ye Jiawen asked when he noticed her pause.
“Nothing,” Chi Yan replied.
When fans saw them getting out of the same car, they started screaming.
Chi Yan vaguely heard someone in the crowd shout something like “It’s love!”
She turned to Ye Jiawen and said, “You’d better speed up the search for a driver.”
Ye Jiawen promised, “Ying-jie is helping me look. I didn’t expect the one I had lined up to back out last minute.”
After they entered the TV station, staff led them to the makeup room.
Their assistants were taken to the break room.
Inside the makeup room, the male host Li Xuebo and his co-host He Min were already finished with their makeup and were chatting about the upcoming guests.
“I watched their performances. Very talented contestants,” Li Xuebo praised.
He Min said, “Duan Jing is coming too, right? That girl—I wonder how she’s doing now. It’s a bit of a shame she only got third place on the show.”
“Yeah, she’s definitely coming.”
The staff member leading Chi Yan and Ye Jiawen knocked on the half-open door and said, “Teachers, these are the guests for today’s recording—Ye Jiawen and Chi Yan.”
“Oh? Welcome,” said Li Xuebo.
He Min stood up and waved them over. “Come get your makeup done. This makeup artist here is Tony, one of the most famous in Xiyou. He’ll make sure you look amazing.”
“Thank you, teacher,” Chi Yan and Ye Jiawen said together.
While they were getting their makeup done, He Min asked them, “How did you two come together? Did you just run into each other on the way?”
“We’re signed with the same company. The company-arranged staff dorms are all in the same place, so we figured we’d just come together,” Chi Yan explained.
Li Xuebo said, “Chi Yan, your performance was excellent. I’m a fan.”
“Really? Thank you, teacher.” She was genuinely surprised—she hadn’t had this kind of recognition in her past life.
It was said that Li Xuebo had only ever publicly expressed admiration for one actor—Best Actor Chu Heng. But unfortunately, Chu Heng didn’t like variety shows, so they never got a chance to meet.
“Jiawen’s performance was good too,” Li Xuebo praised. “You’ve got solid line delivery. Which school are you from?”
“I’m from Haiying,” Ye Jiawen replied softly. “Teacher, could I trouble you to sign a few autographs later? My whole family really loves you!”
“Of course. I’d be happy to.”
“No one wants my autograph?” He Min joked. “Am I that unpopular?”
“We do, we do!” Ye Jiawen quickly responded. “Teacher He Min, please sign a few for me too. My family would be thrilled!”
Everyone was chatting happily when Duan Jing arrived.
He Min greeted her warmly, “Jingjing, you’re here. Been busy lately?”
“Min-jie.” Duan Jing forced a smile and said self-deprecatingly, “Who would dare hire me now? I’ve ruined everything.”
Her words immediately made the room awkward. She had placed fourth in The Road of the Actor competition and was subtly airing her grievances right in front of Chi Yan and Ye Jiawen—definitely uncomfortable.
Li Xuebo chuckled to ease the tension. “Coming to our show means leaving your worries behind. Our aim is to bring joy to our guests and the audience.”
“Thanks, Bo-ge, but I really can’t feel happy right now.”
Chi Yan was speechless. You’re an adult—do we all have to tiptoe around your mood? Li Xuebo had even offered her a way out, and she still acted all delicate.
Chi Yan forced herself to stay quiet, even though she really wanted to tell Duan Jing off.
“Haha…” Li Xuebo gave an awkward laugh, exchanged a glance with He Min, and said, “Why don’t you let Min-jie take you to check out the studio? I promise you’ll have a blast!”
He Min quickly added, “Yes! The director brought in lots of fun props this time. Let’s go check them out.”
After Duan Jing left, Li Xuebo said to Ye Jiawen and Chi Yan, “She’s been in the industry since she was a kid. Us veterans have watched her grow up. She may act out sometimes, but she’s generally a good girl. Stuff like what just happened—no one would believe it if you told them.”
Chi Yan understood. He was asking them to keep quiet about it.
She glanced at Ye Jiawen, slightly worried he might be disappointed to see his idol act differently from her public persona.
Thankfully, he looked calm.
“Teacher Li, we’re all done with makeup,” said Ye Jiawen. “Why don’t we let Teacher He bring Duan Jing back? Chi Yan and I will go explore a bit.”
Li Xuebo agreed cheerfully. “Sure. I’ll have a staff member guide you.”
Somehow, due to a scheduling mix-up, Ye Jiawen and Chi Yan ended up in the same area as Duan Jing.
“Let’s avoid her,” Chi Yan suggested.
Ye Jiawen was about to agree when Duan Jing called out to them.
“Chi Yan, play a round with me?” Duan Jing invited. “Min-jie won’t play with me, and there’s too big a physical gap between me and Ye Jiawen.”
“That might not be a good idea,” He Min tried to stop her. “Chi Yan’s already got her makeup done. What if it gets smudged?”
“Min-jie, I’ve been on your show so many times—I’m familiar with your makeup products. I’ve been splashed with water before and my makeup was fine. This is just some roughhousing and games. It’ll be fine.”
“Alright,” said Chi Yan. “Should I put on this big mascot costume and wrestle you?”
Duan Jing, dressed in a puffy mascot suit, nodded. “Yeah, you wear one too, and we’ll wrestle.”
Those costumes were bulky and hard to move in, but luckily Chi Yan had been on Weekly Fun in a past life and already knew the tricks. The one who’d fall wasn’t going to be her—it would be Duan Jing.
Since both of them agreed, He Min could only take Chi Yan inside to change.
“It’s just a game, don’t take it seriously.”
“I won’t,” Chi Yan replied.
Whether Duan Jing took it seriously or not wasn’t her problem.
If she dared to provoke her, Chi Yan would definitely show her what’s what.
After changing, Chi Yan stood across from Duan Jing.
“You’re wearing this kind of suit for the first time, right?” Duan Jing offered. “I’ll let you take a few minutes to get used to it.”
“No need.”
Ye Jiawen suggested, “Chi Yan, maybe take a few steps to test it out?”
“Let’s just start,” Chi Yan told Duan Jing. “You’ll need to fix your makeup soon anyway.”
“Fine, just don’t say I didn’t give you a chance.”
He Min served as referee. She stood below the inflatable platform and asked if they were both ready. When they confirmed, she announced the match start.
Ye Jiawen also stood below, watching closely. He wasn’t particularly into these kinds of games, but he didn’t want Chi Yan to lose to Duan Jing, so he followed along, giving her reminders on what to do.
Several rounds passed with no one falling.
Duan Jing snapped, “Ye Jiawen, shut up! You’re being so annoying!”
“True gentlemen don’t speak while watching chess—be quiet. You’re giving me a headache.”
Ye Jiawen wanted to argue back but couldn’t think of a retort, so he gave up.
He kept watching them wrestle with full attention.
