Chapter 1 (Ignite At a Touch)
Chapter 1
"Who is Zhou Yining? I’ve never heard of her, and I can’t even find a shred of information about her on Baidu. How did she suddenly join the cast of 'Tai’ping Dynasty'?"
"She’s probably another drama school graduate who got ahead through shady connections. She’s quite something, landing such a significant role right off the bat."
"She is indeed very beautiful, and she doesn’t have that typical internet celebrity look or the appearance of someone who’s had plastic surgery."
"I’d like to know who’s backing her."
...
Zhou Yining scrolled through the comments on Weibo. She wasn’t surprised by these remarks. The production company behind 'Tai’ping Dynasty' was Huachen Film and Television, and the president, Qin Sen, was her cousin. He had only given her an audition opportunity; it was Director Xu Ping who ultimately decided to cast her.
After exiting Weibo, she received a message from the assistant director of 'Tai’ping Dynasty': "The male lead will join the crew tomorrow. If you’re free, come over too."
Zhou Yining immediately replied: "Okay."
'Tai’ping Dynasty' was the latest work of Director Xu Ping, who was famous for his historical dramas. He released a new work every three years, without fail, and each one was a classic. After waiting for three years, his new drama finally began filming on July 16th. The crew and other actors had been shooting in Hengdian for more than ten days, but the male lead had not appeared at the press conference or the opening ceremony. Zhou Yining still didn’t know who the male lead was.
As she clicked on the airline ticket booking website, Zhou Yining called Qin Sen: "Cousin, I’m going to Hengdian tomorrow. Do you need me to bring anything to Jingxin?"
Jingxin was Qin Sen’s girlfriend and one of the leading actresses in the 'Tai’ping Dynasty' crew. After watching Jingxin’s latest interview, it seemed that the two were having a disagreement.
Qin Sen said, "No need, I’ll go."
Zhou Yining was pleasantly surprised: "That’s great! Then have your assistant book my ticket too. I was worried about taking the plane alone and then transferring. You can take me with you."
After resolving one troublesome matter, Zhou Yining began to pack her luggage.
The next afternoon, she arrived in Hengdian.
Director Xu and a group of people were waiting nearby. When Zhou Yining got out of the car, she thought they were there to welcome Qin Sen. But when Director Xu saw them, he was surprised: "President Qin, why are you here?"
Qin Sen smiled: "I came to visit the set."
Zhou Yining glanced around and walked over to one of the young actors, whispering, "Has the male lead arrived?"
The young actor shook his head: "Not yet, we’re still waiting."
Zhou Yining understood and went back.
The driver had just helped her with her suitcase when a black car suddenly stopped behind them. She glanced back; this car... why did it seem familiar? The door opened, and a tall man got out. He was wearing a black mask, revealing only a pair of striking eyebrows and eyes, yet he was still strikingly handsome.
Unfortunately, the aura surrounding him was one of coldness that made people not want to get close.
Zhou Yining stood there, frowning at the man beside her. Why was he here?
Ji Dongyang felt someone staring at him and glanced over.
Zhou Yining squeezed out a smile: "Brother Dong, you’re not the emperor, the male lead, are you?"
Ji Dongyang took off his mask and lightly acknowledged with a "Hmm."
Zhou Yining: "..."
Earlier, Zhou Yining and Jingxin had speculated about who the male lead might be. They both guessed it was Ji Dongyang. In the entertainment industry, there were very few people who could make a large group of people wait without complaint. Using the process of elimination, they were left with Ji Dongyang.
She hadn’t expected it to be him.
To be honest, Zhou Yining felt a bit of despair at that moment. She didn’t want to act alongside Ji Dongyang.
The reason was simple: she didn’t like him, and there were many reasons for not liking him if one were to delve into it.
Thinking that she would have to be in the same crew with him for the next few months, Zhou Yining felt a bit depressed. What a misfortune, how could it be him?
Except for Zhou Yining, everyone else was very excited.
She dragged her suitcase into the crowd, and the young actresses beside her were particularly excited, clutching each other’s hands and jumping up and down: "I can’t believe the male lead is Brother Dong! He hasn’t acted in a TV drama for years, right? I still remember how he played the emperor years ago; his aura was off the charts, ahhhh!"
"I can’t believe my first古装剧 is with Brother Dong in the same crew; it’s so lucky! Huachen is amazing to have invited Brother Dong!"
"Ahhhh, I remember I have over a dozen lines with Brother Dong!"
"...I don’t, crying."
Zhou Yining frowned; unfortunately, the character she played was Ji Dongyang’s concubine, and they had a lot of scenes together.
Director Xu saw Ji Dongyang and walked forward with a smile, calling everyone: "Our male lead is here. Let’s all get together tonight."
Everyone applauded in welcome. After all, Ji Dongyang had been filming movies for the past few years and had won several awards. He hadn’t acted in a古装剧 for years. It was unexpected that the male lead they had been waiting for was this famous movie star. It was indeed a pleasant surprise.
After a round of greetings, they confirmed the location and time for the gathering and each returned to their hotels to rest.
Zhou Yining returned to her hotel room, threw her suitcase aside, and flopped onto the bed. She had only intended to rest her eyes, but she ended up falling asleep.
A knock on the door woke her up. Zhou Yining straightened her hair and clothes and went to open the door.
Director Xu and the assistant director, along with others, were standing outside. The female lead, Zhou Wei, was also there. Like Ji Dongyang, Zhou Wei had moved on to the big screen in recent years, and she even won an award last year. Huachen had really gone all out this time, with the male and female leads being movie stars. 'Tai’ping Dynasty' was definitely going to be the hottest古装剧 of the year and would become another classic.
The assistant director looked at Zhou Yining: "We’re all ready to go. Just now, President Qin and Jingxin left in a hurry. Could you give them a call and tell them the location of the gathering?"
Zhou Yining rolled her eyes secretly. Qin Sen and Jingxin were in a disagreement, and after finally meeting, they must be busy. Making this call would be so stressful; wasn’t this just setting her up? She glanced at the people standing at the door, all of them more important than her. She had no way to refuse, so she nodded: "Okay."
Two minutes later, Zhou Yining hung up the phone. Director Xu called everyone to go together and tried to call Ji Dongyang, but his phone was off.
Director Xu turned around and patted Zhou Yining on the shoulder, "Could you go and get our male lead?"
Zhou Yining: "...Why is it always me?"
Can’t they stop bullying her just because she’s a newcomer!
Director Xu smiled: "You’re his concubine, you have a lot of scenes with him, get to know each other more."
Zhou Yining blurted out: "But Sister Wei is his empress, why don’t you ask Sister Wei to go?"
Zhou Wei smiled, even she could see that this girl and Ji Dongyang were not on good terms. Director Xu must have noticed this and was using this opportunity to make her interact with Ji Dongyang more.
Director Xu: "The empress is the most important in the harem, have you ever seen an empress being ordered around by a concubine?"
Zhou Yining: "...Director, you’re too into the role!"
Director Xu laughed, "Go ahead, we’ll go first."
Everyone left in tacit agreement, leaving Zhou Yining alone.
Zhou Yining stood there, glaring, feeling very helpless.
After a few seconds, she decided to go upstairs to call Ji Dongyang.
Standing in front of Ji Dongyang’s door, Zhou Yining knocked on it quite unceremoniously. Despite this, there was no response from inside.
She was puzzled; where was his assistant?
Why was she the one doing this?!
Thinking of this, Zhou Yining knocked on the door even harder. Unless there was no one inside, it was impossible for there to be no reaction.
The next second, the door was suddenly pulled open with a "bang".
The man’s voice was extremely cold: "Didn’t I say it before? Don’t call me for dinner!"
The room was not lit, the curtains were drawn tight, and it was very dark inside. The man, bare-chested, stood inside with a gloomy face. Zhou Yining was stunned for a moment, a bit surprised. She hadn’t expected that although he was thin, he had no lack of muscles. As she looked up, she noticed the man was wearing a pure black eyepatch on his head. How afraid of light was he?
The man seemed to not even glance at her, and after yelling that sentence, he slammed the door shut with a "bang".
Zhou Yining stood there, gritting her teeth and glaring at the door. How dare he yell at her?!
At that moment, two people walked out from the door across the hall and called from behind: "Miss Zhou?"
Zhou Yining turned around and recognized them as Ji Dongyang’s driver and assistant.
She suppressed her anger and pointed at the door: "Don’t you know there’s a dinner at 7? You just let him sleep like that?"
Ji Dongyang’s assistant said with difficulty: "Brother Dong had been shooting night scenes for two days straight and then rushed to Hengdian. He hasn’t slept for almost two days, and... Brother Dong told us before that we didn’t need to call him for dinner. He would apologize to Director Xu later. His temper when he wakes up is terrible, and we don’t dare to call him casually."
Zhou Yining was even more furious, so she had just run into his bad mood?
She sneered: "You heard him yell at me just now, right?"
It was because they heard it that they came out. Ji Dongyang’s assistant looked apologetic: "Sorry, Miss Zhou."
Zhou Yining exhaled: "Forget it."
No need to lose her temper with an assistant.
Just as she was about to leave, the door behind her opened again.
Zhou Yining turned around and saw that Ji Dongyang was already dressed and standing at the door. The two stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. Zhou Yining turned to leave, and Ji Dongyang glanced at his assistant and followed Zhou Yining.
The assistant chased after him: "Brother Dong, where are you going?"
Ji Dongyang: "Dinner."
Zhou Yining walked quickly in her high heels, pressed the elevator button, and quickly stepped in.
Ji Dongyang walked to the elevator door. Zhou Yining glanced at him and closed the elevator door in front of him.
It was only when she couldn’t see his face anymore that she felt a sense of satisfaction.
So, she didn’t like Ji Dongyang.
Suddenly, she remembered the headline she saw on Tianya Entertainment a few days ago, "The Male Star Most Likely to Die Alone." At the time, she had found it funny; in this day and age, which male star would die alone? In the chaotic entertainment industry, it would be impressive if they didn’t have multiple wives and concubines.
The image of Ji Dongyang’s indifferent face and his nasty personality flashed through her mind.
He really might die alone!
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